Derren Brown - what a geezer!

Derren Brown (or Darren as he was born) has got us all talking about his lottery stunt. Did he predict the lottery results or was it a clever stunt? Theories as to how he did it include the use of split screen and the possibility that he used some kind of laser printer. Of course with DB you never know! What's bluff and what's double bluff?

A lot of people are saying that his explanation involving "deep maths" is severely suspect.

Here are some things that don't add up or at least look suspicious:

1. Why was the camera shaking throughout? In the hands of a professional camera operative, a hand held wouldn't shake that much.
2. The deep maths theory is dubious. Comparing a large group guessing the weight of a finite item such as the weight of a bull, with guessing a random number doesn't quite make sense.
3. He could have revealed the numbers immediately the last ball had been drawn, but there was a delay - why?
4. He described the "theory of crowds" coming to his thoughts when he was drinking ox tail soup. Hmm! Is this a clue oxtail =? ox tale (ie it's all a story)
5. The snowflake - a clue or trying to put us all off the scent? The Sun has published a story that he in fact got these numbers before xmas from a group of schoolchildren
6. Why did he not allow his group to see the numbers? There is nothing to say that the balls he chose were the numbers they came up with.

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Penalty Charges

In the latest ruling on unfair penalty charges, the Appeal Court has ruled against the banks and has said that the OFT can investigate claims of unfair penalty charges

Penalty Charges Forum

The popular website www.penaltycharges.co.uk has been closed down following a solicitors email alleging that the forum encourages people to take loans with the intention of not paying. The owner of the forum strongly denies the claims but has closed the forum www.penaltycharges.co.uk/forum in order to avoid a lengthy and costly legal battle.

This does not however have any bearing of the validity or otherwise of individuals claimimg back bank charges. The allegations appear to relate to areas of other financial "advice".

Original Mountain Marathon - Cumbria

Now I'm not a mountaineer or a marathon runner, but I do live in Cumbria. It just amazes me that the organizers felt it reasonable to have so many people out on the fells in such atrocious conditions. Anyone glancing at the weather forecast could see what the weather would be like, and already earlier in the week some roads had been flooded.
So the irresponsibility of the organizers inconveniences the (paid) emergency services, the unpaid volunteers and many more local people. Buildings used to accommodate competitors were booked out to local groups who had to cancel their events as a result.
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