How Twitter?

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Originally Posted by JoeP

But, to stay vaguely on topic, only through the apps of traditional banks. Never PayPal or whatever other payment networks might exist.

Oh, you mean the organisations with centuries of rules and regulations learned the hard way? You don’t want to deal with organisations which ignore all those hard learned lessons?

[beyelzu]

Originally Posted by JoeP

I still have a chequebook somewhere. With the date box preprinted as __ of ____ 19__.

I haven't had a credit card in a decade or two. Zero-fee debit cards all the way.

It's still not common, or possibly even viable, for contractors to have card terminals, so emailing account details and setting up a transfer is the norm. I've done it on my phone in the kitchen while the guy is still there, though the line "no rush, I know where you live" also applies.

Credit cards are different here. The processing fees I think are larger which allows for rewards and zero fees, or rewards that outstrip fees in American Express case.

Most credit cards for people who have good credit have no fees.

I regularly use credit cards over debit cards because I get rewards on my credit. Apple Mastercard is at least 1 percent back on everything.

I do use checks to pay my landscaper and housekeeper each month.

I used to send our rent check monthly as well.

Interchange fees (the credit card processing fee) is almost twice as high in the US.

The fees were capped on debit cards more than ten years ago.

[Miisa]

I think I last saw a cheque in 1990? I was working in a shop then and had to call someone more experienced (i.e. old) over to help.

My kids consider me old-fashioned for using a debit card (even contactless), as they just use NFC on their phone apps.

[ChuckF]

I've had a debit card for decades but can't remember the last time I used it. I always use my credit card, in part for the rewards but also for the fraud protection. I generally use cash for small transactions with small businesses and individuals. I write about 3-5 checks per year. One for my attorney privilege license because as far as I can tell there is still no way to pay it other than mailing back the form with a check. I also pay my car taxes this way because there's like a $3 fee for doing it online, and fuck that. Other than that, just random stuff that I choose to pay in an intentionally annoying way.

The idea of Twitter becoming a money services business is very, very funny to me. In part because it is just more obvious stupid bullshit, but more because it is hilarious to imagine them trying to comply with anti-money laundering requirements for money transmitters (for example), various Treasury regs, and state regulator requirements. Like I wonder if Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud is going to get fingerprinted for this idiocy lmao.

It seems more likely that this is simply a pretextual lie to collect still more personal data about people stupid enough to pay for Twitter.

[seebs]

I think they might even be banned from trying under one of their FTC agreements, but I'm not sure.

[slimshady2357]

Haven't used a cheque in 10+ years, though I think we have a cheque book somewhere around here. We also use credit card to pay for basically everything, just for the rewards. They aren't as good as they used to be, but even here in the UK it probably makes us £100 a year.

Paying tradesmen we either pay cash or send a bank transfer which is free and instant.

[JoeP]

Originally Posted by ChuckF

Other than that, just random stuff that I choose to pay in an intentionally annoying way.
.

+1 for this

[ChuckF]

The US finally has an instant cash, non-batched ACH transfer service called FedNow. But it's voluntary for banks, who have little incentive to adopt it, because it could make overdrafts (and therefore overdraft fees) less likely in some circumstances.

Other than just being annoying, there is a specific use case for checks that I will defend, but it is not for personal checks. That is for cashier's checks or certified checks when you are delivering substantial funds to a named payee, where the payment may have legal implications beyond received/not received, and do not want to risk a data entry error or security vulnerability with electronic payment. So like bringing guaranteed funds to a real estate closing, for example.

[seebs]

Yeah, and in particular, where you want a thing that isn't easily rescinded, and also that cannot be taken by an arbitrary third party.

Cash is great for being worth money, but very poor for security. It's much harder to steal checks.

Although I'm told the reason you are supposed to write checks to "Internal Revenue Service" is that if you wrote them to "IRS", an enterprising young lady in the employ of The Revenoo could take the check, write the rest of the leading "M" at the start of "MRS", and write her husband's last name after it, and cash the check. I have no idea whether anyone ever actually did this.

Edit: Yup.

[fragment]

Originally Posted by ChuckF

The idea of Twitter becoming a money services business is very, very funny to me. In part because it is just more obvious stupid bullshit, but more because it is hilarious to imagine them trying to comply with anti-money laundering requirements for money transmitters (for example), various Treasury regs, and state regulator requirements. Like I wonder if Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud is going to get fingerprinted for this idiocy lmao.

Do the requirements change if said "money" is crypto? Because that's probably what it will be.

[ChuckF]

They don't in the US, at least not right now. Unless they are actual bank () they would likely be a money transmitter, and subject to all the same Treasury requirements as things like Paypal, Square etc.

[seebs]

Paypal has gotten away with being way less subject to requirements than banks for a long time by claiming not to be a bank, just a business that creates an account for you where they hold your money. It's honestly sort of a scam.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Elon Musk plans to make X a dating app: report

[ChuckF]

[ChuckF]

Elon Musk unveils Grok, an AI chatbot with a ‘rebellious streak’ | Elon Musk | The Guardian

The world's only commercial chatbot trained on The Turner Diaries and literally nothing else

[Ari]

It's a 'rebellious' chat bot that will take 'spicy' questions and give you 'based' answers that also refuses to answer googleable questions, snakily chiding you to obey the law, and that reply was used by Musk as a demonstration for why people should pay for this. I just can't stop laughing, what horrible comedy are we in!

[JoeP]

If it works, can we turn Elon off?

[fragment]

inspired by The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Worth recalling that The Guide, however much Adams pilloried its owners and management, actually employed researcher-writers and gave them expense accounts.

Unless the actual inspiration from Adams' work is the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.

Share and Enjoy.

[specious_reasons]

"Inspired by The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy" but he names it after a word coined by RA Heinlein? Get it right.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Elon is so desperate to be funny he had to create an entire AI just to tell people he’s a “meme lord”. Really can’t get more embarrassing than that. pic.twitter.com/70kDqBfZHX

— pokey pup (@Whatapityonyou) November 9, 2023

[seebs]

At least he's finally understood that hashtags were preventing people from enjoying Twitter, the premiere long-form text posting, I mean, short-form-video, dating site, I mean, financial services company, and suggested that he plans to do away with them, although I think the block feature goes away first.

[Ensign Steve]

Uh, considering the grass-roots genesis of the hashtag in the first place, I don't know how he plans to do away with them. Disallow the # character? Users will just choose a different one.

[JoeP]

Should disallow the letter X.

[Ensign Steve]

Xblessed

[BrotherMan]

Originally Posted by JoeP

Should disallow the letter X.

Better: Charge users .25 for every use of the X.