Binh Nguyen's Blog

Monday, October 28, 2024

Saving Money (without Sacrificing), Random Stuff, and More

- use price matching when you can to get an extra discount. Note, a lot of companies advertise low prices just to get you through the door. They don't necessarily always offer the best prices all the time though and rely on your loyalty/ignorance of this to make more money off of you. Note, price matching can sometimes be awkward because in spite of being the same product they can often have a different model number which means that price matching is no longer possible due to a technicality. Moreover, there are conditions such as no price matching with online markets, overseas traders, etc...
https://www.kmart.com.au/
https://www.officeworks.com.au/information/policies/price-beat-guarantee
https://www.bunnings.com.au/policies/price-policy
- don't be afraid of alternate markets such as online, retail, supermarkets/hypermarkets, open/flea markets, farmers markets, auctions/liquidations, etc...
https://www.ebay.com.au/
https://www.aliexpress.com/
https://www.carrefour.com/en
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrefour
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermarket
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flea_market
https://qvm.com.au/
https://afsa.org.au/taking-the-power-back-from-the-colesworth-duopoly/
It's the way millions of people shop all over the world but, until recently, most Australians had never even heard of the innovative concept. Landing on our shores from Finland just a few years ago Reko is a way for families and individuals to save money on better quality groceries while avoiding supermarket giants like Coles and Woolworths altogether.
"I do it most weeks now and I never buy fruit, vegetable or meat from the supermarket," Brisbane mum Erica Quinn, told Yahoo Finance.
"It's changed the way I shop and the way, as a family, we eat."
Accusations of price gouging were levelled at Coles and Woolworths as the cost of living soared for Australians. Despite the supermarkets' denials, many families started looking for more affordable shopping options, like Reko.
...
What is Reko?
Reko, which means "fair" or "responsible consumption" is an idea developed by a Finnish farmer in 2013.
It enables shoppers to buy direct from producers on social media, cutting out the supermarket middlemen.
After selecting produce from a local Reko Facebook page customers go to a local pick up point at the specified time of the week.
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/aussies-jump-on-global-trend-to-break-up-with-price-gouging-coles-and-woolworths-so-simple-220435310.html
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rumbly&hl=en
- lots of money to be saved on insurance and utilities. You need to regularly compare otherwise it's possible to miss out on some good deals. Note a lot of larger companies take customers for granted so they often boost prices in what some people call "loyalty taxes". Shop around and try to avoid being in this situation. Ironically, a lot of comparison websites are paid by the organisations who the broker refers to

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-22/insurance-price-gouging-claims-suncorp/104489196

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-29/iag-insurance-class-action-for-inflating-loyal-customers-bills/103884968

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-07/allan-fels-price-gouging-report-cost-of-living-crisis/103431866

I CONFRONTED THE GOVERNMENT ABOUT CAR INSURANCE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz1G3WecMdU

I EXPOSED THE CAR FINANCE SCAM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NRn2MIjLJg

https://www.youtube.com/@MarkMcCann64

The Devious Car Insurance Scam Hidden In Your Policy! And How to Deal With it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX0whUltya8

https://www.youtube.com/@Number27

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=football+fake+tricks

Legendary Fake Plays

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhKDiPGrDtE

Most Humiliating Skills

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ02MJGkraY

https://www.youtube.com/@Score90/videos

Greatest Trick Plays in Football

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0f1KpMSi9Y

https://www.youtube.com/@AshStudio7/videos

- you can save a lot of money on entertainment. A good example is streaming, physical media, going to the actual cinema, etc... I recently was interested in watching Monkey Man. eBay had it for ~$20 from overseas, Google Play has it for ~$5.99 rental/$19.99 purchase, retail didn't have it yet, movie theatres had it for ~$25, known piraters/counterfeiters had it for ~$5-10. Ironically, this is where the piracy part doesn't make any sense. If you can get it for cheaper legtimately then the pirated version why bother going down that route? Note, also how the price and plans differ between providers substantially as well for basics like Netflix, Stan, Foxtel, Binge, Spotify, etc?
https://tubitv.com/
https://www.plex.tv/

- rent/lease vs buy

- charities, government and social security services, religious groups, etc... Note, a lot of these groups have limited resources
- repair and fix what you can yourself (and is safe to do so). Based on what I've seen competent and honest professionals are actually rarer then you think across most fields whether that be mechanics, builders, electricians, academics, doctors, lawyers, etc... They also cut a lot of corners as well if you examine their work closely or jack up prices where it often doesn't make much sense
https://www.youtube.com/@rossmanngroup/videos
https://www.youtube.com/@TheCarCareNut/videos
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-31/perimenopause-diagnosis-women-not-believed-senate-inquiry/104156356
Free Haynes Car Repair Manuals Online via Liverpool City Library (Online Signup No Need to Live in Liverpool)
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/829146
https://library.frankston.vic.gov.au/eLibrary-and-Digital-Resources/Education-and-Skills/Haynes-Manuals
https://mylibrary.liverpool.nsw.gov.au/eLibrary/haynes-repair-manuals

https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/08/getting-free-education-and-training.html

https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/05/education-or-indoctrination-random.html

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/teachers-don-t-feel-safe-one-in-12-high-school-students-suspended-amid-behavioural-crisis-20240906-p5k8hx.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2024/10/the-problem-with-useful-idiots-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/05/education-or-indoctrination-random.html
private school fee list
https://clueylearning.com.au/en/school-fees/melbourne-private-school-fees/
https://privateschoolsguide.com/melbourne-private-schools
1. Geelong Grammar School (GGS)
Cost per year for a Year 12 day student - $46,344
Location: Corio, Victoria
--
2. Mount Scopus Memorial College
Cost per year for a Year 12 day student - $44,248
Location: Burwood, Victoria
--
3. Wesley College
Cost per year for a Year 12 day student - $41,362
Location: Melbourne, Victoria
--
4. Lauriston Girls' School
Cost per year for a Year 12 day student - $39,392
Location: Armadale, Victoria
--
5. The King David School
Cost per year for a Year 12 day student - $39,344
Location: Armadale, Victoria
--
6. Bialik College
Cost per year for a Year 12 day student - $38,995
Location: Hawthorn, Victoria
--
7. Melbourne Girls Grammar
Cost per year for a Year 12 day student - $38,944
Location: South Yarra, Victoria
--
8. Melbourne Grammar School
Cost per year for a Year 12 day student - $38,940
Location: Melbourne, Victoria
--
9. St Catherine's School
Cost per year for a Year 12 day student - $38,420
Location: Toorak, Victoria
--
10. Scotch College
Cost per year for a Year 12 day student - $38,280
Location: Hawthorn, Victoria
https://www.futurityinvest.com.au/insights/futurity-blog/2023/12/01/the-top-10-most-expensive-schools-in-victoria
https://jmss.vic.edu.au/admissions/fees-other-costs/
https://jmss.vic.edu.au/admissions/

does crime run in families

A large Swedish study including 12.5 million men and women found much continuity between violent crime in families, reporting that first-degree relatives (i.e., parents and siblings) were 4.3 times more likely to engage in violent crime than matched controls (Frisell, Lichtenstein & Langstrom 2011).

https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/19-1415-FinalReport.pdf

When Crime Is a Family Affair

Kids have a habit of imitating their parents’ criminal behavior. It’s no wonder, then, that by one measure, 10 percent of families account for two-thirds of criminals.

https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/10/crime-runs-family/573394/

Crime families: Gender and the intergenerational transfer of criminal tendencies

https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/tandi414.pdf

do people normally send their kids to school close to home

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-31/how-you-can-send-your-child-to-school-outside-catchment-zone/11914606

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/where-do-your-neighbours-send-their-kids-to-school-20171031-gzbms3.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor%27s_Club

- skip on as many middle men as possible. Buy and sell car, home, other goods, etc... via a conveyancer or classifieds rather then a real estate agent, pawn broker, or car dealer as they're often cheaper. The main reason why you would use agents is because they have market reach and if we're being honest they sort of control their markets as well by setting what are reasonable sell and buy prices. Do as much yourself as you possibly can. This means filing your own tax return, investing in platforms that don't require you to have large amounts of capital, decreasing reliance on consultants, etc...
https://www.carsales.com.au/
https://www.ebay.com.au/
Investing in Properties without much capital needed
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/873556
https://www.yielders.co.uk/process/how-it-works
http://brickx.com.au/
https://bricklet.com.au/
https://www.finder.com.au/home-loans/fractional-property-investment
Starting my investment journey
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/873505
- many businesses and governments have what I and consumer groups call "loyalty taxes". Namely, loyalty programs, and extra add-ons that you never really use or want but they often use as justification to jack up prices. These add-ons often make it harder to compare prices for goods and services as you're less likely to be able to do a like for like comparison. This isn't helped by the heavy consolidation of many industries and market sectors into a handful of players. If you end up being part of loyalty programs remember to use the points as they may expire. Also, try to figure out whether it's actually worth it or not because if you convert the points back into cash prices they often don't make much sense. Next time you want to know what you taxes or rates are paying for go through the council or government spending carefully. You'll realise that it's often on stuff that priorities are often quite strange. They often spend on stuff that isn't genuinely needed
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-29/victorian-council-rates-set-to-rise-3-5-percent/101814746
https://www.msn.com/en-au/money/news/top-paid-council-general-managers-earn-more-than-500000-a-year-new-nsw-data-reveals/ar-AA1oAdg7?ocid=BingNewsBrowse
Rotate between providers regularly
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2024/04/market-consolidationneo-feudalism.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyalty_program
Criticism
Flybuys has been criticised regarding the effort required to collect enough points to gain a reward.[28] For many years, no rewards were available for fewer than 11,000 points, leading critics to claim that $55,000 was required to be spent to gain a reward with a value of around $100. However, since 2006, rewards have been available from 2,500 points, and it is now as low as 1,200 points (streaming new release movies).[29][30]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flybuys_(Australia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everyday_Rewards
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_card
- churn. Based on what I've seen most mature markets are controlled by a handful of players and they will actively exploit your loyalty to them. If they buy out smaller market players they jack up prices so that prices across the entire group will converge. I noticed that one of my service providers would jack up their price by roughly the same amount that their share price went up. If you have enough money the only way to offset this situation is to buy shares in the company from which you're purchasing the services from (similar in theory to how hedging works in the financial trading world)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedge_fund
- keep in mind the total cost of ownership when buying something. This means factoring in running costs, acquisition costs, reliability. Keep in mind there are lots of appliances and things that have planned obsolescence in mind. If you can't find something reliable then just buy the cheapest you possibly can but plan on upgrading it regularly. What I didn't realise about a lot of high end prestige and sports cars is that they are expensive to purchase, unreliable, cost heaps fo fix, etc... This is often in part due to their heritage from the sports world where manufacturers have basically converted them into road legal versions which are then on sold to end customers. You're better off renting periodically if want one when it comes down to this type of situation based on what I'm looking at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence
car reliabliity by brand
https://www.whatcar.com/news/reliability-survey-most-reliable-cars-brands/n26159
Car brands ranked – least to most reliable Brand | Reliability score | Average repair cost (AUD)
Land Rover (including Range Rover) | 38% | AUD 2,100
Porsche | 40% | AUD 2,590
Jaguar | 51% | AUD 1,705
Chevrolet | 53% | AUD 1,505
Alfa Romeo | 53% | AUD 1,205
Audi | 53% | AUD 1,620
BMW | 53% | AUD 1,820
Mercedes | 56% | AUD 1,537
Mitsubishi | 58% | AUD 1,772
MINI | 60% | AUD 1,320
SEAT | 62% | AUD 1,103
VW | 62% | AUD 1,187
Citroen | 62% | AUD 969
Vauxhall | 62% | AUD 969
Volvo | 62% | AUD 1,320
Skoda | 64% | AUD 1,036
Peugeot | 64% | AUD 952
Nissan | 64% | AUD 1,237
Mazda | 67% | AUD 1,320
Renault | 67% | AUD 936
Ford | 67% | AUD 1,019
Kia | 69% | AUD 886
Suzuki | 71% | AUD 869
Fiat | 71% | AUD 852
Hyundai | 71% | AUD 952
Smart | 73% | AUD 769
Toyota | 80% | AUD 1,003
Lexus | 87% | AUD 1,837
Honda | 87% | AUD 886
https://www.cardomain.com.au/most-and-least-reliable-car-brands/
1. Toyota
2. Lexus
3. BMW
4. Mazda
5. Honda
6. Audi
https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-advice/top-6-most-reliable-car-brands-90386
- keep receipts. This is important for warranties/guarantees but can be also used to return goods that you don't genuinely need or use
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/article/2024/aug/11/my-sister-buys-posh-food-but-most-of-it-ends-up-in-the-bin
https://www.kmart.com.au/returns-policy/
https://www.coles.com.au/help/manage-orders/coles-product-refunds
https://www.officeworks.com.au/information/policies/return-policy
https://www.bunnings.com.au/policies/returns
- if you're taking out loans you can save a lot of money over the long term by looking for a better deal. If you're going to borrow, seek the best possible interest rate, fee, and overall deal. Note that even basics like credit card deals have multiple different options targeting different sectors often. Engage with brokers if you don't have the time to find the best deal. The funny thing is that I found out that people and proactive brokers who review your loans annually for the best deal can save you ~5-7K per year on an average sized ~700K home loan
https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jul/28/australia-car-repossessions-surge-statistics-data
https://mozo.com.au/home-loans/articles/low-rate-home-loans-hit-list
https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/banking/shopping-around-transfer-providers-and-dodging-big-banks-can-save-aussies-200m-consumer-watchdog-says/news-story/01b0d2305ce8e515f27c5fb8283143a1
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-28/mortgage-risks-are-rising-but-are-they-still-understated/104119374
loan comparison websites
https://www.iselect.com.au/personal-loans
https://www.finder.com.au/personal-loans
https://mozo.com.au/personal-loans
https://moneysmart.gov.au/home-loans/choosing-a-home-loan
average home loan size
https://www.loans.com.au/home-loans/average-australian-mortgage-size
https://mozo.com.au/home-loans/articles/what-is-the-average-mortgage-in-australia
https://www.canstar.com.au/home-loans/average-home-loan-australia/
credit card comparison
https://www.canstar.com.au/credit-cards/
https://www.nab.com.au/personal/credit-cards/offers
https://www.commbank.com.au/credit-cards.html
https://www.westpac.com.au/personal-banking/credit-cards/compare-credit-cards/
https://www.anz.com.au/personal/credit-cards/
- educate yourself properly. A lot of what we learn isn't often useful/practical in the formal education system. Moreover, a lot of resources regarding how to make money are focused on the United States (US). Book resources are all over the web now and the irony is that I often find these resources often explain things better then a lot of school and University textbooks and do a better job of explaining things in the real world. Unfortunately, while the formal education system has limited use you need to pass through it to get to other opportunities in life

https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/08/getting-free-education-and-training.html

The tax dodging elite - how they do it | The West Report

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1g1KAH1Iqc

https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelWestMedia

Patrick Bet-David ADMITS Tax System Is Rigged In Favor Of The Rich

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOj5JsjOlL0

https://www.youtube.com/@TheYoungTurks/videos

West votes against democracy, human rights, cultural equality at UN; promotes mercenaries, sanctions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyl2JsTTOVs

https://www.youtube.com/@GeopoliticalEconomyReport/videos

How Hidden Fees Cost Americans Billions | CNBC Marathon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFrgzfsEb4g

https://www.youtube.com/@CNBC/videos

Teal independents calling for transparency in the electoral system | 7.30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIUEscHAaRY

Telstra accused of selling unaffordable phone plans to Indigenous customers | 7.30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VttMhQ9lrn4

https://www.youtube.com/@ABCNewsIndepth/videos

Mortgage holders struggle as banks rake in billions | 60 Minutes Australia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nomji5pmhEU

https://www.youtube.com/@60MinutesAU/videos

WATCH: Pentagon Officials Give PITIFUL Excuse For Another Failed Audit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj5YzF_8PIg

https://www.youtube.com/@TheYoungTurks/videos

https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2024/10/the-problem-with-useful-idiots-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2022/07/law-and-disorder-downloader-script_27.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-crazy-justice-system-random-stuff.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2023/05/future-of-artificial.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/04/things-spies-have-stolen-random-stuff.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/04/what-happened-to-escaped-nazis-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/06/history-of-hate-and-supremacy-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/12/angels-and-demons-random-stuff-and-more.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/02/cybersecurity-attack-background.html
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/21/accc-banks-interest-rates-term-deposits-mortgages
- I've worked in sales in various guises. If your product if required it's easy to sell but if it's not you're often depending on gimmicks to try and move product or even pressure sales tactics. If you can see through the lies and not be overcome by emotions you'll be able to avoid bad deals (think of it like a financial trader but in the opposite direction?)
Fisher & Paykel 10kg Front Load Washing Machine WH1060P4 $797 + 10% Bonus Gift Card ($0 C&C/In-Store) @ Harvey Norman
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/873559
Bonus 10% in Gift Cards when you spend $250 or more* Ends 11:59PM AEDT 27/10/24
https://www.harveynorman.com.au/fisher-paykel-10kg-front-load-washing-machine-with-steam-care-white.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/eufy/comments/xys56x/eufy_scale_body_fat_completely_useless/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_sell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_missing_out
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiler_room_(business)
Is Chemist Warehouse Actually Cheaper for Medicine, or Is It Mostly Marketing?
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/873345
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etiquette
How Luxury Brands Get You to Buy Into Their Hype
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S64fYFDqJlU
https://www.youtube.com/@Design.Theory
I EXPOSED SUPERCAR DEALERSHIPS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TiFZeSW-JI
I EXPOSED SUPERCAR DEALERSHIPS | PT2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsYNfaB5om8
I EXPOSED SUPERCAR DEALERSHIPS | PT3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3ZpmUHeEOU
https://www.youtube.com/@MarkMcCann64/videos
Free Yearly HIV Self-Test Delivered @ hivtest.au
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/869050
https://hivtest.au/

[AMA] I am a JB Hi-Fi Salesperson

https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/873862

If Plastic Surgeons Were Honest | Honest Ads

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv_YJ1e3VwU

The Untold (Dirty) History Of Hand Washing | Honest History

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEeW5KEesJU

If Chain Restaurants Were Honest - Honest Ads

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0w7QPUc6U4

If the Wellness Industry Were Honest - Honest Ads

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_xzaJjGoSI

If The Two-Party System Were Honest | Honest Ads

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etbQSkXzprc

If Honest Ads Were Honest About Ourselves | Honest Ads

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZk63X0_5q0

https://www.youtube.com/@Honest_Ads/videos

- understand how capitalism genuinely works. I never really understood how fashion worked until you realised that most of many of the people in these industries don't/can't really "read people". They manipulate people into wanting things even if they make no genuine difference in our lives. That's why "fast fashion" exists, they're impulse buys that are driven by the people who are manipulating others not by a true fashion sense? After a while you can walk into a lot of physical stores and instantly realise what companies are struggling based on foot traffic/inventory levels/whether they have the lights and air-conditioning/heat up to a comfortable level, strange pricing (too high and/or too low), mass data collection (because they don't know what's important), old stock/inventory, etc... Very similar conceptually to Internet traffic and click through rate
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/01/it-business-startup-resources-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2018/03/social-media-bot-coding-notes-random.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2018/01/social-media-comment-bot-random-stuff.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2018/03/compare-social-media-script-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2024/04/market-consolidationneo-feudalism.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2021/12/not-much-has-changed-from.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2021/11/what-people-eatate-random-stuff-and-more.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2021/09/wikipedia-list-data-scan-pack-random.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2021/01/how-elite-maintain-power-random-stuff.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/06/history-of-hate-and-supremacy-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/11/a-sea-of-fakery-random-stuff-and-more.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/02/is-society-filtering-for-fairnessmerit.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/09/thinking-like-political-elite-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/05/if-only-hiring-were-so-simple-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2018/01/capitalism-analysis-religion-23-and-more.html
https://www.msn.com/en-au/money/news/the-art-of-kmart-why-the-discount-retailer-is-thriving-while-rivals-such-as-big-w-struggle/ar-AA1sYZhX?ocid=BingNewsBrowse
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kmart
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click-through_rate

Random Stuff:
- as usual thanks to all of the individuals and groups who purchase and use my goods and services
http://sites.google.com/site/dtbnguyen/
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com.au/
- latest in science and technology
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20241018-fire-proof-houses-and-the-people-rebuilding-their-homes-using-earth
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/22/tim-cook-steve-jobs-willingness-to-change-mind-was-brilliant-skill.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13940491/floods-sahara-desert-biggest-deluge-decades.html
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2024-10-04/psiquantum-quantum-computer-investment-billion-dollars/104394996
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-03/ad-tech-data-breach-real-time-bidding-national-security-privacy/104416546
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-05/cardiac-surgeons-take-care-of-parents-most-precious-gift/104406476
https://www.androidauthority.com/android-linux-terminal-app-3489887/
https://www.abc.net.au/takeover/programs/takeover-latrobe-valley/takeover-latrobe-valley-ruby/104297236
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/oct/17/meta-fires-staff-free-meal-vouchers-buy-household-goods
https://www.rt.com/news/605667-extraterrestrial-evidence-breakthrough-holland/
https://www.theguardian.com/games/2024/oct/24/how-one-engineer-beat-the-ban-on-home-computers-in-socialist-yugoslavia
https://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/mobile-phones/thousands-of-aussies-devices-to-stop-working-on-october-28-as-3g-network-closes/news-story/a9427ae4eeaee9a91d2b0ca7a035c532
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_X-59_Quesst
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clement_Lindley_Wragge
- latest in finance and politics
https://www.rt.com/africa/605849-africa-dispute-nile-water/
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-05/nt-government-clp-to-lower-criminal-responsibility-age-12-to-10/104355606
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/24/ryan-hogue-on-his-favorite-zero-dollar-side-hustles.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/19/amazon-ceo-an-embarrassing-amount-of-your-success-depends-on-this-skill.html
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/oct/05/woman-an-unknowing-victim-of-assault-at-12-speaks-out
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/going-places-young-aussie-reveals-massive-salary-as-a-window-cleaner/news-story/15f0d3201fdfce6b9fecc24329096be4
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-05/duc-nguyen-jailed-murder-fitzroy/104436286
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/for-real-brisbane-doctors-wage-baffles-australians/news-story/753ea31b4dcce14fa5ca25fbe7405fb0
https://www.rt.com/russia/605671-peskov-childless-tax-experts/
https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/major-woolies-coles-food-supplier-collapses/news-story/b65988d62a574d55dfac330ec2b218fc
https://www.rt.com/africa/606233-egypt-control-over-nile-waters/
https://www.rt.com/news/606428-why-china-needs-brics/
- latest in defense and intelligence
https://interestingengineering.com/military/solar-drone-fly-months-stratosphere
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-03/three-things-israel-could-do-next-after-iran-attack/104425736
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/16/australia-treats-its-armed-forces-veterans-with-a-perversely-shabby-contempt
https://www.rt.com/news/605668-us-langley-base-drone-swarm/
- latest in animal and environmental news
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-03/fat-bear-week-returns-2024/104319754
- latest in music and entertainment
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-05/debate-over-aboriginal-dot-art/104422228
https://www.thedrive.com/news/2026-ferrari-f80-vs-mclaren-w1-specs-performance-price-comparison
https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/tours/highstakes-stress-insane-pic-proves-aussie-industry-is-broken/news-story/297a67505fec96f322c8ca3770f14cf2

Random Quotes:
- "We can go up to the kidney and vaporise these stones, so we don't have to do surgery for large stones. That's another really big advance for patients."
Medical advances mean treatment is less invasive, safer and less likely to have complications or side-effects than it was in the past.
"They'll certainly have a better flow, they won't have to get up as much at night, they'll have much less urgency, they can spend time with their children or grandchildren, go on long road trips," Dr Kooner said.
https://www.9news.com.au/health/benign-prostate-hyperplasia-treated-with-laser-in-new-treatment/5502b3c1-8981-4ac7-92af-3efd21053636
- Mark Baum : We live in an era of fraud in America. Not just in banking, but in government, education, religion, food, even baseball... What bothers me isn't that fraud is not nice. Or that fraud is mean. For fifteen thousand years, fraud and short sighted thinking have never, ever worked. Not once. Eventually you get caught, things go south. When the hell did we forget all that? I thought we were better than this, I really did.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1596363/characters/nm0136797
- A lonely dolphin is believed to be behind a spate of attacks on beachgoers in central Japan, with experts warning that the animal is probably sexually frustrated.
Dolphin attacks have left more than 45 people injured in Wakasa Bay, nearly 200 miles (320km) west of Tokyo, since 2022, with most of the recent ones occurring near the towns of Echizen and Mihama.
After examining photos and videos of some of the attacks from 2022 and 2023, experts concluded that they involved the same male Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin.
The same animal could be behind this year's attacks, said Ryoichi Matsubara, director of the Echizen Matsushima Aquarium in Fukui, although he hasn't reviewed more recent footage yet, The New York Times reported.
The dolphin might be displaying mating behaviour, he said, noting that it was seen attempting "to press his genitals against people" in 2022 and 2023. He added, however, that many injuries occurred as beachgoers approached or tried to touch the dolphin.
Putu Mustika, a marine researcher at James Cook University in Australia, told the newspaper that "dolphins, when they are mating, can be very wild".
She said that lunging on top of a human could be a sexual act and a sign that this was a "horny, lonely dolphin".
https://nz.news.yahoo.com/sexually-frustrated-dolphin-blamed-spate-054348839.html
- How many people are satisfied with their job Australia?
Job satisfaction plays a major part when undertaking labour hire in Queensland, but new figures suggest that Australians are generally happy about their current situation.
Data from Roy Morgan Research shows that the official full-time working week stands at 38 hours, as defined by Fair Work Australia, but 26.7 per cent of people in paid employment work in excess of 40 hours.
Just over one in five of these people spend more than 60 hours per week in the workplace – but this doesn't necessarily mean they are not deriving any satisfaction from their jobs.
A total of 33.5 per cent of workers who did more than 40 hours work a week revealed they are very satisfied with their jobs, while a further 43.9 per cent are satisfied.
In fact, these people are generally more optimistic about their jobs than the rest of the workforce, where 32.5 per cent are very satisfied and 42.9 per cent would consider themselves satisfied.
Just 6.6 per cent of all Australians in paid employment are dissatisfied with their current role, while 2.4 per cent admitted they are very dissatisfied – 14.8 per cent were ambivalent when faced with the question.
Roy Morgan Research identified that a number of factors are taken into consideration when assessing job satisfaction – security, a healthy salary and recognition of good work are just some of them.
https://www.busyatwork.com.au/job-satisfaction-generally-high-among-australian-workers/
- Australia's principal koala conservation group says the Federal Government is in denial about the threat to koalas.
Foundation CEO Deborah Tabart said she had watched for 30 years while successive governments have claimed koala numbers were higher than the foundation's estimates.
The foundation has long argued that its research showed the koala's status should be updated from vulnerable to critically endangered.
"The Government repeatedly says there's at least 10 times more … even though they don't have any data to support that argument," Ms Tabart said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-16/federal-government-koala-census-wasting-time-foundation-says/12974478
In a new study, scientists lay the groundwork for building a habitat on the Moon inspired by a Roman temple but which uses only material found on the lunar surface.
The study was published Monday in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A.
As the date for sending astronauts back to the Moon creeps closer, scientists have been trying to come up with different ways to build a lasting lunar settlement. So far, their ideas range from building a habitat made from mushrooms to suggesting that astronauts use their own pee to create a mixture of concrete to build on the Moon.
Key to any lunar construction is that it require as little packing from Earth as possible. It costs as much as $10,000 to put one pound of material into orbit. So the less construction material imported from Earth, the better.
In the new study, the scientists suggest using building material found on the Moon — lunar regolith and rock. The lunar material would provide for protection from exposure to cosmic rays while on the Moon, and from atmospheric pressure, they say.
To build the habitat, the regolith would have to be cast into blocks, which would then be piled on top of each other to keep the building in a state of compression. For this design, the only material that would need to be transported from Earth is a thin plastic film — to help seal the small gaps between the regolith blocks so that the air doesn't leak out.
The structure of the habitat itself would be built like the ancient Roman Pantheon. This Roman temple still stands as the most well preserved and influential building from its time.
https://www.inverse.com/science/ancient-architecture-on-the-moon
- Myer, Premier Investments and Mosaic Brands are under pressure to commit to paying living wages to garment workers in developing countries after a scathing Oxfam report into the purchasing practices of 10 major Australian clothing retailers.
Other retailers including Wesfarmers' Target and Kmart chains, Woolworths' Big W, Best&Less, Cotton On, H&M and Zara, which have committed to paying living wages, have been told to put their money where their mouth is and stop engaging in practices to drive prices down, making it impossible for factories to improve wages or conditions.
https://www.afr.com/companies/retail/just-group-myer-and-mosaic-named-and-shamed-in-oxfam-report-20201125-p56hv1
Future Feed director and CSIRO scientist Michael Battaglia said that when added to cattle feed, the product, which contains Australian 'super seaweed' Asparagopsis, virtually eliminated methane from the animals' bodily emissions.
"We know that just a handful [of the product] per animal per day, or 0.2 per cent of their diet can virtually eliminate 99.9 per cent of methane," Dr Battaglia said.
He said the potential for the product to reduce the world's greenhouse gas footprint, if commercialised, was massive.
"We think we can tackle the dairy and the feedlot part of that pretty simply, which may be 5 megatons in Australia and globally 500 megatons of emissions," Dr Battaglia said.
"That's equivalent to taking 100 million cars off the road.
"But in the long run, if we can start to think about ways to deliver this into grass-fed sectors, the impact is 10 to 100 times more than that."
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/australian-super-seaweed-supplement-to-reduce-cattle-gas-emissions-wins-1m-international-prize/ar-BB1c1utF?pfr=1
- Amazon has pocketed 40 per cent of the £5billion extra cash spent online by Britons throughout the coronavirus pandemic, MPs were told today.
Shadow business minister Chi Onwurah has called on the Government to provide 'firm commitments' to support small businesses against the rising popularity of digital retailers, adding many shops are 'afraid they won't make it through the winter.'
Amazon is among the world's richest corporations, with its owner Jeff Bezos worth £84billion ($113billion), making him the richest person in the world.
Business minister Nadhim Zahawi said the Government is spending £300million to 'support technology adoption into manufacturing' to assist smaller companies.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/amazon-swallowed-up-40-per-cent-of-5billion-extra-cash-spent-online/ar-BB1bX1hD?fbclid=IwAR3mfkqUNMUMV5wm8lE9VIjuC4Obo5VNPSLqihTBvAyfFOFX51_ol36n-Hk
- That's right: according to Bloomberg, Venezuela's government is preparing to move to a fully digital economy - whatever that means for the country which several years ago adopted some bizarro crypto currency as the de facto petrocurrency of the state to... perplexing consequences, as hyperinflation in this South American socialist paradise (coming soon to every socialist paradise nears you) has made worthless bolivar notes practically disappear. With the local monetary system having collapsed, the US dollar has operated as an "escape valve" for Venezuela amid U.S. sanctions and collapsing oil revenues, President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised interview with Telesur on Friday. He said 18.6% of all commercial transactions are in dollars, while 77.3% are carried out in bolivars with debit cards. Only 3.4% are paid with bolivar notes.
"They have a war against our physical currency. We are moving this year to a more profound digital economy, in expansion. I've set the goal of an economy that's 100% digital," Maduro said, adding that physical money will eventually disappear. Call Venezuela a guniea pig for the same monetary experiment which all other central banks will soon pursue as well.
Venezuela's currency has lost 99.999% of its value during three years of hyperinflation, forcing the country to issue higher-denomination notes which however not only become useless in record time, but the mere cost to print them - in some relatively stable currency - quickly surpasses their nominal value. The largest note now in circulation, 50,000 bolivars, is worth about $0.04. The government has prudently delayed plans to issue a 100,000 bolivar bill, which currently would be worth less than $0.10.
After formerly subsidized fuel prices were increased in June, cash is now only used to ride public transportation, and the Caracas subway routinely stops charging passengers due to cash shortages
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/and-first-country-move-100-digital-monetary-system-venezuela
Zakharova also believes that Washington has "encouraged its population to think that they don't owe anybody anything" and "they should not obey anyone," up to and including international law.
https://www.rt.com/russia/511378-american-exceptionalism-foreign-ministry/
- The foreign minister noted that Washington may feel anxious about China's "rapid development," but he urged the US to focus on "self-improvement" rather than trying to "block" others from advancing. Wang stressed that as China becomes a larger player on the world stage, it will not attempt to emulate Washington's behavior.
We don't need a world where China becomes another United States. This is neither rational nor feasible. Rather, the United States should try to make itself a better country, and China will surely become its better self.
Wang insisted that his country has never interfered in the internal affairs of the US and that it was ready to pursue a relationship with Washington based on cooperation and stability. The top Chinese diplomat expressed hope that the incoming Biden administration will "return to a sensible approach" and restart cooperation between the two countries. He urged Washington to "draw lessons from the past" which allow for a model of peaceful coexistence.
https://www.rt.com/news/511351-china-us-world-wang-interview/
- Any agreed consensus on what constitutes "intelligence" is under assault on various fronts. Science is bringing us to the humbling understanding that "intelligence" is not an objective but a social measure, conditioned by circumstance, gender, race and dis/ability, just for starters. A quantifiable scale for "braininess" is as anachronistic as an IQ test, as mustily irrelevant as Mensa membership. The drive for diversity in workplaces is not based just on the notion that anyone can be just as "smart" as the white men who invented the rules; it is based on the suspicion that "intelligence", and the hierarchies that flow from it, was a rigged game in the first place. The diversity movement has its excesses and missteps, which are generously well reported, but at its heart is the encouragement to think about brains differently, and to figure out that the greatest contributors to our social good are those whose qualities slipped the noose of the HSC markers.
My favourite Gary Larson cartoon is the one showing the student at the "Midvale School for the Gifted", leaning with all his weight, trying to open a door that has a big sign on it saying "PULL". For today's school leavers, their parents' and grandparents' generation saw "intelligence" as a narrowly fixed quantity, a door for the gifted. But for the class of 2020, the paths of opportunity promise to branch out in a world that is finding many different things to value: emotional intelligence, kindness, empathy, understanding, intuition, commonsense, initiative, as well as countless exercises of brainpower for which there was no measurement at school.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/hsc-a-brutal-and-irrelevant-way-to-define-intelligence-in-a-world-opening-its-eyes-to-other-values-20201217-p56ohv.html
- That propulsion technology might sound similar to that used on a solar sail, but the delicate layers of foil used on solar sails would die a horrible death in the Earth's atmosphere. The photophoretic effect, which has been known for almost a century, uses the heating of a solid compared to the ambient gas as a lifting force. As Dr. Bargatin's press release on the NIAC website states, "The [photophoretic] force creates lift in structures that absorb light on the bottom yet stay cool on the top."
Dr. Bargatin's lab's contribution to this century-old science is to make the first macroscale demonstration of a system using this technology. Previous attempts had all been on the micrometer scale, as the lifting force is extraordinarily weak, making it difficult to exert any significant lifting force on whatever payload it might be attached to.
The lab's design relies heavily on the pressure its plates operate in, and it just so happens that the mesosphere, which ranges in pressure from 1-100 pascals, hits right in the sweet spot where the lifting action is most effective, creating enough lift to hold a centimeter-scaled probe in the air, potentially indefinitely. Even with only a few centimeters, there are plenty of miniaturized sensors that could be packed onto that platform to relay data that had before been accessible only by research rockets.
https://www.universetoday.com/159729/a-new-propulsion-system-could-levitate-vehicles-in-the-earths-upper-atmosphere/

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Monday, October 28, 2024

Saving Money (without Sacrificing), Random Stuff, and More

Saving Money (without Sacrificing), Random Stuff, and More