rantlust

Posted by anupcs on December 06th 2007 in Cars, Design, Music
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It’s a cold (by CA standards), wet, winter day here in the Bay Area today and it’s as good (huh?) a miserable time than any to go into some of my pet peeves:

1. Driving in the rain

People from around here are so used to sunny weather most of the time that at least 75% of them have no frigging clue about how to drive in the rain. 101, generally a lousy freeway (it’s the main thoroughfare in Silicon Valley), comes to a creepy crawl even after the first drops of rain. Add to that a rush hour that begins in the dark as in winter, and all hell breaks loose. These are the days when we are thankful for being able to work from home once in a while.

2. The Left Lane Slackers

If it were up to me, I’d levy a fine of $281 (the same as for abusing the diamond lane) for the clueless nincompoops who drive on the left lanes as if their fathers-in-law owned the bloody freeway. Nothing gives me road rage as much as the left lane slackers. And in the process of passing them (on the right), if I happen to see them holding a phone in their hands, only soothing music from Metallica can prevent me from cutting them off. Serenity now, serenity now. Of course if it’s raining, then this doesn’t really matter as we have other things to rage about.

3. CD Packaging

I’d like to meet the person who invented the wrapping for CDs (and to a lesser extent DVDs): I have some choice words for him or her. Why do they make it so difficult for us to relieve a brand new CD of its packaging and start enjoying the music? It takes a special sort of skill and incredible patience to do this. There is a clearly marked tab that says “Pull.” But I am certain that this is an inside joke among the packaging people. Out of the hundreds of CDs that I have bought in this country, only a handful have I been able to open cleanly by pulling on the damn tab. For the others, I have had to use industrial strength Gerber knives to do the deed. You’d think that not only does the RIAA not want you to share music that you own but they don’t want you to listen to it yourself. I have similar feelings towards the clamshell packaging found on items such as small electronics goods (and even my shaving blade). I just don’t buy the fact that this really protects these items from theft.

I am going to stop here before I blow off the lid just writing about my pet peeves.

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Posted by meerkat on November 06th 2007 in Architecture, Art, Design
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Frank Gehry has been blamed for serious design flaws at Stata center in Cambridge. This seems to be the price you pay for having an unconventional building which looks stunning and for sure, breaks the monotony of the buildings.

From the article-
“Because Gehry’s so daring, you figure you’ve got to be daring, too, if you’re a client,” Campbell said. “You know if you hire Frank Gehry there are going to be new kinds of problems.” But he said clients accept the risks because “they’ll get a building like no other building.” (Read more…)

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Posted by anupcs on August 12th 2007 in Business, Cars, Design, Environment, Food & Wine, Rants
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Yesterday, when I rolled into an In-N-Out Burger drive-thru, the line didn’t seem long. There was a guy waiting near the menu board wearing the familiar red and white uniform taking orders. I should have been out of there in five minutes max under normal circumstances. But for some unexplained reason, it took me more than 15 minutes (no exaggeration) to get through.

During this long, impatient wait for a burger with onions (protein style!), I noticed that the minivan in front was covered with stickers touting eco-responsibility and warning against global warming and the extinction of penguins, whales, and baby seals. There was also a faded “Gore/Lieberman 2000″ sticker. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the hypocrisy of its occupants. Fifteen minutes of idling in a minivan that probably has a mileage close to the SUVs that the environmentalists love to bash. If you are so much for saving the environment as clearly the minivan occupants were, why drive a minivan? And why go through a drive-thru on top of that? Can’t you park the car and go inside and order thus saving fifteen minutes of harmful emissions from idling?
(Read more…)

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Posted by riyer on June 27th 2007 in Design, Engineering, Nature, Society, Technology
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Turns out you can use spinach to derive the energy to run your house as well
See here
All they need to do is grow olives and press some olive oyl from it.

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Posted by renéejo on March 08th 2007 in Business, Design, Humor, Rants
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Dutch designer Meike van Schijndel designs toilets and one of her controversial designs is called ‘Kisses’. These are pouty woman’s mouth shaped men’s urinals. Quoting from the product literature for ‘Kisses’:

‘Kisses!’ transforms a daily event into a blushing experience! Works better than aiming at the fly! This is one target men will never miss!

McDonald’s thought well of the product and installed in one of their outlets in Holland only to have it removed later due to complaints by a shocked (male) American tourist. Do Americans have to enforce their silly political correctness elsewhere in the world?

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