Mastodawn

In this week’s Miscellanies: the rise and fall of #snakeoil

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Is This Anything?

Meet Dr. X. F. J. Widdershin, DMin, ThD, NWAR, MEM, MBA, J.D., LL.M., DVM, DC, DDS, BSYD, MD, PhD, DPT, EMD, EMT-P, RN, CRTT, DD, ASA, FSA, CAE, IAEE, PE, APSS, CMP, MS, (Ret.) (Vet.) (Esq.) And Notary Public!

The good doctor always seems to be right where he's needed, right when he's needed. The townsfolk will insist he's always been there, but the townsfolk across the county line say the same.

His tinctures work, his inventions function, even the snake-oil seems to have a potency to them. And that one thing the party has been needing to finish the collection? It's right there, for sale, right next to a bottle of rat poison and three loose trinkets from a board game.

And if the party needs to ask any follow-up questions? He's already packed up and gone. The townsfolk will swear they've never heard of him.

(And he'll also notarize anything. He has a stamp.)

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Do your players need a lead on that relic? The Doctor has one. Do they need an antidote before sundown? He mixed a batch this morning, funny they should ask. Do they need a reason to go left instead of right? He's got something for sale that'll sort that right out. Whatever your party needs to keep the adventure moving, Dr. Widdershin has it, has done it, or knows someone who has, and he's fully credentialed in all three. He's already set up in the next town! He's been expecting them!

#iTA #isThisAnything #DnD #TTRPG #Homebrew #NPC #Salesman #SnakeOil

sn 🐦‍⬛Apr 25

#xchat: „Keys live on X’s servers. X stores users' private encryption keys on its own infrastructure, protected by a four-digit PIN.“
What a piece of junk. #snakeoil #privacy

Miss Lemon's Dresses Apr 22

I'd been an Adobe user/lover/advocate since I learned Photoshop in 1994. No longer. I bailed on them 2 years ago for Affinity, who now also shoves AI in your face but still offers a full and free version without it. #AI #SnakeOil

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:pgppxekvpklq6smlilrxg7ke/post/3mk3hgnusbc2r

Adrian Segar Apr 21

Are NFTs the future of event marketing? I don't think so! Why? Because of serious sustainability and purchase complexity concerns.

https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/marketing-2/2021/05/nfts-event-marketing

#events #marketing #NFT #SnakeOil #sustainability #eventprofs

Sim Barr Apr 13

But what I really don't understand is WHY is he healing Jeffrey Epstein!?!?

#epstein #snakeoil

Manannán mac Lir 🇺🇦 🇵🇸Apr 11

Angela Rasmussen, an avian flu virologist at the University of Saskatchewan, reviewed journalists' findings and dismissed claims the farm was engaged in any groundbreaking research. "I think calling it scientific work is quite generous. I call it a scam."

#BCPoli #CDNPoli #CFIA #UniversalOstrichFarm #Ostriches #SnakeOil #Homeopathy #Naturopathy #Edgewood #Pseudoscience

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ostrich-farm-arguments-cull-9.7157710

The ostrich con: Arguments to save birds from cull in B.C. were based on falsehoods, evidence shows | CBC News

The 10-month standoff on a B.C. ostrich farm last year was the most expensive poultry cull in Canada’s history. A fifth estate investigation reveals the campaign to save the ostriches was based on falsehoods.

CBC

Matthew Malthouse Apr 5

« My patient is refusing a drug studied in 170,000 people because of side effects that a 124,000-person analysis just confirmed do not exist — while injecting a compound studied in 14 humans, from unregulated sources, based on the recommendation of someone who profits from selling it. »

https://www.statnews.com/2026/04/03/peptides-statins-research-trust-bpc-157/

#medicine #scepticism #SnakeOil