Xircal

no video, no link to video

kinda useless news reporting

and for the victim, no cctv?

The video works just fine. Check your Flash installation: https://www.adobe.com/shockwave/welcome/

I am not sure how a mess the Chinese tourists made at the basin. But after reading this, I want to ask where and how often the Thais wash their feet. Why should they be considered dirty if you keep washing them? They are part of you and so they should be regarded as clean as your hands, face, and mind.

It's Thai culture pure and simple: http://www.thailandclimbing.com/thai-cultural-considerations/

It's their country and you're just a guest living it it however temporarily and you have to respect that.

Probably everybody has heard of Cryptolocker by now, but in case you haven't, it's a kind of malware which encrypts user created files on a Windows PC and then demands payment in Bitcoins to provide a key to decrypt them. The user is given 72 hours to make payment after which the key is destroyed rendering the files unusable.

A new form of ransomware has now appeared which targets gamers. Games such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and similar will be encrypted using AES-256 encryption in the same way that Cryptolocker did. The method of infection uses a Flash banner which redirects users to a malware site which then downloads the rogue program.

At this particular moment in time, the malware only downloads if the user is using either Internet Explorer (all versions), or Opera.

When the original CryptoLocker ransomware first appeared, a method of preventing infection became available called CryptoPrevent. It works by creating a software restriction policy to all the locations on the PC that malware writes to preventing it from installing.

I have the free version of CryptoPrevent installed on my own system and have been using it for a couple of years now. I received a warning popup from it once when I tried to install the Windows version of a chat app called Telegram last year. One of the things which surprised me at the time was that CryptoPrevent revealed that the app wanted to install in the C:\Users\{Username}\AppData\Roaming directory and not in C:\Program Files as would normally be the case. As a precaution before whitelisting it, I created a manual System Restore point which was fortunate because the app didn't work and because it wasn't installed in the default OS location, Windows couldn't uninstall it. Turning the clock back using System Restore got rid of it.

The link above to CryptoPrevent doesn't contain a download link to the free version. But when you run the file, you'll get an opportunity to decide whether you want to upgrade to the Premium version, or continue using the freebie. With the latter, you have to check for updates manually.

But CryptoPrevent also prevents Trojans and other nasties from installing without interfering with other security programs such as Malawarebytes.

Bromium Labs has an in-depth article on the subject of how the ransomeware works to encrypt games which is well worth a read: http://labs.bromium.com/2015/03/12/achievement-locked-new-crypto-ransomware-pwns-video-gamers/

AirAsia is suffering some bad publicity at the moment after cancelling flights indefinitely between Adelaide and Kuala Lumpur due to lack of profitability, but failing to refund the cost of tickets: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-12/air-asia-stalls-on-flight-refunds-for-cancelled-adelaide-route/6307922

As for renewed flights to London, passengers that used to fly with AirAsia X will have already have found alternative routes by now and if they're satisfied with their present carrier, they're not going to switch back to AA again.

AA would be better off flying from Amsterdam as well because no Air Passenger Duty is levied on flights from AMS like it is in the UK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Passenger_Duty

A faulty signature file in Panda Cloud Office Protection and Retail 2015 resulted in the application moving its own files into quarantine. Customers who have installed the flawed update are advised not to reboot the PC. Doing so may prevent the user from being able to log into Windows.

Instructions on how to address this issue on the Panda security site: http://www.pandasecurity.com/mediacenter/panda-security/information-regarding-issue-with-the-signature-file-pcop-retail-2015/

Hasn't done the euro any good. FX rates this morning are abysmal and I begin to ask myself whether Thailand will soon become too expensive for future holidays.

A home from home: http://aqicn.org/city/chengdu/

Chiang Mai: http://aqicn.org/city/thailand/chiangmai/city-hall/

They need to water bomb the fires otherwise it just a waste of water. Even a small single seater aircraft can do that job very well as can be seen in the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is4qAbUesZU

Didn't they do this about three years ago?

Here's a tip. Try actually having Customs personnel manning the X-ray machine and maybe another officer at the exit of international arrivals.

Nine times out of ten, there's no one there........

They got me to put my luggage through the X-ray scanner when I came in October last year. I only had a single suitcase with me as well. They didn't ask me if I had anything to declare though which I thought was a bit odd.

So is it illegal? I saw people smoking it in the tiger bars on Bangla plenty last month.

Yes, there's an actual shisha bar in there at the back. You can also order a shisha and they'll bring it to whichever bar you're drinking at. It costs 500 Baht I seem to recall.

Strangely enough, no bars are allowed to bring in food unless it's somebody's birthday.

Thailand is a member of Interpol and has access to its database so how come immigration doesn't check a person's passport against it when visitors enter the country?

Yes, yes, I know it will make the queues a bit longer having to wait in line at immigration on arrival, but better than having criminals roaming around Thailand's prize den of iniquity as is now the case.

Just in case you weren't aware of it, Microsoft fixed the FREAK vulnerability yesterday which was reported recently by ThaiTech.

Details of the update can be seen in this Infoworld article: http://www.infoworld.com/article/2895020/security/microsoft-fixes-freak-vulnerability-in-patch-tuesday-update.html

Also, if you click the link to "Security" on the top banner, there's an article concerning one of the security updates namely KB3002657. Worth a read if you happen to be experiencing problems after installing it.

The outcome is tragic given the loss of a young life. However, under the apparent circumstances of a serious bashing around the head and possibly being in fear of his life, perhaps this is a case of manslaughter rather than murder. Difficult to see intent if it's as reported elsewhere.

I disagree. He had ample opportunity to just walk away, but didn't.

And why carry a knife in the first place? Are you saying that the streets of Patong are so unsafe that you need to have a weapon on you all the time? That'll do wonders for the tourist trade.

Before the "there must be more to the story" or "it was a set-up" crowd butts in: if you are 59 tears old and carry a knife to go on the piss then there is something fundamentally wrong; at that age he should be smarter than that.

There's a picture of the knife he was carrying on Phuketgazette: http://phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Australian-expat-kills-Phuket-nightclub-bouncer/51534#ad-image-0

He should have just backed off after being told to stop filming.

RIP to the nightclub security guy.

Here's what the Greeks really think.

Usual stupid useless propaganda that nobody believes <3

Really, you need to take a trip out east and northeast. Out in these villages which don't have running water and where the houses comprise of a wooden frame with sheets of corrugated iron nailed to them, people will eat virtually anything which doesn't run away quickly enough.

Have a look at this site for some examples: http://importfood.com/thai_insects.html

Even in Patong, in the Tiger bar complex, there's a guy who comes around late at night selling fried maggots at 20 Baht for a little bag.

Edible insects is truly an Asian answer to nutrition-challenged nations and Thailand could grow this industry into a global enterprise.

The UN urges eating insects as sources for protein, fiber, good fats, and vital minerals. Thirty-six African nations already consume insects as a food as basic as chicken.

Here's some tasty looking delicacies.

I declined the invitation to try one fried though.

The euro is a nuthouse currency. It is suboptimal with different financial realities, dissimilar in the countries' national strategies rather than convergent.

Therefore, the euro is converted into a powerful Deutsche Mark, that rules, dictates and commands nationals and vassals of various gradations.

In a paradoxical manner, which paradoxical is not, the euro introduces into the political and social life of of every country it occupies, an economic and class racism, resulting in the reproduction (and new production) of nationalistic stereotypes.

Using the debt as a tool, Greece is being restructured over the past years, and transformed into a pariah country. The Greeks are paying for a debt they did not create/accumulate. They are under a memorandum forced upon them that will last for generations.

They are enslaved.

With the sentence I've outlined in red in your post, I think you need to catch up on a little bit of history, a summary of which you can find in this news report: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9098559/Whats-the-Greek-debt-crisis-all-about.html

The position Greece finds itself in now is largely a situation of its own making. After joining the euro in 2001, Greece went on a spending spree on borrowed money. A failure to address the issue of tax evasion properly has led them to the predicament they find themselves in now.

As for the euro, it's essentially a good idea. Europe isn't a vast country like the US and the losses incurred on exchange rates with constant fluctuating currencies led to too much uncertainty in trading positions together with high inflation.

By introducing a single currency for the whole eurozone, trading within that area is much more manageable.

Allowing Greece into the eurozone was however a drastic mistake. Goldman Sachs shuffled the numbers and those weren't scrutinized like they should have been. But the EU was intent on expanding the eurozone as much as possible and no attention was paid to the consequences of allowing a country to join which didn't meet the criteria.

The latest tactic Greece has adopted to curb demands for austerity by the EU is to threaten to unleash a wave of economic migrants and even jihadists to the rest of Europe if payments of the €172 billion bailout continue to be withheld.

Since Greece is a member of the Schengen area, all they need to do to achieve that goal will be to issue migrants with 90 days visas to the Schengen zone and they'll be able to empty their detention centres overnight.

Although the threat is aimed squarely at Germany, migrants may well be tempted to choose France as their destination instead. Although the UK isn't a part of the Schengen area, Britain is generally perceived to be a soft touch by economic migrants. A sudden influx of an estimated 10,000 migrants to the port of Calais would swell numbers there considerably making policing virtually impossible.

The German police bond is already demanding that Greece be ejected from the Schengen area.

More on the story here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11459675/Greeces-defence-minister-threatens-to-send-migrants-including-jihadists-to-Western-Europe.html

Good move.

This is a tax on the rich very overdue.

There are many rich Thais that own a lot of land and they leave it untouched as they have no need to sell or cultivate.

About time they pay their taxes.

This is unheard in the western world.

We all pay taxes for houses or land owned.

What I don't like is that they shouldn't exempt Buddhist temples.

They make enough money to afford to contribute to the country and not only take.

At the end of the day, it's the end user who pays i.e. the tax will be passed on to whoever owns, or rents the building which resides on the land.

I travelled on bus number 9916 from Bangkok to Sakaeo once. The toilet had broken down and the stench of urine which permeated the vehicle was nauseating. Whenever I felt like yawning, I had to bury my face in my T-shirt and then take a deep breath otherwise I would retch and almost throw up.

The bus looked the same as the one in the picture and had airco, but that didn't help at all. The journey takes 3½ hours.

Only 75,000 Baht a month as PM? But when he was army chief, his annual salary was 1.4 million according to Wikipedia.

Was he that concerned about the country that he was prepared to take a cut in annual salary of 500,000 Baht in order to become PM?

A very noble gesture indeed.

EU is like an old woman - toothless and only babling away without anyone listening to them, Cowards ...!

Strange comment coming from someone who uses an image of the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh as his avatar.

Maybe this one would be more suitable to you: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02868/KKK_2868392b.jpg

Take NATO out of Europe and you completely remove any reason for Russia to be upset over Ukraine.

Take NATO out of Europe and you give Putin a green light to invade and retake all the former Baltic states as well as the rest of Ukraine.