The US didn't invent everything ;-)

It's been known about since 2002, when it was found in European banknotes dating back to 1996. It's thought to be a Japanese invention.

http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

London introduced the Oyster card before contactless credit/debit cards existed, and even before the standards for transport cards were completed.

Since some time last year, contactless credit/debit/phone payments have been accepted on the London Underground, trains, buses and trams. There were suggestions in the media that Transport for London wanted to reduce Oyster card use, since it costs them more. I can believe that, with the huge number of adverts encouraging people to use contactless cards.

Some sold-in-Europe cars flash the brake lights under ABS braking, then put on the hazard lights until the driver speeds up again: http://support.volvocars.com/u...

Sure, but they still need a valid PIN, and the retailer can balance the risk against a lost sale.

EasyJet selling a pack of crisps in the air for £8.50 obviously take that risk, a supermarket might choose not to sell a TV. This could be complicated to explain to staff though.

Much more importantly than a vending machine in a cheap hotel, a machine selling metro or train tickets.

My experience in the UK (where I live) is such machines require a PIN even for small amounts (£2), but in Germany it's only required for large amounts.

At a large station and/or in commuting hours there might be a ticket office open, but you can't rely on that.

Card payments can be accepted without power — that's what the raised numbers printed on the card are for!

They can also be done offline (no internet/phone) — I've used my Chip+PIN card on planes, on trains in tunnels, at farmer's markets etc.

They did it as the credit card market is more competitive in the States. Many people have several cards, and the issuers felt that requiring people to remember a PIN would make it less likely that the shopper would choose their card.

I failed my UK driving test on Tuesday.

I reached around 50mph (the speed limit), in heavy traffic on a dual carriageway in London. Had I not reached at least some "reasonable" speed (40mph?) on that road, I would have failed for that reason. I turned left on a roundabout to get onto that road, and turned right at a big (multi-lane) roundabout to get off it (so I had to move over to the "fast" lane for that).

The examiner asked me to do a three-point-turn in the road, he could alternatively have asked me to reverse round a corner or parallel park.

There was a lot of driving round smaller roads, dealing with junctions, mini-roundabouts, cars parked on either side of the road, oncoming buses that need the whole road width, pedestrian crossings, etc.

I was expected to be aware of traffic around me (including behind and beside) at all times.

I failed through repeated "undue hesitation", i.e. yielding for too long when I had a chance to go. (This is partly bad luck, but it's something I'm not that great at. I'm overly cautious.)

However, the test is known to be easier in rural areas (e.g. parts of Scotland), since there's a lot less traffic and complicated junctions.

Before the practical test there's a theory test. You can try a mock one online: http://toptests.co.uk/mock-the... (most UK signs follow international convention, although the US doesn't — remember we drive on the left).

There's also a hazard perception test: http://www.driving-test-succes... — the actual test is 15 driving clips, you are expected to identify "developing hazards" in reasonable time. Apparently many people fail this first time, but I passed easily -- probably because I've been cycling in London for 7+ years.

This seems to be a uniquely American problem. Why do homeless people ride buses all day, and why do people put up with it? (Have the homeless people paid the fare?)

"The UK's Space industry has an annual turnover of around £9billion, employs over 28,000 people and achieves an average annual growth rate of 7.5%."

According to https://www.adsgroup.org.uk/pa...

We have "zoos" with pigs, sheep, cows etc in Britain. They're called city farms, and they exist so children who live in a city can see what their food looks like before it appears in Tesco.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

http://www.timeout.com/london/...

It's correct to use assigned addresses for internal hosts. The point is they're unique — you can set up a tunnel between any two organisations, or merge two networks, and not have to renumber things because both were using 10/8.

The cost to renumber and use their assignment more efficiently would be huge, similar to the cost to move to IPv6 but with little gain.

I used Uber for the first time on Satur^W Sunday morning in London, and although the registration number of the car was correct, the driver wasn't the one pictured. I assumed they were sharing a single car / account.

Is this uncommon?

The scale bar is very useful in unfamiliar countries. Is the next building to my hotel is 2km away, or 200m, or 20m? Can I walk to the beach?

It's much quicker to look at a scale than to ask for directions, especially when I don't know what the destinations are called.

400-600mL.

("3.4oz" is obviously an approximation of 100mL, which is the volume used outside the US.)