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Carmine6

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Posts posted by Carmine6

  1. I took the mouse back to IT City this afternoon and got a full refund. Thanks, IT City!

    Good to hear.

    I haven't had a problem with bluetooth since XP. On Android, IOS, and Win 8, zero issues. Headsets, a wireless speaker, keyboard, and mouse. Though bluetooth dongles always gave me problems and everything since then has been built in. I had one dongle I had to use the MS driver for if doing certain things, and the manufacturer's driver for other things. And it never worked quite right anyway, such as never allowed me to use a bluetooth headset for Skype.

    Microsoft also is hit and miss with hardware. Some of their stuff works fine and some seems to suck. I have used their corded keyboards and mice before with no problems. But had a usb wifi adapter that was awful. Presenter mouse has worked fine, though was $60, so not a cheap product. Other wireless mice were 1/3 as much at the same time, though not bluetooth.

  2. Not too surprising for a company like Microsoft. The rate for licensing a brand name can be pretty high. Say it is 5%, which is probably low for a brand like Nokia. That comes right off the top or in a per unit fee. On a $700 phone, wholesale would be maybe $350, which would be $17.50. Since Microsoft already has its own brand, they could instead spend that $35 per unit on other things like their new brand. That's particularly true where Nokia isn't such a strong brand anymore.

    If they had outright bought the entire Nokia company, name included, then it wouldn't cost anything more to use it. But they didn't buy the name. So they'll pay something for the time period they use the name, but will cut that expense off by launching under their own brand.

    Edit. Was using retail price versus wholesale.

  3. Thanks I will give that one a try then. I do have WiFi when in doors so hopefully this will be enough for casual browsing when out and about.

    Thanks for your help.

    The unlimited True wifi included also helps take pressure off the data if there's one near you or where you go to. The ones labeled @truemove H or similar will log in automatically after you enter your password, like a home router. The ones labeled @ TRUEWIFI or similar require pulling up the webpage and logging in. But I think will log in automatically after. I may have those backwards, but one will log in automatically. Just have to actively sign in the first time on both. Save the login info in the browser screen.

    Also, the lower speeds are not as bad as they seem. 128 Kbps is like EDGE, but I think that used to seem really slow due to phone hardware. On my S3, I didn't really notice it being much slower after it dropped. Definitely seemed much faster than I remember EDGE being.

    Last trip I spent 2 weeks trying to conserve my 1GB of full speed because I was tethering my Win 8 tablet to do work and was expecting it to crawl after the drop down. I had even called them to ask if I could upgrade to the next plan and they said I could not, but there was some kind of speed up plan I could layer 1GB at high speed onto the 399 baht plan. Decided to wait and see. Once it came, it didn't change enough to bother me. Noticeably slower, but not enough to get in the way of most things on the Win 8 tablet tethered to the phone. Some facebook games were the only things that had problems, so not the end of the world. Phone was even less noticeable. I ended up using another full GB in a week because there was no True wifi where I was staying.

    Oh, and the true wifi works on another device, so I was able to take the tablet to a true wifi hotspot and login with the same info as the phone, at the same time. Not sure that's allowed under the terms, but I didn't do that very often.

  4. My wireless mouse works fine with the on-screen keyboard too. It is the Bluetooth mouse that is the problem. I bought the Bluetooth mouse so I wouldn't have to use the micro-USB OTG adapter but apparently the tablet is expecting a Bluetooth mouse AND keyboard - or something like that.

    Yikes, that's a problem. I tried my bluetooth mouse on my S3 and the onscreen keyboard works fine with it.

    Found this other user with the same problem on the Nexus 10. The first response here:

    http://www.amazon.com/Will-work-nexus-10-tablet/forum/Fx1ZB6UXZYSLIDP/Tx2NCJCK9MBXJZ8/1?_encoding=UTF8&asin=B008OEHPPM

    ...I did not find any options for the mouse on Nexus 10. Things like the 4-way touch scrolling do not appear to work. Also I found the mouse cursor to lag sometimes. But the big problem is that when I brought up the chrome browser, the mouse would work fine. But the touch screen keyboard would not come up so that I could type. To me that does not sound like a MS Sculpt Touch Mouse issue as much as a Nexus 10 Android issue...

  5. If you're being paid something, then best thing to do is keep up the pressure. Unless you have the ability to sue them, as in you're willing to spend the time and money, and able to show up in court, then that's about all you'll likely be able to do.

    If it fell under the small claims court limit in whatever state they're in, it could be pretty cheap to file since you file it yourself. But if you're in Thailand, that's probably not possible, plus you'd have to show up for the court date. You could also probably find a local attorney there to send a letter to try to scare them, but that's not going to be cheap considering it is just a letter. And there'd be no weight behind it, other than it might look like you are one step closer to suing them.

    You could try contacting the credit agencies and see what you could report as a creditor. Dunn & Bradstreet is known as a business credit rating agency. Probably something at the others. But better to try to talk them into paying as all you'll get is a little satisfaction from reporting, and not cash.

    On a practical basis, there's not much you can do if they are insolvent. There are no insolvency police where you report the company and they go shut it down and arrest the owners. Creditors can force a company into bankruptcy as a remedy if they can convince a judge to issue the order, but by the time that happens, there's not a lot to recover. The more typical path is the company files on its own under pressure from the largest creditors.

    You do not want to see anything happen involving bankruptcy as you'll likely not see anything, or if so, then a tiny fraction and not for quite a while.

  6. Be aware that if you then go back to the older device, all the history on it may be wiped out. It'll say something like "you've used this on another mobile device, ...." when logging into the new one. It'll then deactivate the other device so that going back there might start from scratch. I had an Android backup and it would not restore it. Would just start up, say I had used it on another device and start from scratch. Importing old messages is possible if you've backed them up, however.

    Another option if you can do so, is to us the PC version. It will not let you log into the PC version on more than one PC at a time, but does not affect the mobile device it is on. But any other mobile device like an ipad will.

    Check the "Can I use the same LINE account from multiple devices?" toward the bottom.

    http://help.line.me/line/ios/categoryId/10000309/pc?lang=en

    ★If you access the same LINE account from another device using the same email address/phone number, your LINE account will be automatically deleted from the previous device.

  7. Just to update a bit...on the prior discussion here about tourists using traveler's cheques in Thailand.

    Because it had been ages since I've touched a traveler's cheque, I stopped and chatted with the staff guy at a local TMB bank exchange booth near my home, on the subject of traveler's cheques. And he had two answers for my questions, regarding our prior discussion here:

    1. the TMB guy said it was no problem for them to cash single $500 U.S. denomination traveler's cheques. When we talked about that earlier here, I wasn't sure if the booths these days would have any problem with that large an amount for a single check. But the TMB guy said $500 was fine. So that shouldn't be a problem.

    2. Then, contrary to what I think was my recollection mentioned above, the TMB guy said that they were fine to cash AMEX traveler's cheques, but that they would NOT cash VISA brand traveler's cheques. So that may have been what I was recalling from my own long past tourist days, getting VISA brand traveler's cheques from my local AAA office, and then finding the banks here (or at least some of them) didn't want to cash them.

    Thai banks are pretty notorious for have different policies and practices branch to branch and even bank company to bank company. So I'm not saying no Thai bank will take VISA traveler's cheques, but just that my local TMB branch won't. Maybe others here can add their own experiences with the acceptance of VISA vs AMEX cheques.

    Lastly, even though I didn't ask for it, the TMB guy quoted me an exchange rate this afternoon about 5 pm for cashing a $500 traveler's cheque, and it was 32.09 baht to the dollar, prior to them deducting the 153 baht per cheque fee. By comparison, the VISA card network rate for today is 32.28, and the MC network rate for yesterday (the latest one posted when I checked just now) was 32.094.

    I cashed $500 AMEX traveler's cheques at exchange booths before. Can't recall which banks. They type the numbers into their system which I think is checking against AMEX's lost/stolen list or something. Then they'll instruct to sign. The signature has to match the passport as well, though technically they just have to match on the TC for AMEX to pay on them. But I wouldn't count on that unless actually at an AMEX travel office. They made me sign again with my middle name on the exchange receipt same as with my passport, though on the TC both were without.

    The net rate is not bad for larger amounts like $500 or $1,000. Figure the rest is the little bit of security versus carrying cash.

  8. Evidently it does. I see a lovely looking "4G" displayed!

    On I747 it'll show 4G when on 3G+. Can't recall the correct terminology. If on LTE, it shows an LTE next to the 4G, slightly below or above. It's basically the graphic used in the sequence, and there's no 3G. Changes slightly depending on which OS update it is running.

    http://www.att.com/devicehowto/index.jsp?id=stepbystep_KB414545&make=Samsung&model=GalaxySIII(I747)

  9. Don't know about the Note Pro but I have successfully connected both a wired and wireless mouse via an OTG connector plugged into the micro USB port of my Nexus 10. There are wireless keyboard and mouse sets that connect via one USB radio, so that's an option. In the past, I've had a lot of trouble connecting Bluetooth devices to my computers. Maybe 4.0 is an improvement (I hope!)

    Bluetooth seems fine on Android compared to PCs. Mainly I think because they had to make it work with headsets. My bluetooth mouse had a noticeable lag on XP which is why I ditched it, though on Win 8, I have no issues. Not sure if that is due to Win 8 or the newer bluetooth hardware. Never had built in Bluetooth before the tablet. Dongles always seemed to suck.

    On my Galaxy S3, I can use the bluetooth mouse and it works just fine, though is ridiculous for a phone. Bluetooth keyboard also works.

    Samsung sells an accessory mouse for this tablet, S Mouse ET-MP900D.

  10. Western Union makes money on both the fee and the rate so make sure to compare the total price of whatever you're sending. I have a hard time believing they are cheaper than a wire, except for smaller amounts.

    Forgot, they have an estimator on their website so I think you could see what it'll cost in baht for a certain amount of dollars.

  11. Is there a reason you couldn't use a bluetooth mouse with it as well? I have a Win 8 tablet and use a bluetooth keyboard and bluetooth mouse with it at the same time, as well as an active stylus. It's a 6 or 7 year old mouse and I just happened to keep it. MS Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse 8000. I'd expect newer bluetooth mice would be better since the old one will go through batteries fast if I don't turn it off when not in use.

    I actually use the bluetooth mouse more than the bluetooth keyboard.

    For me, the stylus is good if I'm holding it like a notepad, or since I have it in a case that stands on my desk, sometimes I need to do something that takes more precision than using my finger and it gives slightly more reach. But it is not so great a mouse replacement. More like a precision finger replacement.

    When doing serious stuff the mouse is a must have. Scrolling around, placing the cursor, highlighting for copy and paste, that kind of stuff. If you're doing a lot of physical keyboard stuff, it is easier going to a mouse than picking up the stylus to do something. If you're doing mainly internet, reading emails, etc. then the mouse is pretty good. Onscreen keyboard when you need, but mouse for just getting around.

  12. Had my friend top my card up. 10 baht at a time probably through a machine. She said they only have 50 baht (probably 7-11) so I said to try a machine and it will cost 12 baht for 10 baht credit and she knew what I meant. The 7-11 near her has one of those machines and I always wondered what it was for since it is right in front of 7-11, so I assumed it wouldn't be for topping up phones.

    Of course they sent the topup email, followed by that message about 30 days validity for each top up. Actually it says "..at least 30 days.." which implies there might be more days possible for a top up.

  13. I guess the title is a bit misleading i was more looking for software type thing, ...

    The difference is mainly user experience versus what they are capable of.

    Widgets is probably the single biggest difference. As an example both will give weather, but it how it gives weather that can differ. On my S3, I have a widget with a clock in it on my home screen that updates automatically. Just look and it is there. I can just nudge it and switch cities, so I have Bangkok as the other city and normally leave it there so the clock is Bangkok time at a glance. I can get the same info on ios of course, but it's just a different experience.

    Or if I need that other time zone, I pull down the menu, hit the time in the upper right corner and the cities I have show up. Not hugely different to hitting the clock icon instead, but instead of having to find the clock icon, I'm there in 1 second. Could also put it on a widget as well.

    Android also allows shortcuts to contacts so you can just click their picture and then phone, message, map their address, or email. Shortcuts can also be set up for things like messaging apps like Line contacts, or other things an app can do. So right now I just noticed I can put a widget for my bank on the desktop that will show the balances for my accounts. Pin protected even so I typed the pin on the tiny keyboard in the widget itself.

    Also can shortcut to more mundane things like shortcuts to bookmarks. Or have a slideshow of my photos on the screen.

    The way apps can work also varies. I use Keypass for passwords on my PC. On Android, I can just use Airdroid or Kies Air and can log on through a website and copy the file over. Or anything like Box, Dropbox, Onedrive, etc. to get the file over. On my ipad, I have to connect it, go to itunes and figure out how to get that file on there through the app portion of itunes. Can't just drag it on or download the file.

    When I use keypass on Android, I open the file and pick a item and it will create two notifications in the pull down. One is copy username and the other is copy password. I then go to the app or website, hit the pull down, copy username and paste, then password and paste without having to get off the website or app. On my ipad I have to do a copy then paste, and go back to the keypass app for the other one.

    So as with the keyboard, what can be done isn't so different, it is just how it is done or how easily, versus being able to do it versus not.

  14. For example can you deny an app access to location like you can on iPhone, say you want maps to use location but not Facebook or whatsapp can you do that?

    Of course you can do that.. its android.. Flexible

    Dude maybe you can tell us where the settings are to disallow certain apps to use gps without having to turn off gps, been looking at a mates and seems there is no native way to stop certain apps from using gps while allowing others access, whats the path to the setting?

    Apps called "App Ops" disable some permissions. There are a few with similar names. I'm rooted so not sure if that will affect what it will block. The one by ERICKDKFZ tells when an app last used a certain permission in the past. Most apps actually don't ever use many of the permissions when I've checked.

    There are also others like Permission Manager.

  15. AFAIK, any/every top-up. regardless of amount, gives 30 days accumulated validity up to a maximum of 365 days.

    No. 500-999B gets you 50 days. 1000B gets you 150 days.

    And 144B (12 x 12B) gets you 360 days. Go figure.

    Possibly, but these may old top-up charts, no longer in effect after 18 March?

    http://truemoveh.truecorp.co.th/3g/topup/channel/entry/2939

    And there may be other promotional top-up schemes available as well?

    Back when they had the 60 day activity method, they had the "old" top up schedules on the website, and these are way different. So I think this schedule is new. The old one showed 60 days for something like 300 baht, 90 for 500, something along those lines. Definitely not this schedule with just 3 tiers. It was more like 5 or 6 tiers. 1-49, 50 to 99, 100 to 299, 300-499, etc. I think less than 50 baht gave 15 days. 50 baht gave 30.

    There were actually 2 schedules if I recall, one for I guess not True H, and one for True H. However, it was not in effect, and they mentioned the 60 day also on the website at the same time.

  16. FDA Approval? Would they certify efficacy and safety for those?

    I know it is counter-intuitive, but I believe what makes the 'lethal injection' LETHAL is in fact a deliberate overdose of a barbituate (pentabarbitol), after hopefully relaxing and sedating the condemned, So yes, the drug(s) have other uses, in lower doses, when the intention is not to cause death.

    Not sure why the gas chamber fell out of favor - it was used for ~ 600 executions? Maybe the horrible association with Nazi death camps? Or why hanging isn't used anymore, it was fine Saddam Hussein. It is strange that the U.S. Military has not executed anyone since 1961?

    I was being a little facetious as they couldn't do efficacy tests, and safety wouldn't matter. Volunteers for our double blind study? Anyone?

    But I think the real reason they use existing drugs is for practical reasons. No one would make a chemical that is only used for this, and I think any chemicals or other things that could be used, can not be used for this. As in it would violate other federal laws. There's the warning on pesticides and similar things "It is a violation of federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling." Not sure about that, but I think that's the web of regulations they have to navigate through. Maybe at the commercial level, there's more leeway.

  17. It is interesting that some Americans are prosecuted for sourcing lower-cost prescription drugs, which have been approved by the FDA, in Canada, Mexico and elsewhere, but States can illegally smuggle drugs (various lethal injection drugs), which are not approved by the FDA. Go figger.

    This is a current problem in Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma - and maybe more states? Not sure what they do in Texas, but given their volume business maybe they stocked up?

    Tennessee is close to bringing back "Old Sparky". And lawmakers in Missouri and Wyoming proposed adding firing squads as an execution method earlier this year. Lethal injection of lead?

    Tennessee bill to bring back electric chair headed to governor
    Reuters TIM GHIANNI, REUTERS
    APR. 17, 2014
    NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Tennessee's electric chair, last used in 2007, would become a state option for executions under a bill approved on Thursday by lawmakers looking for alternatives if drugs for lethal injections become unavailable.
    Tennessee senators voted on Thursday to give the measure final approval and send it to Republican Governor Bill Haslam, who has endorsed the death penalty in general terms.
    Haslam will review the legislation when it arrives at his desk, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday. The bill follows other similar proposals from various U.S. states that are responding to increased difficulty in obtaining drugs for lethal injections because many pharmaceutical firms, mainly in Europe, object to their use in executions.

    http://www.businessinsider.com/r-tennessee-bill-to-bring-back-electric-chair-headed-to-governor-2014-17

    Stoning, and burning at the stake, are expecting a strong comeback in those states low on funding for electricity or bullets.

    FDA Approval? Would they certify efficacy and safety for those?

  18. I noticed in Note 1 of the Fidelity link that Fidelity charges a 1% foreign transaction fee (i.e., they let the Visa 1% currency conversion fee be passed along to you versus Fidelity absorbing it); however, I think I've read in other posts that Fidelity is actually absorbing that fee. I don't know for sure as I don't have a Fidelity debit card, but I do have Schwab debit card they do absorb the Visa 1% currency conversion fee making it a true no foreign transaction fee card.

    I believe what Fidelity accountholders have reported here and elsewhere previously is that Fidelity does NOT charge the 1% FCF on ATM withdrawals abroad (despite their website language to the contrary), but they do charge it for foreign purchases.

    But like you, I don't have an account with them, so I can't vouch for that from personal experience.

    I think I end up getting slightly under the prevailing TT rates, though Fidelity's rate seems to be reset much less frequently so I can never make an exact calculation. Often I'll make two withdrawals on different days and though my balance shows the withdrawal instantly, they'll show with the same transaction date and the same dollar amount when they show up. So the rate might be used for two days, or just need a certain change for it to be changed.

    Basically, if I change $1,000 at Superrich around the time I do an ATM withdrawal, I end up with maybe 100 to 200 baht more on that $1,000 cash. But net of the transporation costs, it isn't much better. I don't actually do those at the same time so not sure of the difference, other than every time I do them close together it is like 120 baht or 160 baht better on $1,000 for cash. So that sounds like 1/2%, which I assume is due to them building in a slight cushion and not resetting very frequently.

  19. Ok, after running the wife to Foodland to buy some groceries I searched Schwab some more and they do have different ATM rebate maximums per month, either unlimited or $9/month, based on the type of checking/savings/money market account the debit card was issued under. I have the Investor Checking which is unlimited ATM reimbursement. See this Schwab Pricing Guide on Page 5 for more info and a partial quote is below. Didn't see anything about a $5 max rebate per transaction.

    attachicon.gifCapture.JPG

    Thanks for posting that. I was thinking I might have to open an account there as I thought I had a 5 ATM fee limit on my Fidelity account. So I went to check and Fidelity also is unlimited. That has to be a change as I'm sure it was limited before or maybe I was confusing the brokerage account and the checking one.

    Schwab:

    http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/banking_lending/checking_account

    "Unlimited fee rebates from any ATM worldwide"

    Fidelity:

    https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/fidelity-cash-management-account/overview

    "Use your free Fidelity® Visa® Gold Check Card anywhere in the world and we will automatically reimburse all ATM fees."

  20. 1st off checked with my US Bank(s) & there's no holds/pending/insufficient funds/blocks or any problems on the US side. Actually, with all declined charges (many times buying from the Thai International Markets or Tesco/Lotus or any of the large shopping centers), including tests I did for just 500-1000 baht charges, the US Bank(s) reported there was NO history of such transactions.

    Somewhat similar to this, I've tried to top up my True H sim card to keep it alive through their website. It goes to a Kasikorn payment hub, where it will even pop up a Verified by Visa sign in for a card that I've tried. I have tried 3 different cards and none of them has gone through, including a Mastercard.

    So I called the credit card companies, and they had no record of the attempts to make the charge. The Kasikorn website said declined, please contact your bank, or something along those lines.

    They ask for quite a bit of information on the website including which country the card issuer is located, then after selecting US, it has a pull down off all US banks in there, so there's no way to mistype which bank. Also asks for the cvv code.

    However, I did try this last year and just recently. So the first effort was far in advance of FATCA. There clearly is something on the Thai end that prevented the charge from even being attempted. One time I even put a travel notification on a card before trying it, and that made no difference. It didn't even show up as an attempt.

    You need to get yourself set up with a "Verified by Visa" password. I can't remember exactly how I did it. I think when you see this sign-in screen you're given the option to click on a link that tells you how to do obtain a Verified by Visa password. As I recall, I called my credit union, the financial institution which issued the card and they explained it to me. The credit card company -- the number on the back of the card -- was no help at all. Of course they'd have no record of an attempt to make the charge; it was never made. My memory of this is a little fuzzy, I did it a couple years ago. It was a PITA at the time, but once I got it resolved, the websites that use the Kasikorn payment hub, and the Verified by Visa routine aren't a problem.

    Again, nothing whatsoever to do with FATCA. It's just another security measure in place.

    I have many accounts. Two have verified by visa on them and I have used it before online without problem. I did not activate it for others. Just have to go to the verfied by visa website, type in the account number and other info, and it's set up.

    For True H, it does not matter whether or not I use a card with verified by visa security. Mastercard and others that I have not set up for verified by visa do not work. I've even tried cards that charge a 3% fee for an international transaction and those don't work either. Something at Kasikorn is just not even attempting the transaction as they're not showing up as attempts at my credit card companies.

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