Author: Chris Morran

When it was announced several years ago that the 2010 Winter Olympics would be held in Vancouver, many people in North America — especially those in the Pacific time zone — were relieved. Finally, they’d be able to see the major events live, instead of on the tape delay they’d come to expect from recent Olympics in Europe, Asia and Australia. Alas, NBC has decided, despite having nearly 24-hour coverage spread out over several channels, to irritate millions of viewers by continuing to use tape delay.

Case in point: Wednesday’s finals in the Women’s Downhill. The marquee event, featuring skiing superstars Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso, took place in the early afternoon, Vancouver time. But instead of showing the event live, NBC used their afternoon broadcast to focus on live coverage of cross-country skiing. And over on sister channel USA, they were showing… curling.

To see the Downhill, you’d have to wait until 8pm, even on the West Coast. Which means folks from San Diego to Seattle had to wait an extra three hours to watch an event that occurred in their own time zone.

Making matters worse, if you went to NBColympics.com to check on that night’s schedule, they spoiled the results of the race right there on the homepage. Or heaven forbid you follow @NBCOlympics on Twitter; they’re sending out the results to their list of followers, who are instantly re-Tweeting out, and so on.

Maybe NBC doesn’t want people tuning into their primetime coverage?

“We’re not trying to hide anything,” said Chris McCloskey, NBC’s VP of Sports Communication (huh?) in an interview about the tape delay.

McCloskey added that, while their Web site will be blasting out live results, there will be no live TV coverage of any of the Alpine Skiing events: “Alpine skiing is probably the sexiest sport that we tape… No doubt about it.”

NBC is making it a point of pride that Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Hockey and Curling will all be shown live. “Yet, we still can’t make everybody happy,” McCloskey said. “You can’t please everybody, but we try to serve the greater good.”

The folks at Deadspin have created an entire category dedicated to what they see as NBC’s horrid handling of the Vancouver games.

They even suggest you write to NBC Sports bigwig Dick Ebersole to complain. Of course, that didn’t really work for Conan, so best of luck.

NBC: No apology for delay of game [Boston.com]

Finally, after years of settling regional disputes with high school football, a new study has come out that could give some scientific grounding to your “I live in a better county” argument.

The folks at the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced today the launch of County Health Rankings, which sorts out the health issues plaguing each county in all of the 50 states.

Using five factors — (1) The rate of people dying before age 75; (2) The percentage of people who reported being in fair or poor health; (3) The number of days people reported being in poor physical health; (4) Number of days in poor mental health; (5) The rate of low-birth weight infants — the researchers determined the level of overall health or “health outcomes” by county.

Digging deeper, they then investigated four factors directly affecting people’s health: (1) Health behaviors; (2) Clinical care; (3) Social and economic factors; (4) Physical environment.

The counties are then ranked within each state on key factors like life expectancy, smoking, obesity, binge drinking, access to primary care providers, rates of high school graduation, rates of violent crime, air pollution levels, liquor store density, unemployment rates and number of children living in poverty.

“For the first time, people have a tool to help identify what is making people in every county unhealthy,” said Patrick Remington, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean for public health at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. “We hope this kind of check-up will mobilize community leaders to take action and invest in programs and policy changes that make their counties healthier places to live.”

Not surprisingly, the healthiest areas are also the wealthiest areas. For example, Philadelphia County in Pennsylvania ranked last out of all 67 counties in the state, but the state’s healthiest county, Chester County, is only a few miles drive to the west. Also, three of the four counties that abut Philadelphia also rank in the top 10.

As reported earlier this week, there is a boom in new medical schools that some hope will help to provide medical care to the poorer urban and rural areas where quality physicians are at a premium.

Go to County Health Rankings to see where your area stacks up.

The history of online social networking is rife with faux pas. From celebrities trolling hookup sites to people being fired for thinking they could blab about their boss on Facebook with impunity, there are countless tales of Internet lessons learned the hard way. And an ingenious — and some say dangerous — new site is out to demonstrate just how easy it is to find out when you’re away from your home so people can steal your stuff.

Please Rob Me uses geolocational networking tools like Foursquare to show just how easy it is for anyone to find out where you are at any given time.

“The danger is publicly telling people where you are,” explains a statement on the site. “This is because it leaves one place you’re definitely not… home. So here we are; on one end we’re leaving lights on when we’re going on a holiday, and on the other we’re telling everybody on the internet we’re not home.”

Of course, some may argue that Please Rob Me is crossing an ethical line. But others would argue that they’re really just consolidating publicly available information and pointing out how vulnerable you might be when you decide to share this information with the world.

What do you think:

While most of the major TV networks and several basic cable channels have been ramping up the amount of programming they make available online, premium cable channels have steered clear of the Internet. That could change with today’s announcement that Verizon Fios and HBO have teamed up to create HBO Go, a service that makes the pay channel’s offerings available online.

HBOGo.com won’t be a 1:1 analog of what’s on HBO, but will give the channel’s subscribers access to over 600 hours of HBO shows and movies. The network also explained that the site will be updated more frequently than HBO’s current TV-based on-demand selections.

Though Verizon Fios subscribers will be the first to get their hands on HBOGo, Comcast subscribers will not be far behind. There was no mention of any impending deals with satellite providers.

When launched, the service will work on both PC and Mac operating systems, though it will not initially be available for non-flash items like the iPhone or iPad. HBO does say, however, that it does intend on eventually making this programming available to the mobile market.

HBO debuts online video service with Verizon [Reuters]

Less than two months after announcing a huge recall of salami and other cured meats that are behind a recent salmonella outbreak, it was announced today that the recall has been expanded even further.

Rhode Island-based Daniele International has issued a recall on an additional 115,000 pounds of salami that may have been tainted with salmonella. An investigation is underway as to the root cause of the salmonella, but it’s currently believed that the source may have been the crushed red pepper used in these products.

The USDA has declared this a Class I recall, meaning that, “This is a health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death.”

The products, which include major brand names like Dietz & Watson and Boar’s Head, affected by the recall include:
• 8-ounce packages of “DIETZ & WATSON ARTISAN COLLECTION HOT SALAME PANINO, HOT SALAME ROLLED IN MOZZARELLA CHEESE.”
• 8-ounce packages of “BOAR’S HEAD SALAME PANINO, SALAME ROLLED IN MOZZARELLA CHEESE.”
• 8-ounce packages of “DANIELE HOT SALAME PANINO WITH FRESH MOZZARELLA.”
• 8-ounce packages of “DANIELE ITALIAN STYLE SALAME PANINO, HOT SALAME ROLLED IN MOZZARELLA CHEESE.”
• Random weight packages of “DANIELE ITALIAN STYLE SALAME PANINO, HOT SALAME ROLLED IN MOZZARELLA CHEESE.”
• 8-ounce packages of “DANIELE SALAME PANINO WITH FRESH MOZZARELLA AND BASIL.”
• 1-pound 8-ounce variety packages of “DANIELE CAPOCOLLO PANINO WITH FRESH MOZZARELLA AND BASIL; PRESIDENT’S PROSCIUTTO PANINO WITH FRESH MOZZARELLA AND BASIL; HOT SALAME PANINO WITH FRESH MOZZARELLA,” with UPC Code 736436709582. NOTE: The products contained in this variety three-pack may be sold individually as well.

The products subject to recall have sell-by dates ranging from February 3, 2010, through May 26, 2010, and were distributed to retail establishments nationwide.

Consumers with questions about the recall should contact the company’s Hotline at (888) 345-4160.

The toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) is available in English and Spanish and can be reached from l0 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday.

Symptoms of salmonellosis (salmonella poisoning) incude diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within eight to 72 hours of consuming the tainted food.

Salami recall expanded as investigators seek source of salmonella [Consumer Reports]

Even though there’s been talk of issuing a subpoena to Toyota President Akio Toyoda, compelling him to speak before Congress, the big boss at the recall-happy car manufacturer has decided to let others do the talking for him.

In a press conference earlier today, Toyoda, the grandson of the company’s founder, said that he was fine with leaving the whole speaking to Congress thing to Toyota’s North American chief Yoshimi Inaba.

“I have full confidence in the management of Toyota Motor North America, led by Mr Inaba, and I believe he is the best placed to testify,” Toyoda explained. He later added, “I will focus on internal reform to improve quality and support Inaba from our headquarters.”

Is this the right move by Toyoda? Is there even a point to dragging a Toyota executive before Congress?

Toyota chief sidesteps Congress [Reuters]

Anyone who’s lived in — or even visited — New York City is familiar with Duane Reade Pharmacies, the only business that competes with Starbuck in terms of retail space in the five boroughs. And, as a New Yorker, I know it’s a love-hate relationship with the local chain. But the era of a Duane Reade on every corner in Manhattan may be coming to an end with the announcement this morning that Illinois-based drugstore giant Walgreens is in the process of buying Duane Reade out.

As part of the $1.1. billion cash deal, Walgreens will acquire all 257 Duane Reade stores in the New York City area, its offices and distribution centers, and the company’s debt.

“Duane Reade is a compelling strategic acquisition that will immediately provide Walgreens with a leading position in the largest drugstore market in the United States,” Walgreens chief executive and president Greg Wasson explained. “The transaction is consistent with the capital allocation objectives we outlined last fall, which included investing in strategic opportunities that reinforce the company’s core strategies and meet return requirements.”

The deal, which is pending approval, is expected to close before the end of Walgreens’ current fiscal year on Aug. 31.

New Yorkers, feel free to wax nostalgiac and share your favorite Duane Reade memory with us.

Walgreens to buy rival drugstore Duane Reade [CNN]

With their sales sinking as they deal with the massive recall of 8 million vehicles, Toyota announced today that they are trimming back production at two U.S. factories in an effort to avoid an overstock of unsold automobiles.

First on the list of idled plants is Toyota’s largest North American facility, in Georgetown, KY. The assembly line there has been ordered to not produce any vehicles on Friday, Feb. 26 and possibly an additional three days in March.

Meanwhile, the Toyota Tundra plant San Antonio, Texas, will idle its production lines on March 15 through March 19 and then again on April 12 through April 16.

But there will still be some work going on at the San Antonio plant, with some of the downtime being used to work on Tacoma pickups.

According to Toyota, no employees at the Kentucky or Texas plants will be laid off as a result of the temporary shutdowns.

Toyota to Trim Production at Kentucky, Texas Plants [Bloomberg]

Morning sickness sucks. And if you want to make it even worse, pick up some calabash chalk. The FDA is now saying the traditional morning sickness remedy — also called nzu, poto, calabar stone, mabele, argile or la craie — has been found to contain lead and arsenic.

Usually sold in stores that sell African herbal remedies, calabash chalk is packed as large pellets or blocks in clear plastic bags that are often unlabeled.

“Using calabash chalk is unhealthy for pregnant women and their unborn children,” said Nancy Clark, assistant commissioner for the New York City Health Department’s Environmental Disease Prevention Bureau. “And the sale of these products is illegal.”

In New York City, the Health Department has ordered a halt to the sale and distribution of calabash chalk. Stores have been told to remove any currently available product from shelves and stockrooms. They are also being instructed to post warnings about the use of the product.

Anyone using the product should stop doing so immediately and should contact a doctor. They are also being advised to contact their local Poison Control Center.

Health Department warns pregnant women against morning sickness remedy containing lead, arsenic [Staten Island Live]

If you’ve been having flashbacks to the fall of 2007 while watching the Olympics on NBC this week, you might want to blame Chevy, who decided to dust off their love-it-or-hate-it “Our Country” ad campaign for the winter games in Vancouver.

As you may remember, when Chevy first bombarded the airwaves (especially during baseball and football games) with Johnny Cougar’s patriotic jingle, there was a backlash that resulted in everything from a Newsweek editorial begging them to stop, to an anti-Chevy movement on ESPN to the creation of more than a dozen Facebook groups dedicated to hating these TV spots.

At the time, Chevy called the ads a “success,” though they apparently had no positive effect on sales.

So, more than two years later, what do you think?

The stores you go to might not be listening to your complaints and suggestions, but someone is — the producers of this year’s Academy Awards broadcast. In a move sure to please the viewing audience and outrage the celebrity publicist community, the folks behind the Oscars have asked winners to prep two speeches: One for their on-air acceptance and one for a separate backstage webcam.

Calling the seemingly endless list of “thank you”s that every winner rattles off, “the single most-hated thing on the show,” co-producers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman revealed their revolutionary plan to this year’s slate of potential winners at the annual Oscar nominees luncheon in Beverly Hills yesterday.

“Share your passion on what the Oscar means to you,” Shankman told the nominees, explaining that the audience wants to hear about the art of film making, not hearing you flub the name of your business manager’s assistant.

To placate the army of PR reps, attorneys and “executive producers” who actually run Hollywood, winners will be able to ramble on to their hearts’ content backstage. The footage on those cams will be available on the Oscars site, where the winners’ personal assistants can then e-mail the video to those who would usually be thanked on air.

Since there’s nothing the producers can really do if a winner violates this request, who do you think is most likely to disregard it and pull out the big list of names?

Nominees told to prep two speeches for Oscar night [Reuters]

It’s a new day, so there must be a new revelation about another way in which Google Buzz is an affront to the concept of personal privacy, right? But the latest complaint about the Internet giant’s unasked-for answer to Facebook and Twitter goes far beyond making your private contacts public or adding potential personal safety risks to your “followers” list. It looks like the phishers and botnet scammers have already begun taking advantage of the new feature.

Unseemly Internet crooks have begun introducing corrupted search result links into the cybersphere. When clicked on, your PC could become part of a Borg-like botnet, dealing out spam and possibly giving up your personal data in the process.

Security experts say that fake pharmaceuticals spammers are already taking advantage of Google Buzz with the ultimate intent of accessing the data available in the victim’s Gmail account.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center is currently preparing a formal complaint to the FCC regarding Google Buzz, the same group that led a similar campaign against Facebook’s questionable privacies policies.

“Both companies have broken promises to their users about how personal information would be used,” says Marc Rotenberg, executive director of EPIC. “They did so in ways that were misleading, unfair, and deceptive. These are serious concerns for any user of these services.”

Google Buzz fuels rising privacy, security concerns [USA Today]

Consumerist reader Brian recently had a death in his family and needed to fly from Rochester, NY, to Boston.When he attempted to book a flight with a bereavement discount with Delta, he was told that there was a direct, non-bereavement fare available for almost half the cost. Brian’s complaint is a common one among air travelers, and it springs from a general misconception of exactly what the airlines mean by “bereavement fare.”

The idea of bereavement (occasionally called “compassion”) fares and discounts go back to the pre-Internet era of air travel, when there was less flexibility in airline pricing and available discounts. Carriers would offer discounts, often around 50%, off their full fare.

But in this day of online booking (not to mention Priceline, Orbitz, Travelocity and others), passengers almost never pay full fare. It’s like when you go to a hotel and see the rate listed on the back of the door, which is usually significantly higher than what you paid.

Additionally, some airlines’ bereavement fares have options that are not available on regular fares. These range from no-fee cancellation policies to open-ended return tickets. In some situations, these options might be desirable — and might cost less in the long run.

In Brian’s situation, Delta was willing to give him a discount on a flight from Rochester to Boston (through NYC). But even with that discount, the fare was $640 and there was a direct flight available for $350. The booking agent on the phone let him know of the cheaper fare up front.

The lesson here is: Don’t always assume a bereavement fare is going to be the least expensive way to reach a family member’s funeral or in the case of a medical emergency. So be sure when booking the flight to make sure you’re purchasing the ticket that best suits your needs.

Bereavement Fares: The Best Airlines For Compassion Fares [Window Seat Blog]

When you’re IMing all your BFFs, do you have difficulty typing Internets-friendly phrases like LOL, L8R, TTYL on your Qwerty keyboard? In fact, do you have a problem pecking away at the keys on your Qwerty keyboard in general? A new keyboard unveiled at the New York Toy Fair hopes to be of assistance to you and all the other 8-year-olds like you.

The Fast Finger Keyboard works as both a Qwerty keyboard and in alphabetical order. Users can switch between modes with the push of a button.

Of more interest are the shortcut buttons at the top of the keyboard that employ built-in shortcuts for typical e-mail and IM phrases. Here is the complete list of shortcuts available:
ASAP
BRB
BTW
CYA
FYI
HOAS
HRU
IMO
L8R
LOL
THX
TTYL

Is this of any interest to anyone? Does this usher in a new era of laziness or convenience?

Whatever, CYA L8R…

At Last, A Keyboard With A LOL Button [Kotaku]

Note to Baby Boomers: You might dress, look and behave significantly more youthful than your forebears, but you are still getting older. That inexorably means retirement and declining health. Unfortunately, a ton of the doctors currently practicing will be retiring along with you. The solution? More medical schools to churn out more M.D.s.

After two decades in the ’80s and ’90s during which only one new medical school was opened in the U.S., approximately two dozen med schools have either recently opened or are in planning stages.

“Huge numbers of qualified American kids were not getting into American medical schools or going abroad to study,” explains Dr. Lawrence G. Smith, dean of the Hofstra University’s proposed School of Medicine. “I think it was a kind of wake-up call.”

Beyond this potential 18% increase in the number of U.S. medical schools, existing doctor factories are upping their enrollment and expanding their partnerships with established hospitals.

Proponents of the increase say this new crop of doctors will help to get medical care into currently under-served rural areas that are desperately in need of quality physicians. The naysayers fear that these new schools and expanded programs are merely going to be cranking out more of the same — doctors that gravitate toward the money in affluent urban and suburban neighborhoods.

Is more medical schools the solution? Or is there a better way to both care for our aging population and help those who need it most?

Expecting a Surge in U.S. Medical Schools [NY Times]

Tippi Hedren beware — the birds are at it again. Another passenger flight was the victim of a unprovoked “bird strike” by our fine-feathered foes on Monday.

The avian attackers got all up in the grill of Spirit Airlines Flight 758 bound for New York’s La Guardia Airport from Ft. Lauderdale. The plane was forced to make a U-turn back to Ft. Lauderdale, where it landed safely with no one injured. Inspectors are checking out the plane for damage and, presumably, bird remnants.

As you probably already know, birds were responsible for the failure of US Airways Flight 1549 last January. That Charlotte, NC, bound flight originated from La Guardia and terminated off the coast of Manhattan when Capt. Sully Sullenberger performed a water landing in the Hudson River.

Bird Strike Grounds LGA Bound Flight [NY1]

After weeks of hype and speculation (though nothing compared to the hysteria surrounding any new Apple product), Microsoft finally unveiled its attempt at out iPhoning the iPhone. Here’s an exhaustive video covering all the ways in which this spanking new product is so not exactly the same as what other companies have been doing for more than 2 years.

Only time will tell whether Microsoft has another Windows 3.1 on its hands… or just another Zune.

First Look: Windows Phone 7 Series Hands on Demo
[MSDN]

Now that Toyota has almost nearly completed its time in the naughty spot for dumping a few million potentially deadly vehicles on the market, the world’s largest auto manufacturer is looking to make nice. But instead of flowers, candy or poetry, Toyota is making plans to woo you back into their showrooms with increased cash incentives and improved maintenance plans.

“We are studying everything,” U.S. sales chief Bob Carter said earlier today at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention. “All are under evaluation.”

Don Esmond, senior VP of Toyota Motor Sales USA, takes a more metaphoric approach to the company’s plans: “We’ll figure what the right cruise missile will be.”

While Toyota bigwigs wouldn’t give specific details on the plans under consideration, one report claims a top contender is a $1,000 rebate. This would be in addition to the existing $1,000 loyalty bonus Toyota offers returning customers.

Of even more interest is the possibility of a free maintenance program that would cover regular services like oil changes. They are also considering the idea of matching Hyundai’s 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty.

“We made some mistakes,” said Carter. “But customers look for how you address the mistakes. We are doing what is needed to make that right.”

While the rest of the U.S. car-buying market saw a small uptick in January, Toyota’s stateside sales plummeted 16 percent.

Toyota plans competitive sales incentives for March [Reuters]

After unleashing a Pandora’s box of privacy issues with the launch of their new Facebook wannabe “Google Buzz” feature earlier this week, Google now says they are taking the problem seriously.

“We’re very sorry for the concern we’ve caused and have been working hard ever since to improve things based on your feedback,” Google Buzz product manager Todd Jackson wrote in a statement over the weekend. “We’ll continue to do so.”

The “concern” at the heart of the problem is thus: When Google Buzz was launched, it automatically listed you as a “follower” of all of your most frequent Gmail and Google Chat contacts. Even worse, it made your followers list public knowledge to anyone following you, essentially negating the whole idea of having a private address book.

To remedy the situation, Google Buzz will no longer auto-add followers. Much like users of Google Reader have had to do for quite a while, you’ll have to manually create your follow/followers list. And speaking of Google Reader, Buzz will no longer automatically link in your Reader or Picasa accounts.

Of course, you could just turn it off and use Facebook and Twitter to follow your contacts’ random musings on the weather, American Idol and what have you.

Do you really need one site that combines every aspect of your life? Is there a danger to consolidating everything in one place, or do you find it to be a convenience?

Anger Leads to Apology From Google About Buzz [NY Times]

Someone over at NBC Sports is due to get a tongue-lashing over this. At the end of Sunday night’s coverage of pairs figure skating, the network listed the leading pairs… but managed to get all of the countries and flags wrong.

Looking at the list, NBC got the order of the top 6 pairs correct. However, the countries and corresponding flags are displayed in reverse order.

Here’s how it should have gone:
1. Shen/Zhao (China)
2. Savchenko/Szolkowy (Germany)
3. Kavaguti/Smirnov (Russia)
4. Pang/Tong (China)
5. Zhang/Zhang (China)
6. Dube/Davison (Canada)