What’s the point of having consumer watchdogs like the ACCC when people can flog snake oil just like they did a hundred years ago?

Why are people so taken in by celebrity testimonials and scientific sounding words?

Is our education system to blame or are people just basically stupid?

My rant was inspired by an article (not an advertorial) in the Daily Telegraph today…

A NEW product that’s smaller than a five cent piece but powerful enough to shield us from the potentially harmful electromagnetic radiation generated by mobile phones and other electronic devices, has just been released.
The Qlink Mini employs patented Sympathetic Resonance Technology (SRT) which can maintain the strength of naturally occurring protective energy systems within our bodies.

The Qlink Mini, priced at $48, is programmed with naturally occurring frequencies which resonate with our body’s energy system just like a piano string would resonate with a tuning fork.

This then shields us from exposure to outside stresses and electromagnetic fields (EMFs) which can cause sickness and disease.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/lifestyle/mobile-radiation-shield-released/story-e6frf00i-1225947450423

http://www.qlink.com.au/

Appalling.

Was it run as a news item?

According to the website:
= An electrical engineering description of how the Q-Link works is: "Passive sympathetically resonating induction feedback loop for the body." =

Would any electrical engineers care to comment…

Was it run as a news item?
———————————————————————
Yes

Oh I know them! I’ve seen the Qlink at a couple of seminars I’ve been to (the seminars were wealth creation ones, where wealth is created by shares and real estate, not snake oil).

The rep from the company does “kinesiology” (which, incidentally, is also a method of diagnosis preferred by chiropractors) to show the difference between muscle strength wearing the Qlink thingy. Last time I saw them was in Melbourne a couple of years ago. They were $400 but for the weekend, down to $100.

From: jj
ID: 110745Subject: re: Chat
Thanks PeterT (and Ian)

I must say it has been good to have had the person working on the tech talk site be so willing to talk through what is being tried.

I’d also like to mention that “a news item” is probably a media release written by a copywriter. I wrote one about a website last week- it’s not “news” as such but more an article of interest submitted to a newspaper.

They were $400 but for the weekend, down to $100
———————————————————————————————————
Bargain

I did see Mark Colvin refer to it on twitter as one of themost (egregious? not sure exactly which word, but it wasn’t “nice”) piece of “pay for play” that he had seen, but I didn’t follow up and read it.

I picked up a brochure from them, which I gave to my dad to read for his amusement (I think my dad and SP are twins). IIRC it’s supposed to realign the body’s natural magnetic field and prevent EMR from mobile phones etc from ‘harming’ our bodies.

The science of discovering the many effects of the Q-Link is being continually updated. Below are a portion of studies conducted by respected researchers from around the world.

In a clinical study conducted by Dr Tykeeta Reye at the Acacia Whole Health Clinic in Denver, Q-Link® pendant increases the number of acupuncture points with optimal energy states by an average of 292%

In two separate live blood microscropy studies conducted by microbiologist Robert Young, PhD, suggest that the Q-Link® pendant helps to mediate the effects of stress by enhancing both the blood terrain and the integrity of human blood cells.

http://www.qlink.com.au/scientific.asp

“In a clinical study conducted by Dr Tykeeta Reye at the Acacia Whole Health Clinic in Denver, Q-Link® pendant increases the number of acupuncture points with optimal energy states by an average of 292%”

You don’t say.

Another Choice award coming up…