• stolenidsearch.com - find out if your SSN has been compromised
• charitywatch.org - help with donating to charity
• guidestar.org - donating help
• give.org - donating help
• redbox.com - rent movies for a buck

Clark has never liked Ticketmaster. The company has always engaged in underhanded practices, locking up exclusive arrangements with promoters and gouging the public with huge add-on fees. In addition, the company has horrible customer service. Ticketmaster has had some trouble in recent years, however. Alternative companies have been able to put a chink in Ticketmaster’s armor with the help of the Internet, and Clark has been extremely happy about that. Well, Ticketmaster is playing poor sport once again and has filed suit against every other ticket sales company in existence. If the company wins, the customer service is sure to get worse and the fees will certainly go up. Clark thinks there should at least be a direct ticket window, where people can buy tickets in person. The way it looks now, it’s either Ticketmaster or nothing. And that is simply wrong.

Clark used to get tons of complaints against Blockbuster on the show. Today, he rarely gets any. Over the years, the company had gotten used to being the only large movie rental company in the country. Its customer service suffered as a result and people started calling into the show. But once Netflix and other movie subscription companies moved into the market, Blockbuster had to shape up. The company eliminated late fees and started its own mail subscription service. The great thing about the program is that you can return movies through mail or to the actual stores. It’s up to you. Even better, competition between the companies has lowered prices among all of them.

Have you ever gotten socked by a rental car company because you forgot to fill up the gas tank before returning it. The mark-up on that gas is huge. And, you should always fill up yourself. But, when compared to other countries, gas in the U.S. is extra cheap. The average price per gallon in England is $8.37. In Holland it’s $7.50 while in Germany it’s about $6.50. The average price these days in America is about 2.75. And, that may drop in the next few weeks – a time of year when prices are usually on the rise. The typical cycle in a year is prices rise in Spring and drop around the time of July 4. Speaking of July 4, it’s on a Wednesday. So, there will be great airfare offers during that week. Remember to check out fares if you’re thinking of taking a vacation around Independence Day.

Radio and television live and die on commercials. Most of the time, at least a quarter of each hour on both radio and TV is taken up by commercials. Radio has suffered a bit because of iPods and other mp3 players that people use more often. In addition, satellite radio has taken away some listeners – although not nearly as many as expected. So, what do you do if you’re in the radio business and you’re trying to compete? One FM music station in Dallas decided to dump all of its commercials and play 58 minutes of music per hour. Advertisers will still pay for “spots” but there will be only one. The company sponsoring the hour will be named at the beginning of each hour. Then the DJ will add in advertorials for the company sponsoring that hour. SouthWest Airlines was the first company to sign up, and it will get a mention at the start of the hour. Then, the DJ will weave some exciting news about SouthWest into his or her broadcast. Keep an ear out for this change.