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Showing posts from October, 2015

"If my grandmother had wheels, she would be a bike"

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Mind you, the look on his face is just about as priceless

Two Hard Things in Computer Science

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The original There are only two hard things in computer science - cache invalidation, and naming things The variant There are only two hard things in computer science - cache invalidation, and naming things, and off-by-one errors The distributed systems variant There are only two hard things in distributed systems -      2. Exactly-once delivery      1. Guaranteed order of messages     2. Exactly-once delivery Humor thereof /via CommitStrip

Awesome proofs are awesome!

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Because...Corgis!!!

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When people ask how your life is going...

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The Case Files

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This took me a moment 😊 /via CommitStrip  

Roast tomato and taggiasca salad

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Roast 24 wee/tiny cherry tomatoes .  To do this, toss with 1 tbsp olive oil , and salt to taste , spread on a baking sheet, and roast in an oven at 400°F for 10-20 minutes till they just start to pop, and are slightly caramelized and wrinkly. Meanwhile, dive 5oz  mixed baby-greens into two bowls.  If you can get any that are slightly bitter (kale, mustard greens, carrot greens, etc.), it'd be awesome. Top this with 12 taggiasca olives pitted and halved salt to taste juice of 1 lemon 1/2" serrano sliced When the tomatoes are ready, divied them across the two bowls, and top with 2 tbsp crumbled feta Se rve with a country bread of some kind, and a glass of chilled gamay noir.  It makes for a light, and quite happy-making, dinner

How to troll a cat

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And the full video

Sportsball!!!

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  /via XKCD  /via NeoDuskComics  /via Dan Diamond

Where to eat (and drink) in Williamsburg

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BOE ( 209 Wythe, Williamsburg ) My favorite watering-hole in Williamsburg, it is technically the tasting room for "BOE Wines" (vintner - Alie Shaper), but it is so much more.  It also showcases all things drinkable from New York (Whiskey, Rye, Vodka, Grappa, Beer, etc.) as well as a carefully curated set of some off the wall - yet excellent - New York wines.  Endlessly helpful staff, as well as local cheeses/salumi at $7/portion, it's a wonderful way to spend an evening (or afternoon!) Cantina Royale ( 58 North 3rd Street, Williamsburg ) It's a "Mexican" restaurant, which isn't saying much in NYC (where the selection thereof is remarkably poor).  The go-to dish here is the salsa - you get a selection of four, which range from hot to delayed effect nuclear , but all of which have a depth and complexity of flavors that belies the simplistic "hot salsa" definition. Apart from that, some of the tacos are excellent, the tortilla/chicken s

Ribbons are the best thing EVAR

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Spy on people, just not on *us* (us MPs, that is)

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Really, no comment on the awesomeness that is the UK Parliament MPs are to hold an emergency debate on the Wilson doctrine, amid fears the convention designed to prevent politicians' communications being spied upon is "dead". The Investigatory Powers Tribunal has ruled the convention has no legal basis. Shadow Commons leader Chris Bryant led a successful application in the Commons for an emergency debate in response to Wednesday's judgment. M r Bryant said the judgment had resulted in an ``ambiguity'' which needed to be cleared up urgently, adding it had also cast doubt on the protections supposedly afforded by the convention  

Elephants need cuddling too

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Everything you need to know about Yoga

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  /via Bloom County

What that extra shoelace hole is for

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#TIL

Some help in choosing your religion

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Mind you, I dunno that the whole " Jewish, therefore meh about Hummus " bit is accurate.  You should check out the Hummus Wars

Misty Copeland. Yo-Yo Ma. Holy Wow

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Our IoT Future

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/via CommitStrip

Roasted squash and bell-peppers on cumin-rice

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Get yourself 1 lb of Butternut Squash , already peeled and sliced into 1" chunks.  How? Either do it yourself, of if you're lucky, get it already in shape from the grocery :-) Put it in a large bowl, and drizzle with 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp ground pepper 2 tbsp olive oil   Mix this all up till the squash is well coated. Place the squash in a baking pan, and roast in an oven at 350°F for 30 minutes.  You know they're done when a fork penetrates easily, and the top is slightly (or more!) caramelized. Once the squash is done, roast 1 large bell pepper .  How?  Core it, slice into 1/2" wide strips, drizzle with   1 tbsp olive oil 1/4 tsp salt place on a baking pan, and roast in an oven at 350°F for 15 minutes. You'll know when they're done when the skin is getting wrinkly and slightly charred.  Don't overdo this - bell peppers have a lot of liquid in them, and slightly roasting it releases the liquid - still in the veggie - so that when you

Coriander & Cumin flecked Baby Potatoes

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Boil 1 lb baby potatoes .  How?  Well, clean 'em, dump 'em in a large pot of boiling water, and let 'em rip for around 10 - 15 minutes till a toothpick inserts easily into the potatoes. Take 'em off the heat, and drain. While the potatoes are boiling, prepare the seasoning.  Grind the following coarsely . 2 tbsp cumin seeds 1 tbsp coriander seeds 1/4 tsp turmeric 2 dried red chillies 1 tbsp black pepper 1/2 tsp amchur (dried mango powder) salt to taste (probably 1/2 tsp, but it depends on how salty you like stuff. Remember - potatoes. Salt is good!)   "Coarsely" is key here - if you use the "coffee grinder" approach, you just want to give it a brief whir. (Incidentally, if you over-do this, thats ok, grind an extra 1 tbsp cumin seeds coarsely and mix it in.   While the potatoes drain, put 3 tbsp oil (olive, or otherwise) in a non-stick pan on medium-high, let it heat briefly, and add the spice mix from above.

Git Humor

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Mass Shootings Discussion Day for 2015 -- April 15th

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From the Washington Post, an analysis of all mass shootings in the USA for 2015 - where "mass" is defined as 4+ victims, including the shooter. As +Andreas Schou points out, if we believe that If it's inappropriate to discuss gun control in the aftermath of a mass shooting (where "aftermath" corresponds to a period of a week or less) that leaves exactly one day thus far in 2015 when it was appropriate - April 15th. So there you have it - Mass Shootings Discussion Day should henceforth be April 15th I'm setting my calendar for next year - are you?  

Political Discourse Today. All of it.

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/via Wondermark

Awesomeness in Trolling - ScissorHands or Snowden?

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It's supposed to be a segment on Edward Snowden, but the dude spends the time defending Edward *ScissorHands*. The best part - HLN doesn’t notice (or doesn’t care. Which is worse/better?)

Roast brussels sprouts with sun-dried tomatoes on cumin-rice

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Roast 1 lb Brussels sprouts .  How?  Well, clean 'em, take off the upper-most layer of leaves, and cut them in half length-wise.  Then put it in a large bowl, and drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil and salt to taste . Mix this all up till they are well coated. Place them in a baking pan, and roast in an oven at 400°F for 20-30 minutes .  You basically want this to - at least - be "done" to the point where a toothpick  enters with no resistance.  After that, you can caramelize (burn!) it to the desired level of brown-ness (blackness! yes - I like it somewhat burnt-y)   While the Brussels sprouts are roasting, prepare the cumin-rice with 1 cup rice .  You're basically just making rice with the following added to it before starting   In a small sauce-pan (or ladle, or some such), add 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tbsp olive oil and heat on high till the seeds just start crackling.  (Yeah, this is kinda like what we call "voggarne" in south india) .