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  • No more pens!

    I was wondering how long this would take.

    My grocery store FINALLY moved into this century last month - we got card readers where you actually sign on the card reader, instead of on paper. Yes CS, up until a month ago we still printed a paper receipt for every credit card transaction and had the customer sign it, even though we're the busiest overall grocery store (out of all chains) in the metro area... and the 2nd busiest in the region in the company. We were the last to get modern credit card readers.

    Except we still had pens at every register.

    You can guess how long it took our brand new card readers to be scribbled on (hint: less than 12 hours, and one had a cracked screen within the week - these machines cost about $1,500 each from NCR).

    It took almost 4 weeks for my boss to decide to ditch the pens - though some of our lazier cashiers used those pens to write ID info on checks. I say good riddance, make them *gasp* carry their own pen in their apron.

  • #2
    I've found my ponytail is a great place to stash a pen or pencil.

    And I may be the weird one here, but I actually prefer signing a paper slip. Those card reader things always make my signature look like a 3 year old scribbled it.
    I am no longer of capable of the emotion you humans call “compassion”. Though I can feign it in exchange for an hourly wage. (Gravekeeper)

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    • #3
      Even on the occasions I put my hair up in a bun, I can't stash a pen or pencil in there for long without it falling out.
      Osoroshii kangae nimo osoware masu...

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      • #4
        Quoth jedimaster91 View Post
        I've found my ponytail is a great place to stash a pen or pencil.

        And I may be the weird one here, but I actually prefer signing a paper slip. Those card reader things always make my signature look like a 3 year old scribbled it.
        Whoever implemented those hasn't considered security issues (the reason I refuse to sign the screen, and insist on signing the paper slip). This isn't the only forum I follow (also the pretty much read-only Risks Digest), and these machines can be built with the ability to capture the pressure and speed of the pen throughout the signature, rather than just the trace (and for the user, it's impossible to tell by looking whether it's the sophisticated or the cheap one). With this full information, a plotter with variable force (not just "pen up/pen down") can reproduce the signature exactly as it was entered.

        The risk? An expert (yes, there are people who specialize in this, who are called in as expert witnesses when there's an allegation that someone's signature on a legal document is actually a forgery) would be unable to distinguish the machine-reproduced signature from a legitimate one - to these experts, a signature which was either traced, or copied freehand from an original, stands out like a sore thumb because stroke weights and various artifacts from the pen speed won't match - destroying the value of a signature as an authentication method.
        Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

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        • #5
          My *big box retail* store started providing pens to cashiers at each register. And almost immediately stopped. They went through boxes and boxes in only a few days, because the employees kept taking and losing them. Management then chained (yes, chained) pens to each register, which didn't even last a full week. Now it's back to telling cashiers to bring their own pen to work. All I know is, I hate hate when another employee "borrows" a pen from me. I have to hunt them down if I want it returned, or lay a guilt trip when they borrow it. For example:

          CW: Can I borrow a pen?
          Me: Will I get it back?
          CW: Yes.
          Me: Are you sure.
          CW: Um, yes...
          Me: Ok, here you go, as long as I get it back.
          A lion however, will only devour your corpse, whereas an SC is not sated until they have destroyed your soul. (Quote per infinitemonkies)

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          • #6
            Am I the only one that misread the title as "No more penis?"
            Sometimes life is altered.
            Break from the ropes your hands are tied.
            Uneasy with confrontation.
            Won't turn out right. Can't turn out right

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            • #7
              Quoth MadMike View Post
              Am I the only one that misread the title as "No more penis?"
              Who's getting rid of the penis? I need to know these things so I can plan ahead.
              Human Resources - the adult version of "I'm telling Mom." - Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (NCIS)

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              • #8
                At one place Mom and I like to go to they taped a spork to their pens. Kinda easy to tell if you've walked off with one of their pens.

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                • #9
                  Quoth DGoddessChardonnay View Post
                  Who's getting rid of the penis? I need to know these things so I can plan ahead.
                  ...Dare I ask why?
                  Ba'al: I'm a god. Gods are all-knowing.

                  http://unrelatedcaptions.com/45147

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                  • #10
                    Madmike: No. But in my defense I need a new scrip....


                    Quoth Broomjockey View Post
                    ...Dare I ask why?
                    Why seems pretty easy to figure out. How you may not be as interested in the details of.
                    Last edited by sms001; 12-02-2008, 11:33 PM. Reason: Many smart people capitalize. I want to look smart.

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