BananaBandit

Thank you for the links. The songs coming from my village loudspeaker sound like they are from an older era than these songs. The second link from the bottom is probably the closest, though the songs in my village have a slower pace. Maybe a bit more sad, too.

Before living in an Isaan village, I bought a CD collection of 30-40 Isaan songs - and didn't like a single one. When I later began living in an Isaan village, I quickly noticed the village loudspeakers blaring all sorts of who knows what at like 5:30 am. At first I resented this wakeup alarm, but once I started adjusting to it and getting back to sleep successfully, I no longer deemed it an intrusion. More recently, I have begun to notice that some of songs the loudspeakers broadcast are quite beautiful. Perhaps each village has its own playlist, but I suspect there would be some degree of overlap. Are any of you veteran Isaan residents able to share the song titles that your village loudspeakers broadcast each morning? Maybe you could help me find some of the tunes I like. Informing me of the titles in Thai script would be preferable, as it would make tracking down the songs on YouTube far easier. Lyrically, I can't discern much: The loudspeaker is not especially clear; I'm always in bed when the morning broadcast arrives; and despite being semi-literate, I'm not so slick at hearing this language. I can discern enough, however, to know these songs are native Isaan songs (though I suppose there's some chance a few come from Laos).

I did as you said, and turned off shortcuts. I strongly suspect this will remedy the issue. Appreciated.

For whatever reason, when I pick up my Samsung Galaxy M 11 phone after a period of non-usage, the supposedly locked phone rather often immediately switches to camera feature (bypassing the prompt for 4-digit password to unlock). How do I remedy this?

Virtually no modern western media venue (that pays a salary) would allow its contributors to express the viewpoints you tend to express on this forum. This leads me to think of three possible scenarios: 1. Your post-career viewpoints have changed drastically. 2. Your viewpoints haven't changed much, but you used to conceal them for the sake of your media career. 3. Many (perhaps even most) media people don't actually hold politically correct views, but they feel obligated to pretend. Which is it?

Are you suggesting the MENSA entry test is fraudulent?

Good stuff, Oxxman. I might get this diagram tattooed!

Before I embark on another few years' worth of bad habits, might you confirm for me that the low tone is indeed a real low tone. Or is it more like mid-falling?

By the way, gentlemen, I have me a nice new free antivirus program (one recommended on this thread) working for me right now. My CPU usage is way down, too. And I just feel better about humanity in general.

I suppose it depends on requirements. For example in our home we had three old PCs/laptops from the Win7 era that struggled under a Win10 load mostly getting used to access the internet. I could have bought three new laptops but decided to install Linux Mint on all three for free. A vast improvement on the old Win7 user experience, and cost nothing. But how difficult would installing and using Linux Mint be for me? Like a lot of people, I'm a bit stupid, lazy, and petulant. Also, could I still use the programs I want to use, such as Adobe Photoshop, Audacity music editing, Calibre ebook editing, Word, Excel, etc. ?

Oh, that is interesting. I think I share your suspicion!

let's take these few examples: เชื้อ เนื้อ going strictly by the book, i'm reasonably sure they should be high tones (พยัญชนะอักษรต่ำ + วรรณยุกต์ไม้โท). but my wife along with two other in-laws say i should pronounce them like rising tone. we have been over this multiple times now. each time, i pronounce such words as high tone and then as rising tone -- and they say the rising tone version is correct (or at least closer to correct). have you guys had a similar experience? in case it makes a difference, i am in an isan village.

I can't imagine that all 10 would. My reasons are, after all, legitimate. At least to me. I am worried about the prospect that, let's say, half of the recipients, out of reflexive spite (like the kind one so often observes on certain internet forums), would relegate my email to the spam bin as opposed to the regular trash bin -- and that such relegation could consign my future emails to eternal spamnation. Perhaps I should add that all the people I would be contacting are professional people with a decent standing in life. Might that make them less reflexively spiteful? (I honestly don't know!) Do you think I have cause for concern? If I were to limit myself to 3 such emails per day, would that go a long way towards avoiding spam bins?

If I send 10 emails a day for a 7-day period to people I don't know, do I risk ending up in everyone's spam folder? How about if I send 10 emails a day for the rest of my life to people I don't know? In case it makes a difference, I have a gmail address that I've been using for a solid decade. Thousands of messages already sent and received.

I missed that one! Maybe I was too dumb to figure out what "legacy build" meant. You get plenty of credit for your insights into female psychology and human nature, but you are quite underrated for your tech support. It's none of my business, but I'm too curious to resist asking: What was the reason for your recent month-long absence? I had begun to entertain a number of possible scenarios, none of them good. I even thought you might have fallen in love.

So a reputable browser like Chrome or Firefox has built-in security features that make it as good as most any free anti-virus/malware program?

Thank you for the list. I'm curious about the "run them all" statement. I was told (by a college-level computer instructor) that if you have more than one anti-virus/anti-malware, then they start to obstruct each other.....therefore, having one such program is better than having multiple ones. Was this bad advice?

Painful to read, but at least the logic makes sense to me.

I was content to use Malwarebytes free version for the past several years. But when I tried to update it a few weeks back, things went a bit goofy. So I uninstalled it altogether. Then, when trying to reinstall, I learned that my Windows 7 laptop is no longer able to do so (I didn't realize Windows 7 was already so antiquated, and I really don't want to have to upgrade operating systems: My taste of Windows 8 was unpleasant, and my glimpse of Windows 10 was a dystopian nightmare). So I downloaded Avast free version. But, since I installed it, my CPU is often churning at near-100 percent without any good reason. Is there a free (legit and Win 7-applicable) antimalware that won't eat my CPU for breakfast, lunch, and dinner??

Try and forgive me if this post is overly-paranoid. Here goes.. If I (a U.S. national living in Thailand and hoping never to return to my homeland) were to have a baby with my Thai wife, does that potentially put me at risk of having to pay U.S.-caliber child support? I believe the going rate for Thai child support is like 100 baht per day or something. Fine by me. Glad to help out. So, if that's the worst that could happen, then I couldn't care less. But I do NOT want to face the risk (in the event the marriage dissolves) of having to go back to the U.S. and get a real job to pay a serious monthly sum to support my kid in Thailand. Also, what about the prospect that the marriage dissolves, and then she (if feeling highly vindictive) uses the kid (who, I believe, would technically be an American citizen) as some sort of anchor-baby to get into the U.S., thereby forcing me to return to that place and work to support it (and her)? Does this type of mess happen?

Sounds like me anyway!

But, in the future, if I'm on my wife's land, I can largely do as I please, correct?

while at a typical isan village, if i want to learn how to build a simple house, can i tag along with a group of nearby construction workers and be one of their jobsite mules while i observe how they do things? or is there a considerable chance i could get in trouble here for "working" in thailand? just to clarify some things: i'm married to a local woman. i don't want any cash payment. i'm still rather young and able-bodied. and simple communication is (usually) not a problem for me here.

This is very valuable (and well-stated) information. And, yes, good to stress the importance of the phone number.

My best friend is my Kindle. There are many items I like that first saw publication in year 2000, 1980, 1960, even 1930. But with material from the pre-20th century, I typically find it more of a chore than a pleasure. Be it fiction or nonfiction, the writing style strikes me as verbose, unnecessarily complex, and often rife with melodramatic sentiment. Do any other avid readers feel similarly? And those of you who disagree with me...which writers do you fancy?