Consumers are becoming more and more aware that hacking isn’t just a gadget nuisance any more. Computer security problems, like viruses, increasingly come with real-world consequences — like the potential to screw with an airplane’s flight system, or more recently, a car. Wired’s Andy Greenberg last month revealed to the [Keep reading]
Sara Goldrick-Rab is among the loudest critics of America’s structures designed to fund college education. She’s a professor of Educational Policy Studies and Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, working for a state school that is squarely in the cross-hairs of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s plans to cut funding and [Keep reading]
Health care billing issues, IRS impostor scams and student loan consolidators were among the biggest consumer headaches last year, joining more familiar complaints about identity theft, home repair and debt collection. The definitive survey of consumer gripes, which includes data from 37 agencies in 21 states, was released Wednesday by [Keep reading]
Want a fancy new Macbook but don’t have the cash for it right now? Don’t worry, Apple offers two ways to finance the purchase — PayPal Credit or Barclaycard Visa (with points!). As you might imagine, I don’t think buying a computer on new credit isn’t the greatest idea. If [Keep reading]
JUNE 8, 2007 — Your credit score might be costing you hundreds of dollars each year on your auto insurance, but you’ll never know. It’s a secret. And it looks like it’s going to stay that way. Consumers took a shot to the gut this week when the U.S. Supreme [Keep reading]
However you feel about Tom Brady, the Patriots, and football air pressure, today is a learning moment about cell phones and evidence. If you think the NFL had no business demanding the quarterback’s personal cell phone — and by extension, that your company has no business demanding to see your [Keep reading]
In all the anecdotes I’ve run across while working on The Restless Project, this simple scene might be the most powerful. And depressing. It appears in a story I wrote for CNBC.com recently about a gruesome new trend which I’ll call “work-family multitasking.” “I spoke recently with a gentleman who works [Keep reading]
Their marriage had a less-than-ideal start. She had $20,000 in debt. He was about to lose his home, and the bank wouldn’t negotiate. He also had a student loan, a car loan and some credit card debt. When she moved to Cleveland to be with him, she’d be unemployed. He’d [Keep reading]
It’s been a ritual as old as the personal computer itself. Microsoft releases a new operating system, and PC sales skyrocket as users buy new hardware to take advantage of the new software. Sure, a hardy few buy the new Windows and try to install it on their old machines, [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan