Interesting Links for 31-05-2013

[andrewducker]

• Why DIY fecal transplants are a thing (and the FDA is only part of the reason)
  (tags: faeces healthcare )
• Q &A: Benefits for European immigrants explained
  (tags: uk europe welfare )
• The Only Thing Amazon Has to Fear Is Amazon Itself
  (tags: business amazon )
• Tyrion and the Hound - Super cute edition
  (tags: dogs viaDCM cute PeterDinklage

Comments

[kmusser]

On the obsolete technology - a bunch of those are only obsolete if you have access to a wireless network and the U.S. is a large country. There are wide swaths that aren't connected yet, it's why I still have a landline - I often can't get a mobile connection at home.

[threegoldfish]

Exactly. Hell, I live in a fairly close suburb of DC and I can't get decent cell reception at my house. I know someone who lives probably not an hour from me who simply cannot get high speed internet and she's between to major cities. And you know, when an emergency strikes, landlines tend to work when the cell towers are overwhelmed. Just two summers ago the cell towers were overwhelmed because of freakouts about a minor earthquake and given local inertia, I highly doubt they'll perform any better now.

That whole article read very snide and rich city kid to me.

[notlosers]

Not mentioned in "12 obsolete technologies": cheques. Oh my god, the cheques.

Think you should just be able to transfer money between two bank accounts, instantly, or even with a couple of days' wait, like you can in Europe? Think again. When you initiate a bank transfer, the bank prints out a fucking cheque and sticks it in the fucking mail, and then you've got to trust that the USPS will deliver it on time. Which it does sometimes; sometimes it doesn't.

People pay with cheques in supermarkets - and everywhere else - all the time. It makes zero sense, and drives me bananas.

That is all.

[andrewducker]

Oh yes. Was discussing this in work the other day. Of the eight people in the discussion, none had used a cheque book in years, and 5 had no idea where their cheque books ever were...

[danieldwilliam]

Attempts to phase cheques out in the UK were postponed.

I think until more people die.

Had the proposals gone ahead I think they were to have been phased out this year.

[andrewducker]

I think waiting for a few more people to die is a good approach. There's still too many people who don't use online banking, and it's still too complex.

Once we get a system whereby I can send money to your email address, then it'll be simple enough to move over from cheque books...