Sorry Scott but while the "technology" might be identical, the two are worlds/polls apart...."This isn't flaming, this is facts..."



True, but surely the same standards of evidence should be adheard to...surely one is innocent until proven guilty?

Or are we all just wanting to "string up Biss" without hearing his side of the argument, as was the case with both his book and board?

I'm not splitting hairs here...but you Scott would surely want to be better treated if someone accused you publicly about ripping of another's effect...surely you'd want to put your side of the store in the same public arena as those who would be the accusers?

Or are we going to go into "mob rule" here and string every guility person up who rips off, allegedly another...

Just something for some to consider perhaps....


Posted: Feb 18, 2007 9:24am
-------------------------------------------

But Scott, you told me yourself that we're not in a court of law.

If you're going to apply this standard to this portion of the argument, shouldn't you, in all fairness apply that exact same standard to hearing what the accused has to say, before passing sentence?

Or do the rules not apply to some people?

Agan, just something for you to consider while rendering your judgement.

In a court of law, if the accused remains silent or doesn't turn up, he would be held in contempt and/or an inference of guilt would be drawn from his silence. Biss has seen this thread as I've seen him online so why hasn't he said anything? Probably because his position is indefensible.

It could be that, it could also be that he feels already convicted and nothing he says or does will help in any way. We are all pretty quick to point the finger and shake it vigorously while screaming “Burn the witch.” But it is possible that James weighs as much as a duck. It is possible that he did not intentionally copy someone else’s work, and that he just has the worst luck in the magical world when it comes to picking a product to work on. Personally, I’d like to hear his side on this whole issue.

Right now, all I really know for sure is that the Tesla product was/is identical to Shrinks 7th Sense in method, equipment, and effect. We do not know if this was accidental or not.

In my opinion the Tesla product should be pulled, as I said before. It has proven to be the same as Shrink's, and the only ethical thing to do would be to withdraw it from market. And I know that Shrink is the victim of this situation, I’m sorry he is going through this.

Tony

My dear Magic Caférs,

I’ve been “snowed under” (literally, and Magic Caféless) and busy celebrating Valentines this weekend with my favourite Oompa Loompa and our friends…but I see that you’ve all been very busy on-line. Especially Mr. Shrink – who is, in fact, not an Oompa Loompa despite his wee name.

(I see also that Mr. Shrink has conveniently failed to mention our extensive correspondence of late – but I’m getting ahead of myself).

…I think that the Magic Café proprietors should be most happy with all of the interest I seem to generate in all of my projects. In terms of sheer total views there are times when I feel about as overexposed as Brangelina!

Thank you to all of you who have been a little more reserved of your judgment in the postings above. Thank you too to those of you who have resisted in wild speculation and have held back from posting before having a clearer perspective! I appreciate your kind private messages and e-mails. (On the other hand, a pox on all of you mental folks who have been so prejudiced and even vindictive above. For some of you, sadly you’re becoming a tad predictable.)

My favourite Oompa Loompa - who is in fact not wee at all, but over six feet in length - has been especially amused by your “pulsing” wit. She believes, as some of you do, that Female mentalists and our female assistants will indeed be the true beneficiaries of all of this discussion! Perhaps TesticleVision and 7th Sense will be the “stimulus” of a whole new generation of female magicians and mentalists! ;>) Amen to that! ThumpHER indeed! ;>)

I had planned to share much of what follows below on April Fool’s Day posting here. Most recently, I decided to hold up on the release of my new book, MIND BLOWING, by a month or so to include a very special new chapter on the whole TeslaVision “inside story”. I will still do the latter and I think it will make for some very interesting reading... (I’ll be sure to include some intriguing correspondence on the matter.)

But I feel that it’s appropriate to respond much sooner, even in brief, to our wacky and wonderful community here on this matter…


Posted: Feb 18, 2007 2:45pm
--------------------------------------------
Once upon a time, there was a reasonable fellow, in a former colony of Great Britain, that heard on the radio of the charms of wireless vibrating knickers...

On his favourite Satellite Radio programme they were zapping each other all morning in the name of entertaining listening. Serendipitously that evening, a famous Israeli psychic showed him a $500, noisy, vibrating magic marker that he could he make fall off a glass from 30 feet away. He was under whelmed ;>) But a light went off his head. What if???

That night he explored the dark and erotic corners of the Internet and found an obscure British couple that had developed the “perfect” wireless adult toy. From an incredible range – why you’d want to be that far apart from your honey is a mystery itself – you could discreetly push buttons and send you partner into orgasmic delight!

He ordered one for his own honey – strictly for R & D purposes ;>). The product arrived about a week later and he was delighted. She was delighted too. He knew that long range signaling from her to him could be very, very cool too. He would return the favour in exchange for her confederacy.

After some very successful performances … by she and he … the reasonable and creative fellow began making discreet inquiries on behalf of the magic community. The engineering chap from the former colonial power who had invented the thing suggested that he would be most happy to provide this perfect device in quantity at an attractive price to the reasonable fellow. He even suggested that the fellow distribute the product in North America to its intended mass market. The fellow respectfully declined and told the clever engineering couple that he was much too busy to be hustling vibrating knickers to the uptight but fine folks of America. ;>)

(His honey actually contemplated the possibility however - being a “satisfied” customer!!!)


Posted: Feb 18, 2007 2:46pm
--------------------------------------------
The reasonable fellow did indicate that he would like to have exclusive distribution of the engineer’s clever contraption for the magic and mentalism community because he knew that it could be a hit. The British chap cryptically agreed but suggested that he couldn’t realistically limit private sales to individuals who didn’t tell him that they would be using the device on themselves and not THEIR honey.

The reasonable fellow thought this sounded reasonable. He was NOT told then that the British chap had apparently already been selling the very same device to Mr. Shrinkage previously. (Well okay, not exactly the same. It was black instead of smokey coloured and had two clit stimulators instead of one clit and one other one for the other end!) He found this out much later. The reasonable fellow thought he had a cool device and wrote up the details of his very cool routines with it that he felt were worth a couple of hundred bucks to professionals in the field of mentalism. He knew that the price point would discourage the merely curious adolescents and keep it exclusively in the hands of those who could fully appreciate its use.

His 15 page manuscript was “a thing of terrifying beauty” as Mssr. Maven would say and included detailed notes on some killer effects he had honed into an audience tested and lovely routine. He neglected to simply rehash coding ideas from Tony Corinda’s 13 Steps to Mentalism and directed readers to seek out this original work instead.

He was b(l)issfully unaware that Mr. Shrink had already done this. How could he? None of the pros in North America he was acquainted with had ever heard of Mr. Shrink. Or his application of the vibrating knicker device. Not that he could ask about something or someone that he was unaware of. (“Have you heard of a Poosla Board?” “Have you heard of a “Sense and Sensibility Vibrating Panty?”). How could he be aware of it? It was only being sold privately by Mr. Shrink in the former colonial power and it was NOT being distributed by any Magic retailer apparently in 2006. He pressed on.

The reasonable fellow did became aware of a slightly less obscure product called 8th Sense in January 2007 by a good friend. It was a thousand dollar trick actually - being distributed to the magic community - which pictures revealed to be an octopus of wires and clit stimulators! Some of the electrical components were similar to his device but such is often the case with gadgets made in China. The reasonable fellow was amused but concluded that his distribution of the clever device could comfortable and quietly co-exist with the high priced octopus. …And he had been assured by the British patent holder that it was cool for him to proceed with his plan of sharing his titillating product discovery!


Posted: Feb 18, 2007 2:47pm
--------------------------------------------
The reasonable fellow had a dilemma however. Concerned that the magic community would feel a little …uncomfortable… with wearing wireless simulators actually designed for the fair sex … he decided to create a “mythology” about “his” product. He knew the mythology would be short lived but felt it would add to the allure and fun for a time. A handful of confidants were aware of the little lie. So, borrowing from a much loved contemporary film called “The Prestige”, he concocted a believable tale about Nicola Tesla – a mysterious and complex soul who really had invented and/or conceived of such wild stuff.

The reasonable fellow planted fake evidence of Tesla’s “work on communications to the epidermis” across the Internet. TeslaVison was born. Falsehood about it’s origins, well known to a small band of confidants in Canada, were spread – all in good fun. This merry group of secret holders were aware of the TeslaVision secret origins – but curiously unaware of Mr. Shrink’s first musings in the same realm.

(Who would have thought that Wikipedia for example was so easily bogus???)


Posted: Feb 18, 2007 2:48pm
--------------------------------------------
All proceeded as planned. Until one day, a dear fellow who happened to already have Mr. Shrink’s older device contacted the reasonable fellow and told him that TeslaVision was essentially the same as Mr. Shrink’s vibrating knickers. The reasonable fellow was troubled. How could this be? The patent holder of the device that was in fact TeslaVision had failed to mention Mr. Shrink’s existence and earlier business.

With true British civility (a quality that Canadians inherited from the former British colonial power), the reasonable fellow contacted Mr. Shrink and told him his entire story. He told him that he had bought the vibrating knickers in good faith from the patent holder who had not mentioned Mr. Shrink. He told him that he had created his own priceless manuscript and they had been sent world-wide and were no longer in his control from a distribution standpoint. Finally he told him that he was very sorry for any discomfort that this had caused Mr. Shrink, with his own reselling of the vibrating knickers for resale to magicians. He also apologized for never having heard of him or his little toy which Mr. Shrink was in fact quietly still selling.

To remedy the situation, the reasonable person offered to discontinue selling any more TeslaVisions. Unilaterally and in good faith. He was pleased that the sudden world-wide demand for the application of the repackaging of vibrating knickers would be BENEFICIAL to Mr. Shrink who had suddenly decided to begin marketing essentially the same product again. (Sorry, two clit stimulators instead of two distinct ends - so you can quickly tell the difference before walking on stage in TV's case.) The reasonable person thought that this was an honourable gesture despite the fact that he had NEVER infringed upon Mr. Shrink’s own repackaging of the device and had bought from their mutual supplier in good faith.

The reasonable person thought that Mr. Shrink would be equally reasonable and thought the Mr. Shrink would view the reasonable person’s decision to be … fair and right. The reasonable person thought it would be an elegant and thoughtful solution.


Posted: Feb 18, 2007 2:51pm
--------------------------------------------
Instead the reasonable person was sad to read that Mr. Shrink (an individual who had been thoroughly “tarred and feathered” previously over dirty tricks with the esteemed Mr. Osterlind last year – and should have some perspective in all of this and know better) decided to attack the reasonable person publicly despite their private deliberations. He was saddened to read his blistering attacks. He was astonished to see Mr. Shrink share a link to the British couple’s web site of their perfect vibrating knickers – effectively shooting himself in the foot - and exposing an interesting mentalism tool - that Mr. Shrink of course did not invent - to public scrutiny from any google search!

The reasonable person was surprised and amused by accusations of “copying” and “rip-off”. He knew that other reasonable people would see this as self- serving nonsense from Mr. Shrink. The reasonable person obviously hadn’t “copied” anybody - as any other reasonable person could conclude. He was the legitimate distributor of the real inventor’s creation - for a niche market – the magic community. Copying would require an original to copy from, which was clearly not the case.

The reasonable person was particularly intrigued by the “inferior knock-off” accusation which was both false and ridiculous. (Cellotape and Corinda are hardly enhancements, as TeslaVision owners already know.)

The reasonable person could only conclude that Mr. Shrink wasn’t a reasonable person himself. That gestures of good will are wasted on persons of ill will.

…But he also concluded that sometimes reasonable people make honest misguided decisions and that sincere efforts to correct them are usually the best and respected course of action.

He was pleased that there were still places on the planet and on the Internet where a person is presumed innocent despite misinformed attacks.

Reasonably,

James

P.S. TeslaVision is a marvelous (and serendipitous) discovery at a fair price for professional mentalists. It will give them many years of astonishing performances – despite self-serving suggestions to the contrary. The last of them are available from reputable magic shops around the world along with a wonderful, copyrighted, manuscript. There will be no more. They come with a unconditional warranty to insure their purchaser’s complete … satisfaction.

As always, I will be happy to address any purchaser’s reasonable concerns, directly.

Everyone else needs to spend more time with their honey!

The location is the Charlotte Room.

Is this run decently these days? I went to this Friday night event about nine months ago. The ad I saw stated Close-Up magicians from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM and many of a list of fifteen or so performers starting at 8.

I was in the empty pool room this takes place in with my date from 6:00 until 8:45 or so when Biss showed up. Total attendance by the 9:15 start time was 4 including us - small wonder, the way it was run (versus advertisements) at that time would guarantee no return attendees.

I want to support this type of event in Toronto - is this now run better?

Thanks,
Dave

Dbolan: I'd say you are just a tad off topic for this thread.

- entity

Dear James is there no end to your inability to get your research right?

I was never tarred or featherd for anything. I have only ever released two products. IA pads and 7th Sense. Every action you take just shows without any doubt you don't research anything what so ever.

I had no connection with Osterlinds product. Are you really a school teacher?


Can anyone really believe anything that comes out of your mouth?

If anyone is being unreasonable it is yourself Biss. But then this is your trade mark. Tesla will always be available aka the Oyster Duo sex toy. At a much more reasonable price. a third of the price like yours it isn't silent.

Did you ask for that review not to be published? I wonder why.

I do my research I think you should do yours.

Anyone who buys a Tesla and takes advantage of the generous warranty and returns it when they realise what they have bought can have the complete 7th Sense package for the same price. If they can prove they returned their Tesla.

I do not think he was speaking of you and Osterlind.

I think he was referencing your partner if I am not misstaken.

-Jim

He was speaking of the Moveo pen and Osterlind Pen. Mind you I have no idea what Biss is going on about I can only guess that's what his reference is.

It had no connection with me niether was I tarred or featherd. Moveo is James Cheungs product. My connection with James is that I collaborated with him on 8th Sense that is our only connection.

On the other hand Paul Gross is his partner in project and tested and sold 7th Sense. Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black.

But this shouldn't be a suprise Biss's reputation for ripping off products is well established. He never saw the Buma board. He never saw a 7th sense despite his partner used to sell them for me.

What is his next knock off I wonder?

For someone who is supposed to be a knowledgable Mentalist he sure is ignorant.

One of the drawbacks to the UK legal system; the accused in effect has to prove his / her innocence.

Were this "trial " held in the US, no such nonsense would matter...In principle it's up to the prosectution to bear the burden of proof beyond a resonable doubt..the vocal response or non response isn't germaine to the trial...Or rather should it be...

So if you are on trial, you are suggesting the best way to get off is to say nothing?

Usually!

Something along the lines of "Nobody talks, everyone walks".

Playing,
J.

Too funny

I assume this suggests the Oyster Duo is not allowed into the courtroom?

John

Duh, that finally 'clicked' with me.

Thank you, I'm here all week.

John

Now I'll never be able to keep a straight face when I see a mentalist performing!

Neither can the mentalist.