Aces Full of Links: Food News

December 1, 2004

Food News

Yesterday we took advantage of Super Tuesday at the local Subway and found that Subway has acquired a rapid toasting machine. Feeling the heat from Quiznos? That’s my guess. They might need to change some of their subs to take advantage of the new toaster, but it is a step in the right direction. I am still thinking that a D’Angelo’s #9 has both places beat.
Sara came into the office this afternoon with a tale of a lousy morning. I’ll leave the details to her if she posts them on her weblog. The point is, her reaction to a lousy morning was to buy us Dunkin Donuts pumpkin spice muffins. It became my lunch. Thanks, Sara!
New favorite cereal: Honey Bunches of Oats with Peaches. I swear they’re putting crack in the stuff. It was on sale last week at the market and I am now hooked.
Derek is having a Johnny Cupcakes party on Friday. (a Cupperware party) They make cupcakes and Johnny Cupcakes himself attends, selling his line of cupcake-themed clothing. I like the claddagh.
A story notable for not involving food: Lava Lamp Left on Stove Explodes, Kills Man
Filed under “You might have a problem”, Virgin Mobile (a phone company operating in AUS) offers customers the ability to block outgoing calls to certain numbers from their mobile phone on nights when they plan to get drunk. The intent? To prevent the phenomenon of making embarrassing drunken phone calls. Seriously. You can still spend the night with the wrong person, and Virgin Mobile can’t help you with that problem. Sorry.

Posted by James at December 1, 2004 2:03 PM

Comments

Why would you put your Lavalamp on your hot stove? What, the blobs weren't melted enough to entertain your drug-addled brain?

Well, he won't be creating any progeny to carry on in his stead.

Posted by: Patti M. at December 1, 2004 2:53 PM

Supposedly no drugs or alcohol were involved in the lava lamp incident (according to a story I saw yesterday). Well, "no evidence" of such. The thing is, you only need a 40W (in some cases 25W) bulb to get a lava lamp going. Putting one on the stove seems... um... dumb.

I have some of that cereal, and I don't like it... gets soggy too fast. You can have the rest of it if you like, James. (The portion that's not soggy yet.)

Posted by: Julie at December 1, 2004 3:10 PM

Funny -- I've never taken long enough to eat it to have a problem with sogginess. Seriously, I inhale this stuff.

Posted by: James at December 1, 2004 3:20 PM

The blacklist kind of seems like a good idea, but the only time I ever remember calling someone drunk, was for a pre-arranged ride home and I couldn't even manage to dial the number correctly. Maybe they can also blacklist numbers that are pretty close to the ones I might call.

Posted by: Sharon at December 1, 2004 6:17 PM

Good point. Also, make an automatic speed-dial for the person who is supposed to pick you up. Some easy combination to execute, so you do get your ride.

Posted by: James at December 1, 2004 6:20 PM

Not that the phone companies are listening, but putting your phone into possible drunk-mode could make it apply a filter to any number you dial. Some sort of pattern-matching could be used to determine whether the number dialed is a close enough match to your "designated driver" or someone else on your allowed calling list. If it was, then that number would be called rather than the mis-dialed number.

So it would actually help you get the number right, rather than prevent you from mis-calling someone.

However, one can't ignore the suggestion that this technology is an enabling force for heavy drinking. On the one hand, it would help someone call for a ride/for help. On the other hand it makes it easier for someone to rationalize a night of drinking in an unsafe location, or simply an unsafe level of drinking which exposes a person to other dangers.

Creators of technology should consider social implications.

Posted by: James at December 1, 2004 7:09 PM