...don't challenge me ;-)
I know how to take one of the style of lock in your previous post "out of action" in about five seconds.

(Your quite safe, I'm thousands of miles away)

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Calling the Moon: Startup to Put Cellphone Tower on the Moon

An astronaut wandering the moon next year could use a smartphone to call home. A German startup is preparing to set up the first telecommunication infrastructure on the lunar surface.

The German company Part Time Scientists, which originally competed for the Google Lunar X Prize race to the moon, plans to send a lander with a rover in late 2018 to visit the landing site of Apollo 17. (Launched in 1972, this was NASA's final Apollo mission to the moon.) Instead of using a complex dedicated telecommunication system to relay data from the rover to the Earth, the company will rely on LTE technology — the same system used on Earth for mobile phone communications.

"We are cooperating with Vodafone in order to provide LTE base stations on the moon," Karsten Becker, who heads embedded electronics development and integration for the startup, told Space.com.

"What we are aiming to do is to provide commercial service to bring goods to the moon and also to provide services on the surface of the moon," Becker added.

I don't quite get the point. Are they planning to use the LTE for their rover to communicate with a base station, which will relay the signals to Earth? Are they going to send a whole fleet of rovers? Or are they expecting someone to suddenly build a colony there?

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Lovely, just lovely. Credit card fraud strikes again.

This morning, I downloaded my usual accounts into Quicken and a charge came through for Bloomingdales.com. I've never bought anything from them in my life, or even been a store. I went to the bank's web site and found two pending charges to Homedepot.com. I've never bought anything online from them and haven't been in a store in months, maybe over a year.

So, I clicked the link to dispute the transaction. It opened up a whole list of reasons for my dispute. I clicked "I didn't make this charge" and it said for that I have to call in. I called the number and the automated system asked me for the last four digits of my card and for the number listed on the transaction. Then it said I could stay on hold or it would call me back when a rep was available in 48 minutes to 1 hour and 16 minutes. I chose the callback. When it came in about an hour, the computer asked me more questions and then connected me to a person, who asked a lot more questions to verify my identity. I finally told her what the problem was and she said for that she had to transfer me to a different department. I'd already told the computer what my problem was; WHY DID IT CONNECT ME TO SOMEONE WHO COULDN'T HANDLE IT??!!!

After several minutes of annoying hold music, I got another person, who had to verify me again. Then she said someone had obviously gotten ahold of my card number and they would have to issue me a new one. You just missed the cutoff for it to be mailed tonight, but it will go out tomorrow and you'll get it Wednesday. AAAARRRRRGGHH!!! IF I HADN'T HAD TO WAIT AN HOUR FOR THE CALLBACK AND THEN SPENT ANOTHER 20+ MINUTES TALKING TO THE WRONG PERSON AND WAITING FOR THE RIGHT PERSON, MAYBE I WOULDN'T HAVE MISSED THE CUTOFF!!

Now I have at least five web sites I have to visit to update automated or semi-automated billing after I get the new card but before they come due again, plus two banks I use to send payments to that card.

And to top it off, as I was typing this an ice cream truck went by playing Turkey in the Straw at me.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

David that is why I mostly use cash for my local purchases. The way I see it the fewer businesses have my numbers the smaller target I am.

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I don't quite get the point. Are they planning to use the LTE for their rover to communicate with a base station, which will relay the signals to Earth?

That's the way I read it.

Are they going to send a whole fleet of rovers? Or are they expecting someone to suddenly build a colony there?

Just two rovers of their own, but the system won't survive the cold nights there, and it'll be 2020 until they send more base stations.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

David, don't know who your card is with, but I have two things to say.
1) Never put your card into a gas pump
2) Change credit card companies - that one sounds terrible.

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David, don't know who your card is with, but I have two things to say.
1) Never put your card into a gas pump
2) Change credit card companies - that one sounds terrible.

Agreed. I get a text within 30 sec of any thing over a pre-set threshold. When I have called to dispute something I have always reached someone right away. No Hold.

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David, don't know who your card is with, but I have two things to say.
1) Never put your card into a gas pump
2) Change credit card companies - that one sounds terrible.

Agreed. I get a text within 30 sec of any thing over a pre-set threshold. When I have called to dispute something I have always reached someone right away. No Hold.

30 sec, that long? I actually got one last week before the merchant got the decline message. (Large unusual charge by me. A "Y" back and they unlocked the card)
As to the fraud/lost card department, never long enough for music on hold to kick in.

Long time ago I had a card with an crap company. They pulled something and I shot back, and it actually turned into a Federal Case. That bank sold the card business a couple months later too. Think they bit off more than they could chew,

Oh, third thing, David, put it in writing and mail it certified return receipt requested. Think your card company might be that bad.

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David, I have to agree with everyone so far about the credit card fraud.

Did you file a POLICE REPORT YET?
A police report filed with your local PD is VERY IMPORTANT FOR YOUR PROTECTION and to obtain your free credit reports*.
*You also should obtain your credit reports from the 3 major reporting companies and also send them notices about putting a FRAUD ALERT ON YOUR CREDIT HISTORY!

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Tech’s Damaging Myth of the Loner Genius Nerd

The Google engineer who was fired last week over his memo wrote that most women were biologically unsuited to working in tech because they were more focused on “feelings and aesthetics than ideas” and had “a stronger interest in people rather than things.”

Many scientists have said he got the biology wrong. But the job requirements of today’s programmers show he was also wrong about working in tech.

The loner stereotype can deter talented people from the industry — not just women, but anyone who thinks that sounds like an unattractive job description. It can also result in dysfunctional teams and poorly performing products. Empathy, after all, is crucial to understanding consumers’ desires, and its absence leads to product mistakes.

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I get a text within 30 sec of any thing over a pre-set threshold. When I have called to dispute something I have always reached someone right away. No Hold.

30 sec, that long? I actually got one last week before the merchant got the decline message. (Large unusual charge by me. A "Y" back and they unlocked the card)

Though I've never used texting, I can see that as a legit reason to have it.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

Contact the Police NOW - you are the victim of a crime.
Cancel the card - get a new card, with a new number etc.
Be VERY careful how you use the card.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Most (UK) card companies will offer fraud victims new cards (new number, PIN etc), particularly victims of multiple fraud.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

It's Bank of America. I only use it because it's my Amtrak Guest Rewards card (most purchases earn points for Amtrak travel), but I use it for almost everything and pay it off at the end of the month.

By the time I got off the phone, that account already had a new number. They usually have been quick about sending me texts about suspicious activity, but a couple weeks ago, I bought small amounts of gas at two different stations, with dinner at a restaurant in between. When I got to the gas station close to home where I knew the price was lower, it was declined, but it took over an hour to get the text.

I keep very close watch on my accounts. Like I said, i discovered this by downloading to Quicken. Mostly, I enter my receipts in Quicken the same day, except I usually accumulate them on museum weekends and enter them all on Monday, which was the case this time.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

It's Bank of America. I only use it because it's my Amtrak Guest Rewards card (most purchases earn points for Amtrak travel

Is it worth the hassle? I use cash as much as possible.

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There is another name for BofA and it has to do with an orifice in a Donkey's hiney.

On some Ford's of the age of Vic's there was on oil level light as well as the low pressure light. On one of my parents Escorts it was very reliable, and on the other it was totally unreliable, in that it gave many false positives and finally it missed a real low oil event...

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Over there they drive into a forecourt and someone else fills the car with petrol and checks the oil for them.

Americans were the first ones to do away with full service, everyone else just followed along.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Both my parents Escorts were UK models.

Last time I was over in the US (only a couple of years ago) it very much depended on where I was, but I'd say about a third of the fuel stations I visited were self service, most of which were "pre-pay", or "present card" - both quite alien to a Brit as most self-service places in the UK are "fill then pay" (apart from some of the 24/7 places late at night).

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Some cars burn oil by design. My Ferrari would burn a quart of oil every 4 tanks. That was considered normal. It also held 12 quarts.

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