I think a lot of people would argue with you on cop and soldier deaths in the line of duty being a haphazard use of the word hero.

Which is why they do it when they are actually charging money, not always while giving you a free trial. When free trials end and they go to charge you, that's when they perform the authorization and verification checks against CVV2 and AVS - exactly what I said above.

Most merchants won't do a preauth without a verified matching billing address and CVV2 number from the card. This trick works for sites that use an algorithm to verify cards are at least potentially valid in order to save on transaction fees normally associated with pre-auth, depending on their payment gateway…

Redbox will temporarily authorize a $1 charge on your account whether you use a promo code or not. I tried using an empty prepaid card once that I had used in the past to get extra rentals on the same promo code when it had money on it, doesn't work unless you have enough balance to cover the temporary charge.

"Checking" a credit card costs money to the merchant, because they have to temporarily authorize an amount (usually $1 minimum). Alternatively, all credit card numbers can be validated against an algorithm to determine if they are "valid" credit card numbers (meaning, they could potentially be on a credit card) -…

Enjoy your security then. It's just stuff right?

Your sarcasm aside, a home security system is a lot more than just an alarm unit, and includes a lot more than just sensors and notifications. If you think otherwise, just PM me your home address and I'll mail you some informative pamphlets. (No PO Boxes or Mail Stores, please.)

I'm not sure. Also, you'd still need Google Now, and I'm not aware of a central server type device with an OS that supports it, unless you figure out a way to extend the microphone to different rooms? Maybe a tablet in a central location and bluetooth microphones in the rooms? You'd definitely need some custom…

The easiest way might be some sort of integration between Google Now and Ninja Blocks - which, since it's an open source system, might not be that hard to implement. You could buy some inexpensive tablets running the latest Android OS that have microphones, mount them in the walls / attach to power and run the audio…

It's less "break-in prevention" and more "break-in notification" oriented it seems.

Ah, but what if you're already playing a game on a different console, and your TV and AV receiver are already switched on? If you then say "Xbox On," the console will turn the TV off. That's because it's really just pressing the "power" button on your TV's remote—there's no way to tell it to only press the button if…

There's no reason to engage you any further. Have a nice day.

This might come out cheaper, or less noticeable, or have another of any number of benefits over those designs. It may also have more flaws than the other designs. Different tools, different jobs. The point, Earthcharlie, was to mention it's other possible uses. "neither advocating nor admonishing" just means I'm not…

Or your neighbor's car, or your boss's car, your cheating s/o's car...

I'd probably do the same thing in your shoes. In fact it's happened to me before and I consented to a search without knowing any better.

"Su" Chef? I wonder if you have to be jail broken to run it?

I know, terrible joke, so sous me.

Possibly Java or another plugin / add-on that gets installed universally but has files that are stored for each user profile? For example, I think on a Mac Java is universal and is provided by Apple with OSX updates, but each profile would have it's own Java preferences and personalization files. Maybe yours are…

Ze is also used by some in the transgender or gender ambiguous communities. It is perfectly acceptable as a singular androgynous pronoun even if you don't fit the category.

Haha ouch. Better get that one updated - less a matter of avoiding the data collection and more about keeping the lady in your life happy lol.

That's a fair point.