Disqus - Latest Comments for alistairpott

Re: Why are humans (mostly) hairless?

alistairpott — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 02:36:32 -0000

Great comment and interesting point. I suspect that our remaining hairs do provide an advantage through tactile perception.

The obvious question though is why only humans? If the thin coat were such an advantage why would (pretty much) only humans have evolved this approach?

Since only humans evolved this trait there must be another factor that is not taken into account in your theory. Even in warm climates other land mammals have thick coats rather than taking advantage of your theory. Why?

This suggests that the theory that humans evolved a thinner coat for increased tactile perception is at best incomplete.

Re: Purpose of Life

alistairpott — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 05:07:01 -0000

It is interesting that this passage essentially states that the purpose of human life is reproduction. That said, it is of course merely a statement without any grounding or reasoning. Just a statement.

Re: Power Balance is rubbish

alistairpott — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 07:37:25 -0000

Power Balance has issued a "corrective advertisement" admitting that their advertising is wrong. You can check out the ad here: http://www.powerbalance.com...

In the ad they state that "We admit that there is no credible scientific evidence that supports our claims and therefore we engaged in misleading conduct". They are also offering a refund!

Re: Power Balance is rubbish

alistairpott — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 11:51:49 -0000

In fact, as the blog post above states, it has been proven that Powerbalance doesn't work.

No matter how many colours you have!

Re: Power Balance is rubbish

alistairpott — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 07:19:44 -0000

I'm afraid that the amount of nonsense in your post leads one to suspect that you have a vested interest in these toys. The original post stands: every properly conducted scientific test has shown Power Balance does NOT work. If you refute that, send us a link to the results and methods of a real study.

Re: Power Balance is rubbish

alistairpott — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 11:03:02 -0000

Because they're getting paid to. Or they also fall for it. Just because other people have fallen for something doesn't make it true. It is a fake...

Re: Power Balance is rubbish

alistairpott — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 11:01:50 -0000

As explained above, that is not a valid test... It proves nothing.

Re: I witnessed a suicide on Table Mountain

alistairpott — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 22:54:17 -0000

In one of the most incredible coincidences of my life I've just bumped into Micharel (the British tourist from the story above) in La Paz, Bolivia. His beard has grown a lot since that day on Table Mountain, but I still recognized him in the bar of the Loki hostel here in La Paz.

Re: Power Balance is rubbish

alistairpott — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:16:24 -0000

Remember:
1. You and your father must not know which bracelet is on when you do the tests.
2. Do the tests several times in order to find a real effect.

Re: Power Balance is rubbish

alistairpott — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 13:30:03 -0000

I can explain it. The placebo effect in combination with clever tricks. The order of the tests seems to make a difference as well as the placebo effect discussed above.

The point is, that Power Balance has been shown to be no more effective than a rubber band. I'm afraid that your flawed tests prove absolutely nothing.

Re: Power Balance is rubbish

alistairpott — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 13:16:23 -0000

A proper test on a sample of people would detect an effect even if only a few people feel the effect. In this case it does NOT because there is NO EFFECT more significant than placebo.

Re: Julius Malema should not have been convicted of hate speech

alistairpott — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 05:31:12 -0000

While I agree that Malema should have a platform I hate that you have grouped him with great men like Mandela and Tambo.

Malema is a populist, racist buffoon. Despite that he still deserves freedom of speech.

Re: Power Balance is rubbish

alistairpott — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 05:22:55 -0000

You obviously didn't read the blog post. I describe seeing it used and running a very basic double blind test. The results show that the 'power balance tests' are rigged.

It appears to work, but in fact it is a trick.

Re: Power Balance is rubbish

alistairpott — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 05:17:44 -0000

There is no difference as the real power balance does nothing. You may as well just wear an elastic band around your wrist

Re: Power Balance is rubbish

alistairpott — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 05:14:07 -0000

You obviously didn't read the blog post. The tests are rigged as any properly conducted test shows and has shown.

I must admit that I find it frustrating that so many power balance salesmen/converts come onto this post and comment without reading the post itself.

Re: Power Balance is rubbish

alistairpott — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:43:53 -0000

Just to be clear. There may be a placebo effect, but the tests are rigged to show a favorable result for Power Balance.

Furthermore, the fact that the placebo effect may be effective does not mean that Power Balance is not rubbish. It is absolute rubbish and works no better than prayer or kissing a smurf or any other superstitious plays.

Re: Power Balance is rubbish

alistairpott — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 05:24:46 -0000

BS. Power Balance has been experimentally shown to be rubbish. You may be able to find specific cases where it 'seems' to work. Trust me it does not.

I have personally seen this to be the case.

Re: Purpose of Life

alistairpott — Mon, 31 May 2010 09:36:45 -0000

Even if there was a 'Creator' just because it created us doesn't mean that the purpose of life is to glorify it. That isn't logical...

Re: Purpose of Life

alistairpott — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 03:32:26 -0000

I agree. But what to choose as a personal purpose and how to believe in it when you know that it is all just atoms floating about...

Re: Power Balance is rubbish

alistairpott — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 03:48:35 -0000

Awesome reply. I woulda replied with some detailed, longer message showing how his logic is faulty and suggesting an affiliation with power balance.

You said it all in one word!

Re: Using raw SQL in django

alistairpott — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:10:46 -0000

This is great, thanks. Hit the same problem today and this is a good solution.

Re: Marie Claire extra-naked issue

alistairpott — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:41:46 -0000

Edited to remove references to "paunch" which I believe is unfair.

Re: Trapped in a coma for 23 years

alistairpott — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:33:13 -0000

Here is a discussion from Wired. Seems that he is at least partially conscious.
http://www.wired.com/wireds...

Re: Trapped in a coma for 23 years

alistairpott — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:56:47 -0000

There has been some excellent debate on this story on reddit. Many people believe that this man is indeed in a coma and that the consciousness and communication is being faked.

Read all the comments: http://bit.ly/4FfCcS

There is also some excellent information from someone who periodically suffers from locked-in syndrome. He talks about how he is always misdiagnosed.
http://bit.ly/5QcQTz

Re: Guido Fawkes – A Summary

alistairpott — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:32:54 -0000

Yes, I did mean to say that... Thanks for the heads up. I've updated the post.