The dumbest Stuff or Herald headlines (& other news media)

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#2169588 29-Jan-2019 13:02

frankv:
Aircraft registration, at least in NZ, is a bit looser than (say) car registration, in that the owner can change the registration pretty much at will (subject to paying the fee each time, and applying the new letters).

It's reasonably common for someone to register an aircraft with their initials, for example. >

How's that any different from car registrations, which can be changed just as easily?

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frankv

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#2169665 29-Jan-2019 15:22

Technofreak:
frankv:

Aircraft registration, at least in NZ, is a bit looser than (say) car registration, in that the owner can change the registration pretty much at will (subject to paying the fee each time, and applying the new letters).

It's reasonably common for someone to register an aircraft with their initials, for example. >

How's that any different from car registrations, which can be changed just as easily?

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think another car can ever be registered with the rego that's currently on my car. Of course, personalised plates are different, but IIRC those cars still have to have a "regular" registration as well.

kingdragonfly

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#2171384 1-Feb-2019 18:21

https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/well-good/110303097/mit-researchers-weightloss-plan-filling-your-belly-with-expanding-golfballsize-pills

MIT researchers' weight-loss plan: Filling your belly with expanding, golf-ball-size pills

The reporter Peter Holley misread the research, or just wanted a sexier headline. The fact that is a mechanical engineer at MIT should have told Peter that weight loss was just an afterthought.

If only weight loss were as simple as taking a pill, right?

It's a common refrain, one frequently exploited by those hawking shady diet pills, fat-burning supplements and get-fit-quick schemes online.

Before your skepticism hardens into concrete, consider this: An MIT researcher says his team has developed a sophisticated pill that could shrink the space inside your stomach, making it easier to avoid excess calories.

Though he doesn't offer a money-back guarantee, Xuanhe Zhao - an associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT - is part of a team that has developed a pill that swells to the size of a golf ball after it's ingested and could remain inside the stomach for as long as a month.

From Science Daily

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190130075743.htm

Ingestible, expanding pill monitors the stomach for up to a month

Soft, squishy device could potentially track ulcers, cancers, and other gastrointestinal conditions over the long term

Engineers have designed an ingestible, Jell-O-like pill that, upon reaching the stomach, quickly swells to the size of a soft, squishy ping-pong ball big enough to stay in the stomach for an extended period of time.

MIT engineers have designed an ingestible, Jell-O-like pill that, upon reaching the stomach, quickly swells to the size of a soft, squishy ping-pong ball big enough to stay in the stomach for an extended period of time.

The inflatable pill is embedded with a sensor that continuously tracks the stomach's temperature for up to 30 days. If the pill needs to be removed from the stomach, a patient can drink a solution of calcium that triggers the pill to quickly shrink to its original size and pass safely out of the body.

"The dream is to have a Jell-O-like smart pill, that once swallowed stays in the stomach and monitors the patient's health for a long time such as a month," says Xuanhe Zhao, associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT.
...
long discussion of monitoring health, and design. And an afterthought:

Down the road, the researchers envision the pill may safely deliver a number of different sensors to the stomach to monitor, for instance, pH levels, or signs of certain bacteria or viruses. Tiny cameras may also be embedded into the pills to image the progress of tumors or ulcers, over the course of several weeks.

Zhao says the pill might also be used as a safer, more comfortable alternative to the gastric balloon diet, a form of diet control in which a balloon is threaded through a patient's esophagus and into the stomach, using an endoscope.

"With our design, you wouldn't need to go through a painful process to implant a rigid balloon," Zhao says. "Maybe you can take a few of these pills instead, to help fill out your stomach, and lose weight. We see many possibilities for this hydrogel device."

shk292

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#2172128 3-Feb-2019 10:59

Not a headline but a serious lack of proofing/thought https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12200388:

Young, 44, was ordered by a judge to pay WestJet for 20,000 tonnes of wasted fuel the pilot dumped over Alberta to safely land the aircraft back in Calgary on January 4

msukiwi

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#2172132 3-Feb-2019 11:09

shk292:

Not a headline but a serious lack of proofing/thought https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12200388:

Young, 44, was ordered by a judge to pay WestJet for 20,000 tonnes of wasted fuel the pilot dumped over Alberta to safely land the aircraft back in Calgary on January 4

Wow! That is one big aircraft to hold that much fuel!!!

gzt

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#2172149 3-Feb-2019 12:01

Side effect of not having an aviation correspondent.

msukiwi

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#2172151 3-Feb-2019 12:07

gzt: Side effect of not having an aviation correspondent.

Side effect of failing basic mathematics!

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2172233 3-Feb-2019 14:44

Headline (on NZ Herald main page)... "Waiheke Island - the most dangerous place in Auckland to visit".

The actual article is about the number of rescue helicopter missions, around a third of which are to Waiheke island. Hardly surprising given it has the highest population of any island in the Gulf and doesn't have its own emergency facilities.

DarthKermit

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#2172654 4-Feb-2019 10:28

I'm thinking of renaming this thread to 'The dumbest news media headlines' as it covers a lot more than just Stuff & Herald. What do you guys think?

SheriffNZ

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#2172660 4-Feb-2019 10:37

DarthKermit:

I'm thinking of renaming this thread to 'The dumbest news media headlines' as it covers a lot more than just Stuff & Herald. What do you guys think?

The one thing about that is the current name provides a message to the major news outlets operating here in NZ that they need to up their game. I doubt they take much (if any) notice* but at least it's there and I have a place to call them out which makes me feel better.

* although they did take a full frontal picture of a rugby player down of the site within minutes of me posting a screenshot here.

Geektastic

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#2172682 4-Feb-2019 11:56

SirHumphreyAppleby:

Headline (on NZ Herald main page)... "Waiheke Island - the most dangerous place in Auckland to visit".

The actual article is about the number of rescue helicopter missions, around a third of which are to Waiheke island. Hardly surprising given it has the highest population of any island in the Gulf and doesn't have its own emergency facilities.

Or a bridge....

fizzychicken

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#2172685 4-Feb-2019 12:23

My wife would often show me 'funny things' things on her phone from her facebook news feeds (I'm not on facebook) and I would already know what it was about or how it would end. I pointed out that generally facebook is a regurgitation of reddit content +2 or 3 days. I introduced her to reddit and now she barely looks at Facebook. It wasnt long before she came to the realisation that nzherald and stuff follow the same pattern only +5 or 6 days. I showed her how nzherald takes it a step further by conforming the data to simple templates which makes me wonder sometimes if the content is even 'assembled' by a human person at all.

content gets popular on facebook or reddit (or both, or other such similar places).

wait a few days.

apply to available template

__________________ goes viral.

________ perfect response to________.

The problem I have with these is that a basic meme or a 'funny thing' is deemed viral, maybe its just me but 'gangnam style' is viral.....'some guy doing a funny thing' is just popular. What makes a response perfect? surely that just your opinion...maybe start the headline with 'Opinion:'.

This rant makes me sound and feel like some old guy ranting against a younger culture (I'm not that old...I dont think), but when it's this easy to see....am I out of place to think this way

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nzh-search/NZH/goes+viral/1/

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nzh-search/NZH/perfect+response/1/

https://keybase.io/fizzychicken

gzt

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#2172721 4-Feb-2019 13:28

fizzychicken: The problem I have with these is that a basic meme or a 'funny thing' is deemed viral, maybe its just me but 'gangnam style' is viral.....'some guy doing a funny thing' is just popular. What makes a response perfect? surely that just your opinion...maybe start the headline with 'Opinion:'.

Agree. I never read those. It's jarring to see those in The NZ Herald.

The problem is NZ is a very small market. NZHerald and Stuff are providing a 'free' service. NZHerald is competing for the same eyeballs as Facebook. Clicks on these 'viral' stories pay for the free service.

That's fine with me I don't read these clickbait articles and to a large extent I'm happy if they pay for a free service. Even so, I think nzh need to be smarter about this. It's a bad look.

msukiwi

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#2173068 4-Feb-2019 20:15

Stuff again:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/110350912/bus-drivers-running-red-lights-attract-almost-200-complaints-in-a-year

"If you don't know that red means stop, you probably should be behind the wheel."

Did he really say that?

Who proof reads this stuff?

Oh that's right - We do!

frankv

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#2173159 5-Feb-2019 06:56

DarthKermit:

I'm thinking of renaming this thread to 'The dumbest news media headlines' as it covers a lot more than just Stuff & Herald. What do you guys think?

I think the current name would be perfect for any dumb media headlines, in that it would be iconic of the content.

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