DiDiChok

This is a bit obvious really. Says to me that you haven't disabled "Location" in settings on a WIndows 11 machine. Go into Settings (Cog icon) and then in the "Find a setting" search box type in Location. From there you can stop the pesky PC leaking your whereabouts by turning the services off, then reboot the machine so it forgets where it was too. Do similarly when you're on a mobile and accessing iPlayer via a VPN. Turn Location off first. Simples!

Did you know that British pensioners based in Europe will still be paid the winter fuel allowance this year while millions of the elderly based in the UK will be stripped of the payment? As many as 35,000 retirees on the Continent are in line to get the £300 handout even if they exceed the new wealth threshold set by Rachel Reeves. It has become apparent that Expats living in the European Union plus Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland are guaranteed the allowance by the Brexit withdrawal agreement. What is your opinion of this?

I had this after updating to Win11 Pro and it turned out to be the two new USB sticks I'd bought. I bought some new Samsung USB 3.2 ones, threw the others away, did the commands below and have never had any trouble since. To delete all the hidden USB devices, open an administrator command prompt, type Set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 and then the command Devmgmt.msc which opens device manager. After that you have to click on show hidden devices in the View menu followed by clicking on each greyed out device and right clicking plus selecting uninstall. Previously, I didn't know how to show the "non-present" devices. I've never found out the reason why the faulty flash drives went on and off like a turn indicator and can only suppose that they were cheap imports.

Why have cataract IOL replacement? To get "SuperSight" without any spectacles ever again, that's why and you can have the surgery from the age of 45 and never get cataracts. Most just won't pay to have it done properly and have fixed focus lenses. I had to have mine done in the middle of the pandemic and the results are fantastic and better than 20/20. I'm 74, can read the paper specs free, use the computer, drive cars, ride motorbikes and do what I want. Don't believe the Opticians and spectacle shop workers when they advise you not to do it. Of course they don't want you to have the surgery because after you do, they know they'll never get another penny out of you! All things optical have advanced a long way in the last ten years. Yes, there's big money to be made from everything to do with the operation, that explains the advances. But you get the benefit of never having to pay an Optician ever again.

Dear oh dear, not good advice at all. "Aspartame" or "Nutrasweet" as it's better known is a substance to which I am allergic and consuming it makes me collapse in a kind of breathless shock. I think it's banned in some countries but I keep on getting caught out as it's in many items such as marzipan and icing and almost all soft drinks nowadays. Members of my family are also affected but as there is so much money in this substance, problems with it are kept very quiet. Saccharin causes me no problems at all.

No, I remember that yes there was discussion about gambling but the crime was actually playing using cards not sold in Thailand. Apparently, the Police said that Thai packs have a tax sticker on them showing that tax has been paid. I thought it was ridiculous at the time as they were all respectable people.

It could be that "Zoolander" is with one of the smaller Banks for whom incoming transfers are restricted to ฿50,000 or equivalent £'s whereas the big four can have unlimited transfers. Krungsri is one of those. Us with accounts at Kasikorn, SCB, and so on have no problem. I forget now why the Bank of Thailand introduced this measure.

As I understand the rules about protection, a President is unable to refuse the Secret Service protection by statute. Was this after he was president as there was a time when cover was cut for past Presidents?

Does this mean that I am now rich beyond my wildest dreams??? As someone said, I got 40 of them out of an ATM some years ago, but I've only got 10 left. I presume that as they start with the serial number 9 it's probably lucky.

There must either be a mistake or there's something missing or very wrong in this story. I've read the original article several times and it doesn't explain. I've ridden motorcycles and driven vehicles 750 Km several times in various countries and I had no idea that I might be breaking world records. It takes about 12 hours including fuel stops and the like. The average speed (750/12) comes out at 62.6 Km/h which is a huge 39 Mph. So they're telling us that he's going to "attempt" 750 Km in 24 hours (750/24) which comes out at 31.25 Km/h which is a massive 19.5 Mph? Is the bike equipped with a zimmer rollator or something? Is this really news?

I wasn't going to throw my thoughts in, but I shall. I had lens replacement done in both eyes in Chiang Mai during the middle of the pandemic. I've been shortsighted and worn complex glasses all my life, and yes, I was presbyopic from the age of 45. The surgeon asked if I wanted everything sorted out and I said yes please. I hadn't got macular degeneration, glaucoma or anything else and on purpose I hadn't had any Lasik or other treatment previously as I was sure that one day something would come along that would sort it all out. With the lens replacement came "Limbal relaxing" and other mysterious procedures that corrected the astigmatism too, all under the heading of "supersight surgery". I am now 74, can read newspapers and the mobile phone without glasses and see in the distance clearly in both eyes. I can read the 7th line down on the eye chart and am delighted and glasses free. Mind you, I paid for the surgery and aftercare and I now think that it was the best thing I ever did. Yes, recent developments mean that you can now get contact lenses with the same technology that allow you to read and see in the distance. Money talks. But IOL is the way to go and end all the bother of spectacles for ever, plus it is then impossible to get cataracts once it's been done. Fixed IOLs? Bunkum!

Hmm, well, I too would like to know the source of the 5.5. My trusty Excel spreadsheet agrees with Mr Impluse. I can't find anywhere that gives an overall satisfactory minimum number of half lives to reach a level when anything no longer has an effect. It all depends on the thing that the half life refers to. Half life Total Hours % left Total 0 100.00000000 ½ 2.50 ÷ SQRT(2) = 70.71067812 1.00 5.00 ÷ SQRT(2) = 50.00000000 1½ 7.50 ÷ SQRT(2) = 35.35533906 2.00 10.00 ÷ SQRT(2) = 25.00000000 2½ 12.50 ÷ SQRT(2) = 17.67766953 3.00 15.00 ÷ SQRT(2) = 12.50000000 3½ 17.50 ÷ SQRT(2) = 8.83883476 4.00 20.00 ÷ SQRT(2) = 6.25000000 4½ 22.50 ÷ SQRT(2) = 4.41941738 5.00 25.00 ÷ SQRT(2) = 3.12500000 5½ 27.50 ÷ SQRT(2) = 2.20970869 6.00 30.00 ÷ SQRT(2) = 1.56250000 6½ 32.50 ÷ SQRT(2) = 1.10485435 7.00 35.00 ÷ SQRT(2) = 0.78125000

I can think of one benefit. You'd be able to get the "Witholding tax" of 15% on your savings account back as the interest would very likely be under the minimum earnings of ฿160,000 a year to pay tax. Whether it would be enough to offset the costs involved in getting the Tax ID and card is anybody's guess. I paid a whopping ฿32.11 last financial year equivalent to £0.73p which was duly declared to HMRC by my accountant. It cost a lot more than that to declare it to the anal retentive UK Inland Revenue who are most concerned about money earnt abroad.

Unfortunately, this is a recurring theme about it seeming to be a good and profitable idea to supply items to expats. Sadly, it is not and this is proven by the number of startup failures. It is not possible either to defend the idea from competitors, to do something that they cannot or to do something in a better way. These aspects are fundamental in protecting the profitability of any business. I have bought from these startups quite a few times now but they are never in exstence long enough for me to be able to place a repeat order. All seem to fall prey to copycats supplying the most profitable items cheaper, low order quantities, storage problems, import duties, supply chain complications and staffing problems. It does seem quite a shame but then most items are now available on Lazada and other shopping channels. The OP does not say where he is, only that he is in "Thailand". But Chiang Mai has half a dozen "RimPing" supermarkets, the one I go to being in the "Kad Farang" market which should give you a clue. I nearly fainted when I first saw the high quality fresh meats on sale there. To sum up, I suggest you continue to ask around and buy specialities when you can. There is no long term solution to the supply problem that I have found.

Well, it's not ridicule because this happens to me as well. I usually suffer when supping the nice soup only to find that it contains enough MSG to fell an elephant instead of the maximum 1 gram per ten kilograms of weight. Penicillin and Nutrasweet (Aspartame) have exactly the same effect too. I now don't have any of it knowingly but I still get caught out. Who would put MSG in marzipan? The Thais did & felled me.