Sure but the parent comment made an equally big generalization that I interpreted as a slight against federal workers which is not something I agree with. In general the only issue I have with Fed workers is wait time which is not in their control since every agency is understaffed.
Calorie for calorie beetroot juice has the same sugar content as beets. I am certain you are not asserting that beets are not something that humans would normally digest.
Well the difference between the veggie and the juice is that the former contains a whole lot more of fiber which is an especially beneficial nutrient for our gut microbiome.
Reading up on juices, I've only heard of experts not being fans of 'em.
This is the correct answer. There are many merchant categories, adult being just one of them, that are susceptible to high chargeback rates which result in payment processors banning them.
This is nonsense. If you want us to believe this you need to show that Steam with erotic games is more of a risk than Steam without them. Comparing Steam with things like “adult merchants” like Onlyfans or a porn streaming service does not sound very appropriate.
It's not nonsense. I've hosted, moderated and managed sites that were only obliquely related to porn or gambling, and you wouldn't believe the level of rejection for running ads or getting payment processing that they are faced with. And I ran a casino for 4 years. I coded it and I ran it 24/7, and believe me, I did everything by the book. The CC companies do not give a shit as long as they make money. Chargebacks cost them a lot in time more than in actual cash, and they have categories of risk for every merchant who may expose them to that risk. The highest categories of risk are porn and gambling.
Any entity that uses a CC gateway and has any exposure to either of those risks is exposing itself to all the risk. The CC companies almost certainly told Valve that they would be considered a porn site and face a 1.5%-2% higher processing fee for every transaction.
> I've hosted, moderated and managed sites that were only obliquely related to porn or gambling, and you wouldn't believe the level of rejection for running ads or getting payment processing that they are faced with. And I ran a casino for 4 years. I coded it and I ran it 24/7, and believe me, I did everything by the book. The CC companies do not give a shit as long as they make money.
It is not really comparable. Steam is not a casino, and it is largely the same platform with or without perfectly legal porn. The presence of a few (not even that popular) adult games does not change the overall demographics that much, or the risk profile. I am not even ready to accept without proof that the risks are higher than with all the other, non-porn shovelware.
Sure, if Steam turned into an adult-only platform, then the risk profile could change significantly. But that is not what happened.
Also, as many people pointed out, Steam really does not incentive customers to ask for chargebacks. All the available information points to Valve managing its platform quite well for everyone involved.
2. I think the argument being made is that the credit card companies are not actually experiencing higher risk (from Steam). Not that they have any qualms about putting a business into a “high risk” classification.
In this case, I suppose the argument is that Steam is a large enough entity that they should be able to “self-insure”. If the US had a relatively open way to become a payment processor, the free market would take care of this. Unfortunately that isn’t the case and also is very unlikely to change.
Adult content is considered a high risk merchant category - meaning it is susceptible to high chargeback and fraud rates. This is because after someone pays for and consumes adult content, a certain level of "clarity" overcomes them resulting in the execution of chargebacks against the merchant.
It has nothing to do with any sort of puritanical premise.
I don't think that can explain why they're only targeting certain sub-categories of porn, and it's also contradictory to the public statements by Valve:
> We were recently notified that certain games on Steam may violate the rules and standards set forth by our payment processors and their related card networks and banks
Individual games violating "rules and standards" doesn't really fit with prohibiting a category because of high rates of fraud.
That sounds like a reasonable argument. We should force them to make it publicly with data. Maybe even force them to release aggregate statistics every quarter going forward.
That seems disingenuous. (1) in this case, this is a not a tiny fly-by-night wannabe game company. (2) which is good for paying back (or never seeing) the money of chargebacks.
For a new company, the risk of chargebacks might rest on a credit card company (for a little while anyway). But not for a long established one.
> Adult content is considered a high risk merchant category
> It has nothing to do with any sort of puritanical premise.
But I have no problem with the parent poster. I'm here hoping for conversation. The argument though is one we hear now and then and like I point out, how can it make sense? Like many things, it looks more like a vaguely possible, plausible explanation or chain of arguments... which on closer look doesn't fly. How can Valve, a long established, apparently solid merchant, be a serious risk for the credit card infrastructure? Should there be chargebacks, they can handle chargebacks. This is not limited to Valve. Many of us have run into the issue. The credit card infrastructure goes out of its way to refuse solid business.
> But I have no problem with the parent poster. I'm here hoping for conversation.
If you don’t have a problem with them and you were hoping for conversation, then starting out by accusing them of being disingenuous is a strange way of showing it.
> how can it make sense?
Why didn’t you ask this to begin with instead of assuming they were being deceitful? You know “disingenuous” doesn’t just mean “I disagree”, right?
My wife and her sister can unlock each other’s iPhones using the face unlock feature which blows my mind because they do NOT look super similar and are 4 years apart. I’ve turned off all biometrics and use only a PIN. I’m extremely skeptical of the tech.
My sister in law's mom and her daughter have the same thing too where the daughter can unlock her mom's phone with faceID. I researched this and apparently, if you have an unsuccessful unlock first and then you enter the code to unlock, then the phone may train the faceID with the new face too.
> if you have an unsuccessful unlock first and then you enter the code to unlock, then the phone may train the faceID with the new face too
Ay wat? That sounds completely backwards, like if an incorrect password for account login would automatically reset the account password to the incorrect one, how would that make sense?!
Worked that way from FaceID introduction. Apple never cared enough. If you share your phone it is on you that the phone accepts the face who you share it with after you enter a pin. It really should have a new face button under the pin.
I got braces recently and I had to go through the FaceID process again because it didn't recognized me anymore.
Obviously my teeth are quite different with my mouth open, but apparently, it modified my face enough when mouth closed that FaceID thaught I was not myself anymore.
Wow, that’s pretty interesting. I wouldn’t think that would be enough to impact it without some accompanying procedures, like expanding the pallet, or some kind of jaw surgery.
Was it right away from getting the braces put on (from a little extra bulk on the teeth), or after they’ve been on for several months, where the movement of the teeth could change the structure of the face around the mouth?
It started as soon as I left the orthodontist's place.
Based on what I can see in the mirror and the fact that some people asked me if I had lost weight (I didn't), it appears that the braces on the upper teeth are pushing my upper lip away, which in turns is pulling my face skin, resulting in more hollow cheeks and more visible cheekbones.
Two situations I can think of, they might have Bluetooth unlock with an apple watch enabled, or they might have the work with masks setting turned on which turns the accuracy to shit.
The point is if you have watch unlock enabled and someone unlocks your phone standing right next to you, it's still in range to unlock your phone with your watch.
I would pay that 130€ / year if I was alone. I have to be responsible with the money I earn as I have to feed 3 kids and my wife is not working. We also use other different streaming services like netflix, spotify family... adding youtube premium seems not reasonable for me at the moment.
Commenting to share my experience: I ran into and ended up with youtube because it bundles youtube music as well, allowing me to consolidate. I was able to invite my household to the same account.
I also wanted to ensure my views resulted in the creators being paid, it goes without saying that the royalties for streaming are abysmal and is a separate conversation, but it was a contributing factor for me.
In the USA I subscribe to Youtube Premium family. The rate is just $3.00 a month more than Spotify family. For that price you get both the Spotify-equivalent Google-owned service (confusingly called YouTube Music) AND you get ad-free Youtube as a bundle. Basically just $3/month for no ads on Youtube is worth it and much easier to justify for a household on a tight budget.
It might be worth looking into if the pricing differential is similarly minimal where you live.
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