The totally off-topic thread

[JohnK]

Do you believe everything the church tells you?

No I don't.

Being a creationist doesn't mean I have to follow church scripture. I simply believe we were created not a random event.

 

[Pushka]

I have a brother in law that really questions if the moon landing actually happened.

Lovely, lovely guy but sometimes I look at him and my husband and question how are they related. But hes a really nice guy.

Mmmm. I know exactly what you mean, on MY side.

 

[suze2000]

Admittedly, once you get "used" to dialogs, people get very trigger happy to just keep pressing Enter or clicking ahead without reading the dialog. Even if the dialog said, "Formatting Drive C: - data will be lost. Are you sure you want to continue?" as long as the eyes see "OK" or "Cancel", some will just keep clicking or hitting Enter/Space without a second thought.

This is me now at work. Our software is so infuriating, it even tells us when a storage rack is full and that we need to get another one. Like I can't see that with my own eyes.

 

[suze2000]

I have a brother in law that really questions if the moon landing actually happened.

I lost my cough at my nephew last week because he's fallen for claims that 9/11 was a controlled demolition. Then I thought: maybe I'm wrong, what I saw on LIVE telly on that tuesday night (just after he was born) was not true. So I googled a little, and one of the links was this.

9/11 conspiracy theories are all wrong | thermite, explosion theories

And so I realised it wasn't worth wasting my time on. If he wants to be gullible, I can't change that. But they really ought to teach critical thought in schools nowadays (and not at uni which is too late), because any fool that can code a webpage can put any cr*p they want in type and it looks true.
Regrettably it means I had to unfollow him on Facebook because I kept seeing these infuriating posts.

With regards to creationist theory, the thing I was taught in church was a neat compromise: essentially, the experience of time is difference for god, and each of the seven days of creation actually spans the millions of years of prehistory for humans. So the six thousand years of the bible only become real years once a man is walking the earth. Though it still doesn't fit very well since we have of course, rock painting records here in Australia that are thirty thousand years old, but it's a way for literal bible believers to walk the line, should they choose.

I am an atheist though, since pretending to believe in a mystical skyfather made me feel like a hypocrite. One can live a good life - be a good person - without the threat of eternal damnation to motivate you. Though I recognise that churches can provide community and a support system for those attending and I miss that about 21st century life.

 

[amaroo]

While I'm reminiscing about my mis-spent days at Uni, I recall when we outdoorsy-types ventured into the 'computer building' (as it was in those days) .

<snip>

These days that could cost you a few hundred thousand, and years in the courts ️

 

[JessicaTam]

The saga continues. No resolution yesterday so back on the phone. They have asked Telstra to check the line. I get a call from a contractor this morning to confirm the address - my old address!

So now I have had to go back to iinet and they tell me Telstra will check the line sometime between now and ... wait for it ... October 4. :evil:

Phone data pretty much used up, so now I am tethering to the iPad.

Is there an emoji for banging my head against the wall?

 

[RooFlyer]

The saga continues. No resolution yesterday so back on the phone. They have asked Telstra to check the line. I get a call from a contractor this morning to confirm the address - my old address!

So now I have had to go back to iinet and they tell me Telstra will check the line sometime between now and ... wait for it ... October 4. :evil:

Phone data pretty much used up, so now I am tethering to the iPad.

Is there an emoji for banging my head against the wall?

If I were you I'd call them and simply ask for a complaint reference number (you may have to initiate a complaint!). Then go to the Telecommunications Ombudsman web site and lodge a complaint against them (you'll need the complaint reference number). It won't take long.

In my experience, telcos and ISPs really don't want a complaint to be made to the TIO, so your issue may get escalated straight away even by asking for a complaint number and telling them what you are about to do. Irrespective, still lodge the TIO complaint. You are likely to get a call within a few days (again, based on my experience) from the ISP from some-one much more senior and capable of making things happen.

I stopped mucking around with these guys (in general) ages ago. I now almost reflexively go to the TIO and complain and in most cases there is a speedy resolution.

 

[love_the_life]

The saga continues. No resolution yesterday so back on the phone. They have asked Telstra to check the line. I get a call from a contractor this morning to confirm the address - my old address!

So now I have had to go back to iinet and they tell me Telstra will check the line sometime between now and ... wait for it ... October 4. :evil:

Phone data pretty much used up, so now I am tethering to the iPad.

Is there an emoji for banging my head against the wall?

Don't think Like is really the best here but there is no other choice
The wheels of of Telstra turn slowly and customer service is pretty much zilch when it comes to providing a timely response. Iinet are pretty poor too. We had weeks (months) of them saying they could transfer our account to our new place and finally after all that time they admitted they couldn't provide the service .

 

[suze2000]

I agree, when our internet was cut off by Telstra technicians and they tried to put it back on my equipment failing. I don't understand why they would do that because quite frankly, if I replaced all my stuff and it still didn't work they haven't saved themselves anything, they've just delayed the problem for a few days. It was only when I cracked it at the 2nd level tech support (ie, I yelled, and then I cried) that they actually escalated it to Telstra. I didn't think my internet addiction was so bad that a week without would reduce me to tears, but there you go. I blame frustration and anger.

 

[drron]

B****y SA,the Red Tape State.
NSW blue card not accepted.
QLD and AFP police checks not accepted.
Must all be done by South Australians.
Only State that does this.
Aren't you part of Australia?

 

[anat0l]

I agree, when our internet was cut off by Telstra technicians and they tried to put it back on my equipment failing. I don't understand why they would do that because quite frankly, if I replaced all my stuff and it still didn't work they haven't saved themselves anything, they've just delayed the problem for a few days. It was only when I cracked it at the 2nd level tech support (ie, I yelled, and then I cried) that they actually escalated it to Telstra. I didn't think my internet addiction was so bad that a week without would reduce me to tears, but there you go. I blame frustration and anger.

Equipment failing and all that is rather interesting. There are a few parts to it:

• Having worked in a computer shop customer service counter before, a lot of customers would bring things back which they believed were faulty. Some of them earnestly were faulty, but in other cases, it was customer fault in how they tried to set it up (not following instructions, or something more sinister on their machine). We would ask, "Did you try x, did you try y," but of course if you were a customer wanting to get something, you would say "yes", wouldn't you, even if you had no idea what you were nodding to.
  So we changed tack and started to ask what customers had tried to do to get it working. Or, we would causally ask something like, "Have you tried installing DirectX 12?" and if they said 'yes', we knew they were having us on.
• In case anyone who isn't technically minded doesn't know, a lot of computer / computer-related troubleshooting is throwing mud at a wall and seeing what sticks. There's hardly any methodical approach to it. Technical support over the phone is nearly always a kerfuffle due to this; technicians need to work with a script and clear things before they keep on going. That could mean making sure that the equipment is fine.
  But of course, once they clear that hurdle, they have to go back to trying other things - keeping on pinning it to the customer's equipment when that has been cleared (or cleared as best as possible) is ridiculous.

One advantage of not being completely technically incompetent is that you can communicate to technical services exactly what you have tried, exactly what you have done and what has or hasn't been tested. From here, they can better cross out whatever they have on their list. It also means that you have a better or faster chance of working out what they can do on their end as needed.

 

[anat0l]

B****y SA,the Red Tape State.
NSW blue card not accepted.
QLD and AFP police checks not accepted.
Must all be done by South Australians.
Only State that does this.
Aren't you part of Australia?

I don't know what you are applying for, though a lot of checks or things are still confined to state jurisdictions only. Can drive many people insane.

For example, I have to apply for a Blue Card in QLD in order to work with children (e.g. teach).

If I were to apply as a teacher in NSW, I need to apply for a Working With Children Check. A QLD Blue Card does not provide an automatic grant to this check, nor does it necessarily expedite the process (in fact, from what I can tell, you can't even say you have one on the WWCC application form). The QLD Blue Card is actually acknowledged (indirectly) in the NSW Act, but it still only grants authority for activity of up to 30 days in one year without requiring the NSW WWCC.

 

[drron]

But WA,TAS accept all blue cards and never needed another police check in NSW,WA,TAS-haven't worked in VIC or NT.
Plus QLD health accept my NSW blue card.

 

[Major]

I just wanted to let you know that there are 526 submarines currently in Earth's salt water at the moment. I was also staggered to learn that North Korea has the World's second largest fleet with 70 subs.

Submarine Strength Strength by Country

 

[Deleted member]

And somewhere between 6000-10000 planes in the air (depending on whether the US is awake)

 

[Pushka]

B****y SA,the Red Tape State.
NSW blue card not accepted.
QLD and AFP police checks not accepted.
Must all be done by South Australians.
Only State that does this.
Aren't you part of Australia?

We need the fees drron.

 

[Denali]

For Sydney people, our office's week of cake gluttony continues and we've just had a delivery from here: Loomas $9 Cake Delivery Sydney | 5% Off Online Orders

Amazing!

Now patiently waiting for morning tea as the one coughtail pastry I had just wasnt enough.\

 

[drron]

Deaths of 2 greats in sport.
RIP Max Walker.68 of melanoma.

RIP Arnie Palmer.87.A golfing icon.

 

[Deleted member]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VThi7SFGNlI

Have a good weekend Mr Walker !

Deaths of 2 greats in sport.
RIP Max Walker.68 of melanoma.

RIP Arnie Palmer.87.A golfing icon.

 

[Foreigner]

Deaths of 2 greats in sport.
RIP Max Walker.68 of melanoma.

RIP Arnie Palmer.87.A golfing icon.

RIP Max Walker. In 1991, met him in elevator of the then Regent hotel in George Street, Sydney. Would easily talk to stranger.