If only the credit card companies and retailers hadn't had a spat ten years ago or so regarding the fees on debit cards that ran as credit cards, Americans would probably be far more likely to embrace chip-and-PIN rather than just chip. Everyone I've watched use the chip cards seems to have no issue with them and actually laments when they can't use their new chip card as a chip transaction, but I've also talked with friends and family about it and I get the impression from this and reading comments online (purely anecdotal but I think I'm on to something) that the perception is PIN=user fee. This means even credit cards that SAID they had no fee would be viewed dubiously when asking to use the PIN. This is much like how a person reacts when a dual credit/debit processable card gets asked for a PIN...they're like heck no I'm not paying. Had the companies not played that game about forcing PIN transactions with fees on all debit cards, I strongly suspect chip-and-PIN would be easier to implement. There is, of course, also a lot of inertia in business and banking circles to overcome, too.
I bought a MS Band 2 to replace a Basis B1 after Basis basically dropped support for the B1 the moment the Peak was announced, and also broke a number of promises, etc... I picked it because it had the best sensor package around, even including a UV sensor. I found it very useful. I also found it very flawed. My band was replaced FOUR times under warranty due to cracks in the non-replaceable band at where it met the device. Microsoft was very good about replacing it, but it just never really solved the problem, just bought me a few more months of use. The magnetic attached charger also had some issues, and the software has always been a little buggy...especially syncing with the app...which right now includes claiming the battery died and the clock reset basically every few hours. It was a brilliant sensor package hindered by lousy industrial design. When my band breaks again, which I'm sure it will, this means the end for my Band.
This is absolutely what I've been experiencing. About 75% of my Marketplace transactions get a "follow up" email. Usually my failure to respond results in a second email before they give up. If I do leave feedback, and it is anything less than 4/5 or 5/5 for the PRODUCT, I'll get calls on my cell phone (credit card number of record) about 10% of the time. I average around 75-100 small Amazon purchases of a few dollars each during the year (I really hate going out to stores), and so I get at least one or two calls every quarter. Amazon says they are either unable to offer any action or to block only that seller. What really shocked me was when one Marketplace seller called me on behalf of the manufacturer when I complained about the design of a particular TV wall mount, offering me a free one if I'd change the feedback. Amazon needs to get their house in order.
Do you think there would be a place for something like a very cheap 6502 or z80 board similar to the Raspberry Pi only with much less complex hardware, as a teaching tool for closer to bare-metal instruction? Any plans?
Any thoughts on how to address the "add-on syndrome" that plagues SBCs like the Pi products? As in the board is $35, but then after a power supply, case, SD card, wifi (if not equipped), USB hub, etc... you hit around $80-100. It makes it hard to run multiple projects at once, plus the quality of packaged hardware from retailers is often questionable at best.
At least historically, for a long time, it certainly was. I've seen some utilities push away from it now, but for a very long time you'd load a FreeDOS floppy or other volume that contained the BIOS update.EXE and the update itself.
Agreed. I'm getting sick and tired of being emailed and even called about feedback, even positive feedback with mildly critical comments, and I've told Amazon so repeatedly. While each vendor stops calling after I advise Amazon, new vendors do it with abandon so the cycle continues. Amazon doesn't really seem to care, and as somebody who orders about half his non-food items on Amazon for time reasons, I've come to expect better support than they currently provide. It used to be excellent.
I was a roughly day-one purchaser of the iPad, and I have to respectfully disagree, aside from flash issues and some occasional issues with forms, even the original iPad handled websites fairly well in desktop formats. It was one of the reasons I ended up with an iPad BEFORE a smartphone. It was very rare that I could not easily view, navigate, and enter data into a website. About the only major frustration was that for some forms and buttons the lack of a tab or arrow key was problematic in a touch environment until, as you note, websites adapted. I actually run into more trouble now when website try to be mobile friendly than when they are desktop sites, since Safari actually handles desktop sites more gracefully on the larger iPad screen.
So they'll buy drive diesel vehicles, assuming electric vehicles do not reach sufficient market penetration nine years (well, eight model years) from now? Not really much of an improvement.
It's hard to find a television with the same features (as a television alone) when comparing "smart" televisions with non-smart models, and the boot times have improved, along with the price difference. My solution is to just simply not allow it to network...by not plugging it in. Problem solved.
Walmart behaves the way it does not only because of the profits, but because they know the next retailer killer is waiting in the wings, whether it is an expansion of another growing chain (Dollar General has expanded massively during the recession) or a change in technology. Walmart didn't single-handedly kill the mom-and-pop store. Earlier big-boxes played a role (K-Mart, Sears*, etc...) and Walmart (along with the Internet) helped kill them.
*Sears is a funny story because had they held out on their catalog sales another few years and put it on the Internet they'd probably have become Amazon.
My cable company (Armstrong) bases your cap on a combination of your service tier and your other services, and has for some time, so this is nothing new.
I once bought a book off Amazon on Don Cheadle as part of a joke for my sister that was also just a Wikipedia dump. Since it was a gag gift and hadn't been reviewed yet, plus it was very cheap, I didn't get *too* mad. But frankly, with stuff like the article above, my own interactions with third-party retailers, etc..., I'm starting to think Amazon isn't doing enough policing. It is sort of like eBay back in the bad old days. Not saying eBay is safer than Amazon, just better than eBay of a specific timeframe.
My only concern would be if that would be distracting at night. I find navigation screens, needless color radio LCDs that aren't navigation systems, and GPS units to be distracting at night despite the night modes due to the backlight hindering my night vision. A full car width display would surely put off even more light. Although it could be in IR, which would have some balancing safety features I guess.
Yeah, the idea of something smashing into something else due to a failure is what concerns me. I've already experienced what happens when a camshaft position sensor fails gradually enough that it doesn't trigger a fault in a computer...nasty ignition timing with backfires at high RPM...a Ford Taurus belching fire on the highway...and the idea of parts flying around without protection is why I don't own an interference engine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
This project just isn't going to happen anytime soon. The United States and Russia both appreciate the security of the Bering Straight and a few thousand miles of wilderness separating their main population centers, first of all. Second, the cost of connecting the thousands of miles of roads or rail needed, plus the cost of the bridge, plus the cost of the upkeep of said roads and bridges, will never be recouped by the savings of not shipping via air/ship at current fuel prices. Third, it still isn't even clear they can actually BUILD the bridge.
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If only the credit card companies and retailers hadn't had a spat ten years ago or so regarding the fees on debit cards that ran as credit cards, Americans would probably be far more likely to embrace chip-and-PIN rather than just chip. Everyone I've watched use the chip cards seems to have no issue with them and actually laments when they can't use their new chip card as a chip transaction, but I've also talked with friends and family about it and I get the impression from this and reading comments online (purely anecdotal but I think I'm on to something) that the perception is PIN=user fee. This means even credit cards that SAID they had no fee would be viewed dubiously when asking to use the PIN. This is much like how a person reacts when a dual credit/debit processable card gets asked for a PIN...they're like heck no I'm not paying. Had the companies not played that game about forcing PIN transactions with fees on all debit cards, I strongly suspect chip-and-PIN would be easier to implement. There is, of course, also a lot of inertia in business and banking circles to overcome, too.
I bought a MS Band 2 to replace a Basis B1 after Basis basically dropped support for the B1 the moment the Peak was announced, and also broke a number of promises, etc... I picked it because it had the best sensor package around, even including a UV sensor. I found it very useful. I also found it very flawed. My band was replaced FOUR times under warranty due to cracks in the non-replaceable band at where it met the device. Microsoft was very good about replacing it, but it just never really solved the problem, just bought me a few more months of use. The magnetic attached charger also had some issues, and the software has always been a little buggy...especially syncing with the app...which right now includes claiming the battery died and the clock reset basically every few hours. It was a brilliant sensor package hindered by lousy industrial design. When my band breaks again, which I'm sure it will, this means the end for my Band.
This is absolutely what I've been experiencing. About 75% of my Marketplace transactions get a "follow up" email. Usually my failure to respond results in a second email before they give up. If I do leave feedback, and it is anything less than 4/5 or 5/5 for the PRODUCT, I'll get calls on my cell phone (credit card number of record) about 10% of the time. I average around 75-100 small Amazon purchases of a few dollars each during the year (I really hate going out to stores), and so I get at least one or two calls every quarter. Amazon says they are either unable to offer any action or to block only that seller. What really shocked me was when one Marketplace seller called me on behalf of the manufacturer when I complained about the design of a particular TV wall mount, offering me a free one if I'd change the feedback. Amazon needs to get their house in order.
Do you think there would be a place for something like a very cheap 6502 or z80 board similar to the Raspberry Pi only with much less complex hardware, as a teaching tool for closer to bare-metal instruction? Any plans?
Any thoughts on how to address the "add-on syndrome" that plagues SBCs like the Pi products? As in the board is $35, but then after a power supply, case, SD card, wifi (if not equipped), USB hub, etc... you hit around $80-100. It makes it hard to run multiple projects at once, plus the quality of packaged hardware from retailers is often questionable at best.
Any chance of a somewhat more expensive unit with a consumer grade case and a (even if just for brief power outages) battery?
At least historically, for a long time, it certainly was. I've seen some utilities push away from it now, but for a very long time you'd load a FreeDOS floppy or other volume that contained the BIOS update .EXE and the update itself.
Agreed. I'm getting sick and tired of being emailed and even called about feedback, even positive feedback with mildly critical comments, and I've told Amazon so repeatedly. While each vendor stops calling after I advise Amazon, new vendors do it with abandon so the cycle continues. Amazon doesn't really seem to care, and as somebody who orders about half his non-food items on Amazon for time reasons, I've come to expect better support than they currently provide. It used to be excellent.
I was a roughly day-one purchaser of the iPad, and I have to respectfully disagree, aside from flash issues and some occasional issues with forms, even the original iPad handled websites fairly well in desktop formats. It was one of the reasons I ended up with an iPad BEFORE a smartphone. It was very rare that I could not easily view, navigate, and enter data into a website. About the only major frustration was that for some forms and buttons the lack of a tab or arrow key was problematic in a touch environment until, as you note, websites adapted. I actually run into more trouble now when website try to be mobile friendly than when they are desktop sites, since Safari actually handles desktop sites more gracefully on the larger iPad screen.
Brain.A was the first MS-DOS virus...so it was first IBM PC-compatible virus but not the first "personal computer" virus.
Takoma Park, not Tamoka Park.
So they'll buy drive diesel vehicles, assuming electric vehicles do not reach sufficient market penetration nine years (well, eight model years) from now? Not really much of an improvement.
It's hard to find a television with the same features (as a television alone) when comparing "smart" televisions with non-smart models, and the boot times have improved, along with the price difference. My solution is to just simply not allow it to network...by not plugging it in. Problem solved.
Actually, EPA mileage estimates usually come out slightly *higher* for automatics now. Just saying.
Walmart behaves the way it does not only because of the profits, but because they know the next retailer killer is waiting in the wings, whether it is an expansion of another growing chain (Dollar General has expanded massively during the recession) or a change in technology. Walmart didn't single-handedly kill the mom-and-pop store. Earlier big-boxes played a role (K-Mart, Sears*, etc...) and Walmart (along with the Internet) helped kill them. *Sears is a funny story because had they held out on their catalog sales another few years and put it on the Internet they'd probably have become Amazon.
My cable company (Armstrong) bases your cap on a combination of your service tier and your other services, and has for some time, so this is nothing new.
Eh, I mean if by rural they mean minimally populated, some of the areas long the border with mainland China are probably "rural" by some definitions.
I once bought a book off Amazon on Don Cheadle as part of a joke for my sister that was also just a Wikipedia dump. Since it was a gag gift and hadn't been reviewed yet, plus it was very cheap, I didn't get *too* mad. But frankly, with stuff like the article above, my own interactions with third-party retailers, etc..., I'm starting to think Amazon isn't doing enough policing. It is sort of like eBay back in the bad old days. Not saying eBay is safer than Amazon, just better than eBay of a specific timeframe.
My only concern would be if that would be distracting at night. I find navigation screens, needless color radio LCDs that aren't navigation systems, and GPS units to be distracting at night despite the night modes due to the backlight hindering my night vision. A full car width display would surely put off even more light. Although it could be in IR, which would have some balancing safety features I guess.
This would also further limit (as have flight entertainment systems installed under the seats) the availability of in-cabin pet space.
Just not without electricity.
Yeah, the idea of something smashing into something else due to a failure is what concerns me. I've already experienced what happens when a camshaft position sensor fails gradually enough that it doesn't trigger a fault in a computer...nasty ignition timing with backfires at high RPM...a Ford Taurus belching fire on the highway...and the idea of parts flying around without protection is why I don't own an interference engine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
But they WILL run without the battery.
This project just isn't going to happen anytime soon. The United States and Russia both appreciate the security of the Bering Straight and a few thousand miles of wilderness separating their main population centers, first of all. Second, the cost of connecting the thousands of miles of roads or rail needed, plus the cost of the bridge, plus the cost of the upkeep of said roads and bridges, will never be recouped by the savings of not shipping via air/ship at current fuel prices. Third, it still isn't even clear they can actually BUILD the bridge.
IPX/SPX...I haven't heard those letters in a long time.