Salvo
@Salvo@aussie.zone
- Comment on LG TVs start showing ads on screensavers 5 days ago:
We have AppleTVs on every TV in the house and none of the TVs have ever been connected to the home network. Same with the rest of the extended family.
We also have a HDHomeRun in each house for those rare occasions when we want to watch Broadcast TV.
The only time a TV changes from HDMI1 is when someone wants to play PS or XBox.
- Comment on OVIC finds department responsible for breaches of privacy through use of ChatGPT 6 days ago:
The corporate revolt against MLL has started. The lawyers are starting to realise that outsourcing to an unaccountable third party is too much of a liability. The business leaders are also starting to realise that it isn’t good for their business models.
I was ecstatic to find that the Adobe AI feature is missing from Acrobat Reader when I started my work computer the other day. Our IT department is also progressively excising Microsofts Copilot and Bing Chat features from our work computers too.
More companies need to do this.
- Comment on Woolworths, Coles sued by ACCC for ‘misleading’ price drop claims 1 week ago:
They are trying to blame “inflation”, but at the same time they are reporting record profits.
- Comment on More than two-thirds of Australian homes have building issues, new report says - ABC News 2 weeks ago:
When we built 6 years ago, we advised the builder that we wanted a Zero Energy house and that it would be audited and profiled by the SECCCA and published in their magazine.
We weren’t seeking any discount or special treatment, but it would have been a great opportunity for this builder to showcase that they are progressive.
Every step of the way, the Site Supervisor and contractors snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. It is was almost as if they were trying to sabotage the build.
It came to a head when they tried to install an “electric assist” hot water service instead of a fully electric hot water service. We never had Gas to site.
The Site Supervisor and their manager called us idiots for not wanting gas and ranted and raved. They said it was not possible to have a house in Australia without Gas hot water.
Their CEO got involved and pointed out that his house did not have Gas to site, he had two Tesla PowerWalls and 20kW of solar over two inverters and was essentially off-grid in suburbia. He got a rebate from his power company every month.
The Site Supervisor was fired and their manager was given a demotion.
- Comment on More than two-thirds of Australian homes have building issues, new report says - ABC News 2 weeks ago:
Building Inspectors used to be employed by local government and were audited to prevent them being able to take bribes.
Now Building Inspectors are employed by the builder. Their whole business model is one big bribe.
- Comment on 4 weeks ago:
I see people walk out of the supermarket without paying constantly.
They just walk out with carry-baskets full of stuff, the staff call them out and they just keep walking with no consequences! They don’t even return the baskets!
Meanwhile, us honest people at the self-checkouts get treated like a criminal if we want to purchase something that is too light for the scales to register and are treated like social deviants if we don’t want to use a loyalty card.
- Comment on Telstra, Optus to delay 3G network closure amid public safety concerns 1 month ago:
Consumer phones in regional areas are still an issue. As @baku said, 3G has better range than 4G (which has better range than 5G). If someone in the middle of the bush, or on a country road needs to use their 5G phone, they may not have coverage.
I have a friend that had to drive 10km with a cracked skull, ribs and broken arm and leg because he didn’t have coverage on his farm. He now has 3G coverage, but not 4G.
- Comment on Why are Australians in denial about how cold our homes really are? ‘Winter stoicism’ is partly to blame | Reena Gupta 1 month ago:
The other problem is that tradies don’t know how to / can’t be bothered learning to reduce a buildings energy consumption.
We had an argument for weeks with the Site Supervisor because his subcontractor didn’t want to install the Reverse-Cycle condensers on the south side of the house because it was “too hard”.
One of the refrigerant lines insulation was nicked during installation and we started getting condensation stains through the walls.
The contractor came back and once again, he wanted to relocate the condenser on the north side. He kept blaming us for making him run the pipes to a location that was “too hard” for him.
This guy claimed to be an Air Conditioning specialist and couldn’t understand how a heat exchanger in direct sunlight will not be as efficient at cooling as a heat exchanger on the cold side of the house.
- Comment on Why are Australians in denial about how cold our homes really are? ‘Winter stoicism’ is partly to blame | Reena Gupta 1 month ago:
I think it is mainly because;
- Melbourne and Sydney (and Adelaide) have historically always had mild weather. The extremes we are starting to see now had only been occasional. Now they are consistent.
- energy prices have always been deflated. There has always been plenty of cheap natural gas avalable.
- commercial builders have been reluctant to embrace new technologies like aerated concrete panels and the market does not support highly rated insulation batts.
- inflated qualified labour pricing has resulted in builders and improvement contractors taking the quickest, simplest option instead of the best option (eg. blow-in powdered insulation instead of batts).
- Comment on In just three months Bonza has collapsed and Rex is on the brink. What’s gone wrong? 1 month ago:
I like getting to Sydney overnight.
If I have to stay in a cheap hotel in Tullamarine so I don’t miss my flight, I arrive stressed, tired, hungry and usually late for my appointment.
If I catch the XPT from Southern Cross, I arrive refreshed, relaxed and satiated. I can then take advantage of Sydney’s public transport to get to my appointment on time.
- Comment on One of Australia’s most expensive commutes becomes the cheapest, as Queensland’s 50c public transport trial begins 1 month ago:
As a driving enthusiast, I agree 100%.
Everyone benefits when there are multiple safe transport options available.
If you are stuck in traffic behind a Bus, or at a Level Crossing, or at a cyclist or pedestrian crossing, you need to remember that you are stuck in traffic. If the other traffic wasn’t there, and they were all taking the train, bus, bike or Shanks’ Pony, you wouldn’t be stuck in traffic.
- Comment on Spy chief warns friendly nations among the countries interfering in Australian communities 1 month ago:
Belarus.
- Comment on Bananas 2 months ago:
Is there any way I can determine how big that coat hanger is? Is there something I can compare it to for scale?
- Comment on 'Disgusting and disturbing': Why some female teachers are leaving the profession 2 months ago:
Partially it is the Parents and partially it is the media.
The thing is that the parents are the ones who are not providing good role-models to their boys so the boys look to MRA arseholes as their role models instead. Mainstream media and the Independent media they are being exposed to by ThE aLgOrYtHmS reinforces their opinions.
- Comment on 'I signed up to be a b****, not a criminal': Australia's 'most-hated' TV villain speaks 2 months ago:
Some people will go to extreme lengths to get their 15 minutes of fame (or infamy).
If I wanted to watch car crash TV, I would just watch Dashcams Australia.
- Comment on [deleted] 2 months ago:
I used to write my Computer Science assignments in DocBook (XML). It would amaze the assessor’s when they said they wanted a PDF or PostScript or HTML or whatever and I would spit out a document custom formatted for whichever platform they wanted.
Then they would ask for it in Word DOC and I would be screwed.
- Comment on [deleted] 2 months ago:
I had Corel WordPerfect for Linux.
You could modify the SGML codes to create documents that were compatible with all other versions of WordPerfect and MS Word, but he features that were supported in the document format, but not in the software.
For instance, I could change use more than the 16 colours that the Word for Windows UI allowed you to use, even though the displayed correctly in the WYSIWYG editor and printed correctly.
- Comment on After months of reviews, the government has made its first move on the big supermarkets 3 months ago:
The consequences will that their record profits since COVID-19 will dry up and they will need to figure out other ways of cutting expenses.
They will crash like they did in the 1980s and rationalise their business model by selling off their smaller branches. IGA will suddenly have a lot more members, Foodworks will be much bigger and Tuckerbag may even make a comeback.
The problem is that they have overcapitalised. Near us, we have two very large Woolworths within walking distance from each other. Two suburbs over, it is the same with two very large Coles’s.
- Comment on Scam Awareness Thread 3 months ago:
Also, go straight to your tag providers website by typing it in your browser, don’t follow any links in the message or email.
- Comment on Anyone know what 'natural flavours' means on label packaging? 3 months ago:
The term “essential oils” is both a valid description and a marketing gimmick.
You have heard of “vanilla essence” and “orange essence”. It is basically an oil that is derived from a foodstuff to extract the essence or flavour.
Marketers love the phrase because the ignorant plebeians interpret to mean that they are required (essential) for human survival.
- Comment on Anyone know what 'natural flavours' means on label packaging? 3 months ago:
- Comment on Australian Border Force searched phones of 10,000 travellers in past two years, data shows 3 months ago:
They will try to pressure or force you into inputting your PIN.
The other risk is that they will observe your in because you aren’t using biometrics.
Nuke/Pave or have a decoy phone (with your primary phone powered down and packed in your luggage) for use when travelling.
And if you are travelling to certain jurisdictions, just leave your primary phone at home!
- Comment on Budget Night Thread 4 months ago:
There are enough people who own rentals who will be running their hands together and grinning maniacally. They have been cranking up their tenants rent to cover their interest rates increases, and now that their tenants are government funded, they can increase rents even more!
Rent assistance claims to be welfare for people who can’t afford to buy their own home, it is actually just welfare for landlords.
- Comment on Budget Night Thread 4 months ago:
It is almost as if the economists who advise the government don’t understand economics.
If you pay more for a thing, it makes it more expensive, it is Economics 101.
And don’t get me started on the Reserve Bank and interest rates. “People have too much debt; let’s make their current manageable debt into crippling debt so they can’t survive at all! That will stop them from borrowing more money.”
- Comment on Budget Night Thread 4 months ago:
Also corporate welfare. All rent assistance and energy rebates are going to do is drive up the prices.
Exactly the same thing happened with Home Owners Grants; we went from being able to purchase an entry-level house and land for 2 years worth of wages to having to save for 5 years just to have a deposit.
- Comment on Car spotting game 4 months ago:
The Jimny Wave is a thing, if we see another person driving a Jimny, we wave to each other.
It used to be people in Jeeps would wave, but people who drive Jeeps (an G-Wagons) are all yuppie snobs. Occasionally you will see someone in a 2-door Wranger who isn’t a snob…
Fun fact, if you see someone driving a Jeep Wranger with a spare wheel rim, but no tyre, you will immediately know three things about them.
- They have replaced their factory tyre with illegally oversized tyres.
- They are idiots who do not understand how reality works.
- They are of a certain racial group with a caste-based social structure. Manual labour like changing a wheel when they have a flat tyre is beneath their status.
- Comment on Investors with questions: how a ‘clean food’ farm scheme born of Covid vaccine fears descended into rancour 4 months ago:
You just know it was a scam to bilk the cookers out of their money…
- Comment on 'I don't think it's that hard': The former cop who says he knows how to save more domestic violence victims 4 months ago:
I think there is a lot of normalised domestic abuse.
There are also a lot of overaged boys who still believe that “boys will be boys” is acceptable societal behaviour.
- Comment on The government ordered an investigation into last year's Optus outage. Now its findings are in 5 months ago:
Yes, but the technology doesn’t have as long range.
The higher density signal is able to carry more data at higher speeds, but only for shorter distances.
A loose analogy is the difference between Short Wave radio and Long Wave radio. The BBC World Service can be received around the world, but 3PBS FM can only be received in the inner suburbs of Melbourne.
- Comment on The government ordered an investigation into last year's Optus outage. Now its findings are in 5 months ago:
Meanwhile, they are pushing Fixed Mobile on 4G or LTE in place of real fixed Fibre Internet; the incumbents can duopolise the mobile market, but the NBN has levelled the market on fixed Internet, except where the NBN has been sabotaged by the incumbents.