Completely off topic, but TVCatchup provide an XBMC plugin which completely avoids the advertising they add. No idea why, since it presumably destroys their business model, but it's great.
I moved from Natwest to First Direct a couple of months ago, and have had a great experience so far.
Their online banking isn't quite so nice as Natwest's, but that's more than made up for by the amazing phone service. I've had to call a couple of times (once to replace a lost card), and almost instantly been put through to someone who can solve my problem.
I have been with First Direct for a few years and I really like it, wouldn't move. It's good for people like me who want to interact with their bank firstly online, and secondly on the phone, and in person at a branch at a distant third.
First Direct is entirely owned by HSBC - it's essentially a branch of HSBC on the internet not the high street. If you need to deposit a paper cheque or the like you will be directed to a HSBC branch.
First Direct has no 2FA barrier to online banking, which is one of the key reasons I moved to them from Barclays (who were mostly a decent bank in fairness).
Same here, although they have recently changed the wording of their T&Cs to include 2FA. I asked them about this, and they said they were considering its introduction. (HSBC already has it).
Also, they use that "second letter from your password" style of login, and I'm not sure how they're doing that without keeping the plaintext of the whole password somewhere.
Your cat may already have an RFID tag - they're used in the process of "chipping" cats so that they can be traced if they find themselves at a vet without their owner. If there is one, it'll be on the back of their neck.
These tags tend to migrate, particularly in older animals. Shelter workers are trained to check the entire animal as the tags often end up on the animal's side or stomach.
> That bread you find at Kroger, somebody had to work to make it appear in your cart.
In any community there is likely to be someone with a passion for something. Whether that something is making bread, helping the sick, or teaching children.
It's true that there are some jobs which people aren't naturally inclined to do, but in the society being described I think that communities would become smaller, and more cohesive. Some the of the jobs required to maintain a large city no longer need to be done, and those that do still need doing become less of a strain and can be distributed amongst people.
we've tried utopian societies before. they have never worked. we've tried socialism and it mostly doesn't work that well. communism looks great on paper and it has been a failure. why do people still continue to believe this is the way things should be?
> A programmer's salary is great, but why can't I work 20 hours as a programmer, and 20 hours as a tree-planter, or teaching rock climbing to high school kids, for maybe 55% of a programmer's salary?
You can. You just have to learn to negotiate.
I currently work 4 days a week, with the other day being split between helping with a youth club, and Open Source hacking, and throwing a mountain bike down hills. I had to spend more time looking when I last changed jobs, but that also ended up with me in a job that I love for other reasons as well.
Yup, police with submachine guns are completely routine at Heathrow. They're also not an uncommon sight around certain parts of London these days - all the big government buildings have a couple of policemen with MP5s hanging around the entrances.
