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Groups > alt.comp.os.windows-10 > #182568
| From | Newyana2 <newyana@invalid.nospam> |
|---|---|
| Newsgroups | alt.comp.os.windows-10 |
| Subject | Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal |
| Date | 2025-02-26 08:42 -0500 |
| Organization | A noiseless patient Spider |
| Message-ID | <vpn5ln$2j5l7$1@dont-email.me> (permalink) |
| References | <vldnko$104cl$1@dont-email.me> <vleqr5$16l3j$1@dont-email.me> <vlev93$17nfh$1@dont-email.me> |
On 1/5/2025 4:57 PM, Graham J wrote:
>
> How widespread is reliable internet? Particularly in rural areas?
>
> What proportion of the population has a computer and is competent to use
> it?
>
That's a big difference between the US and Europe.
There are lots of areas in the US (maybe 30%) without
cellphone service. Yet urban youngsters have never known
another way to live. Phone companies are simply unwilling
to set up towers in sparsely populated areas. In short, we
have a lot of woods and farmland.
Recently, Elon Musk has been selling satellite Internet.
There's also a new development to get cell access
everywhere through Musk's satellites.
How many people anywhere are competent with computers?
1/3? Less? Young people are increasingly competent with
services on cellphones and games on computers. Is that
competence? Is it competence that young people know
how to cast Spotify to a stereo system and listen to music
non-stop? Or is that the 21st century pacifier? ... I don't
think computers are actually necessary for most people, but
cellphones are increasingly demanded, even for 2FA to get
one's email. The Evangelicals would be crying "Mark of the
Beast!" if they weren't all busy getting Bible quotes on their
cellphones.
Banks are usually not hard to reach in the US. They can
legally loanshark and are required to hold only a small
fraction of the money they loan. As a result, it's not worth it
to them to pay interest on accounts. They can legally lend
money they don't have, then distribute charge cards charging
up to 30% interest. They've also managed to sucker the public
into paying up to 1% of their retirement savings for the service
of managing their investments -- whether the investments
gain or lose! My bank wanted to set me up with such a deal.
I told them I can't afford risks. They suggested that they could
get me into t-bills. They didn't tell me that in a few minutes
online I could have an account to buy t-bills myself. They
were going to take a cut! (T-bills are government loans. Rich
people loan money to the gov't, which serves as a guaranteed
way for the rich to make money even when the stock market
is bad, because the government borrows money as a standard
practice. Banks can print money out of thin air, but the Feds have
to borrow it. On the bright side, anyone can get in on this scam.)
There's a great video on youtube of a 12-year-old explaining
the overall scam of banking. I think she's in Canada:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ae7h8FioX0
Currently there's a record number of people defaulting on credit
card payments in the US. It's a kind of silent Great Depression,
with people accumulating debt from the loanshark industry, typically
paying at least 24% interest. No one even talks about fixing the
problem.
I don't know many people who actually use banks in the sense
of visiting a building. A lot of people use online banking. Many
use services like Venmo. Many use debit cards and charge
cards for virtually everything and have automatic withdrawal
for bills. There's an epidemic of irrational cash fear in the US.
I go to ATMs and use almost exclusively cash, but I'm in the
minority.
When I shop at Whole Foods, often the clerk will turn
away when it comes time to pay. They figure they have 45 seconds
to diddle their cellphone while I use my debit card. Then they're
surprised to turn around and see me holding cash.
The Post Office here is still fairly strong. Every identified area
of a city or town that has its own location code or zip code
has an actual building where mail is handled. That mayy also be
connected with having large rural areas.
I can easily walk
to my bank and to my P.O. I'm in a suburb, not a city downtown.
But I expect people in rural areas may have to drive great
distances. I have a brother in NH, for example, with no
cell coverage, only recently got good Internet, probably drives
25 miles to a bank. But that's common. Nearly everyone has a car.
And people cooperate. The rural way of life is very different from
urban/suburban. If a tree falls across the road in a storm, they
don't complain about the utility companies. In short order, all
the local men are there with their chain saws.
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Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> - 2025-01-05 10:41 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> - 2025-01-05 16:49 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> - 2025-01-05 21:54 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal wasbit <wasbit@nowhere.com> - 2025-01-06 09:35 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> - 2025-01-06 10:55 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2025-01-06 10:05 -0500
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> - 2025-01-06 17:49 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2025-01-06 17:32 -0500
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Daniel70 <daniel47@eternal-september.org> - 2025-02-16 23:52 +1100
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Chris <ithinkiam@gmail.com> - 2025-01-07 00:01 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> - 2025-01-07 08:45 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Chris <ithinkiam@gmail.com> - 2025-01-07 13:57 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> - 2025-01-06 15:14 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal "Alan K." <alan@invalid.com> - 2025-01-05 15:42 -0500
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> - 2025-01-05 21:57 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal "Alan K." <alan@invalid.com> - 2025-01-05 17:22 -0500
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Newyana2 <newyana@invalid.nospam> - 2025-02-26 08:42 -0500
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> - 2025-02-26 14:45 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2025-01-05 22:10 +0100
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2025-01-06 01:46 +0200
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2025-01-05 21:44 -0500
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> - 2025-01-06 08:28 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2025-01-07 16:09 +0200
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Chris <ithinkiam@gmail.com> - 2025-01-06 07:37 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> - 2025-01-06 08:33 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Chris <ithinkiam@gmail.com> - 2025-01-06 18:33 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> - 2025-01-06 19:06 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Chris <ithinkiam@gmail.com> - 2025-01-07 00:11 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> - 2025-01-07 08:55 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Chris <ithinkiam@gmail.com> - 2025-01-07 14:00 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> - 2025-01-07 15:16 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2025-01-07 11:14 -0500
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> - 2025-01-07 18:09 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2025-01-07 15:08 -0500
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Chris <ithinkiam@gmail.com> - 2025-01-08 07:45 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Chris <ithinkiam@gmail.com> - 2025-01-08 08:25 +0000
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Daniel70 <daniel47@eternal-september.org> - 2025-02-26 21:54 +1100
Re: Very OT: UK Post Office and the Horizon Scandal Mark Lloyd <not.email@all.invalid> - 2025-01-07 16:20 +0000
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