I've always found it much easier to meet people while we're enjoying recreation together; golf, whitewater rafting, bicycling, all put me in a convivial state of mind.

If you feel the same, and if you're looking for romance, you might wonder what kinds of recreation would offer you the best opportunity to find a mate? We have the answers, thanks to a study that the National Sporting Goods Association was kind enough to share with us.

Taking your honey out for Valentine's Day? A prix-fixe four-course special at one of Atlanta's finest restaurants, Aria, will set you back $85 per person BEFORE tax and tip.

Fear not, though; those of us of more modest means can still enjoy dining by candlelight at a southern restaurant famous for its unique menu: the Waffle House.

The Super Bowl is the only football game many people watch, and they don't gather to watch sweaty bodies collide; they are there to watch the commercials. And while the merchants pay millions of dollars for a minute of your time, it's not coming out of your pocket, right? Wrong.

If you bought one of every item advertised during this year's game that we could ascribe a dollar value to, you'd pay $163,827.25, which is $6,329.65 more than if you bought similar items from companies that don't advertise during the Super Bowl. Face it, dude; the money for the obscenely high salaries earned by the players comes right out of your pocket.

Granted, some of the difference in price between goods advertised during the Super Bowl and those that aren't could represent a difference in quality. However, I'm convinced that much of what we perceive as better quality is due to the brainwashing effect of incessant advertising.

Given that, here's how the frugal shopper can save some bucks when tempted by the Super Bowl ads to buy, buy, buy.

The products being advertised during the big game can be sorted into a few neat categories:

The Madoff debacle has many of us wondering just how so many sharp people made such a tragic mistake.

A pair of researchers from the University of Cambridge's Computer Loboratory recently released a report that explains just how we fall victim to scams like Madoff's: three-card monte, the ring reward rip-off, the money machine scam, and the shop phone call swindle. The key? Those darned inconvenient human emotions.

In their paper, Frank Stajano and Paul Wilson broke our vulnerabilities into seven principles:

I could see how the typical Hollywood star might be duped in a cattle investment scam, but Kiefer Sutherland? The man probably knows cows better than any other actor, since he's spent many a weekend chasing and roping them from horseback.

Unfortunately, this familiarity might have helped make him the perfect patsy for reputed scam artist Michael Wayne Carr. TMZ reports Carr has been charged with bilking Sutherland out of $869,000 in a cattle investment swindle.

Apparently Carr promised to deliver a windfall by buying Mexican cattle and importing them to the U.S., but all he really delivered was a load of bull. He's now charged with grand theft, embezzlement and other crimes.

Churches provide more than a path to religious fulfillment; for many, they are an important part of social life, and many a happy couple first met during worship. This begs the question, which religion or denomination would give you the best chance to find a mate?

The answer depends on what you seek in a mate. According to a survey of adults by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life:

In the era of real-time data, we no longer have to debate questions such as which cities in the U.S. have the most traffic congestion.

A new study by the GPS company Tele Atlas, using the data recorded by car-equipped Tom Tom GPS units, shows some surprising facts, such as the most congested big city is not L.A. or New York, but Seattle.

Other interesting findings:

It takes two people to execute a truly awful sale: a creepy vendor and a creepy buyer. Unfortunately, there must be enough creepy buyers who collect the letters, post cards, and other personal memorabilia of serial killers to keep creepy vendors like serialkillersink.com in business.

I'm at a loss to explain why anyone would pay $375 for a photocopy of Charlie Manson's 1969 driver's license, "perfect for framing for the ultimate Charles Manson fan!" Who in their right mind would be a fan of this murderer?

How about a two-page typed and signed letter from the Son of Sam killer, David Berkowitz, for $80? For creeps on a budget, how about $12 for a one-page letter from Michael Carneal, who killed three of his high school classmates while they were in a prayer circle?

Burger King, having saturated the kid's market with its many trinket giveaways, is now taking the first step toward bringing a fun house mentality to its adult customers by serving up suds with its Whoppers.

In Miami Beach, the chain will open a new version of its Whopper Bar concept next month, geared toward adults and the night life.

A new video ad for Grasshopper is designed to penetrate your shopping consciousness even while you fast-forward through commercials. Take it as a rather feeble attempt to counter the behavior that is going to have a huge, and detrimental, effect on video entertainment via the Internet and television.

Grasshopper, a company that offers virtual phone systems, has taken the approach that it is better to craft a commercial that can be fast-forwarded and still get across its message. The head of it's cartoon Grasshopper stays centered on the screen throughout the commercial, the sweet spot where you focus your attention while fast-forwarding.