Since April 2014, Uber passengers taking rides in the U.S. and Canada have paid a flat $1 “Safe Rides” fee, something the company said would go toward funding background checks, regular motor vehicle checks, driver safety education, and insurance. Depending on where you live, however, that fee could increase soon. [More]
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Urban Outfitters Will End On-Call Scheduling In New York
By 10.7.15
Following in the footsteps of retailers like Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, Abercrombie & Fitch and Gap, Urban Outfitters says it will stop using on-call scheduling — but only in New York. This change comes after pressure from New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office, which has been probing various companies’ use of the system. [More]
Survey Says: Uber Overtakes Taxis As The Most Popular Ride For Business Travel
By 7.17.15
The scene opens on a very busy businessperson wearing a business suit and carrying a business briefcase on a mission to do some serious business. Time is of the essence — but how to get there? Though in the past we might’ve seen such a character emitting a sharp whistle to bring a cab to a screeching halt, nowadays that person is likely going to pick up their smartphone and hail a ride with Uber, according to a new report. [More]
Today’s The Day: JetBlue’s Checked Bag Fees Are Now In Effect
By 6.30.15
Say goodbye to that free checked bag when flying on JetBlue: The company announced last November that it was going to start charging passengers who fly with checked bags at some point, and that point is today. [More]
Hyundai Replaces General Motors As Official Automotive Sponsor Of The NFL
By 6.29.15
Sure, sometimes breaking up might be hard to do, but it always helps when you’ve got another suitor lined up to take your former flame’s place. Such is the arrangement for the National Football League, which announced today that it’s ending its relationship with General Motors and hooking up with Hyundai. [More]
More Google Searches Are Done On Mobile Devices Than PCs For First Time
By 5.5.15
In the beginning, a person with a question that needed to be answered would shout, “To the Google!” and that would most often mean sitting in front of a desktop computer or opening a laptop. Not so, anymore: For the first time, U.S. Googlers are Googling more on mobile devices than personal computers. [More]
Streaming Music Sales Outdo Revenue From CDs For The First Time
By 3.19.15
The inevitable slide toward outdated technology is continuing for CDs, with the revenue generated from streaming music topping CD sales for the first time ever. [More]
Changes To TurboTax Lead To Consumer Revolt, Opportunity For Competitors
By 1.23.15
It’s the opening weekend of tax season! If you work an hourly or salaried job, the W-2 form summarizing how much you earned and how much tax you’ve paid is already in your mailbox or will be soon, since the deadline to mail them out is February 2nd. If you plan to use the Windows or Mac version of TurboTax, though, there’s something that you should know before you get started. UPDATE, 1/30: Thanks to this consumer revolt, Intuit is rolling back the changes and will return to the old pricing scheme for next year. [More]
Yahoo Ditching Google, Facebook Logins For Flickr Accounts By End Of The Month
By 6.6.14
After announcing in March that it would phase out third-party logins for photo-sharing site Flickr, Yahoo says it’ll be killing off Google and Facebook logins on June 30. That means you’ll need a Yahoo account to sign in and access your photos. [More]
Lands’ End Will Officially Be Freed From Sears On April 4
By 3.17.14
After 12 years in the Sears family fold, Lands’ End is heading out on its own in a spinoff set for April 4. From there on out, it’ll be a stand-alone, publicly-traded company, without the shadow of its struggling former parent company looming over all those fleece jackets and sensible sweaters. [More]
Google Launches Huge Overhaul Of Search Algorithm (Which You Probably Didn’t Notice)
By 9.27.13
Back when the Internet was but a newfangled toy, you might’ve searched for things on Google like, “What is a Google?” But now that searches are more involved (“What is that movie with the guy from that TV show starring Gary Sinise with the talking dolphin and time travel?”) Google says it’s rolled out a massive change in its search algorithm in the last month to handle difficult queries. Not that you necessarily noticed. [More]
Netflix Changes Movie Page Setup, Users Freak Out
By 3.11.10
Have you noticed Netflix’s new movie information page? A lot of other people have. The new, cleaner layout rearranges the user interface a bit, and removes social features from movie pages–you can’t see which of your friends have watched, rated, or reviewed that particular movie. Is this a good move, or a terrible one? [More]
