Mattazuma's Revenge

Coke's going after Mountain Dew again

Every few years Coke brings out a new soda to take some market share from Mountain Dew.  Last time, they tried Surge, which I liked but apparently no one else did, so if faded away a few years ago.

 

This time they are trying Vault and diet Vault Zero.  I tried one and it's ok, but I liked Surge better.  It has a slightly orange taste, which makes sense since it has some orange juice concentrate in it.  I don't think the orange flavor helps.

There are some goofy tag lines on the label:

The Taste, the Quench, the Kick.  The soon to be changed tagline.

Look kids - It's a hybrid energy soda!  It must be what the cool people are drinking!

A visit to a holy land you haven't heard of

Michael J. Totten is a journalist of sorts and he is currently based in Beirut.  He took a trip to the Kurdish part of Iraq a short time ago and he has been posting his experiences.  His most recent post is pretty amazing, he went to the holy town for a religious people called the Yezidis.  He also spoke with the leader of their faith.

I thought the post was very interesting.

You can read the post here.

Best 42" TV deal ever!

A site called Deal News is reporting Costco is going to have a 42" LCD TV for only $2000 starting on March 6.  It is also 1080P (the highest resolution you can get) which makes it about the sweetest deal ever.  A 42" 1080P plasma probably runs $4000.

A very funny commercial

Our phone number used to belong to Kodak's local film sales office.  So we get the occasional strange message.  Today there was a "Manarchy Films" listing on our caller ID, so I had to check it out.  No, its not gay porn, they produce commercials.

They have one really funny spot for Bud called "Squiggle" that I've never seen before.  There isn't a direct link because the site is all Flash so I'll talk you through it.

Go to their site

Pick Manarchy Films

Then pick Joe Otting

Finally click on the bottom picture to start the commercial for Bud.

NY Times reviews Hooters

The NY Times food critic reviewed Hooters for his blog.  Here's the link

He thought the food was only ok but the waitresses were very good.

I would like a Newsvine invite

If you know anyone with invitations for Newsvine, I'd love to get one. 

Newsvine is a news aggregator,  RSS reader and blogging site with a cool extra feature: you get a piece (actually most) of the revenue ads on your Newsvine blog generate.  I'd love to try it out, but currently it is in a GMail-like slow rollout so I need some help.

Thanks!

Highlander Hybrid Isn't Selling So Well

I received an E-Mail from Toyota today.  They are offering 3.9% financing or special lease rates on the Highlander Hybrid.  That's surprising considering the $2600 (2WD) or $2200 (4WD) tax credits (not deductions) and how new a model it is.

Although from looking at Highlander prices, gas needs to be $4 a gallon before the $7000 increase in price over the non-hybrid model makes sense.  A loaded 4WD Hybrid with Nav has a $43,600 MSRP.

Personally, I'd rather have a wagon than a SUV anyway.  A similarly equipped 2006 BMW 325xi Wagon is $400 less and a lot more fun to drive.  And there aren't any batteries to replace in 6 years.

The coolest computer interface ever

Go watch this video.

It's the coolest touch interface I've ever seen.  It's running on an OSX Mac.  There have been rumors of a Tablet Mac lately and this definitely has the "cool factor" that Steve Jobs loves.

Matt - Podcasting fool?

I may start podcasting at some point.  Why the heck not, all the kids are doing it.  I need I good microphone, I want the Snowball from Blue Microphones.  It's a USB mic & appears to be very good.  From all of my podcast listening, I've learned that having a good mic is essential. 

Who, knows maybe in April or May I'll post something.  Any suggestions for a catchy title?

John McCain is upset with Barack Obama

John McCain is not happy with our Sen. Obama.

I would like to apologize to you for assuming that your private assurances to me regarding your desire to cooperate in our efforts to negotiate bipartisan lobbying reform legislation were sincere. When you approached me and insisted that despite your leadership’s preference to use the issue to gain a political advantage in the 2006 elections, you were personally committed to achieving a result that would reflect credit on the entire Senate and offer the country a better example of political leadership, I concluded your professed concern for the institution and the public interest was genuine and admirable. Thank you for disabusing me of such notions with your letter to me dated February 2, 2006, which explained your decision to withdraw from our bipartisan discussions. I’m embarrassed to admit that after all these years in politics I failed to interpret your previous assurances as typical rhetorical gloss routinely used in politics to make self-interested partisan posturing appear more noble. Again, sorry for the confusion, but please be assured I won’t make the same mistake again.

Link

Hat tip: Instapundit