Mobile app for this forum?

[cbmeeks]

whartung wrote:

Cash is almost impossible to use. Lunch for 2 can easily hit $25-$30, and NOBODY takes $100 bills any more, since that currency has been almost completely corrupted, despite our best efforts. I'd have to walk around with a mobsters roll in my pocket just to eat, or just move in next to an ATM.

The only time cash is frustrating for my wife and I are when we buy gas. So we use our debit card for that.
We also enjoy the "Dave Ramsey" system of envelopes. I admit we've slipped up a few times recently, but we found using the envelope system works out REALLY well. It just takes self control. But when you put $X in for eating out, and the envelope is empty...you have to be prepared to COOK! Which is something many people can't handle.

[whartung]

I got burned by a Department Store credit card back in the day. "Sign up, get XX% off!" "What the heck" I said, since I was spending $200.

I was spending $200 because I kept getting fliers for the store from the previous residents of the apartment. Marketing works, something caught my eye, and off I went.

Pretty much immediately after that, all of those fliers dried up. Then I didn't hear anything from anyone for 4 months. By then, it was a collection agency. I lived on "8th" street, they recorded it as "Ace" street and "that was that". So, in the end, that didn't work out. So I don't do those any more.

The point is simply that with a credit card, when the money is in dispute (for whatever reason), it's the banks money that's in dispute, not mine. With a debit card, it's the other way around. If someone steals my credit card and racks up $400, I still have $400 in my bank account until the claim is settled. With a debit card, it's not. Once settled, they will give it back. In the interim, I'm out $400. That's pretty sucky when that's your gas and grocery money, even for a day or two. Chargebacks can take even longer to resolve (but ideally have less impact, since you planned to spend that money anyway).

Banks are very good advocates for the consumer when it comes to fraud, and things work out eventually. But it's during that dispute phase that it matters. (There's also these odd shenanigans about different places that put "holds" or something on debit cards, to cover potential overages and what not -- I've only heard about them tangentially, as I've never encountered them).

Consumer credit can certainly be abused, but it's also a great tool when used responsibly.

[Tor]

whartung wrote:

(There's also these odd shenanigans about different places that put "holds" or something on debit cards, to cover potential overages and what not -- I've only heard about them tangentially, as I've never encountered them).

Some (but not all) hotels do that. That would be bad for a debit card I think.

[cbmeeks]

I saw a show recently that basically said that much of the fraud/theft of credit cards, debit cards, bank accounts, etc. almost never gets returned to the bank.

For example, if someone steals your card (CC, bank, debit, etc.) and charges $200, you get that $200 back. But the bank almost never gets it from the thief. In fact, it's mostly a write off. Just the cost of doing business. Of course we all pay for that in fees. The stuff we buy costs more because of it too (merchant fees). In fact, according to the show, banks don't take security seriously anywhere near as much as people think. Sure we have chips now but it's amazingly simple to get a CC, charge a bunch of stuff and never pay. Eventually a collection agency may find you. Most people aren't criminal masterminds. But there are literally tens of thousands of professional thieves stealing from the banks every day and we all pay the price.

When credit card companies offer credit cards to dead people and dogs, it's no wonder they loose so much money. Then again, technically, they aren't loosing any at all.

[BigDumbDinosaur]

Tor wrote:

whartung wrote:

(There's also these odd shenanigans about different places that put "holds" or something on debit cards, to cover potential overages and what not -- I've only heard about them tangentially, as I've never encountered them).

Some (but not all) hotels do that. That would be bad for a debit card I think.

Here in the USA, a lot of gas stations do that. I'm not sure why, since one usually uses his card to activate the pump to purchase fuel.

[Chromatix]

Placing the hold is what activates the pump in the first place. The hold is supposed to be replaced by the actual purchase on the second swipe, but procedures are a bit sloppy in practice.

[kazzie]

Chromatix wrote:

Placing the hold is what activates the pump in the first place. The hold is supposed to be replaced by the actual purchase on the second swipe, but procedures are a bit sloppy in practice.

Second swipe, eh? In the UK, paying for fuel by pre-authorised debit/credit card instead of going to the kiosk afterwards (known as "pay at pump") only became prevalent after chip & pin payment supplanted the use of the magnetic stripe a decade ago. In our use case you pull up, insert your card, enter your pin, a hold of a notional amount is placed (to verify the card is valid and has some funds) then after you finish filling the hold is automatically replaced with the final bill.* So how exactly does the routine work over there?


*One supermarket/filling station got some bad press after trialing a hold on the maximum transaction value instead, but some banks were slow in releasing the hold, and customers took to social media to complain at the high values being "taken then later refunded" by the supermarket. They've gone back to a minimum hold value again.

[jac_goudsmit]

barrym95838 wrote:

I just heard an outrageous claim that there are approximately 400 million cell phones in the USA. I sometimes wonder if I'm the only free individual in a thousand mile radius who doesn't own and has never owned and has no immediate plans to own a cell phone.

Mike B.

I think smartphones are incredibly useful. I use mine as calculator, flashlight, photo and video camera, notepad (my phone comes with a stylus), grocery list, and navigation tool. Sometimes I even use it to (gasp) make phone calls!

===Jac

[whartung]

jac_goudsmit wrote:

Sometimes I even use it to (gasp) make phone calls!

Wait, what? You can make phone calls? Will wonders never cease!

[GARTHWILSON]

It reminds me of a comedy record (remember those?) that was out when I was perhaps in junior high.  This man was supposedly interviewing a bunch of teenagers, and asked one of them, "What do you think about all these kids going to the drive-in movie just to make out in the car instead of watch the movie?" and the kid responds, "Oh, they show movies there?"

Since we seem to be done covering the original subject matter— There's no debate that smartphones can do a bazillion things.  I prefer to go without, on philosophical grounds (I don't like what they've done to society), and I'm also looking to avoid the radiation, based on loads of studies showing the long-term health risks, done by parties that have no financial stake in the matter.  All the "studies" trying to prove they're ok are funded by the cell-phone industry and they have their conclusions before the studies are even done.  Watch approximately 2½ minutes or so of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOSbSurf6DU&t=3m32s regarding the deceit.

For much more in-depth presentations regarding health studies' results, see:

• Dr. Erica Mallery-Blythe - Electromagnetic Radiation, Health and Children 2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... NFdZVeXw7M
• A Warning For All Parents Backed By Science: What WiFi, Cell Phones & More Are Really Doing To Our Health:  https://www.collective-evolution.com/20 ... s-is-real/
• Dr. Maret, MD - UNSAFE Cell Phone and Wireless Standards for Children:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFHnouzKyU0
• Article: The cell phone radiation-induced cancer time bomb is about to explode:  https://www.newstarget.com/2016-07-22-t ... plode.html
• Trower: Dangers and Lethality of Microwave Technology (2010):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLWRdkxKXiw
• several short videos on the same subject:  https://www.jolietalks.com/
• Health Concerns from Wi-Fi In Schools FOX 5 News Featuring EHT's Cell Phone Absorption Research (just a few minutes):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk17yuFwy7M&t=2m48s
• Wi-fi OFF Switches Installed In Finnish School To Reduce Wireless Radiation Exposure to Children (article):  https://ehtrust.org/wi-fi-off-switches- ... -children/
• NEW Urgent Warning to All Cell Phone Users (article, with videos):  https://articles.mercola.com/sites/arti ... -tips.aspx

I have watched of read all of these and more.  I have spent thousands of hours studying matters of long-term health.  The radiation does not have to be ionizing to cause the DNA damage.

I also don't like that smartphones only last two or three years before portions begin failing.  (That's the experience of my wife and son who have had a half-dozen of them.)  I still use my 32-year-old HP-41cx calculator every day for some of the same functions, except it cannot communicate on the phone networks (unless you connect a dial-up modem) or internet.  A couple of programs I use regularly have been in it continuously, without ever reloading, for over 25 years.  Try that with a smartphone.  I don't have to plug it in every night.  In fact, I go months at a time without even thinking about batteries.  The HP-41cx is my clock, alarm clock, stopwatch, daytimer to remind me of things coming up (based on date), keeps track of hours I work on various accounts, it's my programmable calculator, keeps phone numbers, and notes (although the slowness of its text editor limit the usefulness of writing notes with it).  It can also control test equipment on the workbench and take data, many pieces of lab equipment at once (although I have not used it for that in years).  I use a land-line phone, a wired PC internet connection, and I have a digital camera (which also does video) and a personal voice recorder.  Usually I don't need these when I go out, so I don't usually carry them.  My laptop with the wireless connection doesn't get much use, and my tiny, cheap cell phone (which I got for emergencies only) goes months at a time without even getting the battery put in it.

[and3rson]

Just found this post while looking for solution to the same mobile problem: browsing this forum on mobile is pain.

Here's an attachment of me trying to type this message:

Unfortunately, my sight is not as sharp as it used to be, so I find myself zooming in and out all the time. Reading large posts with lots of text is also a frustrating experience, since the text doesn't fit on the screen when zoomed in.

I tried Tapatalk - 6502.org is not listed there, possible due to PHPBB2 being really old.

I do use my mobile for almost all work-related communication: work chat, reading & replying to emails, code reviews.
I only use my laptop when I have to write actual code or do diagramming. As for 6502 forums, I spend 50% of time reading it from my mobile.

I tried writing my own mobile plugin that adds responsive CSS to this site for one of the browsers, but it proved to be too time-consuming, so I ditched the idea.

P. S. Sorry for any typos - by the time I finish writing thisvpost, my eyes will be too tired to do another proofread over this tiny text.

[akohlbecker]

I'm regularly using my phone to browse the forum, with Firefox on iOS. It's a bearable experience, but yeah the text is tiny.

One super annoying thing, though, is I keep getting logged out, presumably as I move across cell towers and my IP changes?

[BigEd]

When I use mobile for this forum, I'll often turn it sideways and then zoom to fit the width of the right hand panels. (It's still not ideal, but I'm not complaining.)

[plasmo]

I use a tablet (iPad) for reading forums 90% of the time. 6502.org works flawlessly on iPad.
Bill

[Broti]

The worst part of using this (or any) forum on mobile is that damn autocorrection.
It always tries to "correct" my English texts to German.