Mapman wrote,
""Penn & Teller's "Bullshit" series is smart, funny, and accurate"
Unlike much of it one might find around here."
Uh, did you forget a smiley face? Lighten up, already. Sheesh! |
"Penn & Teller's "Bullshit" series is smart, funny, and accurate"
Unlike much of it one might find around here. |
Wolf Man, I know, I get it, Penn and Teller are funny. Just like The Amazing a Randi, another Vegas performer who makes a living going after spoon benders, dowsers and other supposedly paranormal activity. He even went after me a few times. Hey, he's gotta eat, too. :-) |
Penn & Teller's "Bullshit" series is smart, funny, and accurate, although maybe too much for the simple or classically religious...get permission from an adult before watching it. |
TBG, You must be open minded. I just think its great entertainment you know, a fool and his money. |
Schubert,Yes they do work. They also work negatively, namely such as saying, this mediciNe will make you sick would increase those who reported being sick. The scientific method is a faith, but it also requires "proof" to peers. God seldom confirms that she had said what men report her to having said. |
The thing about placebos is that they DO work.
Science is just as much a religion as Catholicism. |
Now if I could just get the guard to return my posters to my cell... They probably saw "The Shawshank Redemption." :-) Best regards, -- Al |
"return my posters to my cell..." They took yours too? |
Russe41,
Before speaking about wasting money, may I ask you a question, please? Ever tried after-market fuses in your system or have you just dismissed them out of hand?
The only person you're doing a disservice to is yourself. |
I HATE SPELLING ERRORS...so I thank Almarg for alerting me to this one, and encourage others to be so diligent. It was supposed to be "disparate." Also, I'm a fan of interesting interior design, architecture, blah blah...(especially Blah Blah) and am fully aware that one's surroundings can affect the way one feels. However, any attempt at the quantifying of the extremely personal phenomena of perception that's filtered through an individual's consciousness is nonesense, balderdash, and silliness. Now if I could just get the guard to return my posters to my cell... |
Russe41, I guess if you are so close minded, I think it is strange that you would bother to engage in this thread. |
Point the fuses towards ebay to see if someone is crazy enough to waste his money, then put yours away and don't waste it again. |
****they say it's a science, NOT an art) ****
Does it really matter; assuming it works for some? |
Ack-chew-ally, desperate makes more sense than disparate. IMHO of course. |
Penn and Teller exposing feng shui is like The Amazing Randi exposing high end cables, no? Give me a break. |
Wolfie, I usually don't point out typos or spelling errors, but in this case I suspect that for your post to convey what you intended "disperate" should be "disparate." Chances are "disperate" would be taken by many to be a misspelling of "desperate," which I don't think is what you meant.
Best regards,
-- Al |
Penn & Teller did a hilarious expose' of Feng Shui fraud by having a few "experts" (they say it's a science, NOT an art) secretly filmed while applying this "science" to the same room, and all of them were utterly disperate with one even trying to sell exclusive items to help with the process. Great stuff. |
MM, Oh, that. Well, you might not be aware of PWB Electronics and all of their Morphic Resonance related stuff, like color magnets and Silver Rainbow Foil. Anywho, in case you need a little tutorial on Morphic Resonance and feng shui, here's a neato YouTube clip for your viewing pleasure.
http://youtu.be/yRA3qBhdL4Y |
Chinese ain't stupid .
In talking to many Asian peasants I found they are far above average American in general wisdom and mental acuity . |
Geoff,
Specifically your response to Almarg above regarding color of magnets which I'll copy here for easy reference:
"Al, I realize this next series of comments is beyond the scope of this discussion but I'd thought I'd throw it out there anyway, perhaps to see what you think. As I think I probably mentioned somewhere along the line on this thread, I have been using magnets in audio applications for a very long time. Furthermore, I have found them to have a positive effect on the sound. But the kicker is where I am using magents. I am using them on windows, on doors, on transformers, on cell phones, on TVs, on wood book cases, on mirrors, among other things. See, I told you it was beyond the scope. Lol. Now, having said all that I should also mention that the color of the magnet is quite important and depends on the object on which it is placed. For example, for steel blue, for aluminum red, for glass green. " |
I'm listening to WWOZ New Orleans on Internet Radio via my Squeezebox and main rig as I work and type. Love that station and the Big Easy music scene in general. Helps make me actively receptive to things like Feng Shui.... |
Before we relegate Feng Shui to simply superstition it might be helpful to note that the magnetic compass (a verifiably effective and still in use instrument) was developed for use in Feng Shui. Chi is an important aspect in Feng Shui practice. |
Wolf,
I don't know much about it. Seems like an eastern form of superstition.
I do believe in the concept of Chi force though so I find anything related to that to be of interest usually. I suppose the concepts at the core of Feng Shui have wide appeal, but I do not understand how Feng Shui concepts actually work. Its on my list of things to learn more about, way ahead of teleportation tweaks and yes even fuse directionality. :^) |
Wolf Man - rubber bands are really cool, esp. the really expensive ones, however my fuse has a liquid center (I'm not hot dogging you) so a rubber band would probably be way overkill. |
Feng Shui is nonesense, although design of interior space is interesting anyway. My next great idea: Tiny (I mean really tiny) damping rubber bands for fuses...only $127.50 each. You want these...I know you do...come on now... |
MM, happy to oblige but which color based thing are you referring to? I've got a bunch. Colored pens for CDs and Blu Ray, Multi colored light strobe light, CD tray masking and Blu Ray tray masking. Not to mention scattered light absorbers for CD and Blu Ray. My stuff isn't really feng shui, not even close actually. Pretty straight physics, well maybe not the strobe light, I don't know WHAT that is.
Tootles |
Geof,
How does your color based audio "Feng Shui" as it were work?
Feng Shui has been around a long time and has many followers. I'm willing to listen if you are willing to explain. |
Thanks for explaining. I have had many similar experiences over the years and all those subtle things can add up to something truly significant.
Regards. |
Yes, I know. I was just sharing an antidotal story about my discovery of the impact of subtle things on the quality of the sound. |
Tonywinsc, in the case of the Monster IC's (and most similar IC's) directionality as shown by the arrows has to do with the fact that the shield is only connected (grounded) at one end and not the other. I think we are talking about something else as concerns fuses. |
Tonywinsc, Mapleshade use to make power cords that had ribbons whose draw was one way for the hot and the reverse for the neutral. I still have some somewhere in my boxes. Other companies copied them. Kondo use to make both silver and copper wire with the draw known. Synergistic Research zaps their fuses on their Tesla coil and does so both ways. |
Tony wrote,
"So who among these esteemed EE's could perform these delicate measurements?"
That's so funny! Woulda, shoulda, coulda.... |
Tony, we have already pointed out that HiFi Tuning provides data sheets on their web site for fuses of various types as well as other fuses, measured in both directions, with and without cryo. |
If the impedance of Cu wire is slightly different in the direction of the draw vs. the other direction, then I would think that this difference is measurable. Perhaps fuse and cable companies know this and measure this; but for the sake of competitive advantage, do not care to reveal it. If wire impedance is slightly higher in one direction than the other, then it could follow that signal noise is slightly lower pending orientation of the wire. Lower signal noise could be perceived as better sound quality.
So who among these esteemed EE's could perform these delicate measurements? And be willing? Or is it nonsense? |
I know this: a few decades ago, I had some Monster Cable ICs with directional arrows. I had changed something on my stereo and had the ICs off of it. These ICs were going from preamp to amp. After reconnecting everything, I sat down to listen; but something didn't seem right. I couldn't put my finger on it; but it was enough to prompt me to get out of my chair and check everything. I found one of the two IC cables was plugged in backwards, ie. the arrow on the cable was pointing the wrong way. I corrected the orientation and sat back down to listen. Everything was good. That blew me away. I became more open minded about cables and other tweaks after that. I have not, however, gotten motivated to trial fuses. |
How that may work in the case of fuses used in the power supply circuitry; I couldn't say. Perhaps, the multitude of minute diode bridges, somehow has an effect of the AC waveform, in one direction, more than the other. I haven't yet heard anyone mentioning OHNO Continuous Cast wire, in their fuses. |
Mt T- The crystalline molecular structure actually forms in a sort of directional chevron formation(ie: >>>>>>), when drawn. The barriers(between crystals) are subject to oxidation and are thought to have a diode effect. I've been wondering (given the much greater complexity of musical wave forms, compared to the ordinary sine waves, used in testing/scientific experimentation), if this might contribute to a sort of Wood Effect, when the signal is subjected to those boundaries. The differences in ambiance, image specificity, etc., that some people(myself included) are able to perceive when speakers are reversed in phase, are as subtle as what some claim for fuse reversal. Again; I've not played with reversing my fuses. I'm just speculating. |
Fun reading. No one has made mention of the directionality of wire due to the drawing process. The crystalline structure of copper is aligned a certain way when it is pulled through the die. What I am not sure of, is if the crystalline structure alignment changes when the copper wire is annealed or flexed. This may play some part in the fuse orientation question. The fuse manufacturer buys the wire in spools and so must know the actual direction the wire was pulled through the die. Otherwise, the directional notation on their fuses would be meaningless. |
@Mr G- That was Zen! This is Tao(relax/enjoy)! |
Al, thanks, I did see that when read the post again, please don't take my comments to heart too much. If memory serves the reason for Bryon's rant was something I said in the thread you quoted from. I like Bryon and he definitely has a way with words.
Geoff |
Frogman, thanks very much for the kind comments, which are particularly appreciated as my perception has been that you have one of the best combinations of musical background and audiophile experience extant.
Geoff, please note that the post which I quoted from the "Do You Believe In Magic" thread was written by me, TO Bryon, who was the originator of the thread.
Regards,
-- Al |
This is great stuff.
Just when I'd bet Norm can't get any stodgier, he reaches another level of pig-headedness and intolerance.
Way to go old man. |
Excerpt from intro to Zen and the Art of Debunkery. Enjoy.
"Seeing with humility, curiosity and fresh eyes was once the main point of science. But today it is often a different story. As the scientific enterprise has been bent toward exploitation, institutionalization, hyperspecialization and new orthodoxy, it has increasingly preoccupied itself with disconnected facts in a psychological, social and ecological vacuum. So disconnected has official science become from the greater scheme of things, that it tends to deny or disregard entire domains of reality and to satisfy itself with reducing all of life and consciousness to a dead physics.
As the millennium turns, science seems in many ways to be treading the weary path of the religions it presumed to replace. Where free, dispassionate inquiry once reigned, emotions now run high in the defense of a fundamentalized "scientific truth." As anomalies mount up beneath a sea of denial, defenders of the Faith and the Kingdom cling with increasing self-righteousness to the hull of a sinking paradigm. Faced with provocative evidence of things undreamt of in their philosophy, many otherwise mature scientists revert to a kind of skeptical infantilism characterized by blind faith in the absoluteness of the familiar. Small wonder, then, that so many promising fields of inquiry remain shrouded in superstition, ignorance, denial, disinformation, taboo . . . and debunkery." |
I didn't realize Grouch Marx was an audiophile. |
To paraphrase Marx, who are you going to believe, me or your lying ears? |
"Rather than a believer or a skeptic, I guess you could call me a pragmatist with a technical background."
A very healthy and practical perspective for one to have in this arena I would say. |
"the real question then becomes: where does one draw the line"
The answer these days is whenever GeoffKait/Machina Dynamica offers up his support.
But that's just me. |
Al, as regards the Briancunnungham post, I think it is important to understand he considers himself to be a skeptic. Not that there is anything wrong with that but in the case of aftermarket fuses he would be the type of skeptic not to actually try the fuse but to attempt to shoot it down with skeptic's arguments. Another thing I find fascinating is his use of capital letters when he states, "...within finite bounds of plausibility." Well, give me a break, what might be implausible to one person might easily be perfectly fine to another person. You know, if you start talking quantum mechanics to the guy on the street he will most likely look at you won't those big eyes that look like a deer in the headlights. So, I would not at all define a concept as be feasible or plausible based on some loosely goosey constraint such as the bounds of plausibility. Hell, black holes are "implausible" to probably 80% of the world's population. Cameras are "implausible" to folks living in many remote parts of the world, well, maybe not now with cell phones and everything. LOL. Who is defining what is plausible? |
Excellent post, Al. I agree with you on every count, and can only say that it is a shame that you did not pursue electronic design in audio; it would have been to the audio world's benefit. |
