In a notice [PDF] released Thursday afternoon by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the regulator revealed that it has been probing the legality of daily fantasy sports [DFS] sites for “several months” and concluded that the sites’ pay-to-play tournaments constitute gambling under state law, which requires sports betting pool operators to obtain a license from the state’s Gaming Commission.
“Therefore, since offering DFS in Nevada is illegal without the appropriate license, all unlicensed activities must cease” until either the state changes its laws or the DFS sites obtain licenses, according to the notice.
There appears to be one way for these sites to continue operating in Nevada. The notice allows for existing sports book licensees to offer DFS gambling to their customers. But the Control Board cautions they should “exercise discretion in participating in business associations with DFS operators that have not obtained gaming approvals.”
Sports books who want to partner with DFS sites are being advised they “should also conduct thorough and objective reviews” of their new partners’ business activities “under the laws of other states and any applicable federal laws.”
We know that you just settled down to watch episodes of “Criminal Minds” while you eat dinner or whatever your weird personal ritual is, and were horrified to see that Netflix is down. Don’t fret, little consumer: everything is going to be okay soon. Soon-ish?
Here are the comforting words, direct from Netflix customer service:
We're aware that members are experiencing issues streaming on all devices. We're working to resolve the problem.
Here at Consumerist, we have a slight obsession with stories in the news about people attempting to steal meat by shoving it down their pants, a crime that is simultaneously sad and hilarious. Now there’s a report out of Charleston, West Virginia that the city is experiencing a meat-theft epidemic, with supermarket employees patrolling the shelves.
The crime is sad because the people are sometimes taking the meat to sell, and sometimes taking the meat because they’re hungry. Charleston also happens to be a city that, like many American cities, has serious problems with heroin addiction.
WOWK looked at the problem, and found four thefts dating back to May of this year. Stores hit included Foodland and Kroger, and the meat stolen ranged in value from $135 to $170. We don’t know what the street value of a stolen steak would be, but it’s definitely lower than that. WOWK also did not state whether any of the shoplifting suspects shoved the stolen meats down their pants.
The manager of one Foodland store called the thefts an “ongoing problem,” and stores have been managing the same way they would deal with any shoplifting issue: with lots of surveillance cameras and employees patrolling the aisles personally to let shoppers know that they’re being watched.
Back in July, we shared the news that there was a possible payment data breach at numerous zoo and museum gift shops run by Service Systems Associates, a company that designs and runs cafeterias and gift shops for cultural institutions. The company has finally confirmed the breach and the dates that it happened: if you picked up a stuffed lion between March 24 and May 20 of this year, keep an eye on your credit card bills.
Here’s the list of institutions that were affected:
Dallas Zoo
Detroit Zoo
El Paso Zoo
Fresno Chaffee Zoo
Herman Park Conservancy
Honolulu Zoo
Houston Zoo
Zoo Miami
Tampa’s Museum of Science and Industry
Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium.
SSA says that customers’ credit card numbers and names were compromised in the attack, which used malware to scoop up customer information. The company says that it has since secured its systems, removing keyboard-based card readers and making remote access to payment systems more difficult.
The company is offering the perfunctory one year of credit monitoring, which won’t really do you much good once your information has already been breached. If you happen to have used your card at one of these gift shops, keep an eye on your statements and check your credit report regularly as well.
Not one to be left in the dust by Tesla, Toyota, Apple, Google and other companies working to put autonomous vehicles on the road, General Motors says it has “aggressive” plans for its own self-driving car.
GM, which has worked with scientists from Carnegie Mellon University in the past, anticipates making strides in the autonomous arena as soon as next year, WIRED reports.
The carmaker’s plans next year include introducing a fleet of “robo-Volts” on the roads of its technical campus and equipping an unspecified Cadillac with a semiautonomous feature called “Super Cruise” that enables a car to handle itself in certain situations.
GM CEO Mary Barra says the company has several advantages up its sleeve when it comes to the self-driving car race: for one thing, she says the company’s technical center in Detroit – which features 11 miles of roadway and mimics an urban area – provides the perfect testing ground for autonomous vehicles.
“We’ll leverage that,” Barra told WIRED. “There’s so much you learn by actually doing.”
Barra also apparently isn’t concerned that other car and tech companies will make it to the finish line first, noting that GM “has a lead” when it comes to embedded connectivity.
While the company hasn’t set specific target dates for the Volt fleet or the super cruise-enabled Cadillac, Barra tells Wired, “we’re gonna move aggressively.”
When an unruly, obnoxious or otherwise disruptive person deserves to be booted off a flight, that’s one thing. But American Airlines passengers were pretty ticked off recently when a woman who says she did nothing wrong was ordered off the plane. And they let the crew know — booing and voicing support for their fellow traveler.
The woman was heading home to Portland, OR and was in the process of boarding her connecting flight in Phoenix earlier this week, reports the Washington Post. She says there were some lines, some crowding, some complaints from passengers — the typical behavior on a flight.
But as she was waiting in the aisle to get to her seat and chatting with another passenger nearby, she says a flight attendant started yelling at her, accusing her of not listening to him, when she hadn’t heard him the first place.
“Stay right there,” he shouted, according to the passenger, “I asked you three times.”
She was confused and asked what was going on, to which he allegedly replied, “You can get off this flight. I’ll kick you off of this plane right now.”
He wasn’t wearing a name tag, she says, and refused to give her his name, instead dismissing her with a “Go.”
Once she sat down in her seat, she started crying, as other passengers tried to comfort her. She says he then started opening overhead bins and asking where her bag was, repeatedly telling her she was getting off the plane.
Another flight attendant then came over to her and told her she’d have to come off the aircraft, while a fellow passenger furtively filmed the scene from the row behind her.
“Why are you guys so mean to me?” she says in the video, sobbing. “I didn’t do anything.”
When she finally got up to leave, others on the plane started voicing their support for her, booing the airline.
“Are you serious?” one woman said. “That’s the last time I fly American,” the man sitting next to her said. “Shame on American!”
She says she still doesn’t understand why she was booted off the plane — perhaps the flight attendant was mad that he’d asked her to make space in the aisle, but according to her, there were four people between them and she didn’t know he was addressing her until he began yelling.
Her theory? The crew was making room on the plane for another passenger who took her seat almost immediately after she was asked to leave.
“It’s a little coincidental that I’m being attacked verbally for no reason, and then all of a sudden another guy is getting my seat,” she said.
American Airlines didn’t explain what had happened either, instead issuing one of those statements that sort of accepts guilt, but doesn’t tell the crew’s side of the story or provide a reason for her removal from the flight.
“We are in contact with the passenger and have apologized,” the statement reads. “We have addressed the issue with our team members to ensure we provide a consistent, quality travel experience for our customers in the future.”
The passenger said a customer service representative offered her a $250 voucher, but she told them she wouldn’t ever use it. Instead, she was offered the money in cash. She’s seeking legal counsel instead.
Did you tie one on last night and have a few too many whiskeys/margaritas/beers? And are you at work right now, bleary-eyed and slow, or perhaps “sick” at home with a raging hangover? Your excessive drinking habits aren’t just a drain on your body, they’re costing the American economy hundreds of billions of dollars every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In a new study from the CDC, the agency says excessive alcohol consumption cost U.S. $249 billion in 2010, or $2.05 per drink, a big jump from $223.5 billion, or $1.90 per drink, in 2006.
You might be thinking that your hangovers are only wasting your time and money (that bacon, egg and cheese sandwich and Gatorade don’t come free, after all), but really, they’re contributing to reduced workplace productivity, putting a ding in the economy at large. Other costs considered were due to crime and the cost of treating people for health problems caused by excessive drinking.
The CDC adds that binge drinking — five+ drinks on one occasion for men, four+ drinks for women — was responsible for 77% of those costs, with two dollars out of ever $5 of costs paid by governments.
“The increase in the costs of excessive drinking from 2006 to 2010 is concerning, particularly given the severe economic recession that occurred during these years,” said Robert Brewer, M.D., M.S.P.H., head of CDC’s Alcohol Program and one of the study’s authors. “Effective prevention strategies can reduce excessive drinking and related costs in states and communities, but they are under used.”
Washington D.C. had the highest cost per person due to excessive alcohol in 2010, at $1,526 (national average is $807), while New Mexico had the highest cost per drink ratio at $2.77, compared to a $2.05 national average.
The same day that news broke of an ongoing FBI investigation into the legality of online daily fantasy sports sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, Nevada gaming regulators declared that these sites are unlicensed gambling businesses and barred them from operating in the state.
