- Last night, several local television stations ran a five-minute test of their digital signal, in anticipation of the February 17th switch from analog. My own television, which is the only one in the house not hooked up to cable, and which I use primarily as a platform for watching DVDs, failed the test. All I got was a test pattern, color bars. I’m not too concerned about it, frankly, since I don’t really use the set, but now the Obama team wants to give me more time now to worry about it. Maybe he just wants the time to put the finishing touches on his own restaurant review show. (I’m assuming any restaurant that serves Yes Pecan ice cream gets four stars.)
- Speaking of bad food, however: Paula Deen wants to kill you. Whereas her colleague at the Food Network just tried to kill the holidays. [via]
- I don’t know about joining the book club, but I’m up for the challenge of reading all of Gene Wolfe’s “Solar Cycle” novels this year. Especially since I’ve already read The Shadow of the Tortuer, really liked it, and own a copy of The Claw of the Conciliator, the second book in the series. The only “downside” is that Wolfe’s writing can be a little dense and does require some very close reading because of that. It might distract me from reading anything else for awhile. But still, I’m sorely tempted.
- Speaking of Gene Wolfe, an interesting quote via Chris McLaren from a recent interview:
The purely commercial writer writes for the editor. The purely artistic writer writes for himself or herself. I write for the reader. As long as the editor buys it, I don’t much care what he thinks of it. If it’s a good solid story, that’s enough for me. But if the reader doesn’t like it, it’s a failure.
Smart man, that.
- No optician needed. Self-adjusting eyeglasses:
The wearer adjusts a dial on the syringe to add or reduce amount of fluid in the membrane, thus changing the power of the lens. When the wearer is happy with the strength of each lens the membrane is sealed by twisting a small screw, and the syringes removed. The principle is so simple, the team has discovered, that with very little guidance people are perfectly capable of creating glasses to their own prescription.
This obviously won’t work for all vision problems (like my own, astigmatism), but in developing countries, where getting any type of affordable corrective lenses can prove difficult, this sounds like a really good idea. [via]
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I don’t normally watch anything on the Food network, but I will stop and check out Paula Deen as I flip by because she is so insane. Although it is refreshing to see someone completely throw everything known about nutrition and health out the window. And if I’m honest, in my fairy tale world, this woman would be my personal chef. Fried peanut butter/honey/banana sandwiches rolled in cinnamon and sugar, anyone?