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How companies’ online ‘dark patterns’ cost you, and how to resist

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:53 GMT

By Liz Weston | NerdWalletSee if any of this sounds familiar:You can’t find an easy way to cancel an unwanted subscription, so you let it continue for another month — telling yourself you’ll try again later.You feel rushed into an online purchase you regret, but there’s no option to undo the transaction or demand a refund.You want to read an article or shop at a store online, but you’re bombarded with pop-up requests for your data. There’s no easy option for saying no, so you click “allow” just to get the annoying pop-up out of the way.These are just a few examples of “dark patterns” — intentionally deceptive designs that companies use to steer people into making choices that aren’t in the consumers’ best interest.Dark patterns may sound like a feature of sketchy websites, but these manipulative practices are a common way mainstream companies dupe people into sacrificing their privacy or paying for stuff they don’t really want.Buttons that allow sites to scoop up and sell your data ...

Patriots free-agent addition will be shut down for 2023 season

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:53 GMT

The Patriots will not add offensive lineman Riley Reiff to the roster before his injured reserve activation window closes, head coach Bill Belichick announced Wednesday.Reiff will finish his first season with the Patriots by playing just 46 snaps in one game. Reiff was expected to start for the Patriots at right tackle after signing a one-year, $5 million contract this offseason as a free agent but injuries got in the way.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Callahan: The Steelers are who the Patriots should have been New England Patriots | Patriots get mixed injury news at Tuesday practice before Steelers game New England Patriots | Bill Belichick has made it ‘pretty clear’ Bailey Zappe is Patriots’ starting QB New England Patriots | Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson may miss rest of season with high ankle sprain New England Patriots | Patriots-Chargers film review: Bill Belichick’s w...

Column: There’s no prize for winning MLB’s winter meetings, so the Shohei Ohtani waiting game goes on

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:53 GMT

The good news for Chicago Cubs fans is Shohei Ohtani remained unsigned late into the second day of the MLB winter meetings.But whether the Cubs were still among the teams in the mix for the baseball unicorn was a question president Jed Hoyer repeatedly avoided, even after a social media report claimed the Cubs were out.Hoyer said there was no news to report and he didn’t know where the rumor came from. He declined to talk about any discussions with free agents, though manager Craig Counsell said earlier he had not talked to Ohtani.The notion that Hoyer feels some urgency to make a splashy signing for his new $40 million manager was downplayed. Hoyer said he sold Counsell on “where the organization was going.”“It wasn’t a referendum on ’24 necessarily,” Hoyer said. “But more where we are as a franchise, an organization at this moment in time. I don’t feel any big need to justify that. Certainly, I have no doubt over the next few y...

Yankees “close to” acquiring superstar Juan Soto

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:53 GMT

Less than 24 hours after adding Alex Verdugo to their outfield, the New York Yankees might reel in an even bigger outfield fish.According to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, a trade for Juan Soto is “close to being finalized.”Though Soto is a free agent next year, acquiring him means getting exclusive negotiating rights, should the Yankees want to try to extend him, and that allows the Padres to ask for a sizable return. New York will have to send several players to San Diego, including Michael King and Drew Thorpe.Soto coming to the American League East is a game-changing development. The 24-year-old is a stellar offensive talent, and with free agency a year away, prepared to spend the season earning what could be one of the first $500 million contracts in league history. (Current free agent Shohei Ohtani is projected to be the first.) Since debuting at 19 years old in 2018, Soto has hit .284 with a .946 OPS, and averaged 25 doubles and 27 homers per year. This year, he ranked in the 90th...

In prime of his career, Brandon Carlo has been “a rock” for Bruins

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:53 GMT

The Bruins were mired in a concerning three-game losing streak ago when a milestone for Brandon Carlo came and went without much notice last week, lost in the teeth-gnashing. Carlo played in his 500th NHL game when the B’s got back on the winning track against the San Jose Sharks last Thursday.For Carlo, it meant a little more than just reaching the halfway mark. While he’s still pushing the edges of the game, Carlo felt the 500-game mark signified that, in a way, he had arrived as an NHL defenseman. And it’s probably no coincidence that he hit the marker in what is shaping up to be the 27-year-old Carlo’s finest season.While his offensive numbers are typically modest (1-5-6 totals), he’s been a foundational piece on the back end, posting a team-best plus-13 while starting in the offensive zone just 26.6% percent. He’s averaging 20:14 of icetime a game. Carlo’s also been a key cog in the B’s league-leading penalty-killing unit, not a s...

Tories threaten to table thousands of amendments and delay rise of House of Commons

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:53 GMT

OTTAWA — The official Opposition is threatening to delay government work and hold up billions of dollars in spending if the Liberal government doesn’t drastically revise its carbon-pricing plan. The Conservatives are delivering a taste of their plan with the introduction of as many as 20,000 amendments to an 11-page government bill that aims to create sustainable jobs as part of the transition to a net-zero emissions economy.The natural resources committee is set to go through the amendments, which the Tories believe could take months to vote on individually.The Opposition wants the federal carbon-pricing plan removed from all home heating for families, farmers and First Nations. The Tories are also eyeing amendments that could delay passage of legislation to implement measures in the government’s fall economic statement.  The $20.8 billion in new spending over five years includes initiatives to boost the housing supply through rental units and affordable homes.This repo...

Suspects conspired with ServiceOntario employees in auto theft spree: Police

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:53 GMT

Toronto police arrested seven people and laid just over 70 charges in an ongoing auto theft investigation that allegedly involved ServiceOntario employees conspiring with the suspects.Police said Project Safari was initiated in Feb. 2023 to “identify and arrest members of a suspected auto theft ring responsible for numerous motor vehicle thefts throughout the city.”The investigation revealed that several suspects were conspiring with ServiceOntario employees, who allegedly trafficked driving and vehicle data from Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation database. Police determined that ServiceOntario employees would provide suspects with vehicle and driver information, including addresses. The suspects would then steal vehicles.Employees at ServiceOntario would also supply the accused with fraudulent vehicle registrations and vehicle identification numbers (VIN). It’s alleged suspects would place the fraudulent VIN on the stolen vehicle – referred to as re-...

Environmentalists pin satirical Fossil of the Day award on Alberta at climate meeting

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:53 GMT

A global network of environmental groups is giving its satirical Fossil of the Day award to Alberta.The Climate Action Network, which includes 2,000 organizations from around the world, bestowed the mock honour at the COP28 climate meetings in Dubai.The groups say Alberta earned the award, in part, for coming to the meetings with an entourage of oil and gas executives, failing to inform Indigenous communities of leaks from an oilsands mine and pausing approvals for renewable energy.The network says the award is rarely given to non-national governments.It says the rare exception was made because of Premier Danielle Smith’s particularly egregious actions. Government spokespeople did not immediately respond to news of the award. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Dec. 6, 2023. The Canadian Press

Peel police to bolster presence at Square One in effort to reduce holiday season theft

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:53 GMT

Jingling handcuffs could don the wrists of shoplifting Scrooges at Square One this holiday season after Peel Regional Police announced plans to crack down on retail theft at the popular Mississauga mall.In a release, Peel police said they’re collaborating with Square One’s Loss Prevention team “on an initiative to reduce retail theft this holiday season.”“Throughout December, investigators will be at Square One Shopping Centre conducting foot patrols and responding to emergency calls for service while making themselves available to Security and Loss Prevention in the event that arrests are made,” the release states.Police say the initiative will help employees and loss prevention officers, who are often ironically handcuffed when it comes to dealing with the problem.A survey conducted last May by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business found store theft and break-ins to be the top issues for Canadian businesses.The survey found theft or sh...

US finds both sides in Sudan conflict have committed atrocities in Darfur

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:22:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Wednesday it has determined that both sides in the ongoing conflict in Sudan have committed atrocities in the African nation’s western region of Darfur and elsewhere, saying the fighting “has caused grievous human suffering.”The State Department said the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces are responsible for either war crimes or crimes against humanity, or both, in Darfur, where fighting that began in the capital earlier this year has descended into ethnic violence in recent weeks.“Based on the State Department’s careful analysis of the law and available facts, I have determined that members of the SAF and the RSF have committed war crimes in Sudan,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “I have also determined that members of the RSF and allied militias have committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.”The finding does not include sanctions being imposed on leaders or members of either...