Editors’ Picks For Favorite Posts Of 2013

Earlier today, we published a round-up of the most popular Consumerist posts from 2013. That list only represents about .2% of all the stories posted to Consumerist in the last year, meaning thousands of important, funny, interesting, and helpful posts didn’t make the cut. So we each looked back at the year that was to pick the stories that meant the most to us.

Laura Northrup:

Favorite Post: Walmart Now Offers “Naughty” Costumes For Toddler Girls

Why It’s My Favorite: It had everything: cute children, Walmart, a discussion of how the meanings of words shift in contexts and over time, and angry people e-mailing us to call me a pervert. I maintain that the bigger problem with the costume was that it doesn’t look anything like a leopard.

Honorary Mentions:

• Hobby Lobby May Have Overreacted To Theft Of $5 Worth Of Iron-On Letters;

• Sears Admits: People Only Come To Our Stores To Park;

• Nation’s Two Largest Funeral Companies To Merge, Form Bereavement Voltron

• Bertolli Takes Advantage Of Barilla’s PR Problems, Says Their Pasta Is For Everyone

Chris Morran:

Favorite Post: Former Staffers: Bank Of America Rewarded Us For Lying To Homeowners, Losing Paperwork, Denying Modifications

Why It’s My Favorite: In the years following BofA’s ill-advised acquisition of Countrywide Financial, the bank attempted to blame the too-common complaints — lost paperwork, delayed filings, rushed foreclosures, inept customer service — on the bad paperwork it had inherited from Countrywide. But these sworn statements from former BofA employees highlighted the bank’s calculated, systemic attempt to push homeowners toward foreclosure.

BofA has subsequently tried to discredit these employees, but the mud slung by the bank focused on making the former workers look like bad people, rather than attempting to prove that the claims made in the statements are false.

Honorable Mentions:

• After A Dine-And-Dash, Is It Legal For A Restaurant To Take Money From A Waiter’s Tips?;

• How Far Off Were The Predictions Of 1967′s Home Of The Future?;

• 23 Things Debt Collectors Are Not Allowed To Do;

• Proof That Bank Of America’s Twitter Account Is Moderated By Robots Or Morons (Or Moronic Robots)

Mary Beth Quirk

Favorite Post: There Is No Such Thing As An Apple Core

Why It’s My Favorite: Sure, it’s simple, but it was one of those posts that I felt personally attached to because I was physically eating an apple and living through the experience of realizing there really is no core. I also love it when there’s a topic that is so polarizing — without having to involve anyone or any entity other than the person who cannot fathom eating an entire apple. I connected with that apple in its corelessness, and it changed my food-eating habits… I’d like to think it affected other people as well.

Honorable Mentions:

• Slushie Machine Wonders What It Ever Did To Naked Woman Attacking It At Gas Station;

• 15 Explanations For Company Name Mashups You Never Knew You Wanted Explained;

• 11 Company Slogans That Say What We Know To Be The Real Truth;

• 5 Foods That Have More Sugar Than A Krispy Kreme Doughnut

Meg Marco:

Favorite Post: We Are In The Era Of “Nightmare” Bacteria And Nobody Seems To Care

Why It’s My Favorite: When the CDC says the word “nightmare,” it’s time to pay attention. I think that if people stopped to take a closer look at the way we, as a society, and, hell, as an organism, are stupidly wasting antibiotics, they’d rethink their behaviors. For the most part, people who are alive today don’t remember what medicine was like before the widespread availability of antibiotics. If we don’t pay attention to how we are using them now, we may not have to remember.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Raise Your Hand If You’d Move Out Of A House Hit By Cars 11 Times In 30 Years

(WTHR.com)

There you are, sitting in your living room watching some TV when WHAM! An SUV comes roaring through the wall of your house. “Oh, honey, not again!” you mutter to your husband. Yes, again: One house in Indiana has had the misfortune of being struck by cars not once, not twice, but about 11 times in the last 30 years.

In what sounds like an insurance company’s worst nightmare — and also your own nightmare if you happen to appreciate a house that is intact — the Indy Star says the couple who live in the home were minding their own business on Sunday, watching the Colts game in their living room.

Suddenly a Chevy Equinox crashed through the wall, missing the woman by perhaps a foot.

“This time I thought she was dead, five inches away from it,” the husband told WTHR. “I had no idea how something didn’t hit her. She was sitting just on the other side of the wall there.”

When you have to say “this time” there could possibly be a bigger problem here, no? And that problem could be the fact that the house is near a railroad crossing, where speed could be an issue in many of the 11 or so crashes that have happened at the house, according to the fire department. Drivers could be trying to beat a train at the crossing, instead of getting stuck waiting for it to go by.

In this particular case, the 29-year-old driver wasn’t seriously injured, despite going through the windshield. She told officials that she’d been going too fast over the railroad tracks near the house and lost control of the car.

Despite the occasional danger that exists simply by living in the house, the woman’s mother who lives on the other side of the duplex home says she’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

“I’m staying,” she says. “They’ll have to carry me out.”

Indy house hit by vehicle for 11th time in 30 years [Indy Star]

Vehicle crashes into house – again [WTHR]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Shopping For Games For New PlayStation 2

Sure, the PS4 is now on the market, but not everyone keeps up with the hottest and latest consoles. For those people, especially if they have no idea what year it is, Walmart offers copies of decade-old PS2 games at comically high prices.

“This copy of PS2 NBA 2005 was in the large bin mixed with bargain CDs and DVDs,” notes reader Ian, who made this amazing find at a Walmart store in Florida.

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Walgreens Will Provide Some Prescriptions For A Month To Backlogged Health Care Enrollees

(KogeLiz)

One problem facing people who have been trying to sign up for healthcare under the Affordable Care Act but who haven’t been able to do so successfully is the dilemma of how to get certain medications once January hits. Walgreens says it’ll hand out a month’s worth of some prescriptions at no upfront cost to those people.

A variety of problems have hit many consumers trying to sign up for healthcare and some insurance companies say as a result, they’re not getting the right information in order to process all the forms needed to get people enrolled, reports Reuters.

So Walgreens is offering a bit of a helping hand by telling any customers who’ve enrolled in healthcare but don’t have the proper identification from an insurance company yet can simply bring in the proof of their efforts from now through the end of January at a pharmacy and get a month of generic medication.

It’s not entirely free forever, however — after the customer gets an ID number, Walgreen’s will then push through the insurance claim and will hold the customer responsible for any co-pay they should’ve had to pay originally.

Walgreen offers month of prescriptions to backlogged Obamacare enrollees [Reuters]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

First Hobbit Movie Was The Most Pirated Film Of 2013

While one might assume that the most popular movies are automatically the films that pirates would flock to download for free, the latest list of most-pirated flicks has some surprising results.

It may not be too shocking to see that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey — the first in Peter Jackson’s three-part cash-grab expansion of the not-terribly-lengthy Tolkien book — tops TorrentFreak’s list. The film, released toward the end of 2012, did manage to gross more than $1 billion internationally in theaters.

What is more surprising is the showing of Iron Man 3 — the highest grossing movie of 2013, with more than $1.2 billion in global box office receipts — in fourth place. That puts the Robert Downey Jr. superhero flick behind Tarantino’s Django Unchained and Fast and the Furious 6, neither of which came close to raking in the cash of the third Iron Man movie.

One could argue that The Hobbit and Django received more downloads than these others because they were released several months earlier, giving pirates more opportunities to download them.

Both Fast & Furious 6 and Iron Man 3 were released in May, and yet the speedy-car movie outpaced the fantasy folks by an estimated 300,000 downloads, according to TorrentFreak.

Other surprises include Silver Linings Playbook being the fifth most pirated title of the year, as it was only the 34th most popular movie at the box office. Similarly, Gangster Squad was the 54th highest grossing movie released in 2013, but seventh on the most-pirated list.

Meanwhile, huge 2013 hits like Despicable Me 2 ($918 million worldwide gross) and Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($795 million) didn’t even make the top 10 list for TorrentFreak. Granted, the second Hunger Games movie just came out in November, but the Despicable Me sequel was released stateside in July. Guess pirates don’t care about scoring illegally shared films for kids.

You can see the whole list at TorrentFreak.com

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Consumerist’s Most Popular Stories From 2013

2013 ends in a few hours, and in the year since we last popped champagne corks and pretended to know the words to “Auld Lang Syne,” we’ve posted more than 5,000 stories to Consumerist, covering everything from Wall Street to Capitol Hill to the drive-thru lane. Some of these posts attracted a few more readers than others.

Here are the 10 posts that received the most interest from Consumerist readers:

1. EA Makes Worst Company In America History, Wins Title For Second Year In A Row!

In which the video game publisher again beats out Bank of America to win the Golden Poo.

2. Waitress Who Posted No-Tip Receipt From “Pastor” Customer Fired From Job and Diner Thinks That Saying He’s A Pastor Allows Him To Stiff Waiter On Tip

In which a waitress posts a rude receipt note online, then loses her job even though she never revealed the customer’s name… and tells Consumerist all about it afterward.

3. Using The EECB Gets Me A SimCity Refund, But What About Everyone Else?

In which customers go up the ladder to get a worthwhile response from EA following the badly botched release of its long-awaited Sim City update.

4. Time Warner Boosts My Speed, Cuts My Bill: I Just Happen To Live Near Google Fiber

In which Time Warner Cable’s actions quietly demonstrate the urgent need for pricing competition in the consumer broadband market.

5. Waiter Praised For Refusing To Serve Family Who Insults Child With Down Syndrome

In which a Houston-area waiter puts his job at risk by standing up to customers who made rude comments about a young customer in the next booth.

6. Here’s A Photo That May Change Your Mind About Having Taco Bell For Lunch Today

In which an idiot California teen earns his way to the unemployment line by having himself photographed licking a stack of taco shells.

7. Geek Squad Accused Of Stealing, Distributing Customer’s Naked Photos. Yes, Again

In which Best Buy shows that its employees could use a refresher course on the whole “don’t snoop on customers’ devices” thing.

8. EA Admits It “Can Do Better” But Blames Worst Company Success On Homophobes And Whiny Madden Fans

In which the Worst Company In America winner places the blame for its bad reputation on hate groups and people who didn’t like Peyton Hillis on the cover of Madden NFL 12.

9. Straight Talk’s Unlimited Data: Actually Sort Of Limited

In which everyone learns that prepaid wireless service is just as anti-consumer as post-paid.

10. How Not To React To Internet Criticism: The Epic Facebook Meltdown Of Amy’s Baking Company

In which Gordon Ramsay thanks his lucky stars his producers convinced him to visit a small Arizona eatery owned by two of the most high-strung people to ever grace the TV.

Later today, we’ll be posting our editors’ picks for those stories near and dear to our hearts that didn’t make the top 10 for the year.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Is Saving $1/Month Worth Entirely Ditching HD On Netflix?

Netflix has begun testing a new pricing option for some streaming customers. It’s $1/month cheaper than the standard $7.99/month plan most customers pay for. What do you give up to save that dollar? HD access and the ability to stream videos on multiple devices simultaneously.

The $6.99 plan, which the company says will not necessarily be offered to everyone, limits all streaming to standard definition and only allows the subscriber to have one device streaming Netflix video at a time. That means no HD streaming and no account-sharing, even within your own family. The standard $7.99 plan allows for one account to have two users streaming simultaneously, and there is an $11.99/month plan that ups that limit to four simultaneous streams.

For people that watch Netflix over dependable high-speed broadband connections straight to their TVs, giving up the HD option may not seem like a worthwhile exchange to only save a dollar. But customers with slower and less reliable Internet access — or people who primarily watch Netflix on their wireless devices — may be able to save a buck without seeing too noticeable a dip in quality. Having not been able to compare the streams side-by-side it’s impossible to say for sure.

Netflix is likely hoping that this option might help ease some of the tensions between the company and cable/Internet providers, some of whom have been accused of deliberately allowing Netflix feeds to become backed up during peak periods, rather than taking simple steps to ease the logjam.

Most streaming rental services, including iTunes and Amazon, offer customers both HD and SD options, with the HD version usually costing a little more to rent or purchase. And Netflix already allows customers the option of receiving a lower-quality stream so as to not be such a data hog.

For now, Netflix is simply positioning the lower-priced tier as a test option that may not even be rolled out.

“We always are testing new things and this is a test for a $6.99 single stream plan,” a Netflix rep tells AdWeek. “Not all people will see this option and it may not be something we ever offer generally.”

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Brewpub Shows Starbucks “The F Word” After Legal Demand To Stop Selling “Frappicino” Beer

An excerpt from the brewpub’s response to Starbucks’ cease-and-desist request (via Facebook)

Still stinging from yet another legal defeat against a small New Hampshire coffee company over the “Charbucks” brand, the Starbucks legal team appears to be going after lower-hanging fruit, sending a cease-and-desist letter to a small Missouri brewpub that dared to sell something called Frappicino beer.

The owner of Exit 6 Pub and Brewery in Cottleville, MO, posted the legal letter on his company’s Facebook page last week.

“As you probably know, Starbucks Coffee Co. is the owner of a number of world-famous trademarks, including the well-known FRAPPUCINO trademark,” reads the letter, which then takes issue with Exit 6′s Frappicino, which the letter notes “only differs from Starbucks Coffee Co.’s FRAPPUCINO mark by one letter, and is phonetically identical.”

Starbucks feels that the use of the similar sounding names “is likely to cause confusion, mistake, or deception among consumers” and requests that Exit 6 stop using the term “Frappicino” and have the beer de-listed from the Untappd website on which Starbucks located the beverage.

We have no idea if Exit 6 makes good beer or food, but the reply to the cease-and-desist order was worth a laugh.

In a tongue-in-cheek attempt to avoid further confusion, the response from the owner opts to refer to “Frappuccino” as “The F Word,” and his tone matches the haughty legalese that is always packed into c&d notices.

“As you probably don’t know, Exit 6 is the proud owner of no trademarks,” reads the response, “including our own name much less than the name ‘F Word’ and nothing about Exit 6 is incontestable.”

Whereas the original Starbucks letter establishes the company’s bona fides by needlessly stating that Starbucks had sold millions of cups of coffee in the U.S. and abroad, the brewpub’s response notes that “Exit 6 has proudly sold at least 38 drinks in Cottleville, MO.”

The response also points out that, while there was that one-letter difference between the Starbucks trademark and the Exit 6 beer, the brewpub owners has actually planned on copying the name.

“Luck for us, we’re poor spelers,” reads the response.

However, in spite of the plan to use the Frappucino name, the owners say they never had any intention of confusing consumers.

“We never thought that our beer drinking customers would have thought that the alcoholic beverage coming out of the tap would have actually been coffee from one of the many, many, many stores located a few blocks away,” explains the letter. “I guess with there being a Starbucks on every corner of every block in every city that some people may think they could get a Starbucks at a local bar. So that was our mistake.”

The brewpub has also pledged to stop selling its “Starbuck-McDonalds-Coca Cola-Marlboro Honey Lager.”

In order to atone for its sins, Exit 6 chose to send Starbucks a check for $6, thus covering all of the profits it received from the three Frappicino beers customers mentioned buying on Untappd. The owners hope it can go toward Starbucks’ legal fees, as it certainly cost the coffee colossus more than that just to have its lawyer send the form letter.

“We just want to help a business like Starbucks,” concludes the response. “Us small businesses need to stick together.”

Local brewpub’s sarcastic response to Starbucks letter [KSDK.com via Eater.com]

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

‘Wichcraft Sandwich Shops Reveal Credit Card Hack From 3 Months Ago

The ‘wichcraft location in New York City’s Bryant Park. (Photo: @wichcraft)

While it’s certainly not on the scale of the recent Target breach, ‘wichcraft, the chain of sandwich shops co-founded by Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio, announced yesterday that its payment card system for locations in NYC and San Francisco was compromised for several weeks earlier this year, giving hackers access to customers’ names, card numbers, security codes, and expiration dates.

According to a statement posted on the chain’s website [PDF], the hack began around Aug. 11 and continued until Oct. 2. While the company says it immediately took steps to prevent future hacks and that it’s working with law enforcement to help investigate the incident, there is no information provided as to why no announcement was made about the breach until Dec. 30.

“We take our obligation to safeguard your personal information very seriously,” reads the statement. “We are alerting affected customers about this incident so they can take steps to help protect their information.”

As happens in these situations, ‘wichcraft is reminding people to check their credit reports, and that they can get a free report once a year from each of the three main credit bureaus via http://www.annualcreditreport.com.

“We encourage you to remain vigilant by reviewing your account statements and monitoring your free credit reports,” writes ‘wichcraft. “If you believe your payment card may have been affected, we recommend that you immediately contact your bank or card issuer.”

‘wichcraft customers who wish to speak directly with someone at the company can call (866) 942-4272, ext. 6, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. EST.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Stopframeanimator, para crear vídeos con técnica Stop Motion

via Educación tecnológica http://villaves56.blogspot.com/2013/12/stopframeanimator-para-crear-videos-con.html www.bscformacion.com