Credit cards lip-sync a siren song of spending

Ours is an age of anxiety. Will global climate change create oceanfront property in Nebraska? Do Subway's "foot-long" sandwiches span a full 12 inches? Did Beyonce fake the national anthem and -- more importantly -- will she lip-sync again at the Super Bowl?

I, for one, believe it is pointless to agonize over trivia, so let's confront the big question here: Beyonce will lip-sync at the Super Bowl to a backing track prerecorded by Manti Te'o's fake dead girlfriend while sitting in the lap of Sasquatch in the chair that Clint Eastwood yelled at during the Republican National Convention.

If you really want something you don't have to worry about, try the latest "cause celebre" of the personal financial worry-warts: credit-card checkout charges.

Sunday marked the first day that merchants -- if they are crazy, self-destructive and exceedingly parsimonious -- may charge a processing fee on credit card purchases. This used to be banned, but it's now OK after an anti-trust settlement.

Retailers already can insist on a minimum purchase of up to $10 to use a credit card (but not a debit card). That practice also used to be banned under card network agreements but was legalized in post-recession financial reforms. Both measures aim to help mom-and-pop stores that don't have the clout to negotiate discounts with the big card processing networks, which can be up to 3.5 percent of the purchase, plus a flat fee.

While some personal finance writers are all aflutter about this, I don't see the problem. Consider that the minimum-charge rule went into effect in July 2010, and beyond the occasional small store, I don't see many merchants taking advantage of it.

That's because people spend more when they use plastic. Studies estimate that shoppers spend 12 to 18 percent more when using cards over cash. So don't expect stores to kill that golden goose just to offset a 3.5 percent card-processing fee,Shop for bobblehead dolls from the official NBC Universal Store and build a fun collection for your home or office. unless it's the guy with the only cold beer stand on the beach.Welcome to Find the right laser Engraver or laser marking machine .

It's not so much that people spend more when using credit cards, debit cards, gift certificates or even trinkets and beads, but more that they spend less when using cash. The authors of a study published by the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied found that "the pain of paying is higher when paying by cash."

So, even if you aren't worried about paying the nonexistent credit-card checkout fee, paying with cash remains the best way to really save when you're shopping. Otherwise,Basics, technical terms and advantages and disadvantages of Laser engraver. the spending doesn't feel real enough to make you consider the cost of the money you're handing over. Or, as Beyonce might lip-sync, "There ain't nothing like the real thing, baby."

Hotels are filled with vulnerabilities: multiple entrances and exits, driveways, underground entries, spacious and busy lobbies, non-guests who eat at the restaurant and come in for conferences and events. But those risks are also the hotels’ livelihood: it’s not in a hotel’s best interest to scare away potential business by employing armed guards, installing metal detectors or X-rays, limiting entrances,Nitrogen Controller and Digital dry cabinet with good quality. or even checking IDs.

In fact, security experts don’t know of ANY hotel in the US that has implemented high-security measures that we see in Asia and the Middle East: metal detectors, explosive vapor devices, barriers in front of the hotel, screening of bags, screening under vehicles, or “hardening” glazing structures of windows and entranceways.

In general, the most an American hotel will do is implement increased security cameras, limit access into the building, require key cards to get to guest room floors, and train staff to be alert to odd behavior. Until recently, even security cameras or CCTV on guest room floors was considered taboo. The measures that have been implemented also help prevent petty crime and assault, so the hotels’ motives for doing so are manifold.

Most U.S. hotels are mid-market products where you won’t see anything more than cameras for loss prevention and maybe locking perimeter doors. It’s the higher-end hotels that have implemented any significant measures—and much of that is to block out the riff-raff and ensure privacy.

A Mozilla developer and security researcher demonstrated the security in one of the most common key card locks in hotels. At the Black Hat Las Vegas security conference in July, Cody Brocious reverse engineered the locks by inserting a small, homemade device into the keycard lock, read the digital key that triggers the lock, and opened it. He explained that it was “stupidly simple” to exploit the locks. Onity locks can be found in more than 4 million hotel rooms around the world.

In September, there was a there was a string of break-ins at a Houston Hyatt in which the thief hacked the lock with a digital tool that triggered the door to open.Solar Sister is a network of women who sell solar lamp to communities that don't have access to electricity. The hotel itself took measures for a temporary fix by puttying the vulnerable port on the door. Since then Onity has been offering to replace the circuit boards for locks bought after 2005; older models will replace the locks for a fee, or will send a plastic plug to cover the port.