Archive for September, 2010
Skeptics with a K – Episode #030
Posted by Mike in Podcast, Skeptics with a K on September 9, 2010
Bananaman, Vodafone, the Man in the Moon and Dennis Quaid. Plus magnetic feet, deformed children and the three-legged football player. It’s the big 30 for Skeptics with a K!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Bad PR: How NOT To Play The Sex Card
By now, followers of Bad PR should be well-acquainted with the tell-tale signs for spotting nonsense PR strong-arming it’s way into the pages of our most-loved newspapers and websites. And by most-loved, I tend to mean The Mail, The Sun, The Telegraph and all of the other bastions of bullshit we skeptics force ourselves to sift through on a near-daily basis, ever on the hunt for untruth. So it’s a fairly loose use of the word ‘loved’, if you’ll grant me it. Still, as I’ve covered before, sometimes spotting poorly-designed pseudo-news it’s as easy as following a simple checklist:
- Does it involve a survey?
- Are the results surprising, shocking or a bit sexy?
- Is it actively about sex – predominately how to get more of it, or how to make what little you get of it better?
- Is there a company name in the fourth paragraph?
Those are some pretty simple, rule-of-thumb guidelines for spotting Bad PR. Now, here’s your starter for 10, from the Daily Star (I won’t give you the link just yet, it’ll spoil the fun):
HOLIDAYS THE BIGGEST TURN-ON FOR WOMEN
Right away, that’s one or two ticks on our checklist. Let’s take this paragraph by paragraph Read the rest of this entry »
Caption Competition #7
Posted by Colin H in Caption Competition, Fun Stuff on September 7, 2010
Last week, we showed you this picture and asked you to come up with a caption for it. We had less responses than usual, but still managed to pick out a winner from the pile.
The prize for best caption to last week’s picture goes to Andrew Mills, who provided this:
But that nice homeopath woman told me the treatment would make them go away. Not make them bigger!! Last time I rub water on my crabs…
Homeopathy and STDs. Who’d have thought to combine the two?
This week’s picture involves a slightly more famous human being with another anonymous animal. What should be the caption for the picture below?
Righteous Indignation
Posted by Marsh in Righteous Indignation on September 6, 2010
I’m sure lots of you are aware that as well as my regular role on our ‘Skeptics with a K‘ podcast, and the odd showing on ‘Inkredulous‘, I also moonlight on weekly skeptical news show ‘Righteous Indignation’. If you were indeed previously aware of that – well done, 2 points, carry on. If this is startling, bewildering and infuriating news to you… well, for one thing, don’t over-react, it’s only a podcast. But it’s a decent podcast, and there’s lots of episodes for you to catch up on, starting with the latest episode…
Plus you can visit the website to catch previous episodes and subscribe on iTunes. Which you should, because apart from me being on it, it’s also pretty ace. Plus there’s new episode of Inkredulous and Skeptics with a K to look out for soon. You’re welcome.
New Diploma in Old Wives’ Traditional Medicine
Get your QED ticket now!
Here at the Merseyside Skeptics Society, we heartily endorse awareness-raising publicity stunts. Obviously. After all, we organised for nearly 500 people worldwide to ‘overdose’ on homeopathic products. Pretty hard to deny our love of a good publicity stunt, then. Plus, on September 14th our BBC documentary involving the creation and distribution of homeopathic ‘QED Vodka’ will be screened. So, yeah, publicity stunts are our thing, really.
So when I saw that the Voice of Young Science are to take to the streets of London to hand out qualifications in Old Wives’ Traditional Medicine, I was very interested indeed. Unfortunately, I can’t make it along to the event, so my practice of traditional old-wives-tale remedies will have to remain strictly that of an unlicensed amateur, but if you’re around and free, why not pop along and get yourself a qualification? It beats spending 5 years learning to be a ‘Doctor’ of homeopathy, and leaves you just as qualified to treat people. Details of the event are below, and you can RSVP on Facebook too (if you do, tell them we sent you!).
New Diploma in Old Wives’ Traditional Medicine
Do you remember how your grandmother thought burns should be treated? What happens to your hair if you don’t eat your crusts? If you think you can answer questions like these and your hands are clean, why not become a registered practitioner of Old Wives’ Traditional Medicine?
The Voice of Young Science School of Old Wives’ Traditional Medicine will hit the streets of London on Wednesday, handing out diplomas for people to practice Old Wives’ Traditional Medicine. Young medics and researchers in lab coats will be registering members of the public who can correctly answer questions about traditional advice and cures.
Find out if you qualify for a diploma at the Department of Health, Richmond House, Whitehall, SW1A 2NS, on Wednesday 8th September 11.30 – 12.30.
The VoYS Network is launching its Old Wives’ Traditional Medicine Accreditation Scheme to draw attention to the Department of Health’s proposed professional registration scheme for practitioners of traditional medicine, which will regulate everything except whether a practitioner has medical training or is practicing an evidence-based discipline. Read the rest of this entry »
Is This A Malaysian Vampire? Probably Not…
From time to time, I get sent weird things. Obscure websites, bizarre emails, odd videos. I love it. Here’s one lately that really grabbed my eye:
Pontianak at KM 42 Bukit Tinggi, towards Kuantan
Recently, there’s this video of a ‘pontianak’ circulating around the Malaysian web sphere, especially (where else?) Facebook. A ‘pontianak’ is, according to local folklore, the restless spirit of a woman who died in childbirth. She is usually depicted with long, flowing hair and a white robe…kind of a typical garb for most restless spirits/creatures around the world, eh? Go ahead and research if you wish to. I’ve heard enough stories of pontianaks while growing up in good old Malaysia.
What followed was this video:
Now, is this a vampire? I think not. Check the way the the figure moves as the car drives past at 11seconds. It looks to me like it’s actually suspended from above, swaying in the wind from the on-rushing car. This would explain the way the figure rises in a totally smooth way, why there’s no movement of any of the limbs or the head during the video, and the smooth descent too. In all, looks like a hoax to me, suspended on a wire.
What do you think?
Update: Righteous Indignation listener Non has confirmed this is indeed a fake:
It is fake. Why? The youtube comments will lead you to the production clips for the “Momok the movie” video clip called “MOMOK JPA ROAD TRIP to karak hell”. Start watching at 1:20ish. Link (also added to my name):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZkd5n6prV4
Youtube user angelusDragul was the one who pointed out that it was for the movie.
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