Chris Berry, a friend and colleague wrote a very interesting post on the analytics of restaurant menus. Chris took a restaurant’s online menu and analyzed the prices of items, numbers of items, average prices and much more.
This is Chris’ first stab at it but the mind leaps at the possibilities. For example, how often should the words “encrusted” or “fresh” appear within the menu? Do those words perform better with different items, or at different price points? Does an items rank in the list effect it’s sales, most definitely. But what about the verbiage and rank? The mind boggles at the possibilities for analysis.
I applaud Chris’ effort and his willingness to share this valuable information to anyone interest to look. In an industry as cutthroat and unforgiving as the restaurant business, everyone could use a little edge over the competition.
Stephen Fry wrote a letter to his older self when he was 16. Now considerably older he has responded with a touching letter back. I know I have written letters to my older self, although I have no idea where those letters are perhaps it is time I responded too. Here is an exerpt from Stephen’s letter:
But don’t kid yourself. For millions of teenagers around Britain and everywhere else, it is still 1973. Taunts, beatings and punishment await gay people the world over in playgrounds and execution grounds (the distance between which is measured by nothing more than political constitutions and human will). Yes, you will grow to be a very, very, very, very lucky man who is able to express his nature out loud without fear of hatred or reprisal from any except the most deluded, demented and sad. But that is a small battle won. A whole theatre of war remains. This theatre of war is bigger than the simple issue of being gay, just as the question of love swamps the question of mere sexuality. For alongside sexual politics the entire achievement of the enlightenment (which led inter alia to gay liberation) is under threat like never before. The cruel, hypocritical and loveless hand of religion and absolutism has fallen on the world once more.
One of my favorite shows is “Until debt do Us Part” with Gail Vox-Oxlade. To be honest the show just makes me feel supior because I am not as monumentally retarded with my money as the people she helps on the show.
The average Canadian student who leaves school with a bachelors degree is $20,000 in debt. Credit cards charge between 17-20% on outstanding balances and department store cards can go as high as 28%. The Canadian criminal code allows interest rates as high as 60%.
But that’s not the worst of it. On March 29, 2004, CBC Radio One’s The Current talked to one lawyer who represented a woman who borrowed $520. She kept rolling over her loan every two weeks for more than two years because she was never able to repay the original loan. Each rollover cost her $130 in fees and interest. By the time she was able to come up with the full amount owing (some 30 months later), she had paid more than $8,000 in fees and interest. (A link to The Current‘s full report on payday loans is on the bottom of this page).
My co-worker laughed and said, “Ya but Ahmadinejad is definitely an anti-Semite.” It occurred to me that the Jewish faith puts people in a sort of racist limbo. I mean, really if you hate Jews are you being racist? What if you hate Christians? Neither is really a race, right? It’s faith so perhaps you are being a faithist.
But, you can’t talk about the Jews without thinking of the Jewish stereo types because it is more than just a religion, it is also more than just a race of people. And so the state of Isreal is forever intertwined with the Jewish faith. It is one of the defining characteristics of the country. And therefore it is hard to talk about one without it impacting or reflecting on the other.
Gays however are not so lucky. We don’t get our own country. If we could I would vote for Turkey. It has the warm Mediterranean in the South, the brooding Black Sea in the North. It has a little bit of Asia, and a little bit of Europe. It’s got a little bit of the old mixed in with the new. And it has this: http://www.turkishwrestling.com/ Large, greased up men rolling around together. Which brings a whole new meaning to the term “Bear Wrestling”
What got me on this whole prejudice thought-stream is this:
Which is absolute shit and some of the most bigotted crap I have ever seen. It has however developed a positive side, the spin-off ads. Here are some great responses:
Stephen Colbert weighs in:
All in all pretty hilarious.
Sidenote: It occured to me later one thing that may muddle the whole race/religion thing. Christians and Muslim proselytize, Jews don’t. If you’re not born into the faith, they actually discourage joining. I know this because my friend wanted to marry an Orthodox Jew and she had to go through classes etc.
I am not sure whether I should be happy or disappointed so far with my Becel Ride for Heart results. On the one hand I have raised over $400 dollars, recieved the most donations I ever have, and have achieved my fundraising goal not once, but twice. On the other hand no one has joined my group.
Zuimei and I have begun house hunting with the help of our friend and realtor Tim. I was absolutely shocked at the state of most of the houses we looked at. We are expecting to pay around $350,000 give or take a few thousand and I am stunned at the conditions some of these houses were in.
I should have taken photos. The first one must of had a 100 pairs of shoes in the entry way. Yes, it was owned by Indians and not to apply a racial stigma but why wouldn’t they have hidden them, and gotten people out of the house? When we showed up there was at least one person in every room. As a result, the house had seen some hard living.
In another house the owner was chain smoking while banging away on the computer. Again, get out!
One of the last houses was the worst though. It smelled horribly and we could hear the tenant in the basement rumbling around, although we never figureed out how to get into the basement suite. There were unmade beds everywhere and sheets on the ground with old garbage scattered in various locations. Not like old food, but there were old photos and notebooks on the table and floor. That, and the smell made me think that perhaps someone had died in the house.
While I am not expecting the Taj Mahal, for $350K I would expect people to have some sort of house pride, at least to keep their investment safe. House hunting in Toronto is disappointing to say the least.
