The elusive Zhu Zhu Pets faux hamsters showed up at major retailers on Sunday and disappeared from most shelves before the morning ended. Such is the life of the hot toy of the year -- following the likes of Furby and Tickle Me Elmo in the annals of toys whose scarcity was part of their allure. Read all about it here.

WalletPop Wire

Could the recession jumpstart your health?

Dr. Ken Kronhaus Nov 11th 2009 @ 9:00AM EST Filed Under: Health, Recession

With the recent economic downturn, people have looked to the past -- specifically the Great Depression -- for clues as to how things may go from bad to worse and back again. One thing many expected to find was a decline in overall health and climbing mortality rate during those years. As it turns out, the opposite was true. A look back at the Great Depression shows that during times of economic turmoil, the mortality rate has actually decreased. What does this tell us about health and wellness? For starters, it shows the importance of lifestyle in maintaining health and increasing longevity.

The study of Depression Era health reveals that although the nation's unemployment rate rose to over 22%, and despite economic activity dropping by 14%, the average life expectancy increased by 8.8 years. The nation saw a decrease in death caused by cardiovascular and renal diseases, cancer, influenza, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and motor vehicle accidents - all comprising the list of most common causes of death during the era. In fact, the only cause of death that increased during The Depression was suicide.

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Google gives away free WiFi at airports for the holidays

Josh Smith Nov 11th 2009 @ 8:00AM EST Filed Under: Technology, Transportation, Travel

Google wants you to stay connected while you are doing your holiday traveling this year, so it has teamed up with Boingo Wireless to provide travelers with free WiFi at 47 airports across the U.S. until January 15. In addition to offering free WiFi access in the airports, Google is also working with GoGo, an in-flight WiFi provider, to provide free Internet access on Virgin America flights for the holidays.

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Restaurant.com 80% off!

Julia Scott Nov 11th 2009 @ 7:00AM EST Filed Under: Food, Saving Money, Bargain Babe

Restaurant.com normally sells $25 gift certificates for $10. With coupon code ENTREE, you can get a $25 certificate for $2. I've only once seen certificates at Restaurant.com sold for 90% off, so this is one of their best deals.

This deal expires Nov. 12, 2009. Remember to check the redemption rules before you buy a cert. Each restaurant sets their own rules and some of them have a minimum food purchase to use a cert, exclude alcohol, or have specific days and times you can use them.

Caveats: Some $25 certs have a retail price of $12.50 or $15. You can only buy one $25 certificate per visit to a restaurant.

Pre-Black Friday: Best Buy selling a $250 Laptop November 11

Josh Smith Nov 10th 2009 @ 7:30PM EST Filed Under: Bargains, Shopping, Technology, Black Friday

The laptop price wars continue and retailers aren't waiting for Thanksgiving to offer great Black Friday laptop deals! After Walmart fired the first shot with a pre-Black Friday Laptop deal last weekend, Best Buy is responding with its own Black Friday computer deal -- priced at just $250.

Starting on Wednesday November 11, Best Buy will be selling an Acer laptop for $249.99. This low priced laptop is, according to an email from BlackFriday.info, "their lowest-advertised-price laptop ever."

Best Buy just confirmed that the $250 laptop will be the Acer Extensa EX5230E-2177 which comes with a 2.2 GHz Intel Celeron 900 processor, 2 GB of RAM and a 160 GB hard drive complete with Windows 7 (Full specs).

A laptop like this won't see you through many gaming sessions but will work fine for browsing the web, managing your digital pictures, watching YouTube and doing schoolwork.

As an added bonus, Best Buy is also including six months of antivirus protection with every computer sold through the end of December and will throw in a year's subscription to Napster with any Dell laptop purchased at Best Buy.

To take advantage of the deal, visit your local Best Buy on Wednesday November 11, or go to BestBuy.com.

Burglaries usually rise in a recession, but not this one

Aaron Crowe Nov 10th 2009 @ 7:00PM EST Filed Under: Recession

I noticed some surprisingly good news in the annual report from the city where I live in the San Francisco Bay Area -- crime has dropped. I say surprisingly because in a recession, I'd expect crime to increase as more people lose their jobs and have to find other ways -- some illegal -- to make money.

It turns out my suburban city isn't alone. Large and small cities across the country are seeing crime drop -- particularly burglaries -- during the recession. "With a lot more unemployed people, a lot more people are staying home, and they see more in their neighborhood," Sgt. Thomas Lasater of the police department in St. Louis County, Mo., told the Associated Press.

Continue reading Burglaries usually rise in a recession, but not this one

Ad Rant: Halls Refresh gets fresh in the dorms

Jami Bernard Nov 10th 2009 @ 6:30PM EST Filed Under: Ad Rant

Imagine you're a teenage boy whose parents are helping you move into your freshman dorm. Ooh, the excitement of starting college! You and Dad are hauling some cartons in, when suddenly you stumble across Mom having some kind of orgasmic têtê-à-têtê with your dorky new roommate. Ewww!

That's what Halls is serving up in a bizarre ad for its new product Halls Refresh, giving new meaning to the concept of "hard candy."

The roommate offers Mom a Halls Refresh and takes one himself. They suck their candies with exaggerated lip-smacking movements while they lock eyes and go into a mutual, implied reverie. They look like they've been to an opium den, not the candy counter.

That's when the son and his dad show up and respond with predictable outrage and disbelief.

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The House passes historic reform bill despite dissent

Bob Cesca Nov 10th 2009 @ 6:00PM EST Filed Under: Health, Insurance-health

If you ask a progressive on the president's left flank, they'll probably tell you that the House health care reform bill that passed the House on Saturday is, in fact, a weak bill with a public option that's doomed to fail.

I don't necessarily agree. The bill clamps down hard on insurance companies by capping out-of-pocket expenses, banning discrimination for pre-existing conditions, banning rescission (rescinding a policy as soon as you become sick or injured), creating health exchanges to encourage competition, stripping the insurance companies of their tasty anti-trust exemption, and, of course, there's a public health insurance program. There are also government subsidies to help us pay for insurance -- offering financial assistance to families earning up to $88,000 annually.

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When a picture is worth .... the asking price: Why pro photos will pay off when selling your home

Ann Brenoff Nov 10th 2009 @ 5:30PM EST Filed Under: Real Estate, Technology

It's been long established that curb appeal has moved to your computer screen. For at least two years now, the National Association of Realtors has been saying that at least 85% of all home buyers first saw the house they wound up buying on the Internet. We can't think of a better reason to get the best possible photos taken and posted online. Yet the realty industry's reaction has been slow and curious: Agents continue to shoot listing photos with their cell phone cameras.

OK, that's a slight exaggeration to make a point. Sometimes, Realtors actually invest in a digital camera and shoot the photos themselves. But as professional photographers like to say, "Buying a Nikon doesn't make you a photographer; it makes you a Nikon owner."

Continue reading When a picture is worth .... the asking price: Why pro photos will pay off when selling your home

7-Eleven now has its own wine (Don't forget to ask for a brown paper bag)

Geoff Williams Nov 10th 2009 @ 5:00PM EST Filed Under: Bargains

Something to jot down the next time you're in the mood for a drink and don't have a lot of cash: 7-Eleven now has its own brand of wine.

The name of the label is Yosemite Road. They're selling a chardonnay and a cabernet sauvignon, and both will retail for about $3.99. It'll be $4.99 in Florida, due to state taxes.

Continue reading 7-Eleven now has its own wine (Don't forget to ask for a brown paper bag)

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