Snoskred Lives

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Death To Internet Explorer 6

11 Comments Posted on by Snoskred

Ladies & Gentlemen. Please listen carefully. What I am about to say is so important I feel that I want to type it in caps. Rather than inflict caps lock on you, I’m going to trust that you are paying attention.

Internet Explorer version 6 and below does not render CSS properly.

Therefore instead of the navigation bar on my blog looking the way it is supposed to look – which is like this –

Navigation Bar

It looks like this –

Navigation Bar in Internet Explorer 6.

I don’t have to tell you that clearly something is very wrong with Internet Explorer 6 and below because the picture clearly tells the story. I could fix it so that it looks ok in Internet Explorer 6, but you know something? Why should we web designers have to do a lot of work to fix something that isn’t our fault, but is the fault of a defective browser?

My website looks exactly how it is supposed to look in every other browser except for Internet Explorer 6 and below. I know this because I have tested it.  You can test yours at Browsershots.

And you know what else? People using Internet Explorer 6 or below?

You should upgrade. NOW.

Drop what you’re doing and click on this link to upgrade your defective web browser!

Alternatively, you should switch to Mozilla Firefox which actually works properly – and always has done. You won’t believe how different the internet looks when you see it the way web designers intended. Firefox even does automatic upgrades these days, so you will never ever have to worry about downloading another upgrade yourself again – it will tell you it needs to upgrade, and you just click yes. It does not get any easier.

This topic annoys me so much it makes me want to swear. You see how I restrained myself from saying lots of rude words? I’m not sure how much longer I can keep doing that, so upgrade today. ;)

internet

Snoskred Shops @ The Comedy Channel (2)

11 Comments Posted on by Snoskred

Those of you in Australia with pay tv, have you ever taken a moment to watch TVSN? It is easily one of the funniest things I have ever seen just lately. My Mum and I were watching one afternoon when they were selling manchester sets and both of us ended up crying with laughter. At the same time, I have huge respect for these people who are doing this for a living – can you imagine sitting in a studio trying to find things to say about products all day long?

We had been eyeing off the Lock and Lock stuff for a little while – I am so sick of all my plastic food containers that let food get stale. I was lucky enough to be given a few Lock and Lock containers a while back and they work beautifully. Over Christmas TVSN was having a sale and they had the 26 piece set for $99.50 with $0 postage and handling and with an extra 6 pieces for about $20 more, so on Christmas Day Mum and I logged on and bought them. Yesterday they finally arrived – mail in Australia has been a bit haywire over Christmas. Look at all my beautiful containers!

Lock and Lock

Now, to run these through the dishwasher, and then chuck out all the old ones and get organised! ;)

shopping, television shows

Christmas Sucks.

9 Comments Posted on by Snoskred

I’m not a big fan of Christmas. I think if you ask anyone who worked in a retail store for a number of years during Christmas they’d say something quite similar. Many people think Christmas is a great time for retailers but most retailers despise it. With a passion.

And my Christmas is made even more fun by the lack of enthusiasm in general by my Mother, my Father and The Other Half. All of whom are working in retail, and who get two days off from the extended Christmas shopping hours chaos before diving back into the extended shopping hours chaos that is after Christmas sales which leaves them all cranky – and makes me cranky by extension. They’re lucky to get two days off – most people in retail get Christmas Day only.

If we’d been in Adelaide, we’d have gone to my Uncle’s place for Christmas. He truly gets into the spirit of the day. I believe my Uncle may be one of the first metrosexuals of his generation. That is saying something because he is over 60. He was once a hairdresser, and then he was a chef. He is the most amazing cook but you never get boring and expected from my Uncle.

Food –

Christmas Lunch has been many things during the years I have been going to his place for Christmas – curries, Nasi Goreng, fiery casseroles, generally scary food which makes you fear for your bowels. You rarely see any kind of roast. If there is seafood it will be unusually presented – never your prawn cocktail with thousand island dressing, you’d get a prawn and mango salad with an amazing unpronounceable dressing that tasted like nothing you ever imagined possible.

Decoration –

There would always be a tree, the table would be beautifully set in a style to shame Martha Whatshername, Christmas Crackers on the table, the works. Sometimes there would be a surprise visit from Santa (my Uncle in a santa suit) for the young kids. There would always be a present for everyone and spare presents because they never knew who might come to Christmas Day as a surprise.

Atmosphere –

Carols by the old time greats like Dean Martin and Bing Crosby – and as the day goes on some of the more scary Christmas CD’s in my Uncle’s collection would find their way to the CD player. If I felt like I would like to break that Mariah Carey one in half, it was a sign to look for more alcohol. That was ok because I never drove there and there was always a designated driver to drive us home. Lots of people, many of whom I barely knew and only ever saw on Christmas Day. Happiness overall because nobody argues in our family these days.

As The Years Went By –

When my parents moved we got into the habit of travelling to see them at Christmas. So much so that now I don’t feel like it is Christmas because we haven’t packed up the car, put the cats in to boarding, and traveled 1600kms across the country. Christmas would be celebrated more because we had driven so far, and my nephews were usually there.

Now –

I feel homesick for some sign of Christmas.  I miss the extended family gatherings. It is a time of year I could happily skip entirely. And there’s my whinge. Now I’ll build the bridge, because it is mostly over.

Christmas, family

An Unexpected Christmas Detour..

7 Comments Posted on by Snoskred

Last Sunday we went shopping with my parents. This is quite a rare event in many ways because usually we go with my Mum, but this time my Dad decided he would like to go along. Unknown to us at the time, he had quite a plan for us. We live about an hour’s drive from the major shopping centres so an expedition like this is usually quite a long day out.

Dad had been driving back from Sydney earlier that week and he had spotted a sign at Albion Park – Christmas Warehouse, 50% off. He wanted to buy new Christmas decorations for his shop, because the old owner had taken his decorations with him when he left, and he wasn’t happy with the decorations which had been purchased to replace them.

When it comes to Christmas decorations, my Dad had high expectations. There are people who make Christmas decorations for commercial shops for a living, ya’all. And those decorations don’t come cheap. At the previous store my Dad owned, he had paid $1,000 for two decorations that hung from the ceiling. They were pine garlands with Christmas lights wound through them and a wreath in the middle and they looked stunning. Unfortunately they were still at the old store.

So my Dad had this idea in his head which he did not choose to share with us. The idea was that we could make our own versions of these things. When we got to Albion Park, we found ourselves parked in the carpark of the Christmas warehouse as a surprise. Thinking it was just to have a look – and secretly thinking that my Dad had secretly been wanting to put Christmas lights all over his house for a good couple of years now and that he wanted to buy a bunch of lights – we went inside.

What you need to know about me is that I LOVE sparkly things, I love Christmas lights, I love tinsel, I love decorations. Walking into this warehouse was wonderful for me. Most of the warehouse was very dark to enable the lights to show off. I went all deer in the headlights wow look at all the lights and sparkly things. It is like disconnecting a circuit in my brain so the only thing I can think is wow.. pretty!

The four of us went our separate ways, me to look at the pretty lights up close, my Dad to look at the pine garlands, The Other Half to look at the moving reindeers, and my Mum to look at the Christmas trees. By the time The Other Half found me I had a set of Christmas lights in my hands, the ones I had been wanting since I had seen them in Kmart *last* year. These were actually cheaper than I had seen them anywhere else.

When we managed to find each other again, my Dad chose to inform us of our looming date with decorations. My Mum did what she always does, which is look for the negative. “It’s a fire risk to have lights in those pine garland things”. Dad got annoyed and went outside for a cigarette while The Other Half explained to Mum that the lights they were looking at were LED’s and they did not create any heat, so there was no fire risk. She went out to speak to Dad and give her permission for the decorating to go ahead while we bought my Christmas lights.

We went out to put my lights in the car, and then Dad explained his vision which I completely got – the other two did not quite understand it. Then we went back in and the shopping was ON, ya’all. Four 2.7 metre long pine garlands. Two pine wreaths. 80 large Christmas baubles. 30 small Christmas baubles. 5 sets of LED lights. We lined up in the now very long queue with arms full.

After about 10 minutes, we noticed that the line did not seem to be moving anymore. The Other Half went to investigate. It seemed their computers and their EFTpos was down and all of a sudden the store was going cash only. We pooled our money and tried to work out how much cash we needed. When we added up the LED lights alone we didn’t have enough cash on us to pay for them, let alone all the other stuff. So we waited, while the staff ran around like headless chooks and the manager was on the phone to their help desk.

The queue was growing by the minute. Nobody was telling the customers what was going on. Another 20 minutes went by. I said “Let’s get them to scan all the stuff, we can find out how much cash we need, and then bring it back on our way home.”

So we spoke to one of the staff members and the first thing he said in response to our question was “I don’t have anywhere to store what you have. You can put it all down over there but I can’t guarantee it will be there when you get back”. When he said this, he was standing in front of a large curtained off area that ran the entire length of the warehouse where he could easily have put all the stuff we wanted. We pointed this out. “Oh, I can’t put stuff back there.” Why not, we asked? “I just can’t.”

Ok, on to the next solution. The Other Half and I would stay there with the stuff, while my parents went to get the cash. This was much more acceptable to the staff member and he agreed to scan our stuff. It added up to $390. The staff member “parked” the sale and gave us the docket. We took our stuff over to the other side of the warehouse away from the queue. This was a big mistake for several reasons but at the time we didn’t know it.

We put our stuff neatly down out of everyone’s way, and began waiting for my parents to come back. I said to the other half “If I had to get stuck somewhere I’m glad it was here, it’s so pretty”. By now, the queue was enormous and people in the front of the queue had begun to give up, taking their items back. That meant people at the back of the queue thought the line was moving.

One of the staff members decided to put signs up on the tills “Cash Only” – of course this did not help those at the end of the queue who could not see the signs. The majority of the people in the queue had no idea what was going on, and they did not know they couldn’t pay with plastic. By this time we had been in the store for almost 50 minutes and many of the people in the queue had been waiting at least 30 minutes.

The same staff member then decided to put a sign on the door “Eftpos is down, cash only”. She stuck the sign at the top with sticky tape. The moment she walked away, the wind blew the sign up so that nobody could read it.

My parents returned, and we got back in the queue, this time at the end because if we’d pushed in we would have been beaten to a pulp. We should have stayed where we were in the queue! One of the staff members decided to tell the *end* of the queue that it was cash only. She neglected to tell the *front* of the queue. When she got to us we told her we had a sale parked in the system and all we needed to do was hand the cash over. Instead of taking us to the counter so we could pay, she looked blankly at us and then walked away. I could have throttled her.

Then the lack of communication chickens really came home to roost for the staff. One of the people who had been in the front of the queue finally got to the checkout and tried to pay with a card. The guy said “It’s cash only”. She said “I’ve been waiting in that queue for over half an hour, and NOW you tell me it is cash only? Forget it.” She began to walk off and the staff member tried to ask her to put the things back. She gave him a look that would have killed him on the spot, if looks could kill, and walked away leaving the items right where they were. In fact she looked like she was considering picking the items up and throwing them AT him.

The staff decided enough was enough and chose to close the doors half way. They put the girl who had stuck up the sign in the doorway to let people out and keep new people from coming in. However she soon moved out of the doorway and was letting just as many people in, not explaining to them what was going on.

We finally got to the checkout and paid for our items. I asked the guy to give me the plastic bags so we could put them in ourselves, to save everyone time. We loaded up our stuff and got the heck out of there. It had taken us an hour and 20 minutes from when we lined up in the queue. Much of our precious shopping time was now gone. We ended up shopping like crazy people until it was time to go home, hitting two of the major shopping centres – and then JB Hifi!

By the time we got home we were all exhausted but we had already agreed to put these decorations together. It took us two hours. The first and worst job was the pine garlands – you know when you unpack your fake tree and you have to pull all the branches out to make it look real? We had to pull the branches out on the almost 12 metres of pine garland.

We wanted these to last for years, so we decided to stick the baubles to the garlands with wire. We had found the perfect stuff in the gardening section. I was cutting sections of wire while Mum was feeding them through the baubles and then attaching the wire to the baubles by twisting it. We divided the baubles evenly so each garland would have the same amount. While this was going on, the men were threading the LED lights through the garland. That part on its own looked fantastic. Click the pics for a larger view.
Christmas Decorations
The end result turned out to be quite stunning even if I do say so myself. The only thing I would change is to make the wreath bigger but that was the largest ones they had there. It was worth all the time and effort we put in. And there’s still one extra set of LED lights left that we didn’t use, which I am sure Dad will choose to install on his own house somewhere.
Christmas Decorations

Christmas, shopping

Meet The New Boss

7 Comments Posted on by Snoskred

Kevin Rudd

Same As The Old Boss

John Howard

But With Slightly More Hair

The Snoskred mood this morning is decidedly worried. Kevin Rudd is the new prime minister. I have nothing against him, but his party are well known to be terrible at managing money. I’m aghast at the $4.7 billion or so that will be spent on supposedly improving broadband in this country but according to those in the know on Whirlpool will actually change nothing unless Telstra cooperate – and if Telstra choose not to, this policy could cost around 20 billion dollars to implement.. That’s a lot of money to waste. 4.7 billion – or 20 billion – could do a lot of things for a lot of people. Wasting it on broadband seems like a terrible idea.

Fibre to the node is also pretty much useless, because once you get to the node there has to be fibre from the node in order for people to benefit from the speeds. Laying fibre from the node in a country as huge as ours will cost a lot more than any private company is prepared to stump up. Not only that but the international links need to be upgraded as well. So in essence it is a policy which will cost a lot of money and have very little effect.

Clearly a lot of people felt it was time for a change after John Howard had been prime minister for so long. I just hope we all don’t live to regret it. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

elections

An Ode To Antony

6 Comments Posted on by Snoskred

Antony Green

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more brainy and more accurate:
Rough winds do shake the country,
And election night hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the studio light shines,
And often is his laptop power dimm’d;

Dinner is ready to go in the oven.
The cheesecake is in the fridge.
I await my evening of Antony.

Once every four years is not enough.
Who knows what the night will bring?

Whatever it is, Antony will
keep me informed
with his laptop and his pie charts and his
analyst ways.

And then, almost like a dream
he will be gone *sob*
and the election will
be over.

Then the waiting will begin again
another four years
or two or thereabouts, if you are lucky
and he covers your state election.

But wait! What light through yonder Internet breaks?
He has a blog!

(Updated with correct blog link and edited 21/05/2022 to add) – Thanks Antony for all your many years of excellent election reporting. :) You must know how much we all respect you but do you know how much we all love you? There are no numbers that add up to that amount.

Aussie Culture, elections, Men I Love To Watch, politics

Please Excuse Me. I Must Bitch. Cheese With Whine Here.

16 Comments Posted on by Snoskred

Today seems to be Day 109 of the evil flu from hell, though I know it cannot truly be that long. Time is passing so slowly in this unwell state of being. The little things are beginning to irritate. This is going to be a rare negative post. Normally I try to keep the positive on here at the blog.

Bear with me. I support ya’all when ya’all snark it up from time to time, so support me in my snarkiness. ;) And then at the end I talk about politics, which ensures this will be a post everyone will hate.

Houston, We Have Neighbours.

Actually we got neighbours a while ago, I just never mentioned it here on the blog. They are not at all what I hoped for. I had hoped for people who might be friendly, people who might say hello, perhaps people we could become friends with.

What we got is elephant feet. These people STOMP around like elephants. Unfortunately because all the units must be sitting on the same concrete base? It sounds like they are walking right down my hallway. It is freaking me out. It is like having ghosts or something. I don’t even know how anyone could stomp around like that all day – it must be bad for their joints. Can anyone say hip replacement in later life?

I’ll be sitting here writing, the STOMP begins, and I turn around expecting to see.. I don’t know.. maybe a catwalk model doing a fierce walk, or some burly security guard – or even the other half arriving home. Then I remember what the noise is. They’ve been here for about a month now and I still haven’t got used to the STOMP. As yet I have been very good. I have not STOMPed back. But after this week I am tempted. Maybe I need to STOMP so they can realise how noisy it is?

We saw them in their driveway when we arrived home last week. The Other Half went out to get the mail. No hello. :(

Paid Post Insanity

I’ve been having some trouble with a few blogs in my Google Reader. It’s like this. I subscribe to what seems to be a rational, friendly, excellent blog written by an interesting blogger. Then they get accepted into Pay Per Post and suddenly go from posting once per day (or 2-3 times a week) to posting 5-10 times a day. The quality of posts goes from wow, I really enjoyed that post to cringe worthy stuff. I try to keep up. I try to tolerate it.

I write to the blogger and let them know I am feeling overwhelmed. Most other people would just unsubscribe but I try to let them know what they are doing can drive off their readership. Unfortunately most still keep posting insane amounts of posts, even after that. ;( I don’t get that. If you drive off the readers your alexa ranks go down which means you can’t keep being paid. So you might be raking in the cash right now but later you’ll be left without readers and without income.

Don’t get me wrong, I support a bloggers right to be paid for their posts. But I believe more than 3 posts in one day is too many. If you’re hitting me with more than that, don’t expect to keep me as a reader much longer. I’m sorry. I just can’t keep up and the content quality isn’t good enough to make me desperately want to, either. And I’m a fast reader!

The Australian Elections

Oh, someone stab me in the forehead with a fork already. There is nothing I dislike more than a blogger who seems to believe that one political party is better than another one, that their candidate for PM will change the world, make lives better, and fix all the pain in the world simply by getting elected. Good, reasonable bloggers that I usually love reading have apparently lost their minds in the midst of apparent hysteria that their chosen messiah KRudd might be elected.

They have forgotten that 90% of the voters turn up at the polls and think “Am I all right?” If yes they vote to keep the government. If no, they vote for a change. They don’t care about war, poverty, green issues, or the ugliness of one leader VS the other. They are selfish. They care about themselves. Issues, schmissues. Polls, Schmolls. They have a right to be that way, and they each get a vote to do with what they want. That is the reality of elections where everyone is FORCED to vote. These people would not bother to turn up on polling day if voting were optional.

So bloggers, please note. Nothing makes a reader cringe more than someone saying things similar to “Labor is guaranteed to win” “KRudd is our next PM” etc. This assumes facts not yet in evidence. And if it turns out to be wrong, you’ll hate yourself for having said it. It’s like you’re putting a jinx on. If you want Labor to win you don’t want to be putting the jinx on.

A Positive Note

There is only one good thing about elections. There is only one man I would ever consider a God of Politics and a politician he ain’t. I’d vote for him though. I look forward to election night and spending the evening with him. I’ve seen him on TV a few times already and he has me all excited. Antony Green is an intelligent man who can make an election downright sexy. I wish you had such a man in the USA, my American friends. Do you?

I wish the one we have in Australia would sit down to have some decent glamour shots taken of himself because I can’t find a blog worthy photo. I’ll try and get some screenshots on Election Night. This time two weeks from now I will be preparing myself for the evening of such incredible televisual delights from the ABC election coverage that one gets to experience once every four years on Federal Election Night. Fellow fans of Antony Green will agree – we do not hold elections often enough!

Aussie Culture, bitches, politics, potential disaster

Snoskred Meets Edmund Skewerhands.

12 Comments Posted on by Snoskred

Floating quietly at the top of Snoskred’s bedroom sits Edmund Skewerhands. In his lap sits a small faceless, featureless doll. When all is peaceful, quiet, The Other Half and the two kitties sleep soundly, one on the bed, one right next to the heater which is right next to Snoskred and turned on to the highest setting. The kitties are happy. This is the first time the heater has been on since moving into the new home. They hope it will stay turned on all through the time they live here.

Edmund looks down at the scene of peace and grins. Both kitties growl in their sleep. They can sense his presence. If they could see him they would snarl and hiss. Edmund extends one metal, skewerlike finger and prods the doll with it gently. Over the past few days he has found that to awaken Snoskred slightly gets the best reaction. Snoskred stirs in her sleep.

Edmund plunges his metal skewer into the doll, just above the right knee. Snoskred yells “OW” and grabs her leg, rolling in pain. The kitties scatter, running for cover. One time Snoskred actually rolled right out of bed, almost landing on the little kitty. The Other Half opens one eye and knows there is nothing he can do. Within five minutes, everyone is back in their place and back asleep. Only Edmund is awake, still grinning, waiting for peace to descend again – so he can shatter it.

dreams

All About Skype – Tech Tuesday

7 Comments Posted on by Snoskred

Sephy’s post today tells you about how to install Skype – I’m going to talk about what you might want to use it for. Skype is brilliant and there is so much you can do with it, I highly recommend it – and here’s why.

Free Stuff –

I’m going to divide this post into things you can do for free – there is a lot of those – and things you have to pay for.

Text Chats – One On One –

You can chat via text to one other person using skype, 24/7, for free.

Text Chats – With A Group –

You can create a group chat, which can have up to 100 participants. So basically I could start a group chat, and then add anyone I had as a contact on my skype list. Group chats can go on 24/7 for the foreseeable future. When you go offline, all the messages you miss arrive as a surprise when you log back in the next time.

We used group chats a lot in the early days of scam victim support and it was wonderful – there was always someone else around who could help you if you needed assistance. This is a brilliant feature. It might not be so handy for bloggers, because our blogs are how we keep in touch. However it could be great for people who are a bit lonely and want to chat to someone.

Other Features –

Send Files To Your Contacts –

Sephy and I use this all the time to send photos – spreadsheets – text files – virtually any kind of file can be sent via Skype.

Send Contacts To Other Contacts –

Say that one of you got skype and added me as your first contact. With a few mouse clicks I can send you other contacts from my list of contacts – thus expanding your contact list.

Play Games –

I’ve never used this feature but apparently it is great fun. They have 18 different games to choose from like Chess, Hangman, Tic-tac-toe and Sudoku.

But Wait, There’s More!

With every update more and more features are added. I have only scratched the surface of what you can do – they now have call centre software (great for scammers who want to call me!), team collaboration additions where you can have a whiteboard everyone can write on, the ability to work on documents together, translation abilities, there’s even the ability to add a “lie detector” – though I’m not sure how well it works, I’ve never used it. All of that is 100% free.

Calls –

Call Another Computer Using Skype –

I am in Australia. Sephy is in the USA. If we were calling via normal phone lines we would rarely talk via voice to each other due to the cost. However because we both have Skype, we can call each other anytime for free. Anyone reading this who put Skype onto their computer – you would also be able to call us, and we could call you, for free.

Free Video Calls To Other Computers –

I don’t do this myself, but if you have a webcam you can make free video calls to other Skype users. This is fantastic for families when one parent goes on holidays and wants to keep in touch, for families who have divorced and the kids want to speak face to face to the other parent no matter how far away they are, for long distance relationships, for those of us who have overseas family, there’s so many things this is great for. It’s not just for perverts and slightly creepy people. ;)

Call 1-800 Numbers in the USA –

You can call 1-800, 1-877, 1-866, 1-855 numbers in the USA and Canada 100% for free – from anywhere in the world, anytime. You do not need to have any call credits with Skype to do this. You can download the program and start making free calls right now.

Call toll free Numbers In These Countries –

You can call toll free numbers in Australia, Austria, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, UK and Taiwan as well – absolutely free. Again you don’t need to have any call credits.

Conference Calls –

This is one of the best features of Skype. You can have up to 5 people on a conference call at once – sometimes up to 9 if you have the right kind of computer. It takes a little getting used to when you’re talking with 4 other people but once you get the hang of it this is fantastic.

Join Skypecasts –

This is a new area for me, I’ve never used it. Skypecasts are basically public chats – a few I spotted were language exchange where you can chat and make friends with people wherever they are, a maths tutor skypecast, a lunch time music concert, an alcoholics anonymous skypecast – and if you want to create one all of your own, you can do that for free.

Pay Stuff –

Call Home Phones And Mobiles From Your Computer –

The prices for calls are all available here – they are not too bad for the majority of countries. Especially considering what you would normally pay for long distance calls.

The HUGE advantage of Skype is – your call cannot be traced. The way the Voice Over Internet Protocol works is your call is sent to the nearest “out” point in that country. If someone you are calling sees any number (unlikely, we scambaiters have tested this pretty thoroughly), it would be the number of the out point. They would never know you aren’t using a real phone. Well, maybe some people won’t think that is an advantage but we scambaiters sure loved it. ;)

Conference Calls –

Remember the free conference call option? You can combine that with one or more outgoing calls. We’ve used this a LOT with scambaiting – one of the most fun things is to call two scammers and then let them speak to each other – a fun game of “who is on de line” “hello” “why did you call me” “I didn’t call you, you called me” is generally the result. We have also called scammers with four scambaiters on the line and each played various characters during the call.

You might use it to conference family members who have skype with family members who do not, or friends who are overseas and have skype with friends who are close to you without skype.

Skype-In –

You can get a telephone number for people to call you on your computer. Again the benefits of this can be huge. People don’t know where you are in the world. You can choose a number in – Australia, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States. You get voicemail free with Skype In.

The price of Skype In seems to have gone up since I last bought mine. It’s now 15 euro for 3 months, or 50 euro for 12 months. However if you have relatives or friends in any of those countries above you can get a telephone number where it would be a local call for them to ring you. That is brilliant.

Skype Pro

This is a new option – a low monthly fee for quite a lot of features but they vary per country. Check your country here

You’re In Control

The way payment works is you choose to add credit in small chunks. If you run out of credit it is your choice whether or not to add more. You can pay with Paypal, Mastercard, Visa, Diners, Moneybookers or you can choose a regular bank transfer option if you want to purchase credit regularly. I have used Skype for over two years now – it has always been safe and secure.

If You Want It Now..

Read Sephy’s post for info on how to download Skype, install Skype, and use Skype – Skype – A phenomenal tool for communication. For more information on Skype, you can visit their homepage.

internet, tuesday think tank

Humans Let Us All Waste Water.

31 Comments Posted on by Snoskred

This might be the most important blog post I will ever write here on the blog. I ask everyone to link to it, stumble it, digg it, do anything you can to get this post in front of people – the more people who read it, the more likely they will throw out their old – and NEW – top load washing machines which are wasting an incredible amount of water – and hopefully some of those people will begin to pester their political candidates about outlawing these machines entirely.

The Truth Hurts –

I’m sure people who own top load washing machines will be upset when they read this. Don’t blame yourself – you were not educated properly – you did not know most of what I am about to tell you. I’m sorry that you bought a top load machine. I’m sorry that it is *legal* for you to buy a top load machine. It should not be, and I’m about to tell you why.

Many Salespeople Take The Route Of Least Resistance

I’ve mentioned before that I worked in sales for a long time. Over the years I would have sold over a hundred thousand washing machines at least. As the years went by the percentage of machines which were front load became higher and higher – yet there were still people who wanted to buy top load washing machines. A lot of salespeople would simply ask “what kind of machine do you want” and if top load was the answer they never mentioned anything about front loaders.

But Not Me –

I never took the easy road on this topic because it did not sit well with my conscience – I always pointed out the following –

  • Top load washing machines use 2-3 times the water a front loader uses.
  • We’re not talking a small difference – the average top load uses 150-200 litres of water per wash. A front load uses between 40-80 litres of water.
  • Front Load washers are less harsh on your clothes.
  • Front Load washers clean your clothes better.
  • Front Load washers use less detergent – and there are models on the market where you DO NOT NEED to use detergent AT ALL, though you rarely get that information given to you.
  • Top Loader manufacturers do some tricky things to make their machines seem to be using less water than it truly does.

And yet after all that some people still wanted to purchase a brand new top load washing machine which would sit in their home wasting water for the next 2-20 years. Is it any wonder we have a water problem here in this country?

This Allergy May Come To You As A Surprise –

If you have a family member who is allergic to “detergent” and you’re washing with a top load? Chances are they’re not allergic to detergent at all. They’re probably allergic to the dust, dirt, pollen and various other particles which are trapped within the fibres of your clothes. They’re getting a rash because their clothes are not clean – even though they *look* clean to the human eye.

How Top Loads Wash –

Your top load machine takes your clothes and “agitates” them around, trying to get the dirt out of the clothes. Once it has done this, it drains the water – complete with dirt and detergent – back through your clothes, essentially using your clothes as a filter. All the dirt and detergent ends up back in your clothes. It then fills up for another rinse – and then does the exact same thing. All that machine does is move dirt and detergent around, breaking the dirt up to make it smaller so you can’t see it. You are essentially wearing filth. How do you like them apples?

The “Eco” Option –

Some top load machines now offer an “eco” option. The eco option usually means that once the wash water is spun out, it keeps the bowl spinning holding the clothes against the side of the bowl while spraying water onto the clothes from the inside. The theory of this is the water then gets pushed through the clothes due to the spinning action and rinsing out the dirt and detergent.

Of course this theory may fail if you have items of clothing that don’t allow the water to flow through – clothes stuck behind those articles would not be rinsed at all. This option uses 1/3 of the water normally used to rinse the clothes. I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether this option is something you would want to use – it is not very realistic to expect consumers to use it if their clothes don’t come out clean.

Excuses, Excuses..

Some of the excuses people give for not buying a front load are simply laughable. People say things like –

It’s More Bending For Me And My Back Can’t Take It

Actually, it is LESS bending if you purchase a stand for the machine to sit on. If you place the machine on a cupboard (usually around $199-350 from most electrical retailers) you can stand straight, put your clothes basket below the opening and simply pull the clothes out, letting them fall into the basket.

Alternatively, you can do what I did almost for free, put a fluffy rug on the floor and get down on your knees to pull the washing out. Your back will be perfectly straight. The only thing bending in both the examples I just gave will be your arm as you pull the clothes out.

To get things out of your top load you have to reach down into it, which is a different kind of bending all together. You then have to lift wet, heavy items up, out, and into the washing basket. Ask your chiropractor how good that is for your back!

A Top Loader Is What I’m Used To –

Battered wives are used to abuse. Does that mean they should continue to take it? You have a responsibility as a resident of this country – and a resident of this earth – to do everything you can to reduce your water use. To waste water because you are “used” to a top load is a poor excuse, no?

Will you be used to water restrictions? Will you be used to not being able to water your lawn and having to rip it up and replace it with paving? Will you be used to dead plants on your patio? Will you be used to brown golf courses, football ovals and parklands because nobody can afford to water them? Will you be used to empty dams? Will you be used to paying higher prices for water – and everything that needs water like crops, meat, fish, wood and the list goes on – in years to come? All of those are direct results of your reluctance to change.

I’ve Heard Bad Things About Front Loaders –

I’ve heard bad things about the drought. I’ve heard of the heartache it is causing farmers to have to go out and shoot their livestock. I’ve heard about crops lost due to not being able to water them. I’ve heard about increased salinity in our vital rivers. I’ve heard farmers want to increase the price of milk because it is more expensive to feed their livestock due to drought affected crops. I’ve seen the Murray River with my own eyes. I’ve seen dams at half their capacity.

Yes, when front loaders first arrived in this country over 20 years ago we got Europe’s off casts. They were not the best of machines – yet many of them still lasted 20 years or more. The machines today are a huge improvement. Don’t let an offhand comment at a dinner party years ago influence your decision *today*.

I Can’t Understand The Cycles –

That’s why manufacturers invented instruction books. Did you know my other half can tell me exactly how many rinses there are in each cycle of our machine? He read the book. He always reads the book. Everything you may ever want to know about your machine is inside the book. If you can’t read, ask someone to read it to you.

I’ve Heard About Over-Sudsing –

Front load washing machines do not need much detergent. Of course precisely because nobody reads the book, people just throw exactly how much powder they are used to into the machine. Strangely, this causes a SHEDLOAD of suds to appear! It is easily fixed – use less detergent in a front load machine. I use about a teaspoon of detergent, that’s all that is needed. But detergent manufacturers will tell you otherwise.. hmm, could it be they want you to buy more detergent?

If you’ve bought yourself a Miele front loader, don’t bother with detergent at all. Where you would put detergent, you can squeeze in half a lemon, or use a teaspoon of vanilla essence just to give it a nice fragrance. Your Miele washes so well it doesn’t need any help.

I Don’t Want To Buy It Without Trying It –

No problem. Give the manufacturer of the machine you are thinking of buying a call and ask if you can drop by and do a load of washing at their office. Many manufacturers welcome people with open arms and have machines set up there specifically for this purpose – Miele is a good example. If you ask really nicely they might do a special trick for you – they will let you see what is being washed OUT of your clothes. I have seen it with my own eyes – filthy, soapy, terribly dirty water. That is what made me change to a front loader.

If the manufacturer is too far away, contact your local retailer and ask if any of the manufacturers are running a “Money Back Guarantee” where you can try it for a certain amount of days and return it if you don’t like it. I’m certain you will, but if it gives you peace of mind to know you can return it, I’m all for that.

I Can’t Throw Something In –

Some people use the excuse that they can’t open the door once the machine starts washing to throw in a sock they missed as an excuse not to buy a front loader. I’m not joking. I wish I were. So in essence, their lack of organization is lowering the levels in our dams. I have two things to say about this –

1. Many machines now allow you to open the door once the wash has started.
2. Put the sock aside for the next load. If you can’t live without one sock you don’t have enough socks. Buy a few more pairs. Rivers have socks for about $2 a pair and they’re excellent socks, they last ages.

They Take A Long Time To Wash –

These days most front load machines have a quick wash option – mine does a 15 minute express 2kg wash, the Miele does a 40 minute full load wash. All top loaders are now taking longer to wash than they used to – some are up to 45-50 minutes – due to trying to lessen the amount of water used.

They Don’t Do A Big Load –

You can now get front loaders which will do anything from a 5kg load to a 10kg load.

They Are Too Expensive –

These days most front loaders start around the $650 mark – a lot cheaper than ever before. There are top loaders which are more expensive than that.

How Front Loaders Wash –

The explanation is a little more complicated. I found a great site which explains it better than I can – How Do Front Loaders Wash – your clothes will be a lot cleaner and also not “agitated” which means they last longer. Front loaders can spin at higher speeds, meaning your drying time is lower. They also use a lot less electricity – even though they heat the water to the exact temperature they want to use. They are water efficient, energy efficient and tend to be more reliable – less breakdowns because of the way they work.

Front Loaders Use –

  • Less water
  • Less Electricity
  • Less Detergent

Can any of those excuses above truly justify wasting water, electricity and putting more detergent into our environment?

So How Much Water Can It Save –

Let me blow your mind with some staggering figures. If you took a street of 50 houses with washing machines, what would the water usage be for top loaders VS front loaders? Let’s say our street all does one load of washing today.

Top load – average 160 litres water per 7.5kg wash. (the older machines use more than this)

160 x 50 houses = 8,000 litres – in one day.

Front load – average 60 litres water per 7.5kg wash.

60 x 50 = 3,000 litres – in one day.

Now let’s say our street does one load of washing a day, every day for a year.

Top Load – 8,000 litres a day.

8,000 x 365 = 2,920,000 litres of water

Front load – 3,000 litres a day.

3,500 x 365 = 1,095,000 litres of water.

2,920,000 – 1,095,000 = 1,825,000 WASTED litres of water.

How Many Homes In Australia?

At the last census in Australia, there were 8,426,559 homes. Queensland is currently on level 5 water restrictions. They have 1,660,750 homes. Imagine the water wastage if even half of those homes are using top load washing machines. The figures we spoke about were for 50 homes.

Why Isn’t Something Being Done?

  1. Manufacturers are playing tricks to make their top loaders seem like they use less water – thus tricking consumers into thinking they are water efficient.
  2. Nobody is aware of the facts of how much water these machines actually waste. Yet people are encouraged to spend less time in the shower!
  3. People believe in personal choice. As yet, no government has the balls to say we’re outlawing top load washing machines. So it is up to you the buyer to make a good choice.

America, You’re Next –

America is the country with the most top loaders in the world. Front Loaders have not been presented as an option to most consumers – it is time for consumers to step up and ask for the product. There is now a drought in Atlanta – they could probably stretch that three months of water left to six or more if everyone had a front loader.

What You Can Do –

  • Spread the word about this blog post.
  • Contact your local politicians – it’s election time. Email them a copy of this article. Ask what they are going to do about it.
  • Ask your politicians why there isn’t a rebate for purchasing a water efficient machine (Sydney Water offer it)
  • Ask your politicians to commit to holding top load washer manufacturers to a higher standard of truth about how much water their machines use. The “eco” function should not be what their machines are rated on.
  • Throw out your top load machine TODAY and buy a water efficient front loader. Yes, this costs money. Yes, this takes effort. It is worth it in the long run. Stand up and refuse to waste any more water.
  • If you can’t do the above right now today, make a commitment to purchasing a front loader the next time you need to buy a washing machine
  • Start putting aside $1 a day, $1 a week, whatever suits you, so that you’ll be in a financial position to buy the front loader when the time comes
  • Also commit to not fixing your top load machine when it breaks down – take the money you would have used to do that and put it towards a front loader
  • Encourage friends and family to make similar commitments.

Further Reading –

Stumble, Link, Discuss –

Can you take a moment to do anything you can to get this post in front of people. Mention it in forums you belong to. Stumble it. Post about it on your own blog.

People might not like what they read, but it might be the start of change for the better. If just one house that washes daily goes from a machine that uses 200 litres a wash to a machine that uses 60 it will save 51,100 litres of water. That alone is worth me writing this article. I am hopeful it will be a lot more houses than that, so help me get the message out there.

The Time For Excuses Is Over, It Is Time To Make Real Changes –

Before our dams run dry and our lives change forever. I’m not kidding. If you want to see what life would be like without water, try it for just one day. Don’t use a single tap. Don’t flush your toilet. Don’t wash clothes. Don’t water your plants. Now imagine that every day, and think about whether the cost of buying a front loader right now today is worth it compared to the option of running out of water. Some places in the country are close to empty dams. Lakes have dried up. Stock has been killed because farmers can’t afford to feed and water them.

Water is essential for everything we do every day –

Stop and think about it for a moment. All the food you eat needs water in order to survive – even grain and vegetables. Our bodies need water. Our cars need water, though you can use coolant but how environmentally unfriendly is that? We need water for wood to grow, for industries to function, for wild birds and animals, for tourism, for ecosystems. Our earth needs water, and we need to be more careful how we use it. Wasting large amounts of it on washing.. seems crazy to me.

Your Thoughts –

What do you think about all this? Is this article eye opening to you? Were you aware of these facts? Will it change what you do? Will it change what you buy the next time you want to purchase a washing machine?

The comments section is open. I welcome all discussion – I do not welcome personal attacks and will delete any comments which cross that line, you have been warned. Discuss the issues, don’t attack people. ;)

Angry Snoskred, country life, electrical appliances, environment