Debt Collectors Reach New Lows

There is no occupation I dislike more than the debt collector. Here’s another reason to hate them. Hospital patients waiting in an emergency room or convalescing after surgery are being confronted by an unexpected visitor: a debt collector at bedside. This and other aggressive tactics by one of the nation’s largest collectors of medical debts,…

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Anger Management

Just off the phone with a debt collector for Providian who literally screamed at me: “Why don’t you pay your debts!?” Only problem: I’ve never had an account with Providian. Wrong Chris Null.

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Nodding Off

Up in the middle of the night? It’s normal! We often worry about lying awake in the middle of the night – but it could be good for you. A growing body of evidence from both science and history suggests that the eight-hour sleep may be unnatural.

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Top 10 Movies of 2011

By popular demand… my personal (and completely subjective) top 10 for the year. We Need to Talk About Kevin Another Earth Martha Marcy May Marlene The Artist Margin Call The Way Hanna The Help Shame Rango

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RIP Trade Shows, 2012

With Microsoft abandoning the event (it’s hard to blame them; the company has launched anything new at CES for years), I have a sinking suspicion that this January’s CES will be my last. Ah well… the timing has always been horrible (who wants to announce new products in January?) and the really big news gets…

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Fact Checking the Cadillac World Thorium Fuel

I’m writing about this here simply because I have nowhere else to put it: In the course of writing about alternate energy sources for autos, I’ve found (what looks rather obvious from the outset) that the much-reported-upon nuclear-powered “World Thorium Fuel” vehicle from GM is not a real concept vehicle but merely a 3D rendering…

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