pileofcrapola

Airplanes are great for travel, but even better for spreading disease. NPR spoke with aviation medicine specialist Dr. Mark Gendreau, and there are two things you can do to help keep yourself healthy.

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When we first mentioned MusicBox a little over a year ago , it had the modest goal of turning your Raspberry Pi into a Spotify server. Now, it supports more services, files types, and more.

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Planning your retirement is a daunting task, and a confusing one if you're not experienced with managing money and long term investments. Here to help is Maxime Rieman, senior analyst with NerdWallet.

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Dear Lifehacker,
I know a lot of online reviews can be fake, and others are just written by angry people. How can I separate useful reviews from crappy ones? I don't want to avoid something good because someone lied, but I don't want to throw my money away either.

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For many people gardening is a pleasure, but others find it something of a chore. If you fall into the latter camp, try creating seed balls for easy growing with minimal ground preparation.

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Steak is delicious, but if the one you plan to eat is still frozen, there are better ways to defrost it than using the microwave. All you need for this method is a little water and two pans—no special tools or appliances at all, and it works in minutes.

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The next time you have a few dollars left on one of those prepaid credit card-based gift cards, consolidate those odd dollars and cents into your Google Wallet account.

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We've talked about saving egg shells for the garden or the garbage disposal , but you can also use them in the laundry to whiten your clothes.

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You probably know you should check your credit report periodically , but do you know what your C.L.U.E. report says? It helps determine your insurance costs and like a credit report, you should check it for errors.

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So your kid is finally set to leave home and head off to college. You might be tempted to splurge on all manner of purchases to ensure that he or she will be able to study, eat, sleep, and dress properly. But some of those commonly bought items are just money down the drain.

The folks at DealNews put together a round-up of 8 items you shouldn’t buy for your college-bound kid. We pulled out the five that we deemed the most relevant.

1. A Printer

When I started college in 1993, I went off with a brand-new inkjet printer that I used a grand total of 12 times, as I had access to faster, better and free printing in the computer labs.

Two decades on, printers are even less essential, with a large number of professors accepting papers and other class assignments via e-mail.

“Outside of home-made fliers for frat parties, modern students may find that they never have to print a single piece of paper, so why invest in a printer?” asks DealNews.

2. A Tablet

If your kid doesn’t already own a tablet, you will probably hear about how essential it will be to their college classwork. What they really mean is that it will be essential to watching Game of Thrones on HBO Go.

As DealNews points out, affordable tablets are not yet laptop replacements. And those tablets that can replace a laptop are incredibly expensive, so you might as well just get your kid a laptop.

3. An Iron and Ironing Board

While these might be essential for a small number of college freshmen who insist on wearing something other than sweatshirts and jeans, most first-year students won’t see their ironing board again until they pack up all their wrinkled clothes to come home at the end of the semester.

4. A Mini Fridge

These always seem like a good idea, but most of my memories of friends’ mini fridges involve the disappointment of opening one up and failing to find anything edible. At best, the fridge will be used to chill beer that most college freshman aren’t legally allowed to purchase anyway.

5. An iPhone

If your college-bound kid is begging you to pay for a new iPhone before they head off to school, DealNews points out that new iPhone models tend to be released shortly after the start of the school year, and that prices on previous-generation iPhones tend to drop after the latest model is released.

“It’s well within your right, as a parent, to force your kid to use his (gasp!) old iPhone until that happens,” writes DealNews.

Ryan Block and his wife Veronica Belmont would like to cancel Comcast. Why? It’s none of our business. And it’s none of Comcast’s business. Or so you’d think. Comcast seems to disagree. Listen as the Comcast retention guy refuses to cancel their account without an explanation, going as far as to suggest that if Ryan doesn’t want to provide said explanation, he can go to a Comcast store to cancel.

We’ve transcribed just a few highlights below, but if you have headphones and a punching bag handy, you might want to listen to the recording. It’s the only way you’ll get the full effect.

According to Mr. Block’s description on Soundcloud, the recording begins about 10 minutes into the call, after Veronica passed the phone to Ryan. We’d say “enjoy,” but it’s, well, not enjoyable.

Kind of reminds us of this. Everything old is new again.

R: We’d like to disconnect please…

C: Help me understand why you don’t want faster internet.

R: Help me understand why you can’t just disconnect us.

C: My job is to have a conversation with you about keeping your service, about finding out why it is you’re looking to cancel your service. If you don’t want to talk to me, you can definitely go into the Comcast store and cancel your service there. …

…

R: Can you cancel us by phone? The answer is yes, correct?

C: It sounds like you don’t want to go over this information with me. If you want to go over that information, that’s the easiest way to get your account disconnected.

R: I am declining to state why we are leaving Comcast because I don’t owe you an explanation. So, if you can proceed to the next question. If you have to fill out a form, that’s fine. Please proceed to the next question an we’ll attempt to answer that if possible.

C: Being that we’re the number 1 provider of TV and internet service in the entire country, why is it you don’t want the number 1 provider? …

…

R: I’m declining to state. Can you please go to the next question so we can cancel our service?

C: I’m just trying to figure out here what it is about Comcast service that you’re not liking. …

R: This phone call is an amazing representative example of why I don’t want to stay with Comcast. So, can you please cancel our service?

C: I’m trying to help you. You’re not letting me help you by declining answers, by doing all this.

R: You can help me by disconnecting our service.

C: How is that helping you?

R: Because that’s what I want.

C: Why is that what you want?

R: Because that’s what I want.

C: There has to be some sort of reason behind it…. We just want to find out what it is that’s causing a customer who has been with us a long time to leave. …

…

You’ve been a Comcast customer for 9 years. After a decade … clearly the service is working great for you. … All of a sudden you’re moving and something is making you want to change. What’s making you do that?
….

R: That’s none of your business. Your business is to disconnect us.

C: As a company that is a cable and internet provider primarily, that is our business. If we don’t know why our customers are leaving, how can we make this a better experience for you next time?

R: That’s a fantastic question and something that you can hire a firm to figure out. … Can you disconnect us by phone? Can you disconnect our service? Yes or no?

C: Why don’t you want those services? You’re not interested in the fastest internet in the country?

…

R: Are you capable of disconnecting our service?

…

C: It’s something we can do. …

R: I would appreciate you now doing that. Please proceed in disconnecting our service. …

C: What is it about this other provider that’s making it sound better?

R: I don’t know. It’s a totally arbitrary decision.

…

C: Why don’t want a good service? You don’t want something that works?

R: Is this a joke? Are you punking us right now?

C: I’m trying to get information. I’m trying to help our company be better. That’s my job.

R: I can guarantee you right now, you’re doing an incredibly good job at helping your company be worse.

C: I’m terribly sorry it feels to you like I’m trying to argue. I’m just trying to help you out and get some information. We’ll just bypass all this information. I’ll go ahead and disconnect this service. It’s really a shame to see you go to something that can’t give you what we can … No one else can guarantee their speed like we can. … I can save you more than $100 a month, get you internet 5x faster than anyone else can … What about those savings, those services are you not wanting?

R: Are you done? You literally just a moment ago said you’d go ahead and disconnect our service and that’s what we’re going to need to do.

C: We’re going through that process. I’m just asking some questions. …

R: Can you tell me how much longer it’s going to take?

C: It’s going to take a couple more minutes here. What about the service is making you want to change?

R: I’m good. I’m just going to wait until you can confirm that you’ve canceled the service.

C: Well you’re all set. You know what, it’s disconnected. I’m really sorry to see you go to someone who can’t give you what we can. But I’d like to thank you for being a great part of Comcast. Have a wonderful day.

(Thanks to Mike!)

We love cheese here at Consumerist, but we’re not sure whether we would enjoy a new and exciting product available at Pizza Hut in the Dominican Republic: a pizza with two cheese-stuffed crusts; one in the middle surrounding a bowl of marinara to dip this pile of cheese and deliciousness in. The result almost resembles a giant grilled cheese sandwich with some toppings on it. [Brand Eating]

Diners with an appetite for giant African snails in California will have to find another batch of the prohibited animals to snack on, after U.S. Customs and Border protection inspectors at the Los Angeles International Airport seized 67 of the live guys, which were destined for someone in San Dimas (otherwise known as the home of Bill and Ted).

In another episode of “Crazy Things You Can’t Fly Into America, Silly,” someone in Nigeria sent the mollusks to the U.S., a customs spokeswoman said. The snails are some of the largest land snails in the world and can grow up to 8 inches long, the Associated Press reports.

But while they’re a delicacy in West African countries — costing up to $50 for a party of six — they’re an illegal species here because they could carry parasites that are harmful to humans. They’re also bad for our wildlife, says the CBP program manager for agriculture.

“These snails are seriously harmful to local plants because they will eat any kind of crop they can get to,” she said.

As such, the 67 snails were incinerated. It’s still unclear why one person would want so many snails, the program manager adds.

“We’re investigating what happened but it doesn’t seem like there was smuggling involved. When someone doesn’t know a commodity is prohibited under USDA regulations there is usually no punishment,” she said.

Giant African snails seized at Los Angeles airport [Associated Press]

Every store has two sets of policies: the official ones distributed to customers, and the policies from the other end that employees learn in training. A source inside Best Buy contacted us recently to explain how it’s possible to return items to Best Buy without a receipt. Yes, it is possible. No, customers aren’t supposed to know that.

The official policy, for employees’ eyes only, is that customers can return an unopened item that the store currently keeps in stock without any proof of purchase. This is possible as long as the SKU (Stock Keeping Unit, a number that represents an exact item) is one that Best Buy currently keeps in stock. The item also must be listed on BestBuy.com.

The screengrabs from an employee training module are tiny, so we’ve transcribed the relevant parts.

An unopened product with a SKU in the current assortment can be returned at any time beyond the return and exchange window for store credit with or without proof of purchase.

Step 1: Product qualifies for return outside of the exchange window. The SKU is still carried in current assortment* and the product is unopened.

Step 2: Refund in the form of Store Credit.

Step 3: Employee ensures the customer gets the solution that best fits their technology need.

* A SKU is in current assortment if it can be found on BestBuy.com and is sold by Best Buy (not by a Marketplace seller.) If it is inactive, the following message will display after the search is performed: “We couldn’t find anything matching your search for [SKU].”

Although not customer facing in our policy language, we will accept unopened returns outside of the return window, as long as the SKU is still carried and sold by Best Buy within our current assortment. This option is available to customers with and without a proof of purchase. This element of our Return & Exchange promise will allow our employees to deliver on our promise to do whatever we can to help them get the solution that best fits your technology needs. Refunds must be given in the form of store credit instead of the original payment. It’s imperative to always give store credit in order to turn returners into re-purchasers.

That is an entirely reasonable policy, and we even agree with the part about why returns without a receipt should be in store credit only.

Now, we’re releasing this information to the public with the following disclaimer: do not use it for evil. Restrictive return policies come into existence when people abuse more lax ones. It’s possible under this policy to buy items at a much lower price or on sale at a different retailer and return them for store credit, but you shouldn’t do this because that would make you a bad consumer and a terrible person.

Instead, reserve this policy for moments of true need. Our source used the example of an item that’s unopened, but you missed the return window. Simply bring it to the store without a receipt, as long as it’s a current item.

Update: Another Best Buy employee wrote in with some additional notes for anyone who might want to attempt this. “Please make these clear in your article, as I’ll be the one to have to deal with people who try to abuse this policy,” they asked us. Fair enough, Anonymous Employee.

1. A no-receipt return requires an override from a manager, and both the manager and employee will probably tell you that returning an item without a receipt isn’t possible. If you’re allowed a return, don’t count on store credit: “it won’t even be a store credit, but most likely an exchange only,” writes the tipster.
2. Since this isn’t a customer-facing policy and not posted online, you will have no proof to show to a manager who refuses your return.
3. While this policy is on the books, it’s at the discretion of the store’s general manager, and the tipster notes that “most don’t follow it.”
4. The refund amount will be the item’s current price, not what you originally paid: which makes sense, because the store has no way of knowing what you originally paid.
5. The item has to be unopened. We pointed this out, but the tipster urged us to emphasize it more.

If you do use this secret information, let us know at tips@consumerist.com if you succeed with this method or hit roadblocks.

The only way to make getting your kid a pony seem like a yawnable event? Claiming a swath of land as your own kingdom, thereby turning your offspring into royalty. And heck, once you’re a princess, the ponies will come to you.

A Virginia man says he’s planted a literal flag designed by his kids in a small area between Egypt and Sudan called Bir Tawil, where no country has claimed an 800-square-mile swath, reports the Bristol Herald Courier. He trekked out to the mountainous region after getting permission from the Egyptian government to travel through the country to get to his intended spot.

This way, he can call the area his kingdom — specifically, the Kingdom of North Sudan — and name his 7-year-old daughter Emily a princess.

“Over the winter, Emily and I were playing, and she has a fixation on princesses. She asked me, in all seriousness, if she’d be a real princess someday,” the dad explained. “And I said she would.”

Though there are other claimants to the property, he says he did all the proper research and is set to make his kingdom official.

“I do intend to pursue formal recognition with African nations,” he said, with plans to get Sudan and Egypt to recognize the kingdom as a first step.

And while he and his wife got their daughter a princess crown and are giving her the royal treatment, which is “cool” according to the new princess, the little girl says the reason she wants to be a princess is to make sure children in the area have food.

“That’s definitely a concern in that part of the world,” her dad said. “We discussed what we could do as a nation to help.”

He adds that Emily and his two sons will be a part of whatever happens next for the kingdom.

“They are really getting into the idea,” he explained. “I think the idea of a nation with a clear purpose of helping other people … I think that’ll be well-received and we’ll get recognition from other nations to partner with.”

My dad always made sure to garnish my PB&Js with parsley to make them “gourmet,” which was pretty much enough for me, but sure, being princess is cool, too.

Abingdon man claims African land to make good on promise to daughter [Bristol Herald Courier]

The job of a retail loss prevention officer is pretty clear — don’t let people steal stuff, and if you see someone who is, call the cops. But one Target security worker claims that after he reported a shoplifting suspect who may or may not be a police officer, he was fired.

The employee worked at a Virginia Target store for almost eight years in loss prevention, reports the Washington Post, and is now looking at his legal options after he says he was terminated for doing what he was hired to do.

He says that back in May, his supervisor noticed a man who appeared to be shoving a tube of toothpaste into a bag after he’d already checked out other items. But his supervisor “didn’t feel comfortable” confronting the man, the worker says, adding that he thought the shoplifter “was some sort of law enforcement.”

The worker says a manager was shown the surveillance tape and recognized the suspect from a shared activity. The staff decided to wait for him to return before doing anything further, a common practice.

About 10 days later, the security worker says his supervisor alerted him that the man was back, and this time it looked like he paid for some items at the pharmacy register while concealing others in his cart, then combining the stolen goods with those he’d paid for in bags.

The worker says that his supervisor again “didn’t feel comfortable” confronting the man, so the staff called the police. The security employee went to the station and filed a report, bringing an officer back to the store later with him to watch the video.

According to the security worker, that police sergeant watched the surveillance video and said the incident was “pretty serious” because the man was allegedly in law enforcement.

He also says that his supervisor somehow knew the suspect’s full name, and he then called to report that fact to police.

A few days later, he says he was notified that he’d been suspended for two days. Days after that, he was terminated for “gross misconduct.” He claims Target told him he’d violated a confidentiality policy by calling police without approval first and giving them the video, all without filling out internal paperwork.

The worker says that he’s never had to do anything like that before, and treated the situation in question just as the company always had in the past — watching store video and taking action to call police and make a report when deemed necessary.

“In my eight years, I’ve never had to call anyone to give out the video or to call police,” he said. “I have never seen any policy about contacting law enforcement.”

He also says police usually move forward with such shoplifting cases within a few days, but haven’t done so this time.

It’s unclear whether the man in the video is a sheriff’s deputy or not — the man the Target workers named as a police officer has retired from the sheriff’s office since the incident, but the police department says the shopper seen in the video hasn’t been positively identified yet.

A lieutenant said that investigators “haven’t positively identified this guy. They’re still doing follow-up investigation.” As for why the case has been taking so long, he doesn’t know, but “there might be some extenuating circumstances.”

A corporate spokeswoman for Target didn’t discuss the details of the case with the Washington Post, but said that in the worker’s case, “we have conducted a full investigation and don’t believe there is any merit to this individual’s claims.”

The worker has obtained legal counsel and is considering what to do next.

“I’m confused and don’t understand why,” he said. “I’ve been there for eight years, no issues. I’m just trying to provide for my family, and I just really want to get back to work.”

Target security officer fired after reporting shoplifting [Washington Post]

Between all the fees and add-on charges that can come with a hotel reservation, just booking a room for the night can make you feel like you’ve been taken for a ride. But even when the hotel isn’t trying to nickel-and-dime you, there are scammers out there ready to steal your money by preying on common assumptions made by hotel guests.

The Federal Trade Commission recently posted a list of scams targeted at unsuspecting hotel guests:

1. The late night call from the “front desk”

You’ve checked in, showered, unpacked, and fallen asleep to the cruddy, standard-definition basic cable on your hotel’s TV. Then the room’s phone rings. It’s the front desk calling to say there was a problem with your credit card. Could you please just share that information again?

Credit card goofs aren’t uncommon; nor are calls from the front desk. So you might not think twice about giving out your card number over the phone, especially if you’ve been woken up by the call.

But the chances are that the person calling you isn’t working at the front desk, but is instead a scammer trying to trick you into sharing your card info.

Most hotels will ask you to come to the front desk to deal with a card issue. Even if they say it can be handled over the phone, it’s in your interest to insist that this be cleared up in person.

2. The pizza delivery “deal”

Room service can be prohibitively expensive, so when a local pizza place slides a flyer under your hotel room door, you might be tempted to go the cheaper route of ordering up a pie. And who doesn’t like pizza?

While the pizza flyer may be legitimate, there’s also the chance that it’s a complete fake, and that the only thing you’ll receive after placing a phone order with your credit card is a bunch of fraudulent charges to your account.

If you want to order food up to your hotel room, make sure you’re ordering from a legitimate business. And even if the name on the flyer belongs to an actual pizza place, check that the number matches the one listed with the real pizzeria. You can also check with the front desk for recommendations, or just go out and get some food.

3. The fake Wi-Fi network

As we pointed out recently in this story about public WiFi hotspots from Comcast and AT&T, it’s remarkably easy to fake a legitimate hotspot.

And if you’ve ever gone looking for your hotel’s WiFi network, you’ve probably seen a number of sound-alike hotspots available. Make sure you’re using the correct connection or your computer and all of its data could be compromised.

Additionally, while many hotel WiFi networks require you to enter a room number and last name so that any fees can be charged to your room’s account, you should be suspect of any hotel WiFi that asks you to enter credit card information. This could be a fake trying to steal your identity.

[via Credit.com]

A woman was shopping at a New Hampshire TJ Maxx with her service dog when the store manager asked her to put the animal in a shopping cart instead of allowing it to walk on the floor. She refused, saying that the dog wouldn’t fit in the cart, and was asked to leave the store. Now she’s taken her story to the media, and TJ Maxx has apologized.

“The store manager came over to me and said to me, ‘If you want to keep your dog in the store, you have to put him in the carriage,” she told Boston TV station WCVB. This was of interest to a Boston TV station not just because it’s local news, but because the 19-year-old was injured in the bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon last year, receiving shrapnel wounds, and still experiences post-traumatic stress disorder. Her mother was injured badly enough that her legs were amputated. She says that the dog has been her “lifeline” and furry support system. But should he be allowed in public places?

The definition of a service dog is very clear, and after many incidents involving abuse of laws allowing service dogs in public, the federal government recently clarified this definition.

Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.

None of the stories on this incident have specified that the dog has received training specific to stopping post-traumatic stress reactions. To meet the newly revised definition of a service dog under the Americans with Disabilities Act, an animal needs to have training to perform some kind of physical task for its owner. While being a companion and providing comfort is an important task, that’s not the legal definition of a “service animal.”

In any case, TJ Maxx says that the manager didn’t follow the chain’s own guidelines in this situation, and has apologized to the shopper.

We are taking this customer matter very seriously. Customers with disabilities who are accompanied by their service animals are welcome in our stores at any time. We have looked into the particulars regarding this customer’s experience and deeply regret that our procedures were not appropriately followed in this instance. We are taking actions which we believe are appropriate, including working with our stores to reinforce the acceptance of service animals.

Marathon bombing survivor says service dog got her kicked out of store [WCVB] (WARNING: AUTO-PLAY VIDEO.) (Thanks, Marcus!)

Manassas offers police, fire camps to rising freshmen at Osbourn High School Washington Post Hailey Steele, 14, spends most of her summer days looking after her younger siblings. Javier Gutierrez, 13, passes his school-free hours by listening to the radio and playing video games. It's pretty standard summer fare for teens. But last week, the ... and more »

States where hydraulic fracturing is taking place have seen a surge in earthquake activity, raising suspicions that the unconventional drilling method could be to blame, especially the wells where the industry disposes of its wastewater.

Lightning strikes have killed two tourists and injured others in recent days in Rocky Mountain National Park. The strikes happened along a popular road that is above treeline and is prone to rapidly-developing early afternoon summer thunderstorms. Here are some precautions mountain visitors should take to stay safe:

Wear and tear on a pickup truck used to transport bodies caused a hatchback to open and a corpse to fall on to a busy highway, an apologetic coroner in Pennsylvania said.

The mayor lashed out Monday at residents for memorializing a man who killed a police officer over the weekend.

Dozens of puppies and dogs seized from a puppy mill in Page County are being transferred to other facilities.

Scooter is a darling little Southern gentleman, and he's available for adoption from WARL.

A three-vehicle crash has closed a Prince William County roadway during the Monday morning commute.

Genetic research has led to all kinds of advances in treating cancer. And now it's showing great promise in beating the biggest killer in America -- cardiovascular disease.

Edgar Allan Poe's lifeless body has been found in a gutter, yet signs of the reclusive writer have been found all over Baltimore. A team of muckraking journalists sift through the clues to find out what happened to him.

Target officials told him he violated procedure by not filling out paperwork before contacting police.

Baltimore County police say they issued a criminal citation to Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith for failing to follow an officer's orders.