Best Buy Website Goes Down On One Day Of Year It Shouldn’t

- on 08:23
November 28, 2014 at 09:51PM :

bestbuycom We’re hearing lots of complaints about the website for electronics retailer Best Buy being down, and multiple news outlets are confirming that BestBuy.com is unresponsive nationwide.


Current visitors to the site either get nothing or a message reading ““We’re sorry. BestBuy.com is currently unavailable. Check back soon.”


Not a good sign for a company that desperately needs to beat Amazon and other online retailers that are quickly eating away at its market share.


The company has not issued any formal statement and isn’t responding to complaints via its social media sites.


http://ift.tt/1vZeMt9

http://ift.tt/1yqUoQM
Read more

Black Friday Mania Spreads To Animal Shelters, Adoption Events For Black Cats And Dogs

- on 06:13
November 28, 2014 at 07:30PM :

Since we first learned about this idea two years ago, a really great Black Friday promotion has become even more popular nationwide. It’s a doorbuster that aims to bust thousands of doors: the doors of cages and kennels at animal shelters, that is. Shelters and rescue groups have pounced on the idea of the holiday, and offer discounts or free adoptions of animals with black fur, and often animals of other colors as well.


Name-Your-Price-Pet-Adoption-Event-jpg


It’s common knowledge that black pets take longer to find families or are killed because of superstitions surrounding black cats, black dogs showing gray fur earlier, and all species of black-furred critters being difficult to photograph. What “everyone” seems to know may not be true, though: there’s some debate about whether having black fur actually makes a pet less adoptable. It could be because black fur is a dominant gene, resulting in a lot of domestic animals with black fur in the world. Then they end up in shelters in proportion to the number of black cats or dogs in the population.


100% of Consumerist staff dogs and 20% of Consumerist staff cats have black fur, so we are a little bit biased.


The important thing, though, is that a shelter or rescue near you might be having a Black Friday promotion, and if you’re ready to welcome a fuzzy pet into your life instead of a stack of fuzzy sweaters, you could take advantage of it to acquire a new friend.


The Black (Pet) Friday promotion idea is growing. This isn’t an exhaustive list by any means, but we found them in:



http://ift.tt/1vV3t5B

http://ift.tt/15GIAQ2
Read more

Reconsider Keeping A Second Refrigerator In Your Garage

- on 14:59
November 27, 2014 at 04:21AM :

There are times––say, a major food-oriented holiday––that it comes in handy to have a spare refrigerator to store a case of soda, a thawing turkey, or a half-dozen boxes of wine. Usually, though, that second fridge sits empty, not doing much. Do you know what it’s mostly doing? Wasting energy, and your money.

The second-fridge phenomenon might be unfamiliar to you, but in a Washington Post article denouncing the practice, we learned that in the Midwest, up to 30% of families keep a spare fridge. They tend to correlate with larger homes, which makes sense: plenty of extra space in the basement or garage means plenty of extra space for spare appliances. There was inexplicable increase in second fridges from 1997 to 2009.


There are two main problems with second-fridge energy usage. Usually, it’s your old refrigerator that gets demoted to second-fridge status. These are usually older, or at least old enough to be retired. Yet new rules for appliance energy consumption and general strides in refrigerator technology mean that the new refrigerator is probably much more efficient than its replacement.


The other problem is that second fridges usually end up in the garage, which isn’t climate-controlled as well as the kitchen. That works out in your favor in the winter, but not so much during the summer, or if you live in a temperate climate. Refrigerators and freezers keep things cold better when they’re packed full, and rarely opening that second fridge doesn’t balance out the amount of electricity that it uses when there’s only a box of wine inside.


You could keep the second fridge and simply unplug it during the off-season when you don’t have 25 relatives coming over for dinner.


Why it’s not okay to have a second refrigerator [Wonkblog/The Washington Post]


http://ift.tt/1uJ3zq0

http://ift.tt/121n8Tm
Read more

Maybe We Should All Just Stop Eating Sprouts

- on 14:30
November 27, 2014 at 03:49AM :
You can eat two out of three of these. (Amy Adoyzie)

You can eat two out of three of these. (Amy Adoyzie)



Sprouts are exactly what they sound like: the first sprouts from plants like beans or alfalfa, grown for a short time and then packaged for maximum deliciousness in a stir fry or on a salad. However, two pieces of sprout-related news from this week might make you pause before adding them to your salad.

First, we learned about an ongoing outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis that has made 68 people ill so far. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, authorities know that 33 of the people infected with this strain of Salmonella remember eating bean sprouts. These sprouts have been traced to sprouts from one company, Wonton Foods, Inc. 11 of the people infected have been hospitalized. Most of the reported cases have been in Massachusetts.


While the distributor, Wonton Foods, Inc., hasn’t announced a recall, the CDC recommends that consumers avoid bean sprouts from this company, and the company has agreed to stop producing and selling their sprouts. If you have eaten bean sprouts in the Northeast in the last few weeks, watch for fever, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea, and call your health care provider if you become ill 12 to 72 hours after eating sprouts.


Meanwhile, nobody had to get sick to discover a different foodborne pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes, in bean sprouts distributed by Henry’s Farm in Virginia and Maryland. The Department of Agriculture in Virginia discovered the bacteria as part of random sampling. Those sprouts were distributed mostly in Asian specialty stores and in 10-pound bags for restaurants.


Multistate Outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis Infections Linked to Bean Sprouts [CDC] (via Food Safety News)

Henry’s Farm Inc. Recalls Soybean Sprouts Due To Possible Health Risk [FDA]


http://ift.tt/1yZbJij

http://ift.tt/1ycWnr5
Read more

Mobile Companies Leaping To Sell You A New Phone — With A New Contract — On Black Friday

- on 13:50
November 27, 2014 at 02:40AM :

Is your phone getting old? Has it met with the unfortunate confluence of liquids, young children, and boisterous pets lately? If you’re in the market for a replacement or upgrade, it looks like Black Friday might be your day… as long as you’re willing to sign a contract.

The big mobile companies are all gearing up to beat each other out for the ability to sell you the cheapest device at the end of this week,

FierceWireless reports.


Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon are all offering major deals on handsets and tablets to kick off the holiday shopping season.


Verizon, reportedly, will be offering $100 off of all new Android smart phones. Additionally, as long as you sign a new two-year contract you can get the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z3v for free (after a rebate, with the Samsung), or significant discounts on the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The mobile behemoth is also rumored to be offering free Verizon Ellipsis 8 or 7 tablets.


AT&T, meanwhile, is pushing hard on wearables. They’re offering the Samsung Galaxy Gear Fit, Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 Neo, Martian Notifier, LG G Watch, and Pebble Smart Watch for $99 each. AT&T is also offering discount deals for buying certain bundles or pairings of LG or HTC devices.


T-Mobile, unlike the other three big carriers, doesn’t subsidize handset purchases. However, they are offering substantial discounts: $150 off the Samsung Galaxy S5 and $100 off the Galaxy Note 3. T-Mobile is also offering discounts on the LG G3, the Sony Xperia Z3 and the HTC One M8.


Sprint’s deals are slightly different. Instead of big discounts up front, they’re offering different financing terms to customers who spread the cost of a phone out over a two-year installment-based leasing plan.


Best Buy is also offering deals on the Galaxy S5 through November 29 (Saturday).


For the full run-down of devices, data plans, and bundle details, hit up the links FierceWireless has compiled.


Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and more unleash device deals for Black Friday [FierceWireless]


http://ift.tt/1ATVpDE

http://ift.tt/1ATVsza
Read more

1-In-5 Shoppers Has Done Something Awful To Obtain A Coveted Holiday Gift

- on 13:50
November 27, 2014 at 02:39AM :

Because there’s this widely held assumption that people should get the thing they desire most during the holidays, and because a lot of people desire the same things, some holiday shoppers will cross that line between naughty and nice to make sure they check certain items off their shopping lists.

According to researchers at 1010Data, 21% of shoppers have done something just downright awful to make sure their kid got the G.I. Joe with the kung fu grip, or the pair of Uggs they’ll ruin within a week by wearing them out in the slushy snow.


Among the most egregious examples, include taking an item out of another shopper’s cart, cutting in front of other shoppers in line, pushing or shoving a shopper out of the way, and even paying

another shopper to get what they want.


All for gifts that will likely disappoint, be broken, or be forgotten about shortly after being received.


But there’s a reason that 1-in-5 of us act like A-holes during the holiday shopping season, because more than half of us have seen what happens when you give a loved one something other than what they asked for, because heaven forbid someone have to buy something on their own.


According to 1010Data’s survey, 20% of respondents said they were given the silent treatment after giving an unasked-for gift. Nearly the same number (18%) learned that the gift’s recipient had gone and complained to friends or family, with 11% choosing to actually bring up the topic of the disappointing at a social gathering or party.


The good news is that only 1% of respondents said that a lackluster gift ended their relationship. And honestly, if a so-so Christmas gift is enough to cause a breakup, either the recipient is a horrible person you don’t need to be around, or that relationship wasn’t long for this world anyway.


http://ift.tt/1ATVpDs

http://ift.tt/1zvTctN
Read more

Some Workers Step Up, Love Working On Thanksgiving

- on 13:50
November 27, 2014 at 02:18AM :

While many commentators (this site included) have complained about the ascent of Brown Thursday and how the shopping frenzy has gradually devoured the holiday once known as Thanksgiving, perhaps we’re being unfair. There are workers who enjoy spending Thanksgiving Day on the job, and who volunteer for duty.

Well, okay, CNN was only able to find and interview three, but there are plenty of others out there. They spoke to a couple who work at Target, then celebrate Thanksgiving as a family the following weekend. The crowd is friendly and fun, they explained, and being able to earn 1.5 times their normal pay for working a holiday is worth it.


One Kohl’s employee…isn’t actually a Kohl’s employee anymore. He used to work at the store, and volunteered to work because he has the day off at his new job, and would rather earn some extra money and get an employee discount. Some stores even offer extra discounts to employees who work on holidays, alongside their festive holiday food that is probably from Boston Market.


We love working on Thanksgiving! [CNN]


http://ift.tt/1Ci7QL2

http://ift.tt/1ATUpPT
Read more