In the wake of New York State’s failed attempt to tax sugary sodas and juice drinks, the New York City Health Department has come out with a public service campaign to curb consumption the soft way: with the hard sell.
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Ben & Carrie Talking in DUMBO Tonight
By 8.20.09
I’ll be giving a rockin’ powerpoint presentation tonight in DUMBO in Brooklyn at Gelf Magazine’s “Geeking Out” event 63 Pearl St. Carrie McClaren who will be speaking as well. I’ll be talking about some of the ways to kick butt and get the customer service you deserve. Should be fun, come and check it out.
So Long, Farewell….
By 8.12.09
I’ve already written the heartfelt and emotional goodbye once before, and I said everything then that I wanted to say. I could go on and tell you how Ben and Meghann, and the entire Consumerist team, are wonderful people to call colleagues; or, that Consumers Union couldn’t be a more fitting and supportive home; or, that some of the site’s best work is still ahead (seriously, there’s great stuff in the pipe;) I could do all that—and it would all be true—but I’ll instead link back to my old post and thank you once again for reading. Goodbye!
A Farewell To Careys
By 8.7.09
Next Tuesday will be Carey’s last day posting on Consumerist full-time. He’s off to law school, where he will get schooled in a “combination of consumer law and legislative drafting with a dash of administrative law.” Laura will be taking over the weekend slot.
Site Loading Issues
By 8.6.09
Currently, Consumerist is experiencing an error where pages will load and then flash to a blank screen, or an error message will pop up saying, “Your Request did not go through. Please refresh your data.” If you’re seeing this behavior, it’s not you, it’s us. Until we get it fixed, one thing you can do is press the stop button or ESC key before the page finishes loading. It’s not ideal, but at least you get to see the post. Tech is working on getting it taken care of soon, along with the stalled RSS feed. Apologies!
Update On Tech Issues
By 8.4.09
Consumerist and Gawker Media, which hosts us, had some technical issues this week resulting in network-wide outages Sunday and Monday.
Working On Tech Issues
By 8.4.09
Hi there. Yes, we’re sorta back. Pardon our dust. We still have a few kinks to work out from the recent downtime. Hope to be back to normal soon.
Anonymous Comments And Facebook Connect Deactivated
By 7.28.09
We’re disabling anonymous comments and Facebook Connect.
What Do You Want In A Consumerist iPhone App?
By 7.21.09
We’re working on an iPhone app for The Consumerist, along with finally getting a mobile version, mobile.consumerist.com, for the site. Our first iPhone app will be extremely basic. This 1.0 will have iPhone-optimized version of the latest posts, and you’ll have a few drill-down categories to choose from (top stories, features, personal finance…. something else? You tell us). That’s about it. You will not be able to make comments. 1.5 will have comments. 2.0 will be a from the ground up rewrite with all the bells and whistles. So, questions: What categories should be in the 1.0? What dream features do you want to see in the 2.0? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Meet Guest Bloggers Carrie McLaren And Jason Torchinsky Of Ad Nauseam And StayFree
By 6.24.09
I’m stoked that Carrie McLaren and Jason Torchinsky, co-editors of Ad Nauseam: A Survivor’s Guide to American Consumer Culture (which I blurbed, my first blurb!), will be guest-blogging, tag-team style, with us this week and next. Carrie was editor of the awesome Stay Free! Magazine, which alternately skewered and threw cream pies at our marketing-drenched society. Jason is an artist who also writes for the Onion News Network, but just for sport. Please give them a warm welcome and enjoy the show.
Looking To Interview Truth-In-Advertising Lawyer
By 6.3.09
Are you a lawyer with experience and knowledge of truth-in-advertising litigation? Or know someone who is? I’m looking to interview such a person for an article with a deceptive marketing hook. Email me at ben@consumerist.com, subject line, “lawyer.”
Intern For Consumers Union In Austin
By 6.2.09
No, you’re not seeing double! In addition to the Intern positions we posted last month, Consumers Union — the publisher of The Consumerist and Consumer Reports — is looking to fill another position in its Austin, TX, office. This is a part-time, year-long web-development internship. Responsibilities will include uploading content, and working on database upgrades. Applicants should live in the Austin area. Apply here. (Photo: treasuresthouhast)
By 5.29.09
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Want to learn more about the Obama administration’s new cybersecurity plans? @JeffreyFox of Consumer Reports is live-tweeting the press conference now. [Twitter]
Intern for Consumers Union in Austin
By 5.22.09
Apply now for a great internship with Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumerist and Consumer Reports. This is a part-time, year-long internship with the Share Your Story team, based in CU’s Austin, TX, office. Responsibilities will include reading through stories submitted by consumers, writing case studies for CU sites, and helping to identify ways to solve consumer problems. Applicants should live in the Austin area. Apply here.
Donation Drive Raises $8,292.04
By 5.21.09
Thank you everyone who contributed to donatetoconsumerist.com! Together we raised $8,292.04 for Consumerist. Thank you for your awesome show of support. The monies raised will go to help defray the costs of writers’ salaries, servers and legal costs for the site. Now, as promised as a sort of cherry on top of this whole endeavor, stay tuned for the Consumer Reports Snuggie test video… (Photo: Kila (kee-la))
Get Emailed About Comment Replies
By 5.20.09
Want to get an email when someone respond to your comment on Consumerist? Sign up for free notification at Bunedoggle.com. Enter your email, commenter name, select the “Consumerist” checkbox and hit subscribe. Follow the link in the authorization email and you’re ready to go. No spam, no gimmicks, just a free script a guy named Brian Bailey put together because it had to be done.
The Consumerist Comments Code
The Consumerist Comments Code, which we repost every now and again, is intended to promote a discussion filled with substantive information, insights, humorous observations and relevant personal experiences. In other words, comments that other people would want to read. Here are some rules to help make this possible… (And while we’re on the topic of commenters, don’t forget to add your email address to your user profile by going to ../../../..//people/yourscreenname/profile/ so you can keep your commenter profile when we transition to a new platform this Fall)