Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams

Todd Davis, the CEO of the oft-criticized LifeLock identity theft service, appeared on the This day Show to discuss the current lawsuit his company is facing. Todd claims that the hundred or so LifeLock customers who have been victims of identity theft, are massive fans of LifeLock since the service helped them recover from the theft. Tracy Coenen has been tracking the LifeLock debacle for a few weeks now reported yesterday that the lawyers for the class action lawsuit have a much different view of the million dollar guarantee, arguing it isn’t even worth the paper it is printed on.

I don’t think I’m quite ready to sign up for a service which the CEO says is “pretty good” especially when it comes to identity theft. Especially when the company blames any failure on another company’s failure to follow protocol, claiming no one can protect against that. Isn’t that exactly what identity theft is, someone exploiting a failure somewhere in the system to make off with your identity? I think I’ll take my chances with a paper shredder, e-billing and my own credit monitoring for now.

My favorite part of the video was Matt Lauer reporting that someone had taken out a drivers license with Todd Davis’ social security number under the name Jabba T. Hutt!

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Filed under: Sex Sells, Extracurriculars, Food, Ripoffs and Scams, Relationships, Recession

In my never-ending quest for cool things to write about, I read (or at least scan) three or four newspapers a day. One major trend that I’ve noticed in the New York papers is what I call the “how yuppies survive a recession” column.

Every time the news is a little slow, I see yet another article featuring some fresh-faced Manhattan-dwelling Steve Stifflip or Polly Patrician who is considering the move to (gasp!) Brooklyn or even (double gasp!) Queens. He or she whines about the miseries of making ends meet on a mere $80,000 a year, not being able to afford organic radicchio, only being able to eat out once or twice a week, and having to postpone this year’s trip to Europe. As I slog through this nonsense, I find myself wondering if I could get a bill passed that would make it legal to eat the rich.

Sometimes I hate people. There, I’ve said it.

Recently, though, I’ve seen a new low. In an article in AM New York, a young lady who lives in Central Park West (a very ritzy neighborhood) talked about how she’s surviving the recession. In addition to attending book signings, free museum days, and other affordable outings, she noted that she’s “Really upped the dating […] I tend to date chivalrous types who can take me out to nice places. It’s helped me survive the recession.”

Hold on a minute: did she state what I think she stated? Admittedly, I’ve been out of the dating pool for a couple of years, but since when is this legit? Allowed, I bought a lot of meals for potential girlfriends, but, after the first couple of outings, most of the women that I dated became uncomfortable with the patriarchal aspects of the “man paying for dinner” phenomenon. We’d alternate, go dutch, or make home-cooked meals for each other. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but using your date as a source for free food seems particularly mercenary. At what point did it become acceptable to use a young swain to subsidize one’s food expenditures? More to the point, I’ve to wonder if this young women’s gentlemen callers read AM New York!

Basically, my biggest question is this: is this a new trend or the world’s oldest profession?

Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. He has his standards: he won’t put out if someone takes him to Mickey D’s. It’s Wendy’s or nothing, baby!

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