Did you know that you can get fined for bringing a laptop and a tablet to Mexico? While I’d like to think that I’m familiar with most of the important customs and immigration laws around the world, this is a new one to me…

Mexico limits you to one computer-like device

USA Today has an interesting story about how a woman was fined $200 at Cancun Airport (CUN) for bringing both a laptop and a tablet through customs. She had traveled to Mexico a countless number of times before with the same setup, and didn’t have issues.

However, this time around her belongings were inspected at customs, and when the officer discovered she had two computer-like devices, she was fined.

To my surprise, this is actually a law in Mexico, and has been for a long time. However, it seems that enforcement of this has increased in recent times, according to Riviera Maya News. The official government website lists all the things that you’re allowed to bring with you into the country on a tax-exempt basis. When it comes to electronics, here’s what it states:

Two cameras or camcorders and camera gear; three cellphones or other wireless devices; one GPS; one electronic organizer; one laptop, notebook, omnibook or other portable computing device; one portable copier or printer; one CD burner and one portable overhead projector and its accessories.

As you can see, you’re limited to “one laptop, notebook, omnibook or other portable computing device.” If you exceed that limit, you have to pay a 19% tax on the value (up to $4,000). The traveler who was caught reports being forced to pay that tax on a highly inflated amount, as she was on the hook for a $200 fine for an older generation iPad.

This law seems kind of ridiculous

Admittedly lots of countries have quirky laws as it relates to customs, though I’ve gotta say, this seems especially bad. It’s totally normal for travelers to have both a laptop and a tablet, since they serve different purposes. Like, you can have three cell phones without issue, but you can’t have a laptop and a tablet?

I can appreciate the concept behind this (in theory), but this almost seems designed as a revenue generating policy, rather than anything else. That doesn’t seem like good business for a country so heavily reliant on tourism.

Now, it’s important to emphasize that you’re not going to be jailed, or anything, if you bring multiple electronics into the country, so it’s not like you should be scared. Furthermore, only a small percentage of travelers actually have their bags searched at customs. Even with this knowledge, plenty of travelers may still opt to bring a laptop and tablet into the country, knowing it violates rules, since the risk is fairly minimal.

For what it’s worth, the United States doesn’t have any restrictions on how many electronics you can bring into the country. Of course if you’re suspected of attempting to sell them rather than using them for personal use, you could be on the hook for import taxes.

Bottom line

While it’s nothing new, I’ve just learned that Mexico limits each arriving international traveler to having a single computer-like device, whether it’s a laptop or tablet. If your bags are searched at customs and more than one is found, you could be on the hook for paying a 19% tax on one of the devices. You learn something new every day, eh?

Were you aware of Mexico’s restrictions on electronics? What do you make of this law?

Wyoming’s Jackson Hole Travel & Tourism Board has created an open-source Instagram filter to help visitors gauge if they’re at a safe distance from wildlife to take photos. The board hopes the tool will help better protect tourists visiting wildlife destinations — and the animals they’re watching — during the busy summer travel season.

To use the filter, visitors to the valley and wilderness recreation area need to open up the Selfie Control filter in the Instagram app. After selecting the type of wildlife they’re looking at, tourists must align the animal’s outline to its icon. If the real-life animal’s bigger than the icon, then they’re too close and should back up.

Jackson Hole, like nearby Yellowstone National Park and other wildlife...

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OpenAI recently launched an official ChatGPT app for macOS, which is also the first ChatGPT app for any desktop platform. While having an app makes the process of talking to the chatbot more seamless, some users have raised privacy concerns. That’s because the app stores all conversations in plain text, which can expose sensitive user data.

more…

In November of 2022, "More than 800 people were selected to participate in the Denver Basic Income Project," reports the Colorado Sun, "while they were living on the streets, in shelters, on friends' couches or in vehicles. One group received $1,000 a month, according to the article, while a second group received $6,500 in the first month, and then $500 for the next 11 months. (And a "control" group received $50 a month.) Amazingly, about 45% of participants in all three groups "were living in a house or apartment that they rented or owned by the study's 10-month check-in point, according to the research." The number of nights spent in shelters among participants in the first and second groups decreased by half. And participants in those two groups reported an increase in full-time work, while the control group reported decreased full-time employment. The project also saved tax dollars, according to the report. Researchers tallied an estimated $589,214 in savings on public services, including ambulance rides, visits to hospital emergency departments, jail stays and shelter nights... The study, which began in November 2022 with payments to the first group of participants, has been extended for an additional eight months, until September, and organizers are attempting to raise money to extend it further.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A video posted by Switzerland's Federal Roads Office, FEDRO, shows how they resurface a road without stopping traffic: they put a temporary elevated highway over it and work in the shade.

Automatically translated from the YouTube description: "The mobile construction site ASTRA Bridge has been in use again on the A1 in the direction of Zurich since the beginning of April 2024. — Read the rest

The post How to resurface a road without stopping traffic appeared first on Boing Boing.