Consumer Affairs- | News Tribune

EA Sports class action settlement modified

Individual claimants will receive bigger payouts on purchases of Madden NFL, NCCA Football and Arena Football

A settlement in a lawsuit against EA Games has been modified to triple the amount of money that class members will be eligible to receive.

Fact and fiction about poison ivy

A close encounter with this plant can mean trouble

One of the downsides of spending time in the great outdoors is that eventually, you're going to have a close encounter with poison ivy that will result in a painful rash that can easily spread over wide areas of your skin.

Why some housing markets are recovering faster than others

The presence of investors makes a huge difference

The old adage that the three most important factors in real estate are location, location and location is true. But not just the location of the street or neighborhood, but now more than ever, the location of the city.

Cost of owning a car rose 1.96% last year, AAA finds

Maintenance and insurance costs showed the biggest increase

Like everything else, the cost of owning and driving your car is higher this year. In its annual study of driving costs, AAA found a 1.96% increase, a whopping 1.17 cents.

The 'Red Flags' of moving fraud

If you're relocating, here's help in avoiding the slick operators

Complaints about moving -- and movers -- abound. Last year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) received over 3,100 consumer complaints about household goods movers, compared with 2,851 in 2011.

Comcast starts encrypting basic cable

It means some consumers will have to get a set-top box to keep watching "free TV"

These days, anybody who watches TV straight off the air is in danger of being lumped in with survivalists and other far-out types whose dream is to live off the grid. A notch above that are the hold-outs who have nothing but basic cable -- no DVR, not even a set-top box.

Girls are thrashing boys in academic achievement. How come?

it's not just grades, boys are enrolling in college in smaller numbers too

Today, as blue-collar jobs have diminished, boys doing poorly in school have a greater effect on their future, so their poor academic performance is finally coming to the surface as a huge problem that both educators and parents have to fix.

Flashing headlights to warn of speed trap ahead can be expensive

Missouri man sues, claiming the ticket he got infringes his Free Speech rights

Have you ever flashed your headlights to warn oncoming drivers of a speed trap? Michael Elli did it and got a ticket from a police officer in Ellisville, Mo., a St. Louis suburb.

Still searching for the best laptop, we pick the Pixel

Pixel trounces several leading contenders

Consumers who mostly use their computers for email, social media, games and web browsing have been migrating to tablets lately, which is understandable. But for the working stiffs who use laptops for professional purposes -- writing, editing, programming, moderating and so forth -- a tablet doesn't really do the job.

Movie producers react to Connecticut school massacre

New campaign adds descriptive content to movie ratings to alert parents to sex, violence

Reacting to the massacre of school children in Connecticut, the Motion Picture Association of America has announced some changes to its movie rating system, saying it wants to help parents know which films contain excessive violence or sexual content.

Fashion and technology are pretty much one these days

Many consumers are using apps to stay in the fashion know

For those people who are into fashion, now is truly a great time, because not only has higher-end fashion become more accessible to average consumers through technology, that same technology has allowed people to join communities of fashionistas,

How social media can benefit seniors

As young people are turning away from Facebook, older adults are logging on

As teens and younger adults seek out these other forms of social media, older adults seem to be using Facebook in increasing numbers, not only for social reasons but also to discuss things like health issues or current ailments.

Web tools to help you plan for death

From disposing of digital files to making out your will, there's an app for your final exit

Two things in life are certain, death and taxes. Having just paid your taxes you might want to spend a little time planning for the other certainty. Fortunately, the Internet offers a growing number of handy tools to help.

Here's how to block out office distractions

Why is it that you get the least work done when you actually go to work?

Jason Fried, who’s the co-founder and president of the Chicago-based company 37 signals, believes the office is probably the last place you’ll be able to be productive, and along with his co-author David Heinemeier, he wrote Rework, a book that talks about new ways of working outside the office.

How do you know you're being prescribed the right medicine?

Researchers say that medication errors are more common than you may think

If you’re currently on prescription medication, you can’t just assume you’re always getting the correct refills. In fact, you can’t even assume that you’re given the proper type of medication when it’s prescribed in the first place.