I think Viacom is using this lawsuit as a negotiation tactic for getting a better deal from Google. It's in the best interest of everyone involved (including us, the public) if the content owners (eg. Viacom) and the video sites (eg. GooTube, Revver, iFilm) shared in the revenue. Then we could continue to watch the Daily Show on YouTube and Viacom/Google can make some money from their content creation/delivery.
@Paul
I don't think GooTube is going away. Video is the next big thing on the web, and every video sharing site will have this problem. We've learned the Napster lessons -- give users an easy way to get music legally (iTunes) and the rampant piracy mostly goes away. I think the content creators will work it out with the content deliverers.
I don't technically like peanut butter or bananas, but put them together = wow.
This is kind of nasty, but I think it would be really cute for a kids' party or something. A kids' party that involved lots of martinis and some daring people. And no kids.
There's an article in Valleywag that makes a very good point: Viacom owns iFilm, which is an older, less popular YouTube. There's copyrighted materials there too!
And why not, while Viacom's at it, sue other video sharing sites that offer copyrighted material, such as iFilm? Ah, awkward: that particular video hub is owned by -- you've guessed it -- a media conglomerate that just declared war on Youtube, Viacom itself.
Lest Paul think that Being American=Loving Twinkies, let me just say Yuck. YUCK, YUCK, YUCK!!!
Though also fascinating...combining two of the world's most disgusting foods does create something that I'd rather put in my mouth than either of the original ideas.
These codes are not hacks of any kind. They are made available to the general public, otherwise the system would not accept them. They may not be very well advertised, but that's why the Internet is such a great resource. When I find another super deal I'll post it right here.
first office depot told me that they hadn't carried the seperate reams of paper in 5 years and that I was a hacker for having codes like this.
Second, i called their customer service to get some answers and they told me that they cannot fulfill the order since the paper doesn't come seperate anymore -- they offered to cancel the order too much like Toronto Shaun.
I got them to reverse the charge -- but I still wasn't happy. I need my paper! :)
I called back and explained the situation and made note that their website should not be offering this sort of deal if Office Depot is not willing to fill it. After about 20 minutes of discussion (and lots of waiting) they finally caved and gave me the price with free shipping (previously I had to pick it up).
Interesting article. Not sure what I think of Suze Orman, but I know at least two wealthy self-made men and they are both slobs. They both have disgusting cars and disgusting bedrooms. However, they both hire help to come in clean, so for the most part, their homes are pretty tidy. Of course, they are both "thinkers" and have created businesses that earn a lot of money - different perhaps for those who earn by investing and building portfolios.
Sue
I missed that one last night. As I already have Norton on my other machine, I guess my brain skipped over it. But new users will get stung. I am going to update this post immediately.
I don't buy tickets regularly, but when the jackpot gets up there (not that I couldn't use the prize money when it's "love"), I'll take a chance for a couple dollars. I like your post, it's well-informed. I thought you might be interested to see the post on the Compete.com blog that shows how many more people are checking for the numbers online as the jackpot grows. I guess the publicity of the big money really draws a crowd! Check it out... http://blog.compete.com/2007/03/19/megamillions/
...but they should honor your order, shouldn't they? Whenever I order something that's out of stock, I ask for a raincheck. Kick up a fuss, politely of course.
Hahaha Office Depot in Toronto (Mississauga) just called and cancelled the order I placed a couple of days ago! They said they "ran out" of paper. sure.
Seriously....Norton is worse than some spyware could WISH it could be. If you have a desire to get just antivirus software, go with McAfee, or better yet, go with Avast! or AVG. They are already free for personal use and no worse than anything else you would pay for.
I obviously use Linux and don't have to worry (/sarcasm/), but Norton is pure junk. No offense.
That's exactly what I've been thinking.. that they only scrambled to get the recall underway when it became apparent that they were on their way to being outed by Procter & Gamble.
They'd been receiving complaints since December of last year, and knew enough to halt manufacturing of the tainted foods by 3/6, yet no public warnings were issued until Friday.. 'coincidentally' the very same day that P&G came forward. Menu was also obviously unprepared at the time the recall was issued, with no information as to which products were potentially dangerous being offered until the next morning. Even then, the list was woefully inadequate and failed to cover numerous batches of suspect food- including that which sickened Tyson.
Kudos to P&G for recalling when they did.. if they hadn't, I probably would've had no idea that my cat was being poisoned by his food. In fact, had he been treated at the vet's and survived, I probably would have 'rewarded' him with more of the same when he returned home- seeing as he absolutely loved the pouches I'd bought. I've read multiple stories of people doing just that- and, following the second round of exposures to the contaminated foods, their pets died.
Lest any pet owners think they're not affected, remember that Menu Foods is the largest producer of wet pet food in North America. They make the "gravy" line for major brands like Iams, and it seems most of the private label (store brand) for the big retailers -- Krogers, Safeway, Walmart, PetSmart.
Check that brand list Andrea posted!
Regarding Menu Foods' slow response, I'm not even sure it was Menu Foods who decided to do the recall. It seems like their hand was forced by their "largest customer" -- Proctor & Gamble?
The press release (pdf) was written for business and financial editors. ("The Fund" is the parent company -- Menu Foods Income Fund.)
The Fund's largest customer, for which it manufactures on a contract basis, received a small number of consumer complaints and has initiated its own recall. ... This customer's cuts and gravy purchases in 2006 represented approximately 11% of the Fund's annual revenue.
The wording makes me think the P&G recall basically forced Menu Foods to do the same. How much longer would they have waited if P&G didn't do something first?
I'm so sorry to hear about your cat! My sincere wishes that your feline recovers quickly and that there aren't any lasting problems. I also didn't mention that delay by the company in notifying the public about the problem, but that is a deplorable thing, indeed.
Regarding literacy, well, I'm as edumacated as the next person, but indeed, it seems that I manage to skim over the info about the processing plants in the US. The link to the article does mention that the facilities are on the East Coast. However, no one has figured out where the gluten originated, so you're not off the hook yet.
Oh, and by the way, if there was a Canadian site that said that Americans were trying to kill pets, it's doubtful that any Americans would notice. Americans usually don't read Canadian media. That's not meant as an insult to Canada so much as a commentary of the insular nature of Americans when it comes to their news and entertainment.
Love the latest season of Corner Gas, by the way. God Save the Queen!
If it's any consolation.. I, for one, found the 'Blame Canada' spoof pretty amusing. I rather like Canada, and my cat happens to be one of the unfortunate few now being treated for kidney failure associated with the recall food.. but, c'mon.. funny is funny. (And, having just experienced the pleasure of administering a third round of SQ fluids to one extraordinarily displeased formerly feral cat- thank you, Menu Foods!- humor is a very welcome diversion.)
The contaminated food appears to be linked to two of the company's manufacturing plants.. both of which are located in the US (one in Kansas, the other in New Jersey), so the contamination may well have originated in the States. That said, it's not the contamination that irks me as much as it is Menu's decision to wait ten days from the time they halted production of the food (having determined that it was toxic) to the time they felt it pertinent to issue a recall. (Guess who decided she'd be nice and purchase a couple of pouch food 'snacks' for her cats during the ten day waiting period? Yeah. Thanks, again, Menu!) Very uncool.
I urge pet owners who use or have been using wet foods associated with Menu to keep an eye on the company's recall site. They have continued to post additional brands and lot numbers since the initial recall. Individuals who think their food is safe because the lot numbers or sell-by dates checked out earlier in the recall could be in for a nasty surprise. Personally, I'd just chuck (or return) the whole lot of it regardless of what batch it's from. Better safe than sorry, y'know? It's not worth it.. this stuff is nasty.
The news release on the Menu Foods website clearly states that the source of the problem was several of its facilities located in the US.
The CNN link in your response also states that the problems are in the US facilities, not the Canadian facility.
I find it sad that comments like this are treated as jokes when they come from Americans, but if this was a Canadian site and the title reflected Americans killing Canadian's pets, the site would likely have a stream of nasty comments from Americans.
@Barbara W.
I think Viacom is using this lawsuit as a negotiation tactic for getting a better deal from Google. It's in the best interest of everyone involved (including us, the public) if the content owners (eg. Viacom) and the video sites (eg. GooTube, Revver, iFilm) shared in the revenue. Then we could continue to watch the Daily Show on YouTube and Viacom/Google can make some money from their content creation/delivery.
@Paul
I don't think GooTube is going away. Video is the next big thing on the web, and every video sharing site will have this problem. We've learned the Napster lessons -- give users an easy way to get music legally (iTunes) and the rampant piracy mostly goes away. I think the content creators will work it out with the content deliverers.
no doubt -- they mentioned a site called redflagdeals.com that seems to have popped onto the radar of Office Depot for giving out codes.
I have a hunch that this $2.50 paper was a cock-up also... that or they've had a much greater use of the code than expected :)
way to revamp a classic. although if i thought i was about to eat sushi and bit into one of these guys, i'd be kinda sad.
I don't technically like peanut butter or bananas, but put them together = wow.
This is kind of nasty, but I think it would be really cute for a kids' party or something. A kids' party that involved lots of martinis and some daring people. And no kids.
There's an article in Valleywag that makes a very good point: Viacom owns iFilm, which is an older, less popular YouTube. There's copyrighted materials there too!
From Valleywag :
What was that about throwing stones...?
Tannaz, this is an amazing entry. You make Orangette look like a novice romancer.
Lest Paul think that Being American=Loving Twinkies, let me just say Yuck. YUCK, YUCK, YUCK!!!
Though also fascinating...combining two of the world's most disgusting foods does create something that I'd rather put in my mouth than either of the original ideas.
These codes are not hacks of any kind. They are made available to the general public, otherwise the system would not accept them. They may not be very well advertised, but that's why the Internet is such a great resource. When I find another super deal I'll post it right here.
first office depot told me that they hadn't carried the seperate reams of paper in 5 years and that I was a hacker for having codes like this.
Second, i called their customer service to get some answers and they told me that they cannot fulfill the order since the paper doesn't come seperate anymore -- they offered to cancel the order too much like Toronto Shaun.
I got them to reverse the charge -- but I still wasn't happy. I need my paper! :)
I called back and explained the situation and made note that their website should not be offering this sort of deal if Office Depot is not willing to fill it. After about 20 minutes of discussion (and lots of waiting) they finally caved and gave me the price with free shipping (previously I had to pick it up).
Thanks Paul!
Unfortunately, I left a subject off my previous comment, and though the assigned headline was hilarious, it's not what i intended!
Sue
Interesting article. Not sure what I think of Suze Orman, but I know at least two wealthy self-made men and they are both slobs. They both have disgusting cars and disgusting bedrooms. However, they both hire help to come in clean, so for the most part, their homes are pretty tidy. Of course, they are both "thinkers" and have created businesses that earn a lot of money - different perhaps for those who earn by investing and building portfolios.
Sue
I missed that one last night. As I already have Norton on my other machine, I guess my brain skipped over it. But new users will get stung. I am going to update this post immediately.
I don't buy tickets regularly, but when the jackpot gets up there (not that I couldn't use the prize money when it's "love"), I'll take a chance for a couple dollars. I like your post, it's well-informed. I thought you might be interested to see the post on the Compete.com blog that shows how many more people are checking for the numbers online as the jackpot grows. I guess the publicity of the big money really draws a crowd! Check it out... http://blog.compete.com/2007/03/19/megamillions/
This one worries me....
Note: This is a Mfr. Upgrade/Competitive Mail-in Rebate (previous version required). See rebate form for detailed information.
This means you must already be running NAV (maybe Ghost too) for this rebate to work, right??
I haven't had full Norton protection for two years now. I really REALLY need this.
...but they should honor your order, shouldn't they? Whenever I order something that's out of stock, I ask for a raincheck. Kick up a fuss, politely of course.
Hahaha Office Depot in Toronto (Mississauga) just called and cancelled the order I placed a couple of days ago! They said they "ran out" of paper. sure.
They must have realized what was happening.
How bad is your image when a step up is promoting a film directed by a convicted pedophile?
Have yet to have a problem with AVG in over 10 years of using their freeware. Norton would have to pay me to switch.
They'd have to pay me to use this thing!
Seriously....Norton is worse than some spyware could WISH it could be. If you have a desire to get just antivirus software, go with McAfee, or better yet, go with Avast! or AVG. They are already free for personal use and no worse than anything else you would pay for.
I obviously use Linux and don't have to worry (/sarcasm/), but Norton is pure junk. No offense.
That's exactly what I've been thinking.. that they only scrambled to get the recall underway when it became apparent that they were on their way to being outed by Procter & Gamble.
They'd been receiving complaints since December of last year, and knew enough to halt manufacturing of the tainted foods by 3/6, yet no public warnings were issued until Friday.. 'coincidentally' the very same day that P&G came forward. Menu was also obviously unprepared at the time the recall was issued, with no information as to which products were potentially dangerous being offered until the next morning. Even then, the list was woefully inadequate and failed to cover numerous batches of suspect food- including that which sickened Tyson.
Kudos to P&G for recalling when they did.. if they hadn't, I probably would've had no idea that my cat was being poisoned by his food. In fact, had he been treated at the vet's and survived, I probably would have 'rewarded' him with more of the same when he returned home- seeing as he absolutely loved the pouches I'd bought. I've read multiple stories of people doing just that- and, following the second round of exposures to the contaminated foods, their pets died.
Shame on Menu.
Lest any pet owners think they're not affected, remember that Menu Foods is the largest producer of wet pet food in North America. They make the "gravy" line for major brands like Iams, and it seems most of the private label (store brand) for the big retailers -- Krogers, Safeway, Walmart, PetSmart.
Check that brand list Andrea posted!
Regarding Menu Foods' slow response, I'm not even sure it was Menu Foods who decided to do the recall. It seems like their hand was forced by their "largest customer" -- Proctor & Gamble?
The press release (pdf) was written for business and financial editors. ("The Fund" is the parent company -- Menu Foods Income Fund.)
The wording makes me think the P&G recall basically forced Menu Foods to do the same. How much longer would they have waited if P&G didn't do something first?
I'm so sorry to hear about your cat! My sincere wishes that your feline recovers quickly and that there aren't any lasting problems. I also didn't mention that delay by the company in notifying the public about the problem, but that is a deplorable thing, indeed.
Regarding literacy, well, I'm as edumacated as the next person, but indeed, it seems that I manage to skim over the info about the processing plants in the US. The link to the article does mention that the facilities are on the East Coast. However, no one has figured out where the gluten originated, so you're not off the hook yet.
Oh, and by the way, if there was a Canadian site that said that Americans were trying to kill pets, it's doubtful that any Americans would notice. Americans usually don't read Canadian media. That's not meant as an insult to Canada so much as a commentary of the insular nature of Americans when it comes to their news and entertainment.
Love the latest season of Corner Gas, by the way. God Save the Queen!
If it's any consolation.. I, for one, found the 'Blame Canada' spoof pretty amusing. I rather like Canada, and my cat happens to be one of the unfortunate few now being treated for kidney failure associated with the recall food.. but, c'mon.. funny is funny. (And, having just experienced the pleasure of administering a third round of SQ fluids to one extraordinarily displeased formerly feral cat- thank you, Menu Foods!- humor is a very welcome diversion.)
The contaminated food appears to be linked to two of the company's manufacturing plants.. both of which are located in the US (one in Kansas, the other in New Jersey), so the contamination may well have originated in the States. That said, it's not the contamination that irks me as much as it is Menu's decision to wait ten days from the time they halted production of the food (having determined that it was toxic) to the time they felt it pertinent to issue a recall. (Guess who decided she'd be nice and purchase a couple of pouch food 'snacks' for her cats during the ten day waiting period? Yeah. Thanks, again, Menu!) Very uncool.
I urge pet owners who use or have been using wet foods associated with Menu to keep an eye on the company's recall site. They have continued to post additional brands and lot numbers since the initial recall. Individuals who think their food is safe because the lot numbers or sell-by dates checked out earlier in the recall could be in for a nasty surprise. Personally, I'd just chuck (or return) the whole lot of it regardless of what batch it's from. Better safe than sorry, y'know? It's not worth it.. this stuff is nasty.
The news release on the Menu Foods website clearly states that the source of the problem was several of its facilities located in the US.
The CNN link in your response also states that the problems are in the US facilities, not the Canadian facility.
I find it sad that comments like this are treated as jokes when they come from Americans, but if this was a Canadian site and the title reflected Americans killing Canadian's pets, the site would likely have a stream of nasty comments from Americans.