sleepyjohn

Do you use a UPS surge protector?, well worth the investment...

Actually errr......no.

I'm here 6 years now and no surge protector. I hear the batteries need replacing too.

So using a laptop which is always with me......ie not leaving the laptop on 24 hours a day at home......do I really need a UPS?

Thanx for all the (conflicting!) advice.

You know, I'm not a real TV addict, hence the modest 32 inch rather than some room-filling big black lump.

The price diff is 22k opposed to 27k baht, not a huge amount, but hey.

It seems that for a couple of years at least there will be little or no difference in my viewing.

If I download from the net hey it may not be HD but that hasn't killed me in the past!

Perhaps my choice is nearer......but not quite made.

Questions:

1 As for net downloads, will they stay available in a playable-for-HD-Ready format for some years do we think?

2 There's a USB port on the side.

The man told me I could play movies from a thumb drive (which presumably I could load from my laptop having downloaded from the net). That sounds good. Does this sound correct?

hi

I'm choosing between two Philips models.I have highlighted below the only bits that concern me....they're nearly identical otherwise.

Basically the first is cheaper and HD Ready. The second is Full HD.

I have started doubting if this means very much in day to day terms.

Someone told me today there are very few programmes transmitted on UBC, and certainly WE TV, which are HD.

This evening I asked in the quality videoshop on the corner of the airport entrance road if the DVDs there were HD. She categorically said no.

So when would I gain advantage from having the higher resolution? It seems possible to me, a non-expert, that by the time more HD has arrived the TVs will be half the price for a better spec anyway.

Am I wrong?

phillips tv 32pfl5409s

Aspect ratio Widescreen

Brightness 450 cd/m²

Dynamic screen contrast 50 000:1

Response time (typical) 5 ms

Viewing angle 178º (H) / 178º (V)

Diagonal screen size (inch) 32 inch

Diagonal screen size (metric) 81 cm

Display screen type LCD WXGA+ Active Matrix TFT

Panel resolution 1366 x 768p

Picture enhancement Pixel Plus HD, 3/2 - 2/2 motion pull down, 3D Combfilter, Active Control + Light sensor, Color Enhancement, Dynamic contrast enhancement, Jagged Line Suppression, Sharpness Adjustment, Dynamic Noise Reduction, 2D/3D noise reduction, 1080p 24/25/30Hz processing, 1080p 50/60Hz processing

Screen enhancement Semi-glare

phillips tv 32pfl5609s

Aspect ratio Widescreen

Brightness 500 cd/m²

Dynamic screen contrast 50 000:1

Response time (typical) 5 ms

Viewing angle 178º (H) / 178º (V)

Diagonal screen size (inch) 32 inch

Diagonal screen size (metric) 81 cm

Display screen type LCD Full HD W-UXGA Act. matrix

Panel resolution 1920x1080p

Picture enhancement Pixel Plus HD, 3/2 - 2/2 motion pull down, 3D Combfilter, Active Control + Light sensor, Color Enhancement, Dynamic contrast enhancement, Jagged Line Suppression, Sharpness Adjustment, Dynamic Noise Reduction, 2D/3D noise reduction, 1080p 24/25/30Hz processing, 1080p 50/60Hz processing

Screen enhancement Semi-glare

cheers

ps: While I'm at it, there's a USB port on the side.

He told me I could play movies from a thumb drive. Is this correct?

There are two factories in Chiangmai,Neil Pryde at Lamphun and Onsmooth Thai in Sarapee I have done work in both in the past and they are big operations employing hundreds of people,Onsmooth is Ripcurl Australias factory Do'nt think they sell one offs but you can try.

Thanx for info.

Any idea where those two places are?

McGriffith and Guano

sure I'll let you know anything

So far came up with

http://www.hotwavephuket.com/

for mail order and getting onto a BKK shop with better prices but would prefer to try on what I buy.

Stay tuned for more

SleepyJohn

Hi

Myself and a friend need Shorty wetsuits.

I sourced a place in Phuket but learned elsewhere that some suits are actually ordered from a maker in CM.

Anyone know about this.

OR

Anyone know about any source in CM or BKK?

thanx v much

ps:

Even a neoprene source would be useful.

Why is a huge layer of friction, expensive both financially and emotionally, necessary between Americans and their health provision.....or for all of us here in Thailand?

I find this totally irrational. This has nothing to do with the health care system in the USA (which in my view is a nightmare). This has to do with accessing expensive private medical care in Thailand. Yes you can pay cash if you can afford it or you can also take another kind of risk, paying for insurance (if you can actually get it, good luck with any preexisting conditions) and hoping they actually pay out when you need it. Of course, the for profit insurance companies unless they are regulated well by the government (currently not the case both in the US and Thailand) will do all they can to favor people who will never need care, and also try in many cases to avoid payment when claims are made. That is the nature of insurance companies. It crosses nationalities. You can blame the USA for a lot of things, but I would blame Thailand completely for these problems. They have a government and a health care delivery system and they could regulate the companies about how they are required to behave in Thailand, but they don't.

Irrational?

Why pay......a lot.....for a layer of treacle which never makes things go faster but certainly can make things go slower....or not go at all? Personally I cant afford that kind of "insurance".

If you can pay for a reasonably bad series of scenarios and save all the costs (not to mention worry) innately associated with insurance.....why not do so if and when? Why not direct instead of to a very demanding middleman?

Your post actually seems to argue for my case rather than against it. Do I have you topsy turvy?

IMO this thread is about the American medical system writ small. It is almost automatic for an American to look for health insurance.....but there is another way.

Why is a huge layer of friction, expensive both financially and emotionally, necessary between Americans and their health provision.....or for all of us here in Thailand?

My personal conclusion for here if one can afford to pay for a reasonable series of bad events oneself then self-insure.

(What's needed, and this is an important issue, is real life cost information in this judgement. My girlfriend works in a major private hospital and I know a little. I think it would be well worthwhile for Thaivisarers to submit their knowledge of such possible costs. On a dedicated thread perhaps?) What do you think Sheryl?

cheers John

Thankyou very much indeed for extremely helpful; information....especially the "last post "

John

Hi

I have a "retirement" extension, coming up for 6 years.

I have a panic disorder which has prevented me from travelling, but may be attempting to get to the border at Mae Sai soon, and pop over to Burma not because of my visa but just for the crack.

If I cross the border does it affect my "retirement" extension?

I know I can get an exit permission stamp or whatever it's called, but I can't be bothered to get it or pay for it for the sake of an hour. If I go out and come back in will it mess me up?

Thanx

I'm currently having a course of Hep B jabs.

I was under the impression Hep A is merely a modest illness with no implications.

Why would I want a vaccination for that?

I have always wondered about nurses in Thailand .. is a nurse here in Thailand the equivelant to a nurse in Australia or America?

No

Unlike elsewhere a Thai has to have a university degree to become a nurse.

The hospitals here seem full of young pretty girls in nurse's uniforms, dated one at that.

And your problem is?

I think they must just be some sort of medical assistant.

The nurse's uniforms are filled with proper nurses. Those in simpler uniforms are nurse's aides.

Before you spend money on repairing it, check to see if you have one of the NVidia series 8 graphic cards which have caused many HP computers to fail miserably. I am in the process of complaining to HP headquarters because they are taking no responsibility over this at all.

ha-ha Apple tried to get away with this once too with their video chips.

My old iBook, which already had had a replacement logic board because of the video chip coming loose, started acting up again after i gave it to my girlfriend recently. I opened it up and stuck a 10 baht coin to the inside of the case to give pressure to the video chip and onto the board. (It sits on a ball grid array which is infamous for poor soldering).

It's been working ever since.

Post 3 is right.

You connect to an external screen first....if it works, your computer's mostly OK.

If it's the "screen" then it may in reality be the wiring to the screen, often at the hinge. Lot cheaper than a screen.

.

Not that I want to be alarmist, but my father went into an NHS hospital in the UK for an angioplasty. The procedure went wrong and they ruptured the artery. He was rushed into emergency heart surgery and got a triple bypass, nearly died, then after some time in intensive care they moved him to a normal ward. During the Op and in post-op care they didn't look after the circulation enough and he got gangrene in his feet, causing them to have to amputate part of both feet. His circulation has never recovered and his legs below the knees are a mess.

The doctors and the care in the UK was pretty awful, and they were more concerned with avoiding any possible admission of error than correcting the numerous problems/complications that occurred. I found myself having medical arguments with the doctors, even though I have no training in that area.

Contrast with that, my experience of Bumrungrad, where my mother-in-law had a total knee arthroplasty. Surgery was arranged in a matter of hours, everyone was very knowledgeable, informed us of what was happening and within a week she was up and walking with virtually no scar.

The UK treatment was free, but you get what you pay for...

Manjara

Sorry to hear about your father, but............you said you didn't want to be alarmist, but actually that's exactly what you were.

Anecdotes are worse than useless when based on uneducated opinion such as yours.

There is a small risk attached to any procedure like this. Whilst saying explicitly that you had no medical training you gave views on medical procedures and occurrences. What's more you damned the NHS at the same time.

I could give you anecdote after anecdote in favour of the NHS, but I won't bother for the same reasons you shouldn't have bothered.

Thanks Sleepyjohn.

Right in time! It 's the perfect present to bring with me to Holland and to give to my family and friends.

The paintings are always bright and cheerful don't you think Nienke?

Hello Mc G!

I'm not a fan of antimicrobials it means when you lose your resistance doesn't it?

.Sainsbury's used to make cutting boards and fridge containers and everything out of them.

I used to go to a very posh Indian restaurant which had silver leaf in the ice cream though.......

cheers John

I heartily endorse this project in which a friend is involved just as I did last year.

It has been a marvellous and meaningful success. It's an easy, nice, very bright Christmas present too!

As I said last year, every time someone at home looks at the calendar, you'll be in their mind

John Wickenden

Life in Chiang Mai: by Mark Whitman

The super 2010 Chiang Mai Charity Calendar is out

http://www.chiangmai-mail.com/current/columns.shtml

You might not thank me for reminding you, but this is the time of year when those of us who send missives ‘home’ for Christmas and the start of a new year have to think about it now or pay air mail prices. And there is simply no better greetings ‘card’ that you can send than the latest Chiang Mai Charity Calendar, now on sale at Rimping Supermarkets and elsewhere.

Not only is it beautiful, well designed and practical, it also goes to help needy children in rural areas. Over 1 million baht has been raised in the past couple of years by this annual publication. All of the work is done by volunteers and every 100 baht sale (yes, it is that inexpensive!) goes completely to the charity. It covers 14 months (December this year to January 2011) and has lots of text and information, plus charming paintings by local youngsters and photographs on each of its clearly printed calendar pages. It comes with a sturdy envelope for posting and stands well on any desk.

I sent one to an English friend now living on North Island in New Zealand and by chance he had also sent me a calendar depicting the rugged landscapes of that country. A short while after he received mine he wrote a thank you note and also apologized for the ‘inadequacy’ of the one he had sent. ‘The calendar from Chiang Mai is not just beautiful, but has a sense of spirituality and goodness about it that makes it a pleasure to look at’. I could not have said it better myself.

You can find out more either by e- mailing chiangmai //e-mail removed// or going to their web site on http://chiangmaicalendar2010.googlepages.com or simply go to one of the Rimping outlets with as many 100 baht notes as you can afford. Remember.-. every little helps!

yes, i think there are a few products with enzymes in them, unfortunately you need to read thai to know which

heres the website for Lion

Hi Donny

actually I do read Thai in a modest way, and that product's called เปา or "Bpow". I guess the makers Lion, which i think is "Sing".

You're correct it does have the same main enzyme as Mum's Ariel.

Thanx.

Any more input greatly appreciated. Not sure if I want the other things they have in the Bpow which is for coloureds. I'm gradually having a new set of shirts made and I'd like to have one for whites which maybe has a touch of bleach. Not to mention the local laundry really doesn't do a good job on stains on older whites and they need doing at home occasionally.

John

Hi

My dear old Mum decades ago used to use a washing powder with enzymes in it. Maybe it was called Ariel.

She used to say you just soak overnight and in the morning a quick squeeze out........she'd say it "washes itself". And it did.

Is this stuff available on the shelves?

John

How do you install SL?

Just stick the disc in and follow orders?

I hear it dumps a lot of powerpc stuff. Does it dump it and the regular Leopard stuff itself?

If I dumped it could I still network my Macbook to an iBook?

I guess that's three questions.....

cheers John

Excellent posts Sheryl I particularly liked the fire alarm analogy.....

People should realise that with psychoactives there is no free lunch (same with recreational drugs). A rebound, a payback really, is the price to be usually paid. It is then just a question of whether the rebound is acceptable and whether conditions from without or within have improved for the patient to then deal with that new event's impact better than the original one.

Also important to realise as a general principle that mental episodes tend to be self correcting. What drugs usually get praise for is more often the natural self repair of the mental systems that just requires a little time. A habitual association between mental illness and drug therapy is not very salubrious.

cheers John

Supposing someone got a box up which said

For the best possible listening experience, please enable JavaScript.

Click here to launch Any Questions: 28/08/2009 in Real Player.

and when he clicked here it looped back to say the same again what would a helpful person advise him?

(BTW Javascript is enabled)

I've flown with Eva many times and I find them to be the best direct to London. Especially if you upgrade to their premium economy seats.

What sort of price is that return?

What time of day....ish?

BTW I seem to have heard...........Is it possible to use a proxy to get around this problem?