General Reports

[QUOTE=The Traveler]Duni,

with all due respect, but I wonder what that RTFF advice is good for.
Nobody forces you or anybody else to reply to him. He politely asked for some advice via PM and I can't see anything wrong with it.

Also keep in mind that infos do change over the time.[/QUOTE]
Traveler
He may have asked politely, but that is the minimum one should do, ask politely. However, if he had RTFFed he would have some idea of wht to do and where to stay, and what kind of budget he should make. Now, if he has more questions, he should post those specific ones and we all would be glad to help a fellow mongerer out.

I also come from North America and when I went on my first trip, I RTFFed the long way (did not know how to use the search function), by reading the reports, and then asked my questions. In the old days when this was paranoia.com one really had to do research.

So my conclusion as others have come to see it, he is one lazy b*****d, with an gimme, gimme attitude who does not deserve any help.

1Ball, The Traveler, Meaty, Duni and everyone else, including Member # 3200!

I'm as guilty as the next guy and sincerely apologize to all for wasting good bandwidth and space on this thread. It won't happen again here or elsewhere from me.

I noticed the level of flames/tension rising lately...maybe cuz it's summer months and most of us are stuck at home and not getting enough.

See what we ALL started...LOL.

So from now on when a silly and/or lazy query is posted:

1. if newbie, ignore it for others (i hope everyone else also just ignores it)
2. if from a senior member, put the lazy bxxxxx on my ignore list

Cheers

[QUOTE=Traveler1234]1Ball, The Traveler, Meaty, Duni and everyone else, including Member # 3200!

I'm as guilty as the next guy and sincerely apologize to all for wasting good bandwidth and space on this thread. It won't happen again here or elsewhere from me.

I noticed the level of flames/tension rising lately...maybe cuz it's summer months and most of us are stuck at home and not getting enough.

See what we ALL started...LOL.

So from now on when a silly and/or lazy query is posted:

1. if newbie, ignore it for others (i hope everyone else also just ignores it)
2. if from a senior member, put the lazy bxxxxx on my ignore list

Cheers[/QUOTE]

Well...for the benefit of the old(er) mongerers (e.g., Asian Gambler, Asian Rain, Old China Hand, Raz., etc.), I would most gladly offer suggestions (probably via PM) if the guy said:
1. Help! I've got a 24 hour layover in [pick a really good mongering city] and my plane
leaves in two hours.
2. What are the places to go to in that 24 hour period?
I thinkt that I would suggest a hotel and places to which the guy should go. These guys have been around, know the cost of different types of hotels and have an idea of how much they want to spend. They are asking simply to be pointed in the right direction.

I've done it myself, and have appreciated the feedback from fellow mongerers.

Then again, I've had to shave my tongue and use a bottle of Clear Eyes after such experiences!

Cheers,
BD

Don't answer. Disregard the post. I know sometimes you want to say rtff but today's newbie may be a valuable contributor down the road. Even if he asks a stupid question now. I don't mind reading hotel or massage questions that have been asked before. I appeciate getting updated info.

Let's not be too rough on new visitors. Just my .02.

An option to deal with newbie (or senior members) RTFF questions is to send them to a specific post that has the answers to most of the questions they might need. That is why I wrote the 5 nights itinerary ([url]http://www.internationalsexguide.info/forum/showpost.php?p=364994&postcount=328[/url]). I strongly suggest that somebody work on a document that answers most of the RTFF questions even better than the itinerary, and when somebody finally asks what we feel is a silly question that has been asked over and over again, we can refer them to that post. Unfortunately, we are going to come across members who are lazy, who are not computer savvy (don't know how to search, or even PM), who don't care to read rules, or whatever. I feel that it is wrong to ignore them because then they will feel excluded and they won't know why. You never know, perhaps one of these members might become a very productive poster in our group. I know when I started here, I didn't know squat. The thing that helped me was that I was so psyched about my first trip that I kept reading report after report, and that kept me from posting a newbie RTFF post. I am sure it would only take a couple of hours to research the document I propose, and another 1/2 hour to type it up. If anybody is interested in working on this, PM me and we can write it up. The more veterans that pitch in on this, the better and faster the document will be written up. Then we can point the RTFF posters to the document. Let me know what you all think about my idea.

Phuquer

In theory, what you suggest is a great idea. If one tries to go through the multiple threads, it would take forever. And someone in the Shanghai thread (david zzzz) actually did that, but just for Shanghai (and they still get numerous lazy queries).

However, as I tried to politely point out to Member # 3200 in my pm (again not singling him out per se), a hour or two reading the above two threads would be helpful.

I actually quickly went through the FAQ and RoD recently. The FAQ is 'old' but still provides a real roadmap to a newbie or senior re almost everything you need to know in terms of security, money, hotels, transport, where to go, etc. etc. It is one of the most comprehensive ones done on ISG. Some enterprising monger could update it if they had a few hours to spare......

And the RoD now totals 4 pages - and many of them are clearly marked by topic. for instance, there is your infamous 5 nights, the first RoD on the site that is great reading. There are specific ones written about MP, different parts of Thailand, buying land, how not to get burned, etc. etc. The list goes on. Since there are so many 'options' in LOS, a newbie could choose whatever turns him on.

Maybe a more practical suggetion is that for those who wish to reply to a newbie post - provide them with direct link to FAQ and a couple of representative RoD to start them off.

IMHO


PS: As a start, here's a summary for newbies of all types to start with:

[color=red]
Thailand FAQ: start here for basics
[url]http://www.internationalsexguide.info/forum/announcement.php?f=253[/url]

Mike’s advice for Bkk newbie
[url]http://internationalsexguide.info/forum/showpost.php?p=421417&postcount=20[/url]

Tiger’s take on the infamous Biergarten (Beergarden) soi7:
[url]http://www.internationalsexguide.info/forum/showthread.php?p=477397#post477397[/url]

The venerable Giotto’s Lodge, aka Livingstones:
[url]http://www.internationalsexguide.info/forum/showpost.php?p=478768&postcount=1235[/url]

And last for those less fortunate, how to negotiate:
[url]http://www.internationalsexguide.info/forum/showpost.php?p=481463&postcount=892[/url]


If you find this useful, the tag/link to this post is
[url]http://www.internationalsexguide.info/forum/showpost.php?p=489724&postcount=516[/url]

[/color]
Save it for future reference or just ignore my ramblings....

[QUOTE=Phuquer]An option to deal with newbie (or senior members) RTFF questions is to send them to a specific post that has the answers to most of the questions they might need. That is why I wrote the 5 nights itinerary ([url]http://www.internationalsexguide.info/forum/showpost.php?p=364994&postcount=328[/url]). I strongly suggest that somebody work on a document that answers most of the RTFF questions even better than the itinerary, and when somebody finally asks what we feel is a silly question that has been asked over and over again, we can refer them to that post. Unfortunately, we are going to come across members who are lazy, who are not computer savvy (don't know how to search, or even PM), who don't care to read rules, or whatever. I feel that it is wrong to ignore them because then they will feel excluded and they won't know why. You never know, perhaps one of these members might become a very productive poster in our group. I know when I started here, I didn't know squat. The thing that helped me was that I was so psyched about my first trip that I kept reading report after report, and that kept me from posting a newbie RTFF post. I am sure it would only take a couple of hours to research the document I propose, and another 1/2 hour to type it up. If anybody is interested in working on this, PM me and we can write it up. The more veterans that pitch in on this, the better and faster the document will be written up. Then we can point the RTFF posters to the document. Let me know what you all think about my idea.[/QUOTE]I think you have a good idea, I am aware of other forums where the put in sections so say Pattaya then subsections Girl Friendly Hotels, Restuarants etc and then people can add stuff from the year they visit. You don't want to read soemthing that could be 2 years out of date which is no use at all.

searches OK'd
By Declan McCullagh, CNET News.com
Published on ZDNet News: July 26, 2006, 5:06 PM PT
------------------------
"Police blotter" is a weekly CNET News.com report on the intersection of technology and the law.
------------------------
What: A business traveler protests the warrantless search and seizure of his laptop by Homeland Security at the U.S.-Canada border.
------------------------
When: 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rules on July 24.
------------------------
Outcome: Three-judge panel unanimously says that border police may conduct random searches of laptops without search warrants or probable cause. These searches can include seizing the laptop and subjecting it to extensive forensic analysis.
------------------------
What happened, according to court documents:

In January 2004, Stuart Romm traveled to Las Vegas to attend a training seminar for his new employer. Then, on Feb. 1, Romm continued the business trip by boarding a flight to Kelowna, British Columbia.

Romm was denied entry by the Canadian authorities because of his criminal history. When he returned to the Seattle-Tacoma airport, he was interviewed by two agents of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement division.

They asked to search his laptop, and Romm agreed. Agent Camille Sugrue would later testify that she used the "EnCase" software to do a forensic analysis of Romm's hard drive.

That analysis and a subsequent one found some 42 child pornography images, which had been present in the cache used by Romm's Web browser and then deleted. But because in most operating systems, only the directory entry is removed when a file is "deleted," the forensic analysis was able to recover the actual files.

During the trial, Romm's attorney asked that the evidence from the border search be suppressed. The trial judge disagreed. Romm was eventually sentenced to two concurrent terms of 10 and 15 years for knowingly receiving and knowingly possessing child pornography.

The 9th Circuit refused to overturn his conviction, ruling that American citizens effectively enjoy no right to privacy when stopped at the border.

"We hold first that the ICE's forensic analysis of Romm's laptop was permissible without probable cause or a warrant under the border search doctrine," wrote Judge Carlos Bea. Joining him in the decision were Judges David Thompson and Betty Fletcher.

Bea cited the 1985 case of U.S. v. Montoya de Hernandez, in which a woman arriving in Los Angeles from Columbia was detained. Police believed she had swallowed balloons filled with cocaine, even though the court said they had no "clear indication" of it and did not have probable cause to search her.

Nevertheless, the Supreme Court said police could rectally examine De Hernandez because it was a border crossing and, essentially, anything goes. (The rectal examination, by the way, did find 88 balloons filled with cocaine that had been smuggled in her alimentary canal.)

Justices William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall dissented. They said the situation De Hernandez experienced had "the hallmark of a police state."

"To be sure, the court today invokes precedent stating that neither probable cause nor a warrant ever have been required for border searches," Brennan wrote. "If this is the law as a general matter, I believe it is time that we re-examine its foundations."

But Brennan and Marshall were outvoted by their fellow justices, who ruled that the drug war trumped privacy, citing a "veritable national crisis in law enforcement caused by smuggling of illicit narcotics." Today their decision means that laptop-toting travelers should expect no privacy either.

As an aside, a report last year from a U.S.-based marijuana activist says U.S. border guards looked through her digital camera snapshots and likely browsed through her laptop's contents. A London-based correspondent for The Economist magazine once reported similar firsthand experiences, and a 1998 article in The New York Times described how British customs scan laptops for sexual material. Here are some tips on using encryption to protect your privacy.

Encryption Tips
[url]http://www.politechbot.com/2005/05/10/technical-privacy-tips/[/url]

Like most mongers, I live in fear of police, crackdowns, religious NGOs, and the Forces of Social Control generally, but this is what will kill Thailand as a mongering destination - lack of population growth:

Thai population grows by 300,000 a year, but fewer babies
BANGKOK, July 16 (TNA) - A leading social research centre said Thailand's population has grown by 300,000 people during the past year, reaching 62.5 million at present.

Associate Professor Pattama Wawattanawong of the Institute of Population and Social Research at Mahidol University, who presented her study on Thailand's future population at a recent seminar on the topic, said the Thai population would increase to 65 million in the next 15 years before it declines due to the country's smaller birth rate.

The study, which the academic had jointly conducted with Professor Pramote Prasartkul, looked into the country's population growth during the next 30 years.

It said with a present birth rate of 0.6 per cent, Thailand's population has grown by 300,000 persons a year. It has predicted that the birth rate would regularly decline every year and would get to the same level as the death rate 15 years from now which would cause no change to the size of the country's population.

The study said after the year 2022, the population will begin to fall, as there will be a larger proportion of aging citizens compared to the population of infants. By then, the birth rate would gradually fall below zero percent.

The researchers said Thailand is producing fewer babies year by year, which will adversely affect the country's social and population structure in the long run when there would be more aging persons than in the younger work force.

Old people constituted 10 per cent of the population last year, and the number will increase to 25 per cent in the next 30 years--or about 16 million people--higher than the projected number of infants.

The study warned that such a foreseeable change would have an impact on the country's economic structure as there would be more older people than babies to look after which would cause some changes in the country's policies in education and health care.

The researchers also predicted that Thailand would have to import foreign workers in the future, as it would face a shortage of younger able-bodied workers.

They said the government needed to begin now to think of creating a welfare system to care for the country's growing older population in the future. (TNA)-E110

[url]http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=23355[/url]

[QUOTE=Opebo]Like most mongers, I live in fear of police, crackdowns, religious NGOs, and the Forces of Social Control generally, but this is what will kill Thailand as a mongering destination - lack of population growth:

Thai population grows by 300,000 a year, but fewer babies
BANGKOK, July 16 (TNA) - A leading social research centre said Thailand's population has grown by 300,000 people during the past year, reaching 62.5 million at present.

Associate Professor Pattama Wawattanawong of the Institute of Population and Social Research at Mahidol University, who presented her study on Thailand's future population at a recent seminar on the topic, said the Thai population would increase to 65 million in the next 15 years before it declines due to the country's smaller birth rate.

The study, which the academic had jointly conducted with Professor Pramote Prasartkul, looked into the country's population growth during the next 30 years.

It said with a present birth rate of 0.6 per cent, Thailand's population has grown by 300,000 persons a year. It has predicted that the birth rate would regularly decline every year and would get to the same level as the death rate 15 years from now which would cause no change to the size of the country's population.

The study said after the year 2022, the population will begin to fall, as there will be a larger proportion of aging citizens compared to the population of infants. By then, the birth rate would gradually fall below zero percent.

The researchers said Thailand is producing fewer babies year by year, which will adversely affect the country's social and population structure in the long run when there would be more aging persons than in the younger work force.

Old people constituted 10 per cent of the population last year, and the number will increase to 25 per cent in the next 30 years--or about 16 million people--higher than the projected number of infants.

The study warned that such a foreseeable change would have an impact on the country's economic structure as there would be more older people than babies to look after which would cause some changes in the country's policies in education and health care.

The researchers also predicted that Thailand would have to import foreign workers in the future, as it would face a shortage of younger able-bodied workers.

They said the government needed to begin now to think of creating a welfare system to care for the country's growing older population in the future. (TNA)-E110

[url]http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=23355[/url][/QUOTE]

This is nothing new. LOS predicts decline in 15 years for population growth. But 20+years ago, LOS had a massive surplus. Its always the trend in any society that becomes more westernize and modern. Singapore and Japan are 2 countries that are already in population decline. Their Govts are offering tremendous "subsidize" money as incentive to have more babies.

PT

[QUOTE=jimbehr2000]Don't answer. Disregard the post. I know sometimes you want to say rtff but today's newbie may be a valuable contributor down the road. Even if he asks a stupid question now. I don't mind reading hotel or massage questions that have been asked before. I appeciate getting updated info.

Let's not be too rough on new visitors. Just my .02.[/QUOTE]


Have to somewhat agree here as I am one that never refused any PMs/posts for info (whether from seniors or newbies). Its the cost of doing business for being a member of this forum. I sometimes think it will take me just as much time to type and flame someone than to answer. Not the reason why I dont flame as anyone here will tell you I'm not into flaming or putting anyone down. Not my style--I'll joke about someone but never flame. I get enough flaming on the job and at home so dont need to take it here.
Also agree with Phuquer and Jimbe that being a newbie is tough as not all are savy computer people.Also some other bro pointed out maybe 80% of threads dont contain real monger info. and not all have the time to read 1 year full of BS to find several post that they need.

Still, after a month or 2, newbies get use to forum and then not so bad but in the beginning--lets have a little patience and help out if we can. A small % of all newbies that survive to mongerhoodom here will be very active and fruitful members that may even remember you for your help and respond in kind with new and better knowledge and also offer for the rest of us members insight into details only they are able to perceive. Lets not forget that being a newbie here does not mean they are virgin mongers as I've found from newbies Ive help that some have monger elsewhere in the world for years and have offer help if I ever venture on their turf.
Sometimes its not all bad.--just my POV so peace to all.

PT

[QUOTE=jimbehr2000]... today's newbie may be a valuable contributor down the road... [/QUOTE]
jimbehr2000,

yep, exactly what I think.
We need some "fresh blood" in the forum. The majority of the posts originates from only a handful of senior members. Since those members aren't seeking for any info anymore they mainly post chit chat containing no info at all.

I also don't mind to see an already answered question being asked again. Info changes over the time, otherwise we could simply sample a huge FAQ and wouldn't need the forum at all. There are (almost) no stupid questions, only stupid answers.

[QUOTE=Phuquer]... who don't care to read rules...[/QUOTE]
Phuquer,

not necessarily don't care to read. Even senior members don't know/remember all the rules as T1234 just did. It's not allowed to post in blue, it's reserved for Jackson. And if you would ask me, I couldn't name all of the rules either.

They aren't that easy to find too, they can be found under "Proposed Site Improvements" even though one would expect to find them under "Comment On Site Rules".
[url]http://www.internationalsexguide.info/forum/showthread.php?t=1515[/url]

[QUOTE=Opebo]Thai population grows by 300,000 a year, but fewer babies
BANGKOK, July 16 (TNA) - A leading social research centre said Thailand's population has grown by 300,000 people during the past year, reaching 62.5 million at present.

Associate Professor Pattama Wawattanawong of the Institute of Population and Social Research at Mahidol University, who presented her study on Thailand's future population at a recent seminar on the topic, said the Thai population would increase to 65 million in the next 15 years before it declines due to the country's smaller birth rate. [/QUOTE]

Personally, I do my part - I enjoy having uncovered sex with as many Thai ladies as I can find who are certainly in their prime childbearing years. I do this whenever I am there, and I most definitely enjoy coming inside them. It's surely not my fault that they are not having babies.

[QUOTE=Duniawala]Outcome: Three-judge panel unanimously says that border police may conduct random searches of laptops without search warrants or probable cause. These searches can include seizing the laptop and subjecting it to extensive forensic analysis...
------------------------
[/QUOTE]Thanks Dun. Just wanted to add my two baht...

I use Portable Firefox in an on-the-fly encrypted flash drive. Truecrypt mounts a virtual drive that contains the Portable browser and all personal files. Once I'm finished browsing, I dismount the virtual drive and everything is securely encrypted in an innocent looking file on the flashdrive. It is possible to use software to figure out whether Truecrypt and Portable Firefox was run or not, but won't yield any information beyond that.

Truecrypt has many nifty (devious and sneaky) options to protect your data and best of all it's open source freeware. No ad/spyware.

[url]http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable[/url]

[url]http://www.truecrypt.org/[/url]

Cheers!