Microsoft Kills the Kin

Microsoft is killing its Kin "social phones" after less than seven weeks on the market.

The news comes after two weeks of suspicious reports on abysmal Kin sales and just three days after Verizon slashed Kin prices nearly in half. Microsoft, which launched the Kin One and Kin Two in May, did not explicitly confirm the discontinuation but sent seattlepi.com the following statement.

"We have made the decision to focus on our Windows Phone 7 launch and we will not ship KIN in Europe this fall as planned. Additionally, we are integrating our KIN team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from KIN into future Windows Phone releases. We will continue to work with Verizon in the U.S. to sell current KIN phones."

The news also comes one month after Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer ousted two high-profile lieutenants from the company's consumer-devices division, and further illustrates Microsoft's ongoing struggle to remain relevant in the age of mobile computing.

The phones, targeted at "generation upload," were the result of months of product development that generated some unusual buzz among tech enthusiasts. Known for some time as"Project Pink," the Kin program was largely seen as Microsoft's first attempt at reinvigorating the Sidekick technology the company inherited when it acquired Danger in 2008.

Microsoft unveiled the two Kin devices -- the first phones to feature bits of Windows Phone 7 -- in April and released them with Verizon in May. Though Microsoft called them "smart phones," they were not; the user interface was geared entirely toward social networking and lacked support for third-party applications.

The software superpower marketed them at teens to 25-year-olds whose lives revolve around Facebook, Twitter, instant messaging and other social media. Redmond launched a daring new media campaign that included social-media scavenger hunts and a series of videos that followed a young woman as she explored the fringes of her social network.

It all seemed like overkill. And most of the tech press wasn't exposed to the targeted marketing enough -- if there even was a lot -- to sense whether it was working. Except when Microsoft was pressured to pull an advertisement because critics felt it promoted "sexting"

"The thing about niche marketing is, if you don't hit your niche," IDC mobile analyst William Stofega told seattlepi.com, "you're kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place."

Two weeks ago, a rumor bubbled up that Microsoft and Verizon had sold only 500 Kin phones. Most of the tech media dismissed it as ridiculous (Microsoft never denied or confirmed it), but the writing on the wall was clear: Kin was struggling.

Best Buy had already slashed its Kin retail prices; the lower-end Kin One went from $50 to free and the higher-end Kin Two dropped from $100 to $50. Then, this past Sunday, Verizon quietly cut the Kin One to $30 and the Kin Two to $50.

The price-gouge was likely in response to Microsoft's killing the Kin program.

"It's not surprising, given the things we've heard," Stofega said. "I think (it was) the aggressive pricing in terms of other options on the market. For a little extra, you could go out and get a high-end device from, maybe, HTC."

The phones -- a small vertical-sliding handset and a larger landscape-oriented slider -- got lukewarm reviews and received the most criticism for their price. Many believed Microsoft oversold, and perhaps misrepresented, the Kin phones as smart phones when, really, they were just fancy feature phones.

Arguably the most promising product of the Kin program is an online service called Kin Studio, where a user's media are stored. Kin users can browse or surf their photos by time or location, share photos and videos with their friends, and just surf social networks from within the Silverlight-powered Kin Studio interface.

If Microsoft is "incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from KIN into future Windows Phone releases," as the company said, it might behoove Redmond to incorporate the Kin Studio technology.

Kin's discontinuation doesn't bode well for Microsoft's mobile reputation, which has been foundering while the Apple iPhone, Google Android operating system and Research in Motion BlackBerry brand have been surging ahead in terms of sales. Microsoft's last full mobile-OS release, Windows Mobile 6.5, launched in October to lukewarm reviews and has been most successful with HTC's own interface slapped on top.

Microsoft plans to bring Windows Phone 7 to market by the holidays. Like the Kin OS, Windows Phone 7 incorporates the look and feel of the Zune HD's "Metro" interface. The Kin phones were also the first to include Zune software.

The Kin woes should not necessarily put Windows Phone 7 in a bad light. Though the Kin devices did incorporate some WP7 technology, they were not representative of the full-featured operating system.

But the Kin woes do highlight Microsoft's ongoing struggle in mobile. Once again, Microsoft has misidentified a mobile opportunity, misfired in its execution and failed introduce a "cool" device into a world full of iPhones and Droids.

"Overall," Stofega said, "it's a tough, tough, tough market."

20 Worst Drinks in America Part 3

9. Worst Hot Chocolate

Starbucks White Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream (venti, 20 fl oz)

520 calories
16 g fat (11 g saturated)
75 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 9 Strawberry Rice Krispie Treats

See that stack of Rice Krispie Treats? It’s just three treats shy of two full boxes. Unless you were a contestant on Fear Factor—and there was a sizeable monetary prize on the line—you’d never even consider noshing down that much sugar at once. But here’s what’s interesting: While that stack is the sugar counterpart to this atrocity from Starbucks, it still has 40 percent less saturated fat. Makes us wonder what’s going on in the hot chocolate. Stick to beverages with single-flavor profiles instead of pile-on recipes like this and you’ll fare better every time.

Drink This Instead!

Hot Chocolate with Nonfat Milk (grande, 16 fl oz)

240 calories
2.5 g fat (0.5 g saturated)
40 g sugars

8. Worst Frozen Mocha

Così Double Oh! Arctic Mocha (gigante, 23 fl oz)

662 calories
26 g fat (15 g saturated)
88 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 19 Oreo Cookies

The good news here is that this drink used to be twice as bad - and used to contain as much sugar as in 41 Oreo Cookies (pictured). The bad news is that even though it's halved the calories, it's still a piece of work. A frozen mocha will never be a stellar option, but we’ve still never come across anything that competes with this cookie-coffee-milkshake hybrid from Così. Essentially it’s a mocha Blizzard made with Oreo cookies and topped with whipped cream and an oversize Oreo. The result is a beverage with more calories than two Big Macs and more sugar than any other drink in America.

Drink This Instead!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Smoothie (12 oz)

316 calories
12 g fat (8 g saturated)
37 g sugars

7. Worst Frozen Coffee Drink

Dairy Queen Caramel MooLatte (24 fl oz)

870 calories
24 g fat (19 g saturated, 1 g trans)
112 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 12 Dunkin’ Donuts Bavarian Kreme Doughnuts

Coffee-dessert hybrids are among the worst breed of beverages. This one delivers 1 gram of fat and 4.6 grams of sugar in every ounce, making even Starbucks’ over-the-top line of Frappuccinos look like decent options. Maybe that’s why DQ decided to give it a name that alludes to the animal it promises to turn you into. If you can bring yourself to skip DQ and head to a coffee shop instead, order a large iced latte with a couple shots of flavored syrup and save some 600 calories. But if you’re stuck where you are, you’re better off pairing a small treat with a regular cup of joe.

Drink This Instead!

Small Chocolate Ice Cream Cone with a Medium Cup of Coffee

240 calories
7 g fat (5 g saturated)
25 g sugars

6. Worst Margarita

Traditional Red Lobster Lobsterita (24 fl oz)

890 calories
0 g fat
183 g carbohydrates

Carbohydrate Equivalent: 7 Almond Joy candy bars

Of all the egregious beverages we’ve analyzed, the Lobsterita surprised us the most. The nation’s biggest fish purveyor is one of the few big players in the restaurant biz to provide its customers with a wide selection of truly healthy food options. We would hope they’d do the same with the beverages, but obviously not. Drink one of these every Friday night and you’ll put on more than a pound of flab each month. Downgrade to a regular margarita on the rocks and pocket the remaining 640 calories.

Drink This Instead!

Red Lobster Classic Margarita on the Rocks

250 calories
0 g fat
22 g carbohydrates

5. Worst Float

Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream Soda (vanilla ice cream and cola) (large, 28.6 fl oz)

960 calories
40 g fat (25 g saturated, 1.5 g trans)
136 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 9.7 Fudgsicle fudge bars

Done right, an ice cream float can be a decent route to indulgence. Go to A&W and you’ll land a medium for fewer than 400 calories. Order it with diet soda and you’ve dropped below 200 calories. So why can’t Baskin-Robbins make even a small float with fewer than 470 calories? Because apparently the chain approaches the art of beverage-crafting as a challenge to squeeze in as much fat and sugar as possible. Whatever you order, plan on splitting it with a friend.

Drink This Instead!

Ice Cream Float (vanilla ice cream and root beer) (small, 16.9 fl oz)

470 calories
20 g fat (13 g saturated, 0.5 g trans)
68 g sugars

Movies to Own: "The Crazies"

There isn't much to say about this one folks other than ITS ON DVD!!!! If you are a horror head like I am then you know that "The Crazies" is the best zombie/horror/sociopolitical flick to come out in the past 10 years. You can thank me in the comments later.

Moment of the Week: Willie Norwood

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

So im really not a fan of "Brandy and Ray J: A Family Mess", but when there is nothing on, this colorful eschewing of facts and blatant self promotion somehow makes it on to my radar. Actually I caught the episode at the clip above and became curious enough to catch other parts of the show. Well that and VH1 was rerunning it like every hour since they don't have any other programs on air. Anyhow, I think love is or can be a beautiful thing....especially when you chose to charter a path with someone and you come out on the other end smiling......so this clip above warmed my heart in song for the prospect of one day having a song to sing like this for my lady. Enjoy

Another WTF From McDonald's: The McGangBang

The McGangBang ranks up there in the holy pantheon of WTF. It's a sandwich made from a double cheeseburger and a McChicken sandwich — where you put an entire McChicken sandwich inside a double cheeseburger. It's a creative manipulation of existing menu items, and an exercise in frugality: taking two items off of the Dollar Menu and creating an entirely new sandwich for a total of $2.16. Truly, it's a sandwich that's more than the sum of its parts.

The naming, of course, is somewhat obscene — "gangbang" is defined as "sexual intercourse with multiple partners in turn or at the same time." It's illicit in more ways than one — chicken and beef most definitely make for an unnatural pairing.

In addition, it's sort of a subversive act for people to order it by name, as well as a thrill to confound the McDonald's employee with an order for a McGangBang — so much so that people are documenting their experiences at drive-thrus and counters on YouTube.

In some locations, the McGangBang appears to have become part of the McDonald's employee lexicon — explanation is unnecessary — they know how to make it, much like the off-the-menu items at In-N-Out.

An oft-repeated quote from user DasKosmischeVonUT on the VWVortex forums sums it up:

It's kind of like having a threesome with two ugly chicks. While it's happening you're stoked, because hey threesome!!! But once you're finished it kinda sinks in about what you've done.

20 Worst Drinks in America Part 2

14. Worst Kids' Drink

Tropicana Tropical Fruit Fury Twister (1 bottle, 20 fl oz)

340 calories
0 g fat
60 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: Two 7-ounce canisters Reddi-wip

Don’t let Tropicana’s reputation for unadulterated OJ lead you to believe that the company is capable of doing no wrong. As a Pepsi subsidiary, it’s inevitable that they’ll occasionally delve into soda-like territory. The Twister line is just that: a drink with 10 percent juice and 90 percent sugar laced with a glut of artificial flavors and coloring. You could actually save 200 calories by choosing a can of Pepsi instead.

Drink This Instead!

Honest Kids Tropical Tango Punch (1 pouch, 6.75 fl oz)

40 calories
0 g fat
10 g sugars

13. Worst Functional Beverage

Arizona Rx Energy (1 can, 23 fl oz)

345 calories
0 g fat
83 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 6 Cinnamon Roll Pop-Tarts

Obviously Arizona took great pains in making sure this can came out looking like something you’d find in a pharmacy. But if your pharmacist ever tries to sell you this much sugar, he should have his license revoked. And if it’s energy you’re after, this isn’t your best vehicle. Caffeine is the only compound in the bottle that’s been proven to provide energy, and the amount found within is about what you'd get from a weak cup of coffee.

Drink This Instead!

Glaceau Vitamin Water 10 Revitalize Green Tea (1 bottle, 20 fl oz)

25 calories
0 g fat
8 g sugars

12. Worst Juice Imposter

Arizona Kiwi Strawberry (1 can, 23 fl oz)

345 calories
0 g fat
81 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 7 bowls of Froot Loops

The twisted minds at the Arizona factory outdid themselves with this nefarious concoction, a can the size of a bazooka loaded with enough of the sweet stuff to blast your belly with 42 sugar cubes. The most disturbing part isn’t that it masks itself as some sort of healthy juice product (after all, hundreds of products are guilty of the same crime), but that this behemoth serving size costs just $.99, making its contents some of the cheapest calories we’ve ever stumbled across.

Drink This Instead!

Fuze Slenderize Strawberry Melon (1 bottle, 18.5 fl oz)

20 calories
0 g fat
2 g sugars

11. Worst Espresso Drink

Starbucks Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha with Whipped Cream (venti, 20 fl oz)

660 calories
22 g fat (15 g saturated)
95 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 8½ scoops Edy’s Slow Churned Rich and Creamy Coffee Ice Cream

Hopefully this will dispel any lingering fragments of the “health halo” that still exists in coffee shops—that misguided belief that espresso-based beverages can’t do much damage. In this 20-ounce cup, Starbucks manages to pack in more calories and saturated fat than two slices of deep-dish sausage and pepperoni pizza from Domino’s. That makes it the equivalent of dinner and dessert disguised as a cup of coffee. If you want a treat, look to Starbucks’ supply of sugar-free syrups; if you want a caffeine buzz, stick to the regular joe, an Americano, or a cappuccino.

Drink This Instead!

Cinnamon Dolce Latte with Sugar-Free Syrup (grande, 16 fl oz)

260 calories
6 g fat (4 g saturated)
38 g sugars

10. Worst Lemonade

Auntie Anne’s Wild Cherry Lemonade Mixer (32 fl oz)

470 calories
0 g fat
110 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 11 bowls of Cookie Crisp cereal

There is no such thing as healthy lemonade, but Auntie’s line of Lemonade Mixers takes the concept of hyper-sweetened juice and stretches it to dangerous new levels. See, sugar digests faster than good-for-you nutrients like protein and fiber, which means it’s in your blood almost immediately after you swallow it. Drinking the 3 or 4 days’ worth of added sugar found here jacks your blood sugar and results in strain to your kidneys, the creation of new fat molecules, and the desire to eat more. Ouch.

Drink This Instead!

Diet Lemonade (21 fl oz)

15 calories
0 g fat
0 g sugars

STL 10 Preview: Quadron

Quadron - Average Fruit by theyounglion

Quadron is an act I have a lot of affection for. I recently saw them at the UCLA Reggae and Jazz Festival (I think I was the only one jamming out to their music)and they were fantastic. "Average Fruit" is a cut that will be included on my eagerly awaited "STL 10" and upon initial spin, you will see how lead singer Coco's voice envelopes and transcends you. If you like the cut, then STL 10 is sure to be a sweet and salty treat to go with your summer breeze.

STL 10 Is On The Way

Its been a long time coming, but I am finalizing the track listing and awaiting new tracks to include on my mixtape series STL. Didn't think I would have one for this year since music is soo shitty...but I have pulled together some stellar tracks that deserve to be heard and set a mood. Keep ya ear here to Sanspiracy as I will post the album and track listing in the coming weeks.

For the Few, The Proud, The Brave: "Inside"

There is not much I need to say here beyond what is inferred by the key art above, but if you are a true horror head like I am then you are constantly looking for cinema that pushes the boundaries of the genre. "Inside" really should have a giant Warning sticker over it because if you are of the faint of heart, then this is not the film for you cause the relatively simple premise takes it to some wicked, bloody, and often disgusting places that serve the story in a startlingly realistic way. The ending of "Inside" has officially replaced "The Passion of the Christ" as being the most realistically bloody thing I have ever seen on screen. This one has to bee seen to be believed but remember to pick your jaw back off the floor once you hit credits end.

Was It Ever About Science: "Splice" in Review

Lets keep it short, sharp, and to the point. "Splice" is a movie I wanted to adore for its sci-fi trappings are the things my cinematic dreams are made of. But how do you squander an interesting premise and try your audiences patience to the point that you then ask yourself at credits close "Was it ever about science". Not that anyone wants to get caught up in the particular details of the central conceit, but "Splice" like 2009's "Daybreakers" takes a sort of topical, white knuckle premise and then drowns it in rote, tepid, and unnecessary drama.

Meet Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley). If there names somehow strike a cue in the back of your brain its because there names are a wink to the central characters of the "Frankenstein" saga. Clive and Elsa prance about their domain as if they are pop stars of the biochemical world proudly referencing their feature in Wired magazine as if its some kind of Academy Award or Pulitzer prize. Not content with being scientist for hire, Clive and Elsa are continuously pushing the boundaries of science, all the while giving pointless exposition about how it all works toward the good of humanity. They work for a faceless corporation that is trying to splice genes from several different animals to create some type of protein that said corporation can patent and mass produce. At films start, we see Clive and Elsa in action as they are "delivering" one of two blobby worm looking specimens they playfully name Fred and Ginger. Fred and Ginger are the spliced up hosts to which to derive the protein.

Again, Blah blah blah, all is well until the two decidedly place ego on display and toss human DNA into the mix creating what later is know as "Dren". Until this point, "Splice" remains a highly intriguing endeavor. However, this movie presents the biggest bait and switch by promising a dive off the edge of the cliff into horror, but then delivering a shameless and unnecessary drama centered around the abuse endured during Elsa's childhood. Clive and Elsa are a couple, and Clive has expressed interest in having a child, to which Elsa opposes. But then when "Dren" starts to take on more human characteristic, Elsa treats her like a toy/pet/child dressing her up in baby doll dresses and giving her barbie dolls to play with all with motherly attention. This, for me, was the first WTF as Clive and Elsa's character motivations are so muddled that it hard to care about their outcomes.

Their is a sleigh of hand sexual element to the movie that ultimately takes over and ruins the proceedings. Warning - Spoiler alert, so if you do not want to know what happens then stop reading from this point on. Lets just first say that "Splice" is not a sexy movie whatsoever and because Polley and Brody have zero chemistry, when they do get intimate its very awkward and uncomfortable to watch. Somehow believing that it needs to shock instead of titillate and intrigue, "Splice" goes to places that I had rather not seen on celluloid and that says a lot considering that i quite enjoyed the likes of "The Human Centipede". Still not sure why it felt the need to be, but "Splice" is the first movie where we get both an inter-species sex scene and an inter-species rape scenes....yeah, I said INTERSPECIES. Both are played out so foolishly that you wonder at some point if you have stumbled into the wrong theater. What it ultimately boils down to is perversion, as with the films final reel we get a more menacing version of Dren who has a sex change (it starts out female and then becomes male), and flies around with his moth wings picking people off and then, I guess, gets horny enough to grunt out something stupid to Polley (when he corners her) like "me want to be inside you" (mind you, the thing says nothing the whole film and only makes clicking sounds). I wish I was making this up.

Also, what didn't really make much sense to me was the evolution of "Dren" (nerd backwards in a narrative threat that is supposed to read more clever than it is). Dren has the top half of a human and the legs of a chicken and like a long pig tail. When she reaches full maturity you realize that she has these weird moth wing things attached to her arms and odd fish gill looking things attached to the back of her neck. The trailer spot do so much to hide what Dren ultimately becomes that when you see it, it looks like a creature that stumbled out of "The Chronicles of Narnia". Since the thing supposedly ages so rapidly, it would have been nice to see it take on something far less human and far more animal for the finale.

But no, we get nothing but drama in the third act. A drama about Clive and Elsa's fractured relationship, a drama about Elsa and her childhood and how she has to "face her demons", a drama about parenthood, a drama about how pointless Clive actually is to the story, and a whole lot of stupid actions conducted by people we are to believe to be so smart they they create an entirely new species, but too dumb not to realize that maybe you shouldn't have sex with it.

Again, if "Splice" was the kind of movie that you could only catch at the Landmark on pico or the Laemmle theater on Sunset (both arthouse staples new and old) then the cult nature of the context would give "Splice" some novelty as pure arthouse fare. But as presented as mass consumption, it seems totally mismanaged by entities that have no idea what it actually is. How Warner Brothers came to acquire and then get behind such a thing with so much push seems baffling, especially since its the very kind of movie that major distributors shy away from.

I don't want to write Vincenzo Natali off just yet, for he is not the first or last director that has had to water down all the things that made them great and interesting in the first place for big box office esteem. For the "Cube" series shows an assured and confident filmmaker who had a specific vision and an eye for interesting visuals sometimes at the expense of the acting. But he is a good storyteller. With "Splice" not so much. I will be anxiously awaiting his exit from stage left and his return to the underground. Maybe then Natali can make a real film.

Conspiracy Theories: Could This Video Be the Reason MJ was Offed

So a bit earlier I was reading this fascinating article where they have folks like Dave Chappelle, Melissa Ford, Tupac, Bob Dylan, and Katy Perry all talking about the evils of the entertainment industry or apropos the "sign on the bottom line in blood" type of deals you have to make in order to achieve a certain amount of success. In this article was an interesting video from the master, Michael Jackson, himself discussing his leave of Sony in 2002 and how he would be walking away owning 50% of their publishing. Fast forward to 2009 and as you will remember, Sony made a huge push to collect all the concert footage MJ had requested as part of his private journal to produce "This is It". Its pretty common knowledge that someone though MJ would be more profitable and therefore more valuable dead than alive.........Just saying.

Musiq Brings Us that "Silky Soul"

Musiq Soulchild is an artist I have been fond of for some years now and "Silky Soul" lifted from last years "Silky Soul Music: An All-Star Tribute to Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly" exhibits what makes him a standout in the musical landscape. I love the video treatment and Musiq and his tuxedoed for piece band looks at home in a clip that pays homage to musical greats. If only Musiq could capture this kind of magic on his albums, then surely he could take his place as a true R&B great.

UCLA's Jam Day Was the Ish

Its very rare that I go to a concert and know everyone on the lineup, but UCLA's "Jam" day was truly the shit and custom made for yours truly. I usually visit this outing on their "Reggae" day, but when I saw the show bill, there was no way I could miss the opportunity of seeing these folks live. And what a treat it was. The eventing started out with "Quadron" who I love and from there the show just kept getting better. Georgia Ann Muldrow did her thing with Declaime, The Foreign Exchange (who I was soo glad to finally see live) rocked it out with the lovely Sy Smith in tow, and Bilal was surprisingly blah even though he gave it a good effort. The big joke with him is that I couldn't understand two words that came out of his mouth and the whole thing took on the look and feel of a bad Vegas lounge act. I was surprised to see that Q-tip still has a rather large following as most of the folks seemed clueless to acts other than Bilal and Q-tip. Tip did his thing though and I really appreciated that he took it back to the "Tribe Called Quest" Days....if Phife Dawg and Ali Shaheed Muhammad pop on stage with Q-Tip then I could have died a happy man on Sunday. I love the generally low key-ness about the event and everything was far more organized that i remember making it a great day for sun and live music in LA.

20 Worst Drinks in America Part 1

20. Worst Water

Snapple Agave Melon Antioxidant Water (1 bottle, 20 fl oz)

150 calories
0 g fat
33 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 2 Good Humor Chocolate Éclair Bars

While “Worst Water” may sound like an oxymoron, the devious minds in the bottled beverage industry have even found a way to besmirch the sterling reputation of the world’s most essential compound. Sure, you may get a few extra vitamins, but ultimately, you’re paying a premium price for gussied-up sugar water. Next time you buy a bottle of water, check the recipe: You want two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen, and very little else.

Bonus tip:
Get the latest book in the best-selling diet series: Drink This, Not That!

Drink This Instead!

Smartwater

0 calories
0 g sugars

19. Worst Bottled Tea

SoBe Green Tea (1 bottle, 20 fl oz)

240 calories
0 g fat
61 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 4 slices Sara Lee Cherry Pie

Leave it to SoBe to take an otherwise healthy bottle of tea and inject it with enough sugar to turn it into dessert. The Pepsi-owned company’s flagship line, composed of 11 flavors with names like “Nirvana” and “Cranberry Grapefruit Elixir,” is marketed to give consumers the impression that it can cleanse the body, mind, and spirit. Don’t be fooled. Just like this bottle of green tea, all of these beverages are made with two primary ingredients: water and sugar.

Bonus tip:
See our updated list of the 20 Worst Foods in America!

Drink This Instead!

Honest Tea Green Dragon Tea (1 bottle, 16 fl oz)

60 calories
0 g fat
16 g sugars

18. Worst Energy Drink

Rockstar Energy Drink (1 can, 16 fl oz)

280 calories
0 g fat
62 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 6 Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Doughnuts

None of the energy provided by these full-sugar drinks could ever justify the caloric load, but Rockstar’s take is especially frightening. One can provides nearly as much sugar as half a box of Nilla Wafers. In fact, it has 60 more calories than the same amount of Red Bull and 80 more than a can of Monster. If you’re going to guzzle, better choose one of the low-cal options. We like Monster; it offers all the caffeine and B vitamins with just enough sugar to cut through the funky extracts.

Bonus tip:
Another great way to lose weight and look your best: Read the Men's Health 100 Best Fitness Tips!

Drink This Instead!

Monster Lo-Carb (1 can, 16 fl oz)

20 calories
0 g fat
6 g sugars

17. Worst Bottled Coffee

Starbucks Vanilla Frappuccino (1 bottle, 13.7 fl oz)

290 calories
4.5 g fat (2.5 g saturated)
45 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 32 Nilla Wafers

With an unreasonable number of calorie landmines peppered across Starbucks’ in-store menu, you’d think the company would want to use its grocery line to restore faith in its ability to provide caffeine without testing the limits of your belt buckle. Guess not. This drink has been on our radar for years, and we still haven’t managed to find a bottled coffee with more sugar. Consider this—along with Starbucks’ miniature Espresso and Cream Doubleshot—your worst option for a morning pickup.

Bonus tip:
Coffee is supposed to be good for you, right? See what other "healthy" foods and drinks turned out to be bad news--read about the 30 "Health" Foods That Aren't

Drink This Instead!

Illy Issimo Caffè (1 can, 6.8 fl oz)

50 calories
0 g fat
11 g sugars

16. Worst Soda

Sunkist (1 bottle, 20 fl oz)

320 calories
0 g fat
84 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 6 Breyers Oreo Ice Cream Sandwiches

Wait . . . but aren’t all sodas equally terrible? It’s true they all earn 100 percent of their calories from sugar, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still varying levels of atrocity. Despite the perception of healthfulness, fruity sodas tend to carry more sugar than their cola counterparts, and none make that more apparent than the tooth-achingly sweet Sunkist. But what seals the orange soda’s fate on our list of worsts is its reliance on the artificial colors yellow 6 and red 40—two chemicals that may be linked to behavioral and concentration problems in children.

Bonus tip:
Just because this soda's orange doesn't make it as healthy as orange juice. And just because these dishes have chicken in them don't make them worthy of the lean poultry's reputation: Stear clear of these 30 Terrible Chicken Dishes.

Drink This Instead!

Izze Sparkling Clementine (1 bottle, 12 fl oz)

120 calories
0 g fat
27 g sugars

15. Worst Beer

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot (1 bottle, 12 fl oz)

330 calories
0 g fat
32.1 g carbohydrates
9.6% alcohol

Carbohydrate Equivalent: 12-pack of Michelob Ultra

Most beers carry fewer than 175 calories, but even your average extra-heady brew rarely eclipses 250. That makes Sierra’s Bigfoot the undisputed beast of the beer jungle. Granted, the alcohol itself provides most of the calories, but it’s the extra heft of carbohydrates that helps stuff nearly 2,000 calories into each six-pack. For comparison, Budweiser has 10.6 grams of carbs, Blue Moon has 13, and Guinness Draught has 10. Let’s hope the appearance of this gut-inducing guzzler in your fridge is as rare as encounters with the fabled beast himself.

Bonus tip:
Want to lose weight when you eat out? Try these 10 NEW Top Swaps for Weight Loss!

Drink This Instead!

Leinenkugel’s Fireside Nut Brown Ale (1 bottle, 12 fl oz)

155 calories
13.4 g carbohydrates
4.9% alcohol

Sales for the iMaxi are Booming

Chuck Pretto couldn't figure out how to carry around his new iPad. So he decided to wear it.

From the iMaxi to a C3P0 backpack, accessories for your iPad are a hot commodity, and more businesses are stepping up to meet demand. WSJ talks to online store Etsy.com about the phenomenon and takes a look at some of the more interesting products on the market.

After ordering Apple Inc.'s new multimedia tablet last month, the 52-year-old property manager realized it might weigh down his briefcase. He didn't have another bag or carrier to cradle the 9.7-inch, 1.5-pound device. For a time, Mr. Pretto considered getting a "man purse" for it. Then he learned about iPad-compatible vests on a blog and immediately bought one.

"People can't believe this darn thing will fit inside my pocket," says Mr. Pretto, who now wears the $100 vest every day. The San Diego resident has since bought other iPad-friendly apparel, including a second vest and a windbreaker from travel-clothing maker Scottevest Inc.

Mr. Pretto's carrying conundrum isn't unique. After Apple started selling its tablet in April, early adapters were stumped on how to easily hold and transport the glass-screen gadget.

See some of the cases designed to hold, use and transport the iPad.

Scottevest's vest fits the 1.5-pound device in an inner pocket.

IPad's unusual size—far bigger than a 3.5-inch iPhone but much smaller than most laptops—has ramped up opportunities for enterprising individuals and companies.

In Fairbanks, Alaska, stay-at-home mom Kate Clark created a white, feminine-hygiene-product-shaped iPad case called iMaxi as a play on the jokes that were made about the iPad name when it was first revealed in January. Orders flew in. Other companies are marketing backpacks shaped like Star Wars robot C-3PO as iPad bags, while still others are developing industrial-strength iron-on pockets to hold the gadget.

Ms. Clark, 33, the creator of the iMaxi, fashioned the $30 quilted cotton case with wings for a laugh and put it up on Etsy Inc.'s online handicraft marketplace in February. Then she started getting thousands of hits from curious buyers. The attention, she says, caused her "major anxiety" because she hadn't kept track of how she made the first one and couldn't duplicate it. She eventually figured it out.

Now "we're super crazy busy just by sewing," says Ms. Clark, who has sold more than 100 of the bags and is now looking for a production firm to help her keep up with orders. "We're trying to stay ahead of the wave."

This iPad-sized pocket, the iBap, was produced as a spoof.

One iMaxi customer is Matthew Crowley, a 25-year-old aspiring writer. The Dedham, Mass., resident bought the iMaxi in March because he says he was impressed by the care and attention that was put into making the bag—and he actually uses it. While his father is a fan of the bag, his fiancée isn't. Does he worry about gawkers? "I'm quite immune in fact."

Although Apple has largely ceded the market for accessories for its laptops and phones, the company does sell a $39 black iPad case that can be used to protect the device on the go and prop up it up on a tabletop. Still, the company says it is thrilled to see the bag industry that has popped up around the gadget. The marketplace for iPod and iPhone cases "has been a great opportunity for developers, and we're excited to see the same enthusiasm for the iPad," says an Apple spokeswoman.

In some instances, entrepreneurs are rebranding existing products to suit the iPad. In January, Scottevest, the travel-clothing maker, began touting some of its existing multi-pocketed travel vests that can hold magazines, water bottles and a myriad of gadgets as iPad compatible.

The Sun Valley, Idaho, company—which counts Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak as a member of its advisory board—markets iPad wear starting from $75, and has since hired additional employees and more than doubled production.

Scott Jordan, Scottevest's chief executive, says the company is now working on an iPad-compatible trench coat that can be wrapped into itself to become an overnight bag.

Luxury luggage brands are keen to land iPad's more stylish fans. Tumi Luggage Inc. and Liz Claiborne Inc.'s Jack Spade and Kate Spade accessory lines have iPad bags in the works. Gucci NV says it is also considering iPad-specific cases.

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA jumped on the concept early. "Louis Vuitton is all about nomadism—chic nomadism, explains Yves Carcelle, chief executive of the company's namesake brand. "As soon as we read about it [the iPad], we contacted Apple—to get the dimensions, not the functionalities."

It began selling two iPad-specific cases earlier this month, both with the iconic LV logo, for $320. "In a few weeks we'll have a crocodile version," says Mr. Carcelle. "I remember the surprise Steve [Jobs] had when he found out the crocodile case cost more than the iPad." The price to be stylishly exotic: $1,850.

MZ Services Inc. of Auburndale, Mass. developed a waterproof cover with a transparent surface that lets users operate the touchscreen so they could take their iPads to pools, beaches and even the bathroom. It comes with an adjustable strap so they can hang the iPad from their neck or shoulder. The company says its $26.99 cover, which it sells under the brand name TrendyDigital, is so popular that it has sold out on Amazon.com Inc.'s online store.

The interest in iPad-related carrying accessories is so high that even spoofs are taken seriously. Jordan Owen, member of a Chicago design collective, created a digital prototype of a pair of jeans with an iPad-sized pocket called iBap (iGotaBigAssPocket). Mr. Owen says he received as many as 50 emails from people wanting to buy a pair. Still, he doesn't intend to produce any.

"Splice of Life" The Indie Graduate that Could

I have to admit, I liked the idea of "Splice" much better when it seemed relegated to arthouse showings. Normally, I am not opposed to indie movies that get the star treatment, but with this type of nuanced movie, it seems to do little justice to the art of it all to position it as high consumption. Vincenzo Natali is not a director who would register on anyone's map, but if you are familiar with the "Cube" series, then you know his work is brilliant in that he is able to take very simple elements and make a very complex story out of it. "Splice" promises to maximize on this formula, but their is something about the whole "tentpole" treatment that is rubbing me the wrong way. Warner Brothers, who achieved a studio high and low with the "Matrix" series, hasn't released anything remotely memorable in the last few years and are struggling to make it back on the map in terms of studio superpowers. In a way, Warner Brothers acquiring "Splice" is charming in that they have plucked something that looked like it was doomed for obscurity and given it new life. Whatever the case though, I will be front and center on Friday as "Splice" is the movie I have been waiting to see all year. Full review to appear soon.