User Comments - bodawei

Posted on: Considering an iPad

We're not short of I-Pads out here, but we don't have a metro to show them off in yet; the favourite at the moment is mobile digital TV - you often see people on the bus watching their little TV.  But I was told that so far there are only 5 channels available.  Why doesn't it pick up regular satellite TV? Okay you would need a dish - answered my own question.    

Posted on: Considering an iPad

外什么中国的I-Pad没有3G？

Posted on: Considering an iPad

当然工作！ 如果不工作，没有I-Pad的课程！

Posted on: Fasten that Safety Belt

'If stupid gets you killed, its natural selection. Thin the herd I say,'

LOL.

Yes, but this means that we are much smarter now than we were. Kinda hard to believe as we seem to be ruining the planet.

The reason the Govt gets involved is that it is full of people who love to help other people. :)

Posted on: A Visitor and Progress Tracking

'kind of high pitched'

This is useful for Chinese.. really. It helps to have that range.

'Just very standard neutral English.'

Me too. :)

Phew, I got away with the Karl Pilkington thing.

Posted on: Fasten that Safety Belt

Oh, I forgot about the impact of religion. In the Philippines they have those trucks full of people too, right?

Yes, makes me think (not calling for more data really) but it would be interesting to know the rural/urban split - my feeling is that perhaps the riskiest part of driving in China is on country roads, some of them very mountainous. Also, those pedestrian deaths .. people walk on the highways, very scary.

But it also raises the issue of cost-benefit (really guys, no more data): in the West we spend mega-bucks on safety mechanisms (ABS brakes, side and front air-bags,, etc.) safety standard setting, car safety testing, driver education, road safety, breathalysers, speed cameras, red-light cameras, laws to phase out old vehicles, not to mention the huge roads construction and maintenance budget.

In Australia we are frequently treated to photos on the news of cars that are almost unrecognisable after horrific accidents.

Posted on: A Visitor and Progress Tracking

Nice to hear you xiao_liang. I was wondering about the accent. English, I know; but is it specific to a part of England? Is it Birmingham or London, or a mix of the two? I was thinking that you sound like Karl Pilkington, speeded up. Now don't be offended, I really like him! I do like an English accent. (Am I recovering my position?) But the variety of accents from such a small country fascinates me. If a foreigner hears an Australian we all sound the same I think. Like Bazza McKenzie.

Posted on: Fasten that Safety Belt

No worries - see my comments to RJ. That is a surprise about Singapore - I would not have expected such a fatality rate in such a well-ordered society, such good roads - everything going for them compared to China.

Posted on: Fasten that Safety Belt

Hey RJ, thanks for your efforts in pulling out some data. Hmm, I seem to have created a mini-data-war, again! Look, it is difficult to make sense of any of this data, but it is still compelling reading. :)

It is almost impossible to compare like with like and draw any conclusions from it. From my experience I would favour travelling by train (apparently a very good safety record), plane (ditto), big bus (also good), and walking... well I note the pedestrian deaths seem high and that would not be surprising given a range of factors - bad roads, bad or non-existent pedestrian facilities, disregard for pedestrians by car drivers, bad drivers licensing practice, bad driving, disregard for road rules and little in the way of enforcement. I probably missed a few. But I still prefer to walk in general, if possible - I take care and I don't walk drunk.

Posted on: Losing and Forgetting

找不到。I feel strangely liberated by the loss. :) I have nice new Chinese cards (and no Australian cards any more.) I was charmed that my stored value card from work which had 28 RMB on it when I lost it was re-credited with this amount, even though I stupidly lost the card and there is nothing to stop anyone using a stored value card - you just 'ding' it. And no-one took any money from my bank card - maybe it's virtually impossible in China to steal from these cards because they don't have a credit facility. I also enjoyed doing the whole re-ordering of cards. Although the novelty would no doubt wear off if I had to do it again any time soon.