Category: Health

  • Ear mutations, why it hurts when I Wii, a completely unbiased review of the new Eels album, and a quick thing about iPhone 3G coverage

    Hello there. Sorry for the lack of blogging recently, I’ve been taking a break from the computer. Here are a few things that have been occupying me lately. First up, headphones and mutating ears. I’ve been reviewing some high-end headphones – in-ear ones – and while I can’t put any details up here until the…

  • Could Apple’s tablet hurt your hands?

    Sorry for yet another tablet post, but it’s the tech that lots of people want to read about right now. It struck me earlier that among all the excited predictions, nobody’s pointing out that it could be an ergonomic disaster area. So I wrote about it. It’s likely, then, that typing on the tablet will…

  • What they don’t tell you about miracle stop-smoking drug Champix

    Once you’ve binned the cigs, you’ll need to bin the Champix – and the withdrawal symptoms of that are pretty similar to the withdrawal symptoms from stopping smoking. Insomnia, strong physical cravings, the inability to handle even the slightest irritation without flying into an Yngwie Malmsteen-esque “fockin’ fury” (linked MP3 NSFW)… better than smoking, I…

  • Vaccines bad, m’kay?

    Here we go again. Malcolm Coles argues that media reports are doing an MMR, this time with the cervical cancer vaccine: Let’s be clear. The only reason parents are worried, boycotting the vaccine, and demanding suspensions of the vaccination program is because the media whipped up a storm with no evidence whatsoever.

  • Perhaps it’s Scotland’s politicians that need “rebalancing”

    Oh joy, the new Scottish booze legislation comes into force today. Supermarkets are reorganising their displays, pubs are spending thousands of pounds on applying for new licenses (which, in the case of North Lanarkshire, mean some 25 pubs won’t legally be able to sell booze from today due to delays in the application process. Council…

  • E-cigarettes: looks like the “E” stands for “Eek! Cancer!”

    The US FDA has been testing some electronic cigarettes. It seems they’re aren’t the safe alternative to real cigarettes they claim to be. Specifically, DPA’s analysis of the electronic cigarette cartridges from the two leading brands revealed the following: Diethylene glycol was detected in one cartridge at approximately 1%. Diethylene glycol, an ingredient used in…

  • When readers won’t behave

    This is brilliant: The Guardian hosts a reader Q&A with Neal’s Yard Remedies, an ethical beauty/homeopathic remedy company. The readers duly post questions and NY changes its mind about participating. [Via MetaFilter] Linked below is a book [NY sells] on ‘Homoeopathy for Mother and Baby’. Given that homoeopathy has never been shown to have any…

  • Baby bottles, boards and making mums feel like Hitler

    This advert is causing a bit of controversy: it’s an EU ad about work/life balance, and it shows a laptop and a baby bottle. There’s a very impassioned argument against it here: But when I see a media image of a baby bottle… …I see death. I see all the the real maggots crawling in…

  • Laser surgery: lyin’ eyes

    Like many four-eyed people, I really don’t like wearing glasses. Sadly I’m stuck with them. I used to wear contact lenses, but I had to stop a few years back when my prescription changed: I’m slightly astigmatic, but I’m on the borderline – and that means I’m too astigmatic for normal contact lenses and not…

  • Ban this evil vaccine!

    Guess which newspaper? More than 1,300 schoolgirls have experienced adverse reactions to the controversial cervical cancer jab. Doctors have reported that girls aged just 12 and 13 have suffered paralysis, convulsions and sight problems after being given the vaccine. Everybody panic! Why, out of nearly 3/4 of a million vaccinations: Their latest analysis found there…