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ookware

157 karma · joined April 12, 2008

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ookware··on “Click to subscribe, call to cancel” is illegal, FTC says
Not OP but also from the UK. Whilst a 10 minute hold time isn't too unusual for large companies, especially if you call at a busy time like midday when everyone takes a lunch break, anything over 20 minutes would certainly warrant complaining about to anyone unfortunate enough to ask how your day is going.

A big selling point for companies for a while was quick answering of calls. My bank has genuinely answered faster than 999 (our 911 equivalent) on occasion. Although during COVID hold times have gone up dramatically for some reason.

ookware··on Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards
Because our government would appear to work more for the banks than the public
ookware··on “Click to subscribe, call to cancel” is illegal, FTC says
When I had an account with Beer52 I them and said, effectively, "This is my notice to cancel and the main motivation to cancel is because of anti-consumer behaviour like having to call to cancel. I do not authorise any further payments and any payments you do take will be subject to a dispute with my credit card company".

To their credit they did send me a reply saying my account had been cancelled and I never spoke to anyone on the phone.

ookware··on Interview with Charlie Munger on Controversial UCSB Dorm
This is ridiculous. In the UK it is accepted that all students get their own room, although they usually share facilities like bathrooms and kitchens etc. And they all have windows.

It is very different having a two week cruise, or working 9-5 in an office, but to have a windowless room as your only private space for 3 years+ is unhealthy and unfair on a segment of the community who get very little say in their living arrangements in any case.

This is a 98 year old man who thinks he is special because he is rich, and therefore everything he turns his hand to will be the best and damn those who disagree.

ookware··on Downsides to planting trillions of trees
Thank you for giving me a plan on where to visit for the upcoming weekends, it looks like a brilliant way of restoring nature.
ookware··on Ad block shouldn't break your checkout
Considering it has been reported that over half of potential customers will abandon a purchase if a page takes over 3 seconds to load, failing to load at all suggests you'll likely get similar - if not higher - losses

https://www.vouchercloud.com/resources/consumer-psychology-t...

ookware··on Ad block shouldn't break your checkout
That's great, but all of that tracking is pointless if I can't actually complete the sale
ookware··on Intent to issue €2.5M fine to Disqus over GDPR breaches
Norway, whilst not in the EU, has very close links and often aligns with EU laws.

Incidentally, the UK has now left the EU but has retained the GDPR in domestic law.

ookware··on In 2020, two thirds of Google searches ended without a click
The day they turn off old reddit and stop third party API access is the day I can finally detox myself from reddit.
ookware··on U.S. citizens no longer have access to most of the world
I'm not going to argue with most of that list but Vietnam is absolutely a growing tourist destination, with over 18 million international visitors in 2019[1] and nearly beating India in 2018[2].

It is particularly popular with Chinese visitors lately but also historically with the "Gap Year" backpackers from Europe who travel around Asia.

Incidentally it is a beautiful and incredibly friendly country and I highly recommend it.

[1] http7 s://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Vietnam#Tourism_statistics

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tourism_rankings

ookware··on Zoom Earth: Website lets you look at live satellite photos of earths surface
Not something in your own house just yet but how about this: https://informal.jpl.nasa.gov/museum/CP4SMP/dynamic-globe
ookware··on The U.S.'s $13B aircraft carrier has a toilet problem
I know right. A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money.
ookware··on A Test of Police Body Cameras Defies Expectations
Today my officers spent hours talking to a victim of rape, looking after her children and dealing with the aftermath.

I'm sure she'd love that on YouTube for all to see.

ookware··on Gas Pump Skimmers
My understanding from working in a bank in the UK is that it is the shop's discretion to use signature instead of PIN with Chip & Pin however the bank does not refund/guarantee fraudulant signature transactions like it would a PIN code.
ookware··on If you opened your PayPal account before you were 18, close it
Contact the FCA in any case, I used to work for a bank and believe they charge the organisation per complaint whether upheld or not so can cost them time and money.

Edited to correct to FCA - https://www.fca.org.uk/

ookware··on Moonpig.com Vulnerability – Exposes customer data
I've also sent customer services an email demanding an explanation and the closure of my account and deletion of personal data if true and sent an email to the ICO.

In reality I don't hold out much hope but fingers crossed we can get some pressure behind this and force companies to take security seriously, especially when the vulnerability is responsibly reported as this seems to have been originally.

ookware··on Uber ordered to halt transportation services in Germany
It is not banned, they are being told to ensure they meet the minimum legal requirements such as car safety and driver safety checks.
ookware··on Is it OK to hold credit card numbers in cookies, Santander?
I don't know if you saw Bank of Dave [1] but it showed how difficult it is to start a new bank in the UK, even if you are going to be run responsibly and in a small way.

I find it difficult to imagine someone new entering this market place, other than "people" like Virgin and Tesco with deep pockets to back them.

[1a] http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2012/j...

[1b] http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2ba372d4-d80b-11e1-80a8-00144feabd...

[1c] http://www.burnleysavingsandloans.co.uk/about-us/

ookware··on Ask HN: Do you use no-reply[at]startup.com?
Excellent, thanks!
ookware··on Is it OK to hold credit card numbers in cookies, Santander?
I believe NatWest and Halifax must do the same as they both ask you to "input characters x, y and z from your password" which I don't see how they could do without needing plain text storage. Of course I await being told how I am wrong with this!
ookware··on Is it OK to hold credit card numbers in cookies, Santander?
I must admit I haven't personally used them so I can't comment on either of those things, but from a purely ethical point of view you are not going to get much better from a leading bank.
ookware··on Ask HN: Do you use no-reply[at]startup.com?
This was my thoughts. As a customer it feels like you don't care about me and just want to, usually, advertise your new services to me.

Even if the email reply went to a "call centre" of some description I think it would present a better image than "we don't care about what you think, just give us money".

ookware··on Is it OK to hold credit card numbers in cookies, Santander?
And submit it to news outlets. I've emailed BBC News and suggest others do the same to other outlets.
ookware··on Is it OK to hold credit card numbers in cookies, Santander?
What about The Co-Operative Bank?

http://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/servlet/Satellite/11932063...

ookware··on New BBC chief vows to re-invent content, not just re-purpose it
The trouble is the population of the UK is a vast spectrum of tastes and they all pay their licence fee. If they don't feel like their getting their moneys worth then they won't pay and the BBC will be shut down as it won't be able to afford to carry on running and you lose everything.
ookware··on [dead]
It seems odd that on HN of all places sceptism would be shown as to why someone would want to delete their account when other sites such as Facebook or Reddit get criticised or congratulated on the users ability to control their account. There are a variety of reasons why a user would want to delete their account and a good web service should allow them to

Edit: spelling, damn "smart"phones!

ookware··on The Slashdot Effect from the Other Side
Honourable cyber squatting? What is the world coming to?
ookware··on Attention metal thieves: Buy BT, get 75 million miles of copper
Sign this petition to help fight this stupidty

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/406