In most ATMs it is stored in sealed, tamper-proof trays which have a security mechanism that the ATM allows to dispense. When the ATMs are stocked, the courier company simply exchanges cassettes. There are no wrapped stacks of cash visible. So essentially what happens is, the ATM is initially loaded with x amount of cash. When the level drops below a certain level, the courier is dispatched to refill the ATM. They go exchange the cassettes and the pulled cassettes are taken to a secure location where the remaining cash is counted and the totals reconciled with what the ATM says it dispensed. If the totals don't match, they WILL find out why via surveillance tapes and security seals. The secure part of the ATM where the cash is built inside a safe which is alarmed and actively monitored. That is why you see reports of ATM theft. You're less likely to get caught if you steal the entire ATM and take it to a location where you have time and privacy to force entry. Historical fact - before the ATMs moved to Windows XP, nearly all of them ran on OS/2, as recently as 2004.

Buy.com should buy buy.buy from Amazon.

^^ This. Truer words were never spoken.

The fact that you can't ever work for IBM again is a feature, not a detractor. I spent 11 years there, 5 good ones and 6 bad ones. They're circling the drain anyway. I don't hold out much hope for them - once they finish their 2015 roadmap and hit their $20 EPS target, there will be nothing left but a shell.

It's certainly not limited to Oregon, it's a politics thing at all levels of federal, state and local government. Correlation != causation. Many political shysters continue to be (re-)elected regardless of their poor performance or qualifications.

I'd mod this up if I had points, this is the most underrated post I've ever seen. Been trying for years to figure out a way to say this with a degree of eloquence and you've done a great job.

Most banks have gotten to the point that they only offer free checking if you use direct deposit. If you deal mostly in cash or work for a small company that cuts paper payroll checks, you're not left with a lot of free options.

It's the same as all my others. *************

This. Trackpads are for novices. Trackpoint is so exact, fast and close that you can work circles around people performing the same tasks and using a trackpad.

Ditto. A thousand times this.

This. A thousand times this. Since the mere passage of Obamacare without any actual introduction of features aside from kids on parents insurance through age 26, premiums have risen annually by double digit percentages, co-pays and prescription drug costs continue to rise while pay remains stagnant and all this happened when the risk pool should be better by having more (presumably young, healthy) people insured. I doubt you'll find anyone arguing against healthcare reform, but this is not the solution. The solution needs to be hammered out in the open instead of a fly-by-night bill that had to be passed before anyone could figure out what was in it.

This. I want to know who these people are that supposedly prefer Bing over Google. They must all live in Redmond.

True, and as a Sprint customer, that means exactly jack shit. I have 3 phones on a family plan with unlimited data. The price would be fantastic IF we could get data to flow. 3G speed? Fail. 4G WIMAX (our phones are all WiMax models)? Fail. 4G LTE? According to the comments on this same article on the Houston Chronicle website today, FAIL. We started on Sprint when we were all on a family plan, thinking when the contract is up we're gonna have to cough up some cash and go back to blue or red, 'cause yellow isn't cutting it. It wouldn't matter if Sprint was GIVING unlimited data away, it's practically unusable.

^^ THIS.... I'll need to enter this in our TLA library. You'll hear it again one of these days.

... is new again. I've been centralized and decentralized multiple times. I swear, some people make a good living pushing the beans back and forth across the table and declaring victory. There will always be economies of scale for centralization of shared services and there will always be techies with some level of intimacy with the business to support their applications and communicate requirements. The fact that self-service IT continues to grow simply reinforces the need for champions/advocates at the business level that help requesters pick and choose their products from a service catalog. At the end of the day, Joe User couldn't care less where his services reside.