Two random things.

[prog]

Samurai Champloo is a guilty pleasure and the first TiVo season pass I've added in recent memory. WP isn't very clear on what the title means, but it sounds like it can translate to "Samurai Remix", which would make sense.

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I really like ZipCar. It occurred to me today that I've spent two months driving around other peoples' cars, without speaking to a single person about it at any time; all of my transactions, from signup to making reservations to paying my bill, have been over the Web. That's really great.

Rising gas prices might be very good or very bad for the company, depending. I hope it's the former, if it has to be either.

Comments

[cortezopossum.livejournal.com]

Well -- if they have to raise their rates due to gas prices a 30% increase in cost of gas shouldn't translate to a 30% increase in rates due to other expenses such as maintenence, web-hosting, XM radio service and other administrative stuff most-likely staying the same. If gas is 10% of their total costs a 30% increase in gas prices would require a mere 3% increase in rates to compensate -- assuming the number of people using this service stays the same.

More people using the service could actually push the 'increase in rates to compensate' level negative (hence they could conceivably lower their rates) because things like web hosting, administrative costs, and probably XM radio service are already in place and wouldn't cost much more even with a moderate increase in ridership.

[prog.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I am hoping that more expensive gas will translate to more customers, which will then mean they can keep their rates competitive despite the gas. (And maybe expand their fleet too... I'd be less happy if the handful of cars near my house became harder to reserve.)

I don't really know how much of an incentive that "free" gas is, though; I switched from car owner to ZipCar customer to save on insurance, which is horrendous in MA. I didn't even know they covered gas until I started using their service (insofar as you're actually paying them to cover it... but it's an undeniably nice feeling to go for a $10 spin and buy $30 of gas with someone else's card).

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

I haven't watched any Champloo, but I've heard good things about it (though someone said the English dub was poor). I understand it's by the Cowboy Bebop team, which you should borrow from me if you haven't watched. I think champuru is an Okinawan cooking dish, but it may be related to "jumble" as well.

[prog.livejournal.com]

The dub is pretty typical for modern anime imports. All the actors are stuck on Maximum Ham Mode, which isn't entire inappropriate... it is not a very subtle show.