CAFFEINE: IT'S WHAT'S FOR DINNER

ITEM: Energy drinks are SO 2006. The future is in energy snack foods.

So says trend monitor and strategic consultancy CScout. Examples include:

• Energy Go Bites: 70% higher caffeine content compared to conventional energy drinks
• NRG Phoenix Fury Potato Chips: as much caffeine as 3.5 cups of coffee
• Dakota Valley Products: “natural, healthy seeds infused with caffeine, taurine, lysine, and ginseng” that “give twice the amount of energy as an energy drink without the added sugar”

I am now imagining the fun you could have by washing down one of those with Rockstar or Crunk. Or perhaps even Cocaine. Because I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve stood in the snack food section thinking, “What would Li’l John eat?”

FUN FACT: The energy drink industry in the US will be a $17 billion business by 2010, says Global Industry Analysts. Ka-ching!

DISCLAIMER: I have no real use for energy drinks, primarily because they’re overpriced and taste like they were shat in by sugar-addicted squirrels. But clearly I can’t rely on iced black Americanos to keep me conscious for the rest of my life, either. So an alternative is welcome.

Still, potato chips aren't quite what I had in mind. And either way, I’m sure there are going to be health trade-offs to the energy energy food and beverage craze.

But that never stopped the alcohol and tobacco industry. And here’s a telling quote from CScout:

“This trend shows that consumers may be distinguishing between somewhat unhealthy stimulants, which they desire, and high sugar content in drinks, which they do not.”

Yes. Bring on the unhealthy stimulants!

Eyes wide open,

This is dF

BIG GAY AL’S BIG GAY T-SHIRT

ITEM [via Neatorama]: A woman is threatened with arrest and forced to leave a federal building in Van Nuys by a guard who claimed her t-shirt was illegal under official Rules and Regulations Governing Conduct on Federal Property.

The t-shirt? A plain white T with the URL "lesbian.com".

Turns out, of course, that there is nothing in the Rules and Regulations Governing Conduct on Federal Property that dictates what specific clothing is allowed. Also, the guard is employed by Paragon, a private company contracted by the DHS, so it’s likely he was following his own personal interpretation of the rules in his head.

Or maybe he was just following the example set by other fine American institutions, like shopping mall rent-a-cops, airport security and the Capitol Police in regards to Unlawful T-Shirts.

To say nothing of his outgoing President. Sure. The President can discriminate against people wearing t-shirts he doesn’t approve of, why not some snippy Paragon guard in Van Nuys?

No shirt no service,

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HERO OF THE WORKING CLASS

ITEM: The Internet’s newest sensation: A Chinese factory worker whose picture was accidentally left on an iPhone.



The story: she works in the testing department of the Foxconn factory in Shenzhen (just across the border from me) and her colleague took a few test photos – and forgot to delete them before putting the phone back. The man in Britain who eventually bought the phone saw the pictures and put them on the Internet.

Gizmodo has the rest here.

The good news is that neither of them lost their job over it. Even the Foxconn spokesguy called it a “beautiful mistake”. Now everyone who buys an iPhone wants a picture of someone on the factory line who made their iPhone.

I find this a charming concept: putting a face to the person who made something you bought. I remember visiting a Samsung mobile phone factory in Korea years ago, and one thing I recall clearly was seeing a group of women in hairnets and aprons sitting in a waiting area, talking and gossiping before their shift started. It was a very human moment in a technological setting.

I think it’d be cool to buy my next phone and find it loaded with a gallery of pictures of every person who touched it from start to finish. The downside, of course, is that it would depend on the working conditions of the factory – and in China, they’re not all as nice-looking as the Foxconn testing room.

My favorite mistake,

This is dF