uStar Wars Monopoly Game Getting Female Character After Allr

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  Hasbro recently explained that the reason it didn’t include the main character from Star Wars: The Force Awakens in its new Star Wars-themed Monopoly game wasn’t because she was a female, but because it didn’t want to spoil info about her character that was already quite obvious from the trailers. But now that everyone and their goldfish has done their mandatory 135-minute duty and watched the movie, Hasbro is going to add a woman to the Monopoly mix.

  “We love the passion fans have for Rey, and are happy to announce that we will be making a running change to include her in the Monopoly: Star Wars game available later this year,” a rep for Hasbro tells EW.

  Now that this is settled, perhaps Hasbro can do something about moving Des Moines back to Iowa?

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uHow Much Does This Bottle Of Stain Remover Cost?r

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• Welcome to Target! The normal rules of logic do not apply here, and addition and subtraction also work differently, so you need to evaluate all price tags and signs that say “Sale” or even “Clearance” carefully. Are you up to the challenge? Then you can shop at Target. Congratulations. Here is your first assignment: help reader Bill figure out how much this bottle of Oxi Clean costs.

  

  He actually purchased the item, and it rang up at $2.76, the “sale” price. “The ‘regular’ price on the shelf says $2.49,” he wrote. That’s not what his receipt said, though. There’s another variable, and that’s what Target claims the “original” price is.

  “The ‘sale’ price this week is $2.76, based on a ‘regular’ price of $3.07. Which one is real?” he wrote to Consumerist. Did he overpay by 27¢, or did he save 31¢? Perhaps he should simply be grateful that he was allowed to escape unharmed.

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uThousands Of Chicago Comcast Customers Could Lose HD Service Because Of Old Boxesr

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  Comcast is just about ready to flip the switch on upgrades to its network in Chicago, but thousands of area customers could be left without HD service if they are still using older set-top cable boxes.

  According to the Chicago Tribune, Comcast began alerting affected customers in the fall of the need to trade in their old boxes for new ones that will work properly on the network. However, the notices did not provide customers with any specific deadline.

  Which is a bit of a problem now because Comcast could turn on the upgraded network as soon as… today, leaving those people who haven’t switched their boxes without the service they pay for.

  The company downplays the scope of the issue by noting that most people have made the switch while acknowledging that there are “only” a “few thousand left” who have not.

  Customers in Chicago who need to switch out their old set-top boxes can get self-install kits from Comcast either by mail or by going to a Comcast retail location. But if you need to have someone come out and do the install for you, that’ll be $50.

  The model numbers for the outdated boxes are: DCH3416, DCT6200, DCH3200, DCT6412, DCT3416, DCT6416, DCH6416, DCT5100, DCH6200, DCT3412 and DCT6208. If you’re not sure, the Tribune says you go to channel 1995 and follow the instructions there to see if your existing box is compatible.

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uPanera Says Its Entire Soup Menu Is Now Devoid Of All Artificial Ingredientsr

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  Panera Bread’s stand against artificial ingredients is marching ahead apace, with an announcement from the company that it’s eliminated artificial flavors, preservatives, colors, and flavors from its entire line of soups. It’s all part of the chain’s plan to go additive-free by the end of this year.

  The chain says its soup menu is “clean” now that its removed ingredients on its “No No List” of artificial additives.

  For example, Broccoli Cheddar Soup will no longer contain additives like hydrolyzed soy and corn protein and sodium phosphate, ingredients which are approved by the Food and Drug Administration, which you’ll find in many soup recipes from companies like Campbell’s and Progresso. Other ingredients that have been ditched include maltodextrin and sodium phosphate – no longer appear in any of the Company’s bakery-cafe soups.

  It took some work to go through each soup recipe: Panera says Broccoli Cheddar alone was revised 60 times.

  “I want to create soups that our guests will love” said Dan Kish, Panera Bread’s Head Chef in the company’s press release. “And equally important, I want them to understand and feel confident in the ingredients that go into those soups. We’ve long been advocates of transparency – providing full ingredient information online – and with these new recipes we have even more to be proud of today.”

  The items that have been removed haven’t been proven to be unhealthy, but Panera says they just weren’t needed. Companies like Campbell’s and Progresso that sell soup in stores need them to have a long shelf life, but because Panera serves a lot of soup in a short time period — about 200 million servings a year, the company estimates — preservatives aren’t as necessary.

  “Time and again, we’ve found that when you replace artificial additives with simpler ingredients, you achieve a better taste,” said Kish.

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uGrand Jury Subpoenas Chipotle Over California Norovirus Outbreakr

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  A grand jury is investigating the circumstances surrounding a norovirus outbreak at Chipotle. Not the recent one in Boston that sickened more than 150 people, but the August outbreak in California that left more than 100 employees and customers ill.

  Chipotle told investors in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing [PDF] on Wednesday that it had received a grand jury subpoena seeking documents related to the mid-August outbreak in Simi Valley, CA.

  “It is not possible at this time to determine whether we will incur, or to reasonably estimate the amount of, any fines, penalties or further liabilities in connection with the investigation pursuant to which the subpoena was issued,” the filing said.

  A spokesperson for Chipotle tells CNBC that “as a matter of policy” the company doesn’t comment on pending legal actions, but that it will offer “our full cooperation” to the investigation.

  In August, the Simi Valley Chipotle restaurant was closed for a short time after nearly 60 customers and 17 employees complained about feeling ill following visits to the restaurant.

  At the time, the cause of the outbreak, which sent several customers to the hospital, was unknown.

  Mike Byrne, Ventura County Environmental Health Division food safety supervisor, said that inspectors and specialists were following up with those who became sick to try to determine if the illnesses stemmed from a specific food problem or if changes are needed make sure food is safe.

  Customers and employees reported various symptoms following their visits, including fever, diarrhea and vomiting.

  One customer said that she and her sister became ill after eating at the restaurant on August. 18.

  “We were throwing up, going to the bathroom. We had really bad chills,” she said. “I just want to get the answer.”

  [via CNBC]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uMicrosoft Ends An Era: Support For Internet Explorer 8, 9, And 10 Stops Next Weekr

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• The end is nigh: as of Tuesday, January 12, Microsoft will issue its final support patch for versions 8, 9, and 10 of its Internet Explorer browser, bringing one of the web’s clunkiest tools one step closer to vanishing.

  The Verge reports that the final security update will deliver the last few bug fixes the browser is going to get, as well as an “end of life” notification telling users to go upgrade to Microsoft Edge already.

  The move isn’t really a surprise; all three of the doomed versions of Internet Explorer have been living on borrowed time since 2014, when Microsoft announced its intention to stop support eventually. Still, anyone who was stuck using old, unpatched versions of Internet Explorer for years at work, or who ever once came face-to-face with a browser made unusable by toolbar add-ons at their parents’ or grandparents’ house, will likely not lament the end of this era.

  But of course, the end of support does not actually mean the end of use.

  Millions of users — maybe as many as 340 million, by one analysis — still have IE 8, 9, or 10 running on their computers right now, and an end to patches means that software will quickly become ever-more vulnerable. Hacker-types are always pushing against software, and regular patches are software’s way of pushing back. Without those patches, security holes will be left open… and that means the number of available pathways into a machine using IE will increase rapidly, much in the same way computers running Windows XP have been left out in the cold since 2014.

  So if you or someone you know is still relying on an outdated version of Microsoft’s web browser, now would be a really good time to go change that.

  Microsoft is pulling the plug on Internet Explorer 8, 9, and 10 next Tuesday [The Verge]

  
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by Kate Cox via Consumerist

uSprint Reportedly Ditching New 2-Year Contracts Starting This Fridayr

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  Nearly three years after T-Mobile became the first of the four major wireless carriers to ditch the two-year contract business model, Sprint is now the only of these companies to still offer these traditional plans to customers. But a company insider claims that Sprint will join the rest of the pack and ditch contracts later this week.

  This is according to a post from late last night by a verified employee on the Sprint subreddit.

  The employee writes that, starting Friday, Jan. 8, new Sprint customers will not be able to get two-year contracts and the cheaper, subsidized phones that come with them.

  Instead, customers will have to pay full price for their phones, either by purchasing them outright or by leasing through Sprint.

  Like the other carriers, Sprint has been offering this sort of contract-free plan for quite some time, but it has also continued to allow consumers to sign up for traditional contracts.

  Unlike AT&T, which is ditching new contracts altogether this week, the employee says that Sprint will allow existing contract customers to re-up their deals when their obligation expires.

  The employee also says that the change does not affect Sprint’s wireless plans for tablets, but that the company will soon begin offering incentives to nudge contract tablet customers into leasing their devices when their contracts expire.

  As the employee notes, wile contracts might offer you the cheaper sticker price on devices, customers may be able to save more by going contract-free and leasing their phones.

  We asked Sprint for comment on the reddit post and a rep for the company provided a statement that still lists contracts as an option, but doesn’t explain whether they will still be an option after Jan. 8:

  “Sprint continues to offer customers choices to obtain their new device in a way that best fits their budget,” reads the statement. “Customers can choose to lease a smartphone – the most cost effective way to obtain a new phone. Customers also have the choice to pay for their device through Sprint Easy Pay (installment bill), pay full retail price or sign a two-year agreement.”

  We’ve asked for further clarification on this issue and will update if we hear back.

  [via DSLreports]

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist