June 7, 2009 by traveler.

This has got to be the best promo I’ve seen.

Viral marketing is often attempted and rarely achieved. This video really hits the mark, though. In the short time between when I viewed this video to when I wrote about it, the video’s views have shot up from ~30k to ~190k. If Hammertime the show can match the entertainment value of this promotion, A&E will be all set. As Don King would say, “Only in America!”

Posted in Art, Comedy, Business, Weird, Video, Retro, Music, Style, Funny, TV | No Comments »

May 9, 2009 by traveler.

British charity worker Ben Southall has been named the winner of the “Best Job in the World”. He will spend the next six months lounging around as the Caretaker of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef. 150,000 Australian dollars for 6 months of ‘work’? Not a bad gig, that’s for sure.

courtesy IslandReefJob.com

Interestingly, Disneyland made an announcement the day before Ben landed his dream job. It appears that Disneyland will reassign employees who had another enviable job- boob watchers. Well, that might not exactly be their title, but that’s probably what they told their buddies. For approximately 10 years, employees screened photos from Splash Mountain and other rides to ensure women didn’t bare their breasts for the souvenir pictures. These incidents don’t happen often, so Disney decided to close the screener jobs. Next time you visit Disneyland, ladies, keep your urges under control. There aren’t anymore cleavage censors between you and infamy.

courtesy CollegeHumor.com

Posted in Weird, World, Travel, Business, Funny, Pics | No Comments »

May 5, 2009 by traveler.

Ouch. Consumerist reports that a Best Buy customer in Texas opened a brand-new MacBook Pro box and instead of a laptop, he found…a paving stone.

Is this becoming a trend? First it was the Chinese newspaper & rocks in a Nintendo DS box, and now this. While Wal-Mart made good on the missing Nintendo DS, apparently Best Buy told the proud new owner of a paving stone that “Apple seals the boxes, not us. Take it up with Apple.” Hmm. I’m gonna go with…the customer gave his credit card to Best Buy for this purchase, not Apple.

Which makes this potentially simple- customer notifies credit card company that he is having this problem with BB and is working to resolve it. If BB still won’t rectify the situation, he gets credit card company to reverse the charge and file a grievance against BB.

Of course there is another important question- could this be a shady customer’s shakedown attempt? Guess Best Buy and the credit card company will work that all out. Maybe it’ll turn out that this guy ends up throwing that paving stone back in his yard where he found it. Who knows.

Posted in Junk, Weird, Gripes, Business, Tech, Nintendo, Toys, Apple, Gear | No Comments »

February 9, 2009 by traveler.

Time to revisit an age-old gripe- Air travel. Airlines seem to be skimping ever further on unnecessary luxuries like in-flight food and friendly service. If you’re lucky enough to be on a long-haul flight with genuine food service, chances are you won’t be satisfied with the skimpy protein in your ‘chicken little’ or ‘baby beef’ tray. Eat at the airport? Good luck finding a healthy option there. Bringing your own food can be a good alternative, but your neighbors may not enjoy when your beef jerky or tuna scent wafts in their direction. Oh well, you have to listen to their hysterical baby anyway- they owe you. Munch away and keep rocking those miles.

Here is a list of basic things that help me endure the travel experience and still retain some shred of sanity.

1. Noise-canceling headphones and fully-stocked iPod (No better way to ignore your overly friendly neighbor)
2. Extra pair of socks & underwear (Ever had your luggage ‘diverted’? Exactly)
3. Shirt with a pocket or two (to store important boarding papers)
4. A few sets of earplugs (If your flight has a chorus of babies, you can probably trade a set of earplugs for a Rolex watch)
5. Comfortable shoes that come on & off easily (security lines- enough said)
6. Small, filling snacks (in case you get stuck in an airport for a long time)

That’s it for the list- nothing super special, but these items will help keep a smile on your face when the dude in front of you walks through the X-ray wearing chains that would make Mr. T blush.

Posted in Gripes, Travel, Business, Gear | No Comments »

February 4, 2009 by traveler.

Step aside, Crackberry. There is a new game in town, and this one is solely for the tot-on-the-go. Leapfrog’s new “Text & Learn” is sure to redefine the term ‘Crack Baby’.

Is this the future of children’s edu-tainment? CNET explains that the device is aimed at preschoolers and it will teach them spelling and basic computer skills. Sounds fair, but it will certainly stretch their dexterity as well. I can’t slam this device, though, because I had a similar device ‘back in the day’. My mini-desktop computer served the same basic functions, and it was surely seen as a sign of the apocalypse by many child advocates at the time. It was great, though, because it built basic computer skills and it taut me to spelle wurds.

So relax and let your kid work with the Text & Learn- it may aid their development. Just don’t be surprised if your child texts you ‘I gotta go potty’.

Posted in Business, Weird, Tech, Toys, Gear, Pics | No Comments »

January 4, 2009 by traveler.

Looking to buy a gift for the billionaire-to-be baby in your life? Might I suggest this…

I GUARANTEE you will be the only person at the baby shower to give this diamond pacifier. YES- I SAID DIAMOND PACIFIER. WTF?!?! Glad to see the recession isn’t quite affecting everyone. At only $17,000, this pacifier has to be a joke, or some sort of conceptual art piece. $17k for something your kid would chew on? Save yourself a couple grand and get your kid a pimped-out stroller instead.

As a side note, the website ’selling’ the pacifier (I am guessing that diamond pacifier sales are a bit sluggish) offers a large lineup of other, more reasonably priced children’s gear. However, beware (or enjoy) their line of political clothing. It seems to target liberal consumers and anger conservative website visitors.

Posted in Junk, Weird, Business, Toys, Style, Funny, Pics | No Comments »

December 31, 2008 by traveler.

Happy New Year!!! A celebration like this deserves some good tunes. Lemme fire up my Microsoft Zune…hmm…that’s odd. It seems to have frozen. Wonder if anyone else is having that problem. Aahh! It’s Z2K! Oh crap, what if the reason it is frozen is because it is linking to all the ‘red ring of death’ XB360s and they are preparing to sprout laser cannons and take over a la War of the Worlds!

Thankfully there is a solution. Shoot- I sure hope there isn’t an i2K on the way. ::Shudder::

Posted in Junk, Business, Tech, Apple, Design | No Comments »

July 30, 2008 by traveler.

Johnny Cupcakes is opening his LA shop this Saturday! Fans have already been camping out in anticipation. I wish JC well and can’t wait to see the store when I’m back in town. In the meantime, I’ll have to settle for the teaser webisodes:

Johnny Cupcakes LA shoppe: Webisode #3 from Johnny Cupcakes on Vimeo.

Speaking of designers opening stores, Gama-Go’s store membership drive ends tomorrow!!! Last chance to help raise funds for the store and pick up some sweet merch (I recommend their ‘Casual Encounters’ level- excellent giclee). Help GG reach their goal and sign up today!

(Thx to Flickr’s HeySandra for this awesome pic!)

Posted in Art, Business, Video, Design, Gear, Pics | No Comments »

June 24, 2008 by traveler.

The Electronic Software Association issued a press release highlighting the results of their recent study. They studied whether employers used training that includes game-like simulations. Check out the chart below for a run-down.

93% of companies surveyed either offer interactive training currently or plan to in the next 5 years? That’s pretty good. I’m guessing that the other 7% of companies are represented by Jack Thompson.

Posted in Business, Tech, Games | No Comments »