http://blog.fourpettys.com Controversial and Exclusive! ('cos that makes it better) Tue, 20 Dec 2011 04:12:40 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Beware credit card euphoria (subscriber link) Similar information here: http://creditcardfocus.info/using-a-credit-card-induces-euphoria-new-research-shows/ A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that using a credit card induces euphoria. Like a starry-eyed new lover who ignores the downsides of an obviously incompatible but very attractive partner, consumers who swipe plastic when they buy are ... http://blog.fourpettys.com/2011/12/19/link-clearance-some-interesting-stuff-i-found-on-the-net/ "Christmas Day should be the beginning rather than the end of the festive celebrations. But commercial logic points in a different direction." And no wonder.  Tim Harford sums up the reason in ‘Tis not the season to be shopping  ...the economist Emek Basker has found that in the US, where the ... http://blog.fourpettys.com/2011/12/06/%e2%80%98tis-the-season-for-shopping/ US wealth gap between young and old is widest ever - Yahoo! News WASHINGTON (AP) — The wealth gap between younger and older Americans has stretched to the widest on record, worsened by a prolonged economic downturn that has wiped out job opportunities for young adults and saddled them with housing ... http://blog.fourpettys.com/2011/11/09/it-just-happens/  Interesting thought in this short post: John's Corner of the World: Darren and the encyclopedia: Why print books still have a place While at my permaculture course, Darren Doherty, our instructor, told a little bit of his own story now and then. At one point, he mentioned that he had learned to ... http://blog.fourpettys.com/2011/11/06/why-print-books-still-have-a-place/  I just read today's Sunday paper, and it sparked more discussion than usual in my family. The myths, exaggerations, misconceptions, and misuse of statistics is infuriating and serves nobody well (except perhaps "the media" itself, though only in the short term). I ran across this illustrative post last week.  What does ... http://blog.fourpettys.com/2011/11/06/understanding-poverty-in-the-united-states/  Check out Alexa Meade's portfolio.  This is the coolest original idea I've seen in a long time. Here's one of my favorites - click on through and take a close look at this. http://blog.fourpettys.com/2011/11/03/alexa-meade-very-cool/ "Isn't it amazing that we'd rather call ourselves stupid than lazy? At least laziness is easy to fix." Another really short post, but his posts tend to be short and I hate to cut&paste the whole thing. Seth's Blog: Stupid and lazy http://blog.fourpettys.com/2011/11/02/stupid-or-lazy/ Colorado is working to develop coherent amber waves, which would allow them to finally destroy Kansas and Nebraska with a devastating but majestic grain laser. thanks to xkcd. http://blog.fourpettys.com/2011/10/28/xkcd-amber-waves-of-grain/  This is an entertaining take on the high cost of free: The Free Monkey Problem: The High Cost of Free Things | Credit Karma Blog There’s no such thing as a free lunch, unless your monkey steals it for you. They mention one of Dan Ariely's findings (from Predictably Irrational)  - when Amazon ... http://blog.fourpettys.com/2011/10/20/the-free-monkey-problem/ From: xkcd.com http://blog.fourpettys.com/2011/10/18/xkcd-working/