via Reuters

Coca-Cola will launch a coffee-infused soft drink called Coca-Cola Blak in various markets around the world in 2006.

The new drink, a combination of Coca-Cola Classic and coffee extracts, will be first launched in France in January before being rolled out in the United States and other markets during 2006.

A Coke spokesperson said Coca-Cola Blak will be a mid-calorie drink, similar to Coca-Cola C2, which was launched in April 2004 and contains half the sugar, calories and carbohydrates of regular colas. The formula for the new beverage is expected to vary based on local tastes.

Analysts have said one of the keys to the company’s future is capturing more consumers who have moved away from sugary soft drinks to diet versions, or to healthier low- or no-calorie beverages.

I’m very cynical. Buy this as soon as you can find it, because it’ll become a collector’s item very quickly. Seems like Coke “innovates” new products a little too quickly, but can’t make them stick. Trying to extend the Coke brand seems like a force play that doesn’t have anything real behind it. It is COKE! You must LOVE it! You must DRINK it! Bleccgh.

The Beerbelly – warm beer for jerks.
[via MeFi]

Excited to see a bit about Hong Kong

in the travel section of today’s New York Times. Since we started planning our trip, there hasn’t been much coverage or advice of the places we’ll be going in January, as we travel to Bangalore where I’ll be speaking at the Easy6 conference. There are books and lots of web resources, but still always cool to see something in the Sunday paper as you plan a trip.

We’ll be going to
Hong Kong (obviously) for about 4 days
Bangkok very briefly
Bangalore for about 4 days
Mumbai for about 4 days

and then an unbelievable journey home – it’s just travel all the way back, we won’t be chunking it up as with the outbound portion. I can’t imagine how destroyed we will be upon our return!

Virtual Anthropology is the mini-meme of the moment, I guess – a post from Trendwatching that highlights all the ways you can, from the comfort of your desk, learn about what people around the world are doing, photographing, wearing, buying, etc.

As usual, when you read about a shortcut to actual research written by someone who really has no clue about doing real research, they omit the valuable part – asking questions. Asking why! What is the meaning of the clothing you wear? Tell me a story about why you’ve got those items in your fridge?

It takes skill to unearth the insights – you can’t start and finish with self-reported data. Otherwise, you’re just a step above a mood board or something artifact-based. Insights come from people – from interacting with people, dynamically. Not simply observing their shit.

I feel like a broken record on this one, but whatever.

full story

Mr. Malave was one of dozens of curious riders who attended an ‘open house’ sponsored yesterday afternoon by New York City Transit to show off and receive feedback on a five-car test train, a prototype of the R160, the newest generation of subway cars.

Riders yesterday, told to focus on the FIND panel, were asked questions like, ‘Do you feel reassured that the train is going to your station?’ and ‘How easy or hard is it to read the words and letters on the sign?’

But riders seemed to be paying less attention to the sign than the rest of the car. Some of them said they did not regularly take the Nos. 2, 4, 5 and 6 lines (which use R142 cars, similar in design to the R143) or the L line and so were not familiar with the latest design.

Asked to compare the new car with the F train that she normally rides, Mar?a Romero, 72, a retired nurse’s aide from Gravesend, Brooklyn, said, ‘This is three times more advanced!’ Jared M. Skolnick, 34, an Internet marketer from the Upper West Side, said he admired the bright fluorescent lights, since he often took photographs in the subway.

James V. Sears, the agency’s senior director of marketing research, said the results of the surveys – along with comments from focus groups convened in 2003 – could be incorporated into the final design of the FIND panel.

Right. Because in order to understand the reassurance of a design feature, you simply ask people if they find a certain feature to be reassuring? Sigh!

Here’s some recent searches that led people to this blog:
‘war and peace and steve’
simpsons marge
name smurf receivers for Washington redskins
we’re gonna need another timmy
‘data deposit box’ partner
cream puff tree for holidays
exploding zit
plantidote face serum buy
portigal environmental problems
homeless signs
3 apples high cartoon
ogoplex myth
kaboom cereal sale
Simpsons Marge
‘jim spagg’
marge simpsons
Anakin becomes Darth Vader photos
ikea rants
www.ebpp.wellsfargo.com

news story

A San Mateo man accused of stealing a car with a bride sitting in the passenger seat in her wedding gown pleaded not guilty Tuesday to one count of carjacking and one count of being under the influence of a controlled substance, authorities said.

Alan Ticas-Soto, 21, allegedly stole the car from a Taco Bell parking lot in San Mateo at about 11 p.m. Oct. 29.

He is accused of jumping into the driver’s seat and backing up the car with bride Valerie Zahn seated inside.

Zahn, 22, was waiting for her new husband, Almanza Zahn, to return with takeout food.

The couple had stopped while on their way to a hotel in Burlingame following their wedding.

Responding to his wife’s cries for help, Almanza Zahn helped her escape, uninjured, from the car.

Wait – they had a wedding and went for Taco Bell

aftewards? It was 11 pm, so presumably not a civil ceremony, presumably some sort of reception? Obviously the the crime is terrible anytime and terrifying in this instance, but as far as going to Taco Bell afterwards, I don’t know whether to feel bad, or disturbed.

Four years ago I started blogging here. Man, time flies.

Just wanted to acknowledge my anniversary 🙂

Duffman, from the Simpsons, is now a real product delivery system.

I love the Strange New Products

blog. Some recent entries
Naughty Nads Bikini Design Kit
Brandy in a Sword
Yogurt made from Water Buffalo
Toiletiquette Stickers
Sea Monkey Necklace