Interesting Links for 13-7-2011

[andrewducker]

• Schools don't seem terribly suited to an age where both parents work
  (tags: school children education uk)
• The lost continent off the coast of Scotland - and its link to ancient climate change.
  (tags: scotland climatechange)
• A new rule for Science Fiction DVDs
  (tags: scifi BrianCox funny webcomic)
• Flywheels for cheaper hybrid cars and for energy storage
  (tags: energy cars electricity storage)
• Tryptophan depletion seems to be connected to autism
  (tags: autism tryptophan serotonin)
• Singapore building massive desalination plants using new more-efficient methods
  (tags: water singapore technology)
• Johann Hari suspended by The Independent
  (tags: johannhari independent)
• Teens prefer caffeinated drinks - even if they can't taste it.
  (tags: caffeine teenagers)
• HTML5 Parsing in IE10
  (tags: internet microsoft browser html html5)
• Cheques not be scrapped after all. I don't think I've seen my cheque-book in five years.
  (tags: banking cheques payment uk)
• It is now one year since we discovered Neptune
  (tags: neptune astronomy solarsystem)
• 100 Firefights, Three Weeks: Inside Afghanistan’s Most Insane Fight
  (tags: war afghanistan military usa taliban)

Comments

[andrewducker]

Thankfully there are check digits, so most mistakes should be caught.

But yes - Paypal is good for sending money, but sadly isn't run by the banks themselves. I do wish they'd sort out a "transfer by email" system themselves.

[drdoug.livejournal.com]

Thankfully there are check digits, so most mistakes should be caught.

Really? I've heard many tales of payments gone astray with mistranscriptions. Apparently if the unintended recipient, and/or their bank, isn't very helpful, it can be very, very hard to resolve.

Until I read your comment, I was pretty sure that account numbers and sort codes don't have check digits, and that the lack (and consequent problems for users) were part of the rationale for developing IBANs, which do have check digits. But IBANs are not (yet) widely used for customer electronic transactions within the UK, SFAIK.

[andrewducker]

There does seem to be a modulus on UK bank account numbers.

This one validated my account, but not one that was a single digit different:
http://www.postcodeanywhere.co.uk/demos/bankvalidator.aspx