citpeks
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Apple Maps 'closed' mistake costs restaurant thousands
igorsky said:Isn’t this the type of thing that Business Connect is for?It is, and that's how errors like this should be handled.That said, in my experience, it's not a particularly speedy process.I've handled these tasks for a small business, and Google was more responsive, and offered greater options to tailor one's map listing. But Apple did follow through, albeit not as quickly.Owners need to be proactive, and take charge of how their businesses are listed on the major sites, like Google, Apple, and Yelp. Though with Yelp, also be prepared to have their sales people hound you to buy ads, once you've "claimed" your listing. Also check old school sites like MapQuest and the Yellow Pages.These are large databases, and bound to have errors. All of them. Don't leave your fate in the hands of someone else, and hope that things are kosher. Business owners need to be responsible.With Yelp, I recently struggled trying to potentially patronize a business that did in fact close permanently. It kept being listed as "Temporarily Closed" with repeated refreshed reopening dates.In truth, the building it occupied had a "For Lease" sign on it, and calling the phone number resulted in a message that to reach one of the co-owners, one could call another similar shop. Their website was still up, like nothing had changed, as well as their social media page.However, digging a little deeper revealed the truth -- the business had closed, with one owner working somewhere else, and the other moved out of state.For whatever reason, neither owner took the responsibility to gracefully bow out. And Yelp didn't acknowledge the closure until I left a review presenting the overwhelming evidence. If it weren't for the fact that it was a specialty shop with a stellar reputation, I wouldn't have bothered digging into it. It works both ways.But that doesn't change the fact that business owners bear responsibility in these situations as well.
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Apple, Visa, Mastercard face lawsuit over high merchant fees
eightzero said:Sorta not following here, since Apple Pay works fine with both Amex and Discover.
What I do see is a resurgence of merchants adding credit card fees, and they are excessive. 3% credit card fees are now common, and there is no way any but the smallest of merchants are charged that much. One of the more entertaining (?) instances of this is at the Ford delarship where I was changed a 3% credit card fee at the service department that was not disclosed until after the service work was completed. I asked if this fee would still apply to the "Ford Rewards" credit card, their own branded "FordPass Rewards" Visa card - and it does. So...if you get their "rewards" card, you give it right back to them at the PoS. Nice.Are you sure that Ford dealer didn't disclose that before you committed to the service?Credit card surcharges weren't permitted until a class action settlement in 2013. They have been since then, but are subject to conditions, one of which is upfront disclosure.This is what Visa says in their FAQ:Am I required to disclose the surcharge to my customers?
Yes. U.S. merchants that surcharge must disclose the surcharge as a separate charge on the consumer's transaction receipt. In addition, disclosures indicating that a merchant outlet assesses a surcharge on credit card purchases must be posted at the point of entry and point of sale/transaction.But all these parties have given themselves lots of wiggle room, based on nuance ("Surcharge," "Cash discount," "Convenience fee" and so on…), including the government, where paying by card can involve an additional fee. It also varies by state law.
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Senator's paranoia opens door for Apple to speak out on government censorship
hexclock said:
Exactly. Didn’t we just learn that AT&T, in conjunction with law enforcement, and with funding from the White House, has been performing surveillance on millions of Americans for over a decade now?rob53 said:People simply don’t understand how much (spying) access governments have. Every country spies on every other country. Every country spies on its own citizens. We can try to stop it but never will.Room 641A was revealed back in 2006.What can be gathered through push notifications is up for argument, but what isn't is the lengths governments will go to to spy on their own citizens. Including free democracies like the U.S., Britain, and other members of the "Five Eyes." It's not just reserved for dictatorial countries and other "evildoers."But, the author has probably been conditioned and desensitized to this kind of thing. His government is considering forcing users to submit facial scans to watch porn, no?And would that be captured, pre- or post- "O-face?" Maybe both for to improve the reliability of the data.
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Arm wants more than $0.30 per iPhone from Apple, but won't get it
To borrow a term, SoftBank and Masayoshi Son are "beleaguered." For real.The past few years have not been good for the company, and just looking at Arm alone, there was the failed sale to Nvidia, and conflict with its Chinese venture, where the CEO went rogue.And their big bet on WeWork, which I believe they even doubled down on…well, that turned out to be really ugly. -
New Bluetooth flaws could let an attacker steal wireless communications
chasm said:Oh noes, someone might be able to listen in on my music stream!(Yes I know there are other potential intercepts such as keystrokes, but again, the attacker has to be within Bluetooth range, so the risk on this gathering any useful data seems really, really low)Your profound love of Michael Bolton might be your own little secret, but BT can, and is used to identify, and track your movements inside places like stores, how often you visit, and if correlated with data from other sources like cell carriers, which stores you visit.Personally, I find that more than a little creepy, and the real-life manifestation of the trackers and data mining that occurs online.Here's some reading to get started:
