News and notes from around the interweb:
- Man arrested for false pipe bomb threat at Orlando TSA checkpoint.
Just before 2 a.m. Thursday at the east checkpoint of the Terminal B exit, a TSA agent reported that Marcos Alfredo Vidal said, “The stage was set, and she’s ready,” followed by a clearer statement referencing a “pipe bomb, vending machine,” an arrest affidavit states.
After officers responded to the scene, Vidal initially denied mentioning a bomb and claimed he was referring to “something for his children” and had drawings in his backpack, police said.
- One of the Bilt cards will apparently let you choose 3x on dining or on groceries and you can change annually.
- Easy $250 for opening Capital One checking account no direct deposit required, just requires minimum debit card use, open with promo code DEBIT250 (HT: Frequent Miler)
- We spent 20 years and countless headaches on a REAL ID that.. fails to function at its core function.
"Get a REAL ID," they said. pic.twitter.com/ijSMf5hLcj
— Eric Boehm (@EricBoehm87) December 31, 2025
- The optimal amount of fraud is not zero.
Theres an indian Hotel who makes you sign such forms. Makes you feel like a criminal for burning points. Against the GDPR and Accor policy. Privacy and Data protection is a myth in india. pic.twitter.com/enAUeTT7eV
— Yash Sartanpara (@SartanparaYash) January 1, 2026
- Biscoff cookies are going global (HT: @crucker)
Guess NumbNuts learned his lesson about mentioning the 4-Letter “B” word at TSA.
I guess CM Punk should stay away from TSA. IYKYK
Yeah, don’t even joke about the b-word, there, and many other places. C’mon.
I’ve had a CapOne 360 checking account for some time. I also have a 360 performance savings with them that pays 3.4%. I leave <$100 in the former and keep maybe $2,000 in the latter. When I travel, I use the ATM/debit card for ATM withdrawals (never as a debit card). They charge no fees, not even for foreign currency withdrawals. I don't like the card isn't ATM only (what if I lose it?). But, because I can transfer money from the "performance" account to the checking account instantaneously, it works great.
The problem? CapOne has reissued my ATM/debit card because they now use the network they obtained when they purchase Discover. I have yet to activate it, but I fear that, outside the US, that card may have become essentially useless.
I was able to find an ATM locator site for Discover. Most of these ATM locators are lousy for locations outside the US, but this one was fine. Right now, Discover linked ATMs are hard to find in Oceania. But, they have a good number of locations in France, the UK, and Ireland. So, I’ll shut up and wait to see what happens. Hopefully, CapOne will expand international access now.
Anyone stupid enough to joke about a b— in an airport deserves to be arrested, and DCS should probably look into their parenting as well.
First, the greatest probability by far is that anyone who uses the b word is stupid, not a danger. Simply, take them away. Do a cavity search. They’ll learn real fast.
@This comes to mind — I get that you don’t ‘like’ me, but since you travel internationally like I do, please consider this advice: Schwab has a better debit card for international withdrawals; it works at nearly every ATM, and consistently refunds all fees. I have been using it for over a decade, never had any issues, even in some super sketchy spots overseas. You do you.
Any idiot calling anything a ….. bomb …. terminology is such to raise alarm bells at any public place, especially at an airport. Anyone dumb enough to declare a pipe bomb, well consequences. Maybe they are also dumb enough to complain about the consequences also? That’s REALLY dumb.
“Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former. Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” Martin Luther King, Jr.