The Amazing James Randi to lecture in Fresno on October 2nd!

The "Amazing" James Randi will appear in Fresno as part of the University Lecture Series, hosted at California State University, Fresno.

Randi will give his lecture on "Pseudo-Technology in the New Millennium" on Thursday, October 2nd 2008 at the Satellite Student Union on the California State University, Fresno campus. (map)

From the description of this lecture:

The average citizen is suspicious of science and technology. James Randi addresses this unfortunate misunderstanding in an effective and entertaining fashion by asking the right questions — and then answering them.

From satellite television to the Internet, society is bombarded with carefully designed misinformation. Much of it is simply age-old cons repackaged for the new millennium. From U.S. patents issued for devices that control your computer with ESP to multi-million dollar studies funded by federal agencies to study imaginary "E-Rays;" from new age dowsing rods designed to detect drugs, to magnets designed to relieve pain, our society continues to be susceptible to "snake oil" claims that drain corporations and our government of millions, if not billions, of dollars annually.

Mr. Randi will also describe something interesting to myself, the use of the "Counterfeit Detection Pen", a technology based upon the starch / iodine reaction. I wrote about this in my personal blog, and showed that through experiment that counterfeit detection based solely upon this pen would in fact pass things like coffee filters as "genuine currency".

If you've never heard this fascinating gentleman speak before, now is an excellent time to change that. I've listened and watched him speak in podcasts and in videos online, and I have to say that he really deserves the label, "Amazing".