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1. As you've all probably heard by now, all Starbucks stores closed down on Wednesday for a special company-wide retraining session, which I'm sure was lots of fun. What's your worst corporate training experience?
1b. Any readers work at Starbucks? How'd it go?
3. On which game show do you think you'd perform best?
4. Are any of your friends celebrating Leap Day birthdays tonight? Huge plans? If you're looking for a gift, hit up the mental_floss store and get 20% off when you enter the code "leap." (Everything excluding subscriptions.)
5. Are you a big shot at Apple? Do you know anyone who is? I realize this is unlikely. Here's why I'm asking: Last Friday, for the second time in the short six months I've owned my MacBook, the hard drive crashed. I learned my lesson the first time, and most of my important work was backed up. (I'm counting a file named Hillbilly-Jim.jpg as "important.") When I called Apple Support, I was told that I "probably just got a lemon." Thanks!
It's under warranty, but I don't like the idea that this is probably going to happen again. If anyone at Apple would like to offer some extreme customer service and make this right, please contact me.
6. Intern Matt Soniak, the self-proclaimed Fact Solicitor General, needs help naming his own blog. From Matt:
When I'm not writing here or slaving away in the kitchen, I blog about science on my own website. But you know this. You've all seen the link, a bunch of you went over there to look around. A few even subscribed so you could get a weekly dose of nerdery. The site's been down for a few weeks now since my host closed up shop. I'm getting back on my feet with WordPress and things are starting to shape up. I've got one problem, though: I don't know what to call the new blog. I'm looking to you guys, who make up the majority of my readers, for name suggestions. I write about any and all science news and new research that tickles my fancy, and have a special place in my heart for dinosaurs and parasites. To give you an even better idea of what we're working with, my next two posts will be about the Burmese python problem the southern US will be facing in the next few years, and some new research on the neurology of jazz improvisation. Head on over to mattsoniak.com, take a look around and see if you can come up with something for me. Comment here, or on this post, and if I use someone's suggestion, they get a copy of the new issue of mental_floss on me.