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• Commented on How Safe is the HPV Vaccine?
  It's faintly possible that vaccinating guys would have an affect on rates of penile cancer. HPV's cancer-causing properties (basically a wart gone out of control after some hefty changes to the viral genome) can occasionally cause cancer on the skin...
• Commented on Healthy baby poop gallery
  An acquiantance of mine had a simple but ingenious idea for keeping track of his baby's poo colour, which apparrently the doctor kept asking about. He went to a paint shop and picked up a load of paint colour cards,...
• Commented on Red dawn in Australia
  Octopod: That hadn't occurred to me but, now you've mentioned it, I can't get it out of my head when I'm looking at the pictures. If I wasn't so damn manly I'd be welling up. For those who haven't read...
• Commented on Oligarch's yacht has a laser anti-photo screen
  Moriarty - a) Nice summary of his life; if even half of what I've read about him is even half true, he's a very nasty piece of work with some very shady connections to some very powerful people. b) Seeing...
• Commented on New Yorker: Where Will Synthetic Biology Lead Us?
  MDH: Yep. DNA has code, meta-code and meta-meta code. Some of it is just encoded in the letters, some is just structural, some seems to be both. The more you delve into molecular biology, the more awe-inspiring our bodies become....
• Commented on Oligarch's yacht has a laser anti-photo screen
  The camera detection system relies on sweeping the scene with a low power laser and looking for an unusually bright and direct reflection. This works because the sensors in digital cameras work as "retroreflective surfaces". These are unusual in that,...
• Commented on Britain's postal-code database online at Wikileaks: produced at public expense, not owned by the public
  As ACB said, this seems symptomatic of the attitude of our governments, that they're our rulers instead of our representatives. Apparently we exist to support the state rather than the other way around. In mitigation, the Royal Mail do offer...
• Commented on Tweet (#3914248089)
  Don't buy one from Amazon or Sony; there are plenty of better, more feature-packed models on the market, almost all with more and better support for open formats. Look here for a comprehensive overview of everything on the market. Click...
• Commented on Pigeons are faster than DSL
  I'm sure I remember a story in which a research lab approached Comcast for advice on the quickest way to move several terabytes of data from their data collection station to a main lab on the other side of the...
• Commented on Normalcy is the future
  As a complete reversal of that writing style, have a look at this old (very) short story, "If all stories were written like science fiction stories". It should raise a laugh from anyone who's read a SciFi author breathlessly driving...
• Commented on The Math Book: From Pythagoras to the 57th Dimension, 250 Milestones in the History of Mathematics
  This looks awesome. Not available yet in the UK, so I've pre-ordered. Maybe you can help me with something that I've wondered for a while: If I follow an affiliate link to amazon.com then navigate to .co.uk and buy the...
• Commented on Review: Sennheiser's IE8 noise-isolating headphones
  I might be to late to be seen here, but I intended that to be slightly tongue in cheek. I'm happy to accept that a $400 pair of headphones will sound a lot better than my £20 pair, and that...
• Commented on Baby chicks ground up alive: animal rights video goes viral
  This actually looks pretty humane to me; a moment of freefall (which shouldn't scare a bird too much) then instantaneous death. A few people have suggested gassing the chicks instead, but that would actually be more cruel. If you look...
• Commented on Straight Outta Mordor: Notes from the LA Fires
  Wow, I'm really impressed by that converted 747. It looks unweildy and is flying through the turbulence and smoke that a fire generates, at 300 feet, while dealing with the weight changes and turbulence of dumping liquid. I know nothing...
• Commented on Review: Sennheiser's IE8 noise-isolating headphones
  These are the warmest headphones I tested, with enveloping middle tones and balanced calibration throughout the tonal range. Bass is strong and resonant (at every manual-adjusted level), and high notes come through cleanly. I have to ask: after the spate...
• Commented on 1,000 surveillance cameras = 1 solved crime in the UK
  If the numbers are true, there are over 1,000,000 cameras in London that average 1 crime for 1,000 cameras. If the headline was written as "CCTV Network solves over 1,000 crimes annually", I wonder if we'd be seeing a different...
• Commented on Heathrow gets driverless car of tomorrow, today
  There's some more information in this old (2007!) BBC news article. The pods - "Personal rapid transport systems" - are made by this company, who have some specs and videos of the pods running on a test track they built...
• Commented on Dara O’Briain on homeopathy from Derren Brown Blog
  Libelle, "The study you mention indicates a significant improvement over routine care. It might show that the "meridians" and qi points and other aspects of acupuncture are bogus, but it doesn't prove a placebo effect." You're right that that study...
• Commented on Dara O’Briain on homeopathy from Derren Brown Blog
  GBV23 What has accupuncture been proven to treat? The only big, randomised, blinded trial that I'm aware of is this one. Patients with chronic lower back pain were given physiotherapy, real acupuncture or "sham acupuncture", i.e. "sticking the needles in...
• Commented on Dara O’Briain on homeopathy from Derren Brown Blog
  Merlin Silk: For every brilliant visionary that is ridiculed then eventually proved right, there are countless ideas that are ridiculed and then forgotten because they're bullshit. I invite you to watch the clip and pay special heed to the bit...
• Commented on Anti-health-care loon says Stephen Hawking wouldn't stand a chance under British health care system
  Awesome. This is made doubly ironic by that fact that Prof Hawking has refused to upgrade his voice synthesiser to a newer model because he doesn't want an American accent. Andrewslayman - I imagine he's disqualified from most health insurance...
• Commented on Review: Two Weeks W/Spotify [Verdict: It Just Works]
  I don't hear any ads when I run Spotify in Kubuntu Linux, but I do hear them when running the Mac client. I've seen other people refer to the lack of ads when running in Linux, so I suppose it's...
• Commented on Dinosaur creationist theme park seized by government
  For everyone who enojoys mocking creationist attractions, please direct some of your ire at the UK's "Noah's Ark zoo farm". This delightful institution markets itself as a zoo and stresses to local schools that it integrates with the science curriculum...
• Commented on Torchwood, reviewed (Metzger likes it)
  Hmm, maybe I'll keep an eye out for the second series of Torchwood then, to give it another chance. Mindpimp @31 - You might think the accents were terrible but I loved them. It's pretty rare to hear an accent...
• Commented on Cat burglar falls off three-storey building across from my bedroom window
  I'm surprised by the people who're glad that this guy broke his leg. The purpose of punishment for a crime is twofold: 1) As a deterrent (to make everyone fear the consequences of committing crime) 2) Hopefully, as rehabilitation (to...
• Commented on Torchwood, reviewed (Metzger likes it)
  I'll second this to say it's well worth watching. I loathed the first series of Torchwood and didn't bother with the second. But this new mini-series was great. I really enjoyed the story and the way it developed over the...
• Commented on Kindle deletions pave way for digital book banning
  yer_maw - There are loads on the market. All the screens use the same technology and actually come out of the same factory, so you can be sure the screen is just as good as the Kindle's. You just need...
• Commented on UK cops threaten to bust woman who videos her boyfriend's search on terrorism charges
  MadMadamMin (29) My understanding is that those restrictions no longer apply in London. Under the new anti-terrorism laws, in times of raised terrorism alert levels the police can stop and search anyone they like without giving a reason. And since...
• Commented on CCTV density-maps of the UK
  RainyRat - that's interesting, thanks!...
• Commented on CCTV density-maps of the UK
  Three of my friends have been victims of crime in London. Nothing world-shaking: a locked bike stolen and two purses taken by inept pickpockets. In each case, the crime happened directly in view of a police CCTV camera. One of...