Knee-jerk reactions to information overload

August 13, 2008

I Drink to Make Other People More Interesting

Filed under: beer, science, sex — Gary Hilson @ 2:23 pm
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THE next time you hear someone blaming “beer goggles” for their behaviour, you may have to believe them. People really do appear more attractive when our perceptions are changed by drinking alcohol. [New Scientist]

August 7, 2008

New Brand Doesn’t Change Bad Service

Filed under: Branding, Marketing — Gary Hilson @ 11:46 am
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I think the comments on this article say it all. Customer service is foreign to Bell and until it stops acting like an incumbent telco, no brand awareness campaign is going to change my perception of the company. I just wish I wasn’t stuck in a cell contract with Bell Mobility.

Let’s Confuse Our Customers

Filed under: Branding, Marketing, retail — Gary Hilson @ 11:10 am
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Metro is the last name of the three I’d go with. I went to A&P when I was a kid, Dominion has a strong presence here in Toronto and the only Metro I remember growing up went out of business.

Metro to dump A&P, Dominion names

July 21, 2008

Why is this news?

Filed under: media — Gary Hilson @ 10:29 am
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July 4, 2008

Oops

Filed under: Internet — Gary Hilson @ 1:38 pm

The non-profit agency in charge of the Internet’s addresses recently lost track of its own.

Some people have too much time on their hands

Filed under: wtf — Gary Hilson @ 11:44 am

A 42-year-old Ottawa man has been charged with the theft of 25 sewer grates in the Elmvale Acres area — some of the 150 catch basin covers that have gone missing around the city in the past month.

June 25, 2008

I’m glad I’m out of the newspaper biz

Filed under: media — Gary Hilson @ 5:53 pm
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June 24, 2008

Phew… That was keeping me up at night.

Filed under: science — Gary Hilson @ 3:51 pm
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June 23, 2008

The “New” HMV

Filed under: retail — Gary Hilson @ 2:40 pm
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On my way home from work Friday I stopped by the renovated HMV on Bloor St.

The new design of this store is the first of its kind in Canada and meant to take the retailer beyond just selling staid media such as CDs and DVDs by providing a multimedia experience to shoppers. Supposedly this has helped increase sales at UK stores and will help HMV compete with bricks and mortar retailers such as FutureShop as well as the online models such iTunes.

I’m not a retail analyst, so whether it will work in all stores, I can’t tell you. I can tell you this: If I can’t buy what I want, it doesn’t matter.

The store layout provides space for fewer CDs and DVDs. This would be okay except the bulk of that space is devoted to discount movies and TV on DVD - rows and rows of Warner Bros. properties, for example. So if I wanted several hundred copies of One Tree Hill, I’d be heaven, but I wanted season six of JAG.

JAG was not the most ground breaking series ever made, but it did run for 10 seasons, was created and produced by TV vet Donald Bellisario (Magnum, NCIS) and was released through CBS / Paramount, a major entertainment company. My point being I wasn’t on the hunt for some rare foreign film.

Not only did the store not have season six, which recently came out, but it did not have any seasons of the series at all.

I realize it’s impossible to stock every DVD every released, but as I say, I was looking for something rather mainstream at a large chain and came away empty-handed.

June 20, 2008

Excuse me, I have a question….

Filed under: Internet — Gary Hilson @ 10:14 am
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If Bell’s network is so congested, why are they still signing up customers?

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