Coke & Nestle Sued Over Enviga’s Bogus Calorie Burning Claims – Consumerist
Enviga, the so-called “calorie burning soda” has landed Coke and Nestle in some hot water, as the The Center for Science In The Public Interest has filed suit against both for false advertising claims
I’ve written about Enviga a few times. I don’t like it. I don’t like their claims. I don’t like their carcinogen sweeteners. I don’t like the taste.
But I do like a lawsuit for false advertising. That’s always fun.
I’ve got some changes in mind for this site. I’ve been working on some things, although it’s hard to find time with moving and everything and still wanting to spend a little time with my wife. But she’s got stuff she has to get done tonight, so I’m hoping to get some work done while she’s busy with that. My lack of success installing a test MySQL server on my Windows machine is not helping things, but the primary change I’m looking to make right away shouldn’t depend on the database anyway. Maybe tonight. This site might be down briefly as I move it to a subdomain.
Anyway, we’ll see how it goes.
I upgraded to WordPress 2.1, and it broke the tag cloud that I’ve been using for my categories. I’m going to have to go find the WordPress API again and figure out why it’s broken and how I need to fix it, but it’s kind of late, and I’m kind of annoyed because I always upgrade and things break and I always think nothing will go wrong and something always does.
WordPress 2.1 doesn’t seem like a big upgrade, but maybe there’s some stuff I haven’t seen yet. I had the impression that it was awesome, but that’s not my experience so far.
Edit: Apparently the plugin that I used for the cloud was just something that some dude wrote, and he hasn’t upgraded it for 2.1. I guess I need to brush up on my PHP skills.
So here’s the view from the hallway looking forward. The place is beautiful. There were some minor problems that came up during the inspection – the showers don’t drain that well, the water shut-off is kind of hidden behind the washing machine . . .
But nothing they can’t fix. And parking wasn’t too bad. I don’t know what I’m going to do before I get my car registered in DC, though. It’s 2 hour parking unless you have a sticker. I guess I’ll have to do that sooner rather than later.
The drive wasn’t bad, either. I came from work, although I left work at 2:30, so traffic shouldn’t be bad. But it wasn’t bad coming home at 4:30, either. People say traffic in the city is bad, but it’s really not the city. It’s the suburbs where the traffic will kill you.
You have no idea how excited I am to move.
You know what I hate? No, the other thing. I hate Cox Communications‘ annoying mascot “Digital Max”. I just saw a commercial that thankfully didn’t feature him about how wonderful Cox’s customer service is. I can’t believe that’s true, but since I haven’t had to call them, I can’t really say it isn’t good. Their prices sure aren’t very good, but neither are anyone else’s because of the barriers to competition in the cable tv market.
Anyway, for me, the best thing they could do to make me happy as a customer (Which I’ll only be until I move – I think DC is Comcast) is make a little flash game called “Dismember Digital Max” where I could choose from a variety of weapons and then chop Max up into little tiny bits. Extra points for creatively gory animations.
It would probably be for the best if I didn’t watch any TV tonight.
The Police reunite for Grammys – CNN.com
The band, known for such hits as “Roxanne,” “Message in a Bottle” and “Every Breath You Take,” has never performed at the annual telecast for the music industry’s most prestigious awards that are given by The Recording Academy.
If you add in anything from Jane’s Addiction, that’s the list of “songs I hate most in the world”. I understand that they’ve been hugely influential and lots of people love them, but, for me, listening to Sting is about one rung up from fingernails on a chalkboard. And one rung down from the sound of my alarm clock.
Luckily, I don’t have to watch the Grammys.
The Super Bowl ads have gone too far. It’s not enough that many people watch the game just for the ads. Although it supports the point that Techdirt makes all the time – make ads interesting and people don’t mind watching them. Now we have CareerBuilder advertising that they’re going in a new direction with their Super Bowl ads (I did like the monkeys. Although I often forgot what was being advertised), and Rolling Rock pretending to apologize in advance for a commercial about men wearing thongs.
In any event, it suggests something fundamentally wrong with us as a society when we have advertisements trying to get us to watch other advertisements. I suppose they always have to push it one step further – eventually even the most shocking thing gets to be normal, so you have to take the next step. But this is a step that I think we all will soon be regretting. It’s like Christmas decorations before Halloween. They keep expanding the holiday. And the Super Bowl is not that different. It’s just like Christmas, except without the whole religious aspect.
We’re doing the home inspection tomorrow. That gives me a chance to get in and take some pictures of the inside of the house. I’m looking forward to it, and I think friends and family are, too.
It’s going to be my first opportunity to experience the drive from work to the house, although I’ll be leaving work around 2:30, so I won’t get the full effect of rush hour. Still, it should give me an idea. Which reminds me – I need to figure out the best way to go. I still have time.
I’ve been doing a little reading about the neighborhood. Our councilmember Jim Graham says that Ward 1, which includes Columbia Heights, contains DC’s most diverse neighborhoods. That’s pretty cool. Maybe it will give me a chance to brush up on my Spanish. I’m really looking forward to the neighborhood. Yes, it can be a little sketchy. Yes, there’s more crime than there is in Falls Church. But we can walk places. There are people outside doing things all the time. I can’t wait.
I was just down at Target to buy a cheap plate to use at work. I don’t want to take one from home and leave us with an odd number, and I don’t want to use paper plates because that’s not environmentally-friendly. So I picked up a cheap plate, Target’s Home brand. Not microwave safe. I picked up another, and it said the same thing. The only plates that ARE microwave safe at Target are the big heavy ceramic ones. I just want this so I can microwave my lunch on the occasions that I didn’t pack it in the same tupperware I’m going to eat it from.
A coworker mentions that this seems reasonable to him because, after all, “No one uses microwaves these days”. That coworker, obviously, was being sarcastic.
Anyway, Target, you suck. I know I’ll come crawling back next time I need kitty litter, but right now I’m mad at you.
Strict Vegan Ethics, Frosted With Hedonism – New York Times via Accidental Hedonist
“Punk taught me to question everything,†Ms. Moskowitz said. “Of course, in my case that means questioning how to make a Hostess cupcake without eggs, butter or cream.â€
Should we be eating animal products? I mean, you can’t tell me that it’s nice to the animals to kill and eat them. I think it’s a natural part of life – human beings evolved as omnivores. But it’s not a necessary part. I like the attitude here that the focus shouldn’t be on meat substitutes. Some of the best vegetarian stuff my wife cooks doesn’t have any meat substitutes.
I don’t know that I could give up meat, though. I’ve pretty much given up red meat and poultry at home (I was never that crazy about chicken anyway), sticking to vegetables and seafood. But could I give up the occasional bacon cheeseburger at a restaurant? Could I give up sushi? I don’t think I could.
But tasty vegan cupcakes? I’m happy to eat those.