Disney's big new attraction this year? The same as the media's: Barack Obama.

Walt Disney World in Orlando, hunkering down for the economic storm, is in the rare position of not having any major attractions under construction. Instead, its big summer draw, opened July 3, is the addition of President Barack Obama to the climax of its seminal Hall of Presidents attraction at the Magic Kingdom.

Some people think it's already pretty outrageous that a one-day ticket to a single Disney park will hit you for nearly $80. But when you're budgeting for your big summer vacation, you can't assume that's the end of your daily expenses when you're at a theme park.

Like the airlines, the amusement parks have learned that the way to pad the bottom line is to hit customers with a shower of microcharges. Prepare yourself to be taken for a ride:

Lockers
Until recently, these were optional. If you didn't use the ones by the front gate, you could usually leave your stuff in a bundle on the loading platform of whatever ride you're on and pick it up 180 seconds later when your vehicle came back into the station.

But in the past few years, seizing another income opportunity (and avoiding potential theft/bonked-head lawsuits), more parks now require riders to put their loose items in a locker. If you try entering a line at Six Flags with a bag -- or that stuffed animal you won -- you'll be directed to a bank of money-munching lockers nearby, where you'll pay $1 every time you ride something, with a two-hour limit for each.

Sometimes when you need to get something done, asking just won't cut it. As a company that moves around plenty of money, Paypal may know this better than anyone ... which is possibly why it launched a new service called Do Stuff For Money.

Its premise is simple: Post an offer to a friend to do something, in exchange for money, which you'll then presumably pay with Paypal.

Making an offer is easy enough: simply enter your name and the friend you want to do your bidding, as well as the task at hand, and you're good to go. You can email your generous offer direct to your friend, or send it via Facebook, where it's posted on your wall, and makes the offer a little more public.

Okay, I know some might think this post belongs in the paranoia files, but home security is practical. More importantly, it's increasingly affordable, as companies offer do-it-yourself kits.

So what's a couple hundred dollars to protect your home and catch bad-guys? If you're not convinced, watch this incredible video captured by a Ft. Lauderdale woman who, while at work, caught young men breaking into her home via a live security-video-feed. It's a classic cops and robbers scene, and a perfect example that these handy-home cams aren't just for nanny-stalkers.

The Classic: The Teddy-Bear Nanny Cam
This cuddly, little fluff-filled creature isn't just for busting lazy babysitters anymore. Position these little cuties near doors and windows to get the best footage of crooks. It's obviously not so much a deterrent, but it can help bring criminals to justice and, like the Ft. Lauderdale example, you may be able to nab unwanted visitors in time.
Price: $199 from SpyAssociates

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Gannett Co., the largest newspaper company in the country, will lay off another 1,000 (1,400 according to Gawker) of its 41,500 employees to help combat declining revenues.

In the scheme of things, that's about 2%, an insignificant number, but it's one more piece of bad news about an industry that just can't seem to pull itself out of a hole.

Lots of things have been said about the failing newspaper industry, in large part because so many of us word wranglers have newspaper backgrounds and can't restrain ourselves. It's frustrating to see the business we know and love go down the drain.

Today we want to tell you about a new problem sweeping the nation, it's not the swine flu and it's not an addiction to Twilight books but something far more dangerous; IOS.

What is this?

Information Overload Syndrome is a condition affecting business people everywhere. It is, apprently, the result of trying to manage 281 Exabytes (that's eighteen zeros) of non-stop information that comes in form of emails, attachments, text messages, thought-starters and FYIs. As a result, sufferers of IOS will find accomplishing the simplest of everyday tasks nearly impossible.

The problem we are facing is that the human brain can only hold so much information in a logical order at any given time, leaving many important things, like your credit card's due date, to slip into the ether.

Avoiding Information Overload Syndrome won't be easy but the folks at Xerox want to give one WalletPop reader a chance to kick start their fight against IOS with a $400 Spafinder gift certificate. How do you get this? You watch the video below and leave a comment to be entered for the sweepstakes. We'll take entries from July 1 until July 27. See below for rules.

Citysearch has a Web site, 3buckbites.com, that is a great way to find quick bites to eat for $3.99 or less while out on the town.

Users submit the cheap eats they've come across at 19 major cities, and then some, across America.

It's easy enough to use and I can see the advantage of it when out looking for a quick place nearby to grab something for lunch or happy hour.

Most of the food is fast food that must be high in fat, calories and everything else that is bad for your heart. Take a look at some of the cheap food that users recommend: $3.75 for a cheesy sloppy jo in Illinois, chocolate-covered bacon for $1 in New York, crispy garlic ribs for $3.99 in California, and a $2.50 beef and egg taco in Portland.

Many of us -- this blogger included -- like the idea of whizzing past commercials to get back to our favorite programs sooner, but put up with having our viewing interrupted by Madison Avenue because we're resistant to the idea of shelling out a couple hundred bucks for a digital video recorder.

Soon, though, those days of being forced to sit through talking animals and how-did-that-get-stuck-in-my-head jingles might be over, thanks to the Supreme Court. Yes, that Supreme Court.

While the nation's highest justices don't normally insert themselves into our TV habits (thankfully -- I'd hate to be judged for my addictions to Hell's Kitchen or Law & Order: SVU), in this case, it's a welcome involvement.

Let's cue up a Fred Savage-era voiceover and go back to when this all began. In 2006, New York cable operator Cablevision developed what it called "network" DVR. This would let viewers store programs for later viewing on the cable company's servers rather than in a DVR box on their set top. Think of it as the equivalent of using a Web-based e-mail program; all of your information is housed in some distant server, not in your computer itself.

The implications are obvious: With this technology, any TV could record and play back shows, provided you were paying Cablevision for digital cable service. No pricey box, no installation fees or headaches. Now, take one guess who was not a fan of this new development. That's right: the people who currently make money forcing you to watch those commercials.

Parents and gamers coming of age may be in for a break later this year, as it is rumored that both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 will have price cuts. Technology site Ars Technica claims that both Sony and Microsoft will drop their prices in order to better compete with the Nintendo Wii, later this year.

While there are always rumors about price drops in the video game market, Joystiq.com points out that the Mole at Ars Technica has a solid reputation in knowing what's going on in the industry.

On top of the Mole's past performance, history shows that it's time for another price drop, and a significant one at that. The Xbox 360 has already seen three price drops, which have given it an edge over the pricier PlayStation 3; but it hasn't yet reached the halfway price point that its predecessor, the Xbox, did by the fourth year of its release.

Given Microsoft's focus on digital downloads, I'd venture a guess that Microsoft will try to offer an Xbox 360 with hard drive for $199 -- half of what it cost when it launched in 2005. The Mole also predicts that Sony will be introducing a new, slimmer PlayStation 3, which will also cost less, although it's harder to estimate exactly how much less.

Drive without insurance? Then you'd better stay out of Ohio, where the state is considering a program that uses red-light cameras and insurance company databases to check passing traffic for uninsured motorists. The system would use license plate numbers to verify driver insurance. According to the Columbus Dispatch, officials in Chicago, who are considering the same system, from InsureNet of Novi, Michigan, think that such a program could generate $200 million in additional revenue for the Windy City.

When the system identifies an uninsured motorist, the driver would be sent a letter instructing him to take care of the problem. If he doesn't, a fine will soon follow. In Ohio, that fine is $125 for a first offense, $300 for a second and $550 for a third.

The system is already being provided to law enforcement, free of charge, so even those uninsured drivers who managed to dodge the cameras can be busted if they catch the attention of a local gendarme. The system can also provide them lien reports in real time.

I'm all for requiring drivers to carry insurance, but I'm not pleased by the prospect of insurance company databases being opened for InsureNet's searches. I can see how this would be a good deal for the insurance companies, because it will drive business their way. For the general public, however, this feels like another step toward a Big Brother future.

If you are planning a trip to Canada these days there's two important things you should remember -- first your passport and second to turn off all Internet access on your phone and data card.

Failure to do either of these could put quite the damper on your trip and as Adam Savage of Mythbusters found out cost $11,000.

After a recent trip to Canada AT&T sent Adam Savage a bill for a few hours of Internet usage totaling $11,000 and shut off his phone.

Why AT&T couldn't have simply shut off his data connection or sent him a text message in Canada, warning him about the increased fees before he accumulated enough to pay for four years of community college is beyond me.

Even though a kilobyte is a kilobyte is a kilobyte; these data charge horror stories pop up quite often.

Even though you can spit into Canada from several spots in the United States, AT&T has to pay a Canadian company to relay that data and it gets expensive, and quick. According to the AT&T World Packages page, depending on the country you are in and the prepaid plan you paid for, a megabyte of data could cost between $5-$20.

Before you leave the comfort of your hometown to venture off with your Web-enabled phone on any carrier, be sure to double check that you have turned off its data capabilities or you will be in for a big surprise on your next bill.

If you happen to have an iPhone you can check out these usage tips for traveling globally without breaking your bank from AT&T.

UPDATE: AT&T removed the charges from Adam's account after the incident became a trending topic on Twitter.

As if it wasn't bad enough that your hero is dead, can you imagine how it must feel to anyone who because of their devotion to Michael Jackson winds up with more spam than ever in their e-mail?

That's right. Now that the King of Pop is gone, con artists have begun sending out e-mails with offers for Michael Jackson merchandise. Eight hours after he died, in fact. Actually, I'm surprised they waited so long.

Their hope? That you'll reply to an offer, and then these crooks will know that your e-mail is legitimate, and they can sell your e-mail address to companies.

But if that isn't bad enough, Computerworld Security, which is warning about these spammers, predicts that eventually these e-mails will contain something to click on, which will unleash a virus and make your computer so slow and worthless that you'll never be able to listen to another Jackson tune on your PC again. Or at least until you get rid of the virus.

So while I know people are pretty savvy when it comes to spam and being hit with viruses, be careful out there.

While I learned some time back that Chicago's moniker as "The Windy City" refers to its hot-air-blowing politicians and not its actual, well, wind, it's still awesome to see the city's iconic tower making use of its iconic weather; and going green in the process.

Saying it's "taking sustainability to new heights" (groan), the Sears Tower will be installing fancy, minimalist wind turbines on its recessed rooftops. This is just a part of a five-year, $350 million project to renovate the building, with upgrades in the glass exterior, internal lighting, heating, cooling and elevator systems, and those turbines, which will provide power for the building's 4.5 million square feet of office and retail space.

Tuesday evening at 7:15pm at the Crowne Plaza Times Square, a group of media executives put down their cocktails, filed across Broadway as cops halted traffic, and stared back up at the blank hotel. There was a 10-second countdown, and suddenly, a vibrant video billboard appeared where a minute before, there seemed to be only empty space.

It was the New York unveiling of something called MediaMesh, an ingenious invention of LED lights strung unobtrusively across building exteriors. At first, the 783-square feet of woven stainless steel mesh, which upon closer inspection looks something like a pigeon net, seems innocuous, but at the flip of a switch, it turns into a giant TV screen.

Although it's been lurking online since March of last year, the website Oyster Hotel Reviews has seized this moment to alert the world that it has arrived. The timing is surely not accidental: Travel review website TripAdvisor.com, a rival, is battling bad press about deficiencies in its system.

Oyster gives hotel guidance, too, except there, readers don't enter the primary reviews. That's taken care of by a team of writers, mostly journalists, recruited by the site and sent to each hotel without announcing they were staying there. They take photos of the properties (about 50,000 "undoctored" images are online now) and expose the pros and cons ("nearly a million words" so far, say the site's administrators).