Machines

Jeremy Dorosin is one angry customer. All he wanted from Starbucks, he says, was a working espresso maker -- and an apology.That was six weeks, four Wall Street Journal ads and $10,000 ago. Now Mr. Dorosin, 37, says it is going to take more to make him happy. A lot more."If they thought I was angry before, they have no idea how angry I am now," he said. "I'm not going to go away."Mr. Dorosin, owner of a Walnut Creek, Calif., dive shop, has already spent $10,000 of his own money running a bitter and expensive campaign against the famous Seattle-based coffeehouse chain.

Gambling started Wednesday afternoon at the Rocky Gap Casino Resort right after the state approved the opening of its fourth casino, one that Western Maryland leaders hope will lure not only gamblers but also their families to a region eager for more tourist dollars. "It's open and jamming," said Scott Just, the general manager of the resort near Cumberland. "There's a couple hundred people in there. They were pressing up against the ropes. " The $35 million casino, located in what was the lakeside golf resort's conference center, will be open around the clock.

This time of year, people have weight loss on their minds. According to a 2012 survey published in the University of Scranton's Journal of Clinical Psychology, losing weight is the No. 1 New Year's resolution. For some Baltimore residents, working toward that goal by eating healthfully has gotten easier over the past year, thanks to the introduction of healthy snacks in their office or school vending machines. In December, Howard County Executive Ken Ulman signed an executive order banning the sale of high-sugar drinks in county buildings and at county-sponsored events; Baltimore City is exploring similar initiatives.

Major League Lacrosse Streaking Rubeor scores 4 as Bayhawks rout Machine, 14-5 Attackman Ben Rubeor (Loyola High) had another big game as the Chesapeake Bayhawks manhandled the Ohio Machine, 14-5, in a game shortened to three quarters Saturday night because of lightning around Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Rubeor, who scored seven goals in a win over the New York Lizards last weekend, scored four goals and assisted another against the Machine. He now has at least one point in 32 consecutive games, and was named Player of the Game for the second straight time Saturday.

Of the machines visitors to the National Pinball Museum will be able to play, here are founder david Silverman's three favorites: Big Bang Bar (1996) "To me, it's one of the best-designed packages that I've ever played," he said. "Everything just works smoothly, design-wise, artistically, skill-wise, everything. It also has great humor and fantastic artwork. " Fireball (1972) "It was my first game. It's the first multi-ball and spinning-disc game that I played.

Maryland continues to operate one of the least reliable, least credible election systems in the nation. How so? Because we vote using a paperless election system which fails to allow either for independent recounting or independent auditing. Our touch screen system has no way of uncovering and correcting either errors or fraud. Some day a machine in a Western Maryland precinct will report 100 percent of its votes going to Democrats. Or a Baltimore City machine will give all of its votes to Republican candidates.

Worried about appearances? Concerned your neighbors might see you gambling? Too shy to step up to the counter and blurt out the words, "I'd like to buy an instant lottery ticket"?If so, Maryland officials may have done you a favor yesterday, agreeing to pay an Ohio firm $2.6 million for 300 machines that will automatically dispense the popular "rub-off" tickets that can turn lottery players into instant winners (or instant losers).No need anymore for players to ask a clerk to sell them tickets; soon they will be able to buy them simply by sliding some folding money into a vending machine.

They look like ATMs but when the right password is punched in, prescription drugs - all generics - pop out instead of greenbacks. And soon these machines, which encourage doctors to prescribe generics instead of more expensive brand-name drugs, could be coming to a physician's office near you. The machines allow doctors to give patients their first prescription of a generic drug free, straight from the machines. Patients cannot access the machines without authorization. If the patient requires a refill, the doctor writes a regular prescription for the generic drug to be filled at the normal price at a drugstore.

To most Maryland residents, going to the Motor Vehicle Administration means waiting in lines. A new device to be unveiled at The Mall in Columbia this week is designed to change that.Access Maryland -- an ATM-like machine that is scheduled to be unveiled tomorrow at 2 p.m. -- can be used for payment of vehicle registration renewal by check or credit card, said Marilyn Corbett, director of public affairs and information for the MVA.Corbett also said that plans call for more state agencies to be reachable by Access Maryland soon.

County police have confiscated 12 video poker and pinball machines that they say were used for gambling at two American Legion halls in Severn and Glen Burnie.In raids Monday police also seized more than $70,000. Authorities made no arrests but said their investigation is continuing."We do spot checks on bars consistently throughout the year," said Sgt. Thomas A. Suit, supervisor of the vice unit. "We noticed machines in these particular places."Police said they received many complaints about the machines in the two legion halls as well as at other bars and clubs throughout the county.

The Baltimore sports scene is blessed with a bunch of talented bloggers who bring their unique perspective to the conversation. Each week, I hope to chat with one of them in a regular feature called Blogger on Blogger.  This week, we exchanged emails with Peter Hassett, who blogs about the Washington Capitals for Russian Machine Never Breaks . MV: The first couple of months of the season were not friendly to the Capitals, but they...

After Hunter Machin bowled his first 300 in late January, he celebrated in a pretty nontraditional way: He went home and took a nap. But Machin's perfect game was anything but traditional - after all, he was only 12 years old. While most of his fellow seventh graders at Dundalk Middle School are focusing on homework and playing with friends, Machin is busy at the bowling alley, winning tournaments against kids more than six years his senior and...

Maryland continues to operate one of the least reliable, least credible election systems in the nation. How so? Because we vote using a paperless election system which fails to allow either for independent recounting or independent auditing. Our touch screen system has no way of uncovering and correcting either errors or fraud. Some day a machine in a Western Maryland precinct will report 100 percent of its votes going to Democrats. Or a Baltimore City machine will give all of its votes to Republican candidates.

Baltimore's year-old National Pinball Museum, a pinging, clanging, tilting tribute to the flipper machines that have been mainstays of American popular culture for decades, will be shutting its doors March 3. The museum, which re-located to Baltimore from Georgetown in January of last year, has once again fallen victim to the terms of its lease agreement, owner David Silverman wrote in an email Tuesday evening to supporters. Silverman, whose 600-plus machines formed the core of the museum's collection, said he could not afford to keep it open.

Annapolis may be located on the banks of the Severn River, but during the first three months of the year it often seems to be an island - so isolated are members of the General Assembly from real life. The gyrations of lawmakers over the high-stakes issues of gambling and transportation have produced many such only-in-the-State-House moments in recent years. So, naturally, it makes sense that when the two are combined - as in an absurd proposal to install 2,500 slot machines at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport - the result is the kind of empty, pandering legislation that does the institution no credit.

For the fifth year in a row, Del. Eric M. Bromwell has introduced a bill to authorize slot machines at BWI Marshall Airport It's Bromwell's attempt to infuse the state treasury — specifically the Transportation Trust Fund — with gambling money, and the Baltimore County Democrat said he has no intention of giving up. "I consider this to be the ultimate alternative to a gas tax," he said. "This is exactly how we pay for roads. " The bill would authorize up to 2,500 slot machines in the airport's main terminal beyond the security screening area.

LONDON -- The Bank of England said yesterday that retailers have mostly resolved a problem that stopped 20,000 credit-card swipe machines from processing transactions, clearing one of the first signs of computer problems in Britain related to the millennium bug. The problem affected 5 percent of the nation's credit-card machines, only those made by Racal Electronics PLC. Though related to defects that occur with the change of the date, the problem...

Election officials were thrilled. Reporters were peeved. And the 35 percent of county registered voters who cast their ballots Tuesday had mixed emotions about the new computerized voting machines, dubbing them everything from "newfangled" to "a headache."Some voters embraced the new era of high-tech voting, but many said they missed pulling the levers of the old machines.Warren Hendrix walked into the Old Mill High School cafeteria and stared dumbfounded at the bright blue booths."What was wrong with the old system?"

This time of year, people have weight loss on their minds. According to a 2012 survey published in the University of Scranton's Journal of Clinical Psychology, losing weight is the No. 1 New Year's resolution. For some Baltimore residents, working toward that goal by eating healthfully has gotten easier over the past year, thanks to the introduction of healthy snacks in their office or school vending machines. In December, Howard County Executive Ken Ulman signed an executive order banning the sale of high-sugar drinks in county buildings and at county-sponsored events; Baltimore City is exploring similar initiatives.

When 2 a.m. came Friday, the sound of coins hitting metal — electronically replicated, of course, since the slot machines pay out with a printed ticket — continued at Maryland Live casino. About 1,000 people stayed where they were, plugging money into the video terminals and ordering drinks. Terry Cohen of Randallstown was there to celebrate the new schedule that will keep the casino open 24 hours a day. "There's nothing to do around here at night," she said. "The town shuts down.