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With the economy still creeping along on its belly, many Americans are facing mounting piles of debt. And for an increasing number of people — whether through mismanagement of their finances, loss of income or change in employment status — creditors are moving to garnish their wages to recoup their money.

Before a creditor, including the government, can begin taking their pound of flesh straight from your paycheck every week, they almost always need to file a lawsuit. But many people never appear in court to defend themselves because they assume they’re going to lose and the worst that can happen is they still owe the money.

However, this often only makes the situation much worse as the creditors will not only begin to garnish your pay — up to 25% of your take-home income — but will tack on near-usurious interest rates and penalties.

And before you think “I’ll just declare bankruptcy,” you need to know that it often costs thousands of dollars to officially be declared broke.

Says the NY Times, it’s always in your best interest to face your creditors in court:

In the rare event that a consumer battles back, creditors frequently lack the documentation to prove their claim, and cases are dropped. That is because many past-due debts are owned not by the banks that issued them, but by debt collectors who bought, for cents on the dollar, a list of names and amounts due.

So if you find yourself penned into a corner and your creditors are unwilling to work out a reasonable payment schedule, try to find a reasonably priced attorney (the money you spend on the lawyer will likely be less than the penalties incurred by losing a lawsuit) and get your day in court.

Pay Garnishments Rise as Debtors Fall Behind [NY TImes]

Mass customization isn’t really that hard to pull off anymore, if a retailer is willing to invest the time building a good interface for customers. BusinessWeek has a slideshow of 10 retailers that let you customize the product before purchasing it. You can buy sneakers, purses, shirts, and even jewelry this way, or if you’re feeling really DIY you can go to a site like Ponoko or Shapeways and have product parts made to order.

It’s not necessarily any cheaper to go this route instead of a mass-produced item. A custom stand I built for my iPhone using Ponoko cost me $22 after I included shipping, for example. On the other hand, a custom-made dress shirt from Blank Label will run about $45, which wouldn’t be unheard of in a major department store.

“Cool Things You Can Design Yourself” [BusinessWeek]

Although many Internet users now benefit from a more reliable broadband connection, a torrent client may still be a more effective way of downloading larger
files. For those who aren’t familiar with torrent
files, they are simply files that have been separated into smaller pieces, arriving from different locations, and reassembled on arrival. Like a download manager, a
good torrent client will enable you to control all aspects of file
sharing, from downloading and sharing to queuing and setting speed
limits.

BitComet 1.20
is a free file sharing tool that’s BitTorrent compatible and designed
to help you manage all aspects of torrent download and file management. Use it to
queue, pause and resume downloads. Although it’s very similar to
BitTorrent, it’s interface is easier to use. 

BitComet 1.20 link.

A new report by Oregon’s Portland Metro has found that emissions from driving cars and providing energy only account for about half of the GHGs emitted in the northwest Oregon region. The other half is a direct result of the consumption habits of the region’s inhabitants.

(more…)

Perhaps in a move to not win Consumerist’s Worst Company In America title, General Motors announced today that they plan on installing brake override software in all GM cars with automatic transmissions and electronic throttle control worldwide by 2012.

For those not familiar with brake override technology, it tells your car to stop paying attention to the accelerator once the brake is pressed. So even if your accelerator is pinned to the floor, pressing the brake should stop acceleration and begin to slow the vehicle down.

“We know safety is top of mind for consumers, so we are applying additional technology to reassure them that they can count on the brakes in their GM vehicle,” some guy with an impressive title at GM said.

Toyota, who has faced massive amounts of scrutiny over unintended acceleration in a range of its vehicles — and who lost to GM in our WCIA matchup — has already announced a similar plan to have brake override active in their cars. Toyota’s plan is scheduled to go into effect in 2011.

GM Plans to Install Brake Override Software Worldwide by 2012 [BusinessWeek]

J.K. Rowling reading from Harry Potter book at the White House Easter Egg roll. Photo by Lynn Sweet

As the state moves ever closer to its bonding cap, lawmakers have become interested this year in de-authorizing various bond projects.

Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell started the trend several months ago, making a proposed net reduction of $252 million in bonding.

But the tax-writing finance committee moved to push that further to make $412.7 million in bond de-authorizations Monday, including 255 individual cancelations and reductions.

“We have not added any new authorizations,” said Sen. Donald DeFronzo, a New Britain Democrat who co-chairs the bonding subcommittee of the finance committee. “We do not include any authorizations for the UConn medical school.”

Rep. Carlo Leone, a Stamford Democrat who co-chairs the subcommittee with DeFronzo, said lawmakers are responding because of concerns about a “negative outlook” and potential bond downgrade from the Wall Street bond-rating agencies.

“We all recognize that we’re in a tough fiscal environment,” said Rep. Cameron Staples, a New Haven Democrat who co-chairs the finance committee.

With bipartisan support, the bond de-authorization bill was moved to the “consent” calendar for non-controversial items.

Lawmakers also discussed the selling of bonds to refurbish the service plazas along Interstate 95 under an agreement that was reached with the state in November 2009. Under the old contract, the state got 11 cents per gallon from gasoline sales, and now the state is getting one cent, officials said.

Lawmakers, however, were expected to vote on a bond bill – not the service plaza contract.

The committee had been expected to vote on a highly controversial business tax, but that vote has been postponed until Tuesday – the committee’s deadline. The measure is known as “mandatory combined reporting,” which is strongly supported by the New Haven-based Connecticut Voices For Children. Voices says that the bill “would close corporate tax loopholes by preventing multi-state corporations from avoiding state taxes by artificially shifting their profits to subsidiaries in other states.”

The Connecticut Business & Industry Association – the state’s largest business lobby – has been working against the combined reporting measure for years.

Lawmakers also debated over municipal fee increases on a bill that divided chiefly along partisan lines – with Democrats supporting the fee increases and Republicans against. The bill would increase certain notary fees, town clerk fees, marriage licenses, burial and cremation permits, and dog and kennel license fees.

Republicans spoke against the increases, even if some of them were relatively minor.

“I recall the public’s outrage when their fishing licenses were increased last year,” said Sen. Toni Boucher, a Wilton Republican.

“Some of these have not been increased in 30 years or 40 years,” Staples responded. “I don’t think overall that they’re really unreasonable.”

“Nickeling and diming people on the town level is certainly not the answer,” said Rep. Themis Klarides, a House deputy Republican leader.

Lawmakers also debated the creation of yet another blue-ribbon commission – a 17-member Revenue Accountability Commission. But veteran Republican Sen. Andrew Roraback of Goshen said the commission did not seem to have many proposed members with any expertise on taxes. Instead, members – who have not yet been named – would include people who represent large businesses, small businesses, and at least two who are “representing a policy-focused nonprofit entity.”

“It’s just a bunch of regular folks – much like the legislature,” Roraback said, adding that he would vote against the bill because a revenue commission should have expertise on taxes.

Part of the bill deals directly with the disclosure to the commission of confidential tax information, which has been a highly controversial point to the state Department of Revenue Services for many years. The debate prompted outrage by Rep. J. Brendan Sharkey, who tangled with DRS years ago when he served as the co-chair of the Program Review and Investigations Committee with Republican Cathy Cook. Sharkey has sharply criticized DRS for limiting information to the legislature.

“This is exactly the conversation that took place about four years ago,” Sharkey said. “At that time, DRS told us they could not provide us with any aggregated data. As a result, the study was not as comprehensive as I would have liked it to be. … The state of Connecticut has been trying to deal with tax policy for the last five years with one hand tied behind its back because it can’t get the data.”

Lawmakers also debated the creation of a regional hotel tax, which would funnel money to cities and towns, as well as regional councils of governments and regional planning organizations for property tax relief. The idea would generate about $19 million per year for cash-strapped cities and towns by increasing the hotel tax to 15 percent, up from the current 12 percent.

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities has supported the hotel tax as a way to help municipalities, which currently generate a large portion of their revenue from property taxes.

“I am concerned with our hotel industry and how decimated it has been throughout this economic crisis,” said Rep. Vincent J. Candelora, the ranking House Republican on the finance committee. The bill “is trying to provide rate relief on the backs of our hotels.”

Instead, the legislature’s appropriations committee should cut spending instead of having the finance committee raise taxes, Candelora said.

Roraback spoke next, saying that a regional hotel tax would backfire in a difficult economy.

“There’s been one goose that has been laying any golden eggs in Litchfield County, and that is our tourism agency,” said Roraback, who represents 15 towns in the state’s northwestern corner. “The goose has managed to stay alive. It hasn’t been thriving. This may end up putting a noose around the goose’s neck.”

The region would clearly lose money “if we scare people off from spending the night,” Roraback said.

But Staples, who voted for the bill, countered that the extra tax would not make Connecticut “non-competitive,” saying that the hotel rates are already higher in New York and Boston.

“We are targeting a business that is very price sensitive that has been hit hard by this recession,” said Sen. Toni Boucher, a Wilton Republican. “They have a particular challenge in these times.”

Klarides said she was more concerned about the hotel tax because tourists often head to certain areas of the state, like Litchfield County, for long weekends.

“I really don’t trust this legislature with any more revenue than we already have,” said Klarides, a veteran lawmaker who first won election in 1998.

Rep. Russ Morin, the former Democratic mayor of Wethersfield, said he has advocated the regional hotel tax for the past four years, saying it has been pushed by mayors and first selectmen across the state.

“A 3 percent tax is probably not going to deter folks who are traveling,” Morin said. “That has never once deterred me from traveling to a location that I want to travel to. I am not buying that argument. … I guess being here four years has not given me enough time to distrust all of you.”

Rep. Demetrios Giannaros, an economist who voted for the hotel tax, said citizens need to remember certain facts about the level of taxes in the state. Connecticut ranks No. 25 in state tax collections as a percentage of personal income, he said. Regarding sales taxes, Connecticut ranks No. 36 at 1.62 percent of total personal income. With billionaires living in Greenwich, the percentage of their incomes that they spend on various taxes is quite low.

Sen. Michael McLachlan noted that his hometown of Danbury has one of the highest amounts of hotel rooms of any community of all 169 municipalities in Connecticut.

“I think this is counterproductive in our economy,” said McLachlan, a Republican who opposed the measure. “I have a greater long-term concern about the tourism industry in general.”

by Jonathan Hiskes

The Shen Neng 1 in a plume of heavy oil in Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.Australian Maritime Safety AuthorityUgh. Everything about this is bad: A Chinese freighter crashed into Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Saturday, running aground and spilling heavy fuel oil into the water. The ship is stuck, and while the flow of oil has been stopped, rescuers worry that righting the ship could create even more spillage.

Coral reefs cover less than one percent of earth’s oceans, but are home to about 25 percent of identified marine species. The Great Barrier Reef is the king of coral reefs—stunning, ecologically priceless, full of matchless biological diversity, and in grave danger. Even before this most recent oil spill, rising ocean temperatures and acidity levels and previous toxic shipwrecks have threatened the reef.

Besides its fuel, the ship that rammed the reef was carrying another toxic fuel—Australian coal meant for power-plant furnaces in China. Australia is the world’s largest exporter of coal and China the world’s largest consumer of coal, so the route the ship was supposed to run is a common one. But the coal is incidental—the ship could have been carrying solar panels and the fuel spill would have been just as damaging.

There are reports of potential fines in excess of $1 million. This is ludicrous, of course, as there’s no way to put a price on an ecosystem which is unlike any other in the world. The hope is that such fines are steep enough to scare shippers into more careful practices.

Coral around the world is sad today.

Related Links:

A movement far larger than the Tea Party

Time for Obama to embrace another GOP energy plan

Coal freighter rams Great Barrier Reef, spilling oil into pristine waters

Published April 4, 2010
By Kristi Pihl, Tri-City Herald staff writer

Pasco is taking a hands-on approach to downtown after taking a back seat on the effort for more than a decade.

Pasco City Council decided to create an organization to pursue downtown revitalization at the Saturday biennial retreat.

Some of downtown has transformed on its own, said City Manager Gary Crutchfield. But, “We believe the laissez-faire approach has been tried,” he said.

Pasco Downtown Development Association has led recent revitalization efforts. But Councilman Al Yenney said the association hasn’t delivered on promises it made three years ago.

Columbia Basin College, the Pasco Downtown Development Association and the city are partnering on a facade improvement program, where seven downtown businesses will receive financial support for remodels and education and business plan aid from CBC.

Councilwoman Rebecca Francik said it’s the third downtown plan in 13 years. The other two are collecting dust.

“Having a plan isn’t enough,” she said. “It’s got to be more aggressive.”

The city could create a community renewal agency, which the council would appoint to create a community renewal plan and address physical and economic blights, said Rick White, city community and economic development director.

Pasco could also designate a city department or board to manage revitalization efforts, Crutchfield said.

Acting Mayor Matt Watkins said Pasco should bring in downtown stakeholders and facilitate a comprehensive plan that could include creating a new agency.

There would be some resistance to the city taking the lead on revitalization, Crutchfield said. Pasco would need to work with the other agencies, including the downtown association, to create an organizational structure that they could accept.

“It’s going to be slower than you would like,” he told the council.

The city should look into promoting the area as a Hispanic commercial district, Yenney said. But promoting it won’t help until parking is addressed, since during busy times, there isn’t parking.

“I really think the downtown could be a center for Hispanic business services,” Crutchfield said.

That could draw people from all over the region, especially on Sundays, which he said tends to be the main shopping day for Hispanic families.

Another council priority is tackling the city’s water rights shortage.

Pasco has borrowed water from the quad-cities water rights, which it owns jointly with Kennewick, Richland and West Richland, according to the council retreat packet. However, the city will need to pay that water back.

The city thought it had a commitment from the state Department of Ecology to solve the shortage, Crutchfield said. But that commitment seems to have eroded.

“We can’t grow without water rights,” he said.

Crutchfield said the worst thing that could happen would be a moratorium on any new development. And the new industrial development the city hopes to attract would also need water.

According to some, the city doesn’t have enough water rights for its current development, he said.

Resolving water rights could involve hiring an attorney, said Bob Alberts, city public works director.

And while curbside recycling didn’t make it to a council goal for the biennium, the city will consider adding the service. Sixty-three percent of those who responded to the city’s 2009 survey indicated they would support the program if it meant a $4 to $5 monthly charge.

The city will ask Basin Disposal Inc., which provides the city’s garbage service, to present a curbside proposal.

If the program was mandatory, support for the curbside recycling would be lower than the survey response, Yenney said. And an opt-in program would not work for the contractor.

There isn’t a market for the recyclable items being collected, Councilman Mike Garrison said.

Instead, the city should have more recycling collection centers around town, Yenney said.

Other council goals for 2010-11 include:

• Develop and implement a marketing strategy for the city’s industrial areas, including the Heritage Center, Foster Wells and the Highway 12 corridor
• Secure funding for a public safety building, including a police station and a municipal court
• Acquire funding for the Lewis Street overpass, a $31 million project that will replace the 70-year-old underpass
• Implement an emergency communication system plan
• Evaluate expanding the process water use facility
• Develop a plan with the state Department of Transportation to deal with Road 68 congestion
• Adopt a comprehensive sewer plan for the urban growth area
• Foster commercial development in Broadmoor area
• Apply city standards to the urban growth area
• Collaborate with other cities in the Mid-Columbia area to control gang activity
• Evaluate the affect of A Street interchange on the city’s urban growth boundaries and future development
• Implement the city’s rivershore plan to foster more shoreline use
• Continue to cooperate with neighboring cities on a regional center.

Additional news stories can be accessed online at the Tri-City Herald.

I’ve been reading all the reports, like this one from our own Darrell Etherington, about how Apple is removing film-based screen protectors from Apple stores. Multiple accounts suggest that this is for one or both of two key reasons: First, the mere presence of them in the store suggests somehow that the iPhone needs them when in fact it doesn’t and  second, the liability to Apple of imperfect applications is simply too great to ignore.

I’ve got both a case and screen protector on my iPhone 3GS, and I used cases and screen protectors for the original iPhone and iPhone 3G as well. Upon reading these reports, I did the same thing that any cautious and deliberate person would do. I threw caution to the wind and tore off the screen protector, which was in need of replacement anyway.

Despite my hesitation, I have to say that I prefer my iPhone without a screen protector. Images are more clear, the user interface responds to touch controls much better, and the screen is really easy to keep clean with a quick wipe on my t-shirt or another clean soft cloth (as long as I’m not eating chips while using the iPhone). I also realized that I long ago set the brightness of my iPhone really low to conserve battery power. I used to travel much more than I do now, and often found myself needing to conserve my battery for necessary phone calls and email. Now I’m always closer to a power source for a recharge, and a friend gifted me a Mophie Juice Pack not too long ago for times when I’m off the grid.

I haven’t gone completely native though. I kept the case. I’ll have to do some digging to remember which one it is, but its a very low profile hard shell case that simply and easily snaps on without adding any significant weight or bulk. I keep my iPhone in the same pocket as my keys, and I really want to preserve the back for resell value. Without the case, I’d be afraid that it would be scratched too much. The case also has a slightly more matte, tactile feel that still slides in-and-out of my pocket easily but doesn’t slide across the table or get slippery with sweaty palms (I know, I know).

If you’re using a screen protector, you might want to do what I did and take it off. Its almost like getting a brand new iPhone.

Image courtesy of Flickr user williamhook

Chatroulette by itself is fine if you’re a pianist or a guy who pushes birds into snakes’ mouths, but what if you’re just a dude with an iPad. Turns out that’s MUCH better. More »

Anyone following Android can tell you that current holder of worst kept secret is Verizon’s forthcoming handset, the HTC Incredible.  The tiny bits of information hitting the internet have gone from a slow trickle into a downpour.  Late last week, the Incredible was found in the Cellebrite system. The last time this happened, it was for the Motorola Devour.  A few short weeks later, the phone was formally announced by Big Red.

Over the weekend, we saw a handful of tweets from Verizon’s VZWOffers account with references to the handset.  Without officially confirming anything, they do nothing to play dumb or pull the old “We cannot comment on products that have not been announced” deal.  Today sees us getting a screenshot of some activation instructions for the phone.

At this point, it’s just getting silly.  C’mon Verizon, announce the phone and get it over with.

Might We Suggest…

• 150,000+ Incredibles In Warehouse, Ready for April Launch?
  

  CTIA came and went without any Android-related Verizon news.  After watching Sprint and a few others walk away with all the green robot glory, we’re waiting for Big Red to drop something on us.  A…

Filed under: Budget, Sedan, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Nissan, Toys/Games, Canada

If you’re like us, chances are you spend just as much time drooling over the latest automotive toys as you do the real deal. Nissan has embraced its inner child with a new spot for the 2010 Sentra SE-R, filming the entire commercial in 1/10th scale with the help of a fleet of radio-controlled vehicles. There’s even a R/C helicopter in on the action.

As the story goes, this ad was worked up by TBWA\Toronto for Nissan Canada, and the crew has been kind enough to provide the world with a “making of” video, too. Us? We’re just happy to see Nissan spend some money promoting the SE-R at all. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ll be in the parking lot perfecting our R/C drifts. Hop the jump for a look at the full spot, and don’t forget to catch the behind-the-scenes video, too. Hat tip to Lindsey!

[Source: Nissan Canada via YouTube]

Continue reading Video: The coolest R/C footage we’ve seen in a long time stars… a Nissan Sentra SE-R?

Video: The coolest R/C footage we’ve seen in a long time stars… a Nissan Sentra SE-R? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now here’s a contest that could be right up my alley. Dubbed "the world’s first reality hair ad," it’s a Procter & Gamble-sponsored casting call for chicks who’d like to try Pantene shampoo during a live commercial with product pitchwoman and What Not to Wear star Stacy London. Well, I have a lot of hair, and it often needs to be washed, so I might just give this a shot. But other than a brief TV appearance on May 25 and spanking clean locks (and maybe a cut and style thrown in?), what could I win? Answer: tickets to a Bret Michaels concert, first-class airfare, backstage passes and a ride on his tour bus. Wait, what? You mean I’d get a freshly laundered ‘do just to hang around in a sea of skanky Rock of Love rejects in Michaels’ entourage? Is this really the kind of brand message P&G wants to put out? Besides, any association between Michaels and hair products is a head scratcher, since I suspect his wispy blonde tendrils are actually extensions sewn into his ever-present bandana. No bandana? Hello, baldie! So, I think I’ve changed my mind about uploading an audition video, but I sure appreciate the twisted attempt at humor. Thanks, P&G!

—Posted by T.L. Stanley

Now it’s getting tough. Two giants compete for the battle of the biggest. Will it be our biggest retailer? Or our biggest bank?

Which one causes an anger so big it blots out the sky?

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2010 series. The companies competing for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america. Print the bracket, here.

It’s 6:30 am. The Alarm app on your iPhone screams to life, the handset vibrating across the table. You grab it before it shuffles off the edge.

You stare at the screen. It stares back. “It’s 6:30 AM! Snooze?”, it says through a fake, one-tooth grin. “I hate you, iPhone. I wish you were an HD2.”

If this story sounds familiar, your day is about to get so much better.

TmoNews just got their paws on the above intranet message, outlining a plan for “participating” T-Mobile retailers (read: not all of them) to sell some HD2s by handing out a good chunk of cash in exchange for iPhones.

Here’s how it works: You take your working, hopefully-in-good-shape iPhone into a T-mobile store. You tell them you’re interested in an HD2, and they’ll tell you how much store credit they’ll give you toward the purchase, ranging from $100 to $350. Easypeezy.

Given that the HD2 goes for $199 on a two year contract, you could very easily be walking out of the store with a free handset be it that your iPhone is in good enough shape. If you’re looking to avoid all that contract nonsense, you can also apply that credit towards outright purchasing the $450 unit, bringing the final price as low as $100 bucks.

If you’re looking to get rid of your iPhone and an HD2 sounds right, this seems like a decent way to go about it. If you’re not looking to get rid of your iPhone — well, then this is a terrible idea for you.

As is quickly becoming the norm at developer conferences, we’re getting word that Nexus Ones and Motorola Droids are being given out in advance to developers who plan to attend the Google IO conference next month in San Francisco. (They did it last year, too.) Makes sense, as it’s sort of a goodwill thing (or small-scale bribe, some might say), and it’s obviously good to have developers actually using some of the top-of-the-line phones.

And before you ask, no, you can’t go if you’re not already registered. It’s all full-up. Sorry, kids.