Amazon has launched a Square and PayPal Here competitor called Local Register, which provides users with a free app and a $10 card reader, and charges merchants and anyone selling services who use it just 1.75 percent per swipe on both credit and debit transactions, so long as users sign up before October 31. That’s a special rate, and is a full percentage point lower than Square’s 2.75 percent per swiped transaction (3.5 percent plus 15 cents for manual entry), and will last until January 1, 2016, at which point it will return to the standard 2.5 percent per transaction Amazon is charging (or 2.75 percent for manually entered transactions). The $10 fee Amazon is charging for people to buy its reader is also essentially erased since Amazon grants users of its payment system $10 in transaction credit right off the bat. Amazon is clearly hoping it can lure real-world sellers away from the established competition with more attractive rates, but it’s also boasting that … [Read more...] about Amazon Launches Local Register, A Square Competitor With Lower Transaction Rates
Unregistered 80 percent lower
Remain in Mexico has a 0.01 percent asylum grant rate
Bryan thought it would take him about a month to get from Honduras to the United States last year.He was 19 at the time, living by himself and had already been kidnapped by local gangs once. Men stripped him naked, checked his bodies for tattoos that are seen as a sign of gang affiliation there, and beat him after they found none. When the men were done, they gave Bryan three seconds to run away.So, in October 2018, when Bryan heard that a migrant caravan was heading to the U.S.-Mexico border, he decided to tag along.And it did take Bryan a month to get to the border. What he didn’t realize is that was only the beginning of a year-long struggle to request asylum. Advertisement That’s because Bryan arrived to the border at a time in which the Trump administration began making drastic changes to U.S. asylum policy.Over the last year, in the name of national security, those changes have made it increasingly difficult for migrants to win asylum cases in the U.S. The latest … [Read more...] about Remain in Mexico has a 0.01 percent asylum grant rate
Control Your Home With The Smart Outlet That’s 50 Percent Off
All these smart home devices do make our lives more convenient, but they can also make our energy bills pretty expensive. Fortunately, there's a smart plug that shows you just how much energy your devices use and provides simple suggestions on how you can save money. Meet Currant's WiFi smart outlet, the energy monitoring device that every smart home needs. This smart plug makes it easy to control your smart devices from anywhere and save big bucks on your electric bills. When you plug it in, you can see real-time and cumulative energy use via the Currant app on your phone. Based on your usage, Currant will suggest a schedule that turns off certain devices when not in use and saves you money. The goal is help lower your electricity bills without sacrificing comfort or convenience. In addition to helping save you money, the Currant WiFi outlet allows you to control your lights, electronics, and appliances with your phone or your voice. It works with Amazon Alexa, Google Home and … [Read more...] about Control Your Home With The Smart Outlet That’s 50 Percent Off
2019 College Bowl Games: Confidence football pool picks, best predictions from advanced computer model
SportsLine simulated every bowl game 10,000 times for pick'em leagues and confidence pools by CBS Sports Staff Dec 15, 2019 at 10:21 am ET • 3 min read Matchups are set for all 39 college football bowl games. No. 9 Florida will take on No. 24 Virginia in the 2019 Orange Bowl on Dec. 30. The Gators are 13.5-point favorites over the Cavaliers in the latest college football bowl odds. Meanwhile, UCF (-17.5) is the biggest favorite of bowl season over Marshall in the 2019 Gasparilla Bowl. However, with only six teams listed as double-digit favorites, finding college football bowl confidence picks to target can be a challenge.There are also 10 games with spreads of a field goal or less, and those tightly-contested games could give you headaches when setting your college football confidence picks. Before studying the matchups and locking in any bowl picks, see the latest college football bowl confidence picks from SportsLine's advanced computer model.The … [Read more...] about 2019 College Bowl Games: Confidence football pool picks, best predictions from advanced computer model
U.S. Lags World in Grasp of Genetics and Acceptance of Evolution
A comparison of peoples' views in 34 countries finds that the United States ranks near the bottom when it comes to public acceptance of evolution. Only Turkey ranked lower.Among the factors contributing to America's low score are poor understanding of biology, especially genetics, the politicization of science and the literal interpretation of the Bible by a small but vocal group of American Christians, the researchers say.“American Protestantism is more fundamentalist than anybody except perhaps the Islamic fundamentalist, which is why Turkey and we are so close,” said study co-author Jon Miller of Michigan State University.The researchers combined data from public surveys on evolution collected from 32 European countries, the United States and Japan between 1985 and 2005. Adults in each country were asked whether they thought the statement “Human beings, as we know them, developed from earlier species of animals,” was true, false, or if they were unsure.The … [Read more...] about U.S. Lags World in Grasp of Genetics and Acceptance of Evolution
As rain comes down, recreation is looking up
With all the rain and snow in California, many are now asking how the wet weather is impacting outdoor recreation. The answers vary as much as the landscapes across the state. Tahoe is digging out again from snow this weekend, and with another storm, some areas could hit 300 inches of snowfall for the season. Many rivers, streams and creeks in the Redwood Empire neared flood levels in the past week. Across the Bay Area, the ground is saturated and the hills glow neon green when a bright sun is out. Crews will conduct snow survey today. Video: Hearst TV Yet in the Sierra foothills, many reservoirs are still so empty that they look like ponds at the bottom of canyons. For reservoirs, the final verdict on El Niño’s impact won’t be rendered until months from now, when they reach their highest levels of the year from snowmelt. To collect this information, hydrologists and water experts from the Department of Water Resources, Bureau of Reclamation and … [Read more...] about As rain comes down, recreation is looking up