Hyundai Replaces Car Destroyed In BMW Parking Lot Attack [Above And Beyond]

Hyundai Replaces Car Destroyed In BMW Parking Lot Attack [Above And Beyond]: "

About a week ago, a woman tried to park her BMW X5 in a gym parking lot in Thornhill, Ontario. For some mysterious reason, she instead drove over two other cars and sat on top of them for a few seconds, like a big game cat savoring her kill. Then she drove off.

One of the demolished cars was a 2004 Hyundai Elantra that the owner had just finished paying off, and on Friday Hyundai gave him a new car.

Luckily the incident was caught on a security camera, so if you haven't seen it yet, here ya go:

The 62-year-old driver returned to the scene of the crime—she was a member of the gym—last week, where she was identified by an employee. The Globe and Mail writes, "She was identified when an Extreme Fitness staff member, whose own car had been crushed in the Oct. 22 incident, spotted a similar-looking SUV in the parking lot again Wednesday morning [October 28] and called police."

The Elantra owner, Todd Jamison, was surprised on Friday by a Hyundai representative in the parking lot:

...when colleagues called him into the office on a pretense, he found a shiny 2010 Hyundai Elantra in the lot along with a smiling Hyundai representative. ''We wanted to help the guy,' a Hyundai spokesman told TheStar.com. 'This was our random act of kindness.'

Either that, or it's the best viral advertising video for both BMW vehicles, and Hyundai customer service, that I've ever seen.

'VIDEO: Hyundai steps up to remedy world's worst parking job' [Autoblog] (Thanks to GearheadGeek!)
'Woman charged after parking escapade becomes viral sensation' [The Globe and Mail]
''Worst parking job' victim given car' [TheStar.com]

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Goldman Secretly Bet On Housing Crash [Goldman Sachs]

Goldman Secretly Bet On Housing Crash [Goldman Sachs]: "

A 5-month investigation by McClatchy Newspapers has found that Goldman secretly bet on the housing crash, went out and pimped the dickens out of assets it knew were junk, and may have broken securities laws in doing so. McClatchy found that Goldman...

# Bought and converted into high-yield bonds tens of thousands of mortgages from subprime lenders that became the subjects of FBI investigations into whether they'd misled borrowers or exaggerated applicants' incomes to justify making hefty loans.

# Used offshore tax havens to shuffle its mortgage-backed securities to institutions worldwide, including European and Asian banks, often in secret deals run through the Cayman Islands, a British territory in the Caribbean that companies use to bypass U.S. disclosure requirements.

# Has dispatched lawyers across the country to repossess homes from bankrupt or financially struggling individuals, many of whom lacked sufficient credit or income but got subprime mortgages anyway because Wall Street made it easy for them to qualify.

# Was buoyed last fall by key federal bailout decisions, at least two of which involved then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, a former Goldman chief executive whose staff at Treasury included several other Goldman alumni.

Whether this really constitutes fraud depends on who knew what, and when did they know it.

How Goldman secretly bet on the U.S. housing crash [McClatchy] (Photo: C. Barr)

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La Cabina "The Telephone Box"

I remember watching this 30 minute short when i was a little kid back in Cuba. This is one of those shorts that stay with you for a long time. Even if you dont understand Spanish, this is a great little short. Thanks to Jesus Diaz from Gizmodo for reminding me about this short movie.

This Is the Most Terrifying, Disturbing Movie You Will See Today [Retromodo]: "

My favorite actor died today, which makes me truly sad. He's Spanish, so you probably don't know him, even while he got an Emmy in 1972 for this short: The Telephone Box, a frightening tale with a shocking ending.

His name is José Luis López Vázquez. And even while he looks like the most common of the Spaniards, his talent and method knew no boundaries. I have it up there with Stewart, Newman, Brando, Lemmon, Guinness, Olivier, and the rest of greatest ever. Maybe it is because I'm too much of a movie freak, maybe it's because he's an important part of my life, but when I learnt that he died today, I instantly got teary. Still are writing these lines.

This short film, directed by Antonio Mercero, is one of this best jobs. A tale of a man who gets trapped in a telephone booth—nothing to do with the charming, decaying pay phones on 3rd Avenue—and can't go out, until something happens.

If you have 30 minutes free today, watch it. And make whatever you want out of it. A sharp criticism against modernism, the cold nature of society, the isolation of humans, the cruelty of society... or just an horror film that will surprise you at the end.

You won't regret it.

QVC Tricks Thousands Into Overpaying For Wii and Accessories [Bad Deals]

QVC Tricks Thousands Into Overpaying For Wii and Accessories [Bad Deals]: "

Reader Joe/Mordecai spotted an awful QVC deal on a Wii, a crappy game and some accessories.

He writes:

While channel surfing this evening I happened to skim by the QVC channel (around 6:50pm CST Sunday night) and noticed they were selling Wiis for the holiday season. The only thing that struck me as weird was the insane price they were selling this item.

Looking at the prices (on tv):

$349.00 + $13.97 S&H = $362.97

for the following items:

Nintendo Wii console retail (with Wii Sports)
Go Play Circus Star Games
Handgun Accessory
Golf Accessory
Tennis Accessory
Baseball Accessory
Steering Wheel

but seeing what these items are retail:

Nintendo Wii console: $199.00 MSRP
Go Play Circus Star Games: $14.99 (new at GameStop)
Wii sports pack (has all accessoies sans handgun accessory): $19.99 (new at GameStop)
Handgun Accessory: $5.99 (new at Sears)

All of these is $239.97 plus tax.

I wonder where they are getting this $140+ amount from. :|

Is QVC trying to cash in for the Christmas rush? All through out the show they were saying that the wii was going to be 'rare'. They were also saying that the Wii had true HD output which is totally untrue (unless 480p is considered HD). It just seemed unreal to me. Oh, and they sold about 2800+ of these.

To confirm what Joe/Mordecai suspects, the Wii is not in HD and Nintendo has repeatedly said the slumping-sales system will not be hard to come by this holiday season.

In the time since he sent the email, QVC got crrrrrazy and slashed the price to a low, low $318.20 before tax, shipping and handling. Only an $80 markup?! They're practically giving it away!

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Capital One: Waive Your Rights, Get $10 Off Your Next Overlimit Fee! [Overlimit Fees]

Capital One: Waive Your Rights, Get $10 Off Your Next Overlimit Fee! [Overlimit Fees]: "

Everett says Capital One called him up and made him an offer. If he opted out of at least one of the consumer credit protections enacted by the CARD act, Capital One would drop the overlimit fees from $39 to $29! Woo!

Everett writes:

The person on the other end of the phone informed me, 'due to the changes made by [the Card Act], Capital One would have to deny any charges that goes over your credit limit starting in February of 2010. However if you want to maintain the ability to go over your credit limit you could opt to have your account stay the same as it is now. Your fee for going over your credit limit would be dropped to $29 (from $39) if you chose to do this.' I find it interesting that I can waive federal law applying to my credit card account for a potential savings of ten dollars. Comparing that to everything I'd lose out on, I decided to 'opt in' for the law to apply to me.

I was also told I could 'change my mind at any point, and give Capital One a call to let them know.'

Actually, this is brilliant. Some people don't need the government telling them they can't live outside their means and they should be able to claim a discount for being a more profitable credit card customer.

I am curious whether 'have your account stay the same as it is now' means that you would opt out of ALL of the CARD act provisions, or whether it's just the overlimit fee part.

(Photo: helgasms!)

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