Friday, September 18, 2015

The Medieval Bestiary

The secret to successful blogging is to only post rippingly good stuff that immediately grabs people and makes them want to see more.

And to only post every six months or so. Ahem.

I bring thee the Medieval Bestiary: Animals in the Middle Ages.

sample:


Saturday, March 14, 2015

Stunner: Earth Wind Map

Wow. This is something to see on any day, but it's spectacular right now - with Cyclone Pam churning over the South Pacific:




Go here. It's interactive - you can spin the globe. Verge article. And more.

And gah: Cyclone Pam wreaking havoc in Vanuatu right now.




Saturday, February 14, 2015

LifeHack: Stuck Screwtop Trick

I've made a video showing a trick I came up with (although I'm very sure it's been done before) to remove a stubborn screwtop. Now you can share in the fun.

Because I didn't put a single thought into production - I grabbed C. as she was walking by and said, "Hey! Hold this phone and video this!" - let me spell it out:

• If you're having trouble removing a screwtop from some screwtopped thing—a bottle, jar, steam-cleaner canister, or whatever—get yourself a length of strong string. Thin, normal stringy-string will probably not work. A shoelace might do.

• Tie a loop in the string that will fit snugly over the screwtop, put said loop over the top, and wrap the string around the top a couple of times. (You don't have to make a loop, it just makes it a little easier. If you like, just wrap the string around the top several times.)

• Pull on the string - et voila - it should come off with a good strong pull that even a not-so-strong person could manage. (If you're doing this with a jar of pickles or somesuch, you're of course going to have to be careful about pickle juice flying around, so get your jar good and stable before pulling the string.)

Here's the video:



At the end of the video, the lovely and musical voice you hear is that of the lovely and musical C., saying, "This if for my clothes-steamer," meaning the canister. Just so you know.

Empty Field, Chair, Farmer, Trombone: Cows

I have not posted on this outer planetoid of the intertubes for four months. Now, I must post.

Behold: