PODCAST: I ‘Pizza’ New York and Dead Social
Online travel site Kayak is postponing plans to start selling stock. The company’s foot dragging is seen as a reaction to Facebook’s rocky public offering a couple weeks ago.
We’ll be watching Corn Products International and Archer Daniels Midland stock among others this morning. These are companies that produce a lot of the high fructose corn syrup that go into sugary drinks. America’s largest city is moving forward to ban selling sugary drinks that are bigger than 16 ounces. Mayor Bloomberg of N.Y. sees them as a health hazard.
Apparently, resting in peace is so last year. A new service will keep your Facebook page active after you die sending messages to friends and family — things like birthday notes every year. It’s called Dead Social, and it’s still in beta testing, but thousands of people have apparently signed up. When asked about the service by Forbes, owner James Norris said, “Why should we stop creating content when we pass on?”
N.Y. Governor Andrew Cuomo wants to change the iconic “I Heart NY” logo, part of a new $5 million tourism campaign. He’s inviting folks to go online and offer a sketch of their favorite New York activity. Milton Glaser, the legendary designer behind the 1977 original “I Heart NY”, says he was invited late in the game to contribute to the new campaign and isn’t interested. He’s quoted in the NY Post saying he looked at some of the new contributions and saw, “I PIZZA New York.” “I just don’t get it,” he said.
If you don’t like your bank, vote with your feet and do business somewhere else, it’s magic of the market at work. But moving accounts could cost you. Consumers Union sent secret shoppers into the 10 largest banks and found that closing a bank account can cost as much as $55. There are fees for transferring remaining funds, if you go that route. Some banks have $25 penalties for closing an account that’s been open less than six months. And, here’s a good one: some closed accounts come back from the dead if bank later receives a deposit by mistake.
For the past week and a half Mark Zuckerberg has been losing face a bit in the stock market, but this week his company is moving ahead with plans for a major expansion to their headquarters in the Silicon Valley suburb of Menlo Park. On Tuesday, the Menlo Park city council voted unanimously to approve the expansion in exchange for $8.5 million dollars from the company. For our mid-day extra, Mayor of Menlo Park, Kirsten Keith joins us to talk about the proposal, Facebook’s IPO, and her own Facebook account.
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