Tayler’s cat and Tayler’s MacBook Pro just had an unfortunate run-in. Does anyone have any advice on cheap ways to repair this laptop, or at least how to get the content off of it without paying hundreds of dollars? [More]
tips
Another Reason To Avoid Giant Megapixel Point-And-Shoot Cameras
By 1.19.10
By now you hopefully know that more megapixels don’t necessarily make a better camera. For one thing, you can almost double the megapixels of a camera while only gaining about a 40% increase in resolution. For another thing, it takes a lot more than just sheer number of pixels to produce a decent image. Nevertheless, point-and-shoot cameras with ginormous megapixel stats (now topping 12 MP) continue to hit the market. But Ross at Petavoxel says there’s another reason to avoid huge MP point-and-shoot cameras: something called the Airy disk. [More]
Tips For Making Brownbagging More Interesting
By 1.13.10
Here’s my tip: change the definition of “brownbagging” to something dirty. But if that’s not going to catch on, and you want to continue to think of it as “bringing my lunch to school/work,” then here are a couple of tips from Wise Bread on how to avoid lunchtime boredom. [More]
Friday Is The Cutoff To Pay Estimated '09 Taxes Without Penalty
By 1.13.10
January 15th is the last day you can pay estimated taxes for 2009 without worrying about the IRS’s 4% interest penalty. For most people, you need to have paid 90% of what you owe for 2009 or have a good reason why you didn’t (e.g. casualty, retirement). Kiplinger notes that even if you can’t pay the full amount, pay whatever you can by January 15th to reduce the amount that’s penalized. [More]
Want To Participate In Haiti Relief Efforts? Here Are Some Options
By 1.13.10
Haiti’s president says the death toll from yesterday’s earthquake may rise above 100,000. You probably already know some organization you see eye to eye with that’s trying to help out, but if you want to donate but don’t know who to donate to, try these options. [More]
2 Rules That Will Help You Beat Telephone Scammers
By 1.13.10
Recently, someone I know was scammed on the telephone. This person said to me, “But the scam was very convincing.” I replied, “Yes, that is how scams are.” They don’t ride up to you on a giant horse with SCAM painted on it, wearing a huge cowboy hat and shooting six-guns into the air. [More]
Here's A Possible Way To Avoid Citibank's New Account Fees
By 1.12.10
Next month, Citibank will implement its new $7.50 fee on what were formerly free checking and savings accounts. The only way to avoid the fee is to keep a total of $1500 minimum in your linked accounts. John wrote in to tell us that when he went to his branch and asked about the new fee, they found a way to get around it. It may not work for anyone else, but it’s worth sharing. [More]
Save Money By Using Up Old Groceries
By 1.6.10
Chances are you’ve got forgotten food supplies in your pantry, writes Herb Weisbaum, so why not feed your family some old food for a week and ban yourself from the grocery store? The woman in Weisbaum’s article tried it out, and found that there were enough unused items that when she was forced to make do, she figured out a way. [More]
Hungry McDonald's Customer Throws Mop Water At Cashiers
By 1.6.10
A bucket of dirty mop water is nobody’s friend, which is exactly why you shouldn’t leave it out where customers can reach it. Because eventually someone will get angry over an order and feel a need to throw something, and oh look, mop water. [More]
How David Got A New Laptop From HP
By 12.30.09
David and his wife got stuck with one of HP’s lemon laptops, and since the repairs just kept involving more faulty parts, they weren’t solving the real problem. Here’s how he eventually got a brand new laptop–different model–from HP. [More]
Learn What Candy To Eat With This Flowchart
By 12.24.09
The blog Eating The Road continues to churn out amazingly helpful flowcharts to guide you with pretty much everything you can put in your belly. The latest is the Candy Edition, and you probably won’t be surprised to see where candy corn and circus peanuts end up.
Others we’ve missed since we last checked in: the Beer Edition and the Freezer Aisle Edition.
Terrible Ideas For Secret Santa Gifts
By 12.22.09
I know, you’re on a tight budget this year, and office Secret Santa exchanges are tedious and awkward. But please don’t fill a hot dog bun with cat food and then top it off with ketchup, then wrap that up in gift wrap and call it your gift. Because someone already did that. Someone at a Sunday School. MainStreet.com has a list of 13 of the worst Secret Santa gift ideas if you want to know what else has already been attempted. [More]
Man Pays $72 For Taco Bell Taco
By 12.18.09
A man who either loves Taco Bell or hates his GI tract paid $72 for a taco at an Ohio Taco Bell on Monday. When the employee tried to give him his change, he refused and said that it was a Christmas gift, according to the local Fox news station: “He said, ‘I don’t need it so I want to pass it along.’ …the man then said ‘Merry Christmas’ and walked away.” Presumably to a toilet. <--That wasn't very Christmas-y and I retract it. [More]
Another Example Of How To Go Cable-Free
By 12.11.09
We’ve posted before about how to break your cable habit without giving up on TV altogether–it’s possible, but can’t happen without some work on your end. This week, the New York Times’ Nick Bilton explained how he and his wife have combined their existing devices with a few new ones to create a content stream that enables them to watch what they want without cable. [More]
How To Make Sure Your Next Plastic Surgery Is Safe
By 12.10.09
If you’re dumb, you forget that plastic surgery is surgery with an extra word in front of it, a doctor tells CNN in their article on getting nip/tucked safely. As with any surgery, there’s no real way to make it completely safe, but here are five tips from their article that you should follow to improve your odds. In fact, they’re probably good tips for any kind of surgical procedure. [More]
What Makes A Person Good Scam Bait?
By 12.9.09
We all like to think we’re basically scam-proof, and that our reason and skepticism will protect us from even the most talented hustlers. More likely, we just haven’t encountered those hustlers yet. [More]
Let This Comic Strip Show You How To Save Money At The Movies
By 12.8.09
Scott Meyer frequently makes brilliant observations in his “Basic Instructions” comic, and by brilliant I mean nutjob. In the most recent one, “How to Save Money,” the comic version of Meyer realizes how expensive movie concessions are. Considering how many people commented on this the last time I posted about it, I thought you might find his ideas useful. Now I’m off to buy a stovepipe hat! [More]
Starbucks Barista Written Up For Chasing Down Tip Thief
By 12.7.09
If some jerk grabs the bills from your tip jar, you’re supposed to just stand there and take it, but one Starbucks barista was having none of that. She chased the thief until police eventually caught him and charged him with robbery by assault, a second degree felony. [More]
