WHAT'S MAKING NEWS TODAY? 2015 Edition

[Bird]

Yes he did!!

He flashed the oncoming car as they crossed......

Shouldn't you be working???

[GeoffA]

Shouldn't you be working???

I will be soon. What about you??

[Bird]

I will be soon. What about you??

what you cant see the beads of sweat rolling down my forehead??

[Moggy]

I see Pfizer & Allergan are to merge.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-24/pfizer-merger-with-allergan-to-make-biggest-drug-company/6967644


They'll be releasing a new drug in the new year....

Its going to be for those who regularly face dangerous or anxious situations

They havent decided on a name..........but apparently will give you a stiff upper lip 

[edz]

And the mudslide begins .... VW it appears you are not alone in the vehicle emmissions scandal,  Renault has now been named as another manufacturer ..

[Bird]

So .. what happens when you drop your phone and the screen dies, battery goes flat, or you need it to hire a car overseas.... people hack phones all day every day, this should be fun...

The NSW state government is following up its 2015 election promise to deliver digital licences, with the first downloadable batch coming out mid 2016.

The first licences to go digital will be recreational fishing licences, responsible service of alcohol (RSA) licences, and responsible conduct of gambling (RCG) licences.

NSW Minister of Finance and Services, Dominic Perrottet, is expected to announce the initiative on Wednesday during his keynote speech at the GovInnovate forum in Canberra. 


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/digital-licences-are-coming-to-nsw-next-year-state-government-announces-20151124-gl6nob.html

[plusnq]

So .. what happens when you drop your phone and the screen dies, battery goes flat, or you need it to hire a car overseas.... people hack phones all day every day, this should be fun...

People used to steal wallets in the old days too. The danger doesn't lie with the individual really. It lies with the issuing authority being hacked and millions of licenses being stolen and used in identity theft. I thinks thats probably why they are trialling with less significant licenses so they can give the hackers more time to figure it out. Of course the NSW Government will think they are making it robust but.........

[gclan]

Quote of the day from a Reclaim Australia protester who was upset because people had labelled him due to his appearance

''People judge you just for the way you look, without knowing anything about you, which I think, that's not fair,'' he said.

The irony of what he'd just said was obviously lost on him.

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/3515159/im-not-a-racist-video-photos/?cs=305

[UIZ733]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-25/duncan-gay-raises-demerit-points-for-drivers-using-mobile-phones/6972548
Good on him! Nice to see a politician that has some guts.

[D4D]

Wild night all round
http://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/campers-injured-near-lake-eildon-as-wild-winds-whip-victoria/news-story/c788b1903be51908d55f4409dfc32621

[Bird]

Straddy's turn to sink...

A "sinkhole" has swallowed up a section of North Stradbroke Island.

A member of the public notified Surf Life Saving Queensland of the collapse at Jumpin Pin, a stretch of main beach on the southern tip of North Stradbroke Island, on Wednesday afternoon.

It is understood no one was around when the beach fell into the sea.

The estimated 100m long hole is 15 kilometres from the nearest patrolled section of main beach.

Advertisement


Jumpin Pin beach is a popular fishing spot and only accessible by 4WD.

A Surf Life Saving Queensland spokesperson warned people to stay away from the "sinkhole" as the area around it was unstable and more sand could break off.


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/queensland/sinkhole-swallows-section-of-beach-on-north-stradbroke-island-20151126-gl8jhd.html

[BaseCamp]

Its such a shame - ever since our pioneer fathers dynamited the bottom end of Straddie in the 1800's; ...(this act being directly responsible for creating Nth & Sth Stradbroke Islands) - the joint ain't never been the same since...

[Bird]

LMAO!!!! ... and what does he have to loose? Sounds like Ralph back home, his was suspended for 45 years over time.

It was a moment when magistrate Tony Murray realised he might not have seen it all.

The Albury magistrate looked up at the police prosecutor, smiled, then remarked incredulously at what he had just read.


The accused denied having any knowledge of his licence suspension.

It's not uncommon for defendants facing traffic charges to already be on hefty licence bans. But Peter Howorth's record was unique.

A police check revealed the North Albury man was indeed banned from holding a licence.                             For 99 years.

That meant he was off the road until at least September 16, 2114.

By that time, Howorth would be 123.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/banned-for-99-years-drivers-record-shocks-police-magistrate-in-albury-20151126-gl8i80.html

[Bird]

So .. what happens when you drop your phone and the screen dies, battery goes flat, or you need it to hire a car overseas.... people hack phones all day every day, this should be fun...

Drivers could be slapped with fines if their smartphone has no charge when their identity is being checked under a NSW government plan to digitise licences.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/nsw-motorists-could-be-fined-if-their-phones-arent-charged-20151126-gl8vx9.html


DIG OUT THE POPCORN ON THIS ONE!!!!!

[Fizzie]

Carrying on from the thread under Navigation & Comms where people have been discussing when you can & can't touch your phone ...

It's common (but apparently not all States?) that if your phone is in a cradle, you can only touch it if you're safely stopped at the side of the road, with the engine turned off.

Get stopped at RBT / roadworthy check / anything - "Please blow in here" "Thanks, all clear, but may I please check your licence?" Sure thing - take phone out of cradle, open "Licence" folder, show it to him - Ah yes, thank you, using mobile phone while driving - that's 3 points & $300 isn't it, or has it gone up again?

[plusnq]

And if you unlock your phone and hand it to them? There are real privacy issues here as well.

[Bird]

that's 3 points

NSW has just doubled the points for using phone.. now 6, but I have no issue with that.. the amount of ****wits I see on phones driving all over the road is beyond ****ed.

[Fizzie]

NSW has just doubled the points for using phone.. now 6, but I have no issue with that.. the amount of ****wits I see on phones driving all over the road is beyond ****ed.

Please don't get me wrong - I agree with you entirely about using phones while driving 

Even using hand's free, I've finished a conversation & thought to myself "To get to here, I've just gone through 6 sets of traffic lights - were they green?" & everybody will have done the same - when you're talking, you're driving on auto pilot 

[Bird]

GOLD GOLD GOLD!

When residents on Sydney's lower north shore heard a man yelling "I'm going to kill you, you're dead!" followed by a woman's hysterical screams, they feared the worst.

Numerous police cars rushed to the Wollstonecraft apartment from which the cries were emanating.

But not all was as it seemed.

.....

According to the social media post, the encounter went something like this:

Male: "I don't know what you're talking about I live alone".

Police: "Come on mate, people clearly heard you yelling you were going to kill her and furniture getting thrown around the unit."

Police: "Come on mate, what have you done to her?"

Male: "It was a spider."

Police "Sorry??"

Male: "It was a spider, a really big one!!

Police : "What about the women screaming?"

Male: "Yeah sorry that was me, I really, really hate spiders."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/wollstonecraft-mans-fear-of-spiders-sparks-multiple-calls-to-police-20151126-gl8v7b.html

[Steffo1]

Drivers could be slapped with fines if their smartphone has no charge when their identity is being checked under a NSW government plan to digitise licences.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/nsw-motorists-could-be-fined-if-their-phones-arent-charged-20151126-gl8vx9.html


DIG OUT THE POPCORN ON THIS ONE!!!!!

I'm not convinced with the fishing licence either. I make a point of not taking my phone when using the kayak just in case my world "inverts" 
I know there are waterproofing methods but it's just something else to lose. It's why, when using the 'yak, I have just a single vehicle key on a float so, if I do lose it, I haven't lost the car, house, shed keys etc as well!
I do take the phone when on the boat.
Steve

[Bird]

I'm not convinced with the fishing licence either. I make a point of not taking my phone when using the kayak just in case my world "inverts" 
I know there are waterproofing methods but it's just something else to lose. It's why, when using the 'yak, I have just a single vehicle key on a float so, if I do lose it, I haven't lost the car, house, shed keys etc as well!
I do take the phone when on the boat.

we came across 2 dudes at Carpenters Rocks on long weekend who were diving, and lost their car key.. they flagged us down to help em, as their phone etc was locked in the car... phone call to family member using our phone and they were happy...
Sometimes cause the technology is there doesn't mean it should be used and its a good idea.

[Bird]

The taxi industry breathes a sigh of relief.

A Beligian car entrepreneur is reportedly in talks with Canberra to continue Holden Commodore production in Adelaide, a motoring website is reporting:

A Belgian automotive entrepreneur with ties to General Motors is behind a secret plan to acquire GM Holden's Elizabeth assembly plant and continue to build the current generation Commodore beyond the scheduled closure date in late 2017.

The plan has been brewing quietly behind the scenes for two years since GM announced it was closing the South Australian factory and ceasing production of the locally-designed and developed Commodore family.

The businessman who has taken an interest in Elizabeth and the Commodore is Guido Dumarey, the owner of the Punch Group, also sometimes referred to as Punch International.

Within his business portfolio is a former GM transmission plant now known as Punch Powerglide Strasbourg, which he took over in January 2013 and supplies the 6L45 automatic to Holden for V6 versions of the Commodore.

The independent South Australian senator Nick Xenophon is understood to be a supporter of Dumarey.

http://www.motoring.com.au/news/2015/exclusive-secret-bid-to-save-holden-factory-and-aussie-commodore-100380

[Moggy]

^^^^Does that mean the assembly will become known as......
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Wait for it..............................................
"The Punch Line"

[Steffo1]

^^^^Does that mean the assembly will become known as......
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Wait for it..............................................
"The Punch Line"

No Moggy! What have you started?

[Snapman007]

^^^^Does that mean the assembly will become known as......
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Wait for it..............................................
"The Punch Line"

Fairdinkum mate, it's one thing to think it but ya didn't have to say it out loud. 😬