Ineffective rectangular frisbees? Tiny coasters? Better start thinking of some ideas for any of those unredeemed Borders gift cards you may still have lying around: A judge ruled this week that customers won’t see a nickel of a total of $210.5 million in remaining balances on gift cards they failed to use before Borders bit the big one and went off to that great mall in the sky. [More]
Judge Says Customers Won’t See One Red Cent Of Unredeemed Borders Gift Cards
By May 24, 2013
The Fiery Debate Raging Over Charcoal Briquettes Vs. Lumps Is Making Us Very Hungry
By May 24, 2013
Full disclosure: I’m clueless when it comes to lighting grills, be they charcoal or gas. As such, I never realized there’s a heated debate (pun totally intended) over what kind of charcoal one uses, should that be the grill of choice. I see chunks of black stuff on fire cooking up a burger and I think, “Yum. Gonna eat that.” But it’s true, dear readers — there’s a battle brewing between charcoal lump fans and charcoal briquette devotees. [More]
How New York State’s Indoor Smoking Ban Has Led To An Uptick In Bowling Alley Lawsuits
By May 24, 2013
In one corner, you’ve got your run-of-the-mill bowling alley. You’ve probably been to one, so you know the drill — everyone’s got to wear those darling bowling shoes. In the other, you’ve got New York State’s ban on smoking indoors. Put those two things together and you’ve got an uptick in lawsuits against bowling alleys. [More]
Think You Can Tell A $99 Wedding Dress From An $1,800 One?
By May 24, 2013
Times used to be, you wanted to buy a wedding dress, you had to go to bridal shops boasting designer creations, with the prices to match. But now retailers are getting into the wedding game, providing cheaper options for customers. Target just threw its veil into the ring with its new line of bridal gowns starting at the low price of $99, which made us wonder — can anyone even pick out the less expensive gowns from their pricier counterparts? [More]
Delivery Guy Caught Treating Customer’s Pizza As His Personal Snack Bar
By May 24, 2013
The next time your pizza seems a bit skimpy on the toppings, you might want to consider asking your delivery guy if he was feeling particularly hungry. A pizzeria employee in St. Petersburg, Russia responsible for ferrying a customer’s pie on its journey to consumption couldn’t resist the urge to snack before the pizza reached its final destination. Unfortunately for him, there just so happened to be a security camera in the elevator. [More]
We’re All Basically Clueless When It Comes To How Many Calories Are In Fast Food
By May 24, 2013
Maybe you can’t be bothered with those pesky calorie counts on fast-food menus, or perhaps that info isn’t posted at restaurants in your area, and instead think, “Hey, I’m sure I’m just eating [insert best estimate] calories!” You’re probably off. Way off, says a new study that looked at just how wrong diners are when it comes to estimating how many calories are in their fast-food meals. [More]
Target, Macy’s Reject Fee-Fixing Settlement With Credit Card Companies & File Fresh Lawsuit
By May 24, 2013
Last summer, some of the country’s largest retailers reached a settlment with Visa and MasterCard that was supposed to put to rest qualms the businesses had with the credit card companies’ alleged practice of fee-fixing. The $7.2 billion settlement didn’t sit well with some, including Target and Macy’s, prompting a group of retailers to file a new lawsuit this week, effectively rejecting that previous agreement. [More]
Surprise! AT&T Adds New $0.61 Monthly Administrative Fee To Wireless Customers’ Bills
By May 24, 2013
Start up the chorus of grumbling and shine up your best “What in the what now?” faces: AT&T has just added a $0.61 monthly administrative fee to wireless customers’ bills. It’s totally great for AT&T of course, as reports indicate the move could bring in about $518 million in extra moolah for the company in 2014. So, yay for you, AT&T? [More]
9-Year-Old Girl Tells McDonald’s CEO: Stop Trying To Trick Kids Into Eating Your Food
By May 23, 2013
Oooooh, someone’s in trouuuuble! Chastisements can come in tiny packages, as one nine-year-old girl proved at today’s annual McDonald’s shareholders meeting. She took to the mic with a pretty clear message for Mickey D’s CEO Don Thompson: ”It would be nice if you stopped trying to trick kids into wanting to eat your food all the time.” Oh, snap. [More]
Guy Using The Last Name “Disney” Caught Giving Stolen Disneyland Tickets To Charity
By May 23, 2013
Listen, if you want to go around and tell people, “Yeah, I’m related to Walt Disney,” even if it isn’t true, that’s up to you. But one man allegedly impersonating a Disney heir took that delusion to another level when he, again, allegedly, passed off stolen Disneyland tickets as the real deal. [More]
House Passes Bill Tying Student Loan Rates To Treasury Notes
By May 23, 2013
While Senator Elizabeth Warren pushes for legislation that would allow student borrowers to enjoy the same insanely low interest rates as big banks (for one year at least), the House of Representatives today passed a bill that would link the interest rates on federal student loans to the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. [More]
How Much Did I Save If I Don’t Buy Anything?
By May 23, 2013
Whenever I throw away a coupon or decide not to take advantage of a sale, I tell myself that I’m saving more money by not buying the item in the first place. That is not exactly the approach that OfficeMax took when adding up the items in Tod’s cart. [More]
Amazon Wants To Sell Your Vampire Fan Fiction To The World — If You Keep It Clean
By May 23, 2013
Have you ever loved a book or movie so much, say, a teenage vampire romance, that you just can’t stand it when it’s all over? Fan fiction, that distinct genre that takes existing characters off into new storylines, or rewrites those stories in a more satisfactory way only rarely pays off for writers, but Amazon’s new Kindle Worlds wants to change that. [More]
jenny from the blockAre you a Jennifer Lopez fan that has been feeling woefully disconnected from the singer/actress/business mogul/whatever else she’s up to these days? Jenny from the block has got the perfect solution, in the form of her new chain of cellphone stores under the Viva Movil brand name. Will you be able to dial her directly if you buy a phone at one of 15 authorized Verizon resellers? Well, no. But you will help her earn more buckets of money, so yay for you? [via Associated Press]
4 Early Concerns About The Xbox One
By May 23, 2013
Earlier this week, Microsoft finally got around to showing off Xbox One, the console some gamers have been waiting for since the Xbox 360 came out eight years ago. The company made sure to highlight all the cool bells and whistles of the upcoming device, but also skipped over a number of issues that are already giving some folks reason for concern. [More]
Study: Peaches From A Can (That Were Put There By A Man) As Nutritious As Fresh Counterparts
By May 23, 2013
Cracking open a can of peaches and slurping down the syrupy, sticky sweet juice before eating the peaches inside always made me feel like I was getting away with something. How could something so tasty also be good for you? Surely this canned nectar of the gods isn’t as healthy as biting into a juicy fresh peach. But a new study says actually, canned peaches are just as nutritious as the fresh ones. [More]
Mississippi Takes Man’s Tax Refund Twice To Pay Child Support For Kid He Doesn’t Have
By May 23, 2013
It has to feel completely awful to get a letter from the government saying it’s holding onto your refund check. But even worse, as one couple found out, is the feeling of that happening twice. And then there’s this doozy: Tax officials claim the refunds were put on hold because the state of Mississippi twice has said the husband owed back child support payments. Problem is, the couple has never lived in Mississippi and the man hasn’t father a child there either. Not once, and definitely not twice. [More]
New York Warns Of Medical-Alert Device Robocalling Scam Targeting Seniors
By May 23, 2013
Most of you know to be suspicious when someone calls out of the blue to tell you you’ve been approved to get something for free. But not everyone is as savvy as y’all, which is what scammers depend on to make their money. [More]
