eevRANT: Refuting Bullshit

[EEVblog]

[photon]

Nice beach. I think I can smell the fresh ocean air from here.

[Fungus]

There's two real problems:

a) The religion/batteroo believers want to believe.
b) Even though they have the Internet, they're not used to checking people's claims.

Actually, (b) is the same as (a). Why would you bother checking something you want to believe? 

Me? I like being proved wrong. Finding out I'm totally wrong about something is a good day for me because tomorrow I'll be better. I think that's the real difference between engineers and everybody else.

[Yansi]

Oh dear... I've just seen the "eevRANT" thread.  Let's watch! Will be fun. 

[Fungus]

I think you should try to switch off as much as possible whilst on holidays.

Why? Brains don't work that way, it would be stressful ("Must not think about Batteriser! Must not think about Batteriser, dammit!!").

Maybe making that video was fun for Dave, maybe he felt happy afterwards. 

[Wile E. Coyote]

Hi Dave! Enjoy the family time and soak up as much sun as you can!

As for other products that smell like BS, I have my money on the patented Memory Booster!
it can be found here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/memory-booster-increases-your-brain-performance/x/10816405#/



I'm pretty sure the only thing you will remember after wearing this out in public are the sarcastic remarks. 

-WEC

PS - Wear sunscreen

[Fungus]

Nice beach.

Yes, dark cloudy sky and not littered with humans lying on towels.

Exactly my kind of beach.

[jpc]

At the very least I would like to see a full technical breakdown of the batteroo before you decide to give up on the subject just to see how bad they actually are. As to any additional debunking videos on them, I will enjoy them as I always do enjoy your debunking videos. But if you feel that enough is enough, that's cool as it could be a never ending effort. BS is like lies, it can travel half way round the world before the truth even puts its socks on and is what con men and politicians rely on. For as you say, they aren't going to admit they are con men, they never do, for there is no doubt by now that with all the evidence presented they have to be out and out con men. I think their hope was/is to sell off the company and make a pile of money that way.

Anyway, plenty of time to decide so have a great time away with the family, or are you getting electronic withdrawal symptoms already

[madires]

There's two real problems:

a) The religion/batteroo believers want to believe.
b) Even though they have the Internet, they're not used to checking people's claims.

Actually it's not a problem, it's how the human mind works. We can't do much about this. We simply have to accept this. The only thing you can do is trying to educate people. Not long ago you would have been punished for claiming that the earth is rotating around the sun. 

[IanMac]

Electrical energy savers are a favourite for BS because most of the public have no idea how to calculate the energy used or running cost of an appliance. Thus, the seller can say just about anything they like and be believed. 

[TechnicalBen]

It is about educating individuals. Sadly the majority of those running schemes will not change. Sometimes there is legal ability to change or stop them. Which is great.

The majority of people seem to not want to know or consider it to difficult to find out the truth.

Thankfully if you or we just look to educate those who want to learn, then a big difference can be made to them. It just may only be a small percentage who do wish to learn though.

Also remember, a lot of the time it is about translating ideas from one area of life to another.

[retrolefty]

 Somehow the concept of 'protecting' consumers from scams especially via laws sounds pretty ineffective to me. Educational information is certainly called for either public or private, the expression Caveat emptor is still probably the most effective route to take. Being skeptical is the best human protection mechanism.

[Alexei.Polkhanov]

Somehow the concept of 'protecting' consumers from scams especially via laws sounds pretty ineffective to me. Educational information is certainly called for either public or private, the expression Caveat emptor is still probably the most effective route to take. Being skeptical is the best human protection mechanism.

As an engineer I can clearly see if something is bullshit in my area, but when it comes to let's say medical treatment I am totally bullshit unprotected so the only thing I can rely on is doctors credentials. In other words there must be a way to effectively RETALIATE against someone who exploited your lack of expertise in given area. Retaliatory measures must be proportional to the damage caused, it should include things like time I have wasted in result etc.

[samgab]

Dave: You said that Bullshit Debunking videos are popular on your channel. Here's another crazy electrical product to debunk:
Zappers!

http://www.worldwithoutparasites.com/zappers-c66/

http://www.bestzapper.com/

Honestly, the horse excrement that some people buy into, SMH. 

[tpowell1830]

Dave,
First off, I think you should do videos that you want to do. If you feel the need to rant or debunk products, then you should do that, after all, it is your vlog.

With that said, however, I think that I would rather see more mailbags, fundamental fridays, teardowns and test product reviews.  Stick to the fundamentals. That is just my 2 cents.

PEACE===>T

[EEVblog]

Electrical energy savers are a favourite for BS because most of the public have no idea how to calculate the energy used or running cost of an appliance. Thus, the seller can say just about anything they like and be believed.

Done that

[Muttley Snickers]

The subject has been discussed here before many times over and I think your average Joe in the street is unlikely to go Googling stuff whilst standing at a supermarket checkout to verify the integrity or efficiency of a product and is more likely to just chuck a product in his or her basket and worry about it later no matter how questionable the marketing claims. See that’s the thing nowadays, if you buy a gadget and it fails to live up to expectations or doesn’t do what the packet states then you simply return it for a refund, whether you then decided to go broadcasting your experience online about said product is entirely up to you and many don’t bother unless they have some other gripe in relation to the damage that particular product caused or that it let them down in some other way, or additionally that getting a refund was more hassle than it was worth.

Genuine online debunkers can only give a heads up and nothing more, at the end of the day it’s entirely up to the customer to conduct their own research and decide whether a product is of value or any good based on their particular requirements. I guarantee that if you were to go and stand in a shopping complex for a couple of hours and ask passers by have they heard about the Batteriser, solar roadway, self filling water bottle or any other dodgy deal their response would be “no, never heard of it, what the hell are you talking about, go and get a real job and stop bothering people”.   

[Brumby]

http://www.worldwithoutparasites.com/

Is it just me - or is there an elegant touch of irony in that site name....

[orion242]

Would love to see a technical video on the batterpoo myself.  So my vote is do both videos.

[amspire]

Batteries are robust devices that can be used in hundreds of ways. To fully characterise the Batteriser for all possible scenarios could result in many pages of numbers.

The best way to keep it simple may be to take a leaf from Australian Fair Trading laws - is the device Fit for Purpose and are any of the claims misleading? If they claim it extends battery life, it has to extend battery life, or you can get a refund. Whether it does a useful job in isolated circumstances is irrelevant. Fair Trading wouldn't apply to fundraising campaign products - they were just a reward for funding their development, but it is the issue when they are sold.

Batteroo is not a company that believes in specifications, but these seem to be some of the current important claims from Batteroo:

Home Page:

Batteroo Boost is a reusable sleeve for your disposable batteries that works to extend battery life and maximize performance. This allows you to get the most out of your battery so you don’t waste money on new batteries when your existing batteries still have more to give. GET MORE and WASTE LESS with Batteroo Boost.

FAQs:

Are there limitations on devices that can use Batteroo Boost based on the current consumptions?
No, the Batteroo sleeve is designed to only deliver as much current as a battery would supply normally.

Will Batteroo Boost increase chances of my device or battery shorting?
No, the Batteroo Boost is covered with a non-conductive coating, which prevents shorting.

Can this increase chances of battery leakage or rupture?
According to reputable sources, mixing old and new batteries in a device can cause a “leakage or rupture, resulting in personal injury or property damage”. Kodak, Rayovac, Varta, and the consumer advocate group National Center for Healthy Housing all recognize the issue. Batteroo technology eliminates this problem by preventing batteries it is installed on from discharging to an unsafe level and allowing old batteries to provide the same amount of instantaneous power as a new battery.

With regards to this last one, there is the question on how the Batteriser behaves in series when one shuts down - does it go open circuit even with a reverse applied voltage? Does it continue to flatten the battery if the other batteries in series are still working? Is it vulnerable to latch up?

I love this one from the How Does It Work page linked the the FAQ:

Have you ever been using a device and then all of a sudden it just stops working? Typically things like a digital camera or a hand-held GPS device would do this. The battery's power has gone below the needed voltage for these devices to work but can still have plenty of energy left. These are called active load devices. Simply slip on a Batteroo Boost and now your battery life will be extended as it taps into all that unused energy. Awesome!

If you use a Batteriser, then it definitely will suddenly stop working without even a low battery warning. The best cure is to not use a Batteriser so that your "Active Load Device" tells you the battery will soon run out long before it "just stops working".

[rsjsouza]

BS products will always come back to haunt us. It is like pyramid schemes (Ponzi schemes): once a large scheme is busted, the folks give it some rest for a few years and charge it again. Quite interesting to see how many fall for that every single time.

Regarding the videos, I really liked the throwback to your walking/driving rants. This time with a very nice background scenery.

[nctnico]

The debunking videos are nice (and necessary) IMHO but don't become some kind of Don Quixote. There is a sucker born every second so BS schemes will always find people they can get money from. Just look at the huge amounts of audiophool products.

Oh and the view of that beach makes me wish it was summer already over here! 

[Sterno]

The one thing I haven't seen mentioned is how potentially dangerous these batterizers could be when used in a safety device such as a GPS unit.
 
The batterizer will output 1.5V and the device they're installed in will show a full battery symbol until the battery is totally flat and the batterizer shuts off.  It gives a device user a potentially dangerous and certainly annoying false sense of security and confidence in their device.

Now consider this being used in a GPS unit (like the one Batteroo used as a demo).
 
Scenario:
You head out into the bush, totally secure that your GPS device 's batteries are full and all of a sudden the device dies, WITHOUT WARNING.  Depending on how lost/prepared you are could at this point lead to you dying as well.

[nctnico]

You head out into the bush, totally secure that your GPS device 's batteries are full and all of a sudden the device dies, WITHOUT WARNING.  Depending on how lost/prepared you are could at this point lead to you dying as well.

I'd never go out on such a trip without a spare GPS+batteries (and plenty of water and some food).

[max_torque]

4 rules for Bullshit Refutation:

1) Know when to quit
2) You can't save everyone, so don't try
3) Stick to facts and occupy the moral high ground (ignore and don't retaliate to personal insults)
4) Make sure you go home happy at the end of the day


When you can do one of those 4 rules, it's time to give up!  (see rule 1   )



PS, have  a great holiday, don't worry, we'll manage without you for a few weeks