🙅 THE BAD IDEAS THREAD
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So... Google and Wikipedia are porn sites by that definition.
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Wikipedia, yes. Google, no, because it doesn't host anything, and the individual sites it links to should have their own age verification; although I can see them making the case to force Google to implement age verification before you're allowed to turn off Safe Search for images.
Even Wikipedia could just implement a YouTube-like "mature content" flag which age-restricts certain pages while allowing anyone to browse the non-restricted pages.
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Google, no, because it doesn't host anything
Google hosts thumbnails on image search.
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Caching thumbnails is not really the same as hosting, but a good lawyer could argue that either way.
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This is more like "dumb 'science' article" than "bad idea", but still:
First the article says this process can produce 10W/m^2, with smartphones needing about 2W. Later it quotes someone as saying you could produce 20W per person, implying shoes are one M^2, off by a factor of about 40.
It'd be great for short people, though, because it looks like they'll add about an inch to shoe height. To me, the picture doesn't really match the description, either, but whatever.
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So banks are required to do age-checking? Sounds like an awesome idea.
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My understanding is that banks already do the age checks because of credit laws. So by the fact you have a credit card, you are proving that you are over 18. In theory. It must kinda work as I have seen online stores selling knives refuse to accept debit cards and only accept credit cards as a kind of age check.
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... how do you even tell the difference? My debit card looks literally identical to my Dad's credit card from the same bank. The only way you'd know is if you swiped it and chose "Debit" and it rejected the transaction. (The other way 'round would work.)
It's not like there's a big badge saying, "THIS IS A CREDIT CARD". It just has a VISA logo. Exactly like the one on my debit card.
EDIT: Just looked to verify my sanity, and I see that Bank of America at least now literally prints the word "DEBIT" on the card in the lower right. Hahaha. So there is a way to tell, I guess. Still a really shitty way to validate someone's age. A kid never got ahold of his dad's credit card before!
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I believe the long number can be used to identify it as debit or credit as well. I know it can definitely ID it as Visa/Mastercard/Amex/whatever the fuck, and I think it will even ID your bank...
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My understanding is that banks already do the age checks because of credit laws. So by the fact you have a credit card, you are proving that you are over 18. In theory. It must kinda work as I have seen online stores selling knives refuse to accept debit cards and only accept credit cards as a kind of age check.
There's no prohibition on minors having credit cards, so long as the parent accepts responsibility for the bills.
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Ah, I hadn't checked if that was the case, just assumed it was. It looks like for it to be legal in the UK, you need a parent/guardian to act as guarantor. It is pretty unusual though by my understanding so most people probably don't know about it. Good thing this is in the bad ideas thread!
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First the article says this process can produce 10W/m^2, with smartphones needing about 2W. Later it quotes someone as saying you could produce 20W per person, implying shoes are one M^2
two flat plates separated by a small reservoir of conductive liquid
Gosh, that sounds familiar. Replace the conductive liquid with something non-conductive, and you have...
two thin parallel conductive plates separated by a dielectric
And in both of them, we want a very large surface area. So how could we possibly fit a large surface area into a small device?~
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Mine says "Visa" and "Debit Card." I also believe there are other ways of determining whether or not it's debit run as credit or just a credit card, like information on the card's magstripe, the numbers that the card starts with (the "BIN"), etc. There's a trillion and one ways to differentiate, but it's uncommon in practice.
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And in both of them, we want a very large surface area. So how could we possibly fit a large surface area into a small device?~
Meh. That would actually make sense--maybe--but it certainly didn't come through in the article, which you are welcome to read if you haven't.
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I did read the article, and lifted the first quote directly from it, and posted it for comparison next to a similar quote from the Wikipedia article for "Capacitor".
'Tis true, the article didn't go into detail, but it's written for people who wouldn't necessarily even know what a watt is, other than that it's used to describe electrical stuff like light bulbs. Case in point: this dude, who actually thinks he knows what he's talking about...
Watts are units of energy per time, and no, "10 watts per kilometer walked" does not make sense, at least not like he thinks it does.
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lifted the first quote directly from it
Ok, ok, fine, I guess the talk of bubbling media made me not think of capacitors until you mentioned them. Plus, go back and look at that picture again--I see two things that look like itty bitty lightsabers or sonic screwdrivers, not a flat plate, which is what I got an impression of from the article.
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US Marshals arresting people for not paying their federal student loans
http://www.fox26houston.com/news/local-news/92232732-storyPaul Aker says he was arrested at his home last week for a $1500 federal student loan he received in 1987.
He says seven deputy US Marshals showed up at his home with guns and took him to federal court where he had to sign a payment plan for the 29-year-old school loan.
Is it me or does that sound like the plot of a pirate or superhero-type movie?
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So they didn't pay a debt that is damn near unforgivable and are surprised when they get caught for it? I mean the pay to the marshals was probably higher than the debt, but they were getting paid anyway right?
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I can't seem to find the actual bill online though. Either way this is useless puritanical rubbish.
Nah, you can tell that this will work really well by how all US sites warn you about how they use cookies.
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So they didn't pay a debt that is damn near unforgivable and are surprised when they get caught for it? I mean the pay to the marshals was probably higher than the debt, but they were getting paid anyway right?
Here's the thing--they don't go after people like this. If you get far enough behind, they just get a court order (which is basically a rubber-stamp process) and garnish your wages. If you don't have a job, historically they just ignore you until you do get one. They'll also seize your tax refund; I'm frankly surprised they didn't do this with this guy--after 18 years, and only $1500, I would've expected them to have already done it (At this point, the $1500 is probably more like $5-6000 or even more with interest and penalties). It's possible he job-hopped to keep ahead of the collection agencies; I've heard you can do that but I have no idea if it's just an urban legend or not.
Interestingly enough, student loan debt is basically wage slavery--you cannot discharge it in bankruptcy[1], and as I mentioned, the IRS will seize your tax refund. If you get SSI or disability, they will garnish that or your wages first. I bet there's more to this story.
[1] the exceptions are very narrowly tailored.
ETA: I assume your use of the phrase "damn near unforgivable" means you know some of this already, but others might not.
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There's no prohibition on minors having credit cards, so long as the parent accepts responsibility for the bills.
That depends on a lot of variables. Years ago, when I was working for a major credit-card company, there was a big to-do up in the corporate offices about some kid who had started his own company and become a millionaire at fifteen getting one of our premium cards, and then someone found out he was under 18 and invalidated the account on that basis.
Many of us down in the ranks who lived in the real world thought it was stupid that his age alone disqualified him from holding one of our cards when he was probably a lot more creditworthy than many of the "adults" on our rolls.
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Many of us down in the ranks who lived in the real world thought it was stupid that his age alone disqualified him from holding one of our cards when he was probably a lot more creditworthy than many of the "adults" on our rolls.
Yeah, but we must follow our bureaucratic rules, no exceptions, until the end of Frogstar World B:
An abandoned spaceport on its surface was once found to have had a fully functioning (mind-witheringly delayed) spaceship lying within, perpetually waiting for the restocking of lemon-soaked paper napkins. With all the passengers in stasis, the robotic flight attendants won't let them leave.
Can't launch without the lemon-soaked paper napkins.
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Yeah, but we must follow our bureaucratic rules, no exceptions
"Listen, cowboy! I've got a job to do! It's a stupid, pointless job, but at least it keeps me away from Iceland, all right?!"
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US Marshals arresting people for not paying their federal student loans
He was not arrested for not paying his federal student loan. He was arrested for failing to appear in federal court after being ordered to appear there by a federal judge.
I mean the pay to the marshals was probably higher than the debt, but they were getting paid anyway right?
Once he finally was compelled to appear in court, he was required to begin paying back the student loan and the costs incurred by the court, including sending the federal marshals to arrest him.
At this point, the $1500 is probably more like $5-6000 or even more with interest and penalties
Most of the interest and penalties can be forgiven, IIRC. I'm not sure they'd extend that to someone who hadn't been cooperative and ignored court orders to appear, though.
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He was not arrested for not paying his federal student loan. He was arrested for failing to appear in federal court after being ordered to appear there by a federal judge.
Yeah, this is the modern method and trick of reviving debtor's prison.
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He was not arrested for not paying his federal student loan. He was arrested for failing to appear in federal court after being ordered to appear there by a federal judge.
I had a feeling it would turn out to be something else, but the article didn't say that.
Most of the interest and penalties can be forgiven, IIRC.
Not that I've ever heard of.
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I had a feeling it would turn out to be something else, but the article didn't say that.
Any time the US Marshals have to physically show up to arrest someone, it's a pretty safe bet that the person has been dodging court orders for a while. It's pretty much a last resort.
@anotherusername said:
Most of the interest and penalties can be forgiven, IIRC.
Not that I've ever heard of.
I must've been thinking of something different, probably interest and penalties on unpaid taxes.
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Any time the US Marshals have to physically show up to arrest someone, it's a pretty safe bet that the person has been dodging court orders for a while. It's pretty much a last resort.
The US Marshals show up when a bench warrant is issued and, yes, that would be the first time. What is different is that bench warrants aren't always issued the first time.
But companies are pushing this today to up the ante. Instead of just getting a default judgement, punish the debtor by insisting on a bench warrant.
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He'd been dodging the court ever since 2006 when the original lawsuit was filed, so it was by no means the "first time".
Anyway, how the fuck you gonna collect your default judgement if the debtor is trying to dodge you?
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He'd been dodging the court ever since 2006 when the original lawsuit was filed, so it was by no means the "first time".
Anyway, how the fuck you gonna collect your default judgement if the debtor is trying to dodge you?
Oh, yes, in his case, it was more like "about damned time". Dodging is a problem, but why not garnish his tax refund, that too hard for them in view of the special law permitting it?
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why not garnish his tax refund, that too hard for them in view of the special law permitting it?
The fact that they apparently didn't try to garnish either his tax refunds or his paychecks probably indicates that either they couldn't track him down to do so, or they didn't think they could get any significant amount of money from either of those avenues.
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The fact that they apparently didn't try to garnish either his tax refunds or his paychecks probably indicates that either they couldn't track him down to do so, or they didn't think they could get any significant amount of money from either of those avenues.
I'm dubious...unless he wasn't paying his taxes (in which case, jail) or didn't have a job, in which case why bother.
But if he was paying his taxes, refund comes from the IRS..which is a one stop confiscation point. That's why Congress passed the law allowing tax refunds to be garnished for student debt.
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But it also requires that a refund be issued. Not everyone gives the government free loans (though people that are careful enough with their money not to do this probably won't have that small of loan debt that they are dodging).
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But companies are pushing this today to up the ante. Instead of just getting a default judgement, punish the debtor by insisting on a bench warrant.
This seems like an opening for a lawsuit.
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Anyway, how the fuck you gonna collect your default judgement if the debtor is trying to dodge you?
Because the Federal government can authorize a wage garnishment, duh.
Sure, the guy could go find a new job every 6 months or however long it takes for them to catch up to him, if he wants to go to that much effort. But then he's got to find a new job every 6 months.
It's like a case that just ended here in Dallas-ish recently--some guy got in trouble with the law about 15 years ago, and when the cops went to arrest him at home, he said "come on my land and some of you boys'll be going home in body bags[1]". The cops decided not to take a chance, and he spent about 12 years living on his ranch. Last year the court called it quits, saying that he'd spent more time holed up in his house than he'd've spent in jail.
But they "forgot" to tell him they weren't after him for about 6 months.
[1] I assume this guy's some kind of cowboy.
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Last year the court called it quits, saying that he'd spent more time holed up in his house than he'd've spent in jail.
So… he imprisoned himself? Who does he think he is, Julian Assange?
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It's an unsecured loan with an interest rate of <=6.5% to borrowers with no credit history. There's easy ways to deal with it if you can't pay the full amount, those being income based repayment and forebearance. All you have to do is not default and it's extremely simple to not default using the tools above.
Student loans are a hell of a deal.
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Bad Idea: replacing @sockbot with Sockbat.
Filed Under: stop that, stop doing that, it's silly!
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@ScholRLEA has summoned me, and so I appear.
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So… he imprisoned himself?
Effectively, yes. Now, the one news article I saw used the word "acreage" to describe his property, so maybe with cable and internet he didn't feel terribly restricted, I dunno. For that matter, the cops probably didn't have a 24/7 watch on him so maybe he donned a fake beard every once in a while and snuck into town.
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Who was bringing him food?
Well, the guy had a family so I would imagine they did.
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@anotherusername said:
Who was bringing him food?
Well, the guy had a family so I would imagine they did.
How is that not harboring a known fugitive?
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@JazzyJosh said:
Student loans are a hell of a deal.
...unless you default, of course.
Well then, don't. There are plenty of options to prevent you having to default.
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How is that not harboring a known fugitive?
Well, they live there too. If it wasn't clear, I don't mean "family in general" I mean his wife and kids. Are you prepared to kick people out of their own home because they share it with a fugitive? Are you prepared to hand them guns when they leave the house and say "now go back in there and force Dad out at gunpoint?"
It's not as if the cops really had a lot of options beyond "ignore the problem" and "send in a SWAT team and tell them some of them probably aren't coming back".
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No, no. Don't be ridiculous. As soon as any of them leave the house to get supplies, you arrest them and charge them with harboring a fugitive. Eventually he'll have no choice but to leave, and then you arrest him. Then, if you're feeling nice, you drop the charges against the rest of them.
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As soon as any of them leave the house to get supplies, you arrest them and charge them with harboring a fugitive.
The phrase "bad publicity" must be new to you. What you're advocating would immediately be spun by the media as being the same as charging a hostage with harboring a fugitive. It's not as if his wife can force him to leave the house.
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It's not as if his wife has to bring him back food and supplies, either.
Hey, if you're concerned about publicity, you could put a positive spin on it: feed the whole rest of the family for free right on their own front lawn, on the condition that they aren't permitted to bring any food back inside for him.
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It's not as if his wife has to bring him back food and supplies, either.
Right. She can just eat out for every meal.
