An Oregon landlord refuses to let his tenants install air conditioners because he thinks they “look tacky.” Tenants of the Arbor Creek complex in Aloha who choose to sacrifice aesthetics for comfort have ten days to correct their mistake before facing eviction. One tenant’s kid already landed in the hospital thanks to heat stroke.
TOP
Consumers No Longer Forking Out For Knives
By 8.2.09
Culturally bankrupt shoppers are now buying twice as many forks as knives, according to a British department store. The Brits blame the erosion of their cherished culture on “the American habit of using a single fork.” And that’s not all. Apparently we’re also ruining their understanding and respect for the elegant tradition of proper place settings.
30 Songs? That'll Be $675,000
By 8.1.09
A Boston jury yesterday ruled that file sharer Joel Tenenbaum would have to pay the Recording Industry of America $675,000 for sharing 30 copyrighted songs. The hefty award was all the more surprising because Tenenbaum was represented by a crack team of legal eagles from Harvard’s law school. The trial didn’t unfold nearly the way they planned…
FCC Asks Apple, AT&T To Explain Why They Rejected Google Voice App
By 8.1.09
Apple (and AT&T) may have finally pushed too far with this week’s rejection of the Google Voice App from the iPhone App Store, for no reason other than it “duplicated functionality” already offered—for a price—by AT&T. According to mocoNews, the FCC has asked Apple and AT&T to provide answers about how apps are approved, why they’re denied, and particularly how much say AT&T has over things iPhone-related.
Kindle Deletions: Amazon Ate Student's Homework
By 7.31.09
I was never much for writing in books in school, though I did use Post-Its frequently. Which is a precursor to leaving digital notes in a Kindle edition of the book. A Michigan high school student is one of the parties in a class action suit against Amazon because in deleting the unauthorized MobileReference edition of 1984, the company effectively ate his homework.
NY AG: Banks Paid Bonuses That Were Substantially Greater Than The Banks' Net Income
By 7.31.09
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s report on the bonus structures of the banking industry is out and — oh my— it’s damning. The AG says that 3 banks, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JP. Morgan Chase, paid out bonuses that ” were substantially greater than the banks’ net income.”
Teach Your Kids To Lie For Fun And Profit
By 7.31.09
Is it okay to lie and make your kid lie if it saves you money and time? This mommy thinks so.
Snuggie For Dogs Strains Human-Canine Relations Nationwide
By 7.31.09
When you wrap yourself in a Snuggie on a cold evening, does your dog stare up at you with sad, wistful eyes? Even when you’re not holding a bowl of popcorn? It’s time for you to acknowledge that your dog is jealous of your Snuggie.
Cash For Clunkers Runs Dry In 4 Days
By 7.30.09
The government announced this evening that the Cash For Clunkers program is fantastically successful. So successful, in fact, that the program ran through its almost $1 billion budget in four days, and has been suspended.
Family Lives Alone In 32-Story Tower
By 7.30.09
Thanks to their bank, Victor Vangelakos and his family live by themselves in a 32-story tower.
Watch Out For Best Buy's Extended Warranties
By 7.30.09
HD Guru took a deeper look at the extended warranties and service plans Best Buy pushes on customers who buy expensive electronics like hi-def TVs. You probably won’t be surprised to find out that the fine print negates a lot of what the person or pamphlet on the sales floor will try to promise you—but you might be surprised at just how useless these plans can be when you get right down to it.
Free Netbook From Verizon Not Quite Free
By 7.29.09
There is no such thing, dear readers, as a free computer. Particularly, Ray learned recently, in the case of Verizon’s “triple play” promotion for new FiOs users, where one of the options is a “free” netbook. Sure, you never expect “free” items to be completely free, but his situation is even more complicated than that.
Tenant Sued After Using Twitter To Complain About Moldy Apartment
By 7.28.09
If the the puiblic didn’t read Amanda Bonnen’s Twitter feed before, they will now, thanks to a defamation lawsuit brought against her by Horizon Group Management in Chicago.
Consumer Reports Declares Wendy's & McDonald's Have Scientifically Superior French Fries
By 7.27.09
Our sister-publication Consumer Reports tested new trans-fat free french fries from Wendy’s, BK and McDonald’s and have declared that… yeah they basically taste the same as they used to only they don’t have trans fats.
AT&T Charges You A Fee For Getting A Discount
By 7.27.09
Reader “ValentineHumphrey” has a part-time job with a company that gets a 25% discount from AT&T. It sounded like a good deal until she found out there was actually a fee for signing up for the discount. What?
Use Psychological Trick Of "Reciprocity" To Get Better Customer Service
By 7.27.09
It’s one of those customer service calls you get in battle mode for. You set out all your papers and documents, you know exactly what you’re going to ask for, you have a glass of water ready, you take a deep breath, annnnnd – but wait. What if you had one more thing, just a little more edge that might tip the scales in your favor? An article in Pyschology Today talks about the classic customer service technique of “reciprocity.” At the call’s outset,
Anonymous Comments And Facebook Connect Deactivated
We’re disabling anonymous comments and Facebook Connect.