octave

Can't you just select one of the many other available voices?

I guess at some stage a passenger will complain that it is too hot or too cold. Also, personally, I find that on a hot day, when I get in a boiling car, I crank the AC up to max. Then I guess that there are issues such as demisting the window. To me, reaching out without looking for an enormous screen and shifting a little up or down is certainly easier than in my present car.

If you want to literally see the actual temp in degrees, then I suppose yes, however, I think most of us would think, "it is too cold" and then give it a swipe upwards, perhaps a small swipe or perhaps a big swipe. Compare this with the Ford Focus switches. Three identical switches are relatively low down near the gear stick. Then there is the voice command "Hey BYD, increase heating" nbo need to take eyes off the road even for a second, and both hands can stay on the wheel.

I think there is a perception that on-screen controls are like going through a seemingly endless series of menu options. The reality is that these things are often better thought through than that. On the BYD vehicles, adjusting the heater or aircon is as simple as swiping 3 thingers accross the screen for fan speed or straight up and down for temperature. This does not require looking at the screen. You can also use voice controls. On my trusty old Ford Focus the heater and aircon controls are set quite low and there are 3 identical knobs. Not using these regularly, I can never remember which one is which without looking. I think there are valid questions about new methods, but I think often people who have never driven an EV tend to throw the baby out with the bathwater. I am sure there are valid criticisms of the layout and method of operating controls in both older and newer cars.

What is being forced on you? The SSM legislation extended a right to a group of people. It took nothing as far as I can see from you. We have a trans neighbour. Used to be a woman and now a man. We often meet for a coffee on a Saturday. I honestly can not give a toss what they have in their pants. They are in no way that I can discern infringing on my rights. Who cares? Get on with your life and try to be happy

If you think I am an apologist for Biden or his son, then you are wrong. I think wrongdoing should be punished, so we agree on that. But do you agree that Trump should be held to the same standard? By the way, Trump is the only President since Nixon not to release his tax returns. Trump was just awarded full immunity for himself and his sons from prosecution for tax crimes, mmm wonder why he asked for that? "The Immunity Deal: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed an addendum to the settlement declaring that the United States is "forever barred and precluded" from prosecuting or pursuing tax claims against the Trumps and their affiliated businesses. [1, 2] The "Anti-Weaponization" Fund: As part of the wider settlement to drop the lawsuit, the DOJ established a $1.776 billion compensation fund meant for victims who claim they were targeted or wrongly prosecuted by previous government investigations. [1] The Leak Case: The initial $10 billion lawsuit was filed after an IRS contractor leaked Donald Trump's confidential tax returns to media outlets between 2018 and 2020. [1, 2] Democratic Backlash: Democratic lawmakers have condemned the agreement, characterizing the settlement as a "get-out-of-jail-free card" and an unprecedented abuse of executive power. [1, 2]

I would agree. The whole pardoning thing is a bad idea in my opinion. What Biden's son was prosecuted for illegal gun possession and tax issues. What the people in this Jan 6 video did was try to crush a man. These are not equal. In terms of nepotism, do you not have a problem with Eeic and Don Jr. Ivank, and Jarred Kushner? If nepotism is wrong (and it is), then it should be wrong across the board. These are facts, not the product of any kind of derangement syndrome.

Sometimes, I mean a man who brags about sexual assault! These are some of the folks that Trump pardoned. Are you OK with this? Should he have pardoned these people? Disturbing footage shows officer pinned as rioters rush Capitol door So you would like to go back to the 30s. You would like the healthcare system of the 30s. I don't know if you have offspring, but would you like your daughter (if you have any) to not be able to have a career? You want to work a 48-hour week? Can you define "woke" for me? I mean, my sister is gay, and I don't hate her, does that make me woke? My daughter-in-law is Chinese, she is smart, kind and funny, so of course I don't hate her, does that make me woke? If so, then I will happily wear that title. You talk about TDS, but have you considered "woke derangement syndrome"? I mean, you do seem a little angry. I stand by your right to criticise any politician; however, say something about Trump and you and his fans lose it.

When I learnt to fly, it did initially bother me that the throttle was operated with my right hand and the fine work of controlling the plane was with the stick and my left hand. The 10% of the population that are left-handed seem to learn to drive OK.

I know polling has its limitations, but the polling suggests people are increasingly dissatisfied with DJT. https://www.natesilver.net/p/trump-approval-ratings-nate-silver-bulletin Whilst it is easy to say that all politicians are bad, DJT takes it to an extreme level. Sure, he will probably be gone in a couple of years, but the ongoing damage will take years to fix. The problem is the creeping acceptance of deviance. As a rational person, I look at some of his appointments, and I can't believe it. The health of the nation is in the hands of crazy RFK. An advanced nation is being led away from rationality. Yes, of course, I am not an American citizen, and it is up to them; however, what a powerful country like the US does has an effect on the whole world. I, too, have a couple of US friends, and they do despair at where the country is going. It is easy to judge what people are thinking from their own individual silos. The polling could be getting it wrong, of course, but we shall see what happens in the midterms. DJT is already trying to say that the elections in California must be rigged (because he doesn't like the result). Is this how elections are going to be lost or won in the future?

Do they? Screen tech has been used for many years now in critical areas such as aviation. As I intend to buy an EV next year, I have spent a long time researching. I can't really find any evidence of screens failing. I have seen evidence of faults that tend to be fixed by a system restart. Other common faults are the failure of the 12-volt battery. Manufacturers tend to supply crappy 12-volt batteries to save money. A lot of EV owners upgrade. The good news is you can easily jump-start an EV if the battery fails. I don't really agree that EVs are still at an early stage of development. Whilst the number of EVs in Australia is still low, sales in May were 20% of new car sales and if you include hybrids, almost 50% of the new car market. In countries such as Norway, where 32% of the fleet is pure EV and 98% of new sales are pure EV. If these cars are unreliable, you would expect this to show. I am not sure what bugs you mean; however, even new models of IC vehicles have problems. There is no reason you should buy an EV. For me, though, I am not conservative. I want to sample new things. There is nothing I love more than while visiting my son in NZ and having the full and free use of his Tesla. Whilst I have no wish to buy a Tesla (fvcken Elon), I would have to say that it is the easiest car I have ever driven. This is very helpful when driving on roads I am less familiar with. I'm not sure I have even interacted with the screen whatsoever, other than for GPS. It does have a great rear view for lane changing. This does not mean staring at it, but when changing lanes, you can see it as you check the passenger side external mirror. I have always enjoyed change and adapting to the new. I bought my first computer quite early on, as well as digital photography, etc.

I drove this way on my recent trip to Myrtleford, and I would say there is definitely some hyperbole here. I did not see cars with broken axles or tyres lined up on the side of the road. There were probably more potholes than the last time I drove this way; however, I think we probably encountered 6 or 8 potholes, mostly on the edge of the road. We are quite aware of potholes because we use Waze, which is a phone GPS that includes hazards like potholes, cars stopped on the shoulder and other hazards (dead animals on the road). Every pothole we came across, we had 500 meters warning and a countdown. We always report hazards to Waze. Very useful.

The problem is that this is just not very secure. Although I don't go by my actual name on this forum, I have in the past posted links to my YouTube channel, which does have my real name. From that, I could be found on Facebook. From there, you could find my wife's name. Then you just find my wife's mother in her friend list, and there you have it. For logging into any site that needs to be secure, multi-factor verification is essential. To log in to my bank, where I keep my life savings, you need my username and password. This could be found in my saved logins on my PC. I imagine this could be hacked. But I would be saved by the fact that I must also put input a one-off code sent to my phone. A hacker would also need access to my phone. It is not too onerous, in my opinion, to use multi-factor verification. When banking on my phone whilst away from home, my fingerprint is required.

It is Mrs Octave's birthday so we are spending a couple of nights in this shabby place. Yes we are going to drink wine in the enormous bath.

Well, my rebate arrived in my bank account. Spent already, of course.

I still have the classic flying and naked in public dreams from time to time. I think as a consequence of being an RAAF musician (I left 36 years ago) I still occasionally have a dream where I am getting ready for a performance and I can't find an item of my uniform (which would have been a big deal at the time). Often, I will have something in my wardrobe that resembles the required uniform but is somehow different. A related dream is that I am somehow about to go on stage for a play or musical, and I realise that I don't know the lines. Dreams about flying (in a plane) also plague me from time to time. I am usually renting the club's plane, but I can't seem to get everything ready in time, and the light is fading, or the weather is deteriorating.

One thing I use social media for is as a diary. Some people keep a written diary, but I am far too lazy for that, so it is mainly pictures and videos. Most mornings, I will be presented with memories from 1, 2, or more years ago, which is nice because I usually only post good events. This video came up today from 3 years ago. It was on a rail trail that we ride fairly regularly. The rail line, which is only 16km long, is used by a couple of tourist trains. One of these serves a three-course meal and has live music. Whenever I see this train, I will usually take a pic or two, but after a while, all the pics look the same. On this occasion, I thought about how I could video this from a unique angle. I think I may have posted this video before, but I think interesting enough for another airing. Untitled 556.mp4

Victoria has been losing a small number of people to other states, but not on the scale seen during the peak COVID years. In the year to March 2025: Victoria's net interstate migration was -2,318 people. That means about 2,300 more people moved from Victoria to other Australian states and territories than moved into Victoria from elsewhere in Australia. For comparison: State Net interstate migration Queensland +24,015 Western Australia +11,675 Victoria -2,318 New South Wales -26,560 So Victoria is still seeing a net outflow to other states, but it is relatively modest. In fact, recent government analysis noted that Victoria recorded positive quarterly interstate migration for the first time since the pandemic, suggesting the trend has been improving. According to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Victoria’s population reached about 7.05 million people by March 2025, up by roughly 124,600 people over the previous year. That was a growth rate of 1.8%, equal to Queensland and above the national average of 1.6%. Victoria had: +33,730 people from natural increase (births minus deaths) +93,176 people from overseas migration −2,318 people from net interstate migration (more people leaving for other states than arriving from them) So the interstate migration loss exists, but it is relatively small compared with the gains from overseas migration and natural increase. Victoria is still adding well over 100,000 people per year overall.

I wasn't sure where to post this. For Victorians from today until July 31 there is a a 20% rebate available on your last year's vehicle registration. I have just registered, and I am expecting $139. One slight problem is that the website (Services Vitoria) is being overwhelmed and can be hard to log on to. For some reason, I just sailed through without any problems. It is not a huge sum of money but worth the effort.

Maybe, although the Hilton bombing and the Russell Street bombing were some time ago (less than 60 years). There were also bombings outside the Family Court in Sydney in the 80s. Where I live is quite safe (now we turfed the druggies out); however, about 2 suburbs away, there are weekly house fires that are considered suspicious. Sure, anyone can buy petrol and matches, but imagine if explosives were readily available.

Here is another true story. Back in the early 90s, we lived on 44 bush acres, and we built our own house. which we lived in as we built. Late on one afternoon, I was soaking in the bath after a session of building. He could hear my 4-year-old son out in our driveway. Our driveway was 100 meters long and dipped down substantially in the middle. WE would lock the gate so no one would drive down it, and my son would go to the high point at the gate and coast down to the dip. Lying in a hot bath, I could hear my son's delighted sounds and his request to his mother to "watch me" I heard a noisy vehicle followed by several gunshots. This was followed by my son screaming in a way I had never heard before. This was followed by my wife screaming obscenities. I truly believed my son or wife had been shot. I leapt out of the bath totally naked, and ran down the driveway. They were both OK but traumatised. This person had shot across our property, and I accept that they probably did not see my wife or son. We reported it to the police, but as they said, it would be a case of his word against ours. A couple of days later, I was getting my car fixed, and I related this story to my mechanic, who was a gun enthusiast. Being a law-abiding gun owner, he was able to, with our vehicle description, give me the name of this moron. We were able to give the police a name. We later learned that his guns were unlicensed. I think his guns were confiscated (I guess until he complied) Without rigorous licensing, this problem would have had no resolution. I am not against gun ownership, but it does need to be regulated. When I learned to fly, I had to reach a level of competency and jump through regulatory hoops.

I look up if any crimes have been committed using commercial explosives (not homemade). So, whilst with the present restrictions, it is somewhat rare that it has happened (despite restrictions). I guess we don't know what would happen if explosives were freely available. Commercial or Industrial Explosives Some Australian bombings have involved explosives that originated from mining or commercial sources: The Sydney Hilton Hotel Bombing is generally believed to have involved a substantial quantity of high explosive, although the exact source and perpetrators remain disputed. The Russell Street Bombing used a large car bomb. Reports from the investigation indicated the perpetrators used commercially manufactured explosives rather than something improvised from household chemicals. Criminal groups have occasionally stolen explosives and detonators from mines, quarries, and construction operations, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s. Australia's large mining sector means that explosives such as ANFO (ammonium nitrate fuel oil), emulsions, and gelignites are used legitimately in huge quantities, but access is tightly controlled.

Yes, I get that. I wasn't necessarily having a go at onetrack, just presenting an alternative view. To believe that if explosives were easily available, there would not be occasional catastrophic events is being overly optimistic. Back in the day, fireworks were occasionally used to blow up people's letter boxes or torture cats and dogs with. I am not offering an opinion on whether fireworks should be legal or not, only that they were not banned without reason. Some may say the reason wasn't strong enough. I am glad my ex-neighbour could not buy explosives.

Generally, no, but 2 years ago the property next door to us was empty for the first 7 years that we lived here. When we bought, we did not know it was a housing department property. Eventually, the housing department moved a single woman in who, it turns out, was involved in drug dealing. The worst thing was the constant visits from drug dealers, customers, and some pretty violent people. During this time, we had a man on our property, wielding a hunting knife. We got the police to intercept him and due to laws that some might find oppressive, the knife was confiscated. A man was arrested with a homemade pistol, and due to those oppressive gun laws, he ended up in jail. A neighbour confronted an obviously high man early one morning. The man lifted his shirt to reveal a pistol in his waistband. We had someone on our roof trying to evade the police (damaged a solar panel), a police man had his car rammed by someone escaping him. We actually have some pretty dramatic doorbell camera footage. Anyway, my point is that we fought these people tenaciously and we were able to get rid of them (about a year ago). We were able to do this by using the law, no doubt laws that some would find oppressive. Now my area has returned to the peaceful, friendly place it was before these morons moved in. Without these laws, sure, we may be a freer country, but we would still be living with fear and anxiety. We had to give evidence sitting across the room from the tenant of this property, and believe me, at this point, people being able to do "what they want, when they want and where they want" does not seem like freedom to me. Laws are crafted for the worst of us. Most people are good and decent, but what do you do about the ones who are not? Here is a picture of the "knife" man. Knife strapped to his bike. Earlier, he was waving this around. We called the police and they just arrived as he was leaving the property. Whilst he was not arrested, he was searched, and the knife, being illegal, was confiscated. I do not believe that this man's rights or freedoms were violated. He was not impressed. As he returned to the property, he was yelling, "if I found out who dobbed me in ...... (We didn't quite hear the specifics of the threat.)

Here is a fairly clear example. Between 1979 and 1990, I was a musician in the RAAF. We used to travel around 30000 km a year in various RAAF aircraft, buses, and coaches. When I first joined, I would get home after travelling, and I would hang my uniform in the laundry so as not to taint the clothes in my wardrobe with the smell of cigarette smoke. I think it was sometime in the early 80s when we were being given the briefing by the loadmaster in a C130, and instead of pointing out where the ashtrays were located, he informed us that as of today, smoking was prohibited in all RAAF aircraft and vehicles. You should have seen the faces on the smokers; there was almost a mutiny. Yes, they lost a right, but with good reason. The rest of us gained a right