Lazy Man and Money

Ten Things I Think I Think (and Personal Finance Links)

by 9 Comments

  1. Download Portal for Free – I think you should jump on this freebie. I haven’t been into video games since the days when EA changed John Madden Football to require approximately 17 fingers and 4 sets of opposable thumbs. However, a few friends have quietly said that Portal is the best game to come out in years. Here’s our chance to find out: Portal is free until September 20th. Usually it will set you back $10. Don’t blame me if you get addicted and end up buying Portal 2 for $30.
  2. HP TouchPad – I think if you didn’t score the HP TouchPad for $99, it is well worth it to get one on Ebay if you can find one for under $250. It’s an amazing amount of functionality in such a small package. Went to a sports bar to watch my favorite out of town NFL team and there were at least a dozen people with tablets following their fantasy football team. I followed an ESPN chat and got all the injury information. I ran a little demo for a couple of people who had iPads, and they were blown away by the TouchPad’s ability to multi-task.
  3. HP TouchpPad Insurance – I think it doesn’t make sense to buy the insurance that HP is selling. HP is selling TouchPads for as low as $99, but the 1-year support with accidental damage protection is $49. For two years it will cost you $179. I got a $1000 laptop from Dell. They aren’t charging me $1800 to insure it for two years.
  4. Denim at Target – I think that with back to school sales being done, I am going to miss this Target commercial – catchiest jingle in a long, long time:
  5. Sony PlayStation Network (PSN) Terms of Service (TOS) – I think that consumers should think twice about any Sony products. I don’t have a Sony Playstation Network or a PS3, but I saw that Sony is requiring everyone who uses their PSN to waive away the right to sue. Hidden in a pile of legalese, you must agree to waive a class action lawsuit against the company. I’d venture that 99.99% of people (probably a few more nines in there) will never read the terms of service. For those that do read it, wish to use the service, and retain their legal rights, they have snail mail a letter to Sony within 30 days. I think it’s pretty rotten to combine the hidden TOS with the rebate breakage phenomenon (a large percentage of people will not follow through with the process of snail mail) on a small chance that they’ll be able to get $5 from it someday.
  6. Political Thoughts – I think that I rarely have anything to say in the world of politics. In fact, most of the time, I kick, punch, scratch my way to not get involved in them. Here are a couple of reasons why…
  7. Rick Perry, Social Security, and Ponzi Schemes – I think Rick Perry calling the Social Security a Ponzi scheme is extremely ignorant. Perhaps it is something that he said to get votes as a lot of people are upset with the state of Social Security. However, it reflects badly on himself and his understanding of both Ponzi schemes and Social Security. Expect more on this in an article this week.
  8. Michelle Bachmann, HPV Vaccines, and Mental Retardation – I think that Rick Perry is lucky to have the spotlight pulled to Michelle Backmann for this comment about HPV vaccines causing mental retardation. I don’t care where you stand on the issue of mandatory HPV vaccines, the fact is that there’s no link to mental retardation at all. It is irresponsible on the highest level for Michelle Bachmann to go off something that a random person told her. If this is the way Michelle Bachmann would run any kind of office, I wouldn’t elect her to manage my recycling bin. She conjured up thoughts of MonaVie distributors saying that it cures cancer and autism.
  9. MLM Article of the Week – I think that makes the obligatory MLM segue a lot easier than usual this week. Here’s my MLM article of the week: MLM Scammer: Then Why Hasn’t [My MLM] Been Shut Down by the Authorities?
  10. Bridge School Concert – I’m excited to go the Bridge School Benefit for the second year in a row. The $52 lawn seat includes the following acts: Tony Bennett, Dave Mathews, Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters, Eddie Vedder, Carlos Santana, Beck, Mumford & Sons, Neil Young. I’d pay that for the historical significance of seeing Tony Bennett and Carlos Santana, but the alt. rock acts are really my style. The only surprise is that they aren’t getting Paramore to jump parachute in with their instruments. There’s always hope for next year.

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