Launched in 2015, Paribus is a service that auto-scans the email inbox associated with your online shopping accounts in order to monitor for price drops. Paribus looks at the invoices generated by online retailers, pulls the products that you have purchased and watches for price changes over the period of time that you are allowed to request a price adjustment.

It’s fairly common practice for online retailers to offer a price adjustment if the price falls within a week or two of making a purchase. However, very few people continue watching the price of a product that they have already purchased. That’s the beauty of Paribus; it monitors everything for you, basically a set it and forget service. Paribus does all the requesting of refunds as well, thus you just wait for refund alerts to hit your inbox.

Of course, Paribus doesn’t do all this for free. Paribus takes a 25 percent cut of any refund that it can find for you. However, no money will be requested from you if they can’t find any refunds. In addition, that figure can be reduced by 5 percent for each person you refer to the service, basically bringing it down to zero if you refer five people that sign up (Terms & Conditions).

Be aware that you have to supply Paribus with access to your email inbox. To avoid the security concern of supplying them access to a personal email address, we recommend linking Paribus to an email account specifically setup only for your online shopping. While Paribus claims they use multi-level security to keep intruders out of your email inbox, better safe than sorry by using a dummy account.

Paribus doesn’t support all online retailers, but it does support the big ones. Some of the supported retailers include Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, Newegg, Staples, Macy’s and Old Navy. You can find a full list here. It also supports the major email services including Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail.

You can read more about Paribus at the company’s site. There’s also a FAQ page if you have further questions. Here’s a short video below that explains it as well:

Want to save money after making an online purchase? Try Paribus

Summer is approaching: official road trip season! Whether you plan on traveling solo or with a van full of kids, here are some of the best apps to make sure your cross-country trip is a little easier, a bit more fun, and an experience you’ll never forget.

Getting There

iExit ($2.99, iOS or Android)

iExit tells you, in real time, when and where the nearest interstate exits are. It also tells you what you can expect to find at each exit (gas stations, lodging options, rest stops, restaurants, etc).

Gas Buddy (Free, iOS, Android)

A few cents difference per gallon might not seem like anything to worry about, but if you’re traveling thousands of miles it can add up super fast. This well-reviewed app will make it easy to find the cheapest fuel stops along the way to wherever you’re going.

Waze (Free, iOS, Android)

Waze is a navigation app sort of like Google Maps, but more user-based. In addition to giving you directions, it also shows real-time traffic updates provided by other Waze users. So if there’s heavy construction or an accident up ahead, you can find out before it’s too late and you’re stuck in the mess; especially helpful when you’re driving through an area you are completely unfamiliar with. There are rumors Facebook and Google are both trying to acquire it (for $1 billion!), so it must be pretty good.

In-Car Entertainment

Songza (Free, iOS, Android)

Good music is at the heart of any successful road trip; there’s just nothing like jamming out to your favorite tunes, windows rolled down, feet up on the dashboard. Songza is one of my favorite music apps because you can find playlists based on your mood/the occasion. They have lots of road trip mixes to choose from (Onward and Westward: Road Trip Music for the Prairies, Family Car Trip Mix, and 80’s One-Hit Wonders Road Trip Mix all sound pretty fun).

Stitcher Radio (iOS, Android)

For the intellectuals out there, this app gives you access to thousands of news shows  and podcasts (NPR, CNN, BBC, TedTalks, to name a few), and lets you “stitch” them together to make custom stations. A lot like Pandora, but for talk radio.

Road Trip Scavenger Hunt ($0.99, iOS, Android)

Here’s a nice little game for keeping kids entertained on long drives. For when you just can’t bear to listen to Finding Nemo playing from the back seat anymore.

FunBlast! Trivia (Free, iOS)

Really, any trivia app will do, as long as you have a friend/spouse/partner/whatever to play with.

Food and Out-of-Car Entertainment

Yelp (Free, iOS, Android)

The nice thing about the Yelp app is that it not only tells you where the nearest restaurants/bars are located, but whether or not they’re any good. Since it’s been around so long, lots of places have hundreds (some even thousands) of reviews. Even if it is sort of mandatory to have at least one really awful dining experience to laugh about, now they don’t all have to be bad. Here are 34 more food/restaurant apps worth checking out.

TapHunter (Free, iOS, Android)

One of my favorite My very favorite part of road tripping across the country is the chance the try local beers in a bunch of different cities. This app tells you the bars/brew pubs that have good craft beer on tap so you can plan your beer stops accordingly.

Oh, Ranger! Park Finder (Free, iOS, Android)

This app is great for when you just need a break from the car and the chance to stretch your legs. It not only shows you the closest parks, but tells you which ones are best for picnicking (or other activities), and which ones have playground for the kids to run around at.

Roadside America ($2.99, iOS)

This app tells you where all the weird/odd/hilarious roadside attractions are located along your route. Never miss another “world’s largest ball of twine” again.

Lodging

Camp Finder ($2.99, iOS, Android)

If you’re not planning on driving through the night, this is a great app for finding a place to pitch a tent. It shows state and national parks as well as privately owned campsites, and includes rates, user photos, reviews, and most importantly, how to get there from wherever you are.

Hotel Tonight (Free, iOS, Android)

There’s about a million hotel booking apps out there, but here’s one that offers deals on last-minute bookings — perfect for road trips where you can’t really know for sure when/where you’ll need a place to crash for the night.

Documenting all the Fun

Instagram (Free, iOS, Android)

If you don’t have Instagram already, it’s definitely a road trip (and life) must-have. I’ve tried a lot of different photo apps and, personally, I think Instagram is simply the best. Not only can you share your adventures with friends and family back at home, you can use the mapping feature to create a (literal) picture trail of your trip, and even easily make a photo book or memory box using all the photos you take. #Awesome.

Trip Journal ($2.99, iOS, Android)

Here’s a fun app that allows you to make a complete travel log of your trip, complete with geo-tagged photos and videos.

Diptic ($0.99, iOS, Android)

One of the best photo collage apps out there, Diptic lets you combine lots of individual pictures into one photo (so you don’t clog up everyone’s Facebook and Instagram feeds with your road trip pics). You can also add captions and filters. I have a couple free collage apps and, while they work, this one is definitely better (and well worth the extra dollar).

A Beautiful Mess ($0.99, iOS)

This is my favorite photo editing app for adding captions, borders and other little “extras” to my cell phone pictures. It’s consistently one of the top 20 paid apps for the iPhone, and will be available for the Android later this summer.

Hitting the Road? Here Are the Best Road Trip Apps

Amazon’s new Surprise! app needs to know something. Take a quick moment and evaluate whether any of these agree with you:

• You often receive passive aggressive text messages from family members “gently” reminding you that an anniversary, holiday or birthday is coming up.
• You’d rather just buy a gift card and get it over with, and you’re okay with getting gift cards in return.
• eCards are better than real cards, because trees.
• eCards are better than real cards, because animation.
• An eCard and a gift card are the peanut butter and jelly of the Internet.
• Amazon lives in your wallet.

If you nodded your head, then you’re in luck. Amazon will never let you forget to give somebody a gift. Ever again. The Surpise! app, just released on the app store currently sitting in your pocket or purse, does a number of things better than your brain. It keeps a calendar of gift-giving events, reminds you of those events and, finally, let’s you send an eCard packaged nice and tight with an Amazon gift card.

The calendar in Amazon’s iOS and Android Surprise! App.

eCards in Amazon’s iOS and Android Surprise! App.

Customization in Amazon’s iOS and Android Surprise! App.

Here’s the iOS version and here’s the Android version. The eCards are fairly simple at the moment, albeit with a small dose of customization. Users can insert photos, videos, audio and text into the templates. If the app is a success, expect a much more robust version in the future. And coming from the laziest among them, this thing is going to be a hit.

And for those who’ve long settled for the innocent shrug on those very special days, avert your eyes and make sure your parents never hear of this horrifying invention.

Amazon’s New Surprise! App Keeps the Laziest Gift Shoppers on Their Toes

Remember imagination? Remember being able to create entire worlds inside your head, make a telescope out of a simple paper towel roll, or a fearsome sword out of that same paper towel roll? Remember the innocence and limitless potential of youth, and all the wonder and joy that came with it?

Man, children are stupid.

Put down that paper towel roll, you look ridiculous! Play a video game, for pete’s sake, you have hundreds of swords to choose from, and all of them look better than your imaginary one. (The graphics inside our head are… outdated.)

But what if… and stay with me, here… what if you could have all the fun of playing outside, but without the hassle of imagining things? What if you could add video game elements like health bars and power-ups to actual running around?

The AppTag Laser Blaster — available via the Apple App Store and Google Play — describes itself as a “real world first person shooter.” And while it may sound strange, it’s actually pretty accurate. Stick your iPhone, iPod, or Galaxy (1-4) in the back of the gun — it will be your display screen, projecting the camera’s feed (which should be pretty close to your own perspective) and augmenting it with your stats: health bar, weapon, ammo, timer, etc. And then… run!

Your instincts will kick in at this point, as you set your digital crosshair to the onscreen enemy who is also your best friend standing a few feet away. What do you do if your friends are lame? Make like a middle-schooler going through puberty and play with yourself! The game also features an array of solo options and various arcade-style shooters.

But that’s not all! There’s also SWARM, what AppTag calls an MMORG (Massive Multiplayer Online Reality Gaming)! When a swarm of aliens attack Earth, it’s on you to defend it — you know, if you’re up for it. Receive updates specific to your city or town, and work with other players to eliminate the alien threat.

The great thing about the AppTag Laser Blaster is that it appeals to fans of first-person shooters as well as traditional laser tag. It gets your lazy ass off the couch, and really puts your hand-eye coordination to the test. We love augmented reality because real reality is just kind of… meh… and it’s about time an innovative company like Hex-3 did something great with it!

Shut Up and Take My Money: AppTag Laser Blaster

Without much fanfare, Apple has quietly announced a promotion that discounts ten popular apps down to $0.00, likely through the App Store’s birthday on July 10, 2013. In addition, some other developers are getting in on the action by discounting their apps down to zero as well.

We have included a full list with links for your perusal. Check out the selection of free apps below:

App Store Productivity

• Barefoot World Atlas (iPhone / iPad) – Interactive 3D globe that allows the user to explore the regions and countries of the world.
• Day One Journal (iPhone / iPad) – A journal for your mobile device, sleek design. Syncs using iCloud or Dropbox.
• How to Cook Everything (iPhone / iPad) – A great resource for someone that learning how to cook.
• Over (iPhone / iPad) – You can add gorgeous text and artwork to photos and share them on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr & Instagram.
• Traktor DJ (iPhone / iPad) – Excellent DJ software for the iPad.

App Store Games

• Badland (iPhone / iPad) – Sidescrolling action adventure platformer, design kind of reminds me of the Oddworld games
• Infinity Blade 2 (iPhone / iPad) – Very much like the original Infinity Blade, but with added RPG elements. You need 1.1GB free, btw.
• Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (iPhone / iPad) –  Indie adventure video game, reminds me of the 8-bit era.
• Tiny Wings (iPhone / iPad) – Combines the concept of Temple Run and the art of Braid for a relaxing, fun romp through the hills.
• Where’s My Water? (iPhone / iPad) – Created by Disney, this one is good for the kids. Lots of physics-based puzzles. Beware of in-app purchases.

Outside the Main Promotion:

• The Idiot Test 3 (iPhone) – Similar to the Moron Test, somewhat overly aggressive with the social sharing.
• Glow Puzzle (iPhone / iPad) – Puzzle game, requires logic.
• Wake n Shake Alarm Clock (iPhone) – Beautifully designed, somewhat sadistic alarm clock to help you wake up in the morning by requiring you to shake your phone.
• Knots 3D (iPhone / iPad) – Can teach you how to tie specific types of knots.
• Big Bad Soduku Book (iPhone / iPad) – Free Soduku puzzles, what’s not to like?
• Map My Ride+ (iPhone) – Great if you ride a bike and want to track a particular route.

Celebrate the App Store’s 5th Birthday with Free Apps from Apple

“You know I look good”

My phone is full of apps I’ve only used once or twice, or that I open up maybe every six months (maybe). I try to be judicious with what I download, but hey, they’re easy enough to delete that I don’t mind adding a less-than-useful app every once in a while.

But sometimes an app comes along so perfect, so useful, so delightful that I actually salivate at the thought of using it and can’t not download it instantly.

Today that app is Pizza Compass. It’s simple, clean, and easy to use. It’s a map, with a wedge of pizza that turns like a compass needle to point you to the nearest pizza restaurant. Of course, details and reviews of the pizza parlors are readily available and you can see more than just the nearest restaurant. Fact is, this app gets pizza in your face faster than any other out there. And the best part? It costs less than a buck over at the Apple App Store.

Never again will I wander the streets in search of a hot, satisfying meal in an unfamiliar city. Pizza Compass, you (you!) have made my life infinitely better.

Pizza Compass: You’ll Never Go Hungry Again