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How To Get A Free Roller Coaster Photo At Six Flags or Disney World


How To Get A Free Roller Coaster Photo At Six Flags or Disney World

Published 7/17/08  (Modified 3/9/11)

By MoneyBlueBook

Cheapskate, Appropriately Frugal, or Brilliantly Simple? You Decide

Well we've finally reached the dog days of summer - the hottest stretch of heat sweltering days of July and August. For those of you who live in colder climates, bless your hearts - enjoy the mild temperatures while you can because colder weather will be upon you soon. But for everyone else who lives in a state or region that enjoys four seasons year round with hot and humid summers like I do, it's time for all of us to get outside and enjoy that nice sunshine warmth.

One of the best ways to get some mild exercise, and enjoy the great outdoors with the family at the same time is to visit an amusement theme park like Six Flags, Busch Gardens, or Disney World. Now you might be thinking to yourself - wait, visiting an amusement isn't exercise and it sure isn't the great outdoors. Where is the huffing and puffing, and where are the essential greenery that make up the great outdoors? I guess that's where you and I differ - I consider the great outdoors to be anywhere that's not cooped up inside an air conditioned house or apartment on a summer's day spent watching TV or playing Nintendo Wii. As long as you are out and about, walking around outside, enjoying the sun's natural Vitamin-D inducing rays, you are immersed in the great outdoors my friend.

In addition, all that walking around, waiting in line, and strolling from roller coaster ride to concession stand is

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Test Credit Card Numbers With Luhn Credit Card Validation

Published 7/12/08  (Modified 6/17/11)

By MoneyBlueBook

What Do the Credit Card Numbers Mean, and How Are Valid Credit Card Accounts Generated?

Have you ever wondered how credit card companies generate all those account numbers that appear on the face of the credit cards you carry around in your wallet? At first glance the numbers, while neatly arranged, appear to be completely random. But would it surprise you to know that there is indeed meaning and actual mathematical methodology to the way the numbers are sequenced? The process of generating real credit card numbers and validating them based on a proven mathematical formula is not only intriguing on an intellectual level and a hacker's dream, the carefully calculated way the numbers are ordered is actually quite beautiful and elegant when you come to understand how it works.

Before I get down to explaining the anatomy of credit card numbers and discussing how credit card numbers are generated, I think it's prudent to remind everyone the intent of this article. The goal of this blog post is not to encourage or get people thinking about how to go out and create fake credit card numbers on their own for improper means. The purpose is to shed some light on the science behind the mathematical sequencing technology of valid credit card numbers and offer some insight into something that many of us frequently see and use everyday, but oftentimes don't pay much attention to.

Please take in the information provided for purely academic and entertainment reasons. I'm not trying to encourage anyone to create fake credit card

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Best Locations To Find Free Wireless Internet Access (WiFi Hotspots)

Published 7/3/08  (Modified 3/9/11)

By MoneyBlueBook

While I have my own convenient and jack-rabbity-fast high speed broadband connection at home, sometimes I just want to get out of the house for a change of scenery. Ever since I began the gradual transition from traditional office life to the work from home routine, I've noticed that it can sometimes be pretty boring working from the confines of one's own house or apartment all the time. While working from home on the computer is great because it's nice to be your own boss, loneliness and lack of human contact can become troubling issues, especially if you are working by yourself all the time. While it's certainly very convenient to do business related work from one's home office (necessary supplies, kitchen amenities, and even bathroom conveniences are only a few steps away), the work at home experience can be plagued by boredom and frequent feelings of isolation. Once in a while, I just want to pick up my laptop and head out to some cafe, restaurant, or public location, and momentarily work at an Internet accessible place where there's random people milling about. That way I don't feel so cut off from the real world.

One's Home Office Can Be Any Cafe, Restaurant, Or Public Park With Free WiFi and Electrical Outlet Access

Since I'm trying to transition into running my own home based businesses full time and no longer work frequent contract attorney projects as a result, I no longer have an Internet equipped office computer outside of my home that I can go to

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Paying By Credit Card At the Gas Pump and Refusing To Use Cash

Published 6/25/08  (Modified 3/9/11)

By MoneyBlueBook

Oh great - well I hope this articledoesn't foretell or signify a trend that's going to be widely picked up by the gas industry in the coming future. While they've been one of the most credit card friendly industries in the past, some gas station chains are apparently starting to scale back their payment options in favor of cash due to diminishing profit margins caused by higher gas prices and rising credit card interchange fees. The credit card interchange fee, a percentage of the total sales price paid to credit card companies by the merchant on every transaction, is usually fixed at somewhere just under 2% - but the dollar amount of the fee rises with the price of the goods or services. As gas prices have risen dramatically, so have the credit card acceptance fees that gas pump merchants pay, drastically cutting into their profitability.

I Always Use My Credit Card To Pay For Gas And Don't Intend To Change This Payment Practice Anytime Soon

While I understand why some gas station owners and advocates are pushing for the move back to cash payment only for gas purchases, I hope this is not an emerging or widely adopted trend. Paying cash at the pump may work for some, but it's not going to fly for me.

I take frequent road trips and one of the most appreciated benefits of fueling at the gas pump is the ability to easily slide into a gas station off the freeway, punch in my prepayment, fuel up,

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Sometimes Shopping Online Isn't Worth The Inconvenience Or Hassle

Published 6/24/08  (Modified 3/9/11)

By MoneyBlueBook

These days, you can buy pretty much everything under the sun online. All it takes is some fancy keyboard typing and mouse clicking, and you can Google your way to an ideal product that offers both perfect features and perfect pricing. Theoretically if you wanted to, you could put yourself under house arrest, never venture out of your house again, and still live a relatively comfortable and convenient life by surviving on supplies and groceries ordered through the Internet. All you would need is a trusty computer or laptop, equipped with a reasonably fast high speed internet connection, and you would be good to go. With the emergence of online bargain shopping, consumers no longer have to pay the higher retail mark up prices due to overhead costs found at brick and mortar stores. Consumers are now free to go with online merchants who are passing along their own cost savings to online customers due to not having to pay extra expenses associated with maintaining physical retail locations. On the whole, prices found online for the exact same product otherwise available in a regular real life retail store are almost always lower. Frequently, the cost savings can be tremendous - as much as 10-25% savings simply by ordering the desired product online rather than purchasing it at a corresponding retail store location.

Unfortunately, there is one significant and readily present downside to shopping for products online - the inevitable wait time and frustrating inconvenience of having to wait around for days and weeks for the

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The Future Demise and End Of Newspapers and Print Media

Published 6/21/08  (Modified 3/9/11)

By MoneyBlueBook

The other day I shuffled past my pet parrot's metal cage and casually glanced at him. He looked up at me and smiled. Well he didn't actually smile - that would be weird, not to mention it would be an exceedingly remarkable feat for a bird to do - but he did seem to want to tell me something. I glanced down at the bottom of his cage and realized what he was so antsy about - it was time for me to clean his bird cage. The bird poo clumps and endless feather fluffs were starting to dirty up the bottom lining of his cage and it was time to replace his bird bedding. So before cleaning his bird cage, I went and did what I've been doing for the last 10 or so years - I went to the supermarket and bought a copy of the Sunday newspaper to use as bird cage lining. When I got home and proceeded to clean his cage, dumping out the old newspaper sheets that held his former poop droppings, an interesting thought occurred to me. Although I've been buying newspapers regularly and consistently for many years now, I haven't once actually sat down to read one. It seems the only reason I even have them around in the first place is to use them to line my pet parrot's bird cage. Over the years I've learned that newspaper print pages contain the perfect combination of non toxicity and biodegradable composition that is uniquely more absorbent than

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