Current Events in April 2014

In the 21st century, the camera business has been turned on its lens cap. With technology moving at the speed of light, companies – even market stalwarts – have struggled to keep up.

In 2012 Eastman Kodak, whose name in the previous century was synonymous with pictures, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced it was getting out of the camera business. Five years earlier, Polaroid, which pioneered instant cameras, stopped making both cameras and film.

Consider this: the Flip camera arrived on the scene in 2006, providing consumers with an inexpensive point-and-shoot digital camcorder. Technically, it isn't much different from the GoPro HD personal camcorder. They both are small cameras that take HD video pictures. But there is one big difference.

The GoPro Hero3 is designed and marketed for mounting on a car's dash, the handlebars of a bicycle, or the user's head while skydiving, or taking part in other high-action activities. The Flip was eclipsed by the video capability of smartphones.

As a result, Cisco, which bought Flip in 2009, announced two years later it would stop making it. GoPro, meanwhile, is doing quite well and is poised to become a publicly traded company on Wall Street.

Light field camera

Stepping onto this shifting commercial landscape is Lytro, which has unveiled what it says is the world's first light field camera and software platform. It's a follow up – and significant upgrade – to its first light field camera introduced two years ago.

Light field photography captures available light from more than one direction. Software in the camera determines the general direction of the rays of light.

Advantages include the ability to refocus images after they are taken. Speed is another advantage. Since the camera doesn't need to refocus it can capture a series of images faster than a standard point-and-shoot device.

Light field cameras need less light to take pictures and can provide more depth to subjects. Lytro's first camera went on sale in 2012 in 8GB and 16GB versions.

$1,599 price tag

The company's new camera, the Lytro ILLUM, creates what it calls "living pictures" by bringing the power of 3D computer graphics to photography. The new camera is also a lot more expensive, retailing for $1,599.

"With LYTRO ILLUM, creative pioneers, ranging from artistic amateurs to experienced professionals , will tap into a new wave of graphical storytelling, said Lytro CEO Jason Rosenthal. "By combining a novel hardware array with tremendous computational horsepower, this camera opens up unprecedented possibilities to push the boundaries of creativity beyond the limits inherent in digital or film photography."

Specs

To accomplish all this, Lytro ILLUM combines optics, hardware and software in a very small package. The camera offers a 40-megaray light field sensor, 8x optical zoom range, constant f/2.0 aperture and a high-speed shutter capable of freezing motion under a wide variety of conditions.

After the image has been captured, the software platform allows photographers to adjust aspects of images that were previously fixed, such as focus, tilt, perspective shift and depth of field. It gives the photographer a lot more power within the camera to edit the image.

The company likens ILLUM's technology to that used in virtual reality and 3D graphics. It's hoping the camera will serve as a catalyst for yet another transformational shift in the world of cameras.

"Light Field Photography is following the classic pattern for a transformational concept," said Lytro founder Ren Ng. "The original Lytro camera, which launched in 2012, introduced an entirely new era in photography. Lytro ILLUM will advance this movement to a new level.”

The camera is available for pre-order and starts shipping in July.

One thing that keeps many consumers from dumping their expensive cable TV service is HBO. Sure, you could do without ever seeing "Extreme Cheapskates" on TLC again but HBO is another story.

Amazon has just solved that problem. Amazon and HBO today announced that Amazon's Prime Instant Video will be the exclusive online source of much of HBO's catalog, including award-winning shows such as "The Sopranos," "Six Feet Under," "The Wire," "Big Love," "Deadwood," "Treme," early seasons of "Boardwalk Empire" and "True Blood."

Currently running series will be added to the online catalog over the course of the agreement.

The first wave of content will arrive on Prime Instant Video May 21. This is the first time that HBO programming has been licensed to an online-only subscription streaming service.

In addition, HBO GO will become available on Fire TV, targeting a launch by year-end. HBO GO is HBO’s authenticated streaming service offering subscribers instant access to over 1,700 titles online including every episode of new and classic HBO series, as well as HBO original films, miniseries, sports, documentaries, specials and a wide selection of blockbuster movies.

“HBO has produced some of the most groundbreaking, beloved and award-winning shows in television history, with more than 115 Emmys amongst the assortment of shows coming to Prime members next month,” said Brad Beale, Director of Content Acquisition for Amazon. “HBO original content is some of the most-popular across Amazon Instant Video — our customers love watching these shows. Now Prime members can enjoy a collection of great HBO shows on an unlimited basis, at no additional cost to their Prime membership.”

Amazon announced in March that it was raising the annual fee for Prime membership from $79 to $99. Prime also includes free two-day shipping of most products and access to thousands of streaming video titles, including a growing number of original content produced by Amazon.  

“Amazon has built a wonderful service—we are excited to have our programming made available to their vast customer base and believe the exposure will create new HBO subscribers,” said Charles Schreger, President of Programming Sales for HBO.

Details

Beginning May 21, Amazon Prime members will have unlimited streaming access to:

• All seasons of classics such as "The Sopranos,""The Wire,""Deadwood,""Rome" and "Six Feet Under," and of recent favorites such as "Eastbound & Down,""Enlightened" and "Flight of the Conchords;"
• Miniseries, including "Angels in America,""Band of Brothers,""John Adams,""The Pacific" and "Parade’s End;"
• Select seasons of current series such as "Boardwalk Empire,""Treme" and "True Blood"
• Hit original movies like "Game Change,""Too Big To Fail" and "You Don’t Know Jack;"
• Documentaries including the "Autopsy" and "Iceman" series, "Ghosts of Abu Ghraib" and "When the Levees Broke;" and
• Original comedy specials from Lewis Black, Ellen DeGeneres, Louis CK and Bill Maher. 

The multi-year deal will bring additional seasons of the current series named above, along with early seasons of other series like Girls, The Newsroom and Veep to Prime members over the life of the deal.

A few weeks ago the Consumer Federation of America, working in conjunction with the Center for Economic Justice, called on insurance regulators to stop the practice of “price optimization” -- basically, insurance companies charging certain customers higher premiums not to reflect higher levels of risk or rates of coverage but simply because the (usually low-income) customers didn't realize they qualified for a better price.

Coincidentally (or maybe not), on April 23 the CFA said that an analysis of year-2013 financial data for property/casualty insurers in the United States showed that last year, “insurers enjoyed extraordinarily high returns on the highest level of annual premiums ever paid by United States consumers, businesses and public agencies,” with total annual profits of $64 billion, the third-highest in history even after adjusting for inflation (dwarfed only by the years 2006 and 2007).

J. Robert Hunter, who is the CFA's Director of Insurance (and a former Texas insurance commissioner) said, “The data make it indisputably clear that insurance companies are overcharging their customers in order to rake in huge profits.”

Squeezing so much profit

Hunter later said that “It is good for the P/C industry to make fair profits, but it is unacceptable for insurance companies to be squeezing so much profit out of consumers who are required by laws and financial institutions to buy coverage. At a time when low- and moderate-income Americans are increasingly unable to afford unfairly priced auto insurance and many homeowners struggle to afford home insurance in many parts of the nation, huge profits like those realized in 2013 raise serious questions about the adequacy of state regulation of insurance.”

The CFA also said that the current $653 billion surplus held by insurance companies is the higest in history, even adjusted for inflation.

The full CFA release is available as a .pdf here.

A long time ago, satellite communications was a new idea. Today it's pretty ho-hum so Dish Network, which runs what amounts to a cable service delivered via satellite, is trying to get with the times.

The company is putting together an Internet-based service that would sort of duplicate cable -- offering subscribers packages from a number of program providers.

Dish has reportedly signed with the Walt Disney Co., which owns ABC and several other channels, and is pursuing deals with A&E, Turner Broadcasting, CBS and others, Bloomberg News reports.

Dish is reportedly targeting the 18-34 crowd that only wants to pay $20 or $30 a month to watch TV on their smartphones and tablets instead of on a traditional TV.

Of course, you still need Internet access, which may turn out to be a stumbling block.

Not unique

This is not exactly a new idea. Several other firms are planning similar roll-outs. Perhaps more significantly, Amazon today announced it will be offering HBO programming to its Prime Instant Video members, in addition to the thousands of movies and TV series already in its catalog.

Amazon's new Fire TV box will also provide access to HBO GO, the companies said.

It's not too hard to imagine Amazon and its primary competitor, Netflix, continuing to pile up deals with program producers at a fast clip. They have the advantage of a huge base of subscribers, while Dish and others new to the streaming video field are essentially starting from scratch.

Plenty of others are trying to get their toe in the water before the pool closes to new entrants. AT&T said yesterday that it is planning a streaming-video venture called Over the Top.

Verizon bought a failed Intel Corp. venture and is said to be developing a new venture, while Sony has reportedly signed an agreement to stream Viacom programming.

A new study finds that moderate physical activity may protect brain health and help prevent Alzheimer's disease.

The study of older adults at increased risk for Alzheimer's disease found that those who were more active had less shrinkage of the hippocampus – the brain region responsible for memory and spatial orientation that is attacked first in Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. J. Carson Smith, a kinesiology researcher in the University of Maryland School of Public Health who conducted the study, says that while all of us will lose some brain volume as we age, those with an increased genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease typically show greater hippocampal atrophy over time. The findings are published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.

Delay cognitive decline

"The good news is that being physically active may offer protection from the neurodegeneration associated with genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease," Smith said. "We found that physical activity has the potential to preserve the volume of the hippocampus in those with increased risk for Alzheimer's disease, which means we can possibly delay cognitive decline and the onset of dementia symptoms in these individuals. Physical activity interventions may be especially potent and important for this group."

Smith and colleagues, including Dr. Stephen Rao from the Cleveland Clinic, tracked four groups of healthy older adults ages 65-89, who had normal cognitive abilities, over an 18-month period and measured the volume of their hippocampus (using structural magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI) at the beginning and end of that time period.

The groups were classified both for low or high Alzheimer's risk (based on the absence or presence of the apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 allele) and for low or high physical activity levels.

No other treatments as effective

Of all four groups studied, only those at high genetic risk for Alzheimer's who did not exercise experienced a decrease in hippocampal volume (3 percent) over the 18-month period. All other groups, including those at high risk for Alzheimer's but who were physically active, maintained the volume of their hippocampus.

"This is the first study to look at how physical activity may impact the loss of hippocampal volume in people at genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease," says Dr. Kirk Erickson, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. "There are no other treatments shown to preserve hippocampal volume in those that may develop Alzheimer's disease. This study has tremendous implications for how we may intervene, prior to the development of any dementia symptoms, in older adults who are at increased genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease."

It's perhaps easy for pornography addicts to argue that simply possessing or viewing porn hurts no one. Of course, the counter to that argument is that the images would not be created or distributed if there was no market for them.

Also, victims have successfully argued that the damage to their reputation and mental health is itself sufficient cause for legal action, especially when the subject of the pornographic images -- i.e., the victim -- is a child.

The U.S. Supreme Court settled the argument today, holding that those convicted of possessing child pornography must pay the victim a share of the economic losses that  “comports with the defendant’s relative role” in the harm suffered by the victim."

The decision was not a decisive loss or victory for either side. It upheld a 1994 federal law that said victims are entitled to compensation but did not provide detailed guidelines for calculating the damages.

In its ruling, the high court threw out a $3.4 million verdict against Doyle Randall Paroline, who had pled guilty to possessing hundreds of pornographic images, including two of a girl identified only as "Amy."

The images show Amy being raped by an uncle when she was 8 years old. She had sought $3.4 million to cover costs of treatment and lost earnings. Her case is now remanded to a federal court in Texas, which will determine how much Paroline must pay.

Basically, the court held that individual defendants should not be forced to pay the total damages incurred by a victim but should pay their fair share.

Writing for the 5-4 majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy said amounts should not be "token or nominal" but should also not be "severe" in cases where hundreds or thousands of people had viewed the images in question.

“I am surprised and confused by the Court’s decision today," Amy said in a statement posted by her lawyer, Paul Cassell. "I really don’t understand where this leaves me and other victims who now have to live with trying to get restitution probably for the rest of our lives. ... It’s crazy that people keep committing this crime year after year and now victims like me have to keep reliving it year after year."

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented from the verdict, saying Congress should rewrite the law to clarify it.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented in the opposite direction, saying that Paroline should have been held responsible for the full amount.

The office of Massachusetts attorney general Martha Coakley has added that state to the list of those whose attorneys general are now investigating the massive security breach at Experian, which left the confidential information of up to 200 million Americans vulnerable to a Vietnamese identity thief who'd convinced two Experian subsidiaries that he was a legitimate private investigator with legitimate reasons to access people's confidential financial information.

Word of the Experian breach first came to light last October. In March, the Secret Service announced that information stolen in the breach was already being used in a variety of identity-theft schemes, including false credit cards taken out or fraudulent tax returns filed using victims' identities.

Then, in early April, Illinois and Connecticut became the first two states whose attorneys general opened a “multi-state” investigation into the matter; a week later, North Carolina and Iowa also joined the investigation.

Coakley's announcement of the investigation ended with a reminder for Massachusetts residents to do what everyone should do in light of the Experian breach, including taking extra care when monitoring your accounts (bank, credit and debit card) to look for suspicious activity, and contacting the police and relevant financial companies at once if you think you've become a victim of identity theft.

Applications for home mortgages are down again a week after snapping a three-week string of declines.

Data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 18 show applications fell 3.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis. A week earlier, they posted a 4.3% advance.

The Refinance Index was down 4% from the previous week, taking the refinance share of mortgage activity down 1% -- to 51% of total applications. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity, meanwhile, rose to 9% of total applications.

The average loan size for purchase applications is now at its highest level in the history of the survey at $280,500, coinciding with the trend in rising purchase activity for larger loan amounts.

Contract interest rate

• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) rose 2 basis points -- from 4.47% to 4.49%, with points increasing to 0.50 from 0.32 (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 $417,000) increased to 4.41% from 4.39%, with points increasing to 0.34 from 0.18 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year FRMs backed by the FHA was up 2 basis points to 4.20%, with points increasing to 0.41 from 0.06 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 15-year FRMs went from 3.54% to 3.55%, with points increasing to 0.33 from 0.24 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs inched up 1 basis point to 3.16%, with points decreasing to 0.36 from 0.41 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The survey covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.

Sales of new single-family houses fell in March for the second straight month.

Figures released jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development show sales plunged 14.5% below the previous month's rate -- to 384,000.

That's also down 13.3% from the same month last year and well shy of the increase to 455,000 that economists surveyed by Briefing.com were forecasting.

Priced out?

Analysts point out that mortgage rates have come off their lows, making financing more difficult, and that home prices are rising and income levels are stagnating. This, they say, could stall further sales.

Speaking of prices, the median sales price of new houses sold in March was $290,000 -- up $29,100 from February. The median is the point at which half are higher and half are lower. The average sales price was $334,200, a gain of $15,300 from the month before.

The housing inventory also grew last month. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of March was 193,000, representing a supply of 6.0 months at the current sales rate.

The full report is available on the Census Bureau website.

Call it the trickle down effect if you like, but it's a fact -- the improvement in new cars that began a few years back has now vastly improved the quality of used cars.

Because of that a 3-year old model can almost be as expensive as a new car. But if you're a bit short on cash, there are still plenty of vehicles under $10,000 that have benefited from recent automotive improvements.

When Kelley Blue Book (KBB) recently compiled a list of the 10 Best Used Cars under $8,000, it had little trouble. As its top pick it chose the 2007 Honda Civic.

“The fuel-efficient Civic is comfortable on the highway, responsive around town, and maintains its solid, refined feel for many years," Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com.

2007 Honda Civic

The Civic wins praise for its “bulletproof reputation for reliability and a uniquely pleasant demeanor.” According to KBB, a fair purchase price for the car starts right at $8,000.

2011 Hyundai Accent

Coming in at number two is the 2011 Hyundai Accent, the newest car to make the list. Since the car came with a 5-year, 60,000 mile warranty, there's a possibility you could find one that is still under warranty. You may also be able to buy one for around $6,500.

2005 Honda Accord

Number 3 on the list is the 2005 Honda Accord. It's highly rated among consumers, combining refinement and reliability in a fun-to-drive package. It starts at $6,900.

2005 Toyota Camry

The 2005 Toyota Camry is fourth on the list. KBB editors describe it as a comfortable, easy-to-own sedan that will last forever. Prices should start around $7,400.

2007 Mazda 3

Number 5 is the 2007 Mazda 3, a compact that has improved every year since 2004. In fact, the new Mazda 3 has made KBB's annual list of the 10 Coolest Cars Under $18,000 every year. A 2007 model should start at around $7,500.

2007 Chevrolet Silverado

Sometimes you just need a truck. If so, the 2007 Chevrolet Silverado comes in at number 6. It makes the list for combining towing and hauling capability with a comfortable ride. Prices start at around $6,800.

2005 Honda Pilot

Another Honda shows up at number 7 – the 2005 Honda Pilot. With 3 rows of seats it can carry 8 passengers, making it a stylish alternative to the minivan. With AWD, KBB calls it “an all season all-star.” Prices start around $7,100.

2004 Toyota Prius

The 2004 Toyota Prius makes the list at number 8, the only hybrid to do so. Not particularly exciting to drive, KBB notes, but very economical.

We might interject a word of caution on this one. ConsumerAffairs reported in 2007 that Toyota's hybrid technology was not aging well, with problems – and consumer complaints – cropping up after 100,000 miles. At any rate, the 2004 Prius starts at around $7,300.

2007 Ford Escape

The 2007 Ford Escape makes the list at number 9, offering the rugged look of an SUV with a refined, well-crafted interior. Its 2.3 liter 4-cylinder engine gives it ample power and reasonable fuel economy. Prices start at $6,700.

2005 Volvo S60

Rounding out the top 10 is the only luxury car to make the list, the 2005 Volvo S60. Despite that, it's also the most affordable car on the list, with prices starting just under $5,000.

"Car shoppers in the market for a used vehicle in 2014 are in luck, because as the quality of new cars continues to improve, so does the pool of used cars," Nerad said.

It is often said that co-signing someone's loan is risky business. It makes you equally liable for the repayment of the loan, and if the borrower defaults, the lender then looks to you for repayment.

But there is also a case in which having someone co-sign for you can be a risk to you. This risk is highlighted in a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Student Loan Ombudsman.

Let's suppose you need a co-signer in order to get a private student loan. Maybe a grandparent volunteers. You receive the loan and start making payments.

But then your co-signer dies. Many private college lenders have a provision in their loan documents that allows them to demand full repayment if the co-signer dies, even if the borrower is making on-time payments. It's called auto-default.

“Students often rely on parents or grandparents to co-sign their private student loans to achieve the dream of higher education,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “When tragedy triggers an automatic default, responsible borrowers are thrown into financial distress with demands of immediate repayment.”

Bankruptcy will trigger it too

And it doesn't take a death to trigger an auto-default. If the co-signer declares bankruptcy, many private college lenders reserve the right to immediately call the loan, regardless of the payment history.

How often does this happen? The report cites no specific numbers, saying only that since accepting complaints about student loans, this issue has emerged.

“Some consumers assume that death of a co-signer will result in a release of the co-signer’s obligation to repay,” the report states. “Consumers describe their confusion when they receive notices to pay in full since they believed their loan to be in good standing and current.”

The Ombudsman's report says it is based on more than 2,300 private loan complaints and more than 1,300 debt collection complaints. It doesn't mention how many of those complaints come from co-signers themselves, but chances are many of them did.

Co-signers' complaints

A number of private student loan co-signers have posted complaints on the pages of ConsumerAffairs, usually for the touchy issues routinely associated with taking responsibility for someone else's debt. Dave, of Alameda, Calif., recently told us that Citibank does not give the co-signer much information about the loan.

“There may be lawyer double speak in some papers they send with the form, but the student is the only one who receives them,” Dave wrote. “The co-signer is left in the dark, for years, not even aware of the loan. Also, after sending in the application, Citi lets the student know how much they are eligible for and that figure is THEN added onto the app that the co signer has signed.”

Removing a co-signer

One way young borrowers can avoid this auto-default is removing their co-signer from the loan. However, the Ombudsman's report says that can be very difficult to do under the terms of the loan and that being allowed to release a co-signer from the loan is a frustrating process.

The report cites an example in which a student was told his co-signer would be released after he made 28 on-time payments. But after the 28th payment he was told the number was now 36. After the the 36th payment, he was told the magic number was now 48.

“Lenders should have clear and accessible processes in place to enable borrowers to release co-signers from loans,” Cordray said. “A borrower should not have to go through an obstacle course.”

Federal vs. private loans

There is a distinction here and it has to do with the difference between a federal student loan and one from a private lender. According to CFPB, a federal lender only rarely requires the borrower to have a co-signer, but the loan is not called if the co-signer dies or declares bankruptcy.

It is only some private student loan lenders that have this policy but it's not clear how you might know this, unless you ask. A better course of action might be to bypass private lenders altogether, something recommended by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL).

In fact, CLR has proposed the CFPB require colleges to ensure that students have taken advantage of all the federal loans they are eligible for before allowing them to do business with a private lender.

“Federal loans are almost always preferable to federal loans because of more favorable repayment and forgiveness options,” the group says.

What to do

In the meantime, if you need help in removing a co-signer from a loan – or having yourself removed as a co-signer, here are some links that might prove helpful:

Cosigner Release Advisory

Sample letter on how a borrower can release a co-signer

Sample letter on how to be released as a co-signer

There's a common saying about social media and other free Web-based services: “If you're not paying them anything then you're not their customer; you're what they sell to customers.”

Those customers are advertisers. You don't pay to go on Facebook or use free Web-based messaging systems; advertisers pay to place their ads where you can see them. It's similar to the principle behind TV commercials (especially in the days before cable and other forms of pay TV): you don't pay the network to watch whatever shows are broadcast; advertisers pay the network so you can see their commercials during the broadcast.

But advertising on social media raises certain privacy concerns that TV commercials do not: when you watch TV, you see the same commercials as everyone else watching that channel. Online ads are more likely to be customized, based on your actual activity.

And different companies respond to their customers' privacy concerns in different ways. Google, for example, recently changed its Gmail terms of service to outright tell you the contents of your emails will be analyzed in order to provide targeted advertising.

"Very protective"

Facebook recently tried the opposite tactic; its chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg recently spoke with the British news show BBC Breakfast to assure viewers that, despite the personalized content-specific ads, “Privacy is of the utmost concern and importance to Facebook and it's important to us that the people who use our service know that we are very protective of them. … When we are able to personalise ads, we are doing that without sharing their private data with any advertisers.”

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Of course, this is hardly the first time Facebook has faced customer-privacy concerns. Last December, two Californians filed suit against the company on the grounds that it violated anti-wiretapping laws by scanning the contents of private messages in order to falsely inflate various “Like” counts.

For example: suppose you and a friend share a certain strong political opinion — namely, you both think Congressman Bunghole is a fantastically awful politician. And one day the two of you use Facebook's private messaging system to discuss the extra-stupid thing Bunghole posted on his Facebook page, and your discussion is chock-full of such phrases as “I hate Congressman Bunghole” and “I hope he loses the next election” — according to the lawsuit, your discussion there actually increased the “Like” count on Bunghole's page, thus making him appear more popular than he actually is.

The courts have yet to hash out whether there's any truth behind such claims. Sandberg did not directly address such claims with the BBC, but did say that customers' privacy is not compromised despite data-sharing with advertisers, because everything is anonymized before the advertisers get it.

Off the mark

Your name and email address are encrypted from the start, and other details about you are converted into a string of numbers: advertisers don't know exactly who a given Facebook user is; they only know that one of them is, for example, a 33-year-old Daily Planet reader living in Metropolis.

Incidentally, I'm inclined to give Facebook the benefit of the doubt here, not out of any inherent trust of the company and its alleged respect for privacy, but because the ads I see on my own personal Facebook feed are so fantastically off-the-mark, it's obvious those advertisers don't have a clue who I actually am.

For example: I don't discuss politics through Facebook's private messaging system; I'll post “Congressman Bunghole is bad for America and stinks worse than the devil's own garlic breath” right on my “Wall” for all my friends to see. Meanwhile, Facebook's adbots will suggest I either “like” Bunghole's Facebook page or donate to his re-election campaign.

Also: I never bothered filling out my full Facebook profile, so there no mention of where or even if I went to school. Thus I'll get things like “an ad offering me the chance to earn a high school diploma at home in my spare time” and “an ad urging me to buy into a townhouse community where prices start 'from the low 900s'” at the same time.

Financial tip: if you can afford a $900,000+ condominium, you probably have all the educational credentials you need to get by in contemporary America.

You have to admit it -- at $7.99 or so a month for most subscribers, Netflix is a bargain. Don't believe it? Look at your cable bill and compare it to Netflix -- $110 or so versus less than $10. 

Given the disparity, Netflix is thinking it's time to raise the rate a dollar or so, at least for new customers. After all, with 48.4 million subscribers, it has a pretty solid base of subscribers.

Those current subscribers won't see an increase for another year or two, according to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who reported higher earnings and subscriber growth for the first quarter. 

Netflix has been holding the line on prices while continuing to spend heavily licensing existing TV and movie fare and producing its own original series, including the smash hits "House of Cards" and "Orange Is the New Black."

Three years ago, the company split its mail and streaming businesses, resulting in a large increase for customers who wanted both, generating serious pushback from consumers. 

Hastings said proceeds from the higher subscription fee will be used to help pay for more original content. 

Opposes Comcast merger

Hastings also announced his opposition to Comcast's proposed merger with Time Warner, saying it would give Comcast the ability to control broadband to a majority of American homes. He said Comcast is "already dominant enough."

Netflix and other content providers have been at war with cable and telecom companies that have sought to extort money from the program providers in exchange for not throttling their access to viewers.

“The combined company would possess even more anti-competitive leverage to charge arbitrary interconnection tolls for access to their consumers,” he said in a letter to shareholders.

With marijuana being legalized in cities and states around the country, more attention is being paid to policing the quality and purity of the popular mood-alterer.

Back in the bad old days when it was illegal throughout the country, marijuana varied widely in quality and was often "cut" with other substances that made it less effective and even, in some cases, harmful.

Noting all the newfound interest, the American Chemical Society has put together a video that explains the chemistry behind marijuana's high and investigates what scientists are doing to ensure that legalized weed won't send users on a bad trip.

AT&T, perhaps noticing that it is once again falling behind the game, says that it and The Chernin Group plan to invest $500 million to create a new venture that will acquire, invest in and launch a new video services venture, which at least for now is going by the sobriquet of OTT -- or, Over the Top video.

The companies said the goal of the venture will be to invest in both ad-supported and subscription-based video on demand channels as well as streaming services. The idea is to launch new Internet-video services, rather than deliver a “virtual pay-TV” service that would be designed to compete with traditional cable or satellite TV, an AT&T rep was reported to have said.

AT&T did not bother to post information about the venture in its media relations section, where the last posting at 3 p.m. ET today was dated March 5, not exactly over-the-top public relations hustling.

Not much else is known about the venture, except that it will include Chernin's majority stake in Crunchyroll, a subscription VOD service focused on anime content.

Subpar streaming

The timing was ironic in that it came on the same day that Netflix called out AT&T for offering subpar video streaming, even slower in some cases than the outmoded DSL service still offered in some parts of the country.

Netflix said AT&T provided an average speed in March of 1.73 megabits a second for Netflix’s service on fiber-based connections, trailing CenturyLink Inc. and Windstream Holdings Inc., which use older DSL lines, Netflix said. 

If AT&T wanted to serve its customers better, it could do so with a free direct hook-up to Netflix, the company said.

“AT&T customers expect a good quality Netflix experience given how much they pay AT&T for their Internet service,” Netflix said in its earnings report.

It has been generally accepted that older parents are more likely to have a child who develops an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) than are younger parents. Now a study provides insight into the role played by both paternal and maternal age.

The study, published in the February 2014 issue of the International Journal of Epidemiology, found that fathers’ and mothers' advancing ages have different impacts on a child’s risk. The rise in ASD risk with parental age was greater for older mothers as compared to older fathers.

“The open question at hand really is, what biological mechanisms underlie these age effects?” said Brian K. Lee, PhD, an assistant professor in the Drexel University School of Public Health and senior author of the study.

Complicated relationship

The risk of having a child with ASD had a more complicated relationship to age in women than in men – whose risk of fathering a child with ASD increased linearly with age across their lifespan.

Among women giving birth before the age of 30, the risk of ASD in the child showed no association with age -- it was simply very low. But for babies born to mothers aged 30 and older, the chance of developing ASD rose rapidly with the mother's age.

Lee noted that the non-linear maternal age effect that is relatively stronger than the paternal age effect on ASD risk has been observed in previous studies, but has not received much attention.

Large sample

In this study, Lee and colleagues analyzed a large population registry sample of 417,303 children born in Sweden between 1984 and 2003, adjusted for numerous possible factors that could vary with parental age and also influence risk, such as family income and each parent’s psychiatric history. The study also used a case-finding approach, to identify more ASD cases than other studies might, based on all pathways to care in a socialized health system.

A goal was to study these parental age effects in more detail by looking at possible differing risks of ASD with and without intellectual disability – one of the most serious comorbid diagnoses with ASD, with a significant impact on functional status in life. This was the first population-based study with an ASD sample large enough to study ASD risk in populations of children with and without intellectual disability.

“When considering risk factors, we can’t necessarily lump all ASD cases together, even though they fall under a broad umbrella of autism,” Lee said. “We need to keep an open mind in case intellectual disability might be a marker of a different underlying mechanism.”

The finding that ASD with intellectual disability had a stronger association with older parents, compared to ASD without intellectual disability, supports continued investigation of possible different mechanisms.

Sales of existing homes dipped 0.2% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.59 million as declines in the West and South outweighed gains posted in the Northeast and Midwest.

Figures released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) show sales during the month were 7.5% below the pace in March 2013, with volume the slowest since July 2012 when it was 4.59 million.

Current sales activity is underperforming by historical standards. “There really should be stronger levels of home sales given our population growth,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “In contrast, price growth is rising faster than historical norms because of inventory shortages.”

He said expects some improvement in the months ahead, adding “with ongoing job creation and some weather delayed shopping activity, home sales should pick up, especially if inventory continues to improve and mortgage interest rates rise only modestly.”

Prices on the rise

The median existing-home price for all housing types in March was $198,500 -- up 7.9% from March 2013. The median is the point at which half of home prices are higher and half are lower. Distressed homes -- foreclosures and short sales -- accounted for 14% of March sales, down 2% from February and 7% in March 2013 year-over-year. “With rising home equity, we expect distressed homes to decline to a single-digit market share later this year,” Yun said.

Regional sales and prices

• Existing-home sales in the Northeast rose 9.1% to an annual rate of 600,000 in March, but are 4.8% below March 2013. The median price in the Northeast was $244,700 -- up 3.2% from a year ago.
• In the Midwest, existing-home sales were up 4.0% -- to a pace of 1.04 million, but are 10.3% below a year ago. The median price was up 5.9% from March 3013 -- to $149,600.
• In the South, existing-home sold at an annual rate of 1.92 million -- down 3.0% from both last month and March 2013. The median price in the South was $173,000, up 6.7% from a year ago.
• Existing-home sales in the West fell 3.7% to a pace of 1.03 million in March, and are 13.4% below a year ago. The median price in the was $289,300 -- a gain of 12.6% from March 2013.

The prices of houses in the U.S. rebounded in February from January's decline.

Data released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) show its monthly House Price Index (HPI) was up 0.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis – the third straight increase.

Despite a harsh winter, the seasonally adjusted purchase-only index has shown increases for the last three months. The 0.5% increase reported for January revised downward slightly to show a gain of 0.4%.

A decline of 0.1% last November ended a 21-month stretch of increases that had begun in February 2012.

The HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages either sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Strong year-over-year gain

From February 2013 to February 2014, house prices were up 6.9 percent. Nonetheless, the index is 7.6% below its April 2007 peak and is roughly the same as the June 2005 level.

For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from January to February ranged from -2.5% in the New England division to +1.7% in the South Atlantic division. The 12-month changes were all positive ranging from +0.6% in the New England division to +14.3% in the Pacific division.

The complete HPI report is available on the FHFA website.

Lilies, veterinarians reminded us last week, are actually poisonous for your cat.

"Ingesting any part of a lily plant can cause serious illness or even lead to death,” said Dr. Jerry Klein, supervising veterinarian at Chicago Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center. “Because many lilies are so highly poisonous to cats, prompt veterinary care is required."

Who knew? Many pet owners were alarmed. Commenting on our story a reader named “Suz” wrote “I am so glad I found this article - pet lovers must read.”

That got us thinking. What other kinds of things around the house could unknowningly be a threat to your dog or cat? Quite a lot, it turns out.

Dr. Kristy Conn, a veterinarian and member of the National Animal Health Emergency Response Corps, has written about other backyard plants that could pose problems for dogs and cats.

Other dangerous plants

For example, Narcissus and hyacinth bulbs, oleander, rhododendrons, cyclamen, amaryllis, yew and chrysanthemum can be toxic for dogs if chewed on or ingested.

Pesticide and insecticide can also be problematic, even if the poison is placed in areas where dogs and cats can't get to it. The problem occurs when a rodent or insect ingests the poison, then becomes a meal for your pet before the poison kills it.

Some commercial fertilizer can also be a threat to your dog because many times it seems to the dog like food. These products can expose your pet to nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous, as well as insecticides and herbicides.

It's a good idea to keep your dog away from newly fertilized garden plots and anywhere you store bags of fertilizer.

Another potential garden threat is cocoa mulch. It contains ingredients that can be deadly to pets if ingested. The mulch, sold in garden supply stores, has a chocolate scent that is appetizing to some animals.

People food is a no-no

For a number of reasons it's never a good idea to feed your pet table scraps. One reason is the fact that some foods that are healthy for humans are lethal for dogs and cats, or at the very least can make them ill.

It's well-known that chocolate can be lethal for dogs, but is also harmful to cats. A lot of other food items can be pet killers too.

The City of Hollister, Calif.'s animal poison control center has posted a list of “101 things you didn't know could harm your pet.” On the list are common foods like grapes, raisins, garlic, raw yeast dough, macadamia nuts, salt and coffee.

Dangerous stereotype

You often see pictures of cats playing with a ball of yarn, but you shouldn't. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) warns that a ball of yarn can actually pose a threat to your feline friend.

It isn't poisonous but is easy to swallow. Once inside the cat it can cause intestinal blockage and strangulation. The same holds true for rubber bands and dental floss.

HSUS recommends that pet owners use all household products with caution. In fact, many of the same precautions parents of young children take to ensure their children's safety can, and should be adopted by pet owners.