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Comment Moto 360 (Score 1) 97

If the Moto 360 is halfway as capable and slick-looking as has been shown thus far, any iWatch is going to have trouble keeping up.

The 360 is the first smart watch that I would not be embarrassed wearing at a client meeting or in the boardroom. With the full OLED screen, customize-able bands (metallic and non-metalic, black, silver, colored...), Moto has a winner with this product.

Comment Re:Credit Card Features and Rewards (Score 1) 455

I already replied to this above

- If you get 1% back in points on your CC, that means a 0.5% interchange fee for merchants, tops, due to point writeoffs.

- If you think that lowering interchange fees by 0.5% will result in 0.5% lower prices at the till on average across the industry, and not just more profit swallowed on average, I have a bridge to sell you.

Comment Re:Credit Card Features and Rewards (Score 1) 455

That is not how insurance or any of these points systems work. They are value-shifted based on the idea that only a small percentage of insurance is cashed, that a lot of points go unredeemed, etc. IE, your 1% cash back would turn into 0.5% reduction in interchange fees saved.

Furthermore, do you HONESTLY expect Walmart to reduce all your prices by 0.5% if their interchange fees go down by 0.5%? If you do then I have a nice bridge for sale.

Comment Re:I admire their spunk, but... (Score 1) 275

You are touching on some very, very good points on inflation, and why comp-sci majors should learn more about economics before going all balls-out making a new currency.

The whole idea that BTC can't inflate past a certain point is why it is guaranteed to fail. Fiat currency and inflation **is not bad**, it is in fact good for many reasons when it is under control. You outline one of those reasons above - inflation encourages people to spend money, thus keeping the economy alive. Another reason inflation and fiat currency is required is because the GDP of the planet is not some static sum. Every day the earth spins around, there is another day of work that needs to be quantified. The currency that quantifies that day of work has to come from somewhere. Where does it come from when you can't make more currency? You need to devalue all other existing currency. How do you do this without inflation?

Comment There is a case (Score 1, Insightful) 72

There is a case to be made for taxi regulation. It protects passengers, which is really the main reason taxi regulation exists. In order to fund that regulation, they allow companies artificial monopolies.

The last thing you want is a totally unregulated taxi industry. There is a reason these kinds of things became regulated in the first place.

Comment Re:Banks are responsible too (Score 3) 87

The banks ARE making moves here.

All card terminals in the US need to accept chip & PIN by 2015 because the banks will be mandating it. It's coming like a tidal wave and US retailers are turning a blind eye, hopefully the banks and Visa/MC hold steadfast in the requirement.

It should be embarrassing to the USA that every single other OECD nation on the planet switched to Chip & PIN 5-10 years ago. The USA does not always HAVE to be different. Sometimes going with the flow is the more intelligent choice.

Comment Waitstaff (Score 1) 870

I agree somewhat with janitors and even fast food. But the idea that waitstaff are vulnerable to automation is a bit ridiculous. The whole reason people go out to a restaurant with waitstaff has little to do with the food and everything to do with the experience of being waited on. Having some kind of robot you place orders on turns that restaurant into yet another fast food joint.

Comment How is this news... (Score 1) 320

Honestly anyone with half a clue has known the NSA has been doing this FOR YEARS.

In fact I saw a great documentary on the subject in 1998

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E...

( I am actually serious... who in the western world did not already know the NSA had these capabilities? The surprising thing to me would have been if it came out that they DID NOT have them - at which point I would wonder what they were doing with their billions of dollars ).

Comment Re:Someone please explain (Score 1) 240

"Looks like shit" is subjective. Personally I feel like Chrome "looks like shit" on Linux compared to Windows and Mac OSX where it has a consistent look. I am looking very much forward to this move. Like many nowadays I live in the browser and spend 95% of my time there. The more it is consistent across platforms the better. It doesn't matter nearly as much that my browser on Linux looks like my Eclipse as it does that my browser on Linux looks and behaves like my browser on Android or Windows or Mac.

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