Rental car company Hertz has recently begun a massive ad push in cities where its rent-by-the-hour Hertz Connect service is available. The ads I’ve seen here in New York tout the service as a way for us car-less city folk to do things like go shopping in the ‘burbs or drive to a beach where dead bodies are less likely to wash ashore.
One ad, urging customers to get some “sand in your toes,” features a Hertz vehicle parked on the sand right by the ocean. Aside from that not being the best thing for either the car or the beach, as Consumerist reader Ben points out, it’s also a violation of Hertz’s own rules.
After seeing the above ad, Ben pointed us to the Terms & Conditions page on the Hertz Connect site.
There, under the heading “VII: Prohibited Uses of the Car” is the following:
4.) Engage in any willful or wanton misconduct, which, among other things, may include reckless conduct such as… use off paved roads or on roads that are not regularly maintained.
Hertz even recognizes that their ad isn’t in line with their own policies. It’s hard to read on the photo, but there is a line at the bottom left that says that driving “off paved roads is prohibited.”
Of course, car ads have a long and storied history of showing us behavior that is neither safe nor recommended by anyone without proper stunt driver training.
So just be forewarned if you plan on taking your Hertz car mudding or try to use it as a dune buggy — Just because it’s in the ad doesn’t mean it’s allowed in the fine print.
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Kids around the country are getting high on the internet, thanks to MP3s that induce a state of ecstasy. And it could be a gateway drug leading teens to real-world narcotics.
At least, that’s what Kansas News 9 is reporting about a phenomenon called “i-dosing,” which involves finding an online dealer who can hook you up with “digital drugs” that get you high through your headphones.
And officials are taking it seriously.
“Kids are going to flock to these sites just to see what it is about and it can lead them to other places,” Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs spokesman Mark Woodward told News 9.
I-dosing involves donning headphones and listening to “music” — largely a droning noise — which the sites peddling the sounds promise will get you high. Teens are listening to such tracks as “Gates of Hades,” which is available on YouTube gratis (yes, the first one is always free).
Those who want to get addicted to the “drugs” can purchase tracks that will purportedly bring about the same effects of marijuana, cocaine, opium and peyote. While street drugs rarely come with instruction manuals, potential digital drug users are advised to buy a 40-page guide so that they learn how to properly get high on MP3s.
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Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson and John Zorn faced a furious crowd on Friday night, playing cacophonous music to a cacophony of boos at the Montreal International Jazz festival. Fans expecting Sweet Jane or Walk On the Wild Side were instead met by the skronk and skree of Reed’s more recent free-jazz work, infuriating sections of the crowd. As audience members hollered their complaints, Zorn responded. “If you don’t think it’s music, then get the fuck outta here.” Then the walk-outs began. [Guardian UK] (via)
More than 1,000 people turned out for a night of Reed/Anderson/Zorn improv on July 2nd (a week ago today). Some booed, heckled, walked out, asked (and got) a refund, and went home to complain about it on the internet (other people stayed, some maybe even enjoyed it). A very short clip of the concert is below.
Hey Montreal – Fuck you!
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At the Huffington Post, popular liberal news aggregator, nipple slideshow source, and intern slave market, you can get away with writing pretty much any old nonsense you like. Especially if you’re famous, or a friend of Arianna Huffington. One thing you apparently can’t do, though, is criticize the Huffington Post itself for publishing nonsense.
I’ve long been a critic of HuffPo’s “Living” section, where fake doctors peddle snake oil cures and vaccine conspiracy theorists spread their poisonous misinformation. Those who read the Huffington Post solely for its (usually good) political content often don’t even realize that a couple verticals away is a den of quackery and pseudoscience.
The HuffPo has, they claim, a specific editorial policy against promoting “conspiracy theories.” It is selectively enforced.
But publishing the new agey holistic naturopath crystal-healing Beverly Hills quack-to-the-stars bullshit of Arianna’s good friend’s nutritionist is one (stupid, potentially dangerous) thing. Giving a platform to the anti-science creationist dingbats at The Discovery Institute is a step in a darker direction.
The Discovery Institute aims to make kids learn about “Intelligent Design,” a thing evangelical Christians invented because they were sick of getting made fun of for saying out loud that they believe that Adam and Eve rode dinosaurs. “Intelligent Design” has no basis in science — indeed, it is a sick parody of science — and the motivations behind getting into classrooms are purely political.
As part of their “Religion and Science” feature (which looks to be a lot of fashionable mysticism from the usual pop-philosophy hacks — like good ol’ Deepak Chopra) the HuffPo published a post from Discovery Institute Senior Fellow David Klinghoffer blaming Darwin for eugenics and the Nazis.
This is cancerous bullshit. Professional anti-science propagandists like Klinghoffer are free to write and publish it, but no one with any respect for their readers or sense of responsibility to the truth should promote it.
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Carlos Santana may be renowned for his pioneering blend of Latin-rock music, but in San Diego, he’ll now be known as well for Mexican cuisine, showcased in the new Maria Maria restaurant that opened this week in Mission Valley’s Hazard Center.
Named after Santana’s Grammy-winning single, the restaurant is the first Southern California location for the small chain of casual eateries specializing in “nuevo Mexican” favored by Santana. The 6,400-square-foot restaurant occupies the space where the former Prego restaurant was located.
The Maria Maria restaurants, also in the San Francisco Bay Area, Tempe, Ariz., and Austin, Texas, are a partnership of Santana, Chef Roberto Santibañez and Jeff Dudhum, who founded the chain as well as the Bing Crosby’s restaurants, one of which is located in Fashion Valley.
Dudhum said Santana’s original mission in opening the restaurants was to introduce diners to authentic Mexican cuisine, unlike the jumble of guacamole, rice and beans people typically associate with south-of-the-border dishes.
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Budgets Are Sexy argues that people throw their money away on many items they’d normally buy without a thought. Here are four “buys” that you should should highly consider switching to “rents.”
The blog’s suggestions are in bold, with my two cents following each:
*Tools. Do you really need a chainsaw constantly on standby? Unless your last name is Voorhees, probably not.
*Evening gowns/prom dresses. If you can’t wear it to Target it doesn’t belong in your closet.
*Textbooks. You’ll use them for four months, max. And by “use” I mean “leave under your bed all semester then frantically flip through the night before the final.”
*Coffins. Put on the dog and pony show with something classy at the wake if you must, then downgrade when it’s time for the dirt nap.
Blu-rays and DVDs also definitely belong on this list, in the age of on demand, Netflix and web browser streaming.
What stuff do you think is better off rented than bought?
Rent vs. Buy: Tools, Textbooks, Caskets? [Budgets Are Sexy]
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“WHAT DOES IT MEAN?” cried YouTube-sensation Double Rainbow guy, whose trippy experience witnessing a pair of colorful streaks in the sky caught fire on the Web recently, and amassed more than 1.5 million views. Indeed, what does it mean? For Double Rainbow guy, aka Paul Vasquez (the “Yosemitebear Mountain Giant”), it was the bedazzling wonderment of dual rainbows that provoked the question.
Here at Fast Company, we’re more interested in figuring out what it means for the clip to have gone viral as part of our chronicle of the social graph, The Influence Project. Is Vasquez just another popular, soon-to-be-forgotten YouTube star? Will he ride the wave of “success” across the Web, like a unicorn atop a rainbow? Does Vasquez now have influence? Is “influence” even the right term to use?
“When I first shot it, I was like, Whoa,” says the professional cagefighter-turned-nature-lover. “I always knew it had the potential–that it was special–and I was thinking it was going to catch on. I shot a video before called Giant Intense Rainbow that had the capability of going viral, but when I shot this one, I was like, this is even better.”
“People think you can only have that kind of experience on drugs,” he explains. “But you don’t have to be–you can have the experience with nature without having to be high or having sex.” However, Vasquez quickly clarified the point. “But I’m not opposed to it! I mean, I was high in the other video, Giant Intense Rainbow,” he assured me with a burly chuckle. “I smoke pot myself–I mean, I have a prescription for it–it’s legal here in California.”
Of course, speaking with the man behind Double Rainbow about how videos go viral isn’t exactly scientific–after all, this was the guy who spent minutes describing to me the overwhelming beauty of the rainbow: “It started to double! Then it turned into a triple! Then a complete circle, like a complete disc of color! Like a giant eye looking at me! You could feel the rays, like of the sun, but it was rainbow rays!” It’s probably no better than asking the Star Wars Kid for tips on fight choreography.
But Vasquez does represent a prime fixture of the Web–someone who has gone viral without intention, who has popularity but perhaps no influence, and could care less about ego (unless it was a drug-induced Freudian-examination of his dreams). If anything, Double Rainbow guy illustrates how difficult it is to define what “influence” and “popularity” mean online.
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Coca-cola is a magical elixir that can do so many things, like clean blood stains from fabric!
You can also kill slugs with it, neutralize a jellyfish sting, clean your car battery terminals, clean your engine, and improve the quality of your compost.
Wow, and I thought it just refreshed you and increase your risk of diabetes. Thanks, knowledge!
51 Uses for Coca-Cola – the Ultimate List [Wise Bread via Len Penzo]
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The Securities and Exchange Commission claims in a lawsuit that a Utah money manager promised to place investor money in commercial real estate but instead put the funds into a sandwich-in-a-can business and other ventures.
The suit claims Travis Wright of Draper, Utah, collected $145 million from 175 investors, but invested only $6 million as promised, Bloomberg reports. Among the investments was the “Candwich” business, the New York Times reports. Wright is also accused of spending $15 million to finance a lavish lifestyle for himself and his friends.
A Candwich ad promises “grab-and-go convenience” and says the product’s long shelf life makes it perfect for emergency storage needs in the event of natural disasters. Wright is also accused of investing in companies that sell rose petals with sentiments printed on them and watches over the Internet, the stories say.
Here is a neat video:
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Leanback is a simplified YouTube experience designed for TV screens, especially ones equipped with Google TV. In a demo we received from YouTube Product Manager Kuan Yong and UI Designer Julian Frumar, we learned that pretty much all actions come in the form of four buttons: up, down, left and right. The down button opens up a navigation menu, where you can browse a collection of videos based on categories such as entertainment or music. You can also access your video playlists or just watch random videos. Hitting “up” opens up the quick search box.
As you would expect, the design is very simple and intended to allow users to “lean back” and watch YouTube videos one after the other. It was very simple for me to use and understand in my hands-on demo.
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