What gives you the S&#T's!?

[MiCCROwavE_OVEN]

I think ABC is far from the worst offender (though of course they are still guilty). Sometimes I have seen media outlets with clickbait that is either only half-true or untrue (e.g. a recent story about how the T1 North Shore Line in Sydney is getting NEW trains - nope, just cascaded stock from 2004 or so)

Perhaps the one good thing to arise from the YouTube ban is that children might be exposed to less clickbait. I have lost count of the number of videos I've clicked on only to find that the content is either unrelated to the title, or does not even answer the title question. Viewers lost the power of the downvote quite some time ago unfortunately

[Heihachi_73]

Yeah, we got that here too. New trains for the Frankston/Werribee/Williamstown line about a decade ago = X'Trapolis trains from 2002, except that they actually were still being built because the government refused to order any trains between 1989 and 2002 and what we were still running were falling apart and many were being scrapped (Hitachis) as they were life-expired, not air-conditioned, stunk of burning brake shoes (think of some idiot doing a burnout but frying their clutch instead of the tyres), and loathed by the general public on any day above 25 degrees.

Actually, with the social media ban, children will be exposed to even more clickbait as the news sites are exempt, so we will end up having kids being able to watch Sky After Dark while being unable to watch Bluey. Or like everyone else they will just jump the ankle-high wall with a VPN, unless they were born in a bubble and only ever had an iPhone as their sole amusement device and can't even block the ads let alone jailbreak the thing.

Another one for the thread: Coles and Woolworths removing the weekly special tags on the last day a few hours before they close so you can't tell what isn't actually full RRP + 40% markup without having a staff member follow you all around the store with a scanner. Didn't purchase a single thing at either store tonight, Aldi can take my money tomorrow.

[Swift]

Yet Melbourne claims to be superior to Sydney.
Melbournites have told me Sydney’s train system is the envy of them. At least Sydney has been consistently taking delivery of new modern rolling stock since the 70s and long after the ancient red suburban sets were phased out in 1994. Finally the Marying D sets have allowed the phasing out of K sets via cascading Oscars for suburban conversion.

[Frances]

There's not much to choose between Sydney and Melbourne anyway. If I wasn't tied down to Sydney, I would probably opt for Melbourne Or maybe Hobart.

[ScaniaGrenda]

Five Islands (Down Boolaroo / Esplanade way in Lake Macquarie)

As usual, stuff all done to fixing congestion issues during peak period, you get motorists who get sick of sitting bumper to bumper southbound on TC Frith cutting through the back of the works Depot on Creek Reserve road to jump the queue meaning it takes even longer for southbound traffic to get through, Northbound traffic (Coming from Toronto) also additionally brings TC Frith to further standstill with the constant flow of traffic coming through wanting to go Esplanade direction.

What has been done recently? Oh I don't know, reducing the speed limit from 70 to 60 on TC Frith which solves nothing, no accidents "have" recently taken place there but I've seen plenty on Five Islands Bridge where the speed limit sits at 80 KMPH. This seems to be the Australian standard, fix what doesn't need fixing and what needs fixing, oh well deal with it I suppose.

I'm no engineer and yes I know it's not going to solve all issues however if the roundabout is to be retained, perhaps then add Traffic lights that only activate during peak hour periods and while this may still cause congestion during said peak periods, at least it means northbound traffic isn't bringing the rest of the roads to a standstill.

[Heihachi_73]

Just to give people even less of an incentive to go to Maccas, the Monopoly prizes have gone app-only this year. No more peeling off a free Big Mac or a Coke here and there or finding one that someone forgot to peel off their fries.

[rtt_rules]

Just to give people even less of an incentive to go to Maccas, the Monopoly prizes have gone app-only this year. No more peeling off a free Big Mac or a Coke here and there or finding one that someone forgot to peel off their fries.

Not the same

[scott]

Yes it is different this year, no more ripping off tickets in anticipation of a good prize and no more trading tickets with other customers.

However I have won two McChickens/Filet O Fish prizes and a Frozen coke in the last week.

All the properties are named after Australian towns/cities/attractions ie Great Ocean Road,Hobart,Noosa.

[Merc1107]

Another one for the thread: Coles and Woolworths removing the weekly special tags on the last day a few hours before they close so you can't tell what isn't actually full RRP + 40% markup without having a staff member follow you all around the store with a scanner. Didn't purchase a single thing at either store tonight, Aldi can take my money tomorrow.

Unless someone stays after closing to pull the tags down, that's how it works.

Was the same many, many moons ago when I worked at an IGA.

[Heihachi_73]

So at all of 6PM you shouldn't be able to see what's on special when it closes at 10PM, formerly midnight? Hiding the specials is hardly a post-COVID thing. At least it's slowly becoming a thing of the past with the e-ink tags glacially replacing the paper stickers.

Just about IGA I knew of many, many moons ago used to close at 7PM on weekdays, 5PM Saturdays and weren't open on Sundays, which is probably why it might have been a thing back then. Mooroolbark Terrace was my local IGA as a kid, I saw it go from Payless to Tuckerbag to Festival IGA to KFL IGA (AFAIK not related to the current Asian supermarket chain called KFL), they started opening on Sundays around 2001 or so whereas Coles was open on Sundays for half the 90s, Sunday trading in Victoria commencing in 1996. Mooroolbark Terrace actually had shops and people until it was all but abandoned in the early 2000s. Allegedly, Coles, which has a store across the road (which I just barely remember being Coles New World in the 80s) bought the shopping centre after IGA closed down to stop Woolworths and/or Aldi from competing.

[ScaniaGrenda]

IGA can be hit and miss (most of them I've been too are on par with Colesworth pricing so I won't do my full shopping there) although lately I haven't been able to say no to one of the local ones in Newcastle with their "Wingdings" (basically chicken wings) the spicy ones are actually boneless while the regular crumbed are not, 5 for $6 is alright and if I get 10 of them ($12) it's enough to cover lunch for myself.

Shopping for me is done at Aldi, exception to Aldi is cinnamon Donuts (Which Aldi use to carry but don't anymore), extra large jumbo roles and 680G white bread (Woolworths one is very nice and suits me)

Now back on topic, what frustrates me?

Newcastle motorists and how they treat bus drivers, there's me, right indicator on waiting to pull out of a bus stop, 80% of the time I'll get flipheads ignoring the indicator and still go flying past me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ , despite this being "law" and them being required to giveway to me in the majority of instances . Same problem, when your vehicle A, a Car we'll call Car B is behind you, road eventually changes into two lanes from one, they'll overtake you just to turn left into a street 150m down the road, passive aggressive or impatient much?

Hoonning and illegal dirtbike riding has become worse, 2:35 PM yesterday, school zone, unregistered dirtbike going well and truly above the speed limit while doing wheelies, comes back the other direction not two minutes later and does the same again, funnily enough I was getting alerts for a reported Mobile speed camera on waze set a little further up the road, if old muppet probably bothered to go the extra kilometer, would have gotten a nice charming letter in the mail (unfortunately no rego so nothing the MSC can catch). Meanwhile when concerned residents of the residing area raise the issue, their meet with the Darens & Karens of FB in defense of them saying where else are they suppose to ride & at least their not sitting on their bums gaming all day being lazy. How about not on the roads for starters riding like a dipstick and definitely not speeding in a school zone?

[MotorOmnibus8562]

Having a laptop fail on me after only one year of Use from Brand new. It's a Lenovo computer and apparently the model I have has an issue with the BIOS software or Windows or something. I was able to get almost five years out of my previous Dell laptop, which I had for school, I already had plans to replace it at the end of this year but had to replace it early (because I couldn't get the RAM upgraded)

[rtt_rules]

Having a laptop fail on me after only one year of Use from Brand new. It's a Lenovo computer and apparently the model I have has an issue with the BIOS software or Windows or something. I was able to get almost five years out of my previous Dell laptop, which I had for school, I already had plans to replace it at the end of this year but had to replace it early (because I couldn't get the RAM upgraded)

My Work HB ZBOOK is from around 2017 - 2018, battery has been replaced but otherwise fine.

[Swift]

Under consumer law, you could find that it has not lasted with a reasonable amount of time, regardless of the warranty period. RRR law. Replace, Refund or Repair.
That’s unacceptable. Contact the retailer.
Be prepared for some email tennis. I ended up giving up with a cheap television that lasted 1.5 years. The company did end up agreeing to send a technician to try and repair but didn’t hear anymore from them and life got in the way and weeks went by so didn’t bother. Don’t be me.

[scott]

I got almost 10 years service out of an ASUS laptop, granted it was not used a great deal in its later years, with mainly using a desktop during COVID lockdowns but it never broke down or had an issue that could not be corrected without a software update, it was used until just before it was retired and replaced with another ASUS, which in now going three and a half years and is the sole PC I use at home, thanks to the HDMI connection to a monitor.

[MiCCROwavE_OVEN]

People on social media platforms panicking about the impending social media ban on December 10 and calling for people to overthrow the Government and promoting other forms of violence because our Government are supposedly "corrupt communists".

The entire aim of the ban is to reduce the exposure of children to extremist content so it seems to me that those 'vigilante revolutionaries' are really just stabbing themselves in the foot...

[Campbelltown busboy]

People on social media platforms panicking about the impending social media ban on December 10 and calling for people to overthrow the Government and promoting other forms of violence because our Government are supposedly "corrupt communists".

The entire aim of the ban is to reduce the exposure of children to extremist content so it seems to me that those 'vigilante revolutionaries' are really just stabbing themselves in the foot...

With that group of people It’s more about the digital ID with these so called overreaching surveillance tools amd Chinese style social credit system that they think will come with it rather then the actual ban it’s self. So your basicly complaining about the digital ID is evil and we won’t ever get one crowd

[MotorOmnibus8562]

Personally, While I agree with the idea that Teenagers should spend less time on social media, emphasis on less, I don't really agree with the ban for under 16s. And I'm quite conflicted on the rise of the age limit.

I feel like what the ban is failing to address is why are Teenagers spending more time on social media than other activities. If we ask teenagers why they spend most of their time on the socials. You'll get all kinds of answers, but I think the more informed Teenagers will likely say that there isn't really anything to do in the real world. Sure, they can go to cafes, parks etc. but if they don't live near a particular place and that place requires fast transport, there isn't anything exciting to do, and these days, with the cost of living, it's too expensive for teenagers to go out.

For many people these days, social media is now a critical source of important information. For some people, it's a better source of information than traditional news outlets, many of which have become paywalled over the years. Especially in situations like the Gaza situation where the people affected the most by the wars going on there can communicate directly with people.

The interesting part of this ban is that a main leading organisation advocating for the ban is the News corp. An organisation that is known to demonise young people when they engage in political activity such as climate change protests, the issues regarding Gaza and Palestinian people and youth that are disadvantaged. They also helped make up a crisis about Youth crime when statistics state that youth crime has actually been decreasing long term. And that a teeny tiny portion of these youth criminals are committing most of these crimes, many of these criminals are recidivists. Perhaps youth crime may only be increasing for particular offences or in particular parts of the country but There aren't a lot of statistics that back this up. Overall, the fake news media (that's what I call them now) likes to sensationalise youth crime.

It's interesting that Social media is somehow a dangerous place for people under the age of 16, but we can still show those same people gambling ads, and somehow they're responsible enough to be criminally responsible for their actions from the age of 10

I also think that the fake news media and our general society demonises young people too much, especially teenagers, all because they do stupid things, even when I was a teenager I personally found the standard stunts teenagers typically like doing annoying, but what I know is The brain is still developing. Some brains mature faster than others. Young people are bound to make mistakes.

So instead of banning, why don't we teach teenagers how to be safe on Social media, and also make the platforms regulate the algorithms, even give users the option to opt out of algorithms. I don't know about anyone else, but I think it's a much smarter and easier decision.

I personally feel like the government cares more about spoiling corporations that don't even care about them no matter what subsidies they get using our taxpayer money by the way. These corporations care more about money than actually providing the services they provide. Like those multinational mining companies, many of which try to pay as little tax as possible and some pay no tax at all and then they export all our resources for next to nothing.

If the government really cared about young people, then maybe they wouldn't ban social media for under 16s, If they really cared, then they would be trying to limit new fossil fuel projects. Increasing the rate of the renewables, maybe give the states more money for public transport, especially in regional areas, maybe they can make our urban spaces more safer to walk and ride in. Maybe they would try to phase out negative gearing, and actually address the many crises young people are facing.

Anyway this is a long post that would be too long for this thread, it may be worth being put in its own thread but there are my personal thoughts about this social media ban for under 16s.

[Heihachi_73]

Construction workers in Ringwood making excessive noise (crane with a diesel engine and fan twice as loud as the engine, as well as endless hammering) at 6AM this morning when there is a noise law forbidding exactly that until 7AM on weekdays (they're also here on Saturdays). It is now 6:39AM. Flying the CMFEU flag means immune from laws of course, fines are just part of doing business and probably covered under insurance, or are that tiny it's like being fined five dollars for robbing a bank while being able to keep what you stole.

All the noise in the world just for a worthless retirement home, which is about the only thing Victoria builds these days besides toll roads. Ringwood is chock full of retirement villages. Of course, when built it will mean an ambulance or fire truck with its sirens blaring every week when the boomers in the knackery inevitably have a stroke or a heart attack or accidentally burn half the place down after leaving the oven on and falling asleep.

[scott]

People who are absolutely covered from head to toe in tattoos, I had someone like that swear at me today.

[MotorOmnibus8562]

All the Bullsh*t content on YouTube shorts, It's so annoying to listen to, especially "if you use this sound, you'll get xxx subscribers". Fine, Buster, fine, I will use your sound to grow my YouTube channel, happy now?!

I'm not sure who else here is tired of seeing gibberish like "If you use this sound, you'll gain 100 subscribers" etc. etc. But I for one am sick of seeing this sh*t.

Surely, I can't be the only one who is subjected to that crap whenever I scroll on YouTube shorts.

[Swift]

When you go to a takeaway shop and an assistant asks what you would like and looks visibly annoyed when you tell HER -because it’s always a female usually young - you are still deciding what you’ll get. They expect you to have made a decision the moment they approach you.
Another related to retail is getting approached for assistance when you want to be left alone and not being able to find any when you need it.

[BanksfielderIdiot823]

Stuff me dead. So, I guess this can pretty much sum up Melbourne in 2025:

Machetes; footy umpires; the AFL screwing over the Preston Football Club; dictated/forced treaties at the hands of an activist premier; an abysmal legal system with weak magistrates letting criminals out on bail; HCMTs; activist riots; VF Commoores getting stolen left right and centre; and topped off with a cherry on the cake with the worst Boxing Day Test in living history, summed up with batting issues, wicket dramas and Cricket Aus committing the ultimate act of treason by selling out Bay 13 to the Barmy Army.

Have a spell and a Snickers, Melbourne town. You're not you when you're hungry.

[scott]

Not to mention the potholes.

This whole Boxing Day test was a farce.

[MotorOmnibus8562]

I'd it just me or is anyone able to relate to me with dealing with Real estate agents. I'm currently in the process of Moving to Melbourne and some rental applications require an inspection, but I cannot physically go down to inspect right now because I live in Wodonga and I have things to do in Wodonga still, but I do have time to inspect if the inspections are done online.

Do real estate agents still provide online inspections these days? I'm trying to Move to Melbourne and I'd like to move in a few weeks, but I can't physically go down to inspect properties.

For example, one rental I'm looking at requires me to get someone I know in Melbourne to inspect the property for me or simply travel down myself, I do not have time to travel to Melbourne to inspect properties right now. The requirements are confusing

I have requested online inspections of the properties I'm looking at on the domain website but I'm not getting adequate responses from the real estate agents. All I get is "here you can inspect this property at X time" but they aren't telling me if the inspections are in person only or they can be done online." It's frustrating and annoying.

I don't want and should not have to make my friends and family in Melbourne do what the real estate agent can EASILY do themselves by just logging into zoom/teams and then video calling me to do the inspection.