Legislators in several states say multitaskers are taking it too far, using their knees or little fingers to steer their cars while punching in cellphone messages.
Washington is the first state to pass a law banning “driving while texting.” The law takes effect in January and calls for a $101 fine for DWT. So far this year, nine other states have considered such legislation.
Driving while texting is a newer form of driver distraction. It joins such crash-causing activities as making calls on a cellphone, eating, and talking to passengers in the car.
Researchers at Virginia Tech Transportation Institute show that driver inattention is the leading factor in most crashes and near-crashes. And texting takes a driver’s eyes off the road.
If the drivers’ eyes are away from the roadway for two seconds or more in a six-second window, their risk of being involved in a crash is two times higher than that of an attentive driver.
A 2006 joint report with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found 78 percent of crashes involved a driver distracted within three seconds before an accident.
At the Center for Mobile Communications at Rutgers University, they say it’s human nature to know something is dangerous but to believe you can handle it better than others. This false sense of confidence could cost you your life and someone else’s life as well.
Think about it next time you want to be DWT. The time you save could be multiplied many times over as time lost if you are injured in a car crash. You couldn’t call it “an accident.”

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If you bought your lawn mower, paint, or computer but never got the promised rebate, you are one of many. The Federal Trade Commission reports that “the problem is huge.”
It may appear that the main function of rebate processors is to find a reason to deny the money-back offer. Rules are often so complicated and vague that most customers don’t even bother. Rebate complaints have risen 400 percent since 2002 according to the Council of Better Business Bureaus.
To get the rebate you expect:

• Know the terms on the rebate form or store receipt. Ask the retailer to explain the terms.
• Make copies of everything including store receipts, bar codes, forms, product containers, and serial numbers, recommends Sid Kirchheimer, author of Scam-Proof Your Life (AARP/Sterling).
• Fill in every blank on the form. If it asks for your email address, for example, say you don’t have one rather than leaving the space blank.
• Act fast. The average time to submit a claim is now 15 to 30 days.
• Use certified mail and ask for a receipt. Fill out all forms in writing to avoid suspicions of mass-mailing fraud.
• Shop where rebates are easy to apply for. Stores like Staples, Cingular, and Costco let customers fill out rebate forms at the checkout or online. Some stores have the rebate form printed out at the end of the sales receipt.

The best idea: Fill out forms carefully immediately after the purchase. Send them along with required proofs that day or the next day.

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The temperature of the workplace was people’s top complaint for many years. In the same location, some said it was too hot and other workers said it was too cold. Fortunately, some thought the temperature was just right.
Very few people think the ringing of someone’s cellphone is just right. In a study by workforce solutions firm Randstad USA, unusual rings were named as workers’ number one pet peeve.
Randstad reports that many rings are particularly obnoxious like fire engine sirens, a fog horn, or a child’s voice crying out. Many people have several rings to identify various callers such as parents, friends, and spouses.
With so many ringtones available online, it shouldn’t be difficult to pick one that doesn’t drive co-workers and customers to distraction. According to M:Metrics, a Seattle-based research firm, 19.8 million mobile-phone users downloaded ringtones in one recent month. About half of them were employed full time.
Part of the problem is with more open workspaces. Some companies pipe “white sound” into open areas to reduce noise. Another factor is the increased number of young people who have grown up with cellphones.
Most organizations require that phones be set on vibrate during meetings and when talking with customers.
We should remember that discretion is best when choosing a ringtone. Consider what bosses and co-workers will think when your phone rings.

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Those who retire early but live long lose a bundle in Social Security benefits
Only about 5 percent of retirees wait until full retirement age to claim Social Security benefits.
Retiring early can cost dearly, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA), especially if you live a long time.
The SSA calculates that retirees who live to age 90 would lose $39,000 in benefits if they retire at age 62.
Some financial analysts say retiring early would cost far more because of the cost-of-living increases that boost Social Security checks. They figure the loss would be $83,000 for those who take benefits at 62 and live to age 90 and nearly $149,000 for those who live to age 95. The reason: Cost-of-living adjustments would apply to larger sums if a person retires at age 66.
Age 77 is the SSA’s estimated break even point. If you think you will die before age 77, retire early. If you think you will live past age 77, delay retirement as long as possible.
People are, in fact, living longer. There is a 41 percent chance that a 62-year-old woman will live to age 90. A 62-year-old man has a 29 percent chance.
For a married couple, there’s a 58 percent chance that one of them will live to age 90, and a 29 percent chance that one will reach 95. If you don’t think you’ll live very long, taking benefits early could hurt your spouse. A married beneficiary can continue receiving his or her own benefits or the deceased’s benefit, whichever is more. So spouses who take benefits early also reduce the amount the surviving spouse could receive.
People who want to retire early and can afford to live on their retirement savings until age 66 may also save on income tax.
Married couples with $32,000 in combined income face income tax on half of their Social Security benefits.

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Last August, Congress passed the Pension Protection Act. It encourages companies to sign up employees automatically for 401(k) plans.
Previously, only a third of eligible employees participated, but the new rules are changing that. The 401(k) plans have three compelling benefits:

• Investments are made with pre-tax dollars. Investments and interest earned are not taxed until you withdraw your money at age 59-1/2 through age 70.
• You get “free money.” Employers can match contributions dollar for dollar. Typically, however, they match 50 cents on the dollar up to 6 percent of your salary, according to Fortune. Some match 25 cents on the dollar.
• The federal limit on your contributions is $15,000 per year or $20,000 for those age 50 or older. The minimum contribution is set by the plan.

A plan generally has a set of default options for investing your money. They are primarily balanced mutual funds and investment pools that include a mix of stocks and bonds. Some companies include target-date or lifecycle funds, which change the mix of stocks and bonds according to how long it will be before you retire.
Fund tracker Morning Star reports that balanced funds returned an average of 9.7 percent a year since 2004, making them a good choice.
Most 401(k) participants depend on the plan to make their investment choices. Participants who feel knowledgeable about investments, however, can make or change their own choices from various investments available within the plan.
Advisors at Fortune say letting your investments grow on “autopilot” with the plan’s choices has paid off for most people over time.

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For greater success, get passionate about your work, your world
Let’s say you’re a calm, laid-back person. You deal with the world from a take-it-as-it-comes point of view. And it has always worked for you.

But didn’t you ever envy people who seemed to be on fire, enthusiastic and passionate about their work, their pro football team, and their home life?
There’s no question that you can’t change the color of your eyes and other in-born traits. The height of your fire is something else.

In The Welch Way, Jack and Suzy Welch say there’s no question about it. You can stoke up your fire, uncork your passion and get hot! When you do, you can turn clock-watching workers into fired-up people as well.
It’s every leader’s job to make purpose come alive and to turn cynicism into engagement, say the Welches.
Sometimes it takes an event to do it. They tell of a break-even unit of a big manufacturer. The unit had little growth and its people had little motivation. They just plugged along with the work.
When the unit was sold, everything changed. A few slackers were let go, but through great attention to individuals and promises of better things to come, work became fun for those who stayed.
Fortunately, you probably won’t have the buyout situation to contend with but the new owner’s techniques could work for you too. By focusing on individuals, what they are doing and what they could become, you could replace cynicism with excitement.
When you get passionate about what your people are doing, true engagement will be your reward. And theirs.

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Nassim Nicholas Taleb calls his new book The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. (It was the discovery of one black swan that invalidated the theory that all swans are white.) His work continues the theme of his previous book Fooled by Randomness, which is about the role chance plays in life.

It’s not just forecasters who take a chance on predicting the future, however. Each of us does it every time we make an insurance payment or fasten our seat belts. But Taleb says improbable events are inevitable.

The Black Swan is symbolic of the dramatic, earth-shaking events that shape the course of history. He cites such events as September 11, World War I, and the Wall Street crash of 1987 as demonstrations that the world is dominated by the extreme, and the improbable. These events have massive impact. Taleb says, “History does not crawl, it jumps.”

Reviewer Chris Anderson calls the book “a delightful romp through history, economics, and the frailties of human nature.” He quotes Francis Bacon who 400 years ago warned that our minds are wired to deceive us.

Taleb says we spend our lives engaged in small talk, focusing on the known while ignoring the possibility of events that could change our lives. A mathematician turned philosopher, he contends that we really have no idea why stock markets go up or down on any given day, and whatever reason we give is sure to be grossly simplified, if not flat out wrong.

He says our love for simplistic explanations blinds us into thinking we understand how things work. He recommends looking for ways to profit from serendipitous developments (good Black Swans), while at the same time preparing broadly for disaster.

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Random House, 400 pages.

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Fortune’s Stanley Bing is a funny guy. He begins his tirade on grammar with a 60-word sentence. Then he loads paragraphs of his “While You Were Out” page with grammatical no-nos, many of which are found in email he receives.
Here are some of the misuses of the language that grate on his nerves.
You and I or you and me? Use ‘You and I’ when you are the subject: You and I should have lunch. (You wouldn’t say, ‘Me should have lunch!’) Use ‘You and me’ when you are the direct object: The boss called you and me. (You wouldn’t say, ‘The boss called I.’)
Interchanging “their,” “there” and “they’re.” Correct: They’re (they are) having their lunch over there.
The difference between its and it’s. Its (without an apostrophe) is the possessive of it: Nice car. I like its color. It’s means ‘it is.’  It’s my favorite.
Using “myself” instead of “me.”  This rankles Bing and annoys a lot of his readers as well. If he could send a message to everyone, people would not write such things as, “For any problem, contact Ruth or myself.” Just say ‘me.’ If you want to know when to use ‘myself’ look up ‘reflexive pronouns.’ You will be proud of yourself!
Bing (and there are many others like him) notices that young men are often guilty of referring to other men as “dude,” and saying “No problem” in response to “Thank You.” Some will mutter “Yo” in the elevator to others.
Bing counsels against correcting the offender. They won’t like it and may not even believe their grammar is poor. All you can do speak correctly yourself.

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Whatever your job may be, there will be times when confidential information comes to you. When you hear people discuss the subject - and when they are incorrect - what do you do?
Forget correcting them or giving any indication that you know something about the situation.
The rumor mill is constantly grinding out speculation. But rumors are a fact of business life. They are something of a communications system and are often right, or almost right.
If you are a supervisor, you should pay close attention to rumors. They give you an indication of how people may feel about a certain subject.
If you aren’t the boss, you could let management know about the hearsay and anxiety you’re picking up, advises psychoanalyst Kerry Sulkowicz of the Boswell Group, which advises on the psychological aspects of business.
When someone asks you if a rumor is true, simply tell them you don’t know if it is true and leave it at that.
Never drop hints that you know more than you can tell. Fact is, you might well not know the whole story.

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he FTC today released the list of top consumer fraud complaints received by the agency in 2007. The list, contained in the publication “Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Data January-December 2007,” showed that for the seventh year in a row, identity theft is the number one consumer complaint category. Of 813,899 total complaints received in 2007, 258,427, or 32 percent, were related to identity theft. The report breaks out complaint data on a state-by-state basis and also contains data about the 50 metropolitan areas reporting the highest per capita incidence of fraud and the 50 metropolitan areas reporting the highest incidence of identity theft.

The report states that credit card fraud was the most common form of reported identity theft at 23 percent, followed by utilities fraud at 18 percent, employment fraud at 14 percent, and bank fraud at 13 percent.

Consumers reported fraud losses totaling more than $1.2 billion; the median monetary loss per person was $349, the report states.

The top 20 complaint categories were:

The FTC collects consumer fraud complaints from more than 125 other organizations and makes them available to more than 1,600 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad via Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database. In 2007, the FTC received almost 140,000 more consumer fraud complaints than in 2006. These additional complaints came from numerous data contributors, primarily the Better Business Bureaus.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, click http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/complaint.shtm or call 1-877-382-4357. For free information on a variety of consumer topics, click http://ftc.gov/bcp/consumer.shtm.

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