Archive for June 29th, 2008

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aIf achieving financial security is important to you — and it probably is if you’re reading WalletPop — the completely worst source of information is the Madison Avenue marketing genius. If you want to be rich and happy, you would do well to take a sledgehammer to your TV.

But even by Madison Avenue standards, the message behind the funny FreeCreditReport.com commercials is bad. Here are the lyrics to catchy song I recently found myself humming:

Well I’m shopping for a new automobile, which one’s me? A cool convertible or an SUV.

Too bad I didn’t know my credit was whack, so I driving off the lot in a used sub-compact.

F-R-E-E-E, that spells “free”, credit report dot com baby. Saw their ads on my TV. Thought about goin’ but was too la~zy.

Now instead of lookin’ fly and ridin’ phat, my legs are sticking to the vinyl and my posse’s getting laughed at.

F-R-E-E-E, that spells “free”, credit report dot com baby …

I’ve said before that I oppose the idea of vehicle loans for the vast majority of consumers, and this commercial makes abundantly clear why they’re so stupid: mortgaging your financial future to prevent strangers from laughing at your posse is … well let’s just state that my thoughts on that one sentence would have to be edited considerably to qualify as merely vulgar.

Here’s my advice for car shoppers: pick them like upwardly mobile executives pick wives. First get the automobile you can afford, and then upgrade when your fortunes are improved.

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Weheartit is a fun way to share photos or videos you’ve seen while browsing the World wide web. Others can see what you find interesting and also comment on them as well.

Weheartit works by bookmarking their I heart it bookmarklet and as you visit websites, images and videos are outlined in pink with an “add to my heart” text above it. Clicking on this link adds the image to your heart page where you can add tags, mark it NSFW or unheart the image. From there the image becomes viewable to all Weheartit members so that everyone can see what’s hearting you.

The only issue we had while using the service is that it outlines all the potential images in pink and makes everything look like its February 14.

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Have you ever heard a public figure make a claim that seems a bit preposterous? In the year of a U.S. presidential election, more people are going to be scrutinizing candidates — and political bloggers — and wondering if what they’re saying is true, exaggerated, or just totally made up. That’s where Ameritocracy comes in. You can add a quote, and Ameritocracy users will rate its accuracy and its relevance.

We think this is great fun, because it takes a step toward realizing our fantasy of siccing Slashdot commenters on all of our nation’s politicians. Sure, the accuracy ratings might be questionable, but they should continue to improve as the site gains additional users. Ameritocracy is full of diverse issues and opinions, so if you can’t get worked up over the election, maybe you have an opinion on propositions like, “The mobile phone may be the most potent tool ever invented for the elimination of poverty.”

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