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Articles tagged with "record"

Breaking the record for obsolescence? The history and controversies of Guinness World Records

Breaking the record for obsolescence? The history and controversies of Guinness World Records

Over the past month, I've watched two YouTube videos where the topic of the ridiculous nature of Guinness World Records (GWR) came up. First, I was a johnny-come-lately to hbomberguy's 2023 video on the history behind the Roblox 'Oof' sound, and the second was the first of two videos by Dan Olson of Folding Ideas about the inefficiency of the second season of Mr. Beast's game show. In the former, suspicion is cast over the legitimacy of Tommy Tallarico's records for video game concerts and video game composing. Meanwhile, Olson, albeit more briefly, questions whether the many records the Beast Games received are an unintentional monument to incompetence in the field of televised game shows. But whereas chasing after Guinness Records is used as a mark against Tallarico and Mr. Beast, I'm interested in the flaws in the awards process itself.

Does Vinyl Sound Better?

Does Vinyl Sound Better?

I was in JB HiFi the other day and noticed that vinyl records have made a comeback. There were rows and rows of new releases on vinyl LP, selling for between $50 and $60 a piece. It reminded me of an incident a few years ago, when a friend of mine moved from the US to New Zealand.

A Theory of Very Little Substance

A Theory of Very Little Substance

Over the last couple of weeks I've been watching a documentary series called Europa: The Last Battle. It covers the history of Jewish communities around the world, and of the rise of Hitler. It's described on IMDB as “Historical Truth Setting”, with quite a high average rating of 7.3 out of 10 and some positive reviews, saying things such as:

An Audio Spectacular

This week's newsletter is all about those sweet, sweet sounds. There's a story about Spotify, starring Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Joe Rogan. And one about expensive audiophile-level computer hardware. On top of this, some of you might be interested to hear that we're going to try something new with the newsletter soon, something audio related...

HRV fined for false claims

HRV has had to pay out $400k for bad claims it made about its water filters. The interesting thing about this case, in my opinion, is that the fine was given because it was shown that HRV didn't have the evidence for its claims when it made them.

Sexual Harassment of kids is okay, because of Joseph and Mary?

Republican Senate candidate Judge Roy Moore has been accused of sexually assaulting a 14 girl when he was 14. He has a worrying track record - as well as other accusations of sexual harassment of young girls, he's twice been promoted to the Supreme Court and then removed because of his refusal to follow church/state separation laws. He was suspended for trying to stop legal gay marriages from being performed.

CYF can't say if they pay for alternative treatments

Chris Hyde from the Timaru Herald received a response to an OIA request to CYF this week. There was a recent case where a man was convicted for child abuse of CYF kids in Timaru, and he was used by CYF as an EFT practitioner.

Scenes from a conference

Scenes from a conference

Rayna Ramsey produced a photographic record of this years NZ Skeptics conference.

Eve bites off too much

Eve bites off too much

Ian Wishart is one of New Zealand's more prominent creationists. In a recent book he takes on evolutionary biology, a task for which he seems ill-equipped.

Into the Lions' Den

Three sketpics go head to head with a creationist lecturer.

We Used to Call it Bedlam

Karekare beach is surrounded by high cliffs which shield my house from television transmissions so that I gain most of my media information from radio and print.

Bound for glory

E. Frenkel, the Russian who late last year undertook the ultimate test of his ability to stop on-coming trains using only his brain power, was a hit with NZ Skeptics too. Members have sent in eight clippings relating to the incident—an all-time record by a long way.