April, 2016 archive
Facebook Frolics 0
Facebook is concerned that you’re not nekkid “sharing” enough.”
In The Guardian, Anna Lauren Hoffmann reports that the Zuckerborg is blaming “context collapse” (that sounds to me like one of those terms that academicians coin to fool you into thinking they have come up with something new, rather than just demonstrating a flair for the obvious, but that’s another rant). Apparently, persons are “sharing” too many cat videos and not enough secrets. Here’s a snippet:
For users confronting collapsed contexts on Facebook, the withholding of personal anecdotes and information isn’t a problem – it is a solution.
For years, Facebook’s strategy has caused regular controversies around user privacy and ethics – blunders that got people exposed, outed and emotionally manipulated along the way. Users seem to have combated the problem by taking Facebook’s own advice, as shared by Facebook’s president of communications and public policy, Elliot Schrage, in 2010: “If you’re not comfortable sharing, don’t.”
In related news, Google seems to be in a snit.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Spare the rod, spoil the child.
Amateur Athletics 0
Yeah.
Right.
The University of Tennessee athletic department, with an operating budget of $126.6 million, spent $18.2 million on salaries, or 14.3 percent of its budget. The University of Memphis athletic department, with an operating budget of $43.4 million, spent $11.2 million on salaries, or 25.8 percent of its budget.
Yesterday, my local rag carried an interview with ESPN commentator Jay Bilas. When asked about “amateurism,” Bilas had this to say (follow the link for the full interview):
Collectives 0
If it’s a murder of crows, a pride of lions, and a gaggle of geese, why not a meme of hipsters?
Look in the Mirror 0
If you are white like me and this doesn’t make you a bit uncomfortable about the presumptuousness of whiteness, you aren’t paying attention.
Below the fold in case it autoplays.
Droning On (Updated) 0
No one could have predicted . . . .
The Metropolitan police said they were contacted on Sunday afternoon by the pilot, who landed the plane safely at Terminal 5. No one has been arrested, officers said.
The flight, BA727, was coming in to London from Geneva, carrying 132 passengers and five crew.
Addendum, a Week Later:
“And That’s the Way It Was” 0
Actually, no, it’s not.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Politeness is cleaning up.
The girl is expected to be OK, according to her mother, who did not want to be identified Sunday night. The bullet lost momentum after going through the wall, and didn’t pierce the girl’s leg.
Five Seed Bread 0
I made this today.
It was a complete ad lib effort inspired by a reference in the first Corinna Chapman story by Kerry Greenwood. Although there is a book of Corinna Chapman recipes available, the recipe for this “Seed Bread” is not in it; in the book, Corinna, who is a baker by trade, states that it is her secret recipe, and I reckon it is.
The book also refers to “kibbled wheat” and “kibbled oats” as part of the secret recipe. “Kibbled wheat” appears to be what in the States we refer to as cracked wheat; “kibbled oats,” steel-cut oats. I didn’t have any on hand and, frankly, I’ve never been a big one for oats, except in the form of oatmeal cookies.*
I must say, my experiment was quite successful and I look forward to trying it again. The finished product is quite savory. You can click the picture above for a larger image, in which you can see the seeds embedded in the loaf. Perhaps I’ll even give the oats and wheat a try.
Ingredients:
- 1 cp. warm water
- 1 packet yeast
- 1 1/2 cps. white flour, approx.
- 1 1/2 cps. rye flour, approx.
- 1 tbs. each dill seed, fennel seed, sesame seed, caraway seed, or to taste
- 1 tsp. coriander (the reference in the story referred to coriander seed, but I didn’t have any of that, so I ad libbed)
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. light brown sugar
Procedure:
1. Dissolve yeast in water and proof.
2 Add seeds, salt, and sugar.
3. Add white flour and stir well.
4 Add rye flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring after each, until dough is stiff and firm enough to knead.
5. Pour out on floured board and knead until firm and springy. If the dough feels a little sticky, knead in additional flour as needed.
6. Pour a bit of olive oil into a bowl and coat dough with the olive oil, then cover and allow to rise (approx. 1 1/2 hours, depending on heat and humidity).
7. When dough has approximately doubled in size, shape into a loaf and place in loaf pan or on cookie sheet and allow to rise for approximately 20 mins.
8. Place in oven preheated to 400 Fahrenheits and bake until a knife inserted into it comes out clean (approx. 30 mins.). If you wish a crustier loaf, place a pan of hot water in the oven and, after the bread has started to cook, brush the top of the loaf with water a couple of times, say, at the 10 and 20 minute marks.
Makes one loaf.
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*I have the same feelings about oats as Dennis the Menace once expressed about carrot cake when he said, “Nothing this good could come from carrots.”
Coal Dustup 0
In an stunning example of “if you don’t let people talk about it then it must not be happening,” a coal waste company sued a citizens group for slander because they complained about the ever-present effects of the dust blanketing their community from the ash pit.
Just follow the link.
You can’t make this stuff up.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Politeness is a family affair.
Another day in NRA Paradise.