The biggest advantage this will have over a phone is that it doesn't require a cell contract/plan. I could easily buy _just_ the LG Optimus, but with a cell contract at $50 a month...$600 a year...I can't do that.
I got my LG Optimus for zero up front. 20 AUD per month (thats the same as USD at the moment) on Optus, 24 month contract.
Okay thats interesting. The way the numbering system works in Australia I think a number would potentially match three other numbers:
+61 40 1234567
+61 41 1234567
+61 42 1234567
+61 43 1234567
...would all match. You would have to be pretty unlucky but if all your friends are trying to get 1s and 8s in their phone numbers the odds might be a bit worse.
I read about this airport (might have been in NZ, not sure). They had one tower controller on duty and he does a six hour shift. When that shift ends he is not licensed to operate until he takes a rest. I think it is one shift on and two shifts off. The guy for the next shift is on his way but he gets stuck in traffic and doesn't make it in time.
The controller on duty cancels departures, diverts incoming aircraft, shuts down the tower and drives home. He does that because thats the established procedure and its better to let the pilots solve their own problems than to have a badly functioning air traffic controller on the job.
This comes from my wife's relatives and friends. They are primarily Malaysian born Chinese with Australian PR or citizenship. And yes they have a lot of trouble saving to buy. They see a lot of mainland Chinese born people buying property purely to invest. Additionally my wife works as an architect and she knows of mainland Chinese businesses which are actively investing in the Australian property market. They do projects typically between five and 10 million AUD. Usually high density unit development. She looked at working for them but they weren't paying enough to justify the risk.
So, perhaps the west should consider giving up everything to North Korea, Somilia, Al Qaeda, and Venezuela as well. After all, they all have a lots of improvised individuals in these places as well.
No I just mean Chinese growth is unstable for reasons not normally considered by economic modelling.
They don't have to be covert or secret. The housing bubble in Australia has been driven to a large extent by Chinese buyers. The property is actually owned by Chinese born Australian citizens but the money is coming from China.
More to the point they have a huge underclass and are facing fundamental resource limits which will prohibit improving the lives of those people. Limits like the supply of energy, food, water and land. Industrialisation will make a few Chinese people rich but if the wealth doesn't trickle down (I don't think it can) then the political situation will become very unstable.
The thing is that here, they can't "sample" the traffic. Random checks have been tried and have been consistently stuck down in the courts. They either have to stop everybody, or only those for whom they have probable cause.
Seems strange to me. By picking a road they are implicitly sampling the traffic, regardless of if they test every driver or 30% of them. Its only non-random if they pick a road where drivers are coming out of the pub or the races.
I have cycled past booze buses on Maroondah highway and they showed no interest in breath testing me. I read somewhere that bicycle riders are not subject to BAC. Pubs in Brunswick (where I now live) are surrounded by parked bikes at night because drinkers know they can't be booked on a bike. Its a smaller problem than drunks in cars but its still a problem for everybody. Drunks on bikes can still hurt innocent people. The accidents they cause skew bicycle accident statistics, so problems which affect the rest of us don't get addressed.
You should be able to call a doctor, and have them take a documented blood sample. Then a normal pathology lab should be able to measure blood alcohol.
Okay so what about airline pilots? Do you want them tested before they fly, or call the police if they spread themselves and their passengers across the landscape?
You seem to be saying that testing for alcohol is protecting drivers against themselves. I ride a bicycle to work (in a different jurisdiction). Shouldn't I be protected against drunk drivers?
Do you approve of drunks operating other types of heavy machinery? How about airliners, trains, cargo ships?
So is there a significant benefit to these checkpoints that couldn't be solved by more police patrolling?
Until the drunk driver hits somebody they are unlikely to draw the attention of the police, so I doubt more patrols would put a dent in the problem. Breath test stations "booze buses" are very common here in Melbourne, Australia. I have only seen them causing significant disruption when they stake out events which are notorious for leading to drunk driving. Otherwise they just sample the traffic flow and wave people past if they have too many customers. I have been tested a dozen times over the years and I make damn sure I blow zero. My family's life depends on that.
The issue is that breathalyzers have often been found faulty. Also, the evidence that comes from one is usually only available to the prosecution - i.e. your defense does not have a sample stored for outside testing.
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The biggest advantage this will have over a phone is that it doesn't require a cell contract/plan. I could easily buy _just_ the LG Optimus, but with a cell contract at $50 a month...$600 a year...I can't do that.
I got my LG Optimus for zero up front. 20 AUD per month (thats the same as USD at the moment) on Optus, 24 month contract.
As far as I can tell the only thing they did right was make it idiot proof
Thats a huge advantage given the number of idiots out there.
I suggest we make a K-ration type food. Make it taste horrible, yet be healthy. I mean taste REALLY bad. Then just give it away.
To make that work you would have to outlaw chilli sauce.
Well for all we know he might have been banging all the Annas in Sweeden, but we know that Anna Troberg hasn't complained about it anyway.
They shouldn't have announced it. Anna Troberg could have started calling herself Dread Captain Falkvinge and nobody would have noticed.
Okay thats interesting. The way the numbering system works in Australia I think a number would potentially match three other numbers:
+61 40 1234567
+61 41 1234567
+61 42 1234567
+61 43 1234567
I read about this airport (might have been in NZ, not sure). They had one tower controller on duty and he does a six hour shift. When that shift ends he is not licensed to operate until he takes a rest. I think it is one shift on and two shifts off. The guy for the next shift is on his way but he gets stuck in traffic and doesn't make it in time.
The controller on duty cancels departures, diverts incoming aircraft, shuts down the tower and drives home. He does that because thats the established procedure and its better to let the pilots solve their own problems than to have a badly functioning air traffic controller on the job.
The only law that can protect a bicycle rider from drivers is one that makes motor vehicles illegal.
Dunno. There are a lot of idiot bike riders out there. Take the cars off the roads and the humans who used to be driving them will still be a problem.
Yes the strong aussie dollar does lead to ideas like that but I reckon dealing with red tape would be a problem.
The standard is fortunately leaking into Australia. I just can't see an advantage of micro USB over mini USB.
I don't think its a conspiracy.
This comes from my wife's relatives and friends. They are primarily Malaysian born Chinese with Australian PR or citizenship. And yes they have a lot of trouble saving to buy. They see a lot of mainland Chinese born people buying property purely to invest. Additionally my wife works as an architect and she knows of mainland Chinese businesses which are actively investing in the Australian property market. They do projects typically between five and 10 million AUD. Usually high density unit development. She looked at working for them but they weren't paying enough to justify the risk.
So, perhaps the west should consider giving up everything to North Korea, Somilia, Al Qaeda, and Venezuela as well. After all, they all have a lots of improvised individuals in these places as well.
No I just mean Chinese growth is unstable for reasons not normally considered by economic modelling.
They don't have to be covert or secret. The housing bubble in Australia has been driven to a large extent by Chinese buyers. The property is actually owned by Chinese born Australian citizens but the money is coming from China.
More to the point they have a huge underclass and are facing fundamental resource limits which will prohibit improving the lives of those people. Limits like the supply of energy, food, water and land. Industrialisation will make a few Chinese people rich but if the wealth doesn't trickle down (I don't think it can) then the political situation will become very unstable.
The thing is that here, they can't "sample" the traffic. Random checks have been tried and have been consistently stuck down in the courts. They either have to stop everybody, or only those for whom they have probable cause.
Seems strange to me. By picking a road they are implicitly sampling the traffic, regardless of if they test every driver or 30% of them. Its only non-random if they pick a road where drivers are coming out of the pub or the races.
I have cycled past booze buses on Maroondah highway and they showed no interest in breath testing me. I read somewhere that bicycle riders are not subject to BAC. Pubs in Brunswick (where I now live) are surrounded by parked bikes at night because drinkers know they can't be booked on a bike. Its a smaller problem than drunks in cars but its still a problem for everybody. Drunks on bikes can still hurt innocent people. The accidents they cause skew bicycle accident statistics, so problems which affect the rest of us don't get addressed.
You should be able to call a doctor, and have them take a documented blood sample. Then a normal pathology lab should be able to measure blood alcohol.
Okay so what about airline pilots? Do you want them tested before they fly, or call the police if they spread themselves and their passengers across the landscape?
but the limit as it is now, is way to lenient in my view.
Yeah the .05 BAC limit where I live corresponds to 50% degradation in driving ability. I wouldn't drive if my brakes were half gone.
You seem to be saying that testing for alcohol is protecting drivers against themselves. I ride a bicycle to work (in a different jurisdiction). Shouldn't I be protected against drunk drivers?
Do you approve of drunks operating other types of heavy machinery? How about airliners, trains, cargo ships?
So what do you suggest?
Refusing to take a brethalyzer test is a constitutional right under the 5th amendment
If thats the way things are run in the US I suggest you either (1) Ban alcohol constmption or (2) Ban humans from driving vehicles.
(re (1); Yeah I know, its been tried.)
So is there a significant benefit to these checkpoints that couldn't be solved by more police patrolling?
Until the drunk driver hits somebody they are unlikely to draw the attention of the police, so I doubt more patrols would put a dent in the problem. Breath test stations "booze buses" are very common here in Melbourne, Australia. I have only seen them causing significant disruption when they stake out events which are notorious for leading to drunk driving. Otherwise they just sample the traffic flow and wave people past if they have too many customers. I have been tested a dozen times over the years and I make damn sure I blow zero. My family's life depends on that.
This was a classic alcohol related crash, just near my house a few weeks ago.
The issue is that breathalyzers have often been found faulty. Also, the evidence that comes from one is usually only available to the prosecution - i.e. your defense does not have a sample stored for outside testing.
So get your own blood test.