When I first saw this commercial on TV a few weeks ago, my initial reaction was “OMG, those Verizon people stole this idea from that Valentine’s bike ride dude from last year!  It’s a travesty!”  Fortunately, rather than jump to conclusions with an incendiary blog post, I did a little research and learned from the Mission Bicycle guys that the ad agency hired by Verizon actually got in touch to find the lovestruck cyclist who originally embarked on the ride and then went and used him in the commercial!

Mission Bicycle has the whole story over on their blog, so go and check it out, and then try your best to think of something even better to do this year for that special someone in your life!

[Photo via Mission Bicycle]

Previously:

• Valentine’s bike ride

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Dum dum DUM!!

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Tom Madonna from Shotwell’s tweets about it, and then the whole incident turns up as an essay in The Atlantic:

I called up Madonna to get a little more information about what happened when the Glasses couple walked into Shotwell’s.

“When you buy a new phone, it’s in your pocket, but this, you’re wearing something on your face. Anyone that cares what they look like is not gonna wear Google glasses. That’s my opinion,” Madonna said. “If you are super nerdy and you like to show off that you’re in tech and smart and all those things, I can see you probably wearing Google Glasses, but you are probably in a bubble or … new. We’ve all heard all this stuff. Like, this guy moved to SF and he comes to the bar. He’s from Scottsdale and he’s using all these [tech] words. I had to stop him. I said, ‘You sound interesting and different in Phoenix, but you sound boring here. You are cliche.’”

Read on for talk of SF vs. Brooklyn, more interaction with the couple with the glasses, and lots more sass from Tom.

[via Paul Suway] [Screenshot by Honey Jets]

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Photo and headline by Valerie “Sublet SF” Luu

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Sexpigeon, the best blog in the world, is spending some time on Caltrain this week:

Here is a thing of commuter trains that pass through affluent areas: there are besuited and groomed men who not only commit the sin of hogging the outside seat, they also slop the inside seat with their bag, their briefcase, their repellant backpack. They then insert headphones so that you must ask them to remove their headphones in order to then ask them if you might take that seat that their accessories are currently occupying. Men of less careful habit, who are suitless and of ordinary grooming, find themselves intimidated to ask this series of questions, and so they stuff themselves standing into the vestibules at the end of the carriage.

Men who hog seats are no men at all.

Read on.

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Allison Arieff in a New York Times blog post looks at why maybe Facebook should’ve moved to downtown San Jose or something instead of just expanding their big isolated suburban campus:

There may be a place to get a latte there but there is no Third Place, those accessible anchors of community life like bars, farmer’s markets or barber shops that help foster civic engagement and interaction with both regulars and new faces. Yes, it’s stating the obvious, but Facebook workers interact with other Facebook workers. There’s next to nil outside influence to be found on a corporate campus. Indeed, many tech employees (Facebook’s and others) have observed that many of their most meaningful encounters occur not at work but while waiting on city streets for the now-ubiquitous corporate shuttles from San Francisco that take them south to Silicon Valley.

(Emphasis ours.) Yep, cities are the bomb! You’re welcome, Facebook!

Read on.

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Boombotix (whose little garage I’m sure you’ve passed a bunch of times on 23rd) gave us a Boombot a couple weeks ago and we’ve been testing it out. It makes a pretty big sound for its negligible size, so it’s lovely if you’re lazing on a deserted riverbank or blogging in the hammock out back and dying to pump up some jams. (Also, they don’t look super high-tech, so you worry less that it’ll be stolen if you leave it onshore when you go for a dip.)

They have a wireless version too, but I like the wired version plenty. And they both come in a variety of looks.

Plus, right now they’re giving away a Boombot AND tickets to the Treasure Island Music Festival!

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Artist Lawrence LaBianca fabricates these beauties in his studio right here in the Mission, and he’s got a Kickstarter campaign up and running (it’s met its goal, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still pledge and get in on the perks):

I discovered that a sound projected through a horn can create a sound environment. One can use the phone and have an intimate experience with sound while not overpowering the surrounding area. Imagine sitting at ones desk and wanting to listen to some music, while someone else within earshot is not disturbed.

Last, The idea of plugged in and unplugged at the same time is of interest to me. Plugged into technology with the iPhone. With a nod to the past and the beauty of pure form and visible function as in the Victrola. A perfect marriage of craft and technology.

Read on.

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Live in fear of germs, yuppie.

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Alley Cat’s Dan Weiss hips us to the news (via an email titled “I wish I was big”):

Here he is, ZOLTAR in his new home in the gallery at alley cat books on 24th @treat. We have big plans for him that may or may not involve giving book recommendations, for now though he’s in basic fortune-telling mode. Incidentally we are also looking for suggestions for a name for our gallery and offering 50 dollar gift certificates to the best three ideas (Alleycatbookssf@gmail.com)

Thanks, Dan!

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Local comedian Emily Heller, on the occasion of Facebook’s IPO, shares the tale of her brush with Facebook wealth. She’d grown up with a lot of kids who went on to bigger and better things (at Facebook):

When I was on the debate team in high school, there was a kid on my team named Justin. He was a couple years older than me, and he was a genius. He used to teach an elective physics class to the other smarty pantses who were too smart for the physics classes that the TEACHERS at our school offered. I, meanwhile, didn’t even take science senior year, opting instead for three history classes, a poetry class, and remedial math.

One day, Justin and I were talking about the future. I knew he was going places; places I would never go; places that had lots of money in them. I asked him what his plan was, and here’s what he told me:

“I’m going to graduate from Stanford in two years. Then, I’ll do grad school in a year. Then I’m going to find some way to make millions of dollars very quickly. Then, when I’m twenty-five, I’m going to retire.”

Read on for the dramatic conclusion, which takes place out front of an SF warehouse party.

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You know — for your Kindle!

(I guess this is some kind of hilarious new comic strip in the Bay Guardian? I didn’t try going to the URL because it couldn’t possibly be a real thing, right? Funny though. Well done, Bay Guardian!)

[via Idiot Tempers]

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Our pal Eli Horowitz, co-author of the renowned ping pong tome Everything You Know Is Pong, spotted something curious on the back cover of his New Yorker the other day:

Hello Allan.  I have a (non-pong-related) tip for you — almost entirely irrelevant, but it’s Mission-centric and has been on my mind. Have you seen this new iPhone ad set in the Mission?  It’s on the back cover of the New Yorker and Rolling Stone and probably elsewhere.  It says “I could use a latte” and then has a photo of the phone, which shows four listings: Ritual, .1 miles; La Taza, .3 miles, Starbucks (at Mariposa), .4 miles, Grand Coffee, .7 miles.”  So first of all, ha ha, that’s mildly interesting.  But then I was wondering where this phone-holder was standing, and I guessed 21st and Valencia — which might work for Ritual and La Taza, but .7 miles to Grand?  And then I realized there’s NO spot that fits all the data, and so Apple must have messed with the distances — maybe in order to include Starbucks on the list?!  Isn’t that interesting?!?!  No, not really, but still.  Citizen journalism!

It’s interesting! Maybe it’s like how I take every opportunity to mention ping pong, Apple takes every opportunity to mention Starbucks?

(Disclosure: I was not paid to plug Eli’s book, but seriously, Eli, if you have any more of those kickass Everything You Know Is Pong-branded paddles left, the one I won is getting pretty worn and having a backup would really set my mind at ease. Also, April is Starbucks’ Global Month of Service! Join them in making a difference in your community this month!)

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They’re the biggest company in the world, but they still feel the need to keep it street? Curious. I guess if it worked for Microsoft.

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H/T to @cowperthwait

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