Poland has the fantastic BLIK system: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blik
Used country-wide, it's popular enough that global stores allow using it, like AliExpress or Steam.
Is it only available in Polish złoty for Polish citizens? Or could I, from a different EU country, open an account and use it to pay for games on Steam? My guess would be no, but it's worth asking.
It's supported by polish banks for PLN accounts, but I don't think there's a requirement to be a citizen to open an account. I know Revolut also allows using it, if you create a PLN account in it.
Revolut will only offer BLIK if your address is in Poland, it's not enough to just open a PLN subaccount. Same with Wero, it is only shown for customers in Germany and France IIRC. I have no idea why they did it like that, the backend clearly supports them all.
PSP S.A. is expanding abroad, so perhaps BLIK will be available in more countries in some time: "In September, the first BLIK transaction was made in Slovakia, and BLIK Romania S.A. received authorization from the National Bank of Romania to operate in the country. In November, the Polish Payments Standard transformed into a joint stock company, to support the execution of its strategic goals." [1] [2]
BLIK has one ugly caveat, though: it has no chargeback procedure.
Am curious on peoples' opinion on chemical-level plastic recycling (e.g. https://www.lyondellbasell.com/en/sites/moretec/, am not sure about any other companies doing it), instead of just shredding and melting (physical recycling). To me it sounds like Star Trek-type replicator stuff.
I don't quite get it - is the author really expecting people addicted like him to fortnight, of all things, to read self-help articles online?
The issue isn't with having a smartphone, but being addicted to apps on it. Having a smartphone and watching TikTok 12 hours/day on it is nowhere near having a smartphone and using it to listen to music, check public transport schedule, call people, use it as GPS or to pay for things, etc.
It's an entry for a high school essay contest run by the site, with the prompt
"Tell our readers about a problem facing American society—and, more importantly, how you would fix it. The problem could be technological, cultural, political, or social in nature, or something else entirely. But we are especially interested in problems facing young Americans that older generations have misunderstood, missed, or maybe even created. In 2,000 words or fewer, please illuminate the problem and how your generation might break out of it."
So he wrote about how he was addicted to tech, and what he did to get un-addicted. It seems reasonable.
I didn't see the author expect a damned thing. He said he's personally seen the light and thinks that others would benefit from occasionally putting down the technology and having immersive real-world experiences.
Learn an instrument, make your own music; read a map, navigate for yourself; don't call people, talk to the people you're with; don't pay for shit, you've got enough of it already. Doing this one day a week sounds like an excellent idea to me, and if it sounds like a hardship to you, perhaps the author made a point.
Okay, but it's posted here, so the GP's reaction is not unwarranted. If it was not meant to be seen by anyone other than those people then it shouldn't have been posted.
That's the author's point: they still have a phone, they just found that their experience at this school has helped them break the addiction to it:
> I am now going into my junior year at Midland School. Whenever I am home, I find myself on my phone much less, and then only to catch up on my favorite TV shows and to talk to the numerous lifelong friends I have made at school. Midland helped me change how I live my life. I’m no longer dependent on a smartphone.
For one thing, the author is 17, so cut him some slack.
For another, going entirely without a smartphone for awhile is a completely alien concept to a large segment of the population. Expanding your horizons is rarely a bad thing.
