oYou Can Now Finally, Really Truly, Opt Out Of Verizon Wireless Tracking “Supercookies”w

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  (Amanda Hoffman)

  
  
  
  
  
  Back in January, Verizon Wireless said they would let users opt out of a problematic universal tracking “super cookie” they had been using for years. This week, Verizon’s finally got their act together and the opt-out option is live.
  

  As of Tuesday evening, the New York Times reports, Verizon’s systems have been changed to stop inserting the tracker for customers who opt out of the program.

  
  

  Verizon Wireless customers can now log into the website and change the setting under “Customer Privacy Settings.” The opt-out there, to disable the tracking supercookie, is Relevant Mobile Advertising (although opting out of the other two, CPNI settings and Business and Marketing Reports, is probably also a good idea for the privacy-minded). Verizon customers can also call 1-866-211-0874 to opt out of the RMA program.

  
  

  Consumers and privacy advocates have been pushing back on Verizon’s data collection for years. Here’s how it works: Verizon appends a little header that you can’t see to all web traffic coming out of your phone. The tracker, called a UIDH (unique ID header) is consistent and permanent.

  
  

  Unlike regular site tracking code, clearing out your cookies and upping your privacy settings doesn’t do anything about these. And they build a comprehensive, unique, entirely trackable history of basically everything you’ve ever done on your phone.

  
  

  Until this change, even customers who had opted out of receiving marketing related to the tracking were still having their activity tagged. And research found that even though Verizon swore up and down that no third parties could access that data, those reassurances proved to be not entirely true.

  
  

  A representative for Verizon said in a statement, “As the mobile advertising ecosystem evolves, and our advertising business grows, delivering solutions with best-in-class privacy protections remains our focus.”

  
  

  Verizon Wireless Customers Can Now Opt Out of ‘Supercookies’ [New York Times]

  
  


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by Kate Cox via Consumerist

oFormer Korean Air Exec Asking Appeal Court To Overturn “Nut Rage” Convictionw

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  (Guerric)

  
  
  
  The former Korean Air executive who was convicted of violating aviation safety law in connection to what became known as the “nut rage” incident is asking an appeals court to overturn the conviction, which stemmed from her rage over improperly served macadamia nuts.
  

  Lawyers for Cho Hyun-Ah, who also happens to be the daughter of Korean Air’s chairman, asked an appeal court to overturn the ruling, arguing in the Seoul High Court today that the plane never got to the point where it could be said that it was in flight, reports AFP.

  
  

  A district court had sentenced her to a year in prison after finding her guilty of violating aviation safety after her anger over the nuts had forced a taxiing Korean Air Lines to return to its departure gate at New York’s JFK airport in December of last year.

  
  

  That court had ruled that “in flight” should apply to an aircraft from the second it starts to move. That means that even though the flight had barely left, her actions illegally altered the plane’s flight.

  
  

  “It’s hard to say that her act actually hindered security and the plane’s safety,” her lawyer said. “She really had no intention to impede the plane’s safe flight.”

  
  

  At the time, she was vice president in charge of in-flight service, and reportedly flew into a rage after a flight attendant served her nuts in a bag, instead of on a plate.

  
  

  She was also convicted of assault on the cabin crew, after the chief steward testified that Cho made him kneel and beg for forgiveness, while whacking him with a service manual. The flight attendant involved has since filed a civil lawsuit, claiming Cho attacked her and screamed profanities, and then pressured her to lie about the incident to government regulators.

  
  

  Korean Air heiress appeals ‘nut rage’ case [AFP]

  
  


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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

oSling TV Reportedly Getting HBO Accessw

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  What you don’t see is Tyrion watching Sling on a phone hidden in the bottom of that dish.

  
  
  
  Until now, Dish’s recently launched Sling TV streaming service only offered a package of EPIX channels for users looking to access premium commercial-free movies. But a new report claims that Sling will soon get HBO thanks to a new deal between Time Warner and Dish.
  

  This is according to the Wall Street Journal, which says that a past-deadline deal was reached last night between the satellite service and the media giant (not to be confused with Time Warner Cable, which was spun off into its own business years ago) that keeps channels like TBS and TNT on Dish, and would give Sling users the ability to subscribe to HBO through the service.

  
  

  What’s unclear is whether this reported deal would be for live access to HBO (and if so, is it just HBO or HBO and affiliated channels? And what about Cinemax?), or for online on-demand access through the likes of HBO Go or the soon-to-launch HBO Now. The Journal’s sources say that while Dish now has the right to sell subscriptions to the HBO Now standalone service (which doesn’t require any sort of pay-TV subscription), it is unlikely it will do so when it kicks off next month.

  
  

  Time Warner’s Turner division has been a big part of Sling since it launched nationally in February, with CNN, TBS, TNT, the Cartoon Network and others already available for streaming live on Sling.

  
  

  [via BGR]

  
  


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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

oYuengling Takes Top Craft Brewer Crown In U.S. From Current King Samuel Adamsw

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  (it’s knapptime)

  
  
  
  In the game of beer thrones, Yuengling has emerged as the winner over the former ruler, Samuel Adams, as the top craft brewer in the country. The win comes after a national beer group switched up its rules about what kinds of ingredients craft brewers can use as a “traditional” beer maker.
  

  While Boston Beer Co., the brewer of Samuel Adams beers, shipped 20% more barrels than it did in 2013, the Brewers Association switched up its definition of what constitutes a craft brewery, reports USA Today. Previously, traditional brewers were required to have the majority of their beers produced with all malt.

  
  

  D.G. Yuengling & Son is the nation’s oldest brewery, and its use of corn in its beers had kept it off the annual list. Now that corn has been given the okay by the Association, its winning production volume has taken it past Boston Beer.

  
  

  While total production volumes weren’t released, both breweries are considered “small” as they produce up to 6 million barrels a year.

  
  

  Craft brewers sold about $19.6 billion in beer in 2014, making up 19% of the overall U.S. beer market.

  
  

  The top 20 U.S. craft breweries:
  
  1. D. G. Yuengling and Son, Inc. (Pottsville, Pa.)
  
  2. Boston Beer Co. (Boston)
  
  3. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co (Chico, Calif.)
  
  4. New Belgium Brewing Co. (Fort Collins, Colo.)
  
  5. Gambrinus (Shiner, Texas)
  
  6. Lagunitas Brewing Co. (Petaluma, Calif.)
  
  7. Bell’s Brewery, Inc. (Galesburg, Mich.)
  
  8. Deschutes Brewery (Bend, Ore.)
  
  9. Stone Brewing Co. (Escondido, Calif.)
  
  10. Minhas Craft Brewery (Monroe, Wis.)
  
  11. Brooklyn Brewery (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
  
  12. Duvel Moortgat USA (Kansas City, Mo. & Cooperstown, N.Y.)
  
  13. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (Milton, Del.)
  
  14. Matt Brewing Co. (Utica, N.Y.)
  
  15. Harpoon Brewery (Boston)
  
  16. Firestone Walker Brewing Co. (Paso Robles, Calif.)
  
  17. Founders Brewing Co. (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
  
  18. SweetWater Brewing Co (Atlanta)
  
  19. New Glarus Brewing Co. (New Glarus, Wis.)
  
  20. Alaskan Brewing Co. (Juneau, Alaska)

  
  

  Yuengling ousts Boston Beer as top U.S. craft brewery [USA Today]

  
  


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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

oMegabus Adds Reserved Seats To Double-Decker Bus Trips, But It’ll Cost Yaw

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  (Canadian Pacific)
  

  
  
  
  If you’ve ever taken a trip with a group or family on Megabus, then you know it can be a pain to get seats together unless you show up extra early. Now, the company plans to change that by allowing customers to reserve seats in advance — for a price, that is.
  

  USA Today reports that Megabus passengers can pay a fee between $1 and $7 to choose from 10 premium seats on all of its double-decker bus routes.

  
  

  The reserved seats – which were first experimented with last spring – are distinguished by their solid blue color and large embroidered numbers.

  
  

  Reserved seats also include special features such as a table, a view or a combination of the two. Six of the seats are located on the upper deck either at the front of the bus or behind the stair area. The remaining four seats are situated around table on the bus’ lower deck.

  
  

  “Our customers have always found certain seats on the bus to be highly desirable,” Megabus CEO Dale Moser tells USA Today. “Reserved seating, now available on all of our double-decker routes, allows our customers to book their favorite seats in advance without the hassle of arriving over an hour early to secure them.”

  
  

  The company, which operates in 130 cities, says it may expand the number of reserved seats in the future.

  
  

  After years of negative headlines about steamy-hot buses, fatal accidents, stranded passengers, and rude drivers, Megabus is in need of an image overhaul.

  
  

  Megabus adds reserved seating — for a fee [USA Today]

  
  


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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

oStudy: 38% Of Crab Cakes Tested At Maryland, D.C. Restaurants Don’t Contain The Local Crab Listed On Menusw

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  (planethunt)

  
  
  
  What you see on the menu might not necessarily be what you get, which is especially disappointing if you’re into locally sourced, fresh ingredients. Conservation group Oceana released a new study that said after checking crab cakes at restaurants along the Eastern sea board that were supposed to be Chesapeake Bay blue crab, many of them contained imported impostors instead.
  

  Out of the 90 crab cakes collected from 86 restaurants throughout Maryland and Washington, D.C., Oceana says DNA testing showed that 38% were mislabeled.

  
  

  Instead of the locally caught blue crab on the menu, those crab cakes had imported substitutes, most of which were fished unsustainably, the group says.

  
  

  “When diners purchase a Maryland crab cake, they don’t expect to get an imported substitute,” said Beth Lowell, senior campaign director at Oceana in a press release. “This type of fraud, species substitution, inflates the price for consumers, parades imported and sometimes illegally caught crab as local, prevents consumers from making sustainable seafood choices, and harms the livelihoods of local watermen and seafood businesses.”

  
  

  Every city that Oceana tested crab cakes in had its share of poseurs, with 47% in Annapolis proving false, 46% in Baltimore, 39% in D.C. and 9% on the Maryland Eastern Shore.

  
  

  A crab cake was considered mislabeled if it was described on the menu or confirmed by the server as containing blue crab, or crab sourced from Maryland/Chesapeake Bay region, but instead were made from a completely different crab species.

  
  

  Those that were simply called “Maryland-style” weren’t considered mislabeled, because that could just mean the recipe or seasoning was similar to Maryland crab cakes, not that the crab was actually caught there.

  
  

  Oceana wants a presidential task force that released an action plan last month to crack down on seafood fraud and illegal fishing to take action now, and “to require traceability for all seafood sold in the U.S., including blue crabs, to ensure that it’s safe, legally caught and honestly labeled.”

  
  


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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

oAirline’s Pilots Warn Passengers Of Safety Concernsw

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  (Brian Brodeur)

  
  
  
  In an open letter to their passengers, the pilots of Nevada-based budget carrier Allegiant Air have gone public with their concerns about what they see as sagging service and safety standards for the airlines.
  

  “[W]e are uncomfortable remaining silent about company practices that negatively impact our customers’ travel and vacation, including your comfort, and – most importantly – your safety,” begins a letter posted on the website for the union representing Allegiant pilots.

  
  

  The letter points out that Allegiant is the “most profitable airline in the industry and has had 48 consecutive profitable quarters,” while at the same time experiencing a record number of delays and cancellations, resulting in “the second-highest customer complaint rate out of any U.S. commercial airline.”

  
  

  According to the union, management is “content with just barely meeting acceptable safety standards,” and is “driving a race to the bottom in service, safety standards and treatment for veteran pilots.”

  
  

  The pilots claim that there are “persistent mechanical problems due to poor equipment and the company’s unwillingness to invest in its operation or its workforce,” and accuses CEO Maurice Gallagher of making millions of dollars while allegedly refusing to invest company money in infrastructure and employees.

  
  

  “The company’s profits are propped up by the extra workload placed on its understaffed, underpaid and overworked workforce and its minimalist approach to maintenance and safety,” reads the letter. “Allegiant represents the worst in an economy today where greedy CEOs disregard needed investments into a company’s workforce and infrastructure at the expense of passenger safety and for the benefit of Wall Street.”

  
  

  The union, speaking to Skift.com, points to a recent report [PDF] from the Teamsters Aviation Mechanics Coalition (TAMC) that notes several “air returns and diversions related to maintenance-related issues” involving Allegiant’s fleet during Sept. and Oct. 2014.

  
  

  “The lack of experience, parts, tooling and training combined with the age of the fleet; roughly 22.2 years, is creating a dangerous paradigm that could eventually lead an accident resulting in serious injury and loss of life,” concludes the TAMC report. “In conversations with some of the pilots it became evident that they are used to flying these aircraft with what they consider ‘nuisance’ issues. A situation such as this creates a ‘Bad Norm’ where a perceived ‘nuisance’ is in actuality the precursor to an accident.”

  
  

  The airline and the Teamsters have been at odds for a few years now over issues of benefits and rules involving pilot seniority and scheduling. The union recently voted overwhelmingly in favor of approving a strike.

  
  

  “This is not something we prefer to do,” the president of the union, which also represents pilots of 10 other airlines, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “We believe in a progressive approach (to labor negotiations), but this is a sign of how bad it’s gotten and how concerned we are.”

  
  

  The airline’s Chief Operating Officer defended Allegiant’s record to Skift.com.

  
  

  “Allegiant has one of the best safety records among passenger airlines in the world, and complies with all FAA regulations,” reads the statement from the COO, who adds that the airline is committed to negotiating a contract with our pilots that is “in the best interest of our pilots, as well as our other work groups and the health of our business.”

  
  

  The executive accuses the union of engaging in “scare tactics, including manipulating facts in an attempt to manipulate our customers,” and says such actions are “irresponsible and unfair to our customers.”

  
  


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by Chris Morran via Consumerist