If you haven't noticed, Google is making a serious play to make sure everyone signs up for and uses Google+. Whether it's to comment on YouTube, post and share photos, or even share a Google Map or driving directions with someone else, you need to go through Google+. Not all is lost, though! Let's look at where you can escape the clutches of Google+, and where you have no choice but to submit.
    
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When a coworker or friend suggests doing something that can step on the toes of your plan, it's easy to turn the situation into a power struggle. To ease tensions, try approaching the conversation in a way that treats both courses of action as valid by default.
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Android: One of the best things about Android is how finely you can tweak notification settings. An XDA developer created Ringer to provide a ton of customizations for your phone's ringer.
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Google's recently-launched physical Wallet card hasn't exactly taken the payments world by storm, but there may be one good reason to have one: using it to extract cash from Visa or Mastercard gift cards.
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Web: If you have a lot of useless crap you'd rather trade for money, WorldLister is a service that's willing to help, and makes listing those items for sale on eBay so easy you can do it in seconds.
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A new pair of headphones is a wonderful thing, especially if they're well reviewed and you know they'll sound great. However, we've said before that the only ears that matter are yours. How do you go about testing a new pair of headphones to make sure they sound just right? What do you listen to first?
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If you're like most people, you got a lot of gift cards this week. Once they're spent dry and nothing more than empty slabs of plastic, don't just throw them away or toss them in the recycling bin—there's plenty of fun to be had with them. Let's take a look at how you can put those now-empty cards to good use around the house.
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Fitted sheets are kind of a pain. There's no inherent way to know how to get them on in the right orientation and they can slip around on the bed if they're not perfect. The solution is simple: velcro.
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Lap desks do a good job of saving your lap from the toaster that is the bottom of your laptop, but they're kind of too bulky for taking on the go. Instructables user inspiredwood decided to solve that problem by creating one that collapses easily for travel purposes.
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Over the last few years I've transitioned from owning a boatload of CDs, DVDs, and other media to owning almost none at all—and keeping only digital copies of everything. Here's what I've learned over the last few years and where digital still falls short.
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Shaving cream is a nice way to make sure that rubbing a knife across your face is a pleasant experience. However, olive oil may actually be better for your skin and make for a cheaper shave.
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If you need to tie your shoes and haven't a second to spare, YouTube user Hank shows how to tie a workable knot so quickly it seems like magic.
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Firefox: Winning the award for the most self-explanatory name, Netflix Playlist gives Netflix a feature it sorely needs: the ability to create custom, hand-picked episode playlists.
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Whether you’ve gotten a gift you really don’t like or you’re just prone to losing receipts, returning items without a receipt can sometimes be a minefield. Here are some tips and techniques to make sure you get your money back.
Special thanks to Sarah Ann, who made today's Ask the Cast answer waaaaaaaay easier! Here's what she had to say about the recipe (I tried to hand-letter it, but it was taking foreeeeever!):
"So whilst re-reading your comic I stumbled upon the section where Erin makes these cookies that sound absolutely amazing...needless to say I spent a day in the kitchen fiddling around with the idea and came out with what has officially passed the Amazing-Test. I had a total of 15 people try these cookies so far without telling them what is in them. 15 of 15 loved them and wanted the recipe. at least 7 of the 15 didn't like pears and or raisins, but loved the cookies all the same, and even said if they had KNOWN they wouldn't have even tried them."
So, even if you don't like pears or raisins, you may love this recipe! Win!
And if anyone comes up with a gluten-free version, you better share that shit! ;)
One San Diego man obviously isn’t a regular Consumerist reader. He bought his wife an iPod for Christmas, and she opened it up to find…four erasers and some specially-cut index cards filling up the spot that’s supposed to cradle the iPod. They’re probably very nice erasers, but you can’t play music on them. Light percussion, maybe.
The strangest part of this story was what happened when the couple took the device back to the Target store where it was purchased. They tried to exchange it for another iPod…and that box was also filled with very expensive erasers.
Usually when this happens, a dishonest customer is involved. That customer buys the electronic device, fills the box with another material that weighs the box down, and returns it to the store.
The customer in this case claims that the Target store blamed a distributor, claiming that the switch happened somewhere between Apple and Target. Did it? We hope that Target investigates, and that more people aren’t receiving boxes of erasers when they bought iPods.
Not-so-merry Christmas surprise for local shopper [KFMB]
After first figuring out the ordering deadlines of the country’s biggest online retailers, the folks at StellaService then placed multiple orders — with delivery addresses in different regions of the country — from each of the websites.
According to their results, eight of the 25 retailers tested — Staples, Dell, TigerDirect, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Pottery Barn, Nordstrom, Gap — failed to make good on getting all of the purchases delivered by the deadline.
But while the late deliveries represented a range of retailers, all but one of the missed shipments was handled by UPS.
One company cited by StellaService as going above and beyond was Zappos, which not only pushed the limit by having an ordering deadline of Dec. 23, but upgraded last-minute shoppers’ delivery options to guarantee the packages arrived in time for Christmas. Of the retailers with a Dec. 23 deadline, Zappos was the only one to get all of its parcels delivered on time.
You can see the full results of the test at StellaService’s Happy Customer blog.
Our colleagues down the hall at Consumer Reports tell us that while companies certainly would like for you to send them your information, it’s not always necessary. What most likely will happen when you fill out the card, especially if you provide information about your income, habits, and hobbies, is that you’ll get marketing mail. Maybe you think catalogs and junk mail are fun, and you’re cool with that. If you don’t read the warranty information carefully.
Of course, if the item is defective or otherwise problematic and gets recalled, you probably want to know about that. This is especially true in the case of children’s toys. The easiest way to track down customers in the case of a recall is using the warranty registration information on file.
There can be other benefits, too: I asked for and got an electric toothbrush for Christmas, because I’m old and boring. The company offers an incentive to register it: six extra months of warranty protection. I’m probably going to send that card back.
What you’re more likely to need when you use a warranty is the receipt: make sure to file those away, if you have them, in order to prove your purchase date.
Should you register that new product? [Consumer Reports]
As far as we know, this is a new record, and it could be . The previous one was 228 customers at a Tim Hortons drive-thru in Canada.
Are these chains inefficient and kind of silly? Sure. We still love to hear about them, though. It’s the symbolism of sharing with others. We like the idea that people receive someone else’s generosity, then choose to pass it on.
Hundreds show generosity at Newington, Conn. Starbucks [NECN] (Warning: auto-play video!)
“We’re just doing a little bit of a different technique,” a Melbourne police sergeant tells Florida Today. “When we pull the motorists over, we’re also giving them the scratch-off tickets that the officers bought with their own personal funds. It’s something good to do in light of the holidays. We’re getting a lot of surprised looks… people don’t know what to say.”
Police say that by early afternoon on Wednesday they had already handed out 30 lottery tickets to speeding motorists and others pulled over for moving violations.
That “unhealthy choice” on the left looks awfully familiar.
Listing fast food under the heading of “Unhealthy choice,” the McResource site said that while picking up a meal at the drive-thru is “convenient and economical for a busy lifestyle, fast foods are typically high in calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar, and salt and may put people at risk for becoming overweight.”
It was this revelation that a McDonald’s website would effectively be telling people to not eat McDonald’s all the time that finally drove the fast food giant to shut the site down, reports CNN.
“A combination of factors has led us to re-evaluate and we’ve directed the vendor to take down the website,” reads a statement from McDonald’s. “Between links to irrelevant or outdated information, along with outside groups taking elements out of context, this created unwarranted scrutiny and inappropriate commentary. None of this helps our McDonald’s team members.”
A recent study showed that a majority of fast food workers in the U.S. receive some sort of public benefits, leading some to argue that these companies are using welfare and other programs to effectively subsidize the wages they pay to their employees, to the tune of nearly $4 billion a year that comes from taxpayers.
Traffic Crash Reported on Liberia Avenue in Manassas Patch.com At least two people are being airlifted to a local hospital after a traffic crash on Liberia Avenue in Manassas, according to the Manassas Volunteer Fire Department Facebook page. Authorities responded to a traffic crash around 2:30 p.m. on Liberia ... |
Fire fighters are being stationed in DC's Trinidad neighborhood to deter crime, but residents and fire fighters question the effectiveness of the city's efforts.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department responded to a fire along the 1900 block of Westmoreland Street in McLean, Virginia on Thursday afternoon.
A Virginia woman faces multiple charges after a domestic dispute in Manassas.
