Current Events in August 2013

Toysmith, of Sumner, Wash., is recalling about 30,000 light-up toy frogs and ducks.

The metal conductor pin on the bottom of the toys can come out, posing a choking hazard. No incidents or injuries have been reported.

This recall includes light-up soft plastic toy frogs and ducks. The toys light up when the sensors on the bottom of the product are touched or placed in water. The frog comes in green and the ducks come in yellow, pink and clear. The toys are approximately 2.25 inches in length and 1.5 inches in height. There is a round tag attached to the product with the UPC number 2424 5159.

The toys, manufactured in China, were sold exclusively at Cost Plus World Market between July 2012, and December 2012, for around $3.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled products, keep them away from children and return them to place of purchase for a full refund.

Consumers may contact Toysmith at (800) 356-0474 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday.

Comedian Bill Maher likes to portray Republicans as being in a "bubble," a bubble that isolates them from the realities of the world. It's a frequent feature of his Friday night HBO series.

But bubbles are everywhere. Not too long ago, real estate was in a bubble that popped with disastrous results. And the daily newspaper industry has been drifting along in a great big bubble for quite some time.

Most recent example: This week's stunning announcement that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was buying the Washington Post -- home of the fabled though somewhat long-in-the-tooth Woodward-Bernstein team -- for $250 million cash, a mere pittance in Big Media terms.

Over the weekend, The New York Times sold the Boston Globe for $70 million, about 6 percent of the $1.1 billion it paid to buy the newspaper in 1993. Investor Warren Buffet has been buying newspaper companies by the armful for prices that amount to less than 10 percent what they were worth just a few years ago.

The same trend was seen earlier in the music, magazine and local radio business. Companies that have been around so long they seem like institutions collapse virtually overnight and are sold for a song, or are simply wafted away like a leaf in the breeze.

Shock and awe

What's perhaps saddest about all this is that it's so surprising to the executives and corporate officers who for years have been drawing six- and seven-figure salaries to keep their businesses healthy. There are expressions of shock, concern and outrage when board chairs and CEOs discover what everyone else already knew.

Over on 15th Street, NW, the Washington Post has for the last few years bemoaned the falling advertising rates that have left its bottom line on the wrong side of zero. But it's not just ad rates and Craigslist that dragged down the Post. Circulation fell from 800,000 to around 400,000 in a decade.

Readers went elsewhere.

Was it because of the Internet? Or could it have been the free weeklies, The Washington Times, NewsChannel 8, Politico and all the other new news sources that nibbled away at the Post's grip on Washington? Could it have been the Post's stubborn concentration on the relatively tiny city of Washington (population about 500,000) while relegating the Virginia and Maryland suburbs (with about five times as much population)  to the inside pages?

Post Company chairman Donald Graham not long ago derided coverage of consumer news as nothing more than a way to hype the ratings. Thanks, Don.

Could it have been that the New York Times and Wall Street Journal somehow managed to deliver their printed newspapers to Washington-area subscribers without a hitch while the Post's independent distributors went out of their way to antagonize customers and throw their papers in the ditch or simply not deliver them at all?

No one knows, because no one has much cared, certainly not the Post's Circulation Department. It's likely, though, that Jeff Bezos, fabled for his concentration on customer experience, will find out.

Business as usual

Meanwhile, back at other Old Media watering holes, it's pretty much business as usual, as illustrated by the current unseemly battle between CBS and Time Warner.

Time Warner CEO Glenn Britt and CBS CEO Les Moonves have been fighting to see who can gouge their customers most effectively and, failing to agree, are taking it out on those very same customers.

Time Warner subscribers in New York, Los Angeles and other mega-markets have been locked out of watching CBS the last few nights as the media titans squabble over how they should share the spoils. The battle has featured all the usual weapons -- dueling TV and newspaper ads, Internet petitions, social media postings and media pitches from p.r. agents.

But while Britt and Moonves are arguing over splitting the take, consumers are finding more and more ways around Time Warner and CBS. There's Dish Network and even the quaint Old World practice of hanging an antenna out the window. Netflix and Amazon, which just a few years ago mostly recycled old movies and TV series, are now producing high-quality original series. YouTube is developing endless channels of new content and a little company called Aereo is making CBS and other broadcast channels available over the Internet.

Tellingly, when Aereo first came on the scene, the networks threatened to take themselves off the air and force consumers to pay their cable systems to watch network shows. The empty boast was met with the ridicule it deserved.  

Not paying enough

We haven't heard the networks threatening to go dark much lately, although we still hear them complaining that consumers aren't paying enough for their priceless programming.  

Someone should point out to Moonves & Co. that that's the exact same song the newspapers were singing a few years ago, when they complained that consumers were not sufficiently eager to pay for news on the Internet. Papers raced to throw up paywalls to lock out the freeloaders who might otherwise see the stories and, not coincidentally, the ads that local businesses were paying to put on the newspapers' web sites.

The paywalls worked out fairly well for the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, which actually produce world-class content, but not so well for the Mulkeytown Messenger. There's a lesson in that for broadcasters and cable systems.

Punishing the customer by throwing the paper in the ditch and building paywalls -- or taking the signal off the air -- well, it might feel good at the time but like scratching a mosquito bite, it only makes matters worse.

You listening, Glenn and Les? Consumers are paying big bucks for cable. Unseemly squabbles like this simply make them determined to look elsewhere. And there are plenty of elsewheres out there.

It used to be said that news was a highly perishable commodity and that yesterday's news was about as useful as, well, any number of useless things.

But that's analog thinking. If you want to stay on top today, you have to think digitally -- and sometimes that means taking old news and plopping it down on top of the new news.

At least that's how Facebook sees it, or at least how it explains the latest changes in its so-called news feed, which is sort of Facebook's front page.

Through a tweak to the news feed ranking algorithm, “organic stories that people did not scroll down far enough to see can reappear near the top of News Feed if the stories are still getting lots of likes and comments,” Facebook said in its new News Feed FYI blog post, a feature that is supposed to at least partly demystify the news feed.

In short, updates missed initially get bumped back up in the feed to help boost overall engagement. So if you didn't like something Tuesday, maybe you'll like it Wednesday, seems to be the thinking. 

And maybe it's true.

Facebook says its tests show that the change resulted in a 5% increase in the number of likes, comments, and shares on the organic posts people saw from friends, and an 8% increase across the same metrics from "brand pages" -- those from companies rather than just plain old people -- on the site. Where people previously read 57% of updates, on average, the ranking change has led to 70% of updates being read, the blog said.

“The data suggests that this update does a better job of showing people the stories they want to see, even if they missed them the first time. For Page owners, this means their most popular organic Page posts have a higher chance of being shown to more people, even if they're more than a few hours old,” according to the post by Facebook Engineering Director Lars Backstrom.

Backstrom said there are about 1,500 updates the average Facebook user could look at had he but world enough and time. 

So this is all supposed to make our lives better? No, it's supposed to make advertisers' lives better, as we understand it. On a recent conference call with analysts, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said about one in five of the posts people see in their news feeds now are ads.

Zuckerberg said Facebook will "invest more on improving the quality of news feed ads by increasing the number of marketers and overall demand in the bidding process for ad placement."

More ads, more often, in other words. 

Car dealers have been wheeling and dealing so far in 2013, driving sales to record highs. While each month provides some tantalizing offers, August just might be the best month to visit a new car showroom.

Here's why – a study by TrueCar.com, an automotive website,shows the average price for buying a vehicle in August is more than $150 lower than any other month. On average, that's $500 less than the the other 11 months.

What may be more surprising is that it's $1,000 less than December. Even though conventional wisdom suggests December is one of the best months of the year in which to buy a new car, the data suggests it's actually one of the most expensive.

Why August?

So, what makes August such an opportune time to upgrade your wheels?

“August is the best month to buy a car or truck because dealers are cleaning out older inventory as the new models roll in,” said Scott Painter, founder and CEO of TrueCar. “This change-over means late-model vehicles are priced to be quickly sold off the lot. August is definitely the time to buy if you’re looking to save money.”

Let's just take that notion for a test drive. Here's what Honda, one of the best-selling nameplates in America, is offering in August.

• 2013 Honda Civic: $18,109 - $24,716; 0.9% APR financing for 24-60 months.
• 2013 Honda Accord: $21,219 - $32,418; 0.9% APR financing for 24-36 months or 1.9% for 37 – 60 months.
• 2013 Honda Fit: $16,030 - $20,347; 0.9% APR financing for 61 – 72 months.

Ford is also offering some pretty compelling August deals, depending on the region of the country where you live. The 2013 Ford Escape is priced at $22,617 - $31,558. It's offering $1,500 cash back to customers in the northeast and southeast and $2,000 cash back to customers in the west, northwest and southwest. Some buyers in the west may qualify for additional 0% financing.

At the low end, the Ford Fiesta goes for $13,766 - $18,778. Buyers may qualify for $1,250 cash back or my opt for $1,000 cash and 0% financing up to 48 months.

The Ford Taurus, meanwhile, is offering among the biggest cash incentives this month. The Taurus, which sells for $26,394 - $34,259, is paying up to $4,250 to qualified purchasers. Another option is $1,750 cash back and 0% financing up to 60 months.

$28,950 transaction price

How much are you likely to spend? According to the TrueCar data, the average August transaction price over the previous four years is $28,950. February, with its Presidents Day sales, is second, at $29,109.

While you might find good deals on new cars in August, there may also be some good buys on used cars, especially three year-old models turned on on leases. The automotive site Edmunds.com reports the average price of a used car at franchise dealerships is down $118 in the first half of 2013 to $15,986.

You might have trouble getting the best deal on a used Honda. Hondas sold faster at franchise dealerships than all other brands. Lincolns, on the other hand, might yield the biggest bargains since they sold at the slowest rate.

If you're looking for a used hybrid, you may be in luck. Because hybrid leases jumped in 2010, Edmunds expects a significant increase in used hybrid inventories in the third quarter.

Want to know what lies in store for your health? Well, no one can predict the future and our destiny is not entirely determined by genetics but there's a stronger link than you might think.

Many diseases have a genetic component and in some cases, like Angelina Jolie's, genetics testing can alert us to a virtual time bomb ticking away in our bodies, sometimes enabling us to take defensive action.

Until recently, reading the genetic tea leaves wasn't something that was available to the everyday consumer. But today there are companies that do that very thing. Perhaps the largest and best known is 23andMe, a venture co-founded in 2007 by Anne Wojcicki, the wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

1 million customers

The company so far has relied on word-of-mouth and online buzz but is now launching a $5 million TV ad campaign, hoping to grow to 1 million customers by the end of the year.

“Our goal with this campaign is to provide consumer education and raise awareness about the potential of personal genetics, while also establishing 23andMe as a recognized and trusted brand,” said Andy Page, president of 23andMe.  “23andMe pioneered direct-to-consumer genetic testing and our investment in advertising also represents a first-of-its-kind TV campaign that pioneers advertising for the direct-to-consumer genetic testing industry as well.”

Just what kid of information does 23andMe provide to consumers?

According to Page and the company's website, from a simple DNA swab, consumers get hundreds of personalized reports about their genetic risk factors for various health conditions, alerts about possible drug interactions and information that can be helpful in tracking down relatives or researching one's ancestry.

23andMe's Personal Genome Service is available for purchase online for $99.  Individuals provide a saliva sample by spitting into a small tube that is then mailed back for analysis. Results are provided in a few weeks through an individual’s secure, password-protected 23andMe online account

Finally, some progress.

After decades of rising rates, A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows obesity among low-income preschoolers declined slightly in 19 states and U.S. territories from 2008 through 2011, after rising for decades.

The Vital Signs report found that Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, South Dakota and the U.S. Virgin Islands saw at least a one percentage point decrease in their rates of obesity. Twenty states and Puerto Rico held steady at their current rates, while rates were up slightly in three states.

Previous research shows that about one in eight preschoolers in the U.S is obese. Kids are five times more likely to be overweight or obese as an adult if they are overweight or obese between the ages of three and five years.

“Although obesity remains epidemic, the tide has begun to turn for some kids in some states,” said CDC Director, Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “While the changes are small, for the first time in a generation they are going in the right direction. Obesity in early childhood increases the risk of serious health problems for life.”

Wide-ranging survey

For the Vital Signs report, CDC researchers analyzed measured weight and height for nearly 12 million children aged two to four years who participate in federally funded maternal- and child-nutrition programs. Forty states, the District of Columbia and two U.S. territories (U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico) were included report. The data come from the Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System.

“Many of the states in which we’re seeing declines have taken action to incorporate healthy eating and active living into children’s lives,” said Janet L. Collins, Ph.D., director of CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity. “We must continue to strengthen and expand proven strategies that help our children live healthier lives by avoiding obesity in the first place.”

CDC is encouraging state and local officials to step up efforts to drive down rates of childhood obesity. Business leaders, childcare providers, healthcare providers, communities and families are some of the groups that influence nutrition and physical activity in the places where young children live, learn, and play.

What to do

State and local officials can assist these groups by:

• Making it easier for families to buy healthy, affordable foods and beverages in their neighborhoods.
• Helping provide access to safe, free drinking water in places such as community parks, recreation areas, child care centers and schools.
• Helping local schools open gyms, playgrounds, and sports fields during non-school hours so children can play safely after school, on weekends and over the summer.
• Helping child care providers adopt best practices for improving nutrition and physical activity and for limiting computer and television time.
• Creating partnerships with civic leaders, child care providers and others to make community changes that promote healthy eating and active living.

If you have chronic back or limb pain, you may be living with a spinal cord stimulator to help manage that pain. Until now, that meant you were not able to get Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) screenings because doctors were afraid the implant would heat up or not work properly.

But Medtronic Inc. has developed what may be a solution -- a new implant called the RestoreSensor SureScan MRI neurostimulation system, newly approved by the FDA. Dr. Ali Rezai and Dr. Milind Deogaonkar, of  The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center implanted this device for the first time this week. 

"The ability to safely perform MRI scans after spinal cord stimulator implant is an important advance and a major benefit for our patients," said Rezai. 

According to statistics, there are 60 million MRIs given to patients each year in the U.S. and based on figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of MRIs given between 1996 and 2007 has increased four times over.

Critics say the MRI is being used too often but Rezai says it's still necessary in many cases.

"MRI examinations are necessary and routinely performed diagnosis and clinical care. It's very likely that a patient with chronic pain, spinal disease, neurological and orthopedic disorders will require an MRI scan."

"These spinal cord stimulators can help patients who suffer from extreme back, leg and extremity pain, especially those patients who have failed all previous medications and other approaches to get improvements in their pain and quality of life and functioning."

Neuromuscular specialist Dr. John Kissel said sometimes a patient's level of pain is so high that medication doesn't work. And in these cases, it's best for patients to get a stimulator.

The old adage “an apple a day” was on to something, according to a study that finds significant potential to prolong lives, improve health, and save health care costs by eating one additional daily serving of fruits and vegetables.

The study, released today by  the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) examines the linkage between fruit and vegetable intake and incidence of cardiovascular diseases. These diseases, the leading killer of Americans, include coronary heart disease and stroke, which together are responsible for 725,000 U.S. deaths each year.

The report finds that if Americans consumed just one additional serving of fruits or vegetables a day, the nation would save $5 billion in health care expenditures and prevent 30,301 heart disease and stroke deaths annually.

If Americans were to go a step further and ate a full 2.5 cups of vegetables and 2 cups of fruit daily, as recommended by federal dietary guidelines, it could prevent 127,261 deaths each year and save $17 billion in medical costs. The economic value of the lives saved from cardiovascular diseases is an astounding $11 trillion.

“Eating right is good for your health, and it rewards both your wallet and the economy,” said Jeffrey O’Hara, an agricultural economist with UCS’s Food & Environment Program and author of the report. “Helping Americans eat more of the right foods should be a public policy priority.”

Instead, O'Hara said, current farm policies channel taxpayer dollars into subsidizing crops like corn and soybeans that are used as feed for livestock and as processed food ingredients, instead of encouraging farmers to grow fruits and vegetables.

“In addition to these perverse subsidies, these policies mean that consumers and taxpayers are footing the bill twice – once to subsidize commodity crops that become ingredients in unhealthy foods, and again to treat skyrocketing rates of costly diet-related illnesses such as heart disease and stroke,” said O’Hara.

Treating cardiovascular disease is expensive for individuals, and collectively for taxpayers who fund subsidized health insurance programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid. In 2010 alone, the total cost of treating cardiovascular diseases amounted to $273 billion – and these costs are expected to reach $818 billion by 2030. 

“Our food system is quite literally making Americans sick and driving the country further into debt,” said O’Hara. “One solution is to enable better access to fruits and vegetables, and we can do this through incentives that make produce more available and affordable.”

The full text of the study is available online. 

A glimmer of life in applications for new mortgages.

After falling for eight consecutive weeks, mortgage applications increased 0.2% from the previous week. At the same time, though, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reports applications for refinancings were unchanged.

The refinance share of mortgage activity was unchanged at 63% of total applications from the previous week, while the adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained constant at 6% of total applications.

Interest rates

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) increased to 4.61%t from 4.58%, with points increasing to 0.42 from 0.38 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year FRMs with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,500) was unchanged at 4.64%, with points decreasing to 0.34 from 0.39 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year FRMs backed by the FHA increased to 4.33% from 4.30%, with points decreasing to 0.26 from 0.31 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year FRMs decreased to 3.66% from 3.67%, with points increasing to 0.43 from 0.40 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs was unchanged at 3.39%, with points increasing to 0.37 from 0.36 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

Heeren Brothers Produce is recalling approximately 5,400 cantaloupes.

The produce, which was distributed to small, independent grocers in Michigan July 23-26, has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes and should be discarded and not consumed. The Athena Cantaloupes have no stickers or other markings that identify them as such. The recall does not affect any other Heeren Brothers Produce products.

The company has received no reports of illnesses related to this product to date.

Heeren Brothers Produce has alerted retailers and requested that they remove the produce from their shelves, and has also contacted the supplier of the cantaloupes.  

Gerber Legendary Blades, of Portland, Ore., is recalling about 2,900 Uppercut Fixed Blade Knife and Sheath sets.

The Uppercut sheath does not hold the knife securely, allowing the knife to come out of the sheath unexpectedly, posing a laceration hazard. The company has received one report of a laceration to a consumer that required medical attention, but no stitches.

All Uppercut Knife and Sheath sets include a black nylon sheath with an engraved Gerber sword and shield logo printed on the front and “GERBER” engraved on the snap clip on the back. The sheaths are approximately 2.25-inches long and 1.25-inches wide at the top, tapering down to 0.5-inch at the base.

The knife sold with the sheath is a T-handled knife with an overall length of 4-inches and a 2-inch double-edged blade that snaps into the molded sheath. The knife has a laser marked white sword and shield logo on the front and a white alphanumeric code on the back tang of the knife.

The Uppercut sets that were sold in a box have model number 30-000650 printed on the box. Sets sold in blister pack packaging have model number 31-001727 printed on the packaging.

The sets, manufactured in China, were sold at sporting goods stores nationwide and online from March 2013, through June 2013 for about $60 per knife and sheath set.

Consumers should immediately cover and store the Uppercut knife in a safe area out of the reach of children. Contact Gerber Legendary Blades for instructions on returning the sheath for a free replacement sheath.

Consumers may contact Gerber Legendary Blades toll-free at (800) 289-4560 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday.

Some additions are well known and understood. Drug addiction, alcohol addition, and food addiction have primary impact on health. But spending addition has mostly economic impact, and the impact can be severe.

“Shop til you drop” is a mostly lighthearted term, but it's deadly serious for consumers who run their credit cards up to the limit because of their shopping addiction.

Compulsive shopping or spending can be seasonal relief for depression, anxiety and loneliness during the December holiday season. The credit cards can also come out when a person feels depressed, lonely or angry.

Compulsive buying disorder

The World Psychiatry Association recognizes the condition as compulsive buying disorder (CBD). It notes those suffering from CBD may have substance use disorders, eating disorders, and other disorders of impulse control. It also finds compulsive shopping tends to run in families.

The question is why do shopping addicts keep spending regardless of the consequences? A new study suggests compulsive buying is fueled largely by poor credit management and a belief that new purchases will create a happier life. If you think about it, it's the main reason an alcoholic keeps drinking.

Widespread problem

While the U.S. is perhaps the world's greatest consumer culture, the problem is not confined to our shores. It's estimated that around 10 percent of the adults in the Western world are in the grip of “plastic abuse,” spending on things they don't really want or need. Researchers at San Francisco State University have recently identified specific behaviors that lead to compulsive buying.

"Compulsive shoppers tend to be people who bury their head in the sand and ignore the credit card bill," said Ryan Howell, associate professor of psychology at SF State. "We also found that these individuals keep on buying because they are looking for that 'buy high,' hoping their purchases will lift their mood and transform them as a person."

Unfortunately, it doesn't work. Shopping doesn't raise self-esteem or heal the hurts, regrets, stress, and the problems of daily living.

Researchers at Indiana University created a web page with compulsive shopping disorder information and attached a notation that they would not longer be able to respond to questions because of the high volume of traffic on the page.

Will buy anything

On the site they note that many shopping addicts go on binges all year long and may be compulsive about buying certain items, such as shoes, kitchen items or clothing; some, they say, will buy anything.

“Women with this compulsive disorder often have racks of clothes and possessions with the price tags still attached which have never been used,” the researchers write. “They will go to a shopping mall with the intention of buying one or two items and come home with bags and bags of purchases. In some cases shopololics have an emotional black out and do not remember even buying the articles. If their family or friends begin to complain about their purchases, they will often hide the things they buy.”

Those with the problem can easily slip into denial. Because they can not pay their bills their credit rating suffers, they have collection agencies attempting to get what is owed, may have legal, social and relationship problems. They sometimes attempt to hide their problem by taking on an extra job to pay for bills.

If you think you suffer from this condition, the first step is to come to terms with it, just like any other additions. Alcoholics, for example, admit they can't control their drinking and adopt abstinence. That, of course, isn't going to work for shopaholics. After all, you still have to buy things.

Instead, you have to adopt some controls. Here's what the Indiana University researchers recommend:

• Pay for purchases by cash, check, debit card.
• Make a shopping list and only buy what is on the list.
• Destroy all credit cards except one to be used for emergency only.
• Avoid discount warehouses. Allocate only a certain amount of cash to be spent if you do visit one.
• "Window shop" only after stores have closed. If you do "look" during the day, leave your wallet at home.
• Avoid phoning in catalog orders and don't watch TV shopping channels.
• If you're traveling to visit friends or relatives, have your gifts wrapped and call the project finished; people tend to make more extraneous purchases when they shop outside their own communities.
• Take a walk or exercise when the urge to shop comes on.
• If you feel out of control, you probably are. Seek counseling or a support group such as Debtors Anonymous.

Taking a course and financial literacy or money management may also yield results. Howell and his SF State colleagues found that lack of money management predicted individuals' compulsive spending, regardless of their personality, gender, age and income. In particular, out-of-control-shopping was primarily driven by poor credit management, such as not paying attention to credit card statements, not paying credit card bills on time and exceeding credit limits.

The researchers also believe credit cards facilitate much of the out-of-control behavior. It's easy to get sucked into a shopping binge with a credit card because it allows a consumer to separate the pleasure of buying from the pain of paying.

"We know that a person's values impact their shopping habits, but values aren't the easiest thing to change" Howell said. "Even if you are still materialistic and you have the desire to acquire more possessions, it's how you manage your behavior that counts. Our findings suggest that you can keep your shopping under control by paying attention to your credit card and checking in with yourself about whether you are shopping for emotional reasons."

Microsoft jumped into the tablet market last year with a pretty big spash, introducing its Surface tablets – the RT and Pro – to compete with the likes of the iPad, the Nexus and the myriad of other players in the space.

Microsoft supported the product with millions of dollars in snappy television ads, apparently to no avail. It turns out the company has spent more on marketing the Surface than it has generated in sales.

Not surprisingly, Microsoft has cut the price of the Surface Pro. That brings down the price of the 64GB tablet to $799 and the 128GB tablet to $899. Three weeks earlier Microsoft cut the price of the Surface RT tablets by 30%.

What happened? Did Microsoft just make an inferior product? The technology press doesn't think so.

Evolution of the PC

Five months after the product launched, a reviewer for Gizmag was impressed by the tablet's capabilities and viewed it as part of the evolution of the PC.

“Devices like the Surface Pro are not only the future of the Windows PC, they're already delivering some exciting possibilities in the present,” the review said.

But the reviewer was noncommittal on whether consumers should jump on board now or wait and let the product evolve over a few years.

Another tech site, CNET, was mostly complimentary, calling it the “first tablet that truly can be used for creation and typing, and that actually lives up to that need.”

Its review praised the Surface's ports and expandable memory, long battery life and the innovative kickstand and keyboard.

Less than impressed

But consumers have apparently been less than impressed. When Microsoft reported its earnings last month, it revealed that since the Surface's debut, it has produced $853 million in revenue. The company said it spent $900 million to promote it.

Microsoft did not report how many units had sold but others have made estimates. Bloomberg News has put the number around 1.5 million. To put that in some kind of perspective, Apple sold nearly 15 million iPads in just the second quarter of the year.

The product is a powerful tablet. The Surface Pro has been called “a tablet with the guts of a laptop.” You can use it much as you would any other tablet or snap on one of the colorful covers, which acts as a touch-sensitive keyboard, and use it like a notebook PC.

The Surface RT is less powerful and versatile but is still considered a very good device. While the Pro runs the full version of Windows 8, the RT has a more limited mobile operating system.

What's wrong?

So, if it's a good product and gets favorable reviews from people who know and understand technology, why has the Surface left consumers cold? One obvious place to start a search for answers could be the price.

Until last weekend's price cut the Surface Pro cost $1,000 while the Surface RT listed for $900. Consider what tablet shoppers would have to pay to purchase a competitor.

The Apple iPad with Retina Display lists for $489 on Amazon.com, half the original price of the Surface Pro. The Apple iPad Mini – its seven-inch tablet introduced last year, list for under $335.

In fact, consumers seem to prefer smaller tablets. The Mini has been a big seller for Apple, but gets strong competition from Amazon's Kindle Fire HD 8.9, which lists for $314, and the seven-inch version, which goes for $189.

The Google Nexus 7 tablet lists for $200, as does Samsung's Galaxy Tab 3, another seven-inch model. Perhaps it's just as simple as consumers aren't going to pay $1000 for a tablet, no matter how good it is, when they can get another good one for less than half the price.

This isn't Microsoft's first experience with a less-than-successful new product.

Remember Zune? It was Microsoft's answer to Apple's iPod – a brand of digital media products and services that included a line of portable media players, software and a music subscription service.

Microsoft discontinued the Zune hardware in 2011 and pulled the plug on Zune services the following year.

Okay, so you've been dating someone for a few years and both of you are thinking about walking down the aisle.

To learn a little more about marriage and being a good spouse, you buy several books, read every article on the subject and talk to folks who have been married for a long time.

Soon after, you feel you know enough about marriage to take the final step and you're sure you'll be able to avoid the big problems that may arise.

But what about the little problems that may come up? Are you equally prepared? Because little problems can turn into big problems further down the road.

So before you get married it's important to have a lot of discussions with your spouse-to-be about the little things that annoy you. That's according to Susan Ziggy, author of the book "What To Do Before You Say 'I Do.'" She says couples need to talk about all of the flaws in the relationship.

"Relationships are as flawed as the people who are in them," she said in an interview with ConsumerAffairs. "There are several things that need to be in place for a good relationship. And everyone has flaws or as I call them 'buttons.' There must be mutual respect, trust, honesty, good communication skills and reciprocity."

"The should haves would be: A good sense of humor, an ability to admit when you are wrong and apologize, healthy ego and self-esteem. Good listening skills are a bonus," says Ziggy.

Smaller issues

Many experts say problems in the area of finances, communication and sex cause a lot of couples to break up, but Ziggy says it's the smaller issues too.

Carrying resentment is a big issue, she says and many times that resentment comes from simple things like cleaning up the house.

"Not picking up after yourself is another expected silly argument," explains Ziggy. "Usually the woman does the picking up and it is annoying."

"Is it worth ruining your evening? If you say, 'please pick up your socks because I don't want one to be missing in the laundry,' they may do it. If they don't then just pick it up or leave it there and see if they will pick it up later."

Elly Prior, relationship expert and founder of the site Professional-Counseling.com, said if you have your partner's best interests in mind, it'll make arguments easier to get through.

"If you love each other, you'll want the best for your partner or so I hope," she writes. "That means neither letting your partner always have it their way nor manipulating conversations to always have it your way. Both of these extremes are unhelpful and will only cause more problems."

"Remember, you can't change your partner, you can only change yourself."

Ziggy says the tiniest of issues can get under a person's skin to the point where he or she will lash out in in the future. Things like replacing the toilet paper, putting the toilet seat down and deciding what to watch on TV can often lead to nasty arguments.

Driving styles

Arguing about each other's driving style is a common problem too.

"This is a big one, especially for women," says Ziggy. "If you don't like the way your partner drives, get over it! Remember it's the journey that's important, not how slow or fast they drive, unless they have been drinking."

Having differing work ethics is another reason why many couples argue, said Ziggy and each person's work style should be accepted by the other and not criticized.

For example, if your partner is a person who always has to be on his or her laptop doing things for work and you would rather sit in front of the TV without working, you shouldn't argue about it. Nagging someone about those kinds of things doesn't help, says Ziggy.

"Different work ethics might be another sore issue that can lead to resentment," she states. "If one is a type 'A' personality and the other is a type 'B' personality you need to realize that. If you have to be busy all the time, that is your prerogative, don't make it your partners."

"Here is where acceptance is critical," she adds. "Accept that one likes to be crazy busy and the other has different qualities that make you, together a great couple."

How men think

Remembering that men and women think and respond differently is key, says Ziggy. Once you forget this reality, you're asking for big trouble.

"Women need to understand how men think," she advises.

"They seem to assume that men are sensitive and emotional just like they are. Men are genetically geared to think in black and white. Emotion does not play a large role in some men's psyche. They are problem solvers and providers genetically and that is almost impossible to change."

And men should understand they don't have to fix everything, says Ziggy. Which means some guys may have to work on listening without interjecting. 

"Women are genetically geared to be emotional and nurturing. They think in gray. Women want to talk about everything, where men are geared to keep their emotions suppressed."

"If your lady wants to talk then ask her to give you a few minutes to rest and then let her talk. Most of the time women just want to vent about their day. They don't need their man to fix anything, just vent."

"Men don't want to see their partner upset so they try and offer suggestions on how to solve the problem. They should learn not to do that. The woman needs to start her conversations with 'I just want to vent' so the man knows to just listen and not comment," says Ziggy.

If you've been pining after a Chevrolet Volt, you'll be glad to hear that General Motors is cutting the price of the latest Volt by 13%, hoping to wring more sales out of consumers who have had a decidedly low-voltage response to plug-in cars.

The reason consumers are cool to plug-in cars seems to be mostly "range anxiety." They're simply afraid the cars will run out of juice before they get where they're going. This isn't a problem with the Volt, which has a gasoline engine that kicks in when it's needed. But what has been a problem for the Volt is its price -- roughly $40,000, nearly twice as much as you might pay for a fuel-efficient gas-powered car.

Of course, government subsidies take a big chunk out of the bottom-line cost -- $7,500 plus whatever tax break your state may offer and depending on your individual tax liability. 

There's a lot of competition, though, in what is still a niche market. Manufacturers are turning out new electric-car models at a rapid pace, everythiing from the high-end Tesla Model S to the Nissan Leaf, perhaps the two most successful plug-ins. The Tesla S will set you back $100,000 or so while the Leaf goes for around $29,750 -- and that's before you figure in the tax credit.

Nissan and Tesla are both selling cars as fast as they can manufacture them, while Chevrolet dealers have about 105 days' worth of Volts sitting around on their lots. 

The price of gas isn't helping matters either. Although it's hovering around the $4 mark in much of the country, it's apparently not high enough to drive consumers from their cars, especially newer cars that get 20 or more miles per gallon.

"Unmatched balance"

Nevertheless, GM is confident the lower price will get new Volts rolling off dealers' lots.

"The lower price and cost savings from driving on electricity provide Volt owners an unmatched balance of technology, capability and cost of ownership,” said Don Johnson, U.S. vice president, Chevrolet sales and service. “The 2014 Volt will offer the same impressive list of features, but for $5,000 less.

“We have made great strides in reducing costs as we gain experience with electric vehicles and their components,” Johnson said. “In fact, the Volt has seen an increase in battery range and the addition of creature comforts, such as a leather-wrapped steering wheel and MyLink, since its launch in 2010.”

Volt owners who charge regularly typically drive 900 miles between fill-ups and visit the gas station about once a month, according to the Electric Drive Transportation Association, an industry group. "The 2014 Volt will continue to provide owners with impressive fuel economy of 98 MPGe (electric) and 35 city/40 highway on gasoline power without any need to change their daily driving habits while saving $900 in annual fuel costs," EDTA said. 

Consumers are lining up against Clorox in its epic kitty litter battle with competitor Church & Dwight. It all started back in 2010 when Clorox began claiming in its ads that its carbon-based Fresh Step was better at killing litter box odors than C&D's baking soda-based product Super Scoop.

C&D sued Clorox, challenging the accuracy of its claims and won an injunction that blocked Clorox from continuing the ads.

Now consumers want a piece of the action and a federal judge has allowed the consumers' suits to go forward, Courthouse News Service reported.

Suits filed in California, Florida, New Jersey, New York and Texas have been consolidated in the Northern District of California, where Clorox moved for dismissal, saying the consumers had not shown they suffered any injury and had not shown that Clorox's product didn't perform as well as C&D's.

But U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti left several claims intact, saying that if Fresh Step is in fact inferior to Super Scoop, it is "irrelevant" that the plaintiffs did not "experience that inferiority first hand."

Conti said the court must also seriously consider the studies C&D performed.

"At this stage, the court must take all well-pleaded, factual allegations as true," Conti said. "According to the complaint, C&D studies show that baking soda-based cat litters are objectively better at reducing cat odors than Fresh Step. The notion that one cat litter is objectively better at fighting odors is not implausible. Indeed, that is the very claim that Clorox makes in its own advertisement. In sum, Clorox's arguments raise factual issues that are not suitable for determination on a motion for judgment on the pleadings."

If you're a parent, you've been there and done that: your baby spits up and spits up and ….

Some parents and other caretakers -- understandably -- become are concerned abut the health of the child when this happens. Is the baby getting enough nourishment? Is frequent spitting up a sign of a more serious illness? Does the infant need medical treatment?

Relax. According to Andrew E. Mulberg, M.D, a pediatrician and pediatric gastroenterologist at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), frequent spitting up is absolutely normal in most cases and not a symptom of poor health. As long as the child is alert, reasonably content, gaining weight and not showing other signs of illness, this is not usually a cause for concern, he says.

What's up -- so to speak?

Then why is the baby's food coming back up so frequently?

In infants, the ring of muscle between the esophagus and the stomach -- the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) -- is not fully mature, allowing stomach contents to flow backward, Mulberg explains. In time, the LES will mature and open only when the baby swallows and will remain tightly closed the rest of the time, keeping stomach contents where they belong.

"By the time the child is 18 months of age or younger, the problem, known as gastroesophageal reflux (GER),usually resolves itself," says Mulberg.

In a small number of cases, a more serious condition known as GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) may exist. GERD also can cause excessive spitting up, but requires treatment to avoid additional health complications, such as tissue damage in the lining of the esophagus.

You should consult your doctor immediately if a baby shows such symptoms as spitting up blood, blood in the stool, weight loss, failure to thrive including lack of weight gain and persistent coughing or wheezing, Mulberg says.

PPIs: yes or no?

Many parents are worried enough to try over-the-counter (OTC) medications, including proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) such as Prilosec. PPIs work by reducing the amount of stomach acid made by glands in the lining of your stomach and are often used by adults to treat GERD, commonly known as heartburn.

However, PPIs sold over the counter are not approved by FDA to treat reflux in infants.

An FDA advisory committee met in November 2010 to discuss four clinical trials investigating the effects of PPI treatment of infant GERD. The committee concluded that PPIs should not be prescribed as therapy for otherwise healthy infants less than 1 year old, unless there is evidence of tissue erosion in the esophagus.

As for what drugs may or may not be needed, that's a determination the health care professional must make after conducting a thorough physical examination. Mulberg suggests that parents should be ready to discuss the baby's mealtime behaviors in some detail, as well as the child's general mood. Before an appointment, parents should be prepared to answer questions such as:

• Does the baby spit up at every feeding?
• How much liquid is the baby spitting up?
• Are you breast-feeding?
• If not breast-feeding, what type of formula are you using?
• Have you recently switched formulas?

What to do

Once a more serious disease is ruled out by a health care professional, there are a number of things parents and other caretakers can do to help prevent babies from constantly spitting up. These include:

• Holding the baby in an upright position when feeding.
• Feeding the baby smaller portions at a time.
• Thickening feedings with rice cereal or other infant cereals, which help the food to sit in the stomach longer.
• Making a switch to a different formula.

"It's understandable why new parents, especially, are worried when their child seems to be spitting up nonstop," Mulberg says. "Generally, the parents are pretty sleep deprived, too -- which doesn't help the situation."

There seems to be no letup in the rise in home values.

CoreLogic reports home prices nationwide -- including distressed sales -- were up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis in June 2013. It's the 16th consecutive monthly increase in home prices nationally. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned transactions.

On a month-over-month basis (June-over-May), CoreLogic's Home Price Index (HPI) has prices up 1.9%.

The provider of residential property information, analytics and services says its Pending HPI indicates that July home prices -- including distressed sales -- are expected to rise by 12.5% on a year-over-year basis from July 2012 and 1.8% on a month-over-month basis from June 2013.

“Remarkable” appreciation

"In the first six months of 2013, the U.S. housing market appreciated a remarkable 10 percent," said Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. "This trend in home price gains is moving at the fastest pace since 1977."

"The U.S. housing market experienced robust price appreciation during the first half of 2013 and our forecast calls for double-digit growth through July," said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "Despite their rebound of late, home prices remain reasonable in a historical context, with most states near peak affordability levels."

June highlights

• Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were: Nevada (+26.5%), California (+21.4%), Wyoming (+16.7%), Arizona (+16.2%) and Georgia (+14.3%).
• Including distressed sales, this month only two states posted home price depreciation: Mississippi (-2.1%) and Delaware (-1.1%).
• Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to June 2013) was -19%. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period was -14%.
• The five states with the largest peak-to-current declines, including distressed transactions, were Nevada (-44.3%), Florida (-38.6%), Arizona (-33.9%), Rhode Island (-31.7%), and Michigan (-31.1%).
• Of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population, 99 were showing year-over-year increases in June, one more than in May 2013.

Nissan is recalling 7,707 model year 2014 Versa Note vehicles manufactured April 23, 2013, through July 3, 2013.

The lower body sill bolts may be missing or incorrectly torqued. Missing lower body bolts may affect the vehicle's integrity in the event of a rear impact, increasing the risk of injury.

Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will install and tighten to specification the lower body sill bolts, as needed, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin August 12, 2013.

Owners may contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.