Resident: “Hi there. Is this Pizzahut? May I make an order for two large Hawaiian pizzas please?”
Pizza Hut: “Sure Mdm. May we have your address please?”
Resident: “errm…”
Pizza Hut: “Sorry Mdm. We didn’t catch your address. May we have your address please?”
Resident: “97 Butt Hole Road. (pause) Yes, this is a real address.”
Pizza Hut: “(snigger) Thank you Mdm. May I repeat your order. Two large Hawaiian pizzas, to be delivered to … 97 Butt Hole Road (chuckle).”
It seems like UK has a host of such ‘humorous’ names: Crotch Crescent, Oxford; Titty Ho, Northamptonshire; Wetwang, East Yorkshire; Slutshole Lane, Norfolk; Thong, Kent; Penistone, South Yorkshire.
I would believe that making phone orders to these places could be such a fun / pain (depend on your perspective).
Please share with me if you’ve chanced upon a research studying the link between ‘road names’ and ‘property value’.
I know it’ll be difficult for me to put my dough down for a house with such ‘interesting’ names.
Read more - NYTimes
global issues
While the world is sinking into recession and companies worldwide are broadly announcing downward revisions to their growth forecasts (if not losses), one segment had stood out as “recession-proof”.
Brioni (high end Italian clothier) had recently introduced the most expensive line of men’s suits in its history - with price tags as high as $43,000.
However, the true super-rich (the wealthiest 1% to 2% of consumers world-wide) are still spending (even if they are buying fewer things). Individuals in this group have bought 30 of the $43,000 Brioni suits.
On similar length, Hermès (French luxury label) has introduced limited-edition silk scarves inspired by works of the artist Josef Albers at an eye-popping $2,800 each, and Kiton (Italian designer label) is introducing an $8,125 cashmere-and-vicuna sport coat.
Seems like only 98% of the world population is affected by this downturn. I guess I will be contented with my under-$30 windbreaker.
Read more - The $43,000 recession suit (WSJ)
dollars & sense, global issues
American Idol has the latest winner.
US President Barack Obama.
More than a superstar, defying the economic doom & gloom, Barack Obama’s inauguration ran so high that one ticket broker is asking $20,095 for a single ticket (and we are forgetting the millions that tune in to watch the inauguration from around the world).
For the politician wannabe who would like to create inspirational speeches like Obama, check out Obama Inauguration Speech Generator
Read more - Obama’s inauguration (CNN).
global issues
Economists always have a multitude of proposed solutions to solve economic / social issues (as to to the effectiveness of these measures - we shall leave it to another debate).
What the Singapore Government proposed today was quite interesting. Perhaps it was due to me not paying attention during the economics classes - but a job credit plan (whereby the Government pay 12% of each employee’s monthly wage to the employers, upto $300 per month, so as to encourage firms to avoid retrenching workers) sounds like a brand new philosophy to me. (Although in substance it may be similar to Obama’s “Making Work Pay” tax credit programme)
Some economic ‘gurus’ may argue that such actions may “distort the labour markets” and adds ‘friction’ to the smooth economic functioning of a competitive firm, whereby redundant/ineffective workers may be kept on the payrole due to such economic packages. However, my word to these ‘gurus’ is to wait till your own job is on the line - where you ponder about how to pay for your next meal - before re-evaluating such economic packages.
Too much blood (read: jobs) have been shed in this global financial downturn. Thank goodness for such plans to save the day for the commonfolks (at least for Singapore)
Read more - US largest stimulus package - US$825bn plan (WSJ)
economics, global issues
Apple’s trademark way of “giving customers features that they don’t even realise they want yet”
Courtesy of the ‘ever-reliable’ Onion Network - Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard.
global issues
The Times published an article highlighting that a new research had shown that performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea.
Alex Wissner-Gross, a MIT graduate now at Harvard University, had put in his research that a typical search generates about 7g of CO2.
“”A Google search has a definite environmental impact” and “Google operates huge data centers around the world that consume a great deal of power,” he said.
Alas, an economist would have point out that the concept of opportunity cost. Instead of browsing an encyclopedia to look up for information, one can simply perform an online search and read up on the required information online - thus saving the CO2 associated with the printing of the encyclopedia (which would translate to a large amount of CO2).
Google had also responded, stating that a single search is actually equivalent to a mere 0.2 grams of CO2.
Nicholas Carr, author of The Big Switch, Rewiring the World, has calculated that maintaining a character (known as an avatar) in the Second Life virtual reality game, requires 1,752 kilowatt hours of electricity per year.
Now that’s a huge “chunk” of energy!
p.s. this site is carbon-neutral too
economics, global issues
Every year, Google puts out the Year-End Zeitgeist. (Zeitgeist is the german word for ’spirit of the times’, and who better to offer this insight than Google, the company that knows more about what you think than you do).
Some interesting selections (gosh.. sarah palin as #1 fastest rising!):
Fastest rising (Global)
- sarah palin
- beijing 2008
- facebook login
- tuenti
- heath ledger
- obama
- nasza klasa
- wer kennt wen
- euro 2008
- jonas brothers
AsiaPac
The fastest rising searched items on most of the AsiaPac lists ranged from the scandalous (Edison Chen – Hong Kong celebrity whose sex photos were leaked - was the #1 fastest rising search term for China, Singapore and #3 fastest rising in Taiwan, but surprisingly missing from Hong Kong’s top 10) to the closely-followed US Presidential elections that seemed to occupy significant mindshare - with searches relating to Obama / Palin / US elections occupying top 10 slots in almost every single AsiaPac country.
global issues
… Is The World Expecting Too Much Of President-Elect Superbam?
Barack Obama has the hopes of the world resting on his shoulders. But have his superhero powers been overplayed?
“The voice of reason” came up with a list of funny views from their “panel of experts”:
“The novelty of having a US president who can string a sentence together of five words or more without fluffing it will soon wear off.”
[Read more - Voice of reason]
global issues
