June 2010
45 posts
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BP cleans up the oil spill with paper towels →
Oh, they’re high-tech paper towels, let me assure you. But still, doesn’t it seem a little inadequate compared to the magnitude of the task? What a depressing read.
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“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six,...”
– Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, Ch. 12
People say “money can’t buy happiness.” Maybe so, but you know what? Having no money (or spending your way there) is a sure route to misery. Oh, this too…how to count Victorian currency.
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Cookbook publishers say: u r dum →
If I had a choice, I’d prefer to see recipe ingredients displayed by weight instead of volume. Electronic scales make the readings both more precise and more convenient, as the scale can be reset to zero after adding each ingredient so that you can measure directly into the work bowl without having to use measuring cups or spoons first. Cookbook authors agree, too. So why aren’t...
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“As Boozoo [Chavis] has pointed out, up until his introduction to [record...”
– Album cover notes from The Lake Charles Atomic Bomb: Original Goldband Recordings (Rounder Records 2097), a collection and re-release of zydeco musician Boozoo Chavis’s recordings from the mid 1950s to the early ’60s.
So the practice of fading out pop songs toward the end of a track...
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Mango varieties
I mentioned a few different mangoes yesterday. This is a run-down of more varieties from Issue 85 (June/July 2005) of Saveur. The list was published before Indian mangoes were allowed in the US and so does not include the Alphonso.
Ataulfo
A small, curvy fruit originally from the Yucatan, with smooth, slippery, deep yellow flesh and a nice tartness. Found across the U.S.; also called the...
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WatchDear Mr. Smarmy Hipster: mangoes should not taste like tacos.
This video made me want to try the Alphonso mango, so I was excited to see some promising-looking fruits at the local foodie mecca about a week ago. These weren’t labeled specifically as the Alphonso, however, just “Indian mangoes,” so I couldn’t be sure exactly what variety they were.
According to Salon.com,...
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Cowboy songs
Back for another installment of music that get mixed up in my mind. This time: cowboy songs.
Happy Trails, Roy Rogers & Dale Evans
Back in the Saddle Again, Gene Autry
Home on the Range, sung by Pete Seeger
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How to choose summer fruit →
To me, the best part about summer is the abundant variety of fresh fruits, and this is Slate’s guide on how to choose them. I have to add, though, that the thump test for watermelons controversial, with contrary advice given just as often.
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How to reduce your junk mail
My experience so far. An empty mailbox feels liberating. Now if I can just get people to stop leaving crap on my door.
Credit card offers
Go to OptOutPrescreen.com and follow its link to opt-out. A request submitted online is good for five years, or you can send them a letter to make it permanent. You should see a huge reduction in these offers after 90 days; if a few still get through after this...
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Telemarketers keep calling me →
On the one hand, I’m sort of glad he’s keeping a record and bringing the scams to light; on the other, I don’t know why the poor guy doesn’t just sign up with the do not call registry and end his suffering.
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“The Master said, Women and people of low birth are very hard to deal with. If...”
– The Analects of Confucius, Book XVII, v. 25, Arthur Waley translation
From ancient wisdom all the way to yesterday. How long do you think either of these gentlemen will last on Jezebel?
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"The average household spent $5,477 on gas and... →
bundlehq:
From Bundle’s Gas & Auto Expenses Report
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Chinfographics →
A newly-launched website with infographics about China. I think it bears watching.
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How to properly heat a pan →
Test the temperature with drops of water. No, not so that it sizzles, but when it floats and scoots around the pan in a single bead. The science-y explanation: Leidenfrost effect. Whaddya know.
The traditional advice is to add oil to the pan after it’s heated, but that gives you no way to judge when the pan reaches proper temperature. Cook’s Illustrated, always acting the iconoclast,...
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“While Gotham is at the science fair, I’m banging the prom queen behind the...”
– People hate Comic Sans, but Comic Sans shows them who’s boss.
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15 Things Larry King Doesn't Know →
mattchew03:
I emailed Matt yesterday and basically forced him to do some sort of list featuring Larry King’s tweets, and this is what he came up with.
I couldn’t be happier.
Larry King is really just not very smart. I don’t know how he has such a well-paid job.
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Sunscreen
I swear, sunscreen makers are a shady lot. So after the Environmental Working Group got everybody hot and bothered about the dangers of sunscreen (short version: don’t use sunscreen, get skin cancer; use sunscreen, get skin cancer anyway), I figured to go look for one of their recommended products. The manufacturers’ websites pretty much all pointed me towards Whole Foods, so...
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(Almost) unbreakable glass →
Wow. I could be fooled, but this looks real and legit to me. The professor who developed the glass-strengthening process is commercializing it through his company, Santanoni Glass, and the product (or process) is named HercuGlass. It appears that they’re just taking ready-made glassware and reselling them after the strengthening operation. It would be really nice if we could send our...
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What is phrenology, and how to improve it →
Before:
After:
(from http://triggur.org/phreno.html)
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“When I left Germany, I had about 3,000 books…when I came to...”
– Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, commencement speech at Illinois Institute of Technology, January 25, 1958
We all want shortcuts to knowledge, but the truth is you can’t get to the thirty without passing the three thousand.
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Where is your milk from? →
Works for yogurt, sour cream, goat milk, and other dairy products, too. See the full list here.
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WatchThink your elite airline status makes you special? Think again. A million miles makes you a big shot? Forget it. The mileage that some people have accumulated (not necessarily all from flying, granted) are enough to cover interplanetary distances. I’m not kidding. How did they get there? Psst: ask the rice farmers.
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Saddle quest
Finding a comfortable bike saddle is, unfortunately, a trial-and-error process because everyone’s anatomy is different, and a great saddle for one person may be pure torture for another. Anyway, my problem is groin pain and numbness after about 15 miles (1 hour) of riding. I also experience tingling and numbness in the balls of my feet after this same distance, which the bike shop guy says...
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“This is everything we asked for but not what we wanted.”
– People are often bad at expressing what they really want. (via clientsfromhell)
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A winemaker's bag of tricks →
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