h a m J o K e s

"Let’s say Safeway Food stores offers Kellogg’s an exclusive deal to sell Corn Flakes. The cereal..."

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:59:16 -0600

“

Let’s say Safeway Food stores offers Kellogg’s an exclusive deal to sell Corn Flakes. The cereal will be removed from the shelves at Giant. Now in order to get them I either have to switch to the Safeway across town for my general shopping, or continue to shop at Giant but make a special trip just to buy Cornflakes.

Which of those things am I going to do?

Neither.

Here’s why: When I go to the grocery store and see that the Corn Flakes are missing, I’ll be disappointed. But hey, look, that spot on the shelf where the Kellogg’s Corn Flakes used to be isn’t empty—something else has taken its place: AnotherCompany brand corn flakes. The box looks different, but they are corn flakes, and they’re less expensive. Turns out they’ve been selling them for years, but I never noticed before. What the heck, I’ll try a box. Beats making a special trip across town to Safeway.

And here’s what I’ll discover: AnotherCompany brand corn flakes are pretty much the same as Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. Maybe the flakes themselves are shaped a little differently, and they taste just a little different, but after a few bowls I really can’t remember what that difference is. And these new corn flakes taste great with strawberries too!

The next time I’m at Giant, I buy another box of the new cornflakes. I am happy, and go on with my life. If I’m at a hotel and they serve Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, I have a bowl. Yep, they’re good, but not good enough to rearrange my life for.

See where we’re going with this? News on the web is beyond plentiful, and most of it is similar. Make it less convenient for me to find your Web site, and I’ll switch to one of the many, many others that are just waiting for the opportunity to win my loyalty. It might not be exactly the same as yours, but after a short adjustment period I’m going to be just as happy. The sad truth is, you’re really not that special.

That would seem like a pretty basic lesson in economics that any executive—especially one as astute as Murdoch—would instinctively get. But he doesn’t. And neither do many of his cohorts.

”

- Wes Kosova, on why Murdoch won’t win this (via newsweek)

so obvious, so true

"Next Week: Oprah announces she will come out of retirement if she’s traded to the Minnesota..."

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:11:18 -0600

“Next Week: Oprah announces she will come out of retirement if she’s traded to the Minnesota Vikings.”

- Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots and almost every other top passing team has a winning record — no coincidence - ESPN

"When 1-8 Cleveland played at 1-8 Detroit, the game was blacked out locally, for humanitarian..."

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:06:50 -0600

“When 1-8 Cleveland played at 1-8 Detroit, the game was blacked out locally, for humanitarian reasons.”

- Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots and almost every other top passing team has a winning record — no coincidence - ESPN

"Cheerleader of the Week: Lauren Z. of Jersey/B, which rhymes. According to her team bio, Lauren is a..."

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:45:22 -0600

“Cheerleader of the Week: Lauren Z. of Jersey/B, which rhymes. According to her team bio, Lauren is a dance teacher who likes Broadway shows. Also, according to her team bio, if she could have dinner with any four people from history, she would choose Jesus, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King Jr. and Justin Timberlake.”

- Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots and almost every other top passing team has a winning record — no coincidence - ESPN

who wouldn’t pick those four?

"Do you believe in the Kern Kurse? As noted by reader Diego Arias of Delray Beach, Fla., the Broncos..."

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:42:55 -0600

“Do you believe in the Kern Kurse? As noted by reader Diego Arias of Delray Beach, Fla., the Broncos were 6-0 with Brett Kern as their punter, and have gone 0-4 since waiving him. The Titans were 0-6 without Kern, and are 4-0 since claiming him off waivers from Denver.”

- Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots and almost every other top passing team has a winning record — no coincidence - ESPN

Star Wars: Trench Run for the $5 Jedi in all of us

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:47:25 -0600

Star Wars: Trench Run for the $5 Jedi in all of us

"Sure, we could say to our students, ‘The enamel here has completely eroded and needs to be..."

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:21:20 -0600

““Sure, we could say to our students, ‘The enamel here has completely eroded and needs to be addressed immediately.’ But what’s more satisfying, what’s more dynamic, is to just let them slowly develop an ‘impression’ of why a patient might be screaming.””

- Montessori School Of Dentistry Lets Students Discover Their Own Root Canal Procedures | The Onion - America’s Finest News Source

"Sheffield said that the footage will be drastically cut down and used primarily as B-roll for the..."

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:18:41 -0600

“Sheffield said that the footage will be drastically cut down and used primarily as B-roll for the planned 90-minute educational film about paper manufacture and production”

- ‘The Office’ Ends As Documentary Crew Gets All The Footage It Needs | The Onion - America’s Finest News Source

Dear Nina and Tim Zagat Couldn’t find a slightly less...

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:49:00 -0600

Dear Nina and Tim Zagat Couldn’t find a slightly less biased reviewer? xoxo me

Dear Kohl’s That’s too early. xoxo me

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:46:56 -0600

Dear Kohl’s That’s too early. xoxo me

Nordstrom Continues To Oppose Christmas Creep [Christmas Creep]

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:11:48 -0600

Nordstrom Continues To Oppose Christmas Creep [Christmas Creep]

Having an iPhone has completely changed the way I poop by...

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:13:52 -0600

Having an iPhone has completely changed the way I poop by @cleversimon - Twitter Tees by Threadless - Tweets on Tees. Awesome! (via rachelleb)

Where Should I Eat? Fast Food Edition (Flowchart) « Eating...

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:15:19 -0600

Where Should I Eat? Fast Food Edition (Flowchart) « Eating The Road

"Have fun writing apps for … Palm Web OS, which boasts a user base that is approaching four..."

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:25:44 -0600

“Have fun writing apps for … Palm Web OS, which boasts a user base that is approaching four digits.”

- TUAW Interview: Fake Steve Jobs

FakeAPStylebook: References to Canada as "America's Hat" are frowned upon. The correct terminology is "Gateway to Alaska."

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:14:25 -0600

FakeAPStylebook: References to Canada as "America's Hat" are frowned upon. The correct terminology is "Gateway to Alaska."

Historical Minifigs - a set on Flickr

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:21:47 -0600

Historical Minifigs - a set on Flickr:

via marge

i love that these images looking like collectable cards

"Needing a first down to seal the game, Belichick decided to go for it on fourth-and-2 from his own..."

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:12:04 -0600

“Needing a first down to seal the game, Belichick decided to go for it on fourth-and-2 from his own 28 with 2:08 to go.”

- New England Patriots vs. Indianapolis Colts - Recap - November 15, 2009 - ESPN

can’t wait to see what tmq has to say about this, later today

"Cory Monteith, who stars in “Glee” as the dimwitted quarterback, Finn, has never done any theater,..."

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:05:49 -0600

“Cory Monteith, who stars in “Glee” as the dimwitted quarterback, Finn, has never done any theater, and he was thrilled by how many nontheater types also seem to be fans of the show. Earlier that day, he was walking down Fifth Avenue when a middle-age man and his wife stopped him. “He was more excited than his wife,” Mr. Monteith said. “She is standing off to the side with this ‘I’m sorry’ look on her face.””

- A Market Segment ‘Glee’ Can Call Its Own - Stage Folk - NYTimes.com

looks like my alter ego is in nyc.

"No reasonable person would have contributed to the Sunshine Energy program had they known that..."

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:05:04 -0600

““No reasonable person would have contributed to the Sunshine Energy program had they known that approximately 76.4 percent of the contributions would be spent on marketing and administrative expenses instead of renewable energy,” wrote Nathan Skop, a commissioner on the Florida Public Service Commission, in a note accompanying the termination decision.”

- Paying Extra for Green Power, and Getting Ads Instead - NYTimes.com

newsweek: mikehudack: langer: Cray-1 Computer System...

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:07:49 -0600

newsweek:

mikehudack:

langer:

Cray-1 Computer System promotional brochure (pdf)

The Cray-1, released in 1976, had a single megabyte of RAM, weighed 5.25 tons, cost $8.86 million, and was advertised as “a compact mainframe occupying a mere 70 sq. ft. of floorspace”.

The Cray-1 had roughly 4% of the computational power of an iPhone 3GS.

Forget about its computing power—that’s a nice bit of office furniture right there…

4%? that’s crazy.