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Consumer

TV Ad Volume May Finally Be Moderated

by Smithee

This is something I’ve wanted to see happen for my entire life. I never thought it would, and I’m only mildly political so I never pushed for it, but we may see a new law that says a TV commercial can’t be “louder than the program it accompanies”, nor can it be “excessively noisy or ... Continue reading this article…

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Overkill At the United States Mint With New Coin Designs

by Luke Landes

In 1909, the U.S. Mint decided to honor assassinated President Abraham Lincoln by putting his likeness on the obverse of the lowest denominated coin in regular circulation, the cent. This new design, introduced for the centennial anniversary of Lincoln’s birth, replaced the “Indian head” cent. The model for this design was most likely not a ... Continue reading this article…

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Facial Recognition and Billboards

by Smithee

I have a fascinated/disgusted relationship with targeted advertisements. On one hand, I’ve seen enough Playtex commercials in my lifetime that I could probably draw you their logo from memory, and I’ve never been in the position to decide, “should I buy the Playtex version, or a different brand?” All those ads in my face have ... Continue reading this article…

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The Album’s Last Gasp

by Smithee

For a good thirty years or so, starting in the 1950s, musicians released singles on vinyl discs called “records”. You could also buy a full album of music by one artist, and some were worth it, but you also had the option of buying just that one song that you liked, that you kept hearing ... Continue reading this article…

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Consumer Confidence Above Expectations: Are We Out of the Woods?

by Luke Landes

Depending on which newspapers and news websites you read, the Consumer Confidence Index either soared, jumped or surged this month. The headlines as you would expect don’t tell the whole story. The Conference Board calculates this index by performing a random survey by phone of 5,000 households in the United States, selected because they represent ... Continue reading this article…

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Decaf Double Short Skim Double-Pump Vanilla Latté

by Smithee

I promise this is a coincidence; I had no intention of writing about coffee for two articles in a row (previously: “Iced Coffee Savings“). Yesterday, Starbucks started instituting pricing changes on some drinks, lowering the prices of easy-to-make, popular drinks and raising the price on larger, more complicated drinks. There weren’t a lot of specifics, ... Continue reading this article…

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Don’t Let Dealerships Mislead You About Cash for Clunkers

by Luke Landes

It’s debatable whether the Cash for Clunkers program, formally known as the “Car Allowance Rebate System” or the apt but unoriginal acronym “CARS,” will eventually be seen as successful either in terms of the economy or the environment, but it certainly has dealerships fired up. While the dealers appreciate the customers — without Cash for ... Continue reading this article…

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How to Save Money at Baseball Games

by Luke Landes

I am not a very good baseball fan. I grew up with the Mets as the team of choice in my family although none of us were much into sports. This loyalty was solidified with the team’s World Series win in 1986 when I was ten years old, the prime age for baseball fandom. Now ... Continue reading this article…

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My Grandmothers and the Cost of a Funeral

by Luke Landes

Ninety-three years is a long time to live. My paternal grandmother was that age when she passed away this past Saturday. I attended her funeral, a graveside service, earlier this week. She lived in Florida, but she was flown up to Long Island to be buried with her husband, who died in 1968. A couple ... Continue reading this article…

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Average Billing: Is it For You?

by Smithee

My electricity provider (which is Green Mountain Energy, because I’m an aspiring hippie), offers me the ability to make the same payment each month, based on the previous six months’ usage. Here in Dallas, people require air conditioning for roughly nine months a year, so our average monthly billing is about $300. I won’t say ... Continue reading this article…

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Cash for Clunkers: The Revenge

by Smithee

The “Cash for Clunkers” program that we told you about on June 19 has received a shot in the arm in almost-last-minute actions by the House and Senate. They approved an additional $2 billion to continue the unexpectedly popular rebate program through Labor Day. Opponents of the program feel like: Richard Shelby, the top Republican ... Continue reading this article…

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Take Back the Beep Campaign

by Smithee

If you were to start adding a comment to this blog post, but we first made you wait fifteen seconds after pressing the “comment” button to make you hear some extraneous instructions, you’d be terribly frustrated. Now imagine if every Web site had the same problem, and imagine further that you were being charged for ... Continue reading this article…

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Cash For Clunkers Suspended

by Luke Landes

Editor’s Note: This program is back on again and should be available through Labor Day, 2009 All good things must come to an end, and in some cases, prematurely. The “Cash for Clunkers” Program, or more formally, the Car Allowance Rebate System, has allocated almost all of its budget to rebates after only four days. ... Continue reading this article…

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EPA Disqualifies Shoppers From Cash for Clunkers Program

by Luke Landes

The Cash for Clunkers Program went into effect recently, but so did changes to the official EPA-estimated mpg ratings of several cars. For example, the 1987 Mercury Grand Marquis, according to CNN Money, was rated a combined 18 mpg last week, but as the program began this week, the rating for this year, make and ... Continue reading this article…

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Stealing Entertainment, Revisited

by Smithee

A week ago I wrote a post called “Is it Ever Okay to Steal Entertainment?”, which produced great comments from our readers, many of whom were clearly incensed that I would ever try to rationalize stealing from content creators. I’ve been thinking about the criticism and understanding that was added to the original article. I ... Continue reading this article…

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Is it Ever Okay to Steal Entertainment?

by Smithee

As a part-time producer of creative works that I think are worth something (though I’m not currently requiring payment for anything), I struggle with the urge to acquire my entertainment media as conveniently, quickly and cheaply as possible. My viewpoints on this have changed over time, especially as my disposable income grew, and I’d like ... Continue reading this article…

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Vacation vs. Social Networks

by Smithee

Summertime is traditionally when most people take their annual vacations, and since the social media explosion, more aspects of a given person’s vacation will end up as photos on Flickr, or “wish you were here” messages on Facebook. I’m a big fan of openness (with the obvious exception of my use of a pseudonym on ... Continue reading this article…

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Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2009

by Smithee

Businesses are hoping to get more bargaining power when it comes to how much they are charged to accept credit and debit card purchases. The Credit Card Fair Fee Act (read the whole bill), was reintroduced this year and is now being discussed in Congressional committees. I first heard about it when I was buying ... Continue reading this article…

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Still Having Problems With TIAA-Cref? Tell Us Now

by Luke Landes

On July 20, TIAA-Cref will be holding its annual participant meeting. There is an effort underway to encourage the company to be more socially responsible and accountable to its customers, and representatives will be attending the meeting to bring any common problems directly to the board’s attention. Are you having customer service problems with TIAA-Cref? ... Continue reading this article…

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Do You Want RFID in Your Mobile Phone?

by Smithee

Håkan Djuphammar, VP of Systems Architecture for Ericsson, made a prediction recently that all new mobile phones sold after Summer 2010 would have two-way RFID chips in them that would allow them to act as a tag or a reader. If what you just read sounds like technobabble, watch this short news excerpt to get ... Continue reading this article…

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