Preparedness for when

Softstuff

The idea of being microchipped doesn't freak me out, not saying I'd sign up for it, but it's not high on my fear list. Companies already want so much of your soul for very little in return, it strikes me as being the thin end of the wedge. Over here you're expected to sign non-compete clauses, work unpaid overtime, have your social media censored and attend compulsory social events in your own time. And all this for minimum wage.

And many people are alright with this. Given that the choice is often to suck it up or leave. Chances are, plenty of them would bend over to give the company somewhere convenient to shove the chip.

jk0

I wonder if it's a coincidence (accidental or not ) that the story about the chip & skin office is in Sweden, the country that does 97% of its transactions electronically? I guess in fullness of time the Swedes won't even need cards. Scarey thought.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2117643/Sweden-Country-cashless-churches-accepting-cards-offerings.html

Margaret54

My mobile is similar to your Bob and my dh's also. We have the laptop for anything else and we are happy to have the basics and would never wish to update to a smartphone etc as it is enough for us.:)

moneyistooshorttomention

Softstuff wrote: »

The idea of being microchipped doesn't freak me out, not saying I'd sign up for it, but it's not high on my fear list. Companies already want so much of your soul for very little in return, it strikes me as being the thin end of the wedge. Over here you're expected to sign non-compete clauses, work unpaid overtime, have your social media censored and attend compulsory social events in your own time. And all this for minimum wage.

And many people are alright with this. Given that the choice is often to suck it up or leave. Chances are, plenty of them would bend over to give the company somewhere convenient to shove the chip.

:eek: You mean have your social media censored that you use in your OWN time on your OWN computer??:eek: (though, goodness knows, I think we've all seen a few people unfairly sacked here in Britain for what they wrote about their company on Facebook for instance). Do you mean the censoring is more widespread than just comments made in your own time about the company?

Compulsory social events in own time:eek::eek:...there must surely be some people who have very conveniently timed headaches, ie they somehow come on about an hour before the start of an event they don't intend to go to and vanish again an hour after the event has ended??

[Deleted User]

When I got my mobile I asked for a 'Phone for an Idiot' so mine only makes and takes calls and texts, and even I can cope with that much technology. It cost £13.99 and isn't so much a smart phone as an 'Old and scruffy well loved phone!' bit like it's owner, well the scruffy bit anyway! It's a one piece one, not a posh shell phone like Bobs!!!

Margaret54

it is very cold today and the little snow we had in our area has melted. It is bright too. I can't wait for Spring to come and to get out into the garden again. This is the first winter I have felt so cold and want to stay indoors in the heat than go out, unless I have to. I was never like this and enjoyed wearing the winter coat boots thick tights warm scarves gloves hat etc. It must be my age now I reckon kept checking the gas meter too more than usual, (the meter box is outside the bungalow) even my dh was surprised at my checking it so much. We have a prepaid meter for gas and we put a months money in when dh is paid (he is paid monthly) Then we have a prepaid meter indoors also for the electricity which we put in every month too. It is great as it means there are no nasty bills to worry over.

moneyistooshorttomention

jk0 wrote: »

I wonder if it's a coincidence (accidental or not ) that the story about the chip & skin office is in Sweden, the country that does 97% of its transactions electronically? I guess in fullness of time the Swedes won't even need cards. Scarey thought.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2117643/Sweden-Country-cashless-churches-accepting-cards-offerings.html

I'm guessing that the difference between Sweden and Britain may be they don't have a strong Black Economy????

There are certainly parts of Britain where I reckon a good half the economy is in the Black Economy.

Cant see a cashless economy happening in Britain then precisely because of those parts of Britain..where I reckon it would be fought tooth and nail.

1Tonsil

Perplexed_Pineapple wrote: »

I quite agree, there are plenty of ways of confirming identity without resorting to implants. You can get an app to use facial recognition to unlock an iphone and it companies want to improve security there are retinal scanners and I've recently heard of one that uses the pattern of veins on the back of your hand. It will take concerted opposition from libertarian groups and employees to avoid such things becoming widespread, IMO, and I don't know whether there is the will outside select groups to achieve that.

Sorry, 1T, this makes no sense to me. The bananna plant absorbs nutrients including potassium from the soil, when it is harvested, that's how much potassium is in it. It can't absorb potassium from the air (there's hardly any in it) so how can it increase it's potassium level? Thanks for the update from Greece, it's increasingly looking as though the new government is going to shake up the whole debt servitude regime of the Eurozone, given the way they have been treated it is good to see some of the complacency being shaken out of the central bureaucracy.
Checking over the household preps, does anyone have advice on how often to change water stores over? I have water in 25L plastic containeres, with a drop of bleach added when stored, in a cool dark place. I'm thinking to change the water every six months, does that sound about right? Wouldn't want to have a crisis and find it unusuable, although just as with out-of-date food, it woiuld probably be drinkable unless it were green with algae.

Re the water storage, I change mine every couple of months. In order not to waste the spring water we use them in rotation and then refill with fresh water and put that at the end of the line in storage.

Maybe I was wrong about the bananas, I always thought they had more available potassium if they were ripe, as they are hard to digest properly if they are green.

Meanwhile the heavy rain continues here in Greece and the gale force winds....feeling well and truly water logged now, have never known such wet weather in the twenty years we have lived here. The sky is black and I am really missing the sun...even a little would be nice...think I might need to start taking vitamin D again.

Have just watched an interview with the new Greek finance minister. Nice to see he has an amazing command of English....and satire LOL:rotfl:

fuddle

I saw the piece on the news about the chip under the skin and I thought it a bit behind the times really. Ok, a chip can contain a huge amounts of info but to physically have it inserted into the skin in our day and age?

I know our workers are soon to have a smart phone to sign in and out of assignments, they're to be pinged when they're needed elsewhere and be fully contactable when workers are in their availability time. All very well and good I hear you possibly say but these workers are on zero hours contracts... they are under no obligation to pick up the work. I do have to find more out about it but it will happen, I just can't see how it can happen under the current set up. There are so many grey areas.

Very interesting times and no, I won't be agreeing to anything implanted under my skin. Human Rights are only well and good until a government tries to change it to suit them though eh?

greenbee

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Or fillings? how much easier would it be to pop something into a new filling and we'd never suspect a thing would we? Actually.......how do we know it isn't happening now?????.................

Believe me, if it was happening, we'd know about it It's actually difficult to keep these things quiet. But all this technology is doing some amazing things, so we may have to tolerate a few of the creepy ideas too. How many of them will actually be viable is moot.

Softstuff wrote: »

The idea of being microchipped doesn't freak me out, not saying I'd sign up for it, but it's not high on my fear list. Companies already want so much of your soul for very little in return, it strikes me as being the thin end of the wedge. Over here you're expected to sign non-compete clauses, work unpaid overtime, have your social media censored and attend compulsory social events in your own time. And all this for minimum wage.

And many people are alright with this. Given that the choice is often to suck it up or leave. Chances are, plenty of them would bend over to give the company somewhere convenient to shove the chip.

Plenty of people do this now. They'll do what it takes to get and hold down a job.

Also remember that the younger generation simply accept that they have no privacy. They don't necessarily see that as a problem - they are used to it, and so their frame of reference is different. For example, I have different phones for work and personal communication. Many of my colleagues saw use of the work phone as a 'perk'. Then our work phones got smarter, were used for more than just calls, and started to have more controls. Some of my older colleagues then decided to have separate phones - for privacy (mine was just so I could switch my work phone off...). Younger colleagues really don't care.

Fuddle - smart phones for call scheduling in work like care are a really good idea. Gas engineers and others doing on-call work where appointment times can vary if things don't go to plan have been using them for years, and they really do help to get people to the right place at the right time. If someone has to stay with a client to wait for an ambulance, then there won't be someone wondering where their carer is. Often these systems only give you your next call after when you sign off on the previous one, and it then schedules based on priority/availability and distance. Hopefully it will make things easier for carers and more efficient for clients.