Creator Of The Cronut Says He Eats One Every Day Because Come On, Of Course He Does

(ccho)

Perhaps you’ve experienced that cycle familiar to many home cooks: You come up with a recipe, it turns out reeeally well and so you end up making it a lot… until eventually, you get sick of it and move on, dusting that favorite off now and again. But Dominique Ansel, the creator of the cronut, has to eat one of his pastries every single day as part of his job. Poor guy.

In a video interview with Bloomberg as parts of its “Eureka!” series, Ansel explains how he came up with the idea for the immensely popular pastry that launched a thousand other frankenpastries.

When he was starting his bakery in 2011, he said he wanted to do a doughnut because well, this is America and we love our doughnuts. But being French, he didn’t have his own recipe. So he just decided to combine his beloved croissant with the traditional fried dough.

“I really love croissant and I wanted to combine some similar techniques and textures,” he explains, adding that it took him about three months of playing around before he came up with the final recipe.

The cronut arrived in 2013 and was greeted almost immediately by lengthy lines at the bakery from customers trying to get their hands on the limited amount offered every day.

No customer can beat Ansel’s cronut-eating record however, as he says he still eats one every single day.

“I do have to eat a cronut every day for quality control,” he says with a grin. “I know it’s a good excuse.”

Some people have all the luck.

The Father of the Cronut on How He Created a Pastry Revolution [Bloomberg]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Amazon Shuts Down Service That Let Users Test Apps Before Buying Them Because No One Was Really Using It

(Screengrab via TechCrunch)

If you haven’t used — much less heard of — Amazon’s TestDrive service, designed to let customers check out how an app works before buying it, you’re not alone. The company says it’s shutting the program down due to “a significant decline” in usage, among other factors.

Launched in 2011, TestDrive let customers in the Amazon Appstore try out new applications using a browser-based simulation of Android, letting users control an app and see what it would be like to use on their Android device. The feature was also included on Android phones later as well, TechCrunch reports.

Along with the fact that not enough people were using TestDrive, Amazon said the “free to play” business model also contributed to the feature’s shutdown — many popular apps are mobile games where publishers make their money through in-app purchases instead of relying on raking in cash through paid downloads.

There’s no risk in “purchasing” a free app and not liking how it works, because well, you didn’t pay anything for it, so there’s no need to test it out beforehand if you can just delete it later without losing your money.

It seems developers weren’t really jumping to be a part of TestDrive either, as Amazon’s site notes only 16,000 apps took advantage of the service — a number that stayed the same between 2012 and now. Which means many Amazon users could’ve just been bumping into a wall when the app they wanted to test drive wasn’t supported.

Farewell, TestDrive, we hardly knew ye. No, really — we didn’t even know you existed.

Amazon Shuts Down TestDrive, The Appstore Feature That Let You Try Apps Before Downloading [TechCrunch]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Report: Justice Dept. May Recommend Blocking Comcast, Time Warner Cable Merger

(Kevin Burkett)

It’s been well over a year since Comcast announced its $45.2 billion plan to buy Time Warner Cable and regulators at the FCC and Justice Dept. have yet to indicate publicly whether they plan to approve the deal or sue to block it. However, a new report claims that antitrust lawyers at the DOJ are leaning toward putting the kibosh on this marriage of the nation’s two largest cable operators.

According to Bloomberg, the DOJ’s antitrust division may recommend within the coming weeks that the agency sue to block the merger.

It will be up to Renata Hesse, a deputy assistant attorney general for antitrust, and other members of the DOJ leadership to decide whether to follow that recommendation.

Bloomberg reports that the antitrust team has recently been contacting third parties with interests in the deal to gather the evidence the DOJ would need if it decided to sue to prevent the merger.

The FCC also has a say in the fate of this merger, but Bloomberg claims that the Commission has not been negotiating with Comcast about any conditions the government might put on the deal if it were approved.

Comcast maintains that “There is no basis for a lawsuit to block the transaction,” and still contends that the combining of the two companies “will result in significant consumer benefits — faster broadband speeds, access to a superior video experience, and more competition in business services resulting in billions of dollars of cost savings.”

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Chinese Luxury Car Buyers Shop The Very Unglamorous Gray Market

(Eric Norris)

Here at Consumerist, we’re fascinated with the global gray market: the system of parallel imports that gives us Omega watches from Paraguay at Costco and a pirate Trader Joe’s store in Canada. There are even bigger things that trade on the gray market, though: in Shanghai, there’s a place where luxury car buyers can save money by purchasing cars that haven’t been imported through official channels.

Shoppers looking for a great deal on a BMW or Mercedes can head to the Free Trade Zone in Shanghai, where they can find what can best be described as a “car store” that lacks any of the amenities that we normally associate with car dealerships, especially for luxury brands. The Wall Street Journal explains that the dealerships lack amenities like fancy seating and free snacks and beverages that you might expect in a high-end dealership. The advantage, which many buyers find too good to resist, is that they can save about 20% on the normal price of imported cars in China.

The two-month-old Waigaoqiao Automobile Exchange Market also lacks sales staff who know the merchandise as well as the employees of a normal dealership might. That makes sense, because they have to sell a wide variety of models, so they don’t have deep knowledge of any given brand. “Here we sell different brands and I must teach myself,” a salesman who used to work at a Volkswagen dealership explained.

Buyers find the conditions sparse and the staff gruff at best and rude at worst. They’re still buying, though, since they can’t resist a good deal. Eliminate haggling, and this might be the ideal car-buying environment for most Americans.

At Chinese Gray-Market Car Dealers, the Price Is Right [Wall Street Journal]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Households Earning $75,000 Eat Out Too Much To Save Any Money

(Great Beyond)

Earlier this week, the news broke that Americans are, as a whole spending more on dining out than on groceries. In a related piece of news, a study from bank SunTrust says that a surprisingly large portion of American households that earn $75,000 per year live paycheck to paycheck because they’re spending too much money on “lifestyle expenses” to put any money away.

Publishing these survey results was part of the bank’s push to get customers to save more money: in their SunTrust savings accounts, naturally. They also asked customers about their retirement savings, and why they aren’t saving money toward their goals. That led to the statistic making headlines: 1/3 of participants with incomes of $75,000 or more say that they aren’t reaching their savings goals. Out of those people, 68% said that they were spending too much on dining out. Not just lifestyle factors in general: specifically, they chose dining out as the reason why they aren’t saving enough money.

In an even sadder statistic, most customers between ages between ages 43 and 54 (63%) said that they don’t think they’re saving enough money for a comfortable retirement.

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Don’t Be Shocked When Lowe’s Won’t Sell You A $2,999 Fridge Mistakenly Priced At $298

No matter how many times we remind everyone that stores are generally under no legal obligation to honor a pricing mistake, some folks still seem to think that a retailer must make good — and lose hundreds, possibly thousands, of dollars — on something as obvious as a decimal error.

The latest story comes out of the Jacksonville, FL, area, where a couple spotted a fridge being sold at Lowe’s for 90% off its $2,999 original price.

“I was thinking this is crazy; this can’t be right,” the wife tells WJXT-TV. “We found a man working at Lowe’s on the floor and flagged him over and said we’re ready to purchase this, so we give them the tag and he immediately says, ‘Oh, no, we’re not going to sell it for this.'”

And even though they were told immediately that it was a pricing error and that the store couldn’t honor the $298 price on the tag, the couple insisted that they should only have to pay what it says on the tag.

“I asked him, ‘Why did you post this if it isn’t the right price? Like why did you put this about the fridge if you’re not going to honor it?’… And he said they don’t look at the price, they only look at the item number and then they tag it where it needs to go.”

In an effort to reach a resolution with the shoppers, the store offered them the fridge at $1,700 plus a $100 gift card.

But the couple refused that offer and say they have contacted a lawyer to get the fridge at the advertised price.

“Getting it for the price that they advertised, and then they should remove it if it’s wrong,” the wife explains. “But they should definitely honor that situation.”

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Report: Match.com Sign-In Security Flaw Could Be Putting Millions Of User Passwords At Risk

(Sister72)

Sure, love might be in the air — but that doesn’t mean tens of millions of Match.com users’ passwords should be floating around like so many bits of easily grabbed flotsam and jetsam. A new report says that due to an apparent security flaw in the dating site’s log-in process, millions of users are at risk for having their passwords stolen.

According to Ars Technica, a tip from an observant reader who noticed the issue in early March led to the find that passwords could be exposed whenever someone logs in, because Match.com doesn’t use HTTPS encryption to protect the page.

Simply using HTTP leaves the connection transmitting the data unprotected, giving anyone on the same public network as a user, for example, or other spies, the chance to snag those credentials, Ars points out.

On the other hand, employing an HTTPS connection makes the information unreadable to anyone but the end user and the server they’re connecting to.

Ars says its unclear how long the page has been unencrypted, and has asked Match.com for comment on the situation with no response thus far.

Match.com’s HTTP-only login page puts millions of passwords at risk [Ars Technica]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

“Batman v Superman” Trailer Leaks Online

Because of the Portuguese subtitles on the leaked trailer, it’s believed the video was shot at a theater in Brazil.

While the trailer for next year’s superhero showdown Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is supposed to be kept under wraps in the U.S. until after its IMAX premiere on Monday, a handheld video of the trailer has already made its way online.

According to Variety, copies of the video — which appears to have been shot in a theater in Brazil — have been pulled by YouTube, but other services, like vidme, are still hosting the shaky 2-minute clip that features Ben Affleck in his first go as Batman and Henry Cavill taking his sophomore shot at playing the Man of Steel.

The movie is scheduled to premiere in March 2016.

Studios and exhibitors love to use exclusive trailer premieres as a way to lure consumers into going to theaters, but it doesn’t always work. Last year, the trailer for Marvel’s first Avengers movie leaked in advance of its theatrical debut, leading the studio to just go ahead and release an official version of the trailer.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Group Of Doctors Want Dr. Oz Removed From Columbia Medical Faculty For Promoting “Quack Treatments”

Dr. Oz testifying in June 2014 before a Senate consumer protection subcommittee.

Citing what they call repeated “disdain for science and for evidence-based medicine,” a group of physicians has written a letter to Columbia University asking it to remove TV’s Dr. Mehmet Oz from his faculty position there.

Ten doctors signed the letter sent to Lee Goldman, dean of Columbia’s Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine, led by Dr. Henry Miller of California’s Stanford University, reports the Associated Press.

The group writes that Oz, who formerly practiced as a cardiothoracic surgeon before becoming a regular on the Oprah Winfrey show and starting his own brand of TV talk show medicine, “has manifested an egregious lack of integrity by promoting quack treatments and cures in the interest of personal financial gain.”

In repeatedly showing “disdain for evidence-based medicine” in pushing “miracle” weight-loss supplements that haven’t been scientifically proven, he has “misled and endangered” the public, the letter says.

Columbia told the AP in a statement only that it “is committed to the principle of academic freedom and to upholding faculty members’ freedom of expression for statements they make in public discussion.”

The AP couldn’t reach Oz for comment.

Last year, Dr. Oz was grilled by Missouri Senator Clair McCaskill, Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection during a hearing about the false and deceptive advertising of weight-loss products.

“When you feature a product on your show, it creates what has become known as ‘Oz Effect,’ dramatically boosting sales and driving scam artists to pop up overnight using false and deceptive ads to sell questionable products,” the Senator explained. “I’m concerned that you are melding medical advice, news and entertainment in a way that harms consumers.”

Dr. Oz admitted during that hearing that the weight-loss treatments he mentions on the show are frequently “crutches… You won’t get there without diet and exercise,” and that while he believes in the research he’s done, the research done on these treatments would probably not pass FDA muster.

Here’s the letter in full:

“We are surprised and dismayed that Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons would permit Dr. Mehmet Oz to occupy a faculty appointment, let alone a senior administrative position in the Department of Surgery.

As described here and here, as well as in other publications, Dr. Oz has repeatedly shown disdain for science and for evidence-based medicine, as well as baseless and relentless opposition to the genetic engineering of food crops. Worst of all, he has manifested an egregious lack of integrity by promoting quack treatments and cures in the interest of personal financial gain.

Thus, Dr. Oz is guilty of either outrageous conflicts of interest or flawed judgements about what constitutes appropriate medical treatments, or both. Whatever the nature of his pathology, members of the public are being misled and endangered, which makes Dr. Oz’s presence on the faculty of a prestigious medical institution unacceptable.”

Physicians want Dr. Oz gone from Columbia medical faculty [Associated Press]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

McDonald’s All-Day Breakfast Test Will Not Include Full Breakfast Menu

(Morton Fox)

McDonald’s recently confirmed it would soon begin testing an all-day breakfast menu in the San Diego area, but when that test kicks off next week, fans of certain McD’s breakfast items may find themselves still hungry, as not everything from the morning menu will survive past 10:30 a.m.

BurgerBusiness.com reports that the San Diego McDonald’s co-op that will be participating in the test says only nine breakfast items (and McCafe drinks) are going to be offered alongside Big Macs and McNuggets. The various McMuffins (Egg, Sausage, Sausage with Egg) will obviously be included, as will the Sausage Burrito, Hash Browns, Hotcakes, Hotcakes and Sausage, Fruit & Maple Oatmeal and Fruit ‘N Yogurt Parfait.

The most prominent loss to the standard breakfast lineup (as far as we’re concerned) is the biscuit, which has been sacrificed, presumably because it wouldn’t be worth it to keep making biscuits all day and night in the hope that enough people buy them.

Likewise, McGriddles and the Steak, Egg & Cheese Bagel are off the afternoon menu, as are breakfast sweets like the mini Cinnamon Coffee Cake and Double Chocolate bundt cake.

As BurgerBusiness points out, the nine items that made the post-10:30 cut are basically the same as what you’ll find at 24-hour McDonald’s who offer the late-night “McDonald’s After Midnight” menu. These are items that the company knows can be made alongside lunch fare.

However, that late-night menu also doesn’t generally offer the full lunch/dinner menu and usually caters to smaller customer crowds than you’d see at a McDonald’s during the afternoon hours.

McDonald’s needs some sort of help to turn around sagging same-store sales and to get its franchisees reinvigorated. A recent survey of dozens of franchise owners showed that a number of them are disenchanted with McDonald’s dueling obsessions — gimmicky limited-time menu offerings (that cost the franchisee money and resources and may not result in sales) vs. bargain pricing (that cuts down on franchisees’ profits).

by Chris Morran via Consumerist