They didn't see this one coming ... crunch!

From XP and Mandrake to Ubuntu and Vista

My notebook was "KIA'd" in the weekend. I now have a Compaq Presario V3000 Notebook which came with Vista installed. Tonight, I have created allocated a 30 gig partition (total is 160) for the installation of Ubuntu. However, I am hoping to get my wireless connection working. The system is able to roam and identify the network. It just doesn't actually succeed in making an internet connection. Does anyone know of an executable command or the correct file I should be amending to achieve this? I am a newbie with Ubuntu, so your advice would be much appreciated.

Timeshares: Don't Believe The Hype

Last week, I received a phone call from an Australian fellow representing a holiday resort company . He alleged that my wife and I had just 'won' $1,000 worth of free holiday travel.

Like most great offers containing financial incentives , I thought there must be strings attached.
And sure enough there were lots of strings. This fellow told us, that in order to claim this 'prize' we had to attend a 90 minute presentation at a local hotel. He also repeatedly asked if our combined income was over $45,000. He stated that we did not have to purchase anything and we'd be under no pressure [cough cough]. He also promised us refreshments , not to mention the chance to enter another 'competition prize draw'. We even had a woman from the same outfit phone us the next night and ask what our income was again.

Anyway, we turned up at this hotel at 5:30 pm on Thursday night last week and we were greeted by bouncer-sized guys, who promptly shepherded us into this conference room ... and locked us in!

To cut a long story short their proposal was:

• That we purchase these credits from [company name censored] that entitle us to stay at selected hotels, condos or apartments in different locations around the world. The company is in the business of constructing more of these resorts.
  
• The cost of 12,000 credits which would have entitled us to stay for 2-3 weeks in a holiday resort would have cost us $29,560.
• The presenter tried to convince us, that we would be doing a disservice to ourselves and our families, if we didn't accept their offer.
• They were offering us financial terms of $240 per month, plus 12 - 17% interest.
• There was also an annual maintenance fee of $850 odd dollars (which was also prone to increase every year due to inflation - of course).
• We would be referred to as 'owners'. Our money would be placed in a trust fund (separate to the building/maintenance fund).
  

The advantage of this offer was:

• Using your credits, you could stay at one of these selected 5 star resorts, and not worry about paying the nightly room rate per couple or whatever.

The disadvantages of this offer (or reading between the lines, what they try to avoid telling you):

• You would have to pay for your own travel, food, room service, housekeeping, tax and any other holiday related charges.
• You would still need to pay top-up charges for rooms during peak season school holidays, Saturday nights, public holidays etc.
• You would be competing against every other 'owner' out there for available spaces during different parts of the year.
• The Company has the right to determine what resorts/rooms are available or not available.
  
• They can foreclose on your loan, if you are unable to keep up payments.
• The rates for their resorts are over priced, therefore you are making a 'perceived' saving only.
• You would be trying to pay off their loan plus maintenance fees, while simultaneously attempting to budget for a domestic or overseas holiday.
• Servicing a timeshare will dry up your savings.
• Holidays will be more expensive.
  

To cut the crap, I asked the fellow conducting the presentation:

• Where do you get the capital from to build these resorts?, to which he muttered, "From the people." (Protected trust *cough cough* ... yeah right ... NOT!)
• If I lost my income, would my contribution be protected? to which the salesman replied, "Yes, it will be frozen until your situation improves". (Yeah right! I have read many horror stories on the Net of people who have had their timeshares foreclosed. Cut the crap guys!)

Beware the psychological warfare:

• These guys could dance rings around your average used car salesperson.
• They tell you that the presentation is for 90 minutes - we escaped after 2 hours (I have read stories on the Web of people being stuck in the presentation for over 6 hours!).
• In addition to the group presentation, you are allocated a one-on-one session with a salesperson, who's sole intention is to wear you down slowly, with his unrelenting pressure until your head is in a spin.
• If one spouse is almost inclined to think about the offer they will step up the pressure on that spouse's partner.
• There were no food/refreshments - but they did offer us a coffee during their attempted process of getting us to sign.
• Don't believe everything they say, some of it is half truths, some of their garble is not truthful at all.
• They ask you such ridiculous questions as, "Who likes holidays?"
• They tried the following tactic on me: "Come on, purchase our 'Premier' package. If you don't sign today, you will only be eligible for our standard package at a later date (Yeah right!).
  

Be prepared and be alert:

• This is sucker marketing, don't get suckered in.
• Leave your cash, cheque book and credit cards at home
• The $1,000 prize is basically vouchers that entitle you to discounts at the Company's overpriced resorts. You need to spend over a $1,000 to get a $1,000 sort of thing. Since the prices are over inflated, your saving is again perceived only. Plus the vouchers also appear to be another way to lure you to more of these "90 minute" presentations.
  
• Some of their offers of credits can exceed a price of $50,000 (People sell these timeshares on EBay for a tenth of the value, just so that can get out of paying the maintenance fee and other obligations. They usually would have incurred a massive financial loss by that stage).
• They may not not let you view the contract prior to signing it . I didn't see it, but I wasn't intending to sign it anyway.
  

They didn't like it when I told them:

• I could stay at various places in Europe, SE Asia or Aussie for rates that were way cheaper than what they were proposing.
• I told them that I would rather have a mortgage for my own home, rather than a mortgage for the right to access a holiday home occasionally.
• I referred to this as an offer to buy timeshares. The guy on the phone said in a terse tone that these were not timeshares (They are. The only difference between now and what was popular in the eighties is that you are purchasing a time slot for various resorts, as opposed to a timeshare week or two at a particular resort).

Remember:

• Plan your own holiday, shop online and look around for bargains, it's always cheaper that way.
• If you really want timeshares, then purchase them at an online auction for a fraction of the developer's price. Don't forget, you will still have to service the yearly maintenance fee.
  
• If you do get suckered in, there is a clause to rescind the agreement for period of a few days only, could be 5 to 10 days, maybe more, depending on where you live. My research, since our presentation has revealed that these guys will avoid mentioning or showing you the clause for rescinding the agreement at all costs. Once the cooling off period has expired, you are trapped in an iron clad agreement. You have to be willing to incur a massive financial loss in the range of tens of thousands when selling timeshares. The developer may even invoke a penalty clause in some cases.

I'm just glad we never signed.

When Married Couples Shouldn't Hyphenate Their Names

New Zealand's Hilarious Moronical Political Circus

Election year silly season is under way!

One of our esteemed politicians, moonlighting as a fill-in radio station broadcaster, has told the station listeners that he did not want morons voting for his party.

Responding to a listener, who sent him an e-mail saying Mr Politician was a lost cause and he would soon be out of politics, Mr Politician said there were a lot of morons in New Zealand and they could vote for any party they liked, but he did not want them to vote for his party!

In yet another colourful blight on our much maligned political landscape, Mr Politician N0.2 recently told an emailer who was concerned about the extremely high number of people emmigrating to Australia to "Please join them".

Maybe us morons could vote for this guy instead ... maybe not ... hahaha!

For the purpose of maintaining the apolitical nature of this blog, I've refrained from mentioning the actual names of the politicians, their parties and the radio station concerned.

Below is a voting form with more realistic candidates.

At least neither of these candidates will label us morons.


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GENERAL ELECTION VOTING FORM

CANDIDATE 1: Gollum! (Standing for the Smeagol's Sneaking Hobbit Party)

CANDIDATE 2: Bean! (Standing for the Bean Adder Serious Party)

Auto Club Roadside Rescue In Pakistan

Hmmmm, I wonder how these guys could deal with a flat battery.

One Crazy Week.

Here's a couple of funny things that happen to me over the last week. They could be put down to being caused by the winter blues, being over tired and busy or just sheer stupidity on my part.

Firstly, I received a cellphone from my employer last week. The phone arrived by mail and first appeared as a neat package on my desk. I responded by opening the box and wow! .. it was fully charged up and ready to go. I noted that the menu system was quite different to the format I had experienced in various personal cellphones I've had over the years. Anyhow, as the week progressed, I anticipated becoming more familiar familiar with with all its functions, bells and whistles.

On Monday this week, I started to question why I had not received any calls on my new work phone. I checked the voicemail and heard... ... "If you wish to activate your phone, please contact your nearest ####### retailer for assistance."

In my defense, I can say that I've had a very busy week. Probably not the greatest excuse of all time though.

Secondly, my wife and I attended a social gathering at a friend's place during the weekend. The reason for the celebration was his son's first birthday and the completion (almost!) of his house renovations. We arrived mid-afternoon.

My friends floorspace was adorned with brand new carpet. Therefore, we all had to take our shoes off and leave them on his verandah.

I indulged in some of his wife's yummy food and some fantastic fellowship. The turnover of guests was quite substantial. By the time we prepared to go home, my friend's house had filled up with a completely different group of people.

It was dark outside as we said goodbye to everyone, put our shoes back on and drove home.

The next morning, after I had showered and dressed, I was getting some shoes on and ... I discovered that I didn't recognise them! ... They are not mine!

I explained my shoe problem to my friend. After his laughter had subsided , he began to sympathise with me and he admitted that the electrician had yet to connect the lighting on his verandah.

My friend has yet to hear from anyone claiming to have lost their shoes. My original shoes have also disappeared from his house.

I will hang on to these shoes for a while, and If I don't hear from anyone looking for their Steelers, then I 'll start wearing them. They are actually a perfect fit.