Consumer phones in regional areas are still an issue. As @baku said, 3G has better range than 4G (which has better range than 5G). If someone in the middle of the bush, or on a country road needs to use their 5G phone, they may not have coverage.

I have a friend that had to drive 10km with a cracked skull, ribs and broken arm and leg because he didn’t have coverage on his farm. He now has 3G coverage, but not 4G.

The other problem is that tradies don’t know how to / can’t be bothered learning to reduce a buildings energy consumption.

We had an argument for weeks with the Site Supervisor because his subcontractor didn’t want to install the Reverse-Cycle condensers on the south side of the house because it was “too hard”.

One of the refrigerant lines insulation was nicked during installation and we started getting condensation stains through the walls.

The contractor came back and once again, he wanted to relocate the condenser on the north side. He kept blaming us for making him run the pipes to a location that was “too hard” for him.

This guy claimed to be an Air Conditioning specialist and couldn’t understand how a heat exchanger in direct sunlight will not be as efficient at cooling as a heat exchanger on the cold side of the house.

It’s not “America Bad”. It is “Capitalism Bad”. When a builder or contractor can save 5c in the dollar by half-arseing the job, and then come back to “fix” it and charge $1 extra for something that would have been 5c worth of extra work, they win and we loose.

I think it is mainly because;

• Melbourne and Sydney (and Adelaide) have historically always had mild weather. The extremes we are starting to see now had only been occasional. Now they are consistent.
• energy prices have always been deflated. There has always been plenty of cheap natural gas avalable.
• commercial builders have been reluctant to embrace new technologies like aerated concrete panels and the market does not support highly rated insulation batts.
• inflated qualified labour pricing has resulted in builders and improvement contractors taking the quickest, simplest option instead of the best option (eg. blow-in powdered insulation instead of batts).

I like getting to Sydney overnight.

If I have to stay in a cheap hotel in Tullamarine so I don’t miss my flight, I arrive stressed, tired, hungry and usually late for my appointment.

If I catch the XPT from Southern Cross, I arrive refreshed, relaxed and satiated. I can then take advantage of Sydney’s public transport to get to my appointment on time.

As a driving enthusiast, I agree 100%.

Everyone benefits when there are multiple safe transport options available.

If you are stuck in traffic behind a Bus, or at a Level Crossing, or at a cyclist or pedestrian crossing, you need to remember that you are stuck in traffic. If the other traffic wasn’t there, and they were all taking the train, bus, bike or Shanks’ Pony, you wouldn’t be stuck in traffic.

Belarus.

Is there any way I can determine how big that coat hanger is? Is there something I can compare it to for scale?

This was not a fine, it was a fee. Telstra make more money in a week providing VoIP relays to Scammers than this “Fine”

Partially it is the Parents and partially it is the media.

The thing is that the parents are the ones who are not providing good role-models to their boys so the boys look to MRA arseholes as their role models instead. Mainstream media and the Independent media they are being exposed to by ThE aLgOrYtHmS reinforces their opinions.

Some people will go to extreme lengths to get their 15 minutes of fame (or infamy).

If I wanted to watch car crash TV, I would just watch Dashcams Australia.

The consequences will that their record profits since COVID-19 will dry up and they will need to figure out other ways of cutting expenses.

They will crash like they did in the 1980s and rationalise their business model by selling off their smaller branches. IGA will suddenly have a lot more members, Foodworks will be much bigger and Tuckerbag may even make a comeback.

The problem is that they have overcapitalised. Near us, we have two very large Woolworths within walking distance from each other. Two suburbs over, it is the same with two very large Coles’s.

The only reason why Dutto is pushing Nuclear as an option is because he is a crony.

Wind power generation has a barrier to entry, but it is much lower than Coal or Fracking, which is why there is so much corporate-sponsored astroturfing against it. Coal and Fracking also has a lower barrier to entry, but is cheap compared to Nuclear.

Solar is the great equaliser. Anyone can throw a handful of solar panels on their roof, connect them to an array of old car batteries and add an inverter and voila! Instant home power generation. Get out from under of the boot of Power Companies and be self-sufficient (as long as you don’t want to use a hair-dryer).

If the proles can get of free energy and no longer need to rely on The Grid, all of the Corporations that own Dutto will no longer have any political power.

Dutto is not offering Nuclear as an alternative to Coal and LNG to the electorate, he is offering it as an alternative to his lords and masters.

Also, go straight to your tag providers website by typing it in your browser, don’t follow any links in the message or email.

The term “essential oils” is both a valid description and a marketing gimmick.

You have heard of “vanilla essence” and “orange essence”. It is basically an oil that is derived from a foodstuff to extract the essence or flavour.

Marketers love the phrase because the ignorant plebeians interpret to mean that they are required (essential) for human survival.

Not too far from the truth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellac

They will try to pressure or force you into inputting your PIN.

The other risk is that they will observe your PIN because you aren’t using biometrics.

Nuke/Pave or have a decoy phone (with your primary phone powered down and packed in your luggage) for use when travelling.

And if you are travelling to certain jurisdictions, just leave your primary phone at home!

They can STFU.

We don’t have a Bill of Rights in Australia and they definitely don’t have the Right to Freedom of Expression.

I don’t like the whole Darwin-Awards/Eugenics dichotomy but I can’t comprehend anyone stupid enough to think that having a fancy haircut is more important than their brains being on the inside of their heads.

You misspelled “murderous Psychopaths”

I know several people who believe that might-is-right on our roads and consider cyclists to be a “burden on society since they don’t pay fuel tax.”

The tragic irony is that some of them ride motorbikes and don’t see the hypocrisy of their opinions.