I jut got another email from Netflix, and it looks like they decided not to remove profiles.

You spoke, and we listened. We are keeping Profiles. Thank you for all the calls and emails telling us how important Profiles are.
We are sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused. We hope the next time you hear from us we will delight, and not disappoint, you.
-Your friends at Netflix

Maybe the petitions, complaints and bad press they were getting prompted the change of heart. I also wonder if maybe the 1-2% they quote a the only subscribers using that feature was maybe a little low. Whatever it was, thank you for listening to your customers Netflix.

Turiba University Sets a new world record with 1911 simultaneous Diet Coke and Mentos fountains. This breaks the previous record set by 1360 Belgium students last April.

I just got an e-mail from Netfix, they will be removing profiles feature. I thought it was spam at first, since why would Netflix do this? I followed the link, and found out this it wasn’t a joke, they are in fact removing profiles effective September 1st. This feature lets you set up multiple movie queues under different names. So I have a profile and my wife has a profile and we both get one DVD out of our two-DVD plan.

We wanted to let you know we will be eliminating Profiles, the feature that allowed you to set up separate DVD Queues under one account, effective September 1, 2008.
Each additional Profile Queue will be unavailable after September 1, 2008. Before then, we recommend you consolidate any of your Profile Queues to your main account Queue or print them out.
While it may be disappointing to see Profiles go away, this change will help us continue to improve the Netflix website for all our customers.
If you have any questions, please go to http://www.netflix.com/Help?p_faqid=3962 or call us anytime at 1 (888) 638-3549. We apologize for any inconvenience.

To me, removing a feature is not an “improvement,” and may prompt me to find another DVD rental service come September 1st. If you use profiles, please let Netflix know that this is a bad idea.

UPDATE: Apparently, there are a lot of (rightly) upset Netflix users out there.

• Netflix Community Blog: Profiles feature going away
• Hacking Netflix: Netflix Eliminating Account Profiles
• Digg: Netflix Eliminating Profiles
• Protest Netflix’s Cancellation of Profiles Petition
• SaveNetflixProfiles.com

Appalachian State University has recently published the results of their study on the physics behind the Mentos + Diet Coke = Crazy Fizz phenomenom. This is some serious science that I can get behind! If you ask me, more research dollars need to go towards the study of Mentos. According to the study, here is the reason the Diet Coke fizzes up when Mentos are added.

So why does the reaction occur? In an opened container of soda, carbon dioxide gas bubbles out over the course of minutes or hours until the concentration of carbon dioxide left in the soda is proportional to the carbon dioxide in the surrounding air. This de-fizzing reaction is slow because the surface tension of the liquid is very high, which keeps the gas bubbles trapped.

But when a Mentos is dropped in the beverage, it breaks the surface tension and as it falls the candy’s surfactant coating further reduces the surface tension of the liquid. The candy’s rough surface also provides growth sites for the gas, making it easier for carbonation to escape as a foam geyser.

The geyser also occurs when sand, salt or lifesavers were added to the Diet Coke, but the mass lost and volume traveled is much less spectacular.

If you wan to see the full ariticle in its full complex physics detaiils, you can access it from The American Journal of Physics Online.

What to be a part of a world record for something that you should probably do anyway? Spreadfirefox is trying to set a world record for most downloads in a 24 hour period when the new version of Firefox 3.0 is released on June 17th. If you’d like to participate, visit the Download Day 2008 website and pledge a download. They’re looking to get 3 million downloads during that day to set the record.

I’ve been using the beta release of Firefox 3 for quite a while, and am happy with the improvements (here is a screencast with some of the new features). I guess what I’m saying is that it’s worth the download, so you might as well help out with the world record attempt when you do it.

The rumors were correct. Apple announced the 3G iPhone yesterday at their Worldwide Developers Conference.  I have to say I’m very tempted. My year-old Treo 755p is looking a little long in the tooth. After several people I know have picked up iPhones over the past year, I’ve gotten to like the device more and more. The major thing that turned me off the iPhone when it was released was the lack of external applications. That will be changing very shortly. Apple announced a software developers kit for the iPhone back in March, and will open the floodgates for custom apps with the release of the iPhone 3G (and previous iPhones) in July. I’m really curious to see what apps start showing up for this thing. With my major complait out of the way, Apple improved new device even more with the addition of 3G data speeds (that was almost another deal killer), GPS, and a cheaper price. That said, there are still a few seemingly easy things missing from the iPhone.

• MMS
  Where the heck is picture texting? You would have a hard time finding a cheap freebie phone that didn’t have this feature
• Video Capture
  This isn’t a huge deal, but again seems to be a pretty common feature on all the cheapo phones out there these days. I’d be willing to bet there are a bunch of apps released that include this feature. (audio recording would be nice too!)
• Lack of Cut and Paste
  This has been a major complaint since the initial release.
• Lack of Bluetooth Data Tethering
  I do this from time to time with my Treo, and it is nice to get an Internet connection on my laptop when there is no wifi in sight (riding in the car).

None of these are really deal killers for me. I will take a long hard look at the iPhone when my current Sprint contract expires in the next year. Also, if you didn’t catch the Steve Jobs Keynote video here is a great remix from Mahalo Daily chopping the 107 minute video down to 60 seconds.