By Xin Lu

I am familiar with the meaning of hippies and yuppies, but today I heard a funny new word for a demographic of people - yawns. YAWN stands for Young and Wealthy but Normal. It is a pretty silly acronym, but this is how the radio program I was listening to described this group of people.

Yawns are people in their 20s to 40s who are usually wealthy through their own work. Many of them are self-made millionaires and have a lot of disposable income. However, they prefer to live simple lives away from excessive consumerism. They usually live very much beneath their means and like to purchase local produce. They are also more environmentally friendly and philanthropic because they want to save the world with their money and they really think they could do it. They live relatively muted lives they do not have as much entertainment value as other rich people, and thus the Sunday Telegraphy of London coined the acronym YAWN to indicate that these people live somewhat boring lives.

The radio program also suggested that the amount of Yawns is increasing because recent history has seen several cycles of pro-materialism and anti-materialism. For example, the communists and hippies of the 50s and 60s spawned a materialistic backlash in the next generation and produced the selfish yuppies. Now the rampant consumerism is once again producing a generation of people who hate the mainstream materialism. I think that may be true because I am seeing a growth in the popularity of frugality and "green" products amongst my friends and colleagues.

As much as I like to be a person fitting the description of a yawn, I would hate to say, "I am a yawn!" because that just sounds like that I am admitting I am a boring person. I am glad that there are so many rich people who are living beneath their means and conscious about helping others, but why do they have to be stuck with such a silly moniker? So what do you think? Are you a yawn? Would you like to be one?

Permalink | 12 comments | Xin Lu's blog | Channel: Frugal Living, Lifestyle

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Kitchen remodeling remains a popular project My 84-year-old father told us a joke at the dinner table last Sunday (remember, this is a joke): “A guy cutting down a tree with a chain saw accidentally severs his left pinkie. His wife rushes him to the local hospital, where the emergency-room doctor explains to him, ‘You have two choices. We can replace the finger using expensive experimental microsurgery—it’ll cost $75,000—or you can live a perfectly normal life without the digit. Which would you prefer?’ “The guy tells the doctor he needs to quickly talk it over with his wife. The wife comes in, and her husband asks her what he should do. She ponders the question for a moment and replies: ‘I’d rather have a new kitchen.’” There’s a raunchy version of that joke, but its point is the same: People love to remodel their kitchens, and some are willing to give up a lot to do so. And even in the midst of the economic slump we’re in, kitchen remodeling remains popular in the United States. In fact, kitchen projects are estimated to be the biggest source of remodeling spending in 2008, garnering 18 percent of the total home- improvement dollars American consumers will shell out, according to the Home Improvement Research Institute’s 2007 Project Decision Study. (Adding a bathroom accounts for 7 percent of spending; replacing a roof, 8 percent.) The average kitchen remodel in 2007 cost $6,800, according to HIRI. Some other interesting findings from the HIRI study: • 46 percent of U.S. kitchen remodels were completely do-it-yourself, while 62 percent were at least partially DIY. • “Buy-it-yourself,” or BIY, remodels—in which the consumer buys the products and has a contractor install them—account for 21 percent of kitchen remodels. • Women initiate most kitchen-remodeling projects. Still, men initiated 31 percent of kitchen remodels, up from 18 percent in 2003. • The use of built-in appliances in remodeled kitchens is growing. (Read our recent Q&A on the repair history of built-in refrigerators.) • Average spending on kitchen remodeling projects has not increased much over the last two years. With inflation on the rise, how have consumers managed not to spend more on their kitchen projects even as prices are increasing? The answer might lie in the BIY trend: Savvy homeowners who shop around for materials and appliances are making wise choices in the products they use and are getting good deals.—Karin Weisburgh, Senior Research Analyst Essential information: Be a smart shopper yourself and read our report on where to buy appliances. Subscribe now! Subscribe to ConsumerReports.org for expert Ratings, buying advice and reliability on hundreds of products. Update your feed preferences

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The New York Times reports that the FDA is now working under the assumption that the deadly contamination of heparin was intentional. In her prepared testimony before a congressional subcommittee, Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation said,

FDA's working hypothesis is that this was intentional contamination, but this has not been proven.

More details, inside...

The FDA discovered that the drug was contaminated with oversulfated condrotin sulfate, which mimics heparin, thus eluding routine tests. Baxter President Robert L. Parkinson Jr. said in his testimony that his company is "greatly concerned that our heparin product appears to be the target of a deliberate adulteration scheme." Additionally he said,

"The complexity of the global drug supply chain creates new and emerging risks that call for new ways of thinking about, identifying and addressing vulnerabilities, and that resting on old standards - even ones that have worked for decades - is no longer enough.

It should be interesting in the coming months to see whether this turns out to be another case of Chinese factories trying to save money or actually a case of malicious intent.

Heparin Contamination May Have Been Deliberate, F.D.A. Says [New York Times]
FDA Official: Heparin Contamination May Have Been Intentional [Fox News]
(Photo: Getty)

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So Disney is all upset over some slightly saucy photographs of 15-year-old Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus, but it seems in their haste to toss out accusations (Disney spokeswoman Patti McTeague told the New York Times that "a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines"), the company neglected to consider the appropriateness of using obviously under-aged girls on their underwear billboards in China.

From Slate:

Reading McTeague's comment over coffee yesterday morning, I couldn't help but think of an advertisement I'd seen a few months ago while on a reporting trip to China. I was walking from my Beijing bed-and-breakfast to a nearby subway station when I was stopped in my tracks by a billboard that made the controversial 1990s Calvin Klein underwear ads look artistic by comparison. Staring down at the throngs of shoppers on Beijing's Xinjiekou Nandajie Avenue, a busy commercial thoroughfare about a mile west of the Forbidden City, was a white girl who looked all of 12, reclining in a matching bra-and-panties set adorned with Disney's signature mouse-ear design. In a particularly creepy detail, the pigtailed child was playing with a pair of Minnie Mouse hand puppets. In the upper left-hand corner was the familiar script of the Disney logo.

Not believing my eyes, and on an assignment that touched on images of Westerners in the Chinese consumer's imagination, I snapped a photo:

After reading of the Cyrus flap, I e-mailed my photo to Disney's McTeague. I was curious: How did the company square its position on the Liebowitz photo with its risqué billboard in China?

McTeague passed on commenting and forwarded the image to Gary Foster, a spokesman for Disney's consumer-products division. He called me from a business trip (to China) to disavow the ad. "It has caught us totally by surprise," Foster told me by phone from Guangzhou. He explained that Disney contracts with a host of licensees, who produce and market products for the Disney brand. Foster said that licensees are contractually bound to clear all advertising with Disney's corporate offices. "We have literally hundreds of licensees making our products. They are supposed to submit any kind of imagery to us before it is used, but it's hard to enforce that sometimes," he said.

Disney responded by pulling the billboard. Whoops.

Mickey Mouse Operation [Slate]
(Photo: Daniel Brook )

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If your favorite Dunkin' Donuts shop is an individually-owned franchise and not part of a large group of stores, don't grow too attached to it, warns Cindy Gluck, a DD owner in Brooklyn. She claims DD corporate waits patiently for smaller franchisees to make any mistake at all, then strong-arms them out of business at a huge financial loss. The sheer number of lawsuits DD has aimed at small-time owners recently indicates that something unusual is going on:

Dunkin' Donuts has sued other franchise owners 154 times since 2006. Over the same stretch of time, McDonald's was involved in five lawsuits. And Subway, a company that has four times the number of locations as Dunkin' Donuts, sued its franchises 12 times.

Why would they do something so apparently self-destructive? Because the company's larger business strategy requires bigger franchisees who can open lots of stores rapidly to compete with Starbucks, and it's too expensive to buy out the small owners any other way. She and her business partner are currently being forced out of business for this very reason, even though their two Brooklyn-based stores are doing fine.
 
Gluck's mistake was offering to sell a 15% stake in her company to a store manager. She told Dunkin' Donuts about this beforehand to make sure it was okay. It turns out it wasn't. In fact, even though she immediately withdrew the offer, Dunkin' Donuts has threatened a lawsuit against her and her business partner unless they sell DD corporate their two stores for half of what they're worth and pay a $100,000 penalty fee.

The consequences of this are real, personal and painful. The owners of these stores - who overwhelmingly tend to be immigrants - lose their entire life's work.
 
Maybe America runs on Dunkin', but Dunkin' itself is a corporate giant that runs on the sweat of franchisees large and small.
 
We small franchisees have just about been sweated out.

"Dunkin' Donuts business practices have lots of holes" [New York Daily News] (Thanks to Rob!)
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Although it won't affect other cases, the RIAA was handed a small smackdown this week when a U.S. district judge rejected their request for a summary judgement, and ruled that putting song files in a shared directory was not enough proof that infringement had occurred.

The judge said that the RIAA "must prove that the songs were actually downloaded," which is not a distinction past judges have made. Whether or not this ruling will cause other judges to look at the RIAA's future claims in a different light remains to be seen, however.

Wake's ruling pretty much contradicts many of the legal arguments the RIAA has presented in those peer-to-peer lawsuits the organization has brought against individual users. However, not that many cases actually make it to court, mainly because defendants often opt for settling for a few thousand dollars instead of shouldering expenses for a jaunt through the civil legal system.

"The Proof Is In The Downloading" [Pollstar] (Thanks to !) (Photo: Getty)

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Exercise can protect against everything from heart attacks and cancer to depression and erectile dysfunction, but the New York Times focuses on how working out also helps with ailments you're already suffering from—even those that make exercise difficult.

Perhaps the most immediate benefits are reaped by people with joint and neuromuscular disorders. Without exercise, those at risk of osteoarthritis become crippled by stiff, deteriorated joints. But exercise that increases strength and aerobic capacity can reduce pain, depression and anxiety and improve function, balance and quality of life.

The key, of course, is knowing what kind of workouts counter your ailment. If you've used exercise to address health issues in the past, let's hear what worked best for you in the comments.

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Fortune interviewed American Airlines' CEO Gerard Arpey, who had this to say:

In this climate, Arpey won't rule anything out. If Delta were able to complete its purchase of Northwest, American would be toppled from its perch as world's largest carrier. And a combined United and Continental would be even larger. That would leave American in arguably the weakest position among the network carriers. But Arpey says the size of his company doesn't matter as much as the strength of its assets. "We believe we will remain competitive irrespective of any consolidation that occurs," he said. "The real challenge is being profitable."

Later, as we were walking down the jet bridge, Arpey paused. "There is no business," he said, "that can go on forever selling its product for less than the cost to produce it."

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal notes that the airlines are finally starting to raise ticket prices along with the increased fees and surcharges. Travel blog Jaunted says:

Mergers would allow airlines to trim routes and, by reducing capacity, further raise prices, though carriers say that's not the plan. (Riiiiight.) This is all good news to one company, though. Virgin America is keeping fares low by burning through investor cash...

Enjoy that while it lasts.

American Airlines loses $3.3 million a day[Fortune]
Airlines Finally Passing Higher Costs on to Passengers [Jaunted]
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The best GPS for me, and you With cars, we have become quite accustomed to the 4-5 year product cycle. This pattern sees a new model introduced,  a midlife update after 2-3 years, then the model is phased out or  replaced by a new, larger, more powerful, and pricier car. But like other electronics, the fast-paced portable GPS navigation world is much different. There are now about 2-3 model cycles occurring each year, and the new models are typically sleeker, more feature packed, and sometimes less expensive than the models they replace. Since we have accelerated our test program during the past 18 months, we’ve seen new abilities and features continually emerging. Many of these features truly improve the breed, or at least show great promise with further development. We have rated some excellent units, noting attractive Best Buys for their combination of features and price. 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Like latest Navigon units, these newer devices provide a so-called “reality view” that presents a simple graphic of an upcoming, major intersection, though their graphics are a touch more pleasing. I have found this feature to be very helpful in navigating complex highway interchanges, with clear guidance on the proper lanes to occupy. Speed alerts—Integrated speed alerts can display the current speed limit and alert when it has been exceeded by a user-set amount. This can be a real help in unfamiliar areas where the speed limits rise and fall unexpectedly. Processing speed—It can be frustrating to delay leaving on a road trip while a device seemingly flips endlessly through a card catalog to find and route to a POI, rather than whisking quickly through its electronic database. Design—Give me a clean design that maximizes screen size, with a thin, non-reflective case. And place a hard-key button on the exterior for muting. Best for you As the innovation continues, more and more consumers will find the multi-function GPS devices to be an important tool in their mobile electronics inventory. However, it is the core navigation features that I want to see refined and gathered in a single, affordable model. To me, stuff like a video player or currency converters don’t contribute to the main purpose of a GPS device—just efficiently get me where I want to go. So while the perfect GPS device (by my standards) may not yet exist, any online subscriber can quickly find the best GPS device available for their needs and budget using our dynamic ratings chart. Links from each product name will take you to a detailed product page, with our testers’ notes on the highs, lows, and bottom line. If you buy a device, please return to the product pages once you’ve had some experience to share your insights with others via the user reviews. And rest assured, the GPS team will continue to rate models on our never-ending search for the perfect device. In the meantime, what features matter most to you? Post your thoughts in the comments below. —Jeff Bartlett For more information on portable GPS navigation systems, see our Ratings and buying advice and watch our video guide. Discuss GPS devices in the forums.  Subscribe now! Subscribe to ConsumerReports.org for expert Ratings, buying advice and reliability on hundreds of products. Update your feed preferences

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A small California grocery store chain and its customers have fallen prey to some tech savvy ID thieves, says KPIX in San Francisco. A card reader was secretly replaced with a unit that skimmed card numbers at the Los Gatos Lunardi's — an increasing common scam that targets stores and gas stations where customers can swipe their own credit cards. The theft was discovered when the grocery store called to report that one of their readers had been switched.Now reports of drained bank accounts and fraudulent charges are pouring in to local police departments.

"It was a switched card reader at one of the aisles," McCarty said. Recent shoppers of the Los Gatos Lunardi's should check the status of their bank or credit card accounts for charges they did not make, according to police. "Specifically look for charges in the Southern California area, Pasadena, Huntington; that's where most of them seem to be," McCarty said.

If you suspect that these scammers got a hold of your info, you can report the incident to the Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department at (408) 354-8600. Los Gatos Supermarket Target Of Identity Theft[CBS5] (Thanks, Paul!)

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Blogger Ron Brinkmann doesn't want to buy an overpriced laptop stand or build his own DIY laptop stand. Instead, he takes the cheap and easy route and uses a $6 hot water bottle as a water-cooled laptop stand. Brinkmann says:

Yup, buy a hot water bottle, fill it up with tap-water (room-temperature is fine) and insert strategically between laptop and lap. It's comfy, acts as a nice heat-sink, and as a bonus it probably blocks a fair bit of the dangerous 'electronic rays' that are shooting out of the bottom of the computer straight at your important bits.

Brinkmann claims the water bottle works great on the table as well—just lean your laptop on the water bottle and the rubber surface grips the table and keeps your propped up laptop in place. Nothing beats this cheap and simple, and the cooling effect of the water bottle means no more burning laps.

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