Just over a year ago, AT&T and Time Warner proposed one of the biggest mergers of all time, a $85.4 billion deal that would bring together the owners of CNN, HBO, and DirecTV in a single company. The merger had a deadline of Oct. 22, which the companies have extended for an unspecified “short period of time” to gain regulatory approval in the United States. [More]
extensions
FCC Extends Net Neutrality Comment Period Until End Of August
By 8.14.17
While Ajit Pai, the new pro-industry chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has pledged to “take a weed-whacker” to the FCC’s net neutrality rules that restrict internet service providers’ ability to interfere with your web use, he’ll have to wait a bit longer to do that regulatory gardening. The FCC has grudgingly decided to extend the current comment period a little longer. [More]
New Microsoft Office Starbucks Extension Lets You Schedule Coffee Meetings, Buy Gift Cards
By 3.31.16
The technological powers that be understand that people often don’t want to click around in more apps or programs than they have to. In a move meant for caffeine lovers on the job, one of Microsoft’s newest add-ins for its Office programs lets Starbucks customers do things like schedule meetings at the local coffee shop and buy gift cards for the store as well from within Outlook. [More]
REAL ID Standard Implementation At Airports To Start January 2018
By 1.11.16
Hundreds of thousands of residents in five states and one U.S. territory will receive a two-year reprieve from having to use an additional form of identification when going through airport security, as the Department of Homeland Security extended the deadline for state drivers licenses to meet REAL ID standards. [More]
Residents In Nine States Could Need A Second Form Of ID To Pass Through Airport Security Next Year
By 12.28.15
Ten years ago, Congress passed the REAL ID Act, which set minimum security standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and photo IDs. While the rules haven’t exactly been enforced to the “T” by the Dept. of Homeland Security, that’s poised to change, leaving millions of people in nine states in need of a second form of ID to pass through airport security. [More]
Verizon Kept Giving Me Worse DSL Service, Charging Me More
By 6.2.10
Joshua signed up for what seemed like a solid introductory deal for Verizon DSL, but the service was poor and the more he called for suggestions on how to fix it, the worse and deal he got. Verizon kept extending his contract while downgrading his service, insisting there was nothing else it could do to help him out. [More]
What To Do If You Didn't File Your Taxes
By 4.26.10
So you couldn’t pay your taxes and you opted not to file them, or an extension, at all. Don’t sit around worrying about when the IRS will catch on and come after you; file them as soon as possible, writes consumer reporter Iris Taylor, so that you can set up a repayment plan and move on with your life. The sooner you do this, the sooner you can pay them off (you can take up to 5 years to pay them), and the less you’ll end up paying in penalties and fees over the long run. [More]
Without Proof Of Purchase, Your Warranty Options May Be Limited
By 2.10.10
Rob’s digital photo frame stopped working a few days ago, so he contacted Kodak to see whether they could help him. He writes that he knew it was at least one month out of warranty because the warranty is for one year, and he’d been given it as a gift a year ago on Christmas. Still, he was hoping Kodak would cut him a deal or do some sort of above-and-beyond thing.
Instead, he found out that as far as Kodak was concerned, it had been out of warranty for over two years
13 More Weeks Of Unemployment Benefits For Some Americans
By 9.24.09
On Tuesday, the House voted to extend unemployment benefits for Americans who live in states where the unemployment rate is greater than 8.5 percent. 400,000 people were set to run out of benefits at the end of September, and will now continue to receive them until the end of the year if the bill passes.
Get An Extension On Your Taxes
By 4.14.09
If you’re not done with your taxes, don’t worry, just get an extension. Just send in IRS Form 4868 and you’ll get 6-months to send in your paperwork. However, you still need to send in 90% of your total tax due otherwise you’ll get fines. If you’re getting a refund, then no sweat, just send in your extension. Don’t feel too bad about not having it together in time, either; according to the IRS website, form 4868 is their most requested document.
Sprint Extends Yet Another Contract Without Permission
By 8.16.08
Sprint signed David up for a two-year contract without permission after he transferred his service between a Motorola RAZR 2 and a Sanyo 8400. David owned both phones when he made the transfer last month, long after his contract had expired. Sprint recently decided to send him a letter, charmingly called “keeping you in the know,” which showed that he was the proud new owner of a surprise contract extension.
M&T Bank Makes An Offer You Can Definitely Refuse
By 6.26.08
Here’s a novel way for a bank to increase revenue: offer your customers a “perk” where they can skip a payment on their loan for a neat $25 fee! Of course, interest still accrues, your total repayment amount increases slightly, and one month is added to your repayment period. No thanks. You can see the actual letter and details below.
Sprint Magically Approves Rejected Rebate Application
By 3.22.08
He writes:
I’ve been a Sprint customer for around ten years, and in early February decided to upgrade to a new HTC Mogul smartphone under Sprint’s “New For You” rebate program which gives existing customers the same price on new phones that new customers get, as long as the existing customers agree to extend their contracts. To get a $100 rebate, I agreed to extend for two years–not really a problem, as I have no plans to leave Sprint. I received the phone and mailed in the rebate form.
How To Block Facebook's Beacon
By 12.5.07
Don’t like Facebook secretly tracking your online purchases and telling your friends what you bought? Users of the Firefox we browser can use an easy add-on that jams the beacon’s signal. Just install the BlockSite add-on, and then add http://*facebook.com/beacon/* as one of the blocked sites. Make sure to keep those asterisks in. If that sounds a little complicated, this step-by-step walk-through at Wikihow shows you how it’s done. Alternatively, you could also add the same url to AdBlockPlus, another Firefox extension.
RetailMeNot Firefox Extension AutoFinds Deals For Online Stores You're Visting
By 11.2.07
The RetailMeNot site helps you find coupon codes for tons of different sites online, and now there’s a RetailMeNot Firefox extension to make deal-finding even easier. Sometimes you forget to scope out the coupon code sites for applicable savings before checking out at online retailers. This handy extension gives you a little warning on the top bar if its found coupons for the site you’re currently visiting.
If You Filed A Tax Extension You Have 10 Days To Get Your Crap Together
By 10.5.07
If you are one of the 10.2 million taxpayers who requested an automatic six-month extension, your time is almost up.
Verizon To Stop Extending Contracts Due To Rate Plan Changes
By 10.1.07
Verizon announced today that they are ending the often complained about practice of extending contracts when customers request rate plan changes.
IRS Offers Extension To Those Affected By The Virginia Tech Shooting
By 4.18.07
This relief applies to the victims, their families, emergency responders and university students and employees.
