Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

randomizer

Random things that I’ve been meaning to blog about, but hadn’t gotten the chance to write an actual entry for:

• Los Angeles-area Apple store employees dish on their celebrity customers. (Wired: “Stars Take a Shine to Apple” - 02/14/05)
   
• Some teachers switch from “angry” red to a more “self esteem-boosting” purple ink for grading assignments and tests. “Educators say the color purple, a mix of red and blue, carries red’s authority but blue’s serenity, making it more constructive for grading.” (Arizona Republic: “Purple reigns: Teachers spare feelings by rejecting red ink” - 02/19/05)
   
• Fast food chain McDonald’s new focus on healthy eating makes it a player in the produce market (as well as the beef and poulter markets it already dominates). “Some people believe that McDonald’s could influence not only the volume, variety and prices of fruit and produce in the nation but also how they are grown.” (New York Times: “You Want Any Fruit With That Big Mac?” - 02/20/05)
   
• Micropayments: More and more consumers are using their debit and credit cards to make purchases of $5 and less, much to the chagrin of restauranteurs and shopowners who must pay flat-rate processing fees to credit card issuers for each transaction. I know that I’m certainly part of the plastic generation; I pay for just about everything — from clothes to my morning tea/muffin at Starbucks — with my debit card, and have since I first got it in 1997. (Washington Post: “For Some, No Purchase Is Too Small For Plastic” - 02/23/05) Last December, even Salvation Army bell-ringers were accepting donations via plastic. (Arizona Republic: “Give ‘em credit: Salvation Army bell ringers now take plastic” - 12/08/05)
   
• A history of washingtonpost.com’s early days, from Digital Ink to mid-90s: “Inventing an Online Newspaper,” by Melinda McAdams.