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The Annual Obligatory Post About The Return Of Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte
The ‘bucks recently announced on the drink’s Twitter account — yes, a beverage that is only on sale for a couple months out of the year has its more followers than most humans — that the limited-time gourd-flavored hot beverage will go on sale Aug. 25 this year, which is earlier than usual for the PSL.
And if history has taught us anything, it’s that some Starbucks stores will just go ahead and start selling the pumpkin-y, spicy, latte-y drink whenever they damn-well feel like.
So now is the time for PSL fans to start hassling their local Stabucks to just start making the drinks already and save customers the apparent agony of having to wait.
As for me, I make my own PSL at home by shoving an entire can of pumpkin, some clotted cream, a handful of cloves, some cinnamon sticks, and a few tablespoons of recycled coffee grounds in my Mr. Coffee. It’s a work in progress, and only four of my friends have gotten ill after trying it.
by Chris Morran via Consumerist
Todo sobre tabletas para el aula: Educación 3.0
via Educación tecnológica http://ift.tt/1mR2xFx www.bscformacion.com
SeaWorld San Diego Pledges To Double The Size Of Orca Environment, Spend $10M On Research
What’s a company that makes its money off captive marine life to do when a documentary stirs up controversy? If you’re SeaWorld, you start coming up with ways to quell the critics: SeaWorld San Diego announced today that it’s going to double the size of its orca environment and spend $10 million in research on killer whales, as well as setting up an independent advisory committee with scientists to supervise its orca program.
The Blue World Project will basically double the current area where the orcas hang out, spanning 1.5 acres with 50-foot deep waters and stretching 350 feet in length, reports the Los Angeles Times. There will also be a viewing window down below for visitors to see the whales from underwater.
“Through up-close and personal encounters, the new environment will transform how visitors experience killer whales,” Jim Atchison, chief executive officer and president of SeaWorld Entertainment Inc., said in a statement. “Our guests will be able to walk alongside the whales as if they were at the shore, watch them interact at the depths found in the ocean, or a birds-eye view from above.”
The 10 whales in San Diego will have to wait until 2018 for the project to be finished, while other SeaWorld Parks in Orlando and San Antonio will also introduce similar improvements, officials said.
The advisory group will be put in place to maximize the “health and well-being” of the orcas, and includes an emeritus professor at the UC Davis veterinary school, a researcher at UC Santa Cruz, a physiologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, and more.
That hefty chunk of change SeaWorld is pledging toward research will go to projects sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to study how orcas hear, reproduce and eat in the wild.
But will that be enough for critics, who decry the very fact that such animals are kept in captivity in the first place? Probably not, if the response from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is any indication.
“This is a desperate drop-in-the-bucket move to try to turn back the hands of time when people understand the suffering of captive orcas, and it will not save the company,” said the group’s director of animal law, Jared Goodman. “A bigger prison is still a prison.”
Today’s announcement seems to be an effort to soothe worried investors on Wall Street, after SeaWorld’s economic fortunes took a turn for the worse after the documentary Blackfish. Shares of SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. dropped 33% this week, after the company’s earnings fell short of expectations.
Amid ‘Blackfish’ backlash, SeaWorld to expand orca environments [Los Angeles Times]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist
Alaska Airlines Employee Volunteers To Return Lost Cat To Owner 2,300 Miles Away
14-year-old Itty Bitty was eventually reunited with his owner thanks to a helpful Alaska Airlines employee.
Imagine losing your cat on the very day that you are planning to move thousands of miles away. And then, miraculously, someone finds your feline friend a few weeks later. But by that point, you’re so far away that you can’t afford to fly or drive back to bring him back.
This is exactly what happened to a woman from Seattle, whose cat ran away on July 4th weekend as she was packing the car for her move to Ohio.
The woman delayed her trip two weeks while searching in vain for Itty Bitty, her 14-year-old orange and white tabby pal. But eventually she had to leave.
Then a neighbor found the cat and called the folks at Seattle cat shelter Kitty Harbor, who wrote that Itty Bitty “was in poor shape, starving, a fresh deep gash in his neck and a bloody mouth with teeth missing.”
With the cat healing in the shelter, his relieved owner and Kitty Harbor went on Facebook trying to figure out a way for someone to help reunite her with Itty Bitty, who was still in too poor health to travel in the cargo section of a plane.
That’s how an employee for Alaska Airlines learned about the situation and figured she could work Itty Bitty’s return into her travel plans.
“We hadn’t seen Chicago yet, so I thought, why not,” she explains. “We can help out, and see the sights at the same time.”
But since Chicago is still many hours’ drive from Dayton, OH, where Itty Bitty’s owner had moved, the airline employee rented a car and drove out to Indiana to meet her halfway.
“We have two cats and I couldn’t imagine being without them,” said the employee. “They really are part of your family.”
by Chris Morran via Consumerist
Consumerist Friday Flickr Finds
Here are eight of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool in the last week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness.
Our Flickr Pool is the place where Consumerist readers upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Want to see your pictures on our site? Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click “Join Group?” up on the top right. Choose your best photos, then click “send to group” on the individual images you want to add to the pool.
by Laura Northrup via Consumerist
Albertsons, Jewel-Osco, ACME, Shaw’s Supermarkets Hit By Credit Card Data Breach
Welcome to the weekend everyone! What better way to kick things off than with the news that one of the nation’s largest supermarket operators has had its card payment system compromised at chains like Albertsons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, and ACME.
According to AB Acquisition LLC, which operates these chains and others, the company “recently learned of an unlawful intrusion to obtain credit and debit card payment information in some of its stores.”
The company says that it has brought in the authorities and that it working with its IT services provider and third-party data forensics experts to investigate the cause and breadth of the breach.
It looks like the hack began on June 22 and ended by July 17.
As of this morning, AB Acquisition said it could not find evidence that any cardholder data was in fact stolen, or that any cardholder information had been misused.
In a statement, the company said it “believes that the intrusion has been contained and is confident that its customers can safely use their credit and debit cards in its stores.”
The hack affected the following stores:
Albertsons: stores in Southern California, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming and Southern Utah.
ACME: stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.
Jewel-Osco: stores in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana.
Shaw’s and Star Markets: stores in Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
The company says it will be posting more information on albertsons.com, acmemarkets.com, jewelosco.com, and shaws.com within 24 hours.
Customers whose cards may have been affected are being offered 12 months of complimentary consumer identity protection services. Starting today at 4 p.m. ET, concerned customers from these stores can call AllClear ID at 1-855-865-4449 to learn about this offer.
by Chris Morran via Consumerist
Ford Recalls 83,000 Vehicles Because Losing Power Or Rolling Away Isn’t A Perk
Another day, another round of cars that might roll away even if they appear to be in the “park” position. This time Ford is recalling more than 83,000 vehicles because a faulty part could cause them to lose power to roll away.
The latest recall affects nearly 83,250 model year 2012 to 2014 Edges and Lincoln MKX, model year 2013-2014 Flex and Lincoln MKT, and model year 2013-2014 Taurus and Lincoln MKS.
According to a notice [PDF] from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the recall was initiated because an improperly installed clip in the axle – the halfshaft – can disengage from the linkshaft. If that occurs the power won’t be transmitted to the wheels, in turn, making the car stop and increasing the risk of a crash.
Additionally, if the parking brake isn’t engaged before exiting, the vehicle may roll away despite being placed in the “park” position.
Ford will notify owners and dealers of the issue starting at the end of the month. The vehicles will be inspected and if the issue is present, the linkshaft and halfshaft will be replaced.
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist
Woman Burns Mouth On Sweet Tea Filled With Industrial Cleaning Chemicals At Restaurant
There’s nothing quite like taking a big sip of a nice cold drink when you’re thirsty — unless that beverage is filled with chemical cleaners used to degrease restaurant deep fryers. Officials say a 67-year-old woman burned her mouth when she drank from a cup of sweet tea at a restaurant that was laced with lye.
According to the Associated Press, the woman took one sip from her drink at a Utah restaurant, after getting it from a self-serve station, and spit it out.
“I think I just drank acid,” she told her husband.
She had, police say, as the drink contained a highly toxic cleaning solution, similar to what’s in drain cleaners and strong enough to clean a deep fryer. She ended up in the hospital’s burn unit in critical condition, and has been there since the incident on Sunday.
Her lawyer says she’s fighting for her life right now, and unable to talk.
The restaurant’s manager and investigators say that a worker accidentally poured in the chemical thinking it was sugar, dumping a large amount of it into the iced-tea dispenser. No one else drank the chemical tea, as a worker tossed the rest after the woman burned her mouth.
“It’s disturbing that this kind of toxic, poisonous material would be in the food-prep area and somehow find its way into the iced tea vat,” the woman’s lawyer said. “I don’t know how something like that can happen.”
Police are still investigating, but believe it was accidental, a police representative said. And the woman’s lawyer is waiting until that investigation is finished before deciding on any legal action.
The owner of the franchise location said he’s praying for the woman, and cooperating with officials.
Chemical-filled tea burns woman at Utah restaurant [Associated Press]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist
Why Ship Four Hockey Sticks In One Box When You Can Use Four?
Reader Leeny placed an order from Amazon: four hockey sticks, because Amazon really does sell everything. We have to admit that hockey sticks pose a packaging challenge, but Amazon was up to the task with tall and spacious boxes. What prompted Leeny to take some pictures and send them to Consumerist was that each of her sticks was mailed in a box that could have fit a few dozen more.
Did the four sticks come from different warehouses? We checked, and learned that they came from the same facility on the same day. There goes that theory.
“I put them in one box just to see if they’d fit,” Leeny wrote. “They did, with room to spare for about 30 more.” Of course, there’s a difference between just fitting in a box and shipping safely. Is it safer to let one stick jostle around in a box with some cushioning, or to send more than one to hit each other inside the box?
We don’t know, but apparently the experts at Amazon have this sorted, and “four boxes” is their solution.
by Laura Northrup via Consumerist