Wendy's

A very long time ago I wrote a rant about my dislike of Subway despite its huge market share in the U.S. In a hypocritical twist of fate, I came to enjoy Subway a lot more in my last year of college, mostly because the local franchise had some great deals that often made a meal at Subway criminally cheap compared to on campus food and other fast food, and I came to at least accept the quality of certain sandwiches.

Then I came home during Easter this year and spent ten bucks even on a meal at Subway, right around the time they decided to raise their prices. Ten dollars that could have gotten most or all of a meal at Panera Bread or Quiznos, both of which offer a much better meal. Hell, just name your favorite joint and you could eat for a ten spot. Subway officially became bullshit once again.

So I started revisiting the other fast food places I often ignored during senior year in favor of Subway's walking distance trip.

- Burger King has trumped out Wendy's and McD's for me. A selection of sickeningly fatty sandwiches and very good fries make it the perfect place to go when I go for fast food (which is sparingly these days). While every other company aims for healthy, BK has got my back with chicken fries and quad stackers (the latter of which I will never eat, but I like to know it is there just in case).

- Wendy's is damn close to BK. They prob. have the highest quality burger meal in terms of ingredients, and the fact that most of them come with veggies on them by default. A lack of tasty fries makes them a little harder to appreciate. However, we know no one goes to Wendy's for anything but the 99 cent menu, which still reigns supreme over all imitators. I like how diversified Wendy's menu is these days, as it offers something for everyone without shoving any particular item down your throat.

- I hate to sound like a walking cliche, but McDonald's has worn dangerously thin on me. Their burgers have nothing unique about them; I'm amazed that they still don't all come with lettuce. That means I have little incentive to go their over the competition. I suppose that's where they would come in and introduce me to their new, healthier options. To this I would tell them I don't come to their establishment to watch my weight. Throw in some of the most annoying advertisements on the television, and you have a company that is shooting themselves in the foot again and again.

- Quiznos is only marginally pricier now than Subway and in another league of tastiness. I don't think Subway has to worry about them too much in terms of competition, because I don't see it being as easy for Quiznos to expand. You can put a Subway in a dusty old basement if you want, which I think is part of why they have become so prevalent.

Lollers

I think this is the first time someone actually tried to call the Whaaaaaaaambulance.

Where you at?

Amp'd Mobile is filing for Chapter 11. Apparently about half their customers were late in paying their bills, which is a pretty easy way to lose some money.

Personally, I'm almost happy to see this. The only thing holding me back are the regular employees who may face job uncertainty. Amp'd Mobile was a horrible idea. The company execs claim they had great initial success thanks to marketing to MTV watching teens. Sounds great, but as a commenter in the aforementioned link observes, kids these days get everything free on the internet. Did Amp'd expect them to think they would have to pay for a cell phone too? I would also add that most kids have their parents pay their phone bill from middle school all the way to college these days, something I find highly pathetic, but also explains why a teen who purchased Amp'd on their own might not remember the bill.

Again, my regards to the employees just trying to find a job. But damn does it feel good to see rich old white guys because they know nothing of demographics once they leave the paper.

What?!?

Is Harry Potter like Tony Soprano? I have no fucking clue who paid this man to write.

Web 2. woah?

This handy article tells us that Web 2.0 is creating a sea of mediocrity. Sometimes I agree that this is quite accurate. As much as I've found cool stuff on Youtube, I feel that this is the norm rather than the exception with most things on there. There's too much stupid shit from too many stupid people, myself included.

But I fear this article takes the wrong approach to the argument. The fact that wikipedia is so popular has nothing to do with the fact that it can be run by all, but because its free and easy to use. Britannica requires a subscription to view all of its content, and I really don't feel like paying for it. And please don't tell me I'm being lazy and greedy; I'm still the type of person who would gladly go to the library to find books for my research. It was Britannica that decided to move all of their content online. If they're wallowing because of it, they should have realized there was still a demand for regular books.