In Oct. 2011, Portland, Oregon, switched from weekly trash pickups to an every other week system, which is fine for many people who probably just needed to invest in another garbage can or two to hold that additional refuse. Additionally, the city had a weekly pickup for recycling and its new composting program, so smelly bottles, cans, and food scraps were being hauled away every seven days. But some parents of babies with stinky diapers are not waiting for that next garbage truck to swing by, and are instead tossing out the dirty diapers with the recycling. [More]
When You Cut Trash Collection To Every Two Weeks, Parents Will Still Find A Way To Get Rid Of Dirty Diapers
By May 20, 2013
Target Testing Out Its Own Streaming Video Service With Employees
By May 20, 2013
Is there something missing from your streaming video routine? Perhaps, but even if you’re totally sated by the players already in the online video arena, Target is reportedly getting ready to throw its own hat in the ring with a Netflix-like movie service. Thus far it’s only testing it out with its own employees. [More]
Movie Studios Ask Google To Remove Links To Free Movie About Pirate Bay
By May 20, 2013
Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, movie and TV studios can send requests to Google and other search engines requesting the removal of links to illegally shared content to which it holds the copyright. But some studios have apparently been asking Google to remove links to a movie for which none of these studios holds the copyright, and which just happens to be about file-sharing mega-site The Pirate Bay. [More]
One Woman’s Quest To Celebrate Nutella Earns Her A Decidedly Untasty Cease-And-Desist Letter
By May 20, 2013
Oh, Nutella — that hazelnut chocolate spread beloved by so many as a spreadable form of candy. Maybe you love Nutella so much you were planning on celebrating with World Nutella Day. Too bad, as the company apparently isn’t a fan of its fans, and apparently issued a cease-and-desist letter to the woman who founded the celebration seven years ago. [More]
Yahoo To Pay $1.1 Billion Cash For Blogging Platform Tumblr, Maybe Not Ruin It
By May 20, 2013
Yesterday, Yahoo and Tumblr announced that they’re getting hitched. Why? Yahoo needs content that uses design principles from the last decade, and Tumblr needs some grown-ups to supervise the place and figure out how to actually earn money. Is everyone involved in this transaction making a huge mistake? [More]
GrubHub And Seamless To Form Food Delivery Supercompany
By May 20, 2013
GrubHub and Seamless Web are two of the biggest players in the growing online food-ordering industry, catering to those of us who would rather not deal with looking up menus then going through the ritual of reciting our orders over the phone. Today, the two companies announced their intent to merge and save people the hassle of having to toggle between the two sites when they can’t decide what to order. [More]
Gospel Singer Suing McDonald’s Because Broken Glass Isn’t Easy On The Throat
By May 20, 2013
If it’s not the hot coffee lawsuit of a lifetime, it’s still a major claim that McDonald’s mucked up pretty fierce: A gospel singer living in Brooklyn alleges in a new lawsuit that McDonald’s is responsible for ruining her voice, after she claims she bit into a piece of glass while eating a chicken sandwich. [More]
Amy’s Baking Company Needs To Hire 30 People, Held Weekend Job Fair
By May 20, 2013
The unemployment rate in the Phoenix metropolitan area is lower than the national rate, at only 6.4%. So it’s interesting that the next step in the comeback plan of the restaurant-cafe-Internet trainwreck was a massive job fair yesterday afternoon, in order to get staff in place for tomorrow’s grand re-opening. [More]
We’ll Remain Unimpressed With Domino’s DVDs That Smell Like Pizza Until We Can Eat Them
By May 17, 2013
What’s the point of a DVD that smells and looks kind of like pizza once it’s “heated up” in a player? If it’s just to get us hungry and thinking about pizza, that is a cruel, cruel marketing trick. Take a note, Domino’s Brazil — don’t bring your pizza invention around these parts until you’ve created a DVD we can watch and then consume with our mouths. [More]
Zombie Amazon Returns More Common Than You Might Think
By May 17, 2013
Earlier this week, we asked whether our readers had any experience with zombie refunds: items that you sent back to a retailer, only to have your refund later reversed for no clear reason. We heard from a surprising number of people whose transactions have risen from the archives and devoured their bank accounts. [More]
JCPenney To Require Structural Inspections Of Factories In Bangladesh
By May 17, 2013
Retailers and manufacturers continue to react to last month’s tragedy at the Rana Plaza factory outside of Dhaka, Bangladesh, that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,100 people. Days after Walmart announced its own program to review and inspect manufacturing facilities in the region, JCPenney has outlined its plans to audit factories. [More]
Where’s The Best Place To Get Drugs For Your Pet? The Human Pharmacy
By May 17, 2013
Generally, when you go to the doctor for a checkup, you don’t fill your prescriptions right there in the office at the same time that you hand over your co-pay. That generally is what pet owners do at the vet, though. As it turns out, the cheapest place to get your pets’ drugs may not be mail-order pharmacies or your vet’s office, but the chain or independent pharmacy where you get drugs for the human members of your family. [More]
Milwaukee Not Too Worried About Bar’s Bra Collection Burning, Reverses Takedown Order
By May 17, 2013
Perhaps burning bras was all the rage back in the day, but fire department officials in Milwaukee were worried about a very specific collection of undergarments going up in flames. After a bar with a 45-year tradition of decorating its premises with bras and boxers had to take down the hanging intimates for fear of spreading fires, the business’ owner is now celebrating after the city said the clothing is probably harmless. Whew. [More]
Makers And Stars Of Porn Being Turned Away By Some Banks
By May 17, 2013
With so many people choosing to watch porn for free online rather than pay for it, the adult industry claims to be nowhere near as lucrative as it was at the height of the VHS and DVD era. Making matters worse, some in the industry say their banks don’t want to be associated with this particular form of entertainment. [More]
Customer Repays Chef 15 Years Later For Valentine’s Dinner He Couldn’t Afford
By May 17, 2013
For every case of restaurant owners going ballistic on customers, there are other stories of restaurant staff who actually want to be kind to their patrons. Such was the case in 1997 when a teenager had to borrow $40 from the chef at a French eatery so he could afford to impress his Valentine’s Day date. He’s since returned, 15 years later, to repay that debt — with interest. [More]
Spirit Airlines Only U.S. Carrier To Make List Of World’s Worst
By May 17, 2013
Spirit Airlines can call itself the “most consumer-friendly airline” all it wants, but that won’t change public opinion of the discount carrier. And a new round-up of the world’s worst-rated airlines would seem to confirm that Spirit is far from living up to its own description. [More]
Psychic Takes Woman’s Life Savings To Repair Her Aura, Prevent Bad Things From Happening
By May 17, 2013
We are not experts and any and all things paranormal, but perhaps auras are a thing, and perhaps it is possible for one person to repair another’s aura and prevent bad things from happening to them. However, it seems unlikely to us that it’s possible to do so by giving the “psychic” all of your savings and family heirlooms to watch over for you. And yet, someone tried this, and someone fell for it. [More]
Your Teenage Neighbor Is Totally Going To Slap Washington State’s Official Pot Label On His Car
By May 17, 2013
Now that marijuana is legal in Washington state, officials there are working hard to make sure this whole thing goes off without a hitch. That means branding, of course, hence the new green (natch!) label that authorities say will have to adorn every package of legal pot. And of course, it’ll surely make the rounds of music festival-bound vehicles, guitar cases and your teenage neighbor’s car bumper. [More]
