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Home2014October

Month: October 2014

Cybercrime / Privacy

What? *Another* replacement credit card? Why database hacks are becoming a real, and costly, hassle

October 8, 2014 Bob Sullivan 1

“You’re not liable for any fraudulent charges.” It’s a cheery phrase you’ve seen or heard dozens of times lately, usually said to help ease the blow of bad news: Your credit card has been hacked.  “But don’t worry!  A new card is on its way!  Everything is fine! Smiley face. [Keep reading]

Getting Unstuck

Sex harassment rampant in restaurants, but you knew that

October 7, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

Harassment is rampant in the restaurant industry, according to a report published today by a pro-worker non-profit group. Anyone who’s ever worked in the service industry knows this: If you want cooks to take care of your orders, you have kiss up to them.  If you want better tables, you [Keep reading]

The Restless Project

If the unemployment rate is so great, why do you still feel so bad?

October 6, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

America is working again!  That was the irresistible headline you heard all day Friday from business journalists cheering the monthly unemployment report. Story after story screamed that the unemployment rate had sunk below 6 percent for the first time since the recession began. Please ignore all those stories. First off: [Keep reading]

No Picture
Cybercrime / Privacy

Amtrak website, network out for most of Sunday; train travel impacted nationwide

October 6, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

UPDATE, 12:20 a.m. – Amtrak tells me the website and kiosks are now working. No explanation for the outage so far. Amtrak’s website and ticketing system continued to experience an epic meltdown into Sunday night, as the nation’s rail service experienced a network outage that extended past 10 hours. Neither [Keep reading]

Gotchas / Consumer

Big data, kill switches, Facebook stalking — debt collection goes high-tech

October 3, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

It sounds like science fiction. A lender sitting in an office who wants a payment clicks a button on a screen, and suddenly, the borrower’s car is disabled on the side of the road. “Pay now or you’ll never drive again,” is the clear message. It’s not a movie script. Car “ignition [Keep reading]

The Restless Project

For 40 million Americans, $100k income required to buy an average home; 1 in 5 need at least $75k

October 2, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

  For years, I’ve been arguing that a simple, broken economics formula has put millions of middle-class Americans in a state of perpetual economic anxiety: Families with average incomes can’t afford average homes. In fact, families with really good incomes can’t afford average homes. Here’s new data to support that [Keep reading]

The Restless Project

Sports’ biggest rivalry: Analytics vs. data haters (or, five reasons why folks like to see the Oakland A’s lose)

October 1, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

The concept of Moneyball is so simple and self-evident that it should never be controversial. Don’t overpay for things; and it’s possible you do, and haven’t realized it yet, because of the way you value things.   In baseball: Maybe it’s better to have two decent platoon players cover third base [Keep reading]

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About me

BOB SULLIVAN is a veteran journalist and the author of four books, including the 2008 New York Times Best-Seller, Gotcha Capitalism, and the 2010 New York Times Best Seller, Stop Getting Ripped Off! His latest, The Plateau Effect, was published in 2013, and as a paperback, called Getting Unstuck in 2014. He has won the Society of Professional Journalists prestigious Public Service award, a Peabody award, and The Consumer Federation of America Betty Furness award, and been given Consumer Action’s Consumer Excellence Award.

Bob Sullivan