Current Events in June 2012

Every summer brings about a new sneaker that consumers go mad over, and this season is no different with the new shoes by both Kanye West and Nike being released this weekend.

The Air Yeezy 2 hits stores this Saturday and consumers from around the globe have been buzzing about the sneaker that was designed by the rap star himself. The sneakers will sell for $245, and are a second edition of the 2009 Air Yeezy that also drew buckets of critical and consumer acclaim.

The sleekly styled shoes are a reworking of classic Nike releases from the 80s and 90s, but with a 2012 twist.  With a narrow foot hugging appearance, and a soft leather light weight exterior, the shoes look quite different than current Nike basketball shoes that posses a bulkier design.

The shoes also look somewhat adultish. Many basketball sneakers designed today are seemingly made just for the teen demographic, and come equipped with bright colors and a wider look. But the Yeezys are just the opposite. Coming in black with green and red trim, or white with red trim, the sneakers have a subtle coolness to them, and can be worn with casual or more dressier wear.

A little luck

But if you want a pair for yourself, you'll need a little luck and a lot of patience, as sneaker-heads have already started forming lines in front of stores across the U.S.

However, if you're not the wait-in-line-overnight kind of person, many retailers are also holding online raffles where consumers can possibly win a pair. Go to the Nike website or your local Foot Locker stores for more details.

Nike says it will release the sneakers online for sale too, but the company is being purposely vague when they will hit the Internet, most likely to avoid server crashes from everyone trying to buy a pair at once. Nike also said they'll release between 3,000 to 5,000 pairs for in-store purchase.

But some customers can't wait until this Saturday to purchase the highly coveted shoe wear. A person who was able to get their hands on a pre-released pair, sold the sneakers on eBay for a reported $90,000. Others who already have the shoes started bids in the $7,000 range.

If you're not quite willing to shell out several thousand dollars for the Kanye shoes, you still have a chance to pick a pair up at retailers.

Here are some of the stores that will carry the Air Yeezy 2, when it hits stores this weekend:

• House of Hoops by Foot Locker 34th Street 11 W 34th St New York, NY 10001
• House of Hoops by Foot Locker Harlem 268 W 125th St New York, NY 10027
• House of Hoops by Foot Locker Fashion Show Mall 3200 Las Vegas Blvd South Las Vegas, NV 89109
• House of Hoops by Foot Locker Beverly Center mall 8500 Beverly Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90048

Motorists continued to get a break at the gas pump this week as retail prices retreated another five cents a gallon nationwide.

The national average price of self-serve regular today is $3.555 per gallon, down from $3.611 last Friday, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Survey. Fuel prices are 20 cents a gallon lower than they were a month ago.

Diesel fuel fell even faster during the week. The average price of diesel fuel today is $3.850 per gallon, down from $3.930 a week ago.

For the first time in 11 weeks, U.S. crude oil stockpiles declined in the previous week, according to a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The reason was a decline in imports and a surge in refinery output, which bodes well for gasoline supplies. Gasoline supplies rose by 3.35 million barrels.

Declines in prices at the pump this week were spread across the country but the lowest prices are still clustered in the southeastern states.

A heat map of average prices shows that the highest prices remain in the western U.S. Avery Ash, AAA's manager of federal relations, notes refinery issues have resulted in sharply higher prices in that region over the spring.

“While the national average has declined steadily for the nearly two months since the 2012 to-date peak price of $3.94 on April 5, supply issues west of the Rocky Mountains have kept upward pressure on prices in that region,” Ash said. “Since May 4 retail gas prices in ten states and the District of Columbia have fallen more than 30 cents per gallon, while prices in many western states have increased during the same period.”

The states with the highest gas prices this week are:

• Hawaii ($4.496)
• Alaska ($4.456)
• Washington State ($4.211)
• Oregon ($4.168)
• California ($4.160)
• Nevada ($3.852)
• Connecticut ($3.810)
• New York ($3.798)
• Idaho ($3.802)
• Montana ($3.771)

 The states with the lowest gas prices this week are:

• South Carolina ($3.151)
• Alabama ($3.233)
• Tennessee ($3.238)
• Mississippi ($3.253)
• Arkansas ($3.257)
• Missouri ($3.302)
• Oklahoma ($3.313)
• Louisiana ($3.314)
• Georgia ($3.321)
• Virginia ($3.340)

Current and future tuition costs for college can be a big mystery at times. Between the costs of housing, meals, books and incidentals, it's hard for parents to know just what they're financially in for.

In an effort to create a wider level of transparency, officials are creating a college "shopping sheet" that will allow parents and students to have an easier time navigating through school costs and financial aid information.

Vice President Joe Biden recently met with 10 college presidents from around the U.S., and all agreed to provide students with the shopping sheet in each financial aid packet that students receive.

The new initiative was first discussed back in January of 2012, as both the Education Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau suggested it be mandatory for schools to provide a cost sheet with its school information. 

Congress has yet to make the shopping sheet an official regulation for schools to follow, but some college presidents said they would provide the sheet, and not wait for the official congressional ruling.

Early adopters

Representing 1.4 million students, some of the college presidents that attendend this week's meeting were from state schools in Maryland, Texas, New York, and Massachusetts. The school presidents said they would have the shopping sheet available for the 2013-2014 school year.

"This is just part of a larger strategy, but we are very excited about being an early adopter," said Nancy Zimpher, chancellor of the State University of New York System.

The shopping sheet will theoretically make the entire process of college shopping easier, as it will contain the yearly price for classes, and what monies the student is responsible for after receiving scholarships or grants.

The sheet will also list information on the school's financial aid programs, and federal loans. There will even be info on the school's rate of successful graduates, and how many students defaulted on their student loan programs.

According to the Institute of Education Sciences, 66 percent of all undergraduate students received financial aid in a study that was conducted in 2008, and it's likely that even more students use financial assistance in today's challenging economic times.

The main problem however, is that many families cannot navigate through the complex financial information and successfully apply them to tuition costs. The shopping sheet, U.S. officials say, will change the entire process of selecting a school by making informational sheets more user friendly.

"These aren’t standards," said Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education. "This is basic transparency."

Catherine Hill, President of of Vassar College said the cost sheet will make it "representative and clear" for students to compare their financial aid awards to other student awards across the U.S.-- This is helpful Hill says because students will be able to see how their financial aid awards compared to the national average of student awards.

In the past, schools have tried using a similar cost sheet, but Hill says a regulation set by Congress would bring about some needed uniformity to such information. Hill also said using this new shopping sheet shouldn't contradict any informational sheet that schools already use.

"It won’t be inconsistent with anything else we do," she said. "We send them in the direction of more information if they want more information. I liked the idea of a summary sheet, in fact."

Consumer banking seems to be a lot more complicated than it once was. Now, checking account holders have to meet increasing requirements to avoid fees and absorb a lot of information and disclosures from their bank.

"Consumers are expected to wade through long, confusing documents and may be subject to steep, unexpected fees to access their own checking accounts, the cornerstone of household financial management," said project director, Susan Weinstock, project director of the Pew Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project. "Consumers must have understandable, transparent information that enables them to make educated choices when comparing one checking account's costs and benefits to another."

The report, “Still Risky: An Update on the Safety and Transparency of Checking Accounts,” examines the financial risks consumers face when they open a checking account. It's a follow up to Pew's 2010 report that highlighted rising fees and inconsistent disclosures and bank practices.

Pew says the new study has not found a lot of improvement since them. It points to a report by Moebs Services, an independent financial research firm, that found overdraft fees cost American consumers an estimated $29.5 billion in 2011.

69-page disclosures

The new study found that important policies and fee information are not summarized in a uniform, concise, and easy-to-understand format that allows customers to compare account terms and conditions. Currently, the median length of bank checking account disclosures is 69 pages.

According to the study, accountholders are not provided with clear and comprehensive information about overdraft options offered and their costs, with the median bank fee coming in at $35.

All 12 banks featured in the study either already reorder withdrawals from high to low or reserve the right to do so at their discretion and without notice to the customer. This practice, Pew says, maximizes the number of times an account goes negative, thus increasing overdraft fees. It's a constant source of complaints to ConsumerAffairs.

“I check my account balance a few times throughout the day and make sure what I have before I ever use my card,” Tawney, a Key Bank customer from Bolivar, N.Y. wrote in a recent post.

Shifting balances

Seeing she had a healthy balance, Tawney said she made a few purchases with confidence. The next day she said she was surprised to see her account had a negative balance so she called her local branch, where she was reassured that her account balance was what she thought it was. She was told she would be contacted if that turned out not to be the case.

“I deposited $100 that same day so I knew I was in the clear,” Tawney wrote. “The following day I deposited another $170, checked my account and I had more than enough money to go grocery shopping. I spent $40 grocery shopping and a measly $3 at Tim Horton's. If you add those, I had at least $220 in my account. Apparently Key Bank doesn't know math? I checked my account today and had four overdraft charges in the amount of $148.”

When problems like that occur, it can often be frustrating for consumers to get satisfaction. The Pew study found Financial institutions restrict consumers' options for recourse in the event of a dispute.

Pew's Safe Checking Project recommends that regulatory changes be made by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) or Congress to protect consumers from these unfair practices.

A study of 91 patients at a university medical center suggests that a troubled early parent-child relationship in combination with a severe life event in the past year may be associated with immune responses to a basal cell carcinoma tumor, the most common skin cancer, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, a JAMA Network publication.

Stressful events and their resulting negative emotions can impair  immunity enough to produce clinically significant alterations, and the immune system plays a role in basal cell carcinoma (BCC) tumor appearance and progression, according to the study background.

“Our results show that among BCC patients who experienced a severe stressor in the past year, those who were emotionally maltreated by their mothers or fathers as children were more likely to have poorer immune responses," the authors note.

Risk factors for the first tumor include age, childhood sun exposure, fair skin and being male, and the authors note subsequent tumors are not reliably related to those variables.

Prominent role

“The immune system plays a prominent role in response to BCC tumors because they are immunogenic, unlike many other common cancers that do not show the same responsiveness to the immune system,” the authors comment. “Psychological stress may play an important role in the tumor environment for this immunogenic tumor and have important implications for subsequent BCC tumors.”

Christopher P. Fagundes, Ph.D., of The Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, and colleagues collected information about early parent-child experiences, recent severe life events, depression and messenger RNA for immune markers associated with tumor progression and regression.

The patients, 48 men and 43 women, ranged in age from 23 to 92 years and had a previous BCC tumor.

First study

Emotional maltreatment was not associated with BCC immune responses among those who did not experience a severe life event, and depressive symptoms were not associated with the local tumor immune response, according to study results.

“This is the first study, to our knowledge, to show that troubled early parental experiences, in combination with a severe life event in the past year, predict local immune responses to a BCC tumor. These data complement and expand increasing evidence that the consequences of early parental experiences extend well beyond childhood,” the authors conclude.

Many of us who were born before the technological boom of the Internet era had limited access to information. If we wanted a peek into the larger world, only four avenues could be taken: the television, which usually had only three channels, the radio, books, and any newspapers that were available at the time.

But today's kids are facing an overload of information that's sometimes useful for school work or overall development, but sometimes the information can be harmful to their young eyes.

A recent survey conducted by Cox Communications and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, revealed that parents are learning and implementing new ways to protect their children from online safety hazards, but are still in the dark when it comes to monitoring online activity on mobile devices.

The children surveyed, who were between the ages of 10 and 13, said their parents were doing a stellar job of keeping abreast of their online viewing behavior at home. Most of the children said their parents set strict internet guidelines, and spend ample time warning them about internet dangers.

However, the children admitted their parents still haven't figured out how to monitor their online behavior when a mobile or other handheld device was used.

Usage doubles

The report goes on to say that internet use doubles every two years, and kids can now gain access through their smartphones, game consoles, tablets, or handheld games.

Over 95 percent of children use their mobile devices to access the internet, but parents typically provide safety parameters only for the home computer. One in five parents (17 percent) admitted to using parental controls for the children's mobile devices.

Although mobile devices have fewer parental controls to activate than computers, they do have some, but many parents say they're unable to use them because they're not sure how to work it.

The survey showed that 82 percent of parents said they're very knowledgeable of what their kids did online, but a lot children admitted to engaging in inappropriate behavior that their parents had no idea about.

 In addition, 44 percent of the children surveyed said they've viewed something that their parents wouldn't approve of, and 34 percent said they lied to their parents about what they did online.

 In other alarming survey results, 42 percent of children said they received a personal online message from someone they didn't know, and only 22 percent of parents said they were aware of this.

Around 17 percent of children surveyed said they've gotten an email or online message with pictures or words that made them feel uncomfortable (seven percent of parents said they were aware of this), and 12 percent said they've been a victim of online bullying (6 percent said they didn't know this happened).

 With Twitter and Facebook increasing its attempts to secure younger users, parents have their policing work cut out for them.

Experts say parents should increase their efforts by having frank and continous talks with their children, but also educate themselves on safety controls and how to apply them to their kids' mobile devices. Parents can also visit www.cox.com/takecharge to learn new ways of keeping their children safe from online predators or inappropriate content.

"We applaud the efforts parents are making to keep their kids safe online, but we all must remain vigilant and proactive when it comes to knowing what children are accessing on the web and the devices they are using," said Ernie Allen, NCMEC president and CEO. "Educating parents about the potential risks their children face online and empowering them to take simple preventive steps is critical to helping keep families safe."

Restricting your daily calories to a healthy total will not just help you keep the pounds off. It just might help you live longer.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a link between calorie consumption and a healthy heart. They say a key measure of the heart’s ability to adapt to physical activity, stress, sleep and other factors that influence the rate at which the heart pumps blood, doesn’t decline nearly as rapidly in people who have significantly restricted their caloric intake for an average of seven years.

The study is available online in the journal Aging Cell.

“This is really striking because in studying changes in heart rate variability, we are looking at a measurement that tells us a lot about the way the autonomic nervous system affects the heart,” said Luigi Fontana, MD, PhD, the study’s senior author.

There is a link, it turns out, between heart function, breathing and digestion.

“We would hypothesize that better heart rate variability may be a sign that all these other functions are working better too,” she said.

The study

The researchers hooked portable heart monitors to 22 people who restricted calories and who ate healthy diets but consumed 30 percent fewer calories than normal. Their average age was just over 51.

For comparison purposes, researchers also studied 20 other people of about the same age who ate standard Western diets. Heart rates were significantly lower in the calorie restriction group, and their heart rate variability was significantly higher.

“Higher heart rate variability means the heart can adjust to changing needs more readily,” said lead author Phyllis K. Stein, PhD. “Heart rate variability declines with age as our cardiovascular systems become less flexible, and poor heart rate variability is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular death.”

Young at heart

The researchers say that, when looking at heart rate variability among people at different ages, they found that those who practice calorie restriction have hearts that look and function like they are years younger. They say they've seen this before.

Laboratory animals with a restricted calorie intake tend to live 30 percent to 40 percent longer than those that eat standard diets.

"Many humans who practice calorie restriction believe they also will live significantly longer, but that won’t be known for several more years," Fontana said.

The daily calorie needs of individuals will vary. Obviously you should not begin a restricted calorie diet without determining how many calories a day you require and consulting with your doctor.

U.S. consumers are tapping into credit this year in a big way, mostly to pay for vehicles or education.

The Federal Reserve's monthly report shows consumer credit rose by $6.51 billion in April, the eighth month in a row that it has risen. It follows a $12.4 billion gain in March.

The gain in non-revolving credit – which covers car payments and student loans, recorded its biggest advance in the last three months.

Overall credit rose despite the fact that consumers put less money on their credit cards. Revolving debt – and credit cards make up the biggest segment of that – fell by $3.44 billion.

Greater discipline

While the economy needs consumers to spend – and credit card debt is usually a sign of spending – rising credit card balances are not necessarily a good thing for the long term. The latest report suggests consumers are working at paying down balances and are exercising greater discipline in using their plastic.

The rise in student loan debt might be a troubling sign, as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) earlier this year warned total student loan debt in the U.S. now exceeds $1 trillion. The CFPB expressed the concern this level of debt might not be manageable in a tight job market where debt-burdened graduates have difficulty finding employment.

In issuing its “beige book” this week, the Fed noted that credit appears to be expanding, with lenders making more money available to creditworthy customers. It also reported that the economy appears to be expanding at a “moderate” pace.

When Circuit City went under a couple of years ago, Best Buy appears to be the last man standing in the retail consumer electronics and appliance space. But Best Buy has had far from smooth sailing.

Earlier this year the company announced it was closing a number of unprofitable stores. Now, company founder and chairman Richard Schulze has announced he is leaving his position on the board effective immediately.

Schulze, who is 71, had originally said he planned to depart at the end of this year but remain on the board for another year. He still owns about a 20 percent stake in the company and said he is considering “all available options” for his stock.

Hatim A. Tyabji as chairman of the company effective immediately. Tyabji, currently Chairman of the Audit Committee, has served as a director since 1998.

“Mr. Schulze notified the board this morning of his decision to resign from the board, including the chairmanship, effective immediately,” Best Buy said in a statement Thursday.

40 years

The Best Buy statement said Schulze's replacement has more than 40 years of experience as a board member, operating executive and entrepreneur in various technology industry segments, including mobile communications, enterprise software, financial services and mainframe computing.

To date, 2012 has not been a very good year for Best Buy. In April company CEO Brian Dunn resigned over a personal issue. Also in April Best Buy identified 50 stores for closing.

The retailer has been under pressure from rival hhgregg and from online retailers like Amazon. In particular, it may have been hurt by the proliferation of smartphones, which allow shoppers to do instant price comparisons while they are in a store.

Best Buy stock has taken a pounding this year. It closed Thursday at $19.70, down about 23 percent from its 2012 high in February.

A federal court has temporarily shut down a Florida-based operation that allegedly continued to pitch bogus credit-repair services nationwide, despite a 2010 court order requiring it to stop.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) secured the court order, which will remain in place while the FTC seeks a contempt ruling against the defendants for violating the original order. It bars the operators from all activities involving credit repair, and from offering credit-related products, programs, or services.

The original case goes back to 2008, when the FTC filed a complaint against Latrese and Kevin Hargrave and the firms they control, alleging that they advertised on the Internet and radio stations and charged $250 to $270 per person and $450 per couple for purported credit repair services, requiring half or all of the charge to be paid in advance.

The pitch

In a radio script, the defendants stated, "They specialize in erasing bad credit! Hargrave & Associates covers all three major credit bureaus, slow pays, charge-offs, repossessions can be erased for two-hundred, fifty dollars."

In January 2010, the court ruled in favor of the FTC and barred the defendants from engaging in the deceptive conduct – including making or using untrue or misleading statements to induce consumers to buy their credit repair services. It also barred them from charging or receiving an up-front payment for such services before they are performed.

At the FTC's request, in mid-May 2012, the U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, Florida, issued a temporary restraining order against the defendants, appointed a receiver, and froze their assets, stating that "there is good cause to believe that the defendants have violated, and continue to violate provisions of the permanent injunction" against them.

Continued violations

The FTC alleged the defendants continued to violate the FTC Act and the Credit Repair Organizations Act through their false credit repair claims. Following a hearing in late May, the court entered a preliminary injunction order, temporarily barring the defendants from engaging in deceptive credit repair offers and freezing the defendants' assets.

There are lots of ads for credit repair companies. The FTC says these companies target people who have poor credit histories with promises to clean up their credit reports so they can get a car loan, a home mortgage, insurance, or even a job – after paying a fee for the service. The truth, according to the FTC, is that no one can remove accurate negative information from your credit report. It's illegal.

When negative information in your report is accurate, only the passage of time can assure that it will be removed. A consumer reporting company can report most accurate negative information for seven years and can report bankruptcy information for 10 years.  

If you get an email from LinkedIn saying you need to reset your password, it's real. The social networking site has reported a data breach in which an undisclosed number of passwords were compromised.

"Members that have accounts associated with the compromised passwords will notice that their LinkedIn account password is no longer valid," Vincente Silveira, a LinkedIn director, wrote on the company's blog. "These members will also receive an email from LinkedIn with instructions on how to reset their passwords."

Silveira stresses there will not be any links contained in the email that informs you that you must reset your password. However, once you follow the initial step request password assistance, then you will receive an email from LinkedIn with a password reset link.

Regardless of whether you receive an email, it would be prudent to immediately change the password on your LinkedIn account.

"It is worth noting that the affected members who update their passwords and members whose passwords have not been compromised benefit from the enhanced security we just recently put in place, which includes hashing and salting of our current password databases," Silveira wrote.

A ConsumerAffairs sentiment analysis of about 2.5 million comments posted to social media finds that the news knocking LinkedIn from an overall approval rating of close to 80% to a 24% negative rating.

 While the hack attack wasn't the only negative to emerge in the analysis, it was by far the largest, as shown in this chart:

How it happened

Silveira did not say how the data breach occurred, only that an investigation was underway. Chester Wisniewski, Senior Security Advisor at Sophos Canada, wrote in his blog that it is imperative that LinkedIn also determine whether email addresses, often a user name, were also compromised. LinkedIn has more than 161 million members who use the site to expand their business and professional contacts.

About 6.5 million passwords have been posted online and the company says some of them do appear to be LinkedIn passwords.  Others appear to be passwords for eHarmoney accounts, security experts say. 

EHarmoney said a "small fraction" of its member passwords had been compromised and that it is investigating. Meanwhile, it said affected passwords have been reset.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Honda Fit has the highest mileage range compared to competitors like the Ford Focus or Nissan Leaf.

The EPA says the electric version of the Fit travels up to 82 miles from merely one electrical charge. This exceeds the mileage of competitors like the Nissan Leaf, Ford Focus electric, and the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which have a mileage range of 76, 73, and 62 miles respectively.

"The 82 miles is great," said John O'Del car expert, and employee of Edmunds.com. " Every little bit helps when you are talking about range in an electric vehicle. "The car is lighter and smaller so a smaller battery will take it farther," he said.

Could be, but American consumers aren't exactly swarming into showrooms to glide silently away in an electric car, according to a ConsumerAffairs sentiment analysis of about 500,000 social media postings over the last year. We found net positive sentiment never topped 50%, declining to about 23% in May.

 It's not that consumers are uncomfortable with the technology and they don't appear to be concerned about scattered reports of battery fires. Rather, it's the high cost and around-town nature of electric cars that consumers find unattractive.

The Fit's 82-mile range may be the best of the lot but 82 miles isn't all that great if your day includes frequent hops on and off the local freeways with no change to recharge in-between.

Stories like the one recounted by Rob Eshman, whose Nissan Leaf, leaves him feeling "like a jackass" when it runs out of juice during his daily jaunts around Southern California. So far the Chevrolet Volt, which has a small gas engine that kicks in when the battery dies, seems to be leading the pack. 

The Fit's battery is said to be 13 percent smaller than the Ford Focus, and 17 percent smaller than the Nissan Leaf, giving the vehicle a lighter feel and easier navigation than similar cars on the market. Experts also say the Fit will last up to three hours when charged at 240 volts. Witness last week's story about Dennis Dineen, who has averaged 203.4 miles per gallon and never been stranded during the year he's owned his Volt. 

The EPA gave the Fit a rating of 118 mpg equivalent, which is the measure of the average distance a car travels per unit of energy used. The Mitsubishi has a 112 mpg equivalent, the Ford Focus 105 and the Nissan Leaf 99. Yearly fuel costs for the fit came to be $500, which also beat out its competitors.

Coming soon

Honda says it plans to release around 1,100 Fit EVs in the next couple of years. Honda spokesman Chuck Schifsky said in a statement that customers will be able to lease the car for $389 per month and no money down. The cars will begin a national rollout in 2013, after heavy testing by manufactures, but states like Oregon and California will have sooner access.

As far as overall sales of electric cars this year, numbers were strong earlier in 2012, but started to decline in following months. The Nissan Leaf sold 370 vehicles in April, down from 579 cars sold in March. In the past four months the Leaf sold a total of 2,103 units.

The Chevrolet Volt took a sales plunge in the past few months, selling 2,289 in March, down to 1,462 in April. Overall sales in 2012 for the Volt are at 5,377, according to sales reports.

The highest seller in the electric car category in the month of April was the Toyota PriusPlug-In Hybrid, which sold 1,654 cars in the three months the vehicles have been on the market.

Since February, Toyota has sold 2,552 of the plug-in Priuses.

It's not you, it's me. That's what Apple is telling Google in its impending breakup with the Google Maps tool.

As we reported last month, Apple will soon be using its own map application for mobile devices, and will no longer use the popular Google Maps program when it releases its new iOS6. What's making Apple and Google part ways after such a fruitful union?

"Because there is money to be made in mobile mapping technology, and for Apple, the pieces finally are in place to give Google the boot," said a representative from investorplace.com.

Not a problem

It's not that Google and Apple users are fed up and disenchanted with the existing product, although a ConsumerAffairs sentiment analysis of about 1.1 million comments posted to social media over the last year finds that net sentiment has declined over the last few months, as shown in the following chart.

Emotions about the existing mapping products are still largely positive but both Google and Apple think their next-generation products will be much more compelling.  An Apple insider was quoted recently as saying the next Apple maps will "blow your head off." 

The Google and Apple love affair started back in 2007 when Apple began using Google Maps for its iPhones.  According to the Wall Street Journal, the first signs of the relationship going south started when phones powered by Google's Android operating system beat out Apple's iPhone in number of shipments.

Apple then bought three companies, Poly 9, Placebase, and C3 Technologies, that it used to build its own mapping system, thus starting the breakup of the huge power couple.

New features

And just like a person being newly single wants to show of their new look and partner, Google just announced a bunch of new features it has in store for its new mapping system.

 Google announced it will revamp its digital mapping by allowing offline access on mobile devices, and will also include more three-dimensional images of major cities. "We're trying to create magic here," the company said at a San Francisco speaking engagement.  It's part of a "never-ending quest for the perfect map."

The search engine giants also announced its mapping tool will have a hiking system for when users are traveling in remote locations by foot. Google says its new hiker's tool will be better and have more uses than its current backpacker app Google trike.

 Apple is trying to give Google a run for its money in the area of mapping, as over 90 percent of  iPhone users in the U.S. already use Google Maps.

"Apple is aiming squarely at Google on multiple dimensions," Rajeev Chand, a managing director at investment bank Rutberg & Co., told the Wall Street Journal. "Google and Apple are in a battle over data, devices, services, and the future of computing. This is the historic battle of today."

Google also announced its planes will photograph more cities and surrounding areas to provide a more realistic view for users, so people will have full view of areas that can't be picked up by Google's Street View maps.

Apple is rumored to be making an announcement on its new mapping system sometime next week, in attempts to show Google that it can compete in the digital mapping game, and prefers the single life.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke calls it "the fiscal cliff." Others are calling it "Taxmageddon." Whatever it's called, without new legislation, it will come at the end of the year.

That's when the Bush era tax cuts expire. It's also when deep across-the-board cuts in federal discretionary spending go into effect.

The Bush tax cuts happened so long ago, way back in 2001 and 2003, that many Americans have forgotten the details and have seemingly bought into the notion that they affect only millionaires. A ConsumerAffairs sentiment analysis of about 500,000 postings on social media finds quite a range of emotions.

Over the last year, our analysis found, consumers' net sentiment regarding the tax cuts has been largely negative and now stands around -9%.

But regardless of public sentiment, with the government spending a lot less money, and taxpayers having a lot less money to spend, Bernanke and other economists believe a recession in inevitable. So perhaps the prudent thing for consumers to do is figure out how all this will affect them and get prepared.

Tax rates

The long-running political debate over taxes has created the impression that the "Bush tax cuts" only affected upper income earners, but that's not the case. The tax cuts lowered everyone's taxes. When the rates go back to what they were before 2001, here's what will happen.

The lowest tax bracket -- 10 percent -- will go away. If you are currently in the 10 percent bracket, and assuming you earn the same income, you'll be paying 15 percent of your taxable income -- a rather hefty increase.

If you are currently in the 15 percent bracket, your increase is even bigger, since you'll move into the 25 percent bracket. Those now paying 25 percent of the taxable income will move up to the 28 percent bracket.

Those now in the 28 percent bracket will move to 31 percent, the existing 33 percent bracket will be replaced with a 36 percent bracket and the existing 35 percent bracket will rise to 39.6 percent.

Holiday ending

At the same time, the two percent "tax holiday" for the FICA payroll tax also expires. As a result of all of this, your take home pay -- assuming you don't get a raise -- will go down on January 1. If you're going to need more income to get by, it might be wise to start looking for it now and beefing up your savings.

If you have been frugal and have saved money so as not to be a burden on society and therefore receive taxable income from dividends and the sale of stocks, the tax you pay will also go up. In January the 15 percent tax rate on long-term capital gains and dividends rises to 20 percent. Dividends, meanwhile, will be taxed as ordinary income, meaning at whatever tax bracket you happen to be in.

For that reason, it may be wise to take capital gains in 2012 and move dividend-producing stocks into tax-deferred retirement accounts, if possible.

Spending cuts

At the same time, huge cuts in government spending are locked in unless Congress overrides them with other, more targeted cuts to trim the deficit. This could affect you if you work for the U.S. government or a company that derives much of its income from government contracts or for a company that supplies goods and services to goverment contractors. In other words, it's likely to affect you no matter where you work.

The Defense Department would not be spared the budget knife, so it could easily affect your current or planned military career.

Of course, Taxmageddon doesn't have to happen. But after what promises to be an extremely bitter November election, lawmakers would have to return to Washington and suddenly find a way to compromise. The odds against that happening are significant.

While Taxmageddon would prove to be painful, it might actually turn out for the best in the long run. At least, that's the gist of a report this week from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

The CBO acknowledged the pain but said raising taxes and cutting spending would put the government on a path toward smaller budget deficits in a very similar way that European nations are approaching "austerity."

The CBO doesn't exactly come out and say it, but suggests that might not be such a bad thing, since the issue must be addressed at some point. By setting up Taxmageddon during last year's bill to raise the debt ceiling, Congress prescribed bitter medicine without having to vote for painful tax hikes and spending cuts.

Many teenagers suffer from emotional issues, and many parents can't tell if it's due to clinical depression or normal teen growing pains. Let's face it, it's almost a teen's job to go through emotional ups and downs while figuring out who they are, and what their place in the world is.

Soon parents will be able to take their child in for a simple blood test that will be able to determine if their teen is actually depressed or just suffering from a temporary case of the blues.

According to recent statistics, nearly 20 percent of teens will experience depression before they reach adulthood, and between 10 to 15 percent will show symptoms of depression at some point during adolescence. Additionally, 20 to 40 percent of teenagers will have more than one episode of depression within the next two years, and 70 percent will have more than one episode before reaching adulthood.

Genetic markers

In a recent pilot study conducted by Northwestern University, scientists showed that teenage depression can be diagnosed by the use of 11 genetic markers. Experts say the new test can differentiate between varying types of depression, so doctors can provide a more personalized level of treatment. This of course differs from traditional diagnosis tests, where patients simply tell doctors of on-going symptoms.

"Right now depression is treated with a blunt instrument," said Dr. Eva Redei, professor of psychiatry at Northwestern University Fenberg School of Medicine. "It's like treating type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes exactly the same way. We need to do better."

Researchers also say the blood test works effectively in both teens and adults, and is the first to identify sub-areas of depression. The test can classify whether a patient is suffering from major depression, or if their depression is also combined with an anxiety disorder.

Redei and her team of researchers conducted tests for 26 genetic blood markers that were identified in earlier research. The team confirmed that 11 of the markers were able to distinguish between depressed and non-depressed teens. Also, 18 of the 26 markers identified patients that only suffered from depression, or from depression with a mixture of anxiety.

"These 11 genes are probably the tip of the iceberg because depression is a complex illness," Redei said. "But it's an entree into a much bigger phenomenon that has to be explored. It clearly indicates we can diagnose from blood and create a blood diagnosis test for depression."

In a separate study conducted by UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX, researches found that blood testing can also better determine the type of medicine that would best suit patients.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg riled the beverage industry with his proposal to ban large sugary beverages at food establishments, in an effort to combat obesity.

Many health experts who have weighed-in on the subject say the Mayor may have been well intentioned, but the plan probably won't meet its objective. Experts at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) say by focusing on one product the city could be missing the big picture in the obesity battle.

In fact, in 2009 a team of researchers from the UAB School of Public Health and Purdue University reviewed five randomized trials that studied the effect of drinking sugar-sweetened beverages on body weight.

“We found no significant effect on overall weight reduction as a result of reducing intake of sugar-sweetened beverages,” said Kathryn Kaiser, Ph.D., instructor in the SOPH. “Since this was published, two other randomized trials have been published, and neither showed large effects on weight change.”

Kaiser says energy should be directed toward the design and conduct of randomized trials that will definitively answer the questions about actions that can significantly reduce weight. That, she says, has a better chance of producing effective policies.

Short-sighted?

“I think to say people drinking large sodas at events is the cause of obesity is short sighted and it is making a villain out of something that may not be the true villain,” said Suzanne Judd, Ph.D., assistant professor of biostatistics at UAB. “I think that while reducing consumption of sugar sweetened beverages is important, I don’t think making it unavailable in certain settings is a way to accomplish that.”

Consumers posting comments on our original story about the proposed ban were, for the most part, also skeptical.

“Another example of failing to consider second, third, etc. order consequences of a policy,” Earl, of Arlington, Va., wrote. “Folks wanting 20 or 24 ounces will buy two 16-ounce drinks. Hence, yet more calories.”

Judd said she thinks that individuals are ultimately responsible for their own health and the actions they take related to it.

“People make their own choices and we can’t force them into those decisions. A public health effort must be made so they can better understand the consequences of their choices,” Judd said.

The next time your teenager leaves the house and you tell them no drinking and no texting while driving, you might want to add "no car-surfing."

Most popular with teenage males, the sport involves clinging to the exterior of a speeding car. Inspired by movies like "Jackass" and videos posted to YouTube, this dangerous fad is leading to more car injuries and deaths.

“Young people believe they are invincible but several seconds of thoughtless, risky behavior can lead to a lifetime of permanent disability or even death,” said Thomas Esposito, MD, chief of the Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care and Burns in the Department of Surgery at Loyola University Medical Center.

Sees the results

Esposito knows the subject all too well. Loyola is the only Level 1 trauma center which has been verified by the American College of Surgeons in Illinois and regularly cares for patients who have been involved in car crashes and sustain complicated injuries.

National statistics, meanwhile, have shown a steady rise in car surfing fatalities. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), since 1990, at least 99 people died or sustained serious injuries as a result of car surfing.

“Broken bones and road rash – severe skin abrasions caused by impact from a fall – are minor injuries from car-surfing,” said Esposito. “Head injuries are very prevalent and the effects are devastating.”

Influence of social media

Car crashes are the leading cause of death among teenagers in the United States and car-surfing just makes the highway that much more dangerous for young people. Esposito says it's no accident that the trend has coincided with media depictions of the activity in movies, video games and in social media.

“For those desiring their five minutes of fame, social media such as YouTube and Facebook offer perceived fame and instant gratification,” said Esposito. “Replicating a dangerous stunt and capturing it with a cellphone may seem like a cool idea but can have serious long-term consequences.”

According to the CDC report, Males are more likely to car surf than females and the average age of persons injured as a result of car surfing is 17.6 years. Injuries have been reported in 31 states, with a regional pattern detected with 39 percent from the Midwest and 35 percent from the South.

Risky business

Esposito notes that one of the key risks is sudden, unanticipated car maneuvers such as accelerating, swerving or braking, that can force a car surfer off of the vehicle.

“People who fall off a moving vehicle may suffer brain contusions, broken bones, fractured skulls, loss of consciousness, internal bleeding, paralysis and death,” he said. “Car surfing is a dangerous game with stakes that are too high if you lose.”

U.S. consumers, by and large, like their food salty. As a result, the amount of sodium in the average U.S diet has drifted higher, to dangerous levels, over the last three decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Knowing this, policymakers and public health officials are considering both public education campaigns and the possibility of legislation to address the problem. But to do this effectively, they need good information, not only about the amount of sodium consumed, which the CDC monitors, but also about consumer knowledge and attitudes.

Ignoring sodium

A new study by marketing researchers at the University of Arkansas shows that American consumers ignore the amount sodium they eat, even though excessive sodium intake contributes to cardiovascular disease. And just try avoiding sodium in your diet.

It is the primary ingredient of table salt and is found in many processed foods. The finding that Americans are unaware of their sodium intake is problematic for policymakers because, on average, Americans consume 50 percent more than the daily maximum recommended level for sodium.

“Simply put, Americans consume too much salt,” said Scot Burton, professor in the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business. “Unfortunately, only approximately 20 percent of the U.S. population currently consumes the recommended daily level. Reducing the daily intake of sodium from the average of more than 3,400 milligrams down to the recommended level of 2,300 milligrams could potentially prevent almost 100,000 deaths and 66,000 strokes per year while saving billions of dollars in health care costs.”

Education programs can work

Burtson has done research that shows education campaigns about the effects of excessive sodium intake work: Consumers – both hypertensive and non-hypertensive – will modify their purchase intentions if they are given this information, he says.

But isn't the information out there? Sodium content is listed on Nutrition Facts panels on food labels, on some restaurant menus and within a growing body of education material. But are consumers paying attention?

To find out, Burton teamed with fellow researchers from Wayne State University and Loyola Marymount to study two groups of consumers - one with high blood pressure and one normal blood pressure. When given the sodium information, the group with hypertension paid more attention to the information than those without hypertension.

Both encouraging and worrisome

“While it is encouraging that hypertensive consumers pay some attention to sodium levels, it is worrisome that non-hypertensive consumers do not," said University of Arkansas marketing professor Elizabeth Howlett. "Because the effects of excessive sodium intake are cumulative, many who are not yet diagnosed as hypertensive are probably not paying attention to how much salt they consume."

What's needed, the researchers say, is an effective education campaign that makes sodium content and its effect on the body more relevant for more consumers. They say their research shows that relevancy is the key - when consumers understand the harmful effects of too much sodium in the diet, they make different buying decisions when it comes to food.

Reluctant smokers spend millions each year on smoking cessation programs and products, but maybe all that's needed is a diet rich in fruit and vegetables, along with a healthy dose of willpower.

Researchers at the University at Buffalo (UB) surveyed 1,000 smokers aged 25 and older from around the country, using random-digit dialing telephone interviews. They followed up with the respondents fourteen months later, asking them if they had abstained from tobacco use during the previous month.

“Other studies have taken a snapshot approach, asking smokers and nonsmokers about their diets,” said Gary A. Giovino, PhD, chair of the Department of Community Health and Health Behavior at UB. “We knew from our previous work that people who were abstinent from cigarettes for less than six months consumed more fruits and vegetables than those who still smoked. What we didn’t know was whether recent quitters increased their fruit and vegetable consumption or if smokers who ate more fruits and vegetables were more likely to quit.”

Correlation established

The UB study found that the more fruit and vegetables smokers consumed, the more likely they were to be tobacco-free for at least 30 days at follow-up. The findings persisted even when adjustments were made to take into account age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, household income and health orientation.

They also found that smokers with higher fruit and vegetable consumption smoked fewer cigarettes per day, waited longer to smoke their first cigarette of the day and scored lower on a common test of nicotine dependence.

“We may have identified a new tool that can help people quit smoking,” said Jeffrey P. Haibach, first author on the paper and graduate research assistant in the UB Department of Community Health and Health Behavior. “Granted, this is just an observational study, but improving one’s diet may facilitate quitting.”

Possible explanations

The researchers see several possible explanations, such as less nicotine dependence for people who consume a lot of fruits and vegetables or the fact that higher fiber consumption from fruits and vegetables make people feel fuller.

“It is also possible that fruits and vegetables give people more of a feeling of satiety or fullness so that they feel less of a need to smoke, since smokers sometimes confuse hunger with an urge to smoke,” said Haibach.

And unlike some foods which are known to enhance the taste of tobacco, such as meats, caffeinated beverages and alcohol, fruits and vegetables do not enhance the taste of tobacco. In fact, Haibach says foods like fruit and vegetables may actually worsen the taste of cigarettes.