Current Events in December 2018

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    The Weekly Hack: Save the Children gave $1 million to con artists

    Home electric car chargers don’t need wifi capabilities, researchers warn

    One of the country’s largest charities admitted in Internal Revenue Service (IRS) filings that it sent nearly $1 million to a fraudulent business in Japan and another $9,000 to a hacker’s account in Africa.

    “We have improved our security measures to help ensure this does not happen again,” Stacy Brandom, chief financial officer of Save the Children Federation, told the Boston Globe. “Fortunately, through insurance, we were ultimately reimbursed for most of the funds.”

    In the larger heist, hackers broke into a Save the Children Federation worker’s email. The hacker created invoices to make it appear as though nearly $1 million was going toward purchasing solar panels for health clinics in Pakistan.

    And in Africa, a vendor that Save the Children works with also had his email hacked. When they sent him his bill, it went to the hacker instead.

    In both cases, the money was transferred to the thieves via wire transfer. The FBI has repeatedly warned consumers and businesses that hacking into someone’s email, posing as the victim, and asking for payments via wire transfer is a popular cyber theft tactic.

    Homeland Security contractors

    Homeland security officials say that it’s “extremely hard” to keep its systems secure following the revelation that Navy contractors and subcontractors have repeatedly fallen victim to hackers.

    The contractors have suffered more than a handful of security breaches over the past year and a half, according to internal Navy documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

    "Attacks on our networks are not new, but attempts to steal critical information are increasing in both severity and sophistication," Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer said in one of the documents

    "It's extremely hard for the Defense Department to secure its own systems," Tom Bossert, the former homeland security adviser in the Trump administration, told the Wall Street Journal.

    Officials are blaming the hacks on China.

    Community college

    A virus on the Cape Cod Community College computer system allowed hackers to access its entire payroll database and directly secure over $800,000.

    After catching the hack, school officials contacted the FBI, and the agency has been able to block $278,000 worth of the transfers so far.

    Home electric car chargers

    A security firm studying the home chargers of electric vehicles says that the devices are vulnerable to hacking and probably shouldn’t be equipped with WiFi capabilities.

    For its report, security firm Kaspersky examined the home charger sold by ChargePoint Home, a popular third-party vendor.

    The WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities of the charger made way for security flaws that could allow hackers to remotely control a car’s charging process, or worse. Hackers could also potentially cause damage to the car or control where it is able to drive.

    Kaspersky says that ChargePoint Home fixed the security flaw after it alerted the company, “but the question remains as to whether there is any reason to implement wireless interfaces when there is no real need for them.”

    One of the country’s largest charities admitted in Internal Revenue Service (IRS) filings that it sent nearly $1 million to a fraudulent business in Japan...

    What phone apps say they do isn’t always true

    Battery drainers, click frauders, and data scrapers continue their evil ways

    If this holiday season is anything like 2017’s, more than 400 million folks will be unwrapping phones. And what’s the first thing that people do with a new phone? Download apps!

    As consumers have come to find out over 2018’s spate of personal data breaches, one can’t be too careful. For every Cambridge Analytica insurgence, there are a dozen more “click fraud” apps out there lying in wait.

    Those apps pretend to be run-of-the-mill programs like, say, a game, but the purpose of those apps is to trick the user into downloading pop-up ads and, oftentimes, nefarious malware that will wreak all kinds of havoc.

    Functionality, battery draining, and more

    Sophos, a British security software company, found 22 apps in the Google Play Store that cause problems such as functionality issues, draining a phone’s battery, harming a smartphone by allowing pop-up ads, or trying to find a way to thieve and sell your personal data.

    If those researchers are correct in their estimates, there are more than 2 million phones giving those apps the freedom to do their dirty deeds.

    Here’s a list of those problematic apps discovered by Sophos:

    • Sparkle FlashLight

    • Snake Attack

    • Math Solver

    • ShapeSorter

    • Magnifeye

    • Join Up

    • Zombie Killer

    • Space Rocket

    • Neon Pong

    • Just Flashlight

    • Table Soccer

    • Cliff Diver

    • Box Stack

    • Jelly Slice

    • AK Blackjack

    • Color Tiles

    • Animal Match

    • Roulette Mania

    • HexaFall

    • HexaBlocks

    • PairZapf

    If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, well…

    Just because an app says its function is one thing, that doesn’t really mean it is. Some apps operate under the smokescreen of, say, a game you can play; but in reality, they can contain code that instructs the app to retrieve other files.

    Case in point is the Sparkle Flashlight app. That particular sneaky app was downloaded more than a million times before Google Play detectives deleted it on November 25. Nonetheless, if the app wasn’t deleted from a user’s phone, it still had the power to collect and share user data.

    Doesn’t Apple and Google have your back?

    There are more than 60,000 new apps added to the Apple and Google app stores every month. Try as they may, it’s a Herculean task to pore through the code of every single app.

    "Although both Google and Apple offer a closed ecosystem for app distribution, and actively scan newly uploaded apps for snippets of code known to be malicious, their methods are not perfect," wrote Sophos' Chen Yu in the company's latest threat report.

    “Malicious app developers have been gaming the system for years, and their malicious apps do appear in the Google Play Market and Apple App Store,” Yu said.

    Warning signs to look out for

    Internet talk show guru Kim Komando lists five things to be on the lookout for regarding apps: Surge in data usage, unexplained charges, sudden pop-ups, battery drain, and unwanted apps.

    “To be safe, we're constantly warning you to not download apps from third-party stores. With stringent safety protocols, it's more secure to get apps from the Google Play Store,” wrote Komando.

    If this holiday season is anything like 2017’s, more than 400 million folks will be unwrapping phones. And what’s the first thing that people do with a new...

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      Window shade safety standards take effect Saturday

      Cords must be removed or be very short to prevent strangulation risk to children

      New safety standards for window coverings take effect this weekend. They are aimed at reducing strangulation hazards to children, a threat the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) calls one of the top five hidden hazards in American homes.

      Under the new standards that go into effect December 15, most of the window covering products sold in the U.S. will either be cordless or have only inaccessible short cords. The Window Covering Manufacturers Association (WCMA) says the regulation will cover over 80 percent of the blinds and drapes sold in the U.S.

      There are also new requirements for custom window covering products in addition to stock products sold off the shelf.

      "Stock products account for more than 80 percent of all window covering products sold in the U.S., and CPSC incident data shows that requiring these products to be cordless or have inaccessible cords would have the most significant and immediate impact on reducing the strangulation risk to young children from certain window covering cords," said WCMA Executive Director Ralph Vasami.

      Exceptions for custom products

      Window shade cords will not completely disappear, however. Custom-order products will still be available for some consumers, including the elderly and people with disabilities, as well as consumers with windows that are in hard-to-reach locations.

      But the regulations will require custom-made products to have operating cords that are no more than 40 percent of the blind's height. Currently, the cord length is not regulated whatsoever. Blinds must also be tilted using a wand instead of a cord.

      There have been a number of window covering recalls over the years because of strangulation hazards. In 2012, Blind Xpress of Livonia, Mich., recalled about 139,000 custom-made vertical blinds and 315,000 horizontal blinds. A two-year-old Michigan girl reportedly strangled in the vertical blind cord that was not attached to the wall or floor.

      The WCMA said it and its member companies worked with the CPSC for several years to draft the new regulations. Acting CPSC Director Ann Marie Buerkle said the new standard will have a “significant impact” on the strangulation risk that window cords pose to young children.

      Consumers will be able to identify window coverings that conform to the new standard by looking for the “Best For Kids” certification label.

      New safety standards for window coverings take effect this weekend. They are aimed at reducing strangulation hazards to children, a threat the Consumer Pro...

      Romaine lettuce E. coli contamination linked to California farm

      Health officials traced the infection to a reservoir on a farm in Santa Barbara County

      Following last month’s broad warning to consumers that romaine lettuce is unsafe to eat, health officials now say they’ve identified one source of the E. coli contamination that sickened 59 consumers across 15 states.

      On Thursday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said they had traced the E. coli contamination to a California farm.

      Officials tracked a positive sample to the sediment of a local irrigation reservoir used by a single farm owned and operated by Adam Bros. Farms in Santa Barbara Country. At this time, the investigation hasn’t uncovered how the reservoir became contaminated.

      Investigation ongoing

      The CDC still advises consumers not to eat romaine lettuce grown in California's Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Barbara counties until further notice.

      "We cannot say how many cases are linked to this specific farm at this time," Ian Williams, chief of the CDC's outbreak response and prevention branch, told the media. "We have to do additional work at this farm and other farms that are being identified from our investigation."

      The FDA said the lettuce grown and distributed by Adam Bros. Farms isn’t responsible for the entire outbreak. At this point, the investigation has identified 11 distributors, nine growers, and eight farms as potential sources.

      Towards the end of November, health officials said that properly labeled romaine lettuce grown outside of the aforementioned growing regions near Northern and Central California should be safe to eat. Romaine grown in greenhouses or hydroponically should also be safe for consumption.

      The CDC has lifted its earlier warning against eating romaine from California's San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, and Ventura counties, but it continues to advise consumers to avoid romaine lettuce that isn’t clearly labeled with a harvest date and location.

      Following last month’s broad warning to consumers that romaine lettuce is unsafe to eat, health officials now say they’ve identified one source of the E. c...

      T-Mobile/Sprint merger faces new challenge

      A consumer and labor coalition announces its opposition

      A proposal to merge T-Mobile and Sprint is facing new opposition as a group of consumer groups, labor unions, and industry associations have formed the 4Competition Coalition, a new alliance aimed at derailing the merger.

      The groups say the public interest will not be served by reducing the number of major wireless providers from four to three. T-Mobile and Sprint have suggested that as separate, stand-alone companies they will not be able to compete with AT&T and Verizon in the 5G environment.

      But the new coalition declares that consumers will suffer if the merger is allowed because they will have fewer choices.

      Higher prices?

      "If this merger is approved, consumers would likely face a price increase of more than 15 percent in many cases for their wireless service – without seeing any of the benefits that these companies promise,” said Phillip Berenbroick, public knowledge senior policy counsel for the 4Competition Coalition. “The proposed merger is anti-competitive and presumptively unlawful.”

      Berenbroick says consumers need more wireless choices, not fewer. He says moving from four nationwide carriers to three “would be a disaster."

      The 4Competition Coalition bases its opposition on the contention that the merger, as presently constituted, does not conform with U.S. antitrust laws. The group says the combined company would have both the ability and the incentive to raise prices and block new companies from entering the market.

      At the heart of its opposition, the 4Competition Coalition said it believes reducing the number of major cellular providers from four to three would result in higher prices for everyone. It points out that both Sprint and T-Mobile are currently mavericks in the industry, but if they joined forces they would no longer have the incentive to pressure their competitors to keep prices low.

      Impact on workers

      The group says the merger would also be bad for workers. The Communications Workers of America estimates the union of the two providers would result in the elimination of up to 30,000 jobs in the U.S.

      It also contends that rural consumers would be the big losers.

      “The truth is the deal does nothing to help out rural Americans and could mean they pay even higher prices or lose coverage altogether,” the group said in a press release. “Indeed, the proposed transaction will likely raise costs for rural consumers due to the increased cost of roaming associated with the elimination of Sprint from the wireless marketplace.”

      "Consumers deserve more competition from our wireless industry, not less," said Jeff Blum, DISH Network senior vice president for Public Policy and Government Affairs. "Sprint and T-Mobile have not shown that this merger as it is currently proposed will serve the public interest.

      The merger is currently being considered by two government regulators, the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice.

      A proposal to merge T-Mobile and Sprint is facing new opposition as a group of consumer groups, labor unions, and industry associations have formed the 4Co...

      Exercising at night not found to cause sleep problems

      However, consumers may want to avoid intense activity in the nighttime hours

      Hitting the gym is an activity many consumers save for the early morning hours, as it’s a great way to jumpstart the day before the sun comes up. And there’s a longstanding myth that exercising at night can disrupt normal sleeping patterns.

      However, a new study found that idea is just a myth and nothing more. Engaging in physical activity at night was not found to alter consumers’ ability to sleep at night.

      “People can do exercise in the evening without hesitation,” said researcher Jan Stutz. “The data shows that moderate exercise in the evening is no problem at all. However, vigorous training or competitions should be scheduled earlier in the day, if possible.”

      Keeping things light

      The researchers analyzed over 20 studies that evaluated adults’ sleep after one night of exercise when compared with a control group that didn’t exercise.

      The researchers found that, overall, engaging in physical activity four hours before bed didn’t affect participants’ ability to sleep. Even moderate activity just a half hour before bed didn’t cause any disruptions throughout the night.

      Study participants spent over 21 percent of their night in a deep sleep following nighttime exercise, while the control group spent under 20 percent of their night in a deep sleep when they didn’t exercise. While a seemingly small difference, the researchers say that it carries a lot of weight, as deep sleep is one of the most important parts of recovering from physical activity.

      “If doing sport in the evening has any effect on sleep quality all, it’s rather a positive effect, albeit only a mild one,” said Christina Spengler, head of the Exercise Physiology Lab at ETH Zurich.

      The researchers do urge consumers to keep exercise light or moderate at night and avoid vigorous activity -- particularly within one hour of bedtime -- as this was found to disrupt sleep. The researchers found that participants who gave it their all at the gym right before bed didn’t have enough time to let their bodies rest or recover, and it often took them longer to fall asleep.

      Despite these results, the researchers want consumers to know these findings are an average and could differ from person to person.

      “Not everyone reacts to exercise in the same way, and people should keep listening to their bodies,” Stutz said. “If they notice they are having problems falling asleep after doing sport, they should try to work out a little earlier.”

      Getting a good night’s sleep

      Sleep is imperative to the way we function on a daily basis, and like Stuz said, consumers should be aware of what works for them before bedtime and what doesn’t.

      A recent study explored the countless effects sleep deprivation can have on our bodies, both big and small.

      The researchers found that lack of sleep affects our ability to complete tasks without getting distracted, and it can also impede memory. Additionally, those who are sleep deprived may have a harder time finishing tasks when interrupted by text messages, phone calls, or emails.

      Hitting the gym is an activity many consumers save for the early morning hours, as it’s a great way to jumpstart the day before the sun comes up. And there...

      Large portion sizes at restaurants found to be a global problem

      The issue affects both fast food and full service restaurants

      One of the keys to maintaining a healthy weight is portion control. Scaling back on how much of certain foods we’re eating can be incredibly beneficial -- especially as consumers look to avoid adding weight over the holiday season.

      However, according to a new study conducted by researchers from Tufts University, restaurants -- both fast food and full service -- may be the biggest offenders of violating healthy portion sizes around the world. The researchers found that restaurants are serving dishes well past the recommended calorie intake for one meal.

      “Fast food has been widely cited as an easy target for diet change because of its high calorie content; however, previous work by our team in the U.S. identified restaurant meals in general as an important target for interventions to address obesity,” said researcher Dr. Susan B. Roberts.

      “Eating out is now common around the world, but it is important to keep in mind that it is easy to overeat when a large restaurant meal is likely to be only one of several meals and snacks consumed that day.”

      Adding up the calories

      To see the effect of portion size on a global scale, the researchers narrowed their study down to five countries: India, Ghana, Brazil, Finland, and China.

      Over 100 restaurants were chosen at random in the five countries, and the researchers looked at the calorie information of the dishes that restaurant-goers ordered most often and compared the results with the United States.

      Though many consumers often place blame on fast food establishments, dishes at full-service restaurants were actually found to be higher in calories. The average plate at a full-service menu racked up over 1,300 calories, while fast food meals typically ran just over 800 calories.

      However, portion size was an issue at all restaurants involved in the study. Over 70 percent of all fast food meals and nearly 95 percent of all full service meals had over 600 calories, while three percent of the restaurants involved in the study had meals that were over 2,000 calories.

      “Current average portion sizes are high in relation to calorie requirements and recommendations globally,” Dr. Roberts said. “As three meals and one or more snacks in between is common, including in the countries we studied, large restaurant portions should be examined further for their potential role in the global obesity epidemic.”

      Controlling portions

      Several recent reports have found that portion control really is key to a healthy diet, and experts are encouraging the food industry to start putting less on consumers’ plates. A recent study found that cutting down on portion sizes was an effective way for consumers to make healthier choices in the future.

      “The present findings indicate that if portion sizes of commercially available foods were reduced, these smaller, more appropriate portion sizes may recalibrate perceptions of what constitutes a ‘normal’ amount of food to eat and, in doing so, decrease how much consumers choose to eat,” said Dr. Eric Robinson.

      Earlier this year, chain restaurants with more than 20 stores were required to post their calorie information on menus and menu boards. The initiative was part of the Affordable Care Act, and the goal was to reduce obesity and encourage consumers to make healthier choices when ordering out.

      A study from later in the year found that relocating calorie information on the menu could have the greatest effect on consumers’ ordering habits. When the calories were displayed prominently on the menu, making it the first thing consumers’ saw, they were more likely to order something with fewer calories.

      One of the keys to maintaining a healthy weight is portion control. Scaling back on how much of certain foods we’re eating can be incredibly beneficial --...

      The worst passwords of 2018

      Using a weak password can render consumer data more susceptible to hacking

      After evaluating more than 5 million leaked passwords from recent breaches, software company SplashData was able to compile its annual list of the Top 100 worst passwords.

      For the fifth year in a row, the top spot on the company’s Worst Passwords list went to “123456,” and “password” nabbed second place.

      Many other commonly used bad passwords landed on the list once again, but there were also several new offenders. Among them, "666666" (coming in 14th place), "princess" (11th place) and "donald" (23rd place).

      "Sorry, Mr. President, but this is not fake news -- using your name or any common name as a password is a dangerous decision," SplashData CEO Morgan Slain said in a release. "Hackers have great success using celebrity names, terms from pop culture and sports, and simple keyboard patterns to break into accounts online, because they know so many people are using those easy-to-remember combinations."

      Worst passwords

      SplashData estimates that about 10 percent of people have used at least one of the simple, easy-to-guess password on its Top 25 worst passwords list, and about 3 percent have used "123456."

      "It's a real head-scratcher that with all the risks known, and with so many highly publicized hacks, such as Marriott and the National Republican Congressional Committee, that people continue putting themselves at such risk year after year," Slain said.

      Here is the complete list of the Top 25 worst passwords of 2018, according to SplashData:

      1) 123456

      2) password

      3) 123456789

      4) 12345678

      5) 12345

      6) 111111

      7) 1234567

      8) sunshine

      9) qwerty

      10) iloveyou

      11) princess

      12) admin

      13) welcome

      14) 666666

      15) abc123

      16) football

      17) 123123

      18) monkey

      19) 654321

      20) !@#$%^&*

      21) charlie

      22) aa123456

      23) donald

      24) password1

      25) qwerty123

      After evaluating more than 5 million leaked passwords from recent breaches, software company SplashData was able to compile its annual list of the Top 100...

      Gas prices fell to a new 2018 low this week

      But the low prices may not last very long in 2019

      Gas prices are giving consumers a Christmas bonus heading into the holidays, as it costs less to fill up this week than last week. In fact, gasoline prices have hit another low for 2018.

      The national average price of regular gasoline is $2.39 a gallon, five cents less than last week and six cents lower than this time a year ago.

      The average price of premium gas is under $3 a gallon for the first time this year, falling four cents to $2.98 a gallon. The price of diesel fuel is $3.09 a gallon, also four cents less than last Friday.

      Weak oil prices are giving motorists a break at the pump, with crude oil prices hovering just above the $50 a barrel mark. Jeanette Casselano, a AAA spokesperson, says month-over-month statewide gas price averages have fallen by double digits in every state so far in December.

      “For some in the Great Lakes and Central states of Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri, state gas prices are as much as 40-cents less than they were in November,” she said. “In some states, gas prices are nearing $2 per gallon – something that hasn’t been seen since December 2017.”

      AAA expects the average gas price to remain well below $2.40 gallon into the end of the year, but the low prices might not last much beyond that. The Energy Information Administration reports U.S. oil supplies declined for a second straight week last week after building up a huge inventory over the previous weeks.

      With inventories falling, AAA said it expects tighter supplies will boost oil prices in early 2019, which in turn will make gasoline more expensive.

      The states with the most expensive regular gas

      These states currently have the highest prices for regular gas, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Survey:

      • Hawaii ($3.56)

      • California ($3.41)

      • Washington ($3.19)

      • Alaska ($3.11)

      • Nevada ($3.05)

      • Oregon ($3.02)

      • Idaho ($2.79)

      • Utah ($2.78)

      • Wyoming ($2.77)

      • Arizona ($2.73)

      The states with the cheapest regular gas

      These states currently have the lowest prices for regular gas, the survey found:

      • Missouri ($1.97)

      • Oklahoma ($2.04)

      • South Carolina ($2.04)

      • Alabama ($2.06)

      • Texas ($2.07)

      • Louisiana ($2.07)

      • Kansas ($2.08)

      • Mississippi ($2.09)

      • Ohio ($2.12)

      • Iowa ($2.13)

      Gas prices are giving consumers a Christmas bonus heading into the holidays, as it costs less to fill up this week than last week. In fact, gasoline prices...

      Model year 2019 RAM 1500 trucks recalled

      The seat track sensor may be out of position

      Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling 23 model year 2019 RAM 1500 trucks.

      The seat track position sensor on the manually-adjusted passenger seats may come loose and out of position, preventing the sensor from detecting if the seat is in the full-forward position.

      If the sensor cannot identify that the seat is in the full-forward position and adjust the frontal airbag deployment accordingly, there would be an increased the risk of a injury in the event of a crash.

      What to do

      Chrysler will notify owners and dealers will inspect the passenger seat track position sensor bracket, replacing it as necessary, free of charge.

      The recall is expected to begin January 9, 2019.

      Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is UB7.

      Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling 23 model year 2019 RAM 1500 trucks.The seat track position sensor on the manually-adjusted passenger seats may come...

      Is rising debt a threat to the U.S. economy?

      Former Fed Chair Janet Yellen thinks it could be

      The stock market has been a wild roller coaster since October as traders sell stocks just as soon as they rally. Analysts blame the headlines -- China, the Fed, and political turmoil -- for the uncertainty roiling the market.

      Another underlying factor is concern about rising government, corporate, and consumer debt at a time when interest rates are also going up. It was a concern former Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen raised this week, suggesting another financial crisis is possible in the future.

      Speaking at an event at City University of New York (CUNY), Yellen expressed concern with highly leveraged loans by banks, which are at the heart of the financial system. When banks make leveraged loans, a drop in the value of the collateral can put the lender’s solvency at risk.

      Seeds of the 2008 crisis

      That’s what happened during the 2008 financial crisis when financial institutions bought too many securitized subprime mortgages. When the mortgages went into default and the homes went into foreclosure, the bonds lost much of their value.

      Regulations were put into place after the crisis to make banks stronger. Major banks had to hold more of their money reserves to reduce risk. But Yellen is worried the push in Washington is to roll back much of that regulation.

      “I think things have improved, but then I think there are gigantic holes in the system,” Yellen said. “The tools that are available to deal with emerging problems are not great in the United States.”

      The housing market is in much better shape than in the past, but banks have other areas of exposure. When oil prices began to rise two years ago, banks increased lending to U.S. shale producers who had been largely sidelined after Saudi Arabia flooded the market with oil.

      But oil prices have dropped sharply in the last few months, meaning some of these oil producers who have borrowed heavily to finance their operations may struggle to repay the loans.

      Rising corporate debt

      Then, there’s corporate debt. During much of the decade, the Fed kept interest rates near zero percent and corporations borrowed heavily to buy back their stock and expand their operations. Now that interest rates are rising again, the cost of those loans is rising.

      “With over $9 trillion of corporate debt on the balance sheets, that’s concerning,” CFRA Research’s Lindsey Bell told CNBC this week, suggesting the debt could threaten the nearly 10-year-old bull market in stocks.

      Consumers are doing their fair share in running up debt levels as well. A new NerdWallet study of household debt shows U.S. consumers are now paying on a total of more than $13 trillion in debt.

      With a robust job market, consumers may be handling that debt level at the moment, but NerdWallet’s Kimberly Palmer says credit card rates are still going up, making interest payments more costly.

      Credit card debt is still one of the most expensive types of debt, and carrying the current average balance of $6,929 could cost $1,141 per year in interest.

      The stock market has been a wild roller coaster since October as traders sell stocks just as soon as they rally. Analysts blame the headlines -- China, the...

      Amazon extends free holiday shipping offer to December 18

      Free same-day and one-day delivery is now available in 10,000 cities

      Amazon has pushed the cutoff date for its free shipping without a minimum purchase promotion. The company announced on Thursday that all customers will have access to free standard shipping until December 18.

      Amazon also said it will offer free, two-hour delivery up until midnight on Christmas Eve in select markets through Prime Now, which currently is available in 30 U.S. cities. Gift cards and the gift of Amazon Prime are both available to purchase on Christmas day itself.

      The e-commerce giant said that Prime members in more than 10,000 cities and towns now have access to free same-day delivery and free one-day shipping up until the days before Christmas.

      Prime members in eligible areas will have until December 23 to get free one-day shipping, and December 24 is the last day for same-day delivery if orders are placed by 9:30 AM local time. Two-hour delivery through Prime Now is available through December 24 as long as orders are placed by 9:15 PM local time.

      "Any customer can sign up or try Prime for free for 30-days to experience the best of shopping and entertainment from Amazon over the holidays,” Amazon Prime Vice President Cem Sibay, said in a statement.

      "Prime was built on the foundation of unlimited fast, free shipping, and we keep working to add faster and even more convenient delivery options,” Sibay said.

      Amazon also said Whole Foods Market stores, Amazon Books, Amazon 4-star, Amazon Pop-up device kiosks will be open on Christmas Eve (store hours will vary by location).

      Amazon has pushed the cutoff date for its free shipping without a minimum purchase promotion. The company announced on Thursday that all customers will hav...

      Debt collector reaches settlement with 41 states

      Thousands of consumers will have debts forgiven

      A major debt-purchasing operation has reached a settlement with 41 states and the District of Columbia to resolve the states’ investigation into debt-collection practices.

      Encore Capital Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries Midland Credit Management, Inc. and Midland Funding, LLC, one of the nation’s largest debt buyers, resolved a probe that alleged the companies collected money without verifying the money was actually owed.

      “This multistate, multi-million dollar settlement establishes further safeguards to protect future borrowers from bad collection practices, in addition to providing judgment relief to existing debtors,” said Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

      Investigators claimed that Midland’s collection effort involved a high volume of lawsuits against consumers whose debt Midland had purchased. In that process, the states charged the company of sighing and filing affidavits that the defendants owed money without verifying the information, including how much was owed. That process is called “robo-signing,” which was used repeatedly during the financial crisis to foreclose on homes.

      Robo-signing

      “The practice of robo-signing hurts consumers, especially our lower-income consumers who may not have the means to fight a debt collector in court,” said Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood. “Midland illegally attempted to collect debts it had not verified through robo-signing and other illegal practices.”

      According to Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, debt-buying companies purchase unpaid and overdue debts from creditors, such as credit card companies, usually for pennies on the dollar. When they can collect the full amount, the profit margin is huge.

      “Debt buyers, including Midland, also take consumers to court to collect the debts they purchase,” Hawley said. “However, people are often unable to afford attorneys to defend the allegations and cases result in default judgments, hurting credit and putting people in jeopardy of having their wages garnished.”

      Burden of proof is on the debt collector

      But when debt buyers take consumers to court, they are required to verify that the consumer owes the money and state the exact amount of the debt. Investigators for the states charge this did not always happen.

      Under the terms of the settlement, Midland will pay or forgive a number of debts in all 41 states, totalling several million dollars. The company is also required to change its affidavit signing and litigation process to ensure it is collecting the right amount from the correct debtor.

      According to legal advice website Nolo.com, cases of consumers being sued for repurchased debt have risen dramatically in recent years. In some cases, the debtor is no longer required to repay because the statute of limitations has expired.

      In some cases, Nolo.com says the consumer doesn’t owe the debt because the debtor is someone with the same or similar name.

      What to do

      If contacted by a company that says it has purchased your old debt, Nolo.com advises not to talk to the debt collector on the phone; hang up. If contacted by mail, write a letter requesting validation of the debt.

      If you are sued, don’t ignore it. If you fail to respond, the court will award the debt collector a default judgment against you.

      A major debt-purchasing operation has reached a settlement with 41 states and the District of Columbia to resolve the states’ investigation into debt-colle...

      New study finds parents aren't monitoring content on children's mobile devices

      Most conversations center around how to use the devices -- not what’s on them

      With technology permeating nearly every facet of our society, it should come as no surprise that most kids are fully entrenched in the realm of mobile devices. With the ability to access anything right at our fingertips, a new study explored the conversations families are having about technology.

      Researchers from the University of Michigan found that most parents spend more time talking about the ins and outs of using devices as opposed to what exactly children are looking at or watching on their devices.

      “One of the most challenging aspects of parenting today is being aware of what children are exposed to online, particularly content delivered via mobile devices,” said lead researcher Sarah Domoff.

      What’s happening at home

      The researchers had 75 families participate in a study that explored what typical conversations about technology looked like in the home. The participants all ranged in age; participants included families of 21 toddlers (aged 12-24 months old), 31 preschoolers (three-five years old), and 23 older children (10-13 years old).

      All of the children involved in the study wore recording devices while at home for the duration of the study, which the researchers used to examine conversations among family members and any screen media the device could pick up on.

      The researchers found that children were the ones to start the majority of content-driven conversations about technology. However, when parents did bring it up, it was more to assist children on how to operate certain devices, as opposed to monitoring how they were using the devices.

      Older siblings, on the other hand, were the ones to be protective of what kinds of things their younger siblings were watching or doing on their mobile devices. When parents chimed in, the researchers found the conversation was almost always argumentative, as parents and children often had differing views and opinions on rules about technology.

      The American Academy of Pediatrics released a set of guidelines in 2016 to aid parents in setting goals for their children’s media use, and Domoff suggests parents look into it to see what works best for their families.

      “It is critical that parents utilize privacy settings and restrictions to protect children from certain content,” Domoff said. “Ideally, this would occur before the child received their own mobile device.”

      Setting boundaries

      Experts have found that the most effective way for children to use technology is for parents to set realistic expectations for media use, while also monitoring the apps and websites children frequently use.

      A Toronto-based tech company set out to help parents keep a watchful eye on their children’s media use. The company created an app that can not only restrict children’s use of devices to certain times of the day, but it can also block certain apps and websites from being downloaded or used. Even better, the technology can be used without interfering with the child’s privacy.

      One of the co-founders of the technology -- dubbed redgreentree -- said the goal is to “assist parents in overseeing how their children are using new technologies.”

      Another study from earlier this year explored ways that parents can make the most of their children’s screen time. One expert in the field suggested that parents ensure their children are using technology in meaningful ways, stress the importance of boundaries and limitations, and perhaps most importantly, model good behavior for technology use.  

      With technology permeating nearly every facet of our society, it should come as no surprise that most kids are fully entrenched in the realm of mobile devi...

      Congress votes to free hemp from Drug Enforcement Agency’s grip

      The new Farm Bill would remove hemp from the Controlled Substances Act to make way for more cultivation

      Hemp cultivation would no longer be stymied by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) under a bill that recently passed in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

      Hemp, a non-psychoactive cannabis crop, is currently considered a Schedule I Controlled Substance, and law enforcement has historically been reluctant to distinguish between hemp and its cousin marijuana.

      The 2018 Farm Bill, now headed to President Trump’s desk for a signature, includes a bipartisan provision that would officially remove hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, instead handing all federal authority of the crop over to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

      Expanding access to hemp was championed by senators like Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a state where struggling farmers have already successfully switched from growing tobacco to growing hemp thanks to an Obama-era legalization measure.

      The 2014 Farm Bill had allowed, for the first time in decades, for hemp to be cultivated in the United States, but only in states that created “research” pilot  programs. The stipulation led to uneven enforcement.

      Some states, like Kentucky, allowed farmers to grow hemp commercially under their research programs, while others, like even weed-legal California, ruled that DEA regulations and the limitations of the Farm Bill  prevented hemp from being grown for anything other than research. Native American reservations were left out completely from the 2014 measure, leading the DEA to raid one reservation in Wisconsin that had tried to implement its own legal research hemp program.

      Some growers may be left out

      Hemp advocates are hopeful that the new law will change all of that. The 2018 Farm Bill, according to Vote Hemp, a group that has fought for legalization for decades, says the latest version of the Farm Bill won’t just remove hemp completely from burdensome DEA regulations. The new measure now explicitly includes Native American tribes, allows hemp farmers to obtain crop insurance, and establishes the groundwork for the USDA to further regulate and study hemp, among other measures.

      But under a concession that McConnell made last summer with the Department of Justice, people with drug felony convictions would be banned from growing the crop. Some advocates worry that people struggling to find work after previous drug felony convictions will be left out of the potential cash boom as a result.

      “Minority communities that have been hit hardest by the failed War on Drugs will find it difficult to participate in the growing and thriving hemp industry,” the group Grow Hemp Colorado said in a newspaper editorial.

      Hemp cultivation would no longer be stymied by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) under a bill that recently passed in both the Senate and House of Represen...

      Intel gives details about its upcoming processors

      The company’s new processors have features to patch weaknesses

      During its “Architecture Day” event on Tuesday, Intel gave details about its upcoming processor lineup. The company’s new Sunny Cove Architecture features a design intended to patch weaknesses, such as the flaws previously found in certain Intel computer processor chips (dubbed Spectre and Meltdown).

      Intel says its upcoming CPU microarchitecture has been “designed to increase performance per clock and power efficiency for general purpose computing tasks, and includes new features to accelerate special purpose computing tasks like AI and cryptography.”

      “Sunny Cove will be the basis for Intel’s next-generation server (Intel® Xeon®) and client (Intel® Core™) processors later next year,” the company said in a statement.

      Intel’s team said it anticipates that the next ten years will see more changes in computing architecture than consumers have seen in the past 50 years. Sunny Cove will feature enhanced microarchitecture designed to be “deeper, wider, and smarter,” said Ronak Singhal, director of Intel’s Architecture Cores Group.

      Intel also promises that the new architecture will include the following features:

      • New algorithms to reduce latency.

      • Increased size of key buffers and caches to optimize data-centric workloads.

      • Architectural extensions for specific use cases and algorithms. For example, new performance-boosting instructions for cryptography, such as vector AES and SHA-NI, and other critical use cases like compression and decompression.

      The new processors will support 52-bits of physical space and 57 bits of linear address support. By contrast, Intel’s currently available x64 CPUs can only use bit 0 to bit 47 for an address space of 256TB.

      Intel’s new processors are set to arrive in the second half of 2019.

      During its “Architecture Day” event on Tuesday, Intel gave details about its upcoming processor lineup. The company’s new Sunny Cove Architecture features...

      California considering taxing text messaging

      State regulators say adding surcharges on text messaging will help sustain its Public Purpose Programs

      California is considering enacting a tax for text messaging to help fund a program that makes telecommunications services available to low-income consumers.

      In a filing, the state’s Public Utilities Commission said adding a texting surcharge could help keep its Public Purpose Programs afloat. As consumers have migrated toward texting instead of making phone calls, the voice call revenue for these programs have dropped.

      The budget rose to $998 million in 2017 from $670 million in 2011, and revenue from the telecom industry that funds the program fell to $11.3 billion last year from $16.5 billion in 2011, according to a report from California’s Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

      “This is unsustainable over time,” CPUC stated in its report.

      "Parties supporting the collection of surcharges on text messaging revenue argue that it will help preserve and advance universal service by increasing the revenue base upon which Public Purpose Programs rely. We agree," CPUC said.

      Wireless industry pushing back

      A vote on the tax -- which would likely appear as a flat surcharge in the small print of bills -- hasn’t yet happened. While the proposal is on the table, the wireless industry, business groups, and others are expressing their opposition to the idea.

      "Of course California wants to tax your text messages. They would tax your toilet use if they could, " one Twitter user said

      The CTIA, a trade group representing wireless companies, has argued that texting is an information service on par with email, not a telecommunications service subject to the agency’s ability to tax services.

      "Subjecting wireless carriers' text messaging traffic to surcharges that cannot be applied to the lion's share of messaging traffic and messaging providers is illogical, anticompetitive and harmful to consumers," CTIA's filing said.

      Jim Wunderman, president of the Bay Area Council business-sponsored advocacy group, called the proposal “a dumb idea.”

      “This is how conversations take place in this day and age, and it’s almost like saying there should be a tax on the conversations we have.”

      “May be a wash”

      The CPUC contends that enacting a texting surcharge would have a minimal effect on consumers.

      "If more surcharge revenues come from texting services, less would be needed from voice services," a CPUC spokesperson told the Mercury News in San Jose, California. "Generally, those consumers who create greater texting revenues may pay a bit more, whereas consumers using more voice services may pay less."

      Several business groups fighting the proposal have calculated that the new charges for wireless consumers could total about $44.5 million a year.

      California is considering enacting a tax for text messaging to help fund a program that makes telecommunications services available to low-income consumers...