By CHEYANNE MUMPHREY

As wintry weather settles in, it brings risks for pets as well as people. Pet owners can take steps to keep their animals warm and safe, including learning about the dangers of extreme temperatures, buying weather-resistant accessories, and stocking up on extra supplies in case of power outages or storms.

Related Articles

St. Paul issued 3,253 tickets, 952 tows during recent snow emergency

Saintly City Snow Angels — connecting St. Paul shovelers with snowy sidewalks — needs more angels

St. Paul: Snow emergency continues with ticketing, towing underway

Heavy snow predicted for Northeast as Midwest still struggles with Thanksgiving weather snarls

The snow storms are done. Now brace for the cold.

“The best time to prepare for weather is before you have that weather,” said Dr. Michael Bailey, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association. “The same thing you would do for children in your house, do for your pet.”

That means understanding the signs of hypothermia and frostbite, avoiding antifreeze and de-icing chemicals, and taking steps to mitigate the effects of snow, rain, wind and ice.

Here are some tips:

Caution needed in the cold

It’s not just the Midwest and Northeast that should prepare for freezing weather. Many cities around the U.S. can get cold enough in the early mornings to pose a threat to pets who are smaller, older or have health concerns.

“When you think of dogs, you think, well, they already have a fur coat, so they should be fine in the cold, but that isn’t necessarily true,” said Amy Hrin, with the American Humane Society. It depends on the breed, size and age of the pet, and also temperature and wind chill.

Dogs are at risk of frostbite once the temperature falls below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, experts say, especially if they are damp or wet, which could leave paws, ears and tails more vulnerable. That is not usually life-threatening, but hypothermia, which often follows, can be deadly if untreated.

Mild hypothermia can begin when dogs’ body temperature drops below 98 F, according to the American Animal Hospital Association. Signs can include delayed reflexes, or increased heart rate or breathing followed by a slow heart rate or shallow breath. Experts suggest immediate veterinarian care, which includes gradual rewarming efforts.

Another concern is de-icing salts and chemicals, which can burn, dry out or irritate paw pads. They can also cause indigestion if the animal licks its paws. There are pet-friendly options for sidewalk salts, but don’t assume your neighbors or city officials are using those. The American Humane Society says booties, cleaning paws after walks and applying paw balms can mitigate these risks.

Antifreeze is another toxin pets could encounter outside or even in the garage. The smallest amount can cause kidney failure and be fatal, experts warn. Signs include drooling, vomiting, seizures and lethargy.

“The ethylene glycol in it is very dangerous,” said Dr. Paige Andersen, vice president of the American Animal Hospital Association Board of Directors. “One thing I don’t think owners realize is some of those are actually kind of sweet to the taste to dogs. It’s almost enticing to eat.”

Exploring can be snow much fun

Cold shouldn’t limit dogs to indoors-only activities, however. Many breeds, especially the more active and high-energy ones, enjoy winter sports and activities.

Skijoring, for example, combines cross-country skiing with dog mushing; one or two dogs pull the person on skies through the snow. Canicross also puts dogs in the lead, but requires their owners to enjoy running — often at the pace of their pets. For a more relaxed outdoor activity, you can snowshoe with your dog, or maintain regular walks or park visits.

These activities can be enjoyed safely by any dog, experts say. Still, watch for at- or below-freezing temperatures.

Keeping pets’ coats properly maintained can help, but shaving, trimming or having matted coats can hinder animals’ ability to handle cold temperatures, Bailey said.

If it is too cold out, 38-year-old Ally Judkins of Hyde Park, Vermont, tries to entertain her nine dogs and four cats indoors with puzzles, snuffle mats, scent work, indoor race tracks and more. Judkins also runs a boarding and day care facility, a dog rescue and is an animal control officer for the town.

“We have quite a few days in Vermont where between January and March it is below zero and the wind chill could make it feel like 40 below, so there’s not much outside time,” she said. One of her dogs’ favorites is a toy stuffed frozen with yogurt, peanut butter, blueberries or dog food.

“It keeps them busy for at least an hour,” she said.

Experts recommend scavenger hunts, hide-and-seek, learning new tricks, obedience training and other cognitive games to occupy pets left indoors.

Paw-sitively cute in pet clothes

Like people, very young and very old dogs struggle to regulate their body temperatures, as do dogs with shorter coats or chronic health conditions like arthritis, Hrin said. That’s where accessories come in.

Dog shoes can prevent slipping, frostbite, puncture wounds from sharp ice or foreign objects, and fungal infections between toe pads. Paw wax and socks also can help keep paw pads from becoming dry, irritated or cracked.

Dog sweaters that are soft and don’t restrict movement can provide warmth, keep fur drier, reduce shedding, and cover healing or irritated skin. Dog jackets provide a little more protection from the elements because they are thicker and made from water-resistant or waterproof materials.

Look for features such as reflective trim and built-in holes for leash attachment.

Does your dog need a sweater or jacket? It depends. Experts say toy and hairless breeds and short dogs whose bellies touch the ground could all benefit from clothes. Besides sweaters, coats and booties, protective gear can mean rain caps to prevent ear infections in floppy-eared dogs — if your pet will wear them.

It can take time for dogs to be comfortable in clothes and other accessories. Dog trainers suggest introducing clothes gradually and maintaining a positive experience.

Safety isn’t just for dogs

Some of these safety tips apply to other animals as well, such as cats, birds and livestock.

For reptiles, it is critical to have a heat source, so have a backup option in case the power goes out or the heater breaks down, Bailey said. Pet birds can be sensitive to fumes from fireplaces and generators, so give them adequate ventilation, he said.

Make sure all pets are microchipped, since snow and ice can cover up familiar sights and smells that help them find their way home. And keep all pets secure to avoid dangers like thinly iced bodies of water or covered holes or cliffs.

Standing in water for a prolonged period of time can also lead to dryness and cracking in animals with hooves, so keeping animals in dry conditions is important, Bailey said. Even elevating the ground where they stand by adding some mulch can help keep their feet dry.

The American Humane Society’s farm experts also suggest increasing feeding volume or frequency in cold weather, since livestock tend to burn more calories then, and using heating devices to keep water thawed.

All pet owners should keep an emergency kit with food, water and medication for their animals, Bailey said.

By Lauren Sausser, KFF Health News

For nearly three years, Eric Tennant endured chemotherapy infusions, rounds of radiation, biopsies, and hospitalizations that left him weak and depleted.

Related Articles

Cancer stole her voice. She used AI, curse words and kids’ books to get it back

They met at a St. Paul hospital. After emerging from comas. They’re getting married.

Keith Ellison names team to assist renewed UMN/Fairview negotiations

US vaccine advisers say not all babies need a hepatitis B shot at birth

‘We can’t just teach abstinence’: How advice on bed-sharing with a baby is evolving

“It’s good to be home,” he said after one hospital stay in early June, “yet I’m tired and ready to get on with things.”

In 2023, Tennant, of Bridgeport, West Virginia, was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, a rare cancer of the bile ducts that had spread throughout his body.

None of the initial treatments prescribed by his doctors had eradicated the cancer. But a glimmer of hope came in early 2025, when Tennant was recommended for histotripsy, a relatively new procedure that would use ultrasound waves to target, and potentially destroy, the largest tumor in his body — in his liver.

“My dad was a little nervous because it was something new, but it definitely gave us some hope that he would be around a little bit longer,” said Tennant’s daughter, Amiya.

Amiya Tennant takes a family photo with her mom, Becky; dad, Eric; brother, Arryn; and sister-in-law, Jaimee, at her parents’ home in Bridgeport, West Virginia. (Amiya Tennant/Amiya Tennant/TNS)

There was just one hitch: His insurer wouldn’t pay for it.

Tennant, 58, died of cancer on Sept. 17. His story illustrates how a bureaucratic process called prior authorization can devastate patients and their families.

It’s infeasible to count the people harmed by this overwhelmingly unpopular practice, which, by delaying or denying care, helps drive health insurers’ profits. No government agency or private group tracks such data.

That said, KFF Health News has heard from hundreds of patients in recent years who claim that they or someone in their family has been harmed by prior authorization. More than 1 in 4 physicians surveyed by the American Medical Association last December said that prior authorization had led to a serious adverse event for a patient in their care. And 8% responded that prior authorization led to a disability, birth defect or death.

In June, the Trump administration announced a pledge, signed by dozens of private insurers, to streamline prior authorization, which often requires patients or their medical teams to ask insurers for permission before proceeding with many types of care. It remains unclear when patients can expect to see improvement.

The commitments “depend on the full cooperation of the private insurance sector” and will “take time to achieve their full effect,” said Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services. But the pledge exists, he said, “to prevent tragic deaths like Eric’s from occurring at the hands of an inefficient system.”

Chris Bond, a spokesperson for AHIP, a health insurance industry trade group, said he could not speak to any specific insurer’s prior authorization policies. Broadly, though, he said prior authorization “acts as a guardrail” to make sure medicines and treatments are not used inappropriately.

At the same time, he said, insurers recognize that patients can be frustrated when their doctor-recommended care is denied. That’s why “there is a dedicated effort across the industry to make the process more straightforward, faster, and simpler for patients and providers,” Bond said.

For months, Eric Tennant’ s health insurer refused to cover a cancer treatment recommended by his doctor, claiming the procedure was“ not medically necessary,” a common reason used by insurers to deny care. (NBC News/NBC News/TNS)

In the meantime, the process continues to take its toll on people like Eric Tennant, whose grave diagnoses often require expensive health care services.

“Eric is gone,” his widow, Becky, said. “He’s not coming back.”

Tennant was a safety instructor for the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training and insured by the state’s Public Employees Insurance Agency, which contracts with UnitedHealthcare to administer benefits for state employees, their spouses, and dependents.

In February and March, UnitedHealthcare, the Public Employees Insurance Agency, and an outside reviewer issued a series of denials that concluded Eric’s benefits would not cover histotripsy, claiming the treatment was not medically necessary. Becky Tennant estimated the procedure would cost the family about $50,000 out-of-pocket.

Although the treatment wasn’t guaranteed to work, it was worth a shot, the Tennants thought, so they considered withdrawing money from their retirement savings. But then, in May, after KFF Health News and NBC News posed a series of questions to UnitedHealthcare and the Public Employees Insurance Agency about Eric’s case, the agency reversed course. PEIA decided to cover his treatment.

Notably, the agency contacted KFF Health News about the approval hours before it notified the Tennant family of the decision.

But the approval came too late. Eric was hospitalized in late May and prescribed medication that prevented him from undergoing histotripsy at that time. His family held out hope that his health would improve and he would qualify for the procedure that summer.

In July, Eric Tennant took one last vacation with his family to Marco Island, Florida: his daughter, Amiya; wife, Becky; daughter-in-law, Jaimee; and son, Arryn. (Jaimee Tennant/Jaimee Tennant/TNS)

In July, they took a family vacation to Marco Island, Florida. It would be their last. Two days after they returned home, a scan revealed Eric’s cancer had continued to spread. Histotripsy was out of the question.

“I’m sad for what we will miss out on,” Becky said. “I’m sad at the unfairness of it.”

She said if Eric had been able to undergo histotripsy in February, as originally recommended by his doctor, it might have destroyed the tumor in his liver that ultimately killed him.

Eric Tennant at home in Bridgeport, West Virginia. (Rebecca Tennant/Rebecca Tennant/TNS)

“We’ll never know. That’s the thing. Any lawyer for the insurance will say, ‘Well, you don’t know it would have helped.’ No. You took that chance away from us,” she said.

In October, Samantha Knapp, a spokesperson for the West Virginia Department of Administration, told KFF Health News that the Public Employees Insurance Agency has not changed its policies related to prior authorization for histotripsy and continues to follow UnitedHealthcare’s guidelines.

UnitedHealthcare declined to answer questions for this article.

Eric and Becky Tennant rest in Eric’s hospice bed with their dog, Molly. Eric died at home of cancer on Sept. 17. (Amiya Tennant/Amiya Tennant/TNS)

On Sept. 17, in a hospice bed set up in their dining room, Eric was surrounded by his family and their dogs as he died. Becky held his hand as his heart rate began to drop.

“He wasn’t afraid to die, but he didn’t want to die,” she said. “And you could tell the last day that he was fighting it big time.”

At the very end, she whispered in his ear: “You know I love you. You have been the best husband and the best dad, and you’ve always taken such good care of us,” Becky recalled.

And then, she said, he gasped. His eyebrows seemed to shoot up in wonder. During his last moment alive, she said, he smiled.

“The look on his face was pure, total amazement,” she said. “I still can’t believe he’s not here.”

©2025 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Edward Lotterman

Financial intermediaries that channel money from businesses and households desiring to save to others desiring to borrow perform a vital economic function.

Such flows of funds can facilitate great creation of wealth that can benefit all.

Indeed, much of the prosperity that we in the United States historically have enjoyed stems from sophisticated and effective privately held banks and financial markets that, on the whole, have allowed capital to flow to where it is most productive. Aside from creating the fiat currency, government need not be involved — to a point.

Unfortunately, such intermediation always involves risk. Loans from one small saver to a small borrower put the saver’s money at risk. They require time and effort to monitor. The same is true for rental properties or ownership shares in other businesses. That is precisely why private banking and investment firms handling savings, loans, stocks and bonds developed. They have economies of scale in assessing risk and in monitoring borrowers or businesses in which stakes have been purchased.

So savers and investors, large and small, can deposit money in a bank that thus handles risk assessment and monitoring. However, this does not end the risk. Banks inevitably still make some loans that are not repaid. Some investments don’t pan out. These defaults may be due to circumstances entirely beyond a borrower’s control, such as a farmer losing all their crops to hail. Or a bad business model. The loss may be ascribed to poor judgement but with no bad intent. And then there may be actual fraud — unlawful acts whether premeditated or impulsive.

Regardless of cause, however, banking systems could not function if any one bad loan or set of loans instantly translates into depositors being exposed to loss. Bank owners must have some of their own capital in their business and that equity grows over time. This owner equity serves as a cushion. When a loan is not repaid all deposits are still covered. The bank’s assets remain greater than its liabilities and it is solvent, at least as long as bad loans are less than the bank’s capital reserves.

However, solvency is not the only peril. There also needs to be liquidity. While most deposits are “demand deposits,” checking or savings accounts that can be emptied without warning, some may be in the form of certificates of deposit from which money cannot be withdrawn without penalty before a contractual amount of time passes. Regardless of how safe the loans made by the bank are, if a large number of depositors demand to withdraw their funds, the bank will not be able to come up with cash to satisfy them. The bank is solvent. Its assets do exceed its liabilities. But it is not liquid.

This was the situation for fictional banker George Bailey in the 1946 film “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and many movies and books about the Old West or the Depression era. Without any “lender of last resort” to tide a solvent but illiquid bank over a crisis, a bank would fail. Some depositors would, at best, get their money out only over time as the failed bank’s outstanding loans came due and were paid off.

This occurred most recently during the mortgage crisis of the late 2000s. Capital was invested in real estate loans predicated on the fallacy that the underlying collateral could only rise in value. When home prices tanked, it set off a chain reaction that toppled some of the most storied global investment banks and  lenders. The lenders of last resort, in this case, was the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve.

But this has been true for most of our nation’s history.

In the “wildcat banking” era, two centuries ago, there were many states in which nearly anyone could open a bank. Not only could these accept deposits and make loans with virtually no oversight, they also could issue their own paper currency, “bank notes,” that were supposed to be redeemable for silver on demand. Often they were not.

With little control over who opened a bank and virtually no supervision afterward, putting money in a bank was fraught with danger. Moreover, it was dangerous for any person or business to accept payment in paper money about which they had no idea of its underlying value. This lack of information was an enormous drag on the economy.

Over time, regulation at the state and then federal level grew. But as recently as a century ago, before the Great Depression, nearly a third of all households lost some money in a failed bank.

The basic problem, in academic economic terms, is that information is incomplete, not available for all relevant issues. It also is asymmetric, with one side having more knowledge than the other.

That is not just true for banks. The same information problems appear in all other financial intermediation, stock and bond markets, mutual funds and the rest. Lack of reliable information is like ground glass in a gearbox. In the old days, why would someone buy a bond if they did not know whether the canal or railroad or steel mill it was funding would actually generate enough profits to pay interest and principal promised?

In the modern era, what about buying cryptocurrency, where the intrinsic value is based solely on the demand for crypto? Should one buy into some hedge fund making investments in “private credit” or “private equity” if the buyer really doesn’t understand what collateral these represent and only knows that the returns are high?

Can private market forces generate the needed information? Yes, to a point. In the 1840s, telephone-book sized quarterly reports detailed the varied relative values in silver of paper money issued by different banks. It took money to compile such directories, but these did not sell well if they proved inaccurate. Selling them generated revenue, but they were easy to pirate.

Today, companies with accounting expertise meticulously go over the financial statements of corporations or government entities issuing bonds or offering shares of stock. These firms assign ratings from AAA+ on down. As with the bank-note rating companies, bond-rating companies were vulnerable to plagiarism, so issuers of the bonds have to pay. The fact that ratings make it easier to sell bonds and at lower interest rates motivates issuers to pay for the service. But such ratings have long not been mandated by government.

But a lack of privately compiled objective, verifiable financial information, compounded by severe financial and economic crises, motivated government action. The Panic of 1907 let to creation of the Federal Reserve. The collapse of financial markets and thousands of bank failures after the 1929 Wall Street crash eventually brought about the “New Deal” — federal regulation of lenders, securities exchanges and federally administered insurance of some deposits.

As with many things, however, regulation began a whack-a-mole game that continues today, with financial firms searching for loopholes or creating new accounts, investment funds or securities that skirt regulation. Moreover, a populist political mindset opposed to regulation further compounds the risk. Does profit motive and potential market share force private markets to behave? It is not cynical at all to note that the opposite is true — these actors will misbehave if given the chance.

Consider how collateralized mortgage bonds bundled with other debt was all the rage 20 years ago — with disastrous results. Now, largely unsupervised funds invest in “private” loans or in “private” equity stakes, especially betting on the market potential of new high-tech startups (remember the dot-com bubble of the late ’90s?). These may turn out to be huge long-term moneymakers, supplanting similar rivals as the market shakes out — think Facebook vs. MySpace. But the losers may turn out to be like unexploded ordnance from World War II in European cities — unseen but with fuses that may explode with just a minor vibration.

Related Articles

Real World Economics: Cavemen didn’t need banking regulations; we are not cavemen

Real World Economics: Congress has done little to promote competition

Real World Economics: Understanding socialism in all its forms

Real World Economics: Senators wake up and smell the tariffs

Real World Economics: Argentina bailout is a new level of corruption

St. Paul economist and writer Edward Lotterman can be reached at stpaul@edlotterman.com.

By KELVIN CHAN and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO

Shopping assistant chatbots were a novelty a year ago. Now, they’re everywhere.

After rolling out AI-powered assistants, online retailers and tech companies have been adding more artificial intelligence features to make online shopping easier and more convenient.

The latest crop of AI-powered shopping services and tools made their debut in recent weeks, just in time to kick off the holiday shopping season that begins with Black Friday.

Here’s a rundown of existing and newly released AI services that can help with your search for the perfect gift in the run-up to Christmas:

Retail chatbots

Amazon led the way by rolling out its Rufus chatbot in 2024. Other ecommerce websites followed with their own AI assistants to enhance the online shopping experience.

Walmart’s Sparky chatbot is available on the retail giant’s app and can synthesize reviews or offer product recommendations based on occasions, such as Christmas. Target recently unveiled a gift finder chatbot on its app, but it’s only available for the holiday season. Ralph Lauren partnered with Microsoft on the “Ask Ralph” chatbot to provide style recommendations.

The aim of deploying chatbots is to make it easier for people to find what they’re looking for. Instead of entering search terms and keywords, you can type or use voice dictation for a conversational back-and-forth.

The results, in my experience, can be mixed.

FILE – Amazon’s generative AI-powered shopping assistant, Rufus, appears on a computer monitor, Dec. 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

I tried Rufus recently to find a replacement aftermarket stainless steel pot for my rice cooker, as well as a protective trivet for my kitchen sink faucet. In both cases, the results weren’t quite right and didn’t seem to capture the wide range of products available. Sometimes the results were completely unsuitable.

I ended up doing a more painstaking search of product listings’ pictures and specifications to find the right items. The problem, I suspect, is partly because I was looking for generic products. Searches for name-brand products may produce better results.

AI-powered buying advice

Perhaps you don’t want to limit yourself to a single retailer’s website in your Christmas shopping search. Or you’re not sure where exactly to find that perfect gift.

Tech platforms have rolled out AI-powered shopping tools that can cast a wider net by searching multiple sites.

OpenAI added a new “shopping research” feature to ChatGPT last week that can provide personalized buying advice for products that are heavy on detailed specs, like electronics or appliances. The feature will activate if you ask ChatGPT a shopping-related question or manually turn it on in the chat window. OpenAI says it can go beyond simple questions, such as checking a price or feature that regular ChatGPT can easily answer.

Google users can get a similar experience when they use its search engine in AI Mode, which recently got a big update for shopping searches. The company says users can describe what they’re looking for as if talking to a friend and get an “intelligently organized response” based on 50 billion product listings, with pictures alongside prices, reviews and inventory info.

Google added similar shopping features to its Gemini AI chatbot app for U.S. users last month.

Meanwhile, Perplexity unveiled its own shopping assistant feature last week that can tailor recommendations based on previous searches.

Shoppers browse through stores at Mall of America for Black Friday deals, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Bloomington, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)

I asked all three to find a soft cotton flannel shirt. Both ChatGPT and Perplexity asked me for specific requirements, such as budget and must-have features. ChatGPT’s response was the most detailed, with options from six brands including its top pick, and included pictures, prices and point-form summaries for each shirt. It also compiled the results into a comparison table.

Results from Google, which didn’t ask follow up questions after my initial request, felt the most general. Perplexity’s results fell in between.

Try it on virtually

So, you think you’ve found a stylish cardigan for your spouse. But you’re not sure about the silhouette or vibe.

Generative AI “try on” tools let users see what a piece of clothing might look like on the wearer.

Existing virtual dressing room tools have relied on complex 3D rendering, real photoshoots and augmented reality. Often, shoppers were limited to picking a model that best fit their body type to see how clothes fit.

Google is now tapping AI to allow shoppers to virtually try on garments and shoes using pictures of themselves in simple poses. Among the exceptions: accessories like hats or jewelry, bathing suits and lingerie.

To use this feature, which is available through Google’s shopping desktop search and mobile app in Australia, Japan Canada and the U.S., just tap the “Try it on” button on a product’s photo and then add a full-length photo of yourself. You can then save the image of yourself with the tested item or share it. The original photo is also saved to your account so you don’t need to keep uploading fresh images.

If you’re shopping for a gift for someone, Google says you can upload their photo, but only if you have their permission.

AI agents buy it for you

Now that you’ve figured out what exactly to get for those special people on your Christmas gift list, it’s time to buy. But if you want to outsource some of the legwork involved, there are “agentic AI” tools that can help.

Amazon users can use an “AI agent” to buy a product on their behalf if the price falls to a desired level. Google has launched its own “agentic checkout” feature, which can automatically buy a product you’re keeping an eye on with its price-tracking feature. Google’s feature has rolled out to a small group of retailers, including Wayfair, Chewy and Quince we well as some Shopify merchants.

Both companies say they’ll always confirm with you before the AI agent makes the purchase.

Amazon is taking it a step further by allowing shoppers to buy items that aren’t in stock directly from other brands’ websites. If you see a product on the Amazon Shopping app with a “Buy For Me” button, you can buy it through the usual Amazon checkout page but the AI agent will then carry out the transaction on the other brand’s website with your encrypted payment details. The feature was in test mode but is being rolled out more widely.

AI calls for availability

Prefer to buy in person? It’s a good idea to make sure a bricks-and-mortar shop has the product you want before heading over. Google has launched an AI service that will call local stores to ask.

Black Friday Shoppers wait in line to enter Macy’s flagship store on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025 in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

It’s only available in the U.S. for toys, electronics and health and beauty products. When doing a Google search for the product you want, add “near me” to the end of your search query. Then, if you see “Let Google Call” when scrolling through the results, you can tap the “Get started” button. Answer some questions about what you’re shopping for, whether you want updates by email or text.

Google will then contact stores near your location to ask if the item is in stock.

The bot works swiftly but results might be limited. When an AP reporter in New Jersey asked Google to call around about a specific Acer monitor, the agent returned quickly with a reply from a local computer repair shop that sold refurbished monitors. It appeared to ignore nearby big-box outlets selling electronics.

According to Google’s text update, the local repair shop didn’t have the monitor, but did have a similar-sized one — sans the other bells and whistles — for a lower price.

Is there a tech topic that you think needs explaining? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your suggestions for future editions of One Tech Tip.