B4RN in focus

 Much as I agree with many of B4RN's goals, I do have some serious concerns about the project - one in which the "innocent public" is being asked to plough a lot of money (£1.5m)

My concerns about B4RN are:

1. there isn't enough detail supporting the published business plan
2. the proposed telephony service is a white elephant
3. the project has single-points-of-failure
4. the finances don't add up
5. there is no promise of openness
6. can B4RN Ltd. deliver the proposed service?

Why don't B4RN want on-line discussion?

I note with interest that the B4RN web site  doesn't seem to have a "feedback" or "comments" section on their web site, which is a shame.  I hope the individuals who are being asked to invest in this appreciate the risk involved and that there are many questions about the project plan which are unasked, let alone unanswered.

A discussion forum directly accessed from the project's marketing page would at least give everyone a chance to debate the project's viability.

It seems odd for a community orientated project, especially one promoting Internet access, not to be publicly engaging with the community in this way.

B4RN: How To Lie With Statistics

Darrell Huff's excellent book How To Lie With Statistics was written over fifty years ago and yet is as applicable today as it was then.

I was reminded of the book when I was surfing the The B4RN project's web site where they have illustrated their progress using a barometer-style graphic.  It is a little deceptive as is it appears to have a non-linear scale, but having being alerted to this kind of skullduggery by Huff, I knew I had to delve deeper.