The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

TheJasper · 2010-09-17 Reply Admin

anon:
While I'll agree that the broken soda machine is amusing and WTF worthy, the snarky comment about "what was wrong with the old ones" is kind of unnecessary. First off, it implies that the old ones never broke which is obviously untrue, and second it implies that no advantages are gained by the new ones. On the old ones, someone had to manually change small paper labels every time a new product was added, and we've all seen the crappy, handwritten substitutes when the paper label was damaged or unavailable. Also, the old ones often didn't give a clear indication of what drinks were out of stock, and without an onboard computer were incapable of automatically reporting back to a central server what the current inventory was.

You obviously never listened to your grandparents. Things were always better in the olden days. Sure, you had to walk 10 miles uphill in the snow both ways to get a can of soda, but things were definately better.

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Schmalls:
Mad Benjamin(s):
You do understand what a debit card is, right? The money is debited directly from your account, so you borrow nothing. Therefore if you never use a credit card to "borrow money" you shouldn't even bother having one - a debit card does the same job without the "borrowing money" bit.

I think you are not accounting for some of the best reasons to have a credit card.

For starters, you have a 30 day (or so) grace period on your purchases with no interest. This means that you can keep your money in your bank account longer where it can be earning interest. Then if you pay it off every month you will never have any interest. This may not account to much interest earnings, but it can also help another way, avoiding overdraft fees on your checking account. When you use your credit card, it acts as a buffer when you know you will have enough to pay it off at the end of the month, but your checking account balance may fluctuate up or down during the month.

Secondly, most good cards will have rewards of some kind. They are basically giving back some of the money they receive from fees they collect from each transaction. Of course they keep the lion's share, but consider this: most places you can use a credit card charge the same price no matter which form of payment you use (there are some gas stations which charge more for credit card purchases). So which would you rather do: give more profit to the merchant where you get nothing back, or give more money to the credit card company where you will get something back? I myself am a fan of the cash back reward types and will generally get 1% back on all purchases and can get 3-5% back on some categories of purchases. As long as you never carry a balance on the credit card, the company will basically pay you to use it.

I'd actually prefer to give more profit to the merchant. These are tough times at the moment, and the merchants are suffering no less than anyone else.

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Matt Westwood:
The real WTF is soda.
CAPTCHA: Vindico: I came, I saw, I vindicate

You appear to be one of those cases of arrested adolescence who believe that your masculinity is confirmed by announcing your dislike of soda. Did soda help noise pollution kill your grandma?

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

I can understand that soda machines could utilize an internet connection (stock updates, display gimmicks, credit card payments).

But why does it have to boot off the network?

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Misel:
I can understand that soda machines could utilize an internet connection (stock updates, display gimmicks, credit card payments).
But why does it have to boot off the network?

Because it's an embedded system with no file system.

frits · 2010-09-17 Reply Admin

TheJasper:
anon:
While I'll agree that the broken soda machine is amusing and WTF worthy, the snarky comment about "what was wrong with the old ones" is kind of unnecessary. First off, it implies that the old ones never broke which is obviously untrue, and second it implies that no advantages are gained by the new ones. On the old ones, someone had to manually change small paper labels every time a new product was added, and we've all seen the crappy, handwritten substitutes when the paper label was damaged or unavailable. Also, the old ones often didn't give a clear indication of what drinks were out of stock, and without an onboard computer were incapable of automatically reporting back to a central server what the current inventory was.

You obviously never listened to your grandparents. Things were always better in the olden days. Sure, you had to walk 10 miles uphill in the snow both ways to get a can of soda, but things were definately better.

Not to mention that soda was better in the "old" days. It was sweetend with cain sugar, not HFCS. Remember the new/classic coke debacle?

JSelf · 2010-09-17 Reply Admin

anon:
While I'll agree that the broken soda machine is amusing and WTF worthy, the snarky comment about "what was wrong with the old ones" is kind of unnecessary. First off, it implies that the old ones never broke which is obviously untrue, and second it implies that no advantages are gained by the new ones. On the old ones, someone had to manually change small paper labels every time a new product was added, and we've all seen the crappy, handwritten substitutes when the paper label was damaged or unavailable. Also, the old ones often didn't give a clear indication of what drinks were out of stock, and without an onboard computer were incapable of automatically reporting back to a central server what the current inventory was.

...you like being 'that guy' huh?

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Steve:
Matt Westwood:
The real WTF is soda.
CAPTCHA: Vindico: I came, I saw, I vindicate
You appear to be one of those cases of arrested adolescence who believe that your masculinity is confirmed by announcing your dislike of soda. Did soda help noise pollution kill your grandma?

It rots your teeth for a start. It's overpriced for another thing. Its packaging is environmentally expensive for another (and the bulk of the litter problem round here for another). Bottled water has the same faults (except its kinder to your teeth). Possibly the real WTF is that one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world supplies water from its faucets that is less than 100% appetising or healthful.

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Anonymous:
anon:
Also, the old ones often didn't give a clear indication of what drinks were out of stock
All the "old ones" I'm familiar with had glass fronts so you could see immediately what was and wasn't in stock, without requiring an entire frigging computer to figure it out for you.
Just because you can put a computer into something doesn't mean you should.

Most of the "old ones" I'm familiar with had a huge Coke (or Pepsi, or whoever) poster plastered across the front. That way you could tell where a Coke machine was from the red glow half a mile away in the dark.

In fact, some of them were so nice, they withheld the bad news of "sold out" until after you'd put in your money and pressed the button and it had attempted to drop a non-existent can.

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Matt Westwood:
Steve:
Matt Westwood:
The real WTF is soda.
CAPTCHA: Vindico: I came, I saw, I vindicate
You appear to be one of those cases of arrested adolescence who believe that your masculinity is confirmed by announcing your dislike of soda. Did soda help noise pollution kill your grandma?

It rots your teeth for a start. It's overpriced for another thing. Its packaging is environmentally expensive for another (and the bulk of the litter problem round here for another). Bottled water has the same faults (except its kinder to your teeth). Possibly the real WTF is that one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world supplies water from its faucets that is less than 100% appetising or healthful.

Oh wow, I wasn't expecting a reasoned response from you. Thanks for your input!

frits · 2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Does anybody remember the Pepsi machine that had a picture of Jeff Gordon holding an exploding soda bottle at his crotch? The soda was shooting up and out. It was hilarious.

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

frits:
TheJasper:
anon:
While I'll agree that the broken soda machine is amusing and WTF worthy, the snarky comment about "what was wrong with the old ones" is kind of unnecessary. First off, it implies that the old ones never broke which is obviously untrue, and second it implies that no advantages are gained by the new ones. On the old ones, someone had to manually change small paper labels every time a new product was added, and we've all seen the crappy, handwritten substitutes when the paper label was damaged or unavailable. Also, the old ones often didn't give a clear indication of what drinks were out of stock, and without an onboard computer were incapable of automatically reporting back to a central server what the current inventory was.

You obviously never listened to your grandparents. Things were always better in the olden days. Sure, you had to walk 10 miles uphill in the snow both ways to get a can of soda, but things were definately better.

Not to mention that soda was better in the "old" days. It was sweetend with cocaine, not HFCS. Remember the new/classic coke debacle?

FTFY

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Matt Westwood:
It rots your teeth for a start.

Fun soda fact from my dentist: It's the carbonic acid that rots your teeth, not the sugar so much, so if you think your teeth are safe because you drink diet, you're mistaken.

Also, the amount of time the soda is in contact with your teeth affects them more than the amount of soda. If you sip a can of soda over the course of the day, you are doing far more damage to your teeth than if you were to finish a whole case in an hour (granted, you'd have other problems if you did that).

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Matt Westwood:
Schmalls:
Mad Benjamin(s):
You do understand what a debit card is, right? The money is debited directly from your account, so you borrow nothing. Therefore if you never use a credit card to "borrow money" you shouldn't even bother having one - a debit card does the same job without the "borrowing money" bit.

I think you are not accounting for some of the best reasons to have a credit card.

For starters, you have a 30 day (or so) grace period on your purchases with no interest. This means that you can keep your money in your bank account longer where it can be earning interest. Then if you pay it off every month you will never have any interest. This may not account to much interest earnings, but it can also help another way, avoiding overdraft fees on your checking account. When you use your credit card, it acts as a buffer when you know you will have enough to pay it off at the end of the month, but your checking account balance may fluctuate up or down during the month.

Secondly, most good cards will have rewards of some kind. They are basically giving back some of the money they receive from fees they collect from each transaction. Of course they keep the lion's share, but consider this: most places you can use a credit card charge the same price no matter which form of payment you use (there are some gas stations which charge more for credit card purchases). So which would you rather do: give more profit to the merchant where you get nothing back, or give more money to the credit card company where you will get something back? I myself am a fan of the cash back reward types and will generally get 1% back on all purchases and can get 3-5% back on some categories of purchases. As long as you never carry a balance on the credit card, the company will basically pay you to use it.

I'd actually prefer to give more profit to the merchant. These are tough times at the moment, and the merchants are suffering no less than anyone else.

I'll use my cash back to spend more money, thus helping other merchants.

toth · 2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Mad Benjamin(s):
NullPointerException:
I frequently don't have bills smaller than $5 and I almost never have coins. I always have a credit and/or debit card.
I never use credit cards to borrow money--purely for convenience.
You do understand what a debit card is, right? The money is debited directly from your account, so you borrow nothing. Therefore if you never use a credit card to "borrow money" you shouldn't even bother having one - a debit card does the same job without the "borrowing money" bit.

I'll grant you that, for a $1.25 soda, it wouldn't make much difference, but as a general rule, if you only use a debit card, then good luck getting a loan or even renting. At my current apartment, the landlord was uneasy about renting to me and made me get a cosigner, because I had no credit rating (not a bad credit rating, no credit rating) because I'd only ever used my debit card before. Since then, I got a credit card and have been using it frequently, even though I never, ever spend more money than I have. It's kind of kooky, but a credit rating is practically a necessity.

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

frits:
TheJasper:
anon:
While I'll agree that the broken soda machine is amusing and WTF worthy, the snarky comment about "what was wrong with the old ones" is kind of unnecessary. First off, it implies that the old ones never broke which is obviously untrue, and second it implies that no advantages are gained by the new ones. On the old ones, someone had to manually change small paper labels every time a new product was added, and we've all seen the crappy, handwritten substitutes when the paper label was damaged or unavailable. Also, the old ones often didn't give a clear indication of what drinks were out of stock, and without an onboard computer were incapable of automatically reporting back to a central server what the current inventory was.

You obviously never listened to your grandparents. Things were always better in the olden days. Sure, you had to walk 10 miles uphill in the snow both ways to get a can of soda, but things were definately better.

Not to mention that soda was better in the "old" days. It was sweetend with cain sugar, not HFCS. Remember the new/classic coke debacle?

Being a little bit pedantic here, but the whole claim that Coke/New Coke is linked to the switch from cane sugar to high fructose corn syrup is a bit of a legend. Coke had moved to HFCS prior to the introduction of New Coke. The change happened gradually over the course of several years, but was 100% complete before New Coke came out. New Coke was not an attempt to mask this change, it was an attempt to bring the taste of Coke closer to Pepsi, which at the time was tearing through Coke's market share.

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Evidently www.pvcstrip.com sells software too:

http://www.madisonartshop.com/shade8-professionalwindows.html

RogerC · 2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Markp:
Greg:
"Given that I'm 25, I guess I can't continue with this survey?"
No, they just assume that anyone from 25-44 would either rather not say (Prefer not to answer) or would lie about their age anyway (one of the other options).

My hunch is that they were trying to exclude all the goofy Generation X'ers, but they made a mistake and missed by 4 years.

RogerC · 2010-09-17 Reply Admin

dolor:
Misel:
I can understand that soda machines could utilize an internet connection (stock updates, display gimmicks, credit card payments).
But why does it have to boot off the network?
Because it's an embedded system with no file system.

I was going to say "It's a diskless system, kinda like some of the low-end Sparcstations from back in the 90's." But I like your comment better.

frits · 2010-09-17 Reply Admin

anon:
frits:

Not to mention that soda was better in the "old" days. It was sweetend with cain sugar, not HFCS. Remember the new/classic coke debacle?

Being a little bit pedantic here, but the whole claim that Coke/New Coke is linked to the switch from cane sugar to high fructose corn syrup is a bit of a legend. Coke had moved to HFCS prior to the introduction of New Coke. The change happened gradually over the course of several years, but was 100% complete before New Coke came out. New Coke was not an attempt to mask this change, it was an attempt to bring the taste of Coke closer to Pepsi, which at the time was tearing through Coke's market share.

Yes, you're right about the cola wars being the impetus for New Coke.

Additionally, I read that about 50% of distributors were still using cain sugar for Coke up to the introduction of New Coke. However, when Classic Coke was "reintroduced" 100% of distributors used HFCS. I think the elimination of cain sugar was more opportunistic than planned.

Addendum (2010-09-17 11:24): lol @ "cain". Thanks for pointing that out doods.

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

frits:
anon:
frits:

Not to mention that soda was better in the "old" days. It was sweetend with cain sugar, not HFCS. Remember the new/classic coke debacle?

Being a little bit pedantic here, but the whole claim that Coke/New Coke is linked to the switch from cane sugar to high fructose corn syrup is a bit of a legend. Coke had moved to HFCS prior to the introduction of New Coke. The change happened gradually over the course of several years, but was 100% complete before New Coke came out. New Coke was not an attempt to mask this change, it was an attempt to bring the taste of Coke closer to Pepsi, which at the time was tearing through Coke's market share.

Yes, you're right about the cola wars being the impetus for New Coke.

Additionally, I read that about 50% of distributors were still using cain sugar for Coke up to the introduction of New Coke. However, when Classic Coke was "reintroduced" 100% of distributors used HFCS. I think the elimination of cain sugar was more opportunistic than planned.

Cain sugar: the sugar that kills you.

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

frits:
anon:
frits:

Not to mention that soda was better in the "old" days. It was sweetend with cain sugar, not HFCS. Remember the new/classic coke debacle?

Being a little bit pedantic here, but the whole claim that Coke/New Coke is linked to the switch from cane sugar to high fructose corn syrup is a bit of a legend. Coke had moved to HFCS prior to the introduction of New Coke. The change happened gradually over the course of several years, but was 100% complete before New Coke came out. New Coke was not an attempt to mask this change, it was an attempt to bring the taste of Coke closer to Pepsi, which at the time was tearing through Coke's market share.

Yes, you're right about the cola wars being the impetus for New Coke.

Additionally, I read that about 50% of distributors were still using cain sugar for Coke up to the introduction of New Coke. However, when Classic Coke was "reintroduced" 100% of distributors used HFCS. I think the elimination of cain sugar was more opportunistic than planned.

Abel must be overjoyed by amount of Cain sugar that Coke has purportedly gone through.

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Neville Flynn:
Cain sugar: the sugar that kills you.

+1

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

You're right. Let me take my debit card to an ATM machine, get some twenties, then go find someone to make change so I have some singles for the machine.

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

I don't know about where you're from, but here in Canada banking plans typically only allow so many free transactions per month. Credit cards are unlimited. Here, if you're at the point where you're paying with plastic, do you want to be charged $2 transaction fee on top of a $1.25 Coke (sweetened with Cain-Abel sugar) at the vending machine?

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Actually, it depends on your definition of "borrowing money".

Using a credit card is, by definition, borrowing money. I'm getting a service or product now without having to reduce my net worth a cent in the short-term. It's a loan with a term of sometime around a month.

So, my money sits happily wherever I have it, gaining interest/dividends for that time. At the end of that month, I pay the balance in full, no cost to me, and I gain the small amount of money by leaving my money where it's generating interest.

Another reason to have/use credit cards is the bonuses. Airline miles, shopping points, cash back -- all of these translate into something with an intrinsic worth.

Of course, none of these strategies work if you're carrying a balance on your card. Then, you're better off spending the cash, as you'll never catch up to the interest rates on cards.

But, if you're able to pay the balance in full, may as well take advantage of the benefits offered. It adds up a bit at a time.

PeriSoft · 2010-09-17 Reply Admin

cystm:
You're right. Let me take my debit card to an ATM machine, get some twenties, then go find someone to make change so I have some singles for the machine.

Does your ATM machine require a PIN number and have an LCD display, and can it be reinstalled with a CD disk?

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

RogerC:
Markp:
Greg:
"Given that I'm 25, I guess I can't continue with this survey?"
No, they just assume that anyone from 25-44 would either rather not say (Prefer not to answer) or would lie about their age anyway (one of the other options).
My hunch is that they were trying to exclude all the goofy Generation X'ers, but they made a mistake and missed by 4 years.

I think it's the other way around, if they put that option there every female would choose it.

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

You found the G spot... don't delete it!

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

cystm:
You're right. Let me take my debit card to an ATM machine, get some twenties, then go find someone to make change so I have some singles for the machine.

Forget that! Just drop by your local convenience store and get a forty.

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

The computer isn't there to tell you (the customer) what is in stock, but to tell the company what isn't in stock or close to depleted. That way they know how many of each product to send on the truck to restock.

I've yet to see a vending machine like the type shown, but I can imagine half of the incentive for having the embedded display is for advertising purposes.

Jaime · 2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Matt Westwood:
Steve:
Matt Westwood:
The real WTF is soda.
CAPTCHA: Vindico: I came, I saw, I vindicate
You appear to be one of those cases of arrested adolescence who believe that your masculinity is confirmed by announcing your dislike of soda. Did soda help noise pollution kill your grandma?

It rots your teeth for a start. It's overpriced for another thing. Its packaging is environmentally expensive for another (and the bulk of the litter problem round here for another). Bottled water has the same faults (except its kinder to your teeth). Possibly the real WTF is that one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world supplies water from its faucets that is less than 100% appetising or healthful.

The water in the US is fine. People drink bottled water for two reasons:

It comes in a bottle. As Americans, we're to lazy to use our own container.
Many people think it tastes better. Plenty of double-blind studies have been done to show that bottled water tastes no better than tap water. Actually, in most cases, bottled water is tap water -- just sold in a bottle. The Penn & Teller segment on bottled water was hilarious, they got people in a fancy restaurant to sing the praises of Los Angeles hose water by giving it a fancy presentation.

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Matt Westwood:
Schmalls:
Mad Benjamin(s):
You do understand what a debit card is, right? The money is debited directly from your account, so you borrow nothing. Therefore if you never use a credit card to "borrow money" you shouldn't even bother having one - a debit card does the same job without the "borrowing money" bit.

I think you are not accounting for some of the best reasons to have a credit card.

For starters, you have a 30 day (or so) grace period on your purchases with no interest. This means that you can keep your money in your bank account longer where it can be earning interest. Then if you pay it off every month you will never have any interest. This may not account to much interest earnings, but it can also help another way, avoiding overdraft fees on your checking account. When you use your credit card, it acts as a buffer when you know you will have enough to pay it off at the end of the month, but your checking account balance may fluctuate up or down during the month.

Secondly, most good cards will have rewards of some kind. They are basically giving back some of the money they receive from fees they collect from each transaction. Of course they keep the lion's share, but consider this: most places you can use a credit card charge the same price no matter which form of payment you use (there are some gas stations which charge more for credit card purchases). So which would you rather do: give more profit to the merchant where you get nothing back, or give more money to the credit card company where you will get something back? I myself am a fan of the cash back reward types and will generally get 1% back on all purchases and can get 3-5% back on some categories of purchases. As long as you never carry a balance on the credit card, the company will basically pay you to use it.

I'd actually prefer to give more profit to the merchant. These are tough times at the moment, and the merchants are suffering no less than anyone else.

You missed the point, the merchant sees the same amount either way. The credit card company is the one refunding you a bit of your money... and who doesn't want to stick it to those guys? They're the ones who jack the rate up to 18-30% if you screw up just once.

And no, I don't have a credit card, and likely never will. My only debts are student loans and possibly a mortgage in the future... I refuse to buy consumer crap on credit.

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

The WTF for the "Shade 8" is that it's the 7th one...

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

If you think that bottled water and tap water taste the same, then you've never been to the mid-western US, where the water leaves mineral deposits of geological significance AFTER going through a Brita filter.

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

G:
Where's my file, G?

Don't worry - lots of people have trouble finding the, um, spot where G is...

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Shade 8 is what you get if you put shade 16 over shade 2.

(Shade numbers are fairly well known among those welders who can still see. Shade 8 as a welding shade is too pale for anything beyond light gas welding or soldering, but as a surround for a welding area it's good to reduce stray arc flashes from blinding others working nearby.)

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Matt Westwood:
It rots your teeth for a start. It's overpriced for another thing. Its packaging is environmentally expensive for another (and the bulk of the litter problem round here for another). Bottled water has the same faults (except its kinder to your teeth). Possibly the real WTF is that one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world supplies water from its faucets that is less than 100% appetising or healthful.

I beg to differ, in part at least.

1- It rots your teeth for a start. - Kinda true, but it could be a lot better if USA had any kind of dental plan. I'm from Latin-America, and when a friend of mine spent over a year in US she was impressed to see so many middle-class people who had missing teeth. Apparently there's almost no dental plan (unless you're rich), and there is no fluorine on the tap water either. But then again, in a country where there isn't widely accessible health care, dental care is a bit of a dream.

2- It's overpriced for another thing. - This is like hating houses because the real-estate market is overpriced. It isn't the sodas's fault, if the producer is greedy. And how much do you pay for a can of beer, care to tell? I bet it's more than you pay for a can of soda.

3- Its packaging is environmentally expensive for another - You're right. But recycling helps somewhat, and research on new substitutes to plastic is bound to give us something, hopefully soon enough.

4- Possibly the real WTF is that one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world supplies water from its faucets that is less than 100% appetising or healthful. - I agree to the letter.

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

the beholder:
Matt Westwood:
It rots your teeth for a start. It's overpriced for another thing. Its packaging is environmentally expensive for another (and the bulk of the litter problem round here for another). Bottled water has the same faults (except its kinder to your teeth). Possibly the real WTF is that one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world supplies water from its faucets that is less than 100% appetising or healthful.
4- Possibly the real WTF is that one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world supplies water from its faucets that is less than 100% appetising or healthful. - I agree to the letter.

TRWTF is that Latin America has outlawed the use of the letter "zed".

DaveK · 2010-09-17 Reply Admin

boog:
Matt Westwood:
It rots your teeth for a start.
Fun soda fact from my dentist: It's the carbonic acid that rots your teeth, not the sugar so much, so if you think your teeth are safe because you drink diet, you're mistaken.

Your dentist is ill-informed, I'm afraid. First off: the *only* thing that causes tooth decay (aka 'dental caries', as distinct from any other form of mere physical damage) is exposure to acids generated by oral bacteria metabolising fermentable sugars.

boog:
Also, the amount of time the soda is in contact with your teeth affects them more than the amount of soda. If you sip a can of soda over the course of the day, you are doing far more damage to your teeth than if you were to finish a whole case in an hour (granted, you'd have other problems if you did that).

Yes, but sugar is sticky, and it sticks to your teeth as you swig your soda, while the acid just flushes straight past. Any plaque on your teeth will also soak it up and hold it in the extracellular matrix, and all the little microbes will go into a feeding frenzy. The acidification caused by bacterial exposure to a dose of sugar persists for twenty minutes after exposure, unlike the damage done by the (extremely weak; because of its tendency to dissociate into bicarbonate ions, the damn thing practically buffers itself!) carbonic acid, which only takes place while the drink is in contact with the teeth.

References? Sure: (not linkified to avoid rousing the wrath of Akismet)

http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/acid.asp http://www.doctorspiller.com/Tooth_Decay.htm#Facts%20about%20tooth%20decay http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/abyss/dep1211.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonic_acid

TL;DR: The sugar in coke does much more harm to your teeth than the carbonic acid, because it sticks to them. Plus it'll still make you fat no matter what.

DaveK · 2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Jens:
I like Denmark where you can pay virtually everywhere and everything with Dankort, a debit card. But if it needs to be a credit card for the comfort, why not?
Sweden plans to get rid of cash completely.

It's not "convenient" - IT'S A TRAP!

If you give up your ability to perform anonymous transactions with cash, how the hell are you supposed to buy weed anymore?

Mel · 2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Jaime:
The water in the US is fine. People drink bottled water for two reasons: 1. It comes in a bottle. As Americans, we're to lazy to use our own container. 2. Many people think it tastes better. Plenty of double-blind studies have been done to show that bottled water tastes no better than tap water. Actually, in most cases, bottled water is tap water -- just sold in a bottle. The Penn & Teller segment on bottled water was hilarious, they got people in a fancy restaurant to sing the praises of Los Angeles hose water by giving it a fancy presentation.

I personally drink bottled water for one reason: I'm thirsty and/or it's hot, I don't have my own drink and there's nowhere with tap water accessible. Generally I go for flavoured water so I feel like I'm getting at least something I can't from the tap.

Oh, and our tap water tastes foul. The tap water a few kms away tastes fine, and I'm happy to drink it there, but at home it always goes through a filter.

And to the person who asked about the price of a beer: here, beer the absolute cheapest drink. At restaurants, supermarkets, convenience stores, everywhere.

North Bus · 2010-09-17 Reply Admin

the beholder:
2- It's overpriced for another thing. - This is like hating houses because the real-estate market is overpriced. It isn't the sodas's fault, if the producer is greedy. And how much do you pay for a can of beer, care to tell? I bet it's more than you pay for a can of soda.

Where I live, you can purchase off-brand cranberry juice full of sugar (I'm type-I diabetic, juice kills. I get plenty of vitamins from supplements.) in a 1.5 L bottle for $2.00 - $3.49, depending on sales.

Last week, I picked up two 2 L bottles of Diet Caffeine Free Pepsi (one of my favorite soft drinks) for $0.77 a bottle.

...And the plastic Pepsi bottle is much lighter than the thick cranberry juice bottle -- much more environmentally friendly.

Mason Wheeler · 2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Mad Benjamin(s):
These are all very good points to be fair. Personally I despise credit, I don't own any credit cards and my only outstanding loan is my mortgage. But you raise some good points about the security aspects of credit vs debit cards.

Part of the problem is the wording. They call it "credit," like it's something positive. That's what credit is, right? A positive balance. Like what happens when you complete a course at college. You get a certain number of credits for it. You notice how the term "charge card" has fallen out of favor over the last couple decades? They don't want you thinking about charging something, that you're taking out a loan and going into debt each time you use it; they want you to think you're using "credit!" insert rainbows and sparkle effects here

It seems to me that if the banks were forced by truth in advertising laws to call them what they really are, "debt cards" or "loan cards," that we'd have a lot less people screwing up their lives due to overusing them.

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

anon:
which at the time was tearing through Coke's market share.

That's only because Michael Jackson was their spokesman and he was really on fire.

Mason Wheeler · 2010-09-17 Reply Admin

Schmalls:
So which would you rather do: give more profit to the merchant where you get nothing back, or give more money to the credit card company where you will get something back?

That's exactly the sort of short-sighted financial reasoning that got our economy into the mess it's currently in.

What would you rather do? Give more profit to the merchant who is providing you with the service you are currently enjoying, thus helping him to not only remain in business but also to employ some of your neighbors, which contributes to keeping your whole community healthy... or give your money to a bank that's based out of another state, or even another country, and doing its level best to run the world economy into the ground in the name of stock prices and short-term profits so that you can get a 1% discount?

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

kastein:
You missed the point, the merchant sees the same amount either way. The credit card company is the one refunding you a bit of your money... and who doesn't want to stick it to those guys? They're the ones who jack the rate up to 18-30% if you screw up just once.
And no, I don't have a credit card, and likely never will. My only debts are student loans and possibly a mortgage in the future... I refuse to buy consumer crap on credit.

Actually, the merchant pays for the credit card transaction fee.

StickyWidget · 2010-09-17 Reply Admin

The problem with the old ones is:

Advertising was limited to single placards on the side, that usually weren't read by consumers
Advertising couldn't be updated easily, or in a timely manner.
You couldn't put multiple advertisements in a single space (i.e. rotating displays, time-division advertising, whatever)

Now, you can update the display over the Internet with advertising that is right in the customer's face, and sell multiple advertisements that display for a certain segment of time.

Thank you, that'll be 200 dollars for my 5 minutes of work please. :)

~Sticky

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

"someone remind what was wrong with the 'old' ones that worked for decades?"

They couldn't be hacked to run Linux?

2010-09-17 Reply Admin

"And no, I don't have a credit card, and likely never will."

I have one because I don't like the idea of using my debit card online or worse, my bank account # and routing info and fuck paypal. Also, everytime I try to stick cash in my optical drive, my payment never seems to go through. My CC balance is bill-payed at the end of each month so I pretty much get all the benefits and none of the drawbacks of plastic.

Dying of Thirst

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