Dyepot, Teapot

It took me a few days, but I finally managed to upload all of my trip photos to Flickr. The full photoset is here.

A few highlights:

Attending a game at Old Trafford

The cathedral in Durham

A team drinking competition (Sunderland vs. TA)

The Sunderland/Newcastle match at the Stadium of Light on Easter Monday

Edinburgh

Tower of London

British Museum

Portobello Road Market

Puppy

Tags: london, england, scotland, travel, photography

I called my credit union today to let them know that I’m planning to be in the UK this month, so they would know any transactions coming from there were not automatically fraudulent, only to find out that currently all ATM transactions made in Britain will be blocked. Which throws a wrench in my plans, because I anticipated having access to my next paycheck, which will be deposited while I’m away.

As far as I can tell, it’s related to this big underreported debit card system breach that Bruce Schneier and Boing Boing have commented on. There’s very little solid information about the problem, because the banks are keeping their mouths clamped shut, but it appears that the security of the debit card + pin payment processing system has been massively compromised, and a number of banks are issuing new cards and locking out anyone who tries to make a foreign transaction through an ATM or point-of-sale system (like the debit card machine at the grocery store).

I can’t find any helpful information about the extent of the systems affected, when the banks intend to lift this lock-out, or good ways to deal with the need to get cash from one’s account while traveling. The bank said I can get a cash advance using my debit card over the credit network at other banks and they won’t charge me any kind of transaction or currency exchange fee, but this article in the Seattle Times gives the account of someone who encountered the ATM lock-out while visiting England, and couldn’t find a single bank that would agree to handle a cash advance.

I have a week to figure something out.

Tags: travel, banks, fraud, class break

I went to the PDX Ruby meeting again last night, and it was fun even though there wasn’t a presenter or a topic planned. The group moved on to Lucky Lab after about an hour. I sat down at one of the picnic tables outside with a few people I recognized by sight from the previous meeting, and since they were just sitting there, not talking, I asked what sorts of things they’re doing with Ruby. So they told me. Afterward, when I got home, I started to think about how weird it was to sit there and listen to people talk about their work, in one case in quite a bit of detail (which I don’t necessarily mind, because I’m curious about other people by default) but not have anyone reciprocate.

After a while, that feels pretty offensive. The polite way to chat with strangers if you are going to discuss anything personal (and I don’t mean deeply personal, just things that go with “who are you?”) is that you ask about them. And they ask about you. People like to talk about themselves, and I am no exception, so to keep the conversation balanced, you make sure both people get a turn. Right? So when people don’t, I wonder, do I smell? Are you really bad at talking to other people and entirely not interested in anyone else? Did you assume I had nothing to say? What’s the deal here?

I’m capable of butting in when I have something to say (actually, I’ve caught myself being rude about it a few times lately, probably in preemptive reaction to situations like the one above), but I don’t like to be overly aggressive, and I feel embarrased when I realize I’m doing that. It’s frustrating when other people don’t leave room for the people they’re speaking with to jump in and say something about what they think or like or do. Because it’s a conversation, not a lecture.

The thing last night wasn’t that big of a deal, but it got me thinking about the nature of conversation. And I really, really want someone to ask me what I’m working on so I can talk about the feed aggregator around other programmers without having to randomly bring it up (”Oh, that’s what you do? Interesting… so anyhow, I’m working on this fabulously cool thing and I’m sure you want to hear all of the details!).

Is that weird?

Tags: social, people, conversation, talk