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Voodoo Machine

2002-11-01 14:19:04+00 by Dan Lyke 8 comments

So it's Larry Niven's "wirehead", the effects of drugs without ingestion, battery powered happiness: the Voodoo Magick Box.

Are you ready to experience the future of digital pleasure? Simply attach the clips to your earlobes, turn on, and trip- out! Experience feelings of inebriation, psychedelic visuals, extreme relaxation, floating sensations, intense endorphin releases, all culminating in a relaxed yet alert euphoric state.

They claim "it's entirely safe". Anyone got any guesses as to long term health effects?

[ related topics: Drugs Health ]

comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment made: 2002-11-01 15:32:27+00 by: TC

Ummmm.... it also enhances sexual performance and fights insomnia. I bet it reduces age and lowers your car payments too. Most products that do nothing are entirely safe. This is just an extension of the snake oil group of the health industry.

#Comment made: 2002-11-01 16:00:51+00 by: topspin

Not one study... not even a faux study... even their "how it works" section is extra vague. And, at the bottom, the ever popular disclaimer:
We make no medical claims or guarantees to the suitability or efficacy of these products.
Voodoo Machine products are for entertainment use only.

I'd say it's REAL safe, though if pleasure's what you're looking to spend your $90 on..... think tenderloin.

#Comment made: 2002-11-01 16:40:43+00 by: petronius

Electricity? How 20th Century! The truly advanced amongst us have already moved up to Tachyonized Water and Products. BTW, when you reach their page, click the country drop-down list and try Tachyoslovakia, which may be the slavic spelling of "Tackyoslovakia".

#Comment made: 2002-11-01 18:22:33+00 by: other_todd

Heh. Not that I am going to be devil's advocate here, but there is a small chance that this is not an utter fraud. I mean, electrical play has been around for quite a while, and it's proven that applying current judiciously across various parts of the body is a lot of fun ... so there's a chance that applying a small current to the earlobes could induce euphoric symptoms in the brain. A chance. Worth trying if you were really interested and had the money to burn maybe. It's a lot cheaper than real electrical sex toys, which tend to run in the middle-to-high three figures.

#Comment made: 2002-11-01 18:58:16+00 by: Dan Lyke

Yep. I actually assume that the short-term effects are exactly as advertised. No reason to assume that someone hasn't been gutsy enough to put a couple of volts at various frequencies across the earlobes and gotten interesting results. There are all sorts of good reasons to believe that the brain is hackable in this way,.

What keeps me from "gel"ling up my ears is a little bit of wondering about the long-term effects. If it's in the same ballpark as other recreational drugs, where the negative effects are seen mainly in serious clubbers who do tons every night, then that's great. But given that there don't seem to be even any third party reviews of this thing out on the 'net...

#Comment made: 2002-11-02 06:39:23+00 by: Aaron

"It's a great ice-breaker too."

#Comment made: 2002-11-02 06:48:36+00 by: meuon

Heck.. I get enough of a mood modification from 140+ db upbeat music... 140-160bpm.. gets me after 5 minutes.. :) Add some Transcuteanous Electronic Nerve Stimulation (TENS) and I maight just completely freak out.. Would this not be similiar to Electro-Convulsive Shock Therapy?

#Comment made: 2003-06-17 06:55:47.509806+00 by: jon goulet

I picked one up last month. It works pretty good. It makes you feel kinda drunk. It passes some kind of low frequency pulse into your earlobes; you can feel it... overall I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.. :)