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Ashton Kutcher and Miranda Lambert When Ashton Kutcher showed up at the Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday night, he was ostensibly there just to hand out the female vocalist of the year award. However, he managed to take everyone's minds off the nominees for a few minutes, by showing up dressed in over-the-top cowboy gear and taking a stab at singing George Strait's "I Cross My Heart." All in good fun. Right? Well, some country stars didn't take this little performance in a lighthearted manner. The artist to whom Kutcher presented the female vocalist award, Miranda Lambert, tweeted on Monday: "Was Ashton Kutcher making fun of country or is it just me?" Turns out, it wasn't just her. Singer Justin Moore, who records for the same label group as Taylor Swift, went so far as to call Kutcher a "douche" on his Twitter account . "I don't care for people making a mockery of the way country artists dress," he clarifie...

A good friend of mine had been complaining that her iPhone 3GS battery was holding less and less of a charge. When we got together at 5 p.m. one recent day, it was at 5 percent full - and it had been fully charged that morning. She had barely used it all day. The phone was apparently running itself dry simply by being turned on. The single biggest battery consumer is the screen brightness. But it wasn't especially bright on this phone. So I suggested that she take the phone to an Apple store to get the $60 battery replacement service. In fact, there was an Apple store only two blocks away, so I accompanied her - and found out, upon arrival, that there is no $60 battery replacement service! There's one for iPods, but apparently not for the iPhone. There are plenty of do-it-yourself and third-party battery-replacement services that advertise online, but the Apple store Genius, named Nicole, said none of that would be necessary. She tested the battery and found that...

Nestlé Purina Petcare, MITRE, and SAS top list compiled by Glassdoor. If you want a better work-life balance, consider trying to land a job at Nestlé Purina Petcare Company , where you can bring your dog into the office; MITRE , a technology-consulting organization that employees say is family-friendly; or SAS Institute , a business analytics software provider that offers on-site child care, a heathcare center, and a fitness center. Those companies, when rated by their employees, rank at the top of a new list for work-life balance created by Glassdoor , a website that offers insight into careers and companies, as well as job listings. This is the first year Glassdoor has produced such a list, reflecting what could be interpreted as an increasing desire for workplace policies that allow employees to meet family and personal responsibilities. "A lot of companies talk about a good work-life balance," says Robert Hohman, CEO and co-founder of Glassdoor. "But not ...

Consumers may know that their bad driving record will raise their car insurance, but just how much will a single moving violation cost them? Plenty, according to a new analysis from Insurance.com . The website looked at 32,000 of its auto insurance policies sold in 2010 and found that those with zero moving violations on their driving record can expect to pay, on average, $1,119 a year in premiums. However, as soon as a consumer had a moving violation on record, the quotes skyrocketed. Their analysis found that: More from MainStreet.com • The Worst Roads in the U.S. • 7 Neighbors That Can Hurt Your Home's Value • What You Lose to Booze • One violation led to an average annual premium cost of $1,318, an 18% increase. • Two violations lead to average annual premium cost of $1,497, a 34% increase. • Three violations lead to an average annual premium cost of $1,713, a 53% increase. Violations that can cause these spikes include speeding, careless or reckless dri...

Some might call it a simpler time. Others might say life was just less comfortable. In 1973, about three people lived in each household in the U.S. The average single-family home built that year was one story, 1,660 sq. ft., and had two or three bedrooms. It was very rare to have more than two bathrooms. Home life transformed in the following decades: Increased access to financing allowed first-time home buyers to buy larger residences. More homes were built with two stories, and at least four bedrooms and three bathrooms, U.S. Census Bureau data show. Siblings were no longer expected to share bedrooms. Such new amenities as media rooms were added. By 1990 the average American household had shrunk to about 2.6 people, yet the average single-family home built that year was 2,080 sq. ft.—about an extra 400 sq. ft. (just larger than the average U.S. hotel room, which is 325 sq. ft., according to PricewaterhouseCoopers) compared with 1970. More from BusinessWeek.com » ...

WHEELING, W.Va. — The nation’s biggest law firms are creating a second tier of workers, stripping pay and prestige from one of the most coveted jobs in the business world. Make no mistake: These are full-fledged lawyers, not paralegals, and they do the same work traditional legal associates do. But they earn less than half the pay of their counterparts — usually around $60,000 — and they know from the outset they will never make partner. Some of the lawyers who have taken these new jobs are putting the best face on their reduced status. “To me there’s not much of a difference between what I’m doing now and what I would be doing in a partner-track job,” said Mark Thompson, 29, who accepted a non-partner-track post at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe when he could not find a traditional associate job. “I still feel like I’m doing pretty high-level work — writing briefs, visiting client sites, prepping witnesses for hearings.” Asked whether he hopes someday to switch o...

A few months after losing her administrative job in the summer of 2008, 23-year-old Brianna Karp got rid of her furniture, a beloved piano, and most of her books so she could move back in with her parents. When that didn't work out, she moved into an old trailer a relative had left her, settling into an informal homeless community in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Brea, Calif. By the summer of 2009, she was living without electricity, regular showers, home-cooked food, and most basic conveniences. More from USNews.com: • 10 Industries With Stagnant Pay • Why GOP Discord Is Good for the Economy • Why Gas and Food Prices Are Likely to Drop Karp held tight to her laptop, however, and began writing a blog about her experiences. That generated attention that helped her land a part-time magazine internship, and eventually ink a book deal. Although her book, " The Girl's Guide to Homelessness ," was recently published, Karp still lives in a dilapidated shed ...