The 411 on Valentine's Flowers - Infographics

February 13, 2012 3:04:48 PM

The 411 on Flower Ettiquette (Infographic)

frugaldad.com

Tomorrow, Americans will buy somewhere in the ballpark of 200 million roses for their Valentine's sweethearts. Except for Feb. 14th, most of us don't really think about flowers. I'll buy the occasional bouquet for a birthday party or a school play, but I usually grab the most colorful, reasonably priced arrangement at the grocery store on my way to an event. We recently ordered flowers for a party and we spent a long time weighing more than cost and color; it turns out flowers are a tricky business. Different flower species and colors are meant for certain occasions and relationships and while guys like me don't tend to think about it, putting more thought than money into the purchase can really make the gift more special.

Buyers just accept that flower prices increase tremendously around Valentine's and Mother's Day. And it's funny that only 30% of annual flower purchases are made for "no special occasion" yet women surveyed say they prefer getting flowers unexpectedly or on non-holidays. For those of us who need to know how to make our floral gifts more meaningful and surprising, this latest infographic serves as a guide.
Check out this helpful guide to buying flowers if you're in the market to buy some Valentine's blooms:

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Source: http://frugaldad.com

February 13, 2012 3:02:40 PM

Use an Aluminum Can for Perfectly Poached Eggs Every Time

lifehacker.com

Poaching an egg isn't terribly difficult on its own, but if you have trouble keeping your eggs in a neat little pouch when you crack them into your water, the secret may be twofold: first, make sure to swirl the water a bit before you crack the egg into your pot, second, grab an old aluminum can. Here's how it works.
Swirling water with a spoon is an old trick when it comes to poaching an egg—the swirling motion will help keep the egg together in the center as it cooks. Reader Mary writes in to point out that if you poach eggs often, or poach a lot of eggs in one sitting, save the next aluminum can you empty, rinse it out, and cut off both ends. Then, when you're ready to poach an egg, rub the inside with a little oil (just to make sure nothing sticks) and lower it into your hot water, right over the swirling center of the pot. Crack the egg into the can, and when the egg solidifies, pull the can up. Set a timer, let the egg cook, and pull it out with a mesh ladle when it's finished.
There are a lot of ways to poach a perfect egg, but this sounds like a helpful crutch for people just getting started, or who want to make sure every egg is perfect, every time. It may not be necessary, but it's useful. Do you have any egg poaching tips? Have you tried this method before? Let us know in the comments below.

Travel: Cruisewise Launches Dedicated Travel Site For Booking / Researching Cruises

February 13, 2012 2:56:16 PM

CruiseWise Launches A Dedicated Travel Site For Booking Cruises

techcrunch.com

 

CruiseWise , a new online travel agency dedicated to booking cruises, is opening its doors today. The startup aims to simplify the online cruise booking process, bringing it up to par with what you find now when booking hotels or flights.

With site's online search engine, customers can compare prices, routes, cabin choices and other options across multiple cruise lines and see the full amount for the cruise by total number of passengers, including tax.
The startup was founded in 2010 by CEO Amit Aharoni, CTO Nicolas Meunier and COO Steve Davis after realizing that online 10% of total online bookings for cruises happened online, compared with 85% for cars and 75% for hotels. This isn't because more cruise ship passengers are "old" and unaccustomed to using a computer to book travel, they say. The average age of a cruiser is 49, versus 46 as the average age of a hotel stayer. It's not the 3-year age gap that's the problem – it's the user interface. "It's really bad," says Davis.
Due to the complexities of options with a cruise ship – there can be up to 40 different cabin options alone, for example – being walked through the process through an online travel search site like Expedia takes multiple steps. In fact, cruise bookings go through 8 webpages on Expedia, versus 3 for flights, Davis notes.
To cater to the needs of potential cruise passengers, the team decided to build a vertical  designed just for booking cruises. The search process is simplified, allowing you to easily compare different packages side-by-side, while also seeing the real prices. Since cruise prices are by person, that ad for a $300 discounted cruise is really $600 for a couple, plus tax. CruiseWise lets you see the full rate when you're searching, so you can make better decisions.

For now, the service is only tracking four top lines: Carnival, Celebrity, Princess and Royal Caribbean, but combined they account for 60% of the market. Six more lines will be added in the next several months, bringing that total up to 80%+ of the market.
CruiseWise also includes information that helps you pick the cruise line of choice, like ship layouts with interactive deck maps, lists of amenities, photos, route information, in-depth port guides and more. The startup even employs half a dozen travel writers who create editorial content about the destinations and submit photos. Other features in the works include an improved cabin selection guide that will help you determine which cabin best suits your needs (quiet or loud? windows? sunrise or sunset view?, etc.) In the future, the service will allow for crowdsourced content and user reviews, too.
Overall, the goal with CruiseWise is not only to improve the booking process, but also to offer better prices for cruises, too. "We're trying to offer people lower prices and more credit back because we spend so much less money to serve them," explains Davis. So it's cheaper? "Cheaper is actually a tricky word in cruising. Cruise lines have very strict policies about the prices you can advertise to people," Davis explains. What they do allow is letting you return the savings to customers in the form of credit, not discounts on the initial package price. But don't worry, you'll spend the credit – after all, what's a vacation without a pina colada and souvenir t-shirt?
CruiseWise, which was the first team to emerge from StartupChile  and is funded by SV Angel, NEA, Index Ventures, PROfounders Capital and various angels.

February 13, 2012 3:00:32 PM

Fair Labor Association begins Foxconn inspections at Apple's request

www.tuaw.com

Apple has announced that the Fair Labor Association will conduct voluntary audits of Foxconn factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu, China, at Apple's request. Inspections began Monday in Shenzhen.
In a press release issued this morning, Apple CEO Tim Cook said, "The inspections now underway are unprecedented in the electronics industry, both in scale and scope, and we appreciate the FLA agreeing to take the unusual step of identifying the factories in their reports."
The FLA's inspection procedure will consist of three main parts. Interviews with employees regarding living conditions, work place safety, compensation and hours; physical inspections of dormitories and work areas; and review of documents "…related to procedures at all stages of employment."
Apple recently came under fire for working conditions at some of its assembly partners' plants, prompting some concerned customers to deliver petitions to Apple Stores .

February 12, 2012 2:56:16 PM

Five Best Movie Recommendation Services

lifehacker.com

Whether you're planning a dinner and a movie with a special someone for Valentine's Day, or you just like to read up on what's worth seeing before you spend your hard earned cash on a theater experience, you have plenty of options to read up on what's new in theaters or what's worth seeing before you go. Here's a look at five of the best movie recommendation and review services, based on your nominations.
Earlier in the week we asked you for your favorite movie recommendation service , and you certainly responded. Sadly we can't look at all of them, but here are the top five nominees.

Criticker

Criticker doesn't just match you up with movies that you would like, it also matches you up with other movie lovers who enjoy the same types of movies that you do. If you're a movie buff or a self-described movie critic, Criticker gives you a platform to share your thoughts, rate movies, and comment on other people's ratings. The service is only as good as the movies you rate though, so as soon as you sign up, your best bet is to start rating movies right away so the site can get an idea of what you'd enjoy watching. When it does know what you like, though, it makes some great predictions. Best of all, the algorithm that it uses to determine whether you'd like a movie, the "Taste Compatibility Index," is dynamic, learns from your changing tastes, and can help you determine whether you'd like a new blockbuster before you spend money on it.

Jinni

Jinni, often described as "Pandora for movies," works best when you search for the types of movies, genres, moods, even performers that you like, and you'll see a list of movies that Jinni thinks will fit the bill, thanks to its aptly-named "Movie Genome Project ." Even if you search for "date night," Jinni can suggest some titles for you that are perfect for the atmosphere that both of you will enjoy. Then you can further customize the search by limiting the results to types of films, dates released, genres, and more. If you have an account, you can save your searches, along with any preferences and favorites you have, so Jinni can hone your recommendations even further. Plus, hook Jinni up with your Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, Amazon Video, or Blockbuster account to make use of its suggestions.

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes is the quintessential movie review site. For a lot of people, a "rotten" rating is enough to make them not want to see a movie at all, much less spend money on it in the theaters. Rotten Tomatoes does an excellent job of aggregating movie reviews from all over the web, including the voices of professional movie critics, newspapers reviews, bloggers, and forum and movie fan buzz around the web. The site is a great way to quickly see how well received (or poorly received) a new film that's just landed in the theater has been. You can have your say as well—after registering for an account, you can rate movies on your own and contribute to the community. Think of Rotten Tomatoes as an essential research tool to use to decide if a movie worth seeing—even if it doesn't use your tastes or watch history to help you decide.

ChickFlix

With the tagline "movie reviews by industry chicks," ChickFlix aims to give you a female perspective on the movie industry's latest releases. Operated by three women who started the site by debating what exactly a "chick flick" really is, the blog has grown into an amazing source for movie reviews and perspectives that you won't find represented in newspaper reviews or on other movie review sites. Keep in mind though that ChickFlix doesn't aim to rate movies, or give you detailed background into why movie A is better than movie B, or why you'll like movie C because you liked movie D. Instead, you'll find interesting and engaging movie reviews, information on films that you may like that you may not have heard of, and great suggestions for films that you may not otherwise have investigated.

Metacritic

Metacritic rates just about everything , and movies are no exception. Similar to Rotten Tomatoes, the site is largely sentiment-driven and scores are an aggregate based on reviews from elsewhere on the web, prominent voices, independent reviews, authors, bloggers, commenters, and members of the community who are invited to sign up and rate their own movies and experiences. The process of building a metascore is unique and complex enough that there's a whole page about it , and to this day Metacritic rankings—which fluctuate based on the sentiment of the web—are used to communicate the overall worth of a movie, video game, book, or album, even if that media has been out for years. Again, Metacritic is a research tool, much like Rotten Tomatoes—even though Metacritic covers a much wider series of topics, it's not going to help you decide whether you'd like a film based on other films you like, but it will help you determine whether the overall reception of a movie has been positive or negative, and why.
Now that you've seen the top five, it's time to vote for the overall winner.
Honorable mentions this week go out to the venerable IMDB , which not as many of you nominated as we expected, but is still a great go-to site for information on past movies, actor bios, upcoming projects and productions that your favorite performers are in, trailers, and news. Also worth mentioning is MovieLens , a site that does a really good job of suggesting movies to you that you'd like based on movies you already know you enjoyed or disliked.
Did your favorite not get enough nominations to make the list? Have something to say about one of the contenders we missed? Sound off in the comments below.

February 13, 2012 3:04:48 PM

BitTorrent doesn't hurt US box-office, delayed international releases drive downloading

boingboing.net

Economics researchers at Wellesley College and U Missouri have published a study showing that feature films' US box office returns are not correlated to BitTorrent sharing. They also show that shorter delays between the US exhibition and overseas releases result in less file-sharing — that is, people outside the US download movies because they can't buy tickets to them.

The second point is an important one. There's only one Internet, networked culture doesn't respect national boundaries. A particularly effective marketing campaign for a new release in America will stimulate demand in other countries, and if there's no legitimate way to fulfill demand, then some portion of viewers will choose illegitimate routes. For example, the new Muppets movie has only just been released in the UK, some months after the US theatrical release (which was attended by enormous publicity). Presumably, someone at a studio concluded that there were too many UK movies in the pipeline at Christmas and not enough in February, and chose to delay the film's release to now. However, a certain portion of the audience for Muppet movies have been reading reviews, watching viral YouTube clips, and sitting through extended online discussions of the movie without being able to see it and participate. I'm pretty sure that a lot of these people downloaded the movie so that they could be a part of this moment.

Maybe they'll still buy tickets to the cinema, too. I'd guess that a lot of middle-class families with small children will do this. There aren't many kids' movies in cinematic release at the moment, and Muppets is certainly the best bet for a Sunday matinee during the record-breaking cold-snap, when no one wants to take the kids to a park on the weekend. But child-free adults who love the Muppets may well have slaked their thirst, and there are a lot of adults in the Muppet cohort, and adults who like kids' movies often complain about paying a lot of money to attend screenings that are disrupted by crying, talking, squirming children. If you've already seen the movie on your computer, that may be enough. Finally, there are families in the "squeezed middle" who are struggling to pay the bills may want to see the movie in the cinema, but simply lack the funds to do so, and the amount of time that's gone past since the initial release has meant that there are more online copies and that they're easier to download (for example, more BitTorrent seeds) than ever before. For them, the delayed release makes downloading easier and more attractive.

"Anti-piracy" efforts are often painted as life-or-death struggles for the studios. But in the case of international windows, this is about profit maximization, not survival. If the studios can outsource the titanic expense of policing copyrights in delayed-release nations to the countries themselves, they can wring a few more points of profit by delaying release to an otherwise optimum moment. But considered as a societal problem, it makes no sense to spend a million euros on copyright enforcement just so Universal can save a few thousand euros on the cost of making new 35mm prints.

Here's the study: Reel Piracy: The Effect of Online Film Piracy on International Box Office Sales , by Brett Danaher (Wellesley College - Department of Economics) and Joel Waldfogel (University of Minnesota - Twin Cities - Carlson School of Management ; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); University of Minnesota - Twin Cities - Department of Economics).

"Consumers in the US who would choose between the box office and piracy choose the box office (and the remaining US pirates had valuations lower than the ticket price) but that international consumers who would consider both options choose piracy due to a lack of legal availability," wrote the researchers. "If piracy displaced box office sales in the US, we would have expected the slope of the returns profile to shift more significantly as BitTorrent became more widely adopted."
In other words, researchers were unable to discern an irregular drop in returns of domestic box office sales, which could fault BitTorrent as the culprit.
Despite the mounting evidence and studies providing evidence to the needlessness of the movie studios' assault against file-sharing services, their attacks have been intensifying. At the end of the day, these results suggest that, while directing the blame at file-sharing services induces the fear of prosecution among other file-sharing competitors, much of the power to curb piracy remains in the hands of the studios.

Study suggests U.S. box office not affected by BitTorrent (Thanks, Xeni ! )

February 11, 2012 11:26:08 PM

How Do I Switch from My Bank to a Credit Union?

lifehacker.com

How Do I Switch from My Bank to a Credit Union?

Dear Lifehacker, I'm thinking about switching from my bank to a local credit union. What should I be on the lookout for when I make the switch? Is there anything I should know ahead of time, and how do I go about making the change?

Signed,

Fed Up With Big Banks
Photo by Paul Baker .
Dear Fed Up,

We know what you mean. Saturday was Bank Transfer Day , and even though Bank of America backed down on its debit card fees , many people are just sick and tired with their bank for whatever reason, whether it's high fees, poor customer service, or something else. Credit unions do offer a member-supported, smaller alternative that can provide competitive interest rates on savings accounts, loans and mortgages. Credit unions are also well known for great customer service. That said, there are a few things you need to know before you jump ship.

Things to Check Out Before You Switch

Choose the Right Credit Union for Your Needs . Before you pick a credit union, think about what's prompting you to change. We've talked about why you should switch in the past, but consider what's making you do it. If it's lower interest rates on credit cards, car loans, or mortgages, make sure to check out those rates before you sign up. If it's customer service and low fees that you're interested in, make sure to talk to your friends to see where they've had positive experiences. Compare the financial products between the credit union you're looking at and your bank. Make sure you're really avoiding fees, and the credit union's interest rates are actually better for you.
If it's convenience you're after, see if your employer or any local government or public organizations in your community have credit unions with open membership, or membership that you're eligible for. Many credit unions have opened their doors to the public, but there are still plenty that only allow employees of the patron organization and their families to join. Previously mentioned NerdWallet and credit union finder A Smarter Choice can both help you find a credit union based on your preferences.
Photo by NASA Blueshift .
Find a Credit Union That's Convenient . One of the drawbacks to switching to a credit union is that you give up the idea of having a branch on every street corner or an ATM almost anywhere you go. Most credit unions have a handful of branches in select regions, and their customer service lines are often staffed with real people, which means you might be stuck with limited phone support hours. That won't make much of a difference if you do most of your banking online and use your credit or debit card for your purchases, but it can definitely be a pain if you need a cashier's check or need to walk into a branch for services.
If you find yourself stopping by your bank a few times a month, or even once a month, don't choose the credit union with no branches or ATMs within 50 miles of your home or office, even if it comes recommended by friends. Many credit unions participate in ATM networks like the Co-Op Financial Services network and the Alliance Onenetwork so patrons can use any ATM in the network without paying fees to get their money, which can give credit union patrons access to more ATMs than any commercial bank. The same applies for branches—many credit unions share branch locations and allow you to bank with partner credit unions at any partner location. Unfortunately, even though these networks exist, it will be up to you to find them once you're a customer. You'll have to do your homework to find out where you can go to access your money without paying for the privilege.

How to Make The Switch

Ask for a "Switch Kit" to Make the Transfer Easy . Since credit unions thrive on the patronage of their members, and in most cases are more than happy to help you make the switch from a big bank, many of them have pre-made "switch kits" to help. They usually include all of the forms, identification requirements, and other paperwork you'll need to take to your old bank and fill out for the credit union to make the transition as smooth as possible. Even if they don't have a kit, they likely have some kind of package to make setting up a new account and getting your pay deposited and bills charged simple and easy.
Make the Change On the Phone or Online . With the exception of identification requirements, you can sign up for and set up accounts with most credit unions online. You can also call the credit union's customer support line and let a banking rep walk you through the process on the phone. Many credit unions go out of their way to make managing your account online easy, partially as a way to account for limited hours and fewer branches. It works in your favor though: it means you can do ACH transfers, apply for a personal loan, or open a new account at any time of day, whenever you think to do it.
Photo by m.prinke .
Remember Switching Banks is a Process, not a To-Do . As tempting as it may be to stroll into your bank, flip your bank managers desk, demand your money, and give them a piece of your mind, it's a bad idea. Switching banks is a process that can take several days, especially if you have automatic bill payments and automatic deposits set up. Consider taking out just enough money to get your new account set up while you transfer your automatic deposits and payments to your credit union account. This way, if something unexpected happens and a bill you forgot about tries to hit your old account, you won't be hit with an overdraft fee or penalty, and you don't run the risk of the the bill's issuer complaining to you that they haven't been paid.
Once you're confident that all of your automatic payments and deposits are headed to your new account—usually after a month or so of paying attention to your old and new accounts—you can withdraw the last few dollars from your bank and bid them a not-so-fond farewell.

After Switching, Get Involved to Make the Most of Your Experience

Credit Unions are generally not-for-profit, and they're always member-owned, but remember, they're still in this business to make money and stay afloat. They may introduce changes and fees that may not be popular, and it's up to you to speak up when you're unhappy. Thankfully, when you bank with a smaller organization, the decisions that you make matter more and you have more room to negotiate with banks on interest rates, lines of credit, and other changes. If you get a letter in the mail saying your credit card's interest rate is going up, a few phone calls or a well written complaint letter will usually set them straight and get you back on track. Also, because you're a member and a customer, you're just as responsible for the health and well-being of the credit union as you are entitled to stellar service and competitive financial products.
We hope that helps. There are pros and cons to switching to a credit union from a big bank, but speaking as someone who has accounts with both, I'm far more likely to go to my credit union for a car loan or a mortgage than my regular bank. Once you've experienced the difference in personal attention and customer service, you may actually grow to like your bank. If it's the financial products that matter to you, you'll enjoy the competitive rates and low fees that a credit union has to offer. As long as you go into the switch aware of what you're giving up in exchange, you'll be fine. Good luck!
Love,

Lifehacker

February 13, 2012 3:09:04 PM

The Ultimate Guide To Becoming A Doer

www.dumblittleman.com

The Ultimate Guide To Becoming A Doer

Sometimes we spend an inordinate amount of time talking about our ideas, dreams, and aspirations. It is easy to content ourselves with simply having lofty ideas, not realizing their sheer abundance. Anyone who has taken a breath has likely had an idea that could have literally changed the course of his or her life in a revolutionary way. Unfortunately, such ideas rarely get implemented. According to Mark Twain, "the secret to getting ahead is getting started."

If you are tired of inactivity robbing you of your potential, then here are 15 ways to be a doer.
Dreams and Mental Preparedness

1. Cultivate Your Dream
2. Relinquish Regret
3. Forgive yourself today.
4. Let Go of the Stigma of Failure
5. Know Yourself 
6. Plan to Win
7. Prioritize
8. Start Small
9. Set a Time Limit on Preparation
10. Admit the Joylessness of Over-reaching
11. Banish Eeyore aka Dream-killers
12. Network With Achievers
13. Get an Accountability Partner
14. Delegate
15. Create an Action Environment
16. Record and Celebrate Your Progress

Closing Thoughts

Inactivity is one of the greatest thieves of opportunity. Don't be content with simply having a great idea. After all, the idea is often just a small fraction of the journey. It's what you do with your ideas, dreams, and passions that count. In your journey to be a doer, remember, as your thoughts become more, you become more. Therefore, commit to thinking on a higher level, develop high goals and plans of implementation, establish and maintain relationships that add to your life instead of subtract, and diminish the barriers to your motivation. As you apply these steps consistently, you too will be a doer.

February 13, 2012 3:00:32 PM

[INFOGRAPHIC] How Much Are Your Social Media Skills Worth?

www.readwriteweb.com

Employment agency OnWardSearch is kicking off Social Media Week by releasing an infographic that gives a snapshot of the state of salaries in the field.

The Salary Guide , which gives the top 20 markets as well as salary ranges for top job titles in each metro area, is coupled with a post on career advice from leading marketers. Not surprisingly, the left coast remains one of the better places to head to if you want to make a living blogging, tweeting or managing brands on social networks, but don't rule out the northeast — particularly New York (which tops the list) and Boston (which checks in at number five).
What will be interesting going forward is seeing how this list changes from year to year: not only are we interested in seeing if salaries for the different positions go up or down and if certain cities move onto or fall off of the list, but we'd be interested in getting a look at whether certain jobs start to make up a bigger percentage of social media employment in years to come.

BBC Reports on America's Homeless Tent Cities

February 13, 2012 2:56:16 PM

BBC News - Panorama - America's homeless resort to tent cities

news.bbc.co.uk

The world's longest running investigative TV show on BBC One

America's homeless resort to tent cities

'We don't have dinner at home'

Panorama's Hilary Andersson comes face to face with the reality of poverty in America and finds that, for some, the last resort has become life in a tented encampment.
Just off the side of a motorway on the fringes of the picturesque town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, a mismatched collection of 30 tents tucked in the woods has become home - home to those who are either unemployed, or whose wages are so low that they can no longer afford to pay rent.
Conditions are unhygienic. There are no toilets and electricity is only available in the one communal tent where the campers huddle around a wood stove for warmth in the heart of winter.
Ice weighs down the roofs of tents, and rain regularly drips onto the sleeping campers' faces as they sleep.
Tent cities have sprung up in and around at least 55 American cities - they represent the bleak reality of America's poverty crisis.
Black mould
According to census data, 47 million Americans now live below the poverty line - the most in half a century - fuelled by several years of high unemployment.
One of the largest tented camps is in Florida and is now home to around 300 people. Others have sprung up in New Jersey and Portland.

Hilary Andersson presents Panorama: Poor America

BBC One, Monday, 13 February at 8.30pm

Then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer.

In the Ann Arbor camp, Alana Gehringer, 23, has had a hacking cough for the last four months.
"The black mould - it was on our pillows, it was on our blankets, we were literally rubbing our faces in it sleeping every night," she said of wintering in a tent.
The camp is run by the residents themselves, with the help of a local charity group. Calls have come in from the hospital emergency room, the local police and the local homeless shelter to see if they can send in more.
"Last night, for example, we got a call saying they had six that couldn't make it into the shelter and… they were hoping that we could place them… So we usually get calls, around nine or 10 a night," said Brian Durance, a camp organiser.
Michigan's Republican-controlled state government has been locked into a programme of severe budget cuts in an attempt to balance its books.
The cuts have included benefits for many of the state's poorest residents.
Between the cuts and the economic conditions pinching, there is increased pressure on homeless shelters.
Michigan's Lieutenant Governor, Brian Calley, was asked about the reality of public agencies in his state suggesting the homeless live in tents.
"That is absolutely not acceptable, and we have to take steps and policies in order to make sure that those people have the skills they need to be independent, and it won't happen overnight," he said.
Depression-type poverty
There are an estimated 5,000 people living in the dozens of camps that have sprung up across America.
The largest camp, Pinella's Hope in central Florida - a region better known for the glamour of Disneyworld - is made up of neat rows of tents spread out across a 13-acre plot.

America's middle under-class once again searches for work

The Catholic charity that runs it has made laundry available, as well as computers and phones.
Many of the camps are organised and hold regular meetings to divide up camp chores and agree on community rules. They have become semi-permanent homes for some residents, who see little prospect of getting jobs soon.
These tent cities - and this level of poverty - are images that many Americans associate with the Great Depression.
Unemployment in America today has not reached the astronomical levels of the 1930s, but barring a short spike in 1982, it has not been this high since the Depression era.
There are now 13 million unemployed Americans, which is three million more than when President Barack Obama was first elected.
The stark reality is that many of them are people who very recently lived comfortable middle-class lives.
For them, the economic downturn came too fast and many have been forced to trade their middle-class homes for lives in shelters, motels and at the far extreme, tented encampments.
Panorama: Poor America, BBC One, Monday, 13 February at 20:30 GMT then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer.