willedoo

My internet service provider for many years has been Internode. Late last year they stopped providing free email service and addresses. They gave customers the option to use another email provider or migrate their existing Internode addresses to The Messaging Company, an Australian email mob. Part of that deal was that it would be free until sometime this year. After that date, migrated customers will have to either find another provider or start paying TMC for the email service. I haven't seen anything about TMC's performance that would make you feel like paying them, so I'm in the process of changing over to the free Google owned one. What a task that is. I've got a big list of accounts I hold which have the Internode address tied to them. Most of them require the email address as part of the login procedure. Some companies don't have an option to edit the email address, so the only option with those is to set up a completely new account. With others, the changeover procedure takes a fair bit of time. You have to log in to your account then play a game of hide and seek to try to find the right settings. Some sites are so un-intuitave that the quickest way is to google how to find the settings. Once you finally track the settings down, you change the email address and wait for them to send a confirmation email to the new address. With Thunderbird, the quickest way to receive that email is to close Thunderbird then reopen it, in which case it will try to download any new emails. Once you get the confirmation email you might have to only click on a link in the email to verify it. With other sites, you have to copy a code, return to the browser page where you were changing address, then paste the code in a box and proceed from there. So far, it's three down and a squillion accounts to go. It's going to be a long week. I won't miss the Internode addresses as they have a subdomain in the address added to an already long name. The length of it makes it a pain when you are continually typing it to log in somewhere. Trying to read out the address to someone over the phone is time wasting unless you spell it out in the phonetic alphabet. Internode was taken over by TPG some time back, and sometime this year they will cease to exist and we will be direct TPG customers.

These American woodcocks are odd birds. They have some good moves when they walk, but it must take them a long time to get anywhere. There's lots of video of them on youtube set to music, like the second clip.

I haven't seen onetrack on the forum for a while, since the Friday before last. Hope he's ok; he's normally on here fairly regularly.

It's good to see the Ukraine aid bill finally pass in the U.S. House of Representatives. It now has to go back to the Senate to pass there then get signed by the President. The Democrats have a majority in the Senate so that should pass ok. No Democrats voted against it in the lower house. The majority of Republicans voted against it, 100 for and 112 against the bill. It's good to see House Speaker Mike Johnson finally allow a vote on the bill after months of obstruction by the Republicans. It's been a complete turnaround for him.

Video of a sound effect artist:

Ukraine used to have 43 Tu-22M3s and 17 Tu-22M2s. They gave them up along with 423 Kh-22 cruise missiles back in the 1990's via the American led threat reduction programme. It's ironic that all these years later their neighbour is using that very same missile and aircraft type to destroy Ukraine.

I read somewhere that the two pilots ejected. Only problem with that is that it has a crew of four. There's a navigator and wizzo in the back.

A good one for spenaroo's watch thread.

Peter, that link doesn't work. Maybe copying missed a bit of the URL.

There's a good video clip on Xcrement of the Tu-22M3 coming down in a flat spin with it's arse on fire. https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1781204526919303276

The Ukrainians will be happy after bringing down one of the big bombers.

The first photo is this Ilyushin 76 crash from a month ago.

That's a bit like this old one: Printers are like women. You don't take much notice of them until they go down on you.

I'll be talking to a couple of ex RAAF pilots next week. I'll ask them about it.

In the past I've looked at a lot of photos of Soviet, Russian Federation and Ukrainian pilots to see what type of watch they wear. There's a variety and it doesn't appear like there's a standard issue pilot's watch. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think in most airforces it's a pilot's personal property rather than an issued item.

My parents bought me a Wallace Bishop watch for my 21'st birthday. I think a watch for males for a 21'st present might have been a bit of a tradition back in the day. I only wore it for a year or so. A bit like Marty, I don't like wearing them and haven't done so since. My dad wore his to bed, the only time he ever took it off was to have a shower. I remember years ago getting the Wallace Bishop watch, a second cheaper watch and a Micky Mouse watch together. I wound the three up and listened to the action of them (hearing was better back then). There was a big difference; you could really hear the finer workings of the Wallace Bishop watch. The $10 Mickey Mouse watch was very clunky but it worked.

Driving a loaded semi-trailer is a lot easier than towing a caravan. A semi usually tracks fairly straight and level and doesn't get the wobbles up like caravans. A semi trailer has the advantage of length and centre of gravity keeping things nice and calm. A badly loaded caravan can turn into a nightmare. The only similar problem you will have with trucks is if you are pulling a triple. If you're not careful, the front and rear trailers can fight with the middle one, causing the middle one to start swaying. Like a bunch of naughty kids that don't play well together. Or so I've been told; I've only pulled doubles. I'd assume a B double pulling a dog trailer would behave a lot better than a traditional triple.

I guess it's an option, but for a debt free person to have to borrow money to fund the government fees and charges component of increasing cost of living doesn't sound like the type of society we should be aspiring to. A better option would be for local and state governments to have a good look at themselves and think about the people's expectations of them. A good example is local government. It beats me how they justify charging $3,000 in rates per annum for a block with zero services. No water, no sewerage, the road verge slashed a couple of times a year and that's it. If you want water, you fund that infrastructure yourself. Ditto for a dunny. Pay for your own pump out system or pay tens of thousands of dollars for a stand-alone treatment system. Hopefully things might change after the recent council elections; it looks like we've got some real people in there this time.

As an offshoot to the housing crisis, it's getting harder for the average battler to stay in their own home that they own if they happen to be in a growth area where land values are increasing sharply. Most authorities care little about people who have always lived in these areas; the attitude is usually that you can sell for a good price and move somewhere cheaper to live. In my opinion, people should have the right to live where they have always lived and not be forced out of an area due to unaffordable council rates and state government charges. Unfortunately, councils in growth areas know that the loss of low income locals will be replaced by cashed up interstate migrants who are good for the economy. The new state government land valuations are out and council is in line for a big cash windfall from rates next financial year when the new valuations take effect. My property increased by more than 60%, but some owners in the district have had up to 80% increases in unimproved property valuation. The corresponding rate increase (which is based on UPV) is a lot easier to manage for high income earners when it's viewed as a percentage of income. In my case, as an age pensioner, council rates will rise from about 6% of income to 9% of income. A high income earner might only be paying one or two percent of their income. The catch is that the valuation increases will also make a lot more people liable for state government land tax. I've lived here on this property for 35 years and have never been liable for land tax until this last valuation. I'm hoping to get an exemption, but if I can't, it will mean another approximate 9% or more of income. Without the exemption, I would have to pay close to 20% of my income to council and state government just to live on my own land. I get it that some people would say what are you complaining about, that you can sell for good dollars and move out the back of Woop Woop and do alright out of it. But that's a speculator's attitude, and why should people be forced to sell up and move because they are priced out of an area. Hopefully council will come to the party and reduce the dollar rate of calculation, or give larger pensioner discounts. State government also funds a pensioner discount on council rates and it's attached levies, but they don't give pensioner discounts on land tax. With the current political climate regarding cost of living pressures, council and the state government would be taking a big political risk if if they just sit back and take the windfall. As far as state government is concerned, screwing the public over in an election year is not a smart tactic.

The Russian word Sturman covers a bit of ground from navigator (steerman) to pilot and helmsman.

In other news, it's looking like the Ukrainians had a good strike on the airbase at Dzhankoi in Crimea. An S-400 air defence system has been taken out with launchers and radars destroyed. Also a couple of S-300 that were under repair. Ukrainian military intelligence have said they will soon be releasing more detail on aircraft damage and personnel casualties.

There seems to be a possibility that U.S. Speaker Mike Johnson is finally coming to his senses on Ukraine aid. He's mentioned intel briefings so maybe he's finally grasped the picture. It's looking like a vote might happen soon. It will be interesting to see if the nutters in his party try to roll him for supporting aid to Ukraine. Reagan would roll over in his grave if he knew putin had bought the GOP.

Boston Dynamics have a new electric robot.

I like the colour of the face.

I guess at under 2,000 USD, the 0247 Baikonur is more affordable than the Breitling Cosmonaut counterpart at 13,000 USD. I think around $100 would be my budget.