Step Away From The Tip Jar And No One Gets Hurt
Starbucks has been slapped with a "wrongful death" lawsuit by the family of a man who was injured while trying to chase down a tip jar thief.
In a St. Louis Starbucks in 2008, a 19 year-old Georgia man named Aaron Poisson swiped the tip jar and ran away. Another customer, Roger Kreutz, chased after Poisson. Kreutz later died of the injuries he received in his altercation with Poisson. Kreutz's family is accusing Starbucks of not doing enough to protect their tip jars from theft.
The bigger lesson here being: just let the dude run with it. Bank tellers don't run after thieves, and neither should you.
Eco-Unfriendly K-Cup Coming To A Starbucks Near You
Starbucks has confirmed that they have struck a deal with Green Mountain, purveyor of the single-cup K-Cup coffee machine. Now instead of dumping compostable grounds and a compostable coffee filter for each entire pot of coffee, Starbucks will be throwing away a plastic cup and a plastic lid for EACH CUP of coffee. Argh!
Tribute Blend
Word on the street is the Tribute Blend isn't selling as well as Starbucks had hoped. I admit I'm a little put off by the marketing, which trumpets the limited availability of the blend ("Never Before - Never Again") without saying anything about, you know, how it tastes.
Even the description just tells you it's made with beans sourced from a lot of different places. Is it bright and acidic? Or dark and rich? They don't say. I'll pass on the mystery meat, thanks.
Starbucks Mobile Payment App: Trivially Forged
It took approximately two minutes for malcontents to figure out how to forge credentials for the Starbucks Mobile Payment app. The app lets you pay with your Starbucks Card simply by holding your smartphone up to a scanner at the cash register. (How it's easier to pay by having your smartphone scanned, rather than having your Starbucks Card scanned, is unexplained. Classic example of an app that's the answer to a question no one asked.)
When you hold up your smartphone, it displays a QR code (those square bar code thingies that are all the rage among marketing departments these days) for the scanner to read. Some of you may be thinking, "But how does the scanner know it's the real QR code and not just a copy of someone else's QR code?" And if so, you get a gold star for the day. As well as a suspicious, sidelong glance.
It turns out that yes, stealing someone's Starbucks Card credentials is as easy as snapping a cameraphone picture of their smartphone's Starbucks app. Then you show the scanner your snapshot and presto, free coffee for you (and a balance deduction for the schmuck whose smartphone you photographed).
Some news outlets are using the term "hacking" to describe this. I refuse to do so. Hacking should involve more skill than TAKING A PICTURE AND SHOWING THAT PICTURE TO A SCANNER. (Kids these days!)
Starbucks has been slapped with a "wrongful death" lawsuit by the family of a man who was injured while trying to chase down a tip jar thief.
In a St. Louis Starbucks in 2008, a 19 year-old Georgia man named Aaron Poisson swiped the tip jar and ran away. Another customer, Roger Kreutz, chased after Poisson. Kreutz later died of the injuries he received in his altercation with Poisson. Kreutz's family is accusing Starbucks of not doing enough to protect their tip jars from theft.
The bigger lesson here being: just let the dude run with it. Bank tellers don't run after thieves, and neither should you.
Eco-Unfriendly K-Cup Coming To A Starbucks Near You
Starbucks has confirmed that they have struck a deal with Green Mountain, purveyor of the single-cup K-Cup coffee machine. Now instead of dumping compostable grounds and a compostable coffee filter for each entire pot of coffee, Starbucks will be throwing away a plastic cup and a plastic lid for EACH CUP of coffee. Argh!
Tribute Blend
Word on the street is the Tribute Blend isn't selling as well as Starbucks had hoped. I admit I'm a little put off by the marketing, which trumpets the limited availability of the blend ("Never Before - Never Again") without saying anything about, you know, how it tastes.
Even the description just tells you it's made with beans sourced from a lot of different places. Is it bright and acidic? Or dark and rich? They don't say. I'll pass on the mystery meat, thanks.
Starbucks Mobile Payment App: Trivially Forged
It took approximately two minutes for malcontents to figure out how to forge credentials for the Starbucks Mobile Payment app. The app lets you pay with your Starbucks Card simply by holding your smartphone up to a scanner at the cash register. (How it's easier to pay by having your smartphone scanned, rather than having your Starbucks Card scanned, is unexplained. Classic example of an app that's the answer to a question no one asked.)
When you hold up your smartphone, it displays a QR code (those square bar code thingies that are all the rage among marketing departments these days) for the scanner to read. Some of you may be thinking, "But how does the scanner know it's the real QR code and not just a copy of someone else's QR code?" And if so, you get a gold star for the day. As well as a suspicious, sidelong glance.
It turns out that yes, stealing someone's Starbucks Card credentials is as easy as snapping a cameraphone picture of their smartphone's Starbucks app. Then you show the scanner your snapshot and presto, free coffee for you (and a balance deduction for the schmuck whose smartphone you photographed).
Some news outlets are using the term "hacking" to describe this. I refuse to do so. Hacking should involve more skill than TAKING A PICTURE AND SHOWING THAT PICTURE TO A SCANNER. (Kids these days!)
Photo credit: Flickr/cafemama