Posted on
12.22.08 by Widge @ 10:59 am  Okay, this might have been painfully obvious to everyone but me--it wouldn't be the first time that's happened--but sitting here in Starbucks this morning I was stymied by a broken process. How do you get the two promised free hours of Starbucks from your Starbucks gold card? You've already registered, now what? If you check out the FAQ, it says you have to register for a free AT&T WiFi account and then you can login. Of course, you have to have used your card in the last thirty days--no problems here. But where the hell do you register for this legendary WiFi account? The guys at the Starbucks, while friendly and helpful, didn't know that there was a step missing. And the obvious thing--stick the link in the answer to the question in the FAQ--nobody had done. So. After some trial and error, for those who had run into same problem as me and are sitting in a Starbucks going WTF WTF, here you go. This is current as of today. You know they might change the site setup any minute, so YMMV. Also, this assumes that you've got your Starbucks Gold card registered. That happens at StarbucksGold.com. (I've included both the instructions on how to navigate and direct links for where I wound up...so if this does get changed, you might be able to find your way even if it gets broken.) Categorized as: Coffee
|
Posted on
12.18.08 by Widge @ 5:34 pm  Friends, you know me. You know that there's pretty much no type of caffeinated beverage that I won't try. I mean, I try not to pay for anything that has artificial sweeteners in it--but I approach caffeine the same way I used to approach alcohol. "Oh, this is interesting, what is this?" I would ask, normally after having finished half of it. Lots of gusto. But you'll pardon me if I figure that once something has been consumed by one animal--and then ejected or rejected from that animal's body--why would I want to drink that? What has caused me to think about this? It's Scott sending me the information about "weasel puke coffee," now on sale at ThinkGeek. Here's what they have to say about it: There's a little animal in Vietnam which has magical properties. Locally, it's called a weasel (though technically, it's a type of civet, but let's call it a weasel like the locals) and it sure likes to eat the fruit of the coffee plant. But the seeds don't sit well in its tummy, so it vomits them up. And that's where the fun comes in - for local coffee folks gather up the beans and lightly roast them. The stomach acids seem to wear away the bitter taste of the coffee beans, and the resulting coffee is delicious and smooth.
Categorized as: Coffee
|
Posted on
12.02.08 by Widge @ 10:21 pm  A couple of coffee-related nifty crafty bits for you. I found this coffee stencil Etsy site. Granted, a lot of them they have on there are the last bits of news you'd ever want delivered by a cup of coffee. Over a cup of coffee by the person handing you the cup, maybe. But do you really want to be greeted in the morning by chocolate bits sprinkled over your coffee announcing "I'm pregnant!" No, you really don't. Especially if you're a woman and your husband has handed you the cup, because that just raises all sorts of questions. Questions like the one raised by the stencil in the pic there. "Just coffee?" That's a provocative question, isn't it? Is the follow-up question "Could I interest you in a side order of wild sex?" I wonder these things. Stencils can be found here; I found them at Blog Giveaways. Cosette also found a sewing pattern for caffeine and water. Also very nice. The building blocks of life, really. I think an espresso shot was struck by lightning and thus life was born. Question, though: who was the Prime Barista? This is why I never sleep. I can't stop asking questions like that. Found at Craftzine. Categorized as: Coffee
|
|
Posted on
12.01.08 by Widge @ 11:37 pm "Widge," you might well ask, "we didn't know you were an expert on space travel. Why is it that now you choose to put your name up there on the list with Clarke and Dyson and Burroughs as to those people saying, 'Go! Go into space! The time is right! Why now, Widge?" You might be asking this right about now. And the answer is thus: we don't have to suck coffee out of a bag in zero gravity any longer. No sir, no ma'am. We can use a flexible cup-like thing and some laws of physics that I can't wrap my head around. Screw the details--venti coffees in space, people! That means we've achieved what Michio Kaku would term a Type .73 Civilization! Represent! Categorized as: Coffee
|
Posted on
10.18.08 by Widge @ 11:38 pm  Now, granted, when Tonx posted this, it was done as a one-off because he's cool enough to know people who own lasers. Nobody on staff here is able to (admit that they) own a laser after a...shall we say...recent injunction that Siege, Doc and Thespia have been advised by our lawyer not to discuss. Except that it would have made Chris Knight chortle mightily. Anyway, Tonx got his buddy to laser-etch "Tonx" onto some green coffee beans. So I don't think there's anybody who provides this service. Hey, don't look at me like that. Personalized slash monogrammed coffee beans? You know somebody would pay for that lunacy. Tonx, I say unto you: you and your friends at Espresso Parts need to go into business. There you go: free idea. Update: Add a number in the lower right and it's COFFEE BEAN SCRABBLE. Fuck-ing brilliant. And still free! Categorized as: Coffee
|
|
|
