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nullmouse

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Posts posted by nullmouse

  1. I had absolutely sworn not to go to T In The Park this year, but this might just change my mind. (Much like Ben Folds did last year) I saw Nick Cave live in Glasgow last year and he was awesome.

    They're also playing the Oxegen Festival in Ireland, if you fancy the trip. That way you can stay true to your vow. No idea how decent a festival it is, tho!

    Also, they're on Southside Festival's lineup in Germany (somewhere) alongside Get Well Soon, Editors, Kraftwerk, Ben Harper and, uh, Katy Perry.

  2. Pipex have also ballsed up my billing in the past, and my ex-flatmate's when he tried to move. From the very first bill our payment was buggered, as they seemed unable to set up a simple direct debit. When they asked to cancel the botched attempt they'd made and set up a subsequent one I foolishly said yes. So they set up about 6 seperate direct debit claims on my account and took three month arrears from damn near all of them. Like Dave, it took me many phonecalls until I got what felt like the one-and-only employee that seemed keen and able to help.

    This was about two years ago, glad to see they've improved their customer service.

  3. For those of you in the 'Deen and with an interest in science, Cafe Scientifique launches this Monday (the 19th of January) at the Union Bridge Branch of Waterstones, 7pm.

    Cafe Scientifiques are public forums for the informal discussion of science; a chance to discuss some of the hotest areas of science over coffee in a comfortable environment. There's no tickets, no cost and the event is open to everyone.

    The opening event features Anne Glover, the Chief Scientific Advisor for Scotland, who will be leading discussion on "Science, Society, So What?" So if you're interested in discussing why scientists or society should give a toss about each other, come along and join in!

    Details of future events can be found at: Cafe Scientifique

  4. Try looking at train times through Inverkeithing, and just get a taxi down there instead. Shouldn't cost you too much, but Dunfermline train station is pointless - You'll catch all the trains from Edinburgh to Aberdeen via Inverkeithing.

    As for things to do in Dunfermline in the evening, you could try standing outside the local chip shop or throw some bricks through windows. At least, when I went to school there that's all anyone seemed to do at night. Lovely place.

    EDIT - Actually, just checked with Trainline.com and the latest train to Aberdeen via Inverkeithing is 9:47pm. Useless, I guess.

  5. Also, some of the most duplicitous, agenda/self-interest/ideology-laden examples of poor science can be found in the anti drug field.

    First of all, yes. Science is often mis-appropriated and mis-quoted to fulfill someone's agenda. This agenda could be that of a politician wanting to crack down on drugs, or a protest group wanting to declassify a certain drug, or maybe something seemingly more benign like holistic health practioners lobbying for their therapies to be paid for by the NHS. There is agenda left, right and centre associated around science. My question is, is it really the scientists that are driving this?

    Scientists, in my experience, are very poor about thinking of the social impact their research might have. This leads to poor communication of what their research actually shows, and as a result the implications of research is filtered through to the public via indirect channels, such as the media. It is a failing of scientists, and it is exploitable by many duplicitous, agenda/self-interest/ideology-laden people on *any* side of an argument.

    What's really got my goat in this whole thread is that we're all happy to agree that the drug screening tests we've been talking about are falliable. And why is this? Because we all agree that there's strong, conclusive evidence that some drug types will interfere with certain types of test and give erroneous positive results. How was this evidence generated? It was generated by scientists, in research labs, methodically showing in a controlled fashion that these tests have weaknesses. Scientists have provided the data supporting our shared conclusion that these tests have too many weaknesses to be used satisfactorily for their purpose.

    So, is it the scientists who are pushing these machines to be used on the streets? Is it scientists who have decided that you need to deter drug-users from going in to Aberdeen venues? Or is it the police, the policy makers, the council, anti-drug pressure groups?

    In essence, back off the science ;)

  6. Well done Flash for raising the False Positives issue, especially regarding poppy seed/opiate tests, and Weed/other legal meds. There are no swift reliable tests for most prohibited substances, all reliable tests take time and resources, and even they can be prone to false results.

    Yar, it's important to remember that *any* form of screening suffers from the same flaws - Not just this crack-down on drugs thing.

    Of course, everyone's concerned for the legal, law-abiding citizen who doesn't touch any illegal drugs who might get branded a criminal due to a flase positive. People who use the flaws to try and cheat the system play a dangerous game, which is why I thought it worth perservering with a discussion on how big or small those False Positive Rates actually are. From either persepective, there's plenty of reason to hate this new initiative...

  7. So in layman's terms that means there's a fair chance that over half the people searched had no connection with illegal drugs but still had to submit to a search.

    I would call that a basic violation of human rights myself, and I agree with Flash that it's one small step down a very dangerous road. What's next, forcing people who have failed this test to sew badges on their clothes?

    Just to be absolutely clear, yet again, I also agree that it is an obscene violation of human rights.

  8. *FALLS OFF CHAIR LAUGHING*

    Yeah um right hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!!!

    It always amuses me how the followers of science blank out the fact that it's internal psychology operates in identical fashion to every other form of organised religion. Science is the faith of no God based on the (flawed) principle of general demonstrability.

    Primordial Blog: Not the Old "Science is Just a Religion" Argument Again...

    Anyway, that's a whole other kettle of fish and would take this thread waaaaay off tangent.

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