uAshley Madison Says People, Even Some Real Women, Are Still Signing Up For Cheating Siter

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• We can understand why people continued to shop at retailers that have been hit by data breaches. You still need to buy groceries, clothing, housewares, etc. But what about a website whose main selling point is privacy? Even though AshleyMadison.com — the dating website for cheaters — has been publicly embarrassed by the posting of millions of users’ personal data, it claims that people are still signing up… and that they’re not all just dudes.

  A statement from Avid Life Media, the Canadian parent company of Ashley Madison, claims that “hundreds of thousands of new users signed up” with the site in the last week, including 87,596 women.

  The company is making a point of this last figure after a Gizmodo analysis of the stolen Ashley Madison data concluded that not only was there an extraordinarily high ratio of male to female users on the site (even though it’s free for women to sign up), but that virtually none of the female accounts had communicated in any way with the men on the site.

  READ MORE: Why The Stolen Ashley Madison Data Is (Legally) Fair Game For The Internet

  Avid Life claims that assumptions made in this analysis were incorrect and contends that “Last week alone, women sent more than 2.8 million messages within our platform.”

  The site also takes issue with reports of the male to female ratio. The stolen data shows that there are 31.3 million male users, compared to only 5.5 million females on Ashley Madison. Avid Life claims that when you look at the number male users who paid to communicate with women versus the number of female members who actively used their accounts, the ratio is actually 1.2:1.

  What the Avid Life statement doesn’t make clear is how many of the recent sign-ups were legitimate, paying users and how many were free accounts set up by people curious to see what all the hubbub was about.

  The company’s CEO Noel Biderman, whose e-mail inbox was the source for on 13GB data dump, stepped down last week, with Avid Life saying that the “change is in the best interest of the company and allows us to continue to provide support to our members and dedicated employees.”

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uFiat Chrysler Wants To Hug GM So Tight They Merger

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• 

  (БРАТСТВО)

  When you’re a multibillion-dollar company that’s been under heavy scrutiny from federal regulators and you’ve been turned down by several potential suitors in the last year, you don’t simply give up on a possible merger. Or at least that seems to be the case for Fiat Chrysler when it comes to the automaker’s unrequited love for General Motors.

  Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne once again expressed his desire to see the two car manufacturing heavyweights join forces in an interview published over the weekend on Automotive News.

  Although Fiat Chrysler [FCA] was shot down by rival GM previously, Marchionne says he’s not backing away from a potentially lucrative deal, not without a fight, anyway.

  After crunching the numbers, he tells Automotive News, that his board feels there really is no choice in the matter; they must put pressure on GM to begin talks.

  “Look, the combined entity can make $30 billion a year in cash. Thirty. Just think about that [expletive] number,” he says.

  Of course, Marchionne doesn’t think things have to be hostile just yet. Instead, he plans to ease GM into the talks, starting with a little nudge and working into a full on embrace. Wait, what?

  “Not hostile,” he says. “There are varying degrees of hugs. I can hug you nicely, I can hug you tightly, I can hug you like a bear, I can really hug you. Everything starts with physical contact. Then it can degrade, but it starts with physical contact.”

  Who knew that merger deals between major automakers could be so… physical?

  Marchionne then goes on to say that he simply wants to present his case to GM CEO Mary Barra.

  “I’m not trying to date Mary, for the record, but I tried to get to see her,” he says.

  Despite the CEO’s clear love for a possible deal, insiders at GM tell Automotive News that the company feels a merger would be a bad idea.

  “Why,” a GM executive asked Automotive News, “should [GM] bail out FCA?”

  While Marchionne opines that the presumably billion-dollar deal would create a wealth of profit for a combined company, others express concern that it would mean the loss of thousands of jobs, plant closures, and the end of several vehicle models.

  Marchionne denies these assertions, saying that the “doom and gloom of reductions, and headcounts, plant shutdowns” is nonsense.

  Still, a spokesperson for GM tells Automotive News that the company and its shareholders believe they are better off on their own.

  Marchionne puts the squeeze on GM; GM’s response: ‘Why bail out FCA?’ [Automotive News]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uHunger Games, Transformers Movies Will Disappear From Netflix After Company Decides Not To Renew Epix Dealr

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• 

  You have until the end of September to see Katniss on Netflix.

  While there’s always plenty of streaming content to watch on the Internet these days, if you’re a fan of Hunger Games or Transformers flicks, better watch them on Netflix now, while you still can: the subscription streaming service says it won’t be renewing its deal with Epix, the cable provider with domestic streaming rights to those movies in the U.S.

  Hunger Games: Catching Fire, World War Z and Transformers: Age of Extinction will all expire at the end of September, Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer at Netflix announced in a blog post on Sunday.

  Netflix says that it’s working on its own original movies so that members can have access to newer content, because studio licensing practices often mean a long wait to see theatrically released movies at home. In the meantime, the company says it won’t be renewing its deal in the U.S. with Netflix.

  “While many of these movies are popular, they are also widely available on cable and other subscription platforms at the same time as they are on Netflix and subject to the same drawn out licensing periods,” Sarandos notes. Basically: we know you can see these elsewhere, so we’ll let you do that and instead focus on pushing our own content.

  This isn’t the first time titles have vanished from Netflix after a deal with Epix ran its course: in May 2013, a slew of classic movies were yanked from the streaming service when it decided not to renew a different deal with Epix. At that time, Netflix soothed customers with the announcement that Hunger Games would be coming to the platform soon.

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uGoogle Adds Paid Home Service Provider Suggestions To Search Results For “Clogged Toilet,” “Plumber”r

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  Google provided this example of what its new services ad function will look like.

  Less than a year after Amazon took on the likes of Angie’s List, Yelp and other companies that can connect consumers to professional service providers like plumbers, locksmiths, electricians and others, Google announced it would join the fray by adding prescreened service providers to its sponsored search results.

  The new service – which launched in the San Francisco Bay area on Friday – is part of Google’s paid app for small businesses called AdWords Express in which professional service providers pay to be within the top search results for a given word, like “plumber” or “clogged toilet.”

  Service providers are screened and qualified by Google. They must be licensed, insured and complete a background check and mystery shopping review, a spokesperson for the company tells the Wall Street Journal.

  After the qualifying process, Google says it will organize the information provided by the company into a business page.

  “When someone in your service area searches for ‘house cleaners’ or other related terms, we’ll show your profile within an expandable listing at the top of Google search results,” the company says.

  Customers can then read reviews, submit service requests or call businesses directly for more information.

  So far, the company says that services are available for plumbers, handymen, locksmiths and house cleaners.

  The new service will be direct competition for Amazon’s new Home Services platform, consumer review sites such as Yelp and Angie’s List, as well as traditional retailers Home Depot and Lowe’s, both of which have worked to link consumers with local service providers in the past.

  [via The Wall Street Journal]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uNewark Airport Terminal Locked Down Sunday Night After Security Breachr

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  (@marc_weiner)

  People traveling through Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday were in for a bit of a wait, as authorities locked down Terminal C for more than two hours after a man breached security.

  CBS New York reports that shortly before 7 p.m., a man illegally entered the terminal through a door in a secure hallway.

  A passenger waiting in the terminal tells the Associated Press that he heard yelling and then saw several TSA agents chasing a man.

  Agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained the man and turned him over the Port Authority police.

  The AP reports that the man had a ticket for a flight at the airport, but it was unclear why he entered the secure hallway.

  Immediately after the man was detained, CBS New York reports, that per security protocol, the terminal was evacuated, put on lockdown and swept by authorities and K9 units. It reopened around 9:30 p.m.

  Travelers at the airport took to Twitter during the lockdown, showing long lines of people waiting to re-enter the terminal.

  Madhouse at Newark Airport. Security shut down. Crazy lines going in and out. http://pic.twitter.com/W40hHI2Bmv

  — Marc Weiner (@marc_weiner) August 30, 2015

  So a man got arrested and we had to evacuate the airport in #Newark last night. Interesting experience http://pic.twitter.com/GddGAjSyjQ

  — Ross (@rosstyson) August 31, 2015

  Man Enters Secure Hallway at Newark Liberty Airport [The Associated Press]
  Newark Liberty Terminal C Reopens After Security Breach [CBS New York]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uWalmart Cutting Workers’ Hours As It Increases Wagesr

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  (frankieleon)

  In recent months, Walmart increased pay for entry-level employees so that all workers were making at least $9/hour. At the same time, the retailer’s earnings have come up short of expectations, leading Walmart to instruct managers to curb spending by cutting hours for some workers.

  Bloomberg News reports that Walmart HQ recently explained to store managers that if they have over-scheduled their staff — that is, if the store’s sales projections aren’t in line with its labor spending — they may need to do things like send people home early or direct them to take a longer, unpaid lunch break. Bloomberg says dozens of employees have confirmed these types of hour reductions in their stores have already begun to take place.

  Walmart claims this won’t affect efforts to provide better customer service, cleaner stores, or properly stock shelves.

  However, one Texas Walmart staffer says her store has cut 200 hours of worker pay per week from its ledger. In a single day, eight workers — including department managers — had been sent home by late afternoon. The employee says a customer had to wait 30 minutes for service because of the lack of staff.

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uNestle Says There’s No Place For Forced Labor In Cat Food Supply Chainr

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• 

  (eren {sea+prairie})

  After American consumers learned about horrible working conditions and trafficked workers on some fishing vessels out of Thailand, class action lawsuits began, accusing American, European, and Thai companies of benefiting from deplorable working conditions farther up their supply chain. One of the companies accused, the Swiss conglomerate Nestle, says that “forced labor has no place in [their] supply chain” for Fancy Feast cat food.

  In an e-mail to the Associated Press, the company didn’t deny the allegations, but did explain that its suppliers are supposed to respect human rights, and the company has worked to eliminate all forced labor from its global supply chain.

  The initial class action complaint points out that while cans of Fancy Feast do say that the fish comes from Thailand, it does not specify “Made in Thailand out of fish that may have been caught by men and boys trafficked from poorer neighboring countries and forced to work punishing hours while motivated by fear.” Cat food cans are small, so the print would have to be very tiny.

  While the class actions are federal, they only accuse the companies that have allegedly benefited from slave labor of breaking the law in California, a state with strong consumer protection laws without equivalents in other states.

  Nestle: Forced labor has no place in our food supply chain [AP]

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist