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How to Save the Most While Holiday Shopping

As early as October, Wal-Mart started slashing prices on 15,000 items, offering a series of "Black Friday deals" well before people bought their Thanksgiving turkeys. In similar fashion, Sears held a VIP event on Nov. 11, promising an added 10% in discounts, while Toys 'R' Us's web site slashed prices on some of the hottest holiday toys by as much as 50%.

Retailers are facing their worst holiday season in five years, according to the National Retail Federation, a trade group. Sales are expected to inch up just 4%, to $474.5 billion, compared with a 4.6% increase last year. But that's not small change: An extra 0.6% in sales this year would pull in an additional $2.7 billion. The drop is due largely to declining consumer confidence, a weakened housing market and credit fallout from the subprime lending crisis.

But don't head to the mall thinking you're going to walk out with steals just yet. The discounts may be offered earlier this year, but they aren't necessarily bigger or better. "It's a little more hype than reality," says Edgar Dworsky, editor of Consumer World.

More From SmartMoney.com:

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In fact, most of these early specials are a result of increased marketing, says Dan Horne, an associate professor of marketing at Providence College. Retailers are just more aggressively advertising deals and products that they would have offered anyway — all in an effort to get you in the door. "It's all about driving your behavior," he says. "Anything that encourages return trips [to the store] is huge this time of year."

Of course, there are still holiday deals to be had. But rather than blindly buying up items now because sales are starting early, you should be more strategic. Here's how to take advantage of retailer desperation this holiday season:

Consider a store credit card. Retailers are offering an average on-the-spot discount of 20% to new cardholders this holiday season, compared with the traditional 10% to 15% offered at other points in the year, says John Ulzheimer, author of "You're Nothing but a Number," a book about credit scores. There are also additional discounts for subsequent use. Kohl's, for example, offers 10% off when you open and use your store card, with bonuses of another 5% to 20% during its weekly sales.

But don't leap at store credit-card offers unless you plan on shopping at that particular store often, without carrying a balance (APRs on store cards easily top 20%). You should also be making a significant enough purchase to warrant the temporary ding on your credit report that comes with opening a new account. "You're essentially using your credit report as a 20% off coupon," Ulzheimer warns. "Long after the discount has been forgotten, that little [credit inquiry] mark sticks around."

Sign up for email newsletters and updates. According to a survey by price comparison site BizRate, 59% of retailers plan to increase the number of sale and promotional emails they send out this holiday season. VIP sales, as well as friends and family events, are particularly hot, says Dworsky. Some invite-only events require an RSVP; others are open to anyone who receives the email. Ann Taylor is offering a 25% Friends & Family discount Nov. 15-18, while retailer New York & Company is hosting a private event in New York City on Nov. 15, with $20-off coupons for attendees.

Join rewards programs. If you're part of a store's reward program, then special deals and exclusive coupons offered solely to members can help cut your bill even more. Members of Barnes & Noble's program (cost: $25 a year), for example, gained access to the bookseller's annual 40% off Winter Sale on Nov. 1 — four days before everyone else. Best Buy is offering its rewards club members (no cost to join) a choice of five bonus reward options for all purchases made through Dec. 22, including double points when shopping before 11 a.m., triple points on select brands, or point value donation to Toys for Teens. (Typically, you get one point per $1 spent. For every 250 points, you earn a $5 reward certificate.)

Shop online. Any in-store slowdowns are unlikely to affect online sales, which are expected to increase 21% this year to $33 billion, according to Forrester Research, a market research firm. That's because retailers are beefing up their online deals, most notably adding coupon codes and extending free shipping. L.L. Bean, jeweler Blue Nile and Gap Brands' shoe store Piperlime, for example, are all offering free shipping through the holiday season, with no minimum-order requirement.

Watch for gift-card promotions. "All indications are that consumers are going to be using gift cards a lot this year," says Horne of Providence College. Nearly 57% of consumers are expected to purchase them, to the tune of $26.3 billion nationwide — a 6% increase from last year, according to the NRF. Look for more promotions offering rewards for you, the buyer of the card, as a way to get you to return to the store, Horne predicts. Shoe retailer DSW is offering a $10 bonus gift card for use Jan. 14 through Feb. 3, with the purchase of a $50 gift card. Toys 'R' Us is giving away a $5 card with every $30 Transformers toy purchase, while Best Buy is giving $10 cards to those who buy the "Spider-Man 3" DVD and videogame.

Holiday Credit Card Deals

Retailers aren't the only ones offering deals leading up to the December holidays. "Any kind of forecast that affects consumers' holiday spending is also going to affect credit-card companies' bottom line," says Curtis Arnold, founder of CardRatings.com. It's not just about building your balance, either. If consumers aren't using their cards as often, issuers get fewer transaction fees from merchants. "Anything they can do to entice members to spend more, they'll do," says Arnold.

Deals this year don't go much beyond the standards of reward-point bonuses, lower APRs and free gift cards — there are just more offers altogether. Here are a few:

American Airlines: Link to your favorite retailers through the airline's eShopping mall and pay with your AAdvantage MasterCard to earn double frequent-flier miles through Dec. 31.

American Express: Earn triple reward points on purchases made at your favorite retailers when you shop through the card issuer's online Bonus Points Mall. Promotion ends Dec. 31.

Citibank: Citi Premier Pass cardholders get an extra Thank You Point per $1 spent at electronics, apparel and department stores through Dec. 31. Select Citi Professional cardholders receive a 0% APR on purchases through mid-2008.

Discover: Earn a $20 Discover-brand gift card for every $200 of holiday gift receipts (paid for with a Discover card, naturally) that you turn in at the local mall's Discover kiosk through Dec. 31.

No enticing offers from your current lenders? Call up and ask, advises Ulzheimer. Dangle the carrot of holiday shopping, and credit-card issuers may be more apt to offer a lower APR or a credit line increase. "An extra $1,000 to $2,000 is standard," he says. Think of it as a safeguard for your credit score, which suffers the more your balances creep toward your credit limit.

NFL's newest dark cloud - Sean Taylor death

For the NFL, 2007 has been a year of tragedy and scandal, ugliness and senselessness, each month seeming to bring worse stories of off-field trouble that stand in stark contrast with an on-field product that is running on all cylinders.

The latest, and hopefully last, came Sunday when the Washington Redskins' Sean Taylor was gunned down during a home invasion. He died Tuesday.

It was brutal and sad, the snuffing out of a talented and promising life made even worse by the realization that he is the fourth active NFL player to die this year alone. Combine that with high-profile legal issues, major injuries to current players and a bitter pension fight involving former ones and you have a year to forget.

Things are so bad, the depths so low, the pain so real, it's overshadowed a season that, on the field at least, should be one to remember.

The Indianapolis Colts, featuring the popular Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy, finally won the Super Bowl. The New England Patriots have emerged as perhaps the greatest team of all time this season, chasing both a perfect team record and a book full of individual marks. Big fan base franchises such as the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers are having great years while a number of other franchises have been rejuvenated.

The league has not just an array of great young talent (Adrian Peterson, et al) but a rebirth of some older ones (Brett Farve, Terrell Owens, Randy Moss). When the Colts and Patriots met earlier this month, it was the latest matchup of unbeaten teams since the 1970 merger. The game then actually lived up the hype.

So too, perhaps, will the rare late season matchup of one-loss teams, the Cowboys and Packers, Thursday.

That is, if anyone even remembers to watch.

The thing is: as great as the action has been, as great as the storylines have played out, as perfect as heroes and villains have taken their roles, '07 has been a disaster in every other measurable way. One horrible tale replacing another.

Taylor's murder this week was an all-too familiar one.

The year started bad when, during the early morning hours of Jan. 1, the Denver Broncos' Darrent Williams was shot and killed by a passing gunman while riding in a limo after an altercation at a local nightclub.

Less than two months later, Broncos running back Damien Nash collapsed and died after playing a charity basketball game in his hometown of St. Louis.

In March, the Patriots' Marquise Hill accidentally drowned after falling off his jet ski in his native Louisiana.

All four men were just 24 years old.

The offseason was also plagued with high-profile legal trouble. It started with the Tennessee Titans cornerback Pacman Jones' involvement in a gentlemen's club shooting in Las Vegas that left a bouncer paralyzed.

Then the Atlanta Falcons' Michael Vick, the league's highest paid and one of its highest-profile players, was arrested in connection with a dog-fighting ring on property he owned in rural Virginia. Vick pled guilty and is serving time in advance of his sentencing in early December.

Even O.J. Simpson is in trouble again.

Meanwhile, former NFL players continued to fight the league for improved pension and health benefits while spinning terrible tales of woe and making the NFLPA look like a heartless organization. It helped draw attention to the massive physical injuries, particularly concussions, which NFL players deal with after their playing days.

That hit home on the league's opening weekend when the Buffalo Bill' Kevin Everett suffered a severe spinal injury on a simple kickoff play. At least there is some bright light here. Everett is out of the hospital and doctors believe he may even walk again one day.

You can't blame the NFL for wondering what possibly could be next?

There is no simple conclusion to draw here. Each situation is different, each tragedy its own. But sometimes bad things seem to come in waves and the NFL is certainly dealing with that now.

If the league was just about football, then the worst thing to happen all year was the Patriots' "Spygate" scandal, which, in truth, just helped create more interest and excitement for the product on the field.

That's the kind of controversy that professional sports like.

Not endless funerals, court proceedings and Congressional hearings.

Not superstars behind bars. Not all these 24 years olds gone forever.

The people to remember in thoughts and prayers are the families and friends of those dealing with death and injury, with life-altering moments that they had nothing to do with and almost certainly can't make sense of.

Roger Goodell would be the first to tell you that, the first to tell you to think of those folks.

But here in 2007, in the new commissioner's first full year on the job, it's OK to acknowledge all that has been thrown at him and his NFL.

And then hope we never see another year like it.

Evel Knievel, Kanye West settle lawsuit over use of Knievel's trademarked image in music video

Evel Knievel and Kanye West have worked it out. The 69-year-old iconic motorcycle daredevil said he and West met at his Clearwater condo recently. They settled a federal lawsuit over the use of Knievel's trademarked image in a popular West music video.

Knievel sued West and his record company last year. He took issue with a 2006 music video for the song "Touch the Sky," in which the rapper takes on the persona of "Evel Kanyevel" and tries to jump a rocket-powered motorcycle over a canyon.

Knievel failed in his attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon in Idaho in 1974.

West's attorneys argued the video amounted to satire, covered under the First Amendment.

"We settled the lawsuit amicably," Knievel said Tuesday. "I was very satisfied and so was he."

They agreed not to publicly discuss the terms of the settlement, he said. The two had agreed to mediation in July.

Gabriel Tesoriero, a spokesman for West, confirmed the settlement of the lawsuit, in an e-mail Tuesday.

In the lawsuit, Knievel claimed the "vulgar and offensive" images depicted in the video damaged his reputation. And he accused the 29-year-old rapper of using the Knievel image to "promote his filth to the world."

Meeting West changed his mind, Knievel said.

"I thought he was a wonderful guy and quite a gentleman," he said.

Knievel also expressed concern for West, who is grieving the sudden death of his mother earlier this month.

"I know he's had some tough times the past few weeks, and I hope things work out," Knievel said.

Humanoid robot teaches dentists to feel people's pain

Japan's future dentists may soon be able to better appreciate patients' pain by training on a humanoid robot that can mumble "ouch" when the drill hits a nerve.

The robot, resembling an attractive young woman with long black hair and a pink sweater, also can listen to instructions and react to pain by moving her eyes or hands.

A group of robot and computer makers presented the high-tech dental patient in Tokyo at the 2007 International Robot Exhibition, a four-day technology showcase that opened Wednesday.

The medical simulation robot, named "Simroid," is designed to be used for clinical training at dental schools, said Tatsuo Matsuzaki, an official at robot maker Kokoro Company Ltd., which developed the body and control system.

The 160-centimeter (five-foot-three) robot can say "it hurts" and frown when it feels uncomfortable from the dental drill.

"Because it's so real, dental trainees can see patients' feelings and will be able to develop good skills as they treat it, not as an object, but as a human being," Matsuzaki said.

"The point is that we can share people's pain without hurting people," Matsuzaki said.

Naotake Shibui, a professor at Nippon Medical School, which introduced the robot in September, said Simroid can help dentists "learn how to communicate with patients."

"Treatment technique is important but it's also important to feel what it's like to be a patient," he said.

But in case anyone thinks the robot is too real, it also has a sensor on the breast area that keeps track if it has been touched inappropriately, an engineer said.

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Talkster Launches Free Calling Application on Facebook® Platform

TORONTO, ONT – October 22, 2007 — Award-winning Voice 2.0 company Talkster today announced a new calling application offering Facebook users completely free long distance, international and group conference calling. Built on Facebook Platform, a platform that enables companies and developers to build applications for the Facebook website, Talkster’s Free World Dialing application not only delivers free calling, but also allows Facebook users to preserve the privacy of their personal phone numbers when calling or receiving calls from their Facebook friends worldwide.

“Talkster’s Free World Dialing application for Facebook let’s you call other Facebook users all over the world simply by selecting them from your friends list,” says James Wanless, Talkster Co-Founder and COO. “Because you may not be comfortable sharing your phone number with some of the people you have in your friends list, Talkster never exposes your personal phone number. Couple this privacy element with our free long distance, international and conference calling features, and we believe the global Facebook community is going to love talking with Talkster.”

Other calling applications available on Facebook Platform offer discounted calling or limit free calls to VoIP. Not Talkster. Talkster’s Free World Dialing application for Facebook lets people set-up group or one-on-one calls from any phone to any other phone. It doesn’t matter if you are calling from a cell phone, a landline, your computer, a VoIP phone, or even from a voice-enabled instant messenger service like Google Talk, Yahoo!, AOL, or MSN; they will all work with the Talkster Free World Dialing application on Facebook, and the calls will always be free.

With Talkster’s Free World Dialing application on Facebook people can set up their calls from their Facebook profile page, select the friends they want to call from their Facebook account, and even add other phone numbers from outside Facebook to be included in a group call. Advertising and special personalized offers for callers cover the cost of the calls.

The sixth-most trafficked website in the United States, Facebook is a social utility that offers an efficient way for people to stay connected with their friends and the people around them. A truly global community, Facebook users communicate and share information through the social graph, the network of connections and relationships between people from all over the world. Talkster’s Free World Dialing Application aims to give the more than 47 million active Facebook users one more way to communicate, share, and get to know one another even better. Now no matter where they are located, Facebook users can speak live with their global Facebook friends - - for free.

(More)

About Talkster
Talkster’s award winning voice technologies are changing the face of international and long distance calling with a fully sustainable mobile advertising supported business model which benefits both callers and advertisers. Talkster’s Free World Dialing™ is the only service for making completely free long distance, international, and conference calls from any phone, on any network, and is publicly available at both www.Talkster.com and http://free.talkster.com. With FREE international, long distance, and conference calling, who will you call? For more information on Talkster please visit www.Talkster.com

Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.

http://www.talkster.com/

Musharraf retires as Pakistan army chief

Blinking back tears, Pervez Musharraf stepped down as Pakistan's military commander Wednesday, fulfilling a key opposition demand a day before he was to be sworn in as civilian president.

Key opposition leader Benazir Bhutto welcomed the belated move, but she said her party had yet to accept him as head of state. The White House also called it a "good step."

Britain, which shares the United States' deep concern about Islamic terrorism emanating from Pakistan, said Musharraf's move was "an important part" of his plan to restore constitutional order.

"We understand the threat to Pakistan's peace and security, but I have urged President Musharraf to use the normal democratic process to respond," Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.

An emotional Musharraf relinquished his post by handing over his ceremonial baton Wednesday to his successor, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, who is widely expected to maintain the army's pro-Western policies.

"(You) are the saviors of Pakistan," Musharraf said in a final speech to the troops, sniffing repeatedly and struggling to maintain his composure.

Hundreds of senior officers, politicians and other civilians watched from the stands as an unsmiling Musharraf — wearing a phalanx of medals and a green sash across his uniform — reviewed the ranks to the strains of "Auld Lang Syne."

"I'm proud of this army and I was lucky to have commanded the world's best army," Musharraf said. "I will no longer command ... but my heart and my mind will always be with you."

Since seizing power in a 1999 coup, Musharraf has served as president while retaining his post as head of the armed forces. Musharraf insists that his continued rule as president is vital if Pakistan is to remain stable as it returns to democracy.

But he will have to jostle for power with Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif — two former prime ministers just returned from exile and itching to return to office.

Both are threatening to boycott January parliamentary elections, though they also have registered as candidates and say they only will shun the elections if the entire opposition unites behind that drastic step.

"We welcome Musharraf's decision to shed the uniform. ... Now the Pakistani army has got a full-fledged chief and they can better perform their duties," she told reporters in Karachi.

However, she said her party will think over whether to accept Musharraf's new status as civilian president.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said that President Bush "certainly considers that to be a good step."

But Perino reiterated that Bush wants Musharraf to lift the emergency order, and do so before elections in that country are held.

A senior leader of Bhutto's party said Musharraf's quitting the army was "too little, too late."

"Now the political forces and civil society are moving in a different direction, to change the country along purely democratic lines," Mian Raza Rabbani said. "Doffing his uniform will in no way help him to consolidate his rule."

Sharif spokesman Pervez Rasheed said: "Musharraf hasn't taken off his uniform under his own will, rather under pressure from the powers who installed him and kept him in power eight long years," an apparent reference to the United States.

Musharraf had promised to give up his army role at the end of 2004. But he reneged on that pledge, saying the country still needed strong leadership in the face of Islamic extremism.

He has given it up now, in line with the constitution, only after securing a fresh term as president.

He paid tribute to Kayani, a former chief of Pakistan's feared ISI intelligence agency, saying he had known him since he was a colonel and knew his qualities.

Kayani, 55, is widely expected to set forth the army's pursuit of Islamic militants.

Analysts expect him to focus on improving the ability of the army — set up for large-scale battles with India on the plains of Punjab — to carry out counterinsurgency operations.

Kayani also is well-placed to heal the rift that has opened between Musharraf and Pakistan's civilian politicians.

He served as Bhutto's military secretary in the late 1980s, and is said to have a good working relationship with other leading political figures.

Musharraf was re-elected by Parliament in October, but the Supreme Court held up his confirmation following complaints that a military man could not constitutionally serve as an elected head of state.

He reacted by proclaiming a state of emergency on Nov. 3, firing the chief justice and other independent judges and replacing them with his appointees. The reconstituted top court then approved his election.

Officials have indicated that the emergency could be lifted soon after Musharraf takes the presidential oath, but have not set a firm date.

Sharif, who arrived from Saudi Arabia on Sunday, has taken a hard line against Musharraf, who ousted Sharif's second government in the 1999 coup.

A conservative with good relations with Pakistan's religious parties, Sharif is reaching out to the many Pakistanis who oppose Musharraf's close alliance with the United States.

Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule also has strained relations with Bhutto, who shares his secularist, pro-Western views. Bhutto, who has twice been put under house arrest to stop her from leading protests, has joined Sharif in denouncing Musharraf's backsliding on democracy.

Musharraf has relaxed some aspects of the crackdown on dissent launched with emergency rule. Thousands of opponents have been released and all but one independent news channel is back on the air.

However, he has refused to reverse his purge of the judiciary, an act that deepened the animosity toward him from Pakistan's legal fraternity. The justices swept from the Supreme Court remain under house arrest.

On Wednesday, about 400 lawyers staged a protest about two miles from the army headquarters, shouting slogans including "We want freedom!" and "Hang Musharraf!"

"He should be thrown out," said Sardar Asmatullah, a leader of the city's lawyers' association. "He has been a dictator for the last eight years and he has delivered nothing good for this country."

Britney Spears has a secret ‘fantasy room’

Kinky Britney Spears has a secret, double-locked ‘fantasy room’ equipped with whips and furry handcuffs, it has been claimed.

The troubled pop star’s X-rated room at her Mulholland Drive mansion allegedly even has a metal bedframe, a mirrored ceiling, a glass jar full of spanking paddles, and a closet packed with sexy outfits. “She wears Catholic schoolgirl uniforms, a maid’s uniform and a Cinderella outfit, an insider tells Star magazine. “Britney is sexually obsessed.”

The magazine also sensationally claims that mum-of-two Spears may be pregnant again. “Yes, I am pregnant and I am shocked - almost four weeks to be exact,”

Brit, or someone claiming to be the pop princess, wrote on Spears’ MySpace page, Star reports.

“I don’t really know if I’m happy or sad, I’m just, I don’t know, I am happy I guess. I saw the ultrasound and it was really kewl (sic).

The insider even tells the magazine that Spears is so obsessed with Marilyn Monroe that she wants to get her nose done to look like the late icon.

Star magazine also alleges that the Spears home is a mess, with her white couches stained by nappy changing and Spears’ pet dogs.

The magazine claims that the house is in such a bad state her ‘court appointed watchdog’ will tell the judge in her child custody case that the home is a potential ‘health hazard.’

Famous sextuplets turn 14

The Dilleys are all grown up

America's first surviving sextuplets are in high school, and their bonds are stronger than ever.

http://www.yahoo.com/s/746999

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