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Originally Posted by TayTay
(Post 18293666)
He ended up grabbing my friends arm and demanding we all pay 5 euros or something for the roses.
The seemingly frail Japanese girl who looked to weigh less than 110 lbs just flew that 250 lb scammer scraping aross the Spanish steps. The scammer didn't know what him him! We all had a good laugh and everyone clapped. ^^^ Makes me want to learn aikido to avoid scamming purporses. "You mess with me, you're going to get PWNED with my aikido." :D |
classic!
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Originally Posted by TayTay
(Post 18293666)
On my grad trip to Italy:
We were on a walking tour in Rome and a man walked up to a group of friends and I. He gave the three of us girls each a rose saying something along the lines of "Bella! So beautiful girls!". Since his English was clearly not well we just said thanks and tried to carry on our way. He ended up grabbing my friends arm and demanding we all pay 5 euros or something for the roses. 2 of us tried passing them back to him but when he wouldn't take them we threw them at his feet and tried to leave while he yelled at us. The other girl felt bad and coughed up the money... When we rejoined the rest of the people on the tour some of them had roses too. I guess they fell victim as well. :rolleyes: |
Originally Posted by kebosabi
(Post 18290255)
With so many taxi scams across the world, every tourist should have a good taxi meter app for their iPhone and Android to avoid being ripped off.
A good example is the one that NYers can now download for free for NY cabs: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local...119921419.html. There's also the "World Cab Meter" app for the iPhone which works pretty well: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/world...341054326?mt=8 A nice one for Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...=search_result Basic concept of programming should be this: 1. Turn on the taxi meter app 2. App turns on GPS and records where you got on board 3. The GPS tracks how far you rode 4. The GPS records where you got off 5. The app then calculate distance based on GPS tracking in miles or kilometers 6. It then multiplies with local rate i.e.: THB/km, EUR/km, USD/mi. The local rate can be on a cloud system that people/cab companies can update. 7. Conversion rate to your own currency as an option 8. Option to not use roaming data connection but rely just on GPS. GPS alone does not use expensive data roaming charges overseas. 9. Option to divide the rate with the number of passengers (you might be sharing a ride with someone) That way, you have your own meter as well as GPS tracking as proof. No more tampered meters, no more made up lies by cab drivers. Hey, if your smartphone can become a GPS, a camera, and everything in between, it can become your own taxi meter as well. The more tourists have these apps and the more tourists start using this app than dealing with taxi scams, the more it will serve a lesson to taxi drivers that their days of scamming tourists are over. No more language barriers. No more tampered meters. No more "oh the tourist won't know how far it is or how to get there." No more "our taxi, our terms." It just simple as firing up the taxi meter app, showing full proof where you got on, where you got off, how the taxi took you there, and multiplying the distance with the real rate. If they get angry about it, you have proof to show to the authorities. Why not? Your smartphone even has a camera to take a picture of the cab number and license plate as well. :D Anyone know a good app programmer for the iPhone and the Android that can create a taxi meter app for worldwide use? If it's a really good one, I can see experienced travelers paying a nice one-time amount for the app rather than being ripped off all the time. I think even cab companies can benefit from this from saving the cost of installing and maintaining their own cab meters. I can see a QR code at a cab stand asking tourists to download the taxi meter app and let the tourists carry their own taxi meter in the palm of their own phone. :D So tip to travelers: there's always an app for something, even your own taxi meter! :D |
Originally Posted by Mountain Trader
(Post 18307245)
Is an IPHone that is not connected to a cell network still able to receive and process GPS signals?
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Originally Posted by ARJ85
(Post 18307493)
Yes it is. Of course thats no use for the Maps-App because that only shows the maps it downloads from the internet. But it is very useful for Navigation-Apps like from TomTom - you can use these even in countrys where you dont have a connection to a cell network (or dont want to pay for it)
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Originally Posted by Mountain Trader
(Post 18307690)
I want to be sure I have this correct as I was told no at both Verizon (where I bought my IPhone) and at an Apple store. If I download Garmin apps for, say, Europe where I have no cell service on my IPhone, my IPhone will operate like my Garmin in my USA car (which also does not have cell service) does. Correct? If yes, does this answer change depending on which IPhone I have?
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Seafood in Singapore & buying electronics in Sim Lim Square
While the famous restaurants like Jumbo are generally safe, when you go to Newton Market, always ask for the price before ordering. Too many occurences of overcharging or charging exorbitant prices.
Shopping in Sim Lim for electronics could be a nightmare. Chargers, memory cards and what not are often removed from the box. For locals, they like to quote prices which doesn't include GST, although this is illegal, the practice goes on. |
Exchange rate ripoff, plus yet another taxi...
About five years ago in Sofia, I saw a nasty, expensive but in principle legal way to rip off people wanting to buy local currency at several small currency exchange offices: One Euro is about 1.96 Leva, and a dollar is, say, 1.71. On their exchange rate chart, however, they wrote 1.196 and 1.171, with the excess "1" sometimes in smaller font and squeezed in between the decimal point and the "9" or "7". Tourists who don't look carefully get some 40% less than they should -- very major ripoff actually, but apparently perfectly legal (at least at that time), since I saw this in several places, in otherwise perfectly groomed, populated areas.
Before continuing, I should mention that MOST taxi drivers were honest, and with the usual rate at that time being about 0.5 Lev ($0.3) / km, with the gas prices being higher than in North America, they couldn't have much of an earning. Anyway, SOME taxi drivers try similar things -- the usual mentioned rate being about 0.5 Lev / km, they would write something like 05.00 Lev / km on the chart they are by law obliged to display in their taxis. Very nasty for elderly (and often rather poor) locals who, say, need a cab to go to the doctor and can't read the small font properly and end up paying half of their monthly pension. Another nasty one: SOME taxis have electronic devices to send impulses to the meter adding fake distance -- the meter figuratively goes havoc and starts running twice as fast or so. They would usually do this when feeling that the client isn't watching. My strategy with taxis: Only stop the ones run by one of the larger, reputable companies. About buying local currency: Go to a (not too small) bank despite the slightly worse rate; if you know local people, they can usually recommend you an honest exchange office offering a good rate. |
"First world" ripoffs...
Actually, the most profitable (due to sheer mass) ripoffs are done by "reputable" banks in every country in the world -- what I have in mind are the exchange rates at airports and trains: you know, selling one Euro for $1.49 and buying for $1.19, with the official rate being $1.35 or so, pocketing >10%, but advertizing in large letters that it is "commission free". From what I remember, the only case where I got a decent rate was when buying some Swedish Kronor at Arlanda.
Another "legal" ripoff: When withdrawing money in a foreign country, NEVER accept the exchange rate offered to you by the ATM -- always choose the option "I want to be billed in the original currency" (or something similar). Example: If you, say, withdraw €€ using an UK bank card, you should choose the option to be billed in €€, and not accept the offered deal in GBP which will be less favorable -- not by as much as when buying at the counter, but still by several %. |
Originally Posted by cascade
(Post 18291633)
I have a pretty wild story. Was in NYC on Christmas day, and wanted to catch the Knicks game. The game was sold out, so I found myself stooping to the level of buying tickets outside MSG from the scalpers. I should've known better, but of course when I tried to enter the game, the attendant told me the tickets were counterfeit. Found a few NYPD standing outside the stadium, explained the situation, and they said essentially "good luck finding him, he's long gone...but we can go look if you want." Being a very competitive person that hates to have anyone get the better of him, I went off with the cop on a mission to find the guy who sold me the fake tickets. After about an hour of searching, when I was just about to give up, I spotted the guy across the street. We made eye contact, and he took off running. The police officer and I took chase, and caught him a few blocks down. I got my money back, and the scammer got a very nice taste of the NYPD to say the least.
The whole experience was definitely more entertaining than had I just gone to the Knicks game :p I don't know if anyone posted this yet but the most common scam in U.S. hotels is the "Pizza Flyer" Scam. Some people print out pizza flyers that look genuine and start slipping them in rooms. The pizza place only accepts credit cards via phone. Once you give them your credit card, you're pizza never arrives. The next time you check your CC statement, you'll notice that someone bought 7 HDTVs. |
Originally Posted by Mountain Trader
(Post 18307245)
Is an IPHone that is not connected to a cell network still able to receive and process GPS signals?
The iPhone uses AGPS--the A stands for "Assisted," which means that the iPhone uses the data connection to obtain information about the position of the GPS satellite constellation, enabling it to lock on to the GPS signals faster. As a result, the GPS hardware in the phone is scaled back a bit, since it doesn't need to spend as much effort seeking out which satellites to lock onto. The result is that when the data connection isn't available, it will take significantly longer than a normal GPS receiver to find and lock onto a GPS signal. (Traditional non-AGPS receivers have more radio receivers built into the device that can search for more satellites concurrently.)
Originally Posted by blackmamba
(Post 18308633)
I don't know if anyone posted this yet but the most common scam in U.S. hotels is the "Pizza Flyer" Scam. Some people print out pizza flyers that look genuine and start slipping them in rooms. The pizza place only accepts credit cards via phone. Once you give them your credit card, you're pizza never arrives. The next time you check your CC statement, you'll notice that someone bought 7 HDTVs.
I love all travel, and I have enjoyed the time I've spent in every one of the ~50 countries I've visited. However, I may be flamed for saying this, but I find traveling in North America and northern Europe somewhat less exhausting since you don't need to constantly be on guard against someone trying to take you for something. |
I was almost the victim of a pretty common scam a few weeks ago. I was in Cambridge for the day, and had some time between meetings, so I went into a Caffe Nero for a tea and the free wifi. I had my back to the door, and both my laptop and my iPhone on the table in front of me (the cell signal was weak, and I was waiting for a call).
I had been working for a little while, when two ladies came up, one on each side of me, talking rapidly (in some language other than English, I couldn't tell what it was), and flapping newspapers all over the table. Half of my brain said, "whaaa?" Fortunately, the other half of my brain said "Oh! Oh! I've read about this!" I quickly grabbed for my phone, and found myself grabbing the hand of one of the women, who had been whisking my phone off of the table. I held onto the phone and her hand, and then smacked her hand with my other one, so that she dropped the phone. The ladies then dropped the newspapers and ran off. I yelled, "they just tried to steal my phone," in case anyone else had just been robbed in the cafe, but most people just looked at me like I was a bit nuts. :o I then went and told the barrista what had happened, and he just replied, "oh yeah, that happens in here sometimes." :rolleyes: At least I had an interesting anecdote for the rest of my afternoon meetings! |
Originally Posted by Mountain Trader
(Post 18307690)
I want to be sure I have this correct as I was told no at both Verizon (where I bought my IPhone) and at an Apple store. If I download Garmin apps for, say, Europe where I have no cell service on my IPhone, my IPhone will operate like my Garmin in my USA car (which also does not have cell service) does. Correct? If yes, does this answer change depending on which IPhone I have?
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Originally Posted by jackal
(Post 18309442)
It should eventually pick one up, but it may take significantly longer.
The iPhone uses AGPS--the A stands for "Assisted," which means that the iPhone uses the data connection to obtain information about the position of the GPS satellite constellation, enabling it to lock on to the GPS signals faster. As a result, the GPS hardware in the phone is scaled back a bit, since it doesn't need to spend as much effort seeking out which satellites to lock onto. The result is that when the data connection isn't available, it will take significantly longer than a normal GPS receiver to find and lock onto a GPS signal. (Traditional non-AGPS receivers have more radio receivers built into the device that can search for more satellites concurrently.) It may be "the most common scam," but that doesn't mean it's a very common scam. I certainly have never seen a pizza flyer shoved under a hotel room door. I love all travel, and I have enjoyed the time I've spent in every one of the ~50 countries I've visited. However, I may be flamed for saying this, but I find traveling in North America and northern Europe somewhat less exhausting since you don't need to constantly be on guard against someone trying to take you for something. Does anyone know of cheap or free app that would test this out? To be clear, if it works well, I would buy the full app. |
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