Jul
2
Amazon buys deal-a-day site Woot
July 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Amazon is buying shopping site Woot, where gadget geeks can get some good deals.
Woot announced the deal on Wednesday using a self-deprecating letter from chief executive Matt Rutledge and a video of a dancing and rapping plush monkey.
Launched in 2004, the site initially featured just one electronics product a day, offered at a steep discount. [...]
Jun
24
$11-a-pack cigarettes
June 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment
It's not a good time to be a smoker. New York City smokers already pay the highest cigarette taxes in the nation, but a new state law will push those taxes even higher this summer. The state legislature approved a bill adding a state tax of $1.60 to every pack sold, effective July 1. The [...]
Jun
24
YouTube wins Viacom battle
June 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment
After a three year war, Google triumphed over Viacom on Wednesday as a federal court ruled that Google's YouTube subsidiary is not liable for its users' copyright infringements. A U.S. district court in New York ruled that YouTube is covered by a "safe harbor" clause in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which protects service providers [...]
Jun
13
Wendy's/Arby's shares rise on takeover inquiry
June 13, 2010 | Leave a Comment
The Wendy's/Arby's Group Chairman said he's reviewing an overture from an unnamed group interested in acquiring the fast-food company. The disclosure sent shares up 31 cents, or 7.1%, to $4.65 Friday. There are few details about the inquiry, but the deal could include his participation and he said that he would work with financial advisers [...]
Jun
4
McDonald's is recalling 12 million drinking glasses that it was selling to promote the new Shrek movie. The problem? The painted designs on the U.S made glasses contain the toxic metal cadmium. The U.S. CPSC announced the voluntary recall on Friday and warned consumers to immediately stop using the glasses.
Long-term exposure to cadmium can cause [...]
Jun
3
Work at Wal-Mart, get college credit
June 3, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Wal-Mart employees will soon be able to earn college credit for their on-the-job training and experience. In a letter to U.S. associates, Wal-Mart Vice Chairman Eduardo Castro-Wright said the company is partnering with online educator American Public University to offer the college credits and tuition assistance to help employees get a higher education.
Employees who enroll [...]
May
21
Crowd boos calls for McDonald's to retire Ronald
May 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Ronald McDonald. He is associated with Fast food, fun and fat. Maybe it's time for him to retire. McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner says no way. Many say the character promotes unhealthy eating to kids and should go away
"The answer is no," Skinner told a room full of shareholders. Shareholders applauded Skinner and they unleashed a [...]
May
21
Dell profit jumps on strong sales to businesses
May 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Things are looking good for Dell. Strong demand from business customers helped drive Dell's profit up 52% in its most recent quarter. The company reported net income of $441 million, or 22 cents per share, for the quarter ended April 30. That's up 52% from $290 million, or 15 cents per share, in the same [...]
May
14
Wal-Mart pledges $2 billion to fight hunger
May 14, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Wal-Mart and its charitable foundation will commit $2 billion to help fight hunger in the United States. Under the new initiative, called "Fighting Hunger Together," the world's largest retail chain will donate more than 1.1 billion pounds of food, valued at $1.75 billion, and will provide cash grants totaling $250 million to support hunger relief [...]
May
7
Visa wants iPhone owners to be able to make payments with their phone at special terminals. The wireless credit card payment system is the first of its kind and will involve a customized payment software called Visa payWave, which will come pre-installed on a memory card.
The iPhone lacks an external memory slot, so this system [...]