Coredump

Germany, home of the Christmas cookie scented toilet paper

2009-12-17T03:35:00.004+01:00

I usually think that Germans are pretty much immune to fads that sweep over other countries, but once in awhile they surprise me. Scented toilet paper for example. I have nothing against scented toilet paper, but I think it can be taken to extremes. Feast your eyes on "Happyend" toilet paper. Not only printed with Christmas themes, but also with a speculaas scent ("Spekulatiusduft"). Really Germany? Really?

The Pain!

2009-08-10T08:21:00.003+02:00

Every once in a while you stumble over a website so mind-boggingly ugly, it just may be cult. Of course such treasures must be shared. I'm nice like that. Feast your eyes on the horror that is BumBumRalf. WARNING! May cause epileptic seizures and/or eye cancer. Enter at your own risk. What has been seen can not be unseen. You have been warned. Carry on, and be sure to scroll all the long way through. You're welcome.

Refill scam part II

2009-06-28T20:22:00.004+02:00

I almost fell for this one. I needed Q-Tips, and I noticed they had refill packs for 10 cents less than buying a box would cost. Then I took a closer look at how many were in there. Boxed version 200 pcs. for 59 cents, Refill pack 160 pieces for 49 cents. That works out to a refill pack costing over 2 cents more. Not much, admitted, but I'm betting it makes a pretty penny in sum.

How much are Americans paying for chicken?

2009-05-02T08:17:00.004+02:00

I happened across the highly amusing (and somewhat disgusting) Chicken-in-a-can post this morning, which led me to ask myself just how expensive chickens are in the States. Amazon lists a delicious 6-pack of ciac for $50. That would put the price for a single chicken at $8 something. At my discounter of choice here in Germany you can get a whole fresh chicken for a bit under $4. Who on the face of god's earth would buy the horror that is chicken in a can, when you can get two pristine un-raped chickens for the same price? Is chicken in the States so much more expensive than here?

The things one sees in a stain...

2009-04-26T07:31:00.004+02:00

...or in a deco tile. Am I the only one to see an alien parachutist with an erection?

How is this possible?

2009-04-25T05:44:00.003+02:00

How can one cucumber from Spain cost more than a kilo bananas from Costa Rica? Bear in mind that I live in Germany, and compared to Costa Rica, Spain is within spitting distance. I'm figuring we're either getting gouged on cucumbers or someone is subsidizing bananas. Could one of the more agriculturally or economically inclined readers clear me up on this?

Why my next phone will be from HTC

2009-04-24T04:32:00.003+02:00

At the moment I own a Touch Diamond from HTC. The battery life isn't stellar and Windows Mobile isn't an OS to really love, but I'll still be buying my new phone from HTC for one simple reason: XDA Developers. This is bar none, the largest developer community for smart phones. Need a new ROM? They've got you covered. Want to see the innards of your phone without voiding your warranty? No problem. You're a programmer looking to utilize the specialties of a certain phone? They've got SDKs for just about every sensor/hardware combo around. Applications, hacks, tweaks or how-tos. If HTC made it, they've got it supported. If you happen to already own a phone from HTC, I recommend you pay them a visit, if not, think about getting one when your contract comes up for renewal.

Another link of interest for those that really want the most out of their WinMo Phones: Werner Ruotsalainen's Smartphone and Pocket PC blog

Identifying inherited plants

2009-04-22T02:41:00.000+02:00

In the building I've been working in the last 21 years I've had 4 different offices. In each office I found a few abandoned plants which I dutifully adopted. For the most part I've had no trouble identifying them and they're pretty much standard office fare. Dracaena, monstera, philodendron... Then there are these:I'm guessing the top one is some kind of succulent, and I was once told the bottom one is a cordyline, but it's not one that I've been able to find anywhere. If anyone out there has an idea what they are, please post a comment.

Screwing your customers with ecology.

2009-04-21T04:40:00.001+02:00

Germans are a very ecology-minded folk, and being so they like to reduce their trash volume to an absolute minimum. For this reason refill-packs of various substances are widely available here, but the one we'll be concentrating on is liquid soap. In the past it's been cheaper to buy a refill bag of liquid soap than a new dispenser, as it saves the manufacturer on plastic packaging and the dispenser mechanics. A win-win situation for customer and producer. This seems to have changed recently.Here we see that refill and original are the exact same price, while this does make one wonder what the incentive for a customer to take the trouble to buy a refill bag is(green-mindedness aside), they're not really taking money out of your pocket, although they are saving themselves some. This is the case for the value priced generic brand. Now let's take a look at the brand-named stuff:We'll ignore the fact that they use liter as the base price unit on the dispenser and 100 ml for the refill. We'll also ignore the fact that you'll have 200 ml leftover when you refill the dispenser, resulting in a half empty bag that you'll have to store somewhere until you fill up the dispenser again. What we can't ignore is the fact that you'll be paying almost 5 Eurocent more for the same 100 ml of soap when you buy a refill. I'm not saying Palmolive condones this, because I'm pretty sure it's the retailer that has the last say on his prices. I'm also sure it's not just this retailer that does it; I've seen this in quite a few stores. It sucks nonetheless.