uMan Burned While Trying To Rid Rental Car Of Bed Bugsr

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  (frankieleon)

  
  
  
  The list of things we didn’t think needed to be explicitly stated has just grown, after a man trying to kill bedbugs with alcohol in his rental car ended up burning himself instead of delousing the vehicle.
  

  Following what would appear to be step-by-step instructions on How To Create A Risky Situation, the man doused the car inside with alcohol, climbed inside it and lit a cigarette, according to police in Long Island, NY, setting the car ablaze.

  
  

  Newsday reports that the 44-year-old man was airlifted from the shopping center where he was parked and taken to the hospital with first- and second-degree burns.

  
  

  “He said he had bedbugs in the car, and someone told him if he saturated them with alcohol, it would kill them,” arson Det. Sgt. Edward Fitzgerald told Newsday. “So he went and bought some alcohol, he poured it all in there and he sat in his car and lit a cigarette..”

  
  

  Two other cars were damaged as well from the fire’s heat, police said, while the man was able to escape his burning car by himself. He claims the vehicle is a rental car from Florida, something the policy couldn’t immediately verify when facing melted license plates.

  
  

  “Everything’s burned up,” Fitzgerald said, “so we’re going to wait until the vehicle theft section gets us a confidential VIN number. Then we’ll know for sure.”

  
  

  Man burned while trying to kill bedbugs in car, cops say [Newsday]

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uHBO Complains To Twitter About Periscope Users Who Streamed Game Of Thronesr

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  Though we can’t imagine why anyone would want to watch Game of Thrones through someone else’s smartphone, a number of Periscope users chose to share Sunday’s season premiere with their Twitter friends. (image via Mumbrella)

  
  
  
  While plenty of people were legally watching the Game of Thrones season premiere on Sunday, some of those viewers were also using their accounts on Periscope, the Twitter-owned live-streaming service, to illegally re-broadcast the show to their online pals. In response, HBO has sent takedown notices and these Periscope users may have their accounts suspended.
  

  “We are aware of Periscope and have sent takedown notices,” an HBO rep told the Hollywood Reporter.

  
  

  Periscope’s Terms of Service make it clear that copyright infringement is not allowed.

  
  

  “Twitter, Inc. respects the intellectual property rights of others and expects users of Periscope Services to do the same,” reads the TOS, which explain that authorized takedown requests will be honored and that “In appropriate circumstances, Periscope will also terminate a user’s account if the user is determined to be a repeat infringer.”

  
  

  However — and this appears to be the big sticking point for HBO and others — there is no proactive method for identifying infringing behavior. Just like many social media platforms, Periscope relies on users and copyright holders reporting accounts that are using the service to stream out movies, TV shows, concerts, and sporting events without permission.

  
  

  In its statement to HR, HBO indicates that Periscope should be doing more to preempt this sort of behavior rather than waiting for users to rat out other users.

  
  

  “In general, we feel developers should have tools which proactively prevent mass copyright infringement from occurring on their apps and not be solely reliant upon notifications,” explained the HBO rep.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uBeech-Nut Nutrition Recalls Baby Food That May Contain Pieces Of Glassr

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  Beech-Nut Nutrition recalled nearly 2,000 pounds of baby food that may be contaminated with small pieces of glass.

  
  
  
  

  That last thing a parent wants to imagine is inadvertently feeding their child a small piece of glass. Unfortunately, that issue was all too real for one baby food manufacturer recalling nearly 2,000 pounds of baby food.

  
  

  New York-based Beech-Nut voluntarily recalled 1,920 pounds of baby food after a consumer reported finding a small piece of glass in one of the jars, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

  
  

  The recall covers 4-ounce glass jars of “Stage 2 Beech-Nut Classics sweet potato & chicken” baby food with the expiration date of December 12, 2014. The product was shipped to retail stores nationwide.

  
  

  Beech-Nut tells the USDA that it has received one report of an oral injury associated with the consumption of the baby food. However, FSIS has received no additional reports of injury or illness.

  
  

  The recalled product contains the establishment number “P-68A” inside the USDA mark of inspection and includes product numbers “12395750815” through “12395750821”.

  
  

  According to a statement on its website, Beech-Nut advises consumers that they can return the recalled products to the store where they were purchased for a full refund or exchange.

  
  

  Beech-Nut Nutrition Recalls Baby Food Product Due to Possible Foreign Matter Contamination [USDA]

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uSegway Bought By Company It Accused Of Copying Its Two-Wheeled People Moversr

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  (bradhoc)

  
  
  
  They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but when that doesn’t work, another way to go about it is just to buy the company you’re trying to copy. While just seven months ago Segway was accusing a Chinese company of copying its two-wheeled vehicles, what was once a tense relationship has bloomed into something more harmonious after that company turned around and bought Segway.
  

  In an announcement today, Beijing’s Xiaomi Corp. and investment firm Sequoia Capital said they’d plunked $80 million into a scooter company called Ninebot Inc. in order to acquire Segway for an undisclosed sum, reports the Wall Street Journal.

  
  

  Ninebot has been around since 2012, making people movers that are so similar to Segways that in September 2014, Segway accused Ninebot and several other companies of infringing on its patents, according to a filing with the U.S. International Trade Commission [PDF].

  
  

  This acquisition points to a shift in China, away from just churning out imitation products on the cheap, Ninebot’s backers say.

  
  

  “Today it’s not just copycat China,” said Neil Shen, founding partner of Sequoia Capital China at Ninebot’s presentation on Wednesday. “China will expand, through its own innovations and through acquisitions.”

  
  

  Segway Transitions to Chinese Ownership [Wall Street Journal]

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uSome Freebies And Discounts To Help You Get Through Tax Dayr

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  Depending on your tax situation, the approach of Tax Day is either a paperwork-filled nightmare or a day to kick back and enjoy having filed and received your refund back in January. It doesn’t matter when you filed for the growing number of Tax Day discounts and freebies at stores and restaurants, though: here are a few that might keep you fed and relaxed today.

  
  

  FREE FOOD
  
  Hard Rock Cafe: In a promotion that could be fun or terrifying, get a free burger if you sing on stage at the restaurant this evening.
  
  Great American Cookie: Free sugar cookie today; no coupon needed.
  
  Kona Shaved Ice: Free shaved ice.
  
  Pizza Hut: This year’s best gimmick by far is their Pizza Return, which asks customers to report on their pizza consumption for the year so they can possibly win a gift card.

  
  

  FREE SERVICES
  
  Staples: you’ll need a coupon, but until May 2 you can shred up to five pounds of documents for free in Staples stores. Remove any staples before shredding.
  
  HydroMassage: All this week, you can get a free soothing massage from one of these contraptions if a local business has one. You may need to call ahead and make an appointment.

  
  

  DISCOUNTS AND SALES
  
  The Walking Company: No sales tax on regular-priced shoes. Except for Uggs.
  
  Marriott Hotels: If you book your stay at a hotel in Washington, DC or Alexandria, VA that happens between May 2 and September 8 of this year this week, you get 25% off. Presumably the Tax Day tie-in is that you can go visit your money.
  
  Royal Caribbean: No taxes on cruises to the Caribbean and Europe.
  
  Boston Market: they’re having a buy one, get one free meal deal.
  
  BLT Steak and other ESquared Hospitality restaurants: They’re holding a Tax Day happy hour with 50% off cocktails, beer, and glasses or bottles of wine.
  
  Schlotsky’s: You get a free sandwich…if you buy a drink and chips, which is why this isn’t in the “free” column.
  
  Lone Star Steakhouse: “Endless” ribs for $19.99.
  
  Orange Leaf frozen yogurt: Fill a cup to the top for $4.15 today.

  
  

  CONTESTS
  
  Orvis is ending its drawing for a pricey but well-regarded fly fishing rod today.

  
  

  (Thanks to The Coupon Project and Bloomberg for alerting us to some of these.)

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uDiscover To Let You ‘Freeze’ Credit Card When You’re Not Sure If It Needs To Be Canceledr

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  (Karen Blaha)

  
  
  
  If you’ve ever found yourself without your credit but unsure whether you left it another coat, dropped it on the sidewalk, or had it stolen from your wallet, you’ve really only had one safe option: cancel the card ASAP to prevent anyone else from using it. But Discover is reportedly going to offer its Discover It card customers the option of temporarily shutting the card off without cancellation.
  

  Credit.com reports that Discover cardholders who aren’t sure about the fate of their missing card can “freeze” the account through Discover.com, the company’s mobile app, or by calling Discover.

  
  

  Until the freeze is lifted, the card can not be used to make purchases, get a cash advance, or transfer balances. However, any automatically scheduled payments you have tied to that card will continue. That way you won’t have to go scrambling to switch over those payments to another card.

  
  

  If your card is stolen, the law limits your liability on fraudulent transactions to a total of $50, and most credit card issuers will not hold customers liable for any of these bogus purchases. But losing a card can be a real hassle as you have to contact the card issuer, review transactions to identify any fraudulent ones, and wait — often several days — for a new card.

  
  

  As Credit.com’s Jason Steele points out, a freeze could also be used by a cardholder who wants to take away their ability to make new purchases for a while without actually canceling the card. It could also be used by the primary account holder to temporarily stop an authorized cardholder from making any new purchases.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uGoogle Wants To Use Your E-Mail Address To Provide Targeted Advertisingr

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  (Bill Binns)
  

  
  
  
  If you’re a Gmail user, or one of the millions of workers whose employer now uses Gmail as their email platform, you could soon be seeing new ads targeted directly at you in your Google search results.
  

  This is according to the Wall Street Journal, which reports that Google is developing an ad service that would match up advertisers’ databases of customers’ e-mail addresses with e-mail address info for Google users.

  
  

  The Journal gives the example of a retailer who provides Google e-mail info for customers who recently purchased printers at the store. The store could then pay to advertise printer ink refills directly to these customers when they search for the product on Google. The advertiser could can also use other info available about these users — age, gender, prior purchases — to carve out specific niches.

  
  

  Facebook already has a service, dubbed “custom audiences,” like this for advertisers. It matches up customer info from retailers and others with data that Facebook has on its users to put targeted ads in their newsfeeds.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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by Chris Morran via Consumerist