Crave

(Credit: Perpetual Kid)

How selfish can one truly get? How about the $19.99 Fridge Locker, the ultimate weapon against food thieves? When it comes to bunking with roomies and even siblings who are full-time freeloaders, there's no arsenal great enough to protect your private food stash.

The Fridge Locker is really a tiny cage measuring 7.5 inches by 7.5 inches by 11 inches with a metal combination lock to keep out what the retailer can't help calling "Refrig-A Raiders." Poor pun aside, I wonder if this would kill your popularity rating if you brought one to the office? Goes brilliantly with the Ben & Jerry's combination lock and moldy sandwich bags.

(Source: Crave Asia via OhGizmo)

If you think these prices are good, wait until you apply coupon code ENTREE.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled tech deals to bring you this important bulletin...

Food!

Specifically, restaurant food. As many of you know, Restaurant.com sells gift certificates for a fraction of their face value. And right now, you can buy them for a fraction of that fraction.

For example, $25 certificates normally sell for $10, but if you enter coupon code ENTREE at checkout, the price drops to $2. And $10 certificates, normally $4, drop to just 80 cents. Yowza.

For those unfamiliar with Restaurant.com, the only real "string" attached is a minimum food or drink purchase. However, it's not like you have to order the lobster tail and a case of wine. To use a $10 certificate, for example, your total bill usually has to be at least $20.

What's nice is that you can print the coupons right on your own printer; they're immediately ready for use. They're also transferable, so they make ideal last-minute gifts.

In these horrendous economic times, this offer is too good to pass up. Just make sure to read all the terms and conditions before you buy your certificates, just so you avoid any nasty surprises when the check comes.

Also, I'm not sure when this coupon code expires, so if you're interested, act fast. Bon appetit!

Get 20 percent off your next Denny's Grand Slam (and everything else on your bill) with this coupon.

(Credit: Denny's)

People--supermodels, mostly--often stop me in the street and say, "Rick, your tech deals are insanely awesome, but what about food? Surely finding all those bargains makes you hungry?"

Then I say, "Yes, but don't call me 'Shirley,'" and they shake their heads sadly, having realized that bloggers are just as unfunny in person as they are online.

Anyhoo, it being Friday and all, I thought I'd take a tech break and serve up some cheap eats you can score this weekend:

• This printable coupon from Boston Market (PDF) gets you 20 percent off "any restaurant purchase." I'm not sure if that means the entire bill or just one item. Anyway, it's good until October 24. I recommend printing several.
• This printable coupon from Denny's (PDF) gets you 20 percent off your entire check. It's good until October 24. I recommend printing several.
• At Jamba Juice, you can buy one smoothie and get a second one (for a friend or kindly blogger) for $1. Here's the printable coupon. It's good through September 27.
• At Papa John's, you can buy a large two-topping pizza and get a large cheese pizza for 25 cents by applying coupon code 92209 at checkout. (Obviously you have to order online.) In other words, one pizza for the grown-ups and one for the kids. Good through October 4.
• Finally, old standby Restaurant.com is offering major savings on its gift certificates when you apply coupon code TREAT. $25 certificates will cost you just $3 apiece, while $10 certificates drop to just $1.20. That's some cheap eatin'! I'm not sure when the code expires, but you should definitely check out each restaurant's requirements before purchasing.

OK, there you go, food fans. Anything here whet your appetite? Me, I'm all about the pizza, the world's most perfect food.

Also, speaking of this weekend, my CNET overlords are chaining me to my desk for the remainder of this "100 Days of Deals" holiday thingy, so check back tomorrow (and every Saturday until 2010, apparently) for another deal from yours truly.

As for Sunday, well, it's anybody's guess what those crazy "CNET Staffer" kids will come up with, but if it's as bad as last weekend, we'll all have a good laugh on Monday.

Cheapskate out. (Wow, that's a terrible sign-off.)

FoodScanner for iPhone is a calorie counter's dream come true.

When my eating starts getting out of control, I usually fire up the Lose It app to keep tabs on my calories for a few days.

Of course, it's a hassle to have to manually enter the foods I eat. Enter FoodScanner, a new app that scans package bar codes for quick and easy calorie logging.

Does it work? It does. Is it just as cool as it sounds? It is. Will it earn a spot in one of Apple's "There's an app for that" commercials? Almost certainly. It's just that slick.

To use FoodScanner, just tap the little lightning bolt, then point your iPhone's camera at a UPC bar code until it's centered within the arrow guides.

In a matter of seconds, the app scans the bar code and presents the matching food (complete with a thumbnail picture). I found the scan process remarkably fast and accurate, especially compared with the somewhat unforgiving scanner in the pic2shop app I mentioned yesterday.

Once you've looked up your food, you can review its nutrition label or tap "I Ate This!" to record it in your daily database, which keeps a running tally of your caloric intake.

Of course, restaurant foods and other non-packaged items (like most fruits and veggies) have no bar codes--but FoodScanner also features a search option that ties to developer DailyBurn's database of more than 200,000 foods. So you can look up just about anything you can't scan.

No bar code? No problem. FoodScanner lets you search for non-packaged foods.

Speaking of DailyBurn, there's an eponymous app that's much more robust at tracking your calories, exercise, weight goals, and the like. FoodScanner is kind of a companion app.

Thankfully, it can sync with your Web-based DailyBurn account, which in turn syncs with the DailyBurn app. It's unfortunate that FoodScanner wasn't just built right into DailyBurn, but ultimately the data lands there.

The DailyBurn Web service and app are free, while FoodScanner costs $2.99.

If packaged foods make up a sizable portion of your diet, you're sure to find the convenience of bar code scanning (to say nothing of the off-the-charts cool factor) well worth the price.

Think your coffee maker is the bleeding edge of food tech? Think again. ChefStack is out with what appears to be the world's first fully automatic countertop pancake-making machine.

According to the manufacturer, the patented process cooks hot, fresh pancakes in a matter of seconds. From an all-natural batter, 97 percent fat-free pancakes emerge at a rate of up to 200 per hour.

Automatic pancakes

(Credit: ChefStack)

While geared toward convenience stores and cafeterias, I like to think of this as the next step in the evolution of the opening sequence of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure where breakfast is served through an incredible Rube Goldberg setup.

Shockingly, this machine is not from Japan, though I dare to dream of the day when the Ramen Robot and ChefStack Pancake machine face each other in the ultimate battle.

(Via Uncrate)

Follow me on Twitter @daveofdoom.

(Credit: Helen Magg)

We chat with Kevin about some tips on eating well during these tough times and how shockingly easy it is to save money at the grocery store. Kevin also dishes out some of the dirt on his new sponsors and how his own show is in the works.

The second half of the show we dedicate to some questionable applications on the App Store. Trent Reznor is calling Apple the new Wal-Mart because of its questionable censorship practices regarding a Nine Inch Nails application. Next, we laugh at the idea of Sarah Palin on Twitter and Justin explains how your high school yearbook photo tells a lot more than just what was in style at the time.

We're still accepting Star Trek Photoshop submissions for a chance to see the film a day earlier with us in NYC! We've had a lot of great ones so far, so check out the competition below and be sure to send all of your creations to the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. As always, leave us a voicemail, 866-404-CNET.

Submissions for The 404's Star Trek Photoshop Competition!

If you're willing to pick it up, Domino's is willing to give it away.

(Credit: Domino's Pizza)

Because pizza is the single greatest food ever devised by man, I interrupt your regularly scheduled tech bargains to bring you this: Domino's is offering a free medium one-topping pizza. (See updates below.)

The catch, if you can call it that, is that you'll have to hop in the car; it's carry-out only. Here's how to get the deal:

1. Head to the Domino's Pizza site.
2. Click Order, then type in your address to find stores near you.
3. Choose the store you want, then create your order for a medium one-topping pizza.
4. Use coupon code BAILOUT. Presto: free, free, free!

I'm not sure when the code expires (could be today), so if you're hungry, act now. And, yeah, I'll be the first to admit that Domino's isn't exactly the greatest pizza on the planet, but are you really gonna argue with free? Didn't think so.

Update: Sorry folks. Looks like the promo's over. Guess Domino's ran out of "bailout" money.

Update #2: Spoke to a Domino's rep, who told me the free-pizza code was created internally for a promotion that was never actually green-lit. A customer happened to enter the code (Domino's has been heavily advertising their "bailout" promotion), told the world, and here we are. Apparently the company honored nearly 11,000 of the coupons before pulling the plug. Stay tuned: The Cheapskate is trying to arrange a consolation prize!

Update #3: EXCLUSIVE FOR CHEAPSKATE READERS: Enter code SWEET with any online order to get a free order of Cinnastix! This is a one-time-per-account offer, good for carryout or delivery. (Each store has a minimum-order requirement if you choose delivery.) Bigtime kudos to Domino's for extending this "cinnamon branch" after what appears to have been an honest mistake.

Use coupon code 'SAVE' to get $25 vouchers for $3.

(Credit: Restaurant.com)

Hungry? Like to dine out? Restaurant.com normally lets you buy $25 gift certificates for $10, but right now you can scoop them up for just $3 apiece. Simply enter coupon code SAVE when you get to the shopping cart.

Anyone familiar with Restaurant.com knows there are usually a few small strings attached, like a minimum food or drink purchase. However, it's not like you have to order a case of wine or anything. And you can print the coupon right on your own printer: It's immediately ready for use.

A few months back I used one of the gift certificates for a local Italian place, and except for a slight delay while the manager called to verify the coupon, everything went smoothly.

In these horrendous economic times, this deal is too good to pass up. Just make sure to read all the terms and conditions before you buy your certificates, just so you avoid any nasty surprises when the check comes. Bon appetit!

MTI (also known as Mark Licea) joins the show today to replace Justin Yu, who's on vacation to Boston. We cover everything under the typical 404-sun: strippers, Playboy, Mexican-Korean truck food, Twitter, and Sweet Lou Bakalar.

That's one machine I crave.

(Credit: NBC Universal)

Every one knows that the economy is in the tank. For a lot of people out there, that means spending hours every day listening to past episodes of the 404. For some it means that instead of using that Harvard degree, they are using the assets their momma gave them. In related news, Playboy has posted its entire back catalog online. Warning: This is totally NSFW. You can check out all the previous back issues of Playboy magazine online with a Silverlight-enabled browser.

Also, last Friday was the final broadcast of the landmark series Battlestar Galactica. Wilson, being the only fan of the show on The 404, has plenty to say--most of which seems to bore the hell out of Jeff and MTI. The show will be missed, and while the finale hit most of the right marks, there were a few things that gave plenty of pause--like the second ending. Check it out on iTunes or Hulu. Promise you're going to love Number Six in a red dress.

There's a food truck in Los Angeles driving around, Twittering, and making Korean-Mexican tacos? Finally, Sweet Lou Bakalar, Jeff's father, gives us his insight on the current state of texting and television buying. Stay tuned tomorrow for Eric Franklin!