text:
Mount Saint Thomas Pest & Termite Control
For over 40 years, Australians have come to rely on Billy Lanes Pest Control as the most effective provider of pest control in Mount Saint Thomas and its surrounding suburbs.
With more qualified licensed technicians we have been able to expend all of our services to the Southern Highlands and can offer specialized termite inspections in the greater Sydney area.
We operate as a family-owned business, and pride ourselves on giving you personal attention and optimal service in eradication and prevention of pest and or termite problems.
After your termite inspection we can provide you with a termite control program for your home or business if required.
So if you think you have a termite problem or just need a regular termite inspection and live in Wollongong, Sydney or the Southern Highlands, Billy Lanes Pest Control should be your first call.
Mobile: 0413 594 556
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Dropbox Alternative OwnCloud Uses Your Own Storage
ownCloud is already a powerful and useful alternative to Dropbox or other file-hosting services. Future revisions of this open source project promise to be even better.
If you're leery of trusting your data to a third-party cloud-storage service, and have a web server of your own that you'd rather use, ownCloud may be the answer. It's free software that installs on most web servers and transforms it into your own private Dropbox clone.
ownCloud, now in version 4.5.7 and with a 5.0 beta available for public testing, is close enough to what I need for my own cloud-storage file-hosting needs that I might well ditch Dropbox entirely once ownCloud 5.0 is live. The company isn't saying when the new version will be available. The current version does have some feature limitations and requires some technical skill to get set up, but it's already an extremely impressive product.
Getting ownCloud set up on your web hosting can be done either by unpacking the entire application into a directory manually, or setting up an installer stub -- a single .PHP file -- which pulls the rest of the application's files down from ownCloud's servers. An SSL certificate is not required, but is a good idea. I had trouble getting the installer stub to work, possibly because of my web host's PHP configuration, but unpacking the app by hand into a directory on my web server worked fine.
Once you have the files installed, the rest of setup is almost entirely automatic. ownCloud can use an included SQLite database for simple installations (a website for a single user), or can connect to an instance of MySQL or PostgreSQL for larger, more advanced setups (a corporate file repository). Multiple user accounts and user groups can be created with different privilege levels and usage quotas. Uploading files to an ownCloud instance can be done by dragging and dropping files into the web-based file manager, or by synchronizing from a local folder with the desktop client.
ownCloud uses a host of add-ons (called "apps"), both supplied by the creators and by third parties, to enhance its functionality. The 4.5 branch comes with a slew of apps pre-installed--a music player, a calendar system and contact manager (which can be used to organize events and contacts between ownCloud users), and a picture gallery. There's even a simple built-in text editor. One of the most useful add-ons in 4.5 enables server-side file encryption -- something people hosting their ownCloud instance on a web service will like -- and while it works decently well right now it's being deprecated and replaced with a completely rewritten implementation in version 5.
The free desktop client for ownCloud works much like Dropbox's: you designate a local folder that is then synched to and from a given ownCloud installation. If you want Android and iOS clients, those are also available -- for $1 each. The shell integration for ownCloud's desktop client isn't quite as slick as Dropbox's--it doesn't have, for instance, icons in Explorer to show if a given file has synced yet with the remote server--but it works very well, and I got it running in two separate systems without issues.
Many of my complaints with ownCloud are mostly little issues with the user interface. It would be nice, for instance, if the included image gallery plugin had some easy way to jump to the actual folder holding an image. The search function is primitive; results come up as you type, but you can't do anything with a search result except view it or download it. That said, none of these things are conceptual flaws in the software; they're presentation-layer things that can easily be addressed in future revisions.
Name: ownCloud
Price: Free
Already a powerful and useful alternative to Dropbox or other file-hosting services; future revisions of this open source project promise to be even better.
Costs nothing, requires only a webhost that runs PHP
Highly configurable with first- and third-party add-ons
Server-side encryption included
Requires some heavy lifting to set up
The 5.0 version looks like it's most worth waiting for, but it isn't out yet
About the Author(s)
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text:
This is a tutorial for the quasiquoting facility described in Why It's Nice to be Quoted: Quasiquoting for Haskell.
Quasiquoting allows programmers to use custom, domain-specific syntax to construct fragments of their program. Along with Haskell's existing support for domain specific languages, you are now free to use new syntactic forms for your EDSLs.
More information on GHC's support for quasiquoting may be found:
A number of production examples where the result is a string:
- Quasiquoter for Ruby-style interpolated strings
- interpolatedstring-perl6 library: QuasiQuoter for Perl6-style multi-line interpolated strings with "q"
- here
- heredoc
- raw-strings-qq
- neat-interpolation
- Interpolation
- A QuasiQuoter for interpolated Text literals, with support for embedding Haskell expressions
- shakespeare-text
- dump: Shows values for expressions like
let a = 1 in [d| a, map (+a) [1..3] |]
by turning them into"(a) = 1 (map (+a) [1..3]) = [2,3,4]"
to ease debugging and development.
Additional examples which producing other things:
- The jmacro JavaScript generation library.
- Parsing: regexqq, rex or Peggy: A Quasiquoter for a packrat parser
- A QuasiQuoter for lighttpd configuration files
- XML: text-xml-qq, xml-hamlet
- haskell-src-meta contains quite a few QuasiQuoters, though the toy examples are no longer exported and others have been moved to applicative-quoters
- command-qq
- process-qq
- Rlang-QQ is a quasiquoter for inline R
- a quasiquoter for C syntax trees
- dbus-qq
Other QuasiQuotation/TemplateHaskell tutorials include:
Note that the syntax for quasiquotation has changed since the paper was written: in GHC 7 one writes [expr|...|]
instead of [:expr|...|]
. GHC 6.12 uses [$expr|...|]
. Quasiquotation appeared in GHC 6.9 and is enabled with the QuasiQuotes
language option (-XQuasiQuotes
on the command line or {-# LANGUAGE QuasiQuotes #-}
in a source file).
We show how to build a quasiquoter for a simple mathematical expression language. Although the example is small, it demonstrates all aspects of building a quasiquoter. We do not mean to suggest that one gains much from a quasiquoter for such a small language relative to using abstract syntax directly except from a pedagogical point of view---this is just a tutorial!
The tutorial is runnable if its contents is placed in files as follows:
Place the contents of the #Syntax and #Parsing sections in the file Expr.hs
with header
{-# LANGUAGE DeriveDataTypeable #-}
module Expr (Expr(..),
import Data.Generics
import Text.ParserCombinators.Parsec
Place the contents of the section #The Quasiquoter in a
file Expr/Quote.hs
with header
module Expr.Quote (expr) where
import Data.Generics
import qualified Language.Haskell.TH as TH
import Language.Haskell.TH.Quote
import Expr
Our simple expression language consists of integers, the standard operators
+,x,*,/, and parenthesized expressions. We will write a single parser that takes
concrete syntax for this language and transforms it to abstract syntax. Using
the SYB approach to generic programming, we will then use this parser to produce
expression and pattern quasiquoters. Our quasiquoter will allow us to write
[expr|1 + 3|]
directly in Haskell source code instead of the
corresponding abstract syntax.
An obvious datatype for the abstract syntax of this simple language is:
data Expr = IntExpr Integer
| BinopExpr (Integer -> Integer -> Integer) Expr Expr
Unfortunately, this won't do for our quasiquoter. First of all, the SYB technique we use cannot handle function types in a generic way, so the BinopExpr constructor must be modified. SYB also requires that we derive Typeable and Data, a trivial change. Finally, we want to support antiquoting for two syntactic categories, expressions and integers. With antiquoting support, we can write [expr|$x + $int:y|] where x and y are in-scope variables with types Expr and Integer, respectively. The final data types for our abstract syntax are:
data Expr = IntExpr Integer
| AntiIntExpr String
| BinopExpr BinOp Expr Expr
| AntiExpr String
deriving(Show, Typeable, Data)
data BinOp = AddOp
| SubOp
| MulOp
| DivOp
deriving(Show, Typeable, Data)
An evaluator for our abstract syntax can be written as follows:
eval :: Expr -> Integer
eval (IntExpr n) = n
eval (BinopExpr op x y) = (opToFun op) (eval x) (eval y)
opToFun AddOp = (+)
opToFun SubOp = (-)
opToFun MulOp = (*)
opToFun DivOp = div
We use Parsec to write a parser for our expression language. Note that we have (somewhat arbitrarily) chosen the syntax for antiquotaton to be as in the above example; a quasiquoter may choose whatever syntax she wishes.
small = lower <|> char '_'
large = upper
idchar = small <|> large <|> digit <|> char '\''
lexeme p = do{ x <- p; spaces; return x }
symbol name = lexeme (string name)
parens p = between (symbol "(") (symbol ")") p
expr :: CharParser st Expr
expr = term `chainl1` addop
term :: CharParser st Expr
term = factor `chainl1` mulop
factor :: CharParser st Expr
factor = parens expr <|> integer <|> try antiIntExpr <|> antiExpr
mulop = do{ symbol "*"; return $ BinopExpr MulOp }
<|> do{ symbol "/"; return $ BinopExpr DivOp }
addop = do{ symbol "+"; return $ BinopExpr AddOp }
<|> do{ symbol "-"; return $ BinopExpr SubOp }
integer :: CharParser st Expr
integer = lexeme $ do{ ds <- many1 digit ; return $ IntExpr (read ds) }
ident :: CharParser s String
ident = do{ c <- small; cs <- many idchar; return (c:cs) }
antiIntExpr = lexeme $ do{ symbol "$int:"; id <- ident; return $ AntiIntExpr id }
antiExpr = lexeme $ do{ symbol "$"; id <- ident; return $ AntiExpr id }
The helper function parseExpr takes a source code position (consisting of a file name, line and column) and a string and returns a value of type Expr. This helper function also ensures that we can parse the whole string rather than just a prefix.
parseExpr :: Monad m => (String, Int, Int) -> String -> m Expr
parseExpr (file, line, col) s =
case runParser p () "" s of
Left err -> fail $ show err
Right e -> return e
p = do pos <- getPosition
setPosition $
(flip setSourceName) file $
(flip setSourceLine) line $
(flip setSourceColumn) col $
e <- expr
return e
The Quasiquoter
Remember, our quasiquoter allows us to write expression in our simple language, such as [expr|2 * 3|], directly in Haskell source code. This requires that the variable expr be in-scope when the quasiquote is encountered, and that it is bound to a value of type Language.Haskell.TH.Quote.QuasiQuoter, which contains an expression quoter and a pattern quoter. Note that expr must obey the same stage restrictions as Template Haskell; in particular, it may not be defined in the same module where it is used as a quasiquoter, but must be imported.
Our expression and pattern quoters are quoteExprExp and quoteExprPat, respectively, so our quasiquoter expr is written as follows:
quoteExprExp :: String -> TH.ExpQ
quoteExprPat :: String -> TH.PatQ
expr :: QuasiQuoter
expr = QuasiQuoter { quoteExp = quoteExprExp,
quotePat = quoteExprPat
-- with ghc >= 7.4, you could also
-- define quoteType and quoteDec for
-- quasiquotes in those places too
Our quasiquoters re-use the parser we wrote in the previous section, parseExpr, and make use of the generic functions dataToExpQ and dataToPatQ (described in the Haskell Workshop paper). These functions, from the Language.Haskell.TH.Quote package, take a Haskell value and reflect it back into the language as Template Haskell abstract syntax. The catch is that we don't want to handle all values generically: antiquoted values must be handled specially. Consider the AntiExpr constructor; we don't want this constructor to be mapped to Template Haskell abstract syntax for the AntiExpr constructor, but to abstract syntax for the Haskell variable named by the constructor's argument. The extQ combinator allows us to do this nicely by defining a function antiExprExp that handles antiquotations.
quoteExprExp s = do loc <- TH.location
let pos = (TH.loc_filename loc,
fst (TH.loc_start loc),
snd (TH.loc_start loc))
expr <- parseExpr pos s
dataToExpQ (const Nothing `extQ` antiExprExp) expr
antiExprExp :: Expr -> Maybe (TH.Q TH.Exp)
antiExprExp (AntiIntExpr v) = Just $ TH.appE (TH.conE (TH.mkName "IntExpr"))
(TH.varE (TH.mkName v))
antiExprExp (AntiExpr v) = Just $ TH.varE (TH.mkName v)
antiExprExp _ = Nothing
The corresponding code for patterns is:
quoteExprPat s = do loc <- TH.location
let pos = (TH.loc_filename loc,
fst (TH.loc_start loc),
snd (TH.loc_start loc))
expr <- parseExpr pos s
dataToPatQ (const Nothing `extQ` antiExprPat) expr
antiExprPat :: Expr -> Maybe (TH.Q TH.Pat)
antiExprPat (AntiIntExpr v) = Just $ TH.conP (TH.mkName "IntExpr")
[TH.varP (TH.mkName v)]
antiExprPat (AntiExpr v) = Just $ TH.varP (TH.mkName v)
antiExprPat _ = Nothing
We can now try out a few examples by invoking ghci as follows: ghci -XQuasiQuotes Expr/Quote
> [expr|1 + 3 + 5|] BinopExpr AddOp (BinopExpr AddOp (IntExpr 1) (IntExpr 3)) (IntExpr 5) > eval [expr|1 + 3 + 5|] 9
Taking advantage of our quasiquoter, we can re-write our evaluator so it uses concrete syntax:
eval' :: Expr -> Integer
eval' [expr|$int:x|] = x
eval' [expr|$x + $y|] = eval' x + eval' y
eval' [expr|$x - $y|] = eval' x - eval' y
eval' [expr|$x * $y|] = eval' x * eval' y
eval' [expr|$x / $y|] = eval' x `div` eval' y
Let's make sure it works as advertised:
> eval [expr|1 + 2 + 3|] == eval' [expr|1 + 2 + 3|] True > eval [expr|1 + 3 * 5|] == eval' [expr|1 + 3 * 5|] True


text:
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Face Time On CW
Thursday, November 13, 2008
How cool is that, huh? It's totally Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen!
[crickets chirping]
[Pin dropping. Loudly.]
What's with all the blank looks? Are you guys telling me you don't know who Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen is? Really?
Well, here, she looks like this:
See, she's a human from the future, and she's had so much plastic surgery that there's nothing left but her face. Get it? (Really, I don't see how you guys survive without this kind of quality programming in your lives.)
Ok, now go look at that "cake" again, and tell me it's not her. Go on.
Hm? Oh. Yeah, I guess you do have a point: she doesn't have eyebrows. Or a nose. Or weird purply hair tufts. Or antennae. But if that's not supposed to be Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen, then I'm going to go out on a limb here and say maybe the Walmart in question should consider employee drug screening. Not that I'm implying anything by that, of course - nosirree.
Thomas R., you thought it was her, too - right?
235 comments | Post a Comment
«Oldest ‹Older 1 – 200 of 235 Newer› Newest»- Etiquette Bitch said...
my first thought was it was some "cool," art-deco lookin' lady. yikes. it is pretty bad.
- November 13, 2008 at 9:21 AM
- RevAllyson said...
OMG You watch WHO!!!!!! LOL... Yes, it does look rather like Cassandra, though I admit I liked her best in Rose's body, fondling the Doctor. *grin*
- November 13, 2008 at 9:21 AM
- HorribleLicensePlates said...
I would like her better if she had a beard. Awesome wreck!
- November 13, 2008 at 9:22 AM
I see it! I saw it as soon as you mentioned Doctor Who! There need to be more Doctor Who cakes in the world.
- November 13, 2008 at 9:23 AM
The bitchy trampoline! "Moisturize me..."
- November 13, 2008 at 9:24 AM
and here I thought It was more like the Face of Bo.
- November 13, 2008 at 9:24 AM
- Arlynn said...
Why does this "cake" exist? Who would buy it, unless they wanted to scare some poor, sad toddler somewhere. This is a real shame... but at least it's funny for me, if not a bit disturbing.
- November 13, 2008 at 9:26 AM
- Trevor said...
That cake is just screaming "Moistuerize Me!"
I think the cake is scarier than she was. - November 13, 2008 at 9:28 AM
The lips make me very afraid. Also, is that purple smoodge at the top supposed to be hair or a ribbon? Are the two pair of cupcakes on either side of her head supposed to be detachable flying ears, ponytails, or antennae? The eyes make me very afraid.
- November 13, 2008 at 9:28 AM
Can I get the cake cheaper if I ask them to make me one with the unruly eyebrows and the peeps-esque sunglasses?
- November 13, 2008 at 9:28 AM
Did I just fall in love with Cake Wrecks all over again? I think I did!
- November 13, 2008 at 9:28 AM
- Carissa said...
Both of these images are extremely disturbing. However, the cake is real - so that gets on more point on my scariness scale.
- November 13, 2008 at 9:29 AM
- searching_for_something said...
Is that ears or hair coming our from her head??
- November 13, 2008 at 9:29 AM
Sigh, I've given up trying to tell the others about the awesomeness that is Doctor Who...
And those tufts on the side of the CCC are obviously pigtails - how could you be so blind? :) - November 13, 2008 at 9:29 AM
Cassandra was my first thought when I saw this cake.
"Ewww," was my second. "Someone's going to eat her face." - November 13, 2008 at 9:30 AM
I thought it was maybe a sheep?
Nan - November 13, 2008 at 9:31 AM
- Slytherpuff said...
OMG, that is *totally* Lady Cassandra! I don't know which is better -- this CW or the scary Daleks that you posted a while back.
Allons-y! - November 13, 2008 at 9:31 AM
I think maybe I'm scarred for life.
I've seen her on Doctor Who. I simply can't imagine eating a cake image especially because I would imagine it tastes like rubbery skin.
Thanks. No really. Thanks. - November 13, 2008 at 9:32 AM
i think what's more concerning is that they expect someone to pay $20 for that sad sad ccc.
- November 13, 2008 at 9:33 AM
Someone needs to take the drugs away from the steamroller drivers that have plagued Cake Wrecks this past week, because CLEARLY what we have here is Princess Leia, post steamroller encounter. See, her little buns have been flattened into pigtails. Maybe.
*scratches her head*
No I'm lost on this one too... - November 13, 2008 at 9:35 AM
- Unknown said...
ok i totally see it! and eww. eww.
ewww. - November 13, 2008 at 9:35 AM
Too funny! My mind immediately went to Dr. Who before I even started reading! If it is not her, than who/what is it?
- November 13, 2008 at 9:37 AM
I'm pretty sure the purple hair thingys are actually sunglasses. Not that that makes it any better.
- November 13, 2008 at 9:38 AM
It IS her!!!!!!!!!!!!
- November 13, 2008 at 9:39 AM
- Zitny Clan said...
Oh Cu-ree-py.
- November 13, 2008 at 9:40 AM
I... I think the hair tufts are supposed to be sunglasses. That's... interesting.
- November 13, 2008 at 9:41 AM
- Amy said...
Hey, I love that show! And I absolutely knew who you were talking about. The resemblance makes the thought of eating that CCC rather nausea-inducing. Is there any way to think of her and not get a nasty mental picture of the part where she dries out and explodes? Bleh.
- November 13, 2008 at 9:42 AM
Oo, a Doctor Who reference! That just made my day! :)
- November 13, 2008 at 9:43 AM
That is quite possibly the vaguest cake I have ever seen. It's a..... nope, I got nothing.
- November 13, 2008 at 9:43 AM
- Amanda said...
You had me at "Doctor Who fans".
- November 13, 2008 at 9:45 AM
- Jamie said...
I'm just glad my geek wasn't the only one showing. I saw 'Doctor Who' and jumped immediately to Lady Cassandra. If only it hadn't been a CCC, and they had included a little brain-shaped cupcake underneath, this could have gone from wreck to pretty awesome! But, alas, drug-induced wreck it seems to be...
- November 13, 2008 at 9:45 AM
- Bri said...
O. god.
There are no words.
Speaking as a person who draws people for a living -- I dunno... I looked at it again and just got sad.
You sadden me pasty CCC lady with the stringy eyebrows.
Brianna McCarthy @ Passion.Fruit
http://briannamccarthy.blogspot.com - November 13, 2008 at 9:47 AM
- Kristin Anderson Barrick said...
Oh my Lord, I immediately knew who you were talking about JUST from the Doctor Who mention.
Doctor Who cakes (not just Daleks) would be a WONDERFUL opportunity for some MONSTROUS wrecks. Literally and figuratively.
Love the site. Love you. And love Doctor Who. - November 13, 2008 at 9:48 AM
- Kristin Anderson Barrick said...
OH! And when they take the CCC apart it'll look like her when she gets all dry, cracks and dies!
MOISTURIZE ME!!! - November 13, 2008 at 9:49 AM
Oh my! That is hilarious! Surely no one would buy that?!?!?
- November 13, 2008 at 9:53 AM
- Nosnin said...
LOL!!! I knew what you were talking about right way!
- November 13, 2008 at 9:53 AM
- Angie McCullagh said...
That is so very, very odd. But I know a few people who would really dig that cake.
Angie (from over at www.HalfAssedKitchen.com) - November 13, 2008 at 9:54 AM
- Anita said...
I totally knew who that was!
- November 13, 2008 at 9:54 AM
- Mintychip said...
You'll be glad to know that I immediately knew who you were talking about. And yes! people do need more quality programming in their life.
Are those floating cupcakes supposed to be anntenae?
I have no idea what this CCC is supposed to be if its not Cassandra, even if its not a good Cassandra. - November 13, 2008 at 9:54 AM
Moisturize me!
- November 13, 2008 at 9:54 AM
- Unknown said...
You know what, you're right! I didn't need the explanation, but then I'm lucky enough to be a Brit, and therefore fully versed in all things Who!
Thanks for this blog, I love my daily dose of Wreckiness!
Emily - November 13, 2008 at 9:54 AM
I knew exactly who you were talking about!
*retreats back to her Anglophile geek corner* - November 13, 2008 at 9:55 AM
- Unknown said...
I knew who it was!!! It also reminded me of the Face of Bo.
- November 13, 2008 at 9:56 AM
- Word Ninja said...
Once again Jen, your humor surpasses even the wreckiest of wrecks. We've seen Daleks, we now have Lady Cassandra, what's next? I'm hoping for a CCC of a Zygon, that would be truly wreck-tastic! Thanks again!
- November 13, 2008 at 9:57 AM
It IS her! But those are purple hair tufts, they're glam purple sunglasses, which are totally appropriate.
Her scope for accessories having become necessarily limited. - November 13, 2008 at 9:57 AM
- JC and RD said...
I didn't read the text before I looked at the cake and I was TWO SECONDS from calling my fiance and going, "You have to see this wreck! It looks like Cassandra!" and then I read your text and went, "...oh. That's the point."
That said, if the decorator was going for the oldest living human at the end of the earth, he/she did a REALLY good job. - November 13, 2008 at 9:58 AM
- Garret said...
One Wal-Mart clearance rack coming up! Ewwww.
- November 13, 2008 at 10:12 AM
I would buy this wreck if I was having a doctor who house party.
BTW I was laughing at the reference to the doctor before you got to the Cassandra part. - November 13, 2008 at 10:13 AM
- webbith said...
I was hoping the label on the box would give some insight as to what we are looking at... alas, no. It just says "Chocolate cupcake cake with buttercream frosting".
I've never seen Dr. Who, but I think the mere thought of Cassandra will give me nightmares for YEARS. - November 13, 2008 at 10:13 AM
Lady Cassandra lives! First there was the Dalek cake-off, now this. I'm in Doctor Who/Cake Wreck Heaven. Can we have an Ood cake, now? Pretty please? Or at least a Tardis?
- November 13, 2008 at 10:14 AM
- Dani said...
OK, I was CW fan before, but your Doctor reference just pushed you even higher up the charts :)
Before I read your words, "Moisturize Me" went thru my head. After, I wondered where (chocolate) Chip was. - November 13, 2008 at 10:22 AM
ohh, i have a birthday suprise for my Dr who obsessed friend! yey wal mart crack head bakers! :)
- November 13, 2008 at 10:23 AM
- Kirsten Alicia said...
I recognised the wondrous Lady Cassandra immediately! :) What a, umm, errr, 'interesting' wreck. Hehehehehe!!! :) Kirsten.
- November 13, 2008 at 10:24 AM
OMG -- thank you for totally making my day. Cake wreck + Doctor Who reference = priceless!
- November 13, 2008 at 10:34 AM
- sues2u2 said...
oh, too funny! My 65+ yr old mom LOVES Dr Who!
- November 13, 2008 at 10:45 AM
- LisaDiane said...
This cake was so scary I had to watch your post from behind the couch! I love Dr. Who - and I could immediately see Lady Cassandra. Moisturize me! Moisturize me!
- November 13, 2008 at 10:45 AM
- Kells said...
Cassandra Cake! The perfect scary addition to complement the TARDIS cake at your next celebration!
- November 13, 2008 at 10:50 AM
Dr. Who reference FTW!
..and wow. Just wow. That thing looks like the unholy union of Lady Cassandra and the Face of Boe (hey, the Face did get pregnant...) - November 13, 2008 at 10:52 AM
- MichieGrl said...
Okay, the Dr. Who image was even more disturbing than the CCC, but I would have to agree that that is in fact what the Walmart bakery had to be going for.
- November 13, 2008 at 11:00 AM
- Kimmie said...
Moisturize me! Moisturize me!
I'm with you, it does look like Cassandra. - November 13, 2008 at 11:01 AM
- April Fossen said...
CW and Doctor Who together in one post?! My day is already complete.
- November 13, 2008 at 11:02 AM
- jemmo said...
I cannot think of a more fitting epitaph for Lady Cassandra than a CCC. Of course, there is the (admittedly very slight) chance that this is actually a very clever and precise depiction of her in mid-explosion (those ignorant of all things Who: Lady Cassandra needed to be constantly moisturized, because she had no moisturizing system left in her... body. When she didn't get moisturized for a few minutes, things got a little bit 'splody).
- November 13, 2008 at 11:05 AM
- Seeing_I said...
Hm, she could be flatter. She's got a little chin sticking out.
- November 13, 2008 at 11:15 AM
- Kameron said...
It's official! You are obsessed with CCCs. I think you should change the name of your blog to Cupcake Wrecks! :o)
- November 13, 2008 at 11:15 AM
- wvc said...
I guess I'll admit that I thought it was Cassandra. All it needs is a few robotic spider cupcakes.
- November 13, 2008 at 11:17 AM
- Lisa Chin said...
I LOVE Dr. Who and as soon as I read about you saying this cake was from Dr. Who I KNEW who you were going to say because it looks just like her. How funny!
- November 13, 2008 at 11:21 AM
Yep, that's Cassandra alright. I have to send this one to my husband, he's the one who first made me watch Doctor Who. - November 13, 2008 at 11:23 AM
- Unknown said...
One glance at the picture and I thought the same thing... Haha, need to lay off the doctor addiction.
- November 13, 2008 at 11:24 AM
- Unknown said...
I totally saw Cassandra right off the bat. YAY!
But I do have to guess that wasn't the goal.
...Someone send it to D.T. maybe? - November 13, 2008 at 11:24 AM
- Kuroda said...
YES! At least someone in America is a doctor who fan!
- November 13, 2008 at 11:31 AM
- Anna M. said...
Yes! I know exactly what you're talking about. And that totally makes sense, too. Now I want to see a Lady Cassandra cake that is supposed to be her...
- November 13, 2008 at 11:37 AM
While it resembles Cassandra it also reminds me of Amelia Earhart (guess it's the goggles/glasses on top of her head.)
Either way...what was that crazy baker thinking? (I checked my local WM yesterday, alas no cake wrecks - darn!) - November 13, 2008 at 11:38 AM
- Jessie said...
If you ask me, the CCC looks like Michael Jackson. If he had purple hair.
- November 13, 2008 at 11:38 AM
- Raina Cox said...
A Dr. Who reference? I now officially have a girl crush on you.
This is just the best blog. - November 13, 2008 at 11:42 AM
- mimi said...
I have tried watching Dr. Who many times... and every. single. time. I've ended up watching this episode. Not quite sure how that's happened, but I got the reference.
- November 13, 2008 at 11:42 AM
I thought that it looked like The Moon from The Mighty Boosh
But that doesn't explain whatever is going on at the top of its head. And The Moon has less lipaction going on too. - November 13, 2008 at 11:43 AM
- Robin said...
Lady Cassandra! That's disturbing and beautiful at the same time. Beautiful for the Who reference, of course. :)
Upon closer inspection, the thing that really wigs me out is that her eyes don't match. One iris is filled in and the other is just outlined. It's all wonky. :( - November 13, 2008 at 11:44 AM
I knew it was Cassandra right away. Didn't even have to scroll down.
- November 13, 2008 at 11:47 AM
- Unknown said...
I'm thinking Will Ferrell in Zoolander.
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm596023552/ch0007759 - November 13, 2008 at 11:50 AM
- Das Mutter said...
I have to say I'm a little freaked out by the picture more so than the CCC, although both seem to have a few issues....
- November 13, 2008 at 12:01 PM
- LutherLiz said...
Yeah, I totally knew it was Cassandra. Props for the Who reference and the wrecks! Love it!
- November 13, 2008 at 12:02 PM
- jackie31337 said...
When I showed this to my daughter, she asked what it was, and then declared that she wanted a CCC. Much to my relief, she immediately corrected herself and said she wanted a cupcake. :)
- November 13, 2008 at 12:03 PM
I really wonder what the heck they were trying for if this *wasn't* intended to be Cassandra. :/ Wonder if they'll do a Slitheen cake next, that'd be pretty scary . . .
- November 13, 2008 at 12:05 PM
- Craig said...
You know, I really liked this site since I first saw it, but after a reference to the Doctor...I think it may be love.
- November 13, 2008 at 12:12 PM
Thank you so much for spreading your love of Doctor Who!
- November 13, 2008 at 12:12 PM
- Jamie and Angela said...
I can't imagine what occasion would call for a cake like that...
- November 13, 2008 at 12:13 PM
OK, so what the heck is it *supposed* to be??? What did the person who submitted it say?
- November 13, 2008 at 12:16 PM
See, I never watched Dr. Who. I did watch In Living Color though. To me that CCC looks just like Jim Carrey as Vera Di Milo! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/JessieyWeber/VeraDiMilo.jpg
- November 13, 2008 at 12:21 PM
hahahaha I knew EXACTLY who you were talking about... does that make me a dork?
- November 13, 2008 at 12:21 PM
- Unknown said...
I always thought we were kindred spirits, but now I know! Same sense of humor, same sarcasm, and now same TV habits (and Dr. Who IS a habit!). Thanks for all the laughs!
- November 13, 2008 at 12:22 PM
- ~teachmom~ said...
LOL! YES!!! IT SOOOO LOOKS LIKE HER!!!! We are big Dr. Who fans in this household. :) That's too funny! :)
- November 13, 2008 at 12:25 PM
- Angie said...
ROFLMA That is seriously freaky looking.
Only good can come of a drug test for the baker of this freaky cake. - November 13, 2008 at 12:28 PM
- Lisa said...
OH MY GOD! What is that SUPPOSED to be?!
- November 13, 2008 at 12:29 PM
- SolaMommy said...
I think it looks like Frida Kahlo.
- November 13, 2008 at 12:37 PM
- Unknown said...
My first thought was Face of Bo. But Cassandra works too.
- November 13, 2008 at 12:39 PM
- Adele said...
and you can get her in all of her detailed CCCglory for only $19.48, I'm guessing the $0.48 is for the two cupcake antennae on top!!! What a wreckalicious steal. the only word to truly describe her is NOLLU which blogger must have thought of too since that is the security word verification for this post!
Adele - November 13, 2008 at 12:44 PM
- Karen from the Cape said...
Lady Cassandra? I immediately thought of the little adipose babies in Partners in Crime, the first Doctor Who episode with Donna as a regular character. Those were some cute aliens.
- November 13, 2008 at 12:50 PM
Looks like that ugly white spider guy on Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends. Ewwww.
- November 13, 2008 at 1:04 PM
- docgrumbles said...
That is TOTALLY Lady Cassandra! Moisturize her!
- November 13, 2008 at 1:09 PM
- Beth said...
It looks like Spiderus from the Nick Jr. show Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends, but with out legs.
- November 13, 2008 at 1:09 PM
- Persnickety Ticker said...
As if I weren't already terrified of Wal-mart.
Gee. Thanks. - November 13, 2008 at 1:11 PM
I love you and your blog more and more each day, for bringing together two of my most favorite things: Doctor Who and baked goods gone wrong.
Now if we can just find the TARDIS in fondant... - November 13, 2008 at 1:16 PM
That's ... wow.
Just wow. - November 13, 2008 at 1:20 PM
Anyone else see lambchop...like the shari lewis puppet?!
i hope im not goign crazy here lol - November 13, 2008 at 1:21 PM
- Hyena Overlord said...
I'm glad you went out on a limb for us on this one. Especially, since neither the cake or and "bitchy trampoline" seems to have any.
Are those purple things sunglasses? Is she supposed to be a cloud? A little happy cloud for that painting guys birthday?
I should watch the new Who. The old one with it's $5 prop budget used to crack me up.
word verification menforna...should be malforma for the cake - November 13, 2008 at 1:22 PM
- KandiB said...
I don't care who it looks like (or doesn't) - what really freaks me out is that they would charge $20 for it! They should pay ME to take it home and throw it in the garbage. Yikes!
- November 13, 2008 at 1:26 PM
- Erica said...
Someone needs to get this cake some tweezers. Seriously.
- November 13, 2008 at 1:30 PM
- erin k said...
Now, a David Tennant cake, I would enjoy.
*yummmy* - November 13, 2008 at 1:32 PM
HAHAHAHA!! I do see lady Cassandra!
- November 13, 2008 at 1:33 PM
Hey Cassandra would have certainly been My first thought, too!
"Moisturize me! Moisturize me!!!"
B*tchy trampoline... :D :P
(Ladyfox7oaks, over here from the LJ/RSS feed) - November 13, 2008 at 1:35 PM
Oh god, you do NOT want to look for Who cakes. Well, actually maybe you do - there are some pretty great wrecks out there. But they're mostly home-made from what I've seen so not nearly as hilarious.
- November 13, 2008 at 1:43 PM
- KatieDoyle said...
Dr. Who=Best sci-fi schow ever!!!
Well, maybe not ever. I am overly fond of anything Joss Whedon.
And that cake totally looks like her. It was the first thing I thought when I saw the picture. Before I read the post. - November 13, 2008 at 2:03 PM
I know who she is! And another Who-ite <3 She does in fact look like Cassandra AND Zoe Wannamaker - who played Cassandra........
- November 13, 2008 at 2:03 PM
I totally knew who she was, and you're right, that's totally her. Scary!
- November 13, 2008 at 2:04 PM
- Ream O Rama said...
Looks like the Wal Mart bakery manager needs to revoke that creative license...
Maybe this is a signal from the lone Dr. Who fan in WalMart begging for rescue.
Moisturize me! - November 13, 2008 at 2:05 PM
- A Strange and Wonderful Man said...
Woohoo! Fellow Who fan! And yes, saw it right away.
- November 13, 2008 at 2:10 PM
The minute I saw the picture, I immediately thought of Cassandra! I'm still convinced it's her...
- November 13, 2008 at 2:11 PM
Oh my gosh! I laughed right out loud - I actually thought it was Cassandra before even reading your description/comparison. NICELY DONE!
All I can say is those cakes better be MOIST! - November 13, 2008 at 2:13 PM
You have reached a new level of awesome with the Doctor Who reference!
As for the cake...yeah, totally Cassandra. - November 13, 2008 at 2:19 PM
No way, you're totally wrong! It's clearly made by a fan of French techno music producer Sebastian's recent EP Cover:
I'm just kidding, you had me at the first sentence actually. Cake Wrecks + Doctor Who = Made my day! - November 13, 2008 at 2:22 PM
- Laurie said...
im going to have nightmares about this cake and that picture from Dr. Who.
Who would ever buy that?! - November 13, 2008 at 2:25 PM
Moisturize her! Ha! That is hilarious. As soon as you said "Doctor Who" I saw Lady Cassandra.
But WHY would anybody want a cake of an evil, body-stealing, plastic-surgery-obsessed character?
Why not a TARDIS? How hard would a TARDIS be to make out of cake? I would like to see Ace of Cakes do that one. - November 13, 2008 at 2:26 PM
- Jacqui said...
That's creepy. I never watched Dr. Who, but after seeing that my interest is piqued. Was Cassandra a big player in that show? Seriously... what was that cake supposed to be?
- November 13, 2008 at 2:33 PM
- BreeAnn said...
Hopefully this cake explodes just like she did :P
- November 13, 2008 at 2:35 PM
- Melodi said...
It looked like a strange cow to me.
- November 13, 2008 at 2:35 PM
- Unknown said...
I agree with other's that is totally the Face of Bo. The heavy eyebrows, the big lips, the purple life support tubing . . .
All it needs is a little cat cupcake on the side . . . - November 13, 2008 at 2:38 PM
- KateF said...
Doctor Who is everywhere. And I love it!
- November 13, 2008 at 2:45 PM
- MaryO said...
Hmmmmmmmm. I confess I had never heard of Lady Cassandra, but I did Google her after reading the comments. Now, I'm even more confused.
However, I think this cake sorta kinda resembles the Jason's ship (the bow of the ship shaped liked a woman) from Jason and the Argonauts. It's supposed to be Honor Blackman (Hera). Anyway. That's what I think
I cannot imagine anyone paying $20.00 for this wreck. Man. What a ripoff! - November 13, 2008 at 3:04 PM
- Janet said...
The picture came up and my mind immediately thought 'Doctor Who'! Then I scrolled down and the smile spread across my face.
This is truly a good day. One of my favorite blogs references one of my favorite shows. - November 13, 2008 at 3:11 PM
It looks like Toni Basil from the end of the Mickey video; that was my first thought.
- November 13, 2008 at 3:12 PM
- CarrieTown said...
I must see the Daleks cake, if only to finally use the following joke.
Wait for it....
Get it? It's like "Exterminate"...
you people are lame. - November 13, 2008 at 3:16 PM
- TheOtherJennifer said...
It looks like "Spidaris" from the Miss Spider cartoon.
- November 13, 2008 at 3:27 PM
- ChatRabbit said...
Good Lord...
They're both highly disturbing! - November 13, 2008 at 3:46 PM
- jamie said...
Don't worry. I got it. :]
- November 13, 2008 at 3:47 PM
- zann said...
totally got the reference and agreed with you. The fact that you're a Who fan has just made me even more in love with this blog. But what was that face suppose to be for real? Did yhe person who submitted it have any answers?
- November 13, 2008 at 3:49 PM
- JJ Sobey said...
I totally thought of Cassandra too!!
- November 13, 2008 at 3:54 PM
I think the funniest part of the whole thing is that they're charging $19.48 for it!
- November 13, 2008 at 3:55 PM
Um... I don't know why but it looks like Bjork to me.
- November 13, 2008 at 4:03 PM
Awesome! I love the Dr. Who reference! Cassandra as a cake? She'd be more appropriate as a crepe. :)
- November 13, 2008 at 4:06 PM
- Ell said...
Who else could it be?
Hahaha, so bad, really. - November 13, 2008 at 4:12 PM
- MK said...
It is reminiscent of Cassandra, scary!
- November 13, 2008 at 4:18 PM
- Amy McMean said...
that purple stuff sorta looks like sunglasses pushes up on her cupcake forhead
- November 13, 2008 at 4:19 PM
- Loth said...
Not only do I know who Cassandra is, I am sitting not 2 feet from an action figure of her (or should that be an inaction figure?) We are knee deep in Daleks and Sea Devils too.
- November 13, 2008 at 4:20 PM
Bwahaha! And you can "explode" the cake to eat her! Love it. LOVE IT. Although MY favorite Cassandra incarnation is when she's David Tennant. Hilarious. I pee myself laughing every time.
- November 13, 2008 at 4:23 PM
- Unknown said...
That is the ugliest cake I have ever seen. I think it may even top the birth one.
Angie. - November 13, 2008 at 4:28 PM
- Carrie and Michael Brown said...
I think those purple things on her head are supposed to be sunglasses.
- November 13, 2008 at 4:39 PM
The cake doesn't even care that it's on cake wrecks. Is it bothered? Look at its face. Face; look; bothered? It ain't bothered!
(Apologies to the Catherine Tate Show)
~Melanie - November 13, 2008 at 4:40 PM
Um. Is it the evil spider villain from Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids??
- November 13, 2008 at 4:46 PM
Hooray for the Doctor! Does the cake need constant moisturizing, though?
- November 13, 2008 at 4:51 PM
- Sra said...
Also resembles the puffy faced dream lady from Eraserhead. She freaks me out.
Sorry if someone else already mentioned this. - November 13, 2008 at 5:00 PM
- Donna M. said...
And for a low low price of $19.48 you too can have a face cake! Who's face? Who cares!
- November 13, 2008 at 5:04 PM
- punkinmama said...
This is my new favorite blog. Seriously.
What in holy heck *is* that?! - November 13, 2008 at 5:16 PM
I'm not sure which is scarier... the CCC that resembles a face very vaguely.... or the creepiest television character I can imagine. I don't watch TV, but that plotline and frightening image doesn't give me much motivation to do so. Yikes!
- November 13, 2008 at 5:16 PM
- Unknown said...
That is awful.
Who would buy that? I'm not even sure what it's trying to be.
-Kate - November 13, 2008 at 5:33 PM
- Glittermillie said...
Hahaha! I know who she is but then I live in the UK and it's compulsory to watch Doctor Who here! :)
- November 13, 2008 at 5:43 PM
- Emmers said...
wha...wh...WHY WAS THIS EVEN MADE?!?!?
- November 13, 2008 at 5:49 PM
- Kitti said...
I think the purple puff thingy's are supposed to be sunglasses, LOL!
I think you were right about the drug testing! - November 13, 2008 at 6:04 PM
Was it supposed to look like Cassandra or is it something else?
- November 13, 2008 at 6:08 PM
- Unknown said...
There... there... there are just no words for that... thing
- November 13, 2008 at 6:20 PM
- Susan said...
That is very scary in its own right, but what is even more horrifying is that someone thinks that...thing...is worth $19.48.
- November 13, 2008 at 6:32 PM
- ames said...
Ha, I thought you were going to say it was the Face of Boe!
- November 13, 2008 at 7:04 PM
- Chuck said...
My first thought was that it was meant to be Will Farrels' character "Mugatu" from the Zoolander movie - I wonder if Wal-mart was trying to challenge you to a "cake-off" LOL.
- November 13, 2008 at 8:12 PM
- Amy said...
I think the name of this blog ought to be cup-cake wrecks. Not that I'm complaining.....they crack me up! Keep them coming! : )
Take the hint all you cake decorators out there, CCC's are a disaster waiting to happen. - November 13, 2008 at 8:12 PM
- Danita said...
No, I totally saw Cassandra before you even said Dr. Who!! Tooooo funny! Love the blog - keep it comin!!!
- November 13, 2008 at 8:14 PM
- Kathleen said...
The terribly sad thing? WalMart DOES drug screen EVERY applicant/employee - even my 65 yo mother! (when she was 65 and employed at Walmart)
- November 13, 2008 at 8:30 PM
the first cake looks like spiderus from 'miss spiders sunny patch' Kinda creepy.
- November 13, 2008 at 8:43 PM
- Crazy Raven Productions said...
*dies laughing* It's TOTALLY Cassandra!!!!!!! Oh My God!!!
- November 13, 2008 at 8:46 PM
- cadylee said...
I'm sorry, but WHAT. THE. FRACK. I mean, I follow the disturbing psychology that prompts baby and pregnant belly cakes, but this is just ... weird.
- November 13, 2008 at 8:57 PM
- Mel said...
It totally looks like her! Hmmm... I wonder what the TARDIS would look like rendered in cupcakes...
- November 13, 2008 at 8:57 PM
Thats about the only Doctor Who episode I'v actually seen so i got the refrence at least.Still trying to figure out how to make that dalek cake...
- November 13, 2008 at 9:17 PM
This has become one of my favorite blogs EVER. Thanks for makin gme laugh until I cry on a regular basis!
- November 13, 2008 at 9:30 PM
I think maybe that purple stuff is sunglasses.
- November 13, 2008 at 9:59 PM
- Pirka said...
I saw that as soon as I saw the cake...I didn't remember Cassandra's name, but I instantly thought 'isn't that that stretched-out-skin lady from Dr. Who?'.
It kind of creeped me out when you saw the same.
~ Emily
PS: Long time reader, first time poster. LOVE this blog (and under neat that write 'it is awesome' :) ) - November 13, 2008 at 10:05 PM
- Donna M. said...
Ya know...I just took another glance, and it kinda looks like John Travolta in Hairspray.
- November 13, 2008 at 10:24 PM
- Minerva said...
Looks to me like a reject from Pee Wee's Playhouse.
"What's the secret word, cakie?" - November 13, 2008 at 10:51 PM
- Amanda M. said...
she's actually *the last* human ever.
i definitely liked her best in the doctor's body, admiring the smokin hottness that is david tennant... mmmmmm... cassandra knows where it's at. - November 13, 2008 at 10:52 PM
- Kristi said...
Hmm, to me it looks a bit more like the Face of Boe...
- November 13, 2008 at 11:02 PM
- Andrea said...
Totally saw it.
- November 13, 2008 at 11:20 PM
Looks kinda like Spiderus from Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends
<.< >.> <.< >.> <.< >.>
Don't ask how I know that - November 14, 2008 at 12:57 AM
- April said...
Sweet baby Jesus, that's disturbing! That was more traumatic than the time I walked into a school assembly with my skirt tucked into my pantyhose.
- November 14, 2008 at 1:24 AM
I need this CCC to go with my Cassandra "Action" figure I got this past summer!
- November 14, 2008 at 1:46 AM
I love Dr Who and know exactly what you are talking about :)
- November 14, 2008 at 2:05 AM
I don't think I've ever been more thankful that the Wal-marts here don't have bakeries.
- November 14, 2008 at 3:03 AM
- November 14, 2008 at 3:44 AM
- River said...
I'm a Dr Who fan, so I knew who that was immediately.
- November 14, 2008 at 5:12 AM
- Mantolwen said...
You Americans are way behind on your Doctor Who episodes! *Thinks back several years*
I'm gonna miss DT as the Doctor. - November 14, 2008 at 8:32 AM
- Unknown said...
Dr Who? I thought it was Paris Hilton with rollers and a facial mask.
- November 14, 2008 at 9:19 AM
Holy crud, it DOES look like her! And I remember that chick... or what's left of her. (Not a huge Who fan, but I saw several episodes of it at a sci-fi convention a few years back.)
- November 14, 2008 at 9:34 AM
My five year old likes to look at the cake wrecks with me each day. She wanted me to inform everyone that its actually a really bad looking sheep cake. (LOL)
- November 14, 2008 at 9:58 AM
- Wild Child said...
Hmmm...sad thing is, Wal-Mart does have a drug screening program.
I really, really, really, really want to know what they were going for. - November 14, 2008 at 10:25 AM
- MetalNoir said...
Sorry, Wreckmistress. You have this one wrong. This is high art. I'm serious. Compare it to Picasso's minimalist period. This is great stuff. I'd have this at a party. Not for the kids though: they wouldn't get it.
- November 14, 2008 at 10:56 AM
Hey, can the submitter tell us what this was originally supposed to be? Was there a photo they tried to replicate of something? Hilarious either way.
- November 14, 2008 at 12:09 PM
- Unknown said...
The first thing it reminded me of was the famous cover art for the Great Gatsby - the woman's face.
Except with no tear, and some crazy... horns? - November 14, 2008 at 12:53 PM
- Mer said...
Hooray for Whoovians! :D
This post made my (and my Who-loving friends) day! - November 14, 2008 at 1:48 PM
- Jen said...
that is totally Cassandra. I'm glad that you like quality programming too.
- November 14, 2008 at 2:31 PM
- Gidgidonihah said...
Hahahaha! I looked at that picture and thought. That's not just a face. I know that face.
Then you mentioned Dr. Who and that was totally it. Great stuff. - November 14, 2008 at 2:55 PM
As soon as I saw "Doctor Who" I immediately started debating whether it was Cassandra or the Face of Boe.
- November 14, 2008 at 3:57 PM
- Lutra said...
I can absolutely see the resemblance now, though at first glance I thought 'Cool! The face of Boe! ... should be greener.' : )
- November 14, 2008 at 5:30 PM
It took my hubby about a millisecond to say, "Hey! It's Cassandra!"
- November 14, 2008 at 7:06 PM
- Andrea said...
OMG!!! I thought it looked like Cassandra before I saw that you wrote that! Yay for another Whovian!!!
MOISTURIZE ME!!! Bahaha! - November 14, 2008 at 7:25 PM
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text:
Forget wearables, let's talk about inflatables.
Volvo's new child safety seat concept is a fully inflatable device designed to make what's normally a clunky and heavy seat both lighter and more portable.
So compact is this prototype that it goes from a stylish-looking backpack into a rear-facing car seat in less than a minute. You can pump it in the car — the seat comes with its own pump — and it's Bluetooth-connected so you could pump it remotely.
When inflated, the seat weighs just under 11 pounds.
Gizmag talked with Volvo and tells us more:
" 'For me, child safety is always the number one priority, and when we lived abroad with two toddlers we had to haul bulky child seats through airports and then into taxis,' explains Lawrence Abele, the design manager at Volvo's Monitoring and Concept Center in LA. 'For many, traveling with young children is a challenge; any assistance to simplify the parents' life with young children is a great thing.'
"Volvo may be far more well known for designing the vehicles that child seats are installed in, but it also has a long history of developing child seats themselves. It began designing child seats half a century ago with what it refers to as the world's first rear-facing child seat prototype. It also takes credit for developing the first rear-facing ISOFIX seat."
Will this prototype actually get manufactured? It's still in the development stage, according to Volvo. And it seems a lot depends on whether it passes Volvo's rigorous safety tests, meets government standards to go to market and — most important — whether parents actually trust an inflatable car seat to safely protect their children when driving around. As with other inflatables, it could pop leaks.
But if you and your family have ever tried going out of town and taking along the standard car seats available today, you probably understand why we're so excited about this week's innovation pick. Do you have other hardware innovations to share? Fill out our form.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
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Niall Matthews lives with his family in Japan. He teaches aikibudo and community self-defence courses and has taught budo for twenty-five years. He was the senior deshi of Kinjo Asoh Sensei, 7 dan Aikikai. He was the exclusive uke of Sadateru Arikawa Sensei, 9 dan Aikikai, at the hombu dojo in Tokyo for thirteen years until Arikawa Sensei's death in 2003. He has trained in several other martial arts to complement his aikido training, including judo (he has 4 dan from the Kodokan in Tokyo), kenjutsu (for about ten years) and karate (for about three years). He originally went to Japan as a staff member of the EU almost thirty years ago. He received 5 dan from Arikawa Sensei in 1995. This 5 dan is the last aikido dan he will receive in his life. His dojo is called Aikibudo Kokkijuku 合気武道克輝塾. Arikawa Sensei personally gave him the character for ki in kokki. It is the same character as teru in Sadateru - not the normal spelling of kokki 克己. It means you make your life shining and clear yourself.


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Creating a global supply chain that is equipped to thrive in a world of rising complexity and uncertainty involves more than reconfiguring operational assets and making long-term strategic bets about production-and supply-related risks. Significant organizational challenges are involved, too, since the decisions and activities of a company's supply chain group influence (and are influenced by) the sales team, marketers, and product developers, among others.
The result is a host of thorny trade-offs. Should a company, say, move a product to a low-cost manufacturing facility to save money if that means lengthening delivery times? What if trimming the company's product portfolio to reduce manufacturing complexity and costs could stifle marketing efforts to reach new customers? When do the benefits of improved customer service warrant the additional operating expenses required to deliver it?
Supply chain, sales, and marketing managers invariably view such trade-offs through the lens of their own responsibilities—and this perspective often leads to disagreements or misunderstandings. Indeed, a recent McKinsey survey of global executives cited the inability of functional groups to understand their impact on one another as the most common barrier to collaboration for resolving the major supply chain trade-offs.
Ineffective collaboration has long been a supply chain sore spot, but its costs are set to rise drastically. If it's hard to agree on the right response to a disruption in a supply chain today, it will be more difficult still when companies deal with multiple interconnected supply chains, each possibly requiring a different solution. And consider the short- and long-term supply chain trade-offs executives must balance in a world where one business unit might be asked to shift its manufacturing lines to a more expensive near-shore location today to build capacity as a hedge against potential future spikes in labor or transport costs.
Finding mechanisms to solve these and other difficult supply chain questions will require hands-on attention from the CEO and other company leaders. The process begins when executives work together to identify places where better information sharing and teamwork will generate the most impact. Let's look, then, at three of the biggest collaboration tensions we routinely observe and see how companies are bridging these organizational divides to create more flexible and capable supply chains.
Tension 1: Supply chain versus sales
Supply chain organizations wage a constant battle against volatile demand, and for good reason. An unexpected spike in orders, for example, has expensive consequences in labor and distribution costs. Similarly, inaccurate sales forecasts can lead to stock-outs, lost sales, or excess inventory that must be sold at a discount. Sales and supply chain groups therefore devote significant energy to creating sophisticated planning and forecasting processes in an attempt to predict demand volatility—and blame each other when things go awry.
When these groups work together more closely, they can move beyond the traditional planning-cycle blame game, discover the root causes of volatility, and ultimately begin to influence it. This approach brings tangible business benefits—often quickly. Crucially, over the longer term, the experience that groups gain from flexing their collaborative muscles heightens the ability to react quickly, and in a concerted way, to unforeseen events. That skill will be even more necessary given the increasing uncertainty in the supply chain environment. Here are two examples that illustrate the potential.
The first involves an automotive supplier whose sales teams often scrambled to meet quarterly targets that would guarantee them better performance bonuses. Customers recognized this behavior and, in some cases, were gaming the system by withholding orders until the end of the quarter to secure deeper discounts—creating supply chain headaches and hurting the company's bottom line. The vice president of sales and the supply chain head collaborated to fix this problem and make demand more predictable. One key step: substantially trimming end-of-quarter discounts and instead using a price and discount structure based on sales volumes, product loyalty, and participation in promotional efforts. The company also created new incentives to encourage sales teams to spread sales more evenly across the quarter.
Our second example involves a global manufacturer of consumer packaged goods. This company discovered that promotional activity in just five customer accounts drove most of its demand volatility. Although it carefully planned the promotions to maximize revenues, its marketers hadn't thought about the impact on the supply chain. By staggering the promotions over several months and aligning them carefully with baseline demand patterns, the company reduced the overall volatility of demand by 25 percent.
When the company rolled out the new promotions plan, its managers identified another problem: many customers lacked the resources to manage their order levels efficiently and therefore sporadically placed unnecessarily large orders. The company responded by bringing together its sales and supply chain personnel and working with these customers to create better ordering processes for them. In this way, it smoothed the flow of orders—a move that benefitted both parties.
Problems like these are endemic in many supply chains. By tackling these problems, companies often enjoy immediate benefits while building collaborative capabilities that will be crucial over the long term in the more complex and uncertain supply chain environment of the future.
Tension 2: Supply chain versus service
A second important tension that has long existed, but will become even more acute as companies seek to create more resilient global supply chains, involves the setting of customer service levels. How speedy should deliveries be? Should some customers receive orders faster than others? What levels of product availability should be guaranteed? In our experience, companies traditionally leave these decisions to the sales function, which often makes service-related decisions without understanding the operational implications or costs involved.
When these groups work together to analyze the full impact of a service decision, they avoid this pitfall—a lesson learned by a chemical company whose sales personnel were pushing its logistics team to reduce delivery times to two days, from three. The company achieved this goal, but only by using more warehouse space and labor and by loading its delivery trucks less efficiently than it otherwise would have. All this increased distribution costs by 5 percent.
While this trade-off might have been acceptable under the right circumstances, a closer examination by the heads of the supply chain and sales groups revealed that most customers didn't mind if deliveries arrived in two, three, or even five days. The real breakpoint when service was most highly valued was 24 hours. By extending the delivery window for normal orders back to three days, the company returned its distribution costs to their original levels. Meanwhile, it launched a special 24-hour express service for critical deliveries, for which it charged a premium. The move ultimately raised the company's costs slightly, but this was more than offset by the new business it generated.
As supply chains splinter and companies diversify production to hedge against uncertainty, the importance of making smart trade-offs about service levels and speed can only grow. Companies seeking to cope will have to strengthen partnerships between the leaders of the supply chain, sales, and service.
Tension 3: Supply chain versus product proliferation
Remedying some of the root causes of growing supply chain complexity will be another important benefit of enhanced collaboration in the C-suite. Take the complexity associated with product portfolios. Sales and marketing organizations work hard to create new products, explore new market opportunities, and respond to emerging customer needs. As they do, products and variants tend to proliferate, creating portfolios with long tails of niche offerings. A consumer goods maker we know, for example, recently found that nearly one-third of the 6,400 SKUs1 in its product portfolio together represented just 1 percent of total revenues.
This complexity comes at a cost, since low-volume products cost more to make per unit than high-volume ones (because of economies of scale). The consumer goods maker, for example, found that production costs for low-volume products were 129 percent higher than those for its best sellers. Low-volume products also require disproportionate effort in sales and administrative processes. Finally, they drive up supply chain costs: a company must hold higher inventory levels to meet agreed service levels across a broad range of low-volume products than it does over a narrow range of high-volume ones. When all these extra costs are taken into account, the impact can be eye opening. One company we studied found that 25 percent of its SKUs actually lost money.
In the face of these numbers, companies might be tempted to take an ax to the long tails of their product portfolios. Yet blind cutting based on sales figures alone often does more harm than good. Some low-volume products have benefits that outweigh their costs, and only through close collaboration across functional boundaries can companies make the right decisions. Such collaboration won't eliminate the need for more carefully segmented supply chain strategies, but it should help ensure that such efforts are well targeted.
Putting it all together
The top of the organization is the right place for most companies to begin negotiating the functional trade-offs we've outlined. But many senior-management teams give precious little attention to supply chain issues. Across the trade-offs our survey explored, for example, no more than 26 percent of the respondents said that their companies reach alignment among functions as part of the supply chain decision-making process. Moreover, 38 percent say that the CEO has no or limited involvement in driving supply chain strategy.
This is a mistake. CEOs set the agenda for their leadership teams, and it is up to CEOs to encourage and facilitate meaningful discussion of important cross-functional supply chain issues. CEOs can go further too. In some of the most impressive supply chains we've seen, the chief executive promotes collaboration and performance improvement with missionary zeal. The CEO of an apparel company, for example, would always make a point, during store visits, of asking shop floor staff how its recent commercial decisions had affected store operations, including logistics. He would bring up this feedback in meetings with purchasing and supply chain teams and continually encouraged his managers to follow up themselves and engage with shop floor staff on similar topics.
CEOs looking to get started can benefit from asking themselves five questions, which in our experience can help leaders begin to ferret out situations where faulty collaboration may be preventing supply chains from reaching their full potential.
Is production capacity being developed in the right locations—both for today and the future?
Is the sales group doing all it can to make demand smooth and predictable?
Are customers offered the service levels they really need?
Is my marketing department calling for too many niche products that may be too costly to supply?
Are our purchasing and sourcing decisions being made with their supply chain implications in mind?
Poor collaboration and silo thinking have long thwarted the efforts of companies to get more from their supply chains. In a future characterized by rising complexity and uncertainty, solving this perennial problem will change from a valuable performance enhancer to a competitive necessity.


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Great blackout last night, right?
It's been clear for some time that substantially more people watch the Super Bowl than have the slightest interest in watching the actual football game. That's why there's such hubbub over the halftime show and the commercials — it gives non-football types something to pay attention to instead of football.
But this year, Beyonce put on a perfectly polished but in no way surprising show at the half. The commercials and their familiar themes — animals behaving badly, ostensibly cute older people, and more schlubs bumping into gorgeous women than you'd find in Judd Apatow's Cecil B. DeMille Award retrospective — failed to pop. What's more, the game was lopsided, with the Baltimore Ravens leaping ahead of the San Francisco 49ers 28-6.
What were we all supposed to do now?
Fortunately, somebody plugged in one too many hair dryers (I'm assuming; that's what it means at my house), and the lights largely went out. And at that moment, social media ran into a phone booth, ripped off its Clark Kent three-piece suit, and emerged as Superman, here to save us all with the power of competitive worldwide banter. For one thing, the announcers vanished when the lights did, but the cameras kept running, meaning we were all looking at the darkened stadium, but weren't hearing anything about it. Except, of course, for everyone on Twitter who was saying, "Uh, did the power just go out? The power went out, right?"
The very first thing that happened once the situation became clear was the race to make the joke that this was clearly Bane (from The Dark Knight Rises) acting out his anti-football agenda. If you'd been following occurrences of the word "Bane" on Twitter, you'd have seen ... well, you wouldn't have seen anything, because your eyeballs would have been immediately overloaded. There was a slower, somewhat more tentative exploration of whether there was a Katrina-Superdome line of very dark humor to be tapped (as with Dave Weigel's "Fortunately, the bar for 'worst power outage at the Superdome is set really high"). Plenty of people imagined 49ers fans were to blame, or that PBS wanted you to switch to Downton Abbey.
It was a great example of social media as, essentially, boredom insurance. Without it, we'd have been sitting around listening to a bunch of football announcers who just exhausted everything they had to say about the first half during halftime and now had to come up with even more nothingness without really having any new material.
It brought to mind "The Cut Man Cometh," a fine episode of the fine Aaron Sorkin comedy Sports Night, in which anchors Dan and Casey have to fill an hour and a half after a big boxing match for which their network has allotted an evening of special coverage lasts seven seconds. They're stuck with a fill-in reporter on the scene who insists on being called "Cut Man" (he claims he was "a corner man for Rocky Marciano") and who, when he tries to fill, proves that he doesn't know how many states there are (he claims there are 52, counting Alaska and Rhode Island). The Cut Man is a disturbingly accurate imitator of much actual sports coverage ("one of these fighters is going to win this bout tonight, and the other will almost surely not"), and as they prepare to return to the air after the knockout, Dan despairs at Casey's call for analysis: "The fight lasted seven seconds, Casey, we're going to have to go back to counting states." Asked for his take on the fight, Cut Man offers, "First-round knockout, Dan." It's going to be a long hour and a half, clearly.
Much of the CBS scramble was very much like the Cut Man incident, as detailed by numerous writers this morning.
And really, it was a blessing. Think about it — if you went to a party and every last detail went off without a hitch, how many people would you tell? And if you went to a party and the sprinklers went off and all the food was ruined and everyone had to huddle in the bathroom, how many people would you tell? Everyone loves a fiasco, and the power outage was kind of a fiasco, not just because the power went out, but because it interrupted the choreography of commerce and left helpless many of the people who pour literally hilarious quantities of money into covering what is — let's remember — a game involving a bunch of dudes and a ball.
It was unplanned, it was different, and it revved up the social media commentary machine so people were doing more than just eye-rolling at all the woman-objectifying and trying to find something to say about Beyonce's outfit. Most Super Bowls are quickly forgotten unless they involve Janet Jackson's breast or your team is playing. This one will at least be memorable — "What was the one with the power outage?" is a question you can reasonably ask for years to come.
I can only hope it happens at the Oscars.
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