Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more
Dowsing the night away
BOMB detection is big business, so it鈥檚 no surprise that it attracts scams. It does seem to have more than its fair share, whatever 鈥渇air share鈥� might mean. First, a recap.
A while ago we reported on tests carried out by the US Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division on the 鈥淪niffex鈥� device (21 May 2011).
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The tests were conclusive: as the Sniffex operator was noting 鈥渁 positive indication鈥� of 20 pounds of explosives in a building, two trucks 鈥渃ontaining a total of 1000 pounds of explosive drove up behind him to a distance of approximately 20 feet away. The SNIFFEX failed to show any indication of this much larger quantity of explosives.鈥� The device dressed up in hi-tech black and chrome.
We ended by pointing out that a number of similar devices are still on the market, 鈥渂ut we cannot comment on these due to ongoing legal proceedings.鈥�
East 71st Street in New York City has a number of stop signs. Ronald Diel sends a lovely photo of one of them, beneath which is another sign: 鈥淣o stopping at any time鈥�
Verdicts on fake detectors
COURTS having reached verdicts, we can report a little more on these 鈥渆xplosive detector鈥� scams. At the beginning of August, Sam and Joan Tree at the Central Criminal Court in London, for selling 鈥渂omb detectors鈥� around the world that were little more than a plastic box with an antenna. They made them in their garden shed in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. They sold for up to $2000.
This follows of Gary Bolton, who made up to 拢3 million a year from similar devices that cost as little as 拢1.82 to make and sold for as much as 拢15,000. He was sentenced to seven years, and his business partner Jim McCormick was given 10 years in May 2013.
The , which campaigns to have such frauds investigated, believes the charges against Bolton and McCormick should have included manslaughter, given reports that police officers have died while using the pair鈥檚 鈥渕agic wands鈥�.
We would welcome news of any more such devices, even if we cannot report them immediately, as well as suggestions as to why this is such a scam-prone field.
Solar cleaner is like magic!
ANOTHER area that attracts scepticism is energy efficiency. Feedback is sure of the existence of conscientious double-glazing salespeople who negate the slanderous stereotype. But some solar-panel vendors have a little to learn about maintaining a reputation.
Nick McNamara points us to SolarKing UK why, even though the photovoltaic panels are 鈥渟elf-cleaning鈥�, you should still pay for annual cleaning using a 鈥渟pecialist Pure Water System鈥�.
What鈥檚 that, then? 鈥淚t鈥檚 like magic!鈥� the site says. It lists four filters that normal tap water goes through on the way to becoming Pure, finishing with: 鈥淒I Filter 鈥� Polishes the soft water to zero part per million so that the resulting solution has more positive charges than negative charges.鈥�
Feedback can agree that this is 鈥渓ike magic鈥�. Also, we offer to make the copywriter in question disappear.
Bring back the Quackometer
PERHAPS those who engage such copywriters could club together to mend the and check their output. This useful gadget will sieve a website for you and award it up to 10 鈥渃anards鈥� for, well, the quackishness of its content (1 May 2010). Sadly, when we tried it recently it didn鈥檛 work.
The person behind it, Andy Lewis, has had some success as a blogger. In July he noted at that , Conservative MP for Bosworth and a member of UK parliamentary committees on science and technology and health, is .
Quackometry in Parliament
FEEDBACK wondered, in the interests of objective quackometry, whether any of David Tredinnick鈥檚 fellow MPs and Lords subscribe to his unusual views. Our first finding was that we should organise a whip-round to restore the 鈥渁dvanced search鈥� facility on the website, which once upon a time we used to use to find out precisely who had said what, where and when.
Apart from the , the few dozen mentions we can imprecisely find have, happily, the same flavour as , Labour member for Wirral South: 鈥淚 remind Members of the comments of the American economist J. K. Galbraith: 鈥楾he function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable鈥�.鈥�
Little astrology in Congress
THE United States Congress, meanwhile, has a wonderfully precise . It reveals of astrology this session, in a written statement honouring a bookshop owner. Is Congress avoiding or scorning the subject?
Do not be distracted by this
FINALLY, having drifted into the field of government, we offer a public statement from the state鈥檚 enforcers. Adrian Cull sends a photo of a poster in the window of a bank on Chiswick High Road in London.
The Metropolitan Police helpfully warn: 鈥淒o not be distracted whilst using this cash machine. Distraction thieves may be operating in this area.鈥� Adrian notes that he wasn鈥檛 distracted until he saw that鈥�