thoughtcrumbs : january 2000

Note to the haters

Gazillions of years ago I wrote about companies that use a human voice when communicating with customers rather than formal legalese. Back then it was novel, all pre-Web 2.0. Google now says cheeky things like "cross your fingers" during server errors. So it's interesting to see how a company responds when it's expecting to get flack, like during a redesign. Facebook uses its blog (in part) for that: here's wunderkind engineer Slee explaining the new Facebook back in July, hoping to prevent some of the inevitable griping when things get moved around.

But I think I saw my favorite example on another site today:

Gourmet dinner in an unlikely space

Last night some friends and I got to be a part of the RV Eatin' project, in which three women serve gourmet meals inside their cozy, brightly-painted RV. All of the food was grown locally, including delicious scarlet runner beans, and the chefs good-naturedly put up with our request for a vegan, gluten-free, and nut-free meal and with the silly insistence of security guards that they move their trailer. Twice. (Which they did with stunning vigor despite its heft and the near-freezing weather). The menu and some pics are available at RV Eatin's blog.