ronz28

I believe that level of drinking is abnormal. I have read that Max of 2 drinks a day (red wine is recommended) as healthy but much more than about 4-5 drinks will shorten the lives of most people. You could kill someone or be killed or do something else really terrible when so drunk out of your mind. You have been way over the limit and I hope you have cut back by now. If you can't cut back consider just cutting it out.

THD has been a great trade. Too bad I wasn't in it.

Galow, it really depends on a lot of different factors...

--How close your residence is to the local DSL connection.

--What's the quality of wiring into your home.

--How much you're willing to pay for your Internet connection

--What choice of ISPs provide service where you live...

--and how you've set up your own PC.

I found when I upgraded from True's 4 mbit plan to their 8 mbit plan, the issues of buffering and stalling on streaming declined markedly to the point now that its usually a non-issue for me at home. Because prices on Internet service have been generally coming down as faster speeds slowly become available, I was able to upgrade a few months ago by paying not much more per month than I had been paying under my prior plan selected maybe two years before. Because I also use True mobile, I'm paying a discounted rate of 1,199 baht for True's 8 mb ADSL premium plan.

I believe others here have reported getting perfectly good streaming video performance with 4 Mbit plans from other providers. True's service seems to jump around a lot in terms of realtime speeds, looking like a very spikey roller coaster ride of ups and downs, when you monitor it. Ideally, your ISP would provide a more steady stream...

Another thing I did recently, which seems also to have helped quite a bit, was install and use a piece of freeware software that is designed to optimize your PC's Internet and streaming connections. The software is called TCP Optimizer and is available from the SpeedGuide.net web site. I checked on it before trying, and it's safe and very well regarded. It allows geek users to change their own detailed settings in many ways... But also has an "Optimize" function to allow the program to choose the best settings for your set-up. It also allows you to backup your existing settings before making any changes.

Likewise, make sure you have installed the lastest version of Adobe Flash 10.1, I believe. The prior versions had a major security flaw.

And lastly, don't use SpeedTest.net to make any kind of speedtest comparisons, since its values in Thailand are often totally false. But do use a reliable speedtest from outside Thailand that allows you to measure your connection speeds between here and LA and/or NY.... Then, make those measurements both with and without your VPN to see how much using your VPN may be taking off your speed performance. Some VPNs are going to do better for video streaming, while others won't.

One of the VPN's I'm familiar with also has a private, password protected proxy server available only to its members. You can use their proxy instead of their VPN... and in many cases, the proxy server will work just fine, and generally might be expected to provide better speeds than the VPN.. You might check with your VPN provider to see if they offer something comparable.

Good luck.

Hi , this i have found very interesting, I thank everyone for there knowledge and help. I now have a VPN and able and many other TV channels, the problem i get is the streaming, buffering comes up a lot and is very frustrating, is there any way i can improve this.

That TCP Optimizer program is the best thing that has happened to my internet speed lately. I was getting ready to go buy a new router due to the lag I was getting on the internet and that program totally cured it in less than a minute. I used the standard optimal setting. I bet most everyone could benefit by optimizing their TCP although I really don't know technically what that is doing.

Dr. Oz had a feature on his TV show yesterday about deadly food and drug combinations that not many may be aware of but could lead to stroke, liver damage, etc. I had heard of grapefruit juice being a problem but was startled to see the gel that it forms when combined with a statin cholesterol lowering med that could plug you up and lead to death. Other problem foods drug combinations are licorice with some blood pressure meds and antidepressants with aged cheese (contain tyramine). For more details see

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/when-food-medicine-danger?page=2#copy

I wonder if any other foods might be a problem?

Tough situation, her violence is a risk you are wise to try to mitigate. Hopefully, she just needs to take some meds to clear her mind or at least to calm her down. It may be worth your peace of mind to follow-up and update Pujay Ban as he may not be aware of the help you found but he might be able to offer some help on getting the family involved too.

Don't know about that but came across this video clip on the new CPR technique that you might find interesting

http://medicine.arizona.edu/spotlight/learn-sarver-heart-centers-continuous-chest-compression-cpr

2 suggestions for windows XP and may work on other windows versions:

1. Save and close every thing open. Click on control panel then internet options then on the General Tab and under browsing history click on Delete, then put a check mark at history, cookies and temporary files only then click on delete and wait until your hard drive quits cranking/deleting the excess junk files and you have seen a dialog box go on and off by itself saying something like deleting browsing history/cache. When its done click on ok to get out of internet options.

2. If Java is being used, older versions can conflict with newer versions so get rid of the old versions since they are only taking up space on your C drive and causing trouble. In the control panel now click on Add and Remove programs and look down the list to find Java and note the current and older versions. Remove all that say Java on the list except the most current version. You should now see only the most current version displayed on the list. Then close the control panel and restart your computer.

Hope that works for you.

I used to live in one of the cleanest cities in the world , Oslo .

Unfortunately it was also the most expensive city in the world and one of the coldest.

So here I am in dirty Bangkok. Just love it....

A cleaner Bangkok? All it would take is a little personal responsibility... Oooops....TIT, mai pen rai.

1800+ Free online tutoring videos in Math, Science, Humanities & Other, Test Prep, Talks and Interview. A treasure trove of instruction that students could use as a back up to classroom instruction to get a little different perspective if they understand English or want to learn English through something they might already understand like math:

http://www.khanacademy.org/

Extensive GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test)Math Study Materials

http://www.khanacademy.org/gmat

"If you have the self-discipline to do the practice problems, review your work and watch the videos, we think you will be as prepared as anyone. You should view these videos as your on-demand personal tutor."

Looks like a positive action to me. I looked over some of the most wanted posters and related crimes on the announced website. http://dea-rewards.com/len/index.php is the English language home page and click on the Thai flag for the one in Thai. Those guys should be off the streets and if these efforts put them away then its a good thing.

An ETF of Thai stocks, THD hit the top of its regression channel and might be correcting to its 200 day SMA. I haven't held or shorted it currently or in the past but noticed it this morning so thought I would mention it.

And here I thought this was going to be a thread about the Thai fruit of the same word.

Aww Phuket

So you want to stop a religious practice over thousand of years ago just that you get a good sleep. Be sensible and practice more religious tolerance mate. The mosque will not move but you can.

Yeah, they have been turning up those speakers for thousands of years. LOL.

You could record a Buddhist Prayer and blast it back in their direction during the time they want silence. Or pay some noisy motorcyclists to do laps around the Mosque without mufflers during the time they like silence. They should know their loudspeaker noise is offensive to the lives of everyone else around them who hold different beliefs. So, they need a dose of their own medicine if they continue to ignore requests to turn it off.

Does some of the disparity in pricing have to do with insured vs uninsured visits? The differences in the US for such prices are ridiculous as I previously detailed in a post No. 94 for an operation one night stay at:

Its worth the price of insurance in the US just to get the negotiated discounts not to mention the insurance paying most of the discounted price. The full uninsured prices at hospitals in the US are truly a ripoff.

I am interested in this too and from what I have read it depends on the services available to your specific location. I also wonder about the additional security measures that might be warranted like a VPN service.

Is there a sort feature to determine who the baddest TV poster is and a booby prize for baddest?

Thank you Dr Naam. I guess the recent media activity on Thorium reactors is probably to drum up funding for research projects that are on the chopping block due to the financial crisis. I would rather we spend money on research than on banksters, etc. but the money has already been wasted and I don't see the responsible people being held accountable for the most part.

Location and timing are everything in Real Estate. Here is an example of loss on oceanfront property in Florida by someone who had to liquidate.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/east-volusia/2010/09/02/oceanfront-lot-recently-sold-at-205-million-loss.html

1. it is

2. too many to list (take that from a physicist)

3. because governments are not that stupid and believe in the wacko theories of a few wannabe scientists.

thorium case closed.

next!

Dr. Naam,please educate us with some of the more significant points on your list. There are apparently thousands of people worldwide working on this. Maybe its just a welfare program for engineers but a lot of people apparently think there might be some fire at the base of the smoke screen. Here is an interesting remix of a Google conference on a liquid-fluoride thorium reactor (LFTR) that mentions at 6:19 of 16:31 the aircraft reactor concept you mentioned.

Is there a better way to cheap safe power?

Ever heard of Thorium ?

Sounds like it could solve a few problems !

Obama could kill fossil fuels overnight with a nuclear dash for thorium

If Barack Obama were to marshal America’s vast scientific and strategic resources behind a new Manhattan Project, he might reasonably hope to reinvent the global energy landscape and sketch an end to our dependence on fossil fuels within three to five years.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/7970619/Obama-could-kill-fossil-fuels-overnight-with-a-nuclear-dash-for-thorium.html

Fascinating topic!

There is an intro video, etc. here from the Thorium Energy Alliance

http://www.thoriumenergyalliance.com/

I wish Thailand would wait to construct this type of reactor to generate energy. It sounds like a much cheaper and safer alternative to uranium reactors.

I recall boys getting swats or licks as they called them from a specially shaped board when I was in public school as I was growing up in the US. They were administered by the principal or coach in their office but were loud enough to be overheard in nearby classrooms. Usually the the same boys got them so I don't think it prevented much bad behavior of those repeat offender boys but terrified the rest of the children. Times have changed and beating children is no longer tolerated.

The total notional values of derivatives is similar to knowledge of the number of bills in a truckload of currency. If you do not know the fair value (exchange rate) of the currency the truckload may be worth US$100 or it may be one billion US$ depending on the exchange rate of the currency involved. I wouldn't have a truckload of currency guarded that is worth $100 but I might want to have Special Armored Service to transport a truckload of one billion US dollars.

Same for derivatives, one derivative with a notional value of 10 million US$ may be worth $1 or it may be worth $500,000, etc. depending on the terms of the derivative. The financial controls suitable for a derivative depends on its fair value and notional value is just one of the factors needed to calculate the actual fair value of a derivative.

I wish newspapers would report on the fair value of derivatives when they give information on the notional value of derivatives but I guess that is what they are fed and that inflates the significance of derivatives.

Derivatives certainly can be risky. The main risk I see in derivatives is that there often is no readily available market values and valuation needs to involve estimates of future cash flows that different models and assumptions would give different results. Companies and banks may mismanage derivatives due to their complex terms and by failing to continuously track fair values so their risks are appropriately managed. A change in market interest rates or any factor in a derivatives terms may significantly affect its valuation from day to day.

One side of a $100 million notional derivative may estimate its fair value at say $1 million and the other side of the transaction may say its worth $2 million. Each side proves up or reestimate their valuation with their CPA, and each party books their own valuation as an asset or liability depending on which side of the derivative they are on. In some cases, the fair values of derivatives may even be off book and undisclosed or only disclosed in the notes to the financial statements on an aggregated basis.

To me, there are just too many ways a company or bank's financial statements can be clouded with derivatives. So all derivatives should be booked and stated at a fair value at the valuation date based on a fair value methodology that every company and bank must follow in the circumstances.

Maybe parts of Mexico are safe but how do you get there as it appears it is unsafe to drive or haul some of your possessions there anymore from US. Latest news from Mexico:

Suspected drug hitmen killed the mayor of a small town in northern Mexico on Sunday in a region where two car bombs exploded last week and the bodies of 72 murdered migrant workers were found. More than 28,000 people have died in drug violence since 2006.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67T06L20100830?

Random kidnappings and violence are a daily occurrence in Mexico so we won't even vacation there anymore. I guess if you really know the area you can fly into a safe airport and have your possessions shipped to you and hopefully they will arrive intact but I wouldn't feel safe anywhere in Mexico knowing the bad guys can show up anywhere, any time.