Shopping Cart Fail [Fail Blog via Buzzfeed]

Engine-flushing is supposed to clean out the gunk and deposits in your engine, but breaking these up is like dislodging a blood clot - they can jam up other sensitive components. Honda calls fuel-injection cleaning an "improper repair procedure" as it can damage other injection parts. They and other makers have sent notices to repair shops telling them not to perform them. Despite this, KNBC received complaints from across the country from consumers with cars damaged after getting upsold into the potentially dangerous service. See more in their video report, below:In a statement, both JiffyLube and EZLube say it wasn't acceptable for employees to lie and say services were recommended by the manufacturer when they weren't, and the employees caught would be fired.Could This Damage Your Car? [KNBC]

Margin calls and the financial market's decline [Marketplace]

RELATED:
How Short Selling Works
Credit Crisis As Antarctic Expedition
What Are "Collateralized Debt Obligations?" Watch These Champagne Glasses.

• Promises of fast and easy money
• The person who brings you in gets a cut of your profits, and then you get a cut off new people you bring into the system
• Requires large upfront fees before you really understand what's going on

Buyer Beware [On The Money]

Here's the video. One passenger is heard telling a woman and a child to get the hell out of his seating area, and the woman says that he should go to sleep and take a sleeping pill. The man also asks why the woman can't control her child, blah, blah, blah.

Christopher Elliott says JetBlue could have handled this differently, and we have to agree. He's his take on it:

I think JetBlue could have handled this differently. Rather than sending a lengthy, defensive letter to the customer, the airline could have tried to patch things up. It’s obvious that she wasn’t taping the flight deck for nefarious purposes. Arguments between passengers such as the one she taped are pretty common these days.

The crew overreacted and the company overreacted. Its letter to Parver has just reopened old wounds.

Here’s the video that got grandmother detained on JetBlue flight [Elliott]

I am a 56-year-old grandmother who has never had so much as a speeding ticket. But on July 26th, I was taken by armed officers, in handcuffs, off JetBlue flight 195 for refusing to delete a video I had taken of a minor altercation between passengers over a screaming kid.

The flight crew made up a charge of interfering with the crew. My recording proves I did nothing wrong. I never even stood up. I was left with the threat that I will never be able to fly on JetBlue, that I will go on the no-fly list, and have a report written about me filed with the FAA.

Parver has turned the footage over to ABCNews (apparently we should watch for her on Good Morning America) so that ABC's legal team can fight off the pitbulls at JetBlue.

The Kingman Daily Miner also has a description of the incident:

Approximately 30 minutes after the dispute, Parver said she was approached by the flight crew who were asking passengers questions about the altercation. When Parver told them she had recorded the incident, they requested she accompany them to the back of the plane, Parver said.

There she showed the video to three or four crew members, Parver said.

"After viewing the video, they demanded that I delete it," Parver said. "I asked, 'Why?' The head-stewardess went as far as to tell me that I had broken a law by using an electronic item during the flight."

At that time, another flight attendant accused Parver of wanting to put it up on YouTube, a video-sharing Web site.

"I do not even know how to download a video on the Internet," Parver said.

After refusing and returning to her seat, the crew asked Parver to return to the back of the plane again, she said.

"This time they told me that the captain demanded that I delete the video," Parver added.

Parver requested to speak to the captain by telephone to confirm the demand. She was not granted this request.

"If the captain had nicely asked me to delete the video, I don't think I would have disobeyed a pilot," Parver said.

Parver again refused the flight crew's request. At that point, one attendant told Parver that if she disobeyed the captain, federal agents would be involved and she could face criminal penalties.

"This was all a case of bullying," Parver said.

Grandmother arrested after refusing to delete JetBlue fight video [Elliott]
Woman detained by airline over video [Kingman Daily Miner]

"360 Steak N Shake" [NCCSites.com] (Thanks to Eric!)

Jason writes:

On Thursday I went to Blockbuster and rented a videogame for 8.47$. The next day I checked my online statement to find out that I was charged 8.47$, and then another separate transaction from Blockbuster for 1$. Considering the guy behind the counter had no idea what he was doing at the time I figured he made a mistake and called the Blockbuster back to investigate. They informed me that it is a relatively new policy on all in-store rentals for debit/credit cards in which before charging you the rental for the game, they first bill your card $1 to make sure that it is active, then they bill the rental in addition to that. The manager I spoke to said that they refund the $1 at a later date, but here I am almost a week later with no refund. If this is even legal, why not just charge the $1, and if it works, charge the normal rental price subtract the $1?

Ugh.

(Photo: Seth W )

"The 50 Greatest Commercial Parodies of All Time" [Nerve.com via Neatorama]

Flickr, however, is standing firm. The videos will stay.

Here's our response to what we see as frequent feedback here in the forum (I've paraphrased the feedback in some instances):

"I don't want video on Flickr."
We're sorry, but video is here to stay. We'd love for everyone to give it a shot. If it's not to your taste, then you should change the default on autoplay. You can distinguish between video and photos by the white arrow bottom left.

"I think video should have it's own separate site."
Just as with our international launch last year and building language on top of our global community, we wanted to avoid siloing what is after all, just another format.

"...did none of the staff see this coming?"
Given our experience with the outrage in moving sets from the left-hand side of the page to the right a few years ago (and various adventures since then), we're very familiar with the passionate response of our members. We can't be afraid of that. We need to continue to improve, release new features and iterate.

Feedback and iteration are very much part of our process. We very much value the feedback that we receive after features launch. It gives us a chance to take something good and give it that extra polish.

We suppose the real question is: Are they willing to put their memberships where thier mouths are and cancel their accounts in protest?

(Pssst, the headline is a joke. We love you, Flickr.)

We Say No To Videos On Flickr [Flickr]
(Photo:AngeloM)

The company says that the industry has "picked a winner" in the format face-off and will phase out HDDVD by the end of the year.

From Netflix:

"The prolonged period of competition between two formats has prevented clear communication to the consumer regarding the richness of the high-def experience versus standard definition," said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix. "We're now at the point where the industry can pursue the migration to a single format, bring clarity to the consumer and accelerate the adoption of high-def. Going forward, we expect that all of the studios will publish in the Blu-ray format and that the price points of high-def DVD players will come down significantly. These factors could well lead to another decade of disc-based movie watching as the consumer's preferred means."

"From the Netflix perspective, focusing on one format will enable us to create the best experience for subscribers who want high- definition to be an important part of how they enjoy our service."

Friend of the blog, film critic Phil Villarreal of the Arizona Star, got the following email from Netflix:

Dear Phil,

You're receiving this email because you have asked to receive high-definition movies in the HD DVD format. As you may have heard, most of the major movie studios have recently decided to release their high-definition movies exclusively in the Blu-ray format. In order to provide the best selection of high-definition titles for our members, we have decided to go exclusively with Blu-ray as well.

While we will continue to make our current selection of HD DVD titles available to you for the next several months, we will not be adding additional HD DVD titles or reordering replacements.

Toward the end of February, HD DVDs in your Saved Queue will automatically be changed to standard definition DVDs. Then toward the end of this year, all HD DVDs in your Queue will be changed to standard definition DVDs. Don't worry, we will contact you before this happens.

You can click here to change your format preferences.

We're sorry for any inconvenience. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call us at 1 (888) 638-3549.

-The Netflix Team

Netflix, Citing a Clear Signal From the Industry, Will Carry High-Def DVDs Only in Blu-ray Format (Press Release) [Netflix]
The death blow for HD DVD? [PhilmGuy]
(Photo:Marike79)

PREVIOUSLY: Why Don't You Weigh In On The Format War?

From The Street:

"Personal finance is not something that people talk about often. People have financial blunders, and the idea behind the contest is that you can learn from other people's mistakes," said Mint founder and CEO Aaron Patzer.

"Holiday Spending Hangover Contest" [Mint via The Street]

Prices will range from $9.95 to $19.95 plus shipping, which puts it in line with retail DVD prices but certainly not any cheaper, especially with shipping fees currently undisclosed. Still, the on-demand aspect brings ordering online that much closer to the retail experience—we wonder why Amazon hasn't considered a similar offering by combining its Unbox content with shrink-wrapped DVDs, especially since Unbox now streams directly to Tivo.

"Cablevision, Popcorn offer instant-gratification DVDs" [Reuters]
(Illustration: Getty)

Not that Cabot is too concerned about that, apparently, since they're going after wives with this spot:

Cabot's market research shows that while their cheese is eaten predominantly by men, it is purchased mostly by women. She wanted a series of ads that would convey to women that when guys get together to drink beer and eat cheese (which is not often enough, by the way), the cheese they want to find in the fridge is Cabot.

Crandall either reflects poorly on American Airlines, or the dollar-driven management style that makes Wall Street giddy. Crandall's successor, Donald Carty, was ousted for his own cost-saving strategy: asking unions to accept almost $2 billion in salary cuts while showering executives with lavish retention bonuses. Something to keep in mind next time you ask for peanuts or a pillow.

The enlightening clip comes from NBC travel maestro Peter Greenberg's excellent two-hour behind the scenes look into American Airlines, which occasionally airs on CNBC.

Wonder What Goes On Behind the Scenes at the Airlines? [Peter Greenberg]

I'm currently out of town on a long business trip, and my wife told me about a somewhat disturbing thing that happened.

While I've been gone, I started receiving issues of Entertainment Weekly (which neither I nor my wife have any interest in reading). The label had my name on it, so it wasn't a matter of us getting someone else's magazine. My wife, who is rather wary of such things, called up EW and asked what was going on. The EW employee with whom she spoke told her that Hollywood Video had run a promotion, where customers received eight free issues of EW. The next logical question, of course, was "what happens after those eight issues?"

My wife was told that unless the customer canceled, they would be billed for a one-year subscription of EW. Now, I had never heard of the promotion, and never would have agreed to receive the free issues in the first place even if they had been offered to me. I don't know whether this has happened to anybody else, or whether this is an isolated incident, but I thought it might be worth sending in.

Thanks,
Ammon

My wife recently set up an account at the local Hollywood Video branch. We haven't had this membership two weeks and today I got what looked like an advertisement from Entertainment Weekly Magazine in the mail. It was a glossy post card that I almost threw away. Instead I read it and noticed that it was a notice about my "subscription" to Entertainment Weekly and it had a Hollywood Video logo on the front of it.

Apparently when my wife signed up for the video rental account they automatically (as in without asking her permission) signed her up for a subscription to Entertainment Weekly. The notice I received said we would be getting 8 free issues and then they would bill our credit card $29.95 under the Automatic Renewal program if she didn't cancel. I wondered how they would bill a credit card number they didn't have so I went to the website they pointed me to, http://ww.ew.com/customerservice and logged in with the account number on the post card. Sure enough there was my credit card number and an outstanding balance of $29.95. I quickly canceled my "account" with EW.

I can't believe Hollywood Video would be so bold as to hand over my credit card number to another company without even asking first. If this isn't dirty I don't know what is.

Thought you guys might like to know.

Stephen

Has this happened to anyone else? Please tell us about it at tips@consumerist.com. Put "Hollywood Video" in the subject.

(Photo:Sister72)

From boingboing:

Allan Wood (a baseball megafan who has written a book about Babe Ruth) purchased over $280 worth of digital downloads of baseball games from Major League Baseball, who have just turned off their DRM server, leaving him with no way to watch his videos. MLB's position is that since these videos were "one time sales," and that means that Wood and everyone else who gave money to MLB is out of luck — they'll never be able to watch their videos again,.

MLB shut down the DRM server because they've changed suppliers, and now they expect suckers to buy downloads of games in the new DRM format. Anyone who does this needs their head examined — using DRM itself is contemptible enough, but using DRM this way is just plain criminal.

MLB rips off fans who bought DRM videos [boingboing]

For example, the revamped SanDisk Sansa View has double the memory and a slightly bigger screen than the new iPod Nano, plus an FM tuner, microphone, and expansion slot, and it costs the same amount. Is it as nice looking? Meh, it's getting hard to tell at this point, if you value functionality over form. Even the Zune—with a capacity and price equal to the iPod—is starting to look decent, with its well-designed interface, strong styling, and broader format support.

The one thing you'll miss out on is the ease-of-use of being locked into the iTunes/iPod symbiotic relationship. Depending on how comfortable you are with figuring out a new syncing set-up, this may or may not be an issue for you.

The article brings up another potential drawback, depending on how you look at it: you won't find anywhere near the same aftermarket support when it comes to accessories and cases. But then again, if the product is made properly, it doesn't really need a case, whereas digital audio players that are designed to wear when working out usually come with straps or attachments.

(Disclaimer: we rely on a screenless Shuffle, which has its own obvious drawbacks, and our Nokia phone, which would be perfect if not for the battery drain.)

"Don't want an iPod? Lots of choices available" [Reuters]
(Photo: Getty)

We're happy to report that Google will now be offering full refunds. From the Official Google Blog:

* We're giving a full refund — as a credit card refund — to everyone who ever bought a video. We'll need you to make sure we have your most recent credit card information, but once we know where to send the money, you'll get it.

* You can still keep the Google Checkout credit that you've received already. Think of it as an additional 'we're sorry we goofed' credit.

* We're going to continue to support playing your videos for another six months. We won't be offering the ability to buy additional videos, but what you've already downloaded will remain playable on your computer.

An update on Google Video feedback [Official Google Blog]

PREVIOUSLY: Google Taking Back All Videos You Rented or Bought From Them

We're sorry that Google's video retail experience turn out profitably for them, but this sure sounds like a load of "do some evil" to us. As Cory Doctorow puts it:

The terms that Google sold its video on were similar to those laid down by other downloadable video "stores," like Amazon Unbox. These stores claim to "sell" you things, but you can never truly 0wn the things they sell — they are your theoretical property only, liable to confiscation at any time.

Google Video robs customers of the videos they "own" [BoingBoing.net]

(Photo: Getty)

The rules would cover any public place in the city of New York, including sidewalks. A spokesperson from the mayors office said the rules are not intended to apply to families and tourists, but who is to say who is a family and who is a tourist?

From the New York Times:

"These rules will apply to a huge range of casual photography and filming, including tourists taking snapshots and people making short videos for YouTube," said Christopher Dunn, the group's [New York Civil Liberties Union ] associate legal director.

Mr. Dunn suggested that the city deliberately kept the language vague, and that as a result police would have broad discretion in enforcing the rules. In a letter sent to the film office this week, Mr. Dunn said the proposed rules would potentially apply to tourists in places like Times Square, Rockefeller Center or ground zero, "where people routinely congregate for more than half an hour and photograph or film."

City May Seek Permit and Insurance for Many Kinds of Public Photography [NYT via digg]
(Photo: Meghann Marco)

When consumers try take the truck in for warranty repair, dealerships say the dashboards aren't on a recall list, so they can't do anything. The only thing Dodge will say is that they're "reviewing records."

Customers experiencing the problems are advised to file complaints with crash.test@nhtsa.dot.gov, try to hack out a deal with the dealership, or try their luck with arbitration. — BEN POPKEN

Dodge Ram Owners Report Dashboards Collapsing, Cracking [Local 6]
ONLINE COMPLAINTS: [Dodge Froum] [Car Complaints] [MotorTrend]

Based just on a name, and an address, crooks can purchase parts of a deceased person's information from other crooks. This bits can be used to open up new bank accounts, credit cards, get a Social Security card, or used as a mask to conduct further crime.

TODAY advises:

• Don't include DOB , address, or where the person was born in obituaries
• Close all accounts as soon as possible
• Tell the Social Security Administration that the person is dead

Dealing with a close friend or family member's death is already hard enough, but if you take the proper steps you can prevent further complication by preventing their exploitation by identity thieves. — BEN POPKEN

RELATED: HOW TO: Handle Closing Dead People's Accounts

Considering the cost of implementing the asinine program, and the unlikeliness of it being used in an attack, isn't there anyway to roll it back? One guy sticks firecrackers in his shoes, now we all over to remove our sneakers. One rumor says you might be able to concoct a chemistry set in the bathroom and blow up the plane, so now there's no liquids. The security risk isn't any particular iteration, it's ingenuity. Is there some way to apply "heuristic learning principles," as seen in more advanced virus software, to airport security? — BEN POPKEN

(Thanks to Jay!)

Brandon writes:

PREVIOUSLY: Designer Todd Goldman Accused of Rampant Plagiarism

Video by Alex Goldberg

"Adobe has created the first way for media companies to release video content, secure in the knowledge that advertising goes with it," James McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research said.

Content publishers are promised "better ways to deliver, monetize, brand, track and protect video content".

Adobe unveils Flash video control [BBC]
(Photo:Daquella manera)

The companies said Thursday that distribution partners for the online content would include Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp.'s MSN network and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL unit. The site, which will be free, is expected to launch this summer and will carry full episodes and clips from hit shows such as "Heroes," "The Simpsons," "24" and "My Name Is Earl." It will also feature movies, including "Borat."

News Corp. and NBC said they've already lined up several big advertisers for the site, including Cisco, Intel and General Motors.

The partnership is a major salvo against YouTube, which has emerged as both friend and rival to traditional media companies. Google has had difficulties striking deals with the media titans, who have accused YouTube — which Google acquired last year — of benefiting from illegal use of their copyrighted material.

NBC, News Corp. Plan Video Site In Challenge to Google's YouTube (Subscription)[WSJ]

Following this, you can watch videos from Netflix on your computer, as long as you use IE6 or above... making Netflix just as evil as Walmart.

After installing a lil' browser app, and possibly an upgrade to Windows Media Player, you're ready to rock. — BEN POPKEN

Enable Netflix Instant Watching [Netflix] (Thanks to KR!)

• This sucks and doesn't work in Firefox.

Also, BoingBoing tells us that if we could actually access the site, we'd be "paying $20 for a 240X320 movie in a DRM-laden Windows Media file that won't play on a Zune or an iPod, or a computer running Mac or Linux." Yeah, no thanks.—MEGHANN MARCO

Wal-Mart's New Download Service How Many Ways Doth It Suck [BoingBoing]

On Demand and on DVD at the Same Time [New York Times]

Take a good look because we bet five dollars the whole site is gone by the weekend. The videos were already yanked from YouTube.

Why are we posting their Myspace profiles? Because we hate liars. Also, as a warning: kids, don't drop out of B-school or J-school. Get an English degree and learn how to tell compelling stories before you inflict another viral pile on the world.

Remember, "don't just wear it - pwn it!!1!" — BEN POPKEN

''They were just going through the racks, looking at clothes,'' he said. ``If they happened to kick something, they thought it was just a baseball cap.''

Oddly enough, Fletcher was caught with store surveillance cameras. This is why we wear pants to Kmart. —MEGHANN MARCO

Blue light special: Cops bust alleged Kmart voyeur [Miami Herald]

The holiday party invite from TBWA\Chiat\Day, NYC, has the answer, and it's not pretty.

Warning: Vomit. Lots of Vomit. — BEN POPKEN

Thanks to the magic of video technology, we're able to speed it up. Plus everyone sounds like a munchkin. — BEN POPKEN

Just pray the car companies had good beta testers to weed out the bugs... — BEN POPKEN