In this week’s Daytona 500, the race consisted of 16 Chevy Impalas, 13 Ford Fusions, 11 Toyota Camrys, and 3 Dodge Chargers. But you’d have been hard-pressed to even tell them apart.
That’s because ever since 2007, when the …
Leap Day Deals! 10 Special Discounts & Freebies for Feb. 29
In honor of Leap Day, stores, restaurants, online retailers, theme parks, and hotels are offering discounts and bonuses that amount to 29% off—and sometimes more. The promotions are available on February 29 only.
New Google Privacy Policy May Violate European Law
Google is facing some new flack for its new privacy policy — set to be rolled out on March 1 — after the French data protection authority said the new policy appears to violate EU law. In a letter sent to Google Monday, …
License To Sin: When Good Behavior Leads To Bad Results
Most people are taught early to believe in what we might call “momentum morality”: the idea that good (or bad) actions lead to further good (or bad) habits. Economists and other philosophical types call these feedback loops …
Summer Bummer: High Gas Prices Mean More Expensive Airfares
The skyrocketing price of gas has everyone complaining when they go for a fill-up, but this pain at the pump also threatens to put a serious crimp in Americans’ summer vacation plans. Some major airlines are already raising their …
Stores Confront Extreme Couponers’ Tactics With Policy Changes
For extreme couponers who pay only a few bucks for an entire shopping cart’s worth of goods, or even earn money on their shopping trips by reimbursing coupons with a higher value than the item’s price, couponing practically …
Harry Potter and the Future of Public Libraries
The Harry Potter website known as Pottermore has been beset by delays. But there is some good news. When the portal launches later this year, its stock of JK Rowling e-books and digital audiobooks will be available to public …
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How Higher Fuel Prices Could Help American Manufacturing
The revival of Detroit has been a big story over the past couple of weeks. All three major automakers have posted their best profits in years, and GM posted its highest ever-annual profits earlier this month. It’s a boon for …
Monster Month for Car Sales: Auto Purchases Rise 20% in February
It has been an especially good month for car sales from two American automakers, Ford and Chrysler. The latter’s sales are up 27%, compared with February 2011.
Yahoo Threatens to Sue Facebook Over Patents
The escalating war between technology companies over intellectual property has had a number of unfortunate consequences, but perhaps none is sadder than the spectacle of an ailing Internet giant using the threat of patent …
Maybe Pet Spending Isn’t Recession-Proof After All
Throughout the worst of the economic crisis and a post-recession era bogged down by uncertainty and high unemployment, consumer spending on pets remained strong. In surveys, owners said they refused to spending on their dogs …
Housing Prices Dip For the Fourth Time in Three Years
After the Great Recession, there were some pundits who theorized that real estate would make a “W-shaped” recovery. With the S&P/Case-Shiller housing prices out this morning, it’s now clear that there are not one, but two “Ws” in the chart — and that’snot a good thing. Index prices fell 1.1% from November to December. In …