IN CANBERRA! But at a cost.

Allow me to do an impression via text.

Sydney Baggage Handlers - "Ug see bag. Ug load bag in plane. Ug see bag. Ug load bag in plane. Ug see... computer?! Ooo. Ug like shiny. Ug KICK shiny! Hahaha! Shiny make tinkling sounds! Ug KICK shiny to Arg! Arg kick shiny back! Ug kicks the shiny back to Arg! More tinkling noises! Arg throws shiny high up in air, SMASH! Ug laugh! Ug jump up and down on shiny! Arg help! Ug see supervisor coming, uh oh, supervisor going to ruin Ug's fun! Ug get off box. Ug watch as supervisor jumps up on shiny. Stoopid supervisor taking Ug's fun. Ug see bag. Ug load bag in plane. Ug see bag. Ug load bag in plane. Ug see bag. Ug load bag in plane. <three hours pass> Ug see bag. Ug load bag in plane. Ug see bag. Ug load bag in plane. Ug see bag. Ug load bag in plane. Ug see supervisor finally finish jumping on shiny. Ug jumps up and down on shiny again! Finally, shiny all broken and not shiny anymore. Ug load shiny in plane. Ug see bag. Ug load bag in plane..."

These people went on strike like a few years ago hey? Well, all I can say is this; when I own the world, you fucking people will be paid in beans. And it will be an extremely small can of homebrand beans, too. Why?

My computer is completely rooted.

Apparently, it was dropped/kicked/shot so hard that the circuts on the motherboard popped off. The amount of force needed to dislodge those things, by dropping, is insane. Try it with an old 486 someday. We're talking about a four or five metre (at bare minimum) straight drop onto concrete here; on an object I had huge "FRAGILE" stickers on every surface and that was in a computer case and obviously a computer (and therefore fragile) with all the original padding and more. Naturally, the mobo is rooted (see above for definition). Both hard drives, naturally, gone. RAM fell out somewhere and is probably rooted also. Case is possibily salvagable, but that's only if I can bend/bash it into shape in various places. Internals, including video card/modem, all fell out and are possibly wrecked but I havn't tested them yet (testing capability is extremely limited without another computer to test them in). This is all on a BRAND NEW, ",000 system. Fortunately it's insured, but they're gunna make us pay "00 anyway and they're gunna only replace with what 'they deem an adaquate replacement'; Be prepared for another post bitching about what they replace it WITH (486, 8mb RAM, Trident S3...).

Monitor, keyboard, mouse all work. But they were in a seperate bag.

I'm pretty sure I know where the damage occured. The people at Darwin were wonderful; they shipped out the computers seperately and hand loaded them onto the trolly and plane, they put extra weight warnings and fragile stickers onto the thing, and all sorts of stuff. The bitch at Sydney airport just said, "I can't handload everything" and before I could grab it back and take it on as hand luggage she pressed the button and loaded it up the ramp. (Wzzzt... fallflipCRASH. Wzzzt... fallflipCRASH. Wzzzt... (disappears around a corner)... CRASH.) You can imagine the sinking feeling I got when I left the domestic checkin.

And so my brand new computer is completely rooted (see first paragraph). Everything except the video card (A Voodoo Banshee; replacement cost, "5) and the modem (33k; replacement cost, "5) was almost certainly totaled. The motherboard for certain I can say is rooted. Bye bye the 50GB of unsorted stuff I leached at the last DGA LAN.

I've still got my Laptop, but it's a 300mhz bitch with 32mb RAM and no 3D card. I've linked it up to my monitor and keyboard and whatnot, so that's how I'm posting this.

In other news; I am in Canberra, and started the first part of my course today. Looking forward to things to come. This city absolutely BLEW me away with how cool it is. The whole place is absolutely awesome, and I really think I did well to choose to do my tertiary study here. ANU Campus rocks the house, and I'm so very happy. Apart from the fucked computer, of course, which is naturally causing a significant amount of rain on my parade. Otherwise, things are awesome.

Your in MY world now :)

Bad Luck.

But I have to say quite a few of the things damaged probably wouldn't have happened if you prepped your machine properly for aircraft travel.

Well for next time anyway, try and follow the tips that so far have been shown in thread .

At least you had insurance. Better than paying off your whole machine again.

that sucks dude - I'd seriously suggest taking pictures and showing them to ACA or something if they don't give you any satisfaction.

now who is stupid, them for not caring about ur computer

or you for thinking they would.....

especially considering the multiple threads ALL about this

yes i think the people handeling the baggage are wankers for not doing it carefully but doood what were u thinking putting a fully assembled computer on a airplane?
if it was i every major hardware piece would have been diaembled from the mobo first cause there so fragile
but u should get it all back on insurence i think
well u hope :)
aanyway man bl and make sure u take a different approach next time

I did my homework about this and I read the thread, but there are several things which should be bought to all your attention before you say "Why didn't you...?"

1) I came straight from a LAN. Not an excuse, but a statement; packing it whole was partially a matter of convenience.

2) Disassembling the computer absolves my insurance company from insuring it. That's right, if I ship COMPUTER PARTS rather then A COMPUTER, then I at least had **ZERO INSURANCE** from either the airline or my insurance company and such items can't be officially tagged as FRAGILE. Certainly, they can have the stickers on them, but that's simply a warning to baggage handlers that there is all care taken but no responsibility assumed. And it's the same with carry on luggage, too, plus the cost of registering every part I had as "A computer" was astronomical.

3) A hard drive not inside a laptop cannot be carried as carry on baggage, at least not on an international flight (the flight was coming in from Asia), since:

a) They are potential weapons (heavy).

b) They are magnets, which are potential weapons. Broken open and unshielded, these magnets can interfere with aircraft navigation during takeoff or landing.

Carrying the hard drive inside a bag was worse then leaving it inside the case. At least in the case, it was held in by four screws and wasn't going to shake, rattle and roll.

4) Keeping the whole computer together as one object, inside it's original packaging and clearly labeled as such, allowed the baggage handlers a chance to see: "Hey, it's breaky."

5) The computer was feighted up to me by air from Sydney, and thus was packed very well in proper airline packaging for computers. I repacked it exactly how it came, with additional packing inside the computer which I ensured was especially present around the hard drives (put a slip of rubber between the two), CD-ROM, processor and other internals. In addition, the case itself was suspended inside the box due to the nature of the foam front and back; I filled the gap with chunks of styrofoam and rubber.

All I can say is; trust me on this one; it was extremely well protected. If I had broken it into various parts, then I would have exactly the same damage; possibly worse, since it wouldn't be packed so well. Look, chips were FLUNG OFF the motherboard and the RAM was FLUNG out of it's socket; that's an extreme amount of force, and the plane did not encounter any turbulance during the whole flight. No amount of packing within reason can protect the computer from this kind of damage, and it would have been much worse (uninsured, plus further damage) had I not done it the way I did.

Ouch.

Two notes from my own computer-flying experiences. Firstly, as I noted at the LAN, you need to pack the inside of your computer as well as the outside.

Secondly, never - but never - leave a harddrive with essential data for the baggage handlers to f*ck up. Take it out, wrap it with soft stuff and a static bag, and take it with you. Then you are yourself responsible for it. And since you know how a HDD should be treated, you have at least a fighting chance.

Also, backup your essential data on a disc or two before flying. I never had a CD burner - I'll probably do this next time I fly. I'd miss all the stuff in my downloads, music and video directories, but it's not the end of the world. But if I lost my writing I'd be set back years.

Using the "fragile" stickers is a mixed thing. One the one hand it's supposed to tell the baggage handlers to play nice. But on the other hand, if you use one, the airline takes no responsibility for damage. That is, you've waived your right to seek damages. Which frankly sucks. Good thing you got insurance. I hope that you bought a "as new replacement" rather than "same item" policy. A little trap for the unwary, that. :)

Canberra's pretty cool. Go and take the tour at Parliament House. It's an amazing building. On the other hand Canberra is freaking cold. It'd drive me nuts having to live there, I think.

I guess your Radeon arriving late has turned into a good thing.

Wolf a word to the wise for you regarding Airline Baggage.
A computer never has and never will be considered as Standard Passenger Baggage. If a traveller requires said computer to be covered by insurance they must send it via Freight. If when checking in this item If you were advised that due to its fragile nature could you please sign this limited release fragile tag......YOUR SCREWED......
As this item as previously stated is not deemed Standard Passenger Baggage We as an Airline are not legally responsible. However as a gesture of goodwill we would like to offer you the following compensation and suggest in future you utilise our fright service........

I worked in the Airline Industry for 17yrs trust me on this, tread carefully before you Blow or you wont stand a chance.

I don't think that he should have to do anything in the first place to pretect his computer. If its got fragile on it they should look after it in the first place. Why not go there and destroy a few planes in return :twisted:

bahahahaha

Well, as if the airlines give a crap about your personal stuff.
That plane has to leave on time, those bags have to be loaded into the plane in order for it to leave on time.
they have insurance, they dont give a rats arse about the inconvenience you suffer.

i personally had a teriific encounter with an airline. I loaded my brand spanking new case onto the plane on my way back from adelaide. it was in a brown box marked fragile, with foam padding in it.
i got it at the carousel at Darwin Airport, opened it up and bing, not even a scratch or dent on it. milenko was happy.
Got it home, did a transplant and bingo, one new case for milenko.

SUE QANTAS!!!!!!!!!
it was clearly marked as fragile(or so u say) so it shouldnt of been broken

SUE THE BASTARDS FOR ALL THEIR WORTH. or to the value of the damages, either way

Bad news.

Unfortunately, yes, I checked... in the hurry to get on the plane I did infact sign a limited release slip. Bye bye insurance from the airline.

I'm going to see if my third party insurance company will still cover it, but it's not looking good.

david who is your insurer... territorian insurer perhaps ?

it shouldnt matter if you signed a release form.....

if it had fragile clearly marked then the airline is liable for damages.

DoWhat you are WRONG........
Limited Release Tags....(Non Liability)
Had been brought in by airlines about 10yrs ago and are heavily enforced. It was designed to cover themselves from people packing the Waterford crystal in their bag and then making a claim when it is damaged.
When a passenger claims "I have a Fragile Item in my Bag" they are left with the following options.
1. Place Fragile over it and sign this form Clearing the Airline of any Liability.
2. If you are so worried then maybe you would have packed it differently or sent it freight, where you can get insurance.

So many times I had stand up arguements with people over this. As it stands the IATA Guide...(Airlines Bible - Worldwide) even puts a Max price on a claimable amout for a Standard piece of Baggage.

If you think this is stupid then live with it, as did the French Archiologist who bought a 6ft long 3mm thick $25,000 Aboriginal Bark painting for the Louve.
Can i take this as Hand Luggage...NO
Can I check it in as Baggage with no wrapping...ONLY is you sign this.
In the End as he was very late, He left it at the Airport and flew to Paris and was back in 30hrs ( by order of his boss ) and make to pack it suitably.........................

Wolf, your best bet is to liase with their baggage People, as it stands your best chance is although you signed the Waiver the damage wasn't just Minor it was MAJOR.....If you can show Neglect not just an accident Your in Luck......

Quote from craZy C:
If you can show Neglect not just an accident Your in Luck......
well it cant be accident if the ram sticks pop out and there is multi mulitpul dents lol
i dont know what has happened but dood sounds liek u are fucked and gotta same for a new computer

DoWhat.....

when a veteran of life (CC) say he has worked in the airline business for 17years. id take his word for it.

dowhat is attempting to become korny I think

not until everyone hates him completely will he be satisfied

this happened to me like 4 months ago when i got my old comp shiped to me by train it was pathic comp but i still needed it so i could set up a linux comp BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo its got fucked in the shipping. I dont no how it was packed but when i got it, it was bent in half like a elephant sat on it or sumthing :cry: so i havent got linux and i couldnt even learn or start to learn about settin up networks

supaman is becoming a forum whore :D you go boy

Dude that must suck big chunky ones. :x

Thats some serious dropping in order to root your case and board up so much.

Maybe they tried to kill a terrorist with it by dropping it on his/her head while in flight. (the terrorist been on the ground) :shock:

I also cant believe you reckon Canberra is tops. Just you wait till winter hits and you are freezing your little darwin ass off in the dorms. :wink:

well good luck with your classes David. Hope you sort out the problems soon.

me a forum slut never :lol:

Wolfspirit have u got ur new comp yet?

I not gonna even think of a response to what you said about me and my family but i will leave you with 4 peices of advice

1. Remove my name from your post

2. never speak about my family like that

3. Your a retard

4. Its never such a good idea to make fun of someone alot bigger then youself

That is all.

Korny.........

who are you responding to...

the only mention of korny i can see is Harb's post... :?

yeah who the hell are you talking to and Wolfsprit reply to my PM

korny am confused... :|

and wolf.. respond to my PM as well dude :P

Quote from Wolfspirit:
I am going to use the word 'rooted' in this post frequently. But when I say rooted, I don't mean your average 'lets make love' root; I mean, "HIT ME HARDER WITH THAT TEN FOOT SPIKED ELECTROFIED DILDO BITCH! THAT'S RIGHT, PUT IT ALLLLLL THE WAY IN! YES DAD! HARDER! / Ok Korny son!'

oh, that.

well he was making a joke have a luagh at it

yeah i don't like korny or anything but thats going too far

mind you, i don't like wolfspirit either :x

only casue he's post are to long

right
wolf reply to my pm

Picked up the new computer today. I got off lightly; $516. Guess what two items survived the mangled wreckage of my computer... both hard drives. Strange, I would have thought they'd be completely screwed. But the basic story is, everything else is gone. So I keep my MP3's, but all else is lost.

Sorry Korny, really. It's not in my nature, usually, to get personal/start fights in posts; but this time I did, completely without provokation. You did nothing to deserve that, and I'm sorry. I was quite upset that night, it was very late/early, and I had had extremely little sleep for the last two days and having just opened my pride and joy to find it smashed up made me not my usual self (as you can imagine). The comments will be gone as soon as I finish this. And again, I'm sorry.

To those who've PM'd me; replies are away, mostly. Running out of very very limited 'net time here.

i say sue them :twisted: . Something else must have happend is your case is as stuffed as u say that will give u some good points :)

WTF that is very weird a computer been smashed and told it fell got any pictures of the case or anything? me wanna see :x

Unfortunately not. But basically; stomp on the side of your average computer case to cave it in, kick it a few times to give it the well rounded 'gold-ball' appearance, then you have my computer.

I'll see if I can recover the case and take a few fellows for you all up there.

P.S. Canberra is cold.

while i was waiting for 5 hrs in alice cause quantus screwed my ticket up some guy came in with his bike and it was mangled a total write off.

It was in a propper box ect, no doubt he was pissed

Im just wondering WTF goes on to cause that much dammage???

well you know to fit it on the plane :P

think about it tho....100's of kilos of baggage.....plane at several thousand feet.......turbulence.......big heavy things smashing against each other......damage....destruction.....mayhem..

shouldn't there be some form of restraining device used to keep cargo contained though? Even simply dividing the area into "cells" would drastically reduce damage.

adding cells whould create more weight on the plane

While the "Cell" idea might appeal to Aravi's modular thinking, we of the browser arc-welded world know that it's impractical. Remember dude cell devisions take up space themselves, limit the use of space available anyway (only one thing to a cell?), increase the workload of baggage handlers, and are somewhat impractical. A bike for instance; won't fit in your average square cell, or if they were large cells, then it would waste a TON of space.

Hahahaha, sorry guys love reading everyone trying to GUESS how things are done.......

Aircraft Holds....are basically determined by the size of the Aircraft.
They are broken into sections acording to weight of balance of the aircraft. In a nutshell they are split into Forward and Aft. With both being broken down further.

Anything from a 737 Down is pretty much Hand Loaded into the compartments whereas the larger are Container Loaded.

The 737 for example has 4 forward and 3 aft compartments each one segregated by webbing.
The 767 has fwd and aft, 2 compartments only, but has container positions which the containers lock into.

Everything is loaded as per a strick weight and balance regime....Comp 3 64 Bags...Comp 4 26 Bags....Comp 5 300kgs cargo-18 pieces..etc etc etc

There is quite a bit of damage that can be done by turbulance and I am talking centrifigal force damage but 85% of all damage is Manually made....ie Forklifts, Scissor Lifts, Towmasters or Baggage Handlers on their second double shift....