Scammers String Along 82-Year-Old For Four Years, Leave Him Penniless [Scammers]

Scammers String Along 82-Year-Old For Four Years, Leave Him Penniless [Scammers]: "

Here's another reason to have a sit-down with your elderly relatives and make them promise that if they ever, ever find out they've won some money in a lottery they didn't enter, they should tell family members immediately.

This octogenarian sent $60,000 to scammers in the Dominican Republic while they strung him along with promises of riches.

The promise of foreign lottery winnings, sweepstakes and other riches that arrived by mail proved too tempting for John as they promised him hundreds of thousands - and sometimes millions - of dollars he was sure he was going to receive.

They came with convincing company or corporation titles, such as the Diabetes Association. Upon further investigation by family members, something always proved to be amiss.

But John wouldn't heed their warnings that he was being taken.

And there always was that catch, that small amount of money he would need to send to secure his winnings.

At one point, the scammers managed to get John to check himself out of a hospital in order to show up for a fake meeting at a Walmart parking lot. Another time, they sent him to a Bank of America branch to inquire about an account in his name; no account had been set up.

We suggest you bookmark the article for future reference. Better yet, print it out or copy & paste it, and then give it to your relatives (of all ages) with the warning that nobody EVER wins money from foreign lotteries. EVER. That may or may not be true, but we'd rather they err on the side of financial self-sufficiency than be left homeless and penniless from chasing a phantom lottery that seems to grow in value the more desperate they get.

Check out the tips and references on this post for more info on how to protect your loved ones from foreign lottery scams. You can also show them this video clip:

'Scammers leave 82-year-old Sun Citian homeless, penniless' [YourWestValley.com] (Thanks to Tiffany!)

RELATED
'How To Protect Susceptible Relatives From Scams'

(Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/autumn_bliss/ / CC BY-SA 2.0)

Brooklyn Judge Rejects Improperly Documented Foreclosure Motions, Shocks Banking Industry [Mortgages]

Brooklyn Judge Rejects Improperly Documented Foreclosure Motions, Shocks Banking Industry [Mortgages]: "

There's a judge in Brooklyn, NY, who has tossed out nearly half of the foreclosure cases brought before him over the past year, because the lenders have such messy paper trails that they can't prove ownership anymore.

Justice Schack's take is straightforward, and sends a tremor through some bank suites: If a bank cannot prove ownership, it cannot foreclose. 'If you are going to take away someone's house, everything should be legal and correct,' he said. 'I'm a strange guy - I don't want to put a family on the street unless it's legitimate.'

As a result, he's become an example for other judges to follow, and a 'dangerous' rogue in the eyes of lenders.

What's surprising, however, is Judge Schack isn't coming up with novel readings of the law. He's just forcing lenders to follow the rules.

'To the extent that judges examine these papers, they find exactly the same errors that Judge Schack does,' said Katherine M. Porter, a visiting professor at the School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, and a national expert in consumer credit law. 'His rulings are hardly revolutionary; it's unusual only because we so rarely hold large corporations to the rules.'

'A ‘Little Judge' Who Rejects Foreclosures, Brooklyn Style ' [New York Times]
(Photo: steakpinball)

DirecTV Double Bills 75-Year-Old Widow, Won't Fix It, Then Debits Huge Cancellation Fee [Cancellation Fee]

DirecTV Double Bills 75-Year-Old Widow, Won't Fix It, Then Debits Huge Cancellation Fee [Cancellation Fee]: "

Here's a lovely story from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A unnamed 75-year-old widow says AT&T called her to offer their new U-Verse service with bundled TV, Internet and phone. She signed up, only to receive a phone call letting her know that the TV service wasn't available in her area yet, but would she like to sign up with DirecTV instead? She agreed, but DirecTV started doublebilling her as soon as her service started. After a few months of the runaround from DirecTV she called to cancel.

She signed up with Chater Communications — and then found out that she had a 2 year contract with DirecTV and would be charged a cancellation fee — despite the fact that she'd only canceled because they were overcharging her and wouldn't stop.

The woman's granddaughter told the paper:

'She's truly on a fixed income - nothing but Social Security,' [the granddaughter] said. 'She always had set aside $100 for (cable and phone) bills, and now that was more like $200.'

DirecTV helped her out by debiting $469 from her checking account. Soon after, she started getting calls from her bank informing her that her checks were bouncing.

Robert Mercer, a spokesman for DirecTV, said the company is careful to warn customers that they must be a customer for 24 months to avoid a penalty fee.

Maybe that's fair, but shouldn't the company make an exception for the widow of Belleville? After all, she canceled because she was being overcharged and DirecTV wouldn't correct the error. Mercer said he'd look into it.

We hope she gets the fee reversed, although if she does, that'll be the first time we've heard of it happening with DirecTV.

DirecTV double bills elderly customer, then hits her with cancellation fee [Post-Dispatch] (Thanks, everyone!)
(Photo:TimmyGUNZ)

This Is How People Count the Cash Money

Different ways to count Money

Comcast Wins Right To Own More Than 30% Of Cable Market [Comcastic]

Comcast Wins Right To Own More Than 30% Of Cable Market [Comcastic]: "

Comcast is the biggest cable provider in the United States, and now a U.S. Court of Appeals decision states that it can grow even bigger. Yay! Yay?

The FCC and Comcast have been fighting this out in FCC panels and courtrooms off and on since ownership limits were put in place in the early '90s. The limits stated that no company could be large enough to serve 30% of all consumers with cable.

Now, the court agrees, satellite and fiber optic services are valid competitors to cable, and the threat of Comcast world domination is no longer as scary. Oh, yeah, and limiting how many customers they can have is infringing on Comcast's First Amendment rights:

Comcast told the court the limit violated its First Amendment right to speak to cable subscribers, and that the FCC didn't account for an increase in provider choices available to customers. Satellite TV companies such as DirecTV and Dish doubled their number of subscribers in the seven years leading up to the FCC's decision, Comcast said in a brief.

Today the court adopted Comcast's reasoning. It cited satellite companies and those that send programming over fiber- optic cables, such as Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc.

'Speak to cable customers'?

Comcast currently serves about 25% of households in the United States. The company has no current plans to buy up smaller providers and/or competitors.

Comcast Wins Appeal of FCC's Cable Market-Share Limit [Bloomberg News]

(Photo: cmorran123)

Target Charges $1.50 For Free Nalgene Bottle [Target Is Crazy]

Target Charges $1.50 For Free Nalgene Bottle [Target Is Crazy]: "

Regular Consumerist readers are familiar with our exposure of Target's absurdist pricing policies, and this is a particularly confusing example. Reader Rob in Minnesota noticed a nice promotion on a 3-pack of Brita water filters, which came with a free small Nalgene water bottle and a few packets of drink mix. Nice deal, but he couldn't help noticing that the identical 3-pack of filters without the 'free' water bottle cost $1.50 less. See a bigger picture and a twist to the story, inside.

Here are the filters that Rob found on the shelf. The filters without the water bottle cost $13.49, and the filters with the water bottle cost $14.99.

Meanwhile, after reading Rob's email, I made my own trip to Target. There on the shelf were the same two items Rob had photographed, only the prices were different. Yes, the Target in Colonie, NY is charging customers extra for the privilege of not receiving a free water bottle. The package of filters without the water bottle costs $15.39, and the filters with the water bottle cost $14.99.

I'm confused. I guess I just don't understand retail performance art.

Apple's Color Coded Employees Confuse Shopper [Signage]

Apple's Color Coded Employees Confuse Shopper [Signage]: "

An Apple store in Ohio doesn't want to clutter up its elegant store layout with signage, so you have to rely on a color coded system to find the appropriate employee to ring up your purchase. It's like the Homeland Security Advisory System, retooled to measure how inconvenienced you'll be.

Robert went to buy some headphones at his local Apple store. Once he arrived, he realized that the cash registers were missing and there was a notice up about renovations. That was apparently the last sign he saw during his time in the store.

Once I located my headphones, and swore under my breath at the price, I proceeded to head to the Genus Bar to get some help. After waiting in line, for 15 minutes, I was told by the Genus – wearing a navy blue – that I needed to find a sales person. He redirected me to a lady who could help me. The assisting lady – wearing an orange – then told me what each of the colored shirts meant.

[...]

Okay, so now I need to find a light blue person to help me out. I spotted one, lassoed him, and promptly asked him to ring me up. Little did I know, he was one of the Light Blue people who just sell things, he couldn't help me out. Oh, and he didn't know which Light Blue could ring me up – another 5 minutes wasted.

In all, he says he spent 30 minutes waiting in lines to talk to the wrong people, which could have been averted with some signs to explain where to go.

The Apple stores we've been in here in NYC seem to still use clearly marked checkout areas. In case your Apple store decides to hide the registers, however, here's the color system that the lady in orange explained to Robert:

• Orange is here to help you find who you need to find
• Royal Blue are the managers
• Navy Blue are the Genus'
• Light Blue are the sales people
• Light Blue are also (if you are lucky) the ones who ring you up

'Color Coded Employees – Why The Apple Store Lost A Customer' [Whalertly]
(Photo: Omar Omar and Steve Parker)

Couple Says Best Buy Is Holding Data Hostage For $1,500 [I've Seen Better Buys, Actually]

Couple Says Best Buy Is Holding Data Hostage For $1,500 [I've Seen Better Buys, Actually]: "

Diane and Jo say they brought their computer to Best Buy's Geek Squad to get the CD drive fixed, but the Squad had some other ideas. After the dust cleared, the couple had gained a new hard drive they didn't want and lost all their data.

Diana writes:

I am writing to you because my husband and I are really getting the run around from Best Buy.

We bought a PC about 5 years ago, which has become our children's computer. It was in good condition, except the CD player in it was broken. We bought the extended warranty for the computer so we brought the tower in to the (redacted), NH store to get the CD replaced over 3 weeks ago. We declined backing up the data (a $100 charge) since replacing the CD drive is not a big deal, and does not require any work to be done to the hard drive. My husband would have replaced the CD drive himself, but then it would invalidate the warranty.

We found out this week that there was actually more work done to the computer than just what we had requested. In fact, our entire hard drive was replaced, thus all of the data is now gone! Apparently there were other things wrong with the computer than what we thought and the Geek Squad thought it would be in everyone's best interest to replace the hard drive. In fact, the Geek Squad replaced so much on the computer that the value of the work that they did is well over the amount of money that the computer is even worth!!! If we thought there was even a chance that our data was in jeopardy, we definitely would have backed it up ourselves, or paid the $100 to have it backed up.

So, to make a long story short, the Best Buy Geek Squad is asking that we pay about $1,700 in for lab fees, an external hard drive and labor in order to MAYBE aquire about 80% of the data from my computer. When we called their corporate office, after a 2 hour phone call, my husband was told that the corporate office, 'does not negotiate fees'. Corporate Office called the GM from the Best Buy in (redacted), NH and they are giving us a $200 gift card that we can use to pay towards the fee.

We need your help! We do not have an extra $1,500 to get our data back! We are losing thousands of photos of our children, and a lot of personal and professional files. I now know that we should always back up our data, but honestly, we were just getting the CD drive changed! We didn't want anything else done to the computer! It was working just fine! We truly feel like we are being wronged here.

I just need to know what to do next? Do we pay the fee and then sue them? We could put it on our Best Buy credit card (interest free for 18 months) although I really don't want to.

Best Buy seems to be admitting some fault here by offering the $200 gift card, but it's but a bandaid for a gaping wound. You're in a tight spot, because while it was totally reasonable to assume that replacing a CD drive wouldn't include erasing your hard drive, you aren't really dealing with a reasonable entity. We haven't examined the terms of your warranty, but if you feel like you can make the case that it was violated in any way, you can try taking Best Buy to small claims court.

It's not expensive and you can do it yourself. Here's some information about the small claims process. It's different in every state, but NH's limit of $5,000 should cover your issue if you're able to make your case.

Internet, how have you handled similar situations?

(Photo: dooleymtv)

Energizer Screws You Out of Precious Milliamps. Milliamps! [Image Cache]

Energizer Screws You Out of Precious Milliamps. Milliamps! [Image Cache]: "

Looks like the $12 Energizer E2 rechargeable D battery is actually a AA battery (retail price: $3) in a larger shell. Try to keep your anger at an appropriate level: A short, derisive grunt should be just right. [Natural News]

Don't Bother Visiting The Grand Canyon Skywalk [Ripoffs]

Don't Bother Visiting The Grand Canyon Skywalk [Ripoffs]: "

Unless you want to spend a minimum of $75 per person, plus another $29 per 'official' photo (no cameras are allowed), and risk missing out entirely with no refund if the attraction is closed due to weather (which happens suddenly and frequently), you should avoid the Grand Canyon Skywalk. According to Travel On The Dollar, which just got back from visiting the Skywalk in person, you can't even see through the glass floor because there's a carpet covering it.

'Grand Canyon Skywalk is a sham!' [Travel On The Dollar] (Thanks to Parind!)
(Photo: slideshow bob)

Why You Should Homebrew: Great Taste, Less Spending [Prof. Dealzmodo]

Why You Should Homebrew: Great Taste, Less Spending [Prof. Dealzmodo]: "

Did you know that in most states, you can brew up to 100 gallons of beer or wine per adult in your home, 200 gallons max? So why are you still buying it from the supermarket?

To put that into perspective, 200 gallons will fill roughly 2000 12 oz bottles of beer or about 1000 standard 750mL bottles of wine. You can't sell it, that's illegal, but you can drink it yourself. While setting sail on a river of beer might seem enticing, many people are wary of homebrewing because it appears to be overly complex and scientific—but the truth is that basic beer and winemaking isn't much more difficult than making soup. And the best part is that doing it yourself can have you enjoying a better quality of beverage at a substantially reduced cost.

Ingredients
With both wine and beer, your finished product is only as good as your ingredients. As a beginner, I urge you to stick with all-in-one ingredient kits until you are ready to branch out into more complex recipes. These kits are cost effective and include all of the ingredients and instructions to make a particular style of beer or wine. For example, I recently purchased a Hefeweizen kit (with liquid yeast upgrade) for about $40. Throw in six gallon jugs of spring water and I'm going to end up with about 50 bottles of high quality beer for about 85 cents apiece. Even the cheapest beer costs around a buck a bottle when purchased at a store.

Wine kits work in much the same way and will usually run you between $70 and $200 on average. So, if you were looking for an everyday wine, a $70 kit with a bag of corks and six gallons of spring water (for the concentrated grape juice) would yield 30 bottles of wine at less than $3 a bottle. It's not going to be a world-class wine or anything, but its probably going to be on par with bottles you would pay twice as much for in a store. Keep in mind that ingredient kits are sometimes bundled with starter equipment kits, which could mean greater savings.

Sanitation and Water
Outside of the main ingredients, various sanitary compounds and bottled water will usually be your only other repeat purchases. Near obsessive compulsive sanitation practices are of the utmost importance, so you will definitely need compounds like One-Step no rinse sanitizer or Sodium Metabisulfite (wine only). These compounds only cost a few dollars for a decent supply and can be bought in bulk if necessary.

Homebrewers are fussy about their water and there are a lot of contradictory opinions floating around about what type of water you should be using. Generally, the rule of thumb is spring water for beer because it lacks off odors and flavors and it possesses nutrients that feed the yeasts needed for fermentation. Some claim that distilled water is best for wine because of its purity while others claim that it should be avoided because it has been stripped of nutrients. As far as I'm concerned, spring water is probably your best bet in both cases. Obviously, buying this in the store will bring your overall costs up—but tap water is going to be fine as long as it is thoroughly filtered.

Equipment
There is a startup cost associated with this hobby of course, but your investment will eventually pay for itself if you are brewing in any significant quantity. As I noted earlier, the ingredients and various sanitation compounds that you will be buying again and again are inexpensive when compared to a finished product you buy at the store. Most homebrewing stores or online merchants will offer a starter's set that will provide most if not all of the necessary gadgets and equipment for up to $100 (without ingredients). Plus, basic beer and winemaking can be done at home with (mostly) the same set of tools. You may even have some of this stuff lying around the house already.

Standard Beer Starter's Kit:
• 6.5 gallon plastic fermenting bucket
• Bottling bucket with spigot
• Airlock - Allows gases to escape during fermentation without air exposure; comes in several varieties
• Triple-scale hydrometer - Lets you take measurements on sugar percentage, alcohol potential and specific gravity
• Bottle capper - There are several varieties, but most kits will come with a standard handheld version
• Racking stem - Part of the siphon system that is used to 'rack' or transfer wine/beer into different containers
• Siphon tubing
• Spring-loaded bottle filler
• Cleaning brushes
• Rubber stoppers

Necessities That Might Not Come With Your Starter Kit:
• One big-ass brew kettle - 20 quart is fine, but I urge picking up a 30 quart that allows you to brew up more wort (unfermented beer) without worrying about boil over. Stainless steel is recommended. I was able to purchase the kettle above for $75 at my local brewmaster store, but you might be able to find something even cheaper at Walmart or on Craigslist.
• Floating thermometer - These are only a few bucks at Walmart.
• Long Handled Spoon - You probably already own something that would work.
• Around fifty 12 oz brown glass beer bottles, forty 16 oz bottles or thirty 22 oz bottles for a standard 5 gallon batch - Start saving your empties now, because these are a ripoff to buy separately.
• A long, shallow plastic bin - These are great for sterilizing your instruments with a minimum of water and solution. You may also want to consider a large, deep bucket if your sink isn't big enough to properly fit your kettle and icewater when it comes time to chill the wort. If you don't already have these on hand, both should only set you back $5-$10 apiece.
• A funnel - Useful in both beer and winemaking, you probably have several lying around in your home right now. Larger sizes for racking and filtering beer can be found for $10 or less.

Standard Wine Starters Kit:
A wine starter's kit comes with just about everything that a beer version does. The differences are that the fermenting bucket may be a bit bigger, the bottling bucket will be replaced with a 6-gallon glass or plastic jug known as a carboy (though some beer starter kits do include a carboy) and the capper will be replaced with a corking instrument. There is no need for a kettle since wine is not boiled, but the other extras will definitely be useful. Again, remember to save your empty bottles—about 30 for a standard 6 gallon batch. You may also need to buy a set of 30 corks, which usually run less than $10.

Gadgets You Might Want To Consider:
Although not necessary, you will probably find yourself looking for these time-saving gadgets somewhere down the line, mostly regardless of whether you're making wine or beer.
• Drill-mounted stirring rod - Takes the armwork out of stirring liquid in the fermenter or carboy and its excellent at removing or 'de-gasing' CO2 from wine. Also good for aerating wort to promote yeast action. These can usually be had for around $20.
• Auto-siphon - Racking wine or beer requires you to create a vacuum that will transfer the fluid through the siphon assembly to another container. An auto-siphon handles this with a simple pump action. It's also great at preventing sediment from going along for the ride. These run $10 to $15.
• Wine or beer thief - Used for cleanly extracting samples of your brew for hydrometer testing—some even double as a hydrometer tube. You can get proper instruments at a homebrew store for under $10, but a turkey baster will work just fine in most situations.)
• Floor corker - If you are making wine, you may not be satisfied with hand corkers. They are super easy to use and insure a proper fit every time, which reduces the chance of oxidation. These usually run from $50 to $120, but can be rented for a day at most brewmaster stores.
• Bottle sterilizers/rinsers - Makes the job of sterilizing bottles easier and it uses less water. Basic versions can be found for $20 or less.
• Carboy handles - Glass carboys are slippery and fragile. If only I had one before I broke a six gallon carboy full of wine all over my kitchen floor. It was epically bad. Less than $10 will save you from this horror. Plastic carboys are also available.

As you mature as a homebrewer, you will find even more ways to cut costs down—experienced brewers can make bottles of beer for 50 cents or less). However, in the beginning it pays to stick with kits for ingredients and equipment. It also pays to look for quality bundles—there are an endless array out there that range from starter sets to super deluxe packages. Just make sure to shop around at local stores and online before you buy. For example, a starters kit from Northern Brewer includes an auto siphon and 144 bottle caps for the same price as one from Brewer's Outpost without the pump action siphon and only 50 caps.

Because of all the factors involved, determining how long it will take to recoup your equipment investment is hard to say. Even time is a factor: Many kit beers are drinkable in a month's time while basic kit wines usually take at least 3 to 6 months—longer if you want improved quality. If you are comparing the cost of your craft beer and wine to the cheapest of swills, the craft brews will lose every time. It's about quality—and quality beer in the store is going to probably run $9 or $10 for a six pack. If you are producing beer of a similar quality at home for less than a dollar a bottle, the math works out well. Plus wine and beer use basically the same set of tools, so I get the most out of my equipment by producing both throughout the year.

Many of you readers are homebrewers and winemakers too. How about sharing your own tips for saving money while expanding your beverage horizons?

Taste Test is our weeklong tribute to the leaps that occur when technology meets cuisine, spanning everything from the historic breakthroughs that made food tastier and safer to the Earl-Grey-friendly replicators we impatiently await in the future.

Top Image via Spewing Obscenities

Comcast Won't Let Me Watch Cartoons! [Cable Tv]

Comcast Won't Let Me Watch Cartoons! [Cable Tv]: "

According to reader Chris, Comcast in South Florida has been cutting into TV programming with commercials, preventing viewers from watching various kinds of shows. Reader Chris H. writes:

Yesterday my kid brother told me that a commercial had started in the middle of a cartoon (not a normal commercial break) and when the commercial finished, the cartoon ending credits were playing. I figured it was just a glitch in their system, then I witnessed it for myself. Right after a standard commercial break, the show I was watching resumed and not even 2 minutes into it, a commercial for a local pizzeria had started playing, followed by local car dealership commercials, and by the time they were done i had missed a good chunk of the show.

Chris said that it happens with network TV commercials as well.

If you're a Comcast customer and have this problem, we'd encourage you to call Comcast directly and complain. You can even reach them on Twitter (@comcastcares). You may also want to contact the advertisers, who probably aren't aware of what's happening and should be concerned about angering the people they are paying to reach.

Anyone else in South Florida have this problem?

(Photo: someToast)

What's Inside a Slim Jim? Dont read If you like "Slim Jim's"

What's Inside a Slim Jim?: "

Beef

It's real meat, all right. But it ain't Kobe. The US Department of Agriculture categorizes beef into eight grades of quality. The bottom three—utility, cutter, and canner—are typically used in processed foods and come from older steers with partially ossified vertebrae, tougher tissue, and generally less reason to live. ConAgra wasn't exactly forthcoming on what's inside Slim Jim.

Mechanically separated chicken

Did you imagine a conveyor belt carrying live chickens into a giant machine, set to the classic cartoon theme 'Powerhouse'? You're right! Well, maybe not about the music. Poultry scraps are pressed mechanically through a sieve that extrudes the meat as a bright pink paste and leaves the bones behind (most of the time).

Corn and wheat proteins

Slim Jim is made by ConAgra, and if there are two things ConAgra has a lot of, it's corn and wheat.

Lactic acid starter culture

Although ConAgra refers to Slim Jim as a meat stick (yum), it has a lot in common with old-fashioned fermented sausages like salami and pepperoni. They all use bacteria and sugar to produce lactic acid, which lowers the pH of the sausage to around 5.0, firming up the meat and hopefully killing all harmful bacteria.

Dextrose

Serves as food for the lactic acid starter culture. Slim Jim: It's alive!

Salt

Salt binds the water molecules in meat, leaving little H2O available for microbial activity—and thereby preventing spoilage. One Slim Jim gives you more than one-sixth of the sodium your body needs in a day.

Sodium nitrite

Cosmetically, this is added to sausage because it combines with myoglobin in animal muscle to keep it from turning gray. Antibiotically, it inhibits botulism. Toxicologically, 6 grams of the stuff—roughly the equivalent of 1,400 Slim Jims—can kill you. So go easy there, champ.

Hydrolyzed soy

Hydrolysis, in this instance, breaks larger soy protein molecules into their constituent amino acids, such as glutamic acid. Typically, the process also results in glutamic acid salt—also known as monosodium glutamate, a familiar flavor enhancer.

"

Fresh Label Concept Keeps Markets Honest About Expiration Dates [Taste Test]

Fresh Label Concept Keeps Markets Honest About Expiration Dates [Taste Test]: "

There've been a few scandals in Japan involving food providers tampering with expiration dates, but if every perishable product had these Fresh Labels, tampering wouldn't be an issue: These stickers can never lie.

The Fresh Label design works by detecting ammonia emanating from the product within and fading out accordingly. Once the ammonia level reaches a level deemed unsafe, the label will no longer be readable. It's a clever system that can't easily be manipulated, and provided it's reasonably cost-efficient, we could see it being adopted in large scale. Until then, follow the same rule as when choosing a possibly-dirty shirt from the laundry pile: If it smells funky, put it back. [Swiss Miss via Serious Eats

Stainless Steel Water Bottles Marketed To BPA Free Contained BPA All Along.

Stainless Steel Water Bottles Marketed To BPA Free Contained BPA All Along [Bisphenol-A]: "

I may as well attach my Nalgene bottles to myself with steel cables, but it seems like everyone is switching over to stainless steel bottles because of the public's new-found fear of plastic additive bisphenol-A (BPA.) One of the major manufacturers of those bottles, Sigg, recently admitted that the plastic liners of their metal bottles kind of, um, contained BPA. Cue uproar.

Children's safety products blog Z Recommends notes that this puts the company in a bad position going forward.

..The epoxy lining used for years in SIGG bottles - which they secretly swapped out for a new liner last summer - contained the hormone-disrupting chemical bisphenol-A. There's more to the story than that, but the bottom line is that this company is in a very vulnerable position, and there are a couple of factors that will make it hard for them to claim the high road on this issue.

Bottles manufactured after August 2008 contain no BPA whatsoever. Sigg argues that consumers shouldn't worry, because their tests show that the liner doesn't leach BPA into the bottle's contents—it simply contains the substance. So why did it take the company a year to admit the change?

The SIGG BPA Confession: You aren't going to like it any more than we do [Z Recommends]
About Our Liners & Reusable Bottles [SIGG USA Press Release] (Thanks, Shaula!)

RELATED:
No More BPA Baby Bottles In US?
Industry Brainstorms How To Convince Consumers BPA Isn't The Devil
Study Finds Bisphenol-A Can Enter Your Body Through Non-Food Sources
Confirmed: BPA Will Harm Your Monkey

(Photo: TreeHugger)

"

Video: Robot hand shows off amazing dexterity, speed

Video: Robot hand shows off amazing dexterity, speed: "






So you want something to look forward to in your fast approaching old age, eh? If robots playing baseball doesn't quite cut it, how's about a robohand that redefines what we understand by the word 'dexterity'? The Ishikawa Komuro Laboratory is at it again, this time demonstrating robotic appendages with a reaction time of a single millisecond. Using harmonic drive gears and a (really) high-speed actuator, the three-fingered hands can tie your shoelaces, tweezer your brow, and even perform some kung fu pen spinning for the ladies. Video after the break -- skip ahead if you must, but don't miss out on the slow-mo action at 2:40 in the demo, it's pure kinetic poetry.



[Via Hizook; Thanks, Thomas B]

Continue reading Video: Robot hand shows off amazing dexterity, speed

Filed under: Robots

Video: Robot hand shows off amazing dexterity, speed originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Justin Timberlake's New Fragrance: Eau de iPod WTF!!

Justin Timberlake's New Fragrance: Eau de iPod [Wtf]: "

Justin Timberlake's 'Play' cologne (rhymes with 'alone,' remember) for Givenchy tries to emulate handheld gadgets with Play/Rewind/Forward touch buttons, but it's all a trick. You can never rewind to that less-smelly, less-desperate time before you bought this stuff.

Influenced, in the most irritating way, by 'mobile multimedia gadgets, those quintessential objects of modernity and style that have become both everyday objects and icons of our era,' this cologne features a touch-based play button that presumably sprays whatever club-scented girl-repellent lies within the bottle. It's a pretty silly idea and actually features poor design: No 3.5mm headphone jack? Did JT learn nothing from the T-Mobile G1? But if you want to smell like an international pop star, or at least like an international pop star's publicist, it's available in Europe right now. [Givenchy via Boing Boing Gadgets]

Southwest Customer Exposes Self, Punches Another Passenger, Then Strips Naked [Bad Consumer]

Southwest Customer Exposes Self, Punches Another Passenger, Then Strips Naked [Bad Consumer]: "

Here's an issue you probably didn't expect to run into on your flight from Oakland to Las Vegas. According to the SF Chronicle, a man exposed himself, then punched a passenger who screamed. After that, he decided to strip naked and resist while flight attendants and other passengers subdued him. The flight was turned around and both the man and the woman he punched were taken to the hospital. They apparently don't know each other, and the man is wanted on drug charges.

A passenger gave the paper a picture she took on her cellphone camera as the man was being arrested by quite a few uniformed individuals. We counted 6, but that might be another one behind him. We're not sure.

The paper says 10 sheriff's deputies boarded the plane.

Passenger takes it all off, plane turns around [SF Chronicle]
(Photo:Danielle Lichliter / Special to The Chronicle)

AT&T Is Unable to Prevent Hackers From Stealing Customer Data [Hackers]

AT&T Is Unable to Prevent Hackers From Stealing Customer Data [Hackers]: "

AT&T is dropping famed hacker-turned-security-expert Kevin Mitnick as a customer because it can't seem to stop script kiddies from stealing his data. It's clearly the easier solution, but is it the right one?

'They can't seem to secure my account,' Mitnick told The Register. 'And then instead of doing something about it, they try to kill the messenger and want to boot me off their network when all I want them to do is to secure my account so no one gets access to my phone records.'

Mitnick said the cellular account has been repeatedly breached over the years, despite a wide range of countermeasures he's followed to prevent the attacks. In recent years, he's committed the password to memory and has deliberately not shared it with anyone or kept it stored on a computer. ...

'There are so many ways into these networks,' he said. 'They have to take some responsibility, not just silence the people that are filing complaints.'

An AT&T spokeswoman didn't immediately have a comment. She said she would have to check whether customer passwords are encrypted when stored on AT&T servers.

Oh, how comforting! Nice to know security is AT&T's top priority. [The Register via Boing Boing Gadgets]

Scammers Get Over Ambitious With Fake FBI Letter [Creative Writing With Crooks]

Scammers Get Over Ambitious With Fake FBI Letter [Creative Writing With Crooks]: "

We guess if you're gonna create a failure pile, make it a big one. This email that pretends to be from FBI director Robert S. Mueller has the typical scammy touches: strange grammatical issues, unexpected shifts between formal and casual voices, a complete lack of understanding of how US government offices actually work, and an 'official' gmail address. We were ready to send our information to them until we got to the end, where the letter threatens you with arrest if you don't play along. Now they're just getting silly.

For your late night amusement, here is the full text of the email that was sent to Taylor earlier this evening (never mind the strange date that indicates this email won't exist until either this September or December):

[Washington Field Office Banner with FBI Seal linking to FBI Home]
Anti-Terrorist and Monitary Crimes Division.
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION.
J. EDGAR. HOOVER BUILDING WASHINGTON D.C
12/09/2009

ATTENTION: beneficiaries,

We received an email, Just to let you know that the said fund has been confirmed in your name, the funds are right now in our custody in your name waiting to be release to you, we have verified and investigated that you are the right beneficiary to claim the funds, all we need from you is verification and proof due to the amount involved.

As a biggest security company here in Washington D.C we are to serve and to protect our citizen. The only advice we can give to you as at this time is to try your best to comply with the required document so that your funds will be release to you in your favor, this funds are rightfully yours. You can obtain the document from our branch Office in New Jersey.

We have done our verification on your FBI Identification Record with our Social Security Number, the only document remaining now is the Diplomatic Immunity Seal Of Transfer(DIST) Which should be issued to you from our branch Office in New Jersey, you are to contact the Federal Bureau Of Investigation (FBI) New Jersey to obtain the above required document, find bellow their contact email address: ( fbi.vision2020@gmail.com) Contact this people immediately to obtain the document.

Furthermore, be advice that according to the United State Law and also the FBI rules and regulations, you are to obtain the document from the FBI in New Jersey where the fund was transferred to. Also Note that you are to take care of the Document to be issued to you right away, because due to how important and secured the document is, it is not issued just like that. You are to take care of the document by sending to the FBI New Jersey right away,That is the only way the FBI New Jersey will issue you the document, because they are going to issue you the Authentic/Original copy of the document.

You are here by advice to Contact them through the email address above to acquire from them on how you are going to send the fee to them. Note that you are to do this immediately if you really want your fund to be credited to your account and also if you don't want any action to be before you. We have already informed the New Jersey FBI about the present situation, so go ahead and contact them immediately. Your fund is now on our custody and will only be release to you with the confirmation of the required document. After that the fund will be release to you immediately without any delay.

NOTE: We have asked for the above documents to make available the most complete and up-to date records possible for no criminal justice purposes.

WARNING: Do not fail to produce the above requirement in the next 72 hours, legal action will be taken immediately by arresting and detaining you, justificated and if found guilty, you will be jailed. As terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering is a serious problem in our community today. The F.B.I will not stop at any length in tracking down and persecuting any criminal who indulge in this criminal act.

Faithfully Yours,
FBI Director
Robert S. Mueller, III

(Photo: faeryboots)

Can't Get A Girlfriend? How About A Pillow? [Body Pillows]

Can't Get A Girlfriend? How About A Pillow? [Body Pillows]: "

Last month, the New York Times Magazine ran a fascinating story by Lisa Katayama about the popularity of body-pillow girlfriends in Japan. Apparently, an unknown fraction of men - a subculture of a subculture - adopt '2-D' lovers as a substitute for the real thing. They take them out to restaurants, treat them tenderly, and bring them home to bed at night.

Unlike actual humans, body pillows can be purchased on internet auction sites and via discount retailers. They are emotionally uncomplicated, easy to replace and replicate, and make for cheap dates.

[T]he rise of 2-D love can be attributed in part to the difficulty many young Japanese have in navigating modern romantic life. According to a government survey, more than a quarter of unmarried men and women between the ages of 30 and 34 are virgins; 50 percent of men and women in Japan said they were not 'going out with anybody.'

The funny thing is, it sounds quite reasonable, in a sad sort of way:

The guru of the 2-D love movement, Toru Honda... has written half a dozen books advocating the 2-D lifestyle. A few years ago, Honda, a college dropout who worked a succession of jobs at video-game companies, began to use the Internet to urge otaku to stand with pride against good-looking men and women. His site generated enough buzz to earn him a publishing contract, and in 2005 he released a book condemning what he calls 'romantic capitalism.' Honda argues that romance was marketed so excessively through B-movies, soap operas and novels during Japan's economic bubble of the '80s that it has become a commodity and its true value has been lost; romance is so tainted with social constructs that it can be bought by only good looks and money. According to Honda, somewhere along the way, decent men like himself lost interest in the notion entirely and turned to 2-D.... Honda insists that he's advocating not prurience but a whole new kind of romance. If, as some researchers suggest, romantic love can be broken down into electrical impulses in the brain, then why not train the mind to simulate those signals while looking at an inanimate character?

The entire article is very much worth reading. Then go rent Lars and the Real Girl and make it a twofer.

Love In 2-D [The New York Times Magazine]

(Photo: kaex0r)

Johnnie Cochran Was Right!

Johnnie Cochran Was Right!: "

Oh, science, will you ever stop amazing and terrifying me?

From the NY Times:

Scientists in Israel have demonstrated that it is possible to fabricate DNA evidence, undermining the credibility of what has been considered the gold standard of proof in criminal cases.

The scientists fabricated blood and saliva samples containing DNA from a person other than the donor of the blood and saliva. They also showed that if they had access to a DNA profile in a database, they could construct a sample of DNA to match that profile without obtaining any tissue from that person.

“You can just engineer a crime scene,” said Dan Frumkin, lead author of the paper, which has been published online by the journal Forensic Science International: Genetics. “Any biology undergraduate could perform this.”

According to King County Prosecutor's office spokesman Ian Goodhew, staff in the prosecutor's office are already forwarding around this story as, Goodhew says, the viability of DNA evidence 'could effect a fair number of serious cases.' However, Goodhew says, ultimately it's up to prosecutors to 'argue to a jury why they should accept [DNA] evidence they as reliable.'

Sleepy's Exec Says Bedbugs Come From People [Pointing Fingers]

Sleepy's Exec Says Bedbugs Come From People [Pointing Fingers]: "

This weekend we noted that the Hartford Courant, now fully overtaken by ethics-hampered ad sales folk, fired George Gombossy for writing a column critical of mattress company (and Courant advertiser) Sleepy's. In case you didn't click through to read the article that got him fired, we wanted to highlight this bit of wisdom from Sleepy's COO:

Adam S. Blank, Sleepy's general counsel and chief operating officer, said last month Sleepy's was unaware of Blumenthal's investigation and said bedbugs do not originate in beds, but come from people.

We didn't know any executives today still believed in spontaneous generation, but apparently Blank does. Worms come from mud, maggots come from meat, and bedbugs come from people.

Less funny is Blank's threat to anyone who suspects Sleepy's has sold them a used or infested mattress and reports it:

'Sleepy's does not now, has never, and will never, sell a used mattress. Any claim to the contrary we find to be defamatory,' wrote Blank.

The investigation Blank is referring to involves a man and his wife who received a box spring in which the outer plastic wrapping had been opened before delivery. Shortly after delivery, they began noticing tell-tale bug bites each morning.

They hired the Stern Environmental Group of Secaucus, N.J. to investigate and to exterminate the bugs. The company – which specializes in ridding homes of bedbugs – dismantled the box spring and determined that it was the cause of the infestation, Maier said.

Stern Environmental Group's report, made available to me, states that the 'box spring … was the culprit. There were bedbugs inside and the box spring did not look like it was new.'

Thankfully, now we know that all of these people are lying, because bedbugs come from people.

'Sleepy's: The bedbug column The Courant refused to publish about its prime advertiser' [CTWatchdog]
(Images: Barbarellaa, beneneuman)

Burger King Drive-Thru Workers Try To Cheat The Timer System [Not So Fast Food]

Burger King Drive-Thru Workers Try To Cheat The Timer System [Not So Fast Food]: "

If an employee of Burger King or other fast-food drive-throughs ever asks you to back up before pulling forward, they're most likely attempting to re-set the timer sensors so it appears you're being served faster.

The revelation comes from Amy Oztan, who writes the Selfish Mom blog.

Oztan pounded the drive-thru pavement and did some investigating:

I went back this morning, in the interest of investigation – not because I was dying for a Croissan'wich. Once again, when I got to the window, I was asked to pull forward and back up. I said 'Why? Are you trying to stop the timer?' She said yes. I said something to the effect of 'But that's cheating. How will the process get any faster if they think you're already really fast?' I know enough about fast food restaurants to know that they really study this stuff. There are systems that figure out when you should drop fries based on how many cars are in the Drive-Through lines. There are McDonald's that have outsourced their Drive-Through order-taking jobs to call centers. Corporate sure as hell wants to know for how long people are sitting in the Drive-Through.

The BK worker admitted that yes, it was cheating, but that the restaurant is given time goals each week and they're not meeting them. So I said something like, 'But how will the times get faster if you don't acknowledge that there's a problem?' She told me I didn't have to pull forward if I didn't want to. I'm not really sure it was necessary for her to tell me that. Was the alternative for her to hold my food hostage until I pulled forward?

To avoid becoming a tool of the nefarious system, just say 'no' when asked to back up before moving forward. Or at least ask for some extra fries for indulging the timer-tricking system.

Hey Burger King, you're getting timed for a reason! [Selfish Mom]
(Photo: Morton Fox)

TiVo Now Offers Exciting New DVR Immortality Transfer Fee [TiVo]

TiVo Now Offers Exciting New DVR Immortality Transfer Fee [TiVo]: "

TiVo customers have a few different choices when paying for their service plans. The one that's gamble of sorts is the 'lifetime' plan, which includes service for the entire life of your device and currently costs $399. Lifetime service is technically transferable when a TiVo is replaced under warranty, but Nate discovered a new feature: a new $150 fee to transfer service from the original DVR to the replacement.

Just got off the phone with the Tivo customer support, where I was informed of an unfortunate new charge your readers might be interested in. According to the customer service rep, starting in April 2009 there is now a $150 fee to transfer 'lifetime' service from one unit to another during a repair, regardless of whether the unit is under warranty or not, which is certainly a change in terms from when the lifetime service was sold. Unfortunately, the transfer fee makes any repairs not cost effective, since you could rent a DVR from your cable provider for many, many years, during which your Tivo would probably die again, necessitating another $150 transfer fee.

I found myself in this boat this morning, when my Tivo series3 died. Cost to fix and transfer lifetime service: $349. No thanks. Neither the Tivo customer service department nor the account cancellation department, who were both very nice, had the ability to rescind the lifetime transfer fee, which would cost tivo nothing. In response, I have cancelled the one tivo I still had on a month to month plan.

In order to make financial sense, the DVR needs to last four three and a half years after the customer purchases a lifetime service plan, assuming that the user purchases a cheaper 3-year plan instead of lifetime service. The $150 transfer fee means that a lifetime plan is now an even poorer investment.

(Photo: reflection717

This sucks!!!

Whole Foods CEO Angers Customers With Health Care Views [Whole Paycheck]

Whole Foods CEO Angers Customers With Health Care Views [Whole Paycheck]: "Whole Foods CEO Angers Customers With Health Care Views [Whole Paycheck]: '

Memo to Whole Foods CEO John Mackey: when much of your customer base consists of reusable-bag-using, wheatgrass-munching 'progressive' types, it's probably not such a good idea to publish an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal criticizing current health care reform proposals. At least if you don't want said customers organizing boycotts of your stores.

It all started with Mackey's Tuesday WSJ op-ed, which suggested, among other things, that the health insurance options provided to Whole Foods employees should be a more popular option to control health care costs, tort reform should be enacted to control health care costs, and that the government shouldn't dictate to insurance companies what diseases and treatments they should cover. Oh, yeah, and that our country wouldn't be in this mess in the first place if more people shopped at Whole Foods:

Recent scientific and medical evidence shows that a diet consisting of foods that are plant-based, nutrient dense and low-fat will help prevent and often reverse most degenerative diseases that kill us and are expensive to treat. We should be able to live largely disease-free lives until we are well into our 90s and even past 100 years of age.

Customers were a little, um, riled. Blogs, including political heavy hitters like Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos and Huffington Post jumped right on the story, and calls for a boycott came soon after. The Boycott Whole Foods Group on Facebook says in its description:

Whole Foods is NOT a company that cares for communities and they have built their brand with the dollars of deceived progressives. No more. My $ will no longer go to support Whole Foods' anti-union, anti-health insurance reform, right-wing activities.

Well, at least this time Mackey is signing his name to his views instead of trolling anonymously on the Internet. A conspiracy-minded reader pointed out to us that he sold almost $1.4 million worth of Whole Foods stock a week before the piece ran. Coincidence, we're sure.

The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare [WSJ]
Boycott Whole Foods [Facebook]

(Photo: AlishaV)

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Marriott Says Woman Is Responsible For Her Rape [Blame The Victim]

Marriott Says Woman Is Responsible For Her Rape [Blame The Victim]: "

If you want to live dangerously, why not try an unrelaxing visit to the Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa? It features a game room, a BBQ/picnic area, $10 a day Internet access, and the occasional mentally unhealthy transient wandering for days around the parking garage waiting to attack you! Best of all, if you are attacked Marriott will let you take all the credit for it, and then subpoena your friends and professional contacts, thereby permanently ruining any anonymity you hoped to maintain. Because at Stamford Marriott, if you're raped in our parking garage by a guy our security should have noticed and kicked out, don't come crying to us!

The woman, identified in court papers only as Jane Doe, claims in the suit that Fricker had been in the hotel and garage acting suspiciously days before the attack, as well as the afternoon of the attack, and the hotel failed to notice him, apprehend him or make him leave. During the attack, security personnel did not see or stop him, the suit claims.

'Stamford Marriott claims woman was negligent in her own rape' [Connecticut Post Online]

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Consumers Finally Growing Some Damned Sense, Not Buying Bottled Water As Much [Bottled Water]

Consumers Finally Growing Some Damned Sense, Not Buying Bottled Water As Much [Bottled Water]: "

We're not always pessimists on Consumerist. Why, sometimes we actually like silver linings, if only because it gives us a chance to complain about argyria. (Don't take colloidal silver, people!) Today's silver lining is that sales of bottled water 'have fallen for the first time in at least five years,' says the Los Angeles Times. We're apparently showing common sense and opting for tap water over branded and labeled water, proving that in a tough economy it's hard to compete with (nearly) free.

!

'It's an obvious way to cut back,' said Joan Holleran, director of research for market research firm Mintel. 'People might still be buying bottled water, but you can bet that they're refilling those bottles.'

The news delighted environmentalists, who have long berated the industry for wasting natural resources and stuffing landfills with plastic bottles. "I thought we'd never be able to impact sales of bottled water, and all of a sudden it's really gained momentum," said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of advocacy group Food & Water Watch. "I think we're making real progress."

We think it's more likely that a lot of consumers who buy bottled water have started to figure out that:

• It's hugely expensive—a back of the envelope estimate puts it at 5 cents an ouce versus less than 1 cent per gallon from a municipal water supply;
• It might be loaded with bad things you don't want to ingest, like disinfection byproducts, fertilizer residue, and pain medication;
• It has less safety oversight than plain old tap water, which is why bottlers don't have to tell you where the water came from or what's actually in it.

'Bottled water sales see a drought' [Los Angeles Times via Olevia]
(Photo: Nexeus Fatale)

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