Bread freshness

For years people have looked for a way to ensure freshness in their bread purchases from their local grocery store. Squeezing or smelling the loaves is one method you commonly see while shopping. Though your mom might have told you to try these methods, these are not reliable indicators of freshness when it comes to purchasing bread at your grocery store. Have you noticed the twist ties on your bread loaf? No? Take a moment to look. What color twist tie is there? The next time you visit your grocery store, take a look in the bread section. You will notice that the twist ties on the “day old” bread are different from some of the others on the shelf.

Fresh bread is delivered to retail outlets on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Why are bread deliveries not made on most Wednesdays? Most commercial bakeries utilize Wednesdays for “emergency only” deliveries; customer care calls and as a day off for their drivers as they also have Saturday deliveries to make. That means most bakery drivers have a “split” weekend with Wednesdays and Sundays off.

Each day’s delivery has a different colored twist tie associated with it, these are the most common color tie designations:
Monday – Blue
Tuesday – Green
Thursday – Red
Friday – White
Saturday – Yellow
(Notice that the colors were assigned in alphabetical order.)

So, if today was Thursday, you would want to purchase a loaf with a red twist tie - not a white one which was a Friday delivery (almost a week old)! This coding system has been used in the U.S. for over ten years, though some bread companies have created their own color “schemes” for their daily deliveries.

Most bread delivery personnel will tell you all about their company’s coding system should you catch them at your local store. It is a universal way for the both the store management and the re-stocking delivery person to easily pick out the loaves that need to be returned. By streamlining re-stocking and inventory, the delivery person is able to make more stops and move more efficiently. This also gives the company a better response reputation and improved bottom line.

Knowing about your commercial bakery’s coding system helps the everyday consumer to identify fresher bread. You can also buy the “day old” product with a better idea of just how many “days old” it is! The next time you grocery shop – test out this information and take the guessing out of choosing fresh sliced bread.

I would have to agree with all of this...

My favorite end credits EVER!!

If you haven't played Portal by Valve then you are missing out on a really fun game that makes you really think.  I love it.  Just to give you a taste, here is the final battle in the game and the final credits.  It is the funniest thing ever!!!  You really should take the seven minutes and watch it.  

This is the most non-violent game I've ever played.  You are the only person in the game.  Everything else in the game is robotic or that voice.  Actually, I can't say I've ever played a game I've enjoyed more than Portal.

 

 

 

 

Here is another really funny part.  Check this out:

 

For those of you who dig the techno remix....  this one is awesome!!

 

 

Does any of that sound familiar?  Well, if you have played Guitar Hero 3 then it would.

 

Times to use the "F" word

There have long been documented times in history when it was appropriate to use the 'F' word. Here are a few of them:

There are only eleven times in history where the "F" word has been considered acceptable for use.

They are as follows:

11. "What the @#$% do you mean, we are sinking?"
-- Capt. E.J. Smith of RMS Titanic, 1912

10. "What the @#$% was that?"
-- Mayor Of Hiroshima, 1945

9. "Where did all those @#$%ing Indians come from?"
-- General George Armstrong Custer, 1877

8. "Any @#$%ing idiot could understand that."
-- Albert Einstein, 1938

7. "It @#$%ing does SO look like her!"
-- Pablo Picasso, 1926

6. "How the @#$% did you work that out?"
-- Pythagoras, 126 BC

5. "You want WHAT on the @#$%ing ceiling?"
-- Michelangelo, 1566

4. "Where the @#$% are we?"
-- Amelia Earhart, 1937

3. "Scattered @#$%ing showers, my ass!"
-- Noah, 4314 BC

2. "Aw c'mon--who the @#$% is going to find out?"
-- Bill Clinton, 1998

1. "Geez, I didn't think they'd get this %#*^ing mad."
-- Saddam Hussein, 2006

I would like to present some visual examples of other times the mother of all swear words is appropriate to be uttered.

Why the Phantom Menace Sucks

You have to watch these. Seriously... Take the time and watch them. This is how low we have sunk in our definition of 'entertainment'. We rave and shout for movies that are absolutely terrible and would have gotten you a big fat F in film school. We are dazzled by special effects and computer wizardry, but when it comes to the actual fundamentals of film making, we just don't give a shit anymore. Watch and learn!

Cost per gallon...

Liquid	Container Size (ounces)	Price per Container	Price Per Gallon
tap water	41708928¹	$120.00	$0.00
Folgers Coffee (black)²	998.6	$5.50	$0.70
unleaded gasoline	128	$3.06	$3.05
Kool-Aid²	256	$3.69	$1.85
Clorox bleach	128	$2.20	$2.20
lowfat milk	128	$3.79	$3.79
automotive antifreeze	128	$4.19	$4.19
Coffee Mate	64	$2.77	$5.54
Carlo Rossi blush wine	135.6	$5.99	$5.65
egg (chicken)	2	$0.09	$5.76
Evian spring water	33.8	$1.69	$6.40
Coca-Cola syrup	640	$40.99	$8.20
Budweiser	12	$0.83	$8.88
Windex	67.6	$5.39	$10.21
Pentrex plant fertilizer	128	$12.95	$12.95
Hershey's chocolate syrup	24	$2.48	$13.23
Kikkoman soy sauce	40	$4.79	$15.33
latex house paint	128	$16.50	$16.50
Jamba Juice	22	$3.75	$21.82
Liquid Nails	10.5	$1.97	$24.02
Soup Peddler Soup (delivered)	32	$7	$28
Red Bull energy drink	8.3	$1.99	$30.69
Armor All	16	$3.99	$31.92
Head & Shoulders shampoo	25.4	$7.49	$37.74
Rain X	16	$4.99	$39.92
Absolut Vodka	59.3	$26.99	$58.26
Roundup herbicide	320	$158.00	$63.20
grapeseed oil	30.4	$16.50	$69.47
Renu contact lens solution	12	$7.69	$82.03
Tabasco sauce	5	$3.69	$94.46
Robitussin DM	12	$10.29	$109.76
fresh squeezed wheat grass	2	$1.95	$124.80
vanilla extract	8	$7.99	$127.84
Liquid Paper	0.6	$0.93	$198.40
scintillation cocktail	132	$216.00	$209.45
Penicillin	8.47	$19.95	$301.49
Punky Colour hair dye	3.5	$8.95	$327.31
patchouli oil	8	$50.40	$806.40
Cover Girl nail polish	0.4	$2.79	$892.80
human blood (processing fee)³	16.9	$200.00	$1,514.79
GHB	1	$20.00	$2,560.00
black ink from an ink cartridge	1.42	$29.97	$2,701.52
mercury	11.52	$309.00	$3,433.33
insulin (Humulin L)	0.34	$25.00	$9,411.76
Chanel No.5 perfume	1	$200.00	$25,600.00
LSD	0.125	$120.00	$122,880.00
Thailand cobra venom²	0.67	$800.00	$152,835.82
scorpion venom²	0.0067	$2.034.00	$38,858,507.46

Facebook doesn't like it when people leave...

Operators of Web site dedicated to those who seek social-media death with dignity say that Facebook is taking a more Hippocratic approach to the idea of killing one's online identities with a few keystrokes. They say the social-networking giant has killed off their access to Facebook.

Called Web 2.0 Suicide Machine, the site's pitch goes like this: "Tired of your Social Network? Liberate your newbie friends with a Web2.0 suicide! This machine lets you delete all your energy-sucking social-networking profiles, kill your fake virtual friends, and completely do away with your Web2.0 alter ego. The machine is just a metaphor for the Website which moddr_ is hosting; the belly of the beast where the web2.0 suicide scripts are maintained. Our service currently runs with Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and LinkedIn! Commit NOW!"

The "machine" is the brainchild of Moddr, "your 'unfriendly' neighborhood medialab" located in Rotterdam.

Facebook, at least, is apparently not amused (make that seriously not amused; see Facebook statement in update below, plus Suicide Machine's response in Update 2), as this message appears on the Suicide Machine Web site this morning:

After more than 50,000 friends being unfriended and more than 500 forever "signed-out" users, Facebook started to block our suicide machine from their servers without any comment! We are currently looking in ways to circumvent this ungrounded restriction imposed on our service!

Thanks for your understanding

Sincerely,

Your 2.0 suicide team

If you'd like to get a better understanding of the philosophy and technology behind this online Dr. Kevorian, check out this promotional video:

web 2.0 suicide machine promotion from moddr_ on Vimeo.

In the meantime, I've contacted the Facebook public relations department to see if I can get confirmation and an explanation.

(Update, 12:50 p.m.: Here's the statement I just received from a Facebook spokesperson: "Facebook provides the ability for people who no longer want to use the site to either deactivate their account or delete it completely. Web 2.0 Suicide Machine collects login credentials and scrapes Facebook pages, which are violations of our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. We've blocked the site's access to Facebook as is our policy for sites that violate our SRR. We're currently investigating and considering whether to take further action.")

(Update 2, 1:30 p.m. Gordan Savicic, billed as the Suicide Machine's chief euthanasia officer, says that his organization has yet to hear directly from Facebook, but he has plenty to say about Facebook's statement to me.

"I guess they are waiting (to see) if we'll circumvent their restriction. We are working on exactly that right now," he says in an e-mail.

Asked if they are violating the Facebook terms, Savicic replies:

"No, not from our point of view. We are just offering a service to users who want to drop out of Facebook. According to Facebook's terms of service, they should actually not threaten us but the people who commit suicide -- 'You will not share your password, let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account' http://www.facebook.com/terms.php?ref=pf -- And again, we are neither 'hacking' into their servers, nor scraping their pages. We only store the profile picture and the name of the user! This is actually possible without even logging into Facebook."

As for Facebook's hint at further action?

"We are very excited to investigate further on what they actually meant!")