Bob’s note: It’s rough out there for consumers. Large corporations spend billions of dollars learning how to “hack” marketplaces, and people, getting them to overpay for things or tricking them into buying items that aren’t what they seem. Screaming “that’s not fair!” rarely gets you anywhere, however. That’s why today [Keep reading]
MISSOULA, SOME SUMMER EVENING — There are plenty of good reasons to visit Montana. The mountains. The sky. The air. You know all this. Usually when it comes to vacationing with pets it’s easier to simply use a Campervan Finder to find a campervan or motorhome, as so many hotels [Keep reading]
The next time you speak to a debt collector, you might find yourself negotiating with a computer. And you might actually prefer that. Consumers buy toothpaste and bread without talking to a person. They get boarding passes for flights with a few swipes of a credit card or mobile phone. [Keep reading]
About 0.2 percent (of 4%, so really, 0008%). Or 38 out of 3,143 counties. Or 24,525 people in a nation of 325 million people. Might not have access to Obamacare subsidized health insurance next year (though they may very well be able to buy un-subsidized health care plans) That’s your death spiral [Keep reading]
The recent “ransomware” computer virus outbreak is over, but the speculation is just beginning. And it begins with those quotes around the term ransomware. On Tuesday, organizations in 64 countries around the globe, according to Microsoft, found themselves beating back a virus that’s been variously named Petya, GoldenEye, or even [Keep reading]
WESTPORT, Kansas City — It’s the City of Fountains, and of blues, and of barbecue, of Hallmark, and of the most likable baseball team in the past decade. It’s a suddenly sexy place to live. It’s also a great place to visit with your dog. (What is this series? Click [Keep reading]
A new ransomware attack created computer chaos worldwide on Tuesday, infecting massive banks, law firms, shipping companies, and even nuclear facility Chernobyl. The outbreak — dubbed both GoldenEye and Petya by researchers — is being compared to WannaCry. While antivirus firms and IT departments struggle to get the outbreak under [Keep reading]
Rusty’s rating — 8 on a scale of 1-10 (but really, incomplete). Pittsburgh is HOT. It’s Silicon Valley East for some folks. It’s the home of self-driving cars, still-within-reach real estate, and a rapidly expanding foodie population. And what happens when you get an influx of young techies in a [Keep reading]
No matter how many criminal complaints you read, the expression “JV” always sends chills downs your spine. But this line, from a complaint filed April 27 in a California federal court, stands out. “Petersen stated that he recently received via email from JV#1 a video of JV#1’s younger brother…masturbating in [Keep reading]
What a difference a year makes. Last summer, Rusty and I took our usual country drive and my main observation was that no one wanted to talk about the election, People wanted to rant online of course. But in person? Crickets. Ask a waiter in Oregon why he likes Trump [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan