From: John Tserkezis 
Reply-To: Fidonet AVtech Echo 

Bob Lawrence wrote:
> JT> I know the magnets don't work. It's one of those things that
> JT> are so stupid that they don't even bother trying to disprove
> JT> it. Like the Green Compact Disk pens they used to sell.
> 
>  ROFL! I saw that advertised in a Dick Smith catalogue and nearly
> fell off the chair!

  I had a friend who worked at the TV & sound department at grace brothers at 
the time, and he was suprised himself that they actually sold so well.

>  So... I bought one of those positive-ion generators

  Negative ion?

> (after I'd tried
> making my own using a Jacob's Ladder of diodes right off the mains...
> a death trap if ever I saw one).

  You're supposed to have a 10 meg resistor at the end of it to prevent shocks 
if touching the end.  Stupid thing is, if you DIY, or buy the kit, they give 
you a standard garden variety resistor, which arcs over at a couple of hundred 
volts.
  I'm not convinced the el-cheapo store-bought ones are any different.  Best 
thing to do is physcially recess the output pin far enough

> At first, I was convinced it worked.
> Then I was less convinced. Then I put it away because it embarrassed
> me to be so fucking stupid.

  The theory of operation is that they cause the dust in the air to clump 
together (static) which would make the heavy enough to fall to the floor, where 
you vacuum them up again, let them pass straight through the filter and back 
into the room again.
  If you're vacuuming for dust removal, you're fucking kidding yourself.  It's 
better to wipe the dust off surfaces (not a traditional duster, but a damp 
rag).  Pull out the carpet and have bare floor boards.  Throw the vacuum out 
because it's fucking useless, get a dustbuster for small spills & cleanups, and 
use those big hairy broom things (like you see at shopping centres) to wipe the 
floor.

  We have a dust monitor at work that we occasionally have a chance to play 
with when clients don't have it, and we log the offices overnight.  Airborne 
dust is low, at about 7:30pm, the cleaners come in with their industrial 
strength vacuum cleaners, kick up a dust storm from hell, and it takes the next 
four hours for the levels to settle down again.

  If anyone claims their "special" vacuum cleaner stops dust as
well, they're 
full of shit.  Or they have a sub-micron filter that blocks after 2 minutes of 
use.  After which point your damp rag would pick up more dust.  And it's 
cheaper.  And it uses less power.

  I was going to try it out with a neg.ion generator, and see if it does reduce 
the time to settle after vacuuming.  (cheaper than pulling the carpet out)

>  And it worked!

>  I got letters from Graig Knowles (the Health Minister) and Diane
> Horvath (the boss of the Health Department. So... I replied to
> everything and put it up them too. As soon as they send you a letter,
> you can write to them directly! Just quote the ref at the top and
> they actually read it. Guess what? They now fast-track oldies in
> Casualty with a geriatrician on 24-hour duty!

>  Mum fell over 6 months later, and she went straight through! It
> really worked.

  Dammit.  All this time was avoiding the pollies.  Better find out who the 
local dude is and make things happen.

>  Of course the young bloke with SARS probably died waiting, but fuck
> him... let him write his own letter.

  That's the attitude bob!
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Linux Registered User # 302622                         http://counter.li.org>
Fido: 3:712/610  BBS/FAX: +61-2-9716-8310  Internet: jt{at}techniciansyndrome.org

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