Herding Cats: Our Favorite Savings Stories for the Week of September 6th

In honor of Sara's post on school bands, I decided to post a collection of blog posts that dealt with the topic of school or...uh, bands. Or music. How does this have anything to do with finance? Patience, grasshopper, patience!

We may be stretching it a bit here, but here's this week's round-up of band geek inspired finance stories:

• MainStreet: Apples Freshens iPods/iTunes - The latest Apple announcement was such big news that even avowed Mac-hater Derek (OK, he really doesn't HATE Macs, he just likes to give me and Sara a hard time...) felt compelled to blog about it. The new iPod nano now comes with a built-in video camera, sound recording and speaker as well as built-in microphone, a pedometer, a 2.2-inch display, an FM radio tuner, radar detector, cell phone jammer and sonar. OK, I made up the last three--but geez! My nano cost $50 more back in the day than this new version does and it... plays music. Time to upgrade!

• WalletPop: Will Attending a Less Selective College Make Your Kid Drop Out? - That's the question posed by Zac Bissonette in response to data showing that students who attend less-selective schools are more likely to drop out. His theory: it all comes down to economics.

• The Big Money: Don't Let Me Down - Harold Goldberg writes about how the music video game industry is counting on the success of the new Beatles Rock Band. Electronic Arts is hoping the game is its "Ticket to Ride" as gamers sign up for the "Magical Mystery Tour" with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and make it to the top of "The Long and Winding Road" instead of sinking to the bottom like a "Yellow Submarine."

• SmartMoney: 10 Ways to Invest in Modern Beatlemania - Speaking of the Fab Four, SmartMoney posts about how investors can buy shares in companies involved in "Beatles businesses" or put money toward assets touched by the band--including real estate and philanthropy. It's an interesting way to recapture the era, but if anyone tries to sell you the shoes Paul McCartney wore on the cover of Abbey Road, take a pass.

• FiveCentNickel: Five Lowest Paying College Majors - Hmm, FiveCentNickel seems a bit down on higher ed. In addition to this list of majors which won't put you in the Warren Buffet-sphere of earnings (surprisingly mine--English--didn't even make the top ten...), they also posted about why a fancy college degree isn't worth it. Me? I graduated from WVU, which was ranked number ten on Playboy's Top Party Schools. Sara's alma mater (UWM) was ranked number six.
  

• The Big Money: Welcome to Yahoo U!: Forget the fancy, high-priced ivy league school; this post theorizes that the internet will kill off the brick & mortar university just like it did with newspapers. Yeah, it might be quicker, cheaper and easier to get an online degree--but what about the keg parties?