Early Risers.

[The Lurker]

Once years ago my then employer’s e-mail rejected an email from my sister- I didn’t have a personal email address at the time - when I spoke to her she’d responded to  a request as to what she might like for Christmas.

 

on that list had been the Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver and a novel by Dick Francis; those two in close conjunction caused it to be rejected.

[Tony_S]

59 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Such technology is of course available, at a price.

The censored word and banned site list system of the college I last worked in was editable by an administrator. The “technology” was the IT support technician who maintained the list. I returned after a holiday and found a whole list of X rated web addresses on my PC browser history. It turned out that the technician had been testing the new software. 

Edited May 5, 2023 by Tony_S
Spelling

[grandadbob]

Evenin' each,

Pleasant surprise this afternoon as the doorbell rang just after lunch and Nicki, Abbie and Joe turned up for a flying visit which actually lasted all afternoon.  So long in fact that James (Abbie's boyfriend) came as well after finishing work.

First time we've seen Joe since he got home and he seems to have grown a couple of inches, either that or I've shrunk some more.  He's glad to be back but also missing Canada ...  if that makes sense.

Pizza night here and a drop of plonk has been enjoyed with it.  Another drop to follow shortly.

No rugby to watch tonight which is annoying as there doesn't seem anything else worth viewing so I will probably listen to some music.

Cheers 🍷🍷

Edited May 5, 2023 by grandadbob

[Ozexpatriate]

6 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

The censored work and banned site list system of the college I last worked in was editable by an administrator.

I'm sure there is a editable list of forbidden words in the software used here. What is evidently missing is context-sensitive heuristics.

 

For the crummy forum I mentioned, posters would regularly publish a reverse-engineered version of the list (with character substitutions like u/v, i/!, o/0 etc) so users could anticipate the filter. Words like "circumspect" would be redacted because of word fragments within. It was really dumb.

 

"Naked" was on the list.

 

Edited May 5, 2023 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

5 hours ago, AndyID said:

Often seen on the cars of US Vietnam War veterans.

And waved prominently in a particular political event in early 2021.

 

Edited May 5, 2023 by Ozexpatriate
Date

[The White Rabbit]

A couple of jobs ago, I returned from holiday once to find that the corporate email account had been used to look at X rated material, not just 'adult' content but some under-age photos. (Not just a matter of a few months but (at least) a few years). Major conniption fit and a few words with the boys in blue followed. What particularly struck me was the general reaction of 'what's the problem?' from others. Let's just say we parted ways PDQ ... 

[Ozexpatriate]

8 hours ago, The Johnster said:

... the rate at which Europeans wiped out the populations of Central and South America with pathogens is terrifying.

The English colonies in New England only succeeded because the area had been depopulated through disease introduced by visiting Europeans over a period of time - collecting wood, water and the locals as trophies.

[zarniwhoop]

16 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

 

For all I love the natural world and the various life forms that we share the planet with, I also think we should recognise that the natural world is quite a brutal place. Chimps can be vicious to each other, ditto dolphins. I think the difference with humans is that the non-human world tends to find a stable equilibrium and a balance with resources, a complex mechanism of predators, resources and habitat. One of the most baleful consequences of human actions has been to disturb that.

I tend to agree with the late Sir pTerry that we are pan narrans (the storytelling ape - in The Science of Discworld II) and can be equally as vicious as our cousins pan troglodytes.

[polybear]

23 minutes ago, The White Rabbit said:

A couple of jobs ago, I returned from holiday once to find that the corporate email account had been used to look at X rated material, not just 'adult' content but some under-age photos. (Not just a matter of a few months but (at least) a few years). Major conniption fit and a few words with the boys in blue followed. What particularly struck me was the general reaction of 'what's the problem?' from others. Let's just say we parted ways PDQ ... 

 

Some years ago someone at the Great Empire had been working away for some months then returned to Base; not too long after hooking up the Company Laptop he'd been using off-site to the Company System he got summoned for an interview with HR....

It seems "The System" promptly hoovered up all the website info that had been accessed whilst he was away - and X-Rated ones were most definitely on the naughty list.  It was a case of "Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect £200, Go Straight To Jail"......or in this case it was straight out the door. 

 

[Dave Hunt]

17 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

 

I love monitor lizards, the first time we saw one we did a bit of a runner thinking it was a crocodile or something but for the most part they seem oblivious to humans and as long as they're not provoked they just let the human world go by them. They sometimes wander into food courts here, it's funny that reaction seems to divide almost 50:50 between terror and amusement. A lot of Singaporeans seem to spend their lives in air conditioned malls and office buildings and are oblivious to just how much wildlife there is on the island, another part enjoys going outside and seeing all the wildlife. Monitor lizards are very common, a lot of the time they just lie in the fauna and are very difficult to see even from close up.

 

Monitor lizards were regular garden visitors when we lived in Singapore. One used to go into a neighbour's kitchen and wait to see whether there were any titbits on offer but was easily shooed out.

 

Dave

[Tony_S]

My mother loved watching afternoon television where zoo visits were featured. She had  been most impressed seeing some Komodo dragons. Anyway while visiting us we said we would take her to Colchester Zoo.  I was a bit worried as it is a a hilly site and her mobility was limited. It was most amusing when I said there is a jaguar up there but I don’t think you shouid  attempt the slope.  She made it. Anyway she said she really wanted to see the Komodo dragons. I said I wasn’t sure if they had them but they did. However the ones Mum had seen were adults at I think Chester zoo. The ones at Colchester were very young. Mum looked,disappointed and said they looked bigger on the tv. I suggested it was because she had a wide screen television. 
That was one of the best days out ever with my Mum. She wasn’t the most positive of people but she, Matthew and I had a lovely day. 

Edited May 5, 2023 by Tony_S

[Ozexpatriate]

18 minutes ago, polybear said:

Some years ago someone at the Great Empire had been working away for some months then returned to Base; not too long after hooking up the Company Laptop he'd been using off-site to the Company System he got summoned for an interview with HR.

I suspect most of us working for large enough companies with extensive computer usage have similar stories. An individual in the customer support organization in the company I worked for was 'terminated immediately' (and may have been escorted from the premises under arrest*, his viewing material being not only contrary to policy but illegal).

 

* this may be an embellishment in my memory

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon/evening all from Estuary-Land. Been trying out the new shoes and slippers today. Both are very comfortable and fit snugly, the slippers very well.  The only gripe is that they both have very thick soles and feel a bit strange, the slippers feel like outdoor shoes. It does mean that they should last a lot longer than most shoes. No problems with the arthritis/sciatica but again the hay fever has given me a wunny nose.

[polybear]

Bear here.....

Following my earlier concerns regarding the colour of the lower wall sections I thought I'd test out the the offcut of architrave I painted earlier with the intended colour of all the woodwork in the H/S/L (in fact the stair stringers have already been painted - and the newel post and base rail received the first coat earlier today).

The good news is the colour of the architrave sample works well against the lower wall section 🙂; the very, very bad news is that initial thoughts suggest it's pretty cr@p against the upper wall section 😭 - whilst the architrave colour is darker than the upper wall section, the basic colours are the same  and there's not enough definition between the two.  Bluddy Rattin' Piggin' Turdycurses.  Big Time.

I've decided that I need to get the muddlin' room doorway right-hand vertical architrave section painted up and screwed in place against the wall at the top of the stairs so I can see what the full effect is - I also need to fit a lamp shade to the ceiling light at the top of the stairs as I suspect that lighting is playing a very large part in the problem.  If the worst happens it could mean having to repaint the upper wall sections - Landing (easy), Hallway (easy) and Stairs (Wall of Doom.....).

Yep, Rant.

Bear's is off to sulk quietly now....

Edited May 5, 2023 by polybear

[Ozexpatriate]

29 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

The only gripe is that they both have very thick soles and feel a bit strange, the slippers feel like outdoor shoes.

This appears to be quite common. Helpful for taking rubbish out to the wheelie bin without changing shoes - but not for tracking dirt back in afterwards. There is a whole category of camp shoes/slippers with waterproof soles - intended as comfortable shoes while at the campsite - rather than hiking boots.

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[monkeysarefun]

4 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

This appears to be quite common. Helpful for taking rubbish out to the wheelie bin without changing shoes - but not for tracking dirt back in afterwards. There is a whole category of camp shoes/slippers with waterproof soles - intended as comfortable shoes while at the campsite - rather than hiking boots.

Thats what Ugg boots were designed for. Wear them from the bedside, down the street, the opera and everything else. Then Hollywood celebs or someone discovered them while they were here, made them   trendy  in  the US  who bought the company and tried to copyright the name*  by hitting local companies here with legal action if they called their products Ugg boots. The locals won out.

 

(*See also Kylie Jenner who tried to copyright the name "Kylie",  the slack  mole  had no idea there was an infinitely more famous and talented one already out there who'd been plying her Kylie-ness for at least the last 30 years ! She got here ar5e served to her too) 

 

 

\\

Edited May 6, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[monkeysarefun]

3 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Monitor lizards were regular garden visitors when we lived in Singapore. One used to go into a neighbour's kitchen and wait to see whether there were any titbits on offer but was easily shooed out.

 

Dave

 

 

Had a Goanna here for a while that used to startle me when I'd turn the corner of the path to my shed by leaping from the ground in front of me and rushing up the gum tree. I was never quick enough to get a picture of him, the best I ever managed was his tail, as he vanished through a fork. He'd be about 4 -  5 ft long nose to tip.

 

Bushie law says that when scared they run up the nearest tall thing which in the scrub is often you!

 

Edited May 5, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[TheSignalEngineer]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Some years ago someone at the Great Empire had been working away for some months then returned to Base; not too long after hooking up the Company Laptop he'd been using off-site to the Company System he got summoned for an interview with HR....

It seems "The System" promptly hoovered up all the website info that had been accessed whilst he was away - and X-Rated ones were most definitely on the naughty list.  It was a case of "Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect £200, Go Straight To Jail"......or in this case it was straight out the door. 

 

We had to do an instant dismissal of one of the IT staff for viewing stuff venturing into the illegal category. It turned out that he had been using to login of a member of staff who was on long-term sick leave. There were plenty of controls which stopped you from using certain types of sites and he had disabled all of them on that account.

[The Lurker]

9 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

Ugg boots 

 

\\

Or as Sister in law calls them “Slag Wellies”.

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[monkeysarefun]

8 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I'm sure there is a editable list of forbidden words in the software used here. What is evidently missing is context-sensitive heuristics.

 

For the crummy forum I mentioned, posters would regularly publish a reverse-engineered version of the list (with character substitutions like u/v, i/!, o/0 etc) so users could anticipate the filter. Words like "circumspect" would be redacted because of word fragments within. It was really dumb.

 

"Naked" was on the list.

 

Once again the advantage of being Australian shines like a beacon.

 

We can use our rude words on this forum and elsewhere with impunity because we live in an alternative universe rich in colloquialisms as unique to us as our native fauna,  flora and muscle cars. 

 

Root!  Mole!!  Donga!!!

 

Hmm  actually I can't think of any more off the top of my head but there would be heaps more  I reckon... Oh yeah:

 

Rooting!   Dead-set mole!!   Massive donga!!!

 

There.

Edited May 6, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[The Johnster]

2 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

Bushie law says that when scared they run up the nearest tall thing which in the scrub is often you!

Treecreepers, small brown birds that love on small things living in tree bark, do this as well.  They climb trees then work their way down the trunk in a spiral, picking out grubs and other small creepies as they go.  Then, when they get to the bottom, they have to start again on another tree, having cleaned the first one out.  
 

But, in order to find the little beasties they eat, their eyes focus on the bark only an inch or so away, and beyond that distance they’re pretty myopic.  If you see one working its way down a trunk (they are well camouflaged and difficult to spot unless they are in profile), stand around nearby and wait, and when it’s finishes it’ll start to climb you, under the impression that are a tree, or at least an Ent!  They don’t seem too be bothered much when you pick them off and gently place them at the foot of the next tree. 
 

 

[jjb1970]

Something to be aware of is that monitor lizards are capable of great speed and can accelerate very quickly with no warning when they want to. They are generally very docile and slow moving and as long as you don't provoke them they are benign but they have great strength and speed, so it's best not to provoke or threaten them.  Even though they're wild the ones in Singapore are used to humans and co-habiting with us so aren't fazed by close proximity to people but probably best to show them a bit of respect. I see loads of them walking around (a good tip in the tropics is to pay attention to the ground ahead of you walking, as well as things like geckos, iguanas and monitor lizards there are a lot of snakes and large arachnids etc) and have never felt threatened but I do try and maintain a good distance unless I miss one in the undergrowth and realise I am right next to them. As with most other wildlife, they probably have much more cause to fear humans than humans have to fear them.

 

Another species which live in the wild here are otters. When wild otters returned to Singapore they were celebrities and people went a bit nuts about them, probably because they are cute and entertaining. However there have been a few cases of otter rage, that seems to be more because people get too close or fail to use common sense than otters going rogue. Wild animals are just that, wild, they're not domesticated pets or farm animals. And although it might seem slightly comical a family of angry otters can be quite frightening. 

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

Thats what Ugg boots were designed for.

Nah mate. Uggies were for the cool young blokes to wear to the Ekka* with jeans, a pack of smokes up their white tee shirt sleeve and a denim jacket with the sleeves ripped off. (This was a 70s thing - thanks to Happy Days  on television and Grease, there was a weird 50s retro trend at the time.)

 

* The Royal National Association Exhibition (I don't know what the state fair equivalent is in the UK, other than it would involve sheep dog trials) held in chilly** August in Brisbane. They were too hot to wear at any other time.

 

** Pretty much the only time it gets cold(ish) in Brisbane, at night with a westerly wind blowing off the Granite Belt out west.

 

The skegs would also wear them to warm up their feet after surfing.

 

Edited May 6, 2023 by Ozexpatriate