Thomas J

Sweden currently ranks 23rd in the world in terms of Coronavirus infections per million. Less than Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands and almost equal to Portugal,  But somehow what those countries did is correct and what Sweden did is wrong.  Maybe the only thing proved is the impossibility of measures to limit the spread of Covid.  For decades man has attempted to prevent the spread of diseases such as the Flu. How has that worked out?  9% of the world on average still gets the flu each and every year. Even assuming the hypothetical non reality that somehow a country can impose measures that brings its coronavirus infection rate to Zero.  Then what?  Maintain those measures for all eternity or until the remainder of the world also achieves zero cases.  As soon as people start circulating again, diseases start to spread. 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/?

I suspect that 3bb like many other sites restricts access to only the regions it serves.  Lazada for example I can not access if it from a non Thailand server.  You can sign up for a VPN like NORD and then select the location of the server you want to connect to.  I know for some USA sites I select one of the USA servers.  For Lazada and others in Thailand I select a server based  in Thailand. 

5 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Yes, pretty sure the card is what limits the speed. Don't get me wrong, generally I'm pretty happy for a speed around 200-250, but I guess if I'm paying for more I'm wasting my money.

If you are getting speeds of 200 - 250 you really for everyday surfing on the internet won't notice any difference if it was 500 or 750.  Internet here is cheap so the 1gb speed that 3bb offers is a bargain even if you only get the 250 speed. 

1 minute ago, giddyup said:

Yes, the PC is already showing a 5G connection, but the max speed I've seen is around 250.

As mentioned your connection speed is a combination of things.  If you are getting 250 you probably have a wireless card in the computer with a 300 MBPS adapter.  If it is a desktop the card would look like the attached.  If it is a laptop it will be a smaller card So no matter how fast 3bb and/or the router is sending the signal your computer is limited to the speed of the card it has installed.  Try a newer Iphone, connect to the 5g network wireless and then test.  You should get higher than 250.  If it is your computer card, you "can" upgrade to a faster card.  However don't expect that your wireless will ever approach to 1gb speed.  The processor CPU in your computer and your RAM will also control how much data the computer can handle at once.  Try also hooking up your computer with a wired LAN.  That should be as fast as the computer can go. 

15 minutes ago, Dumbastheycome said:

Why not scrounge,beg or buy a second hand shock absorber from a  motorcycle repair shop, cut body down keeping the  eye section  to retain the spring and cut the spring down to match  your required  length? The eye can be used to bolt it to the end of the rail ? Maybe

Yes I went to a motorcycle repair store.  He "claimed" he did not have.  I would think that those places that either repair motorcycles or make the side cars for the food carts would have but I don't know where the places that make/repair the motorcycle side cars are located. 

55 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Looking at the back of my router it has 4 LAN connections, just marked 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Those are LAN connections.  They are for hard wire from the router to your computer.  However when you go to your computer and search for wireless connections you should see something like this. Notice some of the connections are 5 and others 2.4.  You would want to select yours that is marked 5G.  That would connect your computer to the 5.0 Megahertz wireless 

 

1 hour ago, Yellowtail said:

You could use a coil-over shock absorber, or just a dead-stop with a rubber bumper or piece of tire.

 

I have considered the coil over shock absorber however the longer you make the shock absorber the more it extends to restricts the gate.  If the spring is only 1 to 2 cm then the gate would open except for the 1 to 2 cm.  The shock absorbers are all noticeably longer.  With the piece of tire or dead stop you have to have some way to attach to the end stop on the rail.  With a spring you can weld but no way to attach rubber. 

I have a sliding gate that its stop is against one of the roller wheels.  You have to be careful that the gate is moving slowly or it damages the roller.  I am looking to put in a gate stopper.  Typically they are a compression spring that the gate bounces against and it softens the force of the gate as it closes.  I am looking for either a complete gate closer/bumper as shown in the top photograph or just a compression spring about 2.5 to 5 cm compression spring as shown in the bottom photo and I will fashion my own home made stop.  None of the hardware stores that I have been to, Thai Wasadu, Homepro, or Baan & Beyond carry them.  I have been to one motorcycle repair location and a two local hardware stores.  None carry them.  

Any idea where these might be available in Pattaya? 

On 1/6/2021 at 2:10 PM, GrandPapillon said:

Your router should offer two wifi networks, one on the 2.4Ghz band, which you are probably connected to, and another one on the 5Ghz band,

Giddyup

This is true.  The older 2.4 Ghz band will not support the faster speeds.  Make sure your connection is to the 5 Ghz bandwith on the router.  I know on my computer I get speeds of only about 55 - 75 MBPS on the 2.4 but upwards of 500 on the 5. 

On 1/7/2021 at 2:47 AM, luckywooman said:

Hi I wanted to ask if the Thai police would help you find the person that stole from my wife’s ATM card.

The ATM's for the most part all have cameras.  However since the person using the card had the pin even if they catch the person the bank would not be liable to reimburse you.  Consider you "could" have given someone your pin then claim the card was stolen and seek to be reimbursed by the bank.  The banks policy is if you have the pin then you authorized the withdrawal.  

Now the police if they apprehend the person could charge him with theft but in terms of getting your money back that would be you trying to get the thief to return your money.  

In the future, use something like the last digits of your children's birthdates, anniversary, parents birthday, etc that you will easily remember but never put your pin on your card. 

2 hours ago, giddyup said:

I have a 3 year old Lenovo All-in-One that doesn't get anything like the speed I pay for from 3BB, so I got the techie out to test it as I assumed there was something wrong with my fibre connection. However he told me that it's impossible to get much more than the 200Mbps I'm getting now because the Lenovo isn't 5G. He showed me his laptop connected alongside my Lenovo and he was showing nearly 800Mbps on the Ookla speedtest. So if I'm going to buy a new computer I have to make sure it's 5G capable, is that correct?

Giddyup,

You are confusing 5G which is a cell phone speed with internet speed from your cable company.  Right now no cell phone companies have just began to roll out 5 G.  It will be some years before it is widely available.  When completed the 5G network will likely replace the wired broadband connections to your house due to its speed.  Until then the broadband you get from companies like 3bb will be faster. 

Now 3BB offers 1 gigabyte speed.  You will never get the full speed.  Your speed is dependent on 1. The quality of the broadband cable to your house. 2. Your router, some routers will not be capable of handling 1 gigabyte speed and fewer still can broadcast wireless the 1 gigabyte speed. 3. Your computer and its components.  That includes your wireless card, CPU processor and RAM.  Think of it this way.  The water is flowing from a river but into a hole that has only a 30 cm diameter.  The water can only flow just so fast through the restricted hole.  I would "guess" that your main limitation is the card inside your computer.  Those can be upgraded either on the main board or with an external connected to your USB.  Now if the speed is good but your processor is slow or you have too little memory it is like a highway that is jammed with too many cars.  The data is there but your computer can't process it fast enough.  To test, use your cell phone and connect to your home wi-fi and see what kind of speed you get on the phone.  My Apple is faster than my brand new Lenovo. 

Finally, you will always get the fastest speeds hooked directly from the router by hard wire versus wireless.  I get upwards of 800 MBPS hooked directly to the router and just over 400 Wireless on the same computer.  With that said, for everyday browsing anything about 100 - 200 will be pretty good and moving it to 500 or 600 MBPS you likely will not see any difference yourself. 

 

1 minute ago, Susco said:

Nope. Now foreigners can also have a Lazada wallet. Rules have changed

Susco,

Thanks for the info.  I tried a few months ago and was told no only Thai's could have it.  

Quote

Sometimes I get it, sometimes not. It's easier to get it if you have Airpay but I don't think non-Thais can sign up for that. I may dig into that a bit more, if it is possible for non-Thais to get it, that would mean much more free shipping.

I am USA but can get Airpay.  You are correct that on most coupons you have to use Airpay to get the promotion.  You have to have a phone number and send a photo of your passport.  It typically takes 24 hours to get approved for Airpay.  Though you can have Airpay for whatever reason only Thai's can have a Lazada Wallet.  Who figures. 

I use both but on average Shopee prices tend to be a touch lower and often include free shipping while Lazada for the most part never offers free shipping.  The free shipping coupons on Shopee come in several varieties.  Some are good only "at selected shops"  So it you try to use it at a shop that does not qualify it will not allow you to apply it.  Even if the item posted says "free shipping" it may only apply if you use a coupon that does not restrict its use to only specific items or stores.  Finally, all of the coupons have to be used with your phone or tablet.  None will work using your computer. 

It just shows that one sovereign nation can never force another sovereign nation to control its actions.  The USA has tried that for decades.  It has only led to wars which have cost millions of American and Foreign lives, billions of dollars and have uniformly led to worse conditions for the foreign countries.  Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan were war casualties that in the end resulted in nothing but hardship and suffering for their people.  

I am not a huge fan of Collin Powell but he was very accurate when he said that the U.S. military is good at only two things: 1. Killing people and 2. Blowing things up. 

I suggest the U.S. has never been good at nation building or regime change, and in almost all instances the imposition of U.S. will over another country has led to further dislike and violence. 

One other thing that Collin Powell said which has proven to be true.  The use of military force to topple other governments imposes the Pottery Barn policy.  You break it, you own it.  U.S. forces are still in Germany more telling it will be 20 years this November that the U.S. sent troops to Afghanistan.  It is still there, there is still fighting, war lords, and terrorists.  

19 hours ago, Scott Tracy said:

This, to me, is a gross over simplification. It can be the fault of the accident victim who have their lives ripped away, as you put it. Running red lights, driving too fast for the conditions, driving faulty vehicles. Why is it always the responsibility of government that people drink and then drive? Is it governments that get in vehicles that have faulty brakes, is it governments that have micro-sleeps, run red lights, not wear crash helmets? Ride 4 up, let kids ride bikes? No. Personal responsibility has to start somewhere, and that's at home and school.

A culture change is needed. That comes hard in any country

Scott Tracy

I just am perplexed by the amount of concern the government has for people who catch covid versus concern over the lives lost and injuries sustained in motor vehicles.  Covid is communicable but 95% of the people who contract it don't even require hospitalization.  97% in total recover from it and of the remaining 3% they contracted Covid but had other serious pre-existing conditions.  They "may" have also died if they contracted pneumonia, malaria, TB, Dengue fever, Sepsis and in fact may have also had one or more of those ailments when they eventually died. 

If it is lives that the government is concerned over then why not a strict enforcement of the helmet law on motorcycles.  If it is lives that are important than with over 28,000 traffic fatalities many the result of driving while under the influence, why not a strict police practice of breathalyzer checks.  The government has no problem requiring each and every person to get their temperature checked but seems to have no problem if drivers kill innocent people on the highways or if motorcycle drivers die or suffer horrible injuries from not wearing a helmet.  

Just seems to be a hypocrisy that dying from Covid requires an all out war to try and contain it while far more deaths from other causes are treated as acceptable. 

2 hours ago, stevenl said:

By only quoting one part of my post and not replying to the general intention of the post you  showed bad etiquette

Sorry, it was not intentional, it was the only issue that I had with your response that somehow I was anti the Art World.  As mentioned, there are many worthwhile endeavors and some can argue that they require funding.  However to call them integral to stimulus is wrong.  One of the huge things wrong with legislation in the USA is that one bill suddenly gets things tacked onto it that have nothing to do with the original intent of the legislation.  In this case whether you support or are against funding the Kennedy Fine Arts Center, that issue should come as part as an overall bill on funding the arts in the USA and stand or fall on its own merits.  Here, legislators leverage votes by getting people to support the bill even though it has numerous items in it that they don't support.  The Kennedy Art Center may be a fine and worthwhile thing to support but funding it is hardly "stimulus" it is partisan pork. 

50 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Oddly enough, the main beneficiaries have been the rich.

You are as Reagan said knowing so much that is not true. 
The "wealthy" top 1% pay 38.5% of the income taxes in the USA.  
What is crippling is that spending is out of control and that a huge proportion of the US wage earners pay nothing.  

Again, this article was about the spending bill.  If you believe that the US government or any for that matter can spend itself into prosperity,  good luck.   Stimulus bills have been tried and yet countries go into recessions.  I am not sure at what point it will happen but eventually living on borrowed money is like a Ponzi scheme.  Eventually it crashes.  

https://taxfoundation.org/summary-of-the-latest-federal-income-tax-data-2020-update/#:~:text=In 2017%2C the top 1,percent of all income taxes.

On 12/31/2020 at 2:08 PM, stevenl said:

Why mention art, that seems to show a bias?

StevenL

I have nothing against Art however giving money to one specific center and calling it "stimulus' is bogus.  If you are planning for the future, you "invest" you don't squander.  The USA has a crumbling infrastructure, and the energy grid needs to be massively upgraded.  If money was "invested" in those capital projects it provides a springboard for the future.  Just shoveling money out that will be spent and provide no lasting benefit is like a heroin fix.  It may feel good for awhile but it will eventually just dissipate. 

The idea that somehow deficit spending will spur on an economy is just not proven out.  While I believe that those impacted by Covid deserve some "assistance" It should come in the form that puts them and their companies back to work to earn "sustainable' income.  You want to prime the pump not just give a single glass of water.  

On 12/31/2020 at 1:25 PM, placeholder said:

Because infrastructure plans have to be approved and ready to go before money gets disbursed. The US doesn't have the luxury of time.

Oh and when Obama had 'SHOVEL READY' projects that were part of his stimulus they were also ready and approved.  So you are dead wrong about projects having to be approved and ready.  A typical approach is to allocate funds to specific agencies and let them work out the details. 

 

As you pointed out, Japan has a debt to GDP ratio of twice the USA and it is battling deflation.  So if "stimulus" spending was effective, Japan's economy should be booming.  It is not.  If deficit spending "stimulus" was effective to combat sluggish economies, there would never be a recession.  All governments would ever have to do is some deficit spending and it would re-ignite their economies.  That has not been true.  

It terms of USA debt if debt does not matter, why stop at 2 trillion, why not 10 trillion or 100 trillion.  Why stop at only $2,000 per USA citizen why not $100,000 or $1 million.  The idea that somehow a country can indebt itself to prosperity is ludicrous.  

Numerous sovereign nations including Russia, China, Iran, have eventually just repudiated their debts.  If the USA debt ever reaches the point where it can not service the interest, or the buyers of that debt fear it being devalued the rush to sell US debt and the value of the US dollar will collapse and make the depression look like boom times.  

http://www.cadtm.org/Sovereign-Debt-Repudiations-Stepping-Stones-in-History#:~:text=Over the last two centuries,Cuba%2C Russia or Costa Rica.

Just now, stevenl said:

How do you feel about the help businesses, big and small, are getting from this and the previous stimulus package?

I think the entire stimulus package was flawed.  There is an old saying that politicians do "something" to create the illusion that they are helping.  If you wanted to help the USA economy then invest in some infrastructure projects that will provide benefits for decades to come.  Not give money to the Kennedy Fine Arts Center.