Current Events in November 2012

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has signed off on Flucelvax, the first seasonal influenza vaccine licensed in the U.S. produced using cultured animal cells, instead of fertilized chicken eggs. Flucelvax is approved to prevent seasonal flu in people ages 18 years and older.

The manufacturing process for Flucelvax is similar to the egg-based production method, but a significant difference is that the virus strains included in the vaccine are grown in animal cells of mammalian origin instead of in eggs. Cell culture technology has been in use for several decades to produce other U.S. licensed vaccines.

“Today’s approval represents the culmination of efforts to develop a seasonal influenza vaccine using cell culture as an alternative to the egg-based process,” said Karen Midthun, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

Manufacturing alternative

Cell culture technology is another manufacturing alternative to conventional egg-based influenza vaccine production. Its advantages include the ability to maintain an adequate supply of readily available, previously tested and characterized cells for use in vaccine production and the potential for a faster start-up of the vaccine manufacturing process in the event of a pandemic.

Flucelvax was evaluated in a randomized controlled clinical study conducted in the United States and Europe that involved about 7,700 people ages 18 to 49 years who received either Flucelvax or a placebo. The study showed that it was 83.8 percent effective in preventing influenza when compared to placebo.

The use of Flucelvax in people older than 49 is supported by antibody responses in about 1,700 adults which showed it to be comparable to Agriflu, an egg-based seasonal influenza vaccine approved by FDA for use in people 18 years and older.

Safe and effective

The safety evaluation included about 6,700 individuals who received Flucelvax in controlled clinical studies. Injection site and general reactions to Flucelvax were typical of those seen with current influenza vaccines. Pain, redness and soreness at the injection site and headache and fatigue were the most common reactions.

Getting vaccinated each year remains one of the best ways to prevent seasonal influenza. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone 6 months of age and older receive an annual influenza vaccine.

Flucelvax is manufactured by Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics GmbH, Marburg, Germany.

You've been a cautious and careful consumer all year. Now, let's stay focused and make it safely thrugh the home stretch -- the most treacherous time of the year. 

Thanksgiving is often considered the most American of American holidays. It's the day we eat too much, drink too much, watch too much football, burn too much gas going over the river and through the woods ... and flee in desperation to the nearest Target or Walmart when all the togetherness gets to be too much.

It was only a few years ago that your average consumer had no idea what Black Friday was.  It sounded kind of ominous, like the anniversary of some horrible disaster or act of war.  

But no, Black Friday was the term retailers used to describe the day after Thanksgiving, because it was the day that shoppers hit the stores in earnest to start their holiday shopping, thereby pushing retailers "into the black" -- meaning into profitability -- for the year.

What with all the grousing about rich people and taxes, poor people and entitlements and so forth, it's easy to forget that many businesses, including retail,  are only marginally profitable. Most retailers sort of limp along at a loss for most of the year, hoping to break into the positive side of the column when the post-Thanksgiving crowds hit the stores.

OK, that's great for retailers but what does it have to do with consumers? Not much, actually.

Why all the fuss?

So how, then, did Black Friday get the be such a big deal?

Basically, it's the same process that made Mother's Day a big-spending holiday -- it's called promotion. Years ago, retailers started advertising their after-Thanksgiving sales, just to ensure that shoppers didn't decide to roll over and sleep in on the day after Thanksgiving.

But do consumers really care whether their favorite stores are profitable -- or believe all the promises and bluster of the annual barrage of ads? In fact, there's quite a bit of evidence that all the hype is starting to wear off. We conducted a computerized sentiment analysis of about 3.1 million consumer comments on social media over the last year.

What we found, not surprisingly, is that there's very little noise about Black Friday for most of the year, with a big peak around Thanksgiving.  But as this chart shows, last year saw a lot more consumer interest -- lukewarm interest at that -- than we've seen so far this year.

 Maybe all the bluster is starting to fall on deaf ears?

Endless escalation

The trade term Black Friday made its way into the general vocabulary over the last few years, as retailers themselves began using it in their advertising and promotions as they stepped up their efforts to whip consumers into a holiday-shopping frenzy. Walmart began opening its stores at 6 a.m. and soon Target and others followed suit. Then Walmart began opening at midnight and others followed.

Now Black Friday is becoming Black Thursday as the usual gang of retailers start opening on Thanksgiving Day, hoping to lure more shoppers who will spend more time shopping and buying more and more of the video games, toys, iPads, flat-screen TVs and other must-have gadgets the holiday demands.

Maybe it will all fall together again this year, even if shoppers are a little less feverish than a few years ago, when police had to be called to keep the peace as tempers flared at croweded store entrances. Our sentiment analysis finds many consumers still think Black Friday is not only the best day for deals, many also say it's their favorite holiday. 

This year, it's not unruly shoppers giving retailing executives headaches. At Walmart and other chains, employees are complaining -- sometimes publicly -- about having to work on Thanksgiving. Union organizers have been leading protests outside Walmart stores and reporters have been writing stories questioning      whether Black Friday is really the best day to go shopping. 

Just a few days ago, a survey identified the 10 best holiday shopping days -- and, guess what, Black Friday wasn't among them. Another survey earlier this year found that, in fact, Black Friday is one of the worst shopping days.

The study tracked the prices of 252 toys from the first day of autumn and found that in the 54 days from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24, the day with the lowest percentage -- 46 percent -- of products on sale below their initial holiday season price was Black Friday, Nov. 25. The day with the highest percentage -- 59 percent -- of products on sale was Sunday, Nov. 13. After Thanksgiving, Thursday, Dec. 1 was the day with the next largest percentage of products on sale.

As a matter of fact, Black Friday turned out to be the day on which shoppers begin to see prices spike on select items. On Black Friday itself, 24 percent of the toys on ShopAdvisor's list were priced above their initial holiday season price.

But, on the other hand, if too much family togetherness is starting to get to you, who's to say a brisk walk down the aisles of the nearest Walmart, Target or Best Buy won't be just the thing to aid the digestion and perk up your psyche. After all, saving money isn't everything.

Today, it seems that all of us are busy all of the time. We’re either in the middle of a task, preparing to do a task or closing one out.

Whether you’re at work under the pressure of an over-caffeinated supervisor or you’re at home and the family is pulling you in infinite directions, there never seems to be enough time in a given day to do everything you need.

But what if there was a service that could help you with pretty much any task or chore you needed to do?

To be more specific, let’s say you and your spouse were invited to tonight’s football game at the last second because your boss had a couple of tickets he couldn’t use.

You’d really love to go to the game because the seats are perfectly situated, midfield and right in front of the action, your boss says.

There's just one thing though, your in-laws are coming in the morning to spend a few days before Thanksgiving and you haven’t even begun cleaning up the house or straightening up the room they’ll be staying in.

No worries though. You just go to TaskRabbit.com, post some information on what you need done, offer how much you’re willing to pay, and someone will show up at your door with all of the necessary cleaning supplies to trick your in-laws into thinking you're tidy.

The website TaskRabbit.com does this kind of stuff all of the time, as the owners set up a service and website were people can hire others to complete everyday tasks like shoveling your driveway after a storm or caring for your pet if you have to leave town.

Kind of like Craigslist

In a way Task Rabbit is like Craigslist, in that you can post a job for someone to do while offering payment. But instead of hiring just a random person from cyberspace, you employ one of the company’s staff people to complete your task. The company calls these staff people “Task Rabbits.”

Task Rabbits are said to undergo layers of background criminal checks to ensure safety for customers, which is vastly different from anyone you hire through a Craigslist post. And each staff person is listed on the company’s website and has a rating to show how well they were reviewed by previous customers.

So far the company is set up in Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Portland, San Antonio, Austin, Seattle, L.A, Orange County, Calif. and New York--which allows you to hire a Task Rabbit in a different city from where you live.

Let's say it’s a friend’s birthday tomorrow that happens to live in another part of the country, and you want to buy them a gift.

Post anywhere

You can post your task in one of the company’s associated cities, have a Task Rabbit go to your friend’s favorite clothing store, they'll buy an item and hand deliver that item to your friend the same day.

And you pay for the service and the gift online after the task is completed, so no cash is ever exchanged.

Alos, it’s free to sign up for the site and there’s no membership charge, so you can start posting tasks right away without paying up front.

Once you include how much you’re willing to pay for your task, the lowest bidder among the Task Rabbit employees gets the job, and they head out to complete whatever assignment you created.

Of course what you offer to pay should be in direct proportion to what the job is, especially if the task includes travel and if a purchase is involved--like in the case of your friend’s birthday gift.

The way payment works is, you reimburse the Task Rabbit when the job is complete, which strengthens the chances of customers not being duped.

Kind of creepy

Task Rabbit is clearly what Craigslist should have evolved into years ago when it comes to hiring people for a one time job.

Let’s face it, Craigslist has a creepy factor to it, since there's absolutely no type of background checking system or even the slightest way to monitor just who you’re dealing with.

With the Task Rabbit employees, the company says they’re heavily scrutinized and put through a rigorous interview and training process before they’re finally brought on.

And just who make up these staff people? They’re everyday folks looking for extra work, the company says, so the Task Rabbits could be someone who is currently under-employed, a person that’s retired, a college student, or someone looking for a job with a flexible schedule.

The company also says it’s always looking for staff people to hire, so those looking to make an extra few bucks can become Task Rabbits themselves if they choose.

In short, the website is basically learning from sites like Craigslist, as it’s taking the idea of letting people post jobs and name their own price, but allows them to hire people much more safely by providing background checks and a way you can hold the staffer accountable if a job isn’t done to your satisfaction.

Hopefully the Craigslists of the world will begin to follow suit and make using its job posting services a little less creepy.

Apparently that’s what Task Rabbit did, and so far the company is off to a good start, as more and more users are hiring people through the site, and countless people are trying to become Task Rabbits themselves.

You don't normally think of Dish Network as a wireless carrier but that could change, if Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski has his way.

Genachowski is proposing to auction off a batch of spectrum that Dish could use to start a wireless service that would compete with Verizon, AT&T and Sprint. Dish has long had its eye on that spectrum but there is one potential kink.

This would probably be good news to consumers who have long complained of the lack of competition in the wireless market. A consumer sentiment analysis of about 3.5 million comments posted on social media over the last year shows lukewarm feelings for Verizon.

AT&T fares even worse than Verizon, although 3.5 million consumers seemed to have warmer feelings in recent months.

Genachowski wants to require Dish to use lower power levels than usual to minimize the chance of interference with other services.  The FCC is expected to vote on the plan before the end of the year.

“Telling us to lower our power levels cripples our ability to enter the business,” Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen told The Washington Post. “We want to enter the wireless business. We have $6 billion more we want to spend on building out this business. But the FCC could make it extremely risky for us.”

Ergen said the FCC has been dragging its feet on Dish's plan for the last 20 months. If it had approved the plan earlier, the new network could have been in place by next year. But now, Ergen says it will be at least 2015 b efore it's up and running.

Genachowski and others have complained that the highly lucrative wireless business is beginning to resemble a duoply -- with AT&T and Verizon hogging six of 10 wireless contracts. 

“If approved, these actions will promote competition, investment and innovation, and advance commission efforts to unleash spectrum for mobile broadband to help meet skyrocketing consumer demand, while unlocking billions of dollars of value to the public,” FCC spokesman Neil Grace said.

Disgruntled consumers

A little competition would be welcome to consumers like Edward of San Diego, who posted to ConsumerAffairs recently about his experience with Verizon Wireless.

So my Droid burns itself up. They tell me this is normal. Verizon forces you to sign a two-year contract and then do not support the hardware for that period, even if you get an insurance plan. My Droid burned itself up at temperatures of over 230 degrees.

Their solution? For me to pay $700 for a new one because they don't support my model, even though I bought it from them less than a year ago. Verizon is crap. Their customer service is crap.

AT&T Wireless also has more than its share of disgruntled customers. like Jennifer of Reno, who wrote to us recently about what she sees as a decline in AT&T's customer service. 

Prior to 2012, AT&T was wonderful. I've been using this company for many years, and before 2012, I use to think they took good care of me. However, something has changed with this company, and now it seems like their customer service is poor and all they want is the mighty dollar. Well, guess what, AT&T. You are not the only providers out there, so reexamine what truly makes AT&T what it is today - your customers! Just remember, without us, there would not be a you.

Not surprisingly, Dish generates quite a bundle of negative reviews itself but the theory is that another large player in the wireless field would generate at least some additional competition in terms of service plans, pricing and network penetration.  

In his comments, Genachowski noted that just two years ago, the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile merger was threatening to reduce the number of competitors in the marketplace. That plan was derailed by frederal regulators but T-Mobile and Metro PCS reached agreement in October to merge their operations, thus creating a stronger player to go up against Verizon, AT&T and Sprint. 

Motorists hitting the road for the Thanksgiving holiday will find gasoline prices a bit lower than last week, but a bit higher than Thanksgiving week a year ago.

The national average price of self-serve regular today is $3.426 per gallon, compared with $3.443 last week, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Survey. That's 24 cents lower than a month ago but six and a half cents higher than the price a year ago.

The average price of diesel fuel today is $4.003 per gallon, versus $3.999 a week ago.

Gasoline prices have fallen over the last several months but have been subject to conflicting factors. On one hand worries about going over the "fiscal cliff" at the end of the year have depressed the oil market. However Israel's escalating conflict with Hamas in Gaza has put upward pressure on prices. Normally prices go down this time of year.

In general, travelers over the holiday weekend will find lower prices if they head south or to parts of the Midwest. They'll encounter more expensive fuel in the Northeast and West.

In the states the price gap between the states with the most expensive fuel and those with the cheapest narrowed over the last seven days. Prices fell in Hawaii, Alaska, New York and California. Prices rose in Missouri, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

The states with the most expensive gas prices this week are:

• Hawaii ($4.090)
• Alaska ($3.958)
• New York ($3.924)
• California ($3.772)
• Connecticut ($3.832)
• Vermont ($3.684)
• Rhode Island ($3.672)
• Utah ($3.629)
• Pennsylvania ($3.626)
• Massachusetts ($3.625)

The states with the lowest gas prices this week are:

• Missouri ($3.139)
• South Carolina ($3.150)
• Oklahoma ($3.152)
• Texas ($3.164)
• Tennessee ($3.170)
• Arkansas ($3.183)
• Mississippi ($3.184)
• Kansas ($3.210)
• Alabama ($3.216)
• Louisiana ($3.226)

This might sound like gibberish but it's not. Facebook is providing an additional layer of security for its U.S. users. Starting this week, your connection to Facebook will start witih "HTTPS" instead of plain old "HTTP."

This is the extra security layer that until recently has been used mostly by banks and other high-security sites, like those that handle credit card transactions. Google, Twitter and some other major sites already use HTTPS -- or SSL -- connections. It took Facebook a bit longer because of all the third-party apps on its site.

It's more secure because all of the information is encrypted as it is sent to and from the Facebook servers.  As always, there is a price to be paid for the extra security -- it's a little slower because of the encryption process but most privacy experts will tell you it's well worth it because of the added privacy protection.

Certificates verified

The HTTPS connection also verifies the site's certificates to be certain it's not an imposter site. It also does not cache information on your computer, where it could be vulnerable to snoopers.

At the simplest level, the HTTPS connection makes it much harder for nefarious foes to steal your user ID and password, which would enable them to hijack your account -- something that can happen rather easily if you use an "open" wi-fi connection in a coffee shop, airport or other public place.

Previously, users could select HTTPS protection in their account settings but it will now be the default for all U.S. users and will be added to users around the world "in the near future," Facebook said.

As travelers queue up at the nation's airports to travel home or wherever for Thanksgiving they may notice something in the air besides the holiday spirit -- and it's not doing them any good

According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), average air pollution levels from secondhand smoke directly outside designated smoking areas in airports are five times higher than levels in smoke-free airports.

The study conducted in five large hub U.S. airports also showed that air pollution levels inside designated smoking areas were 23 times higher than levels in smoke-free airports. In the study, designated smoking areas in airports included restaurants, bars, and ventilated smoking rooms.

Where the smoke is

Five of the 29 largest airports in the U.S. allow smoking in designated areas that are accessible to the public: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Denver International Airport, and Salt Lake City International Airport.

More than 110 million passenger boardings -- about 15 percent of all U.S. air travel -- occurred at these five airports last year.

The findings in the report, says Tim McAfee, M.D., M.P.H., director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, “further confirm that ventilated smoking rooms and designated smoking areas are not effective. Prohibiting smoking in all indoor areas is the only effective way to fully eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke."

No escape

A 2006 Surgeon General’s Report concluded that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Although smoking was banned on all U.S. domestic and international commercial airline flights through a series of federal laws adopted from 1987 to 2000, no federal policy requires airports to be smoke-free.

"Instead of going entirely smoke-free, five airports continue to allow smoking in restaurants, bars or ventilated smoking rooms. However, research shows that separating smokers from nonsmokers, cleaning the air and ventilating buildings cannot fully eliminate secondhand smoke exposure," said Brian King, Ph.D., an epidemiologist with CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health and co-author of the report. "People who spend time in, pass by, clean, or work near these rooms are at risk of exposure to secondhand smoke."

Secondhand smoke causes heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults and is a known cause of sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS, respiratory problems, ear infections and asthma attacks in infants and children. Even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can trigger acute cardiac events such as heart attack.

Cigarette use kills an estimated 443,000 Americans each year, including 46,000 heart disease deaths and 3,400 lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers from exposure to secondhand smoke.

This week we officially entered the holiday season. There will be full schedules and plenty of stress between now and January 2.

So the last thing you want to do in December is buy a home, right? Well, maybe that's not quite true. If you are in the market for a home and want to drive the best bargain possible, maybe house-hunting is something to add to your already-crowded December to-do list. Here's why:

Less competition

Let's face it, not everyone is willing to take on extra stress around the holidays. Many consumers who are interested in purchasing a new home wait until after the holidays to start searching through the listings.

While the malls have more customers this time of year, the real estate market actually experiences a decrease in shoppers during the holiday season. So, if you find a home that is perfect for you, you'll probably have fewer competing bids from other prospective buyers. And that leads to our next benefit of buying a home this time of year.

More leverage

If the house has been on the market for a few months -- and didn't sell during the late summer and fall seasons -- the seller may reduce the price during the winter months. In fact, in many areas of the country, homes prices are typically at their lowest during the month of December.

Homeowners who are showing their homes during the holiday season often hope to sell it before the end of the year because of tax considerations, so they may also be more willing to negotiate on the price.

More attention

It's a slow time of year for realtors and lenders, too. Sellers aren't the only ones affected by the drop-off in home sales during the winter months. Realtors and lenders also feel the sting of their industry's slow season.

That means you may be get more personalized attention from your real estate agent, and a lender may shave a few points off your interest rate, just to get one final sale and home loan on the books before the year is over. Also, because there are fewer deals to juggle in December than at other times of the year, it's likely your paperwork will be processed faster as well.

Tax benefits

If you buy a home in December you may be able to reap a few tax benefits. Closing on a home before the end of the year means you can deduct certain settlement costs from your taxes for 2012. That includes any pro-rated property taxes and prepaid mortgage interest paid at closing. And, since discount points are considered prepaid interest, you can deduct those from your taxes as well.

There's one drawback to home shopping in December. There may be fewer homes to choose from. This year inventory levels are already pretty low. Not every seller wants to have potential buyers strolling through her home during the holidays. That's why some houses may not go on the market until January.

How does it happen? One day you're just a normal consumer. The next you're in a new category -- old.

“Our society devalues old age in many ways, and this is particularly true in the United States, where individualism, self-reliance and independence are highly valued,” said Oregon State University researcher Michelle Barnhart. “Almost every stereotype we associate with being elderly is something negative, from being ‘crotchety’ and unwilling to change to being forgetful."

Lately baby boomers, who are approaching seniorhood, have professed a new sensitivity to aging and say they want to improve the way it is viewed. But Barnhart says boomers themselves are often at fault for reinforcing negative stereotypes in their interactions with their parents.

Conflicts

“Conflicts come up when someone does not think of themselves as old,” Barnhart said. “But people in their family or caregiving group are treating them as such.”

Barnhart conducted in-depth interviews with consumers in their late 80s, their family members and paid caregivers. She said she found that study participants viewed someone as “old” when that person consumed in ways consistent with society’s concept of older people, and not simply when he or she experienced inabilities that come with increased chronological age.

Barnhart said her study explains how consumption activities, which can range from buying groceries to attending medical appointments, serve as a means of identifying someone as old. They also serve as a means for working through conflicts that arise when older consumers who do not identify themselves as old are treated as an “old person” by family members and service providers.

Aging without getting old

“When people in their 80s or 90s exhibited characteristics that society tends to associate with people who are not old, such as being aware, active, safe, or independent, they were viewed and treated as not old,” Barnhart said. “In this way, they were able to age without getting old.”

People who don't consider themselves "old" will often try to convince others of their not-old identity by arguing. Other times, they try to prove that they are not old by independently performing activities. Another strategy is to force a change, such as shutting out their younger family member entirely.

“Abbie,” an 89-year-old woman from Texas, told Barnhart when she went to her doctor with her daughters, the physician would only talk to her children.

Leave your son or daughter at home

“If younger people bring you in, they think it’s because you’re not, I guess, lucid enough to understand what they’re saying,” Abbie said. “But that irked me so bad that I wanted to grab him by the collar and say, ‘Look, talk to me! I’m the patient.’”

To avoid this type of treatment, Abbie barred her daughters from the doctor’s exam room during future appointments.

Barnhart said the adult children of elderly consumers in the study were primarily in their 50s, and often expressed confidence that baby boomers would change how people view old age. But she said unless society stops devaluing and marginalizing older people, that's not going to happen.

Boomers to get the same treatment

“Unless we change the way we view old age, the generation younger than the boomers will treat them the same way as soon as they show a few more wrinkles, or seem a bit shaky on their feet,” she said.

In addition, Barnhart said policies that view aging and health as issues faced by individuals need to change to reflect a larger group decision-making process. Programs such as Medicare, for instance, may need to shift to provide services not just for the elderly consumer, but their support networks to help them deal with the inevitable loss of ability that comes with aging.
“Losing a bit of your independence by getting help from others doesn’t have to equate with becoming a devalued and marginalized member of society,” she said. “Everybody ages, you can’t stop that. But what we can do is respond to someone’s limitations in a way that preserves dignity and value.”

With the temperature dropping, you could be at risk around the house from more than just a cold-inducing draft. Gas furnaces, space heaters and even fireplaces can give off dangerous carbon monoxide.

Known as the silent killer, carbon monoxide is the gas byproduct of the incomplete combustion of fuel used in cars, gasoline engines, stoves, lanterns, burning charcoal or wood, gas ranges, fireplaces and heaters. The gas is colorless and odorless, but can be deadly.

“You can’t see or smell carbon monoxide, but it can cause significant health issues and possibly kill you,” said Dr. K. Guntupalli, chief, Pulmonary Critical Care and Sleep Section, Harris Health Ben Taub Hospital and professor at the Baylor College of Medicine.

Cuts off oxygen

Carbon monoxide enters the bloodstream and robs the body of much-needed oxygen. While mild exposure can be easily treated, high or prolonged exposure to carbon monoxide can be deadly.

Exposure symptoms include headache, dizziness, confusion, weakness, nausea and chest pain. High exposure can affect the cardiovascular system, central nervous system, lungs and brain.

Moderate exposure over a long period of time can also be very dangerous. It can cause depression, confusion, memory loss and even death.

400 deaths a year

You don't hear a lot about carbon monoxide poisoning but cases are far from uncommon. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 400 people nationwide die and 4,000 are hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning.

About 20,000 people get sick enough to visit an emergency center. The most at risk are children, the elderly and those with chronic problems like heart disease, anemia and respiratory conditions.

If you suspect carbon monoxide poisoning go outside for fresh air. Oxygen usually clears up most symptoms. For more severe cases, medical staff can administer concentrated oxygen treatments using face masks or pressurized hyperbaric chambers.

Don't use an oven to stay warm

Another danger is using a gas stove or oven to stay warm. Operating a gas stove for an extended period is a good way to build up carbon monoxide in the home. The fact that most modern homes are now well-insulated and air-tight make them even more susceptible to carbon monoxide build-up.

“You could be creating carbon monoxide and not realize it until it’s too late,” said Dr. Nick Hanania, director, Asthma Clinical Research Center, Harris Health Ben Taub Hospital. “The dangers of carbon monoxide are too great to ignore.”

Installing a carbon monoxide detector, similar to a smoke detector, is an effective way to protect your home from a carbon monoxide build-up.

There are products and sites that children should not buy or visit. But enforcing these age restrictions can be problematic. In Spain they may have found a solution.

While it is almost impossible to verify a user's age when he access a particular site from a desktop computer, there isn't that problem when he uses a mobile device. Researchers at the Polytechnic University of Valencia want mobile providers to begin requiring parents to register the ages of their children when they buy them a smartphone or tablet.

Automatic age verification

"Verification of age upon access to mobile phone services is not effective because the child can also falsify their age by checking a different box," said María de Miguel Molina, lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Valencia. "However, operators could be made aware of the age of their young users if their parents were to disclose such information when purchasing a mobile phone for their child. This information could then be registered."

She says such a system would keep minors away from adult sites, online tobacco and alcohol merchants, and even some video games that have age classifications.

Published in the Quality & Quantity journal, the report suggests that if this measure were adopted, access to all age-inappropriate sites or those not suitable for minors could be filtered or blocked. It would also mean common regulations for operators.

Honor system

The majority of companies currently operating in Spain have signed the self-regulation code of the Spanish Mobile Operators Association, AESAM, which supports "responsible access" to content. In the U.S., the system is similar, amounting more or less to an honor system. The site asks users to verify they are over 21 and if they say they are, they are admitted.

In their study the researchers have also recommended the creation of a classification scheme according to user age and service theme like the one currently in place for video games: the Pan European Game Information (PEGI), which recommends games for children and youngsters of 3, 7, 12, 16 and over 18 years.

The researchers say the study was conducted using surveys sent to companies, government agencies and child protection associations.

"Up until now we thought we could control youngsters' access to the Internet on the household desktop by locating it in a visible place, for example, and ensuring that children use the internet properly. But, smartphones have opened up new doors," said De Miguel.

Websites that provide music streaming have been a lifesaver for music consumers.

Prior to sites like Groove Shark and Pandora, people downloaded songs with a level of trepidation since many folks were uncertain about all of the legalities surrounding downloads and if it was okay to share music with other people.

At the top of the music streaming hill is arguably Spotify, which allows users to access a countless array of songs by just a few mouse clicks, and the site has gotten so popular among music fans that the company is now delving into launching artists' careers instead of just hosting their music.

Spotify is first doing this with the Swedish Electronic music duo Cazzette , who doesn’t yet have a record deal but hopes to use the streaming site’s customer base to help bring about a healthy level of notoriety.

The partnership is another tactic that puts record labels even closer to irrelevance when it comes to discovering, developing and launching new artists. That's because since the early days of MySpace, musicians have developed less of a desire to shop their demos to big record companies and more of a desire to release their music to the public by themselves-- without the help of a percentage-gobbling middleman.

Steve Savoca, head of content operations at Spotify, said the company hopes to work with musicians to assist in their pursuits of being successful independent artists.

“We want to be a powerful partner to artists so they can leverage our platform to build strong one-to one relationships with their fans,” he said in an interview with Billboard. “That’s something we’ve been putting a lot of effort into lately.”

If the partnership between Spotify and Cazzette is a successful one, and the band ends up getting the notoriety it’s looking for, it could be yet another blow to the traditional record label approach of marketing--an approach that many already consider a dying dinosaur.

Still a challenge

Up until this point, the growth of the Internet has helped a small number of musicians become big stars, but for most independent artists it’s still a challenge to build a large following by just putting their music on SoundCloud, Last.FM or other artist-friendly sites.

So if Spotify can successfully launch the Swedish band towards global recognition, it could prove that an artist can be successful by allowing fans to stream their music for free, as opposed to releasing a single through a record label that they hope everyone buys.

Alexander Björklund--one half of Cazzette--says that large record sales are really not the band's primary goal and if they can use Spotify to build enough fans who will regularly attend their shows, the money from those shows should be enough to absorb whatever they don’t sell in CDs and then some.

“Album sales are secondary,” he said in a published interview. “Of course the promotion will reflect album sales, but that’s not the main reason we’re doing this. Accessibility and exposure is more important for us, as opposed to selling as many CDs as possible.”

The success of the Spotify and Cassette partnership will also determine how interested other artists will be in releasing their music on the streaming site, instead of seeking out a traditional record deal.

Direct to consumers' ears

Artists are already leery of big record companies and the way they make artists recoup large costs before being able to make money--so Spotify providing an even more direct route to the music consumer will be a very welcomed avenue for many artists.

See, with technology making it much easier for the average person to make and promote their own music, the music consumer and the musician are many times one and the same, which means social networking will forever be linked to the marketing and launch of a new artist. This puts Spotify in a perfect position to be the go-to site for artists who want to release their music to an already built-in customer base.

Björklund says that working with Spotify and using its reputation to help grow their fame provides the group total freedom when it comes to making the music they want and releasing it on their own timetable.

“We have a lot of freedom to release whenever we want,” he said. “Were not tied down to any release schedule, and we can add whatever content we like to our own application within Spotify. It’s an entirely different approach.”

When it comes to coffee makers there seems to be a new one on the market every day.

There's single-cup coffee machines, programmable coffee machines and coffee makers that are too advanced for their own good and have a bunch of unnecessary buttons and features.

But even if a coffee maker is able to produce a cup of Joe, pour it and walk it to your bedroom, most people still just want a product that’s reliable, doesn’t break down immediately and is able make a good cup of coffee on a consistent basis.

Black & Decker is one of the older and better-known companies in the coffee machine business, and although the company is best known for its tools and handyman products, it’s also known for its array of coffee machines that are used by millions of people all around the globe.

Some of the B & D coffee machines on the market are the 12-Cup Switch Coffee Maker that goes for about $20 on the company’s website. Then there’s the Single Serve Coffee Maker, the Brew ‘n Go Personal Coffee Maker, the 5-cup coffee maker, which are all well under $100.

There’s also the SpaceMaker Thermal Coffee Maker for $79.99 that hangs above your kitchen counter and is pretty sleekly designed, but it was recalled earlier this year due to the glass breaking while in motion and spewing out hot coffee on people.

Despite some of the company’s coffee machine shortcomings, Black & Decker is still one of the go-to coffee makers on the market today, as reports indicate its machines are sold in over 100 countries around the world.

What's also fairly consistent in many parts of the world are the holidays, and here in the U.S. Black Friday is upon us, so we wanted to pull a few comments about Black and Decker coffee makers from our review section--as we know many consumers have thought of buying one for a family member, a friend or co-worker. But is that really a good idea?

Not too pleased

Keith of North Carolina would probably advise against it, as he purchased a couple of B & D coffee makers as gifts, and also bought one for himself. It turns out that he wasn’t too pleased with how his maker performed.

“I bought three Black & Decker coffee makers, two as gifts and one for our home,” he wrote in his ConsumerAffairs post.

“The model number is CM1010B. As so many others have noted, you cannot pour a cup of coffee without spilling it all over the counter. The design of the spout on the carafe is the apparent problem. In addition, although less than a year old, one of the units quit working completely. This is obviously an on-going problem, and these units are still being sold at Wal-Mart,”  wrote Keith.

And he wasn't alone, Erin of Beaverton, Ore. also purchased a Black and Decker Coffee Maker as a holiday gift and said the low price of the machine wasn’t worth the hassles she had to endure.

 “Stupid me for buying a 12-cup Black & Decker coffee maker,” she wrote.

“It turned out to be the most expensive cheap coffee maker. I bought it for Christmas and here in April, not only do we have a plastic chemical smell/taste in the coffee, but the carafe has always dribbled as other complainants have stated.”

“What’s worse, the chemical and plastic taste/smell is stronger now,” she added. “God only knows what carcinogenic chemicals we are leaching into our bodies. They probably made this in China from recycled computer plastic contaminated with heavy metals and other dangerous things. When will I learn that you always get what you pay for?”

Receiving end

Unlike Keith and Erin who purchased the coffee makers as gifts and ultimately regretted their purchase, there were also those readers who were on the receiving end of the makers as holiday gifts.

“We received a ‘brand new in the box’ coffee maker as a gift,” explained Gerald of Florida in his posting.

“We followed the instruction and poured in one cup of water, placed the cup under the spout and pressed the start switch. Shortly, the water began to boil and it spit out the top and onto my wife, burning her arm. ... After navigating the Black & decker phone maze, I reached a person named Mary who only cared about getting my name and email address, but was not interested in hearing about this dangerous product.

“She told me she was following company directive on this. I thought about giving it as a gift to a personal injury lawyer, but decided to offer B&D a chance to rectify the issue.” wrote Gerald.

We reached out to Black & Decker for a statement but hadn't received a response at the time this story was written.

For what it's worth, of the 245 reviews on our site as of this writing, most are way less than stellar, which is something to think about if you’re planning to purchase a coffee maker as a gift this holiday season.

Reports of a planned job action at Walmart Stores on Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, appear to have gotten the attention of company officials.

Attorneys for Walmart have gone to court to file a complaint against the United Food and Commercial Workers Union International, accusing the union of unlawfully disrupting business. Walmart says the union is behind a number of protests at some of its stores over the last couple of months.

Walmart has formally petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for an injunction preventing the union from sending pickets and flash mobs to its stores.

The union has responded with a stinging statement of its own.

Organized effort

A group called OUR Walmart, which is said to represent disgruntled Walmart employees nationwide, is calling for a Thanksgiving protest at Walmart stores across the nation.

"Have dinner with your family, then join us for a protest against Walmart's illegal activities," the group said on its website.

OUR Walmart says it is protesting low wages for workers, poor working conditions and inadequate healthbenefits. It has been most active in stores in the Los Angeles area and in other California cities.

Then the announcement last week that Walmart, along with many of its competitors, would open on Thanksgiving night appears to have set off a backlash. Many store employees, at Walmart and elsewhere, expressed anger that work was encroaching on traditional holiday time with family.

Even some consumers have said it is too much. Target employees set up an online petition against the Thanksgiving night opening and quickly drew more than a quarter of a million signatures.

Black Friday walkout

The OUR Walmart website contains stories from Walmart associates who have decided to walk out on Black Friday and urges other Walmart associates to do the same.

"Members of OUR Walmart are coming together from across the country and are refusing to work on Black Friday in protest of Walmart’s continuing retaliation against Associates who speak out for better pay, affordable healthcare, improved working conditions, fair schedules, more hours, and most of all, respect," the group said on its website.

It's not clear exactly how many employees at which stores are planning to take part in the action. Walmart's complaint to the NLRB lays responsibility for the organized action at the feet of the union, which in the past has tried to organize Walmart employees.

Meanwhile, the company is trying to head off a public relations misfire on the biggest shopping day of the year.

"We have a great group of associates at Wal-Mart," Fogleman said. "We’ll have more than one million associates working throughout the holiday weekend, and they’re excited about our Black Friday plans this year," Walmart spokesman Dan Fogleman said in a statement to Fox News. "This is the Super Bowl for retailers, and we’re ready."

It used to be said that anything at street level in New York City would soon be either broken or stolen. Especially pay phones.

Things have gentrified a bit since then but finding a working phone can still be difficult, as thousands learned when Superstorm Sandy knocked out their cell phones.

Now the city is trying to go one step beyond fixing up its existing phones -- it's installing 250 new iPad-like devices in existing pay phone booths that will provide emergency broadcasts, city information and, yes, daily deals.

The platforms are run as a partnership between New York City and two companies, Cisco and City 24/7.  Multiple mobile apps are accessible through the 32-inch screens. Content also is fed directly to mobile and web platforms.

It's hard to think those 32-inch screens will last long out in public but everyone involved in the project seems to think they'll somehow survive the predation that befalls things left unattended on city streets.

So confident is City24/7 that it says its service eventually will be expanded to more than a dozen U.S. and foreign cities. The smart screens were tested in a pilot project for a while but are now going live in all five of the city's boroughs.

The public-private partnership also includes the city Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group and LG Electronics USA.

Besides being available on the screens, content developed for the project will be available via mobile and Web platforms.

One question that's not answered in any of the oh-so-cool information tidbits provided by the partnership: Will these things be two-way? In other words, will they be watching us as we watch them?

If you're busy dying, the fate of all your Internet accounts might not be a prime concern to you, but it could be very important to your family, friends and colleagues, not to mention your reputation.

But fear not. No need goes unmet for long in the Internet age and, sure enough, several start-ups have sprung to life to make it easier to manage your virtual afterlife. The newest, in Britain, is called Cirrus Legacy and will help you create a “digital will” containing your passwords and log-in details so your digital executor can efficiently tidy up your legacy.

It's estimated the average Briton has 26 Internet accounts covering everything from online banking to social media and shopping sites. The number is thought to be higher for Americans. A Rackspace study recently found that 12% of people store more than 1,000 emails online and 13% store more than 500 photos.

Still perking

Old Facebook postings could be confusing, leading your friends – real and virtual – to think you're not only still online but still alive. The dangers of leaving online bank accounts and other financial information up and running are obvious.

Leaving information about the departed lying around is also a danger to others, as it can be used to pull off identity thefts and other scams. You don't want someone using your identity and email account to bamboozle innocent consumers, now do you?

Just as your real executor ties up the loose ends and closes out your time on earth, so your digital executor would be expected to close your online accounts, delete your old emails and deep-six your social accounts.

Without a digital executor, your survivors can have a hard time closing your accounts. Facebook, for example, won't release your password, even to your next of kin and will only take your page down after being presented with a death certificate, a process that can take months.

Some states already recognize the rights of digital executors but even in those that don't your digital executor should be able to work in unison with your actual executor to get things wrapped up so that your digital remains are put to rest in a dignified manner.

If you think folks just won't be able to get by without you, there are some services out there that will send emails at staggered intervals after your demise, allowing you to nag your survivors. You might call it a dead-letter service.

Since most rural consumers must get their television service from a satellite provider, perhaps it makes sense that DIRECTV and Exede broadband services would hook up in a bundling deal.

The two companies say the TV and Internet bundle will save consumers $120 a year over the cost of obtaining both services separately. Consumers may order from either company.

DIRECTV is well-established in the TV marketplace, competing with Dish Network to provide cable TV programming services. Although they compete with cable in urban and suburban markets, DIRECTV and Dish are sometimes the only TV options for rural consumers.

Win-win

Exede, owned by the same company that owns Wild Blue satellite Internet, also faces a competitor in HughesNet (an Authorized Partner). Both companies recently launched new, high-speed satellites that provide faster Internet service than was available through satellites in the past. Both Exede and DIRECTV see their partnership as mutually beneficial.

“Any consumer, anywhere can now enjoy an affordable, high-speed internet bundle that includes DIRECTV service,” said Shannon Campain, senior vice president of Sales and Marketing Operations for DIRECTV. “By teaming up with Exede to offer this bundle of broadband packages of up to 12 Mbps, customers in rural and unserved markets no longer have to settle for slow DSL or dial-up service. By delivering the most robust bundle offering of any video provider, we open up more opportunities for further growth in these largely unserved areas.”

“We are thrilled to be able to offer our customers a high-quality integrated TV and Internet bundle,” said Lisa Scalpone, vice president of sales, marketing and business development for ViaSat, which owns Exede. “This agreement benefits both Exede Internet and DIRECTV customers by providing one-stop shopping for customers looking to access high-speed broadband and a video package with more than 170 HD video channels.”

Recent improvements

Both Exede and HughesNet (an Authorized Partner) have improved satellite-delivered broadband with their new generation satellites. However, the service does have a drawback that DSL does not. The plans provide a set amount of data the customer may use each month. In the case of both Exede and HughesNet (an Authorized Partner), the entry-level plan provides 10 GB per month. For normal web surfing that amount is adequate. However, heavy Netflix and YouTube users will find they will quickly run through their allotments.

Still, for millions of rural consumers, there aren't many better options.

When the battery powering a smoke detector begins to go bad, it emits a periodic "chirp" to alert the home's occupant to change the battery. But a survey commissioned by a smoke detector manufacturer suggests that sound is a big safety problem.

The survey, on behalf of Kidde, found that respondents have left their alarm without a working battery.

According to the survey results, homeowners’ primary frustration is timing: almost half of those who have heard a low battery chirp said it sounded in the middle of the night. Yet, homeowners don’t automatically replace the battery.

Stopping the chirp is top priority

After hearing a low battery chirp, 33 percent of homeowners might wait a day or more to replace it, according to the survey. Another seven percent say they’d be more likely to disconnect the battery than insert a new one.

Of course, that defeats the whole purpose of the warning sound. And consumers who don't quickly replace batteries may be literally playing with fire.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) cites missing or disconnected batteries as the main reason smoke alarms fail to operate in residential fires. Two–thirds of all home fire deaths occur in homes with either no smoke alarm or no working alarm.

Recently, the National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM) issued a recommendation for smoke alarms to be powered by 10–year, sealed–in batteries. NASFM’s support of a long–life battery follows similar recommendations from NFPA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Fatal flaw?

“Overall, smoke alarms have been cited as a great success story in this country’s efforts to reduce fire death rates, but persistent problems have been identified along the way that continue to hamper our ability to reduce home fire deaths,” said J. William Degnan, state fire marshal, New Hampshire and president, NASFM. “Consumers with battery-operated smoke alarms should use 10–year batteries in tamper–resistant units to help ensure that they will have that early warning if it is needed. A sealed-in, 10–year battery takes the burden off consumers to remember to change smoke alarm batteries, and it will save lives.”

Failing that, consumers should keep a supply of nine-volt batteries on hand and immediately replace a weak battery as soon as they hear the chirp.