BBC NEWS | Americas | 'Goat-free roads made me speed'

BBC NEWS Americas 'Goat-free roads made me speed': "A traffic officer's notes said the Swiss driver had said he was taking advantage 'of the ability to go faster without risking hitting a goat'."

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | TV series for 'adult' Famous Five

BBC NEWS Entertainment TV series for 'adult' Famous Five: "The Famous Five, Enid Blyton's literary childhood sleuths, are set to be 'reimagined' as middle-aged grown-ups in a new TV drama for adults. "

Hee hee. this ought to be interesting. I used to read these books and have watched many of the TV shows.

I finished the book of obituaries and started Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows but finsihed it before I got around to posting that I was reading it! It was great! I won't give it away. Go read it.

I'm now reading Union 1812: The Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence by Langguth. Each chapter is written as am episode focusing on an individual. He does a great job of keeping it interesting, even if it's a bit disjointed in that he's not covering a specific timeline in great detail. So far so good. I don't know much about the War of 1812 so it's a great primer on the era.

BBC NEWS | Health | Out-of-body experience recreated

BBC NEWS Health Out-of-body experience recreated
"Experts have found a way to trigger an out-of-body experience in volunteers."

How to Answer the Unanswerable

How to Get to Work on Tiem

How to Be X-Treme

China Regulates Buddhist Reincarnation - Newsweek Beliefs - MSNBC.com

China Regulates Buddhist Reincarnation - Newsweek Beliefs - MSNBC.com: "In one of history's more absurd acts of totalitarianism, China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. According to a statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is 'an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation.' "

The Sun Online - News: Pet spider kills its owner

The Sun Online - News: Pet spider kills its owner

BBC NEWS | South Asia | India's model democracy

BBC NEWS South Asia India's model democracy

Does Iraq have a lesseon to learn here?

How a fake word from The Simpsons ended up in a perfectly cromulent string theory paper: Sciam Observations

How a fake word from The Simpsons ended up in a perfectly cromulent string theory paper: Sciam Observations: "'The Simpsons,' a source of knowledge for all serious theoretical physicists."

"Jebediah: [on film] A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.
Edna: Embiggens? I never heard that word before I moved to Springfield
Ms. Hoover: I don't know why. It's a perfectly cromulent word.

Here is the word in a rather different context:

While in both cases for P anti-D3-branes the probe approximation is clearly not good, in the set up of this paper we could argue that there is a competing effect which can overcome the desire of the anti-D3s to embiggen, namely their attraction towards the wrapped D5s. Hence, also on the gravity side, the non-supersymmetric states would naively be meta-stable."

"Have any of your colleagues recognized your use of the word?
When I gave a draft of one of the papers using this word to [fellow Simpsons fan] Joe Polchinski [of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara] and asked him to among other things to comment on the referencing in the paper, he replied "Your referencing looks perfectly cromulent." I didn't remember cromulent and had to look it up myself!"

How to Calm a Frightened Child

How to Create and Weat a Memorable Halloween Costume

How to Figure Out if You Said That Terrible Thing Out Loud

How to Give a Kid a Story They'll Tell for the Rest of Their Life

How to Backpedal

How to be a Gentleman Cat Burglar

How to Fake a Smile

How to Keep "The Love"

BBC NEWS | Technology | Paper battery offers future power

BBC NEWS Technology Paper battery offers future power

Basic Instructions: How to Open a Snack Quietly

Basic Instructions: How to Open a Snack Quietly

How to Apply the Laws of Physics to Personal Relationships

How to Remember Names

How to Buy a Car

How to Eliminate Clutter

How to Apologize Without Acceptong Any Blame

How to Exhibit Good Form

How to Give Directions

How to Deal With a Crazy Spouse

How to Talk to Your Kid About Smoking

How to Maintain A Secret Identity

How to Curse Without Cursing

How to Call a Relative

How to Tell a Joke

How to Win a Game of Risk

How to Be Suave

How to Justify an Extravagant Purchase to Your Spouse

Basic Instructions: How to Calm a Frightened Child

Basic Instructions: How to Calm a Frightened Child

Basic Instructions: How to Justify an Extravagant Purchase to Your Spouse

Basic Instructions: How to Justify an Extravagant Purchase to Your Spouse

Basic Instructions: How to Be Suave

Basic Instructions: How to Be Suave

Basic Instructions: How to Explain the Plan

Basic Instructions: How to Explain the Plan

This is a great site!

On Sandwiches

N: Sir, do you make/eat sandwiches?
Me: I do indeed.
Why, I had one for lunch this very noon
and another yesterday as well
and one before that
N: Marvelous!
Me: in fact I have a sandwich almost every work day
N: You surely know a great deal about sandwiches!
Me: well I know a great deal about the sandwiches I eat at any rate
N: If you are making a sandwich with only one condiment, how/where is that condiment applied?
Me: usually on the bread
N: *nod*
Me: more often than not on the inside of the sandwich
as I find if I put it on the outside it tends to soil my hands
N: Assuming you are making a sandwich with 2 slices of bread, how many slices of bread get condiment applied to them?
Me: usually both
if its 1 condiment then both get the same
if its 2 condiments then it depends on the sandwich
the sandwich more colloquially referred to as a "Hamburger"
(or "burger" for short)
if I choose 2 condiments, I would apply them together
Me: for example ketchup (or catsup, if you will), and mustard (of varying varieties, but my preference is the horseradish variety)
N: on only one side of the bread?
Me: for the burger, yes
but for example on a ham sandwich, I will put mayo on one side and mustard on the other
because mustard on both sides is often too much and without the mayo its too dry
I would also point out that the kind of bread I'm using influences this choice as well
N: *grin*
I may be a "one side only" person because I only make sandwiches with really good bread.
Me *shrug*
what brought this up?
N: K and I are debating the proper placement of condiments on the ideal sandwich.
Or on the default sandwich.
Me: ahh
N: He was displeased at lunch because the sandwich person put mustard on only on side.
Me: what are your definitions of "ideal" and "default"?
N: When you go to a deli and order a sandwich, what seems like the "right" thing for the counter person to do?
Me: well it depends
are you ordering a "signature" sandwich or making something up?
if its a signature sandwich then you have no right to complain
if you are ordering then they should ask
but places like Subway and Quiznos have strict guidelines for sandwich building for which you have to specifically request deviations from
you probably have more flexibility from non-chain delis
N: Just a deli, say you want my standard: roast beef and swiss.
Not a specialty thing.
Me: I don't - unless it toasted
otherwise, meh
if its toasted than I probably won't have any condiments
if it isn't I probably wouldn't order it
N: Well, generic sandwich. Turkey, ham, roast beef...
Just plain cheese.
Me: I tend to put the condiments on myself
if given the choice
N: *giggle*
Mayo on your HEAD!
Me: I'm being difficult, aren't I? :-)
N: I'm amused by "I put the condiments on myself."
Me: :-) well K's problem is one that's easily fixed
if they put the mustard on one side and he wants it on both all he has to do is add some to the other
its better than the alternative i.e. if he wanted it on one side and they put it on both
that's a lot harder to fix
N: true