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Google Helps Homeless Street Vendors Get Paid By Cashless Consumers
An anonymous reader writes Starting today Seattle pedestrians can no longer pat their pockets and claim to have no cash when offered a copy of the ironically-named Real Change weekly newspaper by a homeless street vendor. Google has spent two years working with the Real Change organization to develop a barcode-scanning app which lets passers-by purchase a digital edition with their mobile phones. Google's Meghan Casserly believes the Real Change app — available on Android and iOs — represents the first of its kind in North America.
This isn't from the Onion?
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
It's the easiest way to not get harassed by these guys.
Now people will have to act like adults and simply say "no, thank you."
...now we either have to come up with another excuse or else tell the person something along the lines of, "sorry, not interested"?
No one is under any obligation to buy from or to give money to someone panhandling. Given that there are enough actors out there to make one question if any given pandhandler is actually hard-up or not, I don't tend to give out money like that.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Apparently it's trivial to make an upper middle class income doing that:
http://www.straightdope.com/co...
So I ask, why does anybody give to them anyways? Many of them make more money than the people who give them money.
It's the easiest way to not get harassed by these guys.
After you pay, the google maps locates the panhandlers location, and routes around it. They could charge for this service as a micro payment, and then give the money to the pan handler.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
If the seller is to get the money then the bar code must be unique to that seller, so it's not the general bar code of the magazine that's getting scanned.
The phone then reports this seller's ID to some central server. Does it also report geolocation data? (Is there any non-free-software app nowadays that doesn't?) How many people get this data? Google and the magazine company (and any government agency that asks for it)?
So smartphone users are being used to report homeless people's movements around the city. Or at the very least, it's open to that type of abuse.
Am I wrong?
Help build the anti-software-patent wiki
And figure out how to route the money directly to their drug/alcohol dealers.
...scanhandling.
Momentarily, the need for the construction of new light will no longer exist.
Who walks around without $2 in their pocket? What a tragic waste of time and effort.
I don't respond to AC's.
Yes.
Can I have some?
No.
If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
No one's gonna use this for donating to panhandlers (just to bump into them at the store buying more alcohol...)
The real use for this will be tip jars, purchasing products, mobile micropayments.
You think business is gonna see this technology and just sit on their hands?
Wonder what the public key field is for?
http://www.tshirthell.com/shir...
No. It is real. And great news. I'm going to tell all of our local homeless beggars about it and suggest that they should go to Seattle.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
Sounds like a great way to make yourself a theft target -- who is going to take out their $700 phone and scan a paper held out by a by a guy begging for cash?
Let's kill google maps, develop self driving cars. Let's kill reader, produce bastard google plus then abort it. Let's kill talk, and produce shitty buggy hangouts. Let's kill everything that once was for something new. We got money for space balloons, money for glassholes. No love for the user anymore. But damn, let's make it easier for bum ass panhandlers to suck money out of people trying to at least somewhat respect natural selection and do useful work. google utopia!!!!!
Google helps homeless street vendors get paid by cashless customers by bitcoins from a SilkRoad affiliated site. Stay tuned.
Google was supposed to "Do No Evil".
Save space for souvenirs though! Definitely invest in some high quality walking sneakers- by your first night in Prague you will realize that you actually can feel your pulse through your feet timberland Homme You will probably wake up with blisters on top of blisters. Nights can be chilly, even in summer, so bring a light jacket no matter when you go. Since you do so much walking, it'd be wise to bring an umbrella to avoid the hairspray dripping in your eyes and preventing you from seeing the sites if it rains. If you get headaches from the sun or looking up a lot, bring aspirin- things are very tall here. Do not forget that Europe runs on 220 volts and 50 Hz so you might want a little transformer, about $25 in the US. Prague has the same standard outlets that you find across Europe. If you are going to be there in the high summer, casual and light clothing should be fine (up to 27 degrees Celsius is what you are looking at); on the other hand, if you will be there in the dead of winter, bring your winter jackets, mittens, scarf, etc. You will need them!
> Google has spent two years working with the Real Change organization to develop a barcode-scanning app which lets passers-by purchase a digital edition with their mobile phones
Srsly? Put it in the Guinness Book for the longest tech spike ever. Had Elon Musk adopted this ambitious pace, he'd still use a slingshot.
Starting today Seattle pedestrians can no longer pat their pockets and claim to have no cash when offered a copy of the ironically-named Real Change weekly newspaper by a homeless street vendor.
Well, firstly, yes they can.
Secondly, what's wrong with treating someone like a human being instead of a potential murderer and saying "no thanks"?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
So now they will have cash? MAGIC!
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
if you want to steal phones, i promise you that finding people with their phones already out will not be a problem.