February 2006 Archives

Back in first year uni the then head of biomed hammered into us the simple concept of "less is more". This was in the context of written assignments but it implied more than just "please don't spew forth pages of bullshit because there's a 2000 word limit", they were really trying to impart upon us the challenge of conveying meaning in as succinct a manner as possible. Having that background I find the corporate world and its buzzword fanaticism pretty damned amusing and was reminded of the contrast today by this SMH blog entry.

I wonder if there's a Guinness World Record for the longest piece of prose that fails to communicate anything? :)

And if you feel like having a rant Insult the President seems like a good place to do it.

In my search for decent cookware I found it difficult to figure out what was good & bad and thus also to decide what to buy. Searching for cookware FAQs I found a really nice guide written by Hormel, the producers of that fine meat product known as SPAM. :)

I eventually settled on a stainless steel set with a 5mm aluminium base for ease of use & care. Aluminium itself isn't a great material for cookware coz it apparently leads to Alzheimers but in most stainless steel cookware its used solely as a conduction material to distribute heat evenly across the base and is fully enclosed so its ok. Non-stick teflon coatings suck ass as you have to be oh-so-careful not to scratch them. There are alternatives on the non-stick front though. Scanpan use some ceramic-titanium coating, and they make some well weighted frypans ... gonna pick one up at the next sale.

On New Year's Eve Phil & I decided to cut down on swearing in 2006. To provide some disincentive we decided to donate $2 to charity everytime we used the F-word. For the month of January I ended up at $84! That's more than once a day and I tended to let one out, then blow another coz I'd just lost $2. :) Six days into February and I'm already at $12 but I'm proud to say I managed to avoid swearing for 3 consecutive days last week. ;)

I haven't decided on a charity yet and combined with my Xmas bonus from last year I have a small lump to give away. Suggestions more than welcome though I would ask that they should not be affiliated with any religious groups, nor known for their money wasting habits.

Update (5/5/2006): February ended at $26. Tried to keep March under $10 but blew it in the first 3 days. I think it ended at $16. I lost track in April but it was under $10. Refraining from swearing is really easy now and am really starting to notice other folks' swearing. The vocabulary hasn't improved at all though which is disappointing.