Is it? Maybe. All of these games can be played without spending any real money, and without signing up for shady offers to receive more in-game currency. But the extra loot can make the game much more fun.

The offers are similar to ones we've featured here before—from innocent things you might sign up for anyway like a Netflix subscription, to scammy quizzes and misleading subscriptions.

Zynga, one of the leaders in social networking games, not-so-coincidentally announced a few days after the controversial original post that they will no longer serve ad or reward offers that ask for users' mobile phone numbers.

Scamville: The Social Gaming Ecosystem Of Hell [TechCrunch]
Are You Getting Scammed by Facebook Games? [Time]

• Insurance mandate: Uninsured Americans will pay a penalty; low-income people exempt. House bill charges a penalty of 2.5% of adjusted gross income: that's $500 on $20,000, for example.
• Employer coverage:All employers with a payroll above $500,000 must help pay for some kind of health insurance for their employees, or pay a tax. The Senate Finance Committee version of the bill does not have this requirement.
• Insurance exchange - Allows people who are not covered to buy health insurance in nation- or state-wide markets. Available to employees of small businesses, and others not eligible for coverage.
• Public plan - Would create a new federal government-run insurance plan with its own physician and hospital rates, separate from those negotiated by Medicare. Senate Finance Committee instead offers nonprofit insurance cooperatives in each state.
• Subsidies - Households earning up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level would be eligible for subsidies of health insurance premiums when they buy insurance through the exchange.
• Small business subsidies - Tax credits for small employers that provide health care coverage for employees.
• Coverage - House and Senate Health Committee versions require plans to pay for 70% of all health care spending that the plan covers; Senate Finance Committee version requires 65%. Insurers cannot deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions, and premiums may not vary according to age on the individual insurance market as widely as they do now. People receiving federal subsidies for insurance may not enroll in a plan that includes coverage of abortions.
• Medicaid - Households with incomes up to 150% of the federal poverty level would now be eligible for Medicaid. Senate Finance Committee would expand to 133% of the federal poverty level, starting in 2014.

Sweeping Health Care Plan Passes House [NY Times]

RELATED:
How Would Health Care Reform Affect You?

(Photo: j.reed)

Poor iPhone. Or, smartphone-like device that resembles an iPhone. According to Verizon, its 3G coverage means that it has no place in this world except the island of misfit toys.

Other commercials declare that AT&T users will experience a blue Christmas, and that only the naughty will receive AT&T phones as holiday gifts. Ha ha! Sigh.

Verizon Wireless Launches Three More Anti-AT&T 3G Network Commercials [Gizmodo]

The Original Dreamie [Official Site] (Thanks, GitEmSteveDave!)

The key, of course, is that the newly purchased home needs to be a primary residence—no rental properties or vacation homes, thank you. Current homeowners within the income guidelines can receive a $6,500 credit after purchasing a new home—new homeowners will still receive $8,000.

Expanded First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Becomes Law [U.S. News & World Report]

(Photo: nicolas.boullosa)

At a hearing Friday, PepsiCo attorney Dean Panos argued that Erwin should vacate her prior order because Wisconsin law disfavors default judgments. Panos also argued that since the case had barely begun, the plaintiffs would not be harmed, and that no default judgment can stand if the underlying complaint is defective.

The men allege that Pepsi stole their proprietary idea for purifying and selling tap water, and turned it into the inexplicable success that is Aquafina.

Judge scraps $1.26 billion judgment against Pepsi [Journal Sentinel] (Thanks, Emily!)

PREVIOUSLY:
Misplaced Letter Costs PepsiCo $1.26 Billion In Bottled Water Lawsuit

(Photo: marcus_in_ny)

Reader Chris writes:

I've noticed that several times, I've received checks from mail-in rebate offers that refuse to scan in the newer check-scanning ATMs that my bank (Bank of America) has deployed, replacing envelope-deposit ATMs, and that I'm sure other large banks have put into service as well.

These are the checks that are mailed outside of envelopes, like postcards - the check is printed along with your mailing address, postage info, etc. Apparently the thickness of the card stock causes the check to get rejected outright by every check-scanning ATM I've tried them on. And if it does make it to the "scan" stage, the ATM then rejects it as unreadable.

Obviously, this means that in order to deposit the rebate check, I now have to visit an actual bank branch - not a big deal for me, but I'm sure that this extra hurdle for enough people that it edges the "uncollected" percentage up a couple points, which is good news for everyone except the customer. While this appears completely coincidental - the postcard-style check is cheaper to mail than a traditional paper check - I can certainly see the rebate processors not rushing to fix this, um, "fringe benefit" of the format.

Probably not a consiracy, but definitely an inconvenience.

(Photo: Gamma-Ray Productions)

paul.j.lawrence@us.hsbc.com

Paul J. Lawrence
President/CEO
HSBC Bank USA, N.A.
452 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10018

(Photo: Maulleigh)

People always need to do laundry—the question is how often, and where.

Yet in a measure of the potency of this particular downturn, some coin laundries are closing, and many others are battling sales declines. Job loss and economic woe are forcing Americans to cut back even on their laundry costs, either by using the home equipment of friends or relatives or by wearing items multiple times between washes. Even urban flight and reverse migration due to economic hardship appear to be agitating the industry.

"Now more than ever the adage that we're recession-proof is being tested," says Brian Wallace, president of the Coin Laundry Association.

Where do you do your laundry, and have your habits changed in the last few years? Do you try to save a few quarters by wearing jeans an extra day or two?

Even Laundries Tumble in This Economic Cycle [Wall Street Journal] (Thanks, PecanPi!)

(Photo: malias)

Despite the credit crisis, there are a lot of credit cards still offering new accounts a special bonus. Some award you points after your first purchase. Others offer you cash back after you spend more than a certain dollar amount. In fact, New York Times money blog Bucks reported that the British Airways Visa Signature card would soon be offering a staggering 100,000-mile promotion, worth two round-trip tickets, to new cardholders, making it one of the richest offers I've ever seen.

It sounds like a win-win situation right?

Unfortunately, every time you take advantage of one of these offers your credit score takes a punch to the face. Everytime you apply for a card, your credit report gets hit with a hard inquiry and those hard inquiries negatively impact your score by a few points. The exact number of points it goes down is unknown but you can rest assured it will go down.

If you're not planning a major purchase within six to twelve months, it's not a big deal. If you are, you could see much higher interest rates on those loans... making that bonus look really stupid.

Are there offers that won't ding your credit? Yes.

In general, promotional offers from banks and brokers will not hurt your credit. Since there is no extension of credit, banks and brokers usually won't pull your credit but you should call to confirm this. Banks will not conduct a hard inquiry unless you open a checking account with overdraft protection. Brokers will usually not do a hard inquiry unless you open a margin account. In both cases the bank or broker may find themselves lending you money for a short period of time, which is why they do a hard pull.

Outside of those two more common scenarios, they will only do soft pulls to confirm your identity, as required by law. Bank offers will usually be in the $100 range and you'll be expected to maintain a sizable deposit, setup bill payments, and establish a monthly direct deposit before they'll pay out a promotion. Brokers will usually require a minimum deposit and at least one trade. The promotional requirements are usually not terribly onerous.

With the economy starting to recover, I think you'll start seeing more and more of these offers.

Jim writes about money at personal finance blog Bargaineering.com.

(Photo: armydre2008)

A few months ago, Adam was drawn in by a Facebook ad promising five North Face t-shirts for $5.

I signed up for a $5 introductory offer from Seattle Coffee Direct. I thought, "Why not?" Well the coffee arrives and I notice on my bank statement a charge for $28.10, not $5. Then I notice two charges three days apart for $38.95. When I finally call, things really get interesting. When I first get Mike from CS on the line, I don't even give him my name, acct number or anything, and he's already saying he can close the account and refund the money, two things I had yet to even ASK for. Obviously, they have to do a lot of this. What I come to find out is that by (stupidly) giving them my information, they had signed me up for twice-weekly coffee shipments, at a cost of $38.95 per week. Unbelievable.

Meanwhile, a few weeks ago, Ivan shared with us his sad story of a World Bean Cafe order turned into an epic saga in search of his refund.

Please warn your readers about this company or companies. It sells coffee beans and I was sucked in via a Facebook ad. Yes, I know, or at least I should have known better. Against my better judgment I went ahead and ordered from them back in May of this year. It has been a nightmare since.

I received my initial shipment. The week following this I received another order of coffee. I thought this was odd so I checked my credit card online system. There were 7 charges from World Bean Café at $38.95 a pop! I called them immediately and they cancelled any further orders. The representative gave me a lame excuse of not specifying a shipment frequency (there was no way to specify a frequency on the order form) and that it defaulted to two bags of coffee ordered every day. Huh?

According to my credit card company all the transactions were manually entered into a POS system so that excuse is pretty iffy. She then said I should send the coffee back and I should get the credit within 60 days. Ugh! That week the orders of coffee started to come in. I refused them. >

I waited for the credits which should have been done in the beginning of August. No credits. I called again and was told it would be at least another 30 days. No credits in the beginning of September. I called on 9/17 and was apologized to and they said it would be 5-7 business days before I received my credit. Now it is October 1 with no credits. I call again and speak to a representative named "Ralph" and he gives me the same 5-7 day spiel. Not happy with the answer, I ask to speak to a manager. I was connected to "Lucy" who says she is going to manually enter the credits into her system and gives me the 5-7 day speech. I wait. October 12 rolls around and still no credits. I checked this morning and no credits have posted to my account. All this time I have been paying interest on these transactions and am fed up. I have started the charge back procedures with my credit card company. Hopefully that will be the end of it.

Lesson learned and all I can say is, "Never Again!"

The coffee subscription scheme has been around for a long time—look at Gevalia—but the Facebook ads seem to be a new phenomenon. Let this serve as a lesson to Adam, Ivan, and all of our readers: always scroll down and make sure to read all of the fine print.

What the company actually promises (or maybe "threatens") is to ship two bags of coffee to subscribers every two weeks.

Semimonthly Program: Twice a month you will receive a package with 2 bags of coffee and will be billed $12.90 per bag of coffee, plus $6.95 per bag for shipping and handling.

So they're charging for shipping alone a bit less than you might pay for a pound of mediocre coffee on sale.

Speaking of pounds, though, there is no mention on the site of how big a bag is. Forget the grocery shrink ray that puts 12-ounce bags of coffee on store shelves—the packets pictured on the site look smaller than a pound.

(Photo: Matthew Oliphant)

Larry received this e-mail, with the subject line "HO-HO-HO...Black Friday Starts Today."

No. It doesn't. Sears, you're doing it very, very wrong.

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POLL: When Is Too Early For Christmas Creep?
Hobby Lobby Worships The Great Pumpkin With Halloween Tree
Kmart Launches Christmas Site In July

They said he is an account representative for Rent-A-Center and went to the 21-year-old woman's home Oct. 22 to discuss a delinquent account. During the discussion, he turned the conversation into a sexual nature, offering to make her bill go away in exchange for a sex act, police said.

Herron then exposed himself to her while taking her hand and placing on himself. The woman pulled away and Herron completed the sex act upon himself before leaving her home, police said.

In what universe is this a good idea? If the accusations are true, had he tried this same scheme on other women who simply didn't report it to police?

Bill collector accused of demanding sex for debt relief [Detroit Free Press] (Thanks, Adam!)

(Photo: striatic)

by Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie

by mightyb

by James Callan

by Ninja M.

by cyrusrassool

by D.P. Rubino

by SA_Steve

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Our Flickr Pool is the place where Consumerist readers go and upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click "Join Group?" up on the top right, and start hitting "send to group" on your individual photos you want to add to the pool.

Note that if you want them to have a shot at ending up on the Consumerist Friday post, you'll need to open up your sharing settings on your Flickr account so we can grab the HTML from the "Share This" tab. Sorry, but that's the only way to get Flickr and Consumerist to play with each other.

Add your shots to The Consumerist Flickr Pool, and perhaps they'll get featured in a future story, or even highlighted in a Friday Consumerist Flickr Pool Finds post. See previous winners of the Friday Consumerist Flickr Pool finds here.

To recap, Capital One told Andon to wait 30 days before calling in to request activation. When he followed their instructions and called back 30 days later, he was told that he had to have called 5 days earlier to activate it for that month. Then he was charged a late fee.

Andon sent the company an Email Executive Carpet Bomb, or EECB, explaining what happened. This was the result:

I would just like to let you know that I sent an EECB, and was contacted today by Greg at Capital One who worked out the problem for me. He said I was absolutely right about the problem with the first month of the Emergency Payment Protection (the whole waiting for thirty days since unemployment, but having to have called five days before the payment's due date,) and that there is actually a special exception program in order to address this, but that it just wasn't followed properly in this case. They were very understanding, and apologized for the inconvenience - all is well, now.

Congratulations, Andon! Remember, if the front line of customer service at a company refuses to see logic or reason, try to escalate it to higher levels. Frequently it's either a case of the CSR being powerless to help you, or a breakdown in training or communication.

RELATED
"Capital One Tricks Customer Into Not Activating Emergency Payment Protection Plan"

"Holiday Shipping Deadlines for Christmas 2009" [CouponSherpa] (Thanks to Jeff!)
(Photo: dierken)

(It's unclear whether the couple ever actually paid for the Bic lighters in question—the article only specifies that the footage shows they scanned the package of lighters but that the scanner didn't register it.)

The couple in question is gay and their sons are adopted, which may have introduced a whole new level of emotional reactions on both sides of the dispute. The men say their children told them that while they were being held in the security room, the security staff threatened the kids and "had made disparaging remarks about Paolucci and Hitchcock's lifestyle." It's not a stretch to imagine that such an attitude, if it existed, carried over into any face-to-face interactions. Meanwhile, the police who showed up and cuffed Paolucci, then forced the two men into the backs of different squad cars, claim that the men were causing a disturbance when they arrived at the scene.

Still, no amount of pro-gay or anti-gay outrage makes it okay for a retailer to place paying customers in such an abusive situation, especially when the retailer's own security footage—which was immediately available for review—shows that if there was any inventory issue it was due to a malfunction of the scanner. But Walmart can get away with it because it can afford to:

Asked if they intend to sue Wal-Mart, Paolucci said he and Hitchcock probably won't because other attorneys have advised them Wal-Mart historically "plays hardball" and isn't prone to settle cases out of court.

"We could spend a couple million dollars to sue them," Paolucci said.

But that doesn't mean there won't be court action. Paolucci and Hitchcock e-mailed The Tribune a copy of a letter from a law firm representing Wal-Mart seeking 10 times the retail price of the items the store still claims were shoplifted by Paolucci. The letter states the matter will be dropped if Paolucci submits the $158.40 payment.

Fortunately, the men seem to have enough money that they can afford to never shop at the discount retailer again, even if they weren't banned for life. If you're not part of a wealthy two-income family, though... well hopefully Walmart will look down favorably upon you when your post-checkout time comes, so long as you act contrite and respectful of their security team's authority.

(Oh yeah, now I remember why I don't want a Walmart anywhere near where I live.)

*Note: I originally reported the Walmart as being located in Niles, Illinois. However, the South Bend Tribune generally covers areas in Michigan and Indiana, and the couple lives in Buchanan, Michigan, which also has a Niles located nearby. I've updated the post to report the Walmart as being located in Niles, Michigan. -Chris

"Niles couple banned from Wal-Mart after dispute over BIC lighters" [South Bend Tribune] (Thanks to Shanon!)

RELATED
"Loomis Rent-A-Cops Have Shopper Cuffed, Hauled Away Over ATM Photo"
(Photo: Brave New Films)

The brothers told [6News reporter Rafael] Sanchez that they went to the gym Monday hoping to resolve the issue, but that their requests were rejected by the management at the facility.

[...]

"I'm wondering how more people are they going to do it to? After meeting two young gentlemen yesterday, they don't feel they've done anything wrong," said [brother] Pat Hannon. "They feel it's their right to get America fit."

So there you have it. Bally's wants the developmentally disabled to be physically fit. I don't see how that's a bad thing—we should all take care of our health—but it seems weird to target men and women who, you know, can't drive themselves to the gym they're joining. Maybe the two salesmen who showed up at the apartment—where "no soliciting" signs are posted—should agree to shuttle their new client back and forth whenever he feels like it.

Update: Bally's PR firm just contacted us with the following statement on behalf of the gym:

We regret that this incident occurred and have accordingly addressed the issue with the employees involved. It is common practice that we market our clubs with free trial passes to the local community but it is against our corporate policy to transport anyone to or from our facility. When our management found out about Mr. Hannon's disability, we immediately cancelled his membership and refunded all of his fees.

"Family: Gym Took Advantage Of Man With Disability" [WRTV Indianapolis] (Thanks to Becky!)
(Photo: geocam20000)

The 13-year-old indoor cat in Iowa was brought to the Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center at Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, where it tested positive for the H1N1 virus. ...

"Two of the three members of the family that owns the pet had suffered from influenza-like illness before the cat became ill," said IDPH Public Health Veterinarian, Dr. Ann Garvey. "This is not completely unexpected, as other strains of influenza have been found in cats in the past." Both the cat and its owners have recovered from their illnesses.

Perhaps this is the cue for pet stores across the country to set up displays of tiny paper masks and bottles of paw sanitizer.

Cat catches swine flu [Washington Post] (Thanks, Sarah!)
Protecting Pets from Illness [Iowa Department of Public Health]

(Photo: htby)

(Photo: Mini D)

We have to say we're not surprised by the results. We trust that Campbell's understands chicken soup manufacturing.

Let Jesse Buy It: Noodles [KING 5] (Thanks,Cherise!)

Storm8 makes games like Vampires Live and iMobsters, that operate very similar to the popular Facebook game "Mafia Wars," including letting you spend real money to get better weapons and more energy in the game. Many of Storm8's titles are top iPhone game app downloads, probably because each game says that you can get extra points in it if you download one of their other games.

BoingBoing reports that the number harvesting was hidden until the company noted it in August, chalking it up as a bug. However, the lawsuits says that only "very specific and specialized software code" could do that. Storm8 has not returned BoingBoing's requests for comment.

Lawsuit text (PDF)

iPhone game dev accused of stealing players' phone numbers [BoingBoing] (Photo: Cаvin 〄)

As a follow-up to the Starbucks post, we received a couple emails from employees who told us that Starbucks begins using the red cups typically on the first Tuesday of November, but doesn't start offering the peppermint mocha and all that stuff until later-November 17, according to one tipster.

(Photo: TMQ.st.louis)

Staring back up from her preparations for Sunday dinner was a whole dead frog, an unwelcome interloper who arrived via a bag of Glory Mustard Greens. "I hate frogs," said Carla.

Walmart said they are going to work with the manufacturer and refund the customer's money.

Carla plans on getting her salad from a different source in the future. "The next greens I eat will be growing in my garden outside," she told UPI.

Check out the video on Digital Journal.

From The Awl:

But the most egregious claim Wilson makes about Penneys with regard to fatness is "[JC Penney] has the most obese mannequins I have ever seen." The "I have ever seen" clause in that statement is the one thing that prevents me from declaring this outright slander. In my time at Penneys, I never saw a mannequin that looked appreciably different from any other mannequin that I have ever seen. They were all rather tall and skinny-you know, like mannequins are.

Yeah, we sort of thought so. The article also includes a fun round-up of instances in which Ms. Wilson uses the word "fat." Enjoy.

Real America with Abe Sauer: A Visit to New York City's JC Penney [The Awl]

PREVIOUSLY: J.C. Penney In Manhattan Harbinger Of Fashion Apocalypse, Fat Suburbanites
New York Times Wishes It Had Not Published "Snotty" JC Penney Review

Some companies sell items saying that a "portion" or "share" goes to a charitable organization, but the actual percentage is not covered in any specific contract between them and the charity, or governed by disclosure requirements. This disturbing lack of transparency opens the door to companies that want to use the charity angle as a marketing hook, without passing on much in the way of bucks to the actual charities. For instance, the supposed recipients of charity dollars in an embedded giving campaign in a Barney's catalog only found out they were beneficiaries after the NYT talked to them.

If you really want to help out, donate directly to the charity. You can use a site like Charity Navigator to make sure that most of your money goes to the cause, and not the corporate coffers.

The 2009 Embedded Giving Challenge [Philanthropy 2173] (Thanks to C-side!) (Photo: thelearnr)

The LA Times says:

The price cuts are welcome news for movie studios because it could spur demand in a year of flagging DVD sales. The wholesale price paid by Walmart and its competitors remains unchanged at about $18, meaning studios will make the same profit despite the discounting.

It's normal for retailers like Walmart to price DVDs below their wholesale cost at stores and online to draw customers who often spend more money on other items.

Although discounting is not unusual for Walmart and Target, the new $10 price means the retailers will incur a big loss on each sale.

It comes as the two companies and Amazon engage in a price war over books that has driven down the price of some hardcovers to $9.

Will these new unsustainably low prices get you to skip Redbox or Netflix and actually buy a DVD?

Walmart, Target slash online prices of popular DVDs [LA Times]

Apparently he also had insurance, and the hospital should have sent the bill to his insurer.

"I can't believe that in any country besides the U.S., any civilized country, that the parents of a murdered boy would receive this bill for $29,000 and such an insulting letter," Gerald Hawkins, the victim's father, told ABC 10 in Sacramento, CA.

The bill in question was for "five minutes in [the hospital's] emergency room," says ABC 10, who tried to assess why 5 minutes could cost $29,000.

Scott Seamons with the California Hospital Council said the critical response to Hawkins is what cost the most. He said UC Davis is a Level 1 Trauma Center, which means the best and most expensive doctors were waiting for Scott.

"Whether it was five minutes or 55 minutes doesn't really matter in the initial review and assessment of the patient," he said.

Trauma surgeons, nurses, technicians and more had to treat Scott before they realized they couldn't help, according to Seamons.

"They're all right there," he said. "And those are highly trained, highly specialized and highly paid clinical experts. Clearly in the aftermath, in hindsight, they looked at it and determined there was probably less need for that, but in the first five minutes all of those resources were right there at the side of this patient, and they cost a lot of money."

ABC 10 says that the letter included with the bill instructed the deceased to take his health care needs to a county clinic in the future. The hospital has apologized.

Why was Murdered Sac State Student's ER Bill So High? [News 10]
Slain Sac State Student's Parents Stunned by Hospital Bill, Letter [News 10]

9. There are very few aspects of your life that cannot be changed.
8. Karma always comes around.
7. The more time you spend improving and educating yourself, the better your personal and financial life will be.
6. Blaming others for your problems is a dead-end road.
5. The fewer unsupportive people you have in your life, the better off you are.
4. The more supportive people you have in your life, the better off you are.
3. The most valuable resource in the world isn't money, it's time.
2. The second most important part of personal finance is setting clear, concrete goals.
1. The single most important part of personal finance is truly knowing yourself.

Pretty meta, but once you think about it, it's our choices and behaviors and lifestyle that have the biggest impact on our bank account, rather than getting the one with the best APR or being the super-best at using online coupons.

Do you agree with this list? Is there anything you would add or take away?

The Ten Most Important Things I've Learned About Money and Life Since Starting The Simple Dollar [The Simple Dollar] (Photo: sawyer87)

"Extended Unemployment Benefits: F.A.Q." [New York Times]
(Photo: Kapungo and laurenatclemson)

If you're interested in statistics the Bureau has another one that you might like. The employment-to-population ratio calculates the proportion of the country's working-age population that is employed. Currently, our employment-to-population ratio is at 58.5%. Wikipedia tells us that a "high" ratio would be around 70%.

There's also something called the "underemployment" rate, which tracks part-time workers and those who have simply given up. This rate is currently at 17.5%, says the NYT.

As far as industries go, if you're in construction and manufacturing, you're in trouble. Manufacturing in particular has lost 2.1 million jobs in just the last 2 years.

Heath care, however, is doing fine. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us that since the recession began, heath care has added 597,000 jobs.

The news is most grim if you're a teenager: 27.6% of teenagers who are looking for work are unable to find it.

Here's a scary/depressing graph:

Employment Situation Summary [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
U.S. Unemployment Rate Hits 10.2%, Highest in 26 Years [NYT]
(Photo:Jay Adan)

54. If there is a prix fixe, let guests know about it. Do not force anyone to ask for the "special" menu.

58. Do not bring judgment with the ketchup. Or mustard. Or hot sauce. Or whatever condiment is requested.

62. Do not fill the water glass every two minutes, or after each sip. You'll make people nervous.

62(a). Do not let a glass sit empty for too long.

64. Specials, spoken and printed, should always have prices.

67. Never stack the plates on the table. They make a racket. Shhhhhh.

70. Never deliver a hot plate without warning the guest. And never ask a guest to pass along that hot plate.

78. Do not ask, "Are you still working on that?" Dining is not work - until questions like this are asked.

82. If you drip or spill something, clean it up, replace it, offer to pay for whatever damage you may have caused. Refrain from touching the wet spots on the guest.

85. Never bring a check until someone asks for it. Then give it to the person who asked for it.

86. If a few people signal for the check, find a neutral place on the table to leave it.

90. If someone is getting agitated or effusive on a cellphone, politely suggest he keep it down or move away from other guests.

PREVIOUSLY: 50 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do

100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 2) [NYT]
100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 1) [NYT]
(Photo:Mike Fleming)

After taking a road trip in Maine, Peter and his wife were charged more than $1,000 for an 8-day rental — more than twice the rate they agreed to — having been dinged for 40 cents a mile. Peter said patience and persistence helped him to get National to honor the unlimited mileage deal he signed up for.

On his blog Bible Money Matters he writes:

After going back and forth for what seemed like an eternity (10 minutes?), the desk agent's supervisor came out. We explained our situation again, and how it would make no sense for us to rent a car for a long trip without having unlimited free mileage (like we signed up for). It must have been an issue with the rental agency's computer system not noting our complete deal?

After talking with the supervisor for another 10 minutes, showing her the paperwork that we still had, and explaining what contract code we were using, she was able to confirm that the deal we had signed up for was legit. To her credit, and to National Car Rental's credit, she apologized for the problem, and found a way to write up the transaction that allowed us to pay what we had signed up for from the start.

It's wise to read car rental contracts closely before you hit the road, then examine charges on your bill when you return the car. Peter seems to have made the right play by neither flipping out and causing a scene nor paying the ridiculous bill and hoping to get his money back afterward.

Does anyone have any comparable rental car horror stories or near misses?

When Getting Great Deals On The Things You Buy, Make Sure You're Actually Getting The Deal [Bible Money Matters]

Winners include my full-time childhood caretaker, the Nintendo Entertainment System, the creepy stalker known as Furby and adorable, overfed Cabbage Patch Kids.

There's even room for a weird dog on wheels that used to please kids of the 1920s, back before fun was invented. But no Slinky, because it lacked dog, wood, wheels and the ability to play Tecmo Bowl.

Them, of course, be debatin' words. So let's have it, commenters — what's your favorite toy ever?

The Best Toys of All Time [Yahoo, via Kotaku]
(Photo: Yahoo)

"We wanted to remind people how the soup they love more than any other is full of the stuff they love most," Eric Christianson, business director — Campbell's condensed soups, said in a statement. "Our TV commercial, 'Slurp,' as well as our print ads, use the billboard and giant noodle imagery to drive home the value we offer in each can. It just made sense to bring that same idea to life with a real billboard above one of the busiest intersections in the world."

Campbell's estimates 1.5 million people will see the billboard over the next four weeks. Its 2009 soup season campaign is titled "Slurp," which sounds sort of gross and certainly lacks the smoothness of Don Draper's "Toasted" cigarette ad push.

Campbell Wants to Show You Just How Long Its Noodles Are [AdvertisingAge]
(Photo: edEx)
(Thanks, NORMLgirl!)

If you've got a Netflix subscription and a PS3, click on this link and Netflix will get a disc out to you for free. There's no need to prove you've got a PS3. Netflix trusts you.

Sometime next year you'll be able to download a PS3 program that does away with the need for the disc, so at that point you'll be able to try and sell it on eBay to stupid people.

Instant Streaming Disc [Netflix, via Joystiq]
(Photo: Netflix)

The short version: Jeremy Keith's blog was accidentally lumped into a list of blogs being reported to Google for mentioning pirate copies of PerfectPitch, and Boucherle apologizes for the mistake.

Here's what he sent us (I've added the links):

Official Statement from PerfectPitch.com

Re: Google DMCA Removal of a Blog Page

To All Readers:

Here at PerfectPitch.com we made a big mistake.

We instructed Google to block a blog site managed by Jeremy Keith, citing that they were in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyrights Act (DMCA). As per our request, Google did indeed remove this page from their search listings.

We wish to formally apologize to Mr. Keith and his bloggers for this mistake, for which we are deeply regretful.

Please understand that we had no intention whatsoever to suppress the speech on Mr. Keith's page. Please know that we are ardent supporters and advocates of free speech for everyone.

We recognize this was a careless error, and there is really no excuse for this. Nevertheless, please permit us a moment to explain.

Here's what happened:

We were actually submitting to Google a list of sites that were illegally distributing copies of our copyrighted intellectual property. We of course have every right to request that Google have these sites removed from their search engine results because we believe these sites violate the DMCA, which prohibits the illegal distribution of copyrighted materials over the internet.

To our shock and horror, an employee of ours mistakenly included Mr. Keith's site in our list, merely because it made a reference to illegal copies of our course. Naturally, this is not grounds for removal of this page at Google. Our intention was only to remove actual pages where the course is being illegally distributed, and not any pages of free speech, such as Mr. Keith's blog. This was a misjudgment and error on our employee's side, and on behalf of our company, we sincerely apologize.

This event has never happened to us before when reporting illegal distribution of our materials. Please rest assured that we will redouble our efforts to ensure this never happens again.

We have requested that Google immediately reinstate this page in their search results, along with our apology to Google as well.

Again, please accept our sincere regrets for this goof.

Happy blogging, everyone.

Sincerely yours,
Gary Boucherle
PerfectPitch.com

Keith over at Adactio has posted a follow-up report, which includes part of another email from Boucherle that explains what happened in greater detail

Periodically we've contacted Google to submit the following complaint:

We believe our copyrighted works have been illegally copied and made available for free download at the web sites listed below

The following URL was one of hundreds of URLS (mostly torrent sites) found with the Google search terms Burge+Pitch+Torrent:

http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/21250

While we try to check every URL to make sure it either contains torrents, or is a torrent file sharing site (not the case with this site), it was included with our complaint inadvertently.

Keith says he then had a phone call with Boucherle where they discussed things like takedown notices and using the DMCA to protect your copyright, and how it can blow up in the aggressor's face if used incorrectly:

I subsequently had a phone conversation with Gary and he was quite contrite about his actions—although he did try to claim that the mere mention of torrents in an online discussion might be justification for a take down (a completely indefensible attitude).

The more I talked to him, the more I realised that he simply had no idea about the DMCA. He was completely oblivious to the potential consequences of his actions were he to lose a counter-claim in court.

Gary Bourcherle abused a piece of extremely poor legislation in a scattergun approach without even understanding what he was doing.

About that counter-claim example: Diebold was found to have violated section 512(f) of the DMCA, and ordered to pay $125,000 in damages and fees—which is something you may want to point out to anyone who misuses the DMCA against your own online content in the future.

"Burge Pitch Torrent " [Adactio]

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