OT: inconsiderate shoppers

[Rod Speed]

Its more complicated than that with the credit cards.

True of ATMs too, all my cards can be used in any ATM. There is a higher charge when a non associated bank's ATM is used, but some of the banks rebate all those ATM charges, regardless of whose bank it is.

Sure, I thought you meant the debit/credit type.

Yeah, you lot are surprisingly primitive by world standards. Very very slow to even have chip and pin cards too. We havent had just mag stripe for a hell of a long time now and all cards are what you call tap and most call contactless.

Yep you lot are surprisingly primitive given you invented credit cards and now the *Pay systems.

[Rod Speed]

Same with your continuing use of checks. I havent used one for decades except for the operation that flogs the pads for my swamp cooler. He doesn't take any cards at all, just cash and checks. I used to keep a single blank check in my wallet for just that situation and actually used it when I discovered that he wouldn't take cards. It was pretty battered by then having been in the wallet for years and he was a bit dubious when I gave it to him, but it did clear fine,

[Steven Watkins]

Well unless a new one has just been made....

Note "appear" meant be there now and not 2 minutes ago. It didn't mean "be there".

The doppler shift will change as a car approaches. It knows the car remains until it switches to green.

It knows when it switched itself to green.

[gfretwell]

Certainly a lot goes with it but Mastercard and Visa are just the agent for these cards and run the clearing house. The bank actually issues the cards, sets interest rates and incentives. One of my banks actually switched card vendors (Visa to MC). My account stayed the same, the only thing that changed is I got different cards.

Not exactly true internationally. My BAC card worked in WestPac ATMs but not in the others. My Suntrust card had a partnership with another bank there but I didn't take it with me and I don't remember who it was. (ANZ?)

Americans don't really trust that RF stuff. We have too many "expose's" on TV telling us other people can scan your card and steal your ID. I don't really pay much attention to that tho. The other problem is the merchants just bought POS terminals with chip readers they don't want to buy something else that might be obsolete in a year or two.

There is a whole lot of "if it is working, why screw with it?"

[gfretwell]

All of the checks I have are from banks that no longer exist but they still cash. (the routing number ends up at the last bank that bought them) I only use them to pay taxes. The SOBs here charge extra on a tax bill if you use a card, any card. I am not giving them an extra dime.

[Clare Snyder]

That is true when using pulse radar which can determine if something is within a particular range. If aimed at the road surface in the "stop zone" it can tell if there is an opaque object between the sensor and the (calibrated) road sueface because the reflected signal will be "faster" than the calibrated signal.

Pulse Doppler radar sees still objects.CW Doppler sees moving objects. Pulse calculates position by angle and distance. Doppler calculates speed .(Range Rate or r-dot) and only the component of the speed that is directly toward the radar gun.

CW Doppler reads the difference in frequency in the reflected carrier wave. Pulse Doppler or MTI measure the difference in the spacing of the pulses.

Virtually all RADAR takes advantage of the doppler effect in one way or other.

It can be FM, CW,CP or Pulse doppler - but all use doppler CW and pulse are the most common.

Older speed radars used CW/ "stealth" radar, I believe, uses pulse doppler - it is only detectable for miliseconds at a time - the officer hits the trigger and has you, with virtually no warning.

[Clare Snyder]

With more research I find SOME Canadian Debit cards will connect to the US based VISA system and apparently VISA debit cards will work on (at least some) visa credit card terminals as a credit card.

A few years ago when I was involved with credit and debit systems this was not the case. When I was in Austria about 8 years ago? our debit cards were not compatible with the Austrian or Spanish systems. They worked in ATMs, but not at stores or gas stations.

I don't use debit at all - My wife has not used hers in several years either>

[Clare Snyder]

And most of ours are not (or at least were not) Ours are/were INTERAC cards

[Clare Snyder]

In Canada we've been chip and pin for years. "Tap and go" is not totally universal yet, but getting there. All NEW gas pumps have it, Most stores do too, but the feature doesn't work on a fair number - the technology isn't foolproof

[Clare Snyder]

Up here you can deposit your cheques with the camera on your smart phone -- - -

[Rod Speed]

They are in fact a lot more than just a clearing house.

But some stuff is done by Visa and MC.

Quite a few of ours have done that too, or more strictly change from Visa to MC or the reverse.

Yes it is.

Mine all work in all ATMs.

Mine all work in all ATMs.

And they stupidly don't trust chip and pin, even tho its much more secure than magstripe. In spades with checks.

Trivially avoidable with a RF proof wallet.

It's the chip and pin only terminals that are that already.

Because the alternatives are much more secure.

[FMurtz]

And could have gone elsewhere in 20 seconds

[FMurtz]

Do they never die? and do you know the life expectancy of ducks fed bread against natural feed

[FMurtz]

And if it tastes good and makes you obese and you die early because of it ?

[FMurtz]

He does have to be terminally stupid as you say, unless he has done a study with tagged ducks he has no idea from one day to the next what has happened to yesterdays ducks.

[Steven Watkins]

creates_problems/

Looks like a nice plant to me, just leave it!

[Rod Speed]

Yeah, half of my line of trees between the house and the park next door are those. Great trees.

[gfretwell]

So if your yard is full of poison ivy, so be it?

I am not sure about moss, it doesn't really become a problem here and I do agree that for the most part, if it mows OK, it can grow in my yard. We are really talking about invasive plants that just take over the native species. Maybe we could send you some kudzu and you would understand.

[gfretwell]

If that is all you want to see, go for it.

[gfretwell]

That is what they thought when they brought them here in the first place, until they got away. Same with most of our invasive exotics. In their native country they are "nice". Here with our climate, they just run amok. The reason it is hard for me to show you a place that in infested is it has been illegal to plant them for 30 years. You can't buy them and if you are developing a piece of property they have to be removed. Most gated communities even ban keeping them in your yard. After 30 years we are making progress in eradicating them. I still have Brazilian Peppers popping up behind my house now and then and I killed them all 20 years ago. The birds spread the seeds.