Future Present | The Return Of Scipio

Future Present | The Return Of Scipio: "Our archeologist, while rummaging among the ruins of our fallen civilization, met a ghost from the long dead race of Americans. The wraith boasted much about what we had been as a people."

It ain't over till its over.

History of Marshmallow Fluff - Part One

History of Marshmallow Fluff - Part One: "On May 14, 1920, a small article appeared in the Lynn, Massachusetts, Daily Evening Item announcing that two young men, H. Allen Durkee and Fred L. Mower, both graduates of Swampscott High and veterans of the United States Infantry in World War I, had formed a partnership in the manufacture of Marshmallow Fluff. The actual date that they started working together is hard to pin down, because they had been making candies together before they started making Fluff. The company numbered two men in those days, and they started out cooking their confections in the kitchen at night and selling them door to door in the daytime."

I haven't seen this in the local stores for a long time though there are others brands. We used to have to go to Walmart to get the one without extra coloring agents because of a cousin with allergies.

The best thing in the world is Fluff, Nutella, raspberry jam and honey (to balance the sweetness) but I had it in Europe when I was on a bike all the time.

Liberty Education Interview Series

Liberty Education Interview Series: "Liberty Education Interview Series
Robert Ringer interviews top leaders on today's
most vital and controversial issues."

Cool.

The Simple Dollar � Most Time Management Is Rubbish. Here Are Ten Things That Work for Me.

The Simple Dollar � Most Time Management Is Rubbish. Here Are Ten Things That Work for Me.: "Here’s the problem with productivity tips, though. Most of them don’t work. Some are simply inefficient. Others are only efficient in certain situations. Still others only work well for people with certain mindsets."

I have got to try some of these.

8 Common First Aid Mistakes And Myths That Make Things Worse � Health Watch Center

8 Common First Aid Mistakes And Myths That Make Things Worse � Health Watch Center: "How much do you think you know about first aid and proper emergency response? Most people think they know quite a lot, but most of what they have learned consists of myths that could actually do more harm than good."

More First Aid lesson.

How Helmets and Quick Responses Save Lives - NYTimes.com

How Helmets and Quick Responses Save Lives - NYTimes.com: "“This kind of blood clot we’re dealing with here almost never happens in helmeted sports — unless the helmet comes off,” said Dr. Cantu, a director of the Neurological Sports Injury Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston"

First Aid lesson.

My speech to Gordon Brown goes viral :: Daniel Hannan

My speech to Gordon Brown goes viral :: Daniel Hannan: "When I woke up this morning, my phone was clogged with texts, my email inbox with messages. Overnight, the YouTube clip of my remarks had attracted over 36,000 hits. By today, it was the most watched video in Britain."

Remember when I said that newspapers have failed their responsibility so now politicians are going around them.

Little Red Riding Hood Redesigned

Slagsmålsklubben - Sponsored by destiny from Tomas Nilsson on Vimeo.

Now this is cool.

StillTasty: Your Ultimate Shelf Life Guide - Save Money, Eat Better, Help The Environment

StillTasty: Your Ultimate Shelf Life Guide - Save Money, Eat Better, Help The Environment

This is handy.

Land Your Dream Job: Ditch School and Get a Library Card | Zen Habits

Land Your Dream Job: Ditch School and Get a Library Card | Zen Habits: "It’s true that the average college graduate earns more than someone without a bachelor’s degree. However, a good chunk of the biggest innovators and multimillionaires in the world were either high school or college drop outs. (See: Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Johnny Depp, Bill Gates and Quinten Tarantino.)"

Don't forget those people started their own businesses and the average college grad works for someone who started their own business. 

It's Not the Economy, Stupid - TCS Daily

It's Not the Economy, Stupid - TCS Daily: "Many of us have taken shots at trying to explain to anyone who will listen that raining largesse from on high a la J. M. Keynes just ain't gonna work."

That reminds me of something. Now where was that, Oh, here it is.

Scott Adams Blog: Twelve Rules of Energy Efficient Building 03/23/2009

Scott Adams Blog: Twelve Rules of Energy Efficient Building 03/23/2009: "A reader asked me to list the dozen concepts for building an energy-efficient house."

Just 12 things, huh?

A good list though it would have to be adapted to different parts of the country.

A commenter says something great:

The builder/contractor/whatever does not pay the recurring energy bill so they have no incentive to make your bills lower. They have to make the sale prices as low as possible to get people in the door.

and that is a big deal. This needs to change. Some kind of TCO (Total cost of ownership) rating would be useful. Energystar is a good start but only really talks about the appliances and not enough about the rest of the house. 

I've also noticed lots of how homes that have all the features you are supposed to want but are so badly laid out that it makes it really hard to live in the house. A warning sign is if you are going through the model and there are doors not installed pay extra attention to the hinges, the doors probably clash and with the doors in place would severely darken the space.

Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable � Clay Shirky

Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable � Clay Shirky: "The newspaper people often note that newspapers benefit society as a whole. This is true, but irrelevant to the problem at hand; “You’re gonna miss us when we’re gone!” has never been much of a business model. So who covers all that news if some significant fraction of the currently employed newspaper people lose their jobs?

I don’t know. Nobody knows. We’re collectively living through 1500, when it’s easier to see what’s broken than what will replace it. The internet turns 40 this fall. Access by the general public is less than half that age. Web use, as a normal part of life for a majority of the developed world, is less than half that age. We just got here. Even the revolutionaries can’t predict what will happen."

This is a really important question.

The next questions is, how will you be able to trust what comes next?

Home Made Chicken Soup from Scratch

We have colds right now and are not feeling very well. So I made some homemade chicken stock and chicken soup. Yesterday I cooked up the stock.

I took a couple of chicken backs and a couple of pounds of chicken wings and tossed them in the big pot with a moir poix and a handful of garlic and peppercorns. That simmered for 6 hours then cooled it in the sink with lots of cool water to get it out of the danger zone quickly. I then pulled out all the chunkys and got rid of those. The meat and vegetables had given their all and were dead again. I chilled the stock over night. It came out beautifully like chicken jello and skimmed off the fat and froze that for roux making later.

I finely diced up another moir poix and lots of garlic and sauteed that to get a little flavor on it and some parsley and marjoram. I also sauteed a couple of chicken breasts and diced them and returned them to the pot with everything else. I used about 1.5 cups of the stock and enough water to cover everything. I also added some spinach and ricotta raviolinni to round it all out. My wife says it completely blows Campbells and Progresso out of the water and was even better then Momma used to make. It certainly seemed to take the edge off for me.

The Future Now: Sixth Sense Technology May Change How We Look at the World Forever

The Future Now: Sixth Sense Technology May Change How We Look at the World Forever: "The key here is that Sixth Sense recognizes the objects around you, displaying information automatically and letting you access it in any way you want, in the simplest way possible."

This is pretty cool but I want it to do one more thing. It should warn you and tell you what to do when an emergency occurs. I just read The Survivor's Club and there are a lot of people who die who won't have if they had just done something sensable like moving to the nearest exit. Oh, well I doubt they've thought of that since they haven't lived through anything traumatic yet.

25 Vintage Food Prep Tips: Timeless Wisdom : TipNut.com

25 Vintage Food Prep Tips: Timeless Wisdom : TipNut.com: "This collection of vintage tips was gathered from books and magazines that were published in the 1940’s, most are still quite useful for today’s kitchen."

Some of these I haven't used but a few of them have been supplanted by better techniques.

For example the warm water egg trick is good but it is much easier to just start them in a cold pot of water.

There are lots of other good ideas on this site though.

Hacking Education (continued)

Hacking Education (continued): "5) The education system we currently have was built to train the industrial worker. As we move to an information driven society it is high time to question everything about the process by which we educate our society. That process and the systems that underlie it will look very different by the time our children's children are in school."

School is going to have to change dramatically if it wants to stay relevant, though in all likelihood they'll take the typical totalitarian route and kill all the homeschool and other options and make it mandatory, all-day, even more high-stakes and even less useful.

Hacking Education (continued)

Hacking Education (continued): "5) The education system we currently have was built to train the industrial worker. As we move to an information driven society it is high time to question everything about the process by which we educate our society. That process and the systems that underlie it will look very different by the time our children's children are in school."

School is going to have to change dramatically if it wants to stay relevant, though in all likelihood they'll take the typical totalitarian route and kill all the homeschool and other options and make it mandatory, all-day, even more high-stakes and even less useful.