🍔Burger Manipulation; A cool Folding Phone; and Ambient Noise Generators

That burger is looking at you funny. 👀

Hey Everyone! Hope your week is going well. 😀 It’s almost the end of October - and we all know what that means….

That’s right! It’s almost time for Thanksgiving. 😍 I just can’t wait - I’m going down to MD to spend time with my family - I haven’t seen them for a few years so I’m really excited! It’s going to be a lot of fun.

As I’m getting older, I’m realizing more and more that spending time with friends and family is really important. I have less and less time to see them - so seeing them really helps gives me joy - and a sense of home.

We all yearn for a place to call our own, don’t we? We love our new home - but part of us always wants the old and familiar. It’s a balance we have to strike. 🙂

Anyway, let’s get to the fun stuff!

The Psychology of Limited Time burgers

The other day I ran across a really interesting article about a Limited time burger that Burger King is offering. I know, I know - it’s greasy fast food and all that but take a moment and think about this description

The latest release, ahead of Halloween, is a Ghost Whopper, which is a regular burger with a special white cheddar-cheese-flavored (and colored) sesame-seed bun. It's only available for a limited time in 10 restaurants across the United States for $4.59. It will go on sale October 24. Source

That bun sounds pretty tasty, doesn’t it? We all like cheese and bread - so when you pair the two and throw in a burger, that sounds pretty good to me.

Did I mention that they also interviewed a medium who asked ghosts about what they thought of the burger?

Throw both of these factors together with the fact that it’s only in 10 stores and you’ve got yourself a winner! I would love to know the sales data - heck - give me three minutes with that spreadsheet.

This Ghost whopper is a great example of how the fast-food industry is applying the psychological idea of scarcity to their business. They hook you in with a medium talking to ghosts about this burger, pique your interest with the tasty cheese bun, and then tell you it’s only available in 10 stores - and it’s only available for a short amount of time.

You’d probably look up where they sell this burger, right? You want to buy one before they run out? It’s a limited-time food item after all . . .

If you’re like me, you may or may not go - but you fall for this trap all the time at the grocery store. You see “limited time only” or “seasonal” from a brand you like and it’s in your cart before you know it. You feel almost compelled to buy it - because you have to try it before it’s gone!! You may never see it again!

Think about all the fall/pumpkin-themed stuff you’ve bought in the past month . . . They’ve hooked you in.

Pretty cool, right? 🙂

The Folding Phone we actually want

I’m sure you’ve been seeing some of the ads about Galaxy Fold. (If you haven’t, go watch this ad) It looks pretty cool.

But - is it actually practical? Is it actually worth it?

Probably not. It’s basically a proof of concept you can buy - kind of like the first cell phones in the 90’s.

However - I believe the practical ones are coming soon - and I think this prototype is the first example.

Your eyes do not deceive you! This TCL prototype phone has 3 folds. It folds out into a pretty big tablet.

Pretty cool - and much more tempting than the current generation of folding phones. I could imagine using this as my phone/computer/tablet. This device, a portable keyboard, and a mouse could go a long way towards replacing my laptop.

They wrapped the old world’s cameras/speakers/voice recorders/phones and more into one package and called it a smartphone.

Now - can they wrap the laptop, smartphone, and tablet into one device?

That seems to be the next challenge!

Here’s Cnets article describing the prototype in greater detail.

Ambient Noise Generators

How do you feel about background noise? Is it soothing - or does it drive you utterly mad?

For me, it lies somewhere in the middle - depending on what the sounds are. If I’m at a coffee shop I often enjoy it, but most of the time I need headphones and music to focus.

I’ve discovered a marvelous website where you can listen to a wide variety of pleasing background noises. From rainfall to the sounds of a Medieval village, there’s something for everyone.

My personal favorite is “The Name of The Rose” inspired by a book of the same name by Umberto Eco (an Italian author and probably one of the best authors of the past 50 years).

There’s the sound of monks chanting, a priest speaking, footsteps, and the rustle of pages. It’s very relaxing and reminiscent of sitting in a cathedral.

This is my challenge to you - Listen to this or another sound while you work today. Is it relaxing? How does it differ from listening to music? Try it out!

The Land of Random

Year in - Year out, the bomber jacket always seems to be in style. This is a really interesting article about its history. A fascinating read!

This website negotiates with your cable company and saves you money. I haven’t used it but it looks pretty cool! It does cost money to use their service - I must warn you. However, they only charge based on how much they save you (50% of what they save you for the first year) - so you’d be paying it anyway. Do your due diligence if you decide to use it.

The Big Four - ATT, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile are planning to release a Smart texting app (Read Receipts, See when others are typing, etc.) next year as an upgrade to boring old SMS. I’m skeptical, but who knows? I just want my Android’s texting to be as cool as Imessage. That’s all.