I've seen all sorts of techno-hate on Slashdot. I've seen Microsoft hate and Apple hate, I've seen hate for countless programming languages. I've seen hate for just about every personality to make the front page. I've hated and even been hated in return!

But now I've see it all.

I've finally seen someone with what appears to be a pathological hatred for wrist watches.

Now we just need a wrist watch fanboy with a persecution complex.

Look at it this way: The news is only three months old, there isn't a dup on the front page (yet), and it's from a sleazy tabloid rather than a blog about someones blog about a sleazy tabloid article they saw on reddit.

I'd say it's a step forward!

No, no he did not. I have absolutely no idea how that absurd myth still persists.

Something as simple as copying some music on to an iPod or iPhone is an absolute nightmare. Their gesture suite can only be described as disgraceful. Even the home button is a mess; embarrassingly overloaded with functions which change depending on how and when you press it. It's as unintuitive as it gets.

Sure, the iPhone it seemed simple when it barely did anything. You know, when it didn't have apps, copy/paste, multitasking, MMS, and other features common to other smartphones, and even many of the cheapest feature phones of the time.

Here's a usability challenge for you: Copy a zip file from your computer to your iPhone and then email it to someone. Now try doing the same thing on a BlackBerry, Android, or, well, any other smartphone.

Usable my ass. It borders on useless.

I think he's one of those people who still think "software engineering" is related in some way to other actual engineering disciplines.

I don't know about that. I've met Apple fanboys...

The million dollars is in the form of negotiable bonds within a "Prize Account" and that validation of the account and the prize amount can be supplied on demand.

It's not up to me to tell you what you about your woo-woo beliefs. Start by stating, precisely, what it is your claiming and what you claim to be able to demonstrate.

This is where most of you woo-woo's drop out. When your magical beliefs are forced under the harsh light of reason, the woo-woo's scatter like so many roaches.

"A pole-vaulter should be able to pole-vault, a cook should be able to cook", and a dreamer should able to dream.

It's as simple as that folks. What do we get instead? Excuses start to flow "oh, the million dollars doesn't exist", "oh, I don't have the time", "it doesn't always work", or my new favorite: "you won't tell me about my woo". Anything they can do to hang on to their silly magical beliefs!

Should I ask them about their most recent alien encounter as well? Why not cut the bullshit and just ask them flat-out if they're delusional?

What is that step supposed to prove? That other people have the same delusions that you do? After sampling a kindergarten classroom and discovering that 98% of participants believe that Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny exist, does that somehow make their silly childhood beliefs true?

The "lots of people believe this fantasy, therefore it's true" argument is nonsense.

Please, so that you can claim I rigged the test? I don't think so. You'll need to come up with a better sampling method that that!

Such a test does not in any way demonstrate that you can dream while asleep. Your plan is to wake-up tell me about your magical experiences? Then see if that correlates with what exactly? Oh, the "brain-scan" that, I presume, only you are capable of interpreting?

Now, Don't you you woo-woo's claim that you dream every single time you're asleep? So, your test is essentially restate your woo-woo belief each time you wake-up? Where does your "brain-scan" enter then? Is it just for show? "Yep, I was totally dreaming. Exactly like this 'brain-scan' shows." Pitiful.

Either you can dream or you can't. If you can't offer any evidence, then just say so.

So you claim. Where's the evidence? There's a million dollars on the line, and all you have to do is dream. You'd think if dreams were real, some one would have claimed that million dollars by now! I guess all you woo-woo's are independently wealthy? Maybe your magically dream fairy told you it was wrong to be greedy?

Already making excuses for your inevitable failure? So when you fail the challenge, you can say: "Well, nothing is 100% accurate, so it was just a fluke. My magical powers were just on the fritz that day by some unhappy coincidence!" Pathetic.

So people who dream are psychics now, and psychics can't get better-than-random results? Interesting take. You woo-woo's sure do come up with the weirdest excuses to hang on to your delusions.

So what's next? You can't dream in the presence of skeptics?

I take it that means you've finally puzzled it out?

Are you sure about that? You're in for a big surprise!

Go ahead, produce the evidence. There's a million dollars on the line here, after all. The authors of your mysterious study would certainly be interested!

You could always take up the challenge yourself. What did you have in mind for a test protocol?

You missed the point. Why am I not surprised?

    Let's give it another go.

Are you willing to accept my million dollar challenge? Do you still believe that people can dream while asleep?

Ah, Randi's nonsense challenge. Nonsense? Why, yes, it is.

To illustrate my point, I'll again offer my own challenge: One Million Dollars to empirically show that it's possible for someone to dream while asleep.

I know that quite a few people claim to dream while they're asleep, but they're clearly either delusional or money-grubbing attention seekers. I mean, if people really could dream, it would be a cinch to win that million dollars, right? I'm not picky. I'll give you every fair advantage. I'll even work with you to find a test protocol that is acceptable to both of us.

Now, a million dollars is a lot of money, so you'll first have to get some media attention before you'll be allowed to apply. I don't have time deal with every mentally ill person who thinks they can dream while they're asleep! I've got to reserve my resources for the big-name crooks and charlatans. Once you make a proper application and it has been accepted and approved, you'll need to pass a preliminary test. You can arrange that with a local university or skeptical group. (Pending my approval, of course.) If you pass that, you can apply to take the official challenge.

Who would turn down a million dollars just to do something they claim not only comes easily, but that they do every night! Even if you don't want or need an extra million dollars, surely you can think of a worthy charity!

Don't doubt my credentials. I'm exceptionally qualified to judge your challenge attempt as I can juggle a bit and know some really keen magic tricks.

That no one has yet to even pass the preliminary challenge speaks volumes!

Do you still think Randi's ridiculous sideshow is meaningful, important, or even useful?

Homeopathy is low-hanging fruit. Everyone knows its nonsense.

Now, I'll grant that homeopath is still a problem -- but it's not a problem because people believe it. It's a problem because it's difficult for consumers to distinguish products that are homeopathic from real medicine.

Head down to your local pharmacy and take a walk through the cough and cold isle. You'll notice that the generic and store brands mimic the packaging of the name brand products. That's helpful for consumers.

Unfortunately, the homeopathic products not only do the same, they go out of their way to hide the fact that they're homeopathic! It's not like the old days when they wrote "Homeopathic" in giant letters on a bright-yellow banner across the top of the box. Today, it's often written in an impossibly thin font, in faint white text near the bottom of the box where you'd expect information like net weight. That's bad for consumers.

If you don't know enough about the scam to figure out it's homeopathic from the information on the back to identify the product as homeopathic (e.g. 100x is the dilution, sometimes disguised further using a different scale like 50C or 100D) -- or you weren't paying enough attention because you're sick -- you, the guy who already knows homeopathy is nonsense, can easily find yourself at home with a box of useless pills!

So stop wasting time patting each other on the back for figuring out that homeopathy is nonsense. It wasn't a tough puzzle to solve. No one is impressed with your "intellectual" prowess. Instead, do something productive with that knowledge and call for better packaging standards. Campaign to get that non-medicine out of your local pharmacy. Do anything that will help solve the actual problem.

What about stuff like rTMS?

The trouble with internet skeptics is that they're not terribly well informed. They get "magnets = bullshit" from some blog and assume, then, that anything health-related involving magnets must be ridiculous nonsense.

Emma Lazarus?

You're an idiot.