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The power of 9s—and other marketing tricks that make you spend more We like to think we're smart about estimating value, but the reality isn't so pretty.
Most of us are senseless lemmings at the mercy of marketers and psychologists who are far, far smarter than we will ever be. It’s hard to think otherwise after reading William Poundstone‘s Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (and How to Take Advantage of It) – a delightful dissection of the tricks, tools and tactics behind the way we haggle over salaries, buy houses, and eat out at posh restaurants. (The same concepts can apply to how we value illegal goods and services, from prostitutes to purple haze.) “We don’t have an inner sense telling us what things are really worth,” Poundstone told us. “Instead, we rely on advertised prices…
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10 cryptid monsters that turned out to be hoaxes A lot of these are silly as hell, too.
These useful fast food hacks will save money and change your lunch forever Tested and true fast food hacks to enhance your dining experience.
Hollywood blockbusters with glaring historical inaccuracies Hollywood has a knack for embellishing the truth, especially when the movie comes with the label "based on a true story."
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The 11 best Goosebumps monsters Writing at a breakneck pace, R.L. Stine churned out sixty-two now classic Goosebumps. These are his best monsters.
It’s plain to see that 90s kid lit is enjoying a renaissance right now, and the king of the paperbacks back in the day was R. L. Stine. Writing at a breakneck pace, he churned out sixty-two mainline Goosebumps books as well as dozens of spin-offs and other titles. Stine’s series made horror accessible to audiences too young for R-rated fare, taking a variety of terror tropes and giving them young adult twists. With the second Jack Black-starring Goosebumps movie set to hit theaters, we pulled out the library card and reacquainted ourselves with the freaks and beasts of the original book series. Here are definitive picks for the eleven…
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7 hilariously stupid self-defense systems that will get you killed dead As long as there’s an Internet, there’ll be people utterly incapable of defending themselves – especially against people saying “Buy this, it’ll totally help you defend yourself!”
Top 35 unforgettable moments in Star Trek history Moments across the entirety of Star Trek that we won't ever forget.
Conspiracy theory: Is Alex Jones an acid house producer? When will Alex Jones tell the American people the truth?
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11 short story collections that need to be in every bookshelf Ah, short stories — the lazy man’s novel. But so much harder to pull off.
Ah, short stories — the lazy man’s novel. Actually, that’s not true. In fact, a perfect short piece is, in many ways, much harder to pull off than a novel, where you have time and space to develop the narrative. Below are 11 collections that belong on any aspiring literary connoisseur’s bookshelf or toilet. Come Back, Dr. Caligari, Donald Barthelme (1971) While Raymond Carver was busy perfecting the art of realist suburban malaise, Donald Barthelme was going the other way, writing post-modern, deconstructionist short stories that would inspire subsequent generations of experimental writers with their non-sequitorial insanity. His first collection, Come Back, Dr. Caligari, is as strange a book as…
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8 weird vintage sex products Want to enjoy the salubrious benefits of horse exercise massage? Come on in and let's cure your female hysteria.
The lottery curse: 8 lottery winners who lost everything Explore the archetypal ways lottery winners end up down and out, through eight real stories.
The mystery of Larry Wachowski Could the co-creator of The Matrix real life truly be stranger than fiction?
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15 scientific ways picking up a book makes you a better man (and even gets you laid) Overall reading is on the rise, but quality is on the decline. Let science convince you reading a book is actually life-changing.
We can swipe through endless pages and pages on our tablets and phones. We have access to practically infinite archives of online articles and news. While modernity is allowing us to read more than ever, there is still a difference between reading and reading books. According the The Telegraph, while overall reading is on the rise, quality of reading is falling off a cliff. Reading your Facebook timeline isn’t the same as reading Tolstoy. It’s a shame, because reading a good book is not only fun; it’s nothing short of life-changing. Let me explain. Reading makes you more attractive to women A study recently confirmed the belief that being (or…
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The true history of absinthe, and the reason it was banned for 100 years The drink has a colorful history involving everything from medical miracles to murder.
Ok, boomer—and 20 more horrific realities of becoming an adult And there's nothing you can do about it.
These are the haunting last words of doomed airplane pilots Black boxes record everything going on in the cockpits of crashing planes. These are the last words of their doomed pilots.
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6 reasons the world may never recover from the Twilight franchise We can't let more Twilight happen.
It’s easy to laugh Twilight off as nothing more than watered down porn for middle school girls… but it is definitely no laughing matter. Twilight’s effect on the overall mental health of society is very real and very serious. We’ve chosen to ignore other serious threats to civilization, but this is a disaster that calls for the mobilization of efforts to stop Twilight. Teen pregnancy Chiseled werewolf abs and whiny vampires who look like the guy that brings the guitar and folk songs to a kegger make the reproductive organs of teenage girls go haywire. This has obviously resulted in an increase in teen pregnancies. Some of these pregnancies might…
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10 celebrated scientific breakthroughs that turned out to be hoaxes Come with us on a journey into scientific iniquity as we spotlight bogus science in near and far history.
8 world records in the field of penis achievement Get ready to question your manhood.
8 weird vintage sex products Want to enjoy the salubrious benefits of horse exercise massage? Come on in and let's cure your female hysteria.
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Meet the Yugo: the worst car ever made How do you double a Yugo's value? Just fill the tank.
Even people who weren’t born before 1985 know that the Yugo is a synonym for automotive crapulence – one of the most laughable, undependable, unfortunate products ever hawked in the United States. Jason Vuic’s fascinating book, The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History, provides a detailed roadmap of how this sad hunk of car came to be. It’s a thoroughly weird saga that involves a shady entrepreneur, backwards factories in Serbia, and comedians who loved to hate on this untrendy auto. Why do Yugos have a heater for the back window? To keep your hands warm as you push it. Now, the Yugo is a…
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The case against over-involved fatherhood Replace helicopter parenting with a healthy amount of fear and respect.
10 reasons Valentine’s Day is evil Just show this to your significant other and maybe you won’t have to buy them anything.
Cruel and unusual: history’s most disturbing medical treatments Let's be grateful for how far healthcare has come.
