Having trouble getting your kids to do their chores without the usual dillydallying or complaining? Turn it into a game they'll actually be motivated to play with these DIY game tokens.

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Tipping tends to be a controversial subject, and we often debate how much everyone "should" tip. This analysis from online bank Simple reveals what people are actually tipping by state, city, and even time.

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Healthy living isn't easy. For some, it comes naturally, but for those folks who are already overweight—large enough that it's difficult or even painful to do what thinner people can do—it's even tougher to get started. Here are some tips to help.

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Lemons are great for tons of things; cleaning, cooking—but their versatility makes them useful when you're not at home, too. The Kitchn has a list of reasons why you should consider taking a lemon with you in your lunch bag, from flavoring water to dressing a salad. Might be a good idea to pack a knife too.

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Ever wished you could peek at the spending habits of someone with the same salary as you? We asked three brave writers to reveal just that—their salaries, budgeting strategies, and financial goals for the year.

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If you’re a car enthusiast planning a trip to the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky. in the near future, you might want to consider postponing your visit. Unless of course, sinkholes underneath car museums are of particular interest to you.

The Kentucky museum suffered quite a blow today when sinkhole 40 feet wide and 25-30 feet deep opened up this morning underneath the skydome section of the museum, CNN reports, swallowing eight cars in the process.

That part of the museum houses Corvettes that are on loan from private owners, collectors and others that were “made famous by magazines and auto shows the world over,” the museum’s site explains.

It’s also where 30 unique Corvettes live, including a 1983 model that is the only one of its kind. It’s unclear if that one fell, but we do know that six were donated by Corvette enthusiasts and the other two are owned by General Motors, the cars’ maker.

Included in the fallen vehicles were a 1962 Black Corvette, a 1984 PPG Pace Car, and a 1993 ZR-1 Spyder. And while no price tag has been put on the total value of the damaged cars, considering this is a museum and these are Corvettes, we’re not surprised to hear the executive director put the amount at “substantial.”

Stupid sinkholes, always showing up where you don’t want them, like Florida resorts or at the Sonic drive-thru. Never where you need them most — like under your feet when you realize there are no more episodes of Sherlock on in the near future. Seriously, just swallow me up, cruel world.

Cars fall into sinkhole at National Corvette Museum [CNN]

Sports Illustrated will have a difficult time living down accusations that the models featured in its annual Swimsuit Issue are too plastic, after it was announced today that the magazine will include photos of an honest-to-goodness Barbie doll.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the annual issue for people who haven’t yet figured out how to find free pictures of attractive barely clothed women online.

Reuters reports that the special cover, which is supposed to be unveiled on Thursday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live but which we found in this Slate article, shows Barbie in the same swimsuit she first sported back in 1959.

“Barbie is a legend in her own right, with more than 150 careers and a brand valued at $3 billion,” said a Mattel spokeswoman, presumably before having a mental breakdown after realizing that she gets paid a lot of money to put on a straight face and say these kinds of things about little plastic women.

Because nothing can be done these days without an accompanying hashtag, the toy company is deploying #unapologetic in an attempt to fight back against claims in recent years that Barbie presents young girls (and young boys) with an idealized image of a woman that could only be achieved through an insane cocktail of engineered genetics, eating disorders, constant exercise, and significant amounts of cosmetic surgery.

However, as McDonald’s recently learned, it’s incredibly easy to turn a hashtag against its creator, and there are already a number of Twitter users employing #unapologetic to express their disappointment with the SI cover.

You can now follow Chris on Twitter: @themorrancave

Normally, we find tales of merchandise crammed down shoplifters’ pants hilarious.  We were all ready to laugh at the story of a man who used similar methods to steal frozen steak and lobster from a Safeway…until we learned that he fled the scene by carjacking a vehicle with an elderly man and a 13-year-old girl inside, resulting in an Amber Alert.

We’ve shared with you stories of thieves who stuffed seafood, beef, steak and seafood, a turkey breast,  puppies, or a chainsaw down their pants, but didn’t get away with their daring plans or their ill-gotten merch.

This particular Safeway grocery store in Oakland, California doesn’t even normally carry steak and lobster. The items were in stock as part of a Valentine’s Day special, and the alleged thief took advantage of that.

The man attempted his theft shortly before 1 P.M. When a store employee spotted him, he ran outside and forced an older man in a vehicle outside to drive away. Witnesses reported that the suspect threatened the driver with a knife.

The car, which authorities say was a red or burgundy sedan with the California license plate number 6JFM648. If you happen to see this vehicle, call 911 immediately.

Oakland Kidnapping Suspect Seen Stuffing Lobsters, Ribeye Down Pants Before Carjacking [CBS San Francisco]

I can’t tell you the hours I’ve spent chainsawing paths through hordes of undead, or bashing them over the head with flower pots, in Dead Rising on my Xbox, but I never imagined that someone would manage to make this over-the-top game a reality by combining the two objects and using them in the robbery of a convenience store.

The Queensland Times in Australia reports that a teenager entered a 7-Eleven store around 4:30 a.m. on Monday, carrying a chainsaw and wearing a flower pot on his head.

The man allegedly lunged at the two employees with his turned-on chainsaw, driving them into the store’s back room. He then turned the saw on the 7-Eleven’s poor, innocent window and random shelves while drunkenly demanding cash… all before mooning the employees and fleeing the scene and only making off with a stolen soda.

Police responded to the employees’ call for help and spotted the teen on their way to the store. He was arrested and a police dog was able to sniff out the chainsaw hidden in a nearby bush.

The chainsaw-wielding punk, whose name is sadly not Nick Ramos, was charged with one count of armed robbery, two counts of willful damage, one count of going armed to cause fear, one count of public nuisance and one count of possessing suspected stolen property, reports the Times.

Now if you’ll excuse me, the Xbox controller is calling my name.

[via Philly.com]

You can now follow Chris on Twitter: @themorrancave

The family of a Delaware woman who died after she was found lying outside in the parking lot of the Amazon distribution center where she worked has a lot of questions this week: Namely, how could no one have seen her lying there for at least seven hours, with her car running?

Police are investigating the death of the 46-year-old woman who was found early Monday morning, after she’d finished a Sunday shift around 6 p.m.

“She got off work, and it appears she was clearing off her vehicle from the snow and ice and must have collapsed between her car and the one next to hers,” the police chief tells The News Journal. An autopsy ruled that she died of natural causes.

But her sister is wondering how no one saw her body or noticed that an empty car was running with door open — isn’t that what surveillance cameras are for? Well, they are, but it sounds like Amazon’s weren’t working.

“Apparently, Amazon was having problems with their camera system from 5 p.m. onward, and no one saw her out there,” the police chief explained.

An Amazon spokeswoman had no insight into the non-operational cameras, saying only: “We are deeply saddened, and our thoughts go out to [the worker's] family and loved ones.”

The woman’s mother finally discovered her after going out to find her daughter when she hadn’t come home, and another family member who works for Amazon as well directed her to the area where the woman usually parked. She found her on the ground between two vehicles and called 911, but emergency responders were unable to revive her.

“Her car wasn’t parked that far from the door,” her sister said, adding that no one told the family why the cameras didn’t see anything.

“The car was running from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. If I saw a car running that long, I would have investigated it.”

Family: Amazon worker outside seven hours before body discovered [The News Journal]

The computers have won. At least the computers in about 1.9 million Toyota Prius vehicles have won, as the company says it’s recalling that number of vehicles to fix a software glitch that could cause the cars to slow down or completely stop.

That’s not an insignificant number, points out Bloomberg News — it’s more than half the Prius cars ever sold, and includes cars made around the world since March 2009, according to a Toyota spokesman. About 700,000 of those recalled Prius vehicles are in the U.S.

Since the cars were first released in 1997 there have been about 3.6 million vehicles delivered worldwide .

The glitchy software can also cause some parts to overheat in certain scenarios like when you’re accelerating from a stopped position, a spokesman said. The car then goes into a failsafe mode that allows you to drive but at reduced power. Sometimes this system can totally shut down and stop the car.

In an announcement on the corporate site, Toyota says there haven’t been any accidents or injuries reported due to the software issue.

Separate from the Prius recall, Toyota is also recalling about 260,000 other vehicles in the U.S. to address a different issue with the 2012 and 2013 model years of the Toyota Tacoma pickup, the Lexus RX 350 sport utility vehicle and the 2012 Toyota RAV4 SUV.

Owners of affected vehicles will receive a software update free of charge and will be notified by first class mail when the dealers are ready with the software updates. Check out http://www.toyota.com/recall or call the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331 for more information.

Lexus customers can visit http://www.lexus.com/recall or call the Lexus Customer Satisfaction Center at 1-800-25-LEXUS (1-800-255-3987).

Toyota to Recall 1.9 Million Priuses to Update Software [Bloomberg News]

Three Nokesville churches burglarized in one night Washington Post Three churches in Nokesville were burglarized in one night earlier this week. Police say one burglar or a group of burglars was likely behind all three crimes. An undisclosed amount of money was stolen from Victory Baptist Church on Aden Road and from ... and more »

- Soggy Britain is being soaked again.

- A sinkhole collapsed part of the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky on Wednesday, damaging eight cars but not shutting down the building.

- The taint of corruption followed India's Olympic athletes everywhere in Sochi. They were not allowed to enter the Olympic stadium marching under the Indian flag. They were warned the national anthem would not play if they won any medals.

- The Augusta County Sheriff's Office is investigating an unusual theft: $250 worth of bull semen.

A federal employee and Ticketbuster each failed before finally getting a plainly erroneous parking ticket overturned.

Star Sand

If you made a beach using grains the proportionate size of the stars in the Milky Way, what would that beach look like?

Jeff Wartes

Sand is interesting.^{[Citation needed]}

"Are there more grains of sand than stars in the sky?" is a popular question which has been tackled by many people. The upshot is that there are probably more stars in the visible universe than grains of sand on all of Earth's beaches.

When people do those calculations, they often dig up some good data on the number of stars, then do some hand-waving about sand grain size to come up with a number for the sand grains on Earth.[1]From a practical point of view, geology and soil science are more complicated than astrophysics. We're not going to tackle that issue today, but to answer Jeff's question, we do need to figure out what the deal with sand is.[2]"i like sand because i don't really know what it is and there's so many of it"

—@darth__mouth Specifically, we need to have some idea of what grain sizes correspond to clay, silt, fine sand, coarse sand, and gravel, so we can understand how our galaxy would look and feel if it were a beach.[3]Instead of just containing a bunch of them.

Fortunately, there's a wonderful chart by the US Geologic Survey that answers all these questions and more. For some reason, I find this chart very satisfying—it's like the erosion geology edition of the electromagnetic spectrum chart.

According to surveys of sand,[4]There are apparently lots of them. the grains found on beaches tend to run from 0.2mm to 0.5mm (with the finest layers on top). This corresponds to medium-to-coarse sand in the chart. The individual grains are about this big:

If we assume the Sun corresponds to a typical sand grain, then multiply by the number of stars in the galaxy, we come up with a large sandbox worth of sand.[5]I mean, you come up with a bunch of numbers, but imagination turns them into a sandbox.

However, this is wrong. The reason: Stars aren't all the same size.

There are a number of widely-circulated YouTube videos comparing star sizes. They do a good job of getting across just how staggeringly large some stars are. Although it's easy to get lost in the videos and lose track of scale, it's clear that some of the grains in our sandbox universe would be more like boulders.

Here's how the main-sequence[6]The stars in the main part of their fuel-burning lifecycle. star-sand grains look:

They mostly fall into the "sand" category, though the larger Daft Punk stars cross the line into "granules" or "small pebbles".

However, that's just the main sequence stars. Dying stars get much, much bigger.

When a star runs out of fuel, it expands into a red giant. Even ordinary stars can produce huge red giants, but when a star that's already massive enters this phase, it can become a true monster. These red supergiants are the largest stars in the universe.

These beachball-sized sand stars would be rare, but the grape-sized and baseball-sized red giants are relatively common. While they're not nearly as abundant as Sun-like stars or red dwarfs, their huge volume means that they'd constitute the bulk of our sand. We would have a large sandbox worth of grains ... along with a field of gravel that went on for miles.

The little sand patch would contain 99% of the pile's individual grains, but less than 1% of its total volume. Our Sun isn't a grain of sand on a soft galactic beach; instead, the Milky Way is a field of boulders with some sand in between.

But, as with the real Earth seashore, it's the rare little stretches of sand between the rocks where all the fun seems to happen.

 

Millions of Graco child safety seats may have a serious problem: their buckles may not release if there happens to be any food or drink buildup in the latch. If you’ve ever met a small child or remember being one, you know that this could be an issue. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and chid products manufacturer Graco have officially recalled convertible car seats that can be used for rear-facing infants under 30 pounds and front-facing infants and toddlers. Affected seats were produced and sold between 2009 and the middle of 2013.

Recalled convertible seats include the following: Comfort Sport, Cozy Cline, Classic Ride 50, Head Wise, My Ride 65, My Ride 65 with Safety Surround, My Ride 70, Size 4 Me 70, and Smart Seat.

Recalled toddler/child safety seats include the Argos 70, Nautilus, and Nautilus Edge.

NHTSA said in a statement to media outlets that Graco should recall an additional 1.8 million rear-facing infant seats that also have the same buckles. These seats include the Snugride, Snugride 30 Snugride 32, Infant Safe Seat-Step 1, Snugride 35, Tuetonia 35, and Snugride Click Connect 40. While the company has not issued a manufacturer recall on these seats, they will replace the buckle if the customer requests it.

So far, the company has not issued an official recall, so parents will have to contact the company on their own to get new buckles.

Harness Buckle Recall – 2014 Announcement [Graco]
Details of the Graco child seat recall [Associated Press]

If day-old, reheated cheese sticks and stale, slightly peppered Doritos had a baby it would be 7-Eleven’s new Doritos Loaded snack we told you about this morning.

It took little prodding to get me to walk the three blocks from my Consumerist nook in Washington D.C. to the 7-Eleven where a Twitter user first broke the news about the new snack.

I love cheese sticks and I love Doritos. So, what’s not to like about the new “warm cheese snack” being tested at 7-Eleven? Plenty, there is plenty not to like.

There’s probably a reason it’s just called a “warm cheese snack” and not melty, gooey goodness that God blessed us with. Because I’m not sure he’d give this concoction his stamp of approval.

At first glance Doritos Loaded looks like any other cheese stick, just in the typical Doritos’ triangular form. The anticipation was almost too much to handle, and then I took my first bite.

I was thoroughly underwhelmed and the texture – the texture was not appetizing. Then you look at the inside: just a glob of mushy cheese with a rim of Doritos color.

Sure there’s a hint of nacho cheese flavored Doritos and there’s something that is reminiscent of cheese. But here’s what it really tastes like: a reheated, damp cheese stick with a sprinkle of Doritos flavor and pepper.

But in no way did my package of Doritos Loaded taste anything like “Nacho Cheese Doritos dipped in queso”, as Kevin described the snack to Yahoo.

Yahoo reports the snack hit the warmer two weeks ago and is being tested at three Washington D.C.-area 7-Elevens.

I won’t be trying the Doritos Loaded again, that is unless I’m coming home from an all-night bar crawl and in desperate need of a quick kind of-cheese snack. Maybe my palette will be more forgiving, then.

In a move that could (hopefully) have a positive ripple effect on the rest of the fast food industry, Chick fil-A announced today that it will phase out the use of chickens raised using medically unnecessary antibiotics over the next five years.

Some smaller restaurants and grocery stores have previously complained that there aren’t enough chicken farms out there producing antibiotic-free poultry. Many have been calling on larger fast food and family restaurant chains to demand drug-free birds, thus forcing producers to change how they raise their chickens. A company the size of Chick fil-A making such a commitment could go a long way toward shifting the level of demand.

“A shift this significant will take some time, as it requires changes along every point of the supply chain – from the hatchery to the processing plant,” said Tim Tassopoulos, executive vice president of operations of Chick- fil-A in a statement. “Our suppliers are committed, and we pledge to have this conversion complete within five years or sooner based on supply chain readiness.”

The chain plans to provide quarterly updates on its website starting in 2015 so that interested consumers can see how much progress is being made.

For decades, poultry, pig, and cattle farmers have been providing their livestock with medically unnecessary antibiotics, often for the sole purpose of encouraging tissue growth. In some cases, the drugs were given as a prophylactic to prevent against the spread of disease in particularly confined and/or filthy conditions.

Either way, study after study has demonstrated that the over-use of these antibiotics has resulted in the development of drug-resistant pathogens. Additionally, it’s believed that these antibiotics have made their way into the systems of the humans who eat meat from these animals.

After decades of inaction — and only after a lawsuit sought to compel the agency to act on the orders of Congress — the FDA recently introduced voluntary guidelines that asked drug companies to stop selling antibiotics to farmers for non-medical uses.

Critics, including Consumerist, have pointed out that all this toothless guidance does is make farmers change the reason they buy the drugs; it has no effect on whether they are used or not.

Farm animal-related purchases account for half of the antibiotics purchased in the U.S. each year, but reps for the largest drug companies have stated that the FDA guidelines will have no significant impact on their bottom lines.

For its part, Chick-fil-A says it is asking its chicken suppliers to work with the USDA to verify that no antibiotics are administered at any point.

The folks Keep Antibiotics Working, a group that seeks to limit the use of these drugs on farm animals, says in a statement to Consumerist that it is happy with Chick fil-A’s announcement.

“In the wake of the Foster Farms Salmonella outbreak linked to antibiotic-resistant chicken, it seems ever clearer that what is good for public health is also good for business — in the long term,” says KAW, which points to the financial success of Chipotle, one of the few chains to take a stance against antibiotics. “Consumer expectations are changing, and the routine use of antibiotics to raise animals is no longer acceptable. We hope that Chick-fil-A’s transition will occur sooner than 5 years from now, and anticipate that other restaurants will follow.”

It’s always a bit of a shocking event when the lion and the lamb go quietly walking around together like they’re meant to be together. Which is why it’s a bit of a head scratcher to hear that Mozilla — the company that once ticked off the advertising industry by announcing plans to test a patch to block third party cookies by default — will now be displaying ads right from inside its browser.

Last year a top lobbyist from the Interactive Advertising Bureau called Mozilla’s default block on third-party ads a “nuclear strike” on the industry, AdAge points out, but the two groups are certainly a bit friendlier now: Mozilla says in a blog post today that it’ll start selling ads that display right in the Firefox browser… and it made the big reveal at the annual IAB conference.

These ads won’t just pop up or meander alongside whichever page you’re viewing, but when a new user opens a fresh tab in Firefox they’ll see suggestions for pre-packaged content in the “directory tiles.” Before now, those spaces stayed blank until they eventually became populated with things you like and sites you’ve visited over time.

The whole shebang has been dubbed “Directory Tiles,” non-profit Mozilla writes in the post:

Directory Tiles will instead suggest pre-packaged content for first-time users. Some of these tile placements will be from the Mozilla ecosystem, some will be popular websites in a given geographic location, and some will be sponsored content from hand-picked partners to help support Mozilla’s pursuit of our mission. The sponsored tiles will be clearly labeled as such, while still leading to content we think users will enjoy.

Thus far there’s no word on which advertising partners will be jumping in with Mozilla from the start, but the company says it’s looking to date around.

“We are looking to partner with like-minded content owners and creators, such as leading publishers and curators as well as innovative advertising agencies,” a spokesperson told AdAge.

Publisher Transformation with Users at the Center [Mozilla Company Blog]
Mozilla To Sell Ads In Firefox Web Browser [AdAge]

Correction: This story originally stated, incorrectly, that Mozilla had blocked third-party ads by default. According to Mozilla, the organization was testing a patch that blocked third-party cookies, but it was never the default in the main Firefox browser, and it was not the ads themselves that were blocked. Mozilla states that they are continuing to test the patch “as part of a number of proposals to give users more control over their online experience.” We regret the error.

Anyone who doesn’t believe that smell sells has clearly never spent a year living in an apartment immediately above a local gourmet bakery. Who can resist the smell of freshly-baked bread first thing in the morning? Nobody, that’s who. Scent is a powerful trigger.

But now science is finding that you don’t actually need to smell something for the smell-effect to entice you. Imagining that bakery will apparently make you drool just as much as standing right next to it will.

A study published in the Journal of Consumer Research (PDF) found that subjects presented with a picture of chocolate cake salivated equally when either actually handed something with chocolate cake smell, or encouraged to imagine the chocolate cake smell.

The researchers liken the effect to that of a visualization exercise, and call it “smellization.” (Yes, really.)

As the scientists found, the smellization effect cannot exist in a vacuum; it needs visual triggers. Like, say, a photo of delicious chocolate cake, and a tagline about delicious chocolate cake. Mmm, cake:

In one study, participants viewed the advertising tagline, “Feel like a chocolate cake?” Some participants were shown just the tagline and others were shown the tagline accompanied by a photo of a chocolate cake. The participants were then
asked to either smell a sachet with the fragrance of chocolate cake, imagine the scent of chocolate cake, or neither.

As the researchers expected, smelling the cake increased salivation for all participants. They did, however, note an increase in salivation in participants who viewed the advertisement containing both the photo and the tagline when the cake smell was completely removed (compared to people who just viewed the tagline).

The upshot of all that olfactory-based literal drooling? Those who do it also drool over products in a somewhat more metaphorical sense. An item for which consumers literally salivate is one they both buy and consume in larger quantities. So if you’re trying to cut back on the cookies, do yourself a favor and don’t think about how they smell next time you see an ad.

The battle for a maintaining relative amount peace and quiet on commercial airlines moved on to the next stage this afternoon after a Congressional committee voted to advance a piece of legislation that would ban the in-flight use of the “phone” part of your cellphones.

The bill, dubbed Tap, Don’t Talk, but officially called the — deep breath — Prohibiting In-Flight Voice Communications on Mobile Wireless Devices Act of 2013 would do exactly what the title implies: “prohibit an individual on an aircraft from engaging in voice communications using a mobile communications device during a flight of that aircraft in scheduled passenger interstate or intrastate air transportation.”

Introduced by Congressman Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania and co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of 29 members of Congress, the legislation does include exceptions to the rule for members of the flight crew, flight attendants, and federal law enforcement officers.

Under current regulations, such a ban would be redundant, as FCC rules put in place more than 20 years ago forbid the use of wireless devices for voice or text communications during flight.

However, in December 2013 the FCC began the process of reviewing this antiquated regulation to see if it’s time to finally allow passengers to make in-flight voice calls with their wireless devices.

A poll of thousands of Consumerist readers found that only 6% of you think voice calls should be allowed without exception on planes, while nearly 76% voted that in-flight cellphone calls should continue to be forbidden.

And they weren’t alone in that sentiment. Citing concerns voiced by consumers, pilots, flight attendants and lawmakers, Transportation Secretary Anthony “Double X” Foxx issued a statement in December saying the DOT would consider a cellphone ban of its own if the FCC lifted the regulations on voice communications.

In an opinion piece for The Hill, Rep. Shuster explains his reasoning for introducing the legislation:

“We frequently find ourselves unwilling spectators to what were once private conversations. Today, when we go out to eat, jump in an elevator, or just walk down the street, we commonly run into other people who are talking on the phone. Usually, when we find ourselves forced to eavesdrop on a phone conversation that’s too loud, too close, or too personal, we can just walk away… However, for an airline passenger, walking away is not an option. When flying at 30,000 feet, there’s nowhere else to go.”

If the bill doesn’t pass, and the FAA doesn’t enact its own ban on voice communications, it would be left up to the airlines to decide whether they want to enable wireless voice calls on their flights.

While all the major carriers applauded recent FAA changes that allowed the use of wireless devices for accessing the Internet during flights, the CEOs of Delta and Southwest have said they do not want cellphone chatter on their flights.

Of course, like all airline-related matters, money talks and those opinions might change if the airline operators realize they can charge wireless users a hefty fee for being able to gab loudly with people on the ground.

In somewhat related news, the FAA clarified today that pilots’ personal use of wireless devices in the cockpit is forbidden. This announcement comes amid growing concern that some pilots are being distracted by non-work uses of the tablets and computers they now use in place of flight manuals.

The always rising cost of tuition and the number of students graduating college with significant debt might be enough to turn some away from getting a college education. But a new study by the Pew Charitable Trust found that not going to college could be an even more expensive decision.

Pew’s latest research, The Rising Cost of Not Going to College, outlines a number of reason why attending college is a good investment for Millennials. Millennials are defined as those born after 1980, however, when looking at economic situations Pew surveyed those ages 25 to 32.

The earnings gap between Millennials with a college degree and those with only a high school diploma is currently the highest it’s ever been. Millennials with a Bachelor’s degree or more earn a median income of $45,500 per year. That’s $17,500 more than their counterparts with only a high school diploma. The gap is $1,720 more than it was for previous generation.

Additionally, Millennials with only a high school diploma are currently faring far worse in terms of their economic situation than those in earlier generations who chose not to attend college. The study found that 22% of Millennials with just a high school diploma currently live in poverty, while only 15% of Gen Xers with only a high school lived in poverty at the same age. The Gen Xer data is based on a survey conducted in 1995 of people ages 25 to 32.

Even with the cost of attended college on the rise, 62% of Millennials who received a Bachelor’s degree or more said going to college has paid off.

In terms of employment after college or high school, those with degrees were more likely to find their position satisfying. College-educated Millennials said they have a career path and that their education was “very useful” in preparing them for a job.

But it’s never too late to return to school. The study found that 28% of those who have not obtained a Bachelor’s degree have plans to return to school.

The Rising Cost of Not Going To College [Pew Charitable Trusts]

Bring up white chocolate to most people and you’ll likely get a nose wrinkle and a, “Who eats white chocolate?”* Seriously — that just happened to me within the hour when discussing this post. But the answer is Brazil, for starters, along with a bunch of other countries where the white chocolate business is booming (even though it’s not reeeally chocolate).

Almost $1.5 billion worth of white chocolate was chomped down worldwide last year, notes Quartz with a nifty little infographic of who’s consuming which kinds of chocolate. The United States, United Kingdom and Brazil alone consumed over $700 million worth.

Of course there are those who will give you the side-eye when you mention the stuff, likely because it’s not actually chocolate when it all comes down to it: There aren’t any cocoa solids in white chocolate, just fatty cocoa butter, which is a byproduct of processing cocoa.

Heaping in tons of sugar and fat are just some of the tactics chocolate makers used to convince naysayers to eat white chocolate, prompting government to get involved. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration now says that in order to be called “white chocolate,” it must have at least 20% cocoa butter, 14% milk solids and less than 56% sugar.

Don’t even try bringing white chocolate up to Canada or over to Greece though — they’ve apparently never seen the gloriousness of this classic ’80s commercial (which yes, we’re quite fond of):

Or even better, the cover by one of the first bands ever to enter my consciousness, Faith No More:

*Here’s where I apologize to people who really do love white chocolate, including my colleague, Chris Morran. I’m sure your love is genuine, I just… I can’t. 

Charts: Where in the world people actually like white chocolate [Quartz]

Heads-up to everyone in a couple: Valentine’s Day is Friday and some of you will be expected to give some sort of gift to your loved ones. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with chocolates, jewelry, or flowers, but that special someone in your life is probably worth a little creativity and planning… right?

(Plus, if there is anything we’ve learned about floral delivery services is that you don’t always get what you pay for.)

Sure, you can always plan a last-minute romantic dinner under the Golden Arches, but your partner may not be all that impressed.

Yes, you’re running out of time. But fear not, Consumerist readers.

Here are some creative and inexpensive ways to not suck at Valentine’s Day giving.

1. Profess Your Love: Scream to the world how special your partner is with a personalized web site. For as little as $10, you can buy and register a domain name. Stick a dot-com or dot-net on the end of your two names together, or try ilovehernamehere.com. Upload some photos and a romantic Valentine’s Day message, then post the link on Facebook to show your partner’s friends how creative you are. You can even add a private password-protected page on the site for your partner’s eyes only. (We’ll leave content ideas for that page up to you.)

2. Not Kid Stuff: Think of those coupon books kids make as gifts for their parents. You know, the ones where each coupon promises to help with a different chore? Your “coupons” don’t have to promise you’ll do the laundry or clean the bathroom (well, they can — you know what pleases your partner), but instead, get a little more up close and personal. Promise a massage, a home-cooked meal or something a little more, um, personal, and your recipient can redeem the coupons at any time. We recommend you try not to hide too many conditions in the fine print.

3. An experience: Is there something your partner has been wanting to do but you’ve resisted? Now’s your time to show him or her that you’re putting their needs first. Buy tickets for that sporting event, opera, ballet, or concert that you’ve been avoiding. Or try something out-of-the-box: dinner at the local haunted restaurant, the circus, or a local walking tour.

4. A Picnic: Take a picnic blanket — or a sheet will do — and set up a romantic picnic in your living room. Add finger food that you can serve to your loved one, and maybe a few adult beverages.

5. A treasure hunt: Create clues and hide them around the house — or in public places — directing your loved one to a special treasure. Exactly what they find at the end of the hunt, of course, is up to you. It could be as simple as finding a love note or a bottle of wine and two glasses.

6. Pamper Him/Her: Go crazy with a DIY spa day. Start with a homemade skin treatment or exfoliating mask. You only need some veggies and other ingredients that are probably already in your kitchen. Next, give a home manicure and pedicure — yes, for the guys too — and no, boys, it doesn’t matter if you suck at painting nails. Then comes the bubble bath and a nice long massage.

7. A song: Most couples have a special song or two, so why not give your loved one a live performance? If you have a friend with a guitar, even better, but this works perfectly well a cappella. If you’re not shy — or maybe, especially if you’re shy — do it in public. If you’re feeling poetic, why not write an original song? Okay, fine. You can always just pull a Lloyd Dobler, which also gets you out of having to actually sing.

8. Photo Gifts: If you’ve been with your partner a while, you probably have a bunch of great photos, but they’re all sitting on your hard drive. Make some prints of special moments of the two of you together and buy a few frames. Gift complete. Or, take it a step further and create a calendar — you can find lots of web sites that will do this, or stop by your local do-everything pharmacy or office supply store to place your order. The same retailers will also craft a collage of photos on canvas. Just like pricey artwork, but you choose your moments from your photo library, and they come ready-to-hang. Add in some picture hooks and you’re ready to go.

9. Basket of Joy: Hit the dollar store and grab one of those baskets made famous by our holiday shopping post and fill it with goodies — even add some of the ideas from this column — a special framed photo, some massage oil… use your imagination.

Come on, readers, help out your fellow last-minute gift planners, and share your gift ideas in our comments section.

Have a topic you’d like to see covered in How To Not Suck? Or maybe you’re an expert who would like to share your insight with Consumerist readers? Send us a note at notsuck@consumerist.com.

You can read Karin Price Mueller’s stories for The Star-Ledger at NJ.com, follow her on Facebook, and on Twitter @kpmueller.

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How To Not Suck… At Merging Your Money When You Marry
How To Not Suck… At Borrowing For College
How To Not Suck… At Saving For College
How To Not Suck… At Pre-Paying For Your Funeral
How To Not Suck… At Making Financial New Year’s Resolutions
How To Not Suck… At Last-Minute Christmas Gifting
How To Not Suck… At Saving For The Holidays
How To Not Suck… At Charitable Giving
How To Not Suck… At Disputing Credit Report Errors
How To Not Suck… At Lowering Your Utility Bills
How To Not Suck… At Home Inspections
How To Not Suck… At Understanding Credit Card Rewards
How To Not Suck… At Getting Ready For Tax Season
How To Not Suck… At Picking A Retirement Plan
How To Not Suck… At Deciding When To DIY
How To Not Suck… At Getting Out Of Debt
How To Not Suck… At First Year College Budgets

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