Forget tossing down the sawbucks at Guitar Center, you can make your own fog machine at home for just $5 with stuff you get from the store. Nope, there’s no dry ice, smarty pants. This video shows you how to do it. [More]
fun
Clever Manufacturers Turn Barcodes Into Art
By 6.23.11
The humble barcode needn’t be so. As long as it follows certain basic rules that allow it to be scannable, like being at least half an inch high, having blank space on either side, and not using a few colors, there’s actually a lot you can do with a barcode. [More]
Pay $400 To Play With Bulldozers In Las Vegas
By 6.20.11
If you’re looking for something different to do on vacation this summer, how about playing in a giant sandbox driving bulldozers and earth movers? That’s the idea behind “Dig This,” a “construction theme park” opening in Las Vegas this summer. [More]
This Cigarette Ice Cream Truck Is Doing It Wrong
By 4.4.11
Pro tip: when you buy an old ice cream truck and turn it into a mobile cigarette dispensary, you should probably cover up all the old ads for Bombpops and Choco Tacos. Reader discounteggroll’s co-worker snapped this picture at a gas station on the NY-CT border in Greenwich, CT. (Perhaps the truck is parked on the CT side of the parking lot, to take advantage of CT’s lower cigarette tax?) If it doesn’t violate any regulations, like the Tobacco Control Act of 2009 which prohibits the sale, distribution, marketing and promotion of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to children under the age of 18, it’s in poor taste, even with the sign asking for ID. “One Big Vanilla ice cream sandwich, please.” “Sorry kid, we got Pall Malls.” [More]
Avoid The Lottery: Play This Deeply Depressing Lottery Simulator Instead
By 9.29.10
There are lots of things that you would probably do if you won the lottery. Pay off your family members’ mortgages, fill a Jacuzzi with hot chocolate, buy a water park, or donate to your favorite blog. However, a basic understanding of math will force you to admit that there are much better places for your dollar than the lottery’s coffers. You can, however, simulate the experience of playing the lottery for decades at a time without ever spending money on a ticket. This handy web app simulates the experience of playing the same numbers in the multi-state MegaMillions game for as long as ten years. [More]
This Lady Knows How To Shop For Music At Walmart
By 8.17.10
This lady shows us how it’s done. We should all be more like her. I wish she’d teach me how to dance, I’m awful. [More]
Public Menace? Las Vegas Wants To Ban Gigantic Hula Hoops
By 8.9.10
We’ve never been to Las Vegas, but apparently there is a serious problem with giant hula hoops going on. According to AOL, the Las Vegas City Council is considering banning hula hooping on a five-block pedestrian mall called “The Fremont Street Experience.” (Warning: link is annoying.) [More]
Feeling Like A Loser? Go Outside For 5 Minutes
By 5.4.10
Researchers from the Univerisity of Essex have found that as little as 5 minutes outside can improve your self esteem and mood, say Reuters. [More]
Make Your Own Pop Tarts!
By 4.30.10
Here’s a cool recipe for making your own Pop Tarts at home from SmittenKitchen. Sturdy crust, not soggy filling – the secret is a lil’ thickener – and, according to the author, “the buttery, flaky, no-toaster-required-to-soften-it transcendence the grocery store aisle version can only dream about.” It’s fun, it’s tasty, it’s HFCS-free. [More]
Make Your Own Snickers Bars!
By 4.25.10
If you’re doing something that is not as awesome as making your own Snickers bars, then we suggest you reconsider. [More]
Coupon: 2nd DQ Blizzard For $.25
By 4.20.10
DQ something the same: get a second DQ Blizzard for $.25 when you buy one with this printable official coupon (PDF). Be a pal or be a glutton, the choice is yours. [via Ben’s Bargains] [More]
Everything Is Five Bucks, And Completely Random, On Fiverr
By 3.24.10
Fiverr is a website where people post gigs they’re willing to do for five dollars. Does it work? I dunno, but it’s a lot of fun to read through the offers: someone will burn a small paper effigy of your enemy, or send you a sock puppet, or turn a photo into a cross-stitch pattern for you. My favorite is, “I will give you $10 if you find two people to give me $5 for $5.” [More]
Interactive Chart Helps You Vet Health Supplements
By 3.23.10
Are you tired of forgetting whether you should add creatine or cinnamon to your kale smoothie? Do you worry that the milk thistle you’ve rubbed on your genitals isn’t helping? The “Snake Oil?” graphic at informationisbeautiful.net can help you out–it provides a graphical overview of 166 different health supplements and arranges them according to how much evidence there is that they actually work. [More]
Make A Picture About Debt, Possibly Win $1000!
By 1.14.10
Bust out your Photoshops! Consumers Union Defend Your Dollars is running a contest to see who can make the best image that shows how debt can be dangerous. Users vote and the winner gets a a $1000 cash prize. You have a pretty good chance of winning too as they’ve only got like 17 entries and the contest ends on Jan 31. I know some of you folks like to make these sorts of things so why not give it a whirl? [More]
50 Cool Billboards
By 9.29.09
Most billboards are either ugly jumbles of giant text, or unfortunately memorable things like this. Here’s a list of 50 mostly cool ones (we think the Texas one is ‘shopped, and the anti-American one can suck it). Hey, if you’re gonna advertise on a billboard, you may as well make it entertaining.
Poll Results: Our Significant Others Aren't Very Thrifty
By 9.10.09
Two weeks ago we mentioned that Cognitive Daily was running an informal poll about thriftiness. Here at Consumerist, we like to take polls. We bumped up their response rate to over 5,000, far higher than what they usually get, and now they’ve posted the results. Apparently we all think we’re thriftier than everyone around us, especially our significant others, and the world wants to shop at the GAP. We bet the GAP is happy to hear that—too bad (for them) the poll was informal.
Just How Thrifty Are You?
By 8.31.09
The cognitive psychology blog Cognitive Daily has put up a quiz asking you to rate your thriftiness compared to that of your parents, your best friend, and your significant other. What will we learn from this quiz when it ends on September 3rd? That people like quizzes, obviously, as well as how many respondents insist on mashing up all the old soap into a “new” bar in the bath. (I do this, but because I think it’s fun, not thrifty.) Take the quiz here.
Couchsurfing Can Help You Save Money And Make Friends While Traveling
By 8.11.09
CouchSurfing is an online community of friendly hosts who are ready and eager to throw their convertible couches open to travelers from across the world. The service offers more than a free place to crash; it connects travelers with like-minded people who are excited to share their enthusiasm for their hometown. But aren’t you going to be immediately robbed and stabbed by the opportunistic lechers lurking on the internet, you ask?
