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Eagle Cash

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Re: Eagle Cash

#41

Post by gioscarab »

Retric wrote: post #40
gioscarab wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The word medium comes from latin, its plural is "media", not "mediums".

While some sources agree with you: https://www.thefreedictionary.com/mediums Both Media and Mediums are plural forms in common usage. Thus: https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mediums has mediums variants: or media plural of medium ex: https://www.uspto.gov/kids/MiddleSchool-HowWellSoundTravels.... And really, English just evolves over time so these kind of rules don’t actually mean anything.

Here in Italy (that is where the word was invented in the first place) that is considered a bad common mistake. Forgetting about the etymology or misusing a word is not what I would define as "evolution". We say multi-media, mass-media ecc. for a reason, for the same reason we don't say multi-mediums or mass-mediums.

Re: Eagle Cash

#42

Post by avian »

1-6 wrote: post #35
a-dub wrote: post #17

my laundry room in college used the same technology. sucks if you damage the card (by sitting on your wallet, for example).

Of maybe like electronic lunch chits. Once they go through the reader, it might 'burn the circuit' being equivalent to stamping a hole into the card.

Back in the days when public phone booths were still a thing, the local telecom introduced pre-paid chip cards that you used for paying for your call. They were widely advertised as “fraud proof” because the chip physically burned polyfuses on the silicon as credits were used up. You can never restore a card that ran out of credits that way, they said.

It was simple to make a card insert and a circuit that just lied to the phone that a fuse was burned. They switched to a different system soon after.

Re: Eagle Cash

#43

Post by howlgarnish »

gioscarab wrote: post #37
josephkern wrote: post #34

Wait until you guys see the prices for the "AAFES POGS" on ebay ... Basically while you can use cash, coins are too heavy to justify shipping into country. AAFES instead prints "gift certificates" in the shape of a pog, in 0.05, 0.10, 0.25 denominations. The resale value on these is hilariously high ... these are federally issued mediums of exchange being currency except in name only. And only useable in deployed loc…

The word medium comes from latin, its plural is "media", not "mediums".

The word "media" has become shorthand for "communications media". While correct in the original Latin, trying to use "media" as the plural for "medium" in any other context in English is jarring.

Re: Eagle Cash

#44

Post by sneak »

eru wrote: post #36
someperson wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Famously instant ramen noodles is the currency of choice for people in prison: small, uniform and non-perishable. Just like every other society, in the absence of cash I'm sure soldiers have developed a bartering economy. Likely including to acquire drug/alcohol/tobacco products that may be otherwise banned. You sell me your old Nintendo Switch and I'll use my EagleCash card to buy you 100 packs of instant ramen at c…

Couldn't soldiers also just use cash to augment their trading? Or is that specifically banned?

Hard to get much of your US bank account contents as USD cash when you're off on a military base enclave in some foreign land. It's less hard (but still expensive and inconvenient) to get it in the local currency.

You're also capped at relatively small amounts (a few hundred bucks of local currency per day).

Re: Eagle Cash

#45

Post by bananapear »

josephkern wrote: post #34

Wait until you guys see the prices for the "AAFES POGS" on ebay ... Basically while you can use cash, coins are too heavy to justify shipping into country. AAFES instead prints "gift certificates" in the shape of a pog, in 0.05, 0.10, 0.25 denominations. The resale value on these is hilariously high ... these are federally issued mediums of exchange being currency except in name only. And only useable in deployed loc…

> in the shape of a pog

In case you are wondering what a "pog" is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_caps_(game)

Re: Eagle Cash

#46

Post by gioscarab »

howlgarnish wrote: post #43
gioscarab wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The word medium comes from latin, its plural is "media", not "mediums".

The word "media" has become shorthand for "communications media". While correct in the original Latin, trying to use "media" as the plural for "medium" in any other context in English is jarring.

The word medium identifies a mean of communication. The commenter uses it to identify a mean of exchanging value. IMHO the word was both misused and misspelled.

Re: Eagle Cash

#47

Post by texse »

sargun wrote: post #21
louwhopley wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similar to many Mastercard/Visa cards. The electronic chip on the card is capable of actually storing the balance and then syncing it back when it reaches a terminal machine that’s connected to the internet. In my experience, many (most) chip-card based transport systems for busses or trains (eg tap n go) operates in this offline mode where it only syncs when you go to the kiosk to top it up. It uses cryptographic me…

How do you solve the FLP problem? e.g. Kiosk->Device: Give me $100 Device: Subtract $100 from myself Device->Kiosk: Send $100 (fail) Alternatively, what if this happens the other direction?

Technically FLP impossibility only applies to deterministic algorithms, not randomized ones, otherwise no consensus protocol would work. So you could imagine a complicated technical solution that could work (eg. treating everything as a big Raft cluster and using Raft's membership changes every time a device is connected / disconnected).

In practice the solution is to realize that failures are rare (especially compared to events like the soldier simply misplacing the card), and to have a trusted human available to resolve any issues that do occur.

Re: Eagle Cash

#48

Post by someperson »

chipsa wrote: post #22
sneak wrote: post #3

> This method allows soldiers to purchase goods and services at U.S. military posts and canteens, without carrying cash, or manage their personal bank accounts while on deployment or in training. The program reduces the amount of American currency required overseas, reduces theft, saves thousands of man-hours in labor, helps reduce the risk of transporting cash in combat environments, and increases security and conve…

It's possible to still use cash on deployed bases. But this reduces the need to use cash for things like: buying from random morale things, like the Fox at the 'Deid.

> buying from random morale things, like the Fox at the 'Deid

Took a bit of searching to understand what you meant: buying drinks at the Fox Sports Bar located in Al Udeid Air Base within the nation of Qatar.

Re: Eagle Cash

#49

Post by Retric »

gioscarab wrote: post #41
Retric wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While some sources agree with you: https://www.thefreedictionary.com/mediums Both Media and Mediums are plural forms in common usage. Thus: https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mediums has mediums variants: or media plural of medium ex: https://www.uspto.gov/kids/MiddleSchool-HowWellSoundTravels.... And really, English just evolves over time so these kind of rules don’t actually mean anything.

Here in Italy (that is where the word was invented in the first place) that is considered a bad common mistake. Forgetting about the etymology or misusing a word is not what I would define as "evolution". We say multi-media, mass-media ecc. for a reason, for the same reason we don't say multi-mediums or mass-mediums.

That’s the thing, in English when enough people make a mistake it stops being a mistake.

Re: Eagle Cash

#50

Post by texse »

max_ wrote: post #29
lucb1e wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure a whole book is needed, it seems fairly straightforward to show that society is based on threats of violence. If you don't pay someone, that someone can go to a judge. If you indeed did something illegal (e.g. if you did a double spend, money forgery, whatever) you should be declared guilty and ordered to pay the damages plus perhaps a fine. If you don't do that, the amount due will increase and eventually y…

One reason I am interested in Bitcoin is that it doesn't rely on violence to enforce it's rules.

If someone can round up 51% of Bitcoin's miners and hold them at gunpoint, then they have full control over Bitcoin's rules.

Well over 51% of bitcoin mining happens in China, so Xi Jinping can probably change Bitcoin's rules tomorrow if he desires.

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