Daily Dose of Common Sense

If you’ve heard anything about Tiger Woods’ drama the past few days (and, really, who hasn’t?), you now know that your text messages can haunt you. For example, if you’re cheating on a partner, your text messages could be used against you.

The New York Times has an article about how text messages are the “new lipstick on the collar.”

Unlike earlier eras when a dalliance might be suspected but not confirmed, nowadays text messages provide proof. Divorce lawyers say they have seen an increase in cases in the past year where a wronged spouse has offered text messages to show that a partner has strayed. The American Bar Association began offering seminars this fall for marital attorneys on how to use electronic evidence–text messages, browsing history and social networks–in proving a case.

Seriously, who is so naive as to think texts are private? Perhaps they should be. But, in our digital world, privacy can be difficult to maintain. Emails can be found after deleting them. So, even if someone isn’t peeping into your phone’s in-and-out box:

…messages can remain on the sender’s and receiver’s phones, and even if they are deleted, communications companies store them for anywhere from days to a few weeks. AT&T said that, at most, it saved text messages for 72 hours while Verizon said it saved them for 5 to 10 days.

Text away! Just be prepared to live with the consequences.

Here are some of our favorite brief Web stories from this week.

Some people had common sense.

• The owners of this house.
• Anyone who bet the farm on Susan Boyle’s first album. But, her success isn’t really much of a surprise considering the world’s response to her appearance on Britain’s Got Talent. We’ve been rooting for her since we heard her first note.
• Despite complaints, a Connecticut elementary school principal maintains his ban on religious symbols in his public school’s classrooms. Hooray for the separation of church and state!

And, some did not.

• An employee of the Arizona school district is accused of using school computers to search for the existence of alien life. It will take over $1 million to fix the problems in the computer system. Can the aliens chip in on this one?
• Anyone who buys apparel from White Castle, especially something that looks disturbingly close to a muumuu. Do your dignity a (smaller) favor and buy a Snuggie instead. [Thanks, Consumerist!]
• TV viewers tuning into Steven Seagal Lawman who aren’t just gawking at the incredibly absurd. Is it me, or does it seem like someone is going to get inappropriately injured here?

LG is doing a PSA campaign with James Lipton (of Inside the Actor’s Studio fame) warning teens to think before texting. I’m not sure it’ll work but kudos to LG for tackling the issue.

There are 4 ads, and Lipton’s beard plays an important role in each. This one is my favorite. Yes, Lipton says “tweets about his beets.”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8H4CB6ok4E

[Via AdFreak.com]

Are you planning on getting up at the crack of dawn on Friday to snag some sales? The stores hope you will. The name “Black Friday” refers to the fact that retailers generally move into the black (in other words profitable) on that day. But, look deeper into the fine print on the sale items and you may decide to stay home instead.

Many stores pull some sleazy shenanigans to get customers in the door. Here are some things to look out for.

Limited quantities
Yes, those deals on the flat-screen tvs look too good to be true. The sales are real, but only for the first few people who can grab one. The stores knowingly limit the amount of items for sale–and there are NO rain checks. So, if there are four tvs available for the deal price and you are number five…so sad, too bad.

Sears has not officially revealed its Black Friday sales. However, the company confirmed to CNNMoney.com that two of its post-Thanksgiving deals include a Samsung 40-inch 1080p LCD HDTV for $599.99, “Only while quantities last, minimum three per store, no rainchecks.”

“Sure, you probably have more, but how do you put out a circular to millions of households and only have three?,” Dworsky asked.

Taking advantage of not-so-tech-savvy consumers
Stores knowingly offer the killer deals on lower-quality products, especially electronics, because consumers won’t know the difference. These have far less features than the standard models in a product line.

Dworsky cautions that retailers usually don’t advertise these models as derivatives. “There’s no way the average consumer will know that the TV model they are buying is not the standard one unless they are savvy enough to compare their model numbers,” he said.

The risk
A Black Friday stampede at Wal-Mart last year resulted in the death of an employee. This year, some stores have changed their policies to avoid chaos, either staying open throughout Thanksgiving night or giving numbers to those in early morning lines. However, not all stores have revised the “winner-take-all” atmosphere of Friday morning. If you’re in the market for one of the hot items, be prepared to hold your own against the masses.

Also, you risk getting up at THE CRACK OF DAWN to come home empty handed. Talk about presentus interruptus. That would be too depressing for words.

Me, I’ll be in bed at 5AM on Friday. I’ll wait for the Cyber Monday deals and shop in my pajamas.

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Two college students in Pennsylvania experienced terrible service at a local pub. They did what almost anyone who gets bad service would do: they didn’t pay the tip. The problem is the students were with other friends, and the restaurant automatically adds an 18% added to any large party’s tab.

So, the restaurant called the police and the two tip skippers were later arrested. With handcuffs. Court date to come.

So, let’s look at both sides. First, how bad was the service? Here is what the two students told the media.

They had to find their own napkins and cutlery while their waitress caught a smoke, had to ask the bar for soda refills, and had to wait over an hour for salad and wings, they told NBC10.

Sounds pretty lousy. I wouldn’t tip either.

The restaurant, on the other hand, believes this was a violation of their policy.

The menu clearly states, “18 percent gratuity added to check of parties of 6 of more,” and a similar message is printed on receipts, a pub employee said this morning.

So, the police treated this as a theft. A theft of $16.35.

First, if you have ever waited tables, you know when you’re giving lousy service. I waited tables for years, and I knew that I was a horrible server. It’s not hard to figure it out based on your tips, guest comments, and your own common sense. This waitress went out to have smokes and let people wait an hour for food? She KNEW she didn’t deserve the tip, but thought she was entitled to it anyway. Guess what? Gratuities are given for good service.

Second, the restaurant risks bad PR and the ire of every college student in town over a lousy $16? It’s mind-boggling. Seems like these students are their bread and butter (forgive the food pun) and the restaurant should treat them a little better. It’s been a few years since I’ve been on a campus, but if I remember anything, it’s that all college students are just itching for a good protest. I smell a boycott brewing in Bethlehem.

Third, the police have nothing better to do than get involved in this case? What real crimes were being committed while these non-tippers were being booked? You would think one of the officers would show a little common sense, throw down a $20 and call it a day.

If you want to fight an automatic gratuity, talk to the manager. Explain your situation and make your case. Most times (as it happened with me a few times), the manager will remove the automatic gratuity from your bill and instead leave the tip to your discretion. If the manager isn’t there, or doesn’t agree with you, pay the tip and then talk to the owner later. Believe me, these people care about how their customers are treated. You might find a free dinner or gift certificate coming your way.

If that doesn’t work, there’s always the Fox Problem Solvers.

[Via PatsPapers.com]

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We’ve all heard joke versions of “there’s two kinds of people in the world”. Those who get Seinfeld, and those who don’t, etc.

But in the computer business, it’s for real, and it breaks down to those who have already experienced a hard drive failure, and those who will. Because unless you are unfortunate enough to die shortly after first using a computer, there sure as shit isn’t anyone who will escape.

Google is an interesting source of data on this because they run their computer infrastructure not by buying less of the higher-quality, expensive business equipment, but by buying more consumer-grade gear and linking it up smartly so the failures get taken care of automatically (key point – I’ll come back to it in a bit).

Their data shows that, on average, there is roughly a 20% chance of a hard drive failing in the first 3 years. Now, I’m no statistics guru, but I think no matter how you slice and dice those odds, it shows that almost everyone reading these words is at least due–if not long overdue–for a drive failure.

But here’s where we run smack dab into one of the biggest quirks of human nature. That sub-conscious pattern-matching faculty in our brain that we call intuition is, very frequently, lousy at correctly perceiving risk. In the case of data loss, even if we soberly judge the odds, we tend not to appreciate how disastrous the consequences can be.

Read the rest of this entry »

Too much, too soon. That’s my reaction to this ad from The Gap:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVMPWlWDvsI

Actually, I’m not ready for holiday cheer. Not this early, and certainly not with this much enthusiasm. This ad makes me think I’ll never feel cheery again.

Can we just get to Thanksgiving without the holiday hoopla? We know gift-buying season is right around the corner and stores count on consumers opening their wallets to make their year-end profits (especially this year). But, with some stores putting out holiday decorations in August, we’re already feeling creeped out. Give us some space, retailers!

Here are some of our favorite brief Web stories from this week.

Some people had common sense.

• In order to avoid the chaos and tragedy of recent years, many stores have revamped their Black Friday policies. For example, Walmart stores will remain open Thanksgiving night and into Friday morning to prevent a 5AM stampede.
• You may feel, like me, that rude people abound these days. Well, one woman is fighting back, one intervention at a time.
• Kellogg’s has decided to stop bragging that Cocoa Krispies build a child’s immunity. Added vitamins were the company’s defense, but they have now rethought the marketing language after complaints about promoting a sugary cereal as a health benefit.
• Facebook prevented a 19-year old man from going to jail. Arrested as a suspect in a crime, the man was able to prove he wasn’t guilty by the time on his Facebook status update. Social media to the rescue!

And, some did not.

• A Florida man called 911 looking for sex. FOUR times. He said it was the only number he could dial after running out of cell phone minutes. What the WHAT?
• A 24-year old Texas woman lied about having breast cancer in order to get implants. She shaved her head and held a benefit, then spent the money raised on breast implants. Look out, honey. The karma train can be a bitch.
• Three words: Michael Jackson seance.

The answer, of course, is no.

Today is the third Friday the 13th in 2009, the most times that combination can possibly occur in one year. It’s rumored that millions of people postpone surgeries or travel on this day, and many are frightened that something bad will happen to them today. Is it true? Are many people paralyzed with fear over Friday the 13th?

It appears not.

…in Chicago, for example, neither O’Hare International Airport nor United Airlines has noticed any drop in the number of people flying on Friday the 13th.

“It’s an old wives’ tale,” said United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski in an e-mail.

The same goes for two of the biggest hospitals in the city–Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the University of Chicago Medical Center–where it appears people are just as likely go to go under the knife that day as any other, and aren’t rushing to the doctor, either.

And, investors don’t care, either. Friday the 13th is typically a good day for the stock market.

So, don’t let the superstition get to you. Travel, invest, and plan events for today as you would any other day. That’s what most of us are doing, anyway. As Stevie Wonder said,

When you believe in things
That you don’t understand,
Then you suffer,
Superstition aint the way

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