Big big trouble. The world depends on the internet now. The new Werner Herzog doc is about that, what would happen if the internet died. Last big New York blackout there wasn't even a functioning radio station on the air. When the net goes down everything is going down. Bank machines, emergency 911 operators, utilities. The internet wasn't designed to be the backbone of all society. All the things that worked fine before the internet, like your phone, now are totally linked to the internet.
I know a few drug dealers who take electronic email bank transfers now.
Spot on.
To make matter worse nearly all modern electronics are very sensitive to high EMF: car sensors, computers, security systems, etc., etc. Usual activity by the sun could destroy - disrupt most of our present electronics technology. I'm talking about a catastrophe of much larger magnitude than just having the internet going out. Only the military has some rad hardened electronics that is likely to survive in a high EMF environment.
I was making you aware of the effects of a local blackout only that I experienced, as mentioned.
It could bring us to a bloody screeching halt.
The internet was designed for a few thousand institutions to talk to each other. It has not been redesigned for the millions (billions) now using it. Things like streaming video and cloud services only add to the strain. It is utterly useless to you personally if your details are distributed on 200 servers round the world if your local internet is down and you have no personal transport. I repeat, the internet up our valley has been out for something like 12 weeks out of the last six months - how would the businesses further up the valley survive if they couldn't take cash or cheques?
I use cash a lot and I have to send off a cheque on Monday.Well, it's 2018 and me and Mr Zebra still use cash a lot, and we also regularly write cheques. We do not use online banking and do not transfer money via phone apps.
We're happy the way we are.
I think I read that most of mainland Europe was affected. Shops probably didn't realise it was just Visa, so had signs up saying "cash only" (it would seem that MasterCard had no such issues).
Very good point, and I'm sure it won't be the last incident of that kind.
Oh definitely; there seems to be an overarching faith in a digital world with little understanding of how easily it could all go belly-up.
What the heck?!
That shouldn't happen, surely? What if the other contactless card was for an account that had just enough money in for paying a direct debit, or something, and this unexpected payment meant there wasn't enough? )
That's why you need RFID safe wallets these days. It also protect you from wireless skimmers.
The very existence of these things is proof that a bank’s idea of secure technology is unfit for purpose.
Yes, this is an example of why cash is king!
I think this often gets overlooked by those who see technology as something utopian - a cashless society would heavily discriminate against poor and marginalised people. I'd like to think that's something that's been overlooked by people with big ideas and not enough time spent considering the implications, though the conspiracy-minded in me would suggest that perhaps it's intentional.
What?.. How far away from the reader d'you reckon the [wrong] card which made the payment was? I thought you had to swipe it really close. It'd be interesting to know over what distance they can work..
Neither does my wife and I....we rarely use any electronic systems that shuffle money around.....we do have credit cards of course ...but don't bank online or use smart phone apps like those. We mostly use cash when possible.Well, it's 2018 and me and Mr Zebra still use cash a lot, and we also regularly write cheques. We do not use online banking and do not transfer money via phone apps.
We're happy the way we are.
You're living in the 'savvy' age.
I estimate my wallet was about 10 cms from the contact point. This has been a known issue since 2015. (M&S coming in for some crticism then) The banks, of course, say 2-5 cms but outside engineers have hacked cards from further away.