Snake oil

[jh15]

That is a special wood seasoned from an audiophool's top of the line speaker cabinet. Wife did not want the casket he asked to be buried in to go to waste.

Good vibrations....

[cprobertson1]

I discovered something interesting yesterday. While not technically snake-oil... one of the folks at my radio club is a flat-earther. 

It all came up because I mentioned that I was communicating via satellite repeater over the weekend (I also performed a moonbounce! It was AWESOME - how many of you folks have bounced a radio signal off the moon?) - and he promptly tells me that satellites don't exist becasue the earth is flat.

Poes law came into play, and I thought he was being satirical... boy was I wrong: the earth is flat, satellites are a conspiracy, stars are pinpoints of light on the hemispherical sky, the sun is a spotlight, and the moon is an illusion.

I doubt even a Koch, Mandelbrot, Julia, Barnsley or a Sierpinkski is capable of describing this fractal of wrongness. You are wrong at every conceivable scale of resolution - from a distance, your worldview is wrong: and if you zoom in on any details of that worldview, wrong; I'd like to say you're only as wrong as the sum of your wrong parts, but no - each part is as equally wrong as the whole.

I tried debating him but it quickly turned to an ad nauseum argument. It was terrible. He was wrong at every level. WRONG! WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG!

Even worse, he used to be in the merchant navy... you'd think he'd have realised that boats disappear over the horizon bottom-first (apparently if you get a better telescope or binoculars and zoom in, the bottom reappears) - or, I dunno, that your "map-based-on-a-spheroidal-earth^TM" still works for navigation! Oh, but his answer to that one was amazing... the conspiracies done it: that map is exactly what the earth looks like from above. DUH! And the distortions in it caused by stretching the surface of a sphere into a plane? Nah, the map is 100% accurate.

It's well saying he wasnt a navigator in said merchant navy

Sorry - rant over. I had to get that off my chest: it was so frustrating! I just had to share the madness with you! Come join me, we can all be mad together and have a party.

[Zbig]

Are you 100% certain he's not just a (flat)world-class troll? Perhaps there was some wager going on behind your back? Anyway, I always wondered, what the flat-earthers give as the reason for all this conspiracy? I mean, where's all the money for the New World Order/Illuminati/Reptilians/Aliens/Xenu in fooling people like that for no other apparent reason?

[cprobertson1]

Are you 100% certain he's not just a (flat)world-class troll? Perhaps there was some wager going on behind your back? Anyway, I always wondered, what the flat-earthers give as the reason for all this conspiracy? I mean, where's all the money for the New World Order/Illuminati/Reptilians/Aliens/Xenu in fooling people like that for no other apparent reason?

--START EDIT--
Im afraid it's rare for a coherent reason for a conspiracy - "Because, reasons" is the most common I hear. Either the Bourgeoise or the lizardmen want world domination, big pharma wants a profit, or the New World Order wants a crack at the world domination thing before the people from venus get here. In other words: "pick a comic book villian" - their motives are probably better defined than the illuminati.

Sometimes "the reason for the conspiracy is secret" will suffice!
--END EDIT--

Again, Poe's law

When I mentioned it to others it turned out he has brought it up before at club meetings and talks involving satellites, going so far as to argue with the guy we got in to give the talk.

He also has several other unconventional beliefs and is into paganism - hangs around with a few other druids when he's not with us. It's a genuine delusional pattern of thinking rather than actual malevolence; plus he's quite an elderly gent, so it's difficult to be too harsh on him - but at the same time, it is utterly infuriating when faced with such denialism of such basic facts; especially when you see it in an acquaintance!


And, in other news, actual snake-oil has been spotted: "oxygenated water" - it's better for your brain apparently! You just add a few drops of oxylift to your water bottle and... poof! Magic! (Though it works better if you buy the book as well!)

To wit: "A highly efficient synergistic blend of powerful nutritional supplements providing the body with oxygen, hydrogen, structured water, etheric respiration energies, major and trace minerals, enzymes, and amino acids."

"The drops should be placed in a cool liquid, such as pure juice or water. As you get acclimated to having an increase of necessary nutrients that may have been missing for a long time, slowly and gradually increase the daily serving to 8 drops taken 3 times per day, or a total of 24 drops per day. On average it is best not to exceed a total of 50 drops per day long-term unless under the care of a therapist skilled in the oxidative modalities. Avoid taking late in the evening since wakefulness may result."

So! If it's not working - just add more! Only £20 for a... is that a 20ml bottle? £1 for a ml of water? Wow, thats literally 500'000x the going rate! (£0.002 / 1L for tap water vs £1000/1L for oxylift)

What a load of... wait why is this now stocked in my local corner shop :S

[TruthExposé]

Snake oil? I have got of it a lot at home, and it was VERRRYYYY expensive for me to buy it. One name is Bedini and his chargers and RPX units that another Bedini associate is now selling to people under false advertisement. I have spent over $5000 just on Bedini snake oil, check out my channel on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrLvTcqHx2RufKPx3gWDA1Q, I will also be doing videos on other snake oil once done with Bedini!

[Cyberdragon]

Snake oil? I have got of it a lot at home, and it was VERRRYYYY expensive for me to buy it. One name is Bedini and his chargers and RPX units that another Bedini associate is now selling to people under false advertisement. I have spent over $5000 just on Bedini snake oil, check out my channel on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrLvTcqHx2RufKPx3gWDA1Q, I will also be doing videos on other snake oil once done with Bedini!

It would be awesome if you destroyed the stuff afterwards (if you don't already), like overload/overvolt it, microwave it, exc...

EDIT: It's killing your batteries because it acually is a real desulfator. HOWEVER, it is a simple desulfator as apposed to a smart one. A smart one will only trigger if it detects the battery is not charging properly, while as this thing just has default desulfate mode, meaning it puts high voltage on the battery. There is nothing wrong with the device, it's just the people who made it are woo-woo idiots that don't understand things like how to use a desulfator, mainly that you NEVER connect a desulfator to a fully working battery, and thus suggest that you do so.

[TruthExposé]

Well, you can't really destroy a charger by over voltage, a cap will blow open for example but that's all.  The chargers that I bought from idiots are for example $1500 in price, 80amps 12 and 24 volts. But Bedini's chargers kill batteries as shown in my channel on youtube.

[Cyberdragon]

I was thinking more of putting mains on the output, I doubt those shitty things have protection. it's probably just some 555 desulfator circuit with some sort of op-amps for switching those LEDs. Unfortunately, the potting will probably contain the exploding parts so .

[TruthExposé]

I was thinking more of putting mains on the output, I doubt those shitty things have protection. it's probably just some 555 desulfator circuit with some sort of op-amps for switching those LEDs. Unfortunately, the potting will probably contain the exploding parts so .

I don't know what's in the potting, but as you will see in my other videos, the next is out on Friday, and once I get to 80amp 12/23 volt charger you will see the secret inside. I will spill all beans so that anyone interested can build his own charger based on that.

[cprobertson1]

This is more of a vacuous claim than true snake oil - but I still found it funny.

Energy Class A+++ Wire - that means it has less than 13% loss! That's great news!

[Fungus]

This is more of a vacuous claim than true snake oil - but I still found it funny.

Energy Class A+++ Wire - that means it has less than 13% loss! That's great news!

Apparently it can handle 12V!

[McBryce]

It doesn't have arrows to tell you what direction the current flows best or which direction the copper was extruded. No self-respecting Audiophool is going to use that for his speakers. It's also probably too flexible, so it would droop and touch the floor between the Olive oil impregnated Teak stand-offs that are meant to keep it elevated.

McBryce.

[cprobertson1]

This is more of a vacuous claim than true snake oil - but I still found it funny.

Energy Class A+++ Wire - that means it has less than 13% loss! That's great news!

Apparently it can handle 12V!

I kinda want to test the 12v/6A claim - I wouldn't normally want to put 6A through 0.5mm2 cable, but the seller said it'd be okay!

[grumpydoc]

I kinda want to test the 12v/6A claim - I wouldn't normally want to put 6A through 0.5mm2 cable, but the seller said it'd be okay!

Mmmm......

Slightly optimistic - 0.5mm² mains cord is rated for 3A - but probably OK for short runs at 12V DC.

The construction is stated as 25 x 0.16mm strands. If copper then that implies something around 34\$ \small m\Omega\$ per m, or just a shade under 0.2V drop per conductor per metre at 6A and a dissipation of 1.2W/m

Given that it is sold as speaker wire then 6A RMS into an 8 \$ \small \Omega\$ load is 288W and it really does look a bit light to run almost 300W of loudspeaker. You wouldn't want a 'speaker on the end of 50m of the stuff, that's for sure.

[helius]

Music power levels are not CW unless specified as such (sometimes it is called "RMS power", a misnomer). A "300W" loudspeaker doesn't actually receive 300W, but an irregular signal with peaks to 55 dBm.

[TheNewLab]

It seems the free energy snakes are most discussed. I noticed a few flat earth dis-believers. Shame!

Seriously, look up the phrase on Wiki. then look it up on the "anti-wiki" or non-wiki.. I site that millennials use to spoof anti- establish science and related.
My experience of flat-earthers was New Year's when I heard my friends nephew really did believe in the flat earth theory. I did my homework before the party  The flat earth org. started late-mid 20th century. maxed out at around 2500 members. after founder (left or quit) down to less than 1000. Further research. it was mostly a spoofing group.

Only at the party, my friend's 20 -something nephew really adamantly believes along with his wife-to-be...She is a hot blonde,yet her intense absolutism truly scares me. Just yesterday, I learned I US Congressman asked in a congressional hearing on science that there must have been intelligent life on Mars once...so prove that there was not.

Oy vay. quadruple head-slap

[IanMacdonald]

If you've got five minutes to waste this one's good for a laugh anyway: 



Electrons forming boson pairs? Reasonably sure that's not possible because electrons don't have spin or handedness, or whatever you want to call it. Basically they are all the same.

[helius]

Electrons forming boson pairs? Reasonably sure that's not possible because electrons don't have spin or handedness, or whatever you want to call it. Basically they are all the same.

If you try to understand a lunatic you will only confuse yourself.
Electrons are fermions, not bosons. They always have 1/2 spin. The spin is what allows them to pair up in each atomic orbital, which is critical for chemistry as we know it. One electron will assume +1/2 spin, while the other will take -1/2 spin, which means they can have the same energy while obeying the Pauli exclusion rule.
Chirality or helicity is more technical and is relevant to the CPT invariance. The only particle without chirality is the Higgs boson.

[Cyberdragon]

LOL, maybe this person heard of cooper pairs from somewhere and went off on a wild tangent of nonsense. The only time electrons can form any sort of pair is at extremely low temperatures anyway.

I wonder how many of these nuts are actually this stupid (besides flat-Earthers, they are confirmed stupid), or know they are touting nonsense and conning people.

[X]

Came across this beauty:

7mm Black Silicone with Synthetic Jacketing resists heat, oil, and abrasion. A combination Kevlar Helically Spiral Wound Core at 350 ohm per foot resistance delivers greater spark energy, while improving power, idle, and fuel efficiency.

That's higher than typical nichrome wire used in heating elements, so it must be more efficient.
Then again, a certain maximum power transfer theorem may have something to do with this.

8mm Black Silicone and Synthetic Jacketing resist heat, oil and abrasion. 500 ohm per foot resistance delivering spark energy, while improving power, idle and fuel efficiency. A combination Kevlar Helically Spiral Wound Core conductor for greater strength and durability that suppresses Electro Magnetic (EMI) and Radio Frequency Interference (RFI).

Even more resistance, so much higher efficiency! And magic EMI/RFI suppression spiral, so no need for any pesky shielding or ferrite beads. Ride around those high-power TV/radio transmitter towers without Fox News interfering with your ignition timing!

All wires fire intermittantly no matter what coil or ignition you may have. That is why you see carbon on your plugs. ThunderVolts have a solid stream of fire power resulting in more horsepower and more mileage. Your bike will start and run better than ever before!

PACK SOME HEAT with our new 9MM Firepower spark plug wires. Black wires feature Silver 9MM Gun Boots. These are the hottest wires on the market today.
All wires fire intermittently no matter what coil or ignition you may have. That is why you see carbon on your plugs. Our 9MM Firepower wires provide a solid stream of fire power eliminating the carbon on your plugs. This results in more horsepower, more torque and better mileage. Your bike will start and run better than ever before! They are compatible with all Harley ignition systems. You have a choice of Custom Fit Sets for your Harley model or Universal Sets where you terminate to your desired length. All Taylor/Sumax wires are 100% made in U.S.A.

I thought it was the spark plug which was meant to "fire" and not the HT wires.

[cprobertson1]

It happened again - I was researching thermal cameras (indeed, I was considering getting a CAT S60 Flir Camera-phone) - and then I came across it...

The "BooBuddy" - no it's not a potty training device, though I suppose it is technically full of it...

It's the "NEW BooBuddy Interactive Trigger Bear" - well I certainly feel triggered

-BooBuddy is an attractive, talking bear trigger object
-Detects EMF energy and responds with lights in the paws
-Detects motion, temperature and responds with a friendly voice
-Baseline readings start when you turn the unit on (first 30 seconds)
-Asks EVP questions on it's own when the environment is quiet
-All electronics are hidden completely in the bear out of view
-Built, specifically, for Ghost Hunting by GhostStop
-Almost 40 voice responses and questions!

ONLY $300! Comes with a FREE HARD CASE for your EMF Teddy Bear! (no, seriously. That's what they called it.)

I know this technically isn't traditional snake oil - but I thought it was so weird that I just had to share it xD


---EDIT---
Just to clarify, the trigger bear [sic] is a piece of ghost-hunting equipment. Um... at least it's a novel form factor?

[Kilrah]

Just got something in my inbox about this... nail polish for audiophool connectors 

Of course ethernet also needs that abilty to carry these "0,000 000 000 001 Volt" signals 

[helius]

Contact protectants are not a phool's errand. They are very widely used on electrical contacts, especially those that will be used outdoors or in harsh environments, or subject to repeated connection cycles. In many cases their use is required by equipment specifications.
The best known protectants are DeoxIT brand.

Is it phoolish to apply protectants to Ethernet cables? I think it depends on whether they were correctly made to begin with (most connectors are treated in commercial assemblies) and how harsh the environment in which they are used is. For maintenance, a combination cleaner/protectant like DeoxIT D-series makes better sense.

[Kilrah]

Contact protectants are not a phool's errand. They are very widely used on electrical contacts, especially those that will be used outdoors or in harsh environments, or subject to repeated connection cycles.

In the environment of a living room and probably one single mating cycle it is.

An Ethernet cable either works or doesn't, there's no middle ground.

[helius]

An Ethernet cable either works or doesn't, there's no middle ground.

Proof that you are wrong:
Plug a straight through cable between two computers. If Auto-MDIX is implemented and enabled, it will work. Otherwise, it won't.