Productopia | Breaking News

Earlier this week I booked a flight from New York to Miami.  Even though JetBlue only flies to the nearby Fort Lauderdale, I couldn't pass up the advertisement in an e-mail sent to me: Book Today, $89 each way from JFK. When I went online to look up fares, I did not see that fantastic rate; instead the fares were through the roof with the flights I wanted ringing up to $500 round trip. I didn't note the little asterisk (pictured at left in the screenshot from my e-mail), which referred me to a very lengthy paragraph entitled "Taxes, Fees and Restrictions."

Hopefully that's the last I'll see of miseading airfare offers. Earlier this week, the Department of Transportation issued a release outlining new regulations that went into affect Jan. 27. Two important parts of the new rules: Taxes and fees now must be included as part of the advertised price, and baggage fees must be clearly disclosed up front. "Airline passengers have rights, and they should be able to expect fair and reasonable treatment when booking a trip and when they fly," U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in the statement.

UPDATE (Monday, December 19): The Wall Street Journal is reporting that AT&T has officially dropped its plan to merge with T-Mobile. 

Thing's aren't looking good for AT&T and T-Mobile's proposed $39 billion mega-merger. After months of deliberation, the FCC announced that it would follow in the steps of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and oppose the sale. Although AT&T and Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile's parent company) withdrew their pending approval applications before the FCC could push the issue further, the agency still released a scathing 109-page report in which, Gizmodo.com says, "the FCC basically calls out AT&T for trying to spin ambiguities in their favor, or making claims without providing data." So is the possibility of AT&T-Mobile fully off the table? Not quite yet.

Forget the crunchy or creamy debate; would you rather your peanut butter cost you an arm or a leg?

Just like many other crops, the peanut harvest was affected by the bizarre weather of this past summer. Due to the extremely high temperatures, the crop of Runner peanuts (the kind most used in peanut butter) has been devastated, causing the price of the raw peanuts to more than double. Which means consumers will soon be facing skyrocketing peanut butter prices at the supermarket.

Get ready to marvel at the latest in auto technology: Cars that know when you're too tired to be behind the wheel.  Several car manufacturers are now offering models with safety features to prevent drowsy driving.