The Vomit Comet is now available for mass consumption, offered by The Sharper Image, no less. You get 15 parabolic maneuvers, which means 15 chances to empty your stomach and try to enjoy the weightlessness before you're crushed into the airplane floor by the ascent portion of the trajectory. This fancy schmancy high-atmosphere version of the joys of the Spanish Inquisition is available for less than $4k now.
Don't misunderstand, I think weightlessness is fascinating and the Vomit Comet always seemed like a really cool thing to go on. And even Hawking had a great time on one recently. But what a long way we've come from scientific research to recreational puking.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Sunday, July 29, 2007
RSVP
RSVP (Rapid Serial Visual Presentation) is an alternate way of presenting text. Instead of static pages of it as in a book, words are flashed for brief periods in front of you before the following words comes up. There are advantages and disadvantages to this method of visual madness.
Traditional reading assumes that text is static. Your eyes move over the text. This means there's a cognitive and biomechanical load on you: you have to move to each successive word and you also have to do so intelligently. But it also means you can re-read things and scan very easily.
RSVP reduces your biomechanical load: since the words don't move, your eyes don't have to move. It also reduces, arguably, cognitive load since you don't have to intelligently search for the next word or line. But you can't scan nearly as easily.
Apparently comprehension and speed with RSVP is, at best, comparable to traditional texts. Understandable, especially for those who haven't "trained" to read in RSVP style.
Anecdotally though, RSVP training is a great help in speed-reading traditional texts. This is because when you start getting used to it and start pushing up the presentation speed, your brain doesn't have enough time to mentally "vocalize" the words. Instead, you get used to entire words as graphical symbols. Then, when you go back to reading traditional texts, you skip the mental vocalization and instead look at whole words as symbols, a much faster way of deciphering a sea of letters and numbers.
Most current RSVP software seems to be just flashing word after word at a set speed. I wonder if there are ways to drastically improve that though. For one, many of the auxiliary words in the English language can be inferred from the context. Articles, for example, don't really need to exist for comprehension. Additionally, longer words take the brain longer to process.
I think RSVP speed can be tuned on a word-by-word basis with a good algorithm. For starters, the interval between one word and the next shouldn't be a constant. It should be a scaled constant, like time multiplied by length of a word. Shorter words get shorter presentation time while longer words get longer presentation time. The difference would be milliseconds but that's all the brain needs. Punctuation should be taken in to account as well. Often I'm looking at an RSVP presentation and the sentence confuses me because I missed seeing that little dot at the end of one word and a new idea comes flying at me without my realizing it.
Maybe I should write my own RSVP trainer and see where it gets me...
Traditional reading assumes that text is static. Your eyes move over the text. This means there's a cognitive and biomechanical load on you: you have to move to each successive word and you also have to do so intelligently. But it also means you can re-read things and scan very easily.
RSVP reduces your biomechanical load: since the words don't move, your eyes don't have to move. It also reduces, arguably, cognitive load since you don't have to intelligently search for the next word or line. But you can't scan nearly as easily.
Apparently comprehension and speed with RSVP is, at best, comparable to traditional texts. Understandable, especially for those who haven't "trained" to read in RSVP style.
Anecdotally though, RSVP training is a great help in speed-reading traditional texts. This is because when you start getting used to it and start pushing up the presentation speed, your brain doesn't have enough time to mentally "vocalize" the words. Instead, you get used to entire words as graphical symbols. Then, when you go back to reading traditional texts, you skip the mental vocalization and instead look at whole words as symbols, a much faster way of deciphering a sea of letters and numbers.
Most current RSVP software seems to be just flashing word after word at a set speed. I wonder if there are ways to drastically improve that though. For one, many of the auxiliary words in the English language can be inferred from the context. Articles, for example, don't really need to exist for comprehension. Additionally, longer words take the brain longer to process.
I think RSVP speed can be tuned on a word-by-word basis with a good algorithm. For starters, the interval between one word and the next shouldn't be a constant. It should be a scaled constant, like time multiplied by length of a word. Shorter words get shorter presentation time while longer words get longer presentation time. The difference would be milliseconds but that's all the brain needs. Punctuation should be taken in to account as well. Often I'm looking at an RSVP presentation and the sentence confuses me because I missed seeing that little dot at the end of one word and a new idea comes flying at me without my realizing it.
Maybe I should write my own RSVP trainer and see where it gets me...
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Strawberry and Blueberry Terrine
Since I've been doing strawberry and blueberries a lot recently I thought I'd try a different preparation. Keller has this nice looking Strawberry and Champagne terrine in the French Laundry Cookbook so I thought I'd adapt it to the stuff I had on hand: fresh strawberries and blueberries.
Fruit terrines are fairly simple in theory. Just mash everything to a puree, flavor it correctly with some extra sugar (since it'll be cold in the end), strain so that it's smooth, and then stir gelatin in to it to set it. Gelatin can be used to set any liquid really so the possibilities for dessert terrines are endless.
I ran out of sugar so I used some honey. But the process was as straightforward as the theory: blend the fruits, strain, add sugar, add gelatin, and then set in layers.
That looks pretty good except I didn't have enough blueberries to make multiple layers. So it was mostly strawberry terrine with a hint of blueberries. Lesson 1: proportion. And soon I learned lesson 2:
Oops. Not enough gelatin. I heated up the container with a little hot water on the outside and flopped the terrine on to the plate, whereupon it instantly flopped down like the blob. Need more time to set! Also, in the end, even after setting overnight, there just wasn't enough gelatin. Lesson learned. Still tastes pretty good though. So since I had four more cups of this stuff left, here's my dessert for the past few days:
Yup. Stick some raspberry mocha on top of that and eat the entire gloriously fruity mess. More gelatin next time!
Fruit terrines are fairly simple in theory. Just mash everything to a puree, flavor it correctly with some extra sugar (since it'll be cold in the end), strain so that it's smooth, and then stir gelatin in to it to set it. Gelatin can be used to set any liquid really so the possibilities for dessert terrines are endless.
I ran out of sugar so I used some honey. But the process was as straightforward as the theory: blend the fruits, strain, add sugar, add gelatin, and then set in layers.
That looks pretty good except I didn't have enough blueberries to make multiple layers. So it was mostly strawberry terrine with a hint of blueberries. Lesson 1: proportion. And soon I learned lesson 2:
Oops. Not enough gelatin. I heated up the container with a little hot water on the outside and flopped the terrine on to the plate, whereupon it instantly flopped down like the blob. Need more time to set! Also, in the end, even after setting overnight, there just wasn't enough gelatin. Lesson learned. Still tastes pretty good though. So since I had four more cups of this stuff left, here's my dessert for the past few days:
Yup. Stick some raspberry mocha on top of that and eat the entire gloriously fruity mess. More gelatin next time!
Eclectic Dinner
After getting back from hiking up and sliding down the Sand Dunes on Sunday, I needed some FOOD. I don't have anything planned so it's time for eclectic dinner with rice!Kung Pao Chicken: simple Chinese chicken breast chunks start with a bit of rice wine, salt, and maybe a little ginger. Stir fry it up and add ingredients. Here I decided to try a store-bought Kung Pao sauce that ended up being not spicy and mildly salty. Boo. Added some chili sauce to give it some flavor.
Stir Fry Green Beans: This is almost like oil blanching. Get the oil hot, dump in the string beans (cleaned and cut into sections about 4 inches long) and stir fry for a little bit. Dump in a little water and cover so that there's a very quick steam. Stir frequently and after a few minutes when you see that nice deep green color, sprinkle with salt. A couple more flips in the pan and they're ready to serve, all crispy and delicious.
Button Mushrooms with Balasamic glaze: not quite a real balsamic glaze since I don't have time for that. Just sweat some mushrooms in sauteed shallot oil and then add in some sherry and balsamic vinegar and reduce until thick. Mmmmm.
All this and two cups of rice lasted me two dinners. Hmmm...
News Much?
Google finance has a cool feature where news is labeled on the actual charts so you can see who has written what about a certain stock when. So some company got a bit of good news today. A few articles is to be expected but this is a bit much. Anybody know which company this is? >)
Pommes Sautees au Lard
I did "Pommes Sautees au Lard" from Bourdain's Les Halles a while back but didn't follow directions to the letter. OK, I basically just fried potato chips in bacon grease. Sounds pretty good right? But that's not Pommes Sautees au Lard so I went and took Bourdain at his word.
It's an easy dish. Cut bacon up into little tiny cubes and then fry them up. Use all that delicious rendered fat to cook slices of yukon gold. Salt to taste, add a little garlic, and sprinkle with parsley. Serve. Simple and delicious.
The only thing to note about this is to mind the bacon to potato ratio. I cut up one too many slices of bacon and the resulting grease ended up much more than was necessary to fry up two sliced Yukon Golds. To be safe, you could spoon out some of the bacon grease first, dump in the potatoes, and then add in the grease as needed.
To balance out the starch with more carbohydrates and protein, I took some left over chicken salad and made a sandwich out of it between pieces of toasted rustic bread.
Well that was easy. Too heavy you say? Yes, perhaps. Too much protein and starch? Maybe. What did I have to drink with this dish? A tall glass of whole milk. Take THAT, food pyramid!
It's an easy dish. Cut bacon up into little tiny cubes and then fry them up. Use all that delicious rendered fat to cook slices of yukon gold. Salt to taste, add a little garlic, and sprinkle with parsley. Serve. Simple and delicious.
The only thing to note about this is to mind the bacon to potato ratio. I cut up one too many slices of bacon and the resulting grease ended up much more than was necessary to fry up two sliced Yukon Golds. To be safe, you could spoon out some of the bacon grease first, dump in the potatoes, and then add in the grease as needed.To balance out the starch with more carbohydrates and protein, I took some left over chicken salad and made a sandwich out of it between pieces of toasted rustic bread.
Well that was easy. Too heavy you say? Yes, perhaps. Too much protein and starch? Maybe. What did I have to drink with this dish? A tall glass of whole milk. Take THAT, food pyramid!
Chocolate Chip Cookies
I don't bake very much. This is probably due to several reasons. Baking often leads to desserts and I frankly don't have much contact with desserts. They're often very sweet and I don't like sweet things all that much. Yes, yes, I'm a freak because I'm allergic to apples and don't like fruits (nature's candies my butt!) but I'm trying to amend my misguided ways.
Steingarten once noted that since a perfectly satisfactory recipe for perfectly satisfactory chocolate chip cookies can be found right on the back of a bag of Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chips, there should be no excuse for a sub-par chocolate chip cookie anywhere in the country. I would like to agree were my lack of baking experience not in the way. Time to fix that!
It's actually quite easy to bake chocoalte chip cookies. Mix some butter, vanilla, and add in flour, salt, baking soda, white and brown sugar, eggs, and some chocolate chips. Bake for a while. Voila! Of course, I didn't have a mixer to slowly blend the dry powdered stuff into the wet oily stuff until it was smooth. Hmmm, what about my hands? Well:
They actually look like chocolate chip cookies! Not that you can tell from the picture whether they're any good. Truth be told, without a mixer the liquid didn't bind with the solid all that smoothly despite my manual efforts. So when the cookies finished baking, they were OK cookies but not soft chewy melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chip cookies. I may not love desserts (yet) but I still have my fickle preferences. I want chewy cookies dammit!
Perhaps I need one of those beautiful Kitchen Aid Artisan mixers. Ooooh come to daddy. I MUST have one!
That I drool about the mixer more than I do about any potential baked goods made with the help of the mixer is inevitable. At least for now. Maybe if I baked more...
Steingarten once noted that since a perfectly satisfactory recipe for perfectly satisfactory chocolate chip cookies can be found right on the back of a bag of Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chips, there should be no excuse for a sub-par chocolate chip cookie anywhere in the country. I would like to agree were my lack of baking experience not in the way. Time to fix that!
It's actually quite easy to bake chocoalte chip cookies. Mix some butter, vanilla, and add in flour, salt, baking soda, white and brown sugar, eggs, and some chocolate chips. Bake for a while. Voila! Of course, I didn't have a mixer to slowly blend the dry powdered stuff into the wet oily stuff until it was smooth. Hmmm, what about my hands? Well:
They actually look like chocolate chip cookies! Not that you can tell from the picture whether they're any good. Truth be told, without a mixer the liquid didn't bind with the solid all that smoothly despite my manual efforts. So when the cookies finished baking, they were OK cookies but not soft chewy melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chip cookies. I may not love desserts (yet) but I still have my fickle preferences. I want chewy cookies dammit!Perhaps I need one of those beautiful Kitchen Aid Artisan mixers. Ooooh come to daddy. I MUST have one!
That I drool about the mixer more than I do about any potential baked goods made with the help of the mixer is inevitable. At least for now. Maybe if I baked more...
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