Study: Food in McDonalds wrapper tastes better to kids – CNN.com

Study: Food in McDonalds wrapper tastes better to kids – CNN.com

This is a scary thought. I think we’ll continue laying off the McDonald’s for a while.

Go to Wal-Mart… to see a doctor?

 According to this Reuters article, Wal-Mart plans to open as many as 400 in-store health clinics. One fact that makes it sound a little better is that the clinics will not be managed by Wal-Mart, but by local hospitals. So I guess it is the same, in principle, as having a McDonalds, Subway, or Midwest Bank operating in the store.

It seems to me that Wal-mart is trying to create a little city of commerce within its stores. However, I doubt we will see something like a public library operating inside a Wal-Mart since that would compete with book sales. But maybe soon they will open an exercise facility, movie theater, and who-knows-what-else.

Joshua Bell, Street Musician

Very interesting story about an experiment done by the Washington Post. They asked violinist Joshua Bell to play during morning rush hour in D.C. as a street musician:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html?hpid=artslotYou can even listen to the entire performance. We recently moved from Bloomington, Indiana where Joshua Bell grew up and first studied violin.

I ate most of this

If you haven’t heard, Peter Pan Peanut Butter with a batch number starting 2111 was recalled by the FDA for salmonella contamination. Here is my 2/3 eaten jar (eaten before the story came out): The recallFirst spinach, then taco bell, and now peanut butter. What’s next?

Ending an IM conversation

I always feel like I am ignoring someone at the end of an instant messaging conversation. I’ve been using IM for 8 years (mostly AOL instant messenger, but also our work version of IM) and yet, when it comes to the end of a conversation, it always feels awkward. You always wonder if the other person is expecting a reply. And yet, it feels rude to cut off the conversation directly. I think when you can physically hear someone’s voice you  pick up and send cues that help you both acknowledge that you are nearly done talking. How do you end an IM session?

Google and Governments

Google refused to cooperate with the U.S. Government last week when they were asked for anonymous records and then cooperated with the China Government this week when they were asked to censor content for all of China.