Direct bank payment transactions
In the UK we have embraced non-cash payments more than just about any other country.
The main argument against (along with big brother and ‘reliant on the system’ concerns) is the cost for small businesses.
This is sometimes over stated, fees tend to be 1-2% max and handsets are very cheap (and your phone can act as one). For example Stripe is 1.5% +20p, and SumUp (click ‘see all fees’) 0.99% for in person, more (1.69%) for AMEX, and 2.5% for online, plus £19/Month. When you factor in cash has banking costs, risks and time, this doesn’t see too bad.
Joplin
A couple of years ago I questioned why I should renew my Evernote subscription. I was only using the basic functionality and wondered if there are alternatives out there.
I looked at a few options but settled on Joplin. It’s great and fits my needs perfectly.
- Free and open source
- Like Evernote (and Onenote), has Notebooks, and notes within them.
- Apps for Mac, and Android, which is what I needed (and other platforms too)
- Your data is stored in Markdown and fully accessible to you. No lock-in! That is to say, all the content is stored as plain text files using the markdown syntax
- Connects to dropbox (amongst others). All my notes are stored on my Dropbox account (as plain text Markdown files). I just point any new device to my Dropbox folder.
- Markdown makes it easy to share and reuse content, eg to write this message I’m using Joplin, I will then copy this note in its raw form and paste it to a new file on mu Hugo drive website - which also uses Markdown.
- Fast, focuses on the task in hand (text notes with basic markup), not adding random new features I don’t need.
Would recommend to anyone looking for something similar.