May 2010
Thanks To All For A Terrific Birthday Weekend
May 30 2010 Filed in: Gratitude | Cool Events
Thanks To Liza (Julia) For My Jib Jab-fabulous Birthday Wishes
May 29 2010 Filed in: JibJab | Cool People
Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!
The 'Giggle Machine' Rings The Death Knell For Soda Jerks
As reported on Asylum.com:
Rest in peace, oh soda jerk: Coke Freestyle elevates individuals to instant mixologists by using a zesty touch-screen system to mix selections from over 100 choices into a custom beverage, all while delivering a geeky high-tech thrill.
It's been called "the fountain of the future," "the most advanced soda fountain ever" and (in a backhanded-compliment kind of way) a path "leading to social ruin." Even Warren Buffett is a fan. But can this thing really deliver?
Coke spokesperson Helen Tarleton certainly thinks so, calling it a "complete departure from a traditional fountain machine." (She even reports that a gal was caught on security camera fondly embracing and kissing the machine.)
Tarleton expects 500 new Freestyle machines to pop up soon in Southern California, Atlanta, Dallas and Salt Lake City
We decided to take Coke Freestyle for a test drive at a local McDonald's in Atlanta, where we came up with some crazy combinations using the machine's 100-plus flavor options.
While Freestyle's club soda can help cut the sweetness of some of the machine's more intense flavors, you are likely to go crazier with the combinations than you think -- and you're virtually guaranteed to forget whatever it is you put in your cup.
But we were able to document a few of our greatest hits for posterity:
"Doogie Fanta, M.D." (Combination: Dr. Pepper, Vault Peach, Cherry Fanta)
"The Red Wolf Blitzer" (Vault Red Blitz, vanilla Diet Coke)
"Barqing Berry" (Barq root beer, raspberry Dasani Sensation)
"Looney Tunes" (Minute Maid strawberry, vanilla Coke, grape Fanta, club soda)
"Lima-berry" (Grape Fanta, Lime Dasani Sensations, Club Soda)
"Customers love them," says Stephen Cordell, McDonald's on Cheshire Bridge's first assistant manager, who seems like a proud father reporting that his two Freestyle machines connect via Wi-Fi to the Coke mothership every morning at 2 a.m. for software updates.
Freestyle feedback was largely positive. "Wow, this is cool" and "How neat" were thrown around McDonald's by customers while we were testing it out.
So go forth, soda geeks, but make sure to keep track of your mix for next time -- and keep some Tums handy for the inevitable sugar-stomachache.
And check out our video from our Coke Freestyle recon mission:
And take a look at our photo album, too.
Rest in peace, oh soda jerk: Coke Freestyle elevates individuals to instant mixologists by using a zesty touch-screen system to mix selections from over 100 choices into a custom beverage, all while delivering a geeky high-tech thrill.
It's been called "the fountain of the future," "the most advanced soda fountain ever" and (in a backhanded-compliment kind of way) a path "leading to social ruin." Even Warren Buffett is a fan. But can this thing really deliver?
Coke spokesperson Helen Tarleton certainly thinks so, calling it a "complete departure from a traditional fountain machine." (She even reports that a gal was caught on security camera fondly embracing and kissing the machine.)
Tarleton expects 500 new Freestyle machines to pop up soon in Southern California, Atlanta, Dallas and Salt Lake City
We decided to take Coke Freestyle for a test drive at a local McDonald's in Atlanta, where we came up with some crazy combinations using the machine's 100-plus flavor options.
While Freestyle's club soda can help cut the sweetness of some of the machine's more intense flavors, you are likely to go crazier with the combinations than you think -- and you're virtually guaranteed to forget whatever it is you put in your cup.
But we were able to document a few of our greatest hits for posterity:
"Doogie Fanta, M.D." (Combination: Dr. Pepper, Vault Peach, Cherry Fanta)
"The Red Wolf Blitzer" (Vault Red Blitz, vanilla Diet Coke)
"Barqing Berry" (Barq root beer, raspberry Dasani Sensation)
"Looney Tunes" (Minute Maid strawberry, vanilla Coke, grape Fanta, club soda)
"Lima-berry" (Grape Fanta, Lime Dasani Sensations, Club Soda)
"Customers love them," says Stephen Cordell, McDonald's on Cheshire Bridge's first assistant manager, who seems like a proud father reporting that his two Freestyle machines connect via Wi-Fi to the Coke mothership every morning at 2 a.m. for software updates.
Freestyle feedback was largely positive. "Wow, this is cool" and "How neat" were thrown around McDonald's by customers while we were testing it out.
So go forth, soda geeks, but make sure to keep track of your mix for next time -- and keep some Tums handy for the inevitable sugar-stomachache.
And check out our video from our Coke Freestyle recon mission:
And take a look at our photo album, too.
The Gusher Continues... To The Tune Of 4 Million Gallons?
May 08 2010 Filed in: Seriously?
And now gas hydrates have delayed the leak stoppage. Again.
Update (28 May 2010): Estimates show the BP spill is quite a bit bigger than previously estimated.
Are we going to take this as a learning moment or blow it off like the rest of them?
Update (28 May 2010): Estimates show the BP spill is quite a bit bigger than previously estimated.
Are we going to take this as a learning moment or blow it off like the rest of them?
The Tiffany Of Computing Strikes Again (And A Thief Skulks Away)
May 05 2010 Filed in: Seriously? | Rant
From my recent Yelp! review of the Apple Store @ Lenox Square:
Will the persons who believe Apple can roll out their products properly please raise your hands?
Thought so. No hands.
My last review of this place remains the same: why don't we dial down the smug, the pretty, and the fanciful-whimsy, and amp up the speed and common sense we use to help customers?
I'm thankful for the Genius Bar, and while I was here I was able to talk to an expert and solve an issue a friend was having with his MacBook. I appreciate having that chance, believe me I do.
But overall, the very environment that made Apple what it is today, its retail spaces, is now its most mind-numbing albatross. The stores have become the in-person, big-for-their-britches experience that I can no longer tolerate. I can really only speak to the Lenox Square location, but really people - move your customers through with better pace and stop trying to be iTiffany.
Putting people on these vague, long iPad waiting lists that don't go anywhere just irritates, frustrates and causes your fans to act out with rage, rabid frothing and poor manners. The folks in front of me today shopping for iPads were about ready to have a meltdown - and I with them.
I got so frustrated after being on a waiting list for a 1/2 hour that I walked out - and, totally unwittingly, mind you - with a five-user, family-pack of Snow Leopard. Without paying. Oh ethereal-white Apple Store (“futuristic Swedish hospitals,” according to Jon Stewart): you turn people into shoplifters with your fancy design and tantalizing products! Does it have to be so?
To review: I got a package of the newest, snoozer Mac OS version and not the finger-sliding slice of goodness I came for. (The software will be returned, FYI.) No product, all frustration, and a sour taste in my mouth.
Like Jon Stewart, I have been a Mac Head since the Apple IIe, and I swear, I'm just so sick and tired of the attitude. We get it, your products are cool. You have consistently won the "gorgeous OS war" with Microsoft and even survived the dark days of OS9.
But please - give it a rest already. When you come up with a stunner of a product like the iPad, be ready for the response. Be ready for the customer clamor. You've had, like, six different trial runs before this product even made it to the drawing board, so dismount the ivory tower and help us buy your fucking products.
Oh and watch for a package from me in the next few days. I might even slip this review in for good measure.
# # #
UPDATE: Not that I feel vindicated, but “Appholes” is pretty app-ropos.
And then there’s CNN’s Jeanne Moos asking the question, “Is Apple acting rotten,” here:
Update No. 2: More of the same “big for their britches” from CNN.com:
27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" id="ep">
Will the persons who believe Apple can roll out their products properly please raise your hands?
Thought so. No hands.
My last review of this place remains the same: why don't we dial down the smug, the pretty, and the fanciful-whimsy, and amp up the speed and common sense we use to help customers?
I'm thankful for the Genius Bar, and while I was here I was able to talk to an expert and solve an issue a friend was having with his MacBook. I appreciate having that chance, believe me I do.
But overall, the very environment that made Apple what it is today, its retail spaces, is now its most mind-numbing albatross. The stores have become the in-person, big-for-their-britches experience that I can no longer tolerate. I can really only speak to the Lenox Square location, but really people - move your customers through with better pace and stop trying to be iTiffany.
Putting people on these vague, long iPad waiting lists that don't go anywhere just irritates, frustrates and causes your fans to act out with rage, rabid frothing and poor manners. The folks in front of me today shopping for iPads were about ready to have a meltdown - and I with them.
I got so frustrated after being on a waiting list for a 1/2 hour that I walked out - and, totally unwittingly, mind you - with a five-user, family-pack of Snow Leopard. Without paying. Oh ethereal-white Apple Store (“futuristic Swedish hospitals,” according to Jon Stewart): you turn people into shoplifters with your fancy design and tantalizing products! Does it have to be so?
To review: I got a package of the newest, snoozer Mac OS version and not the finger-sliding slice of goodness I came for. (The software will be returned, FYI.) No product, all frustration, and a sour taste in my mouth.
Like Jon Stewart, I have been a Mac Head since the Apple IIe, and I swear, I'm just so sick and tired of the attitude. We get it, your products are cool. You have consistently won the "gorgeous OS war" with Microsoft and even survived the dark days of OS9.
But please - give it a rest already. When you come up with a stunner of a product like the iPad, be ready for the response. Be ready for the customer clamor. You've had, like, six different trial runs before this product even made it to the drawing board, so dismount the ivory tower and help us buy your fucking products.
Oh and watch for a package from me in the next few days. I might even slip this review in for good measure.
# # #
UPDATE: Not that I feel vindicated, but “Appholes” is pretty app-ropos.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Appholes | ||||
| ||||
And then there’s CNN’s Jeanne Moos asking the question, “Is Apple acting rotten,” here:
Update No. 2: More of the same “big for their britches” from CNN.com:
27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" id="ep">