Go and do your own online work


by pico -d gallo

Geocaching is a hobby in which you use a GPS device to locate hidden boxes (“caches”) by looking for coordinates posted on www.geocaching.com. Although the hobby itself is pretty easy to do, it requires one piece of technical equipment: the GPS device. Since there are a wide variety of receivers with a huge array of features, a relative newcomer might be overwhelmed when trying to figure out which model might be best.

Never fear! On the Geocaching website there’s a discussion forum, and one of the topic areas is “GPS and Technology”. Perhaps you can get some buying tips there.In fact, there is currently a thread posted there entitled What is the best GPS you can get for cheap?, I’m pretty sure a lot of people want to know.

Seems like a simple and obvious request here on the Geocaching.com forums, yes? Well keep in mind that when it comes to technology you’re dealing with geeks, and for geeks, the best way they can help you when you ask a question is to demonstrate how the question was stupid.

reef mapper starts us off by deciding that he’s had enough of the whole “online community” thing.

Go and do your own online work :D

The smiley lets you know he’s just kidding around, but he still fails to answer the question.

Wesbo, however, feels he just can’t recommend a good inexpensive GPS receiver on the Geocaching.com website because there’s not enough information in the question to go on:

Best for what? Geocaching? Boating? Getting to and from the mall? You can get a used etrex for a song on ebay and you can get a Trimble surveying setup with sub-centimeter accuracy for the price of a pretty nice car.

Need some specifics…

Motorcycle Mama agrees that it’s impossible to suss out what this guy on the Geocaching.com’s forum wants a GPS for:

What are your intended uses? (geocachin, car, motorcycle, hiking, boating, other?)

Source GPS wishes that Sherlock Holmes were around to deduce the poster’s (on the Geocaching.com forums) intended use of the GPS device:

I have to agree with MM. You need to identify what the primary use will be – then you can narrow down your choices by price.

ryleyinstl takes a bold and misspelled gamble:

I’m going to take a leap here and say you want an “affordable” GPRs for geocashing.

Amazingly, he actually recommends a unit!

jmundinger thinks ryleyinstl’s detective work might be good, but he still hesitates:

And, although I have some level of agreement with those who suggest that the question can’t be answered without also knowing something about intended use and budget, I’d note that the Venture HC will do (and do well) everything that a person has a right to expect from a consumer grade gpsr.

LEGO Cacher brings the hilarity:

Here’s the best “cheap” GPS’er that you can get: (photo of a magnetic compass).

Finally, KUBLECLAN takes time off from his CSI work to respond with:

I would assume they only want the GPS unit for caching …

Nevertheless, he doesn’t make a recommendation.

At the end of the thread on the Geocaching.com forums asking for recommendations on a good and cheap GPS receiver the score, out of eleven replies, is:

2 serious recommendations (one of which is supported by another person).

1 joke recommendation.

4 people who can’t figure out what he might be using it for.

1 person who does know what he might be using it for but doesn’t recommend anything.

and 1 guy who says to “do your own online work”.

Hooray for Web 2.0!



Granted, I live in Alexandria & do not get to Arlington that much, but if I’m ever in their neighborhood & want coffee, I wont be going there


by CM

Boing Boing, Mecca of all small incidents blown way out of proportion, links to the story of an under-caffeinated fellow who takes umbrage at the posted policies of a local coffee shop and a particularly obstinate coffee-slave who seems destined for a life in the 9th level of the bureaucratic hell of government service. This post is not about that incident. This post is about the day the ENTIRE GODDAMNED INTERNET shared in that cup of coffee.

From the comments at the original post, by a person going by Heyheyhey:

this isn’t about coffee, this is about the barista doing his job the best he can and you totally disregarding the store policy and then proceeding to be a dick. that photo of the dollar you left speaks a ton about you. you’re an ass and i hope for the sake of the baristas at [coffee shop in question] you don’t go back.

Another commenter, apparently wedded to the sanctity of capitalism, responds:

This dude was RECEIVING MONEY to create a beverage that was apparently beneath him and his store’s policy (what happened to the customer is always right, folks?) and then had the AUDACITY to deny said beverage, potentially losing a customer and money, not to mention being a royal dick about it. Heyheyhey – you’re way out of line.

Lucky for us a fellow is there to jump in and link to his flickr page with a picture of the coffee shop policy, and the infamous dollar bill mentioned above:

I know you felt affronted by this, but there was a big sign saying what they wouldn’t do.

Also, your message to them now proudly hangs in their Hall of What Not To Do board at the register:

Crikey, a Douchebag

On that flickr page are more comments (surprise!) from more people who want to drink deeply of such an infamous and vainglorious cup of coffee. For example, here’s a threat that carries deep and economically apocalyptic ramifications:

I will never patronize [coffee shop in question] with my business. Granted, I live in Alexandria & do not get to Arlington that much, but if I’m ever in their neighborhood & want coffee, I wont be going there.

Tremble at the power of this man’s dollar!

But most luckily for us, there’s a link in the flickr page comments to someone ELSE’S blog about this very same incident:

The behavior that caused this particular dollar to be written on was VERY rude and unprofessional. www.andiamnotlying.com… A different take on the same incident here www.welovedc.com… Snobbish people irritate the crap out of me, especially in customer service positions. The jerk is lucky he got a tip at all (other than “find a line of work where you don’t have to deal with people who offend you by wanting something you don’t approve of”).

welovedc.com backs up the original blogger’s version of events, and of course, there are more people who wish to indulge in such a pointlessly famous cup of coffee:

Straight espresso and the classic cappuccino are signature beverages at [coffee shop in question]. They don’t ice them, they don’t serve them to go. Saying no in these particular instances shows the pride they take in their work. It might cost them a few customers, but it helps build the company culture of being the most devoted to coffee quality in the DC area

And, what’s this? A few comments down, a link to the original post:

This entry on And I Am Not Lying may interest you.

Whereupon the original blogger notices the trackback and responds:

Hey man — I can freely admit I was being a dick. And I’ll even admit that sometimes I’m a barbarian that doesn’t appreciate the subtleties in things. But being a dick doesn’t start out of nowhere. Usually rotten customer service brings out the worst in people.

He goes on, adding nothing but fuel to this now coffee-soaked, orgiastic, incestuous, self-referential, internet camp-fire. That is, until he closes his comment like this:

And, dick or not, it’s still just coffee.

That’s right people, in the end it’s just a cup of coffee. A cup of coffee, incidentally, THAT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE, WHATSOEVER.



i know a possible investment when i see one


by pico -d gallo

Woot is one of the many internet shops that uses the model of selling one item a day at a low cost, until either the day is over or the item runs out. It’s a bizarre marketing practice, but I guess it works for them.

April 15th’s item of the day was a pack of ten random Marvel comics for six bucks. This seems like an especially odd thing to feature, and even the sales pitch itself seems skeptical:

So why drop six bucks postpaid on this bundle when you could just go to a comic store and grab a handful of quarter-bin mags? For one thing, that would require you to enter a comic store. Even worse, you may have to interact with the menacing life-forms you encounter within — an especially daunting prospect if you happen to be female.

More importantly, though, once you start digging through the quarter bin, you have to possess the willpower of Daredevil to stop. It’s nigh-unto impossible to walk away from those tantalizing rows of unknown comics, holding the promise of a cheap, misplaced copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 or the complete Squadron Supreme maxi-series. Entire afternoons can be lost in such vainglorious quests.

Better to avoid the temptation. Better to let the hand of fate pluck ten, or twenty, or thirty random Marvels from the morass. We won’t stare at your chest, or make you smell our underwashed bodies, or mock you for not knowing the difference between the X-Men and the Ultimate X-Men. And you need not fear the lure of the quarter bin.

At this point I’d like to bring to your attention that ten comics for six bucks means they’re also more expensive than a quarter, but considering that “quarter bins” are now more often “dollar boxes”, we’ll let it slide. Instead, let’s look at the list of comics from which your ten gems will be selected. Pay attention to these; there will be a quiz.

You will receive 10 comics from the following list:

* X-Men The Movie Prequel Rogue
* X-Men The Movie Prequel Magneto
* Wolverine/Cable — Return of the Native Part 5
* Wolverine/Cable — Gus & Glory
* Wolverine Evilution
* Warlock “Second Coming pt. 2
* Thor Son of Asgard Part 6
* The Call of Duty Also Featuring Daredevil the man without Fear
* Spider-Man Team Up w/Kitty Pryde
* Spider-Man Made Men
* Spider-Man — The Amazing Spider-Man — Vibes
* Sabetooth — Back to Nature
* Runaways also featuring Sentinel Issues 1 & 2
* Rogue “Going Rouge” Part 4 of 6
* Marvel Must Haves — Truth — Red, White & Black
* Man-Thing — Whatever Knows Fear
* IronMan — The Iron Age Part 2 of 2
* IronMan — The Iron Age Part 1 of 2
* Incredible Hulk “Huck”
* Hulk “Big Thing” Part 3 of 4
* Hulk
* Gus Beezer and Spider-Man
* Guardians — Reach for the Stars Part 1
* Fantastic 4 Prisoners of Doctor Doom
* Fantastic 4 — Disassembles
* Excalibur “Forging the Sword”
* Captain America
* 1602 Part 6

Don’t worry that you’re only getting parts of some stories. Parts One and Two of Hulk “Big Thing” aren’t really vital to the story, and part Four is just folks standing around going, “Remember that big thing? That was wild.”

Every Woot “deal” has user commentary on it. Let’s see what the folks who regularly shop at Woot had to say about this one.

“dsgitlin” fails the quiz right away:

Ha…this brings me back to my childhood and rummaging through the quarter bins. Yes, absolutely, in for three. Hopefully I’ll get some Power Man/Iron Fist sent my way.

Hope all you want. Neither Power Man nor Iron Fist are on the list.

“aoffiler” sees nothing but dollar signs:

im not a comic fan but i know a possible investment when i see one. can anyone tell me if these are worth while?

“greengert” taunts him:

since you know an investment when you see one… why dont YOU tell US if these are worthwhile?

And “aoffiler”, his reputation on the line, asserts:

well if all goes as planned im in for 3… so yes this is an excellent investment.

‘NUFF SAID!

“ericsmithrocks” is a better username than “ericsmithcalculates”:

This is cool! In for three… which means 30 comics!

Note that there are only 28 comics on the list. “alvinlee123″ asks:

30 comics for 8 bucks, what are thes odds of getting the same comics more than once?

I repeat: Note that there are only 28 comics on the list. “TheStorm042″ comes to the rescue with his incredible “counting” ability:

Since there are only 28 possibilities, pretty good, I’d say.

But “shento” ripostes:

ummm more than one comic in the series, I’m sure… sooooo

chances are slim to some – to get a duplicate…. guess you don’t read comics?

PUT THAT IN YOUR MATHS AND SMOKE IT, SMARTY-PANTS!

“Mjar41″ knows what the SMART comics investors ask:

Are these comics in mint condition?

“DocThan.com” follows up with:

Are these in English or Japanese ?

I don’t know whether I should cheer or jeer “wscraig”:

The fact that these are sold out this quickly is disturbing. Not because I wanted them. But because so many of you do.

Who are you people and how are you allowed to hold jobs and drive cars?

You won’t like the answer:

I’m in for 30. “Hello comic book man, what’ll ya give mefor these”

Oh look, here’s the guy:

Please sell some Bondage Fairies comics next time, woot.

“LANShark125″ is outraged, OUTRAGED that Woot is trafficking in such trivialities!

Comic books? COMIC BOOKS??? And this doesn’t even look to be a bargain…

Sad times in Wootdom…

finally, “octavia”:

I wonder if any woman would actually buy these for herself. Oh well, men and their comics and penises, I just don’t get it!

Me neither!



Not an official product.


by Kevin Church

getofftheinternetbutton.jpg

But we like it anyway.