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Two years ago we were in Italy and had no trouble using our regular US credit cards in stores, train station ticket machines, etc.
Is it any different in France?
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Using a US Credit Card in France
Two years ago we were in Italy and had no trouble using our regular US credit cards in stores, train station ticket machines, etc.
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Call your credit card company and let them know when & where you will be using your card ...
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No, French merchants (like merchants all over the world) are happy to take your credit cards, though in general Amex outside big cities isn't quite as widely accepted as Visa and Mastercard. And there are some instances, such as train station ticket machines and automatic fuel stations where your card may not work if it's not a chip-and-pin card (which it likely isn't). And of course at outdoor markets and such you may find vendors who will deal only in cash.
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Last year in a few grocery stores in not-so-touristy areas, we were not able to use our swipe card. For the 11 years prior to last year, we had no problems using it.
As noted - only a chip card will work at un-attended gas stations and train/metro automated ticket machines.
About 15% of the time we tried to use our swipe card at an un-attended toll both on an autoroute, it was not accepted.
Stu Dudley
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Our swipe card did not work at the booth at 2 different "attended" gas stations last year. We never had problems at attended stations prior to last year.
Stu Dudley
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Some Metro stations in Paris have added new ticket machines that accept US cards without any problem at all. These seemed to be new in April, 2011, and were the machines with menus in multiple languages. The older machines accept chip and pin or cash only.
The RER ticket machines at CDG accept US credit cards. I cannot speak of any others.
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Caveat: I was only in Paris when using my cards. The only place my card was outright denied was at the ticket machine at the Luxembourg RER station (this did, of course, happen early in the morning when I was trying to get to CDG to catch my flight home!). That machine didn't even have a cash mechanism. Fortunately there was a kiosk up on the street level so I was able to buy one from an actual agent. (I had bought tickets for a return trip at CDG, but apparently threw away the correct ticket at some point instead of the one I'd already used. Oops.)
Anyway, any shop or museum I tried accepted a swipe card. I used cash if I encountered a machine. I was in Italy last year - the chip seems to be a little more necessary in France than in Italy, but I had no real problems apart from the above.
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We had essentially the same experiences as StuDudley last fall. In addition, there are some parking garages where chip/pin credit card payment is required to exit the garage.
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I have not had any problems EXCEPT on the Metro/RER machines that are "suppose" to accept all American cards. They wouldn't take mine The merchants/hotels/one resturant/ etc.. all knew what to do!
I have received a chip/pin card now and will take it in the future just for this reason, but since it's not a good card in terms of fees etc.. it's only getting pulled out if I am stuck
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How do we know which cards are the chip/pin?
I remember this conversation a few years ago trying to rent one of the rental bikes in Paris. But I forgot how the whole thing works.
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Last year on I'le Saint Louis, a tourist area, several shops would not take my Amex.
Be sure to ask what your bank charges for using it in France. We took out a CapitalOne International card solely because it has a 0% user fee
Have fun!
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In the South/Southwest we only had an issue at a couple restaurants and stores. However, do check your statements after, we had a few multiple-swipes, which I chalk up to them being confused how to use the swipe (rather than chip). Tolls were fine.
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Andrews Federal Credit Union now has true chip and pin [not signature cards] credit cards. There is no annual fee, but they do charge 1% foreign transaction fee. I will take this along with Cap One Credit Card and Cap One ATM, which are fee-less.
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From the first thread linked above:
DebitNM on Mar 5, 12 at 9:25pm
It seems that there is a misunderstanding at to what CHIP and PIN really is about. A TRUE CHIP and PIN does not require a signature. It is put into a reader, a PIN is then entered by cardholder and the transaction is complete.
Most of the card that say they are CHIP cards, may have a PIN to use with it, but ultimately the transaction HAS to have a signature to complete. Very different things.
This link shows the various cards and if the require a signature. And also note, that many of the cards either are for commercial accounts or if they are for individuals, have [high]annual fees. Buyer beware when searching for cards.
Andrews FCU is the way to go.
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<Most of the card that say they are CHIP cards, may have a PIN to use with it, but ultimately the transaction HAS to have a signature to complete.>
I have the US Bank FlexPerks Visa with a chip. During our last trip to France, it worked as a chip and PIN (no signature required) card, and also as a chip and signature card. It also works as a swipe/signature card and has the pay/wave RFID function (which .
I do think the Andrews FCU card is a better way to go with no annual fee and a lower foreign transaction fee. Hope it works well.
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I called Citibank and asked about a chip card. They said that they are partially converted.
They were prepared to convert my account but I would have had to change my credit card number which I didn't want to do.
I then applied for a new card with no annual fee but includes a chip card.
The intention is that I'll use my regular card whenever possible and the chip card when I have a problem. So I'm less concerned with transaction fees and more concerned with it working.
I assume it also has a swipe strip since I'm sure they want me to use it everywhere.
We'll see how that works out.
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Myer, most Citibank cards are not true chip and pin. They have a chip but must be swiped and signed. Look at the link above with doc.google.
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Then what good is it if it diesn't work?
I'll see if the instructions that come with it shed any light on the matter.
Maybe I'll also look into the Andrews card you mentioned above.
Good thing I have two months.
And I thought I was too old to start gathering credit cards.
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Someone mentioned the Velib bike rental as requiring a chip and pin card. I have read a couple places recently that you can now use an American Express magnetic swipe card. I copied the below information from an article I found online. As a side note the last time I was in Paris I don't think I needed an iPhone app to find a station as they seemed to be everywhere.
The Vélib' app, available on iTunes, tells you where to find the nearest station and the number of bikes there. And at a little more than $2 a day, the price is hard to beat. (Bring your American Express card, though; Vélib' machines are not compatible with Visas and MasterCards that do not have a European chip.)
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@klieghj -- I was the one who asked, and I thank you for the information!
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I have usedmy Amex to rent the Velib bikes so it does work
As to how you know it is a chip and pin..In my case the bank told me when they sent me the updated card. There was an entire flyer of info. The card also looks different. You can see the chip
The brochure claims this is the same as used in Europe and since it was from a bank with lots of European locations (HSBC) I am going to trust them
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Usually no problem if you call and let them know in advance your travel dates. Also note that some/many credit card companies add on one or more categories of foreign transaction fees. There are some that are cheaper than others -Capital One appears to be one of the lower fee cards for foreign travel in my experience. It's not too much of an issue unless you are charging heavily, but the fees can add up.
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"Capital One appears to be one of the lower fee cards for foreign travel" -- it is fee free, in fact.
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Myer, the difference is one is a chip and pin and one is a chip and sign. The chip and pin is the card that works at the unmanned kiosks and ticket vending machines. Thanks to DebitNM I have an Andrews visa chip and pin card(and atm card)
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One thing missing from your chart Allison are the annual fees for the credit cards. Cap One Signature Visa has no annual fee, nor does the same card at Andrews FCU . I don't know what Chase Mileage charges per year or if it does at all, but the Amex you mentioned certainly does charge a fee. These annual fees may eat up any savings a casual foreign traveler might get from using these cards.
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Ever since an embarrassing incident at a toll booth on the Autoroute in which my U.S. card wasn't accepted, resulting in much honking and gesturing behind us, I try to always carry enough cash for tolls, transportation tickets and small purchases.
We keep a bank account at CIBC in Canada and recently received a chip and pin debit card. Trying to decide if it's worth plunking some extra cash there just in case. To open an account you need to show up in person; after that you can mail in deposits.
Other than self-pay kiosks and toll booths, we've never had a problem using credit cards in the past.
Here's an article about Visa's feeble effort to bring chip and pin to its customers: http://tinyurl.com/7ktwxjf
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I almost started to curse you.
I went to Andrews web site to fill in an online application for their Globe Trek credit card.
Everything went well until I tried to submit my application. It kept telling me that I had an invalid or missing date of birth.
The format shown on the screen is mm/dd/yyyy. Simple enough.
If I entered the "/" a box immediately popped up informing me to enter only numbers. If I entered only numbers I got an error message for a missing or invalid birth date.
Eventually (I hope this helps somebody else) I figured out the problem. I'm using Windows 7 and their input form is not compatible with Windows 7.
There's a little box on the right hand side of the URL bar at the top of the screen. It looks like a little rectangle that's been broken horizontally. It's for "compatibility view". I clicked it (it went blue) and everything worked properly.
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Glad you sorted it out!
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I don't know whether to curse you or thank you.
I wonder if you went thru the same thing with AndrewsFCU. Everytime I think the process has been completed they either mail me or email me more forms to sign.
I just called them this morning and was told everything has been approved now it takes about 2 weeks to get the card as they're produced in Canada.
Maybe since they come from Canada there's a hope it will work internationally.
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DebitM: I have a Mileage plus visa. It used to have a $60 charge, but I decided to use the Mileage Plus Explorer Visa, and the charge is now $95; however, that enables me to use the United lounge during layovers and to check a bag free. Theoretically, I'm supposed to be able to board early, too.
I'd be sure to bring an extra credit card, if I were you. On my last trip, to Spain, there were a couple of times when my card didn't work. I always carry at least two cards, so that wasn't a problem, and I could always use cash.
On our 2011 trip, my friend's ATM card didn't work at all, though she'd been to her bank and confirmed that it would work. Fortunately, I had enough in my checking account to cover her needs, so I lent her what she needed.
I even have an extra ATM card, because I'm paranoid about getting my card chewed up in a machine. For my next trip I will keep track of the pin numbers of my credit cards, too. I'd use one of them to get cash only in an emergency, because they start charging interest as soon as you get the cash.
You never can tell.
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Myer--Great job reporting back. In fact, I think you should post your discoveries and process on a new thread. We have a lot of these types of posts, so many "oldbies" like me ignore them. A new thread after you've hammered out the problems would be especially helpful to those of us who mistakenly think we are "in the know".
Let me explain--I've been using ATM and credit cards in France forever with little problem, but I never knew until today about the Andrew FCU. The Windows 7 thing was great. If you decide to do so, could you add in Debit MN's info about true Chip/PIN?
Of course you'll need a title. How about "Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks with Credit in Paris"?
--I always found it strange that AMEX, which is not widely accepted in Europe,for some reason works in Velib rental. Never made sense to me, but I can attest that my daughter rented bikes all over Paris last fall without incident.
--I happily just used a regular check card (non Visa) at ATMs and my Visa (had backups just in case for both) for years. Last year, we realized that daughter would be withdrawing from ATM regularly over her four months in Paris, so small ATM fees that we thought were not bad when one was withdrawing hundreds and hundreds of Euros at a time would make a lot of difference to a kid who wanted to withdraw merely one hundred. We opened both CapOne and Schwab banking accounts for that (again, giving her backups) and we had also opened a Cap One Visa the year before to avoid international transaction fees.
We are happy with all.
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Myer, sorry you have had such troubles with the Andrews card. As I stated on my posts, I had the card within 10 days of filling in the app online [which included 2 weekends which slowed things down]. I think it will be worth you while.
I am all set - have Cap One Accounts for ATM/cash needs and Cap One for all credit card needs [we each have sep. credit card accts and sep ATM/checking accts.] We have the Andrews credit card for non-manned booths. And we have AMEX for Velib and to rent car so we get excellent insurance on rental.
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I have never had a problem in ten years until this trip. Our credit union atm is not giving us money. My chase card has been declined twice but worked at one store. It was declined tonight but my credit union debit card worked. Yikes, I am at wits end. We have the Andrew Global trek card but I like having my own cards to spend what I want to spend. I have some euros left but not enough and zero pounds for our three days in the UK. I notified everyone before leaving. I am buying euro from now on. Thank God I bought enough to pay madame for the apartment in Paris!
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DebitNM - I look forward to hearing about your experience with the Andrews card. As I've reported previously, my US Bank Flexperks Visa does work sometimes as a chip/PIN card, but not always (all fuel pumps and some tolls). It also works as a chip/signature card, and of course, it works as a swipe/signature card here in the US. There is an annual fee and they do charge a foreign transaction fee, so I would be interested in the Andrews card for future travel if it works well for you.
Of course, this may soon be moot since everyone's saying we will all be using our phones in the future for charging things and credit cards will be obsolete!
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We're going to Montreal in a little under two weeks but I shouldn't have a problem there as I don't expect to do anything other than store/restaurant-type purchases.
In early June we're going to Province and Paris. I assume by then I'll have the Andrews Chip & Pin card.
I expect to buy local train tickets and if I do it as in Tuscany two years ago, I'll use machines instead of lines.
This will be a good test of the card.
I expect part of the delay might have been my doing though it shouldn't have been. For employment I wrote retired even though I'm not. I expected they would get my credit score and be happy. Well, they didn't do that. In fact, I suspect they didn't know what to do.
Eventually they were satisifed and we'll see if the card ever arrives.
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Although I have never had any issue with credit cards or ATM in Italy, I just applied for the Capital One credit card (always planned to for the 0% foreign transaction) and ATM. I also applied for the Andrews card without any issue. My husband and I leave for France on June 27th and will be set to go. Thank you all for your input on this thread. As always, very helpful. If there are any issues with the Andrews card (I did something incorrectly), I will post.
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I applied for the Andrews credit card online in March. I got the message your application is being processed. I finally called them about a week later when that message wasn't changed. At tht point they explained to me, I would have to join the credit union (I had to join some organization with a frtee membership), open up an account with Andrews (I did for $5) and provide verification of income which I provided and it took about 10 days but I did get the card. I haven't been out of the country since and it would be a back up card anyway as it has a 1% foreign transaction fee....I will only use my Bank Americard rewards card, which is a successor to the Schwab credit card and of all the bank of America cards exempts you from the near criminal 3% foreign transacton fee, has no annual fee and provides a 1% rebate on all purchases (2% was the norm for the late Schwab card). I also replaced the late dear departed Schwab card with a Fidelity Amex card which also has a 2% overall rebate on everything but has two deficiencies...#1 it's an Amex which has many holes in its coverage outside the USA and 2) it has a 1% foreign currency or transaction fee, not sure of which. Of course during this quarter of the year, I am using my Chase rewards card for groceries (5% rebate on all grocery charges), my Discover card for restaurants (5% rebate on restaurants this quarter) and a card from Penn Fed for pet;rol (5% on all petrol purchases).
I feel almost like a pig rolling around in mudj with all these decisions I have to make and the way I'm able to save big time <g>.
Indeed life can be so complicated!
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My amusement with Andrews continues.
I called yesterday wondering where my card is. They told me it would take two weeks to arrive since it's made in Canada.
Well, it arrived in today's mail. I should have asked two weeks from when.
With all of the communications between them and me during this process I don't remember anything about assigning a PIN. I guess that's an important part.
I read their documentation through and no mention of the PIN. I guess I'll call on Monday.
They do mention in several places to sign the back of the card as that's part of the security process.
I always write on the back of my cards to "Ask for Id". The odd time they do ask I show picture Id. I always felt that if I sign the card anybody who finds it now has a sample of my signature.
Your experience is similar to mine except I told them I was retired as that could happen the next time I get fed up with going to work. I think that freaked them out a bit and they didn't know what to do. I figured they would check my credit score and that would satisfy them.
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The pin should have come sep. It cannot be changed
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Technically, if you write ask for id on your credit card, you invalidate the card. I don't know if you've ever read any of my other posts but in USA (and yes I know not all over the world) merchant agreements, merchants while they can ask for id are not allowed to refuse a transaction for lack of id (they can ask for id if the signature on the sales slip doesn't match the signature on the credit card). Again, I understand the phobia some people have b ut having your credit card compromised is, in the scheme of things, not the worst thing in the world to deal with. You tell the credit card cmpanies which charges are not yours, they remove them from your bill and they issue a new card with a new number (it's happened to me 3 times in the last 25 years). The biggest pain is notifying those who you have contracted with to make automatic payments from your credit card of the new number, expiration date and change in ccv number but then again you have to do that every time a credit card is re-issued with a new number. OTOH, identity theft can be a real serious problem and every time you show some clerk id, there is the possibility of him or her rmemorizing say your driver's license number; match that up with a stolen credit card number and that can be real trouble.
Finally, though, it's to a certain degree in the USA at least pretty much a moot point. Rarely do they check signatures any more on the vast majority of charges. You swipe your card in the pos terminal, a sales receipt is printed sometmes they ask for a signature, other times say at the post office or at many grocery stores or many fast food places, they don't ask for a signature at all!
It's funny though. Every time I use a non chip card in the UK, the clerk makes a pretense of checking the signature. They look but never follow up as my signature is hard to read in the signature panel of the credit card.
(Before I get flamed, I know that in many countries these same rules do not hold).
The only place I have problems at home these days is at restaurants when I refuse to give the waiter my credit card. I insist that I either pay the cashier or be brought to the secret room where the card is run through the terminal (and maybe one of those hand held theft terminals too)!
Just my own friendly advice.
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Oh BTW, what I meant to tell you before I went off on my tantrum about writing see id, the PIN arrived in a separate mailing the next day......
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Yes, I realize the PIN will arrive separately. With all the communications going back and forth I couldn't remember if the PIN was something I had pre-assigned.
Stores that have a minimum purchase to sign. I hate that. I would like to have to sign always. Long live chip & PIN.
Ask for ID on the back instead of actual signature. Yes, the biggest pain with getting a new number is finding and informing those who charge directly although I try to keep those to a minimum.
Amused. I'm amused by store clerks who turn over the card (my card instructs to ask for Id) and hand it back to me without asking for Id. I think as part of their training they're told to turn over the card and give it back.
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Two years ago in Tuscany my credit card suddenly wouldn't go thru in a restaurant and right after in a train station. We travel with 3 different cards so we used a backup card. The next day I called the credit card company. I don't remember her exact wording. Either "the card works" or "the card works now". I had no problems the rest of the trip. And I called the credit card company before the trip informing them where I was going and for which dates.
However, I know that when I mess up it costs me. So why not them. I negotiated a credit on my credit card account and 10,000 air miles.
On another trip many years ago we were in California. Six months later I had two charges of $499. on my card. The credit card company told me it's common that people working in car rentals (why them?) copy numbers and sell them for future use.
It sometimes bothers me to give my card at a restaurant but I get over it. I figure that most people are honest and there's as much chance of this happening as anything else.
For some reason (maybe for that) I take a quick look at my credit card account every week or two and don't wait for the invoice to arrive. Once I noticed an issue.
We went out to a restaurant and the credit card charge had $100 added to the front of the charge. Before calling the credit card company I called the restaurant and spoke with the manager.
He told me the server was no longer with the restaurant. He credited our credit card $100 and sent us a $25. gift card.
About 15 years ago we did notice something strange happen. Whenever our credit card bill was very high (charge part of the cost of a car, hurricane shutters (we live in south Florida) and many expenses after a move) we noticed that the invoice wouldn't arrive and then come a month late with interest charges. We always called and had them reversed.
After a particularly large purchase my wife mentioned it to me and sure enough the invoice didn't arrive. I can't believe they have something in their program to cause an invoice not to print the first month when the balance is high. Conspiracy?
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And on a totally different topic. During the Atlanta olympics my daughter drove there with a friend. She walked into a mall and made a collect call (pre-cell) to us. I don't remember the exact charge but it was outragious.
I called the obscure telephone company and told them if they didn't do something I would file a complaint with the Public Service Commission. The person told me that she "was only authorized to credit up to 90% of a charge". I almosy choked. I guess they make their money on people who don't complain.
About the same time I read an article in the newspaper. Some companies were set up in Texas (again, why Texas?) called "It Doesn't Matter", "I don't Care", etc. Then when you get a new telephone line and the sales clerk asks who will handle your long distance and you reply oh, "It doesn't matter" guess who gets your business at their rates?
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Myer, my pin ID came after they called me and asked a few questions to make sure I was on the up and up. The questions were of public knowledge and credit report things so nothing invasive but I thought it was reassuring that they were putting effort into protecting my account. Patience, patience, patience, thats what my grandma used to tell me.
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To continue the saga.
We were in Montreal last week for my wife's high school reunion.
I took my Andrews Chip & Pin card with for a test run prior to our trip to Provence & Paris.
Just about every store has the new card readers that permit the cardholder to slide the card in and then proceed (I'm using that word carefully).
I used the card 3 or 4 times.
Each time I used the card a slip was printed out that required signing. Once I was with a friend and his card requested a PIN where mine printed a signing slip.
What I forgot to do was use the Andrews card in a parking meter. I just thought of that and I wish I had tried it.
I called customer service and they told me that if the vendor has their reader set up for PIN only it would have requested my PIN. She also told me that their cards are set to default to "signature" when the the vendor's reader accepts both PIN or signature.
She said in Europe the card would work properly that if I used it in an unmanned machine it will request a PIN.
I did not come home with the greatest amount of confidence. Hopefully what she said is correct and the card will work as Chip & PIN.
We'll see in a couple of weeks.
I will report back.
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Why would you want to use the Andrews card outside the USA unless you absolutely had to? After all, they impose the visa/mc 1% foreign transaction (or is it currency) fee passed along by visa/mc. It is my intent to only use the card in those cases where a merchant refuses to take my magnetic strip card with no foreign transaction fee and a 1% reward to boot.
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Just some thoughts to consider...we are photographers and travel every year to France....never had a problem with any cards etc. however, we always carry a ziplock bag of euro coins in the car. This past fall 2011, we ran into many unmanned toll booths.We do not yet have a chipped card, unfortunately and many of the ones from the US do not work. Just for information.. It is very easy to use the unmanned toll booths with coins and you can get a receipt called recu in French.Also in the countryside we always had cash and filled up early so we did not run out of gas.We even stopped in a very very rural gas station that came with a nice bar and since I am taking French lesson I went in and asked in French could we fill up and pay cash and could I uSe the toilettes... All the people at the tinny bar clapped for my French and bought me a glass of wine...Do think about carrying some euros in case the cards do mot work. I have never had a problem with our credit cards at hotels nor have we had any ATM problems...hope that will not become a problem. the one good thing about renting or leasing a newer car in France is that we got magnificent mileage...did not have to fill up very often and we were driving for 6 weeks.
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Myer, DebitNM and all,
Looking forward to your continued adventures with credit cards. I'm getting ready for my next trip and things have changed at lot since 2005!
Buon viaggio!
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Why would I want to use the card outside the USA? The question really is, "Why would I want to use the card inside the USA?"
The whole idea is to have a Chip & PIN card in Europe so that I can use unmanned vending machines and not either wait in line or not get service at all.
For instance, in a train station you have the choice of using a Chip & PIN card at a ticket vending machine or get into a line.
I have Euros but the intention is to have a card that works and not pay for everything with cash (Euros). I don't want to go backwards on this.
I know that manned vendors have to accept your signature card as per their contract. However, we will be making a fair number of train trips and I don't want to spend all day in line.
We were in Tuscany two years ago and it was very convenient just walking up to a vending machine and buy train tickets. However, they have since switched over. I often wonder what happens when someoone finds a card and walks into a train station and buys tickets. Chip & PIN protects against this.
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Myer: I am totally in agreement with your viewpoint.
I'm nearing the end of the excrutiatainly long application process for the Andrews. My husband keeps saying, "Why are we doing this?"
Indeed, why have I bothered?
AFter all, I do have two credit cards that do not charge a foreign transaction fee that work beautifully for most hotel and restaurant purchases, and I have two ATM cards that will refund me any ATM fees.
Flashback: Waiting in line for ONE HOUR mid afternoon to buy train tickets at a window in Paris that I could have bought with a Chip and Pin at a kiosk in two minutes.
Flashback: Waiting in line at Amsterdam airport to buy train tickets at a window that I could have bought in one minute at a kiosk.
Flashback: Waiting in line to buy train tickets in Brussels that I could have bought in one minute at a kiosk.
It's fine when there IS an attendent. There are times when there are not. I'm not going to let that possibility happen.
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Myer...I was just reminding that Andrews has a 1% foreign transaction (or it might be a foreign currency) fee...I agreed with yuo completely if you read the whole answer...I too want the card just in case. It just wouldn't be my first choice!
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Actually, xyz123, it IS good that you brought up the 1% FT to reiterate why this should not become our "go-to" card.
In addition, the miles/points earned on the no FT card also make my two Visas--CapOne and Chase--more attractive.
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I know what you mean about the application process. Every time I thought I was finnished I got more things to sign.
Now I'm trying to figure out how to look up my transactions online. Haven't figured that out yet.
I guess another call to customer service.
We travel with three credit cards. My wife has one and I have two. At home we both use the same card but when we travel she leaves that one at home.
Two years ago when we were in Tuscany one of my cards suddenly started to be rejected (I had called before the trip to inform them - maybe that was my mistake). My wife took out her card (didn't call before leaving) and paid for the meal and then a train ticket). The next day I called the credit card company and it was unlocked.
On the way back home I started to think. If I screw up I know that somehow it's going to cost me. Conversely, if they screw up shouldn't it cost them. When I got home I called and we negotiated a small settlement.
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I opened up online access to the credit card on their web site and it now appears as part of my full view on my brokerage account which lists all the credit cards I have on-line access to.
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I'll take a look in a little while. Thanks.
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I do have had worries about getting gas at non attendant stations and ticket and toll booths.
I called Wells Fargo and they have not come up with the chip yet.
I also have a BA card at Chase which does not charge the 3% foreign transaction fee. I just called them and they will sent out a new card with all the features of the old card but with a chip which should solve the problems per above. only problem is a pretty high annual fee and BA FF program charges for fuel charges etc so a ticket is far from free. hope to use for AA trips that don;t charge the extra fees.
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I will chime in -
We will use Cap One credit card for all payments on our trip that we can sign for and that are more than 5 euros. Will pay cash for anything less than 5 Euros. {We each have card, 2 different accounts}. As long as we can use this one, it is our go to card.
We will use the Andrews FCU card ONLY when we cannot sign - unmanned kiosks, tolls, gas stations. This is the beauty of a TRUE chip and pin.{1 account, but we each have a card}.
We will get cash from ATM using Cap One debit card that uses our online banking account. We only fund this account for our trips, otherwise, we keep minimal amount in it. {We each have one, different accounts}. Also, my having only travel funds in it, it limits the amount withdrawals, should someone get the card - which I doubt will happen.
And lastly, AMEX for velib rentals and for car rental, since we got the car insurance for the rental with AMEX card.
Wow, that is a lot, isn't it? Will be nice when things are same all around.
dsevig - make sure that BA card is a true chip and pin and not chip and signature. Per the chart, it is not true chip and pin, unless that has changed.
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As of today, all the chipped cards issued by most US banks are chip and signature...the only two chip and pin cards I know of are from Andrews as we've been discussing and the UNCU open apparently only to employees of the UN.
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I know it is chip and signature - when I questioned the agent she said most Kiosks will not require a signature - any ideas how effective this is?
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From all my research, kiosk for train tickets etc, will not work with chip and signature. Read allessandrzoes' post from earlier today.
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dsevig--DebitNM is correct.
It's not you. Agents* know squat about this because they are rarely in the position of testing the darn things.
When I use my credit card (non chip or chip/sign)at merchants in France, they actually out of habit ask me to enter a PIN. I shake my head and make a scribble motion, they nod, and then I just sign.
But I can't shake my head and motion scribble at the darn kiosk.
*Credit card agents too frequently are just like all the bank reps who keep insisting that a non-Visa ATM card does not/could not work in foreign ATMS. Does not matter that I have used a non-Visa ATM and will continue to use a non-Visa ATM in every darn ATM machine in Europe. They insist that "they" know.
Sidenote: I looked at what you are taking DebitNM and I'm wondering if you are a member of my immediate family. Looks pretty much like MY wallet.
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For the record, just passing along what I've read, sometimes when you use a chip and signature card and the merchant insists on a pin, if you enter 0000 it works. Haven't been in that situation and don't shoot the messenger please.
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I don't carry, xyz123.
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Well, we're leaving in a week so I'll report back on my Andrews card when we get back.
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I keep chiming in on these threads to say again that the U.S. Bank Flexperks Visa chipped card worked for us last fall in France in several different ways.
It worked in the kiosks for the Metro in both Lyon and Paris, and also in the kiosks for Transilien tickets in Paris with neither signature nor PIN required.
It also worked on two occasions in parking garages (Troyes and Reims) with a PIN required, no signature.
It worked as a chip and signature card in many grocery stores (Franprix, Dia, G20) in the 11th arr. in Paris near our apartment. In these stores our magnetic strip Capital One card was not accepted.
It worked without either signature or PIN in a Tabac where we refilled our Navigo Découverte passes.
It worked without PIN or signature in automated toll booths on the autoroute around Troyes and Reims.
It did not work in any fuel pump anywhere we tried.
So, unlike the experience of others reporting here, our card functioned as a chip and signature card, as a chip and PIN card, and with neither signature nor PIN. I look forward to hearing about others' experiences with other cards.
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...with neither signature nor PIN.
YIKES! I don't think I would like that feature.
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With rare exception, only credit cards issued by French banks will be accepted at automated fuel pumps. Don't assume your pin and chip/signature card will allow you to purchase fuel on weekends, at night, or on holidays with the attendants are not available.
Never allow your fuel tank to deplete lower than levels giving sufficient margin to purchase fuel on the next regular business day.
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The only machines that I know of that require neither signature nor PIN are the toll booths. In the old days, the machines in parking lots also worked that way, but now they all seem to ask for a PIN.
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In the US I hate it when I use my regular credit card and due to the store (type or contract, etc) and amount no signature is required.
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Myer....It's quite true that there are many merchants in the US who don't require signatures for amounts under a certain minimum....my grocercy chain doesn't reqire signatures for amounts under $50 and the USPS for amounts under $25....I rarely reach the minimum whatever it isfor fast food purchases either and at most gasoline (petrol) self serve stations I swipe my card, sometimes it asks for a zip code (of course that leaes foreigners out altheough I've been told that for foreign cards, entering 00000 does the trick) but even when asked to sign these days, it's on a pos scrteen and hardly ever am asked to show the card. So what? I'm not liable anyway. The postal servicde asks for the card and the clerk enters the ccv.
But I will say this. In the UK, they do make a pretense of checking signatures. Whether some 18 year old university student is going to go out of his or her way to make a stink is another question.
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>The only machines that I know of that require neither signature nor PIN are the toll booths.
Kerouac, as I indicated, the kiosks in the Metro and for Transilien tickets at the Gare du Nord and in Auvers-sur-Oise did not require either PIN or signature. Perhaps with some cards a PIN might be needed, but it wasn't with this card.
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Vacations and traveling are supposed to be fun. Now not only do we have to save the money to go, but we have to figure out HOW we can spend it.
I have a headache.
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Maybe I'll just go back to Utah. Ha!!!
Actually, I'm taking my daughter to Glacier NP in Montana in August.
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Ok. I figured out how to logon to my VISA account.
I was logging in to my regular online account and not specific to VISA.
One small step . . . .
Now for the whole reason to put myself thru this. It better work in France as Chip & PIN.
Will report when we return.
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It better work in France as Chip & PIN.
hahha, it better or I am in BIG trouble, as you will all be out to get me!
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Hope it works great for you both!
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Can't wait to find out!
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I got my Andrews Visa card two weeks ago. I made my first purchase using it Friday to check how to monitor the account. The Andrews savings and Visa payment accounts link directly to my Quicken software. The Visa "payment" account is opened so you can directly transfer money from your Andrews savings for payments if you wish. It looks as if the Visa Card account will need to be monitored by manually entering charges into Quicken then checking online periodically (that is how I handled Cap One for years until they set up for Quicken Direct Link). Payments can be made by Bill Pay software or mail.
I'm looking forward on reports on how the card works, mostly for gas pumps and Autoroute tolls. Sarastro mentioned that only French issued credit cards are accepted at gas pumps. I hope he is wrong, but he usually isn't. If he is right I will have to pay attention to the gauge before the manned booths close.
We will be spending a week in Italy at the end of our month long trip this year. There doesn't seem to as much chip and pin chatter in the Italy tread but what little I find there makes me think that the situation is similar to France. If anyone has any more information let us know.
It has been mentioned a few times that Andrews doesn't have a rewards program and they charge a FX fee. My card has "Rewards" written on the front it. I haven't checked the website for the rules but I remember seeing 1 point per dollar charged during the application process. Isn't the 1% foreign exchange fee charged by Visa not Andrews FCU?
DebitNM don't worry about if the card doesn't work as advertised; it wasn't that much trouble to open the account and it will even less to close. Thank you for doing all the research to make it easy for the rest of us.
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It's going to be an adventure for all of us!...
if I get my card...
I think I'm now finally getting it after going over the bridge, digging the tunnel, swimming the steam, rapelling the cliff and jumping the abyss.
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I'm not sure I'll have internet access while away but if I do I'll try to report back. Otherwise it'll wait until we're back.
AlessandraZoe, if it works and avoids lines then it'll be worth it.
Thank you for all of your research into the Chip & PIN card. Much appreciated.
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Finally got my credit cards. They had said two weeks for arrival after my last hurdle (took three calls to get over that hurdle, too). It came within 16 days.
I had no problem accessing online, but I have not used it yet.
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My MB branded ATM card bought us Metro tickets in an automated booth. I was also able to use it almost everywhere to get money from bank ATM's, buy items at most stores.
It did NOT work in the automated ticket machine at the train station. My Travelex (yes I know expensive) card decided not to work anymore either. The ticket line was so long the only reason we didn't miss our train is I asked a French man who successfully used the machine if he would mind buying me the two tickets (only 36E) for me, and I gave him cash. I thanked him profusely; he earned angel wings.
I don't think it would have worked in the tollbooth on A85 either, but we just dumped some coins in and didn't try it.
We would have been OK without the chip card except for the train ticket issue. They were just tickets to Vernon, and we changed our plans due to the rain, so we didn't have them ahead of time.
You can recharge the Navigo Decouverte at many ATM machines on Mondays so I suppose you could just use your regular ATM card to do that. Our local ATM's all had the Navigo recharge option come up on the screen on Monday. Pretty cool.
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We just got back from 6 weeks in France.
- One InterMarche grocery & its associated gas station could not take our US swipe card. Both attendants told us this as soon as we handed them the card. They said that the store switched to chip-only recently. This was near Sauternes. All the other groceries & gas stations took our swipe card - including other InterMarches.
- the first toll station on an autoroute accepted our swipe card, and the second one did not. We paid cash for the remainder of our trip. Manned toll booths are vanishing.
- One large/new/modern/popular restaurant listed in the Michelin Red Guide could not take our swipe card. One other large/local/popular restaurant couldn't either. Both were in the Haute Pyrenees. This was a first for us.
Stu Dudley
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I got back from Turkey and must report that I didn't try out the Andrews card yet. Our swipe Cap Ones and Chase Preferred worked everywhere, but I was ready to do a quick draw of the Andrews chip if I needed to.
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Stu...since you've been away you may have missed this...Bank of America has announced a whole bunch of emv, chip and signature naturally, cards. One of them is the Travel Rewards Card.....no annual fee, no foreign transaction fees and equipped with emv chips. You might wish to look into it.
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xyz--But then we have to deal with Bank of America.
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Does anyone know how a chip/signature card would work in France?
I know that their readers can probably read a BofA chip - but how do I "sign"? The readers expect a PIN!!! I don't think it would produce paper - certainly a reader at an unmanned gas station won't, and a card reader on a Peage won't print paper to sign. If I use my swipe card at a Peage toll both I don't sign anything - perhaps a signature is not necessary. Anyone know???
Stu Dudley
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Stu - Our US Bank Visa worked both as a chip/signature card and a chip/PIN card. When I used it in a store, for example, the card was inserted to read the chip, then a slip was printed out for signature. This was the case in Franprix and other stores. When I used it in parking garages in Troyes and Reims, I inserted it and a PIN was requested.
On another thread someone reported that they were told that their chip card defaulted to chip/signature, but would work as chip/PIN if there was no way to require a signature.
And, the card worked with neither signature nor PIN in a couple of autoroute toll machines and in all transportation ticket machines (SNCF, Transilien, RATP, RER) in both Paris and Lyon.
By the way, the card never worked at a fuel pump. Many report that non-French cards are not accepted for this purpose, even those with chips.
We continue to use our Capitol One Mastercard where accepted, but do like having the chipped card handy for when we need it.
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Stu.....Every time I used my chip and signature Andrews FCU (for a few small purchases, the 1% foreign transaction fee is 1% more than it should be), you insert it and it tells the merchant signature required and a slip is printed the same way it would with a swipe card. In a couple of cases, the RATP machine in a Paris metro station which was unmanned and unwomanned, it worked and didn't ask for either a pin or a signature (but then again we're all used to that at fast food places, right?). As noted right above, one of the few banks that claims to be chip and pin is the Andrews one but as noted above, in every case it operted like a chip and signature card. Some claim they have sucessfully used it as chip and pin in some places in France, others claim it hasn't worked at all. Andrews claims it does default to chip and signature but if a terminal requires a pin, it will work. Can't verify that but have no reason to doubt it.
US Bank card is supposed to also be chip and signature. I won't quibble with the person above but the cash advance pin is supposed to be irrelevant and maybe any four digit number will work.
It almost seems that the USA banks have decided that it is necessary to introduce emv cards to satisfy the demands of their customers but apparently hve decided they will be going with chip and signature.
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Thanks all
I'll continue with my Cap One card in Europe because I get double miles with it. The few cases I've encountered where it will not work is:
- a very small % of groceries & gas stations
- a very small % of restaurants
- Toll roads
- unmanned/unwomaned gas stations.
The latter is my biggest concern - but if MainGG is correct, a US chip card won't work there. I might avoid some lines at toll booths, but the CC only lines at the toll booths I encountered the past 6 weeks were just as long as the cash/CC lines. The "fast track" lines were short, however.
Stu Dudley
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The biggest drag are the toll booths because you never know how much you need to throw in the basket until you get to the booth, then have to fumble for change. Last night was a perfect example, coming back on the A8 from Monaco to Juan les Pins after midnight and trying to see in the dark the change needed!
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I was in France a month ago.
The Andrews Chip & PIN card defaults to Chip & Signature if the vendor accepts it. Otherwise it is programmed to be Chip & PIN.
In restaurants I used it 5 times just to see what would happen. Three times it went to Signature and twice is went to PIN.
However, at the ticket vending machine in train stations, where there is no ticket clerk unless you wait in line, the card went to PIN every time and worked exactly as it should.
In Paris I wanted to buy a pack of 10 Metro tickets. It wouldn't take my regular card but did take my Andrews Chip & PIN card (but with no signature).
So when it had to it worked as we wanted it to work.
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Myer....did you use the card at the toll booths on the autoroutes? Or at the bycycle rental places? Or at an unmanned or unwomanned gas pump?
Just curious.
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>US Bank card is supposed to also be chip and signature. I won't quibble with the person above but the cash advance pin is supposed to be irrelevant and maybe any four digit number will work.
xyz123 - I'll have to try some random numbers next time I use this card and it asks for a PIN. Won't have the chance until next spring, though.
Myer - When I used the US Bank card in ticket machines, they never required a PIN. You say that one was required when you used them. Could it be possible that the Andrews card is truly a chip/PIN card and the US Bank card isn't? I wonder what happens when French chip/PIN cards are used in these machines. Is a PIN required or not?
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Andrews FCU no longer charges 1% for either VISA card purchase OR for ATM withdrawals from bank account.
We are presently in France and have been using the card quite a bit.
The Andrews card has worked great - needing the pin when using a machine when no one is present.Sometimes having to sign when the card was inserted into the card reader and clerk handed paper slip to me to sign. It worked in unmanned gas stations, to pay for unmanned parking. It worked for train tickets from machine. It didn't not work for toll on one expressway, but did work at another toll booth.It didn't work for some reason at 2 different InterMarche stores, but did at all other stores.
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That's good news to learn it actually works, as it does look good in the terms (if anyone can get it, which I understand they can if they join some assn that is free). Although my only need would ever really be some train ticket machines in France, but it would be nice for that. I don't care about gas stations as I have no trouble getting gas at a manned both (and don't do that much anyway), and I can always find a machine in the Paris metro system that takes cash for tickets there. Actually, the train ticket machine in Lyon took my regular American un-chipped credit card with no problem, and I've heard they do at CDG, also.
I just got back from a trip to France and Spain and never had a single problem anywhere using my regular unchipped American credit cards, no place of business refused them, even small family run restaurants, etc. It didn't work in the SNCF ticket machines, though, as I tried just to see.
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On our 6 week trip to France (Pyrenees) in June/July, about 2 restaurants, 2 large grocery stores, and a couple of manned gas stations did/would not accept our swipe card. It did not work in a few toll roads either. These "refusals" were more than we encountered on our combined 25 months in France in the past 12 years.
Things are changing. I'm getting a chip/pin card for our next trip to Europe.
Stu Dudley
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The St. Augustine Lighthouse Guild is sponsoring an April 30 bus tour to Jupiter Island. Cost is $105 for lighthouse members and $115 for non-members. This includes transportation, boat tour, box lunch and entrance to Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse. Dinner at Dixie Crossroads is not included.
Leaving at 7:30 a.m. that day from the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum, the trip will include a two-hour pontoon boat ride on the Intracoastal Waterway to look for manatees and see the homes and yachts of the rich and famous, including the site of Tiger Woods' new home, the homes of Greg Norman, country singer Alan Jackson and the house where Perry Como lived for 27 years. A box lunch will be served on board the privately chartered boat.
The next stop will be at the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and Museum. The lighthouse was built in 1860, is 108 feet tall with 105 steps, has a First Order Fresnel lens, and is still operated as an active aid to navigation. The waterfront museum and gift shop is located in the newly restored WWII Naval barracks building.
As the tour returns to St. Augustine, guests will stop in Titusville at the Dixie Crossroads Seafood Restaurant for dinner.
Space is limited. For information on purchasing a ticket for the trip and for more information on joining the guild, contact Debe Thompson in the volunteer office at 829-0745 ext. 212 or dthompson@staugustinelighthouse.
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text: A succinct introduction to the fundamental concepts of human resource management to be used as one of several texts in a graduate or undergraduate course in management, or as a core for short intense courses on topics specific to human resources management. The 1999 edition is here revised to update references and reflect current thinking in the field. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)


text:
Written on: 18/07/2013 by joeholmes3 (1 review written)
Living in the USA and sending beautiful bouquets of flowers to family in the UK has never been easier. All aspects of the order and delivery are grade "A". Thank You for bringing a smile to my loved ones abroad. Your highly recommended and appreciated.


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It's a garden, it's a blind, it's something we should have thought of years ago.
There is hope for urban gardeners everywhere. Paris-based designers Nicolas Barreau and Jules Charbonnet (Barreau&Charbonnet) were recently selected as finalists at the Jardins Jardin competition at Paris' Tuileries Gardens.
Their winning design allows you to hang window boxes outside your window. They call it the Volet Végétal -- the Organic Shutters.
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All images courtesy of Barreau&Chabonnet.
H/T Core77.


text:
London, Sep 12 (IANS) Veteran left-wing MP Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party by a landslide on Saturday.
Corbyn, 66, beat three contenders in the leadership race, two of them high level members of Labour's front-bench team, Xinhua news agency reported.
Corbyn captured 251,417 votes, just under 60 percent of the 422,664 votes cast.
His victory came when the results of the four-way fight were announced at a special Labour conference. The result rocked the Labour establishment to its very core, sending shock waves through the party hierarchy.
Content with lurking on the back benches in Parliament since becoming MP for the London constituency in Islington North in 1983, Corbyn came into the political limelight when he was persuaded at the last minute to enter the leadership race.
Corbyn's participation was seen as a side-show, giving party members a wider choice in the election.
Labour changed its rules to allow people to become party supporters, paying three pounds ($4.6) to earn a vote. The party membership rocketed, with hundreds of thousands joining, most of them backing Corbyn.
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He became a vegetarian at 20 after a spell working on a pig farm, does not own a car but cycles everywhere instead, is described as left wing and writes a regular column in the Morning Star newspaper.
He is opposed to nuclear weapons and wants to see the cancellation of Britain's Trident nuclear weapons programme. This year it was reported he had married a Mexican coffee importer, Laura Alvarez, 20 years younger than him. She became his third wife after two broken marriages.
He is teetotaller and a supporter of the London premiership team, Arsenal, and is five times winner of Parliament's "beard of the year" contest.
An anti-monarchist, he once asked former prime minister Tony Blair to remove the Royal Family from Buckingham Palace.


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Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
UPDATE: Brady participated in a walk-through practice with the Patriots at 10:45 a.m. ET. A team spokesman said the star quarterback would not be talking to the media today. As expected Bündchen and the couple's son, Benjamin, have returned to Boston this morning from New York's Fashion Week.
Tom Brady appears OK after his Audi was involved in a crash in Boston this morning.
But while Gisele Bündchen's other half was relatively unscathed, rescuers needed the Jaws of Life to free another man involved in the accident.
Brady, 33, had been driving in Boston's Back Bay and was at the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Gloucester Street when the accident occurred.
Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald says that a car and a passenger van collided at 6:34 a.m. ET and then ricocheted into a traffic light. MacDonald confirmed that the van driver was unconcious and needed to be extricated from the vehicle and rushed to a hospital. Another person was treated at the scene. Officials have declined to confirm the identities of anyone involved in the wreck, but multiple sources have ID'd Brady as the driver of the car.
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Brady was well enough to walk around after the crash and refused to be taken to the hospital, according to the Boston Globe. His Audi wasn't so lucky, getting towed away from the scene.
Bündchen, 30, is currently in New York for Fashion Week, and walked the runway Tuesday night at Lincoln Center. She was expected for appearances later tonight for Fashion's Night Out in New York but will likely return to Boston.
—Additional reporting by Jason Kennedy
(Originally published Sept. 9, 2010, at 5:32 a.m. PT)


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Tomorrow, for July 4, all Captain America products are 20% off! But hurry in since we'll be closing at 4:00 PM to celebrate America!
Big Trouble in a Little Comic Store!
Free Comic Book Day Announcements!
This Saturday is Free Comic Book Day, and we've been keeping our back issue sale under raps until now! All back issues (excluding books on the wall) are Buy One Get One Free! And if that weren't enough, our five great prizes for the raffle this year are: Two sets of tickets to WWE Raw in Knoxville, a sideshow collectibles Nick Fury Needle Gun, a full size Psylocke statue, and a long box full of comics! The raffle will be held at 5:30!
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Batman Eternal #1 is here!
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text:
The Witcher 2 - Patch 1.3 Coming - CDP RED being sued by Namco BANDAI
CDP RED updated their Witcher 2 site with news of patch 1.3
However, here's the first 6 changes:
At last my long awaited 4:3 aspect ratio patch :)
Inventory storage, too!
I can't wait till Namco Bandai go bankrupt.
Namco B. sucks and CDPR rules! I'm just waiting for storage before I give the game another whirl. :cool:
sweet storage, now DArtagnan has no excuse for cheating anymore;)
Item storage, junk panel and quick load? CDPR is a developer which really listens to the customers. That's exactly what I wanted.
And a new free DLC is amazing.
I bought the game but havent played much of it yet….there is a reason why I wait a minimum 6 months whenver a new game comes out to play it:)
I still don't understand why inventory storage wasn't implemented from the start, but I'm glad to see they patched it in at least.
16:10, item storage, a junk tab and a new quest to boot, excellent.
The only gripe I have with the game (other than it's easier to play with a gamepad) is that they threw the craftable material all over. Plus the developers expected you to just rob everyone for this material.
For TW3 I would love it if they tried out Gothic's way of dealing with property. You enter someone's home and the NPCs take notice and tell you to get the F*** out.
One of the most memorable experiences when playing any RPG was the first time I entered a house in Gothic and the NPCs took notice. I was like, "Wait….What did you just say?" and sure enough the NPCs reacted to my actions.
That was done a little over a decade ago. It's time for other great RPGs to start implementing this. Most already have some kind of C&C now it's time to start focusing on the environment and how it reacts to your presence (other than monster fighting).
Odd how all the big developers are going on about realism and immersion but somehow
can't be bothered to assign resources for something like that isn't it ?(guess all the effort
goes to beards and tattoos these days)
Anyway seems this is the patch to jump into the game for me too. The fact that it probably will not be out till August, might allow me to thin my recently acquired backlog a bit first, hopefully.
That is one of the major issues I have with a lot of RPGs and which the Gothics (and Risen) implemented very nicely: unsheathing your weapon in public or running around looting NPC houses should really raise some eyebrows. Mind you, the actual implementation in Gothic was quite flawed in places but it still adds so much to my feeling of immersion when I see people reacting to my actions. TW2 landed somewhere in the middle in this regard but I really liked that NPCs didn't treat Geralt as if had a giant "Hero" sign over his head.
Hopefully, the new Quest will be interesting. Troll Trouble was rather well done, I think. Still, I can't see me repeatedly coming back to specific parts of the game if they continue to release these small bits of content every few months.
Didn't Baldur's Gate (the first one) have npcs react as in the Gothic series? I mean, you coluld go into someone's house, try to steal things, but if they noticed you, the guards were called? This is just to say that I agree with everyone on this point. I've always wondered why Geralt were able to go into anyone's house and just take their stuff…
Developping support for a side feature that affects every character in the gameworld is tertiary at the present moment when the primary support, that is support to monster slayer role playing is inexistent.
It is funny how people can focuse on minor details while the big picture is missing. RPG as a genre has failed to get its priorities right.
Just a joke Dartagnan. ;)
All in all changes are nice, but I don't like this change:
"27. Option to fist fight woman praying at a statue in Vergen has been deactivated."
This nonmentioned change in the news is one I'll adore since I despise respawns:
"41. Rotfiends feeding on corpses no longer re-spawn after corpse is burned."
Hehe, it's indeed a nice change - and I'd say it makes the game quite complete.
Unfortunately, it's a bit too little too late for me - as I'm still a ways away from wanting to replay it.
I loved most of the game, but I have to say the beginning and first act were much more to my liking than the last two acts.
It also makes particular sense for Gothic, due to the nature of the harsh world that it illustrates.
I can only echo the sentiment that hopefully the Witcher will follow suit at some point, because not enough cRPGs have this kind of reactivity - and to think it started so long ago! (Thus a point well made, Skavenhorde)
I wish they'd deal with two major problems in the next patch: poor controls and this.
Speaking of Gothic, I have never seen any other game deal with breaking into houses as good as Gothic/G2 did.
I normally hate sneaking. It's boring and too dang slow, but sneaking into homes in Gothic was just too much fun.
I'd be happy if they just made the people react if I stole something from them in future Witchers, but it would be nice if they told me to get out. I know I would if someone just barged on into my home ;)
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Frankie's is a good place to take the kids. They have many fun things for the kids to do. Go carts, mini golf, video games, etc. It is a little expensive, but it is a nice treat e...
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Go-Karts . Miniature Golf . Bumper Boats . Batting Cages . 50 Ft Drop Zone . 90 Ft Slide . Laser Tag . GREAT FOR BIRTHDAYS . Group Rates Available
From family friendly trips with kid friendly activities to local plumbers lawyers, spas, and contractors. Judy's Book has millions of listings and reviews for the best and not so great. Whether you're looking for a specific business or just trying to discover great places we make it easy. We're a family oriented site focusing on bringing trusted reviews and recommendations to moms and others. Green and Sustainable places are becoming more relevant to Judy's Book users, have a favorite place? Write a review and tell users why it's Green!


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2008 Mazda Tribute - Consumer Review
Average Consumer Rating
Total Reviews
i Grand Touring 4dr SUV (2.3L 4-cyl. 4-speed Automatic)
Build Quality
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Build Quality
Reliability Value
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Great vehicle for the price!
By ChuckFuller on
Vehicle2008 Mazda Tribute i Grand Touring 4dr SUV (2.3L 4cyl 4A)
ReviewOver the years, we have owned 3 Mazda Proteges and 2 MPV vans. Mazda has always delivered the highest quality vehicles we have owned and we expect no less of our new 2008 Tribute. We decided on a fully optioned Grand touring model in the the i series with the 2.3 liter 4 cylinder. I find acceleration to be quite responsive and I'm sure to appreciate the better economy. Unless you need a tow vehicle, I highly recommend this combination. I'm surprised by some of the less than complimentary professional reviews regarding styling cues as I find the vehicle to be gorgeous (gloss black over "stone" leather). All in all, an A+ experience to date.
Best FeaturesBest, mirror-finish black paint job I've owned. Really smooth. Smaller exterior proportions for confident parking, yet interior room in the driver's compartment is outstanding. I'm 6'3" and my large frame is very comfortable in the seat, and headroom is great, even with the sunroof on my model.
Worst FeaturesAs much as I love the slick lines and the black mirror-finish, I'm parking on the outer fringes because NO side molding of any kind. That first good door-ding is going to really hurt and could have been prevented with a little better design/engineering. Ride could be a bit smoother as well.
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- Agriculture.com Community
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Read as 'China buying corn'
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China's purchasing of 500,000 tns of feed wheat from the Aussies is giving then an opportunity to buy livestock feed w/o putting even more pressure on soy and corn stocks. I believe this may be confirmation of my contention that China would like to be buying corn but made the judgment that it would be too inflammatory to global prices. This is an alternative source that's regionally plentiful at the moment given what the Aussie crop went through.
I think China will continue to buy soybeans at a steady rate. The fears that China may have pushed to hard to suppress inflation under continued high rates of development that would result in declining soy purchases will fade away in my estimation. I think the negative scenario is tied too closely to ideological desires that if the US can't escape dire consequences of Fed actions then neither can China, which promoted a gargantuan economic stimulus. Those conclusions may be proven wrong in any near or medium term - which means they are irrelevant to current market pressures.
But the damaged Aussie wheat is just going to push demand for quality wheat for noodles and breads up, meaning that the pressure on commodities is across the board.
Re: Read as 'China buying corn'
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I deffinatly agree in across the board,the grains are going to do a much needed job of lifting our specialty commodities! How high will they have to go to presssure potatoes,onions,surgar beets,and peanuts?
Re: Read as 'China buying corn'
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palouser...... I do think that up to this point we have been able to steve off the chinese from buying corn...... If we were still at the 5.00 area I think that a sale would have occurred by now....... I do think that they would buy corn as soon as the numbers are right...... Most likely when the market is asleep....... In the meantime I look for them to pickoff stuff like the aussie wheat to hold them over until they can buy corn cheap enough...... We will see..... It is kind of a game of chicken...... Can the world take production up or will china blink and be forced to buy?...... p-oed


text:
Research Topics
Parham Mirshahpanah
Detail Information
- Relationship of patch test positivity in a general versus an eczema populationParham Mirshahpanah
RBA Dermatology Berlex Biosciences, 2600 Hilltop Drive, Richmond, CA, USA
Contact Dermatitis 56:125-30. 2007..Taken together, data obtained in eczema patients may be viewed as part of a complex biology and may eventually be of use in aiding validation of predictive dermatotoxilogic assays and in public health assessments...
- Models in acnegenesisParham Mirshahpanah
TRG Inflammation Immunology, Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Mullerstrasse 178, 13342 Berlin, Germany
Cutan Ocul Toxicol 26:195-202. 2007..Developing an animal model that is true to the human condition will require further epidemiological evaluation of acne to elucidate the complex condition...
- Guinea pig maximization test assessment of hydrocortisone and tixocortol pivalateParham Mirshahpanah
TRG Inflammation Immunology, Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Berlin, Germany
Cutan Ocul Toxicol 26:375-82. 2007....
- Induction of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells with histone deacetylase inhibitorsJulie L Lucas
Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Richmond, CA 94701, USA
Cell Immunol 257:97-104. 2009....
- CCR4 and CCR10 ligands play additive roles in mouse contact hypersensitivityParham Mirshahpanah
TRG Inflammation and Immunology, Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Berlin, Germany
Exp Dermatol 17:30-4. 2008..We conclude that blocking CCR4 and CCR10 simultaneously, or their ligands, should be beneficial in the treatment of T-cell-mediated skin diseases...
- Superior nuclear receptor selectivity and therapeutic index of methylprednisolone aceponate versus mometasone furoateParham Mirshahpanah
Research Business Area Dermatology, Berlex Biosciences, Richmond, CA, USA
Exp Dermatol 16:753-61. 2007..The degree to which this observation may translate into a clinical setting requires confirmation...


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Designing the Evolution to the Smart Grid
Please welcome Design Impact's newest guest blogger, Dan Livengood, a Ph.D. candidate from the MIT Engineering Systems Division.
Electricity. In the developed world, electricity is simply interwoven into our lives to the point where most people don't think about it unless it's suddenly not there. Although it often gets a bad rap for when blackouts and other disruption events occur, let's not forget that national and international electricity systems (especially the one in the US and Canada) are often called the largest "machines" in the world. Considering their size and the number of interconnected parts, electricity systems work impressively well. The fact that most people don't think about electricity except for the moments it's not there is arguably evidence of that. In recognition of this impressive "machine", 'electrification' was named the top engineering achievement as ranked by the National Academy of Engineering's 'Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century'!
So, is the electrical grid broken? Arguably (which I will not do here), no.
Is there a strong desire to upgrade the system so it operates better and more efficiently? Yes.
The so-called "smart grid" is a hot topic now, with a major influx of investment coming from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's Smart Grid Investment Grants. However, the grid will not change overnight. In my mind, upgrading the largest "machine" in the world will be a continuous evolutionary process.
For me, this is the connection to the Design Impact blog, and I'd like to thank Dr. James Allison for inviting me to write a guest entry about the smart grid. The smart grid will ultimately have many levels of design. How should we design the smart grid? How should we design the consumer products that will interact with the smart grid? How do we design the evolution to the smart grid while continuing to operate the grid in whatever state it is currently in? With apologies to whoever said this originally (as I have forgotten), an analogy I particularly like is that upgrading the current grid to the smart grid on the fly is effectively equivalent to changing the engine on a commercial jet while it's flying.
Designing and managing the smart grid evolution will be a huge challenge, although not insurmountable. Ultimately, designing the underlying enabling infrastructure for the smart grid will be key. At the moment, we simply aren't sure which technologies or systems will work best for the smart grid. To address this, I am a firm believer in experimenting and trying new technologies in demonstration projects, which is precisely the point made recently by Patricia Hoffman, DOE's assistant secretary for electricity delivery and reliability. The Smart Grid Investment Grants are certainly a solid start at funding some experimental smart grid designs. Some ideas will work, some won't. As these demonstration projects progress, there will be a desire to keep what works and jettison what doesn't on the fly, meaning that the smart grid will always be in a state of transition. So, how do we design the smart grid to continuously operate under continuous change?
I return to my point earlier that the underlying enabling infrastructure will be key. One effort to help support this goal is the monumental task being spearheaded by NIST to establish communication standards for the smart grid. Among other things, smart meters, utility energy management systems, home energy management systems, and even appliances will need to be able to 'talk' with one another. The full spectrum of devices that will connect to the smart grid will almost certainly come from more than one manufacturer, much like a multitude of devices connects seamlessly to the Internet. Establishing communication and interoperability standards is thus critically important for innovation to flourish on the smart grid just as it has on the Internet.
Smart meters are also undoubtedly a key enabling piece of the smart grid's evolution. Electricity usage is read off of older meters at a frequency of at most once a month, whereas these smart meters will be read on the order of a few minutes to hourly. With this more frequent feedback of electricity usage, electricity customers will have a better understanding of how much electricity they use and at what times they use it. However, smart meters are just a starting point, and as a few utilities have found out, there will be some growing pains along the way as we transition into the smart grid.
These growing pains are likely part of what was behind a recent announcement that had the smart grid world buzzing: the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) turned down Baltimore Gas and Electricity's smart meter rollout proposal. Personally, I think the Maryland PSC made the right call for reasons along the lines of what Chris King discusses in an article for SmartGridNews (which is a smart grid newsletter that I recommend perusing for anyone interested in easy reading and quick introductions to the many movers and shakers in the smart grid space). It's not that the Maryland PSC doesn't support the smart grid. Quite the opposite, I believe. My interpretation of their reasoning is simply that 'we like where you're going, but we think your smart grid system design should be better.' Designing these systems is, frankly, going to be hard. Some pieces, like smart meters, are necessary enablers of the smart grid, but there is much more to truly make the system work. There are many questions to answer as well. Among them, how will customers react in the long run to smart meters, real-time electricity information and possibly time-varying pricing? Will the new smart grid system truly operate more efficiently than the old system? Again, one of the best ways to find this out in my mind is to try out some ideas through demonstration projects, just as Patricia Hoffman suggested.
I'll stop here for this entry and return at a later date with some thoughts on one or more of the other pieces of the smart grid. I welcome any comments, questions or suggestions of which topic or topics to discuss next.
Once again, many thanks to Dr. James Allison for providing me the opportunity to write this guest entry for his Design Impact blog. Have a great day, everyone!


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MCU market consolidation
1 comments post a comment
NEC and Renesas are merging, TI has acquired Luminary Micro, and Microchip almost purchased Atmel. Is more consolidation coming in the microcontroller area?
and Renesas are merging, TI has acquired Luminary Micro, and Microchip
almost purchased Atmel. Is more consolidation coming in the
microcontroller area? It would be hard to believe that this
recession will not provide buying opportunities for the cash rich
companies, or mergers of convenience will be sought as world-wide sales
the MCU market is unique in that there are many different application
areas that all need some sort of microcontroller device. And
because many of these applications are power and price sensitive, the
system developers will only want what peripherals and memory they
really need-- there will still be offerings with different features from many companies.
So there is a chance that more consolidation will happen, but it will probably not come down to just two companies providing devices as we see in the desktop PC processor market (Intel and AMD). The applications are just too varied.
For reference, here is a list of companies that currently provide microcontrollers whether they are referred to as MCUs, System on Chips (SoCs), or digital signal controllers (DSCs). It's still a very long list of large and small vendors. Will this many companies survive? We'll have to wait and see.
Please let me know if I've left anyone off this list (I'm sure I have), or you have some other thoughts on the current microcontroller market.
- Renesas
- Microchip
- Freescale
- Texas Instruments
- Atmel
- Infineon
- Fujitsu
- Samsung
- ST Microelectronics
- Toshiba
- Analog Devices Inc.
- Cypress
- Luminary Micro
- Maxim
- Marvell
- Rabbit
- Zilog
- Silicon Labs
- Cyan
- Jennic
- Energy Micro
- Oki
- Holtek Semiconductor
- Sonix
- Epson
- Innovasic Semiconductor


text: Posted on July 2, 2006 by chiza Video: Will Zidane have the last laugh? The way he played in France's victory over the overrated Samba-boys tells me he's not going to leave the game quietly. Gossip/Trash Talk, Soccer Hall of Fame, Soccer Players, Soccer Skills, Soccer Teams - Club, Soccer Teams - National, Soccer Videos, World Cup 2006


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Hi all. I'm new to fly tying and was wondering the pros/cons of head cement vs superglue. I have both..is one better than the other?
Hi all. I'm new to fly tying and was wondering the pros/cons of head cement vs superglue. I have both..is one better than the other?
There are a lot of different glues, adhesives and special sauces used in fly tying, including the head cement, CA glues, superglue, vinyl cements and epoxy, and all have their place depending on what you're tying.
But for most fly tying, like trout dries, wets, nymphs, and streamers the head cement (or Sally Hansen's Hard As Nails) will work better for you. It's easier to apply with a bodkin to get into small spaces, and soaks into the thread. You generally want it to be thin so it soaks into the thread, and if you want a glossy head on some flies, several thin coats are better than one thick one.
Superglue tends to get into materials, and can be a little more of a mess to work with. But it would be a good choice if you were tying foam bass bugs, to put a dab on a thread body before you push the foam in place to lock it to the shank. You might also use it for gluing doll eyes to a spun deer hair head on a bass bug, and it probably wouldn't hurt to use when locking the dumbbell eyes in place on a clouser for example.
Epoxy is used on some saltwater flies to form a specific shape, and can be helpful to use on heads of large flies like 2/0-6/0 instead of head cement on flies for toothy fish.
In most cases, it's the thread tension that holds everything in place. Three good wraps are better than 10 poor ones and gobs of glue. It's tough to get a feel for the proper amount of tension at first, and if you're like most of us you'll break it midway thru some flies as you get the feel for how much tension you can use especially on the thinner stuff.
If you're having problems getting stuff to stay in place, post the pattern and the problem. Lot's of folks will chime in with suggestions and tips they've learned probably the hard way from going thru the same learning pains we all go thru.
Hope this helps.
On trout flies I seldom, if ever, use any glue or cement. For some freshwater streamers and saltwater flies I use epoxy, softtex, silicon caulk and other concoctions to protect the thread wraps from toothy fish or to hold a specific shape to the fly.
Like peregrines already siad, concentrate on good technique and even wraps.
"If people don't occasionally walk away from you shaking their heads, you're doing something wrong." John Gierach
Thanks for the responses. I should have included detail that I fish saltwater so the flies are relatively large. I use superglue on eyes for clousers and epoxy on polar fiber minnows. I was wondering if there are pros/cons to super glue vs head cement when it comes to securing the whip finish on a clouser (for example).
Try using a drop of z-poxy on the Clouser wraps...
"If people don't occasionally walk away from you shaking their heads, you're doing something wrong." John Gierach
What he said.
i use 2 thin coats of 5 min epoxy on the heads of a lot striper and bluefish stuff like clousers and heads of stuff like deceivers when I want to cover stick on eyes on a thread head.... as well as for stuff like surf candies etc. A turning wheel helps to avoid bumps from sagging. It takes 5 min to set up, but 20 min to cure so it can sag if you aren't paying attention. You can make your own turner for cheap out of a disco ball, micro wave turn table, or rotisserie motor.
Some folks, like Bob Popovic swear by Tuffle Eye which is a special light wave (not UV) cured resin used in dentistry, but the initial set up is expensive at around $80 for the light plus a starter tube of resin. After that it's not bad in terms of cost. The advantage is that it sets up instantly so no need to turn, no stink, and stays clear without yellowing. Epoxy will tend to yellow after coming in contact with sunlight, not that it affects catching.
I use all 3 at some point in time. I also use rubber cement. Thing is its all in what you are doing. For the flies I tie (which are bigger and for fish with lots of teeth) I often use epoxy or this stuff called hard head. The two dry about the same and give a strong, hard finish on things. Only thing is you must know how it is going to dry. The hard head that I use tends to take longer to dry but dries thinner. Several coats are needed and can kinda be a pain. Epoxys can take forever to dry if you did not mix it right or if you did like I have tried, get a 30 sec epoxy I dont recomend it. Now with super glue I tend to use it on the under sides, or at some place in the fly as an anchering point. Trouble is super glue can become brittle or flake off easy. I've had both happen. For super glue I use Fish'n Glue. Very good stuff and it bonds skin in seconds and has no odder when dry. I have found that a fly will last longer when the base thread is secured by a thin glue then the head is made from epoxy or a head cement. Though its more of a to each his own main thing is to secure what your tieing. One last thing, its also all in what your after and fly type. For big fish that will prob destroy the fly at one hit epoxy is a good idea. I fish mainly for pike in clear water and some bass. Both have yet to show signs of not likeing the way an epoxy/head cement looks. However, I have used rubber cement. Be very carful on what kind you use on this stuff. Some can stay very flexible after dry. This allows for a give in the matterial if needbe but for my apps it just dont work or hold up.
<*))))>< Fish with teeth ... If I ty it a fish will hit it
Thanks all! Speaking of epoxy, does anyone have trouble with air bubbles? I use 2-part Devcon 5 min epoxy and mix it as gently as possible. I still end up with bubbles and it drives me nuts! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
FYI - I mix equal parts on a smooth piece of plastic using a small piece of wood. No rough surfaces to incorporate air into the mixture.
Loon Head Cement, or Sally's Hard as Nails works good to me....I would rarely use anything different, and they are reasonably priced.
As long as I get a bite, I don't want to leave!
Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but I found this thread today while searching the web for information on Fish'n Glue. I noted below that MrEsox uses and touts it (at least he did in 2008).
I am a primitive angler, meaning that I fish for largemouth bass in the southwestern USA. However, perhaps I am worthy of your assistance because both of my sons have somehow lost their way and grown up to become flyfishing devotees. Initially that parental rejection was devastating but now I find that it's not really so bad because the elder one is custom building a G Loomis flipping stick for me!
Anyway, I am wondering if MrEsox or someone else who haunts these forums could advise me as to whether Fish'N Glue is still available in the UK or elsewhere and if so from whom and at what price? In the USA this stuff, which I love for several bassfishing applications, is recently out of production and apparently no longer available anywhere even as overstock/remainders.
I signed up for this forum today just so I could ask for your help.
Newbie comment: the posts in this forum (I have now looked at many glue-related threads here) are so very much more polite and helpful (and drily humorous) than the average bass angler post to which I am accustomed! Kudos to your community for its approach to this mode of angler interaction.


text:
Darius Rucker's Country Album Debuts This Day in Country Music – September 16th (Video)
2008 – Capitol releases Darius Rucker's first country album, "Learn To Live".
2005 – A "CMT Crossroads" episode matching Sugarland with Bon Jovi airs for the first time. The program includes the first live performance of "Who Says You Can't Go Home".
2004 – Keith Urban's "Days Go By" video premieres on CMT.
2000 – Jo Dee Messina hits #1 on the Billboard country singles chart with "That's The Way".
1995 – Tim McGraw begins a five-week stay at the top of the Billboard country chart with "I Like It, I Love It".
1991 – Willie Nelson marries Annie D'Angelo at St. Alouin Church in Nashville.
1967 – David Houston & Tammy Wynette share the #1 slot on the Billboard country chart with "My Elusive Dreams".
1958 – Terry McBride is born in Taylor, Texas. He becomes the lead singer of McBride & The Ride, which has a series of hits from 1991-1993. As a songwriter, he pens the Brooks & Dunn singles "I Am That Man," "Cowgirls Don't Cry" and "Play Something Country".
1950 – David Bellamy is born in Darby, Florida. With sibling Howard, he forms The Bellamy Brothers, developing a mix of hits built on wordplay or social commentary. They net 17 Country Music Association nominations for duo or group but never win.
1947 – Bass player Sonny Lemaire is born in Fort Lee, Virginia. He joins Exile, which shifts in the 1980s from a rock band to country, where it reels off a seven-year string of hits, including "Woke Up In Love," "Crazy For Your Love" and "I Can't Get Close Enough".
1946 – Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs record for the first time with Bill Monroe in Columbia Records' Chicago studio. The day yields the original version of "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" and the chart hit "Toy Heart".
Information provided by: RolandNote.com


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SCOTT JAGOW: And now for our visit into the history books, Back to Business. On this day, 56 years ago an important moment in television history. Here's Stacey Vanek-Smith:
STACEY VANEK-SMITH: CBS was issued the first color TV license in 1950, but there were complaints about the new technology. For one thing, people with black and white sets couldn't see the color picture.
In spite of that, CBS aired the first-ever color broadcast in 1951. It was called "Premiere" and featured Ed Sullivan.
RCA wasn't far behind with its own technology. It aired the "Colgate Comedy Hour" in color in 1953.
RCA's technology won out, because people could watch the color shows on their black and white sets.
Wasn't long before the FCC made RCA's technology the national standard, but the country still preferred shades of gray until 1968 when color TVs outsold black and white sets for the first time.


text:
Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag present day, season pass detailed
Ubisoft has unleashed a number of details for Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag Tuesday, including information on the present day situation and the inclusion of a season pass.
According to the developer, the amount of time players will spend in the present day at Abstergo Entertainment will depend on how they play the game.
"In total, if you were to do everything in the present day – find everything, hack every computer, access every room – it's a solid three to five hours. For the main path – the stuff you're required to do – it's somewhere between 20 and 25 minutes. You leave the Animus five times during the game's main path and each time you're there for about three to four minutes.
"It's there to progress the story because there's this meta story that we're telling. Why are you researching Edward? Why him specifically? What did he do that's interesting? There is a story that connects everything together. We pretty much tried to boil it down to its most core essence because we know there are people out there who really don't like the present day, and that's okay. You don't have to like it, but it's part of the brand. For the people who like the present day and are big fans, we put in a lot of fan service and a lot of fun optional content. You get to choose if you want it or not."
In addition, "What the F–k Moments," meaning the supernatural element the series has always included, will be present once again.
"You see what happens after Assassin's Creed III – you see the ramifications of that, and we push it further."
Tuesday, Ubisoft also shed light on the first DLC pack that will be included in the game's season pass, which will be sold at retail for $19.99, representing "20 percent" in savings versus buying each add-on individually.
"Freedom Cry" will the first the add-on for Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag. A trailer was released Tuesday, explaining the backstory for the new character players will be playing as: Adewale.
Adewale is a former slave, and was also a second-in-command officer for the game's protagonist, Edward Kenway. The DLC will pit the character shortly after his gift of freedom as he attempts to gain a crew and ship for the adventures that lie before him.
Aside from Freedom Cry, other DLC packs will include the "Kraken Ship Pack," multiplayer characters, and more that will likely be announced after the game's release on October 29 (current gen).
Source: [UbiBlog]
Source: [Polygon]