Archive for August, 2008

Starbucks divulged their $11K Coffee maker

August 26th, 2008

Starbucks divulged their high-priced and high-taste Clover brewing systems (photo shown) at several Seattle stores. The Clover is a complex and commercial grade coffee brewer. The Clover costs $11K, makes one cup at a time. Starbucks says the system is “one of the most significant innovations in coffee brewing since the introduction of the espresso machine” and says its introduction of the system with some small-batch beans is a “key initiative in transforming the company.”

Starbucks revealed the system at 10 Seattle sites and they will add it to sites in Boston and San Francisco in the coming months. Starbucks will sell hot and iced versions of the coffee. They didn’t release the price of the new items yet. Stores will only brew Clover drinks from a menu of small-batch beans that will revolve monthly. The VP of Starbucks Strategic Coffee Initiatives, said, “We committed to our customers that we would reinvent coffee, and once they taste coffee brewed from the Clover, we know they will want to come back for more,”

A $25 insurance fee for weighty Alabama state workers

August 25th, 2008

Alabama will be the primary state to charge weighty state workers who don’t participate on slimming down. The Alabama State has given its $37,527 employees a year to get started in physical fitness, otherwise, the employees have to pay $25 a month for insurance that is actually free. Actually, I like this program, it is actually motivational and challenging to overweight people. (I don’t mean it in a bad way.) Alabama had already charged some workers who smoke and their program has been successful and helped smokers to quit smoking. The State Employees’ Insurance Board this week approved a plan to charge state workers starting in January 2010. There will be health or medical exams such as blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose or obesity. If employees turned out to have some health issues—they have to see a doctor every year at no cost, join in a wellness course. And if they show any progress in a follow-up medical examination, they won’t be charged. Some workers are not happy about this program as they said “Some people come into this world big.”

Reduce stress in life

August 22nd, 2008

Have you been stressing out lately? We have different rooms to go whenever we stress out. But we should always watch out for that because we might fall into the devil’s trap. There are tips to minimize or deal with stress in life. Stress is already part of life. But we must learn how to deal and cope with stress. Here are some of the hundred ways in coping, minimizing, reducing stress in life:

  • Avoid unnecessary stress- you have to know your limits. You must learn how refuse to accept added responsibilities. That’s the problem with us, we don’t learn how to recognize our limits.
  • Express your feelings, don’t hold it back- If something is disturbing you, open your concerns in a amicable and liberal way.
  • Exercise regularly- that really helps. Engage yourself with exercise at least 3-5 days a week.
  • Manage your time better or create a balanced schedule- you can really minimize or possibly avoid stress when you manage your time. And always be flexible when there are changes. Don’t control the uncontrollable (But honestly, it is just hard to adjust sometimes especially here in the U.S. Every thing should be fast here.)
  • Find a hobby- Pursue enjoyable activities like creative writing, painting (arts), writing a song, etc.
  • Eat healthy diet- include more vegetables and fruits in your diet.
  • Get enough sleep- for 8 hours a day. Adequate sleep fuels up your body and mind.
  • Count your blessings or focus on positive side of life- Take a moment to count your blessings, gifts, and qualities.
  • Express love to your loved ones- expressing love to our loved ones helps us express our emotions
  • Laugh, laugh, laugh- as the saying goes “Laughter is the best medicine”.

New BlackBerry model wil be released soon…

August 19th, 2008

Good news to BlackBerry cellphone fans. The new BlackBerry model is said to come out very soon. The new BlackBerry Bold, or 9000, has twice the screen resolution of the current Curve model, making for a very sharp display. However, the resolution matches with Apple iPhone. But AT&T, which is the exclusive distributor of this cellphone, declined to say when it will be released to the market. But Market Analysts expect it will be released here in the U.S in the middle of September. RIM (Research In Motion) Bold BlackBerry will cost about $200 in the United States depending on the contract. The Bold has a full-size headset jack and a camera that can also capture video. The Bold has a glossy metallic look and adds corporate-strength Wi-Fi capabilities to third-generation cellular and Bluetooth radios. It has horizontal screen above a trackball and a keyboard with one letter per key. I want to have a Blackberry cellphone. I guess, I can just upgrade my AT&T plan. I can’t wait to see this new model.

Themes

August 16th, 2008

I finally decided to just use this theme here. I am already very tired of frequently changing the themes in my other blogs. I will just stick to this. I really enjoy learning about websites. Oh, boy, I am sleepy right now. I still have to do some things like study Spanish and read some books. I still have pending opps for my other blogs. Grrr… I was planning on doing it today. Starting a new blog site usually takes time.