introvert.net

7/28/2005

interesting concepts in linguistic research

In Wallace Rice papers, Newberry Library, Box 5, Folder 119

Bell Telephone System
Technical Publications
June 1930
Mongraph B-491

The Words and Sounds of Telephone Conversations
by N.R. French, C.W. Carter, Jr, and Walter Koenig, Jr.
American Telephone and Telegraph Company

“A study of the kind and frequency of occurrence of words and simple speech sounds obtained from telephone conversations on toll circuits terminating in New York City.”

misc, thinking — tew @ 3:19 pm | Comments Off

7/18/2005

upcoming information

This is just a little teaser for series of upcoming posts, where some surprising facts will be revealed:

  • Proposed fifth stars for the Chicago Flag, including one that Richard J. Daley planned to “explore”.
  • The original two stars on the flag might not represent what you thought!
  • How sharp should the points on the stars be? Perhaps even sharper than you imagine!
  • Alternative symbolism of the white and blue fields!

Stay tuned!

misc, chicago, flag — tew @ 1:33 pm | Comments Off

5/19/2005

consumer infantilization

Let us now speak of Jamba Juice. First, the Jamba Juice menu:

Acai Supercharger ™, Matcha Green Tea Blast ™, Turbo Tropic ™ Strawberry Nirvana ™, Mango Mantra ™, Berry Fulfilling ™, Tropical Awakening ™, Protein Berry Pizzazz ™, Orange Dream Machine ™, Jamba Powerboost ®, Coldbuster! ®, Kiwi Berry Burner ®, Banana Berry ™, Strawberries Wild ®, Razzmatazz ®, Berry Lime Sublime ™, Cranberry Craze ®, Orange Berry Blitz ™, Citrus Squeeze ®, Orange-A-Peel ™, Caribbean Passion ®, Aloha Pineapple ™, Mango-A-Go-Go ™, Peenya Kowlada ®, Peach Pleasure ®, Chocolate Moo’d ®, Peanut Butter Moo’d ™.

Please note that the name of every single item is some kind of trademark. Why? Because it’s stupid. Especially note the purposeful misspelling of Pina Colada to allow for this trademarking.

Now, these things are all commonly known as smoothies. Are any of them named “smoothie”? No. Are any named “freeze”, “shake”, “blend” or “frappe”? No. They all have stupid names that it pains me to even consider saying. Is this for legal reasons, so that they can be trademarked? Is the very word “smoothie” owned by some other corporation? Has some consultant advised Jamba Juice that in addition to having a company name that people with any amount of self respect have trouble speaking aloud, they need to give each of their drinks a soul-crushing name?

God forbid you walk in there and shuddering at the sight of the menu, try to order a “Kiwi-Strawberry Smoothie”. You’ll get such a blank, cow-like stare from the brainwashed drone at the register, you’ll wonder if you can ever be happy again. Of course you’ve already guessed that small, medium, and large are not options at Jamba Juice. Here, they’re Sixteen, Original, and Power. POWER!

Internet, I ask you: where have all the sane, sober people in the world gone? Why does everything have to be silly?

misc — tew @ 12:59 pm | 5 Comments

1/12/2005

headphones for everyone

J. Sanchez waxes rhapsodic about his new Grado SR-60 headphones, and I have to agree with him — I bought a set in the fall, and they’re just amazing.

And they’re stylish! (Picture of me wearing said headphones available upon demand)


misc, music, gadgets — tew @ 3:11 am | 2 Comments

11/29/2004

changes, changes

Hi again. You may have noticed a slight change in the looks of the site — I’ve moved from running this site with a heavily-kludged version of blosxom to a stock installation of wordpress.

It’s not a big change, but it was overdue, since I usually can’t go six months without completely replacing whatever I’m using to build this site. So nearly a year — that’s unprecedented.

misc, weblogs — tew @ 5:50 pm | Comments Off
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