uAmid Growing Concerns About Employee Betting, DraftKings & FanDuel Have Best Weekend Yetr

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• They say that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Just ask the folks at DraftKings and FanDuel. Only days after the New York attorney general’s office launched an investigation into potentially unfair business practices at these fantasy sports betting sites — and as questions about the behavior of employees at these companies continue to be raised — they saw more action than ever before.

  A story in today’s New York Times highlights several examples of questionable behavior by employees of DraftKings and FanDuel.

  There’s the DraftKings executive who tipped off a regular bettor against making a certain roster move using information he knew he shouldn’t have shared.

  That same bettor later found out that someone who was regularly challenging him on FanDuel is actually a business planning manager at DraftKings, raising concerns that this person might have had access to information about the bettor’s account on that site and tried to use it against him.

  Oh yeah, then there’s a DraftKings manager of analytics who won the $50,000 first prize in a FanDuel fantasy hockey contest.

  Meanwhile, the guy in charge of setting the prices for players at FanDuel is apparently a world-class fantasy gambler who recently won $50,000 in DraftKings’ King of Boston contest.

  If that doesn’t sound like a lot compared to the millions of dollars one could win on these sites, keep in mind that the average winnings are closer to $20.

  As the Times notes, many of the employees at these companies are recruited from the ranks of top fantasy sports players. In fact, the companies have previously not only acknowledged that their employees gambled on competing sites but that this practice would have to continue in order to retain those staffers.

  “We have some people who make significantly more money off of our competitors’ sites than they do working for DraftKings,” explained a DraftKings co-founder in June.

  But after concerns about insider info hit the mainstream media last week, both companies put a halt to allowing their employees to gamble on fantasy sports.

  Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that this past weekend DraftKings and FanDuel combined to take in a total of nearly $44 million in “entry fees” from more than seven million entries into their big tournaments. That’s a record number, according to a UK firm that tracks this sort of thing.

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uScarcity Of Public Charging Stations In California Is Turning Electric Vehicle Owners Against Each Otherr

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  Electric cars are pretty popular in California right now, but there’s one major problem facing all those owners — there aren’t enough charging stations for all those new vehicles hitting the streets. This has led to some bad behavior at the plug, so to speak.

  California has encouraged electric vehicles in an effort to cut emissions, but the campaign to go green has led to some conflicts among owners jockeying for position at electric charging stations, reports the New York Times.

  Charging stations aren’t as numerous as gas stations yet, leading electric-vehicle owners to exhibit some rude behavior — unplugging each other’s cars, fights at the plug and secret alliances to trade spots in corporate parking lots.

  In one example, a man said he’d plugged his Nissan leaf into a public charging station in Silicon Valley one day this summer. As he walked away, he saw another Leaf owner pull up and unplug the charger from the car he’d just left, apparently about to plug it into his own vehicle. The first Leaf owner confronted him.

  “I said, ‘Hey, buddy, what do you think you’re doing?’ And he said, ‘Well, your car is done charging,’ ”Leaf owner No. 1 said, adding that he told the other guy that his car wasn’t actually done charging, plugged the vehicle back in and left “after saying a couple of curse words, of course.”

  In the short-term, some are seeking to educate electric vehicle owners and others about etiquette, with things like signs that warn someone not to unplug a car until it’s done charging. In the long-term, more public charging stations would be the best solution: California’s Gov. Jerry Brown has promised a sharp increase in charging stations, as the state continues to push for more electric vehicles.

  As it stands, there is only about one public charger for every 10 electric vehicles, which comes out to around 15,000 in California and 33,000 across the country. There are also many other charging spots that could basically be wall outlets at a home or business made available to the public as well.

  Though many do charge their cars at home, public chargers are essential because of the limited range of those vehicles, which is usually around 80 miles. That “range anxiety” can make drivers seek to charge up at public stations even when they might not need it because heck, it’s free, so right not?

  Competition between car owners can become even fiercer, depending on the model. One driver of an electric Fiat said she was ticked off to find a Tesla parked in a charging station spot… that wasn’t charging. She was out of charge and unable to get home without out. When the driver returned, she asked why he was taking up a spot without charging. He told her he had one more errand to do and walked away.

  “I seriously considered keying his car,” she said.

  In California, Electric Cars Outpace Plugs, and Sparks Fly [New York Times]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uAlaska Airlines Makes Emergency Landing After Credit Card Reader Ignites In The Trashr

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  An Alaska Airlines flight heading from Newark, NJ to Seattle was forced to make an emergency landing on Monday morning, after the plane reported smoke on board. Oddly enough, the incident was reportedly sparked when a credit card reader that had been thrown in the trash somehow ignited.

  The flight was on its way to the west coast when smoke started coming out of a trash receptacle in the rear galley, reports the Seattle Times.

  “There were no flames,” a spokeswoman for Alaska Airlines said. “The flight crew used a fire extinguisher to stop the device from smoking while the captain made flight emergency arrangements.”

  There were no injuries reported among the 181 passengers and six crew members aboard. Before the flight can proceed to Seattle, the fire extinguishers will need to be replaced, the spokeswoman added.

  Fire officials are keeping the credit card reader to figure out what the heck exactly happened. Another question — did it just stop working and a flight attendant threw it out? Otherwise, the trash is an odd place to keep a credit card reader.

  Newark-Seattle flight makes emergency landing [Seattle Times]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uGoogle Bestows “Bug Bounty” On Guy Who Successfully Bought And Owned Google.com (For A Few Minutes)r

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  We all know the old saying: ‘Tis better to have owned a major technological giant’s domain name briefly and lost it, than to have never owned a major technological giant’s domain name at all. A guy who successfully purchased Google.com and held onto it for a few minutes was rewarded for his efforts by way of a “bug bounty” from Google.

  A U.S. student bought the domain name on Sept. 29, writing about his experience on LinkedIn last month. He spotted a “for sale” sign next to Google.com while poking around on sites on Google’s website-buying service. Interesting, eh?

  Due to some kind of oversight, he was able to purchase Google.com and control it for about a minute — and immediately received mails meant for the company’s web administrators — before Google realized what had happened and canceled the transaction.

  His $12 was refunded, with Google saying that the purchase was an error because someone else already registered the domain name (but WHO?!?). He’s now updated his story, writing that he received a cash reward for uncovering the bug that allowed him to become the sole owner of Google.com, brief as his reign was. Instead of pocketing the cash, he’s decided to give that reward to an educational foundation in India, reports the BBC, a donation that Google then matched.

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uCalifornia Governor Finally Signs Nation’s First Law Getting Tough On Antibiotics In Farm Animalsr

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  Weeks after the California state legislature passed the nation’s first law intended to hold farmers and veterinarians accountable for the use of antibiotics in livestock, Governor Jerry Brown finally signed the bill over the weekend.

  As we previously detailed, this law, SB 27, prohibits the use of medically important antimicrobial drugs on livestock except in situations where they are prescribed by a veterinarian. Additionally, it outlaws the use of antibiotics solely for the purpose of weight gain.

  Antibiotics can still be used under SB 27, which won’t kick in until Jan. 1, 2018, but there is a prohibition against administering them in a “regular pattern.”

  This condition is intended to prevent farmers and veterinarians from claiming that the drugs are needed for everyday disease prevention. However, it’s worth noting that the law does not yet provide parameters for what constitutes a “regular pattern.”

  Another gray zone in the bill: It permits the prophylactic use of antibiotics to “address an elevated risk of contraction of a particular disease or infection.”

  Low-dose prophylactic use of these drugs is believed to be a leading promoter of drug-resistant bacteria. SB 27 requires that prophylactic treatment be for a specific disease, which will hopefully prevent farmers from using multiple drugs to prevent an array of possible infections, but the lack of definition for the term “elevated risk” has been a point of concern for some supporters of the bill.

  The main point is that SB 27 makes antibiotics abuse a legal matter instead of a purely regulatory affair.

  If a farmer or vet is caught violating the law, by anyone, they can be sued in court where they will have to defend their actions and potentially face consequences of up to $500/day.

  Veterinarians found to violate the law could face the loss of their license. That may be enough to turn the heads of those vets who may have been a little overly generous with antibiotics before.

  SB 27 also require the state’s Dept. of Food and Agriculture to develop a program to gather information on antibiotic use in meat production. This is the sort of vital data gathering that researchers and consumer advocates have been pushing the FDA to pursue, as it would provide a more granular picture of the types and amounts of drugs being provided to the various types of livestock.

  “We can’t afford to waste antibiotics on healthy animals at a time when these critical drugs are losing their power to treat disease,” explains our colleague Elisa Odabashian, Director of Consumers Union’s West Coast Office. “California’s new law establishes stronger limits than current voluntary federal guidelines and should prevent the irresponsible use of antibiotics for meat production. We applaud Governor Brown and state lawmakers for taking this important step to help protect public health and stop the careless overuse of antibiotics in livestock.”

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uSouthwest Airlines Says Travel Should Return To Normal After Fixing Glitch That Delayed Hundreds Of Flightsr

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  Southwest Airlines says everything should be back to normal this morning after a system glitch on Sunday caused quite a headache for thousands of passengers, prompting hundreds of flight delays.

  The airline told USAToday that as of 8:10 a.m. ET the problem had been fixed, and that it expects operations to return to their usual pace today. To that end, one of Southwest’s busiest airports Tweeted this morning that it was up and at’em.

  All operations at BWI returning to normal with little to no delays and passenger lines are diminishing. Check signs for available parking.

  — BWI Marshall Airport (@BWI_Airport) October 12, 2015

  About 450 flights were delayed starting early Sunday due to the unspecified computer glitch, which forced the airline’s staff to manually check in many passengers and write out boarding passes by hand. That led to super long lines for Southwest customers in airports around the country, from Detroit to Denver, Las Vegas to Baltimore.

  Southwest had advised Monday customers to check in online and print their boarding passes at hime, or use mobile devices to display them instead of having the airline print them out at airport. It had also told customers to arrive at least two hours ahead of their scheduled flight.

  The carrier is far from alone in its glitchiness: American Airlines, Spirit Airlines and United Airlines all suffered computer issues recently that snarled air travel for many travelers, and even the Federal Aviation Administration said it suffered a technical issues that led to flight headaches in August.

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uVerizon’s New Ads Are Apparently Unfamiliar With Verizon’s Own Business Practicesr

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• Verizon recently began airing an ad where the telecom titan declares that, “A better network doesn’t mess with your data.” Whoever made this Verizon commercial has apparently never heard of this company called Verizon and the ways it has — and wants to — mess with your data.

  First, let’s deal with the implied benefit touted in the above commercial: that Verizon doesn’t throttle download speeds for wireless customers.

  “Say this tube is a 4G LTE wireless network,” explains a Frenchy-sounding “SCUBA” diver (they’re not actually in SCUBA gear, but that’ nitpicking). “Verizon keeps your data flowing fast and steady, but some budget networks slow your data after you reach your limit. You can barely watch your shows. This is no way to treat people.”

  Then chimes in the voice of respected actress Catherine Keener: “A better network doesn’t mess with your data.”

  Thing is, Verizon did throttle 3G data for its unlimited customers — for years. It only recently stopped the practice this past summer.

  And in 2014 Verizon wanted to throttle those same users on its LTE network but decided not to after the head of the FCC questioned the company’s motives.

  Verizon’s doesn’t throttle customers for going over their limit; it charges them a lot of extra money — $15 once you past your monthly allotment and additional $15 for each gigabyte after that.

  It’s worth noting: While Verizon may no longer be throttling unlimited users, it did just jack up the price for their service by $20/month to effectively drive those customers into tiered plans.

  Now let’s consider the bigger Verizon-related message of “A better network doesn’t mess with your data.”

  This is where we remind you that Verizon spent four years suing and appealing the FCC over the 2010 net neutrality rules just so it could mess with customers’ data.

  Verizon, in both its FiOS and wireless forms, wants to be able to decide which content providers get the fastest access to the company’s end-users. More importantly, Verizon wants to be able to charge a lot of money to deep-pocketed content providers for adequate service.

  This is, by definition, “messing with your data.”

  The company, along with Comcast, AT&T, Time Warner Cable, and other major Internet Service Providers, have already messed with customers’ data when they decided to allow Netflix data to bottleneck at the points where Netflix’s bandwidth providers connected to ISP’s “last mile” networks.

  The goal here was to get Netflix to pay up for more direct connections to these networks — and it worked. Netflix paid the money and speeds improved (eventually).

  But in the second new Verizon ad that aired over the weekend, the company implies that when Verizon experiences congestion, it increases capacity. The ad just leaves out the “*” that this capacity increase happens after the content provider pays for it to happen.

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist