Back in May, we asked readers if they still used the White Pages and an overwhelming 87% of you said no. Soon, those of you in Seattle who no longer use the phone book will be able to opt out of receiving the annual doorstop. [More]
Government Policy
Landlord Tells Apartment Tenant She Can't Display Flag
By 10.11.10
A Nebraska landlord told a tenant the American flag she’s hanging outside her window has to come down, but she’s not budging. [More]
Geithner: TARP Will Cost Taxpayers Under $50 Billion
By 10.8.10
As the Troubled Asset Relief Program winds down, post-mortems for the program are rolling in. According to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the bailout effort — which was launched by former President George W. Bush in 2008 and officially ended last month — will end up costing taxpayers a mere $50 billion, rather than the $350 billion that the Congressional Budget Office pegged it at last year. [More]
Why Does American Express Need A Copy Of My Wife's Tax Return?
By 10.8.10
Evan writes that he recently got married, and the newlyweds make more money than they did at this time last year. American Express suspects something, and has suspended their credit card, demanding a copy of his wife’s tax return from last year. What’s going on? [More]
McDonald's, 29 Other Firms Don't Have To Play By Government Health Care Rules
By 10.8.10
It seems snippy threats can get you places. After McDonald’s threatened to drop health coverage for 30,000 workers unless the government granted it an exemption from a mandate to spend 80 to 85 percent of premiums on benefits, the Department of Health and Human Services granted a waiver to the company and 29 others. [More]
191,000 Bottles Of Lipitor Recalled Because Of Musty Odor
By 10.8.10
Though Pfizer apparently initiated a recall of its popular cholesterol fighting drug Lipitor (aka Atorvastatin) in August, it only came to the public attention this week. Regardless, a total of 191,000 90-pill bottles of the drug have been recalled from pharmacies in the U.S. and Canada. [More]
Use Public Domain Spaceman Pic As Album Cover, Get Sued
By 10.7.10
In what could be a frivolous lawsuit that goes nowhere, but may make musical artists a little gun shy about pictures they co-opt onto album covers, a former NASA astronaut is suing Dido over her use of an iconic 1984 photo of him doing his spaceman thing for her album Safe Trip Home. [More]
New York City Tries To Stop People From Using Food Stamps On Soda
By 10.7.10
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg doesn’t want people getting fat off of government aid, so he’s trying to make soda and other sugary drinks ineligible for Food Stamp purchases. [More]
Elderly Woman Evicted From Home Due To Deed Mix-Up
By 10.7.10
An elderly woman in Kansas City was forced out of her longtime home this week because of a deed mixup. No, Bank of America didn’t foreclose on her by mistake. Why are her belongings on the lawn? The situation dates back to 1998, when her friend and roommate, the owner of the house, died without properly transferring the deed. A probate battle ensued. Now a real estate company owns the house, and has offered to sell it for $60,000. They paid $13,000 at auction. [More]
FTC Squashes Payday Site For Putting $54.95 Charge For Empty Debit Card In Fine Print
By 10.6.10
You’re broke. How would you like a $54.95 debit card? It’s empty, but if you ever do get any money, you can put up to $2,500 on it. Yay. If that doesn’t sound like a bargain, it’s no wonder that one internet marketer of payday loan referral sites was hiding the fact that he was signing you up for these dodo cards via a pre-checked checkbox on the signup form, and the FTC smacked him down for it. [More]
Unimpressed With Half-Baked Concession, Military Bases Still Won't Sell Medal Of Honor Game
By 10.6.10
Despite efforts by Electronic Arts to make Medal of Honor more palatable to military members and their families, bases still won’t sell the game when it releases next week. The game formerly allowed online gamers to play as Taliban members, but EA backed down to pressure and changed the squads’ names to “Opposing Force.” [More]
Woman Mistakes Superglue For Eyedrops; Not As Funny As It Sounds
By 10.6.10
It sounds like the sort of prank a bratty little brother would pull in a wacky Hollywood comedy from the ’80s, but it’s not. A woman in Arizona recently reached for what she thought was eyedrops, only to end up squirting superglue into her eye. [More]
Why U.S. Broadband Sucks
By 10.6.10
The US is falling way behind other countries in the speed and cost of broadband access because of a lack of competition. Elsewhere in the world, the company that owns the physical internet backbone must sell access to a range of independent ISPs on the wholesale market. The result is a panoply of companies competing on service, quality, and price. But, a recent Scientific American article argues, back in 2002, the FCC reclassified broadband as “information service” instead of “telecommunications service,” and Mr. Local Monopoly has been partying it up ever since. [More]
Hackers Infiltrate D.C. E-Voting System, Force Testing Delays
By 10.6.10
While testing out its electronic vote-by-mail program for overseas voters, the District of Columbia invited hackers to do their worst to break into the system. The programming geeks answered with decisive force, with someone making the site play the University of Michigan’s fight song after a test subject submitted the ballot. D.C. officials suspended testing before patching things up and getting back online. [More]
Worst Company In America Trophy Mailed To Comcast
By 10.5.10
We are super-duper late in mailing out Comcast’s Worst Company In America trophy so we decided to spice it up with a disco lightshow for the award and a nice congratulatory letter. [More]
FCC Questions Slow Down NBC/Comcast Merger Express
By 10.5.10
Unlike the recent United/Continental merger, which blazed through its regulatory hurdles like something that goes really fast through something else, the marriage of NBC Universal and Comcast isn’t moving as speedily. Yesterday, the FCC hit both bride and groom with a handful of questions it wants answered before giving its blessing to the union. [More]
Governator Legally Furloughed The Hell Out Of California State Workers, Court Says
By 10.5.10
Since Skynet and Rekall couldn’t thwart Arnold Schwarzenegger, California government employees probably knew they were in for a beatdown when they sued the governor. They contended he lacked authority to force them to take 46 unpaid days off between February 2009 and June 2010. [More]
Motor Vehicles Bureau Gets Your Birthday Wrong, Makes You Pay
By 10.4.10
A Cleveland driver paid to register his van and truck the day before his birthday, but got stuck with late fees because the Bureau of Motor Vehicles office insisted his birthday was three weeks earlier. The clerk’s response when the man produced a driver’s license with his correct birthday? Sorry; we can’t update the computer record or refund the penalty. [More]
