Blogs about economics from Pew Pew Laser Blog

Quick Money.

I may be a fully employed professional computer geek, but there are some methods of quick money that I respect:

• Prevalent on Vegas pedestrian skybridges, Water bottles from a cooler (especially on a hot day) are also effective outside of sporting events. The margins on this are pretty good because you can get a 24-pack of water bottles at Costco for about 7 bucks, and sell each bottle for a just a buck and you'll be severely undercutting the stadium prices. (Qwest Field used to allow sealed bottles of water into Sounders games.)
• Who can resist homemade ethnic specialties, like tamales from a food truck? If it were me selling, I'd be peddling snickerdoodles and peanut blossoms.

Cutting the Cable.

In February, the husband and I ditched our Comcast cable. I am happy to report that there has been no insanity, and no loss of happiness, and no one has died. And we get to keep an extra $60 a month.

Sure, it was tough saying good-bye to Mythbusters, The Soup, BBC America and everyone over at The Food Network. But it's been very peaceful simply turning the TV off, rather than leaving our guilty pleasures (such as House Hunters, Storage Wars and Attack of the Show) on all the time.

Our transition was helped by a friend and new neighbor moving in just 2 blocks away from us. She's got a satellite dish, and gracefully allowed us to come over and watch Chopped All-Stars. We even turned the series finale into a Chopped-style competition, where my dish was roasted blue potatoes crusted with Goldfish crackers, and a chocolate dipping sauce.

The best thing about having cable (since Battlestar Galactica ended) was having a Digital Video Recorder. After much research, the husband found a suitable replacement DVR: the Sezmi. It's a pretty reasonable deal at $150 to buy the unit and $5 a month for the TV listings service. It records over the air broadcasts so that we can watch when we're ready, and even learns your preferences and records more of what you want (like a Tivo). So far, the Sezmi discovered that the husband likes Star Trek: The Next Generation, and that I like Let's Make a Deal.

A small confession: we technically still have cable. It was $1 cheaper per month to keep the most minimal cable package and bundle it with our internet service than to get rid of all cable completely. The only extra channel this gives us is Discovery, and it's currently only connected to the bedroom's TV. So it's just like we don't have cable, except sometimes when I'm folding laundry.

Next on the agenda, we will buy our own cable modem instead of renting one from Comcast for $7 a month.

Cheap, Quick and Good?

The rule of cheap, quick, and good is that you can have only 2 of them. Your project can be well built, and done quickly, but will be expensive. Or it can be done quickly and cheaply, but it will be crappy. This applies to web development, and probably to all software development.

Premiums.

Remember the free toy that came in your Cracker Jacks or Happy Meal? Such giveaways or "premiums" can be tremendously motivating.

The local blood donation collectors are offering a free cookbook if I donate blood twice this summer. I confess, the thought of a free cookbook pleases me just as much as the normal altruistic feeling of giving blood.

The Pike Pub in downtown Seattle is offer a free engraved growler (full of Pike brew, of course) if a patron signs up for their frequent visitor's club and orders one of each of the beers that Pike serves. It's been a nearly a year, and the husband is about 3/4s of the way though the 2 page list of beers.

Still, I was surprised by boldness of Zynga / 7-11's recent promotion of Mafia Wars and Farmville freebies with Slurpees.

Lastly, there's the recent battle of Carvel Ice Cream vs. Mama Lohan.

The Seattle Sounders Game Refund.

A few months ago, the Seattle Sounders promised a refund to their season ticket holders in apology for a truly awful game. I got to thinking whether a refund (credit for a game next season) was the best way to apologize to the fans.

This kind of refund could set a dangerous precedent - that fans shouldn't have to pay for a game when their team lost. People often prefer goods to cash prizes. On the other hand, if we'd all gotten free hats valued at the cost of a game, we'd each have a tangible reminder of that bad game.

But I've had a little epiphany. The refund isn't about sending a message to the fans; it's about sending a message to the players.