Susan Jacobson

The original Left 4 Dead demo was very good, just not my cup of blood. But I did admire it. You played one of four people fighting their way across a section of town during the Zombie Apocalypse. Really well-done game.

The sequel takes place in New Orleans. There's an element of discomfort in that most of the zombies are, well, _dark-complected_. But those are the demographics in N'awlins. And anyway, two of the four heroes are black, which pretty well confounds any moral-high-horses one might wish to mount.

The demo was _fun_. Blasting zombies in New Orleans. I approve.

http://consumerist.com/5403592/mpaa-shuts-down-towns-free-muni-wifi-over-1-download

The MPAA forced the town Coshocton, OH to shut down their entire free municipal WiFi network because of a single instance of a single user illegally downloading a copyrighted movie. Here are some of the many other things the town used to use the network for:

Mike LaVigne, IT director, said the number of people who access the Internet using the connection varies widely, from perhaps a dozen people a day to 100 during busy times such as First Fridays and the Coshocton Canal Festival.
It's used by Coshocton County Sheriff's deputies who can park in the 300 block and complete a traffic or incident report without leaving their vehicle. Out-of-town business people can park and use their laptops to make connections.

During festival times, vendors find it a convenience to check the status of credit cards being used to make purchases, LaVigne said.

Because it's a single address used by many people, it's difficult to tell who made the illegal download, although the county plans to investigate the matter.

Illegal movie download forces shutdown of free Wi-Fi [Coschton Tribune]

http://consumerist.com/5403570/25-us-cities-with-greatest-home-price-plunge

Want a bargain on a house? Try snapping something up in on of these 25 US cities that saw the greatest plunges in their home prices in the 3rd quarter:

25. New Haven-Milford, CT -13.1%
24. New York-Wayne-White Plains, NY-NJ -13.9%
23. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA -14.1%
22. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA -14.5%
21. NY: Newark-Union, NJ-PA -14.8%
20. Trenton-Ewing, NJ -15.0%
19. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT -15.6%
18. Lansing-E.Lansing, MI -15.6%
17. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL -16.2%
16. Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV -16.3%
15. Jacksonville, FL -17.0%
14. Boise City-Nampa, ID -17.4%
13. Kingston, NY -18.4%
12. Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater, FL -20.8%
11. Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL -21.9%
10. Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice, FL -22.0%
9. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ -22.9%
8. Ocala, FL -24.0%
7. Reno-Sparks, NV -24.1%
6. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, FL -24.6%
5. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL -24.6%
4. Orlando, FL -26.0%
3. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA -26.0%
2. Las Vegas-Paradise, NV -34.5%
1. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL -40.0%

Source: National Association of Realtors

The NAR announced in their 3rd quarter report, "To be sure the numbers are mixed and some areas are experiencing reversals, but over all we are beginning to pull ourselves up out of this slump. As long as we continue to see a Fed willing to support the markets until they are strong enough to stand on their own, we should be able top avoid a double dip,"

Seems that if you have the cash, now is a good time to buy, especially with the homebuyer tax credit getting extended and expanded. The question is, how much of a threat is any further depreciation? You don't want to end up underwater or nothin'.

Current Report: Single-family 3rd Quarter 2009 (PDF) [National Association Of Realtors]
NAR Report Third Quarter [Your Property Path News Brief]
(Illustration: p0na)

http://consumerist.com/5403560/the-manliest-pants-of-all-time

Yes, they're Barracuda pants—the only trousers that remind you, and anyone within eyesight, that you have a penis.

The copy says: "Male makes pure man stuff... like bold and brawny Barracuda slacks with swing-around pocket styling. They cling like a girl in the dark. Won't wrinkle—they're permanently pressed! Rarer fabrics...richer colors...better tailoring...modest prices...all yours at better stores throughout the Free World. Go look them over. You'll buy an armload.

H+K CORPORATION, Atlanta, Ga. * creators of MALE - THE FASHION SPOKESMAN FOR AMERICAN MEN"

I think my favorite part about this retro magazine ad is that these super manly manly pants are available "at better stores throughout the Free World." That's as priceless as the placement of the guy is unfortunate.

(Image: SA_Steve)

http://consumerist.com/5403541/middle-class-shoplifting-to-keep-up-appearances

Shoplifting is up 20% in the UK as choice cuts of meat, fresh fish and fancy cheeses are increasingly getting stolen, mostly by middle-class women from boutique food emporiums and convenience stores

"I suppose people want to carry on with their lifestyle but cannot afford the expensive cheeses, fresh cuts of meat or nice fish that they used to be able to afford and now they just take it. This is the first year we have seen a huge rise in theft of these items and we are being told it is for their own consumption rather than to sell on," Neil Matthews, vice-president of Checkpoint Systems told The Times.

Stealing a loaf of bread to feed your family is one thing, but stuffing some artisinal bread, a block of five-year aged gouda and a filet mignon down your trousers? Bollocks.

How the middle class are shoplifting to keep up appearances [Times Online] (Photo: LDRBRS)

http://consumerist.com/5403515/surprise-airlines-are-out-of-touch

Government, airline, labor, and other interested parties met at the Department of Transportation today to discuss the future for the aviation industry. Lots of problems and ideas were discussed, but what jumped out the most was the confirmation of what Consumerist readers and airline passengers have probably already realized: the airline industry could not care less about you.

It should come as no surprise that airline CEOs think deregulation has been great, reregulation would be terrible, and a la carte fees for previously free amenities like checking bags were a brilliant idea. It was still slightly shocking, however, to hear them talk about it so brazenly, probably because the event was closed to the public and the press (I went because Consumers Union spoke on a panel).

One of the conference participants was the CEO of Spirit Airlines. Spirit has been a trailblazer in adding fees for checked bags and buying tickets anywhere but the airline counter. During his remarks today, the Spirit CEO called these fees "great," and said they're working on lots of new added fees. Other participants agreed. The CEO of Republic Airlines chided Consumers Union's representative for complaining about fees, telling customers to vote with their feet and wallet if they didn't like the fees, to which our rep replied: "That's why I took Amtrak here today." BURN.

A particularly out of touch moment came when a representative from American Airlines stood up and lectured the FAA, DOT, and Administration for canceling some of its government conferences and cutting its travel budget in an effort to reduce taxpayer spending. The representative said that it was irresponsible for the government to suggest that travel should be among the first cuts one should make when trying to save money, and implored the government to think about the poor rental car, hotel, and airline companies who lose out when bureaucrats teleconference instead of going to Vegas. Putting aside the obvious financial savings to the public, there are also environmental and productivity benefits from teleconferencing.

Throughout the conference, consumer satisfaction was rarely mentioned, even though, if our stories are any indicator, the public hates flying. Only Consumers Union mentioned the Passenger Bill of Rights, and a scant few participants offered criticism of the pile of added and hidden fees, tarmac delays, lost baggage, or any of the other fun parts of flying. (One notable exception was the CEO of Cape Air, who was alone among the present CEOs in actually sympathizing with the customer's experience.)

The reason few mentioned customer satisfaction is because it's not important to them. They repeatedly said that customers only want the lowest fare and don't care how they get it or which airline it comes from. You've heard this before. One presenter pointed to some low-cost carriers who outsource all of their planes' maintenance to developing countries that have dubious levels of technical proficiency (one specific example was workers doing maintenance based on pictures because they couldn't read the language of the tech manuals).

At the end of the event, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced he's convening a National Aviation Panel to study and make recommendations on the aviation industry. We're hoping there's a strong consumer voice on the panel, and that the recommendations address the miserable customer experience of flying.

Take our poll below and let us know what you'd pay extra for. As a bonus for reading this long article, you can select multiple answers.

I would pay $5-$20 extra for...(polls)



(Photo: whatatravisty)

http://consumerist.com/5403508/litter-robot-replaces-box-destroyed-by-cats-poor-aim

Jon wants the readers of Consumerist to know about the excellent experience he has had with Automated Pet Care Products, makers of the super-cool Litter Robot, which looks like a space station but actually eliminates the need for cat owners to scoop litter.

My girlfriend and I bought a litter robot from Automated Pet Care Products in June of this year and it is an amazing product (no more scooping!) Unfortunately, last week our litter robot stopped turning on and was dead. We emailed Automated Pet Care Products explaining our situation and a very nice rep named Mickey gave us some ideas to diagnose what was wrong, eventually we discovered our circuit board was the most likely culprit and she UPS'ed us a replacement. This in itself seemed generous because a new board is $50, and the reason it would be fried is because our cat sometimes missed and pee'd on the base (fixed by installing a guard made by the Litter Robot people).

We received the replacement board in the mail a few days later, but even with the new board the Litter Robot refused to turn on. Another email to Mickey and she is sending us a complete replacement base (which houses the motor and internals) free of charge! Here is the email from Mickey:

I have a new base on the way along with a power supply. I have both being sent to cover the basis : )

You will see us in a few days. We would like to pickup up the original base for evaluation, please follow the instructions below for the return of that.

Have a great weekend
We have ordered a new replacement XXXX to be sent you due to the issue you are experiencing.

In this case we would like to get the old XXXX back for evaluation. When you receive the replacement unit please use the same packaging for boxing up the old unit. Please write the following on the box:

Automated Pet Care Products, Inc.
561 S. Fairfield Ave
Juneau, WI 53039

Attn: Exchanges Dept.

When the box is ready to ship please contact us so that we may issue a call tag for UPS to pick up. Please give us one day's notice as to when the box will be left out or available for pick up. Ups will have all the necessary labels and addresses with them when they arrive. Thank you.

Litter Robot Customer Service Team

Sincerely,

Mickey

Needless to say, we are extremely pleased with the way they have handled the entire warranty process. Unlike most companies which expect the consumer to pay for shipping and wait for them to repair it, they are sending us a new base before we have to send our old one back. I thought the readers of the consumerist should know, plus all their products are made in the U.S. They have a new customer for life.

Well, how long would you want to be without your litterbox? Not very.

(Photo: peyri)

Who here is a Fox News defender? Anyone? Because I know the Daily Show is not a real news show and stuff, but, this right here is ridiculous.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-november-10-2009/sean-hannity-uses-glenn-beck-s-protest-footage

And it's one of the many reasons I hate Fox News.

Am I missing a large chunk of the story here? Where are your ethics, Fox? Where are they?



xposted to Liberal.

http://consumerist.com/5403510/microsoft-says-there-is-no-recourse-for-gamers-whose-consoles-were-banned

Are you one of the 1 million gamers that was recently banned from XBOX Live? Too bad, says the BBC. You'll need to buy a new system.

From the BBC:

Microsoft said barring gamers was part of an ongoing drive to curb piracy.
But a statement from them suggests this latest wave was timed to prevent people from playing pirated versions of the widely-anticipated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
"We can assure you that if an Xbox Live member follows the Xbox Live terms of use, purchased a retail copy of Modern Warfare 2 and played the game on an unmodified Xbox 360, no action will be taken," the firm said.
Microsoft said that it had banned a "small percentage" of the 20 million Xbox Live users worldwide.

We've heard from at least one reader who says he did not mod his console and got banned anyway. Microsoft says this is impossible:

"We do not reveal specifics, but can say that all consoles have been verified to have violated the terms of use," the firm said in a statement.
It said that gamers who had been barred were using their modified consoles to "play illegally pirated games".
"We believe that even one modified console on the system is one too many".

Do you believe the system for detecting modded boxes is perfect? Or are some innocent people getting banned?

Is the XBOX Live Death Penalty Being Fairly Applied?(survey software)

Xbox console ban is 'permanent' [BBC] (Thanks, chiieddy!)
(Photo:Hanspecans)

http://consumerist.com/5403482/ftc-files-contempt-charge-against-bluehippo-for-continuing-to-rip-off-customers

Today the FTC lodged a contempt charge against scammy no-credit-needed electronics seller BlueHippo, saying that the company hasn't honored its prior agreement to stop scamming customers. BlueHippo agreed to pay back $3.5 million nearly two years ago to reimburse customers who never received the computers they pre-paid for, but the FTC says since then the company has sucked another $15 million out of customers.

BlueHippo has a history of not keeping promises. Here's what happened in February 2008:

According to the FTC's 2008 complaint, BlueHippo Funding, LLC and affiliate BlueHippo Capital, LLC offered to extend credit to consumers to finance purchases of personal computers and other consumer electronics with down payments of $99 to $124, and a year of weekly or bi-weekly payments ranging from $36 to $88. BlueHippo promised to deliver the product once the consumer made 13 weekly payments. But most consumers did not receive the computers they ordered in the time promised, even after they had made 13 weeks of payments, the Commission alleged. The Commission charged that BlueHippo's marketing tactics were deceptive, and violated the FTC Act and other federal credit statutes.

Remarkably, the company continued to sign up customers as quickly as it had before the settlement, and between April and December of 2008 it contracted with over 35,000 new customers.

Of those, only 2,477 customers met all the requirements to eventually get computers, but the FTC says that BlueHippo provided at most only one PC to an eligible customer.

The FTC complained again in April 2009, and starting then BlueHippo began to fulfill computer requests for 1,462 qualifying customers. But even then it took up to 6 months to deliver computers to customers, when it sold the service with a promise of delivery in 3-4 weeks. The remaining 1,015 who were elgible have still received nothing.

The FTC has asked the court to bar BlueHippo from making any more sales, and to force it to repay customers. The BlueHippo website is offline as of this afternoon.

"FTC Lodges Contempt Charge Against BlueHippo" [FTC]

Hi everyone, thought i'd post some good news!

My boys are both eating again, their bowl movements are still catching up! but they are much better and have a massive appetite again!

Hopefully they won't relapse and won't need to go to the vet (but i'm still keeping a close eye on them!)

( Thought i'd show off some cute pictures of them as well xx )

http://consumerist.com/5403453/newly-frugal-behavior-is-permanent-say-some-consumers

A new study says that 26% of US consumers "have no plans to return to their free-spending ways," which probably doesn't sound like good news to retailers. Even worse (for retailers), about a third say they've become less loyal.

Of course, what you plan on doing and what you end up doing may change quite a bit if there's enough marketing aimed at you, and this sounds a lot like shoppers throwing down the gauntlet to retailers.

"Many U.S. consumers turn permanently tight-fisted: survey" [Reuters]
(Photo: Lee Nachtigal)

http://consumerist.com/5403451/

Droid vs. iPhone: Them's Fightin' Words CRO follows up on its first impressions of the Droid as compared to the iPhone. [Consumer Reports Electronics]

http://consumerist.com/5401416/stroller-company-maclaren-knew-about-amputation-risk-5-years-ago

The British company Maclaren knew that its recently recalled strollers could potentially lop off a tot's fingertips over five years ago, reports the New York Post, but it didn't bother to alert the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

The first report of an amputation happened in July 2004, when a two-year-old in Connecticut lost the tip of his right pinkie. The mom sued Maclaren, but the company said the accident was due to her negligence.

The CPSC won't say whether or not the company should have reported the problem then, but the Post interviewed a former CPSC compliance officer who says he thinks they should have, and that he thinks they should now be responsible for any related fines:

Robert Moro, an engineer and former compliance officer with the Consumer Products Safety Commission, testified in 2007 that "this stroller contains a substantial design defect when compared to other types of designs of strollers intended to be used by children."

The way the stroller was designed and manufactured in China violated federal guidelines intended to prevent a gruesome "scissoring effect," Moro said.

"Maclaren had a legal obligation to report this," Moro told The Post. "It's extremely unfortunate a lot of little kids had to get their fingers amputated."

"Maclaren defect went unfixed for 5 years" [New York Post]

http://consumerist.com/5403397/couponbot-serves-you-coupons-via-twitter

Shoppers are getting online coupon code crazy, with searches for promo codes up 55% from last year. But why waste your time Googling when you could be watching thewebsiteisdown.com and an armada of Twitter agents are searching for coupons on your behalf?

Dealtaker launched @couponbot to do just that.

Step 0: Have a Twitter account
Step 1: Follow @CouponBot
Step 2: Send your tweet in the following format: @couponbot storename
Step 3: Wait for your coupon tweet mentions that will look like: @youruser StoreName Coupon Title URL

examples of Top 10 store searches:
1. @CouponBot Old Navy
2. @CouponBot Amazon
3. @CouponBot Kohls
4. @CouponBot Home Depot
5. @CouponBot American Eagle
6. @CouponBot Dell
7. @CouponBot Best Buy
8. @CouponBot GAP
9. @CouponBot Macy's
10. @CouponBot Target

Are the deals any good? Is the service useful or spamular? Give it a whirl and let us know in the comments.

DealTaker @CouponBot [DealTaker via TechCrunch] (Thanks to Dirk!) (Photo: atp_tyreseus)

http://consumerist.com/5403377/selling-expired-products-cvs-to-pay-875000-settlement

The NY AG's office says that CVS will pay an $875,000 settlement to end legal action against them over the sale of "expired products - including over-the-counter drugs, baby formula, milk, and eggs - at stores across New York State."

The AG's office says (emphasis ours):

The agreement with CVS is the result of the Attorney General's statewide, undercover investigation of all major drug store chains in New York State. The probe uncovered an egregious pattern at two of the largest chains: CVS and Rite Aid. Statewide, the Attorney General's investigation revealed that 142 CVS and 112 Rite Aid stores in over 41 counties sold expired products. This reflects 60 percent of the CVS stores visited and 43 percent of the Rite Aid stores visited. At the CVS stores, undercover investigators found that some items were being sold more than two years past their expiration dates.

Subsequent inspections by the Attorney General revealed that both CVS and Rite Aid continued to sell expired products even after the Attorney General's advisory.

CVS also agreed to refrain from selling expired products, commit to procedures designed to prevent the sale of expired products, obtain approval from the Attorney General before making material changes to such policies and procedures, and train CVS employees in identifying and removing expired products from store shelves. There will also be signs posted in aisles containing over-the-counter drugs, infant formula, milk, and eggs warning consumers to check the expiration dates.

ATTORNEY GENERAL CUOMO REACHES $875,000 SETTLEMENT WITH CVS OVER THE SALE OF EXPIRED PRODUCTS ACROSS NEW YORK STATE [NYAG]
(Photo:bubble dumpster)

http://consumerist.com/5403303/why-does-the-federal-government-hate-truckasaurus

Last night, "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" addressed one of the crucial economic policy questions of our time: why do the Ivy League snobs in the Obama administration hate Truckasaurus so much? See, the Cash for Clunkers program thoughtlessly deprived demolition derbies and monster truck rallies of the elderly cars they need in order to remain totally awesome.

Watch senior economic adviser Austan Goolsbee, friend of Consumerist, try to defend the government against accusations of being anti-demolition derby.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Crash for Clunkers
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Crash for Clunkers [The Daily Show]

(Photo: beatnikside)

http://consumerist.com/5402885/hp-returns-computer-with-faulty-repair-bonus-dust-bunnies

Marc thought he was being practical when be purchased a four-year warranty to go along with his HP desktop. After about a year, the computer failed. No problem. Just send the tower in for some of that stellar HP repair service. Except there's probably a reason why you rarely hear the words "stellar," "HP," and "repair" in the same sentence.

He writes:

I purchased an HP a little over a year ago, and decided to go ahead and get the more advanced 4 year warranty (was spending enough on the PC, decided to go ahead.)

Awhile ago the PC would no longer boot, no bios screen or anything. After confirming it wasn't a basic issue like a power supply going out, it was decided it appeared to be the motherboard. Called HP, they had no record of my warranty. Faxed them the information I was asked to (and told it could not be emailed, that it had to be faxed, and that I couldn't simply give them the information over the phone.) This went back and forth for multiple days, with faxes being sent, being told that wasn't the right information, and then finally their 'executive' service was called. They input the information in a few minutes and a box arrived a few days later.

A week later my PC came back. Screws were missing from the case, at least one expansion card wasn't plugged in at all and was just rattling around in the case, and the wrong disk image had been loaded on the hard drive. Since I backup all my own material that specific one wasn't an issue, and HP's executive service told me and a friend, both relatively competent computer users who fix other peoples PCs that we could fix the problems ourselves if we wanted or they could send a box tomorrow. The list of fixes/changes made to the computer confirmed the motherboard was bad, and was replaced. The sheet also said my 750 gig hard drive was replaced with a new 750 gig... but my PC came with a 1 TB drive... and was returned with a 1 TB drive.

After choosing to make the small fixes ourselves, and reloading my personal disk image, everything seemed to work for a week or two. Then the exact problem again, wouldn't boot. Called them again, box came again, sent it off.

Earlier today, the PC arrived again. Once again, screws missing. PC won't boot, but the BIOS screen does appear, and we do start to get the Windows boot screen, then it turns black. Trying this multiple times (and changing boot settings in the BIOS that their tech seemingly setup improperly) led us to getting a mouse arrow once, and black screens every other time (and the one time the mouse arrow appeared was after sitting around for more than five minutes.) It should also be mentioned that despite having the same problem, the motherboard wasn't replaced this time (after the problems last time, went ahead and marked it with a marker. )Hardware was also plugged into the wrong ports causing issues, which we redid which didn't seem to fix anything.

There were odd dust balls in the computer case, and some sort of residue on the outside.

And because that wasn't enough, instead of sending the sheet explaining what they fixed and what was done, they sent... instructions on setting up antivirus programs for Windows XP (copy-written circa 2004 by HP.)

HP has been called once again, and we are expecting a return call tomorrow, but since this will now be the third time this machine has been sent in in effectively 2 or 3 weeks, not much is expected.

We can understand his your bar might be low for HP's service at this point. It's probably time to launch an EECB, or cross his fingers and hope for a competent tech this time.

RELATED:
After Massive Runaround, HP Sends Your Laptop Back Filled With Viruses
HP Ruins Yet Another Laptop Repair-Three Times And Counting
HP Laptop Runs 200°F, Support Says "Buy A Cooling Mat"

http://consumerist.com/5402810/you-can-make-your-own-liquid-tamiflu-at-home

G.'s young son was recently ill with H1N1, but no pharmacy in the city where he lives had liquid Tamiflu in stock. (Even the federal government released its stockpile not long ago.) He writes that nearly every pharmacy he called turned him down. Then he learned that the liquid can be made from Tamiflu capsules by pharmacists, or even by parents at home. Why didn't the pharmacy staff, or his doctor, tell him this?

He writes:

When his H1N1-induced fever spiked at 104, I brought my 16-month-old son to the pediatrician, who promptly prescribed Tamiflu.

When I arrived at CVS, I was told that they were out of stock of the liquid form and none would be available until late the next day. Further, I was told that none of the other CVS branches had any liquid Tamiflu. I called around and, sure enough, no pharmacy in the area had any liquid Tamiflu.

Knowing that Tamiflu needs to be taken promptly, I panicked and called my sister-in-law, who is a doctor in another city. She told me that although the liquid can be out of stock, pharmacists can make liquid Tamiflu from Tamiflu capsules.

I returned to CVS, asked the pharmacist if this could be done. I was told that it would take a half-hour. I am furious that he did not volunteer this information the first time around.

Parents, do not take "no" for an answer. Especially for at-risk children like mine, insist that the liquid be made promptly.

If you're not able to find a pharmacy equipped to make the liquid for you, the CDC has posted instructions for parents on how to make their own liquid Tamiflu out of the adult capsules.

What liquids can I use?

A thick and sweet liquid, such as regular or sugar-free chocolate syrup, that masks the flavor of the medicine can be mixed with the contents of the Tamiflu® capsule. Sugar-free sweet liquids are available. The child should consume the liquid mixture entirely.

If my child can't swallow capsules, how do I open Tamiflu capsules and mix the medicine?

Pour a small amount (about a spoonful) of sweet, thick liquid into a cup or bowl. Carefully open the Tamiflu® capsule prescribed by your doctor and pour out all of the powder inside the capsule and mix it into the liquid. The exact amount of liquid used doesn't matter, as long as the powder inside the capsule is mixed in well. (All of the medicine may not dissolve. Just be sure it is all well mixed.) Use only the prescribed dose.

What will I need to do this?

You will need

* The prescribed Tamiflu® capsule
* A small bowl or cup and a spoon
* 1-2 Teaspoons of sweetened liquid

How do I mix the ingredients?

* Pour a small amount (about a spoonful) of a sweet thick liquid into a cup or bowl.
* Holding one capsule over a small bowl, carefully pull the capsule open and pour the complete contents of the capsule into the bowl.
* Stir the mixture and give the entire dose to the child with a spoon.

Should my child take all of the mixture?

Yes, make sure your child takes all of the medicine mixture.

Opening and Mixing Tamiflu® Capsules with Liquids if Child Cannot Swallow Capsules [CDC]
D.I.Y. Tamiflu for Kids: Pharmacists Cope With Shortage [ABC News]

(Photo: timsnell)

http://consumerist.com/5403315/starting-july-1-2010-overdraft-fees-will-require-consumer-consent

The Federal Reserve has announced a new rule requiring overdraft fees on one-time debit card transactions and ATM withdrawals to be "opt-in." The new rule will take effect July 1, 2010. "The final overdraft rules represent an important step forward in consumer protection," said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke in a prepared statement. "Both new and existing account holders will be able to make informed decisions about whether to sign up for an overdraft service."

Here's the full press release from the Fed:

The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday announced final rules that prohibit financial institutions from charging consumers fees for paying overdrafts on automated teller machine (ATM) and one-time debit card transactions, unless a consumer consents, or opts in, to the overdraft service for those types of transactions.

Before opting in, the consumer must be provided a notice that explains the financial institution's overdraft services, including the fees associated with the service, and the consumer's choices. The final rules, along with a model opt-in notice, are issued under Regulation E, which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.

"The final overdraft rules represent an important step forward in consumer protection," said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. "Both new and existing account holders will be able to make informed decisions about whether to sign up for an overdraft service."

The Board's consumer testing shows that most consumers prefer not to be enrolled in overdraft services for ATM and one-time debit card transactions unless they affirmatively consent, or opt in. At the same time, testing shows that most consumers want overdraft services to cover important bills, such as checks they use to pay rent, utilities, and telephone bills.

To ensure that consumers have a meaningful choice, the final rules prohibit financial institutions from discriminating against consumers who do not opt in. The final rules require institutions to provide consumers who do not opt in with the same account terms, conditions, and features (including pricing) that they provide to consumers who do opt in. For consumers who do not opt in, the institution would be prohibited from charging overdraft fees for any overdrafts it pays on ATM and one-time debit card transactions.

"Overdraft fees can be costly," said Governor Elizabeth A. Duke, the chair of the Board's Committee on Consumer and Community Affairs. "Our rule will help consumers better understand the terms and conditions of overdraft services and will give them an opportunity to avoid fees when these services do not meet their needs."

The Fed says that most consumers want overdraft protection on checks and regular electronic bill payments, so those types of payments are excluded form the new opt-in rule.

Federal Reserve announces final rules prohibiting institutions from charging fees for overdrafts on ATM and one-time debit card transactions [Federal Reserve]
(Photo:Johnny Vulkan)