The Jeff R Project

Anybody who knows me even a bit knows I’ve got a Starbucks addiction, but I’m trying to kick it.

In Downtown Vancouver, there is a Starbucks location within a few (read 2) blocks of just about everywhere. In the last 3 places I/We have lived, there’s been one within a block. And there is one within a block of my office.

Seriously, I didn’t plan it, but I think Starbucks did.

A few years ago I went to Yuma, Arizona for Christmas to visit my dad and step-mother and was tired most of the time I was there. I came up with my Starbucks Conspiracy Theory. Basically, the reason I was tired wasn’t that I wasn’t drinking coffee but rather, in Vancouver the air is so saturated with caffeine from one coffee shop or another (Starbucks, Blendz, Cafe D’Artigiano, etc) that you live in an artificially caffeinated state whether you like it or not.

So, this past weekend Starbucks finally released a store locator app for the iPhone into the Canadian iTunes store!

For me, it’s not about locating a store in Vancouver, it’s about remembering which stores are good (clean bathrooms, friendly staff) among the 100s there seem to be downtown.

And of course it will come in handy when we’re out of our comfort zone and I need a fix.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Starbucks opens first shop in Sweden, its 53rd country (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• How Low Can Starbucks Go? [Hobos] (gawker.com)

A while back I got an email from someone about taking surveys online to earn rewards, and thought “That sounds like a scam” so I did some more research.

This company, Web Perspectives is one of the few legitimate survey companies online that actually offer real rewards to it’s members. The rewards for completing a survey vary from survey to survey, depending on what the survey owner wants to offer.

A variety of survey rewards are offered to all of our members. Survey rewards include monthly prize draws for 5 chances at $1,000. There are also special draws for x-box’s, i-Pods, and much more. Many surveys also offer individual rewards in the form of  “Perspective Points”. These range from 100 points to 500 points with a completed survey.

Web Perspectives reward partners:

• PayPal – Redeem 1000 points to transfer $10 into your PayPal account.
• Chapters/Indigo(Online) – Use 1000 points to claim a $10 gift certificate to purchase books, DVD’s, I-pods, etc
• Sympatico MSN Music Store – Redeem 1000 points  for $10 worth of music downloads.
• Cineplex – Redeem 1000 points for a free movie ticket valid at any Cineplex Entertainment theatre.
• Golf Town – Use 1000 points to claim a $10 gift certificate to purchase sporting goods or apparell.
• The Canadian Cancer Society – Donate your reward to a good cause and help other Canadians. You will also receive a tax receipt for your donation.

So, what kinds of surveys do you get to answer? It depends. You can fill in an online profile inside your Web Perspectives account and they will try to target surveys into your interest area. For me, I’ve been getting a variety of surveys about food, beverage, technology and transportation (cars really).

The time required to fill out a survey varies too. Some are short 5 minute ones, but a big one I did on snack-food took me 45 minutes! Yes, you can save and return in most cases.

Some of the surveys you get in your inbox may ultimately end up not allowing you to complete. They pre-qualify respondents in some cases. I got one survey about beer, and since I said I don’t drink beer, I was sent to a nice “Thanks but no thanks” page. This has happened a number of times.

How many surveys do I answer? I get anywhere from 1 to 4 emails a day offering a survey and I don’t answer all of them. Sometimes I’m just too busy and other times I’m just not interested.

So far I haven’t won any of their contests, and keep forgetting to check my points to see if I can redeem them for anything. I fill out the surveys mainly because they are fun. I’ve actually seen the results of some of the surveys (or what sounds like them) on the news.

If you’re looking for a way to make a quick and easy contribution to market research or those other “mystery” polls you hear about, check out Web Perspectives.

Over the past few weeks, there’ve been several lawsuits filed again Apple Corp which are no doubt keeping their lawyer’s busy.

I’m sure the boys over at Dewey, Cheatham and Howe keep busy every day finding new and more intriguing ways of writing evil things into EULA’s, Privacy Policies and going after copyright infringement, but fighting off a variety of incoming suits must keep them busy.

Everyone wants a bite of the Apple. They’re one of the biggest, most prominent companies still making money in today’s economy. They seem to be able to do no wrong that way. Everything with the Apple logo on it has turned to gold lately, which makes them a target.

The lawsuit that was disclosed today makes no sense, and is just one of the dozens of frivolous ones they (and many others) contend with every year.

AppleInsider.com is reporting that Apple is being sued by a guy who’s clearly after nothing more than money.

Apple is the defendant in two recent, offbeat lawsuits, including one filed by an artist who alleges he invented and named the iPod and iPhone in the 1980s, only to have Apple and actress Sarah Jessica Parker steal his trade secrets.

In meeting these people, Wakefield alleges he was asked by the congressman to disclose his “trade secrets” to the FBI, including the concept of the iPod, iTunes, and the iPhone, the last of which he allegedly specifically named nearly 20 years prior to its debut.

Yep. Wakefield claims to have invented the iPod and iTunes nearly before the internet came into existence, prior to the MP3 being developed and other insanity.

The next suit mentioned in the AppleInsider report talks about someone suing Apple because Lil’ Wayne (stupidest name ever) may have used a concept in one of his songs.

They then go on to mention how Apple was also sued for being connected to the Mafia.

I figure if Apple IS connected to the Mafia (and I have no specific knowledge for or against this), then these lawsuits should quietly disappear.

After a somewhat revealing / disheartening look deep inside my soul, I’ve been told I go to Starbucks too often, and have become addicted to my favorite drink – the Venti sugar-free vanilla Americano. I don’t see where the problem is. Ok, well, I guess at $4.00 each (rounding up for those of us with poor math skills), doing it 4 times a week is (4 x 4 x 52) = $832 per year, there might be a problem.

Yeah, that’s a conservative number and doesn’t factor in the lemon cranberry scone anything else I may pick up at the time.

Chris isn’t exactly blameless. He’s addicted to the Tazo Zen Green Tea and chocolate chunk cookies.

So, in an effort to save our spending and stop (me) going to Starbucks as often, we forked out a HUGE amount of cash all at once and bought me (us) a Bosch Tassimo beverage system.

Tassimo Bosch T65 Single Serve Hot Beverage System

It’s not exactly like that one, but super close. In fact, mine is better since it’s red. I’ll post a real picture in a minute. Continue Reading →

Top Most Gifted books from Amazon.com

So I was noodling around Amazon.com today while looking for a new product to build a site around. I’ve created a few different affiliate sites that are getting traffic, but no sales yet, so I’m thinking “hey, this hasn’t worked yet, maybe I need MORE sites!”

Anyway, I’m wandering around the site looking for something cool to sell when I find the link for “Most Gifted” which is not the link for only the best and brightest books, but rather those “Gifted” to others most often, which makes a lot more sense, right?

Well, the top entry was The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown’s new book, no surprise.

Second place was Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, also not a surprise as this is a huge kids book.

Next came Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are which also makes sense with the new movie just coming out.

And in fourth place, the wildly popular Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Wait, huh? What? Seriously? The 4th most popular gift in Amazon’s book is a publication manual? Seriously, how many people are sending this? What are the stats on this, and how would YOU like to receive it?

I thought so.

After that, it follows with Ted Kennedy’s memoir so it makes sense again. Then it gets weird. Either people don’t use Amazon for gifting, or people don’t gift the way I think they do.