SkyMall Promoting Corporate Espionage

Posted on March 31, 2005

Recently there’s been some major buzz about corporate espionage. Several cases were in reference to someone stealing secret documents and product plans from Apple and posting them on Apple-related blogs. Law suits have been tossed around, the FBI has gotten involved, etc.

While on my Southwest flight, I was browsing through the SkyMall magazine. One product caught my eye – a Spy Pen. It’s a pen with a camera built in.

Normally, the marketing geeks would come up with a sales pitch like “Take pictures of your cute puppy” or something equally innocent. Not this time! They proudly state the camera’s primary use – taking photos of secret documents, taking secret photos in board meetings, etc. “Sneak it in where cameras aren’t allowed…” Even better, “It also has a real built-in pen so you can actually look like you’re writing.”

Remember – this is SkyMall advertizing a camera pen with the specific purpose of corporate espionage and illegal photo-taking.

Click picture for larger view.

Southwest Is Super Cheap

Posted on March 30, 2005

I made a round trip flight to California this week to do some computer work. On my return flight, the ‘meal’ we were given was a tiny bag of peanuts and some broken Ritz crackers. The peanut bag was small enough to hold in the palm of my hand. Of course, the bag was puffed full of air which was intended to give the impression that there were plenty of peanuts inside. False advertising again. Inside were only 11 peanuts.

Oh, and the triple-entendre of the “Byte” sized fares… doh!

Breakfast "T.K.O."

Posted on March 27, 2005

Codi and I had a nice, relaxing rainy Sunday. At about midnight Saturday night, I made a fresh loaf of molasses bread (so good!). Sunday morning, I made it into french toast. I used vanilla extract and mango yogurt in the batter, then topped the french toast with a peach/banana/maple sauce. Sliced kiwi and strawberries on the side made it extra tasty. Codi had one; I had three. Really good!

Geheimnisapfelbier

Posted on March 26, 2005

I finally bottled and aged my latest home-brew. I used an old, old recipe that called for specialized yeasts, high-test beer ingredients, a dozen pressed apples and the pulp from the pressed apples.

The result is a flavorful bier that doesn’t taste like any traditional bier, nor does it taste like a cider. It’s got a hint of apple-flower, sparkling wine taste, but with a heavy hop aroma. It also has little bits of apple in it.

The bier is hard to describe, hence the name “geheimnisapfelbier”, which means “mystery apple beer” in German.

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