Age Old Question – How Much Do I Tip?
August 27, 2010
Everyone’s gotta make a living, and, for some, tips make the difference between poverty line wages and a decent day’s pay. So, when it comes to providing a few extra bucks to a valet or furniture delivery guy, what are the guidelines?
For the answers we turn to one of our favorite business columnists. Kathy Kristof of CBS MoneyWatch gives us the latest low down on what to tip these days, and says, if you can afford it, try not to be cheap! Click here to read more in her column.
Making Money on Facebook
August 27, 2010
Facebook now has 500 million users— and thousands of companies trying to cash in on them. Winning “fans” on a company’s Facebook page can translate into dollars. There are at least a handful that have cracked the code. Click here to read more on CNNMoney.com
Toyota Drivers Hit Accelerator And Not Brakes Says NHTSA
August 13, 2010
Oops. Seems the reports flooding in about rogue Toyotas accelerating out of control while drivers ’stand on the brake pedal,’ could have been due to driver error. 35 out of 58 data recorders analyzed by the NHTSA show at the time of the crash the brake pedal was not depressed at all. This runs counter to the reports from drivers which say they were unable to stop their wildly accelerating Toyotas.
While the final NHTSA report has not yet been released, many news organizations speculate that Toyota may not be as much at fault for the crashes, but in several cases panicked drivers just hit the wrong pedal.
Buick LaCrosse Tops IIHS Safest Car List
August 6, 2010
The number of vehicles designated as Top Picks by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) dropped by a third in 2010, largely because of tougher testing standards, including a newly instituted roof-crush test. In conjunction with the roof test, the IIHS conducts high-speed front and side crash tests, a rollover test, and test of seat/head restraints to protect against neck injuries such as whiplash.
For 2010, Subaru, Volkswagen and Volvo make strong crashworthiness showings, whereas Audi, traditionally a high performer across the board, appears only in the midsize category. Several automakers that earned a Top Safety Pick rating last year do not have a winning vehicle for 2010, including BMW, Mazda, and Saab.
More information on vehicle safety can be found in Edmunds Car Safety Guide.
Check out the complete list of 2010 Top Safety Picks chosen by the IIHS at Edmunds.com
Top 20 Best Paying College Degrees
July 28, 2010
It pays to be good at math. The college degrees that lead to the highest salaries all involve high-level mathematics.
A survey posted on CBS MoneyWatch of salaries by college degrees shows engineering majors dominate the list. For undergraduates, seven of the top 10 college degrees, according to PayScale, Inc., belong to engineering majors. The best paying college degree of all — by a long shot — is petroleum engineering.
Click here to see the list of top degrees and what they pay starting out and mid-career.
6 Things You Should Never Reveal on Facebook
July 16, 2010
It’s certainly tempting to share your every living thought, picture and desire, but think twice before you do. More good advice from Financial Columnist Kathy Kristoff at CBS MoneyWatch.com:
You can certainly enjoy networking and sharing photos, but you should know that sharing some information puts you at risk. What should you never say on Facebook, Twitter or any other social networking site?
- Your birth date and place. Sure, you can say what day you were born, but if you provide the year and where you were born too, you’ve just given identity thieves a key to stealing your financial life, said Givens. A study done by Carnegie Mellon showed that a date and place of birth could be used to predict most — and sometimes all — of the numbers in your Social Security number, she said.
- Vacation plans. There may be a better way to say “Rob me, please” than posting something along the lines of: “Count-down to Maui! Two days and Ritz Carlton, here we come!” on Twitter. But it’s hard to think of one. Post the photos on Facebook when you return, if you like. But don’t invite criminals in by telling them specifically when you’ll be gone.
Click here to read the rest of Kathy’s article.
Consumer Warning about iTunes
July 6, 2010
Beware if you’re an iTunes customer. Hackers have been targeting iTunes accounts, breaking in, and racking up charges for unknowing users. Worst of all, the hi-tech thieves manage to change your password, so you can’t get in to your own account. Award winning Consumer Reporter Jackie Callaway at the ABC station in Tampa investigated and produced this terrific story alerting the public. Click here to watch and read more.
Travel Secrets to Help You Save Money on Vacation
June 11, 2010
Planning a vacation? Knowing the best way to book travel can slash your costs. Airlines often announce airfare sales on Friday night, so all the matching/cross-cutting happens over the weekend. But, according to Peter Greenberg, CBS News’ travel editor, this is actually the worst time to buy tickets, because everybody else is looking then as well. Instead, he suggests, try booking after midnight on Monday night/Tuesday morning: “All the tickets that were booked but not purchased on Monday come flooding back into the airlines computer system at the discount fare.”
Click here to read more of Greenberg’s tips. He shared some of his best secrets in a recent CBS MoneyWatch interview. You can use these tips to save on airfare, hotels, and more — and wind up with a better trip.
The Truth & Myths of Lightning – Get off the Phone? Out of the Shower?
June 10, 2010
By Terry Smiljanich:
With a hot summer in store for much of America, thunderstorm season is quickly approaching. Is it just an urban myth that you shouldn’t use a telephone, even a cell phone, during a thunderstorm, because a lightning strike could kill you? The Consumer Warning Network looks at the issue.
Lightning Strikes Can Kill
Lightning carries a mighty wallop, with a peak power of more than a billion kilowatts transmitted in one stroke, lasting 30 microseconds. Anything that conducts electricity can provide a path for this electrical surge, including anything plugged in at your home – corded telephones, plumbing, refrigerators, televisions, metal doors and window frames. By the time the surge reaches indoors, however, much of the power jolt has been reduced. This is why, getting a mild electrical shock touching such items during a storm is a frequent occurrence, whereas deaths or serious injuries are uncommon.
Surge protectors in your home can kick in when lightning attempts to travel through the power grid, but even the best can’t always provide complete protection from a direct and powerful hit.
Metal pipes in your home can carry a current as well. The “myth” about the dangers of showering or bathing during a storm is not really a myth. The plumbing can transmit a shock. There have been no reported lightning-related deaths resulting from bathing or showering at home in the past few years, but it remains a good idea to fore-go such activities during a storm.
Lightning doesn’t have to hit you directly in order to deliver a shock. More often, a nearby strike (on a tree, for example) can travel through the ground and reach you. Its power will be diminished, but still can be strong enough to give you a good jolt.
Lightning Statistics
Florida is the “lightning capital of America,” with more thunderstorms and lightning strikes than any other state. Annually, Florida leads the nation in deaths caused by lightning, with 15% of the total deaths occurring within the state. In terms of per capita deaths caused by lightning strikes, however, Florida ranks fifth. Leading the pack is New Mexico, followed by Wyoming, Arkansas, Colorado, and then Florida. The safest states are Alaska, Hawaii and California.
Lightning deaths are rare events. On the total list of the most common causes of accidental deaths in the U.S., lightning deaths aren’t even in the top 100 causes. You’re more likely to die from a slip in your bath tub, choking on a steak, or being bitten by a wasp.
Still, lightning is nothing to fool around with. Of the 34 fatalities caused by lightning strikes in 2009, 11 happened during an outdoor sporting activity such as golfing, fishing, jogging, and baseball. Six people were killed while doing yard work. The lesson is obvious: if a lightning storm is nearby, get indoors!
Get Off The Telephone!
But are you also safe indoors? Not always. In 2006, an unfortunate 15 year old girl was standing by the window in her room when a lightning strike killed her. That same year, a 64 year old man in Mississippi was killed when lightning struck his telephone line while he was on the phone. Yes, it can happen.
In the past 25 years, there have been at least five reports of serious injuries to persons using a telephone during a lightning strike. In 1985, for example, 17 year old Jason Findley of Piscataway, New Jersey, was electrocuted by a lightning strike while he was on the telephone in his home. In 1988, 22 year old Laura McDowell, eight months pregnant at the time, was killed instantly when lightning traveled through her telephone line while she was on the phone.
The danger may be small, but absent an emergency, a thunderstorm is not a good time to chat with your best friend on the telephone.
Cell Phones Too?
So what about cell phones? Can’t the electricity travel through the radio waves associated with the devices and deliver a shock to the person using them? No. Radio waves don’t conduct electricity. As long as the cell phone is not connected to an electrical outlet, no lightning can reach the user through the wiring in the house. And there’s no evidence that cell phones somehow “attract” lightning.
Interestingly, though, there is another danger posed by using cell phones during a storm, especially while outside and holding a metallic cell phone to your ear. Skin is a poor conductor of electricity. Most of the electricity from a strike is conducted over the skin rather than through the body. Add some metal in contact with that skin, however, and the impact is multiplied as the electricity has an easier entry into the body.
Even iPod’s Can be Dangerous in a Storm
Ask Jason Bunch of Castle Rock, Colorado. In 2006 the teenager was mowing his lawn listening to his iPod. He was struck by a lightning bolt from a nearby thunderstorm (you don’t have to be directly under a thundercloud to be struck). Aside from the obvious mistake of doing yard work with a storm nearby, he was also unfortunate that his iPod was plugged into his ears. When he woke up, blood was coming from his ears. His eardrums had busted, and he had deep burn lines where the headphone wires had draped down his body. “I’m just extremely blessed to be alive,” Jason said from his hospital room.
Similarly, the New England Journal of Medicine reported on a jogger in Vancouver, listening to his iPod, when a lightning strike on a nearby tree suddenly threw him 8 feet through the air. He survived, but had ruptured eardrums and two linear burns up his chest corresponding to the positions of his earphones.
The British Medical Journal reported on four incidents of similar injuries caused by using a cell phone outdoors during a storm – in London, Malaysia, South Korea and China.
There’s nothing special about cell phones and iPods when it comes to such lightning danger. You could just as easily be injured holding a toaster to your ear while either jogging or mowing the lawn with a storm nearby. The simple solution to protecting yourself from such dangers is to get indoors if a thunderstorm approaches. If you are outdoors, unplug your iPod from your ears and put the cell phone away. Lightning deaths and injuries are rare, but there’s no reason to tempt the fates.
As Air Travel Costs Increase, Are the Airlines Gouging Their Customers?
June 1, 2010
By Terry Smiljanich:
Remember when traveling by air meant free drinks and a meal, followed by a movie, while your luggage traveled for free? Remember cheap air fares? Those days are gone, as we stuff ourselves into crowded seats, pay extra luggage costs and higher fares, and munch on peanuts. With all of these cost savings, are airlines taking advantage of us by pocketing huge profits? Not yet, but stay tuned.
Airline Ups & Downs
The airline industry has had its financial ups and downs, with downs predominating of late. With vastly increased fuel costs during the past decade, and with a recession in 2008-2009, profits have been few and far between for struggling airlines. The global aviation industry operated in the red all but two out of the past ten years. In the face of this reality, airlines began cutting corners everywhere.
Banding Together and Fighting Back!
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Recalls and Product Safety News- No Specific Cause Found Yet Linking Dry Max Diapers to Diaper Rash
- Toshiba Recalls T Series Notebook Computers Due to Burn Hazard
- Swing Sets Recalled by Kompan Inc. for Repair Due to Fall Hazard
- CPSC Makes Recall Data Available Electronically to Businesses, 3rd Party Developers
- 32-Inch Sharp LCD-TVs Recalled Due to Risk of Injury
- Slow Cookers Recalled by Sensio Due to Fire Hazard; Sold Exclusively at Kohl's Department Stores
