uHulu Will Sell Showtime’s Standalone Streaming Service For $9r

4 4 4 9

• The folks at CBS have already shown they are willing to try something new with the upcoming launch of the standalone Showtime streaming service, making it available through Sony’s PlayStation Vue live-TV platform in addition to being sold through iTunes and Roku. Today, the company announced another partnership that will sell Showtime through Hulu at a discounted rate.

  According to the companies, existing Hulu subscribers will be able to get Showtime for $8.99/month starting in early July. That’s $2/month less than the subscription for users who order through iTunes or Roku. PS Vue subscribers who are also PS Plus members will also get the lower rate if they order through Sony.

  Aside from the price savings for Hulu subscribers, having Showtime on this platform instantly makes it available on all the devices and operating systems that Hulu works on.

  This stands in stark contrast to the current state of HBO Now, the premium streaming service that launched earlier this year. HBO charges $15/month for that service and, aside from Cablevision broadband subscribers, its availability has not yet expanded beyond iTunes. HBO does, however, make its live broadcast available through Sling TV.

  All versions of the Showtime service will not only include on-demand streaming but live access to both the East and West Coast feeds of the network.

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uBrothers Go On Dine-And-Dash Spree Through Cleveland’s Finest Restaurantsr

4 4 4 9

• There are your amateur dine-and-dashers, and then there are the brothers in Cleveland who went on a dine-and-dashing spree through a half-dozen restaurants in three days. They rang up tabs of hundreds of dollars at each spot, then would casually go outside for a smoke and not come back for the check. Restaurant owners spread the word on social media, and were able to apprehend the pair.

  The brothers picked out the finest items on the menu, as one does when they don’t plan on paying. “Top shelf champagne, foie grois, short ribs,” the chef-owner of one of their targets recounted to TV station WKYC. The following day, they ran up three more big tabs at nice restaurants. The owner of the second restaurant hit on day one sent out an alert to other restaurant owners, and they were watching for the pair.

  During lunch on Friday, one of the brothers appeared at a sixth restaurant for lunch, only ten minutes after the owner saw the photo circulated on social media. The brothers used to work at that bar, and had actually been banned from the establishment earlier. The owner pinned the diner down with his foot, which made for a fine photo op and a warning to other serial criminals.

  “Next time just ask me for a sandwich. I’d be happy to help you out,” the owner who stomped on the dine-and-dasher told the TV station.

  Social media helps bust serial dine-and-dasher [WKYC]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uAmazon Makes Echo Available To Everyone, Not Just Invited Prime Membersr

4 4 4 9

• If you’ve been patiently waiting for your chance to boss around a speaker, now is your time: Amazon has finally made Echo (also known as Siri in a box) available to the masses.

  The Verge reports that the e-commerce giant plans to open its web-connected home entertainment speaker up to purchases by anyone who wants to shell out $179.99 starting on July 14.

  Echo, which was first unveiled in November, functions much like other voice-activated devices: always on and always connected to the internet.

  In all, Echo allows users to update to-do lists, set alarms and timers, check the weather, get sports and news, get answers to questions from Wikipedia, stream music, or just talk without having to worry about a sarcastic reply (that is, until machines inevitably become self-aware and sassy).

  Last month, Amazon rolled out an update that enabled consumers to voice purchase any item they previously bought through their Prime accounts.

  Amazon previously restricted how Echo could be purchased, allowing only Prime members who placed their names on a waiting list and received invitations from the company to buy the speaker.

  According to The Verge, even customers who received invites had a hard time actually acquiring Echo, as wait times for shipping spanned weeks to months.

  Amazon’s voice-controlled Echo is now available to anyone that wants it [The Verge]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uAmerican Apparel Outlines Graphic Allegations Against Founder Dov Charney In Recent Court Filingsr

4 4 4 9

• 

  (Michael Kalus)

  After getting fired from American Apparel in December for “alleged misconduct and violations of company policy,” former CEO and founder Dov Charney is not going down without a fight. The company is now responding to a recent slew of defamations lawsuits he’s filed against it, outlining some pretty graphic allegations in recent court filings.

  American Apparel’s new leadership is trying to push back against defamation lawsuits Charney filed both in May and then last week, reports the Los Angeles Times, by filing court documents that detail a veritable laundry list of alleged shady practices by the former CEO.

  Among the allegations included in the anti-SLAPP motion filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, as cited by the LAT:

  …Charney told accounting employees that they were “Filipino pigs … with your faces in the trough”; mimed holding a shotgun to an employee’s forehead; stored footage on company equipment of himself having sex with models and employees; and sent sexually graphic messages to employees. The filing also alleged Charney tried to destroy the evidence, telling employees to delete “naughty” messages.

  American Apparel didn’t comment beyond what was in the filing, but said in the documents that Charney should be prevented from filing more lawsuits because the evidence laid out shows he was fired for good cause, and that his lawsuits are “frivolous.”

  His attorneys, on the other hand, say American Apparel is “desperately trying to distort public attention to the fact that Mr. Charney’s firing was illegal.”

  “The company has knowledge that much of this information and allegations are completely false,” his attorney said in a statement.

  The defamation suit Charney filed in May claims the company and its chairwoman Colleen Brown falsely informed American Apparel employees that he’d agreed in writing to stay away from the company completely, forever. In Friday’s lawsuit, Charney says the company and a former board member lied to keep him from getting enough votes to reclaim control of American Apparel.

  Brown said in a statement included in Friday’s filling that Charney’s actions and behavior led to nearly $10 million in litigation costs through September 2014.

  In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission launched an investigation into the circumstances leading up to Charney’s departure.

  American Apparel makes graphic allegations about former CEO [Los Angeles Times]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uGoogle Answers Prayers, Officially Adds “Undo Send” Button To Gmailr

4 4 4 9

• 

  (Julio Marquez)

  Everyone makes mistakes, some are just more embarrassing than others. Take for example, accidentally sending an email venting about your in-laws to your in-laws, when you meant to send it to your spouse (for the record, I’ve never done this and I love my in-laws). While that scenario may have once led to an awkward family dinner, it might not anymore, thanks to Google’s new magical “undo send” option in Gmail.

  The New York Times reports that after years of experimenting, the tech company has finally formally added an option that allows users to call back blunder-worthy emails.

  Undo Send – which was previously available in Gmail’s “labs” section – allows people using Gmail to cancel a sent email if they have second thoughts immediately after sending, Google said in a blog post on Monday.

  The new tool works by delaying the sending of an email for a pre-set amount of time anywhere between five to 30 seconds. During this delay, users can then click the link to undo the scheduled send if they see errors or realize they were on the brink of committing email disaster.

  

  While formally adding the tool to the main settings panel makes it more readily available for Gmail users, the feature is automatically set to default, Google says. That means to actually take advantage of the undo send option, users must enable it by going to the general tab in Gmail settings.

  Gmail Formally Adds ‘Undo Send’ Option [The New York Times]
  Undo Send for Gmail on the web [Google]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uCreator Of Pink Flamingo Lawn Ornaments Passes Away At 79r

4 4 4 9

• 

  (redjar)

  Your lawn might look a bit sadder today: The man who created those unmistakable bright pink flamingo garden adornments has died at 79. Donald Featherstone was a trained sculptor who came up with the flashy bird design in 1957 for plastics company Union Products, based on a bird he saw in National Geographic. Millions of the lawn ornaments have been sold since then. [via Associated Press]
• 
  

ribbi

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uWhy Have Restaurant Waiters Become Plate-Grabbing Vultures?r

4 4 4 9

• 

  (Kim)
  

  People eat at different speeds. That’s just how eating and people work. Yet there’s a disturbing trend in restaurant dining that some people have noticed: servers lurk, ready to grab your plate whether everyone else at the table is done eating yet or not. Why would they do this? Rushing the whole table makes economic sense for a restaurant, but why snatch away plates when other people are still eating?

  That’s what Roberto Ferdman over at Wonkblog wondered, especially after one incident where this happened to him while out to dinner. Not waiting until the whole group is done upsets group dynamics, making people feel rushed when they should have no reason to be. Why are servers doing this?

  Sightings of the trend date back to 2008, apparently, and the New York times made the practice part of a very long list of things that restaurants should avoid doing in 2009.

  Some servers and even management told Ferdman that they were under the impression that this is what customers want, apparently never having talked to a customer before. Maybe that’s true in the hottest food spots where tables are at a premium and people are grateful for the opportunity to dine there, but in normal restaurants, people hate feeling rushed.

  No, you may not clear my plate: The most annoying restaurant trend happening today [Wonkblog]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist