* Posts by Some Beggar

882 publicly visible posts • joined 14 Jul 2009

Organic food offers basically no health benefit, boffins find

Some Beggar

Re: Typical mis-information

Organically grown foods _are_ commercially grown. In fact, they are arguably _more_ commercial in the sense that the farmer is likely to be earning more for his produce and the consumer is certainly paying more at the till.

Do you have some studies to back up your assertion that Soil Association labelled veg are nutritionally different to any others?

Some Beggar

Re: Simple tool to determine the quality of food

Audiophiles are almost as delicious as belladonna berries. You need to cook them in an oxygen-free solid gold pan though.

Some Beggar
WTF?

Re: Shock horror!!

"damaged by odd DNA in food"

Can somebody translate this into English for me?

Some Beggar

Re: In an ideal world...

"Do your bit too!"

If you like birds and fish more than people then you should probably kill yourself and donate your remains to the nearest RSPB reserve.

Some Beggar

Re: Yeah but the real point of organic food is not health...

We live in a free market. If you put a product on the shelf that costs substantially more than existing products and justify this to the consumer by explaining that it makes for more sustainable farming and better bugs in the soil then you'll be bankrupt in a year.

(although the better bugs technique appears to have worked for the probiotic yoghurt witchdoctors)

If we had an all-powerful autocracy like China then we could impose healthy soil for the good of the motherland. But then we'd probably fertilise it with powdered crocodile cloaca.

Some Beggar
Trollface

Re: Organic Movement = Stalin / Mao on Steriods

Epic Godwin.

Some Beggar

Re: Simple tool to determine the quality of food

Your doctor is clearly evil.

Some Beggar

Re: It's the sprays, stupid

"Organic items should be spray free."

No. The rules for the 'organic' label allow plenty of spraying. Copper sulphate, hydrogen peroxide, boric acid ... the list varies from place to place. The 'organic' label just means that it fulfils a set of (arguably arbitrary) rules set down by a regulatory body. It doesn't mean it grew in an unadulterated Eden.

Some Beggar

Re: Simple tool to determine the quality of food

"I can certainly taste the difference"

Fancy taking a blind taste test?

Some Beggar

Re: Written

Odd assertion. The US is also the richest market for flogging 'organic' food. This is essentially the same tactic as talking about imaginary "gravy trains" when sowing doubt about climate change research. The research appears sound. Suggesting it must be the result of corruption is conspiracy theory bunkum.

Some Beggar
FAIL

Re: Simple tool to determine the quality of food

Good luck with that. Deadly Nightshade berries are delicious.

NFC tap-to-pay kit spreads its wings at IFA: Now used for audio

Some Beggar

One of the early proposals for NFC bonking is an application for radiologists and surgeons. I'm sure they'll be delighted that you refer to them as "tards" when your stupidity inevitably turns into cancer.

Some Beggar
Meh

Bonking things together is more intuitive and less prone to error for non-tech-savvy users.

It says that in the article. Maybe you should read it when you have five minutes spare?

Low sunspot activity linked to rivers freezing: Mini Ice Age on way?

Some Beggar

Re: Repeat of the same article, this time the biased variant

"The emails (deleted or not) are not important, the science is."

But the science-doubters don't have any science. That's the thing about science-doubters. The emails and the conspiracy theories and gravy trains are all they've got. They'll keep banging those dreary drums until somebody comes up with some science to justify their position. Or until the heat death of the universe - whichever comes sooner.

Some Beggar
Facepalm

Re: As a layman

Does clicking the downvote button on my post magically stop me from existing and providing a counterexample to the previous commentard's silly assertion? Golly.

Some Beggar

Re: As a layman

Hello. Sucessful scientist who never received any "exterior funding" here. What was it you wanted to ask?

(disclaimer: I did receive a lumping great dollop of "exterior funding" when I took my bag of science out into industry and used it to make actual products ... but that made me a successful entrepreneur rather than a successful scientist)

Some Beggar

It's arguably more likely to make it colder and wetter.

(I know ... it's hard to conceive of a Scotland that's colder and wetter ... but them's the breaks)

Some Beggar
Thumb Down

I can't tell if you're deliberately misunderstanding what the prof is saying, or genuinely don't know what it means to say that a system is ruled by a number of variables. He is not saying that a model needs to be simplistic, he is stating that there are a small number of critical parameters which have a dominant impact on the model. This is the case for pretty much any system you care to name, no matter how complicated. Some parameters are important. Some are less important. Some are so unimportant as to be negligible - although this is risky and always needs to be clearly stated. As you develop a model and compare it with observation, the relative importance of these parameters is adjusted. You might neglect some or re-introduce some. You might concentrate your finite computational and analytical resources on a different set of parameters. It's a thing we boffins call "the scientific method". This research - for all that Lewis desperately wants to cast it as an arrow in the eye of the scientific consensus - is simply a small step in that process.

tl;dr - can't tell if trolling or stoopid

Some Beggar

"Climate scientists of the orthodox, alarmist tendency ... "

"Strawmen ..."

There. Fixed that for you.

Mr Bank Manager, help yourself to my smartphone contents

Some Beggar
FAIL

Re: Finished with my woman 'cause she couldn't help me with my mind ...

A hacked NFC reader is the same risk as a hacked card reader or ATM except that it is marginally more difficult and hence less likely. Which is what I said in my original post. Perhaps it might have been a good idea to read it a couple of times before replying.

Some Beggar

Finished with my woman 'cause she couldn't help me with my mind ...

I don't want to scoff at genuine concerns about electronic payment and wireless payment, but the worries expressed in this article are fairly ill-informed. The issues of a spotty herbert in a corner shop apply to whatever non-cash method you use to pay. The concerns about untrustworthy banks and businesses apply to any online transaction or simply passing your credit card to a dodgy waiter. The physical insecurity of the NFC transport itself is poorly stated: it's highly directional and on your smartphone it would be switched off by default ... it's theoretically possible to steal your iCloudWallet(tm) from a distance but only if you carefully point it at the would-be thief (who you'll recognise by the enormous induction coil he's wearing as a natty hat) and press the big red enable button. The reason there's a booming market in lead-lined wallets is because people are idiots. You wouldn't use the booming homeopathy market as evidence that homeopathic water is magic.

Ice core shows Antarctic Peninsula warming is nothing unusual

Some Beggar

Re: At least quote the conclusion

"Wonder how they got so many upvotes"

Clicking a button and grunting is easier than reading the article.

Some Beggar
FAIL

Re: At least quote the conclusion

I've assumed the authors of the paper are legitimate authorities on the contents of their own paper. That's an entirely valid use of argument from authority.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_authority

It may be a well understood phrase, but you don't appear to be amongst the group that understands it.

Some Beggar
FAIL

Re: At least quote the conclusion

And that's a nice use of the dreary internet staple of throwing in some half-understood latin to make yourself feel clever. An argument from authority is perfectly valid when the authority is a genuine expert on the subject matter. The authors and reviewers of a scientific paper are clearly genuine experts on their own work.

I am quite happy to stand by the assertion that their conclusions are better than those of an anonymous internaut.

Some Beggar
Facepalm

Re: At least quote the conclusion

"That conclusion isn't supported by the data."

I'm relieved that we have an unqualified and anonymous internaut to draw conclusions from some low resolution example graphs rather than having to rely on the conclusions of the scientists who performed the research or the scientists who reviewed the paper.

New nuclear fuel source would power human race until 5000AD

Some Beggar

Re: we know that nuclear power is safe

@dwieske

You might want to familiarise yourself with the English concept of "sarcasm". Hope this helps.

The problem with wireless: all those effin' wires

Some Beggar
FAIL

Re: Poor workman blames his cables.

You're pretty much determined to be a martyr to this entirely avoidable first-world problem, aren't you.

Poor lamb.

Some Beggar
Facepalm

Re: Poor workman blames his cables.

The clue is in the word "two" there, Ali. Apologies for baffling you with high-level mathematics.

Some Beggar
Boffin

Re: Longer USB cables = FAIL

The max length of a USB 2.0 cable is 5 meters. The reason there's a limit is because cables don't have zero impedance; if you try to transmit data at a fixed voltage over a cable that's too long then you'll get too many errors. If you're only using the cable for charging then that wouldn't be an issue ... although I'm not sure I've ever had call for a charging cable longer than 5 meters. You must stay in some seriously plush hotels if it's more than five meters from the socket to the bedside table.

Some Beggar

Re: Went on holiday

Have you considered swapping the kids for some who aren't obnoxious shits or have learned how to read?

Some Beggar
WTF?

Poor workman blames his cables.

Two short micro USB cables. One US or Euro plug-to-figure-eight laptop cable. One tiny US/euro plug-to-USB adapter. Maybe a 12V car socket to USB. Total volume required for extra travel cabling: roughly one trouser pocket.

Have you considered that the problem might be in your purchasing choices and poor organisation rather than something inherent in the technology?

Zabulon Skipper: Butterfly harbinger of climate biodiversity doom?

Some Beggar

Re: Seriously?

The really depressing thing is that these blogs are written with the explicit assumption that the majority of their readers won't bother reading the original research. They can take whatever liberties they like in misinterpreting the research since most people won't check and any posts that point out the dishonesty can be refused.

Some Beggar

Re: Extreme weather

They can't conclusively prove it - which is why this sort of analysis is always circumspect in its conclusions. But it is certainly possible extract small signals from a large quantity of noisy data.

Some Beggar
Facepalm

What the researchers actually say:

"the potential advantage of a higher maximal development rate can in theory more than offset the potential disadvantage of lower genetic variance associated with a thermal specialist strategy"

"the relative risk of extinction is likely to be lower for tropical species than for temperate species"

What this blog says:

[nothing resembling anything in the original research]

Some Beggar

Re: Seriously?

Nobody has forgotten about evolution. That's just a scientifically illiterate interpretation of the research by the blogger. The very first line of the summary of the research is this:

"It has been postulated that climate warming may pose the greatest threat species in the tropics, where ectotherms have evolved more thermal specialist physiologies."

i.e. biologists have been assuming that the evolution of cold-blooded animals in the tropics might make them more vulnerable to climate change.

'Ex climate sceptic' Muller's latest BEST stuff is the worst so far

Some Beggar

Being a skinny is much more unhealthy than being fat – new study

Some Beggar

Re: Your chance of death is 100%

The nearest bus route is about 50km away and the nearest road is 200m away.

Do you know something that I don't ... ?

Global warming: It's GOOD for the environment

Some Beggar
FAIL

Good news for those of us who like our unsustainable tropical hardwood furniture: it looks like there's going to be a lot more of it to go around soon enough.

Self-generating and unmanaged rainforests would take fifty to eighty years to produce trees large enough to be harvested. Even if we managed these hypothesised new areas to cultivate hardwoods, you're still looking at forty or more years. No offence, Tim, but I don't think that is "soon enough" for you to benefit from a new teak loveseat.

And realistically, neither option is particularly likely given that the regimes who control most of the potential new forestry shown on that map are the same regimes who are currently replacing their rainforests with unsustainable arable land. Why would they suddenly change tack and sit on their hands for half a century to let new rainforests grow?

Google plants rainbow flag in anti-gay countries

Some Beggar
FAIL

Re: Religious bigotry

Many Christians are Christian only in their own minds.

Well yes. It is a personal religious conviction. Where else would it be defined except within the mind of the person who holds it? The alternative is that somebody else (you, perhaps?) gets to define whether or not a person is a Christian. As soon as you make that assumption then you are on a saddle between two slippery slopes: theocracy in one direction and religious suppression in the other.

No thanks. We are incredibly fortunate to live in a relatively secular democracy.

Some Beggar
FAIL

the phrase "if you don't like it you can leave" becomes meaningless

It is not meaningless, it is moronic.

Japanese boffins demo EV on-the-move charging

Some Beggar

They're thinking about this all wrong.

What you need is an insulated rod sticking out of the floorpan with a metal brush contact on each side. Then cut a slot into the middle of each lane of the motorway and lay metal tracks along either side of it. Wire these tracks in pairs to a high current DC supply. Lane changing can be facilitated by randomly placing slot crossovers - ideally just after a long, fast corner or humpback bridge. As an added bonus, traffic police can adjust the maximum speed on the road by using a handheld variable resistor wired into the DC supply.

US federal boffins insist that mermaids DON'T exist

Some Beggar

Re: The Do Exist...

You're a misogynist with poor personal hygiene who goes into a panic sweat when confronted by women?

Some Beggar
Unhappy

Oh dear.

It's looking more and more likely that that one night stand in Robin Hood's bay was actually a seal.

Puny US particle punisher finds strong evidence for God particle

Some Beggar

Re: No Idiot's Answer, I'm Afraid

this level of interactions is hard to visualise

I'd go further than that. I'd say it is impossible to visualise. Our puny human brains evolved to make us cunning hunters on the African savannah. We're pretty well equipped to lob rocks at goats and out-smart lions. We are very poorly equipped to intuitively grasp things at very different scales.

(there might be a handful of asperger megabrains at CERN who can hold this sort of weirdness in their heads ... I'm not sure you'd want to invite them to dinner)

Some Beggar

Re: Ugh - God particle

So how is it heavier?!?

Because the human-scale concept of "heaviness" doesn't really scale down to the sub-atomic level. Protons are not built of Higgs bosons, they are built of quarks and gluons. Sort of. The lego brick concept of "building" stuff doesn't really work at the sub-atomic level either. If you bind some quarks together with some gluons the resulting object doesn't have the same mass as its constituent parts. It has some characteristics that can be derived from the characteristics of its constituent parts but those characteristics are so far removed from the characteristics of human-scale objects that the only sensible way to approach them is through mathematics. It would probably be less confusing if we dropped the idea of "mass" or "heaviness" and used something like "Higgsiness".

Protons are not very Higgsy. Higgs bosons are (probably) fairly Higgsy.

Some Beggar

Re: If you use the proper name everybody on here will surely understand

I've never met a single physicist who likes the term "God Particle". Even Lederman seems to regret coining it.

'Young people don't want to become like us', say IT pros

Some Beggar
FAIL

Re: "...kids needed to be taught early on about the joy of an IT department"

"women"

Fucking hell. No wonder you "males" struggle to form relationships.

:(

War On Standby: Do the figures actually stack up?

Some Beggar
Headmaster

Re: A bit low...

"they had to send me a cheque for £300 :p"

"I had given them an interest free loan of £300 :("

Fixed that for you.

Brit global warming skeptics now outnumber believers

Some Beggar

Re: Amazing

(And who are these scientists who have contributed to this census, is there a list and results published somewhere?)

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/06/04/1003187107.abstract

Star Trek app warps into TiVo space

Some Beggar
Meh

Re: Quick, Get A Screen Capture !!!

Six semi-hysterical exclamation marks for a simple typo? Wow. How excited must you get when you spot a new train number?