The article says,

The image is a less-revealing version of what the chain used for many years, starting when it first opened in Seattle in 1971. That original logo was resurrected in its Northwest outlets for a time in 2006 to mark the chain's 35th anniversary.

Company spokeswoman, Bridget Baker said the newly revived logo was "modified a bit [from the original] based on feedback" from Starbucks customers during its 2006 appearance. "We feel it's appropriate," she said. Howard Shultz, Starbucks' founder, said in his book, "That early siren, bare-breasted and Rubenesque, was supposed to be seductive as coffee itself."

We seriously doubt this logo is obscene enough to deter anyone from their morning cup. From what we know of coffee drinkers, still photos from German scheissen porn wouldn't separate them from their hot liquid crack.

Group finds Starbucks logo too hot to handle [Star Tribune]
(Photo: Star Tribune)

"You tell me any Iowan that was in his situation, that had a gun put to his head, how they would've reacted differently," state Sen. Brad Zaun of Urbandale said. "I think it's the wrong decision by Pizza Hut and I will not be buying any more Pizza Hut products."

"We're doing all that we can to help him with the transition," Pizza Hut spokesperson Chris Fuller told the Des Moines Register. The driver, James William Spiers III, was offered two months pay (without tips, naturally) and counseling in exchange for his resignation.

"I was terminated, but they're not going to kick me to the curb," he said Friday. "When they terminated me, I had asked if they could provide me with counseling. That's all I asked for."

The robbery suspect, 19-year-old Kenneth Jimmerson, was shot three times but is alive and "was arrested when he later called for medical help." He and another suspect (who is accused of calling in the pizza order), are both in the local county jail.

Pizza Hut delivers pink slip to employee held at gunpoint [Des Moines Register] (Thanks, David!)

Auction listings on eBay.com dropped some 13% since the strike started Feb. 18 to about 13 million items, according to third-party tracking sites such as dealscart.com and medved.net.

The boycott, amid slowing growth and intensifying competition from Amazon and Google, could presage a challenging year for John Donahoe, eBay's incoming CEO, say analysts.

Like dozens of other boycotts against eBay the past few years, this protest is largely over pricing changes. Though many previous boycotts have fizzled after a few days, the most recent gained more attention through protest-related actions on YouTube and MySpace.

"If (eBay's listings total) falls below 12 million, we've made a pretty good impact," said Nancy Baughman, an eBay PowerSeller who deals antiques and collectibles. She is also co-author of a book on online auctions.

Online auction listings down 13% in boycott of eBay [USAToday]

eBay's spokesperson told CNNMoney that the boycott "hasn't had an impact on our listings."

Some boycott supporters are hopeful, however:

"If [eBay's listings total] falls below 12 million we've made a pretty good impact," said Nancy Baughman, an eBay PowerSeller who deals antiques and co-authored Buy It, Sell It, Make Money, a guide to doing business on eBay. "I'm hoping that it goes down below 10 million. If that happens, we will have made a huge impact."

EBay boycott begins, to uncertain effect [CNNMoney]

Over at Boycottzales.com, customers share horror stories of dealings with the jewelry store that bespotts many a suburban mall. The tales include allegations of Mr. Clean being used to spruce up jewelry, minorities being paid more than Caucasians, and engagement rings going in for repairs and never coming out.

Not three weeks into having the site up, the site's proprietor, Barry, received a cease and desist letter from a Zales attorney. The letter accuses Barry of trademark infringement and defamation.

We're no lawyers but we're pretty sure Zales has no case, the site's disclaimer fairly shields them from the legal threats, and Zales should go stuff it in their coal mine. Check it out and decide for yourself, after the jump...

This is an excerpt Barry received on June 3, 2006 from the law firm of GONZALEZ, SAGIO & HARLAN, L.L.P:

We note that you have created and maintained a website entitled "BoycottZales.com." You are hereby instructed to immediately cease and desist from maintaining this website. As we indicated to you earlier, we believe that maintaining the same infringes upon Zales' trademark rights. This will not be tolerated. If you do not cease and desist, I will advise my client to seek to protect its business interest accordingly.

Furthermore, several of the statements made on your website relating to certain Zales employees and stores are incorrect and rise to the level of defamation. Defamation occurs when an individual makes a false statement that is communicated in writing or speech to a person other than the person defamed that is unprivileged and tends to harm that person's reputation so as to lower that person's esteem in the community or to deter third parties from associating or dealing with that person. The comments made on your website clearly fall within the purview of this definition. If you do not cease and desist, I will advise my client to protect its interest with regard to this as well.

What do you think? Any advice for Barry? Zales: hot or not?

I'm already boycotting my cable company. Can I, you know, sub-boycott? Or do I have to end my boycott of Comcast so that I can get Family Guy and not watch it?

How about if I refuse to download it via BitTorrent, which is easy enough given that I don't use BitTorrent. Unless BitTorrent pisses me off, in which case I'll have to start using BitTorrent so that I can stop using it, which means I won't be able to refuse to use BitTorrent to download Family Guy, because I'll already be refusing to use it for its own sake.

I suppose I could go ahead and get busy not downloading Family Guy now. At my current download rate, I should be able to not download the entire series in about a week. I could avoid downloading them even faster, but I'm boycotting the company that I was considering getting a T1 from if I ever made enough money.

However, I should check their Web site. Maybe they've reformed and I can go from boycotting them to simply not being able to afford them, in which case I should be able to not get it installed in a couple days if I don't order their express service, and assuming the lack of install goes smoothly — and I'll boycott them if it doesn't — then I should be able to not download Family Guy by not using BitTorrent while I'm asleep, if I wasn't boycotting The Sleep Number guys.