An MIT Media Lab team has developed a series of wallets that physically react when you electronically spend. [More]
BLOGS
ATM Skim Scammers Steal Cards With Old Cassette Recorders
By 12.2.10
Fraudsters are cracking open old handheld cassette recorders and using their components to build ATM skimmers that steal your credit card numbers. [More]
Coupon Grandmaster Scores $1658.53 Of Stuff From Walgreens For $19.99, Donates All To Charity
By 12.2.10
Epic is the only word to describe this coupon genius who bought $1658.53 of stuff from Walgreens for only $19.99. It took 6 hours to check out the over 100 transactions necessary to complete the purchase. Why did the manager gladly let him do this? [More]
Is The Next WikiLeaks Dump All About Bank Of America?
By 12.1.10
Why should politics get all the fun? WikiLeaks has promised to release a trove of information about a “major” bank in 2011. And based on a comment WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange made to Computer World in 2009, folks are speculating that the next massive dump will be 5 gigs of data from a Bank of America executive’s hard drive. The main question is how to present it. Well, slideshows and infographics and popup ads, obviously. [More]
Roadside Sign Spinning Outsourced To Pulchritudinous Robot
By 12.1.10
Rob noticed something uncanny about this sign spinner advertising for a local jewelry store. He was drawn in by her defined features and lifeless gaze, and the expert way in which she moved the sign in the exact same motion every time. Upon closer inspection, he realized that she was no ordinary sign spinner, but an android! [More]
650,000 Prius Hybrids Need Water Pumps Fixed
By 11.30.10
Toyota is going to pay to fix the water pumps on 2004-2007 Prius hybrids starting in December. The pumps can glitch, causing the car to overheat and lose power. [More]
Get Discounts Just By Asking
By 11.30.10
Everything has two prices. One price is for people who just pay whatever the sticker says. The other is for the ones who have the gumption to ask for a discount. You want the second one. NYT Bucks Blog shows you how to get it: [More]
Comcast Outage Hits Parts Of East Coast
By 11.29.10
A Comcast TV and internet outage hit Boston and parts across the eastern seaboard yesterday, with a fix still pending this Cyber Monday. [More]
Catch Up On All The TSA Story Madness
By 11.19.10
There has been quite the cubic ton of stories this past week or so written about the TSA security procedures, the backlash to them, and the backlash-backlash. It’s hard to keep up with them all. So, to keep you sounding smart and making up-to-the-minute references, security guru Bruce Schneier has a massive, yet accessible, link roundup. Keep those wingtips up! [More]
Don't Use A Debt Settlement Agency
By 11.19.10
Steer clear of debt settlement agencies. A good deal charge unnecessary fees and there’s really nothing they can do legally that you can’t do on your own. Some of them are even outright fraudsters. [More]
Penn Says TSA Grabbed His Crotch. It Wasn't Magical.
By 11.18.10
Penn of Penn and Teller went through airport security and got a pat-down. The TSA agent didn’t ask him for permission before touching his crotch so Penn made the cops come down there. In light of recent news, his post about it from 2002 is getting passed around, and it’s an interesting look at how the TSA reacts in a security incident when they’re scared of you, instead of the other way around. [More]
These 100 Body Scan Images Should Not Exist
By 11.16.10
The TSA and other agencies have repeatedly told the public that the body scanner devices automatically delete the images after they’re reviewed. But in August, it came out that US Marshals at a federal courthouse operating the Gen 2 millimeter wave scanner were storing the images. Now you can see what they saw, as Gizmodo has acquired 100 of the 35,000 images through a FOIA request. [More]
Make A Tissue Pop-Up Out Of A To-Go Cup
By 11.11.10
Here’s a crafty way to make your own tissue pop-up out of a to-go coffee cup. It fits in your car’s cup holder! [More]
How About An App That Warns You When Your Ex Is Near?
By 11.11.10
We have enough fart, funny picture manipulator, and Starcraft build simulator apps. How about something utile for a change? Lost at E Minor has several propositions, including the “ex” radar that tracks your significant ex so you can avoid running into them in person. Of course, this could be use by stalkers to make sure they run into their ex, but let’s not kill the joke with overthinking. [More]
Mortgage Scandal Of The Day: Forced-Placed Insurance
By 11.11.10
In a dark cranny of the mortgage-servicing world a “force-placed insurance” scandal is brewing. When a homeowner’s insurance lapses, the servicer steps in and buys them a new one, at a price several factors higher than their original. And the company they buy it from is essentially themselves with a different name. Now investors are finding out about the incestuous self-dealing and kickbacks and they’re pissed. [More]
Dunkin Donuts Launches Meat Munchkins
By 11.9.10
This has been a great year for fast food innovations and Dunkin Donuts continues the “I’m broke so I’ll just take a staycation in my mouth” trend with the new Sausage Pancake Bites, aka meat munchkins. [More]
Most "Close Door" Buttons Don't Work, And Most Office Thermostats Are Fakes
By 11.5.10
You can stop pounding on the “Close Door” button on the elevator. They’re not there for you. Turns out that most of them don’t work unless you’ve a maintenance person or fireman with the special access key inserted. It’s just one of several different “placebo buttons” placed around our world that only give us the illusion of control. [More]
Halfway To Paying Off $70,000 In Debt
By 11.3.10
A debt blogger is midway through paying off $70,000 in credit card debt using the “debt snowball” method. Great stuff! [More]
