I work in a PC retailer, there's about 10 cameras in the store to monitor shoplifting. The retail park i'm in has 7 stores, that's already 70 cameras. Each store has to have notices informing you of these cameras being in operation. They're used mainly for a deterrant (although that rarely happens), as well as recording evidence of shoplifting, most of the work is done by the security guard. The CCTV is used in a civil recovery scheme where we sue for damages.
Almost all busses in London have a camera installed on the upper deck and exit. Recently our local newspaper has been running a "shop-a-yob" campaign. According to one article:
"More than 60,000 CCTV cameras have been installed on buses to catch graffiti taggers, arsonists and window smashers in the act. If culprits could not be identified by police, images of their faces were turned over to News Shopper and printed as part of Shop A Yob. Recognising their sons, daughters, pupils and neighbours, our readers were quick to supply names to police. In two years, more than 1,200 arrests have been made in London - 600 of which were in the past seven months. Convictions have been brought against almost 1,080 of those arrested." A current campaign, Above Article. The good old "name and shame" approach, isn't that the way crime was deterred before? The locals knowing you were the kid that stole a chocolate bar from the local sweet shop? These sorts of arrests wouldn't happen any other way.
There was a recent string of murders where prostitutes were found strangled and often without clothes. CCTV images of the victims were released so we knew who they were, where they were last seen and what they were last wearing. These were all useful in tracking the final movements of the victims and mapping out what's happened. Man arrested over Suffolk prostitutes murders. BBC's Crimewatch frequently have reconstructions based upon CCTV images, and can ask the public as to whether they saw a black BMW leaving a carpark at 12:15 on Wednesday, showing images of the suspects.
We don't "live in fear" of the cameras because they're on our side.
So instead of having the police state where you fear the police may put you in prison or fine you, you have to live with the fear that if you do anything wrong that one of the 15 people in the area is likely to kill you instead?
Stock loss last quarter was £60,000. That's not small by any means for a store.
I see a lot of complaining about service here. Personally i'd like to be able to walk in, pick up my stuff and go rather than ask for assistance with a load of stuff. However the worst thing about your plan is...the customers. If you man one person behind a counter that sells inks for example (We used to have this with memory cards and cameras) then you get people coming up every few minutes asking "Can you help me with x" or "I need some help with a PC". Do i help the customer directly asking me for help or do i wait behind the counter to serve up goods like ink, and if we do stay there i'm sure we'd get shouted at for standing behind a counter doing nothing. Oh wait, we should hire more staff so there's one per person...
Our store seems to be in a no-win situation when it comes to staff. We have 4 too many staff one minute and a surge in customers can suddenly create a shortage.
I work in a PC store and there's loads of stuff that can make a thief a quick buck in a few seconds. Ink cartidges are the biggest target, with Lexmark (Crappy cardboard rectangle) boxes being found open without contents all the time, whereas the really-tough-sealed ones aren't being nicked. Epson have a compromise, they've got the hard-squishy plastic shell (that milk bottles are made of) with a plastic film coating over the front. You need to pierce and open these (knife makes simple work) but it's not too easy to do instore.
Stores care more about stuff going missing from the shelves then it being purchased and not being opened at home. Granted this stuff is too hard to open and they need to sort it out, but slowly compromises will come.
Uhhmn, that's taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Why not simply cut the notes into different sizes? $1 being smaller than $2, $5...
That costs a whole...nothing!
When i was on holiday in the US keeping my wallet in order was a pain. I had $1 nested between $50 and had to look at every note to find its denomination. Different sizes make this so damned easy (And different colours help too).
Terrorists do not only exist in NYC and London, although they are popular targets.
I live in London, have done since i was born 18 years ago. I never really lived through the IRA bombings, but we just stumbled through it. The greatest freedom that i feel i've been robbed of due to terrorism at the current time? There's no bloody bins on the Tube, as they were a favourite IRA target. After the 7th July bombings they removed the bins from overground trains for about 2 weeks too.
Since the 7th July London bombings (The biggest single attack on London since the war, and second highest loss of life since Lockerbie) the only restrictions i've noticed? Well, none. Excluding the short term removal of bins and the short term increase in visible policing, the only long-term idea proposed has been to have bomb-scanning equipment on the Tube, an idea that's been deemed unrealistic ever since it was proposed and won't be implemented.
Ever hear of Pan-Am flight 103 which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland. People died in that village (with population of about 4000), did you really think they believed they were a terrorist target in 1988?
Look at the list here to see who was a "target of terrorism" and effectively asked for it: July 4 2002: An Egyptian gunman opens fire at an El Al ticket counter in Los Angeles International Airport, killing 2 Israelis before being killed himself. October 23 2002: Moscow theater hostage crisis begins; 120 hostages and 40 terrorists killed in rescue three days later. July 5 2003: 15 people die and 40 are injured in bomb attacks at a rock festival in Moscow.
Just because it's not affected you yet, doesn't mean it won't and can't. As mentioned in many comments above, wiretapping was only applied after a tip-off from a relative about the group and their intentions.
Civil rights of 400-500 million violated... Well, the UK has a population of 60 million, so you're going a tad OTT.
and so far one legitimate, serious attack has been prevented. So is there some sort of quota that you want? We must stop at least one serious terrorist attack every two months before it's justified action?
The same attack could likely have been prevented by forcing everyone to check all luggage and allow no carry-ons. Ah, so you complain about civil rights being eroded, but you'd have no problem if before 9/11 they'd have said: "Right, you're not allowed hand luggage except the bare minimum, that's passport, tickets and wallet." People would go nuts and ask why it's justified, wonder why they can't take their Gameboy, MP3 player or even a book onboard that really fun 7 hour transatlantic flight. Screw business class and business customers having the ability to work on the move, by-bye laptop, mobile phone, dictaphone and probably even pens or pencils.
As much as i dissapprove of the idea of only reacting to something after it's happened, if you'd even have suggested the security measures now 10 years ago, you'd be laughed out for costing the industry millions.
Chip & Pin significantly reduces fraud in countries where it's been introduced. This is of benefit to all, but it's great benefit to the retailer. If you have a Chip & Pin card go through and is later found to be stolen, it's the card issuer's responsibility. If the store bypasses the Pin then the burden of proof falls on them if anything dodgy turns out about the card.
Hell, paying with a signature is more combersome now, we (at my store) have to call up for authorisation each time it happens.
And switching signature cards to cards with a pin (Exactly like the system you have at the ATM) isn't an invasive problem. Hell, i find it easier as someone who still hasn't mastered a reproducable signautre properly. Suddenly saying we'll have to have chips implanted into our brain with a direct connection to the issuer every time we buy something is absurd to conclude from this.
And a small pad about the size of a calculator is a combersome problem for you? My biggest problem was finding a pen before this system was introduced, it sucked when someone then walked off with it.
Yes, everybody knows that. But when was the last time you triggered an alert over an apricot in a store? Come on, dude, don't be a fool. I agree w/GP, the guy is a demogogue.
Self service checkouts aren't the thing here, but i'm assuming that they're restricted because they're sold by weight. If you're on a self-service checkout there's no way for them to monitor what weight of peaches you're putting in your bag. If it was a bloke at a checkout, i bet they'd have no problem.
You want an automated service that'll sell you stuff without contacting a person, fine. But don't bitch when it wants your driving licence or anything else which is on a database to prove your age. How else is it meant to check you're old enough? Guess by your weight.
Portable Firefox runs on a USB drive without leaving anything on the computer that you're running it on. It allows you to take your edition of Firefox to any PC (Not sure if it has to be Windows based, probably) and run it without any problems, with your favourites and extensions. I really loved this when i was in school and used different computers in the IT room.
It's also optimised to require very little read/write cycles to your USB drive seeing as they do have a limit. It's also a smaller install.
I cancelled the insurance on my home. One year later other than saving $550 I have not had a single problem. I wasn't robbed, it didn't burn down, and no hurricanes, floods, or earthquakes hit me either...
Just because the "worst" didn't happen, doesn't mean it won't.
Unlike your insurance analogy his situation is not the same. If his PCs bugger up he wastes maybe an hour or two recovering the system from a complete backup and goes about his business, with the feeling he's lost a few files that don't really matter. If your house burns down you physically have to buy / restore the current one with hard earned cash.
Your version works better if he pays a company to backup his system, and if the PC crashes he has to purchase everything again (WinXP through to the crappy little shareware programs) to get back to normal. Sure, he saves £8/month, but he's safe in the knowledge it'll all work if it goes wrong.
I think it's the way that the police are trying to rationalise their figures. 15 years ago, you would really only mug someone for their cash and perhaps just to beat the crap out of them. Now we have iPods, mobile phones and a vast array of technology on us. There was an article a while back stating that the average tech geek carried well over $200 worth of stuff.
The thing with the iPod is that it brought MP3 players to the mainstream. You mug someone, you're pretty sure they'll have something worth stealing, and unlike a mobile, an iPod is pretty untraceable once nicked with high resaleability.
So they're not blaming the iPod for a rise in crime as such, but they're saying that the rise in crime is due to the increase in iPods. They probably did the same thing a few years ago for the rise in crime related to mobile phones.
Hang on a second, you're saying that wearing different coloured headphones (A crime prevention method) is comparable, nay worse, to carrying a gun? This advice actually comes from the police who said that people were being targeted because muggers saw iPod headphones, hence know you've got an iPod. If you've got other headphones you could have a radio, another brand MP3 player (Which you won't sell on the black market nearly as well) and it's not worth it.
You'd rather be approached, have a gun placed on the back of your head and then attempt to somehow draw your own gun and attack the other guy then wear different headphones that reduce the risk of being picked in the first place?
You're also saying that buying another set of headphones (£2 - £50, depending on the quality you care about) isn't as good as buying a handgun that's probably £200+.
From Wikipedia: "To pay for this the EU has an agreed budget of 862 billion for the period 2007-2013. By comparison, the UK expenditure for 2004 alone was estimated at about 759 billion."
So at a rate of 143.7 billion Euros a year, that's not much of a discount for all those members of the EU. Based on the figure of 457 million people in the EU, that's a whopping 0.61 each!
Factor into that the fact that the EU budget hasn't been signed off by it's auditors for years and you'll see there's a big flaw in that.
Unless this "shield" protects the airport from terrorists attempting to board a plane, what use are they? When was the last time a plane crashed into an airport building? Now if this was the White House or tother big military places, sure, but your standard domestic airport? Why?
Just what is the whole big deal with online banking anyway? I've never seen the attraction.
Well, i have 3 accounts at the moment with one bank, and one with another. With online banking at Nationwide i'm able to transfer money instantly between the three accounts (One savings, current and an online saver account i'm trying out). I can see how much money i've got and what's gone through the account without waiting for a statement or bothering to go to an ATM or wait in line at the bank.
With the Natwest account i have a debit card (Can't obtain one on the others till i'm 18), so i use online banking to transfer money to that account, to check whether purchases have gone through and what's left in the account.
The biggest advantage i've found with online banking? I can open, upgrade and modify my accounts online. Since i've signed in with my details (Which i've remembered, don't have saved as cookies etc. and i check i'm at the right page), they know it's me and i can do what i want. I recently upgraded an account to a student account and will adjust that to a student account with credit card when i'm 18, all online. The last time i tried opening an account instore was a bastard. They didn't accept provisional licences, i didn't have post in my name acceptable as proof of address (I don't get utility bills) and there's long queues. Now i can do it all online since i've already verified who i am.
I've got a similar story relating to Dell monitor woes...
We got a slightly damaged 20" 2001FP Dell monitor, very nice indeed. Damaged during removal at a school, the removal firm owned by relatives, they replaced the monitor with a new one and we got the old one from them. It came sans power cable. Simple, i thought, until i realised it was non-standard and a weird Dell connector. I'll ring Dell, navigate their tech support for the correct part and then order it. Even if it's £30 or so, it's worth it.
When i get the nerve to call Dell i get through to tech support, obviously UK based. Had to give them a Dell ticket or something, which we eventually got from a random barcode on the monitor (Seeing as i didn't actually purchase it). Got the Dell part number off them in a few minutes and was put through to sales. First guy, Steve with a strong Indian accent, asks what i need. I say i'm ordering a power cable for a monitor and give him the Dell code. He asks if i want to buy a Laptop... I repeat to him i want a "power cable" for a "monitor", again he asks if i want a laptop. I repeat it one final time, very slowly, and he says i'm in the wrong sales section and puts me through to another person, a female with another strong Indian accent.
So i repeat the procedure with her. She's a bit better, she tries to sell me a monitor instead. She then realises that i need a spare part, and puts me through to the correct department. The phone rings as i'm put through...and she answers again! I then get a garbled message along the lines of "Sorry, i don't understand what you want", gives me the first department's number and transfers me somewhere else. I finally get an English guy on the phone, who says there's a few left in a warehouse costing £97.35 including VAT and P&P. I hung up.
The one phone conversation was over 20 minutes and the most expensive on the bill.
Not exactly a tech support issue, but i had a guy walk into our store (Clearly emblazened with the words "PC World" and "The largest computer superstore") and ask where the hoover bags were.
Since this incident the manager has given me permission to be as sarcastic as i like to the customers, as long as i guage and stop before the point they'll complain at.
I have a job in retail and i don't start Uni till later this year, why not splash out on a trip to the US to meet a load of mates? I'm living at home for now (Not unusual when you're 17) and work for the ability to travel.
At the current exchange rate it was very cheap (£800 for the week, £400 of which was flights). I've not flown to Aussie or elsewhere, but there's currently plans for one of these in Prague.
Through the internet i've met a total of 39 people from a forum i frequent. We've met up several times in Europe and there've been other meets in the US and Australia.
I flew to the US for a week long holiday, with the first weekend spent in NY meeting up with a group of 13 Americans, i travelled with 3 other Brits. We toured 6 states and 3 capitals in a week and it was one of the best holidays i've had. Although i'm only 17 (Started posting at 13) i've grown up with these people. Granted, i went on holiday with a 21, 24 and 34 year old and the next closest to my age was 20 that we met, but i'm great friends with all of these people and we regularly meet.
If it weren't for the internet i wouldn't be mates with a 34 year old drummer from York. Although i was 13 when i joined, people thought i was 18, we talked to each other because we were interesting and liked the same topics, not because we met in a bar drunk and liked the face sitting opposite us.
Is it an unusual way to meet people, probably. Is it a flawed way of meeting people? So far, absolutely not.
Slashdot Mirror
"Warning: You are being recorded by CCTV and the police are on their way"
Lets see...
I work in a PC retailer, there's about 10 cameras in the store to monitor shoplifting. The retail park i'm in has 7 stores, that's already 70 cameras. Each store has to have notices informing you of these cameras being in operation. They're used mainly for a deterrant (although that rarely happens), as well as recording evidence of shoplifting, most of the work is done by the security guard. The CCTV is used in a civil recovery scheme where we sue for damages.
Almost all busses in London have a camera installed on the upper deck and exit. Recently our local newspaper has been running a "shop-a-yob" campaign. According to one article:
"More than 60,000 CCTV cameras have been installed on buses to catch graffiti taggers, arsonists and window smashers in the act.
If culprits could not be identified by police, images of their faces were turned over to News Shopper and printed as part of Shop A Yob.
Recognising their sons, daughters, pupils and neighbours, our readers were quick to supply names to police.
In two years, more than 1,200 arrests have been made in London - 600 of which were in the past seven months.
Convictions have been brought against almost 1,080 of those arrested."
A current campaign, Above Article.
The good old "name and shame" approach, isn't that the way crime was deterred before? The locals knowing you were the kid that stole a chocolate bar from the local sweet shop? These sorts of arrests wouldn't happen any other way.
There was a recent string of murders where prostitutes were found strangled and often without clothes. CCTV images of the victims were released so we knew who they were, where they were last seen and what they were last wearing. These were all useful in tracking the final movements of the victims and mapping out what's happened. Man arrested over Suffolk prostitutes murders. BBC's Crimewatch frequently have reconstructions based upon CCTV images, and can ask the public as to whether they saw a black BMW leaving a carpark at 12:15 on Wednesday, showing images of the suspects.
We don't "live in fear" of the cameras because they're on our side.
So instead of having the police state where you fear the police may put you in prison or fine you, you have to live with the fear that if you do anything wrong that one of the 15 people in the area is likely to kill you instead?
Progress...
According to a local advert (for cars of all things) the average person in the UK is captured on camera 400 times a day.
Stock loss last quarter was £60,000. That's not small by any means for a store.
I see a lot of complaining about service here. Personally i'd like to be able to walk in, pick up my stuff and go rather than ask for assistance with a load of stuff. However the worst thing about your plan is...the customers. If you man one person behind a counter that sells inks for example (We used to have this with memory cards and cameras) then you get people coming up every few minutes asking "Can you help me with x" or "I need some help with a PC". Do i help the customer directly asking me for help or do i wait behind the counter to serve up goods like ink, and if we do stay there i'm sure we'd get shouted at for standing behind a counter doing nothing. Oh wait, we should hire more staff so there's one per person...
Our store seems to be in a no-win situation when it comes to staff. We have 4 too many staff one minute and a surge in customers can suddenly create a shortage.
The point is that you're not.
I work in a PC store and there's loads of stuff that can make a thief a quick buck in a few seconds. Ink cartidges are the biggest target, with Lexmark (Crappy cardboard rectangle) boxes being found open without contents all the time, whereas the really-tough-sealed ones aren't being nicked. Epson have a compromise, they've got the hard-squishy plastic shell (that milk bottles are made of) with a plastic film coating over the front. You need to pierce and open these (knife makes simple work) but it's not too easy to do instore.
Stores care more about stuff going missing from the shelves then it being purchased and not being opened at home. Granted this stuff is too hard to open and they need to sort it out, but slowly compromises will come.
Uhhmn, that's taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Why not simply cut the notes into different sizes? $1 being smaller than $2, $5...
That costs a whole...nothing!
When i was on holiday in the US keeping my wallet in order was a pain. I had $1 nested between $50 and had to look at every note to find its denomination. Different sizes make this so damned easy (And different colours help too).
That's right, you're able to take them onboard the plane again. Baggage advice for UK passengers.
Terrorists do not only exist in NYC and London, although they are popular targets.
I live in London, have done since i was born 18 years ago. I never really lived through the IRA bombings, but we just stumbled through it. The greatest freedom that i feel i've been robbed of due to terrorism at the current time? There's no bloody bins on the Tube, as they were a favourite IRA target. After the 7th July bombings they removed the bins from overground trains for about 2 weeks too.
Since the 7th July London bombings (The biggest single attack on London since the war, and second highest loss of life since Lockerbie) the only restrictions i've noticed? Well, none. Excluding the short term removal of bins and the short term increase in visible policing, the only long-term idea proposed has been to have bomb-scanning equipment on the Tube, an idea that's been deemed unrealistic ever since it was proposed and won't be implemented.
Ever hear of Pan-Am flight 103 which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland. People died in that village (with population of about 4000), did you really think they believed they were a terrorist target in 1988?
Look at the list here to see who was a "target of terrorism" and effectively asked for it:
July 4 2002: An Egyptian gunman opens fire at an El Al ticket counter in Los Angeles International Airport, killing 2 Israelis before being killed himself.
October 23 2002: Moscow theater hostage crisis begins; 120 hostages and 40 terrorists killed in rescue three days later.
July 5 2003: 15 people die and 40 are injured in bomb attacks at a rock festival in Moscow.
Just because it's not affected you yet, doesn't mean it won't and can't. As mentioned in many comments above, wiretapping was only applied after a tip-off from a relative about the group and their intentions.
Civil rights of 400-500 million violated...
Well, the UK has a population of 60 million, so you're going a tad OTT.
and so far one legitimate, serious attack has been prevented.
So is there some sort of quota that you want? We must stop at least one serious terrorist attack every two months before it's justified action?
The same attack could likely have been prevented by forcing everyone to check all luggage and allow no carry-ons.
Ah, so you complain about civil rights being eroded, but you'd have no problem if before 9/11 they'd have said: "Right, you're not allowed hand luggage except the bare minimum, that's passport, tickets and wallet." People would go nuts and ask why it's justified, wonder why they can't take their Gameboy, MP3 player or even a book onboard that really fun 7 hour transatlantic flight. Screw business class and business customers having the ability to work on the move, by-bye laptop, mobile phone, dictaphone and probably even pens or pencils.
As much as i dissapprove of the idea of only reacting to something after it's happened, if you'd even have suggested the security measures now 10 years ago, you'd be laughed out for costing the industry millions.
I live in remote, leafy...greater London. I can get me 24 MBit broadband from Be*. That's with an 0208 number, shouldn't be a problem up in 0207...
Chip & Pin significantly reduces fraud in countries where it's been introduced. This is of benefit to all, but it's great benefit to the retailer. If you have a Chip & Pin card go through and is later found to be stolen, it's the card issuer's responsibility. If the store bypasses the Pin then the burden of proof falls on them if anything dodgy turns out about the card.
Hell, paying with a signature is more combersome now, we (at my store) have to call up for authorisation each time it happens.
And switching signature cards to cards with a pin (Exactly like the system you have at the ATM) isn't an invasive problem. Hell, i find it easier as someone who still hasn't mastered a reproducable signautre properly. Suddenly saying we'll have to have chips implanted into our brain with a direct connection to the issuer every time we buy something is absurd to conclude from this.
And a small pad about the size of a calculator is a combersome problem for you? My biggest problem was finding a pen before this system was introduced, it sucked when someone then walked off with it.
Yes, everybody knows that. But when was the last time you triggered an alert over an apricot in a store? Come on, dude, don't be a fool. I agree w/GP, the guy is a demogogue.
Self service checkouts aren't the thing here, but i'm assuming that they're restricted because they're sold by weight. If you're on a self-service checkout there's no way for them to monitor what weight of peaches you're putting in your bag. If it was a bloke at a checkout, i bet they'd have no problem.
You want an automated service that'll sell you stuff without contacting a person, fine. But don't bitch when it wants your driving licence or anything else which is on a database to prove your age. How else is it meant to check you're old enough? Guess by your weight.
Portable Firefox runs on a USB drive without leaving anything on the computer that you're running it on. It allows you to take your edition of Firefox to any PC (Not sure if it has to be Windows based, probably) and run it without any problems, with your favourites and extensions. I really loved this when i was in school and used different computers in the IT room.
It's also optimised to require very little read/write cycles to your USB drive seeing as they do have a limit. It's also a smaller install.
I cancelled the insurance on my home. One year later other than saving $550 I have not had a single problem. I wasn't robbed, it didn't burn down, and no hurricanes, floods, or earthquakes hit me either...
Just because the "worst" didn't happen, doesn't mean it won't.
Unlike your insurance analogy his situation is not the same. If his PCs bugger up he wastes maybe an hour or two recovering the system from a complete backup and goes about his business, with the feeling he's lost a few files that don't really matter. If your house burns down you physically have to buy / restore the current one with hard earned cash.
Your version works better if he pays a company to backup his system, and if the PC crashes he has to purchase everything again (WinXP through to the crappy little shareware programs) to get back to normal. Sure, he saves £8/month, but he's safe in the knowledge it'll all work if it goes wrong.
I think it's the way that the police are trying to rationalise their figures. 15 years ago, you would really only mug someone for their cash and perhaps just to beat the crap out of them. Now we have iPods, mobile phones and a vast array of technology on us. There was an article a while back stating that the average tech geek carried well over $200 worth of stuff.
The thing with the iPod is that it brought MP3 players to the mainstream. You mug someone, you're pretty sure they'll have something worth stealing, and unlike a mobile, an iPod is pretty untraceable once nicked with high resaleability.
So they're not blaming the iPod for a rise in crime as such, but they're saying that the rise in crime is due to the increase in iPods. They probably did the same thing a few years ago for the rise in crime related to mobile phones.
Hang on a second, you're saying that wearing different coloured headphones (A crime prevention method) is comparable, nay worse, to carrying a gun? This advice actually comes from the police who said that people were being targeted because muggers saw iPod headphones, hence know you've got an iPod. If you've got other headphones you could have a radio, another brand MP3 player (Which you won't sell on the black market nearly as well) and it's not worth it.
You'd rather be approached, have a gun placed on the back of your head and then attempt to somehow draw your own gun and attack the other guy then wear different headphones that reduce the risk of being picked in the first place?
You're also saying that buying another set of headphones (£2 - £50, depending on the quality you care about) isn't as good as buying a handgun that's probably £200+.
From Wikipedia: "To pay for this the EU has an agreed budget of 862 billion for the period 2007-2013. By comparison, the UK expenditure for 2004 alone was estimated at about 759 billion."
So at a rate of 143.7 billion Euros a year, that's not much of a discount for all those members of the EU. Based on the figure of 457 million people in the EU, that's a whopping 0.61 each!
Factor into that the fact that the EU budget hasn't been signed off by it's auditors for years and you'll see there's a big flaw in that.
Unless this "shield" protects the airport from terrorists attempting to board a plane, what use are they? When was the last time a plane crashed into an airport building? Now if this was the White House or tother big military places, sure, but your standard domestic airport? Why?
Just what is the whole big deal with online banking anyway? I've never seen the attraction.
Well, i have 3 accounts at the moment with one bank, and one with another. With online banking at Nationwide i'm able to transfer money instantly between the three accounts (One savings, current and an online saver account i'm trying out). I can see how much money i've got and what's gone through the account without waiting for a statement or bothering to go to an ATM or wait in line at the bank.
With the Natwest account i have a debit card (Can't obtain one on the others till i'm 18), so i use online banking to transfer money to that account, to check whether purchases have gone through and what's left in the account.
The biggest advantage i've found with online banking? I can open, upgrade and modify my accounts online. Since i've signed in with my details (Which i've remembered, don't have saved as cookies etc. and i check i'm at the right page), they know it's me and i can do what i want. I recently upgraded an account to a student account and will adjust that to a student account with credit card when i'm 18, all online. The last time i tried opening an account instore was a bastard. They didn't accept provisional licences, i didn't have post in my name acceptable as proof of address (I don't get utility bills) and there's long queues. Now i can do it all online since i've already verified who i am.
I've got a similar story relating to Dell monitor woes...
We got a slightly damaged 20" 2001FP Dell monitor, very nice indeed. Damaged during removal at a school, the removal firm owned by relatives, they replaced the monitor with a new one and we got the old one from them. It came sans power cable. Simple, i thought, until i realised it was non-standard and a weird Dell connector. I'll ring Dell, navigate their tech support for the correct part and then order it. Even if it's £30 or so, it's worth it.
When i get the nerve to call Dell i get through to tech support, obviously UK based. Had to give them a Dell ticket or something, which we eventually got from a random barcode on the monitor (Seeing as i didn't actually purchase it). Got the Dell part number off them in a few minutes and was put through to sales. First guy, Steve with a strong Indian accent, asks what i need. I say i'm ordering a power cable for a monitor and give him the Dell code. He asks if i want to buy a Laptop... I repeat to him i want a "power cable" for a "monitor", again he asks if i want a laptop. I repeat it one final time, very slowly, and he says i'm in the wrong sales section and puts me through to another person, a female with another strong Indian accent.
So i repeat the procedure with her. She's a bit better, she tries to sell me a monitor instead. She then realises that i need a spare part, and puts me through to the correct department. The phone rings as i'm put through...and she answers again! I then get a garbled message along the lines of "Sorry, i don't understand what you want", gives me the first department's number and transfers me somewhere else. I finally get an English guy on the phone, who says there's a few left in a warehouse costing £97.35 including VAT and P&P. I hung up.
The one phone conversation was over 20 minutes and the most expensive on the bill.
Not exactly a tech support issue, but i had a guy walk into our store (Clearly emblazened with the words "PC World" and "The largest computer superstore") and ask where the hoover bags were.
Since this incident the manager has given me permission to be as sarcastic as i like to the customers, as long as i guage and stop before the point they'll complain at.
NEVER use tabs in code - or if you do, use an editor like jEdit that can automatically change them to spaces.
Or when you edit code and just have to change someone else's layout, do a find-replace on tabs with however number of spaces you want instead?
I have a job in retail and i don't start Uni till later this year, why not splash out on a trip to the US to meet a load of mates? I'm living at home for now (Not unusual when you're 17) and work for the ability to travel.
At the current exchange rate it was very cheap (£800 for the week, £400 of which was flights). I've not flown to Aussie or elsewhere, but there's currently plans for one of these in Prague.
Through the internet i've met a total of 39 people from a forum i frequent. We've met up several times in Europe and there've been other meets in the US and Australia.
I flew to the US for a week long holiday, with the first weekend spent in NY meeting up with a group of 13 Americans, i travelled with 3 other Brits. We toured 6 states and 3 capitals in a week and it was one of the best holidays i've had. Although i'm only 17 (Started posting at 13) i've grown up with these people. Granted, i went on holiday with a 21, 24 and 34 year old and the next closest to my age was 20 that we met, but i'm great friends with all of these people and we regularly meet.
If it weren't for the internet i wouldn't be mates with a 34 year old drummer from York. Although i was 13 when i joined, people thought i was 18, we talked to each other because we were interesting and liked the same topics, not because we met in a bar drunk and liked the face sitting opposite us.
Is it an unusual way to meet people, probably. Is it a flawed way of meeting people? So far, absolutely not.