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Just as many people watch the Super Bowl for the ads as they do for the football. But this year, more than a few of the commercials left viewers scratching their heads and asking “Why?”

This is especially true for Quicken Loans, the mortgage lender company whose minute-long Super Bowl 50 commercial stirred quite a bit of controversy on the Twitter-sphere.

The commercial advertised Quicken Loans’ new “Rocket Mortgage” service, an app-based service that supposedly makes it both easy and fast for buyers to get a mortgage loan. In the commercial, the voiceover tells of a world where buying a home can be as simple as buying a pair of shoes online and can take as little as ten minutes — or even less.

“What if we did for mortgages what the Internet did for buying music and plane tickets and shoes?” the voiceover’s casual, undoubtedly Millennial-directed voice muses. “You would turn an intimidating process into an easy one. You could get a mortgage on your phone. And if it could be that easy, wouldn’t more people buy homes?”

And while the premise does sound appealing in an idealistic way, anyone who lived through the housing crisis of 2008 finds the logic of the Quicken Loans ad to be troubling and downright dangerous.

In fact, immediately after the advertisement aired, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took to Twitter in order to warn consumers that diving into a “right-minute mortgage” might not be the best idea.

Launched in December, the Quicken Loans “Rocket Mortgage” promises potential home buyers that they can qualify for a mortgage online in under 10 minutes. Unlike FHA 203K loans offered by the Federal Housing Administration that offer 3.5% down payments, the service cuts out the middle and instantaneously analyzes your financial and credit history, determining your loan eligibility on the spot.

 

Ultimately, critics of the Quicken Loans “Rocket Mortgage” service seem to be criticizing the tone-deaf nature of their campaign.

However, it’s important to note that Quicken’s program doesn’t actually speed up the house-buying process itself. It simply condenses it by letting potential borrowers skip initial paperwork, instead authorizing Quicken Loans to communicate with their financial institutions directly.

And Quicken is by no means offering mortgages to those who don’t qualify for them.

“These are qualified mortgages, fully underwritten loans. Nothing that we’re doing is shifting or changing that,” says Quicken Loans CEO Bill Emerson. “The reality is, we’re doing nothing but safe lending.”

After years of experts warning against the environmental repercussions of the consumption of natural resources, the big businesses they were trying to appeal to may now be facing the consequences, but from a financial standpoint.

According to the International Business Times, the price of crude oil leveled out to a 12-year low of about $30 per barrel this past week. The news of this price plateau comes only one day after several United States investment firms warned the Wall Street Journal that national oil companies are at an increasing risk for bankruptcy as a result of the continued plunge of oil prices over the past year.

With U.S. oil and gas companies losing an estimated $2 billion per week combined, investment banks, such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, warn that oil prices could fall as low as to $20 per barrel.

Some have even described the situation as worse than the 1986 crash in oil prices, which left prices at a measly $10 per barrel.

Between high oil production in the Middle East and overproduction as a result of the U.S. shale boom, as well as low demand from developing nations such as China, have left the price of crude oil plunging since 2014.

In an attempt to allow the market to even out, large oil companies are requesting a temporary price cap, but the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have refused, saying that it would fix itself overtime.

However, some investors believe they can still profit off of this downswing in the market by purchasing cheap shares in energy companies hoping they will eventually recover.

“Every time you hit new lows there’s the potential for profit taking, and as people try to pick the bottom of the market,” Richard Mallinson, a geopolitical analyst at Energy Aspects, told Reuters.

But oil companies are not the only businesses finding themselves lumped in with the other millions of bankruptcy filings in the United States; there were as many as 1,071,932 just in 2013.

A prolonged downturn in the coal industry has caused the second-largest U.S. coal miner Arch Coal to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with a set plan to cut $4.5 billion of debt, as reuters.com reports.

Since their acquisition of International Coal Group, Arch Coal has suffered from a sharp drop in coal prices, more extensive pollution controls, an increasing competition from natural gas, as well as a decreased demand from China, just like the oil companies.

Over the past several years, a confluence of economic challenges and regulatory hurdles has hobbled the coal industry,” Chief Financial Officer John Drexler said in a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in St. Louis on Monday.

Arch Coal’s debt-for-equity agreement will offer control of the majority of the company to senior lenders, which includes Eaton Vance Management Inc, Tennenbaum Capital Partners and Highland Capital Management.

Arch will also be receiving $275 million in debtor-in-possession financing, with another estimated $600 million in cash and short-term investments. Supposedly this should be enough to fund their operations during the restructuring of the company.

While Arch Coal says their shipments will continue uninterrupted, about 25% of U.S. coal producers are currently in their own bankruptcy filings, according to a 2013 estimate of the market’s production.

Heavy rainfall brought on by strong El Niño storms are wreaking havoc across the country. Residents of San Diego are experiencing serious repercussions, as sinkholes, flooding, and danger lurks around every corner of the city.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the El Niño storm made its way through San Diego, causing the water to rise quickly in several parts of the city. Lifeguards and rescue workers worked quickly to rescue people from flooded streets and homes. On Wednesday, Miramar Road and Cabot Drive suddenly became flooded, and lifeguards brought the passengers of four or five cars to safety.

Similar rescues have been happening all over town, in areas such as Roselle Street near Sorrento Valley and Ward Street in Mission Valley.

In La Jolla Shores, a sinkhole opened up. The hole is larger than a car and is exposing a gas line. While it has not been ruptured yet, experts fear that a slab of concrete could rupture it. Authorities have warned residents to avoid the area until the sinkhole is repaired.

And in residential areas near the San Diego river, homes are experiencing serious flooding problems, finding themselves knee-deep in water. According to statistics, almost 98% of all basements incur some kind of water damage; San Diego homes in areas like Point Loma will have inevitably incurred water damage of some kind as a result of the recent floods.

According to NBC 7 reports, the flash floods submerged Point Loma streets in less than 10 minutes. For one resident, Kelly Fouquier, the water damage was so extensive that firefighters had to pull her out from her window.

“Literally, it’s probably the scariest thing I’ve ever been through in my entire life. I’ve never experienced anything like that; any type of disaster like that,” she explained. “I was really, really scared.”

As rescues are underway and extensive damage continues, the residents of San Diego can only hope that the El Niño storm lets up for the remainder of the season.

It’s been 36 years since 53 Americans were held as hostages in Iran for 444 days, and the U.S. government has finally agreed to hand over financial compensation to the victims.

According to the Washington Post and Time, President Obama signed a provision at the end of December to provide $4.4 million to each of the living 37 American Embassy employees (and to the estates of the 16 individuals who have since passed away) who had been held hostage in Iran three decades ago.

The total compensation equals $10,000 per day held in captivity when the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was seized in Nov. 1979. Because the deal that allowed for their safe return — the 1981 Algiers Accords — prohibited the victims from filing lawsuits against Iran, the former hostages have been trying (in vain) to convince the U.S. government to provide compensation.

As the Washington Post put it, the 1979 incident “fractured relations between Iran and the United States and ultimately pitted the former hostages not only against the authorities in Tehran, but also against their own government.”

The hostage situation was recently portrayed in the movie “Argo,” and this movie, added to the increased media scrutiny over the Iran nuclear deal discussions in 2015, likely played an important role in getting the provision signed.

This incident isn’t the only case where compensation for American workers overseas became a complicated issue; it’s a notoriously tricky process to get the federal government to pay benefits for injuries — and even deaths — incurred in a foreign country while employed by the United States.

Despite the passage of legislation to protect overseas workers, such as the federal workers’ compensation program under the Defense Base Act and the Longshore and Harbor Workers Act of 1921, the families of government contract workers often have to fight for financial compensation. As the New York Times reported this past December, it can take years for families to receive benefits even when their relatives have perished overseas as a result of terrorist attacks.

If it’s successful, this new provision could provide relief for future victims and families of overseas terror attacks.

In addition to providing $4.4 million to each victim of the 1979 hostage crisis, the deal also allocates payments of $600,000 for each spouse and/or child of a hostage in the incident. The provision will also remain open for the next 10 years so that other terror attack victims are able to receive compensation.

Christmas is known as a time for giving, and several food trucks around the country decided to spend their holiday giving back to those who need it the most.

According to The Herald Online, Brooke Barber and her fiance, DaRel Daniels, brought their down-home cooking to The Haven men’s shelter in Rock Hill, SC. They wanted to use their culinary talents to make a change in the community on Christmas.

The couple brought their food truck, Street Spice, to the Haven’s Men Shelter where each resident was given three cheeseburger sliders, a choice of curly fries or mac and cheese, a dessert, and a drink.

“It’s fun to have your own mobile kitchen,” Daniels said. “This feels good, that we are in a position to do this.”

Food trucks have become one of the most popular fads in the restaurant industry over the past several years, and annual food truck revenue in the U.S. currently tops $1 billion.

On this day, Barber and Daniels wanted to forget about profit margins and focus on providing Rock Hill residents with the Christmas feast that they deserve.

Street Spice’s appearance at The Haven men’s shelter is a heartwarming example of the giving spirit, and their story was mirrored by many other food truck owners around the country during the holidays.

Local Virginia news affiliate WSET reported that Loralee Walters, who owns and operates the Jacked Rabbit Food Truck in Lynchburg, VA, whipped up delicious vegan meals for homeless people in the community on Christmas Day.

Walters parked her food truck outside of the Salvation Army during lunch hours and fed everyone who approached her, free of charge.

“I dig it. I really do, because I’ve had problems in the past and we kind of wished somebody would’ve been there and helped us. Sometimes people do and sometimes people don’t but the one’s who do it’s kind of like good karma,” said Walters.

The Charlotte Observer also reported on Barbara Wilder, a North Carolina woman who started her own ministry called Perfect Provisions in 2011.

While the ministry typically collects clothes and blankets for the homeless, Perfect Provisions also feeds the less fortunate from time to time. After several successful Thanksgiving feasts, Wilder decided to invest in a food truck and deliver meals all over town during the holidays.

This Christmas, Perfect Provisions brought their food truck to a local parking lot and provided meals to over 90 children and adults in Ravenwood Hills, a run-down neighborhood in West Charlotte.

“They got stockings, presents, toys and a hot meal of honey-glazed ham, mac and cheese, meatballs and gravy, glazed carrots, angel eggs (commonly referred to as deviled eggs), rolls and juice,” Wilder said.

“Seeing the faces of the children, to see their smiles when they get clothes, a toothbrush or a hot meal or a toy, just to bless them is a wonderful feeling,” Wilder added.

It’s safe to say that the giving spirit is alive and well in America, and this year, food trucks were the beacon of hope that many people desperately needed.

Just in time for the holiday season, Google has added some extra features to Google Maps iOS that will make last-minute shopping trips easier than ever.

The updated Google Maps iOS provides iPhone and iPad users with features that have been available on Android for about a month already — but better late than never, right? Considering that 34% of smartphone users primarily access the internet through their phones rather than using a laptop or desktop computer to do so, Google’s focus on optimizing its apps for both Android and iOS systems is more of an investment than anything else.

The biggest — and most useful — change, according to The Verge, is the ability to download Google Maps for a specific city or region and save it locally to an iPhone or iPad to access it offline. This feature not only allows users to save the street layout, but it also provides turn-by-turn directions and business hours of local stores within the downloaded map region.

The downloaded version still doesn’t provide mass transit directions for anyone wishing to travel by bus or subway, and the larger maps (such as the one for New York City) can take up to 300 MB of space. The maps do expire after one month, however, ensuring that users constantly get updated versions and indirectly ensuring that users don’t accidentally download multiple maps, forget about them, and then wonder why there’s no space left on their phones.

Additionally, Google Maps is now providing a gas-price feature for users in the U.S. and Canada, which displays the current gas prices of nearby gas stations. This part of the app can’t be accessed offline, as Tech Times and TechCrunch noted, because gas prices fluctuate too quickly for a downloaded feature to be useful.

Google Maps may still have to compete with Apple Maps for domination over iPhone and iPad app users, but it seems that the company is moving in the right direction.

It’s no secret that pest control costs can add up for businesses that absolutely must invest in services. The Guardian reported that pesticides are currently costing about $90 billion USD in illness within sub-Saharan Africa, which is forcing some companies to find new ways to deter pests.

Pesticides are mostly used on very large farms that export their crops. Yet the average farmers with smaller crops have to pay far more to use government-approved pesticides and may choose more harmful substances instead; further, these chemicals tend to be improperly stored, which also contributes to the spread of illness in the area.

When the pesticide carbofuran was finally banned in 2008 for being too dangerous, it was wake up call for researchers. They began looking for other ways to handle pests.

A new device may help do just that. It’s a type of acoustic disruptor which basically consists of a buzzer and microphone.

The device detects the male call of an insect or other pest, and it sends out a false female call in return. When the male approaches the buzzer in an attempt to find the female, it is trapped to an adhesive strip and later collected.

Each device would have a range of about two feet around something like a citrus tree. While it may be an expensive initial investment, the long term decrease in cost is well worth the sacrifice. Pests like cockroaches spend about 75% of their time dormant, surviving even in about 32 degree weather, so having a device like this to draw them out could be beneficial.

Another method is picking a better natural challenger to pests, like spiders. A recent study looked at the difference between lively spiders and last spiders in a field test. They say the personality of the spiders are integral to success.

Ecologists Raphaël Royauté of North Dakota State University and Jonathan Pruitt of the University of Pittsburgh looked at the personalities of wolf spiders, which are common in crop fields and generally hunt bugs.

Their study, in essence, tested how lively each spider was and then watched how it affected the prey the caught. Their conclusion? It stays unpredictable.

But the study’s authors do warn farmers that pesticides hurt the active spiders more than the inactive ones. By using such chemicals, farmers can actually hurt the things that could naturally help them out.

Many of the more savvy and frequent travelers around the world have become accustomed to taking advantage of rewards offered by airlines and other entities aimed at reducing their travel costs.

However, according to PostBulletin.com, some of these travelers may soon be paying more than they bargained for thanks to changes that American Airlines is making to their frequent-flyer model.

These alterations would offer better mile rewards for spending more money on their tickets, while reducing points offered to those who mainly travel on discounted fares. American Airlines is now the fifth carrier to move to this payment-based model for free reward seats, following Delta, United, Southwest and Jet Blue.

Supposedly, the “airline is looking to reward its most loyal and most valuable customers,” as explained by a spokesperson for American Airlines.

Frequent-flyer rewards have been based off of mileage for around 30 years. Instead, it will now benefit mainly business travelers, who buy the most expensive last-minute tickets usually only days before the flight.

American attributes this quick change to their merger with USAirways, which also means this will affect travel on American Airlines’ subsidiary, American Eagle.

The new model will reduce rewards from mileage by as much as 40% by March of next year.

While these changes may benefit some of their more upscale business clientele, many other frequent flyers may be in hot water. CNN reports on one particular homeless traveler who essentially lives in the first-class section of planes due to do his impressive ability to manipulate the mileage points system through the fine print.

Twenty-five-year-old Ben Schlappig has no official address. While some frequent flyers afford their lifestyles by buying condominiums or other lower-cost homes, which require only about 1% of the purchase price for yearly maintenance, Schlappig decided to skip paying rent or a mortgage altogether.

Beginning at the young age of fourteen, Schlappig now flies an average of around 400,000 miles each year, just about enough to circumnavigate the world 16 times. Overall, he spends an average of about four hours a day on airplanes, once a week on an international flight, and spends the rest in hotels, which are also covered by his miles.

“I feel as at home in Emirates first class, as I do anywhere else. I know every aspect of the seats; there’s a certain familiarity with the staff; I tend to run into the same crews,” said Schlappig.

Unfortunately, Schlappig may soon be forced to find a permanent home as the airlines begin to cater more to their wealthy clientele.

In an attempt to settle an ongoing lawsuit, the city of Waikiki is paying a construction company $3.6 million after the company filed a lawsuit over the city’s supervision of their construction of a sewer line under Waikiki’s Ala Wai Canal.

In 2006, Waikiki experienced extremely heavy rains, resulting in the breakage of a main sewer line. In order to prevent the sewage from backing up into residents’ sinks and toilets, the city sent 48 million gallons of raw sewage into the Ala Wai Canal.

The city continued to remedy the problem by installing a temporary sewage pipe in the canal. According to Hawaii News Now, the temporary pipe, described as “huge” and “black,” stuck out like a sore thumb. While burial depths for sewer lines typically vary on a municipal level and pipe material, most sewer lines are buried between 12 to 14 inches deep. A sewer pipe above ground would not be sustainable for long.

Eventually, the city of Waikiki hired Seattle-based Frank Coluccio Construction company to place a permanent sewer line below the Ala Wai Canal.

Yethe company sued the city upon completion, claiming the city made them use a type of pipe material that the contractor didn’t think was the best material.

Additionally, Coluccio claimed the new pipe flooded during construction efforts, ultimately causing extra costs, damage to equipment, and work delays.

Corporation Counsel Donna Leong, considered the top attorney in Waikiki, released a statement saying, “The city disputed the majority of Coluccio’s claims but agreed to settle the case for $3.6 million so as to avoid the uncertainties and risks that are typical when proceeding to trial on the merits.”

While Coluccio claimed there were problems with the material of the pipes used, Leong noted that it satisfied specifications and requirements listed in the bid document.

The city is settling the case using its judgments and losses funds.

With the current focus on climate change and environmental conservation, people are constantly on the lookout for ways to reduce their energy consumption.

Now, according to The Daily Orange, Syracuse University physics professor Eric Schiff is currently working with the Department of Energy to innovate new technologies that will improve single pane windows.

When rating windows, the top three most wanted types and materials are all now explicitly related to saving energy. More than two-thirds of buyers are interested in Energy Star-rated windows, triple pane insulating glass, and low-e insulating glass.

Schiff’s Single-Pane Highly Insulating Efficient Lucid Designs (SHIELD) program will sift through numerous possible applications, choosing a finite number to finance further study.

“There will be a dozen winners and each of those will be given a project that will be run for two to three years,” said Schiff.

He estimates that by improving the 15 billion square feet of single pane windows currently in use, average heating bills could decrease by 10 to 20%.

Schiff may even be able to partner up with another program aimed at improving the energy efficiency of homes called Home Energy Renovation Opportunity (HERO).

The Fresno Bee reports that this HERO Property Assessed Clean Energy program was recently launched by Firebaugh, Fowler, and Huron to aid residents in Fresno, CA, in paying for environmentally friendly home renovations.

HERO will cover 100% of all upfront purchase and installation costs for projects such as drip irrigation systems, artificial turf, drought-tolerant landscaping, and solar panels. The funds will be paid back overtime by the homeowner simply through their property tax, over the span of up to 20 years.

“HERO financing brings renewable energy and energy- and water-efficiency within reach for a broad range of homeowners,” said Blair McNeill, vice president of Community Development for Renovate America, the company that administers the HERO Program.

This program will also cover certain economical products and appliances, including high-efficiency toilets, faucets and shower heads, rainwater catchment systems, and gray water systems.

As of now, the most popular products they’ve covered have been solar power, whole home heating and cooling systems, energy-saving windows and doors, and roofing and insulation.

With a total of ten counties in California adopting the program, HERO has provided $26.7 million in financing for a surplus of 1,4000 renovations.