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Print Story Is having an edge worth 53 pound sterling?
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By xth (Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 12:21:47 PM EST) do i have to put a tag? (all tags)
Includes: On Sharpening, Baby led weaning, Programming challenge - kind of, Attention Apple infidels!, and a Poll: unwashed hand interview conundrum.

Everyone likes to be sharp, but there are limits
Went to John Lewis to buy a sewing machine. While there got a phone call from an agency, picked up a few days worth of work. Great - I was in the kitchen section wanting to buy something but didn't because couldn't justify it. So back I went.

A cartoon Japanese chef sponsored by Global* was doing a knife sharpening demonstration. Funnily enough, a knife sharpening stone is exactly what I was after. It was 53 quids though. 53 QUIDS!!!! I just had a giggle with the chef and left.
* Global make those great looking vanadium knives - they are good, but a bit brittle, I've seen them shatter when dropped

Baby led weaning

Went for a pic nic in Greenwich (gri:nich) over the week. We gave the Creature his first taste of solids - we are doing the Baby Led Weaning doodar. I'm not too bothered, it's really yth's call, after all she's the one who controls the means of milk production and distribution. It will save us dicking around with mash though. So far it's going well, theCreature puts food in his mouth, plays with it a bit then lets it drop. All as planned, it's early days yet.

How do you work out the best album in my collection

I was looking at Pitchfork's best album lists, to see if there are any glaring omissions in my music library. The Pitchfork lists are the usual crap lists indie loving rock journalists (I use the term loosely) put together, but it made me think, what are the favourite albums in my collection?

I thought I'd knock together a quick Perl script to parse the iTunes library with SAX. I have't done Perl for years, and I often have to process XML files, so why not? I mean , Perl + OSX + XML, what could possibly go wrong?

Attention Apple infidels!
Do I really have to download 900MB of Developer toolkit just to have make on my machine? Jesus.

Attention Perl infidels!
Instead of dissing PHP, why not try and learn what made it so much more successful than your sorry mess of a language? Could the fact they distribute their libraries as BINARIES have anything to do with it? Just wondering.

Programming challenge - kind of
To find out the best albums i stared multiplying the ratings of a tune by its length, and keeping a running total of that. That is good (Autobahn was the top album, not bad) but it rewards albums with loads of average songs on them because they are longer.

Then I tried dividing those totals by the length of the album to get an average. This is the best so far, but tends to rewards longer albums - all the 70s albums, particularly Fela Kuti (who made a lot of short albums, the cheeky sod) dropped out of the top spots, to be replaced by those from the 90s, which are much longer.

there are 5 rankings, 0 (unranked), 20 (should be ignored, it's only in the library because I want to sample it), 40, 60, 80, 100.  A lot of songs are as yet unranked, that shouldn't affect the results. How would you go about it?

Oops The Creature woke up

Have a good day everyone
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Poll
Job interview. Before it starts, you use their toilets. You see a man use the urinals, then leave without washing his hands. Later on it turns out he's interviewing you. He puts his hand forward for you to shake.
- I shake it. In fact, I'm so desperate for the job I'd wipe his knob too if he asked. 7%
- I shake it. First thing after the interview I will go an by myself some anti-septic wipes and clean my hands off. 14%
- I shake it. Most men don't wash their hands after going to the toilets anyway, what difference is one more dirty handshake going to make. 42%
- I shake it, because I'm not a pussy. 71%
- As I'm about to shake it, I pretend I have a coughing fit, and put the shanking hand in front of my mouth. Now HE is the one who doesn't want to shake hands. 7%
- I say "Did I not just see you in the toilets?" and look at his hands, hoping he understands what I mean. 0%
- I just flatly ignore his hands and carry on as if it wasn't there. 0%
- I try and say something funny or distract everyone's attention by pointing at something on the wall. 0%
- I walk out without saying a word. I don't want to work with filthy bastards. 0%
- I say "sorry I'd shake your hands but I've been scratching my genitals for the last couple of hours. Don't know what's wrong with me, it's been going on since I've slept with that tart I picked up at a Walkabout. 0%
- I tell you what i'd do: _____________________ 7%

Votes: 14
Results | Other Polls
Related Links
- Pitchfork's best album lists
- xth's Diary
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Is having an edge worth 53 pound sterling? | 25 comments (25 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback
WIPO: Shake it, male urine is sterile by georgeha (4.00 / 2) #1 Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 12:29:44 PM EST





WIPO: feign disability. by gzt (4.00 / 1) #4 Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 12:42:08 PM EST
Keep your right hand in an awkward claw the entire interview. If you get hired, mention a recent surgery in passing.

[ Parent ]

Though by bobdole (2.00 / 0) #19 Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 04:20:46 AM EST
this requires the subject depositing said urine to be healthy, which you cannot be sure of; as well as sterile != healthy. Boiled shit is also sterile, still wouldn't touch it...

-- The revolution will not be televised.
[ Parent ]

Exactly by xth (2.00 / 0) #20 Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 05:22:39 AM EST
I watched a WW1 movie where all the soldiers went blind because they had been using pee to disinfect their eyes (? a folk remedy apparently) and hadn't realized they'd caught syphilis

[Splitting comments into subject and body is soooo 1994]

[ Parent ]

There's your lead in question to personalize by georgeha (4.00 / 1) #21 Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 07:27:34 AM EST
the interview.

Oh BTW, do you have syphilis?


[ Parent ]

can't think of a better ice breaker by bobdole (2.00 / 0) #22 Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 08:15:54 AM EST
urinary tract infection

-- The revolution will not be televised.
[ Parent ]

Unofficial Donut Wheel Response: by MohammedNiyalSayeed (4.00 / 1) #2 Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 12:30:20 PM EST

No, you don't have to download 900 MB to get make. You could install another make, you could get a DVD through Donutwheel Developer Connection, or you could build your own make, after you build your own compiler in assembly, the way we used to do it back when I was in school. In the snow. Uphill both ways.

Now, let's get back to this sewing machine thing; what kind, what for, and how much?


-
You can build the most elegant fountain in the world, but eventually a winged rat will be using it as a drinking bowl.


I'm glad you asked! by xth (4.00 / 1) #6 Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 01:17:52 PM EST
I thought nobody was going to! It's this little thing, http://is.gd/1jiiJ] it was on sale as well.
Cheap, but powerful enough to handle jeans, curtains, sofa covers, possibly even body bags (I suppose that's why you are asking)

[Splitting comments into subject and body is soooo 1994]

[ Parent ]

I ask because I've been needing one by MohammedNiyalSayeed (2.00 / 0) #7 Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 02:37:25 PM EST

capable of sewing thick cordura, nylon, and other pack fabrics. Most of the consumer grade machines can't cut it, and once you bump up to commercial machines, you tag an extra couple thousand to the price. I may have to poke around and see what the John Lewis thingy can do, as the price isn't too bad, at all.


-
You can build the most elegant fountain in the world, but eventually a winged rat will be using it as a drinking bowl.
[ Parent ]

Nylon melts by georgeha (2.00 / 0) #8 Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 02:43:32 PM EST
be a man, light the edges and then press the molten edges together with your fingers.


[ Parent ]

Welds aren't woven. by ambrosen (2.00 / 0) #9 Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 02:50:19 PM EST
And if MNS wanted a non-woven fabric, then I doubt he'd choose nylon. So, while you might think you're the site expert on melting plastic, I submit that your expertise doesn't reach any further than polyester in reality.

[ Parent ]

Depending on your exact requirements by xth (4.00 / 1) #11 Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 03:42:25 PM EST
The machine I bought was recommended by my sewing teacher (don't ask) as the cheapest model which would be good enough for most professional work.

Professionals, though, use old industrial machines, like Singers or Pfaffs - stuff like this. In the UK you can see them at most dry cleaners, they still use them to do alterations. I bought mine through the college where I was doing a tailoring course, they had a vintage shop in there. They are like soviet technology: simple, last forever, only do one thing but under all coniditions. They are harder to control through, because their engine is so powerful, you need days to get used to them.

Also, I'm sure you are aware of overlockers etc

[Splitting comments into subject and body is soooo 1994]

[ Parent ]

rating an album by codemonkey uk (4.00 / 1) #3 Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 12:31:37 PM EST
Why not just take the median rating of it's songs?  I don't understand why your factoring in the length of the individual tracks?

--- Thad ---
Growing a mustache for charity.


Oh yes, the median by xth (2.00 / 0) #5 Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 01:12:40 PM EST
The median.

[Splitting comments into subject and body is soooo 1994]

[ Parent ]

Edges by kwsNI (4.00 / 1) #10 Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 03:21:14 PM EST
These have almost tripled in price over the past 10 years, but the Spyderco Sharpmaker is by far the best sharpener I've used.  Does an amazing job on serated edges, even on high quality steels and other knife metals.  Not sure what the dollar/pound is trading at today, but I do believe it's just a tad over your 53 pounds though. 



Mmmm by xth (2.00 / 0) #12 Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 04:47:27 PM EST
interesting, but it's 63 pounds, plus I'll have to keep on buying replacement stones.

Having done some research, turns out the Global whetstone is not a bad deal at all when all's considered, so I may have to bite the bullet and get it.

[Splitting comments into subject and body is soooo 1994]

[ Parent ]

The stones are pretty durable by kwsNI (2.00 / 0) #16 Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 07:08:42 PM EST
Unless you were sharpening a metric fuckload of knives, you're probably good with 1 set for life. 

[ Parent ]

yes by xth (2.00 / 0) #18 Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 07:35:06 PM EST
it occurred that may be the case after i posted the comment

[Splitting comments into subject and body is soooo 1994]

[ Parent ]

Baby Led Weaning doodar?? by BadDoggie (4.00 / 1) #13 Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 04:54:13 PM EST
Details, please. Soon-to-be-parents everywhere are curious.

woof.

OMG WE'RE FUCKED! -- duxup ?


It only applies from 6 months onward... by xth (2.00 / 0) #14 Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 05:28:10 PM EST
There are different schools of thoughts about everything weaning. BLW means you skip the mash stage and go straight to solids. The way to do it is to let the baby join you at the table and play with food first. You need to read up on what food works, basically steamed carrot sticks, broccoli, apple slices, etc, and cereals cooked without salt. He will lick it, put it in his mouth then take it out, and every so often swallow some. With time that should evolve into proper eating. Obviously, you still breast/bottle feed for a while.
We've only just started, some of yth's mums-posse friends have been doing it for a while, they swear by it.

A good book about it http://www.rapleyweaning.com/
Also plenty of info on the ol' google

I don't necessarily buy the behavioral benefits (not saying it's mumbo-jumbo, I've just got baby-theories fatigue) but not having to prepare baby food is a bonus. Plus it's nice watching the baby  explore food at his own pace rather than (literally) spoon feeding him.

Good luck with your pregnancy!

[Splitting comments into subject and body is soooo 1994]

[ Parent ]

Huh? by BadDoggie (2.00 / 0) #15 Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 06:50:32 PM EST
Hard, non-mash solids before any teeth are in? Carrots?? Acclimating to flavours is one thing but that just seems like giving a pair of 3D glasses to a blind person.

woof.

OMG WE'RE FUCKED! -- duxup ?
[ Parent ]

STEAMED carrots by xth (2.00 / 0) #17 Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 07:32:55 PM EST
soft enough for the baby to mash them with his gums, but still retaining their shape  enough for him to grab them. Babies' gums are pretty sharp, being so narrow.

[Splitting comments into subject and body is soooo 1994]

[ Parent ]

Baby-Theories fatigue. by Breaker (2.00 / 0) #25 Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 12:44:56 PM EST
With you on that one.


[ Parent ]

Download 900 MB? Isn't it on the OSX disk? by wiredog (2.00 / 0) #23 Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 08:58:18 AM EST
That's how I installed X windows and the dev tools on my iMac. Put in the DVD that came with and installed them.

Earth First!
(We can strip mine the rest later.)


I'll have a second look but... by xth (2.00 / 0) #24 Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 09:19:46 AM EST
IIRC pre-leopard OSX came with a separate Developer Tools DVD, whereas now you just get he OSX and you have to download the DVD from the website. I did download the 900 MB, it just seems like a lot of data for a simple(ish) tool.

[Splitting comments into subject and body is soooo 1994]

[ Parent ]

Is having an edge worth 53 pound sterling? | 25 comments (25 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback

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