The Vent and Rant Thread

[wodin]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

You guys can't even use metric. I'm not surprised.

Oh but we do, we just prefer not to.

[Rumpelteazer]

Trying to figure out how to really switch off autocorrect on my Nexus 7. I switched it off in settings but it still insists on autocorrecting and occasionally it does so before I even finish typing a words. I really rather want to see misspelled words underlined than having to change weird sentences made up of random words.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Friggin' Fraggin' why the h*ll can't America use the same phone standards as the rest of the world!!!!



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital...communications

When it came to adopting modern standards, apparently our country stopped short at the ten meter line. It's enough to run one's temp up several degrees Celsius.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

When it came to adopting modern standards, apparently our country stopped short at the ten meter line. It's enough to run one's temp up several degrees Celsius.

It's not just 'modern standards' or even a US problem! I have to have several different cell phones just to avoid huge phone charges when I travel! Sure, I could use my iPhone with my Japanese carrier just about anywhere, but then every call I make, even across the street, will be a long distance call through Japan.

In Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore or even the US, I can walk into a shop and buy a $15 phone and $10 worth of credits to use. It takes 5 minutes in the shop. If I want more credits, I just buy a refill sim card. In Japan I have to have at least a one-year contract with a carrier, but the better carriers only offer three-year contracts. It takes 2-3 hours in the shop and costs Hundreds!!! No independent sim card carriers for sale.


Stitchawl

[wannabee]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

. . . . . . .

In Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore or even the US, I can walk into a shop and buy a $15 phone and $10 worth of credits to use. It takes 5 minutes in the shop. If I want more credits, I just buy a refill sim card. . . . . . . . .

Stitchawl

Do you need ID? I swear this place is over regulated. Over here you would think the place was full of spies and terrorists. You need pretty good ID to buy a SIM card. But like guns, that only stops the average citizen. The crooks and baddies can just buy a stolen one.

Point-of-sale: cash or cheque

If you are paying by cash or cheque, you must show the service provider either one of the Category A documents listed OR two of the listed Category B documents. These documents must be current.

Category A
current student card issued by a tertiary education institution
licence or permit issued under Commonwealth, State or Territory law - for example, a driver's licence
passport
Centrelink pension, benefit or health care card
birth certificate
a document that is recognised as a proof of identity under Commonwealth, State or Territory law - for example, a Keypass card.
Category B
credit, debit or ATM card (with your name and signature)
Medicare card in your name
passbook from a bank issued in your name
recent fixed network telephone bill issued in the last 12 months showing the name and address you have given the service provider
local council rates statement issued in the last 12 months showing the name and address you have given the service provider.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by wannabee

Do you need ID? I swear this place is over regulated. Over here you would think the place was full of spies and terrorists. You need pretty good ID to buy a SIM card. But like guns, that only stops the average citizen. The crooks and baddies can just buy a stolen one.

Good grief. You can buy several different brands of pay-as-you-go SIM here (UK) for cash at a supermarket checkout. Definitely no IDs required.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by wannabee

Do you need ID? I swear this place is over regulated. Over here you would think the place was full of spies and terrorists. You need pretty good ID to buy a SIM card. But like guns, that only stops the average citizen. The crooks and baddies can just buy a stolen one.

An ID is required in S'pore, 'asked for' in Malaysia, and in Thailand... any convenience store, any of the 100's of telephone shops and kiosks in EVERY shopping mall (often an entire floor of a mall might be ONLY telephone shops,) repair centers in computer malls. etc. etc. If you've got the money, honey, we've got the card! In the US, you can buy a phone in most Wal-Mart, Target, CVS, (all large multi-marketing department stores/pharmacy/super stores) as well as refill card. No ID required.

In Japan you have to not only show valid ID, you have to use your 'hanko' to validate the contract. Add in a direct monthly draw on my bank account (so of course I had to give them the account number,) and a pound of flesh. 48 different documents to sign, be advised about, counter-signed after highlighting various points, 'hanko-ed' to acknowledge, and leave the shop with a small shopping bag, mostly filled with copies of papers... and a small box holding your new phone.


Stitchawl

[wannabee]

I just had the biggest rant so I've stuck it in a spoiler.

Spoiler:

This place is over regulated and over rated. Latest news is Sydney is the 3rd most expensive city in the world to live.

Electricity up from $350 a quarter last year to $850 with no usage change. Water from $120 up to $265 a quarter. At least we have it, unlike some parts of the world.
I'm leaving my comfort zone very fast.

Petrol varies from $1.40 to $1.60 per litre and it goes up and down every few days.
Car rego for a tiny hatchback $250, State 3rd party insurance $750 plus regular insurance in case of accident or theft.
A bus trip to work. (22klm - about 10 miles) $9.90 each way.

You can't buy any electrical equipment that is made in Australia any more. Along with clothing and most other manufacturing it's all outsourced to China.
Look at the size of the place and they're plowing up the fertile farming land and building housing estates down one end of town and drilling and making open cut coal mines of the rest of the place and the supermarket is full of imported food. AND . . . there's only two supermarkets!!!! They have forced the prices of local produce down to the point farmers are walking of their land. And worse suicide. (About 1 a day)
Take a last look around because most of what we have here in Australia is being dug up and shipped to China faster than you can blink.

As long as the banks make a quid and keep the pollies happy the taxpayer pays the debt.

The bloody debt . . . . . tha's a whole nuva rant
Every time one of our Federal Treasurers sucks up to the U.N. and does what they say they get honoured as GET THIS . . . "World's Best Treasurer"

Three so far. Bit of a coincidence. Keating, Costello and Swan who hasn't balanced the books since he took the job . . . .

Ahhhhrg ..

Watch out if you get in the way of one of our politicians and a bag of cash. Biggest bunch of corrupt bastards since the Rum Rebellion.

Alright . . the clock's about to strike twelve. That's the sign to shut up but there's still lots of rant left.

[rah68]

Reality TV.......

American Idol, Survivor, The Real World, Americas next top model, Dancing with the stars, The Amazing Race, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, The Kardashians, The Apprentice, Fear Factor, So you think you can dance, Dirty Jobs, The Biggest loser, Americas got talent, Britains got talent, X Factor, The Voice, Trading Spaces, Undercover boss, etc etc etc

I could go on & on but I have to go load my 12 gauge so I can blast the TV into oblivion

[samhy]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

An ID is required in S'pore, 'asked for' in Malaysia, and in Thailand... any convenience store, any of the 100's of telephone shops and kiosks in EVERY shopping mall (often an entire floor of a mall might be ONLY telephone shops,) repair centers in computer malls. etc. etc. If you've got the money, honey, we've got the card! In the US, you can buy a phone in most Wal-Mart, Target, CVS, (all large multi-marketing department stores/pharmacy/super stores) as well as refill card. No ID required.

In Japan you have to not only show valid ID, you have to use your 'hanko' to validate the contract. Add in a direct monthly draw on my bank account (so of course I had to give them the account number,) and a pound of flesh. 48 different documents to sign, be advised about, counter-signed after highlighting various points, 'hanko-ed' to acknowledge, and leave the shop with a small shopping bag, mostly filled with copies of papers... and a small box holding your new phone.


Stitchawl

I was so surprised when I bought a pay-as-you-go SIM card in UK. I was so easy! And I didn't even have to show an ID
The Japanese experience made me so afraid of even considering to try The worst part was when the Softbank employee kindly told me that in order to get a SIM card, a phone and a phone number, I would have to provide a Japanese landline phone number (try to explain that you don't have a company phone number because you need a phone number of your own to apply for a job in the first place ). It's well-known that evil foreigners leave the country every day without paying huge bills, so you, the phone company, need to be covered (actually, one of my housemate did just that. Oups...)

So far, my ranking would be (from difficult to easy)
Japan<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<France<<<UK (and UK plans are a treat. I would raise an Union Jack right here, right now if I could)

Edit: Stitchawl, no one made me use an hanko, no way. I was always good with ここでサインしてもいい？ and a big smile. Maybe one of the perk of being a woman

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by rah68

Reality TV.......

American Idol, Survivor, The Real World, Americas next top model, Dancing with the stars, The Amazing Race, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, The Kardashians, The Apprentice, Fear Factor, So you think you can dance, Dirty Jobs, The Biggest loser, Americas got talent, Britains got talent, X Factor, The Voice, Trading Spaces, Undercover boss, etc etc etc

I could go on & on but I have to go load my 12 gauge so I can blast the TV into oblivion

amen to that! I figure the reason they have fans is because so many people have never actually had a life

[ProfCrash]

I love Survivor for the game play and locations. I love The Amazing Race for the locations and challenge. I love the Biggest Loser because it makes me feel thin. The rest I don't watch.

[Bilbo1967]

I'm with rah68 and kk on this. Reality shows are just universally awful. I particularly dislike the ones that get people to call up premium rate phone numbers to vote on which idiot is slightly less annoying than the other idiots. I like to think of that as a 'moron tax'.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

I'm with rah68 and kk on this. Reality shows are just universally awful. I particularly dislike the ones that get people to call up premium rate phone numbers to vote on which idiot is slightly less annoying than the other idiots. I like to think of that as a 'moron tax'.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by rah68

Reality TV.......
American Idol, Survivor, The Real World, Americas next top model, Dancing with the stars, The Amazing Race, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, The Kardashians, The Apprentice, Fear Factor, So you think you can dance, Dirty Jobs, The Biggest loser, Americas got talent, Britains got talent, X Factor, The Voice, Trading Spaces, Undercover boss, etc etc etc
I could go on & on but I have to go load my 12 gauge so I can blast the TV into oblivion

People watch these, but then go out and spend billions of dollars every year on tranquilizer drugs, anti-depressant drugs, etc., drugs that remove all trace of reality from their lives... Go figure!

Originally Posted by samhy

Edit: Stitchawl, no one made me use an hanko, no way. I was always good with ここでサインしてもいい？ and a big smile. Maybe one of the perk of being a woman

Softbank made me do both... I guess I just look like a shifty gaijin.

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

amen to that! I figure the reason they have fans is because so many people have never actually had a life

"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation ...." (Henry David Thoreau) There but for fortune...


Stitchawl