-
Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Oct 26, 2015
October 26, 2015
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
Shopping Around:
A new Harris Poll of shopping behavior finds smartphone owners increasingly find Siri more helpful than salespeople. Some findings to consider while staffing up for the holiday season:
--71 percent say "The stores I frequently shop at understand what information is valuable to me when I shop and make it readily available on the product package."
--60 percent say "If I can't find information on my phone, live help can be difficult to find in a store."
--58 percent say "My phone has provided more quality information faster than live help."
--50 percent say "My phone is a better way to provide me with customer service than live help."
--48 percent say "The stores I frequently shop at have adapted to my smartphone usage to provide better customer service." (Kaye)Posturing, Posing, Polling and Press Releases:
A new CBS News poll shows DONALD TRUMP and BEN CARSON leading tied atop the GOP field in Iowa. Trump and Carson both pull 27-percent, followed by TED CRUZ at 12-percent.
And there's more bad news for JEB BUSH. He pulls just six-percent support in that survey, with more than half of Republicans saying they would be dissatisfied if he were the party's nominee. (Pacelli)On, off and way-off-Broadway:
The original cast album of the smash hit Broadway musical "Hamilton" is so big that it may go to the next level very soon. The Confidential gossip column in the New York Daily News says JAY-Z and BEYONCE went to see the show last Wednesday, and word it they want to record an EP of songs from the musical, sung by pop, rap and hip-hop artists. So far, MADONNA has been to the musical, and so have MISSY ELLIOTT and PHARRELL WILLIAMS. So far, no one at "Hamilton" has commented on any of this.
FYI: Of course, this has been done before. The musical "Hair" had tunes from the show become major pop hits by the FIFTH DIMENSION, THREE DOG NIGHT, THE COWSILLS, OLIVER and others. (Marino)Today's police blotter:
When sending illegal drugs in the mail, make sure you get the address right.
A resident of Hazlet, New Jersey called police after receiving a "high priority" shipment from an unknown sender. Cops opened the box and found 50-pounds of shrink-wrapped marijuana worth around $100-thousand dollars. A police spokesman says, "Whoever packaged these definitely took quite a bit of time and energy to mask anything that was detectable." In a post on their official Facebook page, Hazlet police are inviting whoever owns the stash to come on down to the station and claim it. (Still)Human Nature:
If you think hands-free technology is helping you be a safer driver, think again. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety just released a new study on in-car infotainment stsrems and voice activated cell phones. It found that hands-free technology is still a huge distraction to drivers, even when their eyes are forward and hands are on the wheel.
Mashable.com says the very worst systems caused drivers to be distracted for up to 27 seconds after performing an action. Even the best systems could lead a driver to be distracted for 15 seconds after performing an action. For the cars tested, the 2015 Chevrolet Equinox and Buick Lacrosse performed the best. The Mazda 6's system scored the worst. Among phone systems, Google Now had the best score. Microsoft's Cortana scored the worst. But every system was found to test at a distraction level that is "potentially dangerous." (Bartha) -
-