The "cure" involves full-body irradiation to destroy the immune system, and then a bone-marrow transplant from someone that's HIV resistant. In general, these cures have been a side-effect of someone battling pretty serious cancer.
An Oyster card is an RFID card that you load credit on, or you can use any wireless Credit/Debit card at the barriers. In the case of London, there are so many stations on the network that some of them are unstaffed or don't have barriers in the first place. In this case there is a sensor pad to tap-in or out, but the onus is on the traveller to to so. These are much more frequent on the smaller stations served by the long distance trains which run into the main London stations.
If you don't tap-in but then tap-out, the system assumes you've made the longest journey possible on the "Tube" network, but in this case he took a very long train journey that was much more expensive. He knew the system and simply tapped out, thereby paying much less than he should have.
*Jonathan Burrows* Millionaire city executive Jonathan Burrows was labelled the biggest fare dodger in history after agreeing to pay £43,000 to Southeastern trains in an out-of-court settlement.
He lost his job at asset manager BlackRock and was banned from working in the City for life when the five-year scam came to light, although he avoided prosecution. He insists that the true value of the fares he avoided runs to hundreds, not thousands, of pounds.
*Dr Peter Barnett* International lawyer Dr Peter Barnett received a 16-week suspended sentence after admitting to a two-year scam in which he tapped-out his Oyster card at London’s Marylebone station, without having tapped-in, thereby incurring the maximum London Underground fare, rather than the true cost of commuting from his Oxfordshire home.
Chiltern Railways said that he had avoided £20,000 in fares, but the solicitor successfully argued that the true cost was only £6,000, which he paid back in full.
*Simon King* City banker Simon King admitted an £8,000 two-year fraud in which he returned his annual season ticket for a refund, but not before he had photocopied it.
He then used the crude forgery to commute from his West Sussex home to London Bridge station, only being caught after a member of staff told him to insert the fake ticket into an electronic barrier. He received a community punishment.
True, that still happens... because the Tube is one of the best ways to get around, so EVERYONE uses is. I get 1 train per minute at my stop, and if there is a 2 minute delay in the service then it's so full you can't get on. Still, it beats trying to drive... what with the traffic, congestion charge (tax) rising to £24/day for diesel cars, then paying on average £42/day to park:
Definite thumbs-up for two wheels! When I can take a bike, it's certainly faster than the bus or tube as you say. Being a fair-weather cyclist, I tend not to cycle as much as I'd like... plus the statistics for incidence or crashes and injury to weigh on my mind. Even if you're a careful rider, the actions of another can have catastrophic consequences for the cyclist. Same goes if you're driving a car, but then it's more 50/50 about who bears the consequences... unlike 99/1 when it comes to cycling.
So that's 10.2 billion / 8.1 million people... or £1,259 (1,620 USD) for each person. We could spread it across the country, but then we would need to include the costs for other transport companies.
Is it worth it?!? Maybe... but there are many angles to that argument.
To be honest, I've not had that for years. Yes it was very worrying, because what the hell was it? Brake dust, with added asbestos for extra flavour? Carbon from the electrics? Luckily the new trains don't seem to be anywhere near as dirty as the old ones, so black snot is a thing of the past.
I find it hard to imagine that they used to run steam trains burning coal through these tunnels. How disgusting would that have been!:-O
It only works in places where the majority use Public Transit. I also lived in a smaller town in Australia for a while, and the public transit was a joke... so everyone drives. But, where it can work, it should be encouraged.
Free tickets for kids is just so normal here, that it's hard to imagine any other way. Consider it an early intro to public transit, so that as they grow up it's not a big boogeyman that they need to confront. It's just a normal part of getting around the city.
That is sometimes true, but in London (and I suspect other big cities with metro systems like New York, Paris, etc.) it's usually the fastest way from A to B. Even the famous Black Cab with their privileged use of Bus Lanes, and intricate knowledge of the streets can't compete with the speed of a Tube Train through the centre of London.
It's not as bad as you imagine because everyone in London uses the tube, not just those that are downtrodden and smelly. In fact, many of the trains on the network are quite decent in comparison to what springs to mind when the phrase "public transport" is used:
Under 5 - Free with a paying adult 5 to 10 - Free with a paying adult, or on their own by using a free Oyster card 11 to 15 - Free when using a free Oyster card 16 to 17 - Free when using a free Oyster card... but only if you LIVE in London.
SOPA and PIPA are dead... meet their cousin, ACTA. Please contact your MEP (Members of the European Parliament) using this link and register your protest:
If you're worried... then check out your SCN with this SQL:
su - oracle
. oraenv
sqlplus "/ as sysdba"
column GET_SYSTEM_CHANGE_NUMBER format 999,999,999,999,999,999,999
select DBMS_FLASHBACK.GET_SYSTEM_CHANGE_NUMBER from dual;
Millions or Billions... no problem.
If you're starting to get close to 281 Trillion (actually 281,474,976,710,656)... time to panic. Remember, that's a US Trillion... not a UK Trillion:
Ahhh yes... Mr O'Leary is a constant amusement. It appears from Wikipedia that he got his original ideas from Southwest Airlines, and has twisted it to the absurd extremes that is now the modern Ryanair. I'm not sure what's most laughable... the Standing Seats, or the Pay Toilets
Personally I think his silliness is one of the main drivers behind this cap on Credit Card surcharges. Just for fun, http://www.ihateryanair.org/ will give you a good chuckle... and make you seriously consider accepting that tempting offer. Lucky for us RyanAir are the exception to the norm, and I usually fly BA anyway... better service, and cheaper fares. No brainer!
I lived in the US for 3 years, and this doesn't come as a surprise to me. Big corporations will screw you as much as possible, and the sticker price is NEVER what you end up paying. Internet is $20/month... plus line maintenance, phone regulatory fee, tax, something I just made up charge that sounds legit, the "I wonder if they will pay this" levy... it goes on forever! I laughed/cried when 911 showed up on my phone bill as a line-item charge. WTF?!?
Seriously, US consumers get the worst deal on the planet for most things... but it's sold as if you're getting an absolute bargain.
Personally I'm more than happy to be back in boring old England where things cost what they are advertised as, and I have *REAL* choice of Phone, Internet, Electricity, Natural Gas, etc.... and not just the city-endorsed (aka. "Bought and Paid for") local monopoly that is all too common in the US. The government recently outlawed excessive Credit Card fees, like when you buy a plane ticket and they charge you £15 to use a credit card when it only costs them £0.50 or something similar. At least our guys have the balls to stand up to big-business... when will your corrupt politicians follow suit?
Thanks for the tips, but actually, I like to help Slashdot generate some revenue from their advertising... so I've chosen to leave advertising on (even though Slashdot will let me turn it off with a single click), and thus I have no need to block it.
I can't remember what happened but I hope that neither side won, because Orange are stupid to try and claim ownership of a colour... and Easyjet are bastards that have sued anyone that uses the word "easy" in any domain name!
At least in the EU when you get some brain-dead corporation spamming you, or sending you annoying SMS messages you can fight back with "Stop, or I will report you to the Information Commissioner".
This gets their attention very quickly, because if they don't then large fines are handed out.
Slashdot Mirror
Users don't need more than 640k... oh, yes they do. Whoops!
Users don't need the Start Button... oh, yes they do. Whoops!
and now
Users don't need ALT-TAB... get your FSCKING hands off of my interface Microsoft!!!
The "cure" involves full-body irradiation to destroy the immune system, and then a bone-marrow transplant from someone that's HIV resistant. In general, these cures have been a side-effect of someone battling pretty serious cancer.
An Oyster card is an RFID card that you load credit on, or you can use any wireless Credit/Debit card at the barriers. In the case of London, there are so many stations on the network that some of them are unstaffed or don't have barriers in the first place. In this case there is a sensor pad to tap-in or out, but the onus is on the traveller to to so. These are much more frequent on the smaller stations served by the long distance trains which run into the main London stations.
If you don't tap-in but then tap-out, the system assumes you've made the longest journey possible on the "Tube" network, but in this case he took a very long train journey that was much more expensive. He knew the system and simply tapped out, thereby paying much less than he should have.
Hmmmm... they may still choose to prosecute, leaving a stain on your record. These are of older folks, but they were really taking the piss:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ne...
*Jonathan Burrows*
Millionaire city executive Jonathan Burrows was labelled the biggest fare dodger in history after agreeing to pay £43,000 to Southeastern trains in an out-of-court settlement.
He lost his job at asset manager BlackRock and was banned from working in the City for life when the five-year scam came to light, although he avoided prosecution. He insists that the true value of the fares he avoided runs to hundreds, not thousands, of pounds.
*Dr Peter Barnett*
International lawyer Dr Peter Barnett received a 16-week suspended sentence after admitting to a two-year scam in which he tapped-out his Oyster card at London’s Marylebone station, without having tapped-in, thereby incurring the maximum London Underground fare, rather than the true cost of commuting from his Oxfordshire home.
Chiltern Railways said that he had avoided £20,000 in fares, but the solicitor successfully argued that the true cost was only £6,000, which he paid back in full.
*Simon King*
City banker Simon King admitted an £8,000 two-year fraud in which he returned his annual season ticket for a refund, but not before he had photocopied it.
He then used the crude forgery to commute from his West Sussex home to London Bridge station, only being caught after a member of staff told him to insert the fake ticket into an electronic barrier. He received a community punishment.
True, that still happens... because the Tube is one of the best ways to get around, so EVERYONE uses is. I get 1 train per minute at my stop, and if there is a 2 minute delay in the service then it's so full you can't get on. Still, it beats trying to drive... what with the traffic, congestion charge (tax) rising to £24/day for diesel cars, then paying on average £42/day to park:
https://news.sky.com/story/die...
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/...
So you're stung for ~£66/day before you factor in your time, etc. Using a private car to commute into London is reserved for the 1%.
Definite thumbs-up for two wheels! When I can take a bike, it's certainly faster than the bus or tube as you say. Being a fair-weather cyclist, I tend not to cycle as much as I'd like... plus the statistics for incidence or crashes and injury to weigh on my mind. Even if you're a careful rider, the actions of another can have catastrophic consequences for the cyclist. Same goes if you're driving a car, but then it's more 50/50 about who bears the consequences... unlike 99/1 when it comes to cycling.
Interesting. Taking the London as an example:
https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/a...
https://www.google.co.uk/searc...
So that's 10.2 billion / 8.1 million people... or £1,259 (1,620 USD) for each person. We could spread it across the country, but then we would need to include the costs for other transport companies.
Is it worth it?!? Maybe... but there are many angles to that argument.
I guess... yes. If you're independent enough at 4 years old to be swanning around London alone, then you get to pay for your own damn ticket! :-P
To be honest, I've not had that for years. Yes it was very worrying, because what the hell was it? Brake dust, with added asbestos for extra flavour? Carbon from the electrics? Luckily the new trains don't seem to be anywhere near as dirty as the old ones, so black snot is a thing of the past.
I find it hard to imagine that they used to run steam trains burning coal through these tunnels. How disgusting would that have been! :-O
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ne...
It only works in places where the majority use Public Transit. I also lived in a smaller town in Australia for a while, and the public transit was a joke... so everyone drives. But, where it can work, it should be encouraged.
Free tickets for kids is just so normal here, that it's hard to imagine any other way. Consider it an early intro to public transit, so that as they grow up it's not a big boogeyman that they need to confront. It's just a normal part of getting around the city.
That is sometimes true, but in London (and I suspect other big cities with metro systems like New York, Paris, etc.) it's usually the fastest way from A to B. Even the famous Black Cab with their privileged use of Bus Lanes, and intricate knowledge of the streets can't compete with the speed of a Tube Train through the centre of London.
It's not as bad as you imagine because everyone in London uses the tube, not just those that are downtrodden and smelly. In fact, many of the trains on the network are quite decent in comparison to what springs to mind when the phrase "public transport" is used:
http://www.railtechnologymagaz...
https://londonist.com/london/t...
Then you have the inter-city trains, like the one from London to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam etc. There's no comparison to flying:
https://www.cnet.com/pictures/...
Glad to see other cities catching up, as enabling use of public transit is one of the best ways to reduce traffic, pollution, etc
https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-...
Under 5 - Free with a paying adult
5 to 10 - Free with a paying adult, or on their own by using a free Oyster card
11 to 15 - Free when using a free Oyster card
16 to 17 - Free when using a free Oyster card... but only if you LIVE in London.
Obligatory XKCD. It seems that Randall Munroe is the Nostradamus of our time, having predicted all future events in his humorous comic strip:
http://xkcd.com/1147/
Here is the official UK government portal to e-mail Lady Howe of Idlicote. If you live in the UK, then I urge you to write to her with your opinions:
www.writetothem.com
SOPA and PIPA are dead... meet their cousin, ACTA. Please contact your MEP (Members of the European Parliament) using this link and register your protest:
UK:
http://www.writetothem.com/
Rest of Europe:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public/geoSearch.do;jsessionid=EAF5D554A71EBE16A5E8A71092CD2DB9.node2 [europa.eu]
A brief analysis of the issue, but obviously presenting a one-sided view... so weigh the info as you see fit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ihere3PEPg&feature=g-all-u&context=G20f3a72FAAAAAAAABAA
Too lazy to count... :-D
If you're worried... then check out your SCN with this SQL:
su - oracle
. oraenv
sqlplus "/ as sysdba"
column GET_SYSTEM_CHANGE_NUMBER format 999,999,999,999,999,999,999
select DBMS_FLASHBACK.GET_SYSTEM_CHANGE_NUMBER from dual;
Millions or Billions... no problem.
If you're starting to get close to 281 Trillion (actually 281,474,976,710,656)... time to panic. Remember, that's a US Trillion... not a UK Trillion:
RMAN anyone? I doubt anyone serious still uses BEGIN/END backup...
Ahhh yes... Mr O'Leary is a constant amusement. It appears from Wikipedia that he got his original ideas from Southwest Airlines, and has twisted it to the absurd extremes that is now the modern Ryanair. I'm not sure what's most laughable... the Standing Seats, or the Pay Toilets
Personally I think his silliness is one of the main drivers behind this cap on Credit Card surcharges. Just for fun, http://www.ihateryanair.org/ will give you a good chuckle... and make you seriously consider accepting that tempting offer. Lucky for us RyanAir are the exception to the norm, and I usually fly BA anyway... better service, and cheaper fares. No brainer!
I lived in the US for 3 years, and this doesn't come as a surprise to me. Big corporations will screw you as much as possible, and the sticker price is NEVER what you end up paying. Internet is $20/month... plus line maintenance, phone regulatory fee, tax, something I just made up charge that sounds legit, the "I wonder if they will pay this" levy... it goes on forever! I laughed/cried when 911 showed up on my phone bill as a line-item charge. WTF?!?
Seriously, US consumers get the worst deal on the planet for most things... but it's sold as if you're getting an absolute bargain.
Personally I'm more than happy to be back in boring old England where things cost what they are advertised as, and I have *REAL* choice of Phone, Internet, Electricity, Natural Gas, etc.... and not just the city-endorsed (aka. "Bought and Paid for") local monopoly that is all too common in the US. The government recently outlawed excessive Credit Card fees, like when you buy a plane ticket and they charge you £15 to use a credit card when it only costs them £0.50 or something similar. At least our guys have the balls to stand up to big-business... when will your corrupt politicians follow suit?
Thanks for the tips, but actually, I like to help Slashdot generate some revenue from their advertising... so I've chosen to leave advertising on (even though Slashdot will let me turn it off with a single click), and thus I have no need to block it.
Is it just me... or does anyone else find having this banner avert at at the top of this story funny, and a little bit creepy:
http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/imgad?id=CIqXw4GjrIii8AEQ2AUYWjIIoKOt3JbQ7Ds
It links here if you're interested:
http://www.omniperception.com/cpsform/?gclid=CK_p8caBgqoCFc0P3wodWC5OzA
I have always been amazed at the NASCAR broadcasts... if only the high-tech world of Formula-1 could catch up with these good 'ol boys!
Orange mobile (cell) phones are at odds with Easyjet, who uses Orange as a corporate colour.
http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/21/orange-owns-orange/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3553640.stm
I can't remember what happened but I hope that neither side won, because Orange are stupid to try and claim ownership of a colour... and Easyjet are bastards that have sued anyone that uses the word "easy" in any domain name!
At least in the EU when you get some brain-dead corporation spamming you, or sending you annoying SMS messages you can fight back with "Stop, or I will report you to the Information Commissioner". This gets their attention very quickly, because if they don't then large fines are handed out.