Starbucks’ 40th Anniversary Celebration = $40 Giveaways!!!
Starbucks is celebrating 40 years in the coffee business. In honor of their 40th year they are rewarding their customers with $40 giveaways on March 16th!!! Hooray!!
The coffee giant is giving away 500 gift cards in the amount of $40 each to 500 lucky coffee lovers. That’s $20,000 worth of free coffee! In order to participate in this giveaway you must go to Foursquare.com and check into the Starbuck’s location. You can also enter by sending an e-mail to foursquare@starbucks.com with the subject line “Starbucks”.
Good luck my friends!!
I’ll Have a Latte and a Hack: No Thank You!
We all do it, find our favorite cafe with a “hot spot”, sit down with our computer and work, or play, the afternoon away. But is our daily indulgence becoming a little risque? Maybe so!
Enter the HACKER! While we are sitting there cup deep in blissful liquid gold, some of us are being violated by a good for nothing hacker. Well, that is a date I would rather not have, thank you very much! I’ll drink alone, maybe I’ll have a scone while I’m at it, me and my computer, by myself or with friends, but no uninvited guests.
A New York Times articlefrom February 16th drew attention to the new vulnerabilities faced by Wi-Fi users. In particular, a free program called Firesheep. Firesheep makes hacking your fellow cafe-goer a simple, user-friendly, DIY affair. It takes advantage of a lack of end-to-end encryption, allowing hackers to grab your cookies which are the bits of code that identify your private information. This enables hackers to act as you on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, or eBay. Sites that use HTTPS, rather than HTTP, are safe from this sort of hacking. Banking sites generally use HTTPS, but Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and EBay do not.
New York is advising people of this Internet cafe issue. Senator Charles Schumer spoke at Birch Coffee in Madison Square Park in Manhattan. He described the HTTP protocol as “a welcome mat for would-be hackers” and a “one-stop-shop for identity theft.” Its important to note that when you are using Internet hot spots, you are taking a risk if you are using HTTP.
Until the larger companies that store our data stop using HTTP, and start using HTTPS I suggest that you be aware of any unusual activity that might show up on your account. Be your own watchdog!
Starbucks and Yahoo Team Up to Offer In Store E-Books and Movies
Starbucks has teamed up with Yahoo to offer their customers e-books and movies in an attempt to encourage them to “stay a while” and purchase more items at Starbucks.
Starbucks, who traditionally charged for wireless internet, began their free wireless internet campaign in July of this year. Now when you access Starbucks’ wireless service, you will be welcomed to watch moves, read books or enjoy access to some paid sites from their partners, some of which include The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, Apple’s iTunes, local news provider Patch, and Zagat.
If you want to read the books at home, you may purchase them through the internet service. Starbucks makes a small profit from the purchase.
The e-books on the network are being offered through the Bookish Reading Club, a partnership with publishers, including Harper Collins, Hachette, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster.
Some books will be offered as excerpts only – but the customer will have the option of buying the whole book if interested. Some material will be made available on the network before its release date. One of the first such offerings is a preview of Anita Shreve’s upcoming novel “Rescue.”
Folgers “Home For The Holidays” Contest
The sights, sounds and aromas of the holiday season often stir up a sense of nostalgia and a yearning to be at home with family. This year, Folgers® is once again helping to make that happen for five lucky families as part of the second annual “Home for the Holidays” contest. To enter, America can visit www.folgers.com from October 1, 2010 through November 30, 2010, and submit a 200-word essay answering “What is the best part of wakin’ up at home during the holidays with Folgers coffee?” Five winners will receive a seven day, six night trip in December 2010 for themselves and up to three other guests to travel to their hometown destination within the 48 contiguous United States. Each trip includes round trip airfare, hotel accommodations, a rental car, $1,000 spending money and a Folgers gift basket. Travel origination and destination must be within the 48 contiguous states. Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and D.C. 18 years old or older. Void where prohibited. See www.folgers.com for Official Rules, entry information and complete details.
Corn Coffee Now For Sale in Manila
Daveo City in Manila now has a new coffee product being provided to the group Coffee For Peace. Corn Coffee!!! Farmers from Sumilao will be providing the corn coffee.
“Our corn coffee is special because it’s caffeine-free, all-organic and all-natural, with no additives and no preservatives,” said Maria Carmela Sue P. Otarra, spokesperson for the Sumilao Agri-Enterprise (SAE), Inc. comprising local farmers. The Coffee for Peace, which used to be called Peace-building Community Cafe, sells and promotes civet coffee beans from the mountain ranges of Davao and Cotabato.
National Coffee Day: Get Your Free Cup!
Today is National Coffee Day. In celebration there are a few places were you can get a free cup of coffee.
Dunkin’ Donuts is participating. To get your free cup of coffee from Dunkin’ check out their website for the “free” coupon! ‘Fans can enter to win the grand prize — a trip for two to Costa Rica, a tour of Dunkin’s Coffee Lab and 60 months free coffee — by submitting a video, 60 seconds or less, describing why they deserve the title of ultimate fan. The contest and announcement were timed to celebrate the company’s 60th birthday and pay tribute to September 29.
Some local places may be participating as well, but coffee giant, Starbucks, will not be celebrating by giving away free coffee, which is honestly a shock to me. I thought for sure they would be on board. Oh well!!!
Caffeine Brownies
Pharmaceutical grade caffeine will soon be hitting the brownies in Ames, Iowa. A Smack In The Face, the nations first caffiene bakery, has been opened by Allison Nelson. Into each brownie she pours love along with 200 milligrams of pharmaceutical grade caffeine. Now how is that or a naughty start to your morning?
“It’s exactly what grandma used to bake – no high-fructose corn syrup, no partially hydrogenated soybean oil,” Nelson told The Des Moines Register. “We’re not wrapping up caffeine in a health bar here. We’re wrapping it up in a home-baked treat. Isn’t it about time you have caffeine and it tastes good?”
The brownies will be sold to local convenience stores, with a hope of moving on to chain stores.
New York Women Attracted To The Smell of Coffee
A study has shown that New York women are attracted to the smell of coffee, according to a report by NBC New York
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The study was conducted by the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation and sponsored by Ax Men’s Grooming Products.
The study also noted that women around the US prefer different smells. In Philadelphia they like the smell of clean laundry, in Los Angeles the prefer lavender and the ladies of Dallas like campfire smoke.
Seattle’s Best Coffee Contest: FREE TRIP TO SEATTLE
Coffeesage.com readers have been invited to participate in a Seattle’s Best Coffee contest. First prize is an all expenses paid trip to the coffee capital of the US……….. Seattle!!!!
Seattle’s Best is celebrating their fan’s love of great coffee. They are now looking for their BIGGEST fan to join them for a first class coffee lover’s experience in Seattle. You can compete to win the free trip that will be the “ultimate coffee immersion” and a chance to become a Seattle’s Best Coffee Ambassador. The Ambassadors get the “low-down” on coffee news, prizes and other free stuff.
The contest runs through September 3rd. To enter, visit the Seattle’s Best Coffee Facebook fan-page and tell them why Seattle’s Best Coffee is the “bright spot in your day”.
Good luck and may the coffee be with you!!!
Cafe Grumpy in NY Bans Laptops
Cafe Grumpy in Chelsea, NY is fed up with extension cords being ran all over their store. Although their Brooklyn location welcomes those with laptops and noise cancelling headphones. The owners, Caroline Bell and Chris Timbrell have been the target of much bad publicity for their ban in the Chelsea location.
Cafe Grumpy has opened up a third location with a different design intended to forever fix their “laptop” problems. The new location in Park Slope has no chairs…at all, unless you count the bench outside of the coffee bar for those who choose to linger. It does have a counter in the rear of the shop and a chest-high table in the front.
“I don’t think I’d ever do a bigger space with tables and chairs again,” Ms. Bell said. “I appreciate the idea of when you go someplace and it feels like a home away from home, but I don’t think it should be a home office away from home.”
This type of grab-n-go coffee bar is becoming more common around the country and especially in New York. “There’s clearly a philosophy behind the coffee bar,” said Christian Geckeler, who describes his ongoing odyssey to taste the country’s best coffee on Manseekingcoffee.com. “It puts the emphasis on the coffee and the barista.”
To read more check out the New York Times article at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/dining/25coffee.html
Starbucks Launches “Starbucks Reserve”
Starbucks has announced the introduction of an ultra premium coffee, Starbucks Reserve, to their menu. A 12 oz cup will sell for nearly $3 in Seattle and other select markets. The coffee will be released on August 31st.
Starbucks has chosen to pitch the product in New York City, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Boston, Seattle, Portland, Ore., Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Miami. Starbucks will preview the coffee in select markets on August 28th.
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