choofnagle
Posts by this author
February 27, 2008
I've been AWOL from Denialism Blog because one of my UC-Berkeley projects has become all-consuming.
I'm interested in sparking a market for identity theft protection. A real one. One where consumers can actually make choices among banks based on their actual ability to address security attacks…
February 14, 2008
The Ponemon Institute and TRUSTe have just released their annual Most Trusted Companies for Privacy report. As part of this report, the groups asked consumers about the factors--positive and negative--that shaped their perceptions of companies' privacy practices. (Full disclosure: I am a fellow…
February 12, 2008
I've spent the last few months working with an excellent journalist on the Anonymity Experiment, which will appear in this month's Popular Science magazine. In it, Catherine Price attempts to live a normal life without revealing personal data:
...when this magazine suggested I try my own privacy…
February 10, 2008
Today, I joined about 100 hooligans in the anti-scientology protest in San Francisco, as part of Project Chanology, a large-scale effort to call attention to abuses committed by the cult of Scientology. Many protestors had serious signs that called attention to the various ways in which…
February 8, 2008
Obama has created a lot of excitement among young people. On Tuesday, young people waiving Obama signs were all over the Berkeley campus and downtown San Francisco. Hillary's supporters were rarely seen, it seemed.
You'll note that I didn't call these supporters "young voters."
Why?
Because…
February 8, 2008
Suzanne Sataline reports in today's Journal about the intense spotlight that has been focused on the Mormon church as a result of the Romney campaign. The criticism has been so intense that the church has hired a public relations firm to battle it, and has encouraged young Mormons to blog about…
February 7, 2008
I came across this statistic the other day while doing some research on marketing fraud:
In recent years, despite the creation of a national "do not call" registry, the legitimate telemarketing industry has grown, according to the Direct Marketing Association. Callers pitching insurance plans,…
February 2, 2008
Check it out--for a mere 12 Euro, you can buy, Wo bitte geht's zu Gott?, fragte das kleine Ferkel, a book that is reportedly causing a stir for its depiction of the world's major religions. This children's book is pitched to atheists who wish to indoctrinate/inoculate their children against…
January 21, 2008
Those of you on my snail mail list receive holiday cards from me every December, but this year was so hectic that I never got to one. So, today (really tomorrow), I'm mailing my MLK Day cards, which will include A is for Abandonable, Chris' Abecedarium of Dysphemisms (PDF). Use these words…
January 21, 2008
Bob Sullivan reports at MSNBC on the early developments of a medical privacy score by Fair Issac, the same company that invented the credit score for lenders. This is somewhat scary, because the entire point of credit scores is to make decision making easier, so easy that people very low on the…
January 18, 2008
I'm willing to bet that you weren't at Explo '72, the "Christian Woodstock," which received an encomium in today's Journal by John Turner:
In 1972, Mike Huckabee -- still in high school -- followed the example of thousands of other young Americans. He went to a weeklong festival, waded through mud…
January 18, 2008
The Wall Street Journal's Alexandra Alter reports on the newest reason not to spend your money and time at church: shunning has returned, meaning that years of devotion to your religious institution can be cut off if you do something like gossip or dare to question the grand panjandrum:
On a quiet…
January 11, 2008
No, the Denialism Blog is not my personal travel blog, although it might seem that way lately. I was in Guatemala last month, where I encountered dirty hippies and woo, and learned about a new religion called new age.
This week, I was at the Consumer Electronics Show doing a consulting gig for a…
January 4, 2008
One last note on my trip to Guatemala--as part of it, we traveled to Tikal, to see the ruins. Here's the view from one of the temples early in the morning.
Okay. So, our tour guide is relating various facts of dubious veracity on the ride to town. And then he says that a new religion has…
January 2, 2008
Today's WSJ picks one of Dennis Kucinich's old scabs: just what happened with this whole UFO sighting claim that he made? Remember that back in October, Kucinich mentioned the incident in a debate, but he has smartly kept the matter quiet since. Well, apparently, this incident happened when…
January 1, 2008
Just returned from an excellent trip to Guatemala, where I spent some of my time at Late Atitlan, near San Marcos. So, San Marcos is known as a hippie town, and I thought you'd love to see the various services offered at local businesses. They include (click for full size):
Past-Life Regression…
December 31, 2007
Glenn Simpson reports in today's Journal on how lenders lobbied against state anti-predatory lending laws, with the result of worsening the subprime crisis. While the federal government was asleep at the wheel, or worse, worshiping the "miracle of instant credit," states were trying to protect…
December 31, 2007
All, I'm sorry for being AWOL on the Denialism Blog. I've just returned from a longish trip with Dr. Girlfriend to Guatemala, where we visited Guatemala City, Lake Atitlan, Antigua, and Tikal. I'll blog soon with some of the outrageous woo we encountered in San Marcos. But for now, enjoy the…
December 8, 2007
All, Mark has been busy becoming a Dr. and I've been busy doing end-of-semester stuff at UC-B. So, sorry for the absenteeism. Maybe when Mark recovers from his hangover we'll have more good content here. But until then, check out Lawrence O'Donnell (who is on HBO's Big Love) rant on Mormonism.…
November 23, 2007
This may be obvious to the smart readers of Scienceblogs, but let me state this just for the purpose of explaining the waste that is gift cards. You might think giving cash as a gift is tacky, but the nice thing about cash is that it doesn't expire, incur fees, or become impossible to combine with…
November 20, 2007
In today's New York Times, Doreen Carvajal reports that cosmetic companies are scrambling to come into compliance with a 2009 ban on the use of animal testing for cosmetics in the European Union. 27 member economies strong, the EU can pass such rules, and watch the industry innovate to reach the…
November 19, 2007
Although we discussed this issue earlier, I can't help to point to a new segment on 60 Minutes exploring the issue of whether big chain restaurants should have to disclose the amount of calories in their food products (Video).
The denialism from the industry on this issue is pretty clear, but what…
November 19, 2007
The Predatory Lending Association (PLA):
...is dedicated to extracting maximum profit from the working poor by increasing payday loan fees and debt traps. The working poor is an exciting, fast growing demographic that includes: military personnel, most minorities, and a growing percentage of the…
November 17, 2007
The Southeast is having serious water shortages. Just look at Lake Lanier, the main water source for Atlanta.
Ouch!
So, what do you do when you live in Palm Beach, FL, there is a water shortage, fines for washing your car or watering your lawn except during specified hours, and serious…
November 13, 2007
Malcolm Gladwell has an interesting piece in this week's New Yorker concerning criminal profilers, individuals who try to determine who a criminal is based on characteristics of the crime. The idea of criminal profiling has become very popular, with many television shows and movies based on the…
November 12, 2007
Have you ever forgotten to pay a bill and received a call about it on your cell phone? Ever wonder how they got your number? Well, you may have given it to them, but if you didn't, they probably bought it from a commercial data broker, a company that sells personal information to businesses and…
November 11, 2007
Here's a fun one from the archives--Modern Drunkard Magazine's advice on how to beat an intervention. It includes this gem:
Counter Attack
Now that you've blunted their savage assault, it's high time to launch your own vengeful attack. The only people bold enough to conduct an intervention are…
November 7, 2007
I'm continuing to bore you with the Federal Trade Commission's report on Consumer Fraud in the United States.
Would it be surprising to hear that individuals with higher levels of debt are more likely to be victims of fraud?
Yes, people in debt can be desperate, and thus be more likely to fall…
November 6, 2007
The Federal Trade Commission just released their second report on Consumer Fraud in the United States. Since it is full of interesting information, I'm going to do several posts on the Commission's findings.
First a quick notes about methods: this report presents findings from 3,888 telephonic…