Uber has already been accused of using a software tool dubbed “Greyball” to avoid sidestep law enforcement officers in cities where the service wasn’t yet authorized to operate. A new investigation has concluded that Greyball was also being used in at least one city to evade detection by more than a dozen local government officials. [More]
tools
Sears Settles With One Craftsman Supplier, Files New Lawsuit Against USA-Made Hand Tool Company
By 6.7.17
After resolving its contract dispute with one supplier for Craftsman tools, Sears Holdings has filed another lawsuit against another. The company claims that negative press coverage is leading its suppliers to demand early cancellation of contracts, or unreasonable terms. [More]
Facebook Unveils Photo-Matching Tool In Effort To Crack Down On Revenge Porn
By 4.5.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Two years ago, Facebook clarified its approach to complaints about supposedly offensive posts. Now, the company is circling back, releasing new tools to ensure people can’t re-share intimate images previously reported and tagged as revenge porn. [More]
Class Action Over The Meaning Of ‘Sale’ Means Harbor Freight Customers Get Refunds
By 3.24.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Have you shopped at any of discount tool chain Harbor Freight’s 750 U.S. stores recently? A recent class action settlement over the chain’s understanding of how a “sale” works means that customers can get refunds that range from 10% to 30% of whatever they spent at the store, or a $10 gift card. [More]
Facebook Uses Artificial Intelligence To Update Suicide Prevention Tools
By 3.1.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Two years after Facebook rolled out updated tools for suicide prevention, the social media network is revising those resources once again, this time to include artificial intelligence assistance and expanding the features to its other platforms Messenger and Facebook Live. [More]
Craftsman Tool Lovers Worried For Brand After $900M Sale To Black & Decker
By 1.5.17
In a bid to keep its sinking retail ship afloat, Sears on Thursday announced the sale of its iconic tool brand Craftsman to Black & Decker for a mere $900 million. But with the change of hands, many stalwart Craftsman lovers aren’t sure if they’ll be sticking with the brand in the future. [More]
Sears To Sell Craftsman Brand To Black & Decker For $900M
By 1.5.17
Sears isn’t just trying to stave off the grim reaper by closing stores and borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars from CEO Eddie Lampert twice in two weeks. The beleaguered retailer is selling off its iconic Craftsman brand to Stanley Black & Decker for $900 million. [More]
Other Tool Companies Interested In Buying Craftsman
By 10.4.16
The legend says that 89 years ago, the head of hardware at Sears Roebuck really liked the name Craftsman, and bought the trademark from an existing tool company for $500 ($6,921 in 2016 dollars). Today, parent company Sears Holdings is troubled and in need of a cash infusion, and has quietly solicited bids for Craftsman. It’s reportedly worth around $2 billion. [More]
Instagram Will Let You Filter Comments On Your Photos
By 8.1.16
It’s always nice to get positive, and even constructive, feedback on your Instagram photos. It’s not so nice when someone takes the time to hurl insults or make threats in the comments. Soon, Facebook-owned Instagram will give users new anti-harassment tools that let them hide unseemly messages left on their photos. [More]
Banks Trying To Attract Customers With Products To Reduce, Repay Student Loans
By 6.22.16
With student loan debt in the U.S. now well beyond $1 trillion, everyone seems eager to get into the debt-reduction business. Some cities will pay down your debt if you move there, while a growing number of employers are making loan payment contributions part of the benefits package. Now some financial institutions are dangling the debt-reduction carrot in front of potential customers — but should you bite? [More]
New Online Tool Shows You What The Heck Privacy Policies Actually Say
By 3.11.16
We’ve talked about privacy policies a lot before. While they exist to give consumers information about what data is being collected and how it’s being used, they tend to share one big problem in common: aside from a few exceptions, most privacy policies are utterly impenetrable for the average reader. [More]
FTC Rolls Out Interactive Resource For Victims Of Identity Theft
By 5.14.15
With seemingly daily reports of new data breaches and related scams, it’s no secret that identity theft is now more of a concern than ever. In an effort to help victims work their way through the process of restoring and protecting their identities, the Federal Trade Commission has launched a new online interactive tool. [More]
Leatherman Can’t Repair Tool Under 25-Year Warranty, Replaces It Instead
By 1.11.13
Chad has carried around a Leatherman Super Tool since 1996. It has proven useful many, many times since, but for the last year he carried it, it just wasn’t working correctly. He asked for and received a new one for Christmas from his wife. Hurray! After bonding with his new tool, he learned about the company’s 25-year warranty. 25 years? Why, his old one was only 16 years old when it went out of commission. He sent it along to see if it could be repaired. He was sad to learn that it couldn’t. [More]
I Might Get My Craftsman String Trimmer Back Before It Snows
By 8.20.12
Patrick didn’t say where in the country he lives, but in most of the United States, people don’t need string trimmers year-round. Their grass and weeds grow from maybe late spring to maybe early fall. He bought a new Craftsman string trimmer from Sears back in April, just in time for the plants to start growing. He had a problem with it about a month ago, so he brought it in to the store so Sears could make good on that two-year warranty it came with. That’s when he learned that thanks to the glacial speed of repairs, he’ll be lucky if he sees his string trimmer again before the end of the summer. [More]
Knife Printed With 'USA Quality Guarantee' Is, Of Course, Made In China
By 12.14.11
Think quickly: if you saw the “USA Quality Guarantee” seal on a product you found in a store, where would you assume that it had been manufactured? If you guessed “China,” you’re an awfully cynical person. You are, however, correct.
Reader Stuart, who writes a blog about tools, noticed this little badge of dishonor on a knife for sale at Home Depot. If it’s not meant to make customers think that the knife was made in the USA, then are the words just for decoration?
Why Don't People Share Lawnmowers?
By 5.3.11
Let us disrupt the otherwise normal bucolic sight of everyone in the neighborhood out on a warm afternoon, mowing away at their green lawns. Why does each house need to own their own lawnmower? At around $300 a pop for a new one, they’re not cheap, and households could cut costs drastically if they shared them, but negotiating that can lead to arguments over how much each borrower should chip in, if any, and when. So the Eschaton blog muses on this and wonders, why couldn’t there be a Zipcar for tools? Well there is! They’re called tool rental libraries. [More]
Find Your Stolen Camera By Searching Web For Uploaded Pictures From It
By 4.28.11
The descriptively named stolencamerafinder.com helps you track down your stolen fancy digital camera. Just drag and drop photos from your camera before it was stolen onto the box on the website. The site then scans scraped databases for the EXIF data embedded in the picture to locate other photos encoded with your same serial number. If there’s a hit, that person might have your camera. [More]
Instagram Will Now Let All Users Filter Comments By Keyword
The internet — and its accompanying social media networks — can be a fickle beast. The same post could have friendly, supportive feedback right next to vitriolic, threatening rants from complete strangers. Last month, Instagram began testing a feature that let high-profile users filter out unwanted comments based on keywords, and now that new tool is becoming available to all Instagram users. [More]