Category: family fun

links for 2007-01-31

Now, that’s clever

I have heard of using protective gases, even your exhaled breath, to cut down on the oxygen exposure of film developers. But this is a great idea.

Flickr: RODINAL:

I keep my opened Rodinal in the fridge, next to the beer, and I fill the bottle with glass marbles, to
cut down on the O2 that eats the Rodinal.

This wine bag/boxes would be good for this as well, but Rodinal comes in such small quantities, this is a fine option.

technology rampant

Got an email this morning to let me know that my StrongSpace account (highly recommended backup solution) is now a combined Joyent/TextDrive/StrongSpace account. All the benefits of all three services at the same price. Hmm. A hosting service offer couldn’t come at a better time, given the state of my obsolete infrastructure here, so a move to TextDrive seems imminent.

And the repaired TiVo came back today: as I suspected, it’s a newer unit and it works just fine, so far. Took a while to get through Guided Setup, as people were using the phone and I found that some of the line filters needed for DSL were busted (no dialtone). But it all seems to be happy and stuff has been scheduled. Anyone recommended a networked TiVo vs a POTS-enabled one? What do you get besides faster transfers of schedule data?

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you are what you know about what you eat

Conversation elsewhere about food choices makes this entry in the Cool Tools list particularly timely.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma:

Author [Michael] Pollan, now an enlightened omnivore, challenges everyone to take responsibility for their food — no matter what it is — by tracking its path back to the sun. If you can face the path of your food in full knowledge and be at ease with it, then happy eating!

If you can raise it and harvest it, be it a potato or a cow, you can eat it without a qualm. But outsourcing the worst of it — read the book for details, as he doesn’t shirk from it, be it cutting the throats of chickens or shooting a wild hog — doesn’t work for me. Hard to say that without seeming judgmental and it’s not my intention at all.

why fairness matters

It’s Been A Good Seven Years; Or Another Reason I’m A Liberal.:

This is a large part of the selfish reason I favor redistributive social programs; I really, really don’t want to deal with desperate people in any capacity. They worsen working conditions for everyone because they feel that they have no choice but to take abuse, and their problems are just depressing and guilt-inducing. I want to live in a society where no one is terrified of destitution for my own comfort, and the comfort for the people I care about, even if they won’t ever have to worry about destitution directly.

Until I had kids of my own, I hadn’t really worked through this idea of fairness and equality. But when you interact with child-care providers, nannies, teachers, and the rest of the cast of characters in your child’s life, it becomes clear how much the kids learn from your interactions with them, in person and in conversations and attitudes unspoken. No one wants to overpay for anything but when you consider what we’re expecting teachers and caregivers to do, how can we overpay? How much is too much for well-educated, properly-socialized little citizens?

Mozart in Chamblee

Mozart in Chamblee:

On Saturday the Met will present the first of its live simulcasts, transmitting The Magic Flute in high-definition images and surround sound to some sixty theaters around the country. I’m not sure how the locations were selected, but it’s a remarkably even cross-section of red- and blue-state America, including Warrington, PA, Fort Myers, FL, Olathe, KS, Chamblee, GA, Fresno, CA, and Phoenix, AZ. Singer-blogger Campbell Vertesi, on seeing this list, complained that the Met was throwing away its resources on “communities that could give a rat’s ass about opera,” but, as it happens, many shows have already sold out, including those in the places named above. For more on the Met’s initiative, read David Patrick Stearns.

This is really interesting, and I would go to one of these. I would have a hard time in a real opera house (unless I lucked into great seats) but a theater might be more manageable. In the above excerpt, substitute “snob” for “Singer-blogger.” What a stupid thing to say.

piling on

Awkward Dance – New York Times:

Last Christmas, I took my grandchildren to “The Nutcracker,” a ballet I love. My enjoyment was severely marred by the appearance of a black snowflake and then, even worse, a black Snow King. The aesthetic incongruity was inconceivable. The entire ballet was spoiled. It is analogous to a one-legged midget playing Tarzan. Does this make me a racist?

Why, yes. It does make you a racist. The idea that one’s racial heritage and appearance is crippling says a lot: the analogy should have made that clear as soon as he or she wrote it down.

I saw this in my morning paper as well, and couldn’t believe someone would ask. But they did have the sense to have their name withheld (or perhaps The Ethicist took it upon himself to shield this person from the tide of indignation they were sure to get).

On The Ethicist: does he ever get any really challenging questions?