When any business can be hit up for their services by refusing legal tender for services rendered (or products delivered), they quickly return to at least accepting cash, even if it's not their preferred method of payment.
After all, on every bill, there is a line that reads: "THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER, FOR ALL DEBTS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE". This quote is missing from any coins, thus being a main reason that the $1 coin has not even come close to replacing the bills in the U.S.
Any business that refuses Legal Tender for services rendered can consider the debt paid in full... IF the state where you are attempting to do so has a law in place that prohibits refusal of legal tender.
"...Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise."
All in all, there are still a few holdouts on the "No Cash" bandwagon.
Frankly, as long as my non-credit-card-based debit card is accepted, I'm good to go. It is a shame that more places don't accept such debit cards, though...
Already, there are a disturbing number of "self check-out lanes" popping up at various stores. I (and many others) avoid those lanes, no matter what the wait, for a lane with an actual cashier. To me, I am supporting a job. A legitimate, one-on-one job. I have seen that there is an attendant at the self-checkout lanes, but they are responsible for 6 or more kiosks. That's one person doing the work of 6 (at least). If such a store in my area were to open (or convert to) such a setup, I'd be hard pressed to patronize that place.
What next? We unload the trailer for them too? Maybe stock the shelves? "If you put two on the shelf for every one you take, we'll give you a discount"?
First, the offer was for a temporary discount on a service. Once that temporary status expires, who here wouldn't drop the pay-for-service option and go right back to torrenting their content? Besides, who'd grab the free service knowing it would cost them later?
Second point: Bell has had their system available on their PVR boxes for restarting a show, but you can't rewind or fast forward any program you restarted. Seriously. This also applies to any show you're watching where you have rewound past a certain point (seems random to me) thus ruining the experience.
Personally, I'l stick to recording what I want to watch, and downloading the rest to watch when I am good and ready for the content, and most of the downloaded stuff has the added bonus of not having any commercials to skip!
As I see it, the move will open the door for government access to encrypted cell phones. If Apple refuses their warrant. they (corporately) can be charged with obstruction (or whatever else they want to throw at them). Next step, if Apple refuses to comply: the government attacks Apples' market share by declaring the devices a "Threat to National Security". This has a two-fold effect: First, it makes it illegal for Apple to do business in the US, and Second, it make it illegal for the common person to have such an "illegal device", as the company would obviously be banned from selling/operating/offering such a device in the US. Now we have a real pickle. Anyone who has such a device can be charged with possession of said device, since it has been declared illegal by the government. The company will be forced to loose all sales in the US, and accept any returns of those products (and the loss of revenue).
The effect is far-reaching. The only other option is to comply with the warrant, making digital privacy via your encrypted cell phone little more than an illusion. At least the government has to come up with a warrant and serve it to Apple to execute...
Until they are ordered by the court to surrender the means to the government directly.
Let's face it.
If the government wants access to your personal information, they will find a way to get it, and the illusion of privacy will be shattered for good.
Anyone who thinks that their cloud storage is in any way "private" is deluding themselves from the start. The government has always had the power to force people to surrender what it wants "for the greater good of the country".
One of the prices for living in just about any country, really...
Just because you are allowed to say it, does not mean you can hide behind anonymity to protect your sorry self from the backlash of what you said.
Sure, you have the right to you opinion. Just claim it as yours, and yours, and face the response. If you have somehow broken the law in the expression, then accept it!
The delivery vans and trucks will be on routes, stop only where they need to deliver (or a central point for multiple deliveries). Unlike the random hopping of consumers all fighting for premium parking while scraping for the Best Deal they can, burning parking money and fuel, which eats into their budget for spending...
Since Google wants to be to pervasive in society, this is the type of exploit that is going to get leveraged. Also since they want to be listening to everyone everywhere all the time for anything that might be potentially profitable for them, someone will eventually make sound bites that render them moot as quickly as possible. Have fun, Google!
Well, I finally bit the bullet and upgraded my system.
What broke me? When they neutered the Windows 7 Update system, and doing a clean install didn't even fix it.
Seriously. Windows 7 is still supported software! I could see them trying this with WinXP, but Win7? Ouch!
Pluses: I only had to upgrade my video card to get the system to be eligible to upgrade. It went well enough, and I managed to keep most of my software. Boot time was phenomenal!
Negatives: The invasiveness: trying to push for a Microsoft Login as my Windows login... No, sorry. Not happening. Fix/customize/adjust the Start menu? Cryptic and frustrating to say the least. All the bundled crapware: Cortana, Edge, OneDrive, Subscription-based Solitaire... the list goes on and on. Disabling and/or uninstalling much of the crapware resulted in breaking the OS, and I had to go to the Microsoft Community to fix things... That's another story in and of itself. Not all my software is compatible with Win10 and either has to be run in compatibility mode, or replaced with something more functional under the OS umbrella.
Ugh. What a nightmare. Be prepared to relearn nearly everything OS related so you can actually get going with this monstrosity.
Beyond that, the UI is fairly slick. I never had Win8 or 8.1, so I can't compare those to Win10, but at least it has a desktop mode, and it doesn't default to "tablet mode" on me. Again, the boot time is great, and I don't even have an SSD. It even has dual monitor taskbar support built in! Kudos!
Also, once I found you can do a clean install using my old Win7 Product Key, life was a lot easier! I just used a clean drive, and put the old Win7 drive as storage and all my data was in familiar folders. Just remember to get the "take ownership" add-in, and you're golden.
I also strongly recommend using 3rd party email clients, like Thunderbird, a good browser, like Firefox or Chrome, and stay as far away from the toxic cloud as you can! Cortana has nothing on Siri but still harvests your data! No good can come from this, I say! She's been chained to the lousy Edge browser and Bing for a search engine, so you already know how useful her assistance will be based on that alone.
So, here's a couple of grains of salt to go with this post, and have at!
Simply put, if the employer is more likely to make your two week exit period a living hell, or the maximum inconvenience they can possibly engage in, then you are by far best served with a no-notice exit strategy.
Personally, it's not about sticking it to them, so much as avoiding them sticking it to you!
Most of the time, places will likely drop you like a hot rock the moment you give notice so they don't have someone around that can poison other employee's opinions about them and get them to quit as well, thus minimizing their losses by paying you off rather than "working you out the door".
As we all know, the moment they roll out something like this, people will first have an alternative phone or recording device that simply does not have the camera-inhibiting code in it. The next step will be wide-spread jail-breaking of devices that have been "infected" with this stuff.
Sure, the performers want it, the galleries would like it and Law Enforcement (and other clandestine operatives) might feel it necessary for the protection of it's collective members, but the fact remains: People will record stuff even if they're told they can't, and more heavily when they feel they are being repressed in any way. Any attempt to block their perceived "right" to record things will be met with resistance and even violence.
Frankly, any camera-based recording of a concert is not going to have decent enough quality to compete with a properly produced commercial release any way, so it's a fairly moot point.
Besides, if Sci-Fi is to be believed, there will be a back-and-forth of camera-blocking tech, and more sophisticated recording devices, so this is just going to be another curious series of events to keep us all entertained as it all rolls out.
Good luck with putting that hat on the snowball, there Apple. I am sure it will have much greater longevity in hell.
What most people forget when upgrading: Are all their favorite programs or Apps "Fully Compatible" with the new Windows?
Do a little research before you commit, and you should be OK.
Also worth the thought and effort: Make a comprehensive Backup of your system before you start, and have an Escape Plan in place if you want/need to roll back to your previous version.
Finally, if you pull that trigger, be prepared for a learning curve. There are a lot of articles about the new Windows out there. Look them up! Things to enable, things to disable, things to just plain be aware of, features you may want to access and things you will want to uninstall completely.
And something you might also want to consider: Buy a new HD (or even that SSD you've been wanting, and do a Clean Install of Windows 10. Here's a URL for the How-To: http://lifehacker.com/how-to-d...
Sorry for all the Plain Text stuff. Anyone that has a bit of tech savvy will still be able to use these easily. After all, this is SlashDot.
And, yes, these are all from Lifehacker. As you can see, that source alone has a lot to reference. The internet itself is a huge resource. I have every confidence that the folks here can access even more if they put their minds to it. Just remember the basics of System Safety, have more than a few grains of salt ready and Play Nice out there, and you should be more than ready to upgrade when you actually feel the increasing pressure from Uncle Bill's minions!
The whole goal of Apple Pay (and Tap and Go, for that matter) is the attempt on the part of the Consumerism Machine to make it as Painless as possible to part us from our money. They don't want you to really Feel that over-priced coffee and croissant bleeding your wallet dry, day after day.
If something is less than easy, it becomes painful if we have to go through it for no real reason.
As a Canadian, I had anything tap-related disabled on my debit card the second I found out it was there. (My bank didn't even ask me if I wanted it.) I had heard about it having been abused from the friendly folks at an international border crossing. They had just been "upgraded" to that system in the food court, and a number of them had all been charged mysterious things within the first DAY of it going live. Apparently someone was milling around in said food court near the fast food lineup and "read" as many people as they could, charging them small amounts that they ultimately hoped would go unnoticed.
No PIN needed, No signature. No "confirmation" of any kind. Just a near-field reader, and limited withdrawal plan spread over a few hundred people. It's a telling thing that the banks themselves don't use the Tap-and-Go feature in their own branches!
It's bad enough that debit is not as widespread as it is up here. I mean, if you can't pay with a debit card at a restaurant, why would people want to adopt such a system? Up here, if you don't accept debit, you will loose a LOT of potential customers in a hurry!
Debit went from swiping the magnetic strip, to inserting a chipped card (for an "increase in security"). Then they want to go to a PIN-less tap-and-go system? Hardly secure, in my not-so humble opinion.
Apple pay at least has you agree on a screen to your purchase, but is still vulnerable to near-field interception of data and spoofing. And nit just your debit, but credit cards too? The thieves just Love the idea of all that near-field data flying around for them to use against your account balance!
That, and it's one more reason to have your phone stolen...
Most "Smart Meters" have built in surge pricing already. Have such use charted, and build it into the Uber schedule.
No more guesswork. If a driver wants to make money, they can make themselves available during peak payout time. If Uber wants to make more vehicles available, they need to have times linked to cover their deficit areas to attract more drivers to provide service during those underrepresented times.
Don't tell me they (Uber) do not have the data to set something like this up. Nobody would believe it for a minute.
If a city is truly worried about licensing and/or insurance, make having a Taxi License and 3rd party insurance mandatory to use Uber in that city/municipality. Many cities are already running sting operations (seen as entrapment by many) to detect and charge Uber drivers as it is. If anyone is savvy enough to have the license and insurance, they might even be able to put together a case for harassment*.
*I am Not a Lawyer. No Legal grounds to actually follow this advice is here. Move along.
Not sure if this is official, or simply someone managing to make a play for the domain, but I thought it was interesting that there are folks redirecting traffic to their websites already.
Is this becoming more common, or is TPB in danger of becoming co-opted?
Until recently, McDonalds and Tim Horton's in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) have been doing this sort of thing for years. Usually in the form of 'minority hiring' that shuns the citizenry. They got their hands smacked soundly over it, and now are being watched like a hawk.
Now, why on earth would the next big Monopoly ever think of stifling their next wave of competition before it can get any traction?
Oh, wait. They're TERRIFIED of people getting Free Energy that comes from the Sun (or wind, or water, or geothermal sources) and them not getting even Fatter than they are!
Sooner or later, Hybrid/Electric cars will be "skinned" with solar collection "stuff" so that, while sitting in the sun during your typical work day, it can at least trickle charge its own batteries. Maybe even have employee parking spots with charging stations connected to larger solar arrays for the same purpose: charge while working.
I'm already disappointed by the lack of solar proliferation, let alone there not being more windmills popping up like urban dandelions. Kind of like the proliferation of satellite dishes that dot rooftops like urban mushrooms.
Eventually, such solar and wind collection will become required in any and all new structures.
If Big Energy wants a piece of the pie, all they really need to do is start manufacturing the components, and continue to maintain a power grid for sharing the ebb and flow of it all. Besides, they sit on the Dark Net anyway. If they fear anything else, it will be the lack of a window into peoples appliances (and TV/Entertainment Centers) to sell the data to the highest bidder (or Big Brother)...
The rates will likely skyrocket to near-Canadian rate levels, and there might be a change in Speeding Ticket-Issuing technologies that could (conceivably) issue live warnings and even Tickets based on telemetry and other live info...
Imagine getting caught up in a construction or accident re-direct, and their being a batch of auto-tickets issued for using the wrong lane(s) or traveling on a closed section of road! People won't really be able to fight a live-issued ticked based on in-vehicle speed data after all because it's going to come form your own speedometer and correlated with satellite tracking for accuracy.
Talk about a Revenue Stream! Who needs a Speed Trap, when your Vehicle will issue you a ticket directly.
Government will simply mandate it, and it Will Be So.
I was of the impression that most of the airlines were all bemoaning the low traffic, driving up the costs of flying because "nobody is flying anymore". If that is the case, why are they not making flight a more appealing option to draw more passengers? Cramming more passengers into an already uncomfortable situation will be the last thing to draw more customers. Besides, are planes really over-booked per flight? Aren't most flights running at less that capacity, or don't they leave the ground if they aren't full?
Want to get a bit of better rates? Have the airlines offer a discount to "light travelers" who have a minimum of luggage or even body mass. Not trying to poke at the physically larger folks, but isn't it more expensive per pound to transport such a passenger? Can the airlines not charge by weight, and let people have more room if they're at weight capacity, but volume of the cabin is underutilized? Children should be really inexpensive to transport, as they're lighter AND take up less room.
Is the trend to simply drive people to scrap over limited seats on larger planes to drive up prices while they optimize their profits by over-packing people into such limited space?
It's bad enough that they've convinced the masses that full body searches, cramped space and intolerant travel-mates are the expected norm for anyone less than affluent enough to travel first class. Perhaps an all-seats-equal type business model might make a better travel experience. Do away with the whole first class section in a design, spread out the space and work out the price-per person based on such a level paying field and see what the profitability would look like. Consequently, have certain units set aside as "First Class Only" flights, with all seats to match. They only get used when there's enough people to utilize them, and they'd likely be smaller craft, anyway. More efficient that way...
If the FAA gets involved, would that be the "perfect reason" the airlines would use to hike the rates again, because of "lost revenue" due to the reduced seating capacity?
Bottom line: If you want to fly, be prepared for the experience! If you can't fly first class, you'd best expect a cramped flight with grumpy neighbors, poor food, and no room to use your precious laptop as boredom repellant.
Book your flight based on things like creature comforts. If the airline doesn't offer what you consider a bare minimum, DON'T Use them! Vote with your Money! If enough people did that, the airlines would Have to accommodate, or go broke in a hurry! Be willing to pay for what you want, or Not pay for a bad experience!
After all, they are providing a service. If you don't like, or are unwilling to suffer through what they offer, find another provider that offers better. If the providers slim down, you can always choose alternate methods of travel.
Ever tried a Bus over the holidays? Might not be as bad as you think...
Then we realize our mistake, and find a way to Crash it, only to cripple our whole society, since we have all become dependent upon the internet so deeply.
Once they start to roll, there will be a logical progression of complaints, starting with "They're too slow." Next will be "They're blocking traffic flow/causing traffic jams." Possibly among the next bunch of complaints: "They move erratically/unpredictably" "They wait too long at/stop too soon for traffic lights"
Most of the complaints will revolve around the simple fact that the autonomous cars will be driving 100% according to the rules of the road, and 95+% of the remaining drivers don't. Things like stopping for yellow lights, driving at the actual speed limit, slowing for merging traffic, properly signalling turns and lane-changes, etc.
In the end, the autonomous cars will reduce traffic jams, as they can intelligently travel in clusters, all in communication with each other, and even vary their routes for volume, all while staying moving at a reasonable clip.
The problem will come in when people deliberately try to mess with them, forcing them into emergency maneuvers by cutting them off for exits (for example), or cutting in front and slamming on the breaks (road rage).
Here's hoping they are outfitted with outward-facing cameras for recording such acts of stupidity.
After all, we can't have people wearing active recording devices into an area where they charge money to play copyright protected media to a limited audience, can we?
Besides, if you were sitting here in a typical theater with a smart phone in a little tripod-thingy recording the movie, you could reasonably expect to get in trouble, if spotted by any staff members, right?
So, how long before we see anal-retentive stars at ComiCon who charge an arm and a leg for a pic, setting their body-guards on Google Glass-wearing attendees for "stealing" pics/video of them at the Con? Next we'll see Google Glass Banned from such conventions...
Slashdot Mirror
When any business can be hit up for their services by refusing legal tender for services rendered (or products delivered), they quickly return to at least accepting cash, even if it's not their preferred method of payment.
After all, on every bill, there is a line that reads: "THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER, FOR ALL DEBTS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE". This quote is missing from any coins, thus being a main reason that the $1 coin has not even come close to replacing the bills in the U.S.
Any business that refuses Legal Tender for services rendered can consider the debt paid in full... IF the state where you are attempting to do so has a law in place that prohibits refusal of legal tender.
See the following for details:
https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages/legal-tender.aspx/
All in all, there are still a few holdouts on the "No Cash" bandwagon.
Frankly, as long as my non-credit-card-based debit card is accepted, I'm good to go. It is a shame that more places don't accept such debit cards, though...
Already, there are a disturbing number of "self check-out lanes" popping up at various stores.
I (and many others) avoid those lanes, no matter what the wait, for a lane with an actual cashier. To me, I am supporting a job. A legitimate, one-on-one job. I have seen that there is an attendant at the self-checkout lanes, but they are responsible for 6 or more kiosks. That's one person doing the work of 6 (at least).
If such a store in my area were to open (or convert to) such a setup, I'd be hard pressed to patronize that place.
What next? We unload the trailer for them too? Maybe stock the shelves? "If you put two on the shelf for every one you take, we'll give you a discount"?
Not for me, thank you.
First, the offer was for a temporary discount on a service.
Once that temporary status expires, who here wouldn't drop the pay-for-service option and go right back to torrenting their content? Besides, who'd grab the free service knowing it would cost them later?
Second point: Bell has had their system available on their PVR boxes for restarting a show, but you can't rewind or fast forward any program you restarted.
Seriously.
This also applies to any show you're watching where you have rewound past a certain point (seems random to me) thus ruining the experience.
Personally, I'l stick to recording what I want to watch, and downloading the rest to watch when I am good and ready for the content, and most of the downloaded stuff has the added bonus of not having any commercials to skip!
Just sayin'
As I see it, the move will open the door for government access to encrypted cell phones.
If Apple refuses their warrant. they (corporately) can be charged with obstruction (or whatever else they want to throw at them).
Next step, if Apple refuses to comply: the government attacks Apples' market share by declaring the devices a "Threat to National Security".
This has a two-fold effect: First, it makes it illegal for Apple to do business in the US, and Second, it make it illegal for the common person to have such an "illegal device", as the company would obviously be banned from selling/operating/offering such a device in the US.
Now we have a real pickle. Anyone who has such a device can be charged with possession of said device, since it has been declared illegal by the government. The company will be forced to loose all sales in the US, and accept any returns of those products (and the loss of revenue).
The effect is far-reaching.
The only other option is to comply with the warrant, making digital privacy via your encrypted cell phone little more than an illusion.
At least the government has to come up with a warrant and serve it to Apple to execute...
Until they are ordered by the court to surrender the means to the government directly.
Let's face it.
If the government wants access to your personal information, they will find a way to get it, and the illusion of privacy will be shattered for good.
Anyone who thinks that their cloud storage is in any way "private" is deluding themselves from the start.
The government has always had the power to force people to surrender what it wants "for the greater good of the country".
One of the prices for living in just about any country, really...
Just because you are allowed to say it, does not mean you can hide behind anonymity to protect your sorry self from the backlash of what you said.
Sure, you have the right to you opinion. Just claim it as yours, and yours, and face the response. If you have somehow broken the law in the expression, then accept it!
Don't be a coward.
The delivery vans and trucks will be on routes, stop only where they need to deliver (or a central point for multiple deliveries).
Unlike the random hopping of consumers all fighting for premium parking while scraping for the Best Deal they can, burning parking money and fuel, which eats into their budget for spending...
Seems like an interesting trade-off to me...
Since Google wants to be to pervasive in society, this is the type of exploit that is going to get leveraged.
Also since they want to be listening to everyone everywhere all the time for anything that might be potentially profitable for them, someone will eventually make sound bites that render them moot as quickly as possible.
Have fun, Google!
Well, I finally bit the bullet and upgraded my system.
What broke me? When they neutered the Windows 7 Update system, and doing a clean install didn't even fix it.
Seriously. Windows 7 is still supported software! I could see them trying this with WinXP, but Win7? Ouch!
Pluses:
I only had to upgrade my video card to get the system to be eligible to upgrade.
It went well enough, and I managed to keep most of my software.
Boot time was phenomenal!
Negatives:
The invasiveness: trying to push for a Microsoft Login as my Windows login... No, sorry. Not happening.
Fix/customize/adjust the Start menu? Cryptic and frustrating to say the least.
All the bundled crapware: Cortana, Edge, OneDrive, Subscription-based Solitaire... the list goes on and on.
Disabling and/or uninstalling much of the crapware resulted in breaking the OS, and I had to go to the Microsoft Community to fix things... That's another story in and of itself.
Not all my software is compatible with Win10 and either has to be run in compatibility mode, or replaced with something more functional under the OS umbrella.
Ugh. What a nightmare. Be prepared to relearn nearly everything OS related so you can actually get going with this monstrosity.
Beyond that, the UI is fairly slick. I never had Win8 or 8.1, so I can't compare those to Win10, but at least it has a desktop mode, and it doesn't default to "tablet mode" on me. Again, the boot time is great, and I don't even have an SSD. It even has dual monitor taskbar support built in! Kudos!
Also, once I found you can do a clean install using my old Win7 Product Key, life was a lot easier! I just used a clean drive, and put the old Win7 drive as storage and all my data was in familiar folders. Just remember to get the "take ownership" add-in, and you're golden.
I also strongly recommend using 3rd party email clients, like Thunderbird, a good browser, like Firefox or Chrome, and stay as far away from the toxic cloud as you can! Cortana has nothing on Siri but still harvests your data! No good can come from this, I say! She's been chained to the lousy Edge browser and Bing for a search engine, so you already know how useful her assistance will be based on that alone.
So, here's a couple of grains of salt to go with this post, and have at!
Happy computing!
Simply put, if the employer is more likely to make your two week exit period a living hell, or the maximum inconvenience they can possibly engage in, then you are by far best served with a no-notice exit strategy.
Personally, it's not about sticking it to them, so much as avoiding them sticking it to you!
Most of the time, places will likely drop you like a hot rock the moment you give notice so they don't have someone around that can poison other employee's opinions about them and get them to quit as well, thus minimizing their losses by paying you off rather than "working you out the door".
As we all know, the moment they roll out something like this, people will first have an alternative phone or recording device that simply does not have the camera-inhibiting code in it. The next step will be wide-spread jail-breaking of devices that have been "infected" with this stuff.
Sure, the performers want it, the galleries would like it and Law Enforcement (and other clandestine operatives) might feel it necessary for the protection of it's collective members, but the fact remains: People will record stuff even if they're told they can't, and more heavily when they feel they are being repressed in any way. Any attempt to block their perceived "right" to record things will be met with resistance and even violence.
Frankly, any camera-based recording of a concert is not going to have decent enough quality to compete with a properly produced commercial release any way, so it's a fairly moot point.
Besides, if Sci-Fi is to be believed, there will be a back-and-forth of camera-blocking tech, and more sophisticated recording devices, so this is just going to be another curious series of events to keep us all entertained as it all rolls out.
Good luck with putting that hat on the snowball, there Apple. I am sure it will have much greater longevity in hell.
What most people forget when upgrading:
Are all their favorite programs or Apps "Fully Compatible" with the new Windows?
Do a little research before you commit, and you should be OK.
Also worth the thought and effort:
Make a comprehensive Backup of your system before you start, and have an Escape Plan in place if you want/need to roll back to your previous version.
Finally, if you pull that trigger, be prepared for a learning curve.
There are a lot of articles about the new Windows out there. Look them up! Things to enable, things to disable, things to just plain be aware of, features you may want to access and things you will want to uninstall completely.
Here are a few (hopefully) useful links:
http://lifehacker.com/what-win...
http://lifehacker.com/the-best...
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-c...
And something you might also want to consider: Buy a new HD (or even that SSD you've been wanting, and do a Clean Install of Windows 10. Here's a URL for the How-To:
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-d...
Sorry for all the Plain Text stuff. Anyone that has a bit of tech savvy will still be able to use these easily. After all, this is SlashDot.
And, yes, these are all from Lifehacker. As you can see, that source alone has a lot to reference. The internet itself is a huge resource. I have every confidence that the folks here can access even more if they put their minds to it. Just remember the basics of System Safety, have more than a few grains of salt ready and Play Nice out there, and you should be more than ready to upgrade when you actually feel the increasing pressure from Uncle Bill's minions!
Enjoy!
The whole goal of Apple Pay (and Tap and Go, for that matter) is the attempt on the part of the Consumerism Machine to make it as Painless as possible to part us from our money. They don't want you to really Feel that over-priced coffee and croissant bleeding your wallet dry, day after day.
If something is less than easy, it becomes painful if we have to go through it for no real reason.
As a Canadian, I had anything tap-related disabled on my debit card the second I found out it was there. (My bank didn't even ask me if I wanted it.) I had heard about it having been abused from the friendly folks at an international border crossing. They had just been "upgraded" to that system in the food court, and a number of them had all been charged mysterious things within the first DAY of it going live. Apparently someone was milling around in said food court near the fast food lineup and "read" as many people as they could, charging them small amounts that they ultimately hoped would go unnoticed.
No PIN needed, No signature. No "confirmation" of any kind. Just a near-field reader, and limited withdrawal plan spread over a few hundred people. It's a telling thing that the banks themselves don't use the Tap-and-Go feature in their own branches!
It's bad enough that debit is not as widespread as it is up here. I mean, if you can't pay with a debit card at a restaurant, why would people want to adopt such a system? Up here, if you don't accept debit, you will loose a LOT of potential customers in a hurry!
Debit went from swiping the magnetic strip, to inserting a chipped card (for an "increase in security"). Then they want to go to a PIN-less tap-and-go system? Hardly secure, in my not-so humble opinion.
Apple pay at least has you agree on a screen to your purchase, but is still vulnerable to near-field interception of data and spoofing. And nit just your debit, but credit cards too? The thieves just Love the idea of all that near-field data flying around for them to use against your account balance!
That, and it's one more reason to have your phone stolen...
Just sayin'
On one hand, we have the "Freedom of Speech" with the Right to be Heard, no matter how unpopular the subject.
On the other hand, we have Control and Censorship to deter things and expressions that can and have been harmful to society as a whole.
What will this result in?
Let's all watch and see what happens here. No matter the result, it will have a far-reaching effect on things to come after.
Most "Smart Meters" have built in surge pricing already. Have such use charted, and build it into the Uber schedule. No more guesswork. If a driver wants to make money, they can make themselves available during peak payout time. If Uber wants to make more vehicles available, they need to have times linked to cover their deficit areas to attract more drivers to provide service during those underrepresented times. Don't tell me they (Uber) do not have the data to set something like this up. Nobody would believe it for a minute. If a city is truly worried about licensing and/or insurance, make having a Taxi License and 3rd party insurance mandatory to use Uber in that city/municipality. Many cities are already running sting operations (seen as entrapment by many) to detect and charge Uber drivers as it is. If anyone is savvy enough to have the license and insurance, they might even be able to put together a case for harassment*. *I am Not a Lawyer. No Legal grounds to actually follow this advice is here. Move along.
Your version might be wrong (as in O instead of 0)... Try this version and see if it does anything different for you:
JyO7wNzc8xht47QKWohfDVj6Sc2qH+X5tBCT+uetocIJcjQnp/2f1ViEBR+ty0Cz
Good Luck folks! I'm watching with piqued interest in this whole thing myself...
After looking at some of the older links I had to the Original Pirate Bay, I noticed that there is a redirect in place from some of them.
It points to This Site: http://thepiratebay.com.ua/
Not sure if this is official, or simply someone managing to make a play for the domain, but I thought it was interesting that there are folks redirecting traffic to their websites already.
Is this becoming more common, or is TPB in danger of becoming co-opted?
Until recently, McDonalds and Tim Horton's in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) have been doing this sort of thing for years. Usually in the form of 'minority hiring' that shuns the citizenry. They got their hands smacked soundly over it, and now are being watched like a hawk.
URL Reference here:
http://www.vancouversun.com/li...
Now Microsoft is going to do it en masse, taking away the positions from Canadian citizens that have been training here...
There will be a reckoning over this one.
Perhaps engineers might actually come up with a different angle: How about "This Device is certified to NOT be connectable to the Internet of Things".
Simple. To the Point.
Certified Dumb Device.
Might be a thing to consider.
Now, why on earth would the next big Monopoly ever think of stifling their next wave of competition before it can get any traction?
Oh, wait. They're TERRIFIED of people getting Free Energy that comes from the Sun (or wind, or water, or geothermal sources) and them not getting even Fatter than they are!
Sooner or later, Hybrid/Electric cars will be "skinned" with solar collection "stuff" so that, while sitting in the sun during your typical work day, it can at least trickle charge its own batteries. Maybe even have employee parking spots with charging stations connected to larger solar arrays for the same purpose: charge while working.
I'm already disappointed by the lack of solar proliferation, let alone there not being more windmills popping up like urban dandelions. Kind of like the proliferation of satellite dishes that dot rooftops like urban mushrooms.
Eventually, such solar and wind collection will become required in any and all new structures.
If Big Energy wants a piece of the pie, all they really need to do is start manufacturing the components, and continue to maintain a power grid for sharing the ebb and flow of it all. Besides, they sit on the Dark Net anyway. If they fear anything else, it will be the lack of a window into peoples appliances (and TV/Entertainment Centers) to sell the data to the highest bidder (or Big Brother)...
Just Sayin'
The rates will likely skyrocket to near-Canadian rate levels, and there might be a change in Speeding Ticket-Issuing technologies that could (conceivably) issue live warnings and even Tickets based on telemetry and other live info...
Imagine getting caught up in a construction or accident re-direct, and their being a batch of auto-tickets issued for using the wrong lane(s) or traveling on a closed section of road! People won't really be able to fight a live-issued ticked based on in-vehicle speed data after all because it's going to come form your own speedometer and correlated with satellite tracking for accuracy.
Talk about a Revenue Stream! Who needs a Speed Trap, when your Vehicle will issue you a ticket directly.
Government will simply mandate it, and it Will Be So.
Mark my words...
I was of the impression that most of the airlines were all bemoaning the low traffic, driving up the costs of flying because "nobody is flying anymore". If that is the case, why are they not making flight a more appealing option to draw more passengers? Cramming more passengers into an already uncomfortable situation will be the last thing to draw more customers.
Besides, are planes really over-booked per flight? Aren't most flights running at less that capacity, or don't they leave the ground if they aren't full?
Want to get a bit of better rates? Have the airlines offer a discount to "light travelers" who have a minimum of luggage or even body mass. Not trying to poke at the physically larger folks, but isn't it more expensive per pound to transport such a passenger? Can the airlines not charge by weight, and let people have more room if they're at weight capacity, but volume of the cabin is underutilized? Children should be really inexpensive to transport, as they're lighter AND take up less room.
Is the trend to simply drive people to scrap over limited seats on larger planes to drive up prices while they optimize their profits by over-packing people into such limited space?
It's bad enough that they've convinced the masses that full body searches, cramped space and intolerant travel-mates are the expected norm for anyone less than affluent enough to travel first class. Perhaps an all-seats-equal type business model might make a better travel experience. Do away with the whole first class section in a design, spread out the space and work out the price-per person based on such a level paying field and see what the profitability would look like. Consequently, have certain units set aside as "First Class Only" flights, with all seats to match. They only get used when there's enough people to utilize them, and they'd likely be smaller craft, anyway. More efficient that way...
If the FAA gets involved, would that be the "perfect reason" the airlines would use to hike the rates again, because of "lost revenue" due to the reduced seating capacity?
Bottom line: If you want to fly, be prepared for the experience! If you can't fly first class, you'd best expect a cramped flight with grumpy neighbors, poor food, and no room to use your precious laptop as boredom repellant.
Book your flight based on things like creature comforts. If the airline doesn't offer what you consider a bare minimum, DON'T Use them! Vote with your Money! If enough people did that, the airlines would Have to accommodate, or go broke in a hurry! Be willing to pay for what you want, or Not pay for a bad experience!
After all, they are providing a service. If you don't like, or are unwilling to suffer through what they offer, find another provider that offers better. If the providers slim down, you can always choose alternate methods of travel.
Ever tried a Bus over the holidays? Might not be as bad as you think...
Then we realize our mistake, and find a way to Crash it, only to cripple our whole society, since we have all become dependent upon the internet so deeply.
Go figure...
Once they start to roll, there will be a logical progression of complaints, starting with "They're too slow."
Next will be "They're blocking traffic flow/causing traffic jams."
Possibly among the next bunch of complaints:
"They move erratically/unpredictably"
"They wait too long at/stop too soon for traffic lights"
Most of the complaints will revolve around the simple fact that the autonomous cars will be driving 100% according to the rules of the road, and 95+% of the remaining drivers don't. Things like stopping for yellow lights, driving at the actual speed limit, slowing for merging traffic, properly signalling turns and lane-changes, etc.
In the end, the autonomous cars will reduce traffic jams, as they can intelligently travel in clusters, all in communication with each other, and even vary their routes for volume, all while staying moving at a reasonable clip.
The problem will come in when people deliberately try to mess with them, forcing them into emergency maneuvers by cutting them off for exits (for example), or cutting in front and slamming on the breaks (road rage).
Here's hoping they are outfitted with outward-facing cameras for recording such acts of stupidity.
Seriously? Was it treated with something that make it smell like a dog-treat?
This is a strong case for Liquid Ass. A couple drops, then wrap the drive in a pair of undies, or something.
That's some strong nose that doggie has! Good thing they didn't have a case of blank media, or something.
First, the the Alamo, then there will be others.
After all, we can't have people wearing active recording devices into an area where they charge money to play copyright protected media to a limited audience, can we?
Besides, if you were sitting here in a typical theater with a smart phone in a little tripod-thingy recording the movie, you could reasonably expect to get in trouble, if spotted by any staff members, right?
So, how long before we see anal-retentive stars at ComiCon who charge an arm and a leg for a pic, setting their body-guards on Google Glass-wearing attendees for "stealing" pics/video of them at the Con? Next we'll see Google Glass Banned from such conventions...
Where does it end?