In the pre-Uber days of New York City, if you needed a ride to show up at a certain time and location, you’d call a car service in your neighborhood (everyone had their favorites) and arrange for a livery driver to pick you up, instead of risking it and trying to find an available yellow cab. Some of those local car service companies are now turning to their own new technology, introducing smartphone apps to try to compete with the growing presence of Uber. [More]
ch-ch-ch-changes
YouTube’s Video Views Counter Will No Longer Get Stuck At 301+
By 8.5.15
Gone are the days of the baffling “301+” views on popular YouTube videos: the company says it’s rolling out an updated view counter, and will no longer strand videos with rapidly climbing views to the 301 limbo. [More]
Delta Air Lines Bans Shipments Of Big Game Trophies
By 8.3.15
UPDATE: United Airlines and American Airlines have also announced bans on shipping the “big five” of wild animal trophies as freight. [More]
Hertz Now Requiring Rental Customers To Provide Refueling Receipt For Trips Under 75 Miles, Or Pay $14
By 7.14.15
In yet another example of why it pays off to make sure you fully understand a company’s terms of service, and pay attention when those policies change, Hertz rental customers should be aware of a new refueling requirement when driving a vehicle less than 75 miles. [More]
FCC Proposal: Phone Companies Need To Offer Backup Power, Actually Notify You If They Kill Off Your Copper-Wire Landline
By 7.10.15
FCC chairman Tom Wheeler is introducing a new proposal to the commission today that would attempt to protect consumers’ interests while advancing the transition away from plain old copper-wire service and onto IP data networks. [More]
McDonald’s: Fewer Happy Meals Are Being Ordered With Sodas
By 6.25.15
Back in the fall of 2013, McDonald’s decided to jump on the healthyish bandwagon and stopped pushing sodas with Happy Meals, removing them from the menu and marketing materials but still providing them to customers who ordered them. That move has apparently worked to cut down on soda consumption at the Golden Arches, as the chain says fewer Happy Meals are being ordered with sodas. [More]
LEGO Investing $150M To Develop Sustainable Non-Plastic Materials For Brick-Making
By 6.24.15
Last year, LEGO made 60 million blocks out of the same plastic material the Danish company has been using since 1963. But the bricks of our childhood could one day be of a different substance, as LEGO has plans to spend a bunch of money figuring out how to develop new sustainable materials to replace plastic. [More]
Lawmaker Urges Congress To Vote On Bill That Would Put A Woman On The $20 Note
By 5.20.15
You don’t have to look in your wallet to know that no paper U.S. currency features the face of an American woman, but one lawmaker wants that to change sometime soon: Rep. Luis Gutierrez urged Congress today to vote on a bill he introduced last month that would change the face of money as we know it, literally, by putting a woman on the $20 bill. [More]
McDonald’s Plans Simpler Drive-Thru Menu To Speed Up Orders, Expanding Test Of All-Day Breakfast
By 5.12.15
Beyond selling off a bunch of company-owned restaurants to franchisees, McDonald’s has been a bit vague on the details on how it intends to turn around struggling sales at the chain. Yesterday the company offered a glimmer of its vision for the future, sharing a plan with franchisees to trim its drive-thru menu, add some more midprice offerings and expand tests of its (limited) all-day breakfast menu. [More]
Failure To Be Undeniably Hot No Longer An Impediment To Getting A Job At Abercrombie & Fitch
By 4.24.15
In a further attempt to shed its image as a place where rippling six-packs and bronzed bodies go to commune with the hot powers that be, Abercrombie & Fitch is doing away with its policy on having only super hot sales associates in its stores, opening up its doors to anyone with a dream of selling khaki cargo shorts and pre-ripped jeans. [More]
