SooKee

I wonder if the 'accuser' is that gobby bitch that got booted out of the Killjoy Squad's party?

On 6/24/2022 at 5:46 PM, Beachcomber said:

Edge and chrome both have  "AdGuard AdBlocker" available from their Extensions page.

 

The program is free and really does work in blocking all adds and pop-ups.

 Have been using it for long time and never get any pop-ups from any site, including this one.

 

RARBG is the only site a bit touchy and sometimes wants to fill a captcha, but small price to for being ad free.

 

With Torrents, Magnet is the way to go, always use Magnet download. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yep.  I only ever use the Magnet link.  But just clicking that, even with an ad-blocker, does a site re-direct to whatever junk site it decides.

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

Going back to your original post where you mentioned that 1337 was giving you some grief, well I've just started experiencing that myself with all sorts of strange links being shown when I want to download or look at the IMDb rating on it!!

 

I have just installed an antivirus because I thought I might have a virus, but that didn't seem to work so I may well transfer Malwarebytes over from my other laptop to see what happens.

 

On a completely different subject I have watched the first 2 episodes of, "The Old Man" and apparently there are 2 more available, yet I haven't been able to find them, so any ideas as to where they may be?? Anybody??

Yes I looked at the all the issue another fellow kindly posted and I effectively have all those things in place.  It's as if each one of the 3-4 coloured download option 'buttons' now does a re-direct to some junk site.  I also have ad blockers in place and do frequent malware scans.  I've actually never used that site before, definitely won't be using it again.

Currently on a WW2 Naval Warfare frenzy:

Tora Tora Tora (excellent and IMO still the best Pearl movie)

Midway

Battle of the River Plate

Sink the Bismark

Pearl Harbour (or let's turn what was a military disaster, for the US at least (19 ships lost, 180 aircraft and 3,500+ killed / wounded), into a 3 hour, mostly pointless, romance movie and shift the focus onto two guys who shot down 5 planes and then hung up their fighter wings to become bomber pilots.  Better to split it into two movies so as to be able to give the romance twoddle a wide berth.  Good action scenes for the Pearl attack though, just the other 150 minutes that were dull.

On 6/25/2022 at 9:32 AM, MrJ2U said:

I got one of the X series.

 

We've had it a few months and the kids prefer their phones.

 

I think its been used four or five times.

 

If you're a big gamer Series X.

 

Flight Simulator is really cool! 

I don't plan to use it often, I didn't use the PS3 or 360 much when I had them either, just an occasional dabble.  I see Flight Simulator recommended a lot but not sure I get the appeal.  Just depends what folks are into I guess.

4 minutes ago, RedBackman said:

Just a note, if you don't have xbox live gold yet you can buy up to 3 years of it ($5/mo) and then upgrade to game pass ultimate (normally $15/mo) for $1 and it will be applied to the whole 3 years just for that $1. There are plenty of guides about it online but it'll save you money if you intend to use game pass.

 

As for which console to pick, Series S is a better deal even at msrp unless you're frame chasing and trying to play highest settings. If you're casual gamer and okay with 1080p or 4K FSR you should be golden with an S.

Thanks.  I picked up an S in the end, 12,000 from a shop on Lazada.  Very impressed with it and does all I need.  Bought a few games that aren't on Live (AFAIK) and have a Live 14 day voucher that I've yet to activate.  Haven't yet got into the shenanigans of getting Brazilian vouchers to buy from the Brazil store etc or the options to activate3 years of Live with an Ultimate upgrade, I'll do some digging over the weekend.

12 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Oh, that doesn't happen when I use that torrent site, but then I do have an ad blocker running, so maybe that makes a difference??

 

Yes it is about the car drive, and I thought it was great, but there again we all have different tastes! I think one has to get into the "intricacies" and in-depth aspects of the conversations he's having to make it worthwhile.

Oh I got into the intricacies, not a lot else going on after all 5555.  I just found it dull.  As you say, we all have different tastes.

I have an ad-blocker too, no idea what the grief is with 1337.

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

IMO, it is an extremely good movie and well worth the effort to try and track it down, which should be quite easy as I found it again on 1337x.to 

 

Also another excellent movie of his (just in case you haven't seen it) is "The Drop" and it moves along at a slow pace, but the ending is a big surprise.

 

I was also reminded of another excellent movie of his, "Lawless", so I may well download that again for another watch!

 

Can't get enough of a good thing.............

Jesus.  First time I've used 1337x.to.  How on earth do you get to download anything?  Every time I click any of the download options it opens up some damn advert for Lazada, Gearbest or whatever.  Anything BUT download ????.  Normally clicking the Magnet link would open up my bit torrent app., this just opens another bloody ad, every time.

Having seen the image of the movie DVD cover, it's not the one where he's driving a car up a motorway taking phone calls is it?  I've driven that motorway many times and for me, driving it is way, way more interesting than the movie was.  If I've got the right one.

55 minutes ago, xylophone said:

IMO, it is an extremely good movie and well worth the effort to try and track it down, which should be quite easy as I found it again on 1337x.to 

 

Also another excellent movie of his (just in case you haven't seen it) is "The Drop" and it moves along at a slow pace, but the ending is a big surprise.

 

I was also reminded of another excellent movie of his, "Lawless", so I may well download that again for another watch!

 

Can't get enough of a good thing.............

Thanks.  Yeah I saw The Drop.  I'll track down Lawless too. ????

3 hours ago, xylophone said:

Yes I did see it thank you SooKee.........have you seen "Locke"?

I don't think so.  I'll try and track it down.

On 6/9/2022 at 1:47 PM, xylophone said:

Thank you......watched "The Take" last night and thought it was great.

 

I don't know anyone who does evil/nasty villains and criminals quite like Tom Hardy, and his acting in this miniseries was a testament to his acting craft.

 

I did watch another of his movies called, "Locke" in which he was none of the above mentioned, but it was a superb performance by him.

Not sure if you've seen Taboo?  Another great with Tom Hardy.  Came out in 2017 IIRC and has been renewed for one, possibly two more seasons.  Hardy is clearly in demand though and his schedule and covid caused season 2 to be delayed.  Supposedly they will start shooting it early next year.

Yes I has the same email today.  I'll just bin PayPal.  Yet another policy change that was only partially thought through.  No problem for me as I only use it to pay for stuff sometimes.  I'll just use the bank card that the funds come from anyway.

41 minutes ago, Henryford said:

That's what i meant about the X not being available. No way would i pay above RRP and feed the scalpers. I only paid 12,700 for the S. I see it's on Lazada now for 11,990.

Yeah, crazy crazy prices.  S will suit me fine I think.

32 minutes ago, Henryford said:

Well as you can't buy an Xbox X or PS5 it's an easy choice. I have the Xbox Series S and it's great, more than enough unless you are a hard core gamer. You can pay the $10 a month for game pass and play any game you want, or buy and download your favourite games.

There are sellers with the Xbox X available.  Central World for one as a proper store and the two online places above.  Only issue is they are at scalper prices of around 28,000!  Even if I did decide on the X I wouldn't pay those prices, hopefully at some stage availability will improve.  Main thing is though I think the S may well do all I need, is available and the price mark up is not too bad either.

Used to have a PS3 and Xbox 360 years ago but did not bring them to Thailand.  Doubt I'll play as much as I used to but at times I do miss games like Halo and the Tom Clancy GHOST series.  I always actually liked the PS more than the Xbox (found I liked the controller more, at least at first) but always seemed to play Halo more.  For that reason I'm pondering an Xbox Series S.  

As ever it seems that there are Thailand issues.  X-Box not officially supported, PS is but I don't really want to talk myself into a PS4/5 just because of that.  That said I'll read up on game titles etc and see if any would tempt me to forgo Halo, can't see it though as I was not so enamoured with the platform specific games on the PS.  

Of the two X-box types I could go for the X but it's a bit big!!  The 4K is nice I suppose but again, I don't want to talk myself into something I don't need, especially to play maybe 1-2 times per month.  The blue-ray drive doesn't interest me at all nor the need for physical game media.  I dumped over 300 DVDs when I came here, not about to start filling shelves with DVDs again!  Not into PC / laptop gaming at all either so that's not an option.  The footprint of the  S appeals, the price is half that of an X too!  The only thing that concerns me is the digital only nature of the games.  While I actually prefer that idea it's just getting them that bothers me.  From what I've read though you only have to register an account at something like the Brazil store using a duff Brazil address and then just top up for purchases using a Thai card, no VPN required from what I've read, so it's not like it's a major headache, or so it seems.  I've also read briefly where some folks do it themselves and others set up an account, pay an online store 1-2K baht and the store then works its magic to credit your account.  I'm not sure though if that's for game purchases or if it's for the online Game Network / X-Box Live access?

The only other question is around regions for the machine.  I might go an look at MBK in a while but I've seen a couple of online sellers at Lazada / Shopee (Classic Game Officials and Monster Game) that sell the machines and there will often a be a selection of regions (Aus, Japan, Eur, Asia).  With games not being region locked any more now is there any reason to be concerned about the region?  That said, most other than Asia or Europe seem to be out of stock though I've seen Japan versions listed at Central online.  Obviously I'm trying to avoid a 'Doh!!' moment by buying the wrong one.

Any clanger avoiding comments appreciated ????

7 hours ago, Agusts said:

@SooKee why change if rarely used, just maintain what you have, 7 years is not so old for a Click... - bikes you mentioned are not going to be a huge step up ..., well, maybe just the ABS ...

 

Yeah , largely my thinking.  I'd be changing it for the sake of it really, not because I need to.

Was thinking of changing my, now rarely used, 7 year old Honda Click for a Yamaha Grand Filano.  Quite like the style of them (not that keen on the colours though - orange and beige currently, beige!!) with the large under seat storage and the back rest / rack.  I've always had an aversion to small wheel diameters though.  The new 160 might be another option.  Definitely needs to be a step-through though, the few time I do use it it's mainly as a shopping trolley.

13 minutes ago, actonion said:

Good idea but dont forget the other 85% of dug up and forgottem roads and footpaths around this HISO   tourist city !!,     or are they too busy extending the beaches

Exactly.  Visited a couple of friends there a few days ago and the numbers of pavements that could actually be walked on was extremely low, shocking really, actually seemed worse than when I remember it from 4 years ago.

I'm less inclined to believe claims by bodies from any county these days.  Mask wearing is peddled as being effective but it's clear that very little by why of evidence based assessment of the actual effectiveness of mask wearing policies has actually been carried out at all.  The below comments are from an article reviewing a book by one author who has carried out some considerable research on the subject and has published the findings.  It's just one persons views of course, just as the chart above is just one table from one body who's claims have been shown to be, at times, questionable. :
 

"For instance, Miller compiles the astonishing claims made by Dr. Robert Redfield, who directed the CDC until just a year ago. In September 2020, Redfield described masks as “the most powerful public health tool we have”, claimed they offered “more Covid protection than vaccines would”, and stated: “If we [wore masks] for 6, 8, 10, 12 weeks, we’d bring this pandemic under control.” While they may not rule out some small effects of masking, Miller’s charts expose claims such as Redfield’s as delusional propaganda.

Likewise, those sceptical of what Miller’s comparative graphs can teach us should be even more suspicious of the shoddy studies published by the CDC over the past two years. For example, one study claimed to show a decline in Covid cases in certain Arizona counties as a result of mask mandates. But it failed to note that cases declined at a similar rate over the same period in Arizona counties without a mandate. In the months following the completion of the study, moreover, cases rose well above prior levels in counties with mandates still in place. Such studies produced a mirage of success by limiting the period of study, conflating correlation and causation, and avoiding comparisons with non-mandate counties.

The most disastrous failing of the experts has been their lack of curiosity about the actual results of the policies they have staked their reputations on. Mask mandates have been, in Miller’s phrase, “a population-wide experiment”, but few within the US scientific and medical establishment have seemed interested in parsing the resulting data, leaving that task to outsiders like Miller. Astonishingly, there have been just two randomised controlled trials on masking published since the pandemic began. One found no significant effect at all, while the other found a small effect of 11% for surgical masks and no significant effect for cloth ones. The first was largely ignored or dismissed, while the second was optimistically glossed as proving that masks work."

Don't plan to engage in further discussion about this as, at the end of the day, we all chose to believe what we choose to believe and, on forums at least, some people are all too precious about them being right and anyone that disagrees with their view being wrong with countless back and forth posts until one party caves in.  I have my own views but I certainly don't think that one set of stats from one body ('post a stat, that's a fact') , regardless of which body it is, is enough to state that mask wearing is effective per se in such a yes/no, black/white manner, particularly when that body is the CDC.  

In some particular situations masks I'm sure masks can reduce the chances of infection to a degree (e.g. an infected person wearing a mask while in proximity to others indoors MAY reduce the chances of infecting others somewhat), but mask wearing being effective enough to make it a nationwide mandate, I'm not convinced on that one.  Sledgehammer to crack a nut IMO.  The trouble is, having a largely situational mask wearing mandate would likely lead to those who should be wearing them not bothering, hence IMO 95% of the people are made to suffer with wearing them when it's only perhaps necessary for 5% in specific situations.

This comment, also from the review, has a ring of truth about it:

"It is not difficult to see why mask mandates proved irresistible to politicians. Masks are the perfect form of hygiene theatre, conveying an intuitive sense of safety regardless of demonstrable efficacy at scale. They also offload responsibility for controlling the pandemic to ordinary people. The overcrowding of ICUs can be blamed on the bad behavior of “anti-maskers”, rather than on the allocation of resources by governments and hospital CEOs. When cases and deaths spike, it is the fault of the citizenry, not the leadership."

For anyone interested the article from which the quote from above was taken is here:

https://unherd.com/2022/02/were-masks-a-waste-of-time/

Another interesting article here:

https://www.maciverinstitute.com/2021/06/can-we-finally-admit-that-mask-wearing-was-pointless/

11 minutes ago, clokwise said:

I've been moaning about this for a long time. Every other country in the world (except Afghanistan) has figured out how to do TV production without on-air wearing masks, so surely Thailand can do it. Unless, perhaps, there are secret orders/agreements to keep the masks on - to ensure the public remain fearful and compliant.

 

Especially at this stage in the game.  I think your'e right, they get told the line to take.  Same as the daily serving up of poor driving, punch ups, domestic disputes and pest control for lizards / snake stories as 'news', as opposed to the real items of interest with which news channels in other countries would have a field day with.  'News' here is largely just drivel, having to be masked up to deliver it is really taking the P.