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By USNews.com We all love scoring great deals on Craigslist and Ebay, but many second-hand purchases are actually terrible deals. Stay clear of these 20 used items that will end up costing you money -- or even endanger your health. 1. Cribs and children's furniture: If there's any chance that you'll put your children at risk by buying used, just buy new. Used children's furniture, especially cribs, can be a safety hazard because you can't be certain of a potential recall or if the crib was installed correctly. (See also 7 Baby Items You Don't Need to Buy.) 2. Car seats: Even if a used car seat looks OK, damaged car seats aren't uncommon. Considering that safety technology improves every year -- and the fact that car seats can go for as little as $50 -- buying new is usually the better option. 3. Bicycle helmets: Usually, a crash would only crush the foam inside the helmet casing, so the damage to the helmet may not be visible. However, since helmets are m...

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Writer – Wed Jun 9, 5:05 pm ET CHICAGO – Doctors reported gains against nearly every form of cancer at a conference that ended this week. Yet when Will Thomas heard about an advance against prostate cancer, he wanted to know just one thing: "Is it a cure?" "I see billions and billions done on research, and it's all for treatment," said the Alabama man who has several friends with the disease. "When will they cure it?" Many people share his frustration. The top achievements reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology added an average of just two to six months of life. One pricey drug made headlines merely for delaying the time until ovarian cancer got worse. Progress has always been slow for cancer treatment. New therapies are tested on people who are so sick and out of options that any extension of life is considered a success. A cure is not usually possible. But some of the victories reported this week again...

SPACE.com Staff SPACE.com – Wed Jun 9, 6:00 pm ET The sun is about to get a lot more active, which could have ill effects on Earth. So to prepare, top sun scientists met Tuesday to discuss the best ways to protect Earth's satellites and other vital systems from the coming solar storms. Solar storms occur when sunspots on our star erupt and spew out flumes of charged particles that can damage power systems. The sun's activity typically follows an 11-year cycle, and it looks to be coming out of a slump and gearing up for an active period. "The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity," said Richard Fisher, head of NASA's Heliophysics Division. "At the same time, our technological society has developed an unprecedented sensitivity to solar storms. The intersection of these two issues is what we're getting together to discuss." Fisher and other experts met at the Space Weather E...

Rik Fairlie Tuesday, June 8, 2010 You've heard iPhone users gripe about their mammoth monthly charges -- but it's not just those with the fanciest smart phones who are paying a bundle. "The average consumer overspends by $300 a year," says Schwark Satyavolu of BillShrink.com, which helps consumers save on expenses. Knocking that much off your tab isn't hard, experts say: You can do it by changing your plan, your carrier, or the way you use your phone. CHANGE YOUR PLAN Adjusting your current plan is the easiest way to save. You don't even have to extend or terminate your contract. Downshift Service "Eight of 10 people don't use what they pay for," says BillShrink's Satyavolu. Ask your carrier for a usage summary going back 12 months to see if you could get by on a cheaper plan. Go in on Data While many people get family voice packages, fewer take advantage of family messaging and data plans -- which can save you a lot. AT&T, for example, o...

by Margaret Steen, for Yahoo! HotJobs When you're applying for a job, you work hard to make sure your resume will command the attention of the first person who reads it. But it's increasingly likely that the first reader of your resume won't be a person at all. Inundated with hundreds--or thousands--of resumes for some positions, many companies are using technology to streamline resume screening. "Any time you submit a resume, you should expect to have your resume scanned for keywords," says Chandlee Bryan, career coach and owner of Best Fit Forward. Companies use applicant-tracking systems to electronically sort through and store resumes. The systems search for keywords, sort the resumes, and give hiring mangers the most-promising candidates. Although designing a resume that will impress both a computer and human readers may seem intimidating, there are some advantages. "It used to be that when a recruiter said, 'We'll keep your resume on file,' ...

womenshealth.com By the Editors of Women's Health Fri, Apr 23, 2010 Food does much more than satisfy your taste buds and silence your growling belly — the right eats can help you look great, feel fantastic, and stay sexy for decades to come. Eat to stay young by following these five commandments of long-lasting health and beauty. Age-Erasing Law No. 1 Shop For Color Antioxidants are those chemicals in foods that give tomatoes their bright red sheen, broccoli that lush green color, blueberries their range of blues, and eggplant its deep purple skin. More important, they're the compounds that keep lines from creeping onto your face and cholesterol from clogging your arteries. And they take the prize when it comes to stiff-arming the aging process. These nutritional superheroes neutralize cell-damaging free radicals, which have been linked to everything from wrinkles and age spots to cancer and heart disease. "In addition to staving off the visible signs of getting older, ant...

menshealth.com By David Zinczenko Jun 04, 2010 There is a potion that magically strips away pounds from your body, improves your overall health, lengthens your life, makes you more attractive to the opposite sex, and keeps you lean forever. Even better, you can have as much of this magic weight-loss potion as you want, for free, and start stripping away pounds—perhaps even several dozen pounds this year alone—without exercise, without dieting, without visiting the set of Nip/Tuck. What is this magical elixir? It’s water. Really? Really. You don't even need to mix in that fancy fat-burning stuff from the vitamin store. In fact, the less you supplement your food and beverage intake, the more weight you’ll lose (and the more money you’ll save). Keep reading this five-point plan from the new book Drink This, Not That! and begin your no diet weight-loss goals today. You'll sip your way to a flat belly in record time--and keep it well beyond summer. Step 1: Swear Off the Soda and Ice...