Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2009/03/27/oh-god-yum/
Haagen-Dazs responded to my feedback really darn quick. I’ve been slow in sharing. Too busy eating free ice cream . . .
Dear Mr. Howard,
Thank you for your email regarding the change to the size of our Häagen-Dazs cartons. We understand your concern and appreciate your giving us the opportunity to explain.
As you might imagine, the cost of continuing to offer the country’s finest all-natural superpremium ice cream has increased dramatically over the last several years. On average, we’re paying 25% more for raw ingredients today, and this is true despite what you may be hearing about a drop in some food costs.
By downsizing our cartons rather than increasing the price per carton, we’re balancing our need to cover our increased costs with the realization that our country is in an economic recession. We wanted to avoid a price increase that could put Häagen-Dazs out of reach for consumers.
From our choice of ingredients to the careful and deliberate way we craft our ice cream, we never skimp on quality. Nor will we compromise our commitment to 100% all-natural ingredients. We believe Häagen-Dazs ice cream lovers appreciate and rely on that commitment.
Please watch your mail for two gift certificates to arrive shortly, with our hope that you will continue to enjoy your favorite Häagen-Dazs flavors.
Sincerely,
Katty Pien
Häagen-Dazs Brand Director
It’s like 27 flavors of Awesome!
Feedback Welcome
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2009/03/27/xoopit-feedback/
Some ways back I followed some advice somewhere and tried the Xoopit plugin for Gmail under the delusion that it would somehow make my life better. It was kind of cute but it also got in the way so I uninstalled the plugin. But I kept getting e-mails from them about all the crap it was indexing in my inbox. So, I finally deleted my account, at which point they sent me a message reminding me that I’ll have to kill the plugin, and also:
I’m not going to stick something in my mouth that is named “choke.” (CC: spychic)
Finally, please take one minute and reply to this email and let us know what you didn’t like about Xoopit. Your feedback is incredibly valuable to us!
Now, getting in to delete the account had been frustrating enough, because when you don’t remember your password and click on the password reset link they send you an e-mail that links to a web page where you can reset your password after you correctly enter your password. Yeah, that had me confused too, until I re-read the thing and it said “enter your Gmail password” which worked but then I was reminded that I’d given my Gmail password to something called Xoopit and I felt dirty all over again.
Anyway, here’s some of what I wrote. I think the name thing is important:
Also, and I mean, what’s in a name? I don’t eat artichokes. They may be delicious, but you know what? I’m not going to stick something in my mouth that is named “choke” . . . it just sounds like common sense. Xoopit? Okay? Like Arm pit? Tar pit? Snake pit? Is it pronounced Zoo Pit? Is that like where they dump all the animal feces to compost? Because I mean, they way you guys Hoover up all the multimedia crap in my Gmail it kinda feels that way. “Look! Look! I indexed all the crap you don’t care to look at, and I’m sending you more crap to delete!”
There is too much crap in my inbox. If you can make it better, you could be more useful to me. If you make it worse, I dump you. That’s it!
And, seriously, xoopit? You need to work on that name. Yes, Google is the best search engine, but it wouldn’t have caught on if it were named Dogpile.
Feedback Welcome
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2009/03/27/al-gore-feeds-global-warming-skeptics/
The other day at lunch my coworker challenged me:
“You know that Global Warming isn’t real, right?”
“Uh huh,” I said.
“No, really! Don’t just agree with me because you think I’m crazy!”
“Uh huh. Well . . .”
He then went on to explain that we only know how much carbon is in the atmosphere for a few centuries, max. I then explained that scientists go to Antarctica and Greenland, drill deep holes in the ice, and can analyze the frozen atmosphere from tens of thousands of years ago. He explains that carbon has fluctuated a great deal over time, and it is no big deal, and I explain that our species has developed civilization during a period of climatic stability, and that the last time there was this much carbon in the atmosphere there were dinosaurs running around, so the Earth can totally handle global warming but we’re not sure if homo homo sapiens will survive it. He was like well its too late to stop it anyway, and I would have gone on to explain that when you’re driving your car into a tree, you hit the breaks instead of the gas, because then you’re more likely to live and have a better chance of reducing damage to and repairing your car . . . but we headed back to the office before things got too stupid.
And then, today, Al Gore posts a dramatic video to his blog.
And I watch it, and I’m like “yeah . . . glacier retreating.” Then I look at the caption:
This remarkable image sequence captures a series of massive calving events at Columbia Glacier near Valdez, Alaska. Composed of 436 frames taken between May and September of 2007, it shows the glacier rapidly retreating by about half a mile (1.6 kilometers), a volume loss of some 0.4 cubic miles (1.67 cubic kilometers) of ice or 400 billion gallons (1.5 trillion liters) of water.
And I’m like “a dramatic video of a glacier melting in Alaska over the course of five months . . . in the summer!”
And I’m like “Holy crap, Al, do you ever speak with a skeptic?! A dramatic video of a glacier melting in the summer makes you look like a tool!”
But, there’s no comments or feedback on his blog, so if I wish to sublimate my angst, I’ll do it here.
Feedback Welcome
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2009/03/20/capital-one-visa-are-greedy-bastards/
Recently someone obtained my social security number and home address and phoned in to various credit card companies claiming to be me, claiming they were traveling and needed a cash advance. They claimed they had left the credit card at home and otherwise failed to provide correct information. So, the credit card companies said no, and each in turn called me, and offered to send me new cards with new credit card numbers, just in case, and I put a fraud alert on my credit report, and aside from the idea that someone is running around with my social security number and will surely try to identity thieve one day in the future, life went on happily.
My Chase credit cards both appeared overnight, on my doorstep, courtesy of FedEx. I have double-checked now, and seen no fees for this courtesy. Capital One, on the other hand, appeared the next week via first class USPS. That’s good enough for me, but what also appeared the next week was a statement with a $16.00 “Fast Card Fee”.
So, instead of calling in to activate the card, I called customer support. Within a few minutes I got a nice lady on the line, and instead of activating I simply canceled the card. I explained that the Fast Card Fee was insulting and wrong. She processed the cancellation and asked if there was anything else to be done. I thought a moment and asked to speak to the manager and when she asked why I explained that I wanted the Fast Card Fee refunded since the fee was not disclosed to me when the service was offered and contrary to her understanding the card was not dispatched “express mail” rather USPS First Class and further more those cards that had bothered with the expense of overnight mail didn’t charge me anything.
She went away for two minutes and when she returned she explained that she had gotten the fee reversed on the grounds that it had not been disclosed, but that even though the fee was canceled I should go ahead and pay the minimum balance by the due date and it would subsequently be refunded to me. I explained that I would do no such thing because by canceling the fee my balance would be 0 by the due date and if they want to charge me a late fee for failing to pay a zero balance . . .
Anyway, we’ll see. I’m mailing the thing back to them with a note and if they want to dig a deeper hole I’ll give them what for. As it is it is just nice to vent a little testimonial on my web site.
2 Comments
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2009/03/12/haagen-dazs-downsizing/
I just learned that Haagen Dazs are downsizing their ice cream cartons from 16oz to 14oz. I don’t like this!
Feedback to Haagen Dazs:
If this were any other food, reducing the size a bit to keep costs in line and maybe keep us from getting fat is a reasonable thing. But Haagen Dazs isn’t food, it is Joy in the form of a delicious treat and I would much rather pay a little bit more for Joy than receive less.
Ben and Jerry’s is keeping their size and their comparable price, but their ice cream is overly-sweet glop. Haagen Dazs is a superior product for which I’d gladly pay a bit more!
Sincerely,
-daniel
UPDATE: Haagen-Dazs responded by sending me free ice cream!
1 Comment
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2009/03/09/ink-experiment/
I haven’t drawn much in a while. Working through a periodic video game addiction. (Railroad Tycoon 3, w00tw00t!!)
Today I went to doodling in pencil, then ink. Scan . . . well, this is all just learning here anyway, so instead of “lineart” I went for “greyscale” then flood-filled the white areas in Gimp. No erasing the pencil marks either. A more laid-back feel.
Yes, the theme today is girls and their hair, using Bryan Lee O’Malley’s “Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life” as a guide / inspiration. Also, the girlfriend. My favorite subject above is near the top, just right of center.
Feedback Welcome
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2009/02/25/wait-up/
Based on ChinesePod: Hold the Elevator.
Suit: ç‰ä¸€ä¸‹ï¼
deng3 yi1xia4
Wait up!
Suit: 谢谢。
xie4xie
Thanks.
Courier: ä¸å®¢æ°”ï¼Œåˆ°å‡ æ¥¼ï¼Ÿ
bu4ke4qi, dao4 ji3 lou2?
No problem, which floor?
Suit: å楼。 è°¢è°¢ä½ ï¼
shi2 lou2. xie4xie ni3!
Tenth floor. Thank you!
ä¸å®¢æ°” I like, as I learned it from speaking with Chinese people and because it literally means “not polite” or “don’t be so polite” which reminds me of de nada or de rien.
This time I dropped (forgot) the pinyin and just left it out. Though I think it is better to include the pinyin: one thing I do is print out the cartoons and tack them to my cubicle wall at work. I was also happy to recycle the delivery man from â€œä½ çš„ä¸œè¥¿â€.
Feedback Welcome
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2009/02/23/chumbhotbongs-paribatra/
Here’s what the kids are doing on Facebook:
1 – Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The title of the first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2 – Click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3 – Click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4 – Use Gimp or similar to put it all together.
Obviously I’m just killing some time. It is a quiet rainy Sunday. I’m making bread and have plenty of domestic obligations.
The above image could well be construed as lèse majesté in Thailand.
Feedback Welcome
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2009/02/17/ivan/
No, not Chinese. But at least I’m playing with an ethnic stereotype. So, sorta International?
I only know Russians who have emigrated to America. There seem to be two types: the incurably depressed and those with a healthy sense of humor. Russians with a sense of humor know that it is all too easy to be a funny Russian, so they try to keep it dry, but they often can not help but smile. That said, nobody I have met has gone full Yakov Smirnov. To be sure, I once asked my colleague if they had Polar Bears in Russia. He said yes, they walk on the street, and they shoot them. He was trying to make me cry! So, this comic strip is dedicated to Vlad.
In other news, I swear I smell pot. I don’t know if there’s actually a smell that has infiltrated my house or because I’m listening to Reggea music, and my mind just fills in the gaps. Go go brain!
Apologies to anyone whose browser window is fewer than 967 pixels across.
Feedback Welcome
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2009/02/16/your-thing/
Based on ChinesePod Lesson: Sign Here, Please.
Courier: è°æ˜¯çŽ‹æ˜Žï¼Ÿ
(Who is Wang Ming?)
Ming: 阿，我是。
(Ah, I am.)
Courier: ä½ çš„ä¸œè¥¿, 清ç¾åï¼
(Your parcel. Please signï¼)
Ming: 好，谢谢ï¼
(Good! Thanks!)
I like that ä½ çš„ä¸œè¥¿ literally means “your thing”
There is a vastly different courier in the top and bottom panels. The first one is more comical and bizarre, the bottom one more . . . human？ I prefer the bottom figure, but decided against trying to correct the situation. Aesthetically, it is also weird that in the second panel Ming is more in the background. I think that’s okay but in terms of visual narrative, yaknow . . . ?
Feedback Welcome
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2009/02/12/carbon-tax/
It has been a pretty busy day at work. In between bouts of business I entertain myself with various baubles like mailing lists. Someone made a statement I found utterly hilarious, that in the context of current events:
“I think it would be politically possible to return to a gold standard.”
I responded that:
“I think a carbon tax would be more relevant to the concerns of the 21st Century.”
To which some else responded:
“Our currency and economy are broken, and the solution is to tax use of fossil fuels, biggest source of productivity the world has ever seen!”
And I though yeah . . . it is hard to advocate an idea like a new “tax” during a recession. Personally, I think calling it a “carbon ration” might be smarter: you get your allotment and if you make good lifestyle choices you can sell your excess at a profit. Anyway, I responded from the basis of an idea I heard at TED last week:
Over a century ago we swore up and down that without the cheap energy afforded by black slaves the national economy would collapse. So, instead of abolishing slavery we made compromise after compromise. Ultimately our nation was plunged into the catastrophe of civil war, and we abolished slavery for International PR reasons and in order to literally free up fresh soldiers for the war effort from among the newly-emancipated populations.
These days we swear up and down that without access to unlimited cheap energy, our economy would collapse and we would be unable to enjoy the “quality” of life we do now. And as each decade passes we find greater and greater evidence that we are living on borrowed time, and that we are multiplying the problem of carbon emissions into the atmosphere, and that we are approaching various global tipping points which bring us closer to catastrophe.
In both cases, abolitionists and environmentalists are ridiculed and despised an know-it-all killjoys out to ruin everyone’s fun. Where the abolitionists had printing presses that would literally be burned down by their detractors, modern radicals warm themselves with flame wars on the Internet.
To go back to your glib response to a carbon tax, it is easier to make radical changes when it is clear that the status quo is broken. A big reason for the present crisis is that we were fueling growth on unsustainable credit models. Debt Debt Debt. Injecting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is a form of debt against the future, and if we go bankrupt with climate that’s really really not pretty. So, we have a good opportunity to look at how we structure the free market to take natural resources like the atmosphere into account, and price them appropriately so that we can realize economic benefit with the greatest efficiency.
Maybe one way to think of the idea of carbon rationing is that it is like Social Security for the environment: we each make a sacrifice now so as to secure against a future characterized by poverty. In this case the poverty would be a world wrecked by sudden catastrophic climate changes.
6 Comments
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2009/02/11/valentines-day-courage-campaign-petition/
You remember Ken Starr? That guy who focused the nation’s attention and energy on Bill Clinton’s penis? Yeah, whatever.
“On December 19, 2008, Ken Starr and the Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund filed legal briefs defending the constitutionality of Prop 8 and seeking to nullify the marriages of 18,000 devoted same-sex couples solemnized before Prop 8 passed.”
I have nothing nice to say. but if you hit this page and sign your name before Valentine’s Day maybe you’ll feel slightly better for a moment. Not really.
Okay, why do I care about the gays? Because I grew up as a nerdy Atheist kid. So, I grew up learning that human beings have a bad habit of shitting on the weird people. Nowadays I live in the happy wealthy bubble of the Silicon Valley, where nerds are admired and showered with wealth. And every time Barack Obama mentions “and the non-believers” I feel a twinge of optimism that we are making progress toward inclusiveness.
And I have long observed that The Gay get shat upon far far worse than Atheists or nerds have ever had it in my lifetime. All sorta of awful name-calling and we still have the occasional grotesquely cruel murder of some queer folks. You wanna get married? Hell, you just want people to stop spitting in your face? I’m 100% behind you.
So, every time I hear things are going well for the homosexuals, my heart cheers that the meek are a step closer to inheriting the Earth. And every time the Kenneth Starrs of the world make progress in the opposite direction, I take it somewhat personally. I am tired of this shit.
Feedback Welcome
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2009/02/09/gong-xie-fa-cai/
This is an illustration of the dialog in ChinesePod Lesson “Gong Xi Fa Cai”
Kid: 爷爷，新年好ï¼
Grandpa: 新年好ï¼æ¥ï¼Œç»™ä½ 红包ï¼
Adult: è€çŽ‹ï¼Œæ–°å¹´å¥½ï¼æå–œå‘è´¢ï¼
Grandpa: ä½ ä¹Ÿæ˜¯ï¼æå–œå‘è´¢ï¼æå–œå‘è´¢ï¼
You can listen to the audio to grok what all that means.
新年好 = xin1 nian4 hao3 = “new year good” = “Happy New Year”
æå–œå‘è´¢ = gong1 xi3 fa1 cai1 = “Wishing you a prosperous New Year”
æå–œ = “respectful happiness” = “congratulations”
å‘è´¢ = “to get rich”
æå–œå‘è´¢ does not translate well if you take it literally.
红包 = hong2 bao1 = “red envelope”
You give gifts of money to children in red envelopes. 红包!
红 and 包 I have drawn before. 红鱼 is the “red fish” and é¢åŒ… is bread.
The other day we ate hot pot at è€åŒ—京 . . . at least, I was able to read “Beijing” and as I drew this I recognized “old Beijing” . . . the restaurant is called “Old Mandarin Islamic Restaurant”. Beijing I like because it simply means “North Capital City”
Last night we were at Temple Night Club and I saw a big old 爱 and I recognized it as å‘ with more up top. 爱, pronounced ai3 is “love” and saying “I love you” in Chinese is as simple as æˆ‘çˆ±ä½ = wo3 ai4 ni3 .
In addition to the Chinese characters, drawing the (Chinese) human characters was somewhat challenging as well. I am most happy with the girl. After trying to figure out how best to draw a “cute little Chinese girl” I ended up basing my character just a teeny bit on Lin Miaoke, the infamous “Beijing Olympics ‘lip-synch’ Girl”.
Feedback Welcome
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2009/02/06/g1-rc33-update/
Google Latitude was announced yesterday. I was annoyed as heck that when I tried it on my G1 it said “coming soon” even though Google claimed it was supported on the G1 . . . well, pending an update that would roll “soon” . . . and of course there’s no way to contact the Google Latitude team to say WTF?!
I found a link to a T-Mobile message forum that said the update was rolling out gradually: some people have been updated, and others will receive their updates over the next two weeks. Two weeks? I want it now!! And I am not the only one. Waiting is for suckers, so I borrowed a mini-USB cable from a co-worker and upgraded my phone manually, thanks to these awesome instructions:
http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/02/05/how-to-get-rc33-on-your-g1-without-the-wait/
Note: The “End” key means the red “call end / power” button.
In the time it took to write those two paragraphs, my G1 updated itself and now I can go play with Google Latitude!
Feedback Welcome
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2009/02/05/digital-tv-delayed-ugh/
After a campaign centered on the idea of “change” President Barack Obama mentioned in his inauguration speech that:
“What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task.”
Alas, Congress decided that giving our all to the difficult task of obtaining a digital converter box, even without a government coupon, so we can finally change over to digital television on February 17, was too great a character-building exercise for the American people. And I suppose the risk of impoverished and mentally challenged consumers losing access to a constant barrage of commercial advertising would be too great a blow to our weakened economy. Congress has therefor postponed the transition to digital television until June 12, “sending the fast-tracked legislation to President Obama, who has promised to sign it.”
Really, this legislation deserves a pocket veto. “Oh, you wanted me to exercise personal responsibility? Dang, it must have slipped my mind.”
To me, this is thoroughly symbolic. And when it comes to such a fairly trivial issue as to whether we will accept a bit of minor pain and inconvenience to get the job done versus hem and haw and make excuses and opt for business as usual, we have opted for the excuses. Frustrating! After all, we how can we face up to the challenge of Global Warming when we can’t even get the TVs switched over on time?
4 Comments
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