Apparently it is unique in the US in that it will *only* do PIN if you use the chip. Swiping still works for signature, of course.
Chase was almost going to but backed down at the last minute. Almost all other chip and pin are chip+signature+pin ones from my research, and it will choose signature over pin.
First Niagara... which is about to be eaten by Key Bank, so I don't know if they'll still offer it (I know they do not for their own customers). Those of us 'grandfathered in' will get to keep it though until the card expires. I have no idea if I'll be able to change the pin, either.
It was the only credit card that worked in the machines to refill my Opal card [transit pass] in Sydney... so I'd much rather keep it working.
A lot of diners and some chains (i.e. Denny's, IHOP) are set up such that you just bring your receipt to the hostess and they cash you out there. So, more places could move to that model.
Honestly waiting for the waitress to come pick up our cards, then bring them back with a pen is a pointless waste of everyone's time. "Just bring up your receipt when ready" works so much better...
If you're a small business you could go back to cash only. Usually I pay cash at small businesses anyway since I know the 3% card fee is more painful to them than it is to McDonald's or Home Depot...
I have a (apparently rare) US issued chip and pin card - I didn't even ask for the pin, the bank offered me the one time option of setting it, which I did. If I use it in any of these terminals, or anywhere in Canada, it actually prompts for the PIN. So while chip and signature is the "norm" with these new readers, the only roadblock for chip and pin is now the card issuer thanks to the mandate that the readers be upgraded.
Commutes are comparable to Northeast US area commutes (and in many cases shorter!). The big difference is, Japanese commutes almost all involve a train at one point, the perfect environment for reading. Our commutes are driving cars where we (shouldn't) be reading, or as a passenger on buses where reading is nauseating for long periods of time.
Simply dropping the per-country quotas for Green Cards would solve the latter 2 issues overnight. There's a lot of people I know who are here on those visas (with their families) who would become citizens in a heartbeat, but they have a 20 year wait. At this rate their (US born) children will be sponsoring them before the simple "I live and work here" method works its way through...
I certainly do remember 2008. When the market tanked I threw $10k into a Roth IRA, all into a managed fund considered 'safe'. In early 2009 I contributed $5k more. I made no customizations, and didn't contribute again (or even look at it) for four years. Whatever demons run that fund had gotten me a 60% return in those 4 years, and it's certainly outpaced inflation since. No matter how corrupt Wall street may be, they did far better for me and my puny $15K than I myself possibly could while holding down a full time job (during that same time frame, my hand picked stocks only gained 15%). While my normal pre-tax retirement fund has grown less dramatically (probably because I customized it a bit, oddly enough to try and avoid fees), it has still averaged 7%/year. Good enough, considering that inflation is barely at 1% and interest rates are so low savings accounts are a fool's errand.
Don't get me wrong, I know there is corruption. But (1) It's good enough for me and (2) it's not like there is an alternative we can point to and say "let's do that instead". There's stock markets all over the world, yet ours is the one that investors flock to. If the corruption was truly that terrible, any one of the many markets in other countries would be outshining ours, and people would be putting their money there instead.
The database is solid. Weblogic is ok (though I prefer Tomcat & JBoss). Their products that sit on top of Weblogic are... a great big steaming convoluted pile once you look under the hood. But if I were them and trying to play the long game, I would put a ton of resources into streamlining and stabilizing those products so that they were actually good. A lot of companies buy them, and if they weren't so damned hard to install, configure, customize and maintain they could get more of that money directly (which is currently going to H1Bs who have the patience to deal with the mess). And I completely believe the need for H1Bs in this case. As it stands now, anyone with the intelligence and patience to implement Oracle Fusion Middleware can just as easily do things far more interesting with those skills, and would opt to do so.
Except those "evil institutions" usually do a pretty good job at keeping our retirement funds healthy, which benefits people. Yes they take some off the top, but really you want the people working for the funds that comprise retirement accounts to be making top dollar. They are spending all day researching which companies should go in and out of a fund that potentially millions of people will be relying on to retire someday - I'd much rather that field be highly competitive to be sure there are smart people in there...
So the neat thing about the "no repeats" rule: when you are changing your password, the system only knows the true password of the most recent old one (since you have to type it in while resetting) and the new one you are trying - that is how it can say "new password too similar to previous one". But beyond that, all it has is a history of encrypted strings. So, simply alternate two passwords and increment a digit each time.
State governments are supposed to fill those roles. I know that my state wouldn't become a third world shithole because the residents appreciate and want those services. If other states decline, its entirely the fault of the voters within that state. And the best part, if you disagree with a state's policies, it's a lot easier to pack up and leave than it is to leave a country you disagree with.
On a variety of issues, half the country can't agree with the other half. This helps both sides get their way, and legitimately see who's way is better, instead of a bunch of armchair theorizing.
Except, other than EPA, there's no reason to have all of those at the federal level. EPA is needed at the federal level because environmental damage effects can easily cross state lines. A federal FDA could be advisory to state boards which may choose to accept or reject the recommendations.
As for entitlements, the states would be free to start their own Medicaid and social security programs if they so desire. Some would have statewide healthcare, some would not.
The best part is, now they can't buy overreaching legislation by buying a handful of politicians; they'll have to buy a handful of politicians in every state, potentially increasing the bribery costs to 50x the current rate.
Counterpoint: The Washington DC Metro, designed as automated from the beginning, has been in manual mode the last few years because they found issues in the automation system (they discovered that the system was "blind" to a train in a specific spot when another one rammed into it as if it wasn't even there).
Also, why has automating pre-existing train systems been next to impossible? NYC has only one automated line.
We really should walk before we can run... I would want to see flawless full automation of most train systems before trusting it on the road.
Except they didn't shut down the subway, so these nits still had that option rather than whine about Uber. They rerouted the two lines that were running on 6th Av (obviously they want to check the tunnels for damage, and the station for bombs). The PATH and D were already not running on 6th av due to weekend maintenance work. The 23st and 7th Av station was closed (I do not see the wisdom in that), but that was the *only* closure. People could walk two blocks west to 8th Ave or one block east to Broadway and grab a subway.
This deserves an up-vote; further proof that law enforcement agencies are actively trying to filter out anyone who thinks on the job. They thought an ex-marine would be trigger happy like the rest of them, forgetting that the actual marines need to think on their feet to avoid international incidents.
The NTSB makes recommendations and the states make the laws which back them up.
Judging by the tone of your response, I've realized you're simply projecting your own inability to walk and chew gum onto the rest of the populace, and on this particular topic there is no need to engage further.
Silly, if I was approaching a corner without looking in front of me, I'd be careening off the road. You don't stare at the thing, you look down for less than a second, make your selection, back to the road, back to the console to see the next screen of huge icons... and only do it on straight road (ideally limited access highways). It's less dangerous than the multitasking you have to do when merging, as in that case you (should be!) turning your whole head away from the front to see if there's anyone in your blind spot, as well as checking both mirrors.
Your comment makes me more concerned that *you* don't have a good grasp on when it is and isn't ok to look away from the road. And clearly the NTSB sides with me on this, because otherwise these devices wouldn't be allowed.
Is it any worse than the UConnect in vehicles? The reason my touch screen doesn't feel that dangerous is: 1. you can augment the touch with voice commands and physical buttons located on the steering wheel and dash 2. The touch screen buttons are huge for the few things you might need it for 3. typing (and reading text messages) is disabled if you're moving, you can only talk and have it text-to-speech messages to you 4. From the home screen there's pretty much nothing that requires more than four taps. I counted it one day. Does the Tesla one have levels of nested menus or something?
Obviously you don't mess with it when there's other cars around but it doesn't seem any more distracting than trying to find a toll ticket or a not-yet-empty water bottle in a cupholder...
This is part of the reason trains outlast buses... the oldest NYC subway cars (built 1964) are being complained about as having a "low" mean distance between failure at 35,000 miles, versus 400,000 miles on the newest cars. Streetcars in many cities see daily operation at well over 30 years old, some even 70.
If my car only needed service every 35,000 miles after 50 years I would say it was a piece of machinery handed down from the gods...
Slashdot Mirror
With a data cap they assume instead of streaming shows people will watch them on TV.
Sure if you like to waste time. In Northeastern US, people who expand contractions in daily speech are either being pretentious, or hicks.
Sorry for the second reply, but here is the article about First Niagara choosing pin over signature as well as their press release.
Apparently it is unique in the US in that it will *only* do PIN if you use the chip. Swiping still works for signature, of course.
Chase was almost going to but backed down at the last minute. Almost all other chip and pin are chip+signature+pin ones from my research, and it will choose signature over pin.
First Niagara... which is about to be eaten by Key Bank, so I don't know if they'll still offer it (I know they do not for their own customers). Those of us 'grandfathered in' will get to keep it though until the card expires. I have no idea if I'll be able to change the pin, either.
It was the only credit card that worked in the machines to refill my Opal card [transit pass] in Sydney... so I'd much rather keep it working.
A lot of diners and some chains (i.e. Denny's, IHOP) are set up such that you just bring your receipt to the hostess and they cash you out there. So, more places could move to that model.
Honestly waiting for the waitress to come pick up our cards, then bring them back with a pen is a pointless waste of everyone's time. "Just bring up your receipt when ready" works so much better...
If you're a small business you could go back to cash only. Usually I pay cash at small businesses anyway since I know the 3% card fee is more painful to them than it is to McDonald's or Home Depot...
I have a (apparently rare) US issued chip and pin card - I didn't even ask for the pin, the bank offered me the one time option of setting it, which I did. If I use it in any of these terminals, or anywhere in Canada, it actually prompts for the PIN. So while chip and signature is the "norm" with these new readers, the only roadblock for chip and pin is now the card issuer thanks to the mandate that the readers be upgraded.
Commutes are comparable to Northeast US area commutes (and in many cases shorter!). The big difference is, Japanese commutes almost all involve a train at one point, the perfect environment for reading. Our commutes are driving cars where we (shouldn't) be reading, or as a passenger on buses where reading is nauseating for long periods of time.
Simply dropping the per-country quotas for Green Cards would solve the latter 2 issues overnight. There's a lot of people I know who are here on those visas (with their families) who would become citizens in a heartbeat, but they have a 20 year wait. At this rate their (US born) children will be sponsoring them before the simple "I live and work here" method works its way through...
I certainly do remember 2008. When the market tanked I threw $10k into a Roth IRA, all into a managed fund considered 'safe'. In early 2009 I contributed $5k more. I made no customizations, and didn't contribute again (or even look at it) for four years. Whatever demons run that fund had gotten me a 60% return in those 4 years, and it's certainly outpaced inflation since. No matter how corrupt Wall street may be, they did far better for me and my puny $15K than I myself possibly could while holding down a full time job (during that same time frame, my hand picked stocks only gained 15%). While my normal pre-tax retirement fund has grown less dramatically (probably because I customized it a bit, oddly enough to try and avoid fees), it has still averaged 7%/year. Good enough, considering that inflation is barely at 1% and interest rates are so low savings accounts are a fool's errand.
Don't get me wrong, I know there is corruption. But (1) It's good enough for me and (2) it's not like there is an alternative we can point to and say "let's do that instead". There's stock markets all over the world, yet ours is the one that investors flock to. If the corruption was truly that terrible, any one of the many markets in other countries would be outshining ours, and people would be putting their money there instead.
The database is solid. Weblogic is ok (though I prefer Tomcat & JBoss). Their products that sit on top of Weblogic are... a great big steaming convoluted pile once you look under the hood. But if I were them and trying to play the long game, I would put a ton of resources into streamlining and stabilizing those products so that they were actually good. A lot of companies buy them, and if they weren't so damned hard to install, configure, customize and maintain they could get more of that money directly (which is currently going to H1Bs who have the patience to deal with the mess). And I completely believe the need for H1Bs in this case. As it stands now, anyone with the intelligence and patience to implement Oracle Fusion Middleware can just as easily do things far more interesting with those skills, and would opt to do so.
Except those "evil institutions" usually do a pretty good job at keeping our retirement funds healthy, which benefits people. Yes they take some off the top, but really you want the people working for the funds that comprise retirement accounts to be making top dollar. They are spending all day researching which companies should go in and out of a fund that potentially millions of people will be relying on to retire someday - I'd much rather that field be highly competitive to be sure there are smart people in there...
So the neat thing about the "no repeats" rule: when you are changing your password, the system only knows the true password of the most recent old one (since you have to type it in while resetting) and the new one you are trying - that is how it can say "new password too similar to previous one". But beyond that, all it has is a history of encrypted strings. So, simply alternate two passwords and increment a digit each time.
State governments are supposed to fill those roles. I know that my state wouldn't become a third world shithole because the residents appreciate and want those services. If other states decline, its entirely the fault of the voters within that state. And the best part, if you disagree with a state's policies, it's a lot easier to pack up and leave than it is to leave a country you disagree with.
On a variety of issues, half the country can't agree with the other half. This helps both sides get their way, and legitimately see who's way is better, instead of a bunch of armchair theorizing.
Except, other than EPA, there's no reason to have all of those at the federal level. EPA is needed at the federal level because environmental damage effects can easily cross state lines. A federal FDA could be advisory to state boards which may choose to accept or reject the recommendations.
As for entitlements, the states would be free to start their own Medicaid and social security programs if they so desire. Some would have statewide healthcare, some would not.
The best part is, now they can't buy overreaching legislation by buying a handful of politicians; they'll have to buy a handful of politicians in every state, potentially increasing the bribery costs to 50x the current rate.
Counterpoint: The Washington DC Metro, designed as automated from the beginning, has been in manual mode the last few years because they found issues in the automation system (they discovered that the system was "blind" to a train in a specific spot when another one rammed into it as if it wasn't even there).
Also, why has automating pre-existing train systems been next to impossible? NYC has only one automated line.
We really should walk before we can run... I would want to see flawless full automation of most train systems before trusting it on the road.
Except they didn't shut down the subway, so these nits still had that option rather than whine about Uber. They rerouted the two lines that were running on 6th Av (obviously they want to check the tunnels for damage, and the station for bombs). The PATH and D were already not running on 6th av due to weekend maintenance work. The 23st and 7th Av station was closed (I do not see the wisdom in that), but that was the *only* closure. People could walk two blocks west to 8th Ave or one block east to Broadway and grab a subway.
This deserves an up-vote; further proof that law enforcement agencies are actively trying to filter out anyone who thinks on the job. They thought an ex-marine would be trigger happy like the rest of them, forgetting that the actual marines need to think on their feet to avoid international incidents.
To be fair, less vehicles with Kayaks on the roof is a net gain for society...
The NTSB makes recommendations and the states make the laws which back them up.
Judging by the tone of your response, I've realized you're simply projecting your own inability to walk and chew gum onto the rest of the populace, and on this particular topic there is no need to engage further.
Silly, if I was approaching a corner without looking in front of me, I'd be careening off the road. You don't stare at the thing, you look down for less than a second, make your selection, back to the road, back to the console to see the next screen of huge icons... and only do it on straight road (ideally limited access highways). It's less dangerous than the multitasking you have to do when merging, as in that case you (should be!) turning your whole head away from the front to see if there's anyone in your blind spot, as well as checking both mirrors.
Your comment makes me more concerned that *you* don't have a good grasp on when it is and isn't ok to look away from the road. And clearly the NTSB sides with me on this, because otherwise these devices wouldn't be allowed.
It would be as legal as defeating any other emissions feature or sensor on your car - big fines if you're caught.
Is it any worse than the UConnect in vehicles? The reason my touch screen doesn't feel that dangerous is:
1. you can augment the touch with voice commands and physical buttons located on the steering wheel and dash
2. The touch screen buttons are huge for the few things you might need it for
3. typing (and reading text messages) is disabled if you're moving, you can only talk and have it text-to-speech messages to you
4. From the home screen there's pretty much nothing that requires more than four taps. I counted it one day. Does the Tesla one have levels of nested menus or something?
Obviously you don't mess with it when there's other cars around but it doesn't seem any more distracting than trying to find a toll ticket or a not-yet-empty water bottle in a cupholder...
But do they get along well with the hundreds of horses living under the hood?
This is part of the reason trains outlast buses... the oldest NYC subway cars (built 1964) are being complained about as having a "low" mean distance between failure at 35,000 miles, versus 400,000 miles on the newest cars. Streetcars in many cities see daily operation at well over 30 years old, some even 70.
If my car only needed service every 35,000 miles after 50 years I would say it was a piece of machinery handed down from the gods...