Boston won't be a tech leader again. They're not culturally diverse enough to attract top talent and top companies. Silicon Valley is very welcoming to Asians, Hispanics, homosexuals, and any other diverse group you can think of. Boston simply doesn't have that diversity, which is necessary to attract good innovators and the top talent. The culture of east coast firms is also far more on productivity and working hard during the workday than on the playful workdays in places like Silicon Valley. I just don't see how Boston can have a thriving tech sector. They're just not able to compete with Silicon Valley, and GE's move there probably won't be a good decision.
Boston never stopped being a tech leader. There are a lot of smart people in Boston. There is a huge concentration of colleges, including a couple of small schools you may have heard of like Harvard and MIT. I think they do a bit of tech stuff at MIT, but I'm not sure.
It may not be a leader on par with Silicon Valley (thank goodness, the cost of living is high enough already), but Boston and the surrounding area does have a strong tech sector.
"The number of people who want to wear a watch is extremely high"
LMAO. Really. Thanks for the laugh. I work for a university and get to interact with many people on a daily basis, and I use public transportation for most of my commute. I can count on one hand (and have fingers left over) the number of people wearing a watch.
Sounds like a local cultural thing where you live.
The wristwatch is currently a multi-billion dollar industry and (perhaps surprisingly) shows no sign of declining.
Sure, but the legal marijuana industry is also several billion annually and I don't think that means the number of people who smoke pot is very high (pun partially intended).
Sure, you can use the card wherever Visa is accepted. But what if Visa doesn't accept the merchant?
Put the amount you want to give them on the card, then put the card in the mail and send it to them.
I guess that would technically work. But it's not scalable and is about as blunt as an instrument can be. They can't get the money off the card; they have to use the card like a credit card (can't put it in a bank account, have to track the balance on each card individually, etc.). And are you supposed to give them the online management account that comes with these cards too? Can they check the balance? What if hundreds or thousands of people are doing this as well? Is the offending merchant to track thousands of cards?
Like I said, as a cash substitute, it doesn't do the job.
Anyone who is willing to ignore the problems with commodity money is put into the position of needing some alternate explanation for its abandonment by one and all. A conspiracy theory of some sort is a requirement; the exact form is immaterial. Lizard men are only slightly sillier than Rothschilds (Rothschildren?), Illuminati, Bilderbergs, Jews, or whichever other group our gold bug decides to blame: a difference of degree, not character.
All other justifications aside, I sure as shit don't need to pander to any given worldview in the context of a joke.
Actually, if you look into the history of the Rothchilds, Rockefellers, Warburgs, heck even the Bushes and Pierces, the idea that they coordinate on a large scale for their own advantage is not nearly as silly as lizard men. The Bilderberg group was considered a "conspiracy theory" until very recently, after all. Whether any of them had anything to do with our leaving the Gold Standard is quite another matter, of course.
That said, you sure as shit don't need to cater to my world view in your humor. It just indicates to me what you take seriously and what you don't.
Yes, I know there are transaction fees, but _at each individual purchase_, I am paying the exact same(*) whether I pay with cash or a credit card. Since I get 2% back for all purchases on my credit card, I am in actuality paying 2% less, AND it's faster/more convenient (don't have to go to the ATM, don't have to carry change) than paying cash.
Of course, I pay in full (automatically) every month, so as to not pay any interest.
You are an outlier though. Most people don't or can't do what you do. In fact, people like you who pay their bill every month are considered freeloaders by the card companies. In fact, the only reason the card companies can offer such perks as cash back is that most people carry a balance.
A pocket full of cash and you eat, a pocket full of credit cards and you ask permission to eat. That is exactly how anonymous cash is, you do not need to ask permission to fucking spend it.
This, in a nutshell, is why a cashless economy/society is a bad idea.
Gift cards expire, many also have transaction fees associated with them, as well costing more than the cover price. And you'll invariably be left with £$X.nn left that cannot be spent as the retailer will only accept payment on a single card.
tldr; pre-paid visa cards are a terrible idea for the public.
True. I hate gift cards. Just give me the cash! It's cheaper for the giver and more flexible for the receiver.
Seriously? They'll just jack up the premiums on the cards, or stop accepting them as payment.
The whole selling point of them is that you can use them anywhere you can use a Visa card. Merchants aren't even allowed to refuse to accept them if they accept Visa, and Visa loves the cards.
So yeah... "seriously".
As a cash replacement it works just fine.
Remember when Mastercard refused to process donations to Wikileaks? Sure, you can use the card wherever Visa is accepted. But what if Visa doesn't accept the merchant?
Canada offers gold and silver ETFs which they at least claim are backed ounce for ounce with the physical reserves of the government. You can actually send an armored truck to pick up your metal at the mint in Ottawa. How are you going to prevent Americans from owning that?
By eliminating cash and controlling all digital transactions, of course! This right here is a great case for cash. Once cash is gone, financial institutions will have the ability to deny any transaction. Remember when Mastercard refused to process donations to Wikileaks? Well what would happen if you only had a Mastercard to pay for things? Sure, there are other methods now but it doesn't take much imagination to get to a time when laws prevent certain transactions. Heck, that the case now, except cash enables us to get around them. It's not just about buying drugs or whatnot, it could be about diversifying financially, as you describe. It's just a bad idea to insert a middle-man into every single transaction. It's a recipe for oppression and control.
Remind me again, was it the Illuminati or the Lizard Men who took us off the Gold Standard?
This is lame. Why do you assume that advocates of hard currency believe in lizard men? While I don't support going back to the Gold Standard (too restrictive) it is not a completely unreasonable position. It's not on the level of believing in lizard men from outer space.
And it was Nixon who took us off the Gold Standard.
What about advanced electoral forensics and analysis?
This is the only part of your rant that deserves recognition. Electronic voting machines without a paper trail are not to be trusted. With the shenanigans that have gone on since at least 2000, we need to be double checking the vote tallies and results.
The geology of south Florida is completely different than the Dutch land. Look it up. You are suggesting we build dikes around the entire Florida coastline and have giant pumps just continually pump out the seawater? It won't happen. One, people won't allow their perfect beach view hidden behind a giant dike and the porosity of the ground it just way too high and the coastline is way too long.
I say we just build the wall and get the ocean to pay for it!
Most people aren't tin foil hat people that through paranoia think the govt is spying on them.
However, the government is spying on them, regardless of their level of paranoia about it.
And most are OK with govt monitoring communications for terrorist/criminal activity. Maybe you missed the NSA poll? https://www.washingtonpost.com...
That's because they lack imagination. They probably think they have noting to hide and therefore nothing to fear. Anyone posting here should understand that reasoning to be fallacious.
yes that was included under (2) "we have rendered ourselves unable to cooperate with you". Since that is what Apple is doing, that is what the law enforcement agencies have asked to be defeated via legislation.
No, this is incorrect. Law enforcement agencies are asking a court to force Apple to create new software. They are not asking for new legislation.
If it is, Apple doesn't get to decide not to cooperate. It has to build its new phones how the law says. They can avoid the threat of such legislation by not refusing to grant access to the phone of a terrorist mass murderer as a matter of marketing strategy.
Where is the law that says a company must produce whatever software tools the government requires?
That's only because companies are resolutely refusing to cooperate with lawful investigations. Law enforcement really has no other choice but to request legislation that prevents companies from saying either (1) "we refuse to cooperate with you", or (2) we have rendered ourselves unable to cooperate with you
Yes, they can request legislation. But that's not what they are doing. They are looking for a court to force Apple to comply, no legislation involved.
Slashdot Mirror
Hey - while you were out, Downtown Boston, as well as Routes 128 and 495 called. They all said you're full of shit.
You must of heard the ghosts of DEC, Wang, Thinking Machines, Data General and Apollo computer. It gets lonely in the graveyard of computer companies.
What, because a bunch of companies went out of business there isn't a strong tech sector in Boston? How does that follow?
Boston won't be a tech leader again. They're not culturally diverse enough to attract top talent and top companies. Silicon Valley is very welcoming to Asians, Hispanics, homosexuals, and any other diverse group you can think of. Boston simply doesn't have that diversity, which is necessary to attract good innovators and the top talent. The culture of east coast firms is also far more on productivity and working hard during the workday than on the playful workdays in places like Silicon Valley. I just don't see how Boston can have a thriving tech sector. They're just not able to compete with Silicon Valley, and GE's move there probably won't be a good decision.
Boston never stopped being a tech leader. There are a lot of smart people in Boston. There is a huge concentration of colleges, including a couple of small schools you may have heard of like Harvard and MIT. I think they do a bit of tech stuff at MIT, but I'm not sure.
It may not be a leader on par with Silicon Valley (thank goodness, the cost of living is high enough already), but Boston and the surrounding area does have a strong tech sector.
Boston Dynamics and iRobot are dead? Where are you getting this information?
Utterly false. A bunch of examples in Collapse by Jared Diamond. Can you put an example of your "loss of will" nonsense?
Exactly. Civilizations die because they do not manage their resources in a sustainable way.
"The number of people who want to wear a watch is extremely high"
LMAO. Really. Thanks for the laugh. I work for a university and get to interact with many people on a daily basis, and I use public transportation for most of my commute. I can count on one hand (and have fingers left over) the number of people wearing a watch.
Sounds like a local cultural thing where you live.
The wristwatch is currently a multi-billion dollar industry and (perhaps surprisingly) shows no sign of declining.
Sure, but the legal marijuana industry is also several billion annually and I don't think that means the number of people who smoke pot is very high (pun partially intended).
So figure out how to put a projector in the smart watch to project onto your forearm, and then you might have something useful.
Pretty slick! http://www.gizmag.com/cicret-b...
Sure, you can use the card wherever Visa is accepted. But what if Visa doesn't accept the merchant?
Put the amount you want to give them on the card, then put the card in the mail and send it to them.
I guess that would technically work. But it's not scalable and is about as blunt as an instrument can be. They can't get the money off the card; they have to use the card like a credit card (can't put it in a bank account, have to track the balance on each card individually, etc.). And are you supposed to give them the online management account that comes with these cards too? Can they check the balance? What if hundreds or thousands of people are doing this as well? Is the offending merchant to track thousands of cards?
Like I said, as a cash substitute, it doesn't do the job.
Anyone who is willing to ignore the problems with commodity money is put into the position of needing some alternate explanation for its abandonment by one and all. A conspiracy theory of some sort is a requirement; the exact form is immaterial. Lizard men are only slightly sillier than Rothschilds (Rothschildren?), Illuminati, Bilderbergs, Jews, or whichever other group our gold bug decides to blame: a difference of degree, not character.
All other justifications aside, I sure as shit don't need to pander to any given worldview in the context of a joke.
Actually, if you look into the history of the Rothchilds, Rockefellers, Warburgs, heck even the Bushes and Pierces, the idea that they coordinate on a large scale for their own advantage is not nearly as silly as lizard men. The Bilderberg group was considered a "conspiracy theory" until very recently, after all. Whether any of them had anything to do with our leaving the Gold Standard is quite another matter, of course.
That said, you sure as shit don't need to cater to my world view in your humor. It just indicates to me what you take seriously and what you don't.
Yes, I know there are transaction fees, but _at each individual purchase_, I am paying the exact same(*) whether I pay with cash or a credit card. Since I get 2% back for all purchases on my credit card, I am in actuality paying 2% less, AND it's faster/more convenient (don't have to go to the ATM, don't have to carry change) than paying cash.
Of course, I pay in full (automatically) every month, so as to not pay any interest.
You are an outlier though. Most people don't or can't do what you do. In fact, people like you who pay their bill every month are considered freeloaders by the card companies. In fact, the only reason the card companies can offer such perks as cash back is that most people carry a balance.
After seeing the choice between Hillary and Trump do you still think the Libertarian's are nuts?
Yeah I still do, sorry.
A pocket full of cash and you eat, a pocket full of credit cards and you ask permission to eat. That is exactly how anonymous cash is, you do not need to ask permission to fucking spend it.
This, in a nutshell, is why a cashless economy/society is a bad idea.
Gift cards expire, many also have transaction fees associated with them, as well costing more than the cover price. And you'll invariably be left with £$X.nn left that cannot be spent as the retailer will only accept payment on a single card.
tldr; pre-paid visa cards are a terrible idea for the public.
True. I hate gift cards. Just give me the cash! It's cheaper for the giver and more flexible for the receiver.
Seriously? They'll just jack up the premiums on the cards, or stop accepting them as payment.
The whole selling point of them is that you can use them anywhere you can use a Visa card. Merchants aren't even allowed to refuse to accept them if they accept Visa, and Visa loves the cards.
So yeah... "seriously".
As a cash replacement it works just fine.
Remember when Mastercard refused to process donations to Wikileaks? Sure, you can use the card wherever Visa is accepted. But what if Visa doesn't accept the merchant?
As a cash replacement, it doesn't do the job.
Canada offers gold and silver ETFs which they at least claim are backed ounce for ounce with the physical reserves of the government. You can actually send an armored truck to pick up your metal at the mint in Ottawa. How are you going to prevent Americans from owning that?
By eliminating cash and controlling all digital transactions, of course! This right here is a great case for cash. Once cash is gone, financial institutions will have the ability to deny any transaction. Remember when Mastercard refused to process donations to Wikileaks? Well what would happen if you only had a Mastercard to pay for things? Sure, there are other methods now but it doesn't take much imagination to get to a time when laws prevent certain transactions. Heck, that the case now, except cash enables us to get around them. It's not just about buying drugs or whatnot, it could be about diversifying financially, as you describe. It's just a bad idea to insert a middle-man into every single transaction. It's a recipe for oppression and control.
Found the gold bug!
Remind me again, was it the Illuminati or the Lizard Men who took us off the Gold Standard?
This is lame. Why do you assume that advocates of hard currency believe in lizard men? While I don't support going back to the Gold Standard (too restrictive) it is not a completely unreasonable position. It's not on the level of believing in lizard men from outer space.
And it was Nixon who took us off the Gold Standard.
What about advanced electoral forensics and analysis?
This is the only part of your rant that deserves recognition. Electronic voting machines without a paper trail are not to be trusted. With the shenanigans that have gone on since at least 2000, we need to be double checking the vote tallies and results.
>Only those who do not believe in intelligent design
Can you believe in intelligent design and Florida simultaneously?
Sure! Under that way of thinking only the designer has to be intelligent.
That is so stupid and ignorant on so many levels and so clueless about evolution, that you must be an intelligent design whackjob to come up with it.
Oh yeah? Then how did alligators get here? Huh?
The geology of south Florida is completely different than the Dutch land. Look it up. You are suggesting we build dikes around the entire Florida coastline and have giant pumps just continually pump out the seawater? It won't happen. One, people won't allow their perfect beach view hidden behind a giant dike and the porosity of the ground it just way too high and the coastline is way too long.
I say we just build the wall and get the ocean to pay for it!
We have an entire criminal justice system that by a nearly 3:1 margin incarcerates one race above all others, with no accountable reason for doing so.
Yeah, it's not like they broke laws or anything. Those darn racist bastards randomly select 4 people an hour to go to jail, 3 of them being black.
Good point! In many cases, they indeed broke no laws.
I'm just going to go ahead and assume that the term "systemic racism" is not in your lexicon.
LOL, ranchers?
This country isn't already goose-stepping .. why?
Have you seen the Trump rallies? Give it a few minutes...
Most people aren't tin foil hat people that through paranoia think the govt is spying on them.
However, the government is spying on them, regardless of their level of paranoia about it.
And most are OK with govt monitoring communications for terrorist/criminal activity. Maybe you missed the NSA poll? https://www.washingtonpost.com...
That's because they lack imagination. They probably think they have noting to hide and therefore nothing to fear. Anyone posting here should understand that reasoning to be fallacious.
yes that was included under (2) "we have rendered ourselves unable to cooperate with you". Since that is what Apple is doing, that is what the law enforcement agencies have asked to be defeated via legislation.
No, this is incorrect. Law enforcement agencies are asking a court to force Apple to create new software. They are not asking for new legislation.
If it is, Apple doesn't get to decide not to cooperate. It has to build its new phones how the law says. They can avoid the threat of such legislation by not refusing to grant access to the phone of a terrorist mass murderer as a matter of marketing strategy.
Where is the law that says a company must produce whatever software tools the government requires?
That's only because companies are resolutely refusing to cooperate with lawful investigations. Law enforcement really has no other choice but to request legislation that prevents companies from saying either (1) "we refuse to cooperate with you", or (2) we have rendered ourselves unable to cooperate with you
Yes, they can request legislation. But that's not what they are doing. They are looking for a court to force Apple to comply, no legislation involved.