Coke's new 100-flavor soda machine

From Engadget:

Your typical soda fountain in a fast-food joint features eight boring choices, usually offering nothing more exotic than "Orange." It's been that way for decades, but one of the oldest players in the market is finally shattering that paradigm. Coca-Cola is introducing a machine that can pour 100 different flavors. Early prototypes underwent testing earlier this summer and second-gen units are headed for limited markets early next year -- the same thing they said about those self-cooling bottles last year. Assuming they do come to market, swapping out the highly-concentrated flavors is likened to changing a print cartridge, meaning new choices can come and go quickly depending on popularity. It all sounds refreshing, but we're not looking forward to the lines as the thirsty yet indecisive ponder 15 different flavors of Diet Coke.

Sign me up! Before we moved, I used to make a morning religious pilgrimage to the local QuikTrip where I could mix up my coffee any way I wanted. I could have lots of fun playing around with a 100-flavor soda machine (as long as I could avoid diet flavors).

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Wordle

Gary Greenwood's Stained, Glass Windows blog (and, before it, Pop Candy, if I remember correctly) put me onto this cool tool called Wordle, which creates word clouds from any large chunk of type you enter or paste there. The clouds give some prominence to the words used most frequently. For the heck of it, I plugged in the text of Devil's Cape, and the results look pretty cool, methinks.

You can click the image for a larger version.

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Jack Kilby, Texas Instruments, and the 50th anniversary of the integrated circuit

One of the many reasons I've been slow to post lately is that I've transitioned into a video production job at work. This is all new territory to me and that learning curve has meant extra hours at work and some extra exhaustion after work.

But I'd like to share one of my first major projects with you here: a video that I produced about the fiftieth anniversary of the integrated circuit (or microchip) and its inventor, Jack Kilby, who has become something of a hero of mine. Our world would be a very different place without him. This project took a lot of hours of work (from me and many others), and I'm proud of the result. The video is also on TI's web site and playing at a couple of local museums. One really cool benefit of working on the video was the opportunity to work with an old, old friend of mine (like since fourth grade), Traylor Woodall, who did the outstanding animated opening.

It's 8 minutes and 39 seconds long. If you don't feel like investing that much time now, then I'd recommend at least reading a bit about the life of Jack Kilby here or elsewhere. He was an astounding man with an impact on our world comparable to Thomas Edison's.

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"Awesome" Michael Bay ad for Verizon FiOS

I'm not a huge Michael Bay fan (although I think I enjoy him more than my buddy Spork Boy), but this Verizon FiOS ad is fun and nicely self-deprecating.

And, um, Mr. Bay, if you're interested in making a Devil's Cape movie, I'd be delighted for your people to talk to my people.

Hmm. I wonder if Verizon FiOS works better with TiVo than U-verse does.

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TiVo and U-verse

Okay, now that I've gotten that rant off my chest, I'd love some guidance.

We have two TiVos. We love our TiVos. TiVo is the best invention since the television. So in other words, I want to keep our TiVos.

AT&T has been pushing U-verse in our neighborhood. The price seems okay. The customer service can't possibly be worse than Time Warner. But I'm concerned about its interaction with TiVo. Some sources tell me that they can play nicely together. Others tell me that it's difficult getting them to work. AT&T won't hook the TiVos up to U-verse and get the system working. It's up to me, I'm told, to make that work out after I get U-verse.

That's my main concern. What if I can't get them working right? I'd like to try out U-verse, but it's not exactly like taking a test drive. I'd have fiber optics hooked up to the house and (I think) my cable would be disconnected, so I'd be pretty committed to the whole thing at that point.

Anyone out there have great suggestions? Is the interaction easier than I think? Is there a knowledgeable service that would come out and handle my hookups for me without it costing me a fortune? Should I wait for some kind of agreement between TiVo and U-verse? I'd been leaning toward the last option, but I'm hacked off enough at Time Warner now that I'd like to make the switch sooner rather than later.

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