The legal drinking age in Holland is 16 and students have developed powdered alcohol. Somehow I think the USA would have a problem with this.
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch students have developed powdered alcohol which they say can be sold legally to minors.
The latest innovation in inebriation, called Booz2Go, is available in 20-gramme packets that cost 1-1.5 euros ($1.35-$2).
Top it up with water and you have a bubbly, lime-colored and -flavored drink with just 3 percent alcohol content.
“We are aiming for the youth market. They are really more into it because you can compare it with Bacardi-mixed drinks,” 20-year-old Harm van Elderen told Reuters.
I’m sure I’m not alone in this, but I appreciate a great rant where the author can really make me feel like I was there when things were going south. Here’s a great one on Vista. While reading a section ‘complimenting’ the visual improvements in Vista, I came across this gem:
“Sometimes prettier is shittier.”
Awesome. Robby, I hope you don’t mind my re-using that line at some point in the future.
I came across Brad Hill’s post on codes of conduct (and why the Blogger Code is a bad idea.) Although I agree, that’s not why I’m writing. This post is about the following question Brad asked:
Society writes laws that most people already agree about and follow. Burglery is against the law because most people aren’t burglars. Those who are burglars toss aside the law to burgle. (Is there a more amusing verb than “to burgle”?)
The response in the post’s comments:
(yes, to hamburgle)
I was laughing out loud. Awesome.
Cool new service from Google. Press a button and your entire mail archive shows up at your door.
In their own words:
A New Button
Now in Gmail, you can request a physical copy of any message with the click of a button, and we’ll send it to you in the mail.
Simplicity Squared
Google will print all messages instantly and prepare them for delivery. Allow 2-4 business days for a parcel to arrive via post.
Total Control
A stack of Gmail Paper arrives in a box at your doorstep, and it’s yours to keep forever. You can read it, sort it, search it, touch it. Or even move it to the trash—the real trash. (Recycling is encouraged.)
Keep it Secret, Keep it Safe
Google takes privacy very seriously. But once your email is physically in your hands, it’s as secure as you want to make it.
You can learn more at their information page. Enjoy.
(Yes, I’m aware it’s April 1st.)
Breitbart.com has an article about the Top 10 April Fools hoaxes and it makes great reading. The hoaxes were ranked on numerous criteria including number of people duped, by the San Diego Museum of Hoaxes.
One of my favorites:
In 1996, American fast-food chain Taco Bell announced that it had bought Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell, a historic symbol of American independence, from the federal government and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell.
Outraged citizens called to express their anger before Taco Bell revealed the hoax. Then-White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale and said the Lincoln Memorial in Washington had also been sold and was to be renamed the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial after the automotive giant.
I found out about the article on doggdot.us which is an aggregator that blends news from Slashdot, Digg and Del.icio.us.
Posted on February 14th, 2007 in Humor | 2 Comments »
Recently, one of our developers had a mini-rant about the new to properly document bugs in tickets. Apparently, writing “comments are broken” is incredibly unhelpful. Go figure. Of course, he’s dead right, without describing a problem completely it’s a hell of a lot harder to fix.
An alternate approach is presented in this oldie but goodie - a list of logbook entries between airline pilots and maintenance personnel.
Some of my favorites:
Problem as reported: Something loose in cockpit.
Service Response: Something tightened up in cockpit.
Problem as reported: Aircraft acting funny.
Service Response: Aircraft warned to “Straighten up, fly right and be serious.”
Enjoy.
From CNN this morning, an interesting article on a startup for selling ‘Heartbreak diamonds’ - jewelry from relationships gone sour.
(CNN) — Joshua Opperman thought he’d met the woman he’d marry and spend the rest of his life with. But when they broke up a few years ago, he was left with a broken heart, an expensive ring and an idea that he’s turning into a business.
Opperman said he was depressed after the split and even more depressed when he tried to sell the engagement ring he’d spent most of his life savings on.
“I tried to sell the ring back where I bought it and they wanted to give me 32 percent back,” he said.
The 29-year-old real estate broker decided to open the online jewelry auction site “I Do … Now I Don’t” after reading an article about other people in the same predicament.
Jewelry is definitely ripe for online commerce:
- offline experience for most people is so poor; online provides a more efficient market
- gems & precious metals are commodities
- great weight/value ratio -> shipping makes sense
In addition, providing consumers with a way to recoup investments in an auction format while helping them avoid an emotionally embarassing conversation/negotiation with a jeweler is fantastic.
An interesting point in the article is the focus on customer stories and Joshua’s desire to capture those and get them online. This is a great idea from two perspectives - search engine worthy content and drivers of conversion. This goes to the notion of aggregation +UGC being key components of any online business.
The article goes on to state that most items sell for 50-60% of retail so if you’re looking for a good deal, might be worth checking out.
“Ask an Uptight Seattleite” is one my favorite humor columns. As someone who has spent a lot of time driving in Boston and NYC, driving in Seattle has been an exercise in frustration. Passive, self-righteous drivers who compete to see who can wait the longest at 4-way stop signs are everywhere. Given this deeply held belief, yesterday’s column had me laughing to the point of tears.
Dear Uptight Seattleite,
Why can’t you people fucking drive? News flash: Your tires are made of high-tech rubber. A little drizzle isn’t going to make them slide off the road. I learned to drive while negotiating tractor trailers, grandma-driven Chryslers, UPS vans, and BMW yuppies, all of them cutting each other off on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, and to me it’s like your roads are clogged with impossibly slow, dumb animals. I could go on, but I recognize your time is valuable, and I’m sure you have a new package from Netflix to attend to.
Brooklyn Babe
A snippet from the response since most of you won’t click through:
To achieve a greater harmony with Seattle traffic—and isn’t that what you really want?—I suggest you first take a deep, calming breath before you turn the key in the ignition. When you’ve slowed down your mind, you’ll see it’s perfectly OK to drive 5 miles an hour and hesitate at each intersection while trying to decide whether or not to turn. You’re actually doing the drivers behind you a favor by enforcing a more meditative and sensible pace.
Does rain necessitate driving even more slowly? Well, maybe there are undiscovered properties of rain that make it highly dangerous. Can you prove that there aren’t? No, you can’t. Isn’t it then sort of close-minded of you to criticize? Much better instead to surrender to the rhythms of our content, slow-moving herd.
There’s a hilarious article in the WSJ this morning about Beijing’s signs (username/pw required) and how the Chinese government is updating their English translations. To give you a hint as to why you should read this article:
BEIJING — For years, foreigners in China have delighted in the loopy English translations that appear on the nation’s signs. They range from the offensive (”Deformed Man,” outside toilets for the handicapped) to the sublime (on park lawns, “Show Mercy to the Slender Grass”).
Source: WSJ - Tired of Laughter, Beijing gets rid of bad translations (username/pw required)
This post on marketing innovation in the coffee market was sent to me and I had to share it:
Sex sells. Usually, it sells things like beer, various liquors and - of course - fatty fast food hamburger, but some Seattle area businesses are using it to sell something else entirely: coffee.
Regardless of your opinion on this particular form of marketing, I’d like to thank Nicole Weston for the term ‘Sexpresso’ and for providing evidence that you can de-commoditize anything.