Original Patent For Perforated Toilet Paper On A Roll Solves Over Vs. Under Debate Once And For All

After pitting loved ones and enemies alike against each other for what feels like all of human existence, it seems we may finally have a definitive winner in the “over vs. under” toilet paper draping debate.

Though there are still likely to be those who remain loyal to the “under” side of the line, as writer Owen Williams points out on Twitter, Seth Wheeler’s original patent for his perforated toilet paper invention in 1891 shows the paper in an “over” position, indicating that that is how it’s meant to be used.

The patent for toilet paper should settle the over vs under debate http://ift.tt/1GgpOeQ

— Owen Williams (@ow) March 17, 2015

Indeed, another drawing from the Google patents database shows the paper on the outside of the roll as well:

(Google patents)

Wheeler’s Albany Perforated Wrapping Paper Company was the first in the world to make perforated toilet paper, originally patenting that idea in 1871 (PDF) before the 1891 patent added the roll aspect.

And it seems even back then, Wheeler knew people would be prone to using too much paper in the john.

“In carrying out my invention the sheets of paper are only partially separated, having their points of attachment arranged in a novel manner, whereby each sheet will easily separate from the series as it is drawn from the roll, there being no litter occasioned, and any waste of paper is thereby prevented,” he wrote in the patent.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Musician Says Universal Music Has Hijacked His YouTube Videos With Bogus Copyright Claims

We’ve written before about companies making questionable copyright claims through YouTube’s automated Content-ID sytem with the goal of collecting ad revenue from the supposedly offending clips. But here’s a case of a musician who says his own music is being used by Universal Music Group to make a copyright claim against him.

TorrentFreak.com reports on the story of Norwegian musician Bjorn Lynne, who says that UMG has twice taken over the ads on YouTube clips of his music by falsely claiming copyright violations.

His most recent example involves the video for a tune called “Kingdom of the Persians,” from his soundtrack for the Seven Kingdoms video game.

According to Lynne, Universal at some point licensed the music to use in the background of an audiobook, which is all fine and good.

Unfortunately, it looks like UMG took the step of putting that audiobook recording into the YouTube Content-ID system. When the copyright bots matched up Lynne’s recording to the background music of the audiobook (because the two are identical), he received an automated copyright notice saying that ads would be placed on his video and that Universal would get the money.

Lynne says he can understand the confusion arising from the automated system. However, when he filed a written dispute with YouTube about the claim, he was ultimately told that UMG had determined they were the rightful holders of the copyright and that the ads will stay.

“The only reasonable thing to do here, for me, would be to hire a top lawyer to go after them legally,” admits Lynne. “But realistically, it’s like $350 per hour for a lawyer and a 3-hour minimum for a case, so I’m looking at over $1,000 just to get something started.”

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Domino’s Offering 50% Off All Pizzas Ordered Online Through March 22

(brandylee)

Because sitting in front of the TV watching basketball game after basketball game can really get your appetite worked up, Domino’s is trying to capitalize on March Madness by offering a 50% discount on all pizzas ordered online this week.

Through March 22, customers ordering pies through Domino’s web site or on its mobile apps for phones and tablets will get half off the regular menu price for every pizza.

The coupon works for either delivery or takeout and there’s no limit on how many pizzas can be ordered, but it can’t be combined with others offered on the site.

There’s also a minimum purchase required, as well as the potential for a delivery charge and taxes in your area. When I only had a small, plain cheese pizza in my online cart for $3.99 plus a delivery charge of $2.25 and taxes of $0.55, I was informed that at $6.79, I didn’t meet the minimum order of $7.99.

Best to go in hungry, then.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Report: Apple Could Accept Android Phones As Trade-Ins

(Scott Akerman)

If you’re interested in witching to Apple smartphones and want to trade your old device in at an Apple Store, until now, you’ve been out of luck. That might be about to change, since word is out on the street that Apple might deign to accept Android phones as instant trade-ins at their retail stores.

Apple Stores accepted trade-ins of other devices before 2013, but only for recycling and only for a modest discount, not a trade-in amount that might tempt someone with an aging but still-working smartphone to trade in their device. They began a trade-in program in 2013, and now the word on the street is that the company plans to start accepting Android devices as trade-ins so they can convert more current Android phone users to Apple devices.

Of course, you can avoid this whole issue entirely by purchasing your phone from a wireless carrier, or by selling your old device to a trade-in service. You could even sell it to someone else for cash. While you could theoretically get more money by re-homing your device in another way, but being able to hand over an old device makes the purchase of a new device and switching phone types on a whim more convenient. Will that prompt more people to buy iPhones? If Apple implements this plan, we will find out.

Apple’s trade-in policy may soon include gift cards for rival devices [9to5Mac]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Sling TV Adding More Channels To Base Package, Now Works On Xbox One

Dish’s standalone streaming Sling TV service continues to add more value to its $20/month subscription price, with the announcement today that Sling is now accessible through Xbox One consoles and that four channels are being added to the standard Sling lineup.

The four upcoming additions to the base package are A&E, History, H2, and Lifetime. When these launch, that will bring the standard tier of Sling service up to 20 channels of live TV.

As much as we support anything that disrupts the standard pay-TV model and offers much-needed competition in this market, remember that while Sling does offer the ability to rewind and pause some live TV streams, it disables that functionality for most of the channels in its lineup.

Additionally, while a handful of Sling channels allow you to go back and watch shows that have aired over the previous few days, there is no real DVR function. So if you miss a show, odds are you’ll have to wait for a rerun (and catch it live) or buy the episode from Amazon or iTunes.

Sling is also launching two new add-on packages of channels, each for $5. The “Lifestyle Extra” currently includes truTV, Cooking Channel, DIY and WE tv. Two more channels — FYI and LMN — will soon be added. Then there’s the “World News Extra” package that includes Bloomberg TV, HLN, Euro News, France 24, NDTV 24/7, News 18 and Russia Today.

Sling is finally available on gaming consoles now that it’s streaming on Xbox One, where users can also get a free month-long trial of Sling.

Considering that this launch is flagged as an Xbox “exclusive,” and since Sony has its own streaming service in the offing, we aren’t holding out much hope that we’ll see Sling on PS4 anytime in the immediate future.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Microsoft Putting Internet Explorer Brand Out Of Its Misery

(msmail)

It’s been a long, slow march toward the end, but now Internet Explorer as a brand is facing the executioner: Microsoft confirmed that it’s ditching the IE name for its upcoming browser, which is known as Project Spartan at the moment.

Microsoft’s marketing chief Chris Capossela spoke at Microsoft Convergance yesterday about the fate of the brand, reports The Verge, saying the company is now working on something new for the browser’s next iteration.

“We’re now researching what the new brand, or the new name, for our browser should be in Windows 10,” said Capossela. “We’ll continue to have Internet Explorer, but we’ll also have a new browser called Project Spartan, which is codenamed Project Spartan. We have to name the thing.”

Internet Explorer won’t be completely dead (just mostly), as it’ll dwell in some versions of Windows 10; but for the most part, Project Spartan will be the main way Windows 10 users will surf the web.

It seems whatever the new browser is named, it’ll likely have the word “Microsoft” in front of it, as that brand boosted the appeal over Internet Explorer for some users in researching the new name.

“Just by putting the Microsoft name in front of it, the delta for Chrome users on appeal is incredibly high,” says Capossela.

Microsoft is killing off the Internet Explorer brand [The Verge]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Shoplifter Arrested After Shoving Steak Down His Pants

(Coyoty)

A 53-year-old man in Arkansas was arrested last week for shoplifting. His crime was one that has long fascinated us here at Consumerist: he is accused of trying to steal steaks from a Food Giant grocery store by shoving them down his pants. While this might seem like a logical and delicious enough crime, it’s also kind of a noticeable one. Also, no one will want to eat the meat.

The total value of the stolen meat was $57, and police report that $157 worth of other merchandise was damaged in this incident. The suspect pushed a shopping cart into the shin of a store employee and tried to run out of the store, but the employee was still able to stop the suspect from running out of the store.

We don’t know what it is about steak that makes people want to stuff it down their pants. Criminals have been known to shove other meats down their pants too, including steak and lobster, a deli turkey breast, a non-kosher trifecta with lobster, shrimp, and pork, beef tongue, bacon, but steak is the most popular by far.

Man Arrested after Stuffing Steaks Into His Pants [NWA Homepage]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Nintendo Announces Plans To Make Games For Mobile Devices

(kenfagerdotcom)

Have a hankering to play Super Mario at the bus stop but don’t have the portable gaming console to satisfy that urge? Soon video games from Nintendo will make the move from consoles to mobile devices, as the company announces a partnership with an online gaming firm to develop and operate new apps.

Nintendo’s console sales have been struggling, but this mobile venture with online company DeNA doesn’t signal the end of the company’s business in that area entirely, reports Reuters.

“This will allow us to build a bridge between smart devices and gaming consoles,” Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said. “It doesn’t mean smart devices will eat away at gaming consoles, it will create an entirely new type of demand.”

He didn’t reveal which games will be the first to hit the mobile market, but did say that it wouldn’t be one of the classic titles we already know like Super Mario or the Legend of Zelda.

As part of the new partnership between the companies, Nintendo and DeNA will also debut an online membership service to work with games on its mobile devices, as well as the Wii U console and the 3DS portable device.

Super Mario to go mobile as Nintendo ventures into smartphone games [Reuters]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

You Can’t Discharge Your Student Loans In Bankruptcy Because Of Panicked 1970s Legislation

United Airlines Flight Forced To Turn Around After Passenger Reportedly Makes Run For Cockpit Door

(afagen)

A United Airways flight bound for Denver was forced to turn back to Washington Dulles Airport after a passenger reportedly made a rush for the cockpit door, and had to be restrained. An airline spokesman says the passenger “failed to comply with crew instructions” last night.

According to audio of air traffic control transmissions from LiveATC.net (via USA Today), the pilot alerted controllers to the troublesome passenger.

“We had a passenger becoming violent. No weapons involved. He’s restrained by other passengers now, though,” the pilot says in the recording. “We don’t know his mental health condition. Sounds like he’s restrained for now. We just need to get on the ground.”

The pilot says he ran towards the cockpit, but that the cockpit was secure and the crew wanted to return to the airport to have authorities deal with him, reports FOX 31 Denver.

One passenger said two men grabbed the unruly man and held him to the floor.

“One held his feet and the other one kind of laid on top of him and then the flight attendants went and got some plastic restraints for his arms,” she told FOX 31. “At one point when his head was down he said there were jihadists in the cargo hold and he did say jihad a couple times.”

A phone video uploaded to YouTube shows the man being held down by his fellow passengers, as one tries to reassure him while he struggles.

“Don’t move,” the other passenger says. “You’re okay. We’re going to get you off this plane, buddy.”

The plane landed back at Dulles around 10:40 last night, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said, adding that no passengers were injured and there were no weapons found.

“A passenger was removed from the plane and transported to a local hospital for evaluation,” she said.

Though the plane went on to Denver, no passengers were on it as the flight attendants reportedly didn’t want to fly after the incident. Travelers instead will be on Denver-bound flights this morning, United said.

‘Violent’ passenger forces flight to return to Dulles [USA Today]

Denver-bound United Airlines flight turns around after passenger reportedly runs toward cockpit [FOX 31]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist