The Grumpy Old Techie

Depleted Cranium
Bad Science And Scary Science

Gas Fired Power Plant Exploded (so that’s what that was!)
Interestingly I was an observer to a disaster today without even knowing it. My parents are out of town for a while and because I live quite near to them, I am staying at their home to take care of the dogs and keep down the fort.   Their home is in Guilford CT, which is about [...]
The Facts About Diamonds (and why I don’t like De Beers)
In light of the upcoming Valentines Day holiday, when diamonds are often purchased as a means of telling your significant other how much you buy into media hype and advertisements, I thought it was about time I posted about some of the pervasive myths and the realities of diamonds.   This post does contain some actual [...]
Why “Vehicle To Grid” is a horrible idea
In the near future, we may see a transition to an electric-based transportation system, specifically with electric vehicle drive trains and vehicles which drive on battery power, with or without an additional internal combustion engine to provide for extended range operation.  This is already starting to happen with hybrid vehicles being produced by most manufactures [...]
So this is what skeptics believe, eh?
Natural News… GROAN.    It’s that site that seems to put all the quackery, scaremongering and bad medical and enviornmental advice in one place.   However one of the authors there thinks he has got skeptics all figured out, and knows exactly what we “skeptics” believe.   Well, as a one who would generally consider myself a skeptic, [...]
Way to Go Australia: AVN IS DEAD
Why would you kick someone when they’re down? Simple – because you don’t want them to get back up again. While that may sound a bit cruel, if the one you’re kicking happens to be fond of spreading disease and death across your country, it’s actually about the most [...]
Will Pay $250 For Apollo-11 Television Still Photos
In one of the greatest  losses of information in human history, eclipsed only by the destruction of the Library of Alexandria, it seems that the original tapes containing recordings of the unconverted vide0 from the Apollo-11 mission have most likely been destroyed.   This probably occurred sometime in the late 1970’s or early 1980’s, although it [...]
When Old Does Not Mean Obsolete
Technology generally improves as time goes on and in addition to lacking new features, old technology is subject to years of wear and tear.   This generally means that new systems are better, but that’s not a hard and fast rule.   This is even more true considering that many older pieces of technology were “over-engineered,” literally [...]
Okay Mr. O, I’ll Give You Props on This One
Those who know me are probably aware that I’m not very happy with the current administration’s handling of the monetary system, government spending, domestic policy in general, buisiness regulations and many many other things.   Politically, I’m pretty much a libertarian, at least to some degree.  I tend to favor less social spending, less buisiness regulation [...]
The most awesome amateur project I’ve ever seen
Skilled amateurs have built some pretty amazing things – things you might expect to beyond the capacity of a private citizen.   These include things like particle accelerators, nuclear fusion reactors (Farnsworth Fusors), radio telescopes, weather radar systems, robots of various types and sizes, aircraft and almost anything else you can think of. Of all the amateur [...]
Andrew Wakefield: Disgraced, Unethical and An Outright Liar
We’ve reported before over the professional disgrace of Andrew Wakefield. Wakefield is one of the worst cases of everything a researcher and a physician should not be.   With complete disregard for the safety and welfare of others and his own professional obligations Doctor Mister Wakefield has not simply cherry-picked or spun data in favor [...]
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