A jar of Foster’s Pickled Asparagus Spears can be really hard to open, but once you do…
Category: Design
Optimal Processing: When to Slice your Bread and Peel your Bananas
What aging bread can learn from brown bananas
Problems with Milk and Toilet Paper
If you have Problems, you could look for Solutions. Or you could look for more problems. And gather them all up and lock them together in a room and see what happens.
Snack Efficiencies: Chia Pudding
I read in a comic book that ninjas in Edo-Period Japan would carry special food pellets with them, and they could survive on just two a day. I also remember the comic book saying that the pellets were a dehydrated preparation of chia and honey. Some day I will have to find that reference again,…
X’s and Eggs
Do you know what it means, when you see an egg with an ‘X’ on it? I bet you do. I do. But why? Why do I know? Did someone tell me? If they did, it was a very long time ago. If they didn’t, I must have just figured it out. But what I’m…
Bad Mug
Some people would look at a mug, and figure it’s the same as every other mug. People have favourite mugs, but that’s just because of hte picture, right? Or maybe it has some sentamental significance — it was a gift, or a prize or something. Maybe you think that mug technology has been perfected, and…
Rubber Band Handle Grip
On Christmas I was given a lovely bottle of blueberry syrup. My brother flew it from my parents’ place (I rarely check a bag, and as of this writing, the stupid ‘no-liquids-through-airport-security’ rule is still in effect), and eventually, after a several days, I was able to reunite with the victual. But when I was…
Bad Table
When considering something you’re going to use, it is usually worth it to spend the extra money to get something of good quality. It’s worth paying a little extra to have that really nice chair, or the comfortable pants, or a warm coat. But while price can be a reasonable surrogate for quality, it is…
BOOKHUNT: Better Book Design
I’m on the 3rd book of Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen Series. The first two books, Gardens of the Moon and Deadhouse Gates were rich reading experiences. But the books are long, and a lot happens in them. They are the kind of books where you can figure out what else happened or…
The Salad Bowl and the Drying Rack
If you look for pictures of “salad bowl on a drying rack,” there is a good chance you will find pictures of salad bowls, and pictures of drying racks, but you are not likely to find any pictures of salad bowls ON a drying rack. WHY? Because you shouldn’t do it. Not really. Because people…