Breaking News Thread

[Krandall]

Circuit City Closing Shop:

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/33343

The troubled 60-year-old electronics chain tried its best to survive bankruptcy, but to no avail; now, it will liquidate its merchandise and close all 567 remaining stores.

Bloomberg reports that Circuit City Stores Inc. has hired a quartet of liquidators to sell off its existing merchandise, pending a green light from the courts. If everything goes according to plan, the fire sale will start Saturday and continue through the end of March, according to CNNMoney.com.

And unfortunately for Circuit City's 30,000+ employees, unemployment awaits.

The biggest consumer tech chain in the U.S. besides Best Buy, Circuit City filed for bankruptcy protection back in November. As Bloomberg notes, the struggling company had been looking for a buyer as late as Thursday, but failed to find any takers.

Of course, news of the Circuit City liquidation sale will draw plenty of bargain hunters, but (as I've blogged before), buyer beware.

Typically, closeout sales are final: no refunds or exchanges, so think twice before snapping up a big-ticket item like an HDTV. Also, keep in mind that closeout prices often aren't as rock-bottom low as you'd think; make sure to comparison shop online, and don't be fooled by big "75% OFF!" signs on items that have been marked up.

Finally ... a deep bow to Circuit City in general, where I've spent countless hours of browsing (and drooling)—and if nothing else, when it comes to tech retailers, less competition is never a good thing.

[Krandall]

Gov't runs out of cash for DTV converter box coupons

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/32411;_ylt=AmmeFTddt8k7sqn55J8kZbgxLpA5

If you haven't applied for one of the $40 converter box coupons yet, you'll have to sign up on a waiting list—which already has tens of thousands of names on it. Will Congress come to the rescue?

The AP reports that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the agency that's handling the DTV converter box coupon program, has burned through its $1.34 billion budget for the coupons.

That's bad news for those over-the-air analog TV viewers who need help paying for a DTV converter box, but haven't yet applied for coupons—or did apply, but allowed their coupons to expire. (You can apply for up to two coupons per household.)

Meanwhile, the analog shutoff date is alarmingly close: February 17, 2009, to be exact.

Now, the news isn't all bad. Each DTV converter box coupon expires 90 days after it was issued, and the NTIA is estimating (according to the AP) that about 350,000 coupons will expire each week until (and through) the Feb. 17 deadline.

As those coupons expire, money is released back into the program, allowing those currently on the waiting list to get new coupons. Even so, officials warn that those on the waiting list probably won't get their coupons until after the deadline passes.

In the meantime, NTIA administrators are calling on Congress to approve more money or allow the department to issue new coupons without waiting for unused coupons to expire, according to the AP.

So, need a coupon but haven't applied yet? Well, get thee to DTV2009.gov and sign up ASAP, and check out our complete guide to the DTV transition.

[Flynbyu]

The Circut City here went out of business here four years ago. Their customer service totally sucked.

~Brian

[Krandall]

30-pound marijuana brick delivered to wrong address in Denton

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/yahoolatestnews/stories/011609dnmetdenton.5c376ef.html

UPS delivers, but not always to the right address, a Denton man discovered Monday when he found a lot of green inside a package dropped on his porch by the men in brown.

Also Online
More Denton news and resources
The man took the package to Denton police later that night, police spokesman Officer Ryan Grelle said. It contained a 30-pound brick of compressed marijuana with a street value of $10,500.

UPS mistakenly delivered it to the Denton house about 8 p.m., Grelle said. The resident was not at home at the time and opened it when he returned.

"He was expecting tools that he had ordered from Sears," Grelle said. "He opened it up and thought, 'Oh my.' He loaded it up and brought it to the police department."

Grelle said the package, which apparently came from Pharr, Texas, and was handled by a UPS branch in McAllen on Jan. 6, wasn't addressed to the Denton man on whose porch it landed. It carried an address in Dallas. But there was no such address in Dallas, so someone at the package delivery service decided it must be meant for a similar address in Denton, the officer said.

The case is still under investigation.

[Peelz]

my wife bought one of those boxes with said coupon, and we don't even need it.

[Flynbyu]

Brown f*cked up!

That was supposed to be on my doorstep!



~Brian

[Peelz]

Brown f*cked up!

That was supposed to be on my doorstep!



~Brian

O Contraire mon freire. 

[Colorado700R]

Brown f*cked up!

That was supposed to be on my doorstep!



~Brian

The only deliveries from brown you get are when Erich farts 

[Flynbyu]

That lucky bastard!

30 lbs of weed?

Holy shit!

Needless to say, I would be BAKED right about now.

~Brian

[double06]

Some truly blessed SOBs!


http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/01/17/usair.splash.video/index.html

[Peelz]

On Inauguration Day tomorrow, all American women are asked to shave their pubes because......










NO MORE "BUSH"

[Flynbyu]

That's why the misses has been bare for eight years.



~Brian

[socalrappy700]

I respect and thank him for his service.  I'm proud of all our presidents.

[Flynbyu]

Now, GTFOML!



~Brian

[socalrappy700]

The economy will go up, and crash down.  Thats just how it works, build it up till it breaks.  George Bush was just the person standing when the music stopped.  Nothing more, nothing less.