uMicrosoft Confirms Some Windows 10 Upgrades Have Been Installing In The Backgroundr

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  If you’re a Windows 7 or 8 user who’s been surprised to find Windows 10 automatically installing on your machine, you aren’t alone: just a few weeks after many users reported accidentally downloading the new operating system’s installer, Microsoft admits that Windows 10 has also been installing itself without permission on some computers.

  Over at Forbes, Gordon Kelly notes that several Windows 7 and Windows 8 users have reported Windows 10 trying to sneak itself onto their computers: either people were prompted to restart for standard updates and found Windows 10 was installing itself when they returned, or others checked their update history and found that Windows 10 had been attempting and failing to install repeatedly.

  One user said his computer tried to install Windows 10 31 times:

  

  It appears this is separate from the problem reported in mid-October, where the Windows 10 upgrade installer would automatically begin downloading if you didn’t uncheck the pre-checked update box. Microsoft tells Kelly that the issue is with an automatic update that’s been rolling out to Windows 7 and 8 users since August. Which one specifically, Microsoft didn’t disclose, but it leaves the error code” 0×80240020″ or “080240020” in Windows log files when upgrade attempts failed.

  For those who were prompted to restart their computers, they’d find the Windows 10 upgrade going when they rebooted. But for those who had the update attempts going on in the background, you’d only know of the failed attempts by checking your installation history between August and November. You can find that information by clicking Start, typing “Update” into the search box > Windows Update > “View update history” in the left pane.

  Microsoft says the bug has been fixed, and users shouldn’t see any more Windows 10 installations trying to happen in the background.

  Microsoft Admits To Windows 10 Automatic Installs On Windows 7 And Windows 8 [Forbes]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uJoe’s Crab Shack Tests No-Tipping Policy, Raises Server Wages To $14/Hourr

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  Joe’s Crab Shack will become the first national full-service chain to test a no-tipping policy, following in the footsteps of several prominent New York-based restaurants that ditched gratuity last month. 

  Restaurant Business reports that Joe’s parent company, Ignite Restaurant Group, actually began testing the no-tipping policy at just a few restaurants back in August, but now plans to expand it to all 113 locations in the U.S.

  To make up for the lost gratuity, the company says it will implement a new set wage practice. Servers will now be paid at a rate starting at $14/hour based on their past performance.

  And, of course, to generate the revenue needed for the new wages, the company is executing a 12% to 15% increase to the restaurant’s menu.

  “We’re really leading in our industry with regards to national brand going out and testing this thing in a meaningful way,” Ignite CEO Ray Blanchette told investors last week. “So we want to be somewhat cautious.”

  Blanchette says the new policy is expected to reduce staff turnover, improve service quality, and lower prices for customers who are typically more generous with their tipping.

  Ignite expects the test to run until at least the end of the year, but they have no plans to extend it to the company’s other brand, sports bar Brick House.

  Joe’s Crab Shack Chain Tries No-Tipping [Restaurant Business]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uTime Warner Cable’s Cable-Free Cable Is Still Basically Cable, Just On A Rokur

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  Reports dropped a couple of weeks ago that Time Warner Cable was planning to roll out a cable-free streaming option to bring in more TV subscribers. The company has now confirmed that they’re definitely doing that… but not in as flexible a way as consumers had hoped.

  It’s less of a pure streaming over-the-top option and more of a simple box switch-out, The Verge explains. Time Warner Customers in the New York City metro area will indeed be able to get their TV by plugging a Roku into their home broadband network instead of hooking up a decoder box to a coaxial cable… but that’s about it.

  It won’t be a subscription service that users can access from any connected device. At least, not yet. There is some hope for the future, however, as CEO Rob Marcus said in a recent investor call, “Where we’re headed is the ability of customers to access the complete video product without having to rent a set-top box from us, whether they use a Roku or they use ultimately another IP-enabled device.”

  Otherwise, TWC stressed in a corporate blog post, it’s still your same Time Warner Cable service, just delivered through a Roku instead. The difference is that the Roku can also run most or all of your other media apps, making it a one-stop shop for your living room TV.

  By launching this trial program now, however, TWC may be making a change just in the nick of time. Regulators and Congress are starting to question the hardware monopoly that rented cable boxes give pay-TV providers, and Cox Communications just lost a class-action lawsuit when a jury found that making consumers rent cable boxes violates antitrust law.

  Time Warner Cable tests replacing your cable box with a Roku [The Verge]

  
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by Kate Cox via Consumerist

uDOJ Sues To Stop United And Delta From Swapping Slots At NYC-Area Airportsr

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  When two major companies decide to get along, it’s not quite so simple as exchanging friendship bracelets — each side usually sees some benefit. For example: United Airlines wants. For example, airlines United and Delta want to get friendly, so they’ve agreed to swap slots at two New York City-area airports. One hitch, however, is that the United States Department of Justice isn’t a fan of the plan.

  The DOJ is suing to stop United and Delta from swapping spots, saying it’ll cut down on competition at Newark Liberty International Airport and John F. Kennedy International and drive up airfares for customers, reports USA Today.

  United floated the idea of leaving JFK and giving its slots — the ones that allow an airline to take off and land at particularly busy airports — to Delta. In turn, Delta would fork over its spots at Newark to United, so each one could have a consolidated hub.

  The Justice Department’s lawsuit says that if United gets ahold of more than 24 pairs of slots at Newark, it would further prevent other airlines from flying there.

  “A slot is essentially a license to compete at Newark,” Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer said in filing the case. “United already holds most of them and as a result, competition at Newark is in critically short supply.”

  The slots are represent permission to take off or land during a half-hour period. Newark can handle a maximum 81 takeoffs or landings per hour, but the Federal Aviation Administration hasn’t allocated all possible slots at the airport.

  As it stands now, United has control of 73% of slots at Newark, which is 902 of the 1,233 allocated. No other airline has more than 70 slots at Newark, the lawsuit contends.

  “Yet United wants more,” the lawsuit said. “As a result, passengers at Newark would face even higher fares and fewer choices.”

  United disagrees, saying there’s plenty of choice around the NYC area.

  “With three major airports, the New York/Newark area is the most competitive air transportation market in the country,” said Rahsaan Johnson, a United spokesman. “We firmly believe this transaction benefits our customers and the region by enabling us to enhance service at our Newark hub and manage congestion at the airport. We will vigorously defend our ability to operate effectively, efficiently and competitively at Newark.”

  Delta hasn’t issued a comment as of yet.

  DOJ seeks to block United and Delta deal for Newark access [USA Today]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uCampbell’s Changes Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe: Cuts Artificial Flavors, Celery & Onionsr

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  Back in July, Campbell Soup Company announced it would stop using artificial colors and flavors in all its North American products by 2018. But it turns out the packaged food company already made the changes to its iconic Chicken Noodle Soup, and it left out a few things other than hard-to-pronounce additives. 

  The New York Times reports that the new version of the timeless classic, which recently hit shelves in limited-edition Star Wars cans, contains 20 ingredients – that’s 10 fewer than before.

  The new recipe uses mostly ingredients you’d find in a typical kitchen: chicken stock, salt, chicken fat, sugar and other things. But it’s not just the additives like disodium inosinate or maltodextrin that were eliminated from the soup recipe: celery, onions, cornstarch and vegetable oil were also shelved, so to speak.

  “It’s a delicate balance because these products are beloved,” Charles Vila, vice president for consumer and customer insights at Campbell, tells the Times. “Their profile has become very defined in the consumer mind over the years, so any change we make is very carefully considered.”

  In all, Campbell says it took two months of intense work to find the right balance for the newly tooled soup.

  The changes to long-enduring soup – and other Campbell products – come as the company tries to better align with consumers’ changing tastes and how it affects the environment.

  “We’re closing the gap between the kitchen and our plants,” Denise M. Morrison, chief executive of Campbell, tells the Times. “Before, when we talked about our business, we talked about how many cases we shipped. Today, we’re talking about our food.”

  The company is also using the revamp to attract new customers, as soup sales have lagged in recent years.

  “There are 80 million millennials now, and they’re shopping and thinking differently about food and in a way that is influential,” Morrison says.

  Have you tried Campbell Soup’s new Chicken Noodle recipe? Tells us what you thought, send an email – titled “Chicken Noodle” to tips@consumerist.com.

  Campbell Rethinks Its Recipe as Consumer Tastes Change [The New York Times]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uCheerios Protein Has Slightly More Protein, More Sugar Than Regular Cheeriosr

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  If you follow current food trends, you know that Americans are losing interest in breakfast cereal, but can’t get enough protein. Cereal companies see those trends, and are ready to respond with new products to entice customers back to their aisle. For example, General Mills started a line called Cheerios Protein to supplement their classic Cheerios. The problem: while Cheerios Protein has more protein per serving, it also has a lot more sugar.

  The new cereal is denser than plain Cheerios. A serving of the “Oats & Honey” flavor of the new cereal is 1.25 cups, which comes in at 210 calories. 1.25 cups of Cheerios, meanwhile, has 125 calories. If you’re measuring the amount of protein in each cereal by calorie count, Cheerios Protein barely has more protein. Yet it’s loaded up with sugar: standard Cheerios have 1 gram of sugar per serving, and Cheerios Protein have 17.

  Maybe Cheerios Protein is just a catchier name than Sugar-Blasted Protein Circles. All of the sugar-containing products, which include brown sugar, sugar, corn syrup, caramel, honey, and refiner’s syrup, are there to give the cereal flavor when it has protein-adding ingredients such as ground lentils and soy protein. The “clusters” of Cheerios Protein also make the cereal more calorie-dense, but that density comes from sugar.

  

  We learned about the weird differences between Cheerio varieties from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which is behind a class action lawsuit against General Mills. Other than the sugar issue, the nutrition-policing nonprofit also points out that while the cereal is promoted as providing 11 grams of protein, it contains only seven. 11 would include the half-cup of milk that’s considered part of the serving size. Is that misleading?

  The initial complaint says that the lead plaintiffs both bought Cheerios Protein assuming that they were, you know, Cheerios with some extra protein.

  She believed that consuming Cheerios Protein would deliver substantially more protein than consuming original Cheerios. She would not have purchased Cheerios Protein had she understood the true nutritional profile of the product.

  Somehow, “Sugar-Blasted Lentil Circles” doesn’t have the same healthy ring or brand recognition as “Cheerios Protein.”

  Coe et al. v. General Mills Inc. [Complaint] (PDF)

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uAmazon To Make Echo Available At Home Depot, Radio Shack, Other Retailersr

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• Three months after Amazon announced it would allow Staples to offer its high-tech, sort-of assistant speaker online, the company says it will allow retailers to sell the Echo at thousands of locations across the U.S. 

  Just in time for the holiday shopping rush, Amazon announced on Monday that it would make the Echo available at physical stores like Staples, Home Depot, HH Gregg, Radio Shack, Sears, Brookstone, RC Willey and others.

  The device, which will make its way to stores over the next several weeks will retail for $179.99, the same price it goes for through Amazon, VentureBeat reports.

  Amazon previously made Echo available to all customers back in June. Prior to that, only Prime members who placed their names on a waiting list received invitations from the company to buy the speaker.

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

  Echo, which was first unveiled in November 2014, functions much like other voice-activated devices: always on and always connected to the internet.

  The device, which has been continuously updated since its debut, allows users to ask the system’s personal assistant “Alexa” 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).

  Back in August, Amazon announced it had entered a partnership with SmartThings to allow the device to essentially run consumers’ homes.

  Through the new partnership, Echo would have the ability to operate any SmartThings-compatible device – or devices plugged into a SmartThings Power Outlet – in a consumer’s home.

  Amazon Echo will soon go on sale at over 3,000 retail stores [VentureBeat]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist