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Maybe they can capture the carbon dioxide, but what are they going to do with it afterwards?

Well, off the top of my head: carbonated beverages. Or fire extinguishers. (I get that the CO2 will eventually be released from these applications, but they are already in addition to coal-fired plants.)

Actually.. I do think it's an improvement, in a way.

There's plenty of non-commercial entities on .com domains. .org domains sometimes have commercial entities .net could be anything from raindows and ponies to hardcore porn
a .us site may well be run by a company on the Seychelles acting for a business in Georgia

Given that there's really very little meaning to the a TLD anyway, I welcome its further dilution to the point where we realize that really it doesn't matter whether we access http://coca-cola.com/ or http://the.real.thing/ , as long as we know what's on there (via prior visits or via google results), it doesn't matter.

Yes, there will be some additional trademark bickering - good for the lawyers. Yes, there will be some domain squatting - who cares, deal with them as you do now. Who cares if somebody registered pepsi.anything - why would anybody looking for pepsi go there? No reason. So why worry about it? Trademark dilution? So print out a template complaint. There, done your trademark defense obligation bit. As it is, with the existing domains, Pepsi Co doesn't seem to be in much of a hurry to get pepsi.cc unsquatted, pepsi.lu isn't set up yet, and pepsi.lv is a dead end.

As it is, a lot of people don't even go straight to a site anymore.. they enter the company name, or even the URL, into the (google) search bar, then hit the (usually) first result there.

If the opening up of TLDs were to have been stopped, it should have been stopped long before the days of .xxx and .aero and far stricter regulation of the use of the existing .com, .net, .org, .edu and ccTLDs.

Imagine if a supermarket put up a big advertising board at the front of the store with pepsi branding and trademarks, but underneath it was just coke cans for sale, with the whole thing paid for by coke. Pepsi would be pissed at coke and the supermarket, and probably institute a trademark lawsuit.

A much better analogy would be if a customer walked into a supermarket with no advertising out front and asked an employee for Pepsi. The employee directed them toward the soft drink isle where there was a large ad display for Coke (paid for by Coke) and further down the isle is the Pepsi which the customer wanted in the first place.

This scenario is much closer to the Google issue with the excetion that Google isn't a store and doesn't even get a cut of the Pepsi sold; only the Coke. Now while I personally think Google should be able to link whatever the hell they want; it's their website but they may be guilty of trademark infringement if they did something like Pepsi but without the slashcode to prevent rickrolling. This would at least be something.

The fact that they aren't doing anything illegal or done before in other venues (see above) tells me that Pepsi can go pound sand, and by Pepsi, I mean the vendors suing, as they have brick and mortar precedent in Google's favor.

Multi-User Dungeon - MUD1 Version 1E

* NASA's Super Happy MUD *
* It's Edutainment! *

Origin of version: Sat Sep 15 10:00:50 2007

Welcome! By what name shall I call you?

>> Buzz

Hello, Buzz!

Cape Canaveral Launch Pad.
You stand in your Converse (tm) Brand space suit on the Launch Pad, before you is a towering shuttle with the huge Coca-Cola (tm) logo on the side of it. A crowd watches in anticipation and enjoys the T-Mobile (tm) cameras broadcasting the cabin and crew live to their cell phones.
[Exits: shuttle, bathroom]

>> bathroom

Bathroom Adjacent to Launch Pad.
You rush into the bathroom and rip off your helmet to deposit your stomach contents in the toilet. Luckily you have Rolaids (tm) antacid in your Converse (tm) Brand space suit. You pop a few pills into your mouth ... ahh much better, Rolaids spells relief.
[Exits: door]

>> door

Cape Canaveral Launch Pad.
You stumble out of the restroom and back on to the launch pad. Oh no, a congressman spots you! "Hey, why if it isn't Buzz!" he says as he moves in for a photo op!
[A Congressman] is at [quite a few]
Your pierce *** MASSACRES *** A Congressman!
A Congressman's pound scratches you.
Your pierce *** MASSACRES *** A Congressman!
Your pierce DISEMBOWELS A Congressman!
[A Congressman] is at [big nasty]
You stop using A diamond-tipped dagger.
You wield a legendary greatsword.
A Congressman sees your attempt to trip him in time to avoid your foot.
[A Congressman] is at [big nasty]

Your fiery slash *** DEMOLISHES *** A Congressman!
[A Congressman] is at [pretty hurt]
A Congressman sees your attempt to trip him in time to avoid your foot.
Your flaming slash *** DEVASTATES *** A Congressman!
[A Congressman] is at [pretty hurt]
Your burning slash *** OBLITERATES *** A Congressman!
You trip A Congressman, sending him sprawling to the ground!

Your flaming slash *** OBLITERATES *** A Congressman!
A Congressman is mortally wounded, and will die soon if not aided.
[A Congressman] is at [dying]

You trip A Congressman, knocking him unconscious. A Congressman is mortally wounded, and will die soon if not aided.
[A Congressman] is at [dying]

You trip A Congressman, knocking him unconscious.
A Comgressman is mortally wounded, and will die soon if not aided.
Your burning slash *** DEMOLISHES *** A Congressman!
The Congressman's body becomes limp and the politician drops to the ground DEAD!!

You receive 212000 experience out of 280012 total. [neutral]
[Exits: shuttle, bathroom]

>> shuttle

You stagger into the elevator paid for by Playboy Magazine and begin your assent to the cabin. The slow motion walking thingy starts to happen as you cross the bridge ... Before you enter the cabin, you hug the Doritos (tm) "Who Wants to Meet an Astronaut" Sweepstakes winner and step inside. You turn on your Sony Brand headset that sounds like a dream and prepare for blastoff ...

That's all we have so far. I think you can see just how exciting this game is goi

check out the name on the can. That's Nestea, not Nestle. I was wondering why a chocalate candy company would be making a tea product.

So here's a picture of the cans.

On another note I can think of one beverage that is zero calories and makes you feel great. Just plain old water. I started drinking a couple liters of it a day about 2 years ago and I've never felt better. No more dehydration to make me feel sluggish and tired. That's way better than any caffiene buzz (which just exacerbates dehydration by the way). I love caffiene, but I think it's overused.

Have you tried Coca-Cola Zero? In response to people like myself who hate the metalic flavour of Diet Coke, Coca-Cola responded with Zero which tastes exactly like Coke only without the calories. You can find a press release about the product here. It's fantastic stuff and if they ever come out with a Cherry variation on Coca-Cola Zero, I'll be ecstatic. Give it a try. It may be the solution to your problem.

Heh. The lettering in Blak, especially the a, evoke the Tab logo. http://www.virtualvender.coca-cola.com/ft/detail.j sp?region_id=&country_id=&drink_type_id=&all_reg_s elected=&brand_id=279

Their website press release states it is called ZU, not Blak Press Relase HERE

So, this will be their counter to Jolt Cola?

No. This looks like something completely different. Closer to those little Starbucks frapuccinos you can buy.

http://www2.coca-cola.com/presscenter/img/imagebra nds/downloads/lg_blak.jpg

I found this pic http://www2.coca-cola.com/presscenter/img/imagebra nds/downloads/lg_blak.jpg of the actual bottle.

Hey Mr. Smedley, check THIS out!

Actually, if you live in California, it often does cost us more to purchase beverages in recyclable containers. Purchase a six pack from Safeway and they throw the CRV cost on top of the listed price at the register. "Deposit laws require that beverage bottlers and distributors charge a refundable deposit on beverage containers. Retailers pay the deposit to the bottler or distributor and, in turn, collect a deposit from consumers. When consumers return empty beverage containers, they receive a refund from the retailer or other redemption operation. Finally, the bottler or distributor reimburses the retailer for deposit refunds paid to the consumer." http://www2.coca-cola.com/contactus/faq/environmen t_include.html

http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=11 184

Macworld is reporting that the Journal of Consumer Research came across a study drawing a parallel between consumerism and religion.

The team looked at several brands, including those form the automobile industry, sci-fi TV series and Macs. "All of these brand communities have been demonstrated to be capable of producing transformative experiences in their consumers and all have traces of magic, religion or the supernatural," sez Macworld.

Not that hard to swallow considering the fervor and zealotry behind people's choice of sugared water.

So are you one of the faithful, a convert or a heretic?

There is no "wave-like nature of light".

A photon has a property in complex space that when combined with another photon results in a pattern of intensity in real space similar to that produced by combined waves, but itself has no more "wavelike nature" than the Coca-Cola dynamic wave device" trademark does.

Coca-Cola decided instead to use a substitute

Are you talking about High Fructose Corn Syrup, by any chance?

or for a more balanced view than Coca-Cola's, there's always Cecil, plus a bunchload of other links

Well, we're halfway there:
http://www2.coca-cola.com/citizenship/packaged_wat er.html/

They give the maiden voyage a good thumbs up!

If you're going to drink cheap Scotch (or indeed low-grade hooch of any kind) the simplest and most effective way to lose the manky taste is surely this.

Its like saying: Coca-cola, has been original, 'new', classic, etc, but couldn't they call it something else?

Coca-cola is the name of the company. They have hundreds of brand names

NVidia has 2 brand names. GeForce and Quaddro.

I simply meant anyone that doesn't drink the one true cola is a pervert.

As in: One who has been perverted; one who has turned to error, especially in religion

Partcularly note the notice about trading standards investigations and media speculation on the UK Dasani homepage and the spunk link.

Forgive me if wrong, wasn't Amiga cursed by the BladeRunner curse? Are these the same thing?

No. You must mistake it with Atari. In "Blade Runner", we see many advertisings of companies really existing in the early 1980's, and indeed most of them went into dire troubles in mid and late 1980's. First of all, Coca-Cola entered the whole mess of the "new Coke", that even the company itself calls now "marketing infamy. And that's an euphemism, actually. Then there was Bell (antitrusted just after the theatrical release of Blade Runner), Pan Am and Atari. However, the curse seems now to be extinct. Atari returned now in big style, Coca-Cola is no longer in trouble, and even Pan Am returned (in a way). There was also one excemption from this curse - TDK (a huge TDK advertising is a backrop to the death of Roy Batty in the BR's finale grande).

As long as

-I could bring in outside food & drink if I wanted, without having to smuggle it in under my coat.

-there were trailers for upcoming movies, but NO GODDAMN COMMERCIALS for ANYTHING ELSE. No contests, no movie tie-ins, not even the damn Jimmy Fund.

<rant>
I swear, if I have to sit through that fucking Coca-Cola "Talking About Fame" spot one more time I'm going to go crazy. If I wasn't already a Pepsi drinker, I would switch. That's how much I hate that fucking ad. Annoying commercials inspire me to give the advertiser's nearest competitor my business.
</rant>

Very appropriate. Speaking of Thumbs Up, here's a link to a beverage choice of those overseas call centers.

Not sure how it's going since it was launched last summer since I try to keep that stuff out of my gullet. Not that boycotting an addictive product is easy; people love to defend their addictions. It's scary when you see the list of 60-odd brand names that one would have to avoid to participate. Yay conglomeration and the cloaking device of multiple branding!

If you are lucky enough to find the GPS enabled can, please send it to us along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope and we will magically mail the prize to your location - GPS Rocks !

That was a coke, not a Coke. Besides, the movie theater chain in my town does not serve Coca-Cola products.

I am not a doctor, but...

I had friends and doctors telling me for a long long time that I was drinking too much caffeine, and that it was bad for me.

Caffeine dialates the blood vessles in your body (most importantly your brain), which seems to give you more energy, yada, yada, yada.. Check a medical site for all the stuff it does to you. :)

When you stop taking caffeine, the blood vessles go back to their normal size, and the newly reduced blood flow can cause headaches.. That's the way the doctors told it to me.. True or not, I'm repeating what they said.

I was given caffinated drinks as a kid, and kept drinking them for years.. I like to drink while I eat, so in a restraunt, I could drink many glasses of Coke to wash down my food..

One day I decided for myself that I was drinking too much caffeine. It was a personal decision, which anyone wishing to stop a bad habit must decide for themselves.

The day I stopped drinking caffeine, it took a few hours for an absolutely massive headache to come on. I remember laying on my girlfriends couch, face down, with my head burried in pillows.. I was moaning, and didn't want anything to be happening around me.. It was terrible.. My girlfriend, being the sweet and insightful person that she is, brought me one coke, to ease the pain.. It actually helped.. That took the headache away for a little while.. I was grumpy and had a bit of a headache for a few more days, until it finally went away.

I started drinking lots of water then.. That worked really well for me. I lost a little weight, probably because my calorie intake went way down. It's something like 150 calories per can, and if I drink 6 cans per day that's 900 calories. A pretty substantial amount. If I remember the nutritional stuff right, a person my size (150 pounds) should have 1500 calories per day.

I just checked the Coke site. They claim that caffeine has absolutely no health or addiction risks.

From the Coke.com site

---
Key Facts

* Soft drinks containing caffeine are not addictive.
* Caffeine has no negative impact on hydration or bone health.
* There is no connection between cardiovascular disease and caffeine.
---

Well, I know #1 to be absolutely false. Physical addiction means your body will act as if it *NEEDS* the drug, and will cause things, including headaches, when you stop taking it. A mental addiction just means you want more, even though there is no physical need. Like wanting to read Slashdot every day. :)

I didn't *WANT* to drink another coke. My body was telling me that I *NEED* another coke. That's a physical addiction.

If you read the Coke page, read it with the thought in your mind that Coke's public relations people wrote this.. The same type people that say cigarettes aren't bad for you.

For me, I still occasionally drink soft drinks. I probably do more now than after I stopped, because they're most of what's available in my office environment. I'm going to start carrying a bottle of water to work. It'll at least save me a bunch of cash, if I don't buy soda's every day. :)

For real-world statistics, see these google searches:
"coke is better than pepsi" - 194
"pepsi is better than coke" - 116

Coca-Cola, Inc. announces it is discontinuing its "New Coke" line of products.

New Coke was renamed to "Coke II" in 1990. Apparently, Coca-Cola Co. still sells Coke II in some metropolitan areas.

I guess that's somewhat analogous to Microsoft marketing "MS-Unix".

I suppose that it could be worse. Companies like Coke and Pepsi might entice us to shop at our local AMPM or CircleK more often with a chance to win money or something. At the absolut wurst they could embed advertising into our very content and change the nature of our speech to suit their needs.

Or isn't that being done already?

Coca-cola's been selling one product for a hundred years now. As Mark Twain said, puting all your eggs in one basket and WATHING THAT BASKET is often a good idea. Beats spreading yourself too thin doing 15 things poorly.

"Coca-Cola," "Coke," "diet Coke," "Coke light," "cherry Coke," "Fanta," "Five Alive," "Fresca," "Mello Yello," "Minute Maid," "Sprite," "diet Sprite," "Surge," and "TAB" are trademarks of The Coca-Cola Company

For the record, I believe Coke was the one thinking of this, but I can't be sure.

Two methods of space-based advertising were being considered:

1) Send up huge coloured sheets, akin to the light sails that we've heard about, except this would simply be a huge, orbiting billboard. Just think about it - looking up one night and noticing a rectangular shape crossing the sky that catches the sun, lighting up "Enjoy Coke!" clear as day against the night sky. Shudder.

2) This idea was even worse; Instead of making a floating, orbiting billboard, they were simply going to paint a billboard on the moon for all to see.

As much as I like it and rely on it on a daily basis, THIS is why a market economy sucks.

Several years ago Coca-Cola was in the process of doing a major land purchase in the small Central American country of Belize (which borders Mexico and Guatamala). When they were thorugh with the initial proposal, Coke would have owned approximately 60%-75% of all of the land in the country. This effect was something similar to somebody purchasing 60%-70% of a company's stock in the stock market.

From what I last heard, Coca-Cola backed down on the project because of the PR reprecusions from "owning" their own country in a very literal sense. If there were a company who didn't care so much about PR perception, especially if they were principally an industrial supplier, they probabally could get away with doing something that bold. At least it is an idea to consider... or at least a good plotline for a science fiction novel.

In terms of more local poltical juristictions, this already happens. At the beginning of the 20th Century, coal mining companies routinely established "company towns" where the mining company literally owned everything, from the schools, police, fire departments, banks, grocery stores, and homes. (For a non-confrontational view of this, watch the movie "October Sky", which uses the coal town as a story background to a surpurbly geeky moive)

This was probabally best described by Tennessee Ernie Ford in the song Sixteen Tons where he sings about life in a coal town. (BTW, the link has the lyrics and a real-audio recording of the song.)

The physical shape of the green Coca Cola bottle is also protected by trademark status.
According to their corporate website, the bottle shape was trademarked in 1977.

LaoK