FAA Panel: You Should Be Able To Use Smartphone On Planes, As Long As You Don’t Use The ‘Phone’ Part

(mytoenailcameoff)

Travelers were hopeful last week when news came down that an FAA panel would soon be recommending that the use of smartphones be allowed during takeoffs and landings of commercial flights. Those recommendations have finally come through, but don’t get all excited and think that you’ll be using your phone to text or chat through the flight.

The panel recommends that you be able to listen to music, read e-books, and watch stored videos on your devices, even at altitudes below 10,000 feet. Some of a smartphone’s core functions — calling, texting, e-mailing, and web-browsing — will still be restricted. You’ll be able to go online once the plane has climbed above 10,000 feet but calling is still a no-no once that cabin door is shut.

It has to be noted that cellphone voice communication was not part of the FAA panel’s study, as that ban against their use in-flight is an FCC regulation intended to prevent interference with cell towers.

It’s now in the hands of FAA Administrator Michael Huerta to decide whether to heed the panel’s recommendations, and if so, how and when to implement them. The changes could kick in as soon as 2014, depending on how quickly airlines can demonstrate that their planes are not susceptible to electromagnetic interference from wireless devices.

“Anytime you have a rule that appears to be about safety but it is widely ignored, it undermines the importance of other rules about safety,” Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, who has been pushing the FAA to take its head out of the sand on this topic, said in a statement. “If people are being told to do things because it keeps the public safe, there needs to be solid scientific data that supports that, and clearly that was not the case with this prohibition.”

F.A.A. Panel Backs Easing of Device Rules [NY Times]

via Consumerist http://consumerist.com/2013/10/01/faa-panel-you-should-be-able-to-use-smartphone-on-planes-as-long-as-you-dont-use-the-phone-part/

American Shoemaker New Balance Really Wants Military To Only Buy American-Made Shoes

(formatc1)

New Balance is on a mission to convince the military that it has to buy shoes made in America. And hey, coincidentally enough, New Balance actually makes shoes in America! Funny how that works out, complete with the potential for a tidy $50 million contract. Or not so coincidental if you’re a shoe company with your eye on a sizable chunk of the pie.

The prize in this case is the mass of running feet under the purview of the American military, as service members do a whole lot of running, reports Politico. New Balance wants the Pentagon to change its current rules, which currently lets each service division choose how to buy running shoes.

For example, Army and Air Force give recruits a stipend to buy their own footwear, which means they could buy brands like Nike, which is made overseas. The Navy, on the other hand, only allows its recruits to buy one brand — New Balance, which assembles its shoes in the U.S.

Now, New Balance and the American shoe industry are pressuring the Pentagon to require all branches to institute an overarching shoe policy. The shoe company points to a 1941 statute called the Berry Amendment, which requires the Pentagon to buy its food, clothing and other items from U.S. producers.

“We have not been quiet about our desire to see the department follow its own rules,” said a company spokesman. “Soldiers don’t have a choice for most of the gear that they’re given, so I don’t know why it would be different for athletic footwear. The administration talks a lot about supporting domestic manufacturing — here’s an opportunity to do it.”

Part of a bill in the House involving defense authorization would force all the services to adopt a policy close to that of the Navy’s, and will likely be taken up by the Senate before the end of the year.

The bill couldn’t go into effect until the Pentagon certifies that there are two suppliers capable of making shoes compliant with the requirements of the Berry Amendment. New Balance uses some foreign-made materials, but the company says it and at least one other company could produce shoes that are start to finish made in the U.S., if the military asks for it.

“The ‘Field of Dreams’ analogy applies,” said the New Balance spokesman. “If you build it, they will come.”

Now I expect Kevin Costner to get involved or the whole analogy will be ruined.

Sneaker makers want Pentagon to buy American [Politico]

via Consumerist http://consumerist.com/2013/10/01/american-shoemaker-new-balance-really-wants-military-to-buy-american-made-shoes/

Verizon Wireless To Honor Unintentional Upgrades For Unlimited Data Customers

(Consumerist)

There are still some Verizon Wireless customers holding on to the unlimited data plans the company killed off in 2012. Over the weekend, VZW accidentally allowed some of these customers to upgrade to new phones without requiring that they switch to a new, shared data plan. In a move that makes the company look slightly less evil, it has decided to honor these upgrades without forcing the subscribers to change plans.

Droid Life spotted the oopsy over the weekend, as VZW customers noticed they suddenly had the option of keeping ye olde planne of data without limits, even when they upgraded to a new device. Some subscribers reported difficulty in getting through the ordering process, but others made it through the glitch gauntlet with new phones that still had grandfathered plans.

When Verizon ditched unlimited plans, it announced that anyone wishing to hold on to their old plans would have to pay full price for a new device. So when VZW realized that this error had occurred on its website, some were predicting that it would cancel the upgrades or give customers the option of keeping the upgrade so long as they switched to shared data plans.

But yesterday the company surprised a lot of people when it announced:

Verizon Wireless will honor those orders that were approved this past weekend, allowing those customers to retain their unlimited plans for the duration of their contract and receive their new device.

Verizon Wireless corrected this software issue today (9/30). The company no longer offers unlimited data plans, and customers who want to retain existing unlimited data plans must pay full retail price for a replacement phone.

Congratulations to those of you who were able to take advantage of this glitch!

[via ArsTechnica]

via Consumerist http://consumerist.com/2013/10/01/verizon-wireless-to-honor-unintentional-upgrades-for-unlimited-data-customers/

Pumpkin Spice: The Movie Shows The Full Horror Of Seasonal Food Items

It started ten years ago with the Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks. Pumpkin spice consumer products have spread throughout the marketplace, threatening to bring consumers’ blood allspice levels to dangerously high levels. M&Ms? Sure! Booze? Sure! But why are there so many pumpkin products? This movie trailer explores the Orange Menace.

The group Official Comedy on YouTube imagined a horror movie about the spread of pumpkin spice throughout the American foodscape. What happens when everything is made of pumpkin? What would Linus, “Great Pumpkin” evangelist of the “Peanuts” gang, be like as an adult?

Now we know.

Pumpkin Spice: Official Movie Trailer [YouTube]

via Consumerist http://consumerist.com/2013/10/01/pumpkin-spice-the-movie-shows-the-full-horror-of-seasonal-food-items/

Fair Worker Charged With Fraud After Giving Players Hello Kitty Dolls They Didn’t Actually Win

(frankieleon) These are not the exact dolls fairgoers were looking for.

You’ve just shelled out a ridiculous amount of money to fling darts at a wall of balloons and hope you can somehow pop enough of them to win the giant stuffed prize that’s hanging there, taunting you in the face of your failure every time. Who hasn’t wanted to just slip a couple of extra bills to a fair worker to get the big Hello Kitty and win the day? Doing just that ended with a state fair worker in handcuffs for accepting bribes.

It all started with these large Hello Kitty dolls, reports News On 6 in Oklahoma. Seems they were so desirable, cops say fairgoers were handing over $40 to the worker in charge of a dart flinging balloon game to just give up the goods, when players hadn’t achieved the right to take home of the big things.

A deputy approached the worker’s booth at 9:30 on Saturday night, casual as could be, and asked how much he’d have to fork over to win the biggest prize there.

“The rules state that the participant must win a certain number of each size prize to trade up for a larger prize,” the deputy said in his report. “You continue to trade up until the largest prize is won.”

The worker allegedly informed him that for just $40, if he popped one balloon he’d let him have whichever prize his heart desired.

“I took a dart, popped a balloon on the first try, handed him $40 and asked for one of the largest prizes,” the deputy said. “He handed me the Hello Kitty that I asked for and I walked away.”

That’s a big no-no at the fair, prompting officials to arrest the 65-year-old man five minutes later

Tulsa County Assessor Ken Yazel and two reserve deputies arrested Feikema for fraud about five minutes later, according to the arrest report. Feikema, 65, was taken into custody.

I’m not sure if this is a “Yeah, justice!” moment or one of those situations where plenty of people might be tempted, in the face of all those disappointed fairgoers who try and fail to win The Biggest Prize There, to let someone be a winner, at least once.

Although then again, there’s bribery and fraud, and you can’t have that when carnival games are always totally fair and never rigged and everyone has an equal chance, right? Sure.

Hello Kitty Doll Lands Tulsa State Fair Worker In Jail [News On 6]

via Consumerist http://consumerist.com/2013/10/01/fair-worker-charged-with-fraud-after-giving-players-hello-kitty-dolls-they-didnt-actually-win/

So The Government Is Shut Down… Do I Still Have To Pay My Taxes?

(afagen)

As the sun rises over Washington, D.C., this morning, huge numbers of federal employees are either not coming in to work or are only coming in to shut down their offices until lawmakers sort this mess out. But just because the wheels of government have come grinding to a halt doesn’t mean everything is put on hold indefinitely.

The Washington Post has this handy reference page where it lists several federal agencies and services — and some things, like the Postal Service, that people mistakenly think are federal — and whether or not they will continue to operate during the shutdown.

For example, programs like Social Security, Medicaid/Medicare, will continue to operate, as will SNAP (aka “food stamps”). It’s highly likely that the agencies responsible for these programs will shift their focus on to maintaining services for those currently enrolled and that there will be delays on processing new applicants.

For college students who have yet to receive disbursal of their federal student aid, there could be a delay thanks to furloughs at the Dept. of Education. Hopefully, since we’re now into October, this won’t affect too many student borrowers.

Federal courts will continue to operate so long as reserve funds hold out. That’s expected to be about two weeks, but not every federal agency involved in lawsuits will necessarily be appearing in court during the shutdown.

In its shutdown plan [PDF], the Federal Trade Commission — which investigates and brings civil complaints in all manner of consumer fraud and deception cases — explains that “Employees responsible for law enforcement matters in litigation will, in the cases where there is no immediate risk to life or property, notify opposing parties and the courts of the government shutdown and attempt to negotiate suspensions of dates for hearings and filings.”

What about the Internal Revenue Service? Well, it won’t be performing audits during the shutdown, but the inability for the federal government to spend money apparently doesn’t get anyone off the hook for any taxes or tax returns they might owe the IRS come Oct. 15.

Airport screening will continue, but may move even more slowly than usual. The Dept. of Homeland Security is only putting about 7% of TSA employees on furlough during the shutdown. Additionally, because many DHS employees are either fall under the “ensure the safety and security of the nation and its citizens” condition or are not funded via congressional appropriations, only about 13.5% of the agency’s total staff will be furloughed.

Similarly, nearly 85% of Justice Dept. employees — including all FBI and ATF agents, many DEA agents, and U.S. Attorneys — will continue to work. Federal prisons will also remain operational, which we hadn’t even considered a possibility (though it would make a kick-ass movie).

So let’s just hope that this all ends soon. In addition to the all the federal employees being idled — and all the businesses nationwide that will be negatively impacted — the cost of getting things started back up again increases with each day that the shutdown continues.

via Consumerist http://consumerist.com/2013/10/01/so-the-government-is-shut-down-do-i-still-have-to-pay-my-taxes/

Wells Fargo Settles With Freddie Mac For $869 Million

(Spidra Webster)

Because a few days can’t go by without one of the few remaining big banks agreeing to pay out hundreds of millions of dollars (without ever admitting any wrongdoing), Wells Fargo has agreed to settle with Freddie Mac for $869 million over — you guessed it — toxic mortgages from the Bubble Era.

Bailed-out mortgage-backers Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have demanded that Wells buy back billions in toxic loans that were sold off to the companies, mostly during the pre-splat years of 2006 to 2008.

Wells has not yet reached an agreement with Fannie, but did come to terms with Freddie late last week on the $869 million number, which the company says “resolves substantially all repurchase liabilities related to loans sold” to Freddie before 2009.

The actual amount to be paid back to Freddie is slightly less — around $780 million — as Wells had already bought back close to $90 million in loans before the settlement was reached.

This is just the latest in big-ticket buybacks by the nation’s largest lenders. Earlier this summer, Citigroup agreed to repurchase $968 million in loans from Fannie Mae, and last week came to terms with Freddie for $395 million in buybacks.

Wells is still facing a substantial lawsuit by the federal government, which claims that the bank misled the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development about the merits of hundreds of millions of dollars in home loans in order to qualify the mortgages to be FHA-insured. Last week, a federal court denied the bank’s request for dismissal in that case. If it goes to trial, the government could seek triple the damages.

via Consumerist http://consumerist.com/2013/10/01/wells-fargo-settles-with-freddie-mac-for-869-million/