Pretty funny corporate dig at elite coffee culture. It’s just a shame that Macca’s coffee is often not so hot, precisely because it’s too hot.

So much of what they do is actually alright. If McDonalds was serious about coffee they’d have properly trained people, not machines turning out their coffee. 

What Maccas do right:

1. The beans are “rainforest alliance” – which is a much better form of fair trade.

2. They grind on consumption – unlike some “cafes”.

3. They turn over beans pretty quickly which means they’re unlikely to be stale.

4. Superauto machines turn out a consistent product.

Point 4 is positive and negative. Superautos produce a product below the quality of hand crafted coffee. A barista finetuning the grind to meet the conditions will produce a better coffee every time. Maccas mass produced approach will also fall short of the quality a cafe using freshly roasted (in house) beans will produce. But it is consistent. Unfortunately the only inconsistency is caused by their high school aged coffee producers (they’re not baristas). Coffee extraction occurs at the push of a button. But the frothing is still manual. And too often the McCafe-ers are guilty of frothing the milk to the boiling point of water (milk boils and loses its pleasant flavour at about 65 degrees).

If you can find a McCafe that doesn’t burn the milk you’ve got it made now that McDonalds has introduced free wireless nation wide.

Here's what has excited me from the blogosphere today.

• 57 Internet Possibilities to Investigate

Some of these are useful and helpful. Some are not.

• 57 Internet Possibilities to Investigate
• Do Uncommon Names Turn Kids Into Criminals?
• The gadget tribes of technology

Which tribe are you? Worth a look.

• iPhone Rubik Cube Solver Is Pure Genius

I once lived with a guy who could solve a Rubik’s cube in under 2 minutes – no matter the configuration you gave to him. This iPhone app promises to solve it for you in 20 moves. Reminder to self “thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s iPhone”…

• Google Maps Car Hits a Deer, Records Entire Ordeal on Google Maps
• Robot reassembles itself after being kicked apart

The video is a little slow so I won’t post it here. But this is a step closer to the advent of self healing transformers who will protect us from the evil decepticon menace.

• Clock for geeks

Here’s a list of mathematical solutions to the previously posted clock.

• Roundup: 22 Most Useful Free Applications For Your Computer
• Yet Another App Store – This Time From Three

Is this enough to stop me wanting an iPhone? I doubt it.

• Pen Concept Uses Optical Scanner to Let You Choose Ink Colour
• Swiss Police Uncover Hidden Marijuana Farm Using Google Earth

How do you say “busted” in German or French… I was going to ask how you say “busted” in Swiss – but the answer is “you don’t”.

• Black Swan author#39;s rules for living

Guide to better living. Sample:br”Answer e-mails from junior people before more senior ones. Junior people have further to go and tend to remember who slighted them.”

• Excellent old chart of frequencies and their applications

Become a full spectrum worrier – know all the different frequencies out there that might be giving you cancer.

• Samsung#39;s 4Gb chip promises 32GB DDR3 memory modules for PCs and laptops

Wow.

• Ducklings
• Atheism must advertise (Part 1)

It seems like just last week I was telling my dad that someone should create an Obama hope poster effect creator. And you know what. They have. Here.

Tim suggested I write about a link between candles and climate change. I can do better than that.

Every year, at around this time, climate change hippies call on us to cut down on carbon consumption by switching off our lights. Unfortunately, this is largely counter productive. As it encourages the use of candles. Everybody knows candles are only to be used for the following reasons:

a) Electrical emergencies
b) birthday cakes
c) romantic dinners
d) to light fuses of things you’re going to blow up
e) religious ceremonies if you’re a Catholic or High Anglican.

Any other reason, say aesthetics, or salving your crushed eco-conscience is right out. Earth Hour is a PR stunt. It doesn’t actually do anything. I don’t know Jennifer Mahoney – I don’t know what her qualifications are. But she’s a primary source whose findings match nicely with the objectives of this post – so I’ll share these quotes from her less than objective site and a post on earth hour.

“[the first] Earth Hour was held during a time of peak electrical load, so any electricity generation displaced would be peak load, probably running on natural gas. Such generation produces about 500 grams of CO2 for every kilowatt-hour.”

Whoops.

“So turning a 100 watt light bulb off for an hour saves 50 grams of CO2, or 13 grams of carbon. A candle is mostly carbon by weight, and candle wax is only moderately less dense than water at room temperature. This means that burning just 5 cm of a typical 2 cm diameter candle will produce more CO2 than running the 100 watt light bulb for an hour. If the light that was turned off is fluorescent, then even less candle can be burned if there’s to be a net reduction in CO2.”

Double whoops. Candles are not only moderately effeminate – they’re also bad for the environment.

I’ve written a little about Colony Collapse Disorder and the impending doom of the US Ice Cream industry.

 Climate Change is killing bees. All over the world Queen bees are left to their own devices. They can’t save themselves. The finely balanced eco-system is on the brink of decay. Seriously.

 Colony Collapse Disorder could well be climate change’s most significant impact. You think the global financial crisis that was caused by the sub prime mortgage collapse is a bad thing? That collapse has nothing on colony collapse. Do you have any idea the staggering number of US products made with honey as an ingredient? Millions. Literally. Ok, I made that up. But there’d be a lot. Whole product lines will have to close down. Hokey Pokey Ice-cream… popular breakfast cereals… not to mention honey jumbles… this is a big deal.

But you know what else is under threat. We’ve covered the economy, the world’s bee population, the breakfasts of champions… but wait, there’s more. Candles. Genuine beeswax candles will be a thing of the past. And WE’RE BURNING THEM. Well not me. I wouldn’t (except for the aforementioned acceptable reasons). I’m straight. I’m not a candle kind of guy. But YOU are burning them. You know who you are. And not only are you killing the environment – you’re adding to the relative scarcity of wax products and driving up prices.

If bees die out wax will become a much sought after commodity. Prices will skyrocket. How then will Maddam Tussauds produce their ecclectic range of affordable wax based entertainment? You are burning the chances of future British Royals to bee(sic) immortalised in wax. What would Kate Middleton say? Other than “stop burning those candles”. Heathen.

So what should we be doing with candles you ask? Since we can only light them on particular occasions for specific reasons. Good question. Bank them. Wait for the stupidity of others to create a candle currency – a trade in what will soon be earth’s most valuable commodity. Victoria Beckham will thank you when Maddam Tussauds are able to incorporate her new hair extensions into her waxy self. 

Wax banks could be hives of activity. Alternatively you could put your candles in a cupboard and mind your own beeswax. Still you don’t want to be court in a bee sting – or in some honey pot of wax corruption so perhaps it’s just best for you to steer clear of candles altogether. Leave them to misguided hippies and go about your daily business.

Geeks love overclocking. Making their computers more hardcore than the out of the box version. 

My wife loves this clock. And geeks will too. $US20 from Etsy. Found via Boing Boing. 

Dear Readers,

I don’t like to beg. Really. It is so unbecoming. Desperate even.

I’m getting more visitors than ever before to this blog. And less comments. 

Why don’t you comment? Don’t you love me? Am I boring you?

It’s really not that hard to comment. Is it? You don’t even have to have anything useful to say. Is it because I used to insult commenters I disagreed with? I’m a changed man. Promise. Try me. 

I do get a lot of comments from people trying to sell Xanax and viagra. But that’s no good for the self esteem.

It makes me sad. 

Is there a topic that would evoke more comments? Something that would generate a “buzz” or some controversy maybe?

That’s enough grovelling for now. And pandering. Don’t make me use my sad eyes.

Here's what has excited me from the blogosphere today.

• Design Your Perfect Fighting Moves With Toribash

Looks cool. Kind of like the classic “tanks” but with the human body.

• DIY Couch

I’ve always thought that if we one day own a house I’d like to build a couch into the walls of the loungeroom. If you’re like me you’ll enjoy this project log for doing just that.

• 10 Websites To Make You A Photoshop Ninja
• The United States of Coffee

The good news is Australia has it’s own boutique roasters that will keep you away from the evil (AOG) owned Gloria Jeans, McDonalds or Starbucks.brTownsville has its own boutique roaster Coffee Dominion, who service cafes all over the north.

• Aerial shots of London by night — magic
• Scientists Rank Global Cooling Hacks
• BuzzGain Launches Do-It-Yourself PR Service To The Public
• Updikes#39;s Rules on Reviewing Books
• Christ and State
• Virgin Atlantic Asks Complaint Writer To Be Taste Tester [Follow Ups]
• ZOIKS! Starbucks’ troubles continue
• Do you talk too much?

This is true – unless you’re telling the tractor joke. There’s an exception to every rule.

• 20 Useful Resources for Learning about CSS3

I’d say the list of people excited by the upcoming release of CSS3 specifications is pretty short – but if you’re responsible for any kind of web design these will be useful.

• If CS4 came on floppies…
• The True Cost of Credit
• Bit of a Blow
• An Expert’s Guide To Napping
• Whspr Lets Anyone Send You An Email Without Revealing Your Email Address
• It’s Data Privacy Day: Do You Know Where Your Data Is? [Privacy]
• Beware! Theologians.

From here. Somewhere. Spotted here.