As a followup from the previous post on the fraudulent bomb detector, here’s a video from CBS news featuring one an interview with a Pentagon security expert on….. hey wait a second, I know that guy.    That’s Hal Bidlack.   Go Hal!   (Hal is a friend of this site and MC’s the annual Amazing Meeting for the JREF, among other things)

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Have you ever met someone who just keeps saying things so dumb that you can barely contain your disdain?   Sure, you might try to be polite, but after hearing someone state, with authority enough bullshit about astrology, homeopathy, conspiracy theories and other bullshit, you just can’t bite your tongue anymore.

That’s the story of Tim Michin’s “Storn,” a nine-minute spoken word piece about a dinner party in which a stereotypical empty-headed woman named “storm” spouts out enough bull to set off a storm inside any skeptic.   Michin does a great job of painting a picture of the events with his words, but now there’s one better, because out very good friend Tracy King and a dedicated staff of animators is preparing to release the “Storm Movie,” which, as the name implies, turns the piece into a film – an animated one.

At the moment only the trailer is out, as the finishing touches are being put on the full version.   Here’s a taste of it:

Perhaps it’s a bit early to critique something that’s only being shown as a preview, but if the rest of the film lives up to this then expect greatness.   In addition to being a great story, they’ve managed to achieve a very unique, yet at the same time classic style to the visuals.   It combines smooth motion and text with a kind of planned roughness and an excellent psuedo-3d layering effect.    Most who watch this kind of a thing probably won’t stop to think about how much effort goes into it, because when done properly, it just flows and you don’t even notice how well the text bounces and how the angular momentum transfers when a pill is swallowed.    However, I did, and props to all those involved!

I’m told that this was done primarily in Adobe After Effects and that most of the animation is actually individually edited frames.  Wow!   It must have taken a real lot of tweaking to make it so smooth.    I especially love how the camera shakes with a little elasticity.

But before I pick it apart any further, I’ll just stop and say that the style and flow rocks and I’m looking very forward to seeing the whole thing. After all, the Mona Lisa is best appreciated as a masterpiece and not by analyzing all the chemical components of the paint.

For those who don’t know, I just got back from The Amazing Meeting London.   I would blog about the meeting, post some photos, describe my thoughts and observations and thank the organizers and guests.   However, I’m tired and still have a bunch of things to do.   Thus I’ll just point out that the event was covered in the BBC News Magazine/Website.

Overall, the coverage looks pretty descent.   I could nitpick a few portions of the news story, for example, where it called James Randi “high priest James Randi” of the skeptic movement.   This one gets under my skin a little bit, because while I have a great deal of respect for Mr. Randi for all that he has done, it makes the movement sound a lot like  a cult.  Randi is great because he really helped found the modern movement of skepticism, getting attention way back in the 1970’s, when being a skeptic was decidedly not in vogue.   The JREF is very unique in its ability to bring together everyone from students to entertainers to research scientists, all working toward a common good and exchanging their ideas.

That said, empirical skepticism is not monolithic.  Plenty of skeptics disagree with each other and generally are very prone to be turned off by the idea of signing onto a group that demands universal agreement.   While I think Randi is great, I’ve disagreed with him quite a few times – although in the grand scheme of things, I tend to agree much more often than I disagree.

It’s also interesting that the article focuses so much on conspiracy theories and conspiracy theorists.  This is an interesting area that often leads to disagreement even amongst skeptics.   Conspiracy theories are not always false, of course.  Conspiracies do happen, and therefore it’s impossible to dismiss accusations that a politician may have accepted bribes or that a corporation conspired to obstruct a criminal investigation.   There are also completely nutty conspiracy theories, but it can be very hard to know exactly where to draw the line when it comes to what is reasonable.

Like many others, I’m also not crazy about the title “skeptic.”   If anyone can think of a better one, please let me know!   The article mentions the word “rationalist,” which I suppose is okay, although it would appear to invoke Rand and her philosophy and the word “bright” which I’ve never heard before in this context.

I didn’t mention this before because it was extremely last-minute, but I’m currently in London for TAM London. I won’t be back until Tuesday at the earliest. While I do have a laptop and internet access, there’s so much to do I doubt I’ll be spending much time blogging. If you happen to live in the London area and would like to get a pint, then leave a comment and I’ll try to check them fairly regularly. My phone does not work here, unfortunately.

There’s so much to do and so many people to meet plus there is so much to see here as well, that I’d rather spend my time experiencing it than on the internet, especially given that I will be headed back on Monday night.

Also, a big thanks to everyone involved, including, but not limited to: Ben Goldacre of badscience.net, Phil Plait of badastronomy.com, Adam Savage of Mythbusters, George Hrab and of course my good friend Tracy King, who organized the event.

A big Happy Birthday to our good friend The Amazing  James Randi who is now 82 years young and still in overall good health and sharp as an experimental tungsten needle.   Randi is still the worst nightmare of many a self-proclaimed psychic, dowser, healer, prophet, saint or other scammers.   In his career he’s helped to turn those like Uri Geller from someone that some scientists actually took literally to an exposed fraud.

For some time, the James Randi Educational Foundation has offered a challenge to those who claim paranormal powers to put up or shut up.   The challenge is for a cash prize of one million dollars for scientific proof of the paranormal. It all started a long time ago when James Randi himself offered one thousand dollars of his own for anyone willing to step up and prove that their claims of the paranormal are real.

Since then, it has grown to one million dollars.  The money is kept by the foundation in verifiable asserts and a protocol exists for those who wish to apply for the challenge.  To claim the million dollars, one must agree to a test protocol with the foundation.  This test protocol is somewhat flexible, as the claimed powers vary quite a bit.   The challenge consists of two tests.  The first test is a preliminary test, which is intended to have odds of passing by chance alone of no better than one to one thousand.  (Statisticians are consulted when necessary).    If the claimant passes this test, they will move on to the final test, which will have even stricter controls and scrutiny and will be reviewed by the foundation’s resident statisticians and others to assure it is valid.   If the claimant passes this, they will win the million dollars and also challenge the very basic laws of reality as we know them, thus upsetting science from the ground up.

Thus far, only a few have made it to the preliminary challenge.   Despite the efforts of those involved to be accommodating to claimants, and the fact that the challenge is always done in a manner as transparent and fair as possible, most bow out before ever making it to the actual test procedure.   Of those who have made it to the preliminary test, none have passed.

In the past, a few high profile psychics like Sylvia Browne have stated that they would take on the challenge, but this has never materialized.   Those like John Edward, Uri Geller and other well known self-proclaimed psychics and mystics generally avoid this test like the plague.    Despite one million dollars to donate to whatever charity they like and finally shutting up the skeptics, nobody of any status seems to be willing to take on the challenge.  (Gee I wonder why?)

(Photo Credit: Scott Hurst)

At TAM-7 there was an individual, Connie Sonne, who did take the challenge and make it to the preliminary test.  I was lucky enough to be part of the audience to the challenge.   Despite being pretty sure of the outcome, I have to admit I held my breath.   The test was done very professionally and according to the agreed protocol.

PART 1

The rest of the test can be viewed via the links bellow.   I suggest checking out part 4, for those who don’t want to view the entire thing.

(more…)

It is obviously really really late to be recapping the events of The Amazing Meeting 7, but as I had been under the weather for a while, now seems like as good a time as any to mention the goings on.

For those who do not know, The Amazing Meeting is an annual event sponsored by the James Randi Educational Foundation which brings together a lot of skeptics and critical thinkers.  There are lectures, workshops, drinking, mingling, drinking, meeting new people, drinking, exchanging ideas, drinking and finally drinking.    The whole thing is a hoot and it’s been getting bigger each year.   As always I had a blast and it was at times a bit of sensory overload.

(This was staged, Penn did not actually hit me)

For those who don’t know what a “skeptic” is, it’s a little hard to explain.  No, we do not just sit around talking about how we think all UFO’s can be explained as a hoax or honest mistake.  (We do that too, it’s just not the only thing we do.)    The JREF and the skeptical community embody a wide variety of beliefs and philosophies, but in general the group consists of critical thinkers who don’t like things like homeopathy and do like things like science.

If you have any interest in science in the public media, skepticism, debunking, myths and myth busting, the harm caused by misinformation on things like vaccines and conspiracy theories or if you’re just a little bit geeky in general, it might be worth considering attending one of these get-togethers.

A few highlights:
RS Lancaster, who had suffered a stroke last year was in attendance.  I was personally very surprised and extremely happy to see that his condition has improved dramatically.  Mr. Lancaster is still wheelchair bound and has limited use of the left side of his body.   However, he has regained the ability to speak fluently and he appears to have very good alertness and mental facilities.    I’m so glad to see RSL doing better and enjoying the occasion.

A preliminary test was conducted for the Million Dollar Challenge.   The test was witnessed by hundreds of attendees.   The subject of the test did not pass, but it was still a memorable and very suspenseful event.   Personally, I was pretty confident that I knew what the outcome would be, but I still held my breath.

Of course, there were plenty of great speakers and presenters.  I want to offer a special thanks to Joe Nickell, whose presentation was above average even for the event.  Mr. Nickell is a senior researcher for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. You may recognize him from the numerous television shows or magazine articles he has been involved with.   Mr. Nickell prefers not to be called a “debunker” because he sets out to investigate reports and follow the facts.   The fact that all his investigations have resulted in the most mundane explanations for things like the Roswell event or lake monsters is just a coincidence.

Mr. Nickell was also a very interesting person to chat with after his presentation.   Of course, the same could be said for any of the guests and numerous other attendees.

Mr. Randi himself has been experiencing some health issues in recent months.   He is 80 years old and as such even a minor incident can be draining.   However, he is continuing to improve after having had some complications.   I will leave it at that, but I’ll also say that there is every reason to be optimistic that he will continue to be a thorn in the side of many scammers for years to come.

And finally a big thanks to everyone, but especially:  George Rhab, Penn and Teller, Hal Bidlack, Jeff Wagg, Alison Smith, Adam Savage, Joe Nickell, Banacheck, Linda, Michael Shermer, James Randi and numerous others who I am sure I have forgotten…

I will be posting more on the amazing events of TAM as well as the various individuals whom I had the pleasure of meeting and exchanging thoughts with.   However, this weekend I’m going to be at the beach.

It’s been almost a week since TAM-7, which I may add, was pretty awesome, and it therefore might seem a bit strange that I haven’t posted anything about the trip or for that matter, posted anything new at all.

Unfortunately, despite being a complete blast, TAM was also a bit of a burn-out weekend.  Way too much time awake and not enough asleep, a bit too much drinking and way too much time crammed into coach class seats on aircraft really does not lend itself to optimal health.   Coming back from the event I was jet-lagged, overtired, dehydrated and just not in the best condition in general.    It’s been my experience that when I allow myself to reach the point of total burnout, I often will find that I have contracted an illness due to my immune system operating at bellow its  normal capacity.

That seems to have happened on this occasion as well.   Upon arriving home I found myself with a mild fever, achy joints, fatigue and some very swollen glands.  My doctor tells me it’s probably a viral infection (which one he does not know, because there are dozens that can cause these symptoms).   He also told me that there is little medicine can do for me, and I just have to wait this one out.    Perhaps I should have gone to a homeopath, because I’m sure they’d tell me they could cure me – whether or not they actually could, but since real doctors are forced to tell the truth, they have to admit sometimes that they don’t have much to offer for a given condition.

That being said, I feel better today than I did yesterday and I felt better yesterday than I did the day before.   Assuming this trend continues at its current rate, I should be back to 100% capacity either tomorrow or the day after.    (hopefully)

I could certainly post more today.  I’m not so deadly ill that I can’t manage to crank out a few pages of text, but I’d rather just rest and drink fluids, because that’s generally the best way to get over this kind of thing.

If this post has any spelling or grammatical errors in it, then just deal with it.   I still have the tail end of a low grade fever and I’d rather just get some rest tonight than worry about that kind of thing.

Incase I didn’t mention it before (and I’m pretty sure I didn’t) I’m going to be attending this year’s Amazing Meeting (number 7 but only my 3rd) out in Fabulous Las Vegas.  It’s a skeptical event put on by the James Randi Educational Foundation.   I even get to be there the 12th for my birthday!

Not too sure if I’ll be posting from there.  I do have a laptop with me, but chances are it will be just too busy and awesome to stop to post.  I’ll be back the 13th.

If anyone who reads this is going to be there, be sure to say hi!  I’ll be staying at the event hotel and shouldn’t be too hard to find!

Now that the Montel Williams Show is no longer being filmed we won’t be privy to this spectical anymore, but at the end of each year, Sylvia Browne, a self-proclaimed psychic would issue her predictions for the next year.   Last year I noted that her predictions for 2007 were very very wrong.   However, it seems her predictions for 2008 are, believe it or not, even worse.

Now that the year 2008 is over, we can look back and laugh at just how amazingly, ridiculously wrong she was.

2008 was a year with a large number of economic news stories but she missed every single one of them.   She said the job market would improve (it got worse.) and also that the auto industry would improve dramatically due to the introduction of hybrid vehicles.

Predicting the introduction of hybrid vehicles by US automakers is certainly not difficult because by the end of 2007 there were already hybrids on the market and their market-share was improving. While hybrids continue to gain in popularity they have not turned around the auto market.

US auto-makers are still retooling for hybrid production. GM’s first next-generation hybrid is slated for introduction in 2010. Ford hopes to expand hybrid production in 2009 and introduce plug-in hybrids in 2010 or 2010. Chrysler expects to produce electric drivetrain vehicles within the next five to seven years.

No expansion or change in fortunes in 2008, that is for sure.  She completely missed the dramatic and worldwide slump in the economy.  Medical stocks have done no better than other stocks and many have done worse.

Robert S. Lancaster continues in his recovery from the stroke he suffered this past summer.   Of course, we all wish him the best.