Consumerist
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Do It Yourself
Annoyed With Toy Companies Trying To Poison Your Kids? Make Your Own Toys.
Craft magazine has put together a round-up of safe toys that you can make for your kids. The downside is that you have to stop being lazy and learn to do something yourself. (Awful, we know.) The upside is that unless you're buying the cloth from New Zealand, the odds of you poisoning your own child are low. More » -
Safety
Try Not To Light Yourself On Fire Once You Get To College
According to Consumer Reports' Blog, the number of fires in campus housing has risen dramatically over the past few years—from 1,800 fires in 1998 to 3,000 fires in 2005. More » -
Crime
Best Buy Employee Caught Stealing $13,000 In Gift Cards
Best Buy employee Olivia Bailey, 18, was accused last week of stealing $13,000 from a Best Buy store in Lawrence, NY by using fraudulently obtained credit card numbers to purchase gift cards. More » -
Badvertising
KFC Launches Program Designed To Make Your Office Smell Like Chicken
KFC has issued a press release explaining their newest marketing effort: They're going to make your office smell like chicken. More » -
Got a little bit of yogurt and some milk and cream? Wish you just had more yogurt? Make some. Bacteria is so cool. [Instructables]
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Airlines battle to provide the highest level of luxury for those who can afford it. [ABC News]
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Scams
Blue Hippo Angers Florida's Attorney General
Blue Hippo, the notoriously scammy computer layaway service, has annoyed Florida's attorney general. More » -
More DRM Or Else
NBC Will Not Renew iTunes Contract
The New York Times is reporting that NBC will not renew its contract to provide content to Apple's iTunes service. A spokesperson from NBC confirmed the decision after an anonymous source leaked it to the Times but did not comment on why NBC was dropping iTunes. More » -
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Nutrition
Menu Labeling Legislation Gaining Momentum In California
According to the Center For Science In The Public Interest, menu labeling legislation is gaining momentum in the California State Assembly. The menu labeling law "would require chain restaurants to list calories on menu boards and calories, saturated and trans fat, sodium, and carbohydrates on printed menus." More » -
Technological Mysteries
Can TiVo Compete?
According to USAToday, Tivo failed to anticipate how quickly its customers would fall in love with HDTV—and out of love with TiVo. More » -
Advertising
American Cancer Society Says Broken Health Care System Will Be "Bigger Killer" Than Tobacco
The American Cancer Society has dedicated its entire advertising budget to the issue of lack of access to health insurance because it fears that the uninsured do not get adequate cancer screenings. From the NYT: More » -
Sega Yume Neko Smile
Buy A Japanese Robo Kitty
The Yume Neko Smile from Sega has gone on sale, which means you can now purchase your very own feline proxy. When reached for comment, our girlfriend said, "I saw some toys like that at Nextfest last year and read about them. The Japanese are so damn weird. They've made those pets for people who cannot own pets for various reasons — so that they don't get lonely and also because having a pet can be healing. But a robot pet? Not so sure..."
Freaky Robot Cat Goes On Sale, Ads Hit [The Raw Feed]
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Paper Is Annoying
Paperless Personal Finance Can Save You Money?
Blueprint for Financial Prosperity has listed 5 ways that going paperless in your personal finance can save you money. More » -
Marketing
What's Up With All The "Special" Kinds Of Vodka?
Why are there so many different kinds of new vodkas, while brands of gin, rum and tequila stay the same?
Freakonomics thinks since other liquors have more unique tastes, while vodka is flavorless, it's easy for a new guy to enter into the market, especially if they've got a fancy marketing campaign. For instance, the whole Grey Goose story is mere fanfaronade. Sidney Frank decided he was going to make a more expensive vodka that people would buy into because of its price and mystique driven backstory. France, oh, they are so refined... and not exactly renowned for their vodka distilleries.
Those who disagree may be guilty of drinking the packaging.
Is Vodka Different? [Freakonomics]
(Photo: What Rhymes With Nicole) -
The Vatican has opened a special airline to shuttle pilgrims to holy spots around the globe, but not even their holy water is exempt from the 100 ml liquid carry-on limit. Man, those are going to be some well-anointed security checkpoints. [Telegraph via BoingBoing]
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PSAs
Swag Watch: August '07
In the interest of full disclosure, here are the companies that undermined your editor's objectivity this month. More » -
Roundups
Top Posts Of The Week
- Blockbuster Manager Curses At Customer Who Refused To Sign Up For Rewards Program
""Fucking customers, I'm tired of everyone not listening when they don't even know what they're talking about."- AT&T Stops Pretending To Be The Network With The "Fewest Dropped Calls"
"AT&T will instead boast that they have: "more bars in more places.""- UPDATE: Hey Geek Squad, I Haven't Seen My Laptop In A Month
Geek Squad has begun to spurn the expedited email address line it set up for our readers. Ha ha, I will get you back by ignoring my own customers, vengeance is mine.- Home Depot Fires Another Employee For Stopping A Thief
"This isn't the first time Home Depot has fired workers for trying to stop a crime. If you work there, you really should just let people steal. Stopping them will cost you your job."- Comcast Tries To Sterilize, Decapitate BitTorrent
"Comcast is reportedly stabbing at the heart of the file transfer protocol BitTorrent by preventing users from seeding torrent files." - Blockbuster Manager Curses At Customer Who Refused To Sign Up For Rewards Program
New York, 11:51 PM
Tue Nov 10
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