Daily Crunch: Twitter will delete dormant accounts | TechCrunch

November 27, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

1. Twitter will free up handles by deleting inactive accounts

“As part of our commitment to serve the public conversation, we’re working to clean up inactive accounts to present more accurate, credible information people can trust across Twitter,” the company said. Sounds like a smart move, with one big catch: If someone with a Twitter account died more than six months prior and no one else has their login, their account will be deleted. So hopefully, Twitter will come up with a way to memorialize these accounts.

I’m a Vegetarian—Will I Eat Lab-Grown Meat? | WIRED

November 27, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Eschewing meat requires explanation, especially if you were raised an omnivore. Every forkful carries culture and identity in the memory and effort of its preparation. So, on days like Thanksgiving, when vegetarians turn down their family’s lovingly basted golden brown turkey in favor of a Gardein Holiday Roast, a savory loaf of soy protein isolate and vital wheat gluten that comes in a box, the people around them often feel rejected, even judged. Saying no to turkey becomes saying no to tradition, to family. No wonder people turn such baleful eyes on the bloodless lumps of beans and grain brought into their midst.

20 Thanksgiving horror stories to stress you out before the big day | Mashable

November 25, 2019November 24, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Thanksgiving dinner is high-stakes. It’s labor-intensive. And people have a lot of opinions about it. Basically, it’s a recipe for disaster.

As home cooks across the country prepare their fridges for this year’s feast, stories of Thanksgiving dinners gone wrong are also popping up on Twitter. Take them as funny anecdotes or serious warnings, but please take that Pyrex off the stove and don’t forget to defrost the turkey this year.

Target and TJ Maxx are killing department stores | CNN

November 22, 2019November 21, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Department stores like Macy’s have a big problem, and it’s not Amazon: Discount retailers Target and TJMaxx continue to take their customers.

Macy’s struggled during its latest quarter, adding to a string of poor results at department stores. This comes as lower-priced retailers grow sales and consumer spending in the United States remains strong. Americans are still shopping, but they are hunting for bargains elsewhere.

Macy’s posted a sales decline of 3.9% at stores open for at least a year, the company said Thursday.

New Yorkers can now recycle Nespresso pods | Fast Company

November 20, 2019November 19, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Brewing single-use coffee capsules can be a convenient way to start your morning, but they can be pretty inconvenient for the environment, quickly adding up to a lot of waste if you don’t recycle them properly. Now, New Yorkers can be confident their Nespresso pods will be recycled, thanks to an investment in the city’s sanitation programs funded by Nespresso itself.

Google Confirms Android Camera Security Threat: ‘Hundreds Of Millions’ Of Users Affected | Forbes

November 20, 2019November 19, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The security research team at Checkmarx has made something of a habit of uncovering alarming vulnerabilities, with past disclosures covering Amazon’s Alexa and Tinder. However, a discovery of vulnerabilities affecting Google and Samsung smartphones, with the potential to impact hundreds of millions of Android users, is the biggest to date. What did the researchers discover? Oh, only a way for an attacker to take control of smartphone camera apps and remotely take photos, record video, spy on your conversations by recording them as you lift the phone to your ear, identify your location, and more. All of this performed silently, in the background, with the user none the wiser.

Last Call: These Stores Are Closing Locations in 2020 | Investing Media Blog

November 19, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If your local mall has more and more begun resembling a post-apocalyptic ghost town, then chances are you’re already well aware of the “retail apocalypse” underway. Last year, amidst crashing retail sales nationwide, more than 5,800 American stores shut down across the country, with many brands declaring bankruptcy altogether. And while giants like Target and Walmart have managed to survive the ‘retailocalypse’ with their fleet (and sales) intact, others have been scrambling to adapt to customers’ growing demand for online shopping.

Former FDA adviser wants LASIK eye surgery banned | BGR

November 19, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

LASIK is one of the most popular kinds of eye procedures around. Once prohibitively expensive, laser eye surgery is now cheaper than ever, and patients often experience very little downtime afterward. Lots and lots of people love their results, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t complications, sometimes severe complications, in certain cases.

Now, a former adviser who worked with the Food and Drug Administration and voted to approve LASIK as a medical procedure, says that the FDA is ignoring data that suggests LASIK should be banned. As CBS News reports, Morris Waxler has regrets about his prior approval of LASIK, and wants the medical community to reevaluate the risks.

Dean Foods, America’s largest milk producer, files for bankruptcy | CNN

November 13, 2019November 12, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Dean Foods, America’s largest milk producer, is filing for bankruptcy. The 94-year-old company has struggled in recent years because Americans are drinking less cows milk. 2019 has been particularly brutal: the company’s sales tumbled 7% in the first half of the year, and profit fell 14%. Dean Foods (DF) stock has lost 80% this year.

The company, which produces some of the country’s most recognizable milk and dairy products, including Dairy Pure, Organic Valley and Land O’Lakes milks, has blamed its struggles on the “accelerated decline in the conventional white milk category.”

More women lawmakers flee politics due to online abuse | Fast Company

November 8, 2019November 6, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Last week, U.S. Congresswoman Katie Hill’s resignation speech detailed the abuse that drove her out of office. “I am leaving because of the thousands of vile threatening emails, calls and texts that made me fear for my life and the lives of the people that I care about.” She feared the “hundreds more photos and text messages that they would release bit by bit until they broke me down to nothing.”

This week, abuse is behind the decisions of many of the 18 female members of U.K. Parliament to not run for re-election, reports the New York Times.