My cave, my wonderful apartment of mildew and warmth, kept me cozy for hours upon hours this morning and it was only with great reluctance did I venture from the warmth of bed. Of course there was also someone tapping on what I thought was my window but actually was the window of my neighbor.
I watched Liverpool lose to Newcastle and was about to turn the television off when I came across the CGI cartoon Garfield, which I watched for a minute or two and discovered was an episode about Egyptology.
Still I turned it off and dove into the web for some trivial information, racking my brain to recall what of interest had been requiring query. Ah ha! Why does swiping a credit card wrapped in a plastic bag effectively allow it to work whereas before it did not? I searched and discovered an answer: namely that many card reading devices are too sensitive and little incongruities in the surface throw off the sequence reading of magnetic pegs imprinted in the strip. When the plastic bag covers the card surface, it essentially desensitizes the reader by blocking its direct contact with the surface.
Anyway, not the best explanation but the story isn't quite complete there. In the response thread posted by interested members, someone made available a PDF with the specific technical information about the magnetic strip on credit cards. The creator of the PDF? Anadigm Inc., a company from Cupertino, CA, situated on Stevens Creek BLVD. Where on Stevens Creek BLVD? Right next to highway 85, in a building that shares a parking lot with my old work and mainstay bar Paul and Eddie's. Oh, but Anadigm isn't located there any longer. Instead a family chiropractor's office is there. Their name? Garfield.
Odd.
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