February
I think, therefore I am, I think ...
Ooops, 30k speed limit. I hate the fact there's an edit time. You can't get away with anything!
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Today I ........
- Thread starter el'coopo
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February
I think, therefore I am, I think ...
This was on the news this morning.Bit more on that story. They were probably imported for a distributor and somehow went astray. Probably not donated to the Mission as a malicious act thankfully.
Stuff
www.stuff.co.nz
Someone in the drug ring is going to be in big trouble with each of those sweet equivalent to 300 hits of meth amphetamine, obviously bound for some drug kingpin somewhere.
Yeah they said each "lolly" was worth NZ $1000 as they were pure meth, so yeah it won't have been deliberate. Someone majorly screwed up. I find myself wondering if a dealer's mum found the stash and unwittingly donated them to the Mission. Which would be funny if the end results couldn't potentially have been so awful. Will be interesting to see what the actual story is, if they ever find out.
February
I think, therefore I am, I think ...
Today I got our spare room sorted out for my sister's visit. She arrives on Friday. The first time she's been here since I migrated in 1980!
SO excited!
Also got a new phone since Vodafone have hounded me since last November saying when 3g networks shut down, my existing phone will not be able to make 000 emergency calls and my service will be blocked. My old phone supported volte and 4g which I had read would make it work - but the'yre adamant it won't. Who knows, I wasn't willing to chance it after months and months of annoying texts, voice message interrupting every phone call I try to make!
SO excited!
Also got a new phone since Vodafone have hounded me since last November saying when 3g networks shut down, my existing phone will not be able to make 000 emergency calls and my service will be blocked. My old phone supported volte and 4g which I had read would make it work - but the'yre adamant it won't. Who knows, I wasn't willing to chance it after months and months of annoying texts, voice message interrupting every phone call I try to make!
I've been following the conversation on Whirlpool about this for my phone (doesn't affect me because I'm not in Aus) and they are also confused because it definitely supports VoLTE but they're being told it won't work, or won't work with Telstra because (reasons).
Will be nice for you having your sister to visit. Where are you from?
February
I think, therefore I am, I think ...
I've been reading a lot about what other people have been experiencing with the different Telco's, too. It's ridiculous. They're all saying the same thing, but also contradicting themselves. My partner reckons they're just covering themselves in case they get sued if something happens to someone when they can't make an emergency call, Who knows. My phone worked in the US last year when I was there, and they shut down 3g in 2022. BUT, I didn't have to make an emergency call, so I don't know. Also, each phone company supports different handsets. Vodafone doesn't support my old Galaxy J5 Pro, but Optus does, and Telstra has it on a list that "might work". The fact Vodaphone threatened to block my service if I didn't upgrade, forced me into doing it, by scaring me, as I need my phone for work.
I'm originally from England
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Apparently, when deciding to cut off the 3G network, they didn't take into consideration that there's no industry standard for VoLTE. That plenty of 4G phones and 5G phones aren't programmed for the protocols used by Australian Telcos. The big brains just went, "enough people have 4G phones" not considering how they make phone calls. Almost nowhere else in the world has shut down both the 2g and 3g networks. They also have no idea how many people will be affected because of their incompetence.
Also it just has the benefit that you'll now need a phone specifically programmed to be used in Australia and can't use phones from overseas.
On phones, I have an interesting observation unrelated to the VoLTE issue. My current phone is 5G but when I got it I was on a 4G BYO plan. It was a good value plan for data and there was no reason to change it. Going to 5G would just be an exercise in spending more money.
A couple of months ago they forced me to change the plan. It's a few dollars more but still cheaper than equivalent plans and now has 5G. I'm pretty sure the coverage is worse on the 5G network. I seem to be hitting more black spots, where I assume it's got a very weak 5G signal, but not enough to be usable. Where in those same places with 4G it would work fine.
Also it just has the benefit that you'll now need a phone specifically programmed to be used in Australia and can't use phones from overseas.
On phones, I have an interesting observation unrelated to the VoLTE issue. My current phone is 5G but when I got it I was on a 4G BYO plan. It was a good value plan for data and there was no reason to change it. Going to 5G would just be an exercise in spending more money.
A couple of months ago they forced me to change the plan. It's a few dollars more but still cheaper than equivalent plans and now has 5G. I'm pretty sure the coverage is worse on the 5G network. I seem to be hitting more black spots, where I assume it's got a very weak 5G signal, but not enough to be usable. Where in those same places with 4G it would work fine.
I'm not sure overseas visitors to Aus would see that as a benefit! My (4G) phone shows VoLTE icons for both my SIM cards here in Cambodge, but due to the lack of a standard it doesn't mean shit? That's crazy. Meanwhile here, the govt told telcos to shut down their 5G trials a couple of years ago, so it's not going a problem for me for the foreseeable future. There'd be a lot of people using 3G phones here still anyway so there's no chance of shutting that down. If you have any reasonable old phones you don't need and are travelling to Cambo or Vietnam, bring them with you and flog them to a phone shop.
This is far from any area of expertise I have. From what I understand there are a few protocols out there. There's just not one standard agreed upon one that all manufactures will put on their phones. Optus and Vodaphone use one of them.
Telstra is more of an issue because they have a proprietary protocol.
I have no idea the ability for manufactures to just put out updates. I have read that some phones were on lists as not compatible but then later were listed as. People were unsure of if there were updates or this was simply the fact that no one knew if they were.
Yeah it's all a bit of a shit show. The Whirlpool thread I'm following is mostly about Telstra not supporting various phones. As for updates, you're unlikely to see anything rolled out for many phones more than 2yo.
Dropped my phone in the pitch black during a power cut recently, it had one of those tough glass screen protectors but still managed to crack the front glass of the screen (not the LCD itself though). I bought a replacement front glass for it, but it turns out techs need a special machine to apply it. Ended up buying another screen protector instead and the crack's not so noticeable now. This phone's survived being dropped many times, scraped on concrete (trashed the s/p that time too but phone was fine), lost/stolen (got it back but not before the guy had fully reset it), so it's had a good run considering. This is why I stick to phones around the US$200 mark. Xiaomi FTW.
Remember the first few years of iPhones and half the people with them had smashed screens they just lived with?
I once smashed the glass in a phone the first week I got it. I was walking across a street with no traffic and a car turned onto it and just floored the accelerator at me and the act of suddenly darting off the road caused it to fall out of my pocket. Was very annoying. No idea if the guy was just a bad driver who saw no cars and floored it. If they were trying to scare me or what.
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Bit of excitement at my place in SR just now. Heard a commotion outside and saw Ruby chasing a big frog, with a dozen of my neighbours in hot pursuit. I grabbed Ruby and brought her inside while the neighbours all worked to catch the frog. Or so I thought.
It turned out the frog was being chased by this >1.5m snake, will now be part of dinner for one of the families. Along with the frog.
It turned out the frog was being chased by this >1.5m snake, will now be part of dinner for one of the families. Along with the frog.
Sometimes I try and snatch mosquitoes out of the air with one hand. My success rate is probably less than 2%, the rest either by missing, or with the little buggers getting caught, but somehow evading getting squished and flying off. What can I say, I have slender digits.
Until today. In a feat that is unlikely to ever be repeated I snatched not one but TWO mozzies out of the air simultaneously - one in each hand. Maybe I should buy a lotto ticket.
Until today. In a feat that is unlikely to ever be repeated I snatched not one but TWO mozzies out of the air simultaneously - one in each hand. Maybe I should buy a lotto ticket.
LOL! go you good thing!
You'll have no chance catching mozzies in Australia if these bill gates GMO mosquitos are allowed to be released (well they are putting them up for sale for commercial & public). I am sooooo mad we are doing dumb stuff like that. Its to stop dengue fever, which isn't even a problem to solve here. Makes me think it's a test run for fck knows what!
Well we do have Dengue here and I am all for anything they can do to stop it.LOL! go you good thing!
You'll have no chance catching mozzies in Australia if these bill gates GMO mosquitos are allowed to be released (well they are putting them up for sale for commercial & public). I am sooooo mad we are doing dumb stuff like that. Its to stop dengue fever, which isn't even a problem to solve here. Makes me think it's a test run for fck knows what!
Today this is happening on Aldinga Beach in South Australia. Can someone explain to me the appeal in going to the beach and sitting in your car, and paying $12 to do so?)
February
I think, therefore I am, I think ...
Oh what? That's crazy!
Really pleased I am not the only one who thinks that!