Awesome. I miss the raised numerals on the front of the card.

I don't think there is in terms of process, I think payment handlers just add a higher charge for processing credit card payments, which is why stingy retailers dislike them.

I'm happy to be corrected though.

Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear.

I'm assuming the 16 digit card number, start and expiry dates, and CVV are printed on the reverse - whereas it used to only have the CVV on the reverse and the rest of the details on the front.

What's stopping someone with a picture of the rear of the card visiting an online retailer and going wild with a picture of just one side of the card these days - aside from multi-factor authentication at the point of authorising the payment?

Absolutely spot on, thank you - always handy to know.

I'm wondering what it does to mitigate the "card not present" fraud though, for online purchases or remote purchases?

As entertaining as that is, it does raise the question - why do they put all of the details on the back now?

I thought one of the main reasons that the CVV was on the signature strip was so if a card was photocopied, photographed, or carbon copied (literally on carbon paper), then it was still less possible to clone the card.

Is "physical" cloning so small of a problem now that it's more beneficial to make fancy looking cards? Anyone in the industry able to shine a light?

I think that's a fair comment, and to extend it a bit further, people expect a standard quality of life in games now that either have emerged over the years a a positive gameplay trait (regenerating health, accessibility customisation, the yellow paint guide) or a technical innovation (auto save, autoaim, customisable graphics etc).

I find it really tough going back to play Perfect Dark (the original, not the excellent remaster) and really struggling to play through the brilliant game at sub-20fps; or playing Metal Gear on the NES without the ability to return to the same room on death, seeing as the password system was a bit clunky.

We've come a long way, largely for the better.

Oh wow, Perfect Dark Zero had much higher metacritic scores than I expected.

I thought it would literally be a 50 - I didn't think it was a good game, I didn't think it was a bad one either - it was the most middle-of-the-road competent shooter I had played in years. I remember it getting largely hammered at release though, I suspect that had more to do with having Perfect Dark in the title and not meeting unreasonably high expectations than actually being a poor game though.

That ending song about a sex act was really weird though. The song was an absolute banger but the lyrics just had little to no context to them.

also branding

particularly the style that gives up on capitalisation and punctuation

this is not primary school

I saw the exhibit and got a little bit emotional if I'm honest when it was revealed near the start of the show.

Partly because of the sheer scale of it right in front of you, but because of where it's been and how much human ingenuity, experience, and hope was put into it to make it work.

Great stuff. Well worth going to if you're ever at Kennedy Space ~~Centre~~ Center (man that feels weird).

It was, but as Atari was known for, was just a fancy new shell on eight year old hardware not too dissimilar to the 2600 or VCS or whatever your region calls it.

My parents went down the home computer route, and I ended up with an 800 XE.

It was beautiful. The detachable keyboard, the IBM-grey sleek housing, the pastel console buttons, and satisfying "chi-chuunnnggg" of the spring loaded power button.

I felt like I had the future under the palms of my hand.