Starbucks finally gets a clue — they start selling decent coffee!
When Starbucks recently introduced its new smoother coffee “Pike Place Roast“, I have to say that I was very skeptical. Let’s face it, Starbucks was more famous for it’s specialty coffee drinks than for its coffee. Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonalds and a slew of other coffee hucksters have beaten Starbucks in blind taste tests. McDonalds is knee deep in the coffee game and is certainly having an effect on Starbuck’s market share.

With that said, I have to say that I was very surprised. The coffee was delicious and every bit as good as the marketing campaign that accompanied it. The main issue that I have had with drinking Starbucks coffee in the past is how incredibly bitter it was. Not the case with “Pike Place.” It’s bold, smooth and very tasty. Ahh, the return to the days of old — when Starbucks was known for it’s coffee. There is also a throwback with the original siren logo that appears on the coffee cups. Kudos to Starbucks for pulling a winning clue out of the cluebag.

Also see:
Starbucks finally switches to free Wi-Fi!
Starbucks Sleeve
Jackhole goes to Starbucks
Do Starbucks corporate employees get free coffee?
Akeelah and the Bee and the Starbucks employee

Everytime I see Bill Hemmer, an anchor on the Fox News channel, I can’t help but think of Jim Carrey. Hemmer actually looks more like Carrey’s evil twin than look-a-like brother. I think it’s just because Carrey’s face is a bit warmer if nothing else.

I really like Hemmer since he made the jump from CNN nearly three years ago. He’s much friendlier and way more interesting to watch. He looked and sounded like an android on CNN.

It seems like only yesterday that I, along with hundreds of Mac enthusiasts, waited for over three hours last June 29th to purchase an iPhone. A year has nearly passed and I couldn’t imagine life without my iPhone. For starters – I have quite a few email accounts. Ten to be exact. The usual emails - Work, several personal, Yahoo, Gmail, my spam account, etc. I check most of my email on the iPhone. Previously, I would log into my Yahoo email only to be overwhelmed by the 1000+ emails. After checking a few emails I would get discouraged and would soon log out. One of the consequences of not checking some of these email accounts often would be a missed domain renewal. Ouch. Now thanks to iPhone I stay up to date with any new inbound emails.

Early on it was basically just the internet in your pocket. Since then, many Web entities have set up iPhone optimized sites. Here are my top 10 picks in no particular order:

01 Foxnews
The best news site for iPhone. An extremely well designed interface and video integration. (CNN has some catching up to do!)

02. Meebo
Hand-down the best instant messaging app for the iPhone. (Until apple releases a native version of iChat that is) Works with AIM, Yahoo, Google talk, and MSN.

03. Popurls
Great interface of the popular preselected RSS aggregater.

04. Bank of America
Wins best of show in the bank category. Well done! (Good thing I bank with them)

05. LinkedIn
Where business meets social. It could use some improvements but it’s not bad.

06. Amazon
Simple, yet well done interface. Whenever you’re out shopping, you can always get use Amazon as a good barometer for cost. Looks more like a PC than a Mac.

07. iGoogle
Probably the best RSS aggregator in the land. The regular version allows you to set up multiple RSS feeds in arranged in category tabs that you define. This translates beautifully to the iPhone. It’s non-linear interface should serve as an inspiration to other developers. Although, why Google has yet to create a iPhone icon is a mystery to me.

08. Digg
The standard community site for the latest content on the web. I always find great things to read on Digg.

09. Facebook
It’s featured in the latest Apple commercial. Need I say more…

10. Jajah
The best VOIP phone site on the planet. The interface is perfectly executed. Easy to make calls once you’ve set up your contact list. Uses a similar iPhone keypad for entering numbers.

Every day when I arrive home from the office, my dog Aja nearly tackles me as I walk in the front door. She runs and get’s her soccer ball and drops it at my feet begging me to play with her. So, I take her out and play soccer with her daily. Aja runs back and forth until she can no longer run. Then she lays down and takes a breather.

Her soccer ball is a child’s regulation Adidas. I let a bit of the air out so the ball is soft enough so she can catch it in her mouth. She also catches a Frisbee. However, I think her first love is soccer. She loves playing goalkeeper. I’ll try and kick the ball past her and she gets it 9 out of 10 times.

I’m not a huge fan of musicals. I always thought it was bizarre that spontaneous song and dance would suddenly break out and the extras in any scene would never react. Hello? Does anybody else out there find musicals incredibly corny? This video shows how people really act when a musical breaks out in the food court. Brilliantly pulled off by improveverywhere.com.

For some strange reason, random people feel it’s necessary to come up to me and tell me which celebrity I resemble. I look at them and say.. thanks? I mean, what do they expect me to say? Yes, you got me… I’m him. Sometimes they too resemble a celebrity. It’s usually not someone very flattering so I don’t reply “Hey, you look exactly like Roseanne Barr”! “Wow, the resemblance is uncanny!”

Over the years the two celebrities that I’ve gotten I look like the most are either James Spader or Jeff Healy. I think I may have resembled both when I was younger but I still get tagged with both celebrities. James Spader is looking more like a junior William Shatner these days. I’ll take the Jeff Healy comparison any day.

A few years back I was in a bar in Key West and a couple came up to me and asked me if they could have a photo with me. I looked at them and asked “Why do you want a photo with me?” They said “Because you’re Jeff Healy!” I was honored but let them know that I wasn’t Jeff Healy. They didn’t believe me. I asked them if they knew that Jeff was blind. They replied “Of course we do.” They I said “Well, I’m clearly not blind and therefore I couldn’t possibly be Jeff Healy. They laughed and begged me to take a couple of photos with me. They were both taking photos with me. That seemed to draw a crowd. One woman whispered to her husband “Who is that?” “A celebrity?” The couple yelled out “It’s Jeff Healy.” The others looked puzzled. Apparantly they either didn’t know who Jeff Healy was or they thought this couple was nuts.

Sadly, guitar great Jeff Healy passed away earlier this week of lung cancer. He was 41. R.I.P. Jeff.

Bueller… Bueller… Bueller…

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is arguably one of the best teen comedies of the eighties. It featured Matthew Broderick as the lovable, mischievous Ferris Bueller. At the time I thought Broderick would go on to star in a string of hip Hollywood movies. I was wrong. “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” was the high point. Not that he’s not a talented actor, but he hasn’t made any movies since that really can compare to the Ferris character. Call it typecasting but Bueller was the kind of guy that everybody wanted to be like. He was a risk taker. He was a hero. And, he always got the girl.

Broderick has experienced a recent resurgence these past few years and I think the timing is right for a sequel – “Ferris Bueller’s Other Day Off.” Fast forward twenty-two years to 2008. The story would shift from Chicago to New York City. Ferris would be at the top of his game. Today he’s a successful stock broker on Wall Street. With his best friend Cameron Frye (played by original actor Alan Ruck) in tow, he would once again wreak havoc on New York City and Cameron’s life.

This time, walking in the steps of his father, Cameron has an expensive car collection. He even owns a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California just like the one Ferris scamed Cameron into taking out for a joy ride in the original day off. He’s a high powered defense attorney with a wife and four kids. Although he’s grown up, he’s still a bit on the shy side outside of the courtroom.

The whole drama unfolds in one crazy day. So what happens next? I want to hear your comments on this one.

[Click the comic strip to see larger version]

One again I had the privilege to fly Southwest Airlines last week when I took a business trip to New Orleans. I thought it would be much better flying Southwest this time since they introduced their new line policy. You no longer need to line up immediately upon arriving to your gate. Once you check in, your place is saved in line. I arrived two hours early and ended up with B44. Not bad, I thought. As illustrated in the cartoon above, I ended up with the center seat.

I think it’s time for Southwest to abandon the whole “Grab any seat you want” policy. It may have worked well in the seventies when the planes flew with less people, However it’s not working so well these days.

Here’s an example. Say I purchase a ticket to go see my relatives up in the northeast six months in advance. The day I’m to return, I spend a little more time with my family. I arrive at the airport just under an hour before my flight leaves. I potentially end up with a “C” line ticket. The only advantage to buying my ticket ahead of time is the monetary savings. It doesn’t guarantee my place in line. I would rather know I had a center seat at the time of booking. I’ll take that incentive any day of the week.

C’mon Southwest, you’re the airlines with heart. How about cutting us all a break. Even Subway abandoned that silly sandwich cut. (Remember the cut where it appeared there was more on the sandwich because all the meat and toppings hung out the side) Sure it’s great to be different but let’s face it, people hate it. It makes us feel like we’re all cattle lining up. This is a new century. Start listening to your patrons. SWITCH TO ASSIGNED SEATING!

Also see:
Southwest Airlines reservations - or why I don’t like to fly Southwest
Virgin America is the new jetBlue
Dog + Pig

Once a week I receive a concert update email from Ticketmaster. This morning I opened it up and saw Engelbert Humperdinck’s photo THINKING it was Gene Simmons. I’m thinking… “Wow, I didn’t know Gene Simmons was touring.” I guess there is a huge resurgence after his successful run on the Apprentice. I’m definitely going to check out this show. Will he be singing songs from his latest release Ass****? Could he actually sing “Waiting for the Morning Light” live? Or will he dive into the KISS catalog?

Upon closer examination (When I clicked the link and was taken to the Ticketmaster site) I noticed it wasn’t Gene Simmons at all. Oops, my bad. I have to say the resemblance is uncanny.

Forget about the two remaining democrats for now – let’s ask the all important question – who has the better splash? The splash page is what you see when you first reach a Web site. In both cases, the primary goal is to get you on the mailing list. The good news is that they both drop a cookie so you never see the page again.Let’s start with the splash pages. Both use traditional colors – red, white, and blue. Let’s workshop the splash pages:

Hillary Clinton’s splash page

Info
Requires first name, last name, email and zip code. They obviously want to know who you are and where you live. Important for getting the word out. Once the form is complete, you are redirected to the homepage.

Tagline
“Help make history” - Somewhat confusing. Does it refer to the history that will be made because it’s a first for a woman nominee? If so, that message is really more about Clinton. You can help HER make history. This tag line appeals to some but not all.

Design
Traditional non flashy design displaying Hillary’s three quarter photo. Generally photos that are shot under the chin looking up are a no no. The face does point in towards the message and that works well. The logo “Hillary for President” is confusing as it also shares this tag line “Help Make History.” There are no styles attached to the form. The GIANT submit button is a bit overkill. It’s red. It doesn’t need to be bigger than the logo.

Overall
The design is very traditional and old school.

Barack Obama’s splash page

Info
Only requires an email and zip code. This tells me the Obama camp understands the internet much better. You can add your email and zip and still remain anonymous. In all fairness, Obama uses a rather large button as well. However, Obama’s says “Learn More” which may encourage a click. Also, unlike Clinton’s splash page, you are first taken to a “Thanks for joining the movement” page then redirected to the homepage. Good feedback for the user.

Tagline”
Change we can believe in” - Obama’s tag line appeals to all. Everybody can get behind this type of inspirational message.

Design
The overall design is pleasing to the eye. The bold use of blue works well and helps to frame the message. There is a clear distinction between the logo “Obama 08″ and the inspirational tag line “Change we can believe in.” The black and white photo of Obama and his family is tastefully done. The vignette also allows the photo to breathe and bathe in the whitespace.

Overall
The design is more web 2.0 and much cleaner.I give this round to Obama. Simply on design alone.

These are only a handful of clever bathroom signs I found over at the toilet sign blog. I imagine the possibilities are endless…

This kid is amazing! The fact that he’s doing it all on a unicycle is unbelievable.