The Internet of Things. (That was a link, but I killed it because I strive to avoid links that disable your return button.) Some people haven’t heard of it yet. This is the interconnectivity of everything in the world via the Internet. Right how, around 1% of what’s out there is on-line, but wait five years. Your refrigerator will be connected to your running shoe, so your cola only gets perfectly cooled as you approach your house, saving the electricity keeping it cold all the time. A big part of this system is RFID tags, so that’s another item the club looked into well in advance. And we are barely keeping up. These are the radio frequency id tags you see appearing everywhere. Manufacturers plan to embed 66 billion of these tags into everyday objects over the next six years. The tags are supposed to increase efficiency by monitoring usage. It is only a matter of time before “monitor” becomes synonymous with “control”.
One positive thing about the double standard is that so many people completely understand it. Black and proud? Good for you. White and proud? You’re racist! But my favorite remains older women who live in the fantasy they’ll find romance and their prince will come. But they turn around and hate men who fantasize about younger women. So, I speak out for the double standard. At least the majority are adapted to it.
Here’s an item. In the process of investigating why, six years ago, it took me 19 weeks to cash a check in a foreign currency, I discovered there is no law that requires banks to do this. It is their chicken policy (they don’t like risk), but it was quoted to me as if law. So I queried a branch manager friend of mine how banks process those checks. You can follow that up on your own, because I found out something even interesting.
Only banks are subject to banking laws. The check-cashing stores are regulated differently, though that may change after one of them stole $65 million in Medicare and sent it to Cuba. My focus is baby boomers. If you think living on a social security check is tough, try living on a Canadian pension plan check. However, living on Canadian welfare in Florida is not that tough at all – provided the Canadian government doesn’t know you are here. If Ontario finds out, they cut you off at the knees. So, don’t let them find out.
Around eight million Canadians are due to retire in the next two decades. Assume a tiny percent will be needing a place to cash those foreign money checks without a paper trail leading back to Ottowa. The thinking man could easily undercut local bank fees. I estimate there are 320 such transactions per day in this general area. Those Canadians would flock to a place that let them cash checks for say, $20 each. That’s $6,400 per day. You simple charge a membership fee and a deposit that covers their checks in case of a default, and you are going to get rich. And if any laws get broken, they’d be Canadian.
Slow down, folks. The electronic equipment shown y’day was never intended to give the impression that using it was easy. I studied for over a year. No, it is not a matter of plugging the pieces in and playing robot. For example, the terminal* software used to configure the XBee radio transceivers must be downloaded. Using it requires experience of the right kind. Checking your email on a $2,000 laptop doesn’t qualify. But no, none of this is easy and I said it was.
Happy. I won a bet. It is false that all contracts have to be in writing. That is a misconception of the uneducated. Anyone who passes Business Law 101 learns only certain real estate contracts are required to be written, but I bet there must be others. And I was right. One is called Power of Attorney and if, after you have given it to other party, you subsequently revoke that power, the revocation MUST be in writing. Hmmm, such a letter would prove you are alive, sane, and capable of communication. I won five bucks over it and Trent gets a free coffee.
Myself, thanks to the bakery, I don’t drink much coffee at home any more. Sure, even that luxury will wear off, but I have my Trump-the-Trump breakfast far healthier than bacon and eggs. That’s why I’m drinking tea and watching free movies, in this case, “Escape from Absolom”, which was filmed on the same set as “Waterworld”. Get your own links today, I’m tired. (The movie was also released as “No Escape”)
Next, I need one of those old yellow car headlight lenses to experiment on. You know that $30 lens cleaner that doesn’t work. I tried something of my own on the scooter, and a month later it is still crystal clear, albeit with a slight yellow tinge. But even the tinge is clear. If it stays that way, I may just have something for $15. It hit me one day, one does not need to get rid of the color, just make the color clear again, and behold, I was able to repurpose an “art supply” that does just that.
*Terminal software is probably something you’ve never used. That’s all there was back when I started. First, before you download, make sure you live in a country where such software is legal. Most countries that prohibit encryption have also outlawed terminal software. I won’t go into detail, but a skilled operator can emulate any computer, including the private, secure one you think you are using right now.
Even where legal, terminal software is usually rigged to time out rapidly. It could be tricked by a very clever programmer and a room full of computers where only one is emulating at a time, but nobody is smart enough to set up something like that, not even Patsie, don’t you agree?
Voyage of the Beagle – C. Darwin
Gone With The Wind – M. Mitchell
Foundation Trilogy – I. Asimov
Memoirs of Georgi Zhukov – G. Zhukov
Nope, four’s all I can come up with.
