Current Events in November 2014

Kulana Foods of Hilo, Hawaii, is recalling approximately 4,465 pounds of frozen, fully cooked pork products.

The products are formulated with a soy sauce that contains wheat, a known allergen, which is not declared on the label.

There are no reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.

The products subject to recall include:

• Various weight (approximately .75 – .90 lb.) packages of “MOUNTAIN APPLE BRAND Teri Smoked Pork” with identifying case codes: 03414, 07214, 12814, 16914, 21114, 28114, 03713, 05113, 06513, 23313, or 34513.
• 5-pound packages of “MOUNTAIN APPLE BRAND Teri Smoked Pork” with identifying case code: 09214.

The products bear the establishment number “EST. 12445” inside the USDA mark of inspection on the label. They were produced on various dates between Feb. 6, 2013, and Oct. 8, 2014, and shipped to retail locations and for foodservice use on the islands of Hawaii and Oahu.

Consumers with questions may contact Sheryl Taka, company office manager, at 808-959-9144.

Nissan North America is recalling 52,738 model year 2003-2004 Nissan Pathfinder, 2004-2006 Nissan Sentra, 2003-2005 Infiniti FX35 and FX45, 2003-2004 Infiniti I35, and 2006 Infiniti M35 and M45 vehicles originally sold, or currently registered, in geographic locations associated with high absolute humidity. Specifically, vehicles sold, or currently registered, in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Saipan, American Samoa, Florida and adjacent counties in southern Georgia, as well as the coastal areas of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

Upon deployment of the passenger side frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger side frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking and potentially seriously injuring the vehicle occupants.

Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule.

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

"Mean girls" -- we all grew up with them and Hollywood even made a movie about them. They are part of the adolescent social structure. These girls -- and boys too -- segregate themselves by race, age, gender, and social status and make life difficult for everyone else.

Sociologists have studied this and tried to understand why we tend to form exclusionary groups. The reasons seem to be the desire to relate to people that are familiar, people that are predictable. It is a form of control and dominance and it offers security as well as support.

Cliques and hierarchies are more prominent in some schools. Schools that offer students more choices like a variety of elective courses, are flexible with how to complete requirements, offer a bigger range of potential friends,a not so rigid seating assignment structure are more likely to be rank-ordered and cliquish.

Smaller schools obviously have less of everything. The social circle comes with a small group. Since picking friends is from a smaller group the "cost" of excluding people from a social group is higher. Either way you tear it down it still has the opportunity to become a clique.

Beyond reach

These are some of the findings of a new study being published in the December edition of the American Sociological Review. 

"Educators often suspect that the social world of adolescents is beyond their reach and out of their control, but that's not really so. They have leverage, because the schools are indirectly shaping conditions in these societies," said Stanford professor Daniel A. McFarland, lead author of the study.

The study looked at two datasets about friendships, one looked at friendships at the classroom level and the other at the school level. The school-level data came from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The classroom study was compiled by McFarland at two very different high schools over a two-semester period.

In schools with a strong focus on academics, where teachers pretty much set the pace, things were a little more rigid. The teens were less likely to form friendships based on influences from outside the school. Instead they bonded more with their peers that tended to be engaged in similar school activities and had similar intellectual interests. The researchers summed it up by saying a positive educational climate strengthens the school's "system membrane" and makes it more impervious to "external" criteria for friendship such as race or social status.

"The main goal of this study was to shed light on how a school's environment affects the shape of adolescent social networks," McFarland said. "The truth is that we are not sure which kind of adolescent society is best for youth social development, let alone what position in them is best."

For now the study appears to be a reflection of our society. If you look at any group of people they have a tendency to pair off with what they are familiar with. Breaking down those barriers in adolescents may be the key to breaking down some of the barriers in our life as adults.

McFarland said his groups plans to do further studies to look at which kinds of social networks and social networking positions will best help teens prepare for adulthood.

The aging Baby Boom population has policy makers worried about what their impact will be on the health care system. Will it create a surge in Alzheimer's disease, for example?

But researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have another concern. What will millions more elderly drivers mean for traffic safety?

The researchers are currently training police officers in ways to recognize warning signs of impaired driving skills and to take appropriate action. They also urge doctors to think more about their patients’ ability to drive safely as they age.

Injuries and deaths up 16% in a year

In 2012, there were 5,560 people 65 and older killed and 214,000 injured in motor vehicle traffic crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). They comprised 17% of all traffic fatalities and 9% of all people injured in traffic crashes during the year. Compared to 2011, fatalities among people 65 and older killed and injured people in this age group increased by 16%.

That's not to say all older drivers are accidents waiting to happen. But for some, aging brings with it conditions that are not conducive to spending long periods behind the wheel. The medical school's program, known as Training, Research and Education for Driving Safety (TREDS) tries to identify those drivers.

“Our goal is to reduce the number of fatalities involving older drivers and to prolong the time that seniors can drive safely,” said Linda Hill, professor of family and preventive medicine and TREDS program director.

Since 2006, UC San Diego researchers have trained more than 9,000 doctors and 3,000 police officers.

Doctors are being trained to assess their patients for age-related driving impairments – issues with vision, loss of mobility, fragility and dementia, for example.

Reasons to keep seniors driving

They are also trained to consider medication side effects that are prescribed for seniors and how they might affect driving. But doctors are urged to let older drivers stay behind the wheel as long as it is safe for them to drive.

“We know that taking the keys away from a senior driver reduces doctor visits, reduces their social and recreational outings and is associated with worsening of depressive symptoms,” Hill said. “This is the reason we don’t set a specific age for driving retirement, but rather base it on ability.”

Senior advocacy groups are also sensitive to the issue. AARP encourages its members to take a driver safety course, pointing out that even the most experienced drivers can benefit from brushing up on their driving skills.

The group points out that the highway is probably a very different place than it was when a senior first started driving. Road conditions are increasingly challenging.

Cars that fit

Seniors should also choose the right car – a vehicle that fits them and is safe, according to AAA's Senior Driving program. CarFit is an educational program that gives seniors the opportunity to check how well their personal vehicles "fit" them. It also provides information that could enhance seniors' safety behind the wheel.

Expect this issue to get more attention as Boomers get older. By some estimates 1 in 5 drivers will be 65 or older by 2030. That would be a doubling in the number of seniors, from 35 million in 2010 to an estimated 70 million in 2030.

As it now stands, highway accidents make up the second leading cause of injury-related death among those 65 and older. Hill says gently easing people out of their cars when they can no longer drive safely will be key to keep those numbers from going higher.

“It is everyone’s responsibility to identify and assist a mentally impaired driver,” she said.

It keeps getting worse. Two months ago, Home Depot revealed that hackers had stolen 56 million credit- and debit-card numbers. And now, the company says the thieves also made off with at least 53 million customer email addresses. 

It's been over two months now since the initial discovery that hackers had somehow managed to lift massive amounts of confidential customer data from Home Depot. Though Home Depot only announced it in mid-September, the hackers had actually been lifting data for several months by then (although it turned out nobody actually “hacked” into Home Depot's database; instead, somebody somehow managed to plant malware onto the checkout systems in various Home Depot stores).

So far as anyone knows, that malware has since been scrubbed from all Home Depot systems, and the months-long hacking is finally “over” — yet the full extent of the damage probably still isn't known.

Not until late September did the financial consequences of the breach start making themselves felt, as banks and credit unions across the U.S. and Canada starting receiving large numbers of fraudulent charges related to the breach. As of late October, American credit unions report combined losses of at least $60 million to replace all compromised cards, cover fraudulent charges or withdrawals and pay additional staff to oversee the whole mess.

Another shoe drops

And now the next installment. Late last night, Home Depot disclosed new information about the months-old hack: in addition to raw credit- and debit-card numbers, the thieves managed to steal at least 53 million customer email addresses.

The hacking shares many details in common with earlier mass hackings, especially the notorious Target hack from 2013: same type of malware used in both cases, and also, in both cases, the hackers managed to breach the stores' security by attacking a third-party vendor – in Target's case, an HVAC repairman; for Home Depot, a still-unidentified third-party vendor whose user name and password were presumably stolen sometime in April, just before the hackers first used those credentials to log on to Home Depot's network and start stealing data.

Home Depot is still offering free identity-theft protection services for any customer who used a payment card in any store since early April.

If you are such a customer, you have hopefully taken advantage of this free service already; this can help protect your financial data, but unfortunately won't do much to keep hackers from sending spam to your stolen email address.

You can be sure that Samsung, as well as every other manufacturer, hopes you'll pick up one of their products when you go shopping on Black Friday. The more units sold, the better.

But in the case of Samsung, what the company would really like consumers to do is buy the product directly from Samsung. It means a higher profit margin for the manufacturer.

Samsung has sent out emails to past customers providing a sneak peak at its Black Friday deals. Consumers are urged to register so that they can reserve the products they want at the Black Friday sale price.

Deals

Deals include a NX300 Smart Camera with 18-55mm lens for $650, $100 off the regular price. Or a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 with Wi-Fi connection for $330, a savings of $70.

Cellular phones, cellular connected tablets, cell phone accessories and home appliances are not part of the Black Friday reserve program. Consumers are limited to 2 units of any sale product and orders are subject to available inventory.

If you reserve a product using Samsung's promotion, then decide you want to cancel, you can but must do so by November 22.

Gadgets and appliances

LG Electronics is also promoting Black Friday dealson its website, encouraging customers to register so they can be notified by email as soon as the deals are posted. The manufacturer will offer savings on both appliances and home entertainment products.

Sony is another electronics manufacturers that also sells its products directly to consumers. Sony has not yet rolled out any specific Black Friday promotion but has already put items on sale as it touts the benefits of buying direct. They include free shipping on orders over $25, a 30-day price-match policy and the ability to pre-order a product before it is available in stores.

Apple pioneered direct electronics sales to consumers and operates both brick-and-mortar stores in shopping malls as well as an online marketplace. Apple is currently offering free 2-day shipping on all in-stock items.

Advantages?

Is there an advantage from buying directly from the manufacturer? Probably not so much when it comes to price. Yes, you'll likely find some good sale prices, but probably not any better than you might find in a retail store. The manufacturer, after all, has to protect its relationship with its retailers.

The advantage might be when it comes to availability of a popular item. The manufacturer is a lot less likely to run out of supply than a retail store.

Active retailers

Retailers, for their part, are out in front with pre-Black Friday specials. Home Depot is one of the latest to launch Black Friday specials well in advance of the big day. The retailer is pushing deals on its appliances through December 3.

This week the Federal Trade Commission settled a casewith one of the most notorious “patent trolls” in the country, which used “deceptive sales claims and phony legal threats” in an attempt to collect unnecessary licensing fees from businesses.

As part of the settlement, MPHJ Technology Investments is forbidden from “making deceptive representations when asserting patent rights,” according to the FTC's press release.

“Patent troll” is the colloquial term for what's formally known as a “patent assertion entity,” or PAE, which the FTC defines as “companies that obtain patent rights and try to generate revenue by licensing to or litigating against those who are or may be using patented technology.”

In America, patent trolling is widespread enough that there's even some fairly common jokes about it: “Here's a get-rich-quick idea — I'm going to patent 'the wheel,' so I charge licensing fees to every car, bike and wagon-maker in the world!”

“Oh, yeah? Well, I'm going to patent ones and zeroes, and charge money to everyone who writes, sells or uses computer software!”

“Too late — I just patented the alphabet plus the very concepts of reading and writing, so you can't so much as fill out a patent application without paying me for the privilege.”

Licensing fees

The actual examples of MPHJ's patent trolling are almost as ridiculous. New York's attorney general made a similar settlement (applicable only in that state) with MPHJ last January; back in 2012, the company paid one dollar to buy five seemingly obscure patents related to computer processes, then sent letters to over 1,000 businesses in New York State alone, accusing them of “likely” patent infringement, demanding licensing fees and even threatening patent-infringement lawsuits in some instances.

What sort of patent-infringing activities would MPHJ accuse businesses of actually doing? Among other things, MPHJ said it held a patent on the process of scanning items directly into emails, and demanded licensing fees of up to $1,000 per worker.

The letters were also filled with false statements, such as claims that other businesses had already paid the demanded licensing fees, or threaten to file lawsuits which MPHJ had no actual intention of filing (since it surely knew it would lose).

As part of the FTC settlement, if MPHJ sends any more such letters out, it can be fined $16,000 for each one.

Just as in spring when you want to the house cleaned up and aired out, November should be refrigerator clean-up month because you need to get organized for the holidays. Whether you are stuffing a turkey at your house or baking a ton of holiday cookies, let's face it -- you need space.

Open the door
Open it up and clean out the fridge to know exactly what's in there. Check the dates. What is in the back that has an expiration date for 2011? Trash the stuff that is carrying an odor. Keep the rest and get some cleaner so you can wipe down the shelves. Many refrigerators have removeable shelves and you may be able to organize them better for your needs.

Create specific areas
For example, eggs do well on the middle shelf where temperature tends to be most consistent. Fruit, on the other hand, thrives in a low humidity drawer, whereas you'll want to keep veggies in higher humidity. And ketchup, mustard and salad dressing do just fine hanging on the door.

Snack it and wrap it
Keep snacks like cut-up veggies in a container on a shelf. Leftover pizza -- put it all in containers that you can store so it is all neat and can make room for other things. Its also more visible then wrapping something in foil and letting it drift to the back of the fridge. You can even put little jello and fruit snacks in one container so the individual servings aren't thrown all over the fridge.

Try to freeze things so they lay flat
You don't normally think of soups and stews as laying flat but you can put them in freezer bags and flatten them.Try to remove as much air as possible to create even more space.

Give it a name
Keep a Sharpie marker on your fridge or in your junk drawer and immediately label anything that goes in with the name of the dish and the date it was made.

Create a space
Section off the freezer with little bins and label them. You can buy plastic bins at the discount stores and section cookies holiday gifts. A section for vegetables and meats. Just like you would organize any shelf in a cupboard you can do the same in the freezer.

Depending on how organized you want to become you can even do a spreadsheet and put in dates when specific items will expire. If you are doing that you are REALLY organized but it just might help you keep track of things if the refrigerator is a place that just seems to get away from you. You will see the more you organize it the more space you will find you have.

Although cruises are popular with elderly consumers, they're not the best place to be when a medical emergency occurs. Many have only spotty medical facilities and there is often no doctor available.

That was the case when Violet Butler collapsed of cardiac arrest in April 2013 on board the Carnival Conquest. Her husband, Ermon, filed suit, claiming the Carnival crew failed to administer aid and also failed to summon medical assistance.

A nurse eventually resuscitated Butler's wife and she was flown to a Miami hospital, where she died 16 days later.  

U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz agreed with a Carnival motion that it had no duty to provide its passengers with medical care but said the cruise line might be liable for the crew's alleged failure to seek immediate medical assistance, Courthouse News Service reported. Butler has since filed an amended complaint.

More emergencies

With millions of tourists taking cruises from U.S. ports each year, it's inevitable that the number of medical emergencies is increasing, raising concern among American physicians. An American Medical Association study several years ago found glaring inadequacies in shipboard care.

For example, the study found that 27% of shipboard doctors and nurses lacked advanced training in treating heart attacks, the leading cause of death on ships. More than half the doctors and 72% of the nurses lacked advanced training in dealing with trauma.

While most passengers recover from shipboard illness, about 20 die each year. Heart attacks are the most common cause of death.

What can travelers do to protect themselves? The first step is to check with your physician before sailing. Be certain you have an ample supply of prescription medications and a copy of your medical history. Check with the cruise line to see if it complies with the ACEP recommendations.

It's also a good idea to check you medical insurance and credit card plans. Some may provide emergency evacuation if you become sick in foreign lands or on the high seas. Most, however, do not.

There are numerous other dangers that can befall cruise passengers, everything from onboard fires and epidemics to bad weather and mechanical failure. For an eye-opening look at what is and isn't regulated by U.S. authorities, see the Coast Guard's cruise fact sheet.

The busiest travel season is upon us and if you have younger kids and are planning on going over the river and through the woods you just might be getting a little stressed out coordinating the trip and how you will handle those rambunctious youngins.

Car travel and air travel are a little different. You can stop a car and let everyone run around for 5 minutes. That doesn't work so well in flight. 

So how can you make a flight as stress-free as possible for you and those around you if you have kids in tow?

The key with smaller kids is novelty. You need a trick bag -- things you can whip out that will hold their attention for a while.

Find things around the house that you can wrap up like a present so they won't know what you are pulling out. Every second counts so opening them up takes a few minutes and it's exciting. Some things to wrap up are little play doh jars, magnetic checkers, a few crayons, books, cars, anything to distract.

Backpacks are great for little toddlers and older kids. They can stuff them with a blankie or favorite toys. They love carrying them around and it gives them a sense of independence. Older kids can put books and electronic games in them.

Don't forget snacks

Snack it up! Bring snacks in your own bag. This might be the time for a treat that they don't normally eat. Those Rice Krispie treats can be a nice bargaining tool to keep kids in their seat. Maybe a sucker that lasts a while so they sit still to eat it.

If you have a real baby -- the kind that are under 20 pounds -- request bulkhead seats and a bassinet, a folding crib that attaches to the front wall in some airliners. (Take advantage of this free amenity while you can, because babies grow out of them once they're over 20 pounds.)

Brightly colored clothes are a good idea as it is a busy season and if you happen to have a child that sprints you can quickly spot him or her in a crowd of people eager to get to their destination. Also keep in mind that airplanes have fluctuating temps so layer up so you don't have to carry a sweater. It will already be on and if it's too hot you just pull it off and stuff it in the backpack the child is carrying.

Instead of drugging your kids, (giving them cough syrup or whatever) fly at a time that they normally nap or at their bedtime.

There is always that descent that is an ear killer for adults and kids. You can purchase Earplanes ear plugs, available for kids 1-10 and adults 11 and up. These earplugs are designed to relieve air pressure discomfort. You can get them on Amazon.com.

Just remember the key is to smile no matter what. The lady in the next row may be giving you that furrowed eyebrow and the man in front may keep turning around because your 4-year-old daughter is singing the soundtrack to the Disney hit "Frozen," but you -- you just smile and you will be there soon enough!

People may be flying more, but they're apparently enjoying it less.

The latest Air Travel Consumer Report released by the Department of Transportation (DOT) shows consumer grievances were up 18.2% during the first 9 months of this year compared with the same period of 2013.

From January to September, DOT received 12,350 consumer charges; there were 10,444 filed during the same time the year before. In September alone, there were 1,157 -- up 14.2% from September 2013, but down 27.8% from August 2014.

Tarmac Delays

In September, airlines reported one tarmac delay of more than three hours on a domestic flight and no tarmac delays of more than four hours on international flights -- the same as in August. The September tarmac delay is under investigation.

The consumer report also includes data on on-time performance, cancellations, chronically delayed flights, and the causes of flight delays by the reporting carriers. In addition, there's information on airline bumping, mishandled baggage reports filed with the carriers, and disability and discrimination reports received. Reports of incidents involving the loss, death, or injury of pets traveling by air are also included

The complete report is available on the Dot website.

October was another strong month for job creation.

Figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show nonfarm payrolls surged by 214,000, while the unemployment rate dipped 0.1% to 5.8%.

And that's not the end of the good news. The change in payroll creation for August was revised from +180,000 to +203,000, and the change for September was revised from +248,000 to +256,000. That means there were 31,000 more new jobs in those 2 months than previously reported.

Over the past 12 months, monthly employment gains have averaged 222,000, and the jobless rate has fallen 0.8%, with the number of unemployed persons down 1.2 million. The civilian labor force was little-changed in October at 62.8% and has been essentially flat since April. The employment-population ratio increased for the first time in 5 months, rising 0.2% -- to 59.2%.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for whites declined to 4.8% last month. The rates for adult men (5.1%), adult women (5.4%), teenagers (18.6%), blacks (10.9%), Hispanics (6.8% and Asians (5.0%) were little changed.

Who's hiring

Job growth in October occurred in food services and drinking places (42,000), retail trade (27,000) and health care (25,000). Other sectors showing a higher trend include professional and business services (37,000), temporary help services (15,000) and computer systems design and related services (7,000).

Manufacturing added 15,000 jobs, with contributions from machinery (+5,000), furniture and related products (+4,000) and semiconductors and electronic components (+2,000). Over the year, manufacturing has added 170,000 jobs, largely in durable goods.

Employment in other major industries, including mining and logging, wholesale trade, information, financial activities, and government, showed little change.

The complete October employment report is available on the Labor Department website.

CS Best Food of Panorama City, Calif., is recalling approximately 6,560 pounds of pork products.

The products contain wheat and soy, allergens not declared on the product label.

There are no reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.

The following recalled products were produced between Aug. 28 and Oct. 17, 2014:

• 1-lb. vacuum-packed packages containing 2 sausage link pieces of “A Pork Snout, Beef Blood, Rice & Noodle Link”.
• 5-lb. vacuum-packed packages containing multiple sausage link pieces of “A Pork Snout, Beef Blood, Rice & Noodle Link”.

The products bearing the establishment number “EST. 40119” inside the USDA mark of inspection were shipped to retail locations in California and Washington.

The problem was discovered by FSIS during a routine label review.

Consumers with questions about the recall may contact Woosung America at 510-265-0808.

4Seasons Global of Chicago, Ill., is recalling about 3,200 folding lounge chairs

The chair can tip or recline too quickly, posing a fall hazard.

The company has received 5 reports of falls occurring in Ross Stores, 3 of which resulted in minor injuries.

This recall involves 3 colors of 4Seasons folding lounge chairs, which are made of steel tube frames and textilene fabric with attached head cushion in orange, turquoise or brown. The chairs are approximately 3 feet, 6 inches tall.

The affected product SKU numbers are 400085136029 (bronze fabric and frame), 400085136036 (turquoise fabric and a white frame), and 400085136043 (orange fabric and a white frame). SKU numbers can be found on the retailer’s hang tag attached to one of the arms of the chair.

There’s a separate manufacturer’s tag sewn on the back of the chair that says “Weight limit – 250 lbs.” and “Made in China.”

The lounge chairs, manufactured in China, were sold exclusively at Ross Stores nationwide between April and June 2013, for about $40.

Consumers should stop using the chairs and destroy them by carefully cutting out a 5 inch by 5 inch piece of the fabric on the seat of the chair, rendering the chairs unusable, and removing the manufacturer’s tag from the back of the chair. 4Seasons will provide a full refund to all consumers who present the cut-out fabric and tag.

Consumers may contact: 4Seasons toll-free at (888) 529-6524 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (CT), Monday through Friday.

An improving economy and lower fuel prices may mean more Americans will be traveling over the holidays, making it all the more important to book flights now, if you haven't already.

While the day after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday, the day before is usually known as the busiest travel day of the year.

Travel volumes have been strong all year, leading experts to predict an even busier than usual holiday travel season. Don't expect airlines to pass on much of their savings from lower fuel costs in the form of discount fares. In fact, consumers may find that ticket prices are higher and seats are harder to find.

Even less pleasant

"During the past several years, the holiday travel period has continued to be a challenging time for travelers, and with industrywide seat capacity reduction, it will remain a stressful travel experience," Headley said.

He notes that December typically has one of the worst industry performance scores of any month. December 2013 was the worst performance score for the entire year.

“The best bet for the consumer is to travel as early before the actual holiday or as late as possible afterward, and always leave room for schedule changes," Headley said.

Fewer seats available

In recent years airlines have cut capacity in an effort to improve profit margins. The effort has largely been successful – for the airlines. But consumers are finding fewer seats to fewer destinations.

It's a brave new world for travel, and if you haven't been on an airliner in the last few years, you could be in for a shock.

"We are settling in to a reduced-capacity system that challenges travelers to be more savvy,” Headley said. “With strong demand for fewer seats, it also presents an opportunity for the airlines to perform better, but also charge more for a ticket."

What could make holiday travel even worse? How about the weather? It is winter, after all. Delays and cancellations at a major cold weather airport like Chicago's O'hare will ripple through an airline's entire system.

Travel tips

It starts with booking your flight. Try not to choose a flight at the busiest times of the day, such as morning and evening rush hour.

Don't leave for the airport without first checking to make sure the flight hasn't been cancelled and is departing on time.

Get there early. Domestic and international passengers should arrive at the airport at least two hours before departure during the holidays when crowds and security are greatest.

Skip the boarding pass line. If possible, print your boarding pass before you get to the airport. Even better, store your boarding pass in your phone which can be scanned at the airport.

If you're bearing gifts, make sure they're unwrapped. TSA will not allow wrapped packages past security.

And finally, when selecting a flight, don't just rely on the published fares to pick a flight. Headley says if you plan to check a bag, eat a bag of peanuts or sip a soft drink, you'll pay for it.

"Ticket prices may appear to be reasonable to slightly higher, but when the fees hit you, you truly feel that the overall cost of travel has gone up," he said.

The published fare may look attractive, but that's simply because the airlines know the difference of just a few dollars may cause consumers to choose one airline over another.

Just another complication to traveling over the holidays.

Is it worth it?

"At some point, consumers will simply say that the holiday visit is not worth the price and the hassle," Headley said.

Or, with gasoline prices lower than they have been in years, that could mean the nation's highways could be considerably more crowded during the holidays.

You've known for a long while now that anything with an Internet or wi-fi connection has the potential to be hacked, and the more you connect, the more you're at risk. The same problem exists with mobile devices' geolocation services: they can tell you where you are, and they can tell a clever hacker too.

However, a recent experiment at ArsTechnica illustrates another risk from public wi-fi hotspots: anytime you use Apple or Google mobile location services, you're also broadcasting a disturbingly large amount of data about your recent (and not-so-recent) whereabouts — with all the security and privacy issues that implies.

Every time you use Google or Apple mobile location services, you’re not just telling the services where you are. You’re also shouting many of the places you’ve been to anyone who happens to be listening around you—at least if you follow Google’s and Apple’s advice and turn on Wi-Fi for improved accuracy.

Wi-Fi is everywhere. And because of its ubiquity, Wi-Fi access points have become the navigational beacons of the 21^st century, allowing location-based services on mobile devices to know exactly where you are. But thanks to the way Wi-Fi protocols work, mapping using Wi-Fi is a two-way street—just as your phone listens for information about networks around it to help you find your way, it is shouting out the name of every network it remembers you connecting to as long as it remains unconnected.

Not really new

This isn't exactly a new problem. In June, ArsTechnica discovered that public wi-fi could be dangerous for Xfinity or AT&T customers, because hackers could easily offer their own wi-fi disguised as an Xfinity or AT&T hotspot, then gain access to any device that connects to it.

This time, to test possible vulnerabilities in phones using Google or Apple mobile location, they used a low-power wi-fi adapter in monitor mode and a packet capture utility to try probing the smartphones of various volunteers. What did they discover?

We were able to match specific devices with recent (and some not really recent) movements of the owners of the phones—where they worked, where their homes were, and in some cases where they had shopped recently—using publicly available Wi-Fi base station mapping data.

Already visible

“Publicly” available. That's arguably the most disturbing implication of all: the experimenters were able to get all of this location data without technically “hacking” anything – they didn't hack or break into some database that is otherwise supposed to be secure. Instead, they simply used readily available equipment to look at information that's already visible to anyone who knows how to look.

So how can you protect yourself while still using your mobile devices in public? The most important thing to do is shut off the wi-fi connections on your mobile devices when you're not using them. (Indeed, that's similar to the advice given to reduce your chances of inadvertently connecting to a hacker-run wi-fi hotspot: turn off your automatic and set it so that it must ask before joining a mobile network, rather than automatically latch on to any network available.)

Turning off your wi-fi will lower your risk but not eliminate it completely, as ArsTechnica pointed out:

For most people, the best bet may be simply turning off Wi-Fi in transit. That won't keep you from being stalked whenever you arrive somewhere and turn on Wi-Fi, but it will stop your phone from shouting network names along the way.

Here's a riddle: how much money is “thirty-seven fifty?”

Sounds like an easy answer – in contemporary colloquial American English, “thirty-seven fifty” is usually understood to mean “37 dollars and 50 cents,” or $37.50 for short. But a New Jersey man says that a waitress at the Borgata in Atlantic City recommended a bottle of wine costing “thirty-seven fifty,” and only after the wine was drunk and the bill presented did he discover he actually owed $3,750.

NJ.com's “Bamboozled” column first told the story of Joe Lentini, who last week attended a business dinner at Bobby Flay Steak at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. Lentini said that he and two of the 10 people at the party decided to share a bottle of wine, and the host, who was paying for the dinner, told him to pick a bottle.

Lentini said, “I asked the waitress if she could recommend something decent because I don't have experience with wine. She pointed to a bottle on the menu. I didn't have my glasses. I asked how much and she said, 'Thirty-seven fifty.'”

Even without his glasses, however, Lentini might have noticed that the wine in question is the last one on the Bobby Flay Steak wine list (at least as published on their website) -- and prices do go up as one goes down the list. 

Big gulp

The other two agreed to the price and drank the wine, a bottle of Screaming Eagle 2011, a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, and when the bill arrived, Lentini said, only then did he realize that the bottle of wine actually cost close to four thousand dollars.

Lentini's fellow diners who overheard the initial price discussion agreed that the waitress had indeed uttered the words “thirty seven fifty” rather than “Three thousand, seven hundred and fifty.” But the waitress disagreed, and when the manager was called over, he said the best the restaurant could do was lower the cost from $3,750 to $2,200. (An online search for the vintage suggests the price is usually somewhere in the $1,500 to $1,800 per bottle range.)

The Borgata, meanwhile, says it investigated the incident and determined that proper practices were followed. Executive vice president Joseph Lupo said “[W]e consistently serve as many, if not more high-end wine and spirits without incident …. In this isolated case, both the server and sommelier verified the bottle requested with the patron.”

The Borgata has surveillance footage (video only, no audio) showing the transaction, but has declined to release it.

In defense of the Borgata, Screaming Eagle has acquired something of a cult following in some circles. It's "a contender for the finest Cabernet Sauvignon produced in California," says the Wine Cellar Insider. "Screaming Eagle is not about power, it’s about elegant, refined, pure fruit and rich, silky, velvet drenched textures."

If it does anything to relieve Lentini's hangover, at least he didn't order the 1992 vintage. It's going for $2,200 or so at wholesale auctions and would probably have run him close to "forty-five" tableside. $4,500, in other words. 

Three more retailers have announced their Black Friday store hours, in all three cases cutting deeper into Thanksgiving from last year's official holiday shopping kick-off.

In a Tweet, JC Penney announced it would open its doors on Thanksgiving day at 5:00 p.m. That's 3 hours earlier than it opened last year.

Sears Holdings, which operates both Sears and Kmart stores, says both retailers will be opening on Thanksgiving Day.

Earlier start

Sears will be offering its Black Friday deals starting at 6:00 p.m. Thanksgiving Day through close of business on Black Friday. Kmart will open its doors at 6:00 a.m. Thanksgiving Day and remain open 42 straight hours – until midnight on Black Friday. The stores will also provide perks for members of their rewards programs.

"This holiday season is all about giving more to our members and because many like to start shopping well before Black Friday, we're excited to open our doors early on Thanksgiving and offer other early access opportunities for them to shop and save,” said Leena Munjal, senior vice president, Sears Holdings.

Pre-Black Friday event

Sears also announced a special pre-Black Friday sales event for Sunday, November 9. Select items, including apparel, appliances, tools and footwear, will go on sale at Black Friday pricing. In addition, Sears will tack on a 5% to 15% discount. Additional Black Friday and Sears Family & Friends discount items will be available online at Sears.com from Saturday, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. CT until Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 9 a.m. CT.

Kmart, meanwhile, is bringing back its No Money Down Layaway service. It's available now through Nov. 15, both in stores and online. The company says shoppers will be able to put almost anything on layaway with no minimum purchase required. Plus, members who put toys, sporting goods, jewelry and home items on layaway will get 5% off.

Shorter shopping season

Retailers' early start to Black Friday competition is happening for some of the same reasons as last year. Like last year, Black Friday falls near the end of November, making for a shorter holiday shopping season.

But there may be another reason as well. Unlike recent holiday shopping seasons, consumers may be in a mood to spend a little more and, with steep declines in gasoline prices putting more money in their pockets, may start spending a little earlier.

The competition for these early shoppers is intense and winning could make a difference in a retailer's bottom line. The National Retail Federation has projected a 4.1% increase in holiday spending over last year.

That said, the federation's president Matthew Shay believes most shoppers will still be in search of bargains, another reason for putting things on sale well ahead of Black Friday.

“Recognizing the need to keep household budgets in line, we expect shoppers will be extremely price sensitive as they have been for quite some time,” Shay said. “Retailers will respond by differentiating themselves and touting price, value and exclusivity.”  

Bad news for iPhone and iPad users who previously thought themselves safe from malware and similar threats: security researchers at Palo Alto Networks have discovered an iPhone virus dubbed Wirelurker, which might have already infected hundreds of thousands of phones or tablets. Wirelurker is the first serious malware threat to iOS devices.

So far the virus appears limited to iPhones in China, but it could spread to the rest of the world very easily. Most phones currently infected with Wirelurker probably caught it from a third-party app store called Maiyada, whose customers are primarily Chinese.

Still, Palo Alto Networks suggests that iPhone users, in order to protect themselves from the virus, avoid downloading any third-party apps, not just those from Maiyada, and also avoid using third-party USB chargers, which have the potential to spread malware.

Third parties

Of course, where your phone, tablet or other electronic devices are concerned, it's generally a good idea to avoid all third-party accessories, not just software and not just for malware-avoidance reasons.

Back in 2005, shortly after cell phones had first evolved from “rare and expensive new technology” to “commonplace everyday appliances,” the Feds warned that cell phones' rechargeable batteries could be dangerous fire hazards, and one way to protect yourself was to avoid using third-party batteries or chargers, which might prove incompatible with the manufacturers' guidelines.

Since 2005, there have been plenty of incidents of cell phones catching fire (last August, an airplane in Tel Aviv even had to be evacuated after a passenger's iPhone battery caught fire) — and in almost all of those cases, it turned out that what actually caught on fire was not the phone itself, but a third-party battery or some other non-manufacturer-approved accessory.

Modern electronics, especially those powered by rechargeable batteries or operated by software, are one of the few areas of consumer life where brand loyalty actually makes good financial sense.