'Men buy with their eyes, women buy with their ears'

That men and women are different in some ways has been established. And personally, I like it that way -- it would be pretty hard for one to complement the other if they were similar in all areas, wouldn't it?

Saw this book review of Re-render the Gender: Why the vast majority of advertising is not connecting with women -- and what we can do about it on the Marketing to Women Online site, and it presents some pretty neat and useful ideas. Marketers! Advertisers! Pay attention!

One of the first things the book points out is that while women control over 80 percent of all purchases, over 70 percent of all advertising is created by men. The book also points to the fact that the judges at creative award shows are overwhelmingly male. (A situation creative director Ruth Lee addresses in why you need women on your creative team.) This often drives creative directors to create advertising designed to appeal to the (male) judges that can win these prestigious, career-advancing awards.

So what can you do to create advertising women like?

My favorite chapter in the book was about the differences between male and female humor. (a subject near and dear to my heart - see male vs. female humor) The book has some great examples of commercials guys thought were hilarious, but bombed with women. As Thomas points out:

Guy humor often has a victim. And for the most part, women don't find that funny.

Full article here

One can always make a difference

Promoting the truth that every person deserves a chance to live, is not reserved for NGO workers or for people who are immersed in the pro-life advocacy or for health professionals whose "office" is the hospital nursery. And it's really not that hard to do.

10 things you can say and do to make abortion unwanted today

From Heartbeat International

Product recall: Black & Decker coffeemaker

Let me post this news on a product recall first, though I have a few other things about coffee in mind right now. The recall was made several days ago:

Major Coffeemaker Recall

Last Update: 6/24 12:58 pm

WASHINGTON -- The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of more than a half-million coffeemakers manufactured by Black & Decker and sold over the past three years.

The "Spacemaker" models in question are typically mounted on the bottom of kitchen or office cabinets.

They may have brewing baskets that can shift out of place and allow scalding hot coffee to pour onto user's hands. There have already been 235 complaints and ten reports of burns.

See the C.P.S.C. news release below to learn more.

CPSC Press Release

C.P.S.C. News Release:

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Black & Decker® brand Spacemaker™ Coffeemakers

Units: About 584,000

Distributor: Applica Consumer Products Inc., of Miramar, Fla.

Hazard: The brew basket can shift out of alignment allowing hot water to overflow. This poses a scalding and burn hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: The firm has received 235 reports of hot water overflowing and contacting consumers, including 10 reports of second-degree burns.

Full article here

US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) website

Coming soon...

As always, a wide array of topics covered -- from cover to cover :-)






Besides the topics you see on the cover, there's an interesting feature on Keep Love Real author Lora Tan-Garcia, who is one of the pioneers of the I AM STRONG program for teens, which has been making waves in schools in different parts of the country. Other interesting reads are on household cleaning agents (and what they really contain!), taking a closer look at babywearing, something on dengue, and a feature on children's book author Grace D. Chong.

In a week's time, this gleeful Rubik's cube-clutching baby girl, Therese Murrf Trinidad, will be smiling at shoppers along the store shelves. So... abangan!

"Free" huh?!

"Pero may minimum order ho na P150."

That's the line from the girl at the counter that elicited a fake smile from me that spelled "Now you tell me/I should've known there was a catch/'free wifi, my foot'/don't call it 'free wifi' when you're going to require people to spend a minimum amount before you provide the service that you call 'free'".

Walked into Bo's Coffee, Megamall, 5th level.

Glanced delightedly at the FREE WI-FI sticker on the windows.

"Free ang wifi 'nyo?" I made sure to clarify with the girl at the counter, before looking over the yummy pastries, bars and cake slices.

She replied 'yes'!!

I ordered one of those P60-carrot bars.

Then she says the line that would practically crush the heart of anybody who looks forward to free surfing time -- "pero may minimum order ho na P150."

Then comes the smile.

That's what happened yesterday.

Kadalasan, kung kailan ka nagtitipid, mas lalo kang napapagastos!

Comics, wi-fi and other news around the world

Design innovations that come naturally

The AC Adapter MIDORI has graduated from being a prototype — that was first shown publicly when it was known as VINE — to becoming a production model that joins mobile-phone service-provider KDDI's new stylish iida (innovation, imagination, design, and art) collection of phones and accessories. Produced by Shunsuke Umiyama under his MicroWorks design label, the MIDORI is an adapter for your phone that camouflages the boring black cables we're all used to with a covering of green and plastic leaves. The first accessory released for the iida brand, consider it a sign that future releases will be worth a look.

Limited to to a production run of 20,000, the AC Adapter MIDORI is sold for ¥1,365 at all KDDI stores and the company's online store.

Read more at The Japan Times

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How to find Wi-fi in Greece

Free internet access is readily available in Athens, with potentially hundreds more hotspots coming soon to the rest of the land of Pericles. Warning: access at Starbucks is twice the U.S. price.

Read more at Spero News

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Wrong girl, Archie!

Stunning, heart-breaking news: Archie Andrews is going to get married, and he has chosen the wrong girl. Archie Comics Publications has announced that he will soon pop the question to wealthy beauty Veronica Lodge in the 600th book in the series, due to arrive in September. Betty won’t be the only one crying her eyes out.

Read more at MercatorNet

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Twelve Mexican States now protect right to life in their constitutions

The San Luis de Potosi State Congress in Mexico approved a measure Thursday reforming the State Constitution to protect the right to life of children from the moment of conception.

Representative Vicente Toledo Alvarez said the reform would ensure that the State’s Constitution clearly recognizes the right to life as the most basic of all human rights and protects it from the moment of conception.

Read more at Catholic News Agency

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Mattel to pay $2.3 million penalty for toy hazard

Mattel Inc. and its Fisher-Price subsidiary will pay a $2.3 million civil penalty in an agreement with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission for selling Chinese-made toys with hazardous levels of lead.

The fine, the commission’s largest for a toymaker, involves 95 toy models, from Barbie accessories to “Sarge” cars, commission spokesman Scott Wolfson said today.

Read more at Bloomberg

"Ang mamatay ng dahil sa 'yo"

Professing a willingness to die for country or for a cause sounds very dramatic. But how much of a chance really would a person be given to demonstrate this willingness -- unless of course he were living in a war-torn region or during Martial Law? Sometimes, it's the willingness to live (and keep living and doing one's part, whatever that may be) that matters.

Theres The Rub
True measure
By Conrado de Quiros
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:17:00 06/11/2009

Someone asked me in a forum some time ago: Whatever happened to the patriotism of the Filipino? It wasn’t too long ago when we were willing to die for country. Indeed it wasn’t too long ago when we admired Ninoy Aquino for saying “The Filipino is worth dying for.” When will we get that spirit back? Or can we still do so?

I said: True enough, we seem to have become a nation of fence-sitters, if not a nation of cowards. A nation of dodgers, if not a nation of deserters. After a couple of EDSA revolts, we seem to have lost our mojo. Despite being governed shabbily, or indeed despite being used and abused, pressed and oppressed, we’ve said nothing and done nothing, taking it like a dog.

Full article at Philippine Daily Inquirer

Victory at last

Photo courtesy of Tennis Planet. Go there for more photos


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Federer wins 1st French Open for 14th major title

06/08/2009 | 07:22 AM

PARIS – Oh, how Roger Federer savored every moment with his first French Open trophy.

He raised it overhead. He cradled it in the crook of his elbow. He closed his eyes and kissed it. He examined the names of other champions etched on its base. Even in a downpour on Court Philippe Chatrier, as heavy, gray clouds blocked any shred of sunlight Sunday, that silver trophy sure seemed to glisten.

Finally, the lone major championship that had eluded Federer was his. With his latest masterful performance, Federer tied Pete Sampras' record of 14 major singles titles and became the sixth man to complete a career Grand Slam.

History was at stake, and Federer was at his best, completely outplaying No. 23-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden en route to a 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-4 victory in a French Open final that lacked suspense but not significance.

"Maybe my greatest victory — or certainly the one that takes the most pressure off my shoulders," Federer said in French, moments after dropping to his knees, caking them with clay, as his 127 mph service winner ended the match. "I think that now, and until the end of my career, I can really play with my mind at peace and no longer hear that I've never won at Roland Garros."

Full article at GMA News

Today is the day

There it is again -- a sports writeup wherein the athlete's style is being described with words like "elegant," "sophistication," "grace." The last time I read something like this, it was about boxer Manny Pacquiao and his "elegant footwork." I really get a kick out of such associations :-)

Today I read again an article from the Telegraph, this time about World No. 2 Roger Federer and his upcoming French Open championship game, and there it was again --

In this age of baseline bombardment, when most players seem to look at a racket as a piece of military hardware, Federer plays with great elegance and sophistication. Federer goes about his business with a certain style.

Today's game is extremely significant as the Swiss player again has a shot at winning the French Open championship -- this time with defending champ Rafael Nadal "out of the way," having lost early in the preliminary rounds. The game is at 9 pm, Manila time.

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French Open 2009: Roger Federer is one step away from greatness
True greatness could flow from Roger Federer's racket on the red clay of Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros on Sunday.

By Mark Hodgkinson in Paris
Published: 3:44PM BST 06 Jun 2009

If Federer defeats Robin Soderling this afternoon, that would give the Swiss a first French Open title, put him level with Pete Sampras on a record 14 majors, and make him only the sixth man in history to win all four grand slams.

But, more significantly than that, it would bring confirmation, if confirmation were even needed, that Federer is the greatest tennis player of all time, the alpha male for all the generations.

Full article at the Telegraph

They're not faster than a speeding bullet but...

... they fight crime just the same. And in costume!

Amid hard times, in influx in superheroes
June 4, 2009 -- Updated 1339 GMT (2139 HKT)

By Craig Johnson
Special to CNN

(CNN) -- Mr. Ravenblade, Mr. Xtreme, Dark Guardian and hundreds of others. Some with elaborate costumes, others with haphazardly stitched outfits, they are appearing on city streets worldwide watching over the populace like Superman watched over Metropolis and Batman over Gotham City.

Geist patrols the Rochester, Minnesota, area, with a group of like-minded and similarly dressed colleagues.

As people become disillusioned from financial woes and a downtrodden economy and look to put new purpose in their lives, everyday folks are taking on new personas to perform community service, help the homeless and even fight crime.

"The movement is growing," said Ben Goldman, a real-life superhero historian. Goldman, along with Chaim "Life" Lazaros and David "Civitron" Civitarese, runs the New York-based Web site Superheroes Anonymous as part of an initiative dedicated to organizing and making alliances with superhero groups.

According to Goldman, who goes by the moniker Cameraman because of his prowess in documenting the movement, economic troubles are spawning real life superheroes.

"A lot of them have gone through a sort of existential crisis and have had to discover who they are," Goldman said. People are starting to put value in what they can do rather than what they have, he said. "They realize that money is fleeting, it's in fact imaginary."

Estimates from the few groups that keep tabs put the worldwide total of real-life superheroes between 250 and 300. Goldman said the numbers were around 200 just last summer.

Mr. Ravenblade, laid off after a stint with a huge computer technology corporation, found inspiration for his new avocation a few years ago from an early morning incident in Walla Walla, Washington.

Full article at CNN