Sriracha Vodka Is Here To Chili Up Your Booze

Sriracha mania continues nationwide. The newest product with the flavor of spicy chili to hit the market? Vodka. We were ambivalent about the idea until we saw UV Vodka’s serving suggestion on their site: use in Bloody Marys. Hmm. Sounds good, whether that’s before or after you add the cheeseburgers to your tomato-based mixed drink. [UV Vodka via Jezebel ]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

All Americans Want For Christmas Is A Radio Station That Plays Holiday Tunes Constantly

(mzamb03)

While you probably work with that guy who just can’t wait to start blasting Christmas music right after Halloween, many radio stations switch to an all-holiday format right after Thanksgiving. And despite the inevitable Grinches bah humbugging* at the first strains of “All I Want for Christmas,” that trend isn’t going to change as it’s paying off for radio stations.

Whether you love Mariah Carey or not (and you’re probably at least humming her signature Christmas tune right now, aren’t you? Come on, give in) there are plenty of Americans ready to get their holiday on as soon as possible, reports Nielsen.

Radio stations that switch to the All Christmas, All The Time format near Thanksgiving in 2021 saw a 71% mdday surge in listeners compared to their average ratings.

At night when it’s time to get extra jolly, ratings more than doubled, points out Nielsen: “During the course of the holiday ratings season, nights saw a 129 percent lift and — hold onto your eggnog — a 582 percent lift on Christmas Eve.”

That’s compared ton an average nighttime average, when the number of listeners tuning into normal radio stations in any 15-minute period was about 291,700.

The whole thing peaks on Christmas Eve, naturally, with 28.4 million Americans tuning in to an All Christmas format station last year in the top 48 markets.

What are we listening to the most? We’re a nation of varied interests across many genres, according to the report, ranging from the most-played new release of “Let It Snow” by Rod Stewart to that treasured favorite, “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby.

It also varies by geography. For example in New York City, the most-played song last year was the aforementioned “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Ms. Carey (I probably am responsible for at least 143 of those plays). In Los Angeles, “Feliz Navidad” ruled the airwaves.

It’s worth reading Nielsen’s entire report, if only for phrases like “hold onto your eggnog.” And if you’re not humming a holiday tune by the end, I shall pronounce you positively Scroogean.

*Yes, I realize the Grinch did not say bah humbug. THAT WE KNOW OF.

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas [Nielsen]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Century 21′s ‘Delivery Landing Pads’ Will Give Amazon’s Flying Robot Army A Place To Call Home

The future of delivery is not teleportation or 3D printing but rather a sky full of autonomous drones that know where we live, what we buy, and what we want for Christmas, and which will surely someday decimate our numbers by blacking out the sun. So it only makes sense that these doomsday devices should have a pleasant place to land while they silently learn our ways and calculate how best to defeat us in the inevitable war. That’s why Century 21 has unveiled the C21 Delivery Landing Pads, so that our future flying overlords will know exactly which homes are most willing to do their bidding… or something like that.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Cómo usar Twitter #infografia #infographic #socialmedia

Hola: Una infografía sobre cómo usar Twitter. Vía Un saludo



TICs y Formación http://ticsyformacion.com/2013/12/05/como-usar-twitter-infografia-infographic-socialmedia/ Via Alfredo Vela y www.bscformacion.com

60 horas a la semana de consumo de electrónica (USA) #infografia #infographic

Hola: Una infografía que dice que 60 horas a la semana de consumo de electrónica (USA). Un saludo You will find more statistics at Statista



TICs y Formación http://ticsyformacion.com/2013/12/05/60-horas-a-la-semana-de-consumo-de-electronica-usa-infografia-infographic/ Via Alfredo Vela y www.bscformacion.com

Microsoft Developing A “Smart Bra” To Tell Women It’s Time To Step Away From The Fridge

Microsoft’s intelligent brassiere design.

On the one hand, who hasn’t wished someone could jump in and say “Stop, you don’t want to eat that” somewhere in the middle of the fifth bowl of [insert your own guilty pleasure]? On the other hand, we sincerely hope that if Microsoft ever does introduce its “smart bra” — designed to help women from overeating in times of stress — that there’s a garment for men, too. Because goodness knows, we all need comfort food at one point or another. And also don’t tell me what to eat.

Because everything these days has to be a “smart” something, a team of researchers at Microsoft have been working on a prototype of a smart bra embedded with sensors that track the wearer’s heart activity, so that it can monitor her emotional moods and essentially intervene when she’s stressed out and tempted to overeat, reports CNN.

Once those sensors detect a looming episode of overeating, they signal the woman’s smartphone which will then flash a warning telling her to back away from the fridge and make better diet decisions. Which, again, not sure it’s cool for a bra to be telling people how to live their lives, but then again, if people want that help, sure, give it.

At the base of this effort is research that many people — male and female! — go for calorie-laden foods when they’re stressed out, sad, discouraged or otherwise testy. Comfort food is comforting, after all.

So why aim for women and not men? Simply because at the moment, a bra works best with the research.

“First, we needed a form factor that would be comfortable when worn for long durations,” said scientists the research paper (PDF). “The bra form factor was ideal because it allowed us to collect (electrocardiogram data) near the heart.”

Participants in the research were women in the UK who said that having someone or something intervene helped them know what triggered their binge eating.

The bra seemed to work well when it came to detecting its wearers’ emotional highs and lows, but it’s not likely we’ll be seeing this on the market any time soon: The sensors need to be recharged every three or four hours, which makes it a pretty inconvenient garment for all-day wear.

That, and Microsoft has no plans for a smart bra, a spokesman told CNN.

“The bra sensing system is just one instance of a class of work from a group of Microsoft researchers that is focused on the broader topic of affective computing, or designing devices and services that are sensitive to people’s moods and react accordingly,” the spokesperson said. “While we will continue our research in affective computing, Microsoft has no plans to develop a bra with sensors.”

So what about say, smart boxers/briefs for men tempted to indulge too much? It could happen, at least in research terms.

“We will continue to explore how to build a robust, real-world system that stands up to everyday challenges with regards to battery life, comfortability, and being suitable for both men and women,” the researchers said in the paper.

Microsoft developed a ‘smart’ bra [CNN]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Waitress Who Claims She Got Anti-Gay Receipt May Not Have Donated Money As Promised

The receipt on the left is the version the waitress posted to Facebook, which shows no tip and a note saying the customers disapprove of the waitress’ “lifestyle.” On the right is a copy of the receipt provided by the customers to NBC News, which they claim shows they left a 18% tip.

The saga continues for the New Jersey waitress who became Internet-famous when she claimed she’d been stiffed on a tip by diners who voiced disapproval of her sexual orientation on their receipt, an allegation that has subsequently been discredited. Now comes news that the waitress, an ex-Marine, may not have made good on her promise to donate the money she received from supporters to the Wounded Warrior Project.

After her story went public, but before the family accused of leaving that note released evidence demonstrating that they did indeed leave a tip, the waitress promised that she would donate the thousands of dollars she’d received in the wake of the supposed incident to Wounded Warrior.

Since then, not only have the maligned diners denied her allegations, but there have been multiple reports of the waitress having a history of making up rather large lies, like telling co-workers that her home had been severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy, or when she reportedly shaved her head and told friends she had brain cancer.

So a reporter for Bridgewater Patch decided to check with the folks at Wounded Warrior to see if the waitress had indeed made good on her promise to donate the money she’d received.

But a rep for the organization was unable to find any donations listed under the waitress’ name, or anything under the ZIP code for her home or the restaurant where she works (and from which she is reportedly suspended). It is possible that the donation could have been made under a different name or from a different address.

Neither Bridgewater Patch nor NJ.com were able to reach the waitress or media reps for Wounded Warrior to get a comment about the status of the promised donations.

This is probably not the last we’ve heard about this story…

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

This Diamond Ring Might Be A Good Deal If You Don’t Mind Incurring The Wrath Of Sauron

(Craigslist)

Can someone please help a guy out and buy the $1,800 engagement ring he’s selling on Craigslist so he won’t have to cast it into the fiery pit from whence it came? Because we’ve seen how tough it is to get into Mordor (you can’t just walk into that place, you know) and we wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

Some unfortunate soul apparently had a tough time with the engagement ring’s former owner, writing in the Craigslist ad (H/T to HuffPo) that it’s a great ring in 14K white gold in “like new condition.” But there’s just this one thing: “Only worn for a short period by Satan herself.”

On that note, its next owner should be warned that the Eye of Sauron could follow wherever this ring goes, it seems.

Warning: ring may be cursed as it tends to leave a path of destruction behind it. Possible events associated with this ring include but are not limited to: damage sustained to house, vehicle, heart, downed powerlines, fallen trees, and swarms of locus. I would highly recommend taking action to counter the whirlwind of bad mojo that surround this piece of jewelry. Should consider having curse removed by voodoo priest or something before presenting to loved one. Other than that a very nice piece of jewelry.

That’s a pretty long laundry list of bad things but hey, it’s a very nice piece of jewelry! Do buy it soon, someone, because he doesn’t want any more bad luck and would “rather have cash.”

And if that’s not enough to convince you, consider his potentially bleak and fiery future: “If not sold by Christmas I plan to throw it into the fires of Mordor.”

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Just don’t expect any help from Gandalf because we’re pretty sure he’s busy with The Hobbit right now.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Los Angeles Might Treat Sale Of E-Cigarettes Like Regular Smokes

Jenny McCarthy, the latest sorta-famous person from the ’90s to shill for electronic cigarettes.

It’s not just has-been actors like Stephen Dorff and Jenny McCarthy who smoke electronic cigarettes. They have become increasingly popular not just with smokers trying to quit but with people who want the fun of smoking without the whole “ashtray lung” after effect. Additionally, e-cigs don’t come with most of the pesky sales limitations of their tobacco counterparts, making them easier to buy and sell for some folks. But if the Los Angeles City Council gets its way, electronic cigarettes will soon be treated exactly the same as the unplugged versions.

The L.A. Times reports that the City Council voted unanimously last night to approve a new law that would subject e-cigarettes, which allow the user to inhale a vapor instead of tobacco smoke, and other “vaping” products to the same restrictions as tobacco.

So no more selling the devices out of street kiosks, ice cream trucks (Wait — this is something that happens?) or self-service displays.

Another law being considered by the city would ban the use of e-cigs in the same places where it’s a no-no to light up a real cigarette, which would put an end to vaping in restaurants, parks, among other locations.

This is just the latest move in the push-back to the growing e-cig business, expected to reach $1.7 billion in sales this year. In September, Attorneys General from 37 states (plus Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) wrote to the FDA asking it to regulate these products like it does tobacco, especially with regard to how e-cigs are marketed toward children.

But the folks in L.A. don’t have the patience for the snail-paced FDA or a logjammed legislature to get around to dealing with what they view as a serious problem.

“It’s a very sinister approach to a very sinister product,” L.A. City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell tells the Times. “We don’t want to wait for the feds to do something.”

In addition to the marketing issues regarding e-cigarettes, there have been numerous reports of fires caused by the devices, including a recent house fire in Idaho tied to an exploding e-cig. It’s believed that many of these incidents involve people whose smoking devices over-charged because they were either plugged in too long (some e-cigs reportedly continue taking a charge when the battery is full) or tried to charge the e-cig via a computer or motor vehicle.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Start Working On Your Blizzard Orders, Manhattan: You’re Getting Your First Dairy Queen

(frankieleon)

There’s a blizzard heading your way, Manhattan. Ha ha, not that kind with boring, tasteless snow! The kind you can order at Dairy Queen with your choice of candy or nutty additions. The New York City borough has never had a Dairy Queen before, but the time is nigh — doors should be open and blizzards will be a’churning this spring. [via Eater]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist