Matharu's Rants and Raves

DC’s Improbable Science has an article http://www.dcscience.net/?p=2829 titled “A handy list of dimwitted members of parliament” which starts:

An‘early day motion1 (EDM 908) has been tabled in parliament which opposes the conclusions of the science and technology committee report on the evidence for homeopathy. After two weeks it has been signed by an amazing 55 MPs. That is 8.5% of all 646 MPs.  Nothing shows more clearly the scientific illiteracy that prevails in the House of Commons (and, perhaps, the results of the mass mailing of MPs by homeopaths, who are clutching at straws)..

These MPs are all people who have difficulty with the idea that pills which contain nothing can have no effect above placebo.  It isn’t rocket science.

Are these MPs displaying their ignorance of the scientific process by supporting a demonstrable pseudoscience? You decide.

Here’s the current list of these MPs (republished from DC’s Improbable Science):

I saw this film the other day. It was OK. Not brilliant but not bad…well, except that the military tactics employed by all sides did not make any sense to me. But then, what do I know, I’ve not been in the military.

However, I couldn’t empathise or believe any of the characters. The story line was not credible. But as something to watch at home for a couple of hours it was OK if you’re expectations were not high to begin with.

I was therefore most bemused to hear on the news that this film was nominated for 9 Oscars. What? Really? What on earth did I miss?

Confused at first, and it’s been a long time coming, it’s now clear to me that the Oscar award process relies on criteria not related to the quality of the films being reviewed.

Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2010

Seems that the Digital Economy Bill rides roughshod over photographer’s concerns and leaves open massive holes that can be exploited and abused with the result that one’s copywritten  photographs can can be effectively stolen.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/05/mandybill_orphan_works/

So the music and film industry have been given stronger weapons to fight those whom they see as “stealing” their work, but that us poor photographers have had our weapons confiscated.

I’ve already had one large magazine steal one of my photographs…they took one of my online photos that had a visible Copyright watermark which they remove from the photo and use it one of their articles…with no links or attribution to the photographer. So my photograph now appears to be “orphaned”. Some on else sees that article and photograph online and decides to take it. And others do the same. That’s it, my photograph is stolen and widely distributed…perhaps someone is even making out of it. But not me. Even if I do find out about someone making money from it, I probably will not be able to recover all those monies.

This quote from http://copyrightaction.com/forum/uk-gov-nationalises-orphans-and-bans-non-consensual-photography-in-public makes a good point:

The quaint notion that the author alone has prime and inalienable rights over his/her own work, must be able to restrict usage, negotiate a fee, prevent usage they consider immoral or distasteful, or assert their moral right to attribution, is about to pass into history.

 

This is the biggest change in UK copyright law in 150 years. It also punches holes through the Berne agreement, international copyright law and TRIPS.

More here:

1. UK Gov nationalises orphans and bans non-consensual photography in public
   http://copyrightaction.com/forum/uk-gov-nationalises-orphans-and-bans-non-consensual-photography-in-public
2. IPO meeting stalemate
   http://copyrightaction.com/ipo-meeting-stalemate
3. Orphan works
   http://www.ipo.gov.uk/pro-types/pro-copy/c-policy/c-policy-orphanworks.htm

Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2010

I use xbmc as the hub of my media centre, and one particular xbmc plugin that I loved was for accessing the BBC’s iPlayer content. However, the BBC has decided to break this; the sad story can be read at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2010/03/bbc_iplayer_content_protection.html

As as a British citizen, living in the UK, paying taxes and paying the TV license fee (which goes to the BBC) I certainly feel fully entitled to access the BBC iPlayer content using whatever front-end software I feel like using. It is so much easier using a remote control to navigate/select/play iPlayer content from the comfort of one’s couch and watch it on the TV (connected to the xmbc media centre).

I don’t use a PS3 or wii so cannot use them to watch iPlayer content. I do have a Microsoft xbox 360 with a gold online account but the BBC have refused to allow Microsoft access to iPlayer content (stating that iPlayer content should be available to all and not just to those with gold accounts). So I’m well and truly stuffed; I have to resort to using my PC and mouse with a web browser at my computer desk…a wonderful experience! I think the BBC has made a mistake.

Thank you BBC. Thanks a bunch.

Related content:

1. BBC claims angry iPlayer plugin mob ‘conflated’ open source term
   http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/05/bbc_iplayer_rtmp_open_source_response/
2. BBC iPlayer rejects open source plugins, takes Flash-only path
   http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/02/24/iplayer_xbmc_adobe_swf_verification/

Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2010

It seems that the BBC is much like any other large news organisation; perhaps better than some and perhaps worse than others. It has time pressures to produce something that is current and topical. And this can lead to poor research, poor quality assurance and poor implementation with biased reporting and inaccurate information. I certainly don’t buy into any romantic notions or myths that the BBC is impartial and infallible.

DC’s Improbable Science has an article describing “some truly appalling reporting of science by the BBC” at http://www.dcscience.net/?p=2813. We definitely do need to be on the guard against nonsense and DC’s Improbable Science blog is one of those places to allows us to do that.

Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2010

The Guardian has a very good article describing the sorry state that chiropractors have gotten into for making unsubstantiated and unsupportable medical claims; claims that Simon Singh rightly called “bogus”. The Guardian article is available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/mar/01/simon-singh-libel-case-chiropractors

Related articles:

1. Beware the spinal trap
   http://www.metalvortex.com/blog/2009/07/29/324.html
2. Chiropractors on the run?
   http://www.metalvortex.com/blog/2009/06/10/316.html
3. Chiropractic – Bogus!
   http://www.metalvortex.com/blog/2009/06/04/314.html
4. The shaky foundations of Chiropractic
   http://www.metalvortex.com/blog/2009/02/01/133.html
5. Unsupported claims
   http://www.metalvortex.com/blog/2008/01/15/37.html

Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2010

Excellent Science-based Medicine article on the recent Parliament report on homeopathy at http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=3961

The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee (STC) has released a report, Evidence Check 2: Homeopathy, in which they recommend that the NHS stop funding homeopathy. The report is a rare commodity – a thoroughly science-based political document.

The article goes on to discuss the denials, lies and misdirection employed by those with a vested interest in promulgating and defending homeopathy. Highly recommended reading.

Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2010

Over at AnAtheist.Net I came across an article that pointed to a blog from My Sister’s Farmhouse who apologised for being such a shithead for all those years when she was a Christian. Anyway, that got me interested in My Sister’s Farmhouse wondering what had led her (Rechelle) on this path of self-discovery. Well, what a pleasant site!

I’ve only started exploring My Sister’s Farmhouse but I loved her recent article on “Two Baptist Missionaries Visit CDW” as it reminded me of my own recent encounter with a Jehovah’s Witness who came knocking on my door. But I admit I wasn’t as calm as Rechelle; the Jehovah’s Witness just spouted nonsense and it was clear he wasn’t thinking for himself. So well, done Rechelle, I’ll try to and remember your example the next time I get in one of these conversations.

Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2010

It’s clear, homeopathy is a placebo. It’s been demonstrated again and again in proper scientific trials.

The recent Science & Technology committee report on homeopathy comes to the same conclusion and makes a series of recommendations, and gimpy’s blog has rather good article on this at:

http://gimpyblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/the-evidence-check-on-homeopathy-is-released-and-it-is-devastating/

DC’s Improbable Science also has an interesting article at:

http://www.dcscience.net/?p=2782

I predict that some (most?) homeopaths will claim that they’re victims of “big pharma”, and they will refuse to acknowledge that what they’ve studied and practiced is a big fat lie. They may even claim that homeopathy isn’t suited to trials.

"The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what’s true."  – Carl Sagan

Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2010

Apparently there’s an old saying, “Don’t kick a man when he’s trying to apologise”. Or something like that. And so I welcomed the news of several universities dropping “degree” courses in homeopathy. It can’t have been an easy thing to do but I’d like to think that the universities recognised the need to maintain intellectual honesty and integrity over any money grabbing schemes using dishonest degrees.

But the dropping of homeopathy degrees hasn’t been undertaken everywhere as there are still some courses out there. A recent DC’s Improbable Science blog article at http://www.dcscience.net/?p=2747 details examples of where homeopathy is still being taught and also details the lack of cooperation from universities in providing information under the Freedom of Information Act.

Dear universities and other institutions of learning, be honest. Give us the truth…it may hurt right now but you will help to create a legacy that will be admired.

Article by Kulvinder Singh Matharu – 2010