That job used to be conducted on foot, with hand-held devices, which only enabled the utility to spot-check pipelines, oftentimes when a customer reported a potential issue.

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Nevertheless, a spot-check of a Wal-Mart store by journos at the Hollywood Reporter found the discs to be in scant supply, with just a handful stacked haphazardly among the PSPs.

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Unless a company is very small, evidence of fraud almost always surfaces, convincing clients to sign up for a yearly package that costs three or four times as much as a spot-check, says John Brocar of APEX Analytix.

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These devices range from the inventory trackers that drivers use to touch base with logistics centers, or mobile credit card scanners that are increasingly popping up at shops to allow customers to buy on-the-spot rather than lugging shopping carts into check-out lines.

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The key skills that check-out staff are advised to spot in potential colleagues are friendliness and helpfulness.

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So on the chance you may know someone with a debilitating affinity for Chevy Chevelles and Pontiac GTOs, we've created a check-list of 10 ways to spot a muscle-car guy--or diagnose the condition in yourself.

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Distance-sensing lasers will check for vehicles in the driver's blind spot and the passing lane.

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