Friday Foccacia
CHO me the outrage - I have to admit that I am more than a little surprised at the lack of lashback against Yahoo! and their new Shine. Ask.com recently decided it was going to be a niche search engine, dedicated to “married women looking for help managing their lives” and now Yahoo! has seemingly taken the steps to create a sight dedicated to the “Chief Household Officer” (CHO). According the story on Yahoo News, Yahoo said the site will have “attitude,” “personality,” and humor, while providing advice and secret tips like “a friend.” Maybe it is just me (and am I really the right one to be offended by this?), but about the only way I could see Yahoo! making this a bit more misogynistic, would have been if they added to that saying something like, “would be just like your best friend, only it won’t steal your boyfriend.” The only thing I can figure is that the content is good enough to keep people from being annoyed by the marketing mis-steps.
Comparison shop on the fly - So you are shopping in a store and see something you like, but you are thinking, “I could probably find it cheaper online” but that requires you to avoid the instant gratification of buying it “now” right? Well, not anymore. Amazon has now started the TextBuyIt program, which people text the name of a product, its description or its UPC or ISBN to 262966 (that’s “Amazon” on the keypad) from anywhere their cell phones work — including from inside physical stores.”
And you thought it was just to wake you up - According to a new research report, coffee may cut the risk of dementia. So, as it turns out, not only will coffee enable you to keep up with your kids, it will help keep them from driving you nuts. (I’m joking, please no e-mail defining what dementia really means)
Not Just Wrong, well beyond it - Every time I think I can’t see anything new that parent’s do that would bother me… bang… there it is. This time, it is an article in Philadelphia Magazine about mothers taking their pre-pubescent daughters in for Bikini Waxes, eyebrow waxing and other spa beauty treatments. Tell me, what are the odds of these girls not growing up with severe body issues?
Friday Focaccia
Time keeps on ticking - For those that forgot our President’s answer to skyrocketing fuel prices, It is already time to “spring forward this weekend, and trade an hours worth of sleep for an “extra” hour of sunlight.
Rounding out the Dumbass Picture - So while we waste billions of dollars in a war of questionable value (to anybody that is not an oil barron, the value to them has been immense), the NASA budget was kept so tight, that when the Shuttles are retired 2010, that the United States , during a 5 year (at least) window will have to rely on Russia to send people to the International Space Station. By the time he is done, is there anything Bush will not have screwed up?
Craptastic Comcastic - I am so glad that I was able to drop Comcast, first for DSL, and now for FIOS. Of course, the immediate benefit was lower cost for superior service (despite it claims, I never got the upload/download speeds the claimed unless I was online in the middle of the night). But, now new bits continue to leak out how Comcast is screwing their customers. Back in early 2006 many Vonage users were having problem that were using Comcast. At the time it was (mostly) assumed that it was just the quality (or lack of it) that received most of the blame, and the possibility that it was done on purpose, was considered a conspiracy theory. Since then of course, is the fact proven by the Associated Press that Comcast is forging packets and blocking P2P programs like BitTorrent. Then yesterday came news about being charged $2 to get Comcast to stop sending junk mail. Now in fairness, once this was exposed, Comcast quickly issues an apology and credit for the “mistake” to that customer. But I would love to know how many people made a similar request and did not notice or did not complain about the fee. And people wonder why Net Neutrality Laws are so desperately needed?
The end if “Smiling Bob” (I hope) - The founder of Berkley Premium Neutraceuticals, distributor of products like Enzyte, the “male enhancement” product seen with those annoying “Smiling Bob” commercials, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, bank fraud and money laundering. The charges stem predominantly from refusing to cancel orders (once people realized they had duped), and not from the fact that they preyed on idiots that actually believed the stupid and outlandish claims made. I suspect those that have been duped are too embarrassed to file a claim in civil courts that they had been duped and bought pills looking to “enhance” themselves.
It is still legal tender… isn’t it? - When you get on a bus, or pay a toll on most roads, there is a sign that says “No pennies.” I doubt there was such a sign in the school cafeteria, where students, protesting over having their lunch period shortened, paid for their $2 lunch in pennies, and then received detention for it. The school district finally backed down, after complaints from some parents that the punishment was too harsh, although I fail to understand on what grounds there was punishment at all. Yes, they slowed the lunch line down, that was the whole point. But it was done in a non-violent (a big deal these days it seems) and legal way. Legal. While not worth much, the penny is still legal tender, so what did this kids do wrong? The principal said that it was a “prank” and not a “protest” (presumably to try and justify the detention), but what exactly is a “prank” about it, other than it being annoying?
How not to play a trick on your kids
I don’t know what is worse, them tricking the kid by stashing clothes in an Xbox360 box. Or how hysterical they found it (even to continue to videotape it) after the poor kid starts crying.
Look, I understand that gaming consoles these days are expensive, and not everybody can afford them. There are plenty of things that rate much higher in the priorities of life. But, regardless this is just plain mean and wrong.
P.S. Yes, I know that the Video claims that the kid actually got an Xbox 360. However… First of all, I don’t believe the story posted with this. First the poster says they went out and got it the night before, but somehow the kid “peeked” and thus the reason for the “joke.” If you got it the night before, when did he have a chance to peek? Second, the look of shock on this kids face when he opens it and sees (thinks) he got the machine… well, if he knew, then this kid should be in Hollywood, because that would be the best job of acting surprised I have ever seen. Third, the promised “follow up” video was never posted. But even assuming that I am wrong about all of that, and this was a “joke” to me it was taken waaaay too far. How do you just allow the kids to continue to sit there and cry? No matter how you slice this… it still stinks.
[via Engadget ]
I would really like to know
What is it going to take to stop people from packing a supermarket the day before a snowstorm, and shopping like they are going to be homebound until spring? Does everybody just happen to need bread and milk the day before a storm?
Look if you happen to live in one of those places where the “corner store” is “follow this road five miles, make a left where old man Fogarty’s barn used to be, and head down the mountain,” well then maybe you have some justification. Or, of course if you are say advanced in years, where the thought walking on snow and/or ice instills visions of broken hips and nursing homes, well maybe you should prepare to be inside a bit longer. I even understand everybody running to Blockbuster, because of the potential of kids at home for a snow day, and needed something to keep them occupied.
Other than that, honestly people, what are you thinking? That the horse drawn carriage isn’t going to be able to get Bessie’s milk to the market? That old Mrs. Pumpernickel won’t be able to find enough fire wood to bake some bread? Just why is it that this insane habit continues today?
Oh no he didn’t!
That is the only response I have heard when I’ve mentioned to a few people that GA. Gov. Sonny Perdue, announced he would have a prayer service in an effort to help stop the drought in Georgia!
ATLANTA –What to do when the rain won’t come? If you’re Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, you pray.
The governor will host a prayer service next week to ask for relief from the drought gripping the Southeast.
“The only solution is rain, and the only place we get that is from a higher power,” Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said on Wednesday.
Perhaps when he is done, he can host an alchemy class to help clear up federal debt.
You know, I have always wondered if these brain trusts ever considered… if they believe god can exert his power in this fashion… they who exactly is it that they think sent the drought?
Update: I think I finally figured it out. Clearly Gov. Perdue must have just watched Leap of Faith. (An excellent movie, by the way, but hardly worth putting your… uh… faith in, to solve your States water problems).
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