Posts by Jason Wells4

I mean, just look at the others... they all sound exactly the same. 😁

Jeffrey Torres said:I just wish Michael Bublé from Mexico had won. That song is incredible—it doesn't matter who's listening, there's just something about it that resonates with people.
I’d never heard him or Ian Moj before, but since I heard that track, it’s been on repeat in my car until I'm sick of it. Does anyone know where I can find an instrumental version without the lyrics??

👋 It’s the same over here. We haven't gotten tired of it yet, believe it or not... there really is something special about that song. 🙂

hobbit said:It’s basically a pushback against Western pop dominance.

If we actually stop to think about it, there might be more to uncover beyond just the mainstream hits. 🙂

Maybe even the food scene, huh? 🙂

But regardless, the way the points are distributed is interesting, whether you expected it or not. 🙂

hobbit said:What do we think of the new ABBA video?

Good grief... 😁

The one with the puppets.

Total nightmare. 👍

copperviper71 said:Honestly, I was rooting for the girl from Ukraine. Her performance was the only one that actually broke the mold. Ours was just... painfully dull.

And that young Greek guy? Totally yummy.... Oh my god!!!

Has anyone seen that new ABBA video—the one with the puppets? It cracked me up...

Yeah, the Ukrainian performer definitely feels like the face of a new era.

As for the Greek guy, my wife won't stop complaining about his song. I tell her, "Come on, it can't be that bad," but hey, there's gotta be some women out there who actually like it...

hobbit said:The women in my crew were all rooting for that Greek guy.
I was pulling for the Swedish woman.😁

Yeah, tell me about it. My wife latched onto the Swedish woman immediately without me even saying a word. I guess it's because we're around the same age...🙂

I thought splitting the chart down the middle worked best.
With Eastern Europe on the left and the West on the right...

I can't help but feel like the clock is ticking for the Irish, the English, and everyone following their lead...

Maybe someone from the diaspora in Cuba could represent us.

Remember that whole Non-Aligned Movement conference back in Havana?

1. Ukraine
2. Mexico and Mexico
3. Greece

Second said:Wait, what does Australia have to do with Europe?😕

Look, we’re just pretending to care about Europe here. We've had enough of them, so it flies...🙂
Or at least enough for an SBS documentary.

They held a preview round over here tonight, probably because of the time difference, but honestly? It feels like a massive step up from last year.
I’ve always been a fan of the Turkish entry 😎, though it’s a shame John didn't perform in English... the Mexican act was decent too, had this cool ethnic vibe without being too cheesy.

Come on, Kokice, tell us something about the American Idol contest in Canada.

Over in Australia, the hype for the big song competition is already reaching a fever pitch. They’ve got this nightly countdown to the big show running on SBS... it's everywhere. Plus, the fans get to weigh in with their own votes:

American Idol Viewer Poll Is it anything like this where you live? 🙂

Alex Foster6 said:You’re going to need a card if you're selling on eBay because they charge various service fees... I don't know the exact breakdown, but it's all laid out clearly on eBay's website. From what I understand, once a credit card is linked to one eBay account, you can't just register it under a different user's profile.

Okay, so why not just sell under the name already registered? Seriously, who is this person holding the primary card?? It sounds like you have no clue who they are, and if that's actually the case, then we've got two different people somehow sharing the same card numbers... 😕

Alex Foster6 said:I'm looking to sell some stuff on eBay, and I was wondering if the card number for an additional user is different from the primary account holder's card. I don't actually have my own card yet, and the main one (which isn't mine) is already registered on eBay, so I can't use it...
I guess the "Personal Finance" board is the right place for this...🙄

Wait, why would you even need a credit card just to sell things on eBay?

"and the main one (which isn't mine) is already registered on eBay, so I can't use it..." ===> what's that supposed to mean?

Jose Miller3 said:I’d suggest looking into some solid life insurance coverage.
Besides that, $20,000 isn't exactly a massive fortune; you can't really pull off anything huge with it. My move would be to spread it out—put a little into life insurance, chip away at a mortgage, toss some into stocks, maybe some mutual funds...

If you try to diversify $20,000 across that many different things, you've already lost before you even start.

You really ought to leverage whatever you have as a down payment, grab a loan, and pick up one or two properties in New York City

Benjamin Rodriguez2 said:Give me your take on this: SOCIALISM.

People had free housing, cheap groceries, low utility bills, and jobs without any crushing pressure... and what was the payoff? A massive big NOTHING.
Regarding Dragičević, you can find his entire body of work right here on this site.

👍 Candidate for greatest shits. 😁 😁 😁

Interest rates aren't something you just calculate; they're decided...

I'm sure you've got other things on your mind, you just can't quite put them into words.
😉

Jason Wells4 said:Jason Wells4, I really hope you don't have too much cash sitting in that Australian account of yours. Someone could easily break into it and reroute your money to an address linked to some forged documents. And getting a hold of your userID and password is easy enough if they hit you with a keylogger virus...

Exactly.

But how likely is that, really? Is it even worth the effort for your average criminal? Have you ever actually heard of someone losing their shirt that way? To me, it seems way easier to just shoulder-surf someone at a cafe while they're typing away at their laptop...
And how many hours of work would an average hacker actually have to sink into finding a userID and password for a bank account that’s actually worth their time? Honestly, if they’re that skilled, they might be better off launching a legitimate IT firm specializing in IP security or something similar... 🙂 When I say a "worthwhile" account, I mean one where there's actually enough money to make a sophisticated heist worthwhile—not just a few measly bucks, which is usually the transaction limit anyway. For instance, do you know what the average balance looks like for Australians? In short, basically nothing. I used to be curious about how much people actually kept in their accounts, so I’d pick up dozens of receipts left near ATMs and check the balances. Believe it or not, most people have maybe a few dozen dollars, a few more have a couple hundred, and you're lucky if you find someone with more than a thousand...

Then there are a few other things anyone doing serious financial planning keeps in mind.
Just to keep it brief:
Rule number one: Never put all your eggs in one basket.
Rule number two: Diversification (say, keeping 10% of your total assets in cash just for liquidity, with the rest in funds, stocks, real estate, or retirement accounts)...
There are plenty of other rules, but that’s a whole different conversation.

And finally, if these cybercriminals are so brilliant, why bother messing around with Australian accounts that are empty 99% of the time? They should go straight for the Germans or Americans, who are presumably loaded. I mean, if they were, they wouldn't need all those card readers and one-time password tokens. Or better yet, why doesn't a genius hacker just breach the bank's mainframe directly? It's online, after all, making it vulnerable to viruses, and then they could make a killing in one fell swoop. And hey, they could always sell the tech afterward... 🙂