9 Buys that Are Cheaper Online

woman shopping online

Best Online Buys

There's no doubt that shopping online is fast and convenient, but is it cheaper than hitting the store? In the cases of these nine items it is. From inexpensive entertainment to big-ticket purchases, you can expect significant savings from buying online instead of in-person. Here's what's cheaper on the Internet and what to keep in mind before you check out. Photo credit: Thinkstock

Sports and Concert Tickets

Whether you want to see your favorite team or your favorite band, look online for seats first. "The biggest advantage is that you don't have to drive to the venue and stand in line for tickets," says Andrew Schrage, consumer expert at the personal finance blog Money Crashers Personal Finance. Another big bonus to shopping online: It's simple to cross-check prices. And the savings are drastic if you go to the right places. Schrage has bought tickets online for 60% less than the venue's price. Instead of heading straight to major sellers like Ticketmaster.com, Schrage recommends trying StubHub.com or even the team's or performer's direct website.

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Books

Unless you're looking to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon perusing your local bookstore, online is a cheaper and more efficient way to buy books. "You can save an incredible amount on Amazon or eBay-used books go for as little as a penny," says Schrage. But what if you want rare reads? "For hard-to-find books, check out Powell's Books's site or BookFinder.com. While the quality of used books can vary, the steep savings make up for it," explains Schrage. Downloading books to an eReader can also be cheaper, but even if you're Kindle-less, you can still get books off of the Web. "Sites like Open Library offer more than a million free book titles in PDFs, and Project Gutenberg has more than 30,000 titles," says Joanie Demer, co-owner ofTheKrazyCouponLady.com.
Flights and Hotel Rooms

Why should you go online when you want to get away? "Travel agents typically attach a service fee to transactions, yet you can access the same outlets they use to book trips," says Demer. "Plus, many companies offer online-only specials." It's also good to know that U.S. airlines frequently post last-minute deals on Tuesdays at 3 p.m. EST. But you need fast fingers-those seats sell out quickly. Hotels also offer unsold rooms online at 40 - 50% off as the stay date approaches. "And these aren't roach-filled flophouses," says Demer. "They're top-quality hotel chains and good motels." Try sites like Groupon.com, Yuupon.com, TripAdvisor.com and Kayak.com, as well as the usual suspects, Travelocity.com, Hotels.com and Priceline.com.

Televisions

While you can't completely skip the store on this one-only an in-person visit can tip you off to different models' picture quality-leave your wallet at home. "Let the real shopping begin online-that's where the deals are," says Yung Trang, president of TechBargains.com. TVs on websites cost 10 - 20% less than those in stores, he says. Besides, buying a set from an online-only retailer means you can avoid paying sales tax. "The key here, though, is to look for free shipping, which isn't hard to find," says Trang. His site posts deals for free shipping on TVs from Walmart, TigerDirect, Best Buy and Newegg.

Small Electronics

Not only does shopping online expose you to a bigger selection of cameras, MP3 players, Smartphones and more, but there are also better deals. "You can save as much as 30% by shopping online," says Schrage. Again, if you buy from a site like Amazon, which doesn't have a brick-and-mortar presence, you skip paying sales tax, he adds. Beyond Amazon, Schrage recommends scouring eBay for these tech items. "You can often find items in 'like-new' condition at greatly reduced prices. And if you have time to shop, sign up at FatWallet.com to get the best prices sent straight to your e-mail inbox."

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Since you can't test out the product before you buy it, online DVD shopping seems like a no-brainer. "You can often save 50% or more by buying from a site," says Schrage. "DVDs are even cheaper online than what you find in the bargain bin at a big-box retailer," adds Demer. Movie buffs can find gems for as little as $2. Yes, eBay and Amazon are good sites to check out for DVDs, but also look at DeepDiscount.com, which offers free shipping on any order over $15, recommends Schrage. "Just research the reputation of any website prior to purchasing-it could be selling pirated DVDs," he warns.
Music

The cost of a CD is about the same in stores as a CD's worth of MP3s is online, says Schrage. "But it's cheaper to buy music online at $1 per song you love, rather than paying $9 - $13 for an entire album if you won't listen to it all," says Demer. To stretch that dollar even more, "look for iTunes store coupons," she suggests. Better yet, "check out sites offering free downloads, like Internet Archive's Audio Archive, which hosts over 50,000 recordings," she adds. But there are differences in sound. "MP3s are slightly lower quality than CDs and vinyl records," says Schrage.

Computer Software

The same product you'd get in stores is usually cheaper online-and sometimes, it's free. "Visit CNET.com. Most software from this site can be downloaded for significantly less," says Schrage. "But if you need the peace of mind of having a physical disc, check out eBay and Amazon for the best prices."

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While the ambiance in designer clothing stores may be luxurious, the price tags match. "Consider buying high-end items from online outlets like Ideeli.com, Overstock.com, ASOS.com or Bluefly.com," suggests Demer. "The items may be seasons old and the sizes and colors are sometimes limited, but the deals are better." The quality is identical to what's in shops, and discounts range from 30 - 85%. Stackable savings is another reason to buy online. "That's when retailers hold a sale, and you can use a coupon code to take an additional percentage off," explains Demer. Retailers also host flash sales, big discounts on merchandise for a short amount of time. To find out when they'll happen, sign up for your favorite retailers' newsletters and follow them on Twitter and Facebook. Luckily, even if the shoe (or shirt) doesn't fit, many sites make returns free and easy.

Original article appeared on WomansDay.com.

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A Keyboard Made of Bananas & Play-Doh

Even though MaKey MaKey was designed by two Ph.D candidates from MIT, their goal was to make something for the kindergartener in all of us.

It's a device that allows you to turn anything that conducts electricity into a functional computer key. It looks like it might be difficult to hook up, but it's actually very simple - so simple a 4-year old was able to do it without trouble.

The team, Jay Silver and Eric Rosenbaum, have dedicated themselves to designing easy-to-use invention kits. "We believe that everyone is creative, inventive, and imaginative. We believe that everyone can create the future and change the world."

Even the most jaded technology enthusiast can't help but chuckle when they hook up a banana to an alligator clip and use it to scroll through their computer. But the beauty is that it's up to you to decide what to turn into a key.

In Jay and Eric's video they play Mario Bros. with Play-Doh, Dance Dance Revolution with buckets or water, the piano with a staircase, and allowed a cat to take a photo of itself by hooking up a bowl of water to the MaKey MaKey.

The project was launched on Kickstarter with an initial goal of raising $25,000, charging $40 per MaKey MaKey, but the blew past that figure in a day and by month's end they raised over $500,000.

MaKey MaKey starts shipping in August and we look forward to seeing what kind ideas people come up with. When you get yours, take a video of what you come up with and send us the clip.

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America's Weirdest Restaurants

By Colleen Kane | CNBC 

Novelty and theme restaurants seem to be more common outside the U.S., especially in Asia, but we’ve uncovered 20 unusual dining experiences right here in the USA, serving cuisines from the aggressively unhealthy to whimsical works of art. Some meals come with shows and some with surprises; some of the restaurants transport diners to another time, and one to another planet.

It’s a rare diner who will want to experience all of these restaurants, but read on to see how many appeal and how many appall.

 
Photo: fairmont.com 
Tonga Room

Location: San Francisco, California
Price: $19- $29 entrée

Located below the Fairmont Hotel, the circa-1945 tropical lounge the Tonga Room is a remarkably intact vision of midcentury Tiki culture. The Island Groove Band performs on the lagoon on a moving Gilligan’s Island-esque raft platform, and every half hour there’s an indoor thundershower. The Tonga room serves Pacific Rim cuisine and tropical cocktails served in tiki vessels.

But this historic establishment was recently threatened—when plans to demolish the space for condos were announced in 2009, it sparked an outcry, inspiring awareness-raising happy hours and the Facebook group Save the Tonga Room, which has over 7200 members.

 
Photo: heartattackgrill.com 
Heart Attack Grill

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Price: $12.73 for a Quadruple Bypass Burger

This hospital-themed burger joint may be gimmicky, but it’s also serious as a heart attack. Although many U.S. eateries seem to fast-track overeaters to the ICU, the Heart Attack Grill has openly embraced it, offering aggressively unhealthy food while posturing as a send-up of fast food and obesity.

The menu is simple: Bypass Burgers made of 1-4 patties (containing 0 .5 - 2 lbs of meat), shakes made with butterfat, and an all-you-can-eat bar of Flatliner Fries, which are cooked in lard. Rounding out the menu is full-sugar Mexican Coke, Pabst Blue Ribbon, and Lucky Strikes (or candy cigarettes for the little ones who are aiming high). A waitress in nurse gear wheels those who finish the 8000-calorie Quadruple Bypass burger out to their car in a wheelchair. Diners weighing in over 350 lbs. eat free . (The eatery’s spokesman, 575-lb. Blair River, died in March of 2011 at age 29. )

 
Photo: thevarsity.com 
The Varsity Downtown

Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Price: hot dogs and burgers from $1.24 - $2.61

Car hops at the world’s largest drive-in (including a young Nipsy Russell) have been greeting customers at their car windows with “What’ll ya have?” since 1928.

The Varsity is pure 20th-century Americana, and the menu remains classic drive-in, not straying far from burgers, dogs, fries, colas and shakes, and their famous fried pies. A few things have changed : There are five locations, and today’s original Varsity in the Downtown location reigns over two acres, accommodating 600 cars and 800 people inside—the better to serve the 30,000 Georgia Tech Yellowjacket fans who visit each game day.

 
Photo: thecaverestaurantandresort.com 
The Cave

Location: Richland, Missouri
Price: $8 - 50

The Cave is the nation’s only restaurant located in (you guessed it) a cave, serving American steakhouse/seafood and Italian fare. The space may not get much natural light, but it has waterfalls, fish ponds, and even a view of the Gasconade River.

The space began as a natural cave that served as a dance hall in the 1920s, situated three stories up on a limestone bluff at a campground (visitors can still rent the cabins). Back then it was not spacious enough for 225 to dine, as it is today; the rest was carved and blasted out over the course of four years.

 
Photo: dinnerinthesky.com 
Dinner in the Sky

Location: Worldwide
Price: Approx. $14,000 to rent, catering additional

The term “adventurous eater” normally refers to diners open-minded enough to try unusual foods, but in this case it means risking life and limb while eating dinner suspended more than 160 feet in the air.

Dinner in the Sky can accommodate 22 brave guests and 3 staffers for a meal in the air, and this one-of-a-kind experience can be held anywhere with enough space for the suspension crane. As far as the cuisine served in the sky, it can be anything—catering is not included in the cost of renting the restaurant.

 
Photo: la.darkdining.com 
Opaque

Location: Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco, California
Price: $99 prix fix 3-course meal

It may be true that eating at one themed restaurant doesn’t feel all that different from other ones. But now for something completely different: dining in the dark. It’s a concept that started in Europe, in Berlin, Paris and Vienna, and Opaque offers the first stateside dining in the dark restaurants.

Guests order from a brief menu in a lit room before being led into pitch-black rooms by the team of blind and visually impaired servers. When the visual sense is shut off, the other senses are heightened, making for a newly extra-sensitive diner, and a distraction-free, immersive dining experience.

 
Photo: forbesisland.com 
Forbes Island

Location: San Francisco Bay, California
Price: entrées $26 - 39

Forbes is a floating island in Sea Lion Harbor with views of Alcatraz and nearby sunbathing sea lions. The restaurant serves an American fine dining menu, in underwater dining rooms, and it also has an underwater bar.

Originally built in 1975 by millionaire captain Forbes Thor Kiddoo as a private floating home, Forbes is constructed from concrete, rocks, sand, and topsoil and has a 45-foot lighthouse.

 
Photo: supperclub.nl 
supperclub

Location: San Francisco and Los Angeles, California, and international locations
Price: four-course meal $65 - 80

It’s supper, it’s a club and then some. Supperclub is a multisensory experience incorporating unusual food, music, dancing, and experimental and avant-garde live performances (supperclub performers are often culled from art schools).

The food is a four-course internationally inspired meal from chef Nelson German, served to diners who lounge fashionably on white beds.

 
Photo: casabonitadenver.com 
Casa Bonita

Location: Lakewood, Colorado
Price: All-you-can-eat dinner $13.79

For almost four decades, Casa Bonita has been one of Colorado’s best-known restaurants, famous for its live show of Acapulco-style cliff divers, as well as strolling musicians, an arcade and a portrait studio. (If this sounds familiar, it’s also known to South Park fans as Cartman’s favorite restaurant , from the episode entitled “Casa Bonita.”)

As for the food, it’s Mexican with an all-you-can eat dinner option including their popular sopaipillas with honey. The restaurant is more than 52,000 feet, seating 1,000 diners.

 
Photo: bedmiami.com 
B.E.D.

Location: Miami, Florida
Price: entrées $20 – 60, cover charge applies

Instead of breakfast in bed, how about dinner? B.E.D. stands for beverage, entertainment, dining, and that’s exactly what you get…in bed!

Executive chef Vitor Casassola’s menu includes cold appetizers like camembert tempura and tomatillo guacamole and entrees like surf & turf and Chilean seabass. And for dessert, an edible “pillow” called Cloud 9 Souffle.

Click here for the full list of America’s Weirdest Restaurants.

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New Planet Found, Smaller Than Earth, Orbiting Distant Star

Thirty-three light-years away, in the constellation Leo the lion, astronomers say they have found a world considerably smaller than Earth, orbiting a dim red-dwarf star.

That's something to think about. While scientists have confirmed the existence of more than 700 so-called exoplanets since 1995, most of them have been giant -- many considerably larger than Jupiter. This new world, say the researchers who found it, may be only 5,200 miles across, about two thirds as large as Earth.
"People have been picking at the low-hanging fruit, since Jupiter-sized planets are easier to see," said Kevin Stevenson, the young researcher at the University of Central Florida who led the team making the find. "Now we're really pushing the limits of what our telescopes can find."
The newly found world is, for now, called UCF-1.01, and Stevenson and his colleagues found it with NASA's Spitzer space telescope in Earth orbit. It orbits a star called GJ 436. They spent a year watching it to confirm that it was indeed a distant world. They are publishing their find online Thursday in the Astrophysical Journal.
UCF-1.01 is probably not a very nice place. Stevenson and his group calculated that it whips around its host star in only 1.4 Earth-days, at a distance of about 1.6 million miles (we're 93 million miles from our sun). Temperatures on its surface probably exceed 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, raising the possibility that some of it is molten, covered in lava. Any atmosphere would have boiled away long ago, said the researchers.
They could not see it directly -- its sun is nothing but a dot in a telescope -- but they could see a tiny dip in the star's brightness as the disc of UCF-1.01 passed in front of it. For now, they cannot even calculate its mass; current technology is not good enough for a reliable number.
Nobody will be launching a mission to UCF-1.01 anytime soon; there are other worlds, including moons of Jupiter and Saturn, that look much more promising as homes for living things. Still, the find suggests that if this world could be detected, others -- perhaps in the so-called habitable zones around their host stars -- may soon be found as well.
"The discovery was completely by accident," said Stevenson in a telephone interview with ABC News. They were looking at another, much larger planet orbiting the same star, "and there were these spurious signals we could not explain."

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