Planting a flag in the sand

Over the last several weeks, an idea has crystallized in my mind—something I’ve known for a while, but just never put words to. Usually I keep these kind of things to myself but since it’s not something I can do…

I’m famous! (on a virtual supermarket website in Chile)

Back in July, Andy Baio posted a link about these virtual South Korean grocery stores where people can shop by scanning QR Codes next to photos of the items (while waiting for the subway). Tesco’s virtual grocery store in South…

The story of an armchair and sofa

The first armchair and sofa I bought, for my first apartment, took me six months to pick out, and then an astonishing six months to arrive. In the interim, the store where I bought them filed for bankruptcy (and eventually…

December Cookie Traffic

I love December, and not just because of my birthday or the holidays—because it’s when people start baking lots of cookies. And inevitably, someone searches Google for a certain long-lost cookie recipe and stumbles upon my Melt-in-the-Mouth history (or my…

A Melt-in-the-Mouth Cookie Santa

To the casual outside observer, my mom has “a Santa problem”, which we playfully tease her about every Christmas (even though we all secretly love it). She morbidly taunts us that when she’s dead and gone, her Santa problem will…

Happy New Year from Austin

Beth, Matthew, Katie, Dad, Mom, Justin, and Stephanie To our friends and family all around the world: we wish you a very happy new year.

Time-lapse in a single frame! Sutro Tower Sunset #

Time-traveling munitions: City evacuates 45,000 to defuse massive WWII bomb #

I had no idea you could cut your Christmas Tree in a National Park

Each year from mid-November through December, your local Forest Service Office sells permits that allow you to cut a fresh Christmas tree on National Forest Lands. Fees for the permit vary at each local office. The permit allows you to cut one tree for your holiday festivities. It also helps the Forest Service thin tree stands that have a concentration of smaller trees.

#

In a thoughtful post, Shannon of “A Little Adrift” muses on the ethics and the elephants of Asia (also see: my elephant week) #

I’m not necessarily in the market for a smartphone, but if I were, I’d probably be leaning in the direction of Android. That said, this infographic gave me serious pause: Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support #

This will resonate with anyone who’s been to Southeast Asia, India, or Africa: Making water sachets #

OMG: The crappy old Cala Market a block from where we used to live is going to become a Trader Joe’s (and a CVS) (perhaps someone read my In the Trader Joe’s deadzone) #

A reminder of why I still blog:

I think that’s why blogs with beautiful, intimate photography are so darn popular, they allow us all regular peeks into the homes, kitchens and tables of strangers.

#

I found this very compelling: Optimize for Happiness (Tom Preston-Werner, GitHub co-founder) re: planting a flag… #

wget in the news!

[David] Shaver told the hearing that he found a program on [Bradley] Manning’s computer designed to allow the speedy downloading of files. According to the prosecution Manning was able to download huge quantity of documents using the program, called Wget [sic].

#

Whoa, QR Code tattoo returns random URLs: The Random Tattoo #

Kiva featured on Boing Boing’s extensive Charitable Giving Guide (thanks Ken and Mark!) #

Cooking crackers:

If you think of crackers as little bits of pie crust, or fast-cooking bread, you quickly comprehend why they’re so easy to make. Which only makes it more befuddling that no one does, since packaged crackers are universally overpriced and often contain ingredients with which you’d never cook, starting with artificial ones and continuing with dough “conditioners” and preservatives.

#

A wonderfully written reflection on coming home after traveling (thanks Webb!) #

A Christmas Story is a family favorite of ours, so I found it interesting to see where the cast members are now #

Neat demo of Raspberry Pi, an ARM GNU/Linux box for $25: Bringing up a beta board #

Funny fotos: Blue Screen of Death costume and Epc Crstms Crd (via Andre) #

Lost several hours today on Blame It On The Voices (where has this epic timesuck been all my life!?) #

Takin’ the 30 Stockton to Saigon (on New Year’s Eve!) #