The totally off-topic thread

[Nigelinoz]

Seems our friends at the NAB are having more I.T problems today.

[National Australia Bank Ltd has been hit by another computer glitch which has prevented customers from being paid, a Fairfax report said.

"Some NAB customers' account balances may not be up-to-date this AM," NAB posted on Twitter.

"We are investigating the issue & will update ASAP."

The latest IT problem for the bank comes only a few months after a system failure saw thousands of customers without access to funds in their accounts.

NAB computer glitch halts customer funds: report | News | Business Spectator

 

[whereishome]

Crazy mad! Off to Japan tomorrow! Has been the week from hell, but now I got an iPad 2 and a seat in 1A! Wooooo!!!!! Holidays!

Sorry - I just survived a 12 week term of horror and am looking forward to something easier, like a trip to radioactive aftershock land.

 

[JohnK]

Fly to London in style.

With our partner Etihad Airways.

In my opinion does not say much about the airline paying for the advertisement....

 

[notzac]

In my opinion does not say much about the airline paying for the advertisement....

What would you have them say instead :?:

 

[markis10]

Love this article from no news, it really is no news:

• One third of set top boxes cannot stream digital channels
• Government switchover plan "inadequate" - Birmingham
• 30 per cent of set top box owners cannot get digital TV

THE DIGITAL revolution will not be broadcast. At least not if you have a set top box.

New Government datas has revealed that a third of set-top boxes being sold in Australia are not capable of streaming the five new digital television channels, including ABC News 24.

Read more: One third of set top boxes cannot receive digital TV channels, Government data reveals | News.com.au

Apparently SD setop boxes dont display HD channels, who would have thought that!

 

[serfty]

Love this article from no news, it really is no news:

Apparently SD setop boxes dont display HD channels, who would have thought that!

I think the issue is that the government is Spruiking that "Seventy five per cent of households in Australia have converted their main set to digital television" but failing to note that only 50% will be able to get all FTA channels.

http://www.digitalready.gov.au/Cont...l-Tracker-Full-Report-Qtr3-2010.aspx#pageno=8

 

[markis10]

Yep, but the headline got me, saying 1/3rd of all STBs cannot receive digitial signals is not true!

 

[oz_mark]

I think the issue is that the government is Spruiking that "Seventy five per cent of households in Australia have converted their main set to digital television" but failing to note that only 50% will be able to get all FTA channels.

http://www.digitalready.gov.au/Cont...l-Tracker-Full-Report-Qtr3-2010.aspx#pageno=8

I would have thought if you had the capability of receiving the same content on digital as on analogue then you can be considered 'converted'. SD boxes do that.

 

[serfty]

I would have thought if you had the capability of receiving the same content on digital as on analogue then you can be considered 'converted'. SD boxes do that.

That's true - at least with the statistic.

They used to include those with PayTV only as being "converted" to digital. I'm not sure if they still do.

 

[Nigelinoz]

The move to digital has actually been of benefit to me,living in a rural area I used to only receive the ABC and Prime (Channel 7) in this area,and I had to rely on pay tv (Austar) for anything else which meant I missed out on lots of programs that others took for granted,when I learnt that the analog signal was going to be switched off I thought I was in danger of losing the 2 FTA channels I had however I found out about a government scheme called VAST which provides a stb and satellite dish for anyone in a rural area who does not receive the full FTA channels,for $200 including installation.
I now have access to all the free channels including the freeview ones as well so I am now much better off ,I get channels that I hadn't seen for years and I have kept the Austar subscription going although I'm considering my options there.
Satellite Digital TV (VAST)
Cheers
N'oz

 

[markis10]

Seems to be a bit of a rush by Australian poker players trying to get their money our of pokerstars/full tilt, have a fan in the office who used to read off the big wins and losses of the week (the news of the losses always cheered me up when I heard the 7 figure sums of money people had lost)! Now it would appear that list is purely of losses given the last line of the feds message on the sites!

 

[serfty]

Recent wikipedia update:

There has been a battle going on for several years between online gaming entities and the USA government.

Online gambling - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On April 15, 2011, in U. S. v. Scheinberg et al. (10 Cr. 336), three online poker companies were indicted for violating U.S. laws that prohibit the acceptance of any financial instrument in connection with unlawful Internet gambling,[37][38] that is, Internet gambling that involves a "bet or wager" that is illegal under the laws of the state where the bet is made.[39] The indictment alleges that the companies used fraudulent methods to evade this law, for example, by disguising online gambling payments as purchases of merchandise, and by investing money in a local bank in return for the bank's willingness to process online poker transactions.[37] The companies argue that poker is a game of skill rather than a game of chance, and therefore, online poker is not unlawful Internet gambling.

U. S. v. Scheinberg et al. (10 Cr. 336) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As a result of the seizures Full Tilt moved its online operations to http://www.fulltiltpoker.co.uk and Pokerstars moved theirs to http://www.pokerstars.eu. Prior to the indictments, the United States accounted for 25—40% the poker business for these companies

 

[QF WP]

Thankfully, I just use Zynga (through Facebook) and never bet with real money

Wow, what a story.

 

[JohnK]

What would you have them say instead :?:

Something different. I am not in marketing....

 

[Nigelinoz]

Seeing as though we aren't a general aviation site with a military section I thought this was probably the best place to post this story.
BBC News - RAF's Voyager arrives in UK as largest in its history

RAF's Voyager arrives in UK as largest in its history

The largest RAF aircraft in history has arrived in the UK for the first time.
The new tanker and transport plane - named the Voyager - is almost 60m (197ft) long and has a 60m wingspan.
It is twice the size of a Lancaster bomber and will replace the VC-10 and Tristar aircraft. The RAF has bought 14 Voyagers and the first is expected to be in service by the end of the year.
The plane arrived at the MoD's airfield at Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, where further trails will be carried out.
The Voyager, a converted Airbus A330-200 airliner, can carry 291 troops for more than 6,000 miles (9,656km).

I'm surprised that the UK hasn't had something like this before.

 

[samh004]

I'm surprised that the UK hasn't had something like this before.

Well I think they’re leaving the job of being war machines to other nations. They’ve planted their seeds and are taking a break

 

[Mal]

I associate NoNews with sloppy journalism. In fact, it happens so frequently - you could almost be forgiven for thinking that finding a sloppy article is as frequent as hopping on a Tiger flight and expecting to end up in an Economy seat.

At least this journalist has done the hard yards: Rare silver ingots stolen from home in Gatton | Courier Mail

The total value of the ingots was not known, but an internet search of a similar collection varied from $930 to $4500.

No other homes in the area had been robbed.

Wow. Stunning detective work there.

 

[Flashback]

For those of you in Perth: Scoopon - Just $49 to fly a Boeing 777 in a World Class Simulator! Choose your destination! Normally $175!

 

[Mal]

My mobile phone earpiece speaker died tonight for some reason (probably a 4c part has failed )

Grr. Why is it so frustrating? I'm only about a week or two away from buying a Samsung Galaxy S II. (released in the UK beginning of May, released in Oz beginning of June - will order one in from the UK I think for around $750).

So now I need to hunt around for my old phone (no idea where it is though!), but instead I'll probably just buy a cheap phone and keep it as a spare.

 

[Flashback]

My mobile phone earpiece speaker died tonight for some reason (probably a 4c part has failed )

Grr. Why is it so frustrating? I'm only about a week or two away from buying a Samsung Galaxy S II. (released in the UK beginning of May, released in Oz beginning of June - will order one in from the UK I think for around $750).

So now I need to hunt around for my old phone (no idea where it is though!), but instead I'll probably just buy a cheap phone and keep it as a spare.

I'm sure you already know.. but it's very hard to buy an unlocked phone here (if not impossible). You'll need to find someone to unlock it.

BTW, YGM.