Wednesday, January 28

Random


orange treeSpinach may be the salvation of the world-wide citrus industry ~ link

Steve and Anne Stinnette are back on Guam -- arrived last night! ~ link

More good news (I hope) -- "GrandCentral Still Alive, New Version Imminent."

GrandCentral is Google's centralized phone system. (But it is currently in closed beta.) For example, I have for several years had a GrandCentral phone number in the Phoenix area code. I can set the system to forward calls to my 602 number to a) voice mail, b) any US phone number, c) a whole bunch of US phone numbers (for example you could have the number ring in your office, home, and cell all at once). And it's a permanent phone number for life (or as long as Google supports the system). ~ link

New study: marijuana could prevent Alzheimer's. That's certainly counter intuitive. ~ link

Cross-cultural marketing blunders -- they're easier to make than you might think. ~ link (thx)

Qantas Airways is closing down its customer service and reservations call center in Tucson, Arizona. I'm guessing that they're moving their operations back to Australia because the American workers couldn't get the accent down and it annoyed customers to think that their phone calls were being outsourced to non-native speakers. ~ link

Dave Gibbons on changing culture ~ link

I'd use Gmail offline but I don't think I have enough room on the hard-drive. Besides I'm trying to live in the clouds. ~ link

"American seminaries and divinity schools across the theological spectrum are in financial trouble, according to news reports, open letters and blogs about budget cuts and staff layoffs." ~ link

The GenderAnalyzer website says of my blog, "We think http://boydston.us is written by a woman (63%)." I guess you just can't trust everything you read on the internet. ~ link

Costco is using "robo-calls" to warn customers of recalls related to specific products they've purchased. Finally -- a helpful use of that technology. Brilliant. ~ link

The Christian Post article on the latest round of financial and personnel chaos at the Crystal Cathedral (staff lay-offs, land sales) appeared next to a flashing ad for churchloans.info in the next column -- "Growing his kingdom together -- looking for a church loan? Contact the experts! No tax returns! No personal guarantees! No audited financials! Apply today!" There has got to be some providential connection. ~ link

One of our therapeutic faculty members pointed me to this unique and effective approach to therapy. I can't stop watching it.



4 comments:

Beth B said...

No you can't trust everything you read on the Internet!

"We guess http://medievalmind.blogspot.com/ is written by a man (56%), however it's quite gender neutral."

Timothy Friend said...

We think http://timothyfriend.blogspot.com/ is written by a woman (63%).

Rick said...

Stop watching that video or I'll bury you alive in a box.

theultrarev said...

The cross cultural blunders reminds me of anothers ...

When Pope John Paul II made a visit to Miami in 1987, delighting Miami's large Hispanic community, an enterprising Euroamerican shirt-maker decided to capitalize on the event. He made thousands of shirts which in Spanish were suppose to read "I saw the Pope." Unfortunately, he didn't bother to check his quip with those who knew the language. Rather than using the masculine definitive article "el," the shirt-maker used the feminine definitive article "la." Hence the shirts instead read, "I saw the potato."


And GM had trouble selling the great US car the "Nova" in Mexico. Of course, "no va" in Spanish = "no go". Who wants to buy a car called the "No Go".