baked beans are OFF

[Paul Mather]

On Mon, 23 Aug 1999 DASLUD at AOL.COM wrote:

=> <<I'm still not sure why Dave Brock or European users would be
=> particularly interested in this, unless they have a particular penchant
=> for being ripped off. ;-)>>
=> ====
=> sigh and sigh again...
=> could it be, sir, that their interest wouldnt be to ACQUIRE  this device, but
=> to witness the crassness of the product's sales pitch and the implications
=> therein?
=>
=>  the sister of an online friend in holland is a journalist, and i'd sent that
=> advertisement to her the first time i received it, and she felt it had grave
=> implications, she took it perhaps too seriously.

People (especially journalists) felt that "cold fusion" had "grave
implications" when it was ballyhooed.  But then when folks actually took
time to check the claims, they decided it wasn't so grave after all.
I'm sure that the product advertised---if it could truly do what it
stated---would also have "grave implications," but then (being extremely
kind) that is an enormous "IF" we're dealing with there.  (I don't feel
the manner of the advertisement was anything new at all.  It was written
as a classic scam: high on promises, vague on details.  Haven't these
people heard of "hair in a can?"  Nor do I think the topic particularly
novel.  The privacy and surveillance industry is in a boom time right
now.  Just look what the "Boston Nanny" case did for hidden cameras in
the home, to spy on child minders: a huge surge in sales.)

What I feel does have grave implications is the way misinformation is
routinely forwarded around, and the way science is reported in the
media.  I was fairly shocked when a local news broadcast cited "the
Internet" as the source for some breaking news.  I only hope your Dutch
friend does not take those claims seriously.

But then again, I may just be a moron, as the tone of your reply seems
to suggest.

Cheers,

Paul.

NP: The Primordial Undermind, _Yet More Wonders of the Hidden World_

e-mail: paul at gromit.dlib.vt.edu

"I don't live today; maybe tomorrow..."
        --- James Marshall Hendrix