Catching up on some reading the other morning, I came across a video post entitled "Women Drivers..." over on The Real Estate Guide. Not only is this a funny clip (not that I am endorsing the stereotype), it also stars my second cousin, Jeannie, (stage name McNally Sagal) fighting with Jane Kaczmarek, in a clip cut from Malcolm in the Middle.
The search has ended, it is my pleasure to introduce the newest member of HotPads' team, the Bodum
Santos Electric Vacuum Coffee Maker.
The affects of this latest addition have been felt immediately. Bodum has transformed Coffee Time, which had become very routine and sometimes dull, into a twice daily company extravaganza. It is like having one of the Seven Wonders of the World in our office and making our coffee. Just as words cannot adequately describe the great pyramids, I have included a video demo of the Bodum Santos Electric Vacuum Coffee Maker below for your enlightenment. (1:09 is when the magic happens)
Today, HotPads lost an important part of the team for the second time in a little over a year. Our coffee maker has quit, citing being "over-worked." We lost our first coffee maker just before launch in November of 2005. This recent loss comes at another inopportune time, as we will be launching a new version of the site in the next few hours. HotPads' Director of Everything Java, Doug Lewis, will be heading the Search Committee joined by John Fitzpatrick. 
As the official "Coffee Cow" of the Hotpads Team, I feel it is my responsibility to inform the general blogging public about some new information that has come to my attention. According to a study by researchers at the University of Queensland, under the influence of caffeine, you are more easily swayed by arguments.
In the experiments, the participants were made to drink an orange juice, some with caffeine in it, some without. Presented with a persuasive message the attitudes of the participants were measured. It was found that the attitudes of participants under caffeine had changed more than that of the control participants.
As the biggest coffee drinker here, this makes me wonder what I have been... persuaded to add to the site under the influence of coffee (perhaps some of the stranger color schemes?).
Considering the search technology of Hotpads is built upon a (extremely) large foundation of coffee and espresso, this information could be used to explain some of the ... quirkier parts of Hotpads. As you can see in the picture on the right, large doses of caffeine can sometimes have interesting effects. Maybe I should scale back... yet according to the study, caffeine also lets you better see the strengths of good arguments. Maybe wacky color schemes have some good reasoning behind them... maybe you can find apartments easier via the contrasting colors? Or maybe I am analyzing this way too much.
Have you seen this bug in Google Maps?
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