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November 30, 2005

Nothing to do with money, but you have to check this out

This site, Pandora, helps you figure out music that you wil might like based on music that you tell it you already like. It's the coolest idea I've seen in a long time (but I don't really get out much). Still, try it and I'll bet you'll be hooked. Who knew that Huey Lewis & the News, The Kinks, and Teenage Fanclub had such similar songs?

Posted by brian at 12:45 PM | Comments (1)

November 22, 2005

Forum still down, but check back after Thanksgiving

I know, I know, the forum was hacked and you guys want access. I found a website that details what this guy did to the site and hundreds of others. It looks like I might be able to fix it this Thanksgiving weekend.

Since "Black Friday" is coming up (the Friday sales day after Thanksgiving when retailers make a ton of money to get out of the red and back into the black), I was starting to make out the gift list for the holidays. I ran across this article that talks about re-gifting ... you know, giving that ugly sweater from your Aunt Mable and passing it on to someone else ... and wondered how often people do it. I confess we have re-gifted a couple of bottles of wine - we keep receiving them from friends and family, but we just don't drink very often. Oh, and then there's my brand new Oakland Raiders T-shirt I got from a college buddy - I'm not sure if I won a bet or lost a bet - that I'll be giving away as soon as I can.

Posted by brian at 01:32 PM | Comments (0)

November 04, 2005

Crap, the forums section was hacked. Here's a quick $6, though

If you go to the forum section, you can see that the site got hacked. I did a quick Google search and found over a hundred other sites that got hacked by this guy, so I don't feel as bad. I hope I can figure out how to undo the damage soon.

Here's a quick $6 you can make in less than five minutes from Upromise, a free service that let’s you earn cash back in a variety of ways. For example, you can register your grocery card to pay you a few pennies every time you buy a Coke product, link your credit card to pay you a few bucks when you eat at certain restaurants, or even get their credit card to earn 1% on everything you buy.

The gimmick is that you’re supposed to save for college by putting all this cash into a 529 Savings Plan that can used for your own school or your kids school. However, you can completely ignore the gimmick if you want to. You can just send them a letter and ask for your money in the form of a check (see below).

Anyway, it’s pretty easy to sign up. I registered my Safeway card a couple of years ago and now have a whopping $10.93 in my account. Woo hoo. When you sign up, enter “KC3” at the end of the registration process in the promotion code area. You’ll get $3, courtesy of Kimberly Clark. Then visit these three URL’s:

upromise.com/cornpops
upromise.com/applejacks
upromise.com/ricekrispies

Click on "redeem your code" (the code is filled in filled in for you), then click submit and you'll get $1 for each URL. To find out how to get your cash, click below.

From the Upromise website FAQ:

Can I withdraw company contributions from my upromise account without
transferring them to a savings plan, and if so, how?

Yes, you can. To withdraw company contributions from your upromise account, follow these steps:

Submit a letter in writing to upromise requesting a withdrawal from your upromise account. Include your name, upromise account number, the exact amount you would like to withdraw, and whether it is a partial or full withdrawal. Include next to your signature on the letter a raised and stamped Signature Guarantee. (A Signature Guarantee is a guarantee you can obtain from a financial institution -- such as your bank -- that your signature is yours and that it is genuine. It is NOT the same as a notary. A Signature Guarantee helps protect you and your money by not allowing anyone but you to make a
withdrawal from your upromise account.)

Mail your letter to:

Upromise, Inc.
ATTN: Customer Care
117 Kendrick Street
Suite 200
Needham, MA 02494

Your check will be mailed to you in generally no later than eight weeks. Pending company contributions cannot be withdrawn until actually received.

If your request is for less than $200, you don’t even need a Signature Guarantee!

Posted by brian at 02:54 PM | Comments (2)