Waiting for someone to take your restaurant order or trying to flag somebody down to get your check at the end of a meal is about to become so 2013 at Applebee’s. The casual dining chain will have tablets at every table by the end of 2014, allowing customers to order from the touchscreen menu and swipe their credit cards to settle up after they’re done. This is no small task. Applebee’s parent DineEquity (DIN) is ordering 100,000 tablets for its eateries. Traditionalists looking for a more conventional dining experience are always welcome to lean on the wait staff to place their orders or pay up at the end, but the technology will be there for those who want to use it. Everybody Loves Tablets Applebee’s move should pay off in several ways. For starters, eliminating the time it takes to flag down wait staff for orders or checks will help turn tables faster. That’s huge for restaurants with a limited number of seats during peak dining periods. Customers will benefit from the shorter waits, and the restaurant won’t have to worry about losing patrons who head elsewhere if the wait’s too long. It also improves customers’ perception about the length of the dining experience. If coworkers are debating where to go to grab a quick lunch, Applebee’s suddenly becomes a more viable option alongside the “fast casual” chains like Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) and Panera Bread (PNRA) that have been growing in popularity. There’s also the “fun” factor. If Applebee’s incorporates […]

Job openings in the U.S. climbed in October to the highest level in more than five years, showing employers were looking beyond the budget impasse in Washington amid growing confidence in the economic expansion. The number of positions waiting to be filled rose by 42,000 to 3.93 million, the most since May 2008, the Labor Department reported today in Washington. Other figures showed wholesalers boosted stockpiles by the most in two years, another sign that companies were preparing for a pickup in sales. A report last week showed companies in November followed through on the hiring intentions as payrolls climbed more than projected. The figures on openings, combined with data on hiring and job leavers, are among those tracked by Federal Reserve policy makers, including Janet Yellen, to gauge labor-market strength as they determine when to reduce bond purchases. “Businesses are looking to fill openings, they recognize the economy is improving and to meet demand they’re going to have to hire more aggressively,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania. For the Fed, “it’s going to be a close call in December, but they may just wait until 2014” to begin trimming stimulus, he said. Stocks fell as investors watched budget negotiations in Washington and weighed the timing of any cuts to Fed stimulus. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 0.2 percent to 1,805.41 at 12:58 p.m. in New York after closing at a record 1,808.37 yesterday. More Quits Some 2.39 million people quit their jobs […]

When I was little, my sister and I used to sneak into my parents’ room and rummage through their closets in hopes of finding clues as to what we’d be getting for Christmas. Today, with online gift buying becoming the norm, it’s not just closets that can leave clues. Digital breadcrumbs can give you away to the tech-savvy kid. Snooping kids can see what stores you’ve visited online and what products you’ve searched for. And, if you’ve made a purchase, your receipts and tracking notifications will be sitting in your email. So how do you keep all this information from prying eyes? Follow these simple steps to keep your gifts a surprise. Keep your browsing private Hiding your browsing activity is the first step to keeping kids from finding out what will be hidden in their gift boxes. Delete your browsing history If you’ve already started shopping, you’ll want to delete your browsing history so your kids won’t know what you’ve been looking at. Chrome – Click on the trip lines in the far upper right of your screen, then “Settings” then “Show advanced settings.” Under Privacy, click on “Clear browsing history.” Firefox – Click on “Firefox” then “History” then “Clear recent history.” Internet Explorer –Click on the tools cog in the far upper right of your screen, then “Safety” and “Delete browsing history.” Safari – Click on “Safari”, then “Private Browsing.” Delete your search history The items you’ve been searching for can giveaway your gifting intentions. So delete telltale terms, if your search […]

The lottery numbers are getting tempting again: Thanks to recent Mega Millions rule changes designed to build bigger jackpots faster, Tuesday night’s lottery drawing could win somebody $257 million or more. If a single winner chose the cash prize option instead of the annuity (and the majority of winners do), he or she would cash a $139 million check, according to the Mega Millions website.  The odds of winning that life-changing jackpot are less than 1 in 175 million, but the statistics will never discourage those who dream of instant wealth. But maybe they should. Let’s do a quick review of what we know about lotteries, and lottery winners. It’s Not the Jackpot You Think It Is: If you win the Powerball, you won’t actually see the whole $257 million. Uncle Sam places heavy taxes on income that high, so a handsome chunk of your winnings will go to the government. Ironically, a majority of people — even among the ones who say that the rich should be taxed more — feel that those lucky souls who win the lottery shouldn’t have to pay as much in taxes as people who make their money in more conventional ways. It’s a Bad Deal for the Biggest Players: The thought of winning millions is attractive to everyone, but especially attractive to lower classes, who spend up to 9 percent of their income on lottery tickets. With personal debt and unemployment rates at painful levels, who can blame people for being hopeful? But the statistics show that the lottery is a sucker […]