Tuesday, March 19

Month: August 2015

Fox News Botches Internet Live Stream of First GOP Debate
Business

Fox News Botches Internet Live Stream of First GOP Debate

If you're one of the tech-savvy "cord cutters" who has ditched your cable subscription in favor of live streams on your phone or computer, you may have been muttering a few unmentionables under your breath during the recent GOP debate. According to Mashable, users of the Fox News app were disappointed when they settled in to watch the much-anticipated first Republican Debate of the year, only to find an error message glaring back at them. As is usually the case on the internet, multiple other "unofficial" streams were available, though some more reliable than others. Most were taken down immediately by Fox News because of copyright issues. The problem is particularly troubling considering the robust infrastructure available to Fox when it comes to funding proper web development for thei...
Why the Starter Home Might Finally Be Dead
Business

Why the Starter Home Might Finally Be Dead

Traditionally, when couples get married, they purchase their very first home together at the same time. These so-called "starter homes" have historically been inexpensive, allowing young couples to become accustomed to home ownership before moving on to a larger residence once they get better jobs or have children. However, with the U.S. housing market heating up fast -- and home prices steadily on the rise everywhere from San Jose, CA to Wellesley, MA -- it appears that the starter home might finally be a long-gone relic of the past. According to an August 17 WCPO article, today's home builders are constructing two types of homes: deluxe, luxury dwellings with mansion-like proportions and granite counter tops, or homes meant for families on government subsidies. As a result, there are ...
Lincoln Electric Announces Group Annuity Contract for Pensioners
Business

Lincoln Electric Announces Group Annuity Contract for Pensioners

Lincoln Electric Co., manufacturer of welding products and a subsidiary of Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc., announced on August 19 that it would be purchasing a group annuity contract in order to reduce the company's pension obligations for outstanding payments. The announcement stated that Lincoln Electric is purchasing the group annuity contract from Principal Financial Group in order to settle $425 million worth of outstanding U.S. pension payments to former employees. According to Crain's Cleveland Business and Pensions and Investments, Lincoln Electric currently owes about $900 million to 1,900 U.S. retirees and beneficiaries who retired on or before June 1, 2015. The company has already paid $375 million toward pension payments in the past 10 years, Lincoln Electric stated in a pres...
How the Farm-to-Fork Movement Is Helping Farmers Thrive
Business

How the Farm-to-Fork Movement Is Helping Farmers Thrive

The average size of a farm in the U.S. is about 450 acres -- plenty of space to grow bountiful amounts of crops that can support the business. However, farms have been struggling for ages with low prices and rising costs. Luckily, a new way of doing business may just be the solution they're looking for. Over the past couple years, the farm-to-fork -- or locavore -- movement sweeping the nation is giving farms the boost they need. "You're just seeing that farms are having difficulty covering their costs of production," Sarah Lloyd of the Wisconsin Farmers' Union told NPR. "The prices that are being paid to them in the market is not enough to cover their costs. One bright spot is you see people venturing into direct markets, and that's a way where they can have more control over their pric...
Americans Saving Less Money For Retirement
Lifestyle

Americans Saving Less Money For Retirement

According to a recent report from CNBC, the average American is saving less money for retirement than they did a year ago, with fewer than one in five American workers saving more. In a recent Bankrate.com survey, it was reported that 10% of people haven't put any money into their retirement accounts in the past two years. This is the highest percentage of non-contributing participants since Bankrate began its surveys in 2011. That being said, the percentage of workers who are saving less for retirement is down from 18% to 14%, while people who are saving more saw a bump from 18% to 19%, from 2012 until now. In addition, CNBC reports that larger companies are encouraging their employees to save for retirement. They have started to enroll employees in company-sponsored 401(k) plans, while...
Ashley Madison Leak Leads To Rise In Divorce
Lifestyle

Ashley Madison Leak Leads To Rise In Divorce

Nearly two-thirds of divorces are filed by women, and after the recent Ashley Madison scandal, women everywhere are more ready than ever to split, according to report by local affiliate WTVF Richmond. Last week's reveal of the more than 32 million members of extramarital adultery website Ashley Madison has led to an unsurprising onslaught of divorces. The leak, initiated by hackers posing as "women" on the site, revealed that nearly 95% of the website's users were men, who found their name, credit card numbers, emails, home addresses, even their sexual preferences leaked and public when the news broke last week. On the flip side, Virginia Attorney Van Smith reports that of the nearly 10 divorce-related calls he receives every day, 95% of the contacts are female. Smith describes that the...
CDC Says Waterborne Diseases are on the Rise
Lifestyle

CDC Says Waterborne Diseases are on the Rise

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) outlines the link between drinking water and infection. The report focuses on drinking water in the United States between 2011 and 2012, detailing 32 outbreaks with 431 infections. Hospitalization was needed for 102 of those infections, and there were 14 deaths. Additionally, the CDC found that 21 of the outbreaks -- 111 cases -- were caused by legionella. Only two outbreaks were linked to norovirus; however, those two outbreaks caused 138 infections. Other outbreaks over these two years were linked to Escherichia coli (56), Shigella sonnei and Pantoea agglomerans. Perhaps what is more worrying than the outbreaks themselves is the fact that half of the outbreaks occurred in hospitals or other healthcare centers. Next, 13% of infecti...
Stars Clean Up House At Teen Choice Awards’ Sweet Sixteen
Lifestyle

Stars Clean Up House At Teen Choice Awards’ Sweet Sixteen

While carpet covers nearly 70% of all American floors, all-American teens were busy watching their favorite stars take over the red carpet on Sunday's Teen Choice Awards. According to a recent report from CNN, the Teen Choice Awards brought on a new tradition this year by letting the kids pick the award categories, as well as its winners. As a result, several famous Vine makers and Instagram influencers made history by taking home awards without ever making their big-screen or top-of-the-chart debuts. The show was riddled with topical stars and subjects, like the cast of the upcoming film Straight Outta Compton or Australian boy band superstars 5 Seconds of Summer. Wiz Khalifa, rap star, teleprompter ignoring specialist, and performer of the smash summer hit "See You Again," also made a...
D.C. Mayor Proposes To Release All Police Body Camera Footage to the Public
Local

D.C. Mayor Proposes To Release All Police Body Camera Footage to the Public

According to the Washington Post, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser recently announced a new proposal that will make police body footage camera available to the public. This includes any footage that is shot outdoors, such as a sidewalk or traffic stop. In this plan, private citizens will be given access to thousands of videos documenting police interactions with citizens. The footage would be available to the public at police stations for a period of 90 days. Previously, Mayor Bowser rejected the idea of releasing the body camera footage to the public. Bowser says she changed her mind after the increased amount of shootings by police officers being reported around the nation. ”Earlier this year, I proposed putting D.C. at the razor’s edge of body worn camera implementation,” Bowse...
Apple’s Rumored Driverless Car is For Real
Business

Apple’s Rumored Driverless Car is For Real

Driverless cars have been a trending topic as of late. Many companies have been extremely transparent about their plans to launch driverless cars, and have even publicized testing initiatives. While Apple has confirmed their plans in the past, those plans have been shrouded in secrecy and rumor. Take, for example, Apple's "Project Titan," -- an ultra-secret driverless car plan that has been the subject of much speculation. The Guardian, however, recently obtained public records that revealed Apple's driverless car plans are indeed underway, as the company has set its sights on various testing locations across the country. According to The Verge, the report states that Apple engineers convened with GoMentum, the former San Francisco naval base, to discuss plans with representatives. Th...