Aussie Readers discussion
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Chat about whatever you like: the weather, good stuff, bad stuff, family or pets!
☼♄Jülie wrote: "Hi All from hot and sunny Saigon! :D we (reluctantly) left beautiful Hoi An Danang this morning and arrived (after 2.5 hours delay!) in 34C Saigon for a 3 day stay, then on to Cambodia for another ..."Sounds wonderful! Is it humid? Big dose of a different culture for you.
It is lovely Marianne. The humidity is not too bad this time, we were here same time last year and it was pretty humid but this time it seems more tolerable, but the sun is very burny! It is 2.51am atm and I'm awake because I crashed too early last night after spending the afternoon at the markets here...a very challenging experience! No books!! :OLots of fun though :)
☼♄Jülie wrote: "Hi All from hot and sunny Saigon! :D we (reluctantly) left beautiful Hoi An Danang this morning and arrived (after 2.5 hours delay!) in 34C Saigon for a 3 day stay, then on to Cambodia for another ..."Sounds great Jools. Pics in a couple of weeks. Can't wait!
☼♄Jülie wrote: "Hi All from hot and sunny Saigon! :D we (reluctantly) left beautiful Hoi An Danang this morning and arrived (after 2.5 hours delay!) in 34C Saigon for a 3 day stay, then on to Cambodia for another ..."Sounds like you're having a wonderful time Julie. The festival sounds gorgeous and very atmospheric. Hope you enjoy Cambodia :)
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So thrilled you're having a wonderful experience Jools:) It sounds delightful! Keep having fun!
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What!!!! No books!!! lol
B the BookAddict wrote: "Katie wrote: "Just got back from the Sydney Book Expo today, the Tim Lea seminar about social media was good and well worth the trip. Did anyone else go?"Was it worth it, Katie? Personally, I thi..."
This particular seminar was worth it because it broke down how to use social media effectively and did mention it could be destructive if not approached properly. As someone who hasn't really embraced social media in all its forms I would agree with you, however I do think its destructive nature depends on a persons ability to recognise it is a public forum with a long standing memory and as such social decorum applies.
Michael wrote: "Just got back from the city were there was a fashion parade in the Rundle Mall. Perfect day for it with the glorious sunshine and having the weekend off is a bonus. I hope you are all having lovely..."Whenever I'm in Adelaide it seems to be nice weather. You are lucky there...
Quiet Sunday here, season is changing to cooler temps. Some light housework and lots of reading in store for me.
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☼♄Jülie wrote: "Hi All from hot and sunny Saigon! :D we (reluctantly) left beautiful Hoi An Danang this morning and arrived (after 2.5 hours delay!) in 34C Saigon for a 3 day stay, then on to Cambodia for another ..."Oooo!! Sounds wonderful :D Keep enjoying I'm sure ;)
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Ahh..You know when you teach yourself something and there is that wonderful feeling afterwards of accomplishment? I did that today with the iPad without having to pay money which most of the aps wanted you to do. I thought there had to be a better way..Yaaay!
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Thank you :)Now it's not so great..lol I stuffed up something and have been locked out for 12hrs..But I googled my problem and turns out a lot of people hate MyGov website for the same reason as myself..haha..So, not that bad but just irritating. Back to lettering instead.
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Blegh...I don't blame you for not going back to it. However, if you want to launch your own etax now you've gotta go through MyGov site unlike all the years before you could still do it online but it wasn't tied in w/the site. It's a real PITA imo :/And I found out tonight that Centrelink is going to be tied up with the site too..Yucck..Actually nearly everything government related seems to be (or soon to be)...You'd hope they'd get their act together if it's going to become such an important/busy site.
The only solution I found if you really stuff up your account is to remake it!! Seems a bit crazy. But time will tell the outcome I guess.
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I joined it alright but when I went to join hubby (using the same email address) it wouldn't let me! I gave up...
Yep! I completely agree with you on that...It's just blooming stupid. It's like they expect everyone is up with technology and that really isn't the case. I know some people who are just a few years older than me and they aren't even up with tech which baffles me..Let alone making the older generation who weren't brought up with this stuff...Stupid.Indeed, you can't have the same email address..I was reading a complaint about that on another website...It's more common than I thought married couples having the same email account. I guess they won't change their stance that though.
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Not stupid Brenda - convenient for many people. My in-laws have one email account. They only have one computer so it makes sense for whoever is on to check the email - mostly from family and shared friends.They also share a mobile - they don't need two and it saves them a lot of money.
Stop all this scary talk of problems facing me when I come of age. I agree with you guys that it's a problem for older/old people; if my parents were still here, they'd be lost. I'm still a self-funded retiree and have got quite a few years before I qualify for any type of pension. I hope they have this all straightened out by then. I hate programs I can't work properly, and I always worried of computer fraud. Saw a thing on the ABC and computer bank account fraud a few weeks ago, it was terrifying.
Sunny down here yesterday and I got lots done in the front garden; all ready for mulch. Didn't fall over the box hedge like I usually do but still managed to come away with quite a few big scratches and thorns. I think the score so far is possibly Roses approx 100, me nil. Finished around four, and found that the movie of A Passage to India by E.M. Forster was on tv; damn and blast, I missed it.
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I think you might have misunderstood Carolyn...I agree with you; as I said, we only have one email address, one mobile - my "stupid" was the government wanting two different email addresses or the second person can't register with MyGov and a lot of other sites.
Brenda wrote: "Carolyn wrote: "Not stupid Brenda - convenient for many people. My in-laws have one email account. They only have one computer so it makes sense for whoever is on to check the email - mostly from f..."Lol! Sorry Brenda. Stupid Government not stupid us! Whole-heartedly agree!
Bette, I think all these on-line forms etc are mainly a problem for our parents generation where they haven't had much exposure to computers etc. We've all learnt to adapt through many changes of computer, software and other devices so I think we'll be pretty adaptable! And I think you're right to be worried about computer fraud.
hate everything going on line. Everything is directed towards capital cities that have access to good internet services. If you have slow internet speed and in some areas you can gain no access to internet, or if the service goes down then it takes an inordinate amount of time to work online. Imagine being in the Torres Strait etc and getting a technician out. Tried once to get Mygov set up and gave up as a bad joke. Printed out paper forms for the tax for a simple return 2 years in a row now. Quicker, only problem is return takes longer to get. Works in your favour if you have a tax bill:)
Hi everyone - I don't know if you remember me. I popped up to say hello a couple of months ago prior to my move back to Australia. Well, we're finally here. We arrived in Adelaide just over a week ago and we're trying to get settled...and I'm loving the hot weather (although my baby daughter hates it...)Anyway, I wonder whether any of you could help me. I have an Amazon.co.uk account which I think I will keep as I tend to use for buying Kindle books. I considered moving to Amazon.com.au but I have found that not all books seem to be available on it, especially some of the freebies.
Is it worth me setting up an Amazon.com account? I suspect when it comes to buying hardcopy books it will be my best bet, but how does it work with Kindle books? If I try to buy a Kindle book through Amazon.com, will it tell me I need to go to Amazon.com.au? So will that mean some of the books won't be available to me?
Any advice would be gratefully received.
Yes!!! Dont get me started on $@%#^& MyGov. I spent Sunday fighting with it as well. Managed to lock my husbands account by putting in the wrong password too many times (whoops, but the last time I used it was this time last year - only need it for our tax returns)rang the help line to see about getting it unlocked, No they dont have the ability unlock it???? The only way around it is to create a new account, with a new email address. So thats what I did. Seemed a little easy to me, to set up a 2nd MyGov account for somebody else (even if it is my hubby), using my email address (an old one hotmail I dont use anymore) & my mobile phone number.
NancyHelen wrote: "Hi everyone - I don't know if you remember me. I popped up to say hello a couple of months ago prior to my move back to Australia. Well, we're finally here. We arrived in Adelaide just over a week ..."Yaaaay you're here - hope the move went ok and all goods, chattels, children and husband arrived safely!
OK - I am on Amazon AU - but there are some people here that are still on the Amazon USA - It doesn't let you do both. I think a woman in Europe was sued recently for ordering from UK Amazon and living in Germany but lied electronically and said she was English. Not sure of the full story so don't quote me on that.
I buy my hardcover books from UK book depository as they do free freight - even if you buy a $5 book. Most of the Aussie ones are dearer to buy online and unless you buy a minimum amount (eg over $50) they slug you freight.
Yes I know I am suppose to support the home front - but I buy where it is cheaper for me!!!
I do like to go to the specials stand at our two book shops here in Darwin so I don't buy entirely overseas :)
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Hi Nancy, and welcome to Australia - and of course back here;) I'm not sure how to help you - if you're able to keep your UK Amazon and still get another, do it. But I signed up to the US one (well before the AU came online) and when I tried to sign up for AU they told me I had to leave US to join AU - in other words I could only have one. But they haven't made me leave the US site, and I'm staying there! But on the other hand, I only buy kindle books from them, as the postage price to Australia for hard copy books (and anything else) is astronomical!
Big W, KMart are the best prices for hardcopy - or BookDepository (UK) and Booktopia (which is AU) - free delivery with BD and a lot of the time from Booktopia. We also have LOTS of second hand book shops in Australia.
Good luck with it all!
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I'm so glad it's not just me! I thought it was my technologically challenged self that found problems that didn't exist!
Thank you everyone - I'll try and switch over from .co.uk. I haven't changed my address on there yet which is why I am still ordering from the .co.uk site for Kindle. I'll see whether I can switch to the US site but failing that I'll try the .com.au one.But I'll take your advice on the Book Depository. I occasionally used it when I lived there, but because I had free postage on Amazon I didn't use it a lot. But I've already noticed that there are a lot of second hand books shops here - far more than we had in the UK. Also, the library service in SA is fabulous! There are over 20,000 ebooks available to borrow :-)
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I can't understand (knowing the depth of anti-ness by all here) that it is still a viable site!
NancyHelen wrote: "Thank you everyone - I'll try and switch over from .co.uk. I haven't changed my address on there yet which is why I am still ordering from the .co.uk site for Kindle. I'll see whether I can switch ..."We have ebooks at our library here in Darwin as well - I haven't tried using that yet though. Still like to go and borrow a 'real' book from the library :)
I waited the 12hrs and it was still stuffed!! >:( I had to recreate a NEW account...Arrrgghhh!!! I've done that then I promptly quit out and I'll deal with it later on this evening....Nightmare :|It feels strange to say but I'm glad I'm not the only one having issues with the website. Just shows how mucked up it really is! *grumps*
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NancyHelen wrote: "Thank you everyone - I'll try and switch over from .co.uk. I haven't changed my address on there yet which is why I am still ordering from the .co.uk site for Kindle. I'll see whether I can switch ..."Welcome NancyHelen!
Brenda said We also have LOTS of second hand book shops in Australia.
I will add that we also have charity shops, but nowhere near as many as in the UK (had a WONDERFUL time during my recent visit there buying books in all the different charity shops!!)
I have hung onto my Amazon.com account for kindle purchases. Everything else, usually Book Depository if I can't find it in a charity shop, LOL
Sorry for being so naive is the mygov the tax department?
RitaSkeeter wrote: "Faye wrote: "Sorry for being so naive is the mygov the tax department?"It's a website that you can access all federal government agencies from: so Centrelink, Medicare, ATO, etc.
They are shutti..."
Thanks Rita, maybe I will just stick to my good old accountant let him have the headache! Refuse to have anything to do with Centrelink and pray the medical rebates go through the doctors surgery. Ha ha lets see how I go.
Sally906 wrote: "NancyHelen wrote: "Hi everyone - I don't know if you remember me. I popped up to say hello a couple of months ago prior to my move back to Australia. Well, we're finally here. We arrived in Adelaid..."I've been buying quite a few books online from local sources after checking the prices on booko.com (thanks to Michael for telling us about that). Sometimes they are similar prices to Book Depository and if you go in through booko some don't charge delivery so it's worth checking out (and you get to support local business!)
I was checking out book Dep today and the prices seemed a bit higher than when I last looked...I guess it's to do with the exchange rate? Yes, booko is great tool to have when purchasing books :D
Carolyn wrote: "Sally906 wrote: "NancyHelen wrote: "Hi everyone - I don't know if you remember me. I popped up to say hello a couple of months ago prior to my move back to Australia. Well, we're finally here. We a..."Buying books this way is my favourite thing to do! It sources you the cheapest price, and takes you there!
Ooo, thank you for the heads up on Booko! That looks great.Michael, over the years I had spent several very happy hours in Foyles in Charing Cross Road and the big Waterstones on The Strand, but in recent years I would mostly shop at my local independent bookshop in East Grinstead. The indies are a dying breed over there - losing out to the internet.
As for the charity shops, I would say that the majority of my 1700+ books came from British charity shops. They were fantastic :-)
My Mum usually shops at Dymocks in Rundle Mall for harder to find books, but I would prefer to find an indie I can support. I need to get into the City and take a look at Imprints - I just haven't quite got there yet!
Michael wrote: "Sounds the same as over here. In the last four years we have seen the big boys chains like Angus and Robertson and Borders go to the wall while countless Indie's have suffered the same fate. Now th..."Also Matilda's in Stirling and one in the Mitcham Shopping Centre (can't remember the name) if your looking for more Indies
Sinus cold is sticking around and no sign of leaving. Fortunately the only thing I have to do today is walk a block to the federal election polling station. Then I can get snuggled back up with my book :)
Brenda wrote: "RitaSkeeter wrote: "Another who hates MyGov. I can't even express the depth of my hatred for that site!!!!"I can't understand (knowing the depth of anti-ness by all here) that it is still a viabl..."
Wiki say MyGov was found by Indian govt; enough said, lol.
It makes me nervous to think of all my tax details floating around in the ether; just waiting for some hacker to steal, yikes.
Sally906 wrote: "NancyHelen wrote: "Thank you everyone - I'll try and switch over from .co.uk. I haven't changed my address on there yet which is why I am still ordering from the .co.uk site for Kindle. I'll see wh..."Ain't nothing like that feeling of a physical book in your hands:)
I access banking online, but whenever I'm entering account numbers or passwords I use the Windows on-screen keyboard facility, in the hope that that will foil keyloggers. And I keep my virus software up to date.And like you, Bette, I still do some phone banking too.
I find Abe Books is also a good site for used books or new if you want new.
Wow! My hard drive crashed, so I've been mostly offline apart from the urgent stuff that I had to do on my phone. (For about the last ten days!)Fortunately Apple decided that they could replace it without charge, so now I'm catching up on ridiculous numbers of emails and social media posts. I have missed Goodreads!
And this thread has exploded with much stuff!
Leonie wrote: "Wow! My hard drive crashed, so I've been mostly offline apart from the urgent stuff that I had to do on my phone. (For about the last ten days!)
Fortunately Apple decided that they could replace i..."
Welcome back, Leonie. :)
Fortunately Apple decided that they could replace i..."
Welcome back, Leonie. :)
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Glad you are enjoying it Julie.