Month: February 2013

  • Shared today on Twitter

    Just caught one of the burly builders in the garden singing along to Adele on the radio. I told him he was shattering my worldview.


    @drkknits I stocked up. I still have 1.5 jars left. πŸ˜›


    By the way, the 8 dozen cookies are happening. Batch 2 just came out of the oven.


    @pixel8ted Chocolate Chip. So I can make Martha Stewart’s Icebox Cake for @kunaal84’s birthday tomorrow.


    RT @Y7News: Man and woman, preferably married, wanted for expedition to #Mars. http://t.co/5AjToBeaYC // @the_snook – IT IS OUR DESTINY.


    @the_snook Bah. Like you wanna be a farmer. Sitting in a capsule and playing Warcraft for a year and half is more your thing!


    @sebsharp Because I was being totally and utterly sincere and not at all ironic.


    @sebsharp Haha, random. My friends who are lovers of burly men – both gay and straight – didn’t think so. But thanks for letting me know.


    The most useful people on the Internet are the ones who pop up out of nowhere to be mean to you.


    I guess the higher ground is to assume they’re having a bad day, rather than being a miserable jerk who likes to judge others.


    @stufromoz I had a drive-by trolling because of my tweet about the builder and Adele. He didn’t find it as amusing as the builder and I did.


    @witty_knitter Don’t worry; I blocked him. Let’s just leave it be. Isn’t that grown-up of me? (I’m having a good day otherwise!)


    Is that 4 or 5 dozen? I’ve honestly lost count… http://t.co/sygDqcpFlt


    @drkknits Martha says they should be “crispy”, so they’re coming out a fair bit browner than I normally make them.


    RT @JennaPrice: Great news for Broadway pedestrians! The RMS has applied for funding to close Wattle St slipway & put in traffic sig …


    @drkknits @Gidgetknits Did I ever show you a pic of Rodd’s chocolate pav? http://t.co/bnuYMaIMJJ


    @Gidgetknits @drkknits I think he actually prefers to use raspberries. We must not have been able to get them for that one…


    Fun = inadvertently opening a 53,000 line Excel spreadsheet from the work server over the VPN. #chugchug


    @drkknits @Gidgetknits I believe this is, in fact, the recipe: http://t.co/YCZV3sw6NN


    @RoseRed_Shoes Is it… RED?


    @RoseRed_Shoes @drkknits @gidgetknits I’ve decided ours isn’t great either. Hot spot in back, and I think it runs hot overall.


    @drkknits @RoseRed_Shoes @gidgetknits Martha said to bake cookies for 14 min – I had to pull them at 10 before they burnt!


    @drkknits I was trying to check it with a manual thermometer today, but I think our thermometer is wonky too. *sigh*


    @RoseRed_Shoes @drkknits @gidgetknits Yeah, it helped a bit. But still it’s too hot, and I can’t work out how to compensate.


    @RoseRed_Shoes @drkknits Well, duh! I was being scientific trying to work out exactly how much to turn down. Need a better thermometer.


    I feel like some brainless, old school gaming tonight. Don’t I still have a Gameboy Color around here somewhere…?


    @RoseRed_Shoes @drkknits I had it down 15 degrees today, and they were still cooking faster than recipe said. COULD MARTHA HAVE MISLED ME?!


    @drkknits @RoseRed_Shoes I was trying to use Rodd’s fancy electric one with a probe. But he thinks it’s broken.


    @drkknits @RoseRed_Shoes Probe.


    @drkknits @RoseRed_Shoes (It’s just fun to say.)


    @drkknits @lemon_lime @RoseRed_Shoes Just a big ceramic tile. You can buy them special, or just use one from Bunnings, I believe.


    @drkknits @lemon_lime @RoseRed_Shoes Idea is it retains heat and helps even out your oven fluctuations.


    @RoseRed_Shoes @drkknits Well, she can’t very well keep an eye on the kitchen timer when she’s busy sucking on all the kitchen implements!


    @RoseRed_Shoes @drkknits (I used a more graphic word at first and then changed it.)


    @drkknits @lemon_lime @rosered_shoes I have eaten one of Josh’s homemade pies. *pause* He’s a really good coder. (Sorry, Josh! πŸ˜› )


    Awww, just got to FaceTime with @kunaal84 and his wife. The novelty of seeing them together is starting to wear off a little!


    I’m still slightly bitter that I missed out on @dothedip’s Seinfeld trivia night last week. I could’ve won. I’M THE BEST, JERRY. THE BEST!


    That’s 68 choc chip cookies in 9 layers glued together with copious amounts of cream and mascarpone! http://t.co/DmW4Aq6ZQq


    The garden renovation is now on pause for the next three days while the Sydney rain attempts to flush us all into the harbour. Again.


    RT @Kev_C_Murray: People really need to stop using the phrase ‘final solution’ on this project.


    @neil_killick @brown_note Have been following the whole #NoEstimates debate with much interest. Wish I was in Melbourne to meet up!


    @randomknits Hahaha. I’d told myself I was going to stay strong – and then promptly ate two cookies. They did make me feel like ASS though.


    @randomknits Unfortunately I already let it slip to everybody at work. They’d lynch me if I didn’t bring it in at this point.


    RT @miss_shiny: Nick Cave just impregnated the entire Sydney Opera House.


    @clepetit In ONE day? What the hell did you do, walk to Bondi?? I’d friend you on there, but you’d clearly kick my ass.


    @clepetit 16,224 was my best since Christmas. Good grief.


    @clepetit I injured my knee last year. Went from running marathons to wincing when I climb stairs. Fitbit thinks I am MOSTLY SEDENTARY. πŸ™


    @clepetit Okay, fine, add me if you like. At least it might provide additional guilt to get moving! http://t.co/NdTj2Btv9n


    @clepetit Ugh. I have also worked from home for 2 days due to reno. So I haven’t even cracked 1000 today.


    @clepetit Hahahaha. You just jumped to #1 on my friends list by far. This is working already. I might walk to work tomorrow. πŸ™‚


    RT @testchick: “No Mr PM, adding a bunch of BAs to the test team two weeks before go live will NOT help productivity.”


    @testchick I’m a BA, and I’d wear that on a t-shirt.


    @Helen__H I love the wall of wool! Mine is all packed away in tubs in the closet. Hmmm. Ideas…


    @pyko Go Peggy Go!


    @deewu Sure – it’s this one: http://t.co/K9H5OjqXIv


    @mattgemmell I actually dug out the old GameBoy Advance this morning.


    Kicking it old school on the bus today… #drmarioforever http://t.co/9kBZe3Zj4g


    @mattgemmell I forgot this damn thing has no backlight. Very difficult to see on the bus…


    RT @adamliaw: I just ate popcorn before breakfast because no pope, no rules. #nopope


    @redambition Wait, what? Which Guild? It’s not IC Guild day!


    @redambition @drkknits Haha, it’s just that this Secretary sends out stuff earlier in the month. Throws off my whole sense of time! πŸ™‚


  • You are boring.

    You are boring. – Yes, universe, I get it. I talk too much.

  • Photo post

    That's 68 choc chip cookies in 9 layers glued together with copious amounts of cream and mascarpone!

    That’s 68 choc chip cookies in 9 layers glued together with copious amounts of cream and mascarpone!

  • Photo post

    Is that 4 or 5 dozen? I've honestly lost count...

    Is that 4 or 5 dozen? I’ve honestly lost count…

  • Photo post

    I asked the builders if I could put our initials in the wet concrete. They obliged.

    I asked the builders if I could put our initials in the wet concrete. They obliged.

  • How This Teacher Won the $1 Million TED Prize

    How This Teacher Won the $1 Million TED Prize – I love the part about “The Granny Cloud.” I mean, really, wouldn’t most of us do better at work if we had a supportive grandmother over one shoulder giving encouragement?

  • Shared today on Twitter

    The garden wall is going up! http://t.co/90KRmbWam7


    The Nescafe machine at work has broken my brain. I keep expecting espresso machine at home to auto-stop, but it doesn’t. #firstworldproblem


    RT @clepetit: All hail Lord @henrytapia. He’s been on display on the Support Wallboard on loop for the past few days: http://t.co/A0jBcLXac2


    @henrytapia @clepetit Were you really hungover that day? πŸ™‚


    @i386 I totally missed the text with @mcannonbrookes’s name/role, so I thought he was some funky designer-type. Did a double-take later. πŸ™‚


    @drkknits Then you’d be all FUCK YOU YANKS all the time. So it’s really much of a muchness, from my perspective. πŸ˜›


    RT @RonJeffries: OK, I wish I had thought of @CatUserStories // Hahaha, I agree. That’s pretty brilliant.


    @PaulTheBA Brilliant, thanks. This was definitely a topic of some concern at our @IIBA BABOK study group last night!


    RT @PaulTheBA: Take at least 6 months after #BABOK v3 to change #iiba certification exams. You’re safe to take exam until Q214 at least …


    Well, now I can say I’ve poked wet cement. Major life milestone there.


    @barrysaunders I just can’t figure out why that talk was at a tech conference at all. I certainly wouldn’t expect it.


    @phoebegoh Just slightly wet sand. It’s too set for me to write our names in it. Tomorrow I’ll get out there before they’re finished. πŸ™‚


    @barrysaunders Possibly. But the description of the talk doesn’t sound like bodily security: “…help you engineer your sex life…”??


    @barrysaunders I haven’t seen slides, maybe it’s more security oriented than it sounds. But it sounds only tangentially related to tech.


    @barrysaunders HN comments make it sound less oddball than I thought. Sounds like it was a fine topic for BSides. Hm. http://t.co/ZUzprHaqoG


    @mudsurfer @PaulTheBA I’m interested in the answer to that question too, since I’m considering going for it…


    @mudsurfer @PaulTheBA I know you get an actual certificate and a pin, because the facilitator at the study group last night showed us. πŸ™‚


    Just got request to post “Please donate to medical fund” in Aussie Knitters on Rav. Ugh. I said yes since it’s for an Aussie. Bad precedent?


    @misswired @the_snook Must’ve been. As far as I know, he’s currently en route on foot from Pyrmont to Chippendale. OR IS HE???


    @witty_knitter @drstip Yep, that’s the one. I thought it was a random scam too, but it looks legit. I said no til I saw she was Aussie.


    @the_snook @misswired Ahem. As your wife, I think I need to meet this clone.


    @witty_knitter @drstip I saw they posted it in the Skein group, and then an Expat Knitters group as well.


    @katejf Oh, I didn’t donate. I just gave the ok for then to post it in the forum.


    @katejf Heh. They’d have torn her apart for asking. πŸ™‚


    @redambition @witty_knitter I have some sympathy. The US medical system is fucked. I shared a friend’s fundraising link on FB today.


    @that_alison Actually it’s for an Aussie in the US. There people go bankrupt when they get sick. πŸ™


    @katejf Well, the friend is in the US as well, and it’s the middle of the night there. So it probably won’t go up for some time yet.


    @katejf The person who is injured is in hospital. Her friend is sending out an appeal to every Rav group that she was a member of.


    For the curious, the fundraising page in question is herre: http://t.co/cG93OyhSMl. If you want to prove to me that it’s a scam, please do.


    Huh. So placentophagy is paleo. http://t.co/g63Tl2Kszt (cc @knitdra) My high school bio teacher brought in his wife’s placenta once.


    I think if I ever start a rock band, it will be called ENCAPSULATED PLACENTOPHAGY.


    Ohdeargod they’ve turned the old roastery in Chippo into a sourdough bakery. http://t.co/6x2KbXcvxq THE CARBS. THEY ARE CALLING TO ME NOW.


    @knitdra He kept it in the freezer until we studied mammals. So we just looked at it. πŸ™‚


    @knitdra Rodd told me quite seriously that he read that January Jones ate hers. I have no idea how he knows this.


    Hell is: having to clean up all the crappy PHP you wrote 8 years ago now that your host finally turned off register_globals.


    @pyko @TimBags You would not believe the withering looks you get from a Google employee when you confess such a crime.


    @witty_knitter Nope. I’m not touching that code ever again! πŸ™‚


    @alexdickson Eh, it works pretty well for what it is. Just have to replace all the $this with $_POST[“this”]. Borrrrrring. πŸ™‚


    RT @ebertchicago: “Why We Love Beautiful Things.” NYTimes thinkpiece on design. http://t.co/y2X0KSqP6G&


    @miss_reecie You may have discovered why nobody enters that category. πŸ™‚


    RT @uncrate: Lasso Flat-Packed Slippers http://t.co/hPfqCvCMP4 // Ugly/comfy shoes + DIY = Definitely My Bag, Baby


    I asked the builders if I could put our initials in the wet concrete. They obliged. http://t.co/D43qelRBqm


    @knitdra The cement didn’t allow much for complex shapes. It’s like drawing in sticky sand!


    @drkknits I have no idea if there’s any security risk really, but you wanna blur out those card numbers?


    @drkknits I could test it for you by ordering some books from Amazon. πŸ™‚


    @randomknits If you think you might come to Camp later in the year, I think the discount will probably pay for itself.


    @Helen__H @pyko Does everybody get to participate in ShipIt? I wondered if it was just engineers.


  • Roald Dahl Fans.com rebirth

    So you guys remember the Dahl site I built years and years ago, right? Well, it’s mostly just sat there for a long time now. It seemed to be useful to kids and teachers, and the site more than pays for itself through the Google ads. So I just left it up. Well, a nice young man named Michael Mander contacted me a while ago about a Dahl-themed Facebook page that he runs. We emailed back and forth, and recently I asked him to officially assist me in running RDF. I was a little worried at first – I put so much work into this site for so long, I didn’t want to share it with anyone. But what’s the point of leaving it there slowly mouldering? So Michael is on board, and it’s completely reinvigorating me. I’ve started doing some of the long-planned admin tasks that I never found time to do before. Michael has started pulling together information to fill in gaps in my content. So if you enjoyed the site back in the day, I think you’re going to enjoy it again going forward!