Mr. Muddle's Befuddled Universe

Kinglet testlet

Tickle:

Mrs. Muddle and I went for a walk on Saturday, and discovered a small flock of ruby-crowned kinglets. Ruby-crowned kinglets are tiny (4 1/2") and plump birds that flit about in an apparent erratic fashion as they pursue flying insects.

There are two kinglets in the photo to the left. Can you find them? (Click on the photo to view a larger image.)

The two kinglets in the photo are shown below. They both have a bug in their beak. (Click on the photo to view a larger image.)

   

``Pimped-out" Shopping Cart

Varoom,..Varoom!!!!

Over at Gizmodo.com they're showing off the above pimped-out shopping cart. Among other things, it has a heater and a refrigerator. Go check it out.

What happened to the Segway?

Woz is using his Segway to play polo

Yesterday I was reading about the Stance Chair (pictured above), and it reminded me—for some reason—of the Segway. Well, in this internet age, questions don't go unanswered long. A few moments later I ran into this news report about how Segway is coming out with three new models (see the pictures below), and they have an experimental four-wheel model in testing.

For further information, check out this report.

That still doesn't answer the question of what people do with their Segways. The only Segways I have seen in ``real life" were being used by Woz and a group of his friends at a Cyndi Lauper concert—and that, of course, begs another question, is there real life in Silicon Valley?

Sunday, 6 March 2005 Update:
Websites referred to in this posting include
RealTechNews.com,
Gizmodo.com, &
News.com.

Where is Hazel now that I need her

Fickle:
I know your type! So stop that sneering. I know that your house is always neat and clean. Every fortnight you give a marvelous dinner party that puts Martha Stewart to shame. You've never altered a telephone log. And your cat drinks the water in your toilet bowl, because it's as clean and even more refreshing than  Sierra Mist®.
    Well, I'm sorry if I can't live up to the standards you've established. I hate housework, and my house isn't spit-polished. That's just the way it is. Take it, or leave it.
    I have, however, tried several products to help with the toilet bowl problem. Well, I've never gotten the toilet bowl water to smell like Sierra Mist, but I'm usually happy, if it doesn't smell like... well, if it doesn't smell.
    Well, you may have noticed several months back, when three or four companies all came out with a swob-on-a-stick devise about the same time—I'll swear they all came out on the same day! I mean, what's going on there? How does that happen?
For example, Clorox® had a product. Lysol® had one. Dow® had one, too. Comet® even had one. There were others, also. I went to the local Safeway, and looked over all the options. I read all the packaging quite carefully. After careful consideration, I picked the Comet Clean and Flush™ Flushable Toilet Cleaning System, and purchased one for each bathroom. Then to make sure I would stay in good stead, I also purchased a set of refills for each bathroom.
    But as fate would have it, and as you have probably already guessed, Safeway—as well as all the other local stores—immediately stopped stocking the Comet wands and refills as soon as the Muddle family ran low on refills. (I'm pretty certain I know the source of this travesty.)
    So back to the Safeway I go. Unfortunately the options haven't improved, they've just been diminished. So I'm back at the Safeway. I'm back reading the packaging. Back comparing my options. And a woman comes up, and says, ``Excuse me," as she reaches across my chest to pick up a package of the Clorox ToiletWand refills. Being a man of missed opportunities, I decided I had better grab this horse before it was out of the gate.
    I turned quickly to the woman, as she trotted away, and called out, ``Those work well for you?"
The woman immediately came back to me, and said, ``These are wonderful!. They've totally changed my life. I despise cleaning the toilet. I hate having to reach up under the gross lip around the edge. With these I can get into all the cracks, without getting any yuck on my hands."
    She continued on without further prompting for several minutes. Her Clorox ToiletWands had clearly given her something approaching a religious experience.
    Eventually the woman's husband came, and fetched her away.
    Without further ado, I gathered up a goodly supply of Clorox ToiletWands and refills, and headed towards the check-out.
    I'm quite anxious to start using the ToiletWands. My last spiritual revival was at age fifteen.

Updated 12Feb2005 at 8:50am

No Accounting for Taste

Tickle:
I bumped into this article (PDF) on that internet the other day that, I guess, proves ``they'' will let anyone publish on the internet.

Scirius vs. Google Scholar

Tickle:
I'm very late reporting this, but Rebecca Blood reported on her  weblog that Newslink compared Scirius with Google Scholar. [01/11/05 ].  This was an interesting comparison for those of us that search references and technical sources. They concluded that Scirius had better specialized tools, but they suggested that Google Scholar was a good place to begin your research to get a ``feel'' for the field of inquiry.

The PracTeX Journal premiere issue

Tickle:
If you're interested in publishing and open source software, you'll be pleased to learn of a new online journal concerned with the practical issues of using TeX; that is, plain TeX, LaTeX, ConTeXt, etc. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry. Skip on to the next topic.)

The journal's logo:

                       

The online journal can be found at:  http://www.tug.org/pracjourn/

BBQ Cooking: Sauces and Rubs

Tick:
Let me announce a major spice and sauce bias. I see no need for spice mixes, rubs, and sauces to be filled with sugar and things such as corn syrup. Of course, my prejudice against large doses of sugar hasn't been in anyway influenced by the fact that sweet stuff gives me migraines and diarrhea—now that's more info than what you wanted.
Want alternatives to sugar-based spices and sauces? Stay tuned...

Tickle:
Okay, over the years I've come up with some good alternatives to sugar- and syrup-based rubs and sauces.

1. McCormick Spice Co.
   • Greek seasoning:  it includes onion, spices (including spearmint and
     oregano), garlic, and sea salt.
   • Grill Mates® Montreal Steak Grilling Sauce: water, sugar, tomato paste, banana puree, distilled vinegar, salt, garlic, modified corn starch, spices, red and green bell peppers, caramel color and natural flavors.  (Now I know the second ingredient is sugar, but I just use a dab of this to add flavor. It gives some extra punch and body to the ``Chaka's" MMM Sauce described below.)
2. ``Chaka's" MMM Sauce: ``Chaka's'' MMM Sauce: water, soy sauce, and spices. [31 DEC 2007 Update: New website address. This sauce is highly recommended. http://chakasmmmproducts.com/]
3. Cookin' Cajun Blackening: garlic, onion, black, white and
   cayenne pepper, oregano and other spices.
4. Scott's BBQ Sauce: This is a eastern North Carolina vinegar style sauce. A little on the hot side for my tender palate, but the only sauce of its kind I've found that can be mail ordered.
5. Stubb's Bar-B-Q Rub: This is available at many local groceries.

Good cooking to you all!