Sick of terrible telephone customer service?
I am.
Check out GetHuman.com, the only organization I know trying to improve phone support.
Category: product endorsements
gimmie my Timmies and no one gets hurt
Canadian unity and patriotism is best fostered by Tim Horton’s Coffee.
Noted Canadian author Pierre Berton once wrote: “In so many ways the story of Tim Hortons is the essential Canadian story. It is a story of success and tragedy, of big dreams and small towns, of old-fashioned values and tough-fisted business, of hard work and of hockey.”
Some commentators have questioned the rise of Tim Hortons as a national symbol. Rudyard Griffiths, director of The Dominion Institute, recently wrote in the Toronto Star that the ascension of the chain to the status of cultural icon was a “worrying sign” for Canadian nationalism, adding: “Surely Canada can come up with a better moniker than the Timbit Nation.”
Chili, bun, donut (bagel) and coffee for $5.11 !!
Ambrosia Snapz Pro X software
Mac only SnapProX application I use many times every day.
It works well and is a great timesaver.
Snapz Pro X allows you to effortlessly record anything on your screen, saving it as a QuickTime movie or screenshot.
You can use it to save streamed video that normally cannot be “saved to disk”.
I recommend it.
Gadling.com now my favourite blog
This is my kind of travel website!
Berlin and Moscow are two exotic cities which struck fear into the hearts of western spies throughout the Cold War.
There is nowhere on this planet more legendary for espionage and things-that-go-bump-in-the-night than these two capitals. Sadly, with the fall of communism their glory days have long passed. The spooks and their haunts, however, still remain.
Lovers of the Spy Genre will be happy to hear that The Smithsonian is conducting a nine-day tour this October that whisks cloak-and-dagger fans through the former headquarters of East Germany’s Stasi, the KGB Museum in Moscow, the Glienicke Bridge (where spy exchanges were conducted), Gorky Park, the remains of the Berlin Wall and a host of other John LeCarre locations. The tour will even be joined by retired KGB officers in Moscow who will undoubtedly have a handful of great stories to tell.
The cost is $6695 and must be paid with small, non-sequential bills or uncut diamonds.
Joanne Colan – Rocketboom
Joanne Colan – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joanne Colan replaced quixotic Amanda Congdon as Rocketboom.com host on July 12th, 2006.
I, like hundreds of thousands of others, thought Rocketboom was history. Amanda was Rocketboom.
But I have a renewed interest in the video blog. Joanne is much different, but still compelling. And the video content has improved.
Be sure to check out the new hostess with the mostess on Rocketboom.
music – Jane Siberry says “pay-what-you-want”
UPDATE: Jane sold her house and let go of most of her possessions. Sounds a lot like my philosophy of voluntary simplicity.
Oh, and she has changed her name to “Issa”.
I am a big Jane Sieberry fan. Especially the When I Was a Boy album. (critically applauded, commercially negligible)
Siberry is an artist who deserves more attention.
Jane Siberry is leveraging the net and economics to make for a new way to make money selling her tunes online. Basically, she lets you pay what you want, when you want – … Net result? It looks like given a choice, on average, people pay *more* than at iTunes!”
Boing Boing: Freaknomics on Jane Siberry’s pay-what-you-want music store
See for yourself:
video – hydrogen fuelled vehicle
Rocco is fond of saying, “Hydrogen is the fuel of the future. And always will be.”
But check the multi-million dollar prototype of the GM Highwire.
Impressive.
Click PLAY on the video below or watch the clip on YouTube.
new photos on flickr
UPDATE: Flickr was bought by Yahoo which also owns Yahoo Photos, the largest photo hosting site on the internet. Yahoo photos got a facelift and now looks and works much like Flickr. Webshots, another photo host, also tried to get Flickrized — but is still ugly as sin. I’ll stick with Flickr.
My newest photos will be posted on Flickr from here on in. For US$25 / year I get near unlimited upload.
It takes a few minutes to explore the many Flickr navigation options, but it is worth the time.
My Flickr photos are linked under “Photos” on the right hand navigation. That’s the quickest way to find them again, in future.
Adbusters – get mad about corporate disinformation
I have long appreciated Adbusters.
Adbusters offers … activist commentary from around the world addressing issues ranging from genetically modified foods to media concentration. In addition, our annual social marketing campaigns like Buy Nothing Day and TV Turnoff Week have made us an important activist networking group.
Ultimately, though, Adbusters is an ecological magazine, dedicated to examining the relationship between human beings and their physical and mental environment. We want a world in which the economy and ecology resonate in balance. We try to coax people from spectator to participant in this quest. We want folks to get mad about corporate disinformation, injustices in the global economy, and any industry that pollutes our physical or mental commons.
Big issues. Surprisingly, Adbusters has a sense of humour.
I want to make clear that adbusters is not really about “busting ads”. They have their own website visuals that almost look like ads:
Adbusters are about educating folks about useless consumption. Stupid consumption. Manipulating children to empty consumption.
As for me, I actually want better advertising. For example, I really want to know when new Lonely Planet travel guidebooks are published. But in 2006 neither the Lonely Planet website nor Amazon offer this functionality. I wish they would email me a daily advertisement on new travel guides.
Instead I get a daily dose of an ad for Clean and Clear zit cream with my MTV video podcast. A waste of their time and mine.
Woodward West Sport Camp, California
I coached 3 weeks at Woodward in 2005.
This summer I stopped in for 3 days, a goodwill ambassador from Cirque du Soleil.
It was great to get reacquainted with so many of the same coaches and camp staff from the previous year.
Woodward West is a HUGE camp, half boys, half girls. They offer gymnastics and cheer, as well as some trampoline, tumbling and acrosport.
The Action Sports offered: BMX, mountain biking, skateboard and in-line skating.
It is one fantabulous place!
Details on the Woodward West website
» next travelogue post on this trip – driving California
Rick McCharles 