Netiquette and obnoxious arseholes.

Hey, look! I baked you a cake!

I live my life on the principle that if I wouldn't like someone doing something to me, I won't do it to them.

If I see a man having a discussion with a woman that I know in the street, I wouldn't barge in and start haranguing the man, because I wouldn't like it if someone did that to me.

So, why is it that on the Net, obnoxious arseholes think it's O.K. to do it? No, it's not! There's something called Netiquette. Observe it.

Yes, Man and Bali. I'm looking at you! When someone is commenting from the safety of their computer keyboards (or Smartphone touch-screens), they can turn into obnoxious arseholes. In real life, they might get a punch in the chops, which they'd richly deserve.

Addendum: On a Facebook status, far far away, the following conversation occurred (the beginning has been redacted):-

Me: I've liked some of their comments, too. That's why it's odd that they're playing up now. They seem to be "White knighting" Jane.

Kade: And now the plot thickens. You see, this might be something entirely different.

As an amused onlooker with no real interest in this drama, or the anonymous actors, I'll offer two educated explanations.

1. As you've already touched on, this might be a simple case of plain 'White Knighting', which isn't all that uncommon on the internet. Case closed.

2. If one were to really consider where the various moving parts of these dietary arguments -- and their actors -- find their home ground, Jane would actually be someone who'd get considerable sympathy from the plant-based or plant-centred crowd. Her general theories and ideas espouse a very low animal product intake paired with a puritanical focus on non-refined plant foods. Considering this avenue, one could see where this is going and why those individuals would like my comments and support her regularly. It's one of those areas where they find considerable overlaps of agreement.

Too bad they didn't realise that even *you* share in those overlaps and that much of your exchange with Jane is actually harmless and over a truly minor disagreement. Unfortunately, the relative anonymity of the internet not only makes individuals rambunctious, but also extremely presumptive of things they cannot gauge, such as tone and intent behind comments. This might prompt certain hot shots into White Knighting for someone in a friendly disagreement, which they can't decipher as being friendly, *because* that someone also happens to relatively champion their outlook in a highly volatile environment where even mild disagreements are far too often perceived as polarising.

Me: I couldn't have put it better myself!

Would it be a good idea to put what you just wrote in an addendum at the end of my blog post?

Kade: Up to you, Nige. Go for it if it is any good to the point you're making. ; )


As a result of the above conversation, I've changed my mind about Man & Bali. They're not obnoxious arseholes.

Further addendum: As a result of Man's comment here, I've re-changed my mind about him. He is an obnoxious arsehole. As a result of a comment elsewhere, so is Gordon.

Anyway, I've had my fun and I've made my point, so I'll say no more about it!

Cooperation is so much better than endless squabbling.

Is the world getting better, or worse?

A few days ago, on Facebook, the following graphic caught my eye.

From http://www.businessinsider.com/the-world-is-becoming-a-better-place-2014-10#ixzz3HumR3IGy

Average life expectancy in England in 1843 was only 40 years. According to How the Mid-Victorians Worked, Ate and Died., those who survived being born, accidents & infections in the first five years of life lived to a ripe old age, despite no modern drugs or other medical technology.

This suggests that mortality between the ages of zero to five was ~50% back then. Yikes.

Click the link in the caption to see other ways in which the world has got better.

A bijou rant-ette: Robbing bastards and Misapplication of laws.

The title of this post is based on The dirty, robbing bastards!

1. Robbing bastards.

Once upon a time, I used to enjoy driving. Maybe getting older has made me less tolerant, but I now hate driving, for several reasons.

1. Increased road congestion, increasing journey times and frustration.

2. Slow-coaches driving well below the speed limit, increasing journey times and frustration.

3. P.I.G.S (People Incapable of Giving Signals). I'm not a %^&*ing mind-reader!

4. P.P.P.R.P. (People with Piss-Poor Road Positioning), obstructing the road when they're manoeuvring, causing delays and frustration.

5. P.P.P.L.D. (People with Piss-Poor Lane Discipline), causing me stress, especially on roundabouts.

6. "Chelsea Tractors" and other large vehicles, obstructing the road when they're manoeuvring, causing delays and frustration.

7. Cyclists wobbling from side to side, or riding two abreast, obstructing the road, causing delays and frustration.

8. P.P.P.H.A. (People with Piss-Poor Headlight Alignment). High headlight aim fails the MOT test. Therefore, vehicles with high headlight aim are technically unroadworthy. Why are so many unroadworthy vehicles on the road and why do the traffic police do nothing about it? Also, H.I.D. (High-Intensity Discharge) headlights. When sitting in a Mazda MX-5, my eyes are only 3'6" (I measured it) above the ground, making me very susceptible to being dazzled by oncoming headlights that are aimed too high. I find H.I.D. (High Intensity Discharge) headlights particularly dazzling. Being dazzled causes me stress, as I can't see properly.

I've been emphasising the words frustration and stress, as these raise levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Chronic frustration and stress while driving chronically elevate cortisol, which is bad for health for several reasons. See Cushing's syndrome.

Here's a video I shot, using the camera on my Samsung Galaxy SII phone, mounted on the driver's door window with the lens 3'6" above the ground. The video is shaky, due to a combination of uneven roads and very firm suspension. When the headlights flare-out on the video, it means that the sensor in the camera is being overloaded. Ditto my eyes. I speeded it up to shorten the duration, and added an appropriate soundtrack, using Windows Live Movie Maker. Enjoy!


When I can't take being dazzled any longer, I lower the visor to the point where it blocks light from oncoming headlights. This makes seeing high-up objects (e.g. road signs and traffic lights) difficult.

9. Reading Borough Council. Here's a video I'd rather not have been in (published with permission).


Salient points from the above video:-

1. Reading Borough Council are enforcing Bus Lanes at all hours. Where I live, Bus Lanes are only enforced during peak hours, which is reasonable, as Bus Lanes allow Public Transport to travel freely on roads that become congested during peak hours. Sarcasm Alert! Note the heavy traffic congestion in the non-Bus Lane at 01:32 in the middle of the night.

2. The road surface is shiny, due to surface water. There's quite a high reflection coefficient, when viewed from the high angle of incidence of the Bus Lane enforcement camera. As the angle of incidence decreases, the reflection coefficient increases. At low angles of incidence, such as my view of the road from 3'6" above the ground, the reflection coefficient is nearly 100%.

3. There's an oncoming vehicle with bright headlights. I would have had the visor down, so I wouldn't have seen the red traffic light, until I was so close that it was visible around the side of the visor.

See also:-
Bus lane fine in Reading - PistonHeads.
Vastern Road Reading bus lane - FightBack Forums
Is Reading Anti Motorist?

Reading and I have history!

My first encounter was with Reading Borough Council and was on 7.11.2009. It involved the Parking Permit below (Reg. No. deleted):-

Reading Borough Council tried to prosecute me for non-display of the above permit. I appealed on the grounds that Reading Borough Council didn't provide a self-adhesive strip to stick the flimsy bit of paper to the windscreen (as is the case with virtually all car park tickets), and that their flimsy bit of paper had blown off the dashboard of my Mazda MX-5. My appeal was accepted. That's the only time I've come out on top with Reading Borough Council.

My second encounter was with Thames Valley Police and was on 4.10.2010 at 23:56. It involved the (Sarcasm Alert!) Vastern Road revenue generation scheme.
See also:-
SPEEDING DRIVERS - Get Reading
Positioning of "Safety" speed cameras - WhatDoTheyKnow

The two lanes each way dual-carriageway was virtually deserted at 23:56, so virtually every driver that drove down that road at that time (about one a minute) was prosecuted for exceeding 30mph.

"It wouldn't be very profitable if everyone stuck to the speed limit" Kate Smith, Thames Valley Police.
No shit, Sherlock! The main indication that the road has a 30mph speed limit are lamp-posts. The West end of the road is part residential. The East end of the road has offices on the North side and a trading estate on the South side, both closed at night. When a motorist comes across a virtually deserted two lanes each way dual-carriageway in the middle of the night, there are two possible responses:-

1. Oh, look! A two lanes each way dual-carriageway with lamp-posts. I'd better drive at ≤30mph.
2. Oh, look! A two lanes each way dual-carriageway. National speed limit (70mph) applies.

I'm guessing that 2. is the usual (though incorrect) response. Why is the 30mph speed limit enforced in the middle of the night down the East end, when the offices and trading estate are closed and the road is virtually deserted?

Thought Experiment in Logic: If Reading Borough Council was concerned about the 25 injuries (1 serious) that occurred in the previous 3 years, they could have done more than just having one of THESE (seen on a recent stroll up Vastern Road using Google Street View) e.g. by adding THESE (as per the A325 in Farnborough) and THESE (as per the A325 in Farnborough). However, that would result in fewer drivers speeding and a drop in revenue from speeding fines.

There have been other encounters (e.g. the GATSO on a downhill road, where speed creeps up unless the speedometer is regularly checked, also police enforcement of a 40mph speed limit on the three lanes each way dual-carriageway section of the A33 at 00:23), but I won't bore you with the details.

2. Misapplication of laws.

Laws are intended to deter people from causing harm, or punish people who cause harm. I've noticed a tendency for organisations to use laws to extract money from people, and cover their own backs. I received a 61 page evidence pack from Reading Borough Council for a case before the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, to which I am taking them, as they refused to accept my mitigating circumstances for driving in the Bus Lane (poor visibility and excessive reflection from a wet road when viewed from 3'6" feet above the ground). Most of the evidence pack was to show that Reading Borough Council met all laws with their street and road signs. They also informed me that Mazda met all laws in the design and manufacture of my car, therefore the offence must be entirely my fault. Their evidence pack also contained a straw man fallacy, plus the implication that I nearly went through the red traffic light due to driving at "such a speed".

Some readers will think that I'm a careless driver who's trying to justify my carelessness. When I drive, I have priorities. They are as follows, followed by results achieved since passing my driving test in August 1979:-

1. DON'T HIT PEOPLE/CATS/DOGS/FOXES/DEER/BADGERS ETC. Result: Number hit = 0.
2. DON'T HIT OTHER CARS. Result: Number hit at ≥5mph = 0. Number hit at ≤5mph = 3. Number hit requiring exchange of details = 1.
3. DON'T HIT HARD OBJECTS. Result: Number hit at ≥5mph = 0. Number hit at ≤5mph = ~3.
4. ANYTHING ELSE.

You are *never* going to guess what happened on Saturday night - Part 2.

In You are *never* going to guess what happened on Saturday night, I got to sing with a band called Mirrorball at The Falkners Arms in Fleet. I think that you can probably now guess what happened last night!

"When you're gone", by Bryan Adams & Melanie Chisholm

"Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams.

More "Summer of '69".

If I'd known that a friend was going to be there with her camera, I would have worn smarter clothes!

ItsTheWoo, Me, and Sheeple.

This post is about http://itsthewooo.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/so-i-had-to-ban-nigel.html

From http://campvolant.com/2013/11/11/be-that-man-travail-en-cours/ I am "That man", where diet & nutrition is concerned.

My cunning plan worked! I needed an excuse to never have to visit that cluster-f*ck of a blog ever again, so I gradually increased the level of (well-deserved, may I add) snark & insults, in response to ItsTheWoo's insults to me, and misrepresentations about me, until she did what I wanted - i.e. banned me forever. Thank you!

In http://nigeepoo.blogspot.com/2014/08/dear-itsthewoo-how-do-you-do.html, I rebutted & debunked ItsTheWoo's strawman fallacies about me. I thought that she was merely ignorant of me, so I sent her a Friend Request on Facebook, which she accepted. I thought that if she knew more about me, she wouldn't use so many strawman fallacies.

Well, that was a complete waste of time! I took the opportunity to get to know her better, and what did I learn? She appears to be completely self-obsessed, and is mainly concerned with being as popular as possible, with as many followers as possible. To achieve this requires her to be constantly zany & "off the wall", with regular melt-downs to keep the troops entertained. She also likes nail varnish!

I don't actually have anything against her, other than her constant misrepresentations about me, which she's taken to an entirely new level in her latest melt-down.

After asking her pertinent questions in a friendly way, I ascertained that she was probably urinating excessive amounts of magnesium. See Magnesium and the Brain: The Original Chill Pill.
"Finally, magnesium is sequestered and wasted via the urine in times of stress."
This can create a vicious circle, whereby magnesium deficiency increases anxiety, which further increases stress. ItsTheWoo was complaining that dietary protein was making her too "wired", so I suggested that she increase her magnesium intake, and collect 24 hours of urine for analysis. I didn't even ask her to stick a needle in her arm for a blood test (as serum magnesium means nothing).

You'd think that I'd asked her to sell her mother from the way she carried on, making excuse after excuse to not wee into a 5 Litre container. I'm done with her, now. She obviously isn't interested in finding out the underlying reason why she has to eat a ketogenic diet all the time. She admitted that she's spent 12 years on a ketogenic diet, going from one supplement to the next, when tolerance develops. She's even tried Lithium. She's currently faffing about with a supplement called Kratom.

I'm sticking to Epsom Salts. It's cheap, it works and if you do overdose on it, you get a good run for your money! :-D As magnesium is a substance found naturally in the body, tolerance never develops.

The "Sheeple" part of the title is referring to ItsTheWoo's followers, who are no doubt slagging me off. Number of f*cks given = 0. It's interesting how she's built up a large following of mostly feeble-minded people who can't think for themselves, and who praise her for every post she writes, no matter how incorrect it might be.

I don't blog to be popular. I blog to help people, with accurate & up-to-date information about ways to treat nasty medical conditions that impair people's lives.

Hopefully, my next post will be back to business as usual. There's something big coming, and this time it's got nothing to do with Gluten or A1 Casein!

EDIT: As a result of the 191(!) comments to this post, here are some thought experiments in logic:-

Q1. If Woo's followers don't give a f*ck about me, why post about banning me?
A1. Because Woo is an attention-whore.

Q2. Woo could have shut me up by saying that she'd already had a 24-hour urine test for excessive Mg excretion. She didn't. Why?
A2. Because in 12 years of suffering mental issues, she's never had a had a 24-hour urine test for excessive Mg excretion.

Q3. Woo could have shut me up and shown that she's right and I'm wrong, by taking a 24-hour urine test for excessive Mg excretion. She didn't. Why?
A3. Because she knows that she's wrong and I'm right, because a 24-hour urine test for excessive Mg excretion would show excessive Mg excretion.

Q4. Why does Woo insist that a 24-hour urine test for excessive Mg excretion is worthless (it isn't)?
A4. Because EITHER she's worried that she'll lose her "shtick" of nuttiness and will lose followers (in which case, she's playing you all for fools and should be avoided), OR she's scared of change, due to mental illness (in which case, she's to be pitied and should be avoided).

Please discuss the above statements without deflecting onto irrelevancies e.g. my Aspergic tendencies. Yes, I admit that I have Aspergic tendencies. I've also admitted to being a nerd (click Nerds). So shoot me ;-)

Blindly following someone & believing everything that they say without ever verifying facts is dangerous, and can lead to the situation depicted in the picture at the top of this post (Godwin's Law alert). The opposite (total cynicism) is also unhealthy.

People need to do research of their own, or just read my blog, as I've already done loads of research. If your health problem isn't mentioned anywhere in my blog (check the labels first), please email me (there's a disguised email link in my "About me" section) and ask. I love doing research, as I never know what I'm going to discover, and I occasionally stumble across something really important by accident, as my recent posts on Constipation/IHD/Type 1 Diabetes/Schizophrenia/Autism, Hyperinsulinaemia, Age-related Macular Degeneration, Rheumatoid Arthritis & Calcium Shift have shown.

If I've been of help to you, please tell any family members or friends who are suffering from any conditions that are impairing their life. My suggestions must always be checked by someone's GP first, in case of contraindications with other medical conditions or medications that I don't know about. My suggestions must always be used as adjuncts to, NOT replacements for, someone's existing medication(s).

If symptoms improve, people should negotiate with their GP for a reduction in the dose of their medication(s), if their medication(s) has/have undesirable effects (e.g. bad side-effects, or a need for further medications such as PPI's like Omeprazole to reduce stomach acidity when taking NSAID's like Aspirin or Naproxen).

And now for something completely different.

This video from 1979 is still relevant to the problems of the world today. Too much. Too young.

Saturday silliness.

Now that I have resumed annoying people discussing diet & nutrition on the internet, the following chart should be used by non-English people, to allow them to understand what I write.

From http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2011/05/17/anglo-eu-translation-guide/

For a laugh, I created the superhero of Diet & Nutrition "The Nigeepoo".

Using http://www.heromachine.com/heromachine-2-5-character-portrait-creator/

Have a nice weekend!

Protein reduces endurance (in mice), food processing vs food refining & Schrödinger.

I saw the following study via Twitter. Dietary protein decreases exercise endurance through rapamycin-sensitive suppression of muscle mitochondria.

Mmm, protein!

Hmmm! In mice, a high protein diet significantly decreased the amount of muscle mitochondria, the mitochondrial activity and the running distance at 50 weeks, although it increased muscle mass and grip power.

A mouse's natural diet is fruit or grain from plants, though mice will eat virtually anything, including Kevlar insulation on wiring. Fruit & grains aren't particularly high in protein, so it's quite possible that eating a sub-optimal diet results in sub-optimal health.

If the results do translate to humans, we have a choice between endurance, and muscle mass & strength in our old-age. I know which I would choose. You'll have to prise the proteins from my cold, dead fingers!

More from Twitter:  A Major Communication Challenge of Our Times: What on Earth Do We Say About Processed Foods? The word "refine/refined" doesn't appear in the above article. I don't have a problem with food processing. What I do have a problem with is food refining. Just after the Mid-Victorian period, it became fashionable to eat foods that had been stripped of "impurities". Goodbye essential co-factors. Hello, degenerative diseases.

Finally, today is the 126th anniversary of Erwin Schrödinger's birthday. I have only one comment:-

Blatantly stolen from http://memegenerator.co/instance/31138345

:-)

I don't believe it.

And neither should you.

From http://workwithstuartchalmers.com/wp/blog/2012/10/02/banners-broker-it-care/

Well, opinions are like assholes, honey. Everybody's got one and everybody thinks everybody else's stinks. The internet is full of opinions. Why should anyone believe anything they read on the internet?

If a writer has (a) qualification(s) in "A", it means that they know something about "A". It doesn't mean that they know anything about "B", "C"....."Z". However, humans being human, they have biases. Writers write in a biased way. Also, readers read in a biased way. Having (a) qualification(s) means diddly-squat. What does mean something, is backing-up what's written with quality evidence. As I have no formal qualifications in Diet & Nutrition, I try to do that as often as possible. When I don't, it's my opinion.

Many people are intolerant of other people's opinions. No wonder so many "fights" break out on forums, message-boards & blog comments. As a writer's qualifications mean diddly-squat, what's the point in arguing about a writer's qualifications? There isn't one! It's an ad hominem fallacy. Bloggers whose blog contents consist mainly of ad hominems & other fallacies are ass hats.

This blog was morbidly obese!

Uh, do what?

That's my blog, that was!

According to http://www.statscrop.com/ for this site:-
"This site weight is 261 Kbs. The site weight should ideally be less than 125 Kbs in length."
This blog is over twice the recommended site weight, which makes it morbidly obese. The reason for this is because I like to have a large number of posts visible on the main page. Unfortunately, this makes the main page take an age to load.

I've now put this blog on a PSMF (Posts Strictly Mother F***er), by reducing the number of posts visible on the main page to four. As there's a search box in the top left-hand corner and a blog archive section & comprehensive list of labels to the right, it shouldn't be hard to find what you're looking for.

Saturday silliness: Astrology & Abuse.

Now there's a curious mixture of subjects.

Piss-keys or Pie-sees?

John Cassis said:- "It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice."

I'm Piscean and Pisceans don't believe in astrology ;-) My logical brain tells me that it's a load of cobblers, but when I read an astrological assessment for my birth date, my mind was blown by how it had my personality down to a T. I asked a friend to read a print-out. When she'd finished reading, I asked her what she thought. She said that it was accurate in terms of personality and likes. How does that work?

A Piscean trait manifested itself last Wednesday. A blogger (who I'm not going to name) posted a status on his blog's Facebook page, calling a female science blogger a fat c*nt, along with a link to an edited sound file of an interview she did years ago in which she was nervous, lampooning her.

I commented, saying that he wasn't qualified to judge people on matters of science and that the woman's physical characteristics were irrelevant to science (the ad hominem fallacy). He commented, telling me to f*ck off. I commented, saying that he was funny when he was drunk. A while later, he blocked me from leaving further comments on his Facebook page. Hmph!

To cut a long story short, I de-liked his Facebook page, blocked him personally on Facebook, blocked all email addresses containing his website name or surname on my ISP's email server and blocked him from leaving comments here. I removed him from my life.

This time, it's forever. No hard feelings, it's how I roll.

Update: The offending post has been removed. If you ever read this, thank you for doing that.

It's not Friday the 13th, but... Part 2

In It's not Friday the 13th, but..., I had a picture of my then new Solar PV installation.

1.35kWp Solar PV using Kyocera 135W panels + 2kWp Solar thermal using 100W Thermomax tubes.

As the Solar thermal tubes were no longer heating the hot water much (they were installed in 1991), I decided to upgrade my system. It now looks like this...

3.5kWp Solar PV, using Hyundai 250W panels.

Of the twenty 100W Thermomax evacuated heat-pipe solar collector tubes, only one still worked.

The limescale-coated bulb at the bottom is very hot!

Hot water is now heated by the immersion heater in the tank in the airing cupboard, using spare electricity that's been generated but not used. This is controlled by a gizmo called an immerSUN. See below. The immerSUN is at top left. The inverter is at bottom right.

The current-sensing transformer is the black thing around the red wire, sitting on the black fuse.

The water from the hot tap is now hot enough to make instant coffee!

As the company that installed the upgrade had previously only installed systems to properties previous without Solar PV, they thought that I would receive the current Feed-In Tariff rate, which is 16.56p/kWh, including 50% export Tariff. This is much lower than the Feed-In Tariff rate that I was receiving for my 1.35kWp installation, which was 47p/kWh, including 50% export Tariff. They suggested that I phone ScottishPower (my energy supplier) for clarification.

The good news is that I will receive 47p/kWh for 1.35kW and 16.56p/kWh for the additional 2.15kW, making a net Feed-In Tariff of 28.3p/kWh, including 50% export Tariff. That's 71% more than I thought I'd get.

Based on PVGIS data (postcode-dependent), the system should generate 3,210kWh/annum. That's £908/annum in Tariffs + ~£240/annum in saved electricity consumption + ~£50/annum in saved gas consumption = ~£1,198/annum. The system cost £7,700 including VAT, so ROI is 15.6%. Feed-In Tariffs increase by ~5%/annum and energy prices increase by ~14%/annum, so the system should pay for itself in ~5 years.

Why: blogging is great, my brain is like Kefir and you don't have to be slightly insane.

I'm Torn between two images from Google Image Search, so here's both of them.

From bloggersinspiration.com

and

From www.corephp.com

Blogging is stimulating. Someone blogs about something. That gives me a new idea, so I blog about that. That gives other bloggers a new idea, so they blog about that. And so on, ad infinitum. It's great!

Kefir takes hard-to-digest milk proteins and ferments them into something more easily digestible. My brain takes hard-to-digest concepts and "ferments" them into something more easily understandable.

Another blogger said "You May Think I'm a Nutter. But I'm not the only one." You don't have to be slightly insane to be a blogger...but it helps! ;-)

Defending the indefensible: Gary Taubes and *that* statement about gluttony.

Here's another "video" (it has sound and static images only). As I haven't learned how to embed a YouTube video that starts at a specific time, here's a link to it and a picture of it:- Gary Taubes' "Why We Get Fat" IMS Lecture On August 12, 2010 (Part 8 of 8), starting at 8 minutes and 13 seconds in.

To quote: "You can basically exercise as much gluttony as you want, as long as you're eating fat and protein."

Itsthewoo told me that Taubes was being ironic i.e. he was joking. I call bull-shit on that, for the following reasons.

1) You don't joke about something as important as diet, in a video that's likely to be heard by many people.

2) If you are foolish enough to joke about something as important as diet, you make 100% certain that listeners know that you're joking, by stating in the very next sentence that the preceding sentence was a joke. Taubes didn't do that.

3) I didn't hear chortling or any other audible clue that Taubes was joking. Did you?

I therefore conclude that itsthewoo is hearing (and seeing) the world through "cognitive bias" Weird Filters , resulting in her hearing what she wants to hear. Sorry!

Organic is best!

I'm not talking about vegetables, though.

The above display panel is 4mm thick. Wow! There are 0.3mm thick panels in development. Double-wow!

OLEDs can also be used for lighting.

For more information, see OLED-Info. When I first heard about organic LED's, I thought "They'll have too short a life to catch on." Oh, whoops!

EDIT: I've just spotted Organic Light Emitting Transistors (OLETs). Oh, Myyy!

Trilayer OLET device and chemical structure

A new skill and whoops there goes another rotator cuff.

I bought this last Thursday...

Yes, I am using a sofa as a guitar stand!

Last Sunday, I took it to an open mic night and played it - very slowly! So far, I've learned the following chords:- C, Dm, Em, F, G & Am. As my fingertips are like cushions (big & soft), I have to finger chords as triads, with my fingers coming down onto the strings nearly vertically, to minimise the area of my fingerprint. Dm is particularly difficult for me. I'm going to learn the CAGED system, so that I can play any chord using any pattern.

Due to the sunny weather, I've been putting the soft top down on my MX-5. Unfortunately, I've been raising it from the driver's seat position. I forgot that this puts enormous strain on my left shoulder. The pain in my left shoulder when I woke this morning reminded me to not do that again!

I see stupid people - Part One: Live to take the p*ss.

This is a take on I See Weak People – Part Three: Live to add, not subtract.

Dunning-Kruger strikes again!

George Henderson recently said in a comment to flip:- "If you're one of the sensible ones, as Nigel seems to think you might be, it's easy to see why he won't post on "that" blog again.
Myself, I wonder how Nigel does it. Everywhere he goes he seems to start a fight these days. We are thinking of locking him inside when we go out in future."

How do I do it? Simples! I make sure that my brain is properly nourished with Vitamin D3 for razor-sharp wit & biting sarcasm, EPA & DHA for stable mood and Magnesium to stay cool, calm and collected when all around me are behaving like complete and utter tosspots & twats (UK usages and not meant affectionately!).

The danger of science denial: It happens even on Science-Based blogs.

Poor Benjamin Franklin. I know how he felt! ;-)

I do not believe that he wanted to be doing that!

This post will be highly critical of Dr. David Gorski MD, as some of his comments have been either trolling, downright stupid, or both. They're definitely in denial of science. This post is intended to encourage Dr Gorski to leave comments here, as I will never leave any further comments on any blogs that he edits, for reasons mentioned previously. I will be copying comments from his blogs and pasting them here, with my comments after. If this is considered to be "bad form", I really don't care. Leaving derogatory comments about me on blogs on which the commenters know that I will never return (because I told them so) is definitely "bad form".

I will also be quoting other commenters on Dr Gorski's blog, for the same reason. Everyone is free to leave comments here, that meet my fairly lax moderation criteria. In Vitamin D, cancer, cliques and flouncing. , a commenter from Dr Gorski's blog called flip was initially whitelisted, to allow his comments to appear without me having to moderate them. I eventually blacklisted flip after I detected intellectual dishonesty. That's how I roll. If you don't like my rules, don't let the door hit you on the way out! By the way, calling me a liar on here is a sure-fire way to get yourself blacklisted.

I've just turned Blogger word verification back on, as although Disqus automatically deletes anonymous comments containing links, I still get email notification of them. I've been getting a lot of email notifications. This may or may not have an effect on commenters.

Firstly, please read http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/a-closer-look-at-vitamin-injections/#comment-127850 , as it's my "letter of resignation" from that blog. With that in mind, read on.

# David Gorski on 27 May 2013 at 9:49 am
Regarding Lappe et al, one notes that that study is not the be-all and end-all of vitamin D research. It’s an old study, for one thing. Also, cancer was not its primary endpoint. Finally, there was no vitamin D alone group, as I recall, only a vitamin D + calcium group, a calcium group, and a placebo group.
There is a recent review of the literature from the Endocrine Society, which includes Lappe et al and puts it into context:
*quoted text redacted*

# Nigel Kinbrum on 27 May 2013 at 11:16 am
David Gorski said…

Regarding Lappe et al, one notes that that study is not the be-all and end-all of vitamin D research. It’s an old study, for one thing.

Irrelevant.

Also, cancer was not its primary endpoint.

Irrelevant.

Finally, there was no vitamin D alone group, as I recall, only a vitamin D + calcium group, a calcium group, and a placebo group.

Irrelevant.

# David Gorski on 27 May 2013 at 12:28 pm

Finally, there was no vitamin D alone group, as I recall, only a vitamin D + calcium group, a calcium group, and a placebo group.

Irrelevant.

How so? It’s actually very, very relevant, as is the issue of cancer not being a primary outcome measure of the study. That you don’t understand why these issues are so relevant indicates to me that you don’t understand clinical research very well.

#Nigel Kinbrumon 27 May 2013 at 1:42 pm
David Gorski said…

Finally, there was no vitamin D alone group, as I recall, only a vitamin D + calcium group, a calcium group, and a placebo group.

Irrelevant.

How so? It’s actually very, very relevant, as is the issue of cancer not being a primary outcome measure of the study. That you don’t understand why these issues are so relevant indicates to me that you don’t understand clinical research very well.

1) The RCT used Ca + D. Therefore, the conclusions apply to Ca + D. If they’d wanted to test D alone, they would have. They didn’t. Why don’t you write a letter of complaint to Joan M Lappe about it?

2) Whether the outcome was primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary or n’ary is irrelevant because the parameter in question (all-cancer diagnoses) was still accurately recorded. That you can’t understand such a simple concept boggles my imagination.

#David Gorski on 27 May 2013 at 2:34 pm

As I’m leaving permanently, what’s the point?

Ah, flouncing off again. It’s probably long overdue. I’ve been getting a few complaints about you here as well. Perhaps you should ask yourself why complaints seem to follow you wherever you go.

“Whether the outcome was primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary or n’ary is irrelevant because the parameter in question (all-cancer diagnoses) was still accurately recorded. That you can’t understand such a simple concept boggles my imagination.”

I rest my case that you do not understand clinical trial methodology and interpretation. I couldn’t have demonstrated it better myself to anyone who actually does understand clinical trial methodology and interpretation. Thanks!

You sir, are an asshole. I spelled it the American way, just for you!

I rest my case that you're either trolling, or stupid, or both. Whether the outcome is primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary or n’ary is completely and utterly irrelevant. It always has been and it always will be. You're effectively saying that only the first item in a shopping list should be bought because all of the other items in the shopping list are irrelevant. Bullshit!

Denice Walter May 27, 2013
@ Marc Stevens Is Insane:
I believe that Nigel is like two bright guys I know: they are well educated and professional in fields outside of SBM/ life sciences (business). Thus they read alt med ‘research’ (also see today’s post by Orac) and don’t get how it DOESN’T work in reality. It sounds like nutrients can do all of these wonderful things – that they can’t- at least not in RL. But the woo-meisters don’t tell you that part. We do.

So of course they think that these products are very useful- and they need celtic salt or ground organic flaxseed- as I know all too well.

However, if they’re smart- we can talk to them:
explaining how that *in vitro/ in vivo* thing works.
Or- as I often do- illustrating how much of the so-called science they read ( woo) is actually more accurately called “advertising copy”.

Businessmen seem to grok that.

Denice, seriously? I'm disappointed. I thought that you were one of the few reasonable posters on Gorski's blog and then you go and write that crap?

I do not read "alt med ‘research’", unless you're calling what's on PubMed "alt med ‘research’"? I've been reading studies on PubMed for years, so I know about the use of shoddy methodology to fudge results. The Lappe study doesn't use shoddy methodology. It's a Randomised Controlled Trial using double-blinded placebos and randomly-selected subjects who were post-menopausal women. Try to pick holes in it.

flip May 29, 2013
Hmmm… it occurs to me I probably haven’t been that overt about one other thing:

Lilady, I am sorry that you were called those things, and I certainly don’t think you should have been called names. I do think Nigel was wrong and do think he should be called out for it.

And I’m sorry for not making that clearer before.

flip, I'm not going to question your intelligence. However, why you're apologising to lilady boggles the imagination. lilady is a despicable human being. She pushed me to the point where I called her rude names, names that were not misogynist and for which I apologised. I explained about "twat" on SBM. I even posted a link to Wiktionary! You don't read things thoroughly before commenting.

Marc Stephens Is Insane May 31, 2013
Oooooh, Nigeepoo is ANGRY! He’s pulled a DJT, posting a “rebuttal” to all the comments here and on SBM. I’m suprised it’s taken him this long.

He’s calling Orac an a**hole and stupid, among other things. He’s invited us all to comment on his blog because he has an “open moderation policy” and “allows all comments.”

http://nigeepoo.blogspot.com.au/

I see that you idiots on RI are still reading my blog. I'm not the slightest bit angry, so you can give the projection crap a rest. For the record, most of you come across as assholes. You can't even quote me correctly. I said that I have fairly lax moderation criteria. Do try to get something right, for once in your miserable lives.

Anyway, you lot are now boring me with your never-ending inability to discuss things either accurately or rationally, so I'm not going to bother polluting my blog with any more of your crap.

P.S. I still occasionally read the comments on Gorski's blogs, so for the benefit of you peeps who read mine:-
1) "Black-list" means exactly what it says. It means that you're banned from posting comments.
2) The Lappe et al 2007 study was a good study. Just because some Messiah-like person says that it's a bad study and applies false reasoning to back himself up, doesn't make him right and me wrong. As I've previously pointed out, surgery's not exactly rocket science is it? I designed complicated electronic communications systems for 29 years. Just saying! ;-) Denice, I've got nothing against you. You've just been drinking Gorski's Kool-Aid for way too long. That's not a euphemism, by the way! :-D

Look what I just found. Exposing Dr. David H. Gorski, M.D., Ph.D. who believes he can use a cloak of anonymity and character assaults to discredit opposing views. Sorry Doc, but your game is up.

He's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy! :-D

Bandaoke with Jukebox at the Falkners Arms, Friday 5th April 2013.

This was Jukebox's 1st time performing this song live and my 1st time singing it at the correct pitch (at karaoke, I would have the pitch shifted down 2 keys). Ouch!

Don't worry, be happy.

Oh, all right then!

I was chatting to the check-out guy in the Co-op about the sad goings-ons in Oklahoma and he said: "If we shed a tear for every person in the world that's suffering, we'd never stop crying." I try to avoid watching or reading World News. It's just one bad or sad thing after another. As I have no control over bad or sad things that happen around the world, what's the point in bringing myself down by knowing about all of them? Local News is a bit more relevant. I try to concentrate all my effort into keeping my life running smoothly.

If something really bad is about to happen to me or happens, I do everything in my power to make things better. If the really bad thing is completely beyond my control, I have to accept it. There's no point in wasting time going through Kübler-Ross stages 1 to 3 (denial, anger, bargaining). Stage 4 (depression) is a tricky one, as sometimes it just happens.

Finally, I treat people the way I'd like them to treat me. If they treat me respectfully, I do likewise. If they treat me disrespectfully, they get 1-2-3 Magic!

I've just installed f.lux, which adjusts the colour "temperature" on my lap-top screen, to suit the time of day.