Filed under: Feature | Tags: New York City, San Francisco, Wi-Fi, San Francisco California, Portland Oregon, COFFEE, Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Ritual Coffee Roasters, Cafe Grumpy, 9th Street Espresso
GOT WI-FI?: RITUAL COFFEE ROASTERS SAN FRANCISCO
Photo Credit: NY Times
This morning, I asked the friend I was staying with in San Francisco where I could get a good cup of coffee around his apt. He replied, in his South African accent, with what sounded to me like “Ritchel.” After a quick Google search and a text message in his direction, I realized he was saying “Ritual” and it happened to be located just down the block. I didn’t realize it at the time, but he was sending me to the mecca of San Francisco coffee drinkers.
Photo Credit: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid
As I stepped into the coffee shop, I noticed that they had Clover coffee on the menu. To those of you non coffee-obsessed, the Clover machine was designed by a former IDEO product designer, who made it his objective to make the best damn coffee in the world. This machine is what you would imagine from an Inspector Gadget cartoon, doling out the perfect tempered water matched to the perfect amount of just-ground coffee. The inner machinations of the Clover involve a host of complex computer settings and a smattering of precisely-firing water pumps. Let’s just say, I had heard of the machine before. I had tried coffee from a Clover machine before at Café Grumpy in NYC and it was good. . .just not quite THIS good.
The story
The shop opened in May 2005, commencing their coffee revolution with Stumptown coffee, a legend among coffee roasters and flown in from Portland, Oregon. As a side note, my favorite coffee shop in NYC (9th Street Espresso) also sells Stumptown. After commencing operations with someone else’s award-winning coffee, Ritual acquired a coffee roaster and began the roasting process on their own. Fly high little birdie.
Food/Beverage Selection
Photo Credit: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid
The selection of food stuffs includes mostly pastries but a myriad of great ones to choose from at that. I went with the Lavender Lemon Cake. For the vegan in you, they have a variety of options as well. Ah, San Francisco. The coffee, as aforementioned, is excellent but they also have a tea option if for some reason, you opt for it instead.
Wi-Fi Action
Pretty freakin’ speedy. I can’t say that I actually ran a speed test at the time as I was pressed for quarters in my parking meter, but I can tell you that I sped through tasks with the efficiency of my home-brewed Wi-Fi. Free of course. Very nice.
Final Call
Loves it. I now have one thing to do first every time I step off a plane in San Francisco and that’s head for Ritual Coffee Roasters. To say their coffee changed my palate, would be putting it meekly. I have never had a coffee that intensely amazing in my life.
Location
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: NBC, Fox News Channel, Verizon Communications, Time Warner Cable, MSNBC, Sundance Channel, Keith Olbermann, BBC-America
Nielsen reports the total estimated viewers for the live Vice Presidential Debate between candidates Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joseph Biden last Thursday from 9-1030p reached 69.9 million. Nielsen’s combined total viewer number includes 11 networks: ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Telefutura, Telemundo, BBC-America, CNBC, CNN, FOX News Channel and MSNBC. ABC topped the list with 13.1 million viewers, followed by NBC at 12.8 million, while CBS and FOX News Channel tied at 11.1 million each, with CNN delivering 10.7 million and MSNBC at 4.4 million. (Cynopsis 10/6)
Sundance Channel okayed a new original series featuring Keith Johnson, the antiques buyer for retailer Anthropologie. With eight 30m episodes, Man Shops Globe (wt) will travel with Keith as he scours the flea markets in Paris to remote villages in countries such as India looking for unique finds. (Cynopsis 10/6)
AMC introduces a new series in development called Red Mars about the first humans living in a colony on the Red Planet. The series is based on the sci-fi novel Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. (Cynopsis 10/6)
NBC has picked up a script called ICE which stands for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, a division of Homeland Security, from exec producers Antoine Fuqua, Michael De Luca and writer Matthew Carnahan, reports Variety. (Cynopsis 10/6)
Time Warner Cable is asking the FCC to lift pricing regulations in Manhattan that were adopted in 1992. It argues that the introduction of Verizon Communications‘ FiOS meets the standard set by Congress to allow the end of price caps for cable service when competition increased. “According to [Verizon's Manhattan] franchise, Verizon has already completed construction in a large portion of Manhattan, specifically passing 98% of all single-family homes and 57% of all multiple-dwelling units,” Time Warner Cable said. Multichannel News (10/3)
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Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: AOL, Microsoft, Myspace, South Korea, Time Warner, Warner Bros., Yahoo
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
RealNetworks has suspended sales of its new RealDVD recording software after a judge’s ruling in the case, according to a message on the company’s Web site. Studios and the MPAA brought the suit arguing the DVD-ripping software violated copyright laws and contracts. Ars Technica (10/5) , Yahoo!/CNET (10/6)
Warner Brothers Entertainment is starting to release its films online in South Korea before they are released in the country on DVD, shaking up an established distribution model. The studio, which is targeting South Korea due to its high broadband penetration, may target other countries. (Iwantmedia 10/6, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8e868a7c-933f-11dd-98b5-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1 10/6)
It took iTunes nearly three years
to get to 1 billion song downloads. MySpace Music streamed a billion songs in just a few days after it launched on September 25. And while this isn’t a fair comparison (songs on MySpace are free to stream; on iTunes users were paying $0.99 each), it’s an incredible milestone. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/05/myspace-music-streamed-its-billionth-song-a-few-days-after-launch 10/5)
Yahoo is continuing its marathon merger discussions with AOL, sources close to the negotiations have whispered to Techcrunch, and a deal could happen as early as this month. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/06/aol-yahoo-merger-details-emerge-deal-could-happen-this-month 10/6)
Vudu and Netflix took steps last week toward bringing movies into more living rooms via the Internet, according to this report. “The DVD rental business, and Netflix’s DVD business, is going to grow for five to 10 years,” said Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey. “But ultimately, 20 to 25 years from now, it’s going to all be streaming.” Broadcasting & Cable (10/6)
It’s a big day for eBay and CEO Jon Donahoe. The company is laying off 10% of its workforce, or about 1,000 employees plus several hundred temporary positions. They will take a $70 million to $80 million restructuring charge around the layoffs, they said. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/06/ebay-spends-more-than-1-billion-to-buy-billmelater-and-dbadk-and-lays-off-10-of-employees 10/6)
Yahoo and Google say they will delay their online search advertising partnership to give the U.S. Justice Department more time to evaluate the deal. Justice Department staffers are said to be recommending that the deal be investigated further and even blocked in court. (Iwantmedia 10/6, http://kara.allthingsd.com/20081003/yahoogle-delayed 10/3)
YouTube on Nov. 22 will host a San Francisco gathering of its active users called YouTube Live — “part concert, part variety show and part party.” The event, which will be streamed live on the Web, is seen as notable because YouTube doesn’t offer live-streaming technology. (Iwantmedia 10/6, http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10056488-36.html 10/5)
Codeblack Interactive has partnered with YouTube to provide the latest sponsored programming for the nascent Google Content Network (launched with Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade series this summer.) Boondocks head writer Yamara Taylor has signed on to create the first series for the Codeblack channel, to be syndicated across thousands of African American-targeted sites. (Cynopsis 10/6)
NBC Universal is synergizing the syndicated television show “Access Hollywood” with its female-targeted hub iVillage.com. The iVillage entertainment section will sport an “Access”-branded module feeding news links to AccessHollywood.com and will host video from the site. (Iwantmedia 10/6, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3ic261f4f6bfdb7bc4ef8f458ddb445bd3 10/6)
Sports and booze are taking a backseat to going online, computers and new technology among men 18 to 34, according to a survey conducted by G4, a cable network that caters to that demo. The study suggests to advertisers that while young men still remain interested in pigskin and pilsner, “it isn’t a formula you can just plug into anymore and automatically be successful,” said G4 President Neal Tiles. TVWeek.com (10/5)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: App Store, Apple, Blackberry, BlackBerry Application Center, Fring, Google, iPhone, Skype
By using some fairly interesting IMEI collection, the folks at Mac Observer have found that Apple sold 10 million iPhones in 2008, reaching and potentially surpassing Steve’s original stated goal. By looking at phones sold over the last few months, Mac Observer’s “Apple Finance Board” found that the phone has gone through nine 1 million unit runs. Adding this to the known sales they found the total number was far above analyst expectations. (http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/10/06/apple-sold-10-million-iphones-in-2008 10/6)
After 6 months of not-quite-official availability for those of us with jailbroken iPhones, Fring, a free mobile Voice-over-IP service, has made its way to the App Store. With that, a day that some said would never come has arrived: Skype calls can now be made on the iPhone, no hacks required. (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2008/10/03/fring-brings-skype-and-other-voip-services-to-iphone 10/3)
You’re looking at the BlackBerry Application Center, RIM’s answer to Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Market. Same basic concept as the other two—you browse and buy applications that enhance your BlackBerry experience. The Application Center—we’re running out of variants of the term “application store!”—is set to debut with the BlackBerry Storm software version 4.7. (http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/10/06/the-blackberry-application-center-is-rims-answer-to-the-iphone-app-store 10/6)
GameFly, which is perhaps most easily explained as the NetFlix of the gaming world, today launched a new version of their site specifically optimized for mobile handsets. (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2008/10/06/gamefly-launches-mobile-optimized-site 10/6)
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