Samantha and Neil Prendergast of Hydrocharger are also responsible for WaterMotive Ltd and Water4GasUK and Tranztec UK, three more UK based HHO scams. Neil and Sam Prendergast were also the founders of “Water Fuel Expert“, an old USA based HHO scam. I wonder if there are any more I have missed? Read the rest of this entry »

The ADE651, it can spot bombs or narcotics or people or heartbeats or… whatever else you are looking for… even things you are not looking for… through brick walls… from aeroplanes… up to a kilometre away…  honest!

The device contains no power source whatsoever, it is just a technical looking divining rod. Apparently, to work properly, it relies entirely on the operator being calm and well rested and well trained, then the hand held telescopic antenna will swivel round and point at whatever you are looking for, and even some things you are not.

Does this sound like nonsense to you? Of course it is nonsense!

Unfortunately, like so many scams, the device has an army of “true believes”; people who, for one reason or another, are so invested in the product that logic and reason don’t apply, their belief is based entirely on faith and/or anecdotal evidence.  These people are not necessarily the uneducated or the desperate, in fact they can even be the same people who have control of millions of dollars of a countries’ military spending…

… and…the Iraqi military has just spent at least $24 million on fifteen-hundred of these!

From here this sounds quite funny, but if I were relying on these devices to keep me from terrorist attack I’d probably not be laughing.

What ATSC's web site looked like before they took it off line (image from: whois.domaintools.com)

The product: http://www.ade651.com/ade651in.html

This web-site claims that the “exclusive distributor” is Kaplaz Security Professionals LTD of Prosec Building, Serrail Street, Baabda, Lebanon
www.prosec.com

However the New York Times says the following company sold them to Iraq:

The suppler: ATSC-Ltd (site permanently unavailable).
Registered to: ATSC LTD, Jim McCormick.
Phone: +44-2071930282 (they never answer their phone)
Address: Dairy House Yard, Cary Road, Sparkford, Yeovil, BA22 7LH

This address looks like a private house opposite a farm, but Google Maps is a bit confused as it also says the Haynes International Motor Museum. Whatever is there it is not ATSC, it is either an old address or completely bogus.

More info on the device:

From the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/world/middleeast/04sensors.html

And Gizmo.com
http://gizmodo.com/5396888/the-bomb+sniffing-gadget-thats-definitely-not-saving-iraq

http://sniffexquestions.blogspot.com/

http://atscllc.en.ecplaza.net/

http://www.skeptics.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?p=47058

…a quick comparison/review of my experience with Webfusion/Pipex and Jaguarpc.com…

I first signed up with Webfusion as my web server provider in about 2004, Webfusion were a small-ish web-hosting company, they came recommended by people who knew what they were talking about; “they stack it high and sell it cheap” I was told… and they did…

Not very long after I signed up Webfusion were bought up by Pipex, an enormous web-hosing company. It s hard for me to say if Webfusion were bad before the buyout, but after they were terrible!

I had a VPS from Webfusion (a VPS is a Virtual Private Servers, a server which appears to be one server on a dedicated machine but is actually many servers on the one machine). Webfusion/Pipex “over sell” their VPSs  so there are way too many VPSs on the one server. Providing VPSs is a perfectly legitimate way of providing servers to people won can’t afford or don’t need a dedicated server, however “over selling” means that the real-server’s resources, memory and such, are not adequate when divided between each VPS to perform its normal tasks.

My server was constantly running out of memory (a symptom of over selling), there was simply not enough available memory to perform even basic tasks. When I asked about this Webfusion/Pipex support took weeks, literally, to respond… and then they were not very helpful at all… and then again took weeks to respond to my responses to their responses… (this was VERY typical of my experience of their email support)… ultimately their answer was for me to upgrade to a more expensive VPS even though my VPS was running about 2% of what Webfusion/Pipex claimed it was capable of running.

Specifically, in case you care, it was the VPSs “kmemsize” which was the main, but not the only, problem.

About a year ago I found out that Webfusion/Pipex offered the exact same VPS I was on for half the price I was paying. This made me mad as hell! I pointed this out to them… and… nearly a month later… they responded telling me I could have the cheaper service, all I had to do was move my entire VPS to a new, identical and yet cheaper, VPS.

I tried to move everything to the new, cheaper, VPS… but it was too hard… Webfusion/Pipex Support were little/no help… and, frankly, the idea of all that work (moving everything from one server to another server) for a cheaper VPS that was not going actually work any better than the old VPS did not inspire the effort required to move my half-a-dozen web sites.

(In fairness to Webfusion/Pipex they did refund me for the new server that did not work out when I asked them to).

My VPS at Webfusion/Pipex limped and dragged its ass along along for five years. It just about managing to stay on line, sort of, until the end 2009 when life gave me a few weeks of nothing to do and I finally plucked up the courage to move my sites to another new web-provider and better VPS.

Again, on a personal recommendation, I chose Jaguarpc.com. The difference was enormous, no exaggeration to say the difference is from black to white, for very little more money (the difference in price is about $2 more per month) I have a working, functioning, VPS which does not run out of memory every five minutes (seriously, it was that bad with my old VPS, going off-line every five minutes), my new server works perfectly.

In addition I have access to a Support service that I have been so impressed with that I cannot express how pleased I am… Am I gushing about a web-host, of all things? I guess I am… Maybe this is the norm with anyone who is not used to Webfusion/Pipex, but Jaguarpc support have been amazing for me, quick and helpful responses to my (stupid?) questions, usually in less than an hour, and so far they have not charged me any extra for their help.

Was the transfer easy? No it was not! I am not brilliant at these things and it was tough; I had to get a lot of help from a friend a fair bit and my sites were off-line for about a week.

Was it worth it? Oh yes! It was so worth the time and effort, but it was a big deal and this is why I took so five years thinking about doing it and not getting on with it… In truth I only stuck with the guys that sucked for five years because of how scary the idea of moving everything was, indeed this is probably why so may other people just keep on putting up with their crap web-host.

Please, Jaguarpc.com, don’t be bought out by anyone.

[ More on Neil & Sam Prendergast's HHO scam sites here ]

I recently had my attention brought to an HHO, “run your car on water”, “water for fuel”, “water boost” scam in the UK. Hydrocharger used to clam all sorts of nonsense on their site, they used to claim to be able to reduce your fuel bill by 25% using a system which has been shown over and over to be a scam.

Hydrocharger‘s address is in Bolton, UK, Samantha Jane Prendergast is the Managing Director with her husband Neil. Neil and Sam Prendergast were also the founders of an old US based HHO scam “Water Fuel Expert“, they are also responsible for two more UK based HHO scams WaterMotive Ltd and Water4GasUK.

Note I say “used to“; since originally writing this article and reporting Hydrocharger to Trading Standards, Hydrocharger have changed their website a lot, one key example is that they no longer claim a “25% saving” in fuel, now they simply say that “most drivers notice a marked improvement”. However there are still many false statements on the Hydrocharger site and Sam & Neil Prendergast ‘s other sites still contain all the same old lies.

Read the rest of this entry »

I am a British guy living in San Francisco, I’d like to use the BBC’s iPlayer to listen to BBC Radio from time to time, but almost every time I try to use it RealPlayer gives me the totally unhelpful error message “A General Error Has Occurred”. What does this mean? Is the problem me? Or is it the BBC? Or RealPlayer? I don’t know the answer, I have searched the Internet and got no where, but I think I have a solution!

This is what Real have to say about their “General Error”:

You might receive a “General Error” message when using RealPlayer if the clip you are playing is unavailable or damaged, or if you have a damaged installation of RealPlayer.

So it is either the BBC’s problem or my problem then. Either the BBC are not supplying my computer with the audio clip or my installation if RealPlayer is damaged. Well it is easy to test if it is my installation of RealPlayer, the following link will do that for you – http://service.real.com/realplayer/test/

It turns out that when I test RealPlayer in this way it works fine. I hit the link, RealPlayer launches and the audio streams just fine.

However I notice that when i hit the link on the BBC’s page what is lanced is not the RealPlayer, but the RealPlayer in a BBC iPlayer branded window…

Try the following (it works for me sometimes, and not others):

Click on this link and see if you get the “General Error”. Yea? Then right click this exact same link and select “copy link location” (or “copy short cut” in IE). Open RealPlayer, select “open” from the drop down menu and paste the link into the dialogue box. Work for you? It does me (usually)!

Conclusion; there is something squiffy with the way RealPlayer launches from the BBC website in my web browser. I am not alone in this either, thousands of people have the same problem.

Please, let me know if you found this worked or did not work for you, and indeed if you can explain what is going on here.

Warning - RealPlayer is a nasty bit of software, it agressivly installs itself, steals your settings and tries to get you to pay for it. Be vey carefull when installing.

I just finished my 2nd show on Pirate Cat Radio sitting in for my wife, podcast available here:

http://www.nerdnetworks.org/pcr/Starbuck-20090617.mp3

(right-click and “save as” to save or just click the link to listen).

It went so much better than my first atempt, thank god!

No On Prop. 8

California’s Prop. 8 says that “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California”; I find this insane, freedom is about everyone being free and equal, until we are all equal none of us are free.

It is so simple, a no briner, and yet people get so uptight about it. Anyone who opposes the right for any consenting adult to do what they like and have the same rights ans anyone else must be be doing it on religious grounds, because God said so, and in that case there is no point arguing with you…  but you don’t need me to rant about that… do you?

Anyway, Keith Olbermann says it better than I ever could – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HpTBF6EfxY

I went along to the Prop. 8 protes in San Franciso today, six of my friends were among the hundreds arrested by some very plesent policemen, they held the intersection of Grove and Van Ness for three or four hours.

Sorry, enemies of gay marriage. Prop 8 or no, you’ve already lost
Gay marriage is a foregone conclusion. It’s a done deal. It’s just a matter of time. For the next generation in particular, equal rights for gays is not even a question or a serious issue, much less a sinful hysterical conundrum that can only be answered by terrified Mormons and confused old people and inane referendums funded by same. It’s just obvious, inevitable, a given. (Mark Morford)

I am a massive fan of www.themixingbowl.org

I’m a British guy living in San Francisco, I use The Mixing Bowl to download the Annie Mac Mashup and Annie Nightingale shows from BBC Radio One in the UK, I download the torrent file and then download the show to my computer, put it on my iPod and listen while running about the streets of SF burning off the burritos.

Now the thing about torrents is that you need to share them, as well as downloading you also need to make them available for uploading to other people who may want them too, it is only fair. I download the two shows I want each week and make them available for others to download from me, The Mixing Bowl require one to keep your upload/download ration above “one”, that is to say you must have more uploaded that you download, and I agree completely!

The thing is, while I make the files available for people to download from me they tend not to, I don’t know if it is a time difference thing (I am 8 hours behind the UK in San Francisco) or what, but on the whole people don’t download what I have avalable and as a result my upload/download ratio is very poor.

As a result I have been banned from the site; I cannot use the site in any way, my IP has been blocked, I can’t access  the forum, or the contact us page… I am unable to use the site or contest my ban or contact them in anyway whatsoever – I am very frustrated, no Annie Mac, no Annie Nightingale, no music for my runs – the shows I have downloaded are available right now, but still on the whole no one wants them… I need to contact The Mixing Bowl but they have made it so I cannot…

Anyone able to help,? Please contact me – http://www.jonstarbuck.co.uk/contact-jon

[work in progress, please add suggestions at the bottom]

Accommodation

Finding a cheap place to stay in San Francisco is going to be a problem, accommodation is probably the single most expensive thing here.

Hotels

If you are looking for a cheap hotel in an area safe/nice enough to put your Mum in then you could do a lot worse than the Hays Valley Inn; quality and location far above the average for the price.

Hostels

There are a lot of backpacker hostels in San Francisco, unsurprisingly, and  competition is high, nevertheless they still feel expensive – to get a good deal come out of season and stay in the not-so-nice bits of town, I suggest trying the Adelaide, Green Tortoise or Elements.

Car hire

Yep, even car hire can be cheap if you know where to look. Avoid the big names (Avis, Hertz…) because while they may have tempting offers, when you get to their office to pick up your “fuel efficient compact” you will find they have given you a “free upgrade” to a two seater fuel guzzling monster or a massive RV, they will tell you how it is good on gas but they are lying.

I recommend Rent-A-Wreck, real nice guys, family run business, easy to get to (Third Street “T”), you ask for a compact then you get a compact, unlimited mileage… the car will be a “clean, reliable, late model car at a low, low price” – 2955 Third Street, (415)-282-6293, rawsf@msn.com

Public Transport

Yep, it is very good and very cheap, get a MUNI map.

Camper van and RV rentals

Try lost campers for cheap camper van rentals; they are not RV’s exactly, more nice little vans with a double bed in the back and a camping stove, but they are done nicely, good quality and great value…

National Parks

It costs somthing like $20 to get into Yosomite, another $20 to get into Kings Canyon, $5 a head to get into Mur Woods… and so on… you can buy a pass for all of these and hundreds of others for about $80 which will get you and your partner and up to three others (so long as you all arrive in the same vehicle) in for free.

I just advertised a laptop on Craigslist, the following are blatant scam artists posing as customers, beware if they contact you…

Jeannie Raleigh – j.raleigh00q@googlemail.com

Annis Chris – marry.mario5@gmail.com

Eliot White – eliotwh1@gmail.com
Eliot has been especallystupid in that he has not been reading my replies to his emails, rather just greedily responding to me, and has so far given up this information about himself… he claims this is his daughter’s shipping address:

Emmanuel Adekola,
No 50 college crescent off Anfani Ibadan,
Ibadan,
Oyo State,
23402,
Nigeria,
Phone: 2348073070107