tomazbodner

On 7/13/2025 at 11:05 AM, isaanistical said:

Out of the blue yesterday I could not access a website I have used many times - and recently - because "Cloudflare" suddenly tells me "this content has been restricted" and puts a black screen so I can't log in to the page. Never happened before, and effectively only on the one site.

 

I looked for actions, but moving round the world on the vpn and changing my IP, emptying caches, all the other standards did not work, neither did updating browsers or reinstalling (F/fox, Opera, google). I don't want to do data-mining or whatever, I just wanted to watch sport, like I did last week.

 

I always thought this "Cloudflare" was just about verifying how many bicycles in a photo and the like, to prove I'm not Elton. Anyone else getting the cold shoulder from them? Or, it just occurs to me, is this some kind of virus?

https://www.zdnet.com/article/cloudflare-just-changed-the-internet-and-its-bad-new-for-the-ai-giants/

3 hours ago, DezLez said:

But it still came out!

Exactly.

49 minutes ago, Anthony mellows said:

I thought Trump might have pardoned her, in exchange for her silence.

Well... Stormy Daniels was paid for silence...

49 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

Now I get that other hoses joke! 😄

On 7/14/2025 at 8:52 AM, redwood1 said:

So where exactly is a smoker going to smoke now?

 

No way in hell is a smoker going to quit on the spot...

 

If a smoker cant smoke on the beach thats one thing....But the walkway too......No F...ing way....

 

This will be 100% ignored by all smokers...

In front of ATM machine. 5000 THB a puff. A real money making machine for the police.

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

regions could see rainfall exceeding 750 millimetres.

That's a LOT!

51 minutes ago, Aussie999 said:

Keep up with the news, in that Air India incident, someone actually cut off the fuel from both engines, they didn't say if it was the pilot or co-pilot.,.so your comment is irrelevant.

Who cares. Trump also cites stupidity as National Security issue to slap tariffs on others.

2 minutes ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

I disagree - if you were to cut off fuel to the engines at a later stage, there would be a much better chance to restart them, as was attempted here (the switches were quickly put back to the "run" position, but there just wasn't enough time for them to regain thrust).

 

However by cutting off the fuel just after take off, you could pretty much guarantee that the plane was going to crash.

Apologies. What I meant was - if that was done over the ocean, for example, the wreckage might never be found and it could never be determined what has happened. But if you do it so close to airport, yes, there's a big fireball (although had they had a few 100ft more altitude, they might actually pull out of that after restarting the engines), but the recorders on the plane would make it quite clear who has done what, which would bring a lot of shame to pilot's family. Then again, I'm not a psychiatrist nor know about captain's mental state (assuming it was first officer flying as was reported) to know whether he's capable of something like that...

1 minute ago, impulse said:

 

I've contended for years (as if that matters to anyone) that they need to install cockpit video recorders now that the tech is so easily available.  That would put any mystery to bed, even if it did occasionally catch pilots picking their noses.

Was thinking of the same and remember some years ago when this topic came up and there was a serious discussion about mounting them on... Can't remember which crash that has followed but the CVRs weren't clear on who did what... then it was compared to Virgin Galactic where copilot accidentally moved something and the whole "plane" broke apart - captured on camera in cockpit.

Well, from MentourNow video linked above, this topic will be discussed in video that's getting released on Monday. Maybe that provides answers.

33 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

A few posts above explain that there was an issue with defective (for lack of a more technical word) switches that were installed without the safety features.

 

I wonder if the inspection they (Air India) did on their other 787s immediately after the crash was to look for defective switches?   But that's just me wondering.  They cleared them to fly within a day so it couldn't have been a very deep dive inspection.

I watched Petter's video (MentourNow) listed above - I watched his videos in the past... and partially agree with him and Ben who cohosted that session...

Locking mechanism is simply supposed to prevent moving the switches without pulling them out during the movement. Ben said that rules state that from rotation the hands are supposed to be on the yoke, nowhere near the thrust levers. But this is an assumption that both pilots actually followed the rules. It could be that hand was left on the levers longer and when moving the hand off them flipped the switches accidentally, and if both switches had locking mechanism broken (this plane was one of the first off the production line of 787) it would be potentially plausible.

But seems if that isn't the case, this looks deliberate. But why would you do something like that in the middle of the take-off? Surely if someone was going to crash the plane that would be done over the sea or in hard to reach mountainous area, with fuse for recorders pulled? Look at EgyptAir and Eurowings, SilkAir... it would just be a very strange stage of flight to do something like this deliberately...

On 7/10/2025 at 12:04 PM, impulse said:

The preliminary report is due out tomorrow. 

 

FWIW, Here's what The Air Current has to say:

 

 

 

 

Air India crash investigation focuses on movement of engine fuel control switches - The Air Current

 

https://theaircurrent.com/

 

They're (TAC) being widely quoted, but that may just be out of a lack of other theories floating around.  There are other venues speculating that it was likely a software glitch.  I'm not expecting much from the preliminary report because they've still got months and months of work to do.

The flight and voice recorders seemed quite definitive but this is not something you can easily do by mistake. You'd need to put quite a bit of force to pull out the stick and move it to cut-of position. There are also metal brackets on the sides that prevent you from accidentally touching it - which was an issue on older planes where the stick could just be moved without pulling it out first and was a physical rather than electronic switch.

Pilot also said he didn't move it when asked. And there would be no reason for anyone to touch those switches in flight. They are to start/shut down engines, so generally only touched on the taxiway and at the gate, except in case of engine fire or detachment, etc.

Had this been older plane like 737-800, yes, it was possible to leave switches in position where vibration could accidentally move them to cut-off but not on 787.

Some serious questions. How could pilot switch (which is, if you have a manual car, equate to unknowingly pulling up the gear shift stick and moving it to reverse position) to cut-off without realising it, or, does the engine controller have the ability to physically move the switch on its own? If the latter, there would be a deadly flaw in Dreamliner engine fuel control system. If this was pilot error... I just can't see how this could be accidental. It borders on impossible.

About time to cite safety concerns after Air India disaster and cancel that Dreamliner orders for Thai Airways.

20 minutes ago, proton said:

 

Coway are by far the best as are their water filters

I use Coway for water filters and I'm quite happy despite controversy after customer performed proper lab test on the water and it came out with over 3x the limit of colliform bacteria...

Coway refused her request for a refund, probably paving the way for a media lynch of the company. This was their response (ask Uncle Google to Translate it for you):

On air filters, although the main reason to stick with Xiaomi was gone with Purifier 4 series (same filters used across the fleet), they still provide great value with inexpensive (genuine) filters, small size and great performance. I do feel however that older models (like 2S) lasted longer than newer models. 3H and even 4 are already making noise on the small air quality sensor fans, while 2S that's probably now 5 years older than these are still showing no issues at all (except burned out OLED screens for inability to adjust the brightness on them). 

Xiaomi is still a great deal, with filters lasting 6-12 months going for about a monthly subsciption cost of Coway. But even Coway is a great deal compared to some "legacy" air filter producing companies. charging an arm and a leg for both the box and the replacement filters. I got burned on a few of them, where a couple of months after buying a box I was told replacement filters need to be ordered from Japan at prohibitive costs because... that's now an old model, and filters are no longer stocked. A few months earlier it was marked as New arrival! To avoid defamation lawsuit I'll keep the names of Japanese, American and Dutch companies to myself...

On 7/9/2025 at 2:25 PM, 3NUMBAS said:

Future belongs to BRICS': Putin drops bombshell, sends shocking de-dollarisation message to Trump

 

https://m.economictimes.com/news/international/world-news/future-belongs-to-brics-putin-drops-bombshell-sends-shocking-de-dollarisation-message-to-trump/amp_videoshow/122299199.cms

Thought that video was a deepfake so I went to search for original... and it's actually real speech...

http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/77373

16 hours ago, Yagoda said:

Freelance drivers are illegal aren't they? Don't they have to be either off of a platform or working a license cab? All I'm trying to find out is what this new rule does. Do you know?

Now anyone with private car and driver's license can drive for ride hailing providers. But with this change, those private cars with white plates would have to be registered as public vehicles and receive yellow plates, which would increase their costs and depreciate the value of the vehicle. Many drivers won't bother, so there will be a drop in available cars, probably resulting in higher fares and longer waiting times or unanswered ride requests.

I had a privilege to study with professors of Harvard. The way the material is presented is very visual, to the point, without the usual academic fluff unless you want to drill deeper. That was quite a big difference when compared with other universities, so if I had any kids, which I don't, I would definitely work towards it. Compared to other useless expenses, and having years to prepare for it, the tuition fees are achievable for many middle class families as well.

27 minutes ago, ricklev said:

The long use by shelf life listed on some of the Maison Jean Philippe breads made me wonder if preservatives and dough conditioners are part of their mix. They have turned into a pretty commercial bakery and are available at all the supermarkets.  I would be happy to be told I am wrong...

I would not know. The sliced bread from them is available in many places so maybe that's the case for these, but for sourdough, my closest Villa markets only have it in deep frozen 2 packs. It defrosts well at low power microwave - the whole baguette would be about 8 min at 100W. To get it fresh I'd need to go to Sukhumvit 23, and to make trip worth I'd buy more than I need and end up freezing the rest anyway, so this is convenient enough.

Need to give it a try.

Just now, gargamon said:

What's the difference. I said rent. Don't buy.

There is a difference. I think it's quite a stretch to see someone turning 40th floor unit into a karaoke bar, and pets are banned in most condos. Street dogs are a different story, especially if there's a moobaan nearby, but nothing that can't be fixed with double glazed windows on a high floor.