Comment Re:except it wasn't people renting out their rooms (Score 1) 310
Unless you fine U$S 7500 to repeat offenders.. which seems easier to track than who is renting what in what manner and making neighbors police each other.
Unless you fine U$S 7500 to repeat offenders.. which seems easier to track than who is renting what in what manner and making neighbors police each other.
I use a watch face that has a complication with the temperature... so the weather app comes up instantly.
The reason I say "people don't understand what it can do" is that people I show my watch to have no idea what its features are.. and even I, having watched the original keynote, the website, and having a friend who owns an Apple Watch bought it with a limited idea of the things I would use it for. The same thing would probably happen with a smartphone if you weren't completely surrounded by people with smartphones doing all kinds of things like photography, music, games, sports, etc.
The delay getting the weather is gone in the new Watch OS 3 as well as other similar features where you had the problem of waiting for the refresh.
I bought my Apple Watch *BECAUSE* I carry my phone all the time... and I don't like to take it out of my jeans' pocket just to see what a notification is about. Now I just look at my wrist quickly. That was the whole idea, but I ended up getting so much more out of it:
- It's really convenient to use with the map directions while walking around the city (or driving, I'd assume)
- It's good to create reminders and such through siri without having to take my phone out
- I sent messages back and forth (dictating my responses) while on the street. No taking the phone out, unlocking, nor standing waiting for a response.
- It lets me know when I spent an hour sitting and makes me move around for a minute + tracks my heart rate during the day
- Very convenient to quickly check out whether the restaurant you're standing in front of is any good using yelp, or to check the price of a book in Amazon
- At home I leave my phone in its cradle and can move around getting notifications in the watch.
I'd say the main problem with the watch is that people don't know what it does nor how it can streamline the use of their smartphones or integrate into their activities. I bought it and didn't know half of it... the first time I answered a phone call through the phone Dick Tracy style (with its speaker and mic) I didn't even know THAT was possible.
Go to Settings, open the Battery control panel, see if there are any apps eating up her battery. Bad cell coverage in the area perhaps? I can go the whole day taking pictures and videos with my SE and the battery doesn't die. Two months ago I was at a conference where I set my SE on a tripod and recorded 2.5 straight hours of HD video off the battery and the phone still worked for the rest of the day (although I tried to keep the use at a minimum... messages and checking maps maybe). Dead in 5 hours doesn't sound normal.
Yes. It's VERY common to be harassed by "helpful" people when trying to buy metro passes. Once they see you're buying individual tickets instead of recharging your public transport card they know you're ripe for the taking.
There's LOTS of tourist pickpocketings in Paris and Berlin. The touristic areas of both cities are riddled with young people with clipboards that use some excuse (like taking some poll) to distract you while they rob you. In the Paris Metro there are lots of ingenious ways to get robbed as well, including fake tourists asking for directions, people who throw up on you, people that throw their cell phones at your feet, cell phones stolen through the metro window, etc. I can also attest that there's a problem with mugging in the Amsterdam train terminal station... I was warned and was able to see it. In those three cities there is a HUGE problem with bikes getting stolen as well.
I live in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and think large european cities have a big problem with crime.
You're missing something:
Right now headphones support volume controls and a single button. A digital interface would enable richer controls... either more buttons or touch surfaces that support simple gestures (large cans could act like the touch surface, for instance).
Also: I don't know why they suppose we'd lose anything if the possibility of ripping audio through the headphone jack was lost. This hasn't been an acceptable way to rip audio for more than a decade now.
The audio is now digital, converted to analog, and then sent out through the jack.
It's different with wireless speakers, like bluetooth, because there's an extra step of compression and a wireless transmission protocol that adds some latency.
Also: There's always SOME delay, even with a headphone jack. The circuit that takes video data from memory to screen and the one that takes audio data from memory to the speakers are separate and take some small amount of time. There's no magic to sync them up. Your brain won't notice delays if they're less than some amount (20ms or a bit less).
If Argentina wanted it could ditch the argentine peso and start using dollars... that's what Ecuador did at one point. It doesn't need to go cashless for that. But it's not without consequence... it'd tightly couple Argentina's economy to the US, disabling the possibility of monetary emission and the ability to adjust exchange rates to make its products as cheap and as profitable as possible. It could fall in a similar situation to that of Spain or Greece in the Euro zone without any of the advantages they have for participating.
For a couple of years we've had a 35% tax (actually an advance on future taxes, but it works as a tax for most people) on purchases made through credit cards with foreign currency. That added to the fact that sale of dollars in the official exchange market is heavily restricted... so normal people use three different exchange rates:
- Official Dollar (restricted): currently at ARS 8.95
- Credit Card dollar (+35%): currently at ARS 12
- Black market dollar: currently at ARS 12.65
Add that to heavy restrictions on import of goods.
All these measure were put in place by the government to lessen the outflow of dollars and attempting to balance it with the dollars received through exports.
I *THINK* that the government's understanding is that if the official dollar were high (instead of the "middle class dollar", i.e. credit card and black market) that difference would mostly go in the pockets of exporters... and we know enough not to believe in the trickle down fairy tale.
As a side note: What's "normal" for us argentinians would probably be a crazy ride on the despair train for americans... although considering the whole world americans are the exception and not the norm.
- Political instability: Presidencies are toppled, ministers quit, vultures circle above.
- Social instability: Constant strikes, pickets, rallies and protests of all kinds.
- Credit absolutely dissapears... it's impossible to buy anything in installments, for example. Many businesses stop accepting credit cards. Importers stop selling because they don't know at what price they'll have to buy to replenish their stock. Prices are marked in dollars instead of pesos.
- Everything comes to a standstill... companies don't spend money in any projects, no new jobs open, salaries often get delayed (getting paid 2 or 3 months late is not outside of the realm of possibility) and/or cut.
Right now we're nowhere near that. People are complaining about the way things are, sure, and some things are a struggle... but we're moving ahead at a steady pace.
We don't have wild currency value fluctuations. Go here
http://www.dolarsi.com/cotizac...
That's a graph of conversion rate from 2009 to 2015. You'll see a steady increase with a single devaluatory hike after which the line continues steadly. It's a predictable rate in tune with inflation.
The price of the black market dollar has a bit more fluctuations... but that's the nature of the beast... just like the stock market it responds to news, scares, manipulations and such. Also, there's no official source for the actual price of the black market dollar... it's surveyed in illegal exchange dens... and of course when it soars most people wait for it to go down again, so it readjusts... it normally corrects itself in a week or two at most.
Here's the graph of the black market dollar (blue line) vs the official rate (green line)
http://dolarblue.net/historico...
Also, consider that the black market is mostly used by middle class and small businesses... bigger businesses, importers and other people buying large amounts of dollars use alternate sources which follow more closely the curve of the official rate.
Tax fraud is rampant in Argentina. The government having a tight control on citizens cash flow would mean more taxes... so yes, of course nobody would accept this.
Also, Argentine people distrust banks... LOTS of well educated middle class people I know don't have bank accounts or credit cards and don't want to.
In #2 I state things as I see them... I am not saying it's good or desirable... just the way it's being going.
We've had a yearly 25-30% inflation for some years now. Prices rise steadily, so do salaries, and as long as they're in sync people get by. Business incorporate this percentage in their calculations... in contrast to hyperinflation scenarios where inflation is unpredictable and everything freezes for a while. Buying in installments (with "zero interest") is a big thing in Argentina and for the last years we've been able to buy appliances, clothes or plane tickets in 12 to 24 fixed installments, which talks a lot of the trust banks have that things will continue the same.
Middle class in Argentina DOES NOT invest (exceptions exist, of course). They've been burned by banks before (last time in the 2001 crisis when there were restrictions to take money out of the bank and when deposits in dollars where converted to pesos for a big devaluation of the peso). Middle class in Argentina has two traditional places to put the money:
- Hidden "under the mattress" in dollars
- Buying property
Because of the high price of the dollar and the restrictions to acquire currency these options are only attractive to the higher sector of the middle class... Standard bank accounts don't have an interest rate that helps with the inflation, or anywhere near it, so whatever is left after paying the bills you spend...
Fast, cheap, good: pick two.