Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Fri, 10 Aug 2012 17:00:00 PDT Joyce Hung http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100319/1607188640/dailydirt-cupcakes-with-twist.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100319/1607188640/dailydirt-cupcakes-with-twist.shtml "Cupcake Bubble". (Just check out CRMB on NASDAQ for one public company dedicated to cupcake bakeries -- or the reality show about cupcakes, Cupcake Wars.) These tasty treats are not only easy to make cheaply, but scaling up also doesn't require too much effort. As a result, there are tons of different cupcake choices out there, and stores are distinguishing themselves by offering cupcakes with a twist. Here are just a few examples.

• How about an ATM that takes your cash and dispenses cupcakes? Sprinkles, the "pioneer" of cupcake bakeries, has set up a 24-Hour Sprinkles cupcake ATM that is restocked day and night with a variety of freshly baked cupcakes. The machine also dispenses cupcake mixes, apparel, and... cupcakes for dogs(!) [url]
• The world's most expensive cupcake -- The Golden Phoenix -- costs over $1,000. The cupcake is made by Bloomsbury's Cupcakes in Dubai, and it's made from the finest chocolate and covered in 23 carats of edible gold sheets. [url]
• The Meatloaf Bakery in Chicago sells savory meat cupcakes. Each cupcake is a self-contained meal, and there are eight different varieties. For example, the "Wing and a Prayer Loaf" features ground chicken and celery topped with hot wing sauce and a blue cheese crust. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100319/1607188640 Fri, 13 Jul 2012 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100525/1039089562/dailydirt-ill-gladly-pay-you-tuesday.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100525/1039089562/dailydirt-ill-gladly-pay-you-tuesday.shtml

The first burger grown in a lab probably won't taste all that good, but it'll cost about $330,000 to create a synthetic hamburger from cow stem cells. The first lab-grown burger should be ready to eat sometime in October, and the project is being funded by an anonymous donor. [url]

If you hit the jackpot in Vegas, there's a ton of ways to spend too much money on food out there -- and one option is a $5,000 burger at Fleur de Lys. In addition to Kobe beef, foie gras and truffles, you'll also get some wine and the bragging rights. [url]

The Guinness Book of World Records named 'Le Burger Extravagant' from Serendipity 3 in NYC as the world's most expensive burger, priced at $295. Apparently, the folks at Guinness have never been to Vegas (or they abide by the "stays in Vegas" rule very strictly), but they also seem to have missed the $666 Douche Burger sold out of a food truck in NYC, too. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100525/1039089562 Mon, 21 May 2012 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120423/18215818620/dailydirt-expensive-meals.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120423/18215818620/dailydirt-expensive-meals.shtml price. But if you want to show off your considerable fortunes, try serving up a few of these ingredients in your next culinary creation. (Maybe if you're a newly-minted billionaire, recently married... and have a penchant for killing your own food?)

• If you like really expensive vegetables, forget white asparagus, hop shoots are where it's at. But unless they're specially cultivated, the shoots will turn green and become tough and rope-like. [url]
• European white truffles go for thousands of dollars per pound, found by trained dogs (not pigs who will sometimes eat the fungus). Time to start cultivating these in a lab -- or at least a quick DNA test to confirm the species... [url]
• About 150 flowers are needed to produce one gram of saffron -- and a lot of human labor. Fortunately, it doesn't take a lot to impart its flavor into foods, but avoid the fake stuff and don't buy ground saffron. [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20120423/18215818620 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:28:35 PDT Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080630/0204011545.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080630/0204011545.shtml offering very expensive service fees that have excessively limited data amounts (and no unlimited data offering). Users also get less talk time. Basically, these service plans make the iPhone a hell of a lot less appealing -- but since Rogers is the only carrier offering the iPhone in Canada, it feels it can get away with such high prices. But, the impressive thing is that people are trying to fight back, putting together a petition against Rogers' decision. While online petitions are notorious for their ineffectiveness, this one seems to be getting an awful lot of attention -- creating a ton of negative publicity for Rogers. If the company has any sense of the harm negative publicity can do, perhaps it will rethink its pricing strategy.

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]]> what-else-are-you-gonna-do? http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20080630/0204011545