Price Gouging Dings Consumers Amid Hurricane ... - Yahoo! Finance

Millions of Americans set out to buy emergency supplies in the days ahead of Hurricane Sandy.

Those buying essentials such as gas, food, water, batteries and generators expected to dip into their savings and spend more money than usual ? but they did not expect to overpay.

[Related: Hurricane Sandy: Economic Impact Could Exceed $10 Billion a Day]

Price gouging is a common occurrence during emergency situations. Retailers know that consumers who need products will be willing to pay more for them and take advantage.

On October 29, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman issued an open letter to vendors reminding them that it is illegal to gouge prices during abnormal disruption of markets.

"As Attorney General, it is my responsibility to enforce the price gouging law, and while it is my hope that I will not need to do so, my office is certainly prepared," he wrote. "We will review pricing data, and take such complaints filed with office seriously, as we do with any matter."

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie sent out similar warnings. In New Jersey it is illegal to raise prices by more than 10% during an emergency.

[Related: Atlantic City Casinos Shuttered Amid Sandy Fallout]

Despite these warnings, price gouging continues.

Matthew Hendershot, a resident of Brooklyn, experienced raised prices at the pump before Sandy. "I thought I would top off my gas tank to be safe before things got ugly," He told The Daily Ticker, "Prices for gas at this particular Getty just the other day were ranging from $4.09 to $4.29 for premium. This morning all of the prices had been set to $4.95 straight across the board, all grades and both the cash and charge payments. Usually the cash payment is ten cents less than if you pay with a card. So it seems pretty obvious that they just maxed out the price on everything to five bucks."

In North Carolina, District Attorney Roy Cooper has also put emergency price gouging laws into effect. "A crisis shouldn't be an excuse to rip off consumers," he says.

[Related: Hurricane Sandy: Pre-Storm Mayhem Hits NYC Whole Foods]

During Hurricane Ike, North Carolina suffered many cases of price gouging. Attorney General Cooper decided to investigate and prosecute and ended up issuing more than $70,000 in fines to gas stations alone.

It is important to remember that price gouging can also occur after the storm has ended.

"After any disaster like this hurricane, there are many scams around yard clean up and home repair," says Nancy Cahalen, president of the Better Business Bureau in Central New England. "Consumers are so eager to get help with these issues that they don't use the same good judgment the normally would when hiring folks."

"Stay calm, avoid letting your emotions get the best of you," she continues. "Don't let your emotions get in the way of making a decision, be selective and check backgrounds."

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/price-gouging-hurts-consumers-amid-hurricane-frenzy-183842221.html

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Subway-dependent businesses see traffic slow to halt?

7 hrs.

Ben Popken, NBC News contributor

The lengthy shutdown of the New York City subways has drained the lifeblood from hundreds of small businesses that depend on the foot traffic of the 5 million passengers who use the system daily.

Outside the Newkirk Plaza subway stop in Brooklyn, nearly half the 29 shops were closed as the shutdown entered its fourth day, with lights off at a nail salon, hair stylists, 99-cent stores, laundromat, cell-phone store and other shops.?

The only activity on the open-air tracks was a small crew?walking along the rails noting the fallen branches.?With the trains halted, an air of economic uncertainty pervaded, punctuated by the whine of chainsaws clearing the fallen branches and trunks cluttering the area's tree-lined streets.

Just four blocks away, a?tree uprooted by the superstorm fell and killed a young couple walking their dog Monday.

At normally bustling Loduca Pizza, directly across from one of the station's two subway exits, a handful of customers ordered slices and traded storm stories.

"As you can see, it's pretty quiet here today," said Daniel Loduca, 20, one of the sons who help's run the family business.

The store didn't lose power and wasn't worried about getting supplies, but about?60 percent of his customers come from the subway, Loduca told NBC News. The shop was only open on Monday for about three hours before lack of business, and the impending storm, led them to shutter early.

Asked if he was worried about the effect of the transportation shutdown, Loduca said with a tight smile, "Any day the subway is closed is a day hurt." At least the situation here wasn't as bad as at the store's Somerset, N.J., location, which lost power and suffered from food spoilage. "Money down the drain," said Loduca.

It's a scene repeated at hundreds of subway stops across the city. The immediate area around subway stops is a prime retail location for the foot traffic it brings.

Several nearly identical bodegas?can profitably exist side by side, competing for?customers grabbing a snack before or after their train. With the spigot of customers turned off, the businesses suddenly become isolated.

As a result, sales, and spirits, can fall sharply. Some shops remain closed until the money train returns, others try to eke out a bit of revenue regardless.

The?Metropolitan Transportation said?limited service would resume Thursday -- but not at the Newkirk stop.

At Newkirk Station Wines & Liquors, Nick Correra, 62, bagged bottles and hesitated to put a number on the impact of the subway shutdown. Business was brisk Sunday as shoppers stocked up on supplies before the storm. After the storm it was slower.?

"The subway is our lifeblood," he told NBC News. "Most of our business comes from people picking up a bottle of wine on their way home. Now people aren't going to be going to work for a while."?

Having just made it through the storm and having managed to open his shop, Correra's focus was on serving his customers and making it through the day.

"Today, being the day after, hard to know what will and won't be. ... It's something we've never?experienced?before," he said.

Correra had no immediate plans to reduce hours or staffing.

"I don't usually change my setup once I get it going," said Correra, who has owned the store for 32 years.?"Six days I can live through."?

For others, the shutdown represented opportunity.?Several livery cabs, normally only allowed to pick up passengers by arrangement, idled by the entrance to the plaza. A sandwich board for the Marlboro Car Service had materialized on the sidewalk to advertise ?fares to travelers seeking alternative transportation.

In one sign of the area's resilience, a homeless woman dressed in a patchwork quilt of sewn-together?clothes, a regular fixture on the plaza, had already returned to her post atop an overturned milk carton. As darkness and a light rain fell, ?her cup clinked with coins from a passerby.?Though customers might be in short supply at Newkirk Station, charity was not.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/subway-dependent-businesses-see-traffic-slow-halt-1C6782915

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Is It Legal To Kill A Zombie? - Mental Floss

Getty Images

Like the Shaun of the Dead slogan says, ?aim for the head.? But before you start readying your zombie apocalypse weapon of choice, you?d better find out if you?re going to get in trouble for taking out the infected. According to San Diego criminal lawyer Peter M. Liss, zombie killing won?t result in murder charges; after all, while zombies were once people, they aren?t technically living anymore. There are other issues you need to consider, though:

In California, it is illegal to desecrate a corpse. Again, a defense lawyer would most likely be able to fight the charges if you were acting in self defense, but if you killed the zombies when you were not in danger, you could be subject to charges. Additionally, if you used firearms to murder the walking dead, you could be arrested and charged with firing a weapon within city limits, carrying a concealed weapon and illegal possession of a firearm if you did not obtain the weapon through proper legal channels.

Most states have laws against the desecration of a corpse and firearms laws similar to those in California. Of course, if things have already reached zombie apocalypse levels of madness, you probably won?t need to worry about getting busted?any cops left will be pretty concerned with killing the undead, and governments will most likely have fallen apart, so there would be no one to try you for your crimes. So go ahead, take that headshot!

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Source: https://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/148447

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Developers delve into the changing gaming industry | Daily Trojan

Hardcore video game enthusiasts and curious Annenberg students gathered in Annenberg Auditorium on Monday night to listen to experts? discuss what it takes to succeed in the modern video game industry.

Geek chic ? Chris Metzen of World of Warcraft (left) and Flint Dille of Diablo III discuss their careers in video game developing Monday. ? Mndy Curtis | Daily Trojan

The conversation featured Chris Metzen of World of Warcraft and Starcraft II and Flint Dille of Diablo III and Transformers.

The evening began with a look back at Metzen and Dille?s early careers and how they first developed a passion for games. Though their paths to their current careers differed, Metzen and Dille agreed that it was Dungeons & Dragons, the fantasy role-playing game released in 1974 that provided the initial spark of interest that all artists thrive on.

?From fifth grade to around the time I jumped in at Blizzard, my friends and I had an ongoing D&D campaign,? Dille said. ?It was the track of our youth.?

When pressed on what made the game so special, Metzen and Dille cited its open-ended nature.

?Rules are there to facilitate what you want to do, but everything resided in the realm of your imagination ? it was the organic component of sitting at a table with your friends and making it up as you went along ? that made it so special and unpredictable,? Metzen said.

Dille said the experience of playing the game became a phenomenon.

?Nobody ever made a game where it?s all in your imagination,? Dille said.

What began as simply having fun with friends ended up becoming an important source of inspiration in Metzen?s and Dille?s professional careers.

?That D&D spirit ? that feeling that D&D gave us as younger gamers ? was something that we?ve always been chasing, that we?ve always wanted to feel again,? Metzen said.

Dille agreed with Metzen?s sentiment.

?You spend your whole creative career chasing stuff that excited you as a kid ? you have certain interests and they never go away,? Metzen said.

Dille and Metzen, however, were quick to point out that passion alone does not translate to career success, especially in today?s competitive gaming industry.

Developing specialized skills while in school could be key for students hoping to get into the gaming industry, Metzen said.

?These days, the industry moves so fast and the arc of technology goes up so fast and so high that we are looking for real specialized skill sets,? Metzen said.

In the long run, however, succeeding in the video game industry is no different from succeeding in any other field. It takes networking skills, hard work and a sense of identity.

?Managers are hiring people to join a team, a family. That sense of chemistry and who you are is important,? Metzen said. ?Just be really clear on who you are. ? Be specific about what geeks you up.?

As competitive and as high-octane as today?s industry is, newcomers actually have it easier, according to Dille.

?You guys have a huge advantage. In the old days, there were seven studios and they controlled all the cameras,? Dille said. ?Now if your content?s good enough, you can make stuff with your iPhone. You can put it on YouTube and Machinima.?

Ali Timnak, a first-year graduate student studying game development and intelligent robotics, initially came to the event to listen to Metzen speak about his work on World of Warcraft. From the event, he took away career advice that he believes will be useful after he graduates.

?I learned how to present myself to managers and employers on my portfolio,? Timnak said.

When asked if he would recommend similar events in the future to his friends, Timnak did not hesitate.

?Yes, definitely,? Timnak said. ?I just came here to take away anything useful I could get, and I learned a lot.?

Source: http://dailytrojan.com/2012/10/29/developers-delve-into-the-changing-gaming-industry/

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