Wires Crossed #61 – November 18
Floods Cause Price Rise
We all expect food prices to rise after floods – especially if crops have been destroyed. Now the same can be said for some electronic consumer goods that are manufactured in flood-prone Thailand. It seems the recently reported floods that have decimated the area have affected production output, the result being prices going up in Japan. While manufacturers such as Sony and Nikon are denying any correlation between the floods and some gear going up in price, it appears that with Christmas just around the corner there might be a shortfall for retailers.
Telstra Caps Speeds When Over Data Limit
We have all heard stories about Bill Shock – that horrible situtation whereby you go over your data limit on your smartphone, but don’t realise it until you get a bill. In order to limit the damage not only caused to dissatisfied customers, but also by those refusing to pay the large bills, Aussie telco Telstra has come up with a plan. Instead of pinging people for more dosh, it has decided to slow download speeds on a your handset once you have reached the limit, and offer pre-paid top ups. There’s no word on what happens if people stick with the slow download speeds but opt out of getting top ups.
Lack Of Exercise + Too Much Tellie = Depression
A study via the American Journal of Epidemiology claims that if you don’t exercise and watch too much of the giggle box you’re more likely to suffer from depression. It was quite a comprehensive report with more than 50,000 women taking part at various stages over a 14-year period. Although television manufacturers might not be pleased to hear the news, surely this is something that is a no brainer. It is well known that exercise releases endorphins that make you happy. So if you are going to sit on the couch watching a lot of TV, then you are more likely to suffer the effects of that decision – not just no exercise , but gaining weight, too. Doesn’t take Einstein to figure it out!
PETA Het Up Over Nintendo's Mario
At the risk of wearing the wrath of the anti-fur campaigner PETA, we’re having a ‘What The?’ moment over the animal rights’ group latest claim – that its wrong for popular Nintendo character Mario to be wearing the Tanooki suit. Tanooki is a bastardisation of the Japanese word tanuki, which is a type of raccoon-dog found on the islands of the Rising Sun. Now you can’t even pretend to wear fur in case you offend members of PETA? Super Mario never hurt anybody in the real world. Sounds like PETA needs to get a grip and concentrate on issues that really matter.
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