Idle Chatter

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Everything you need to know about Fast Food

Some uncomfortable notes about our life with fast food.

This is just a bit of an interesting infographic, but as with anything on “teh interwebs”, take with some grains of NaCl. For instance, the caloric intake for an average US adult is very likely wrong. A thread on Reddit has noted that the CDC has established an average US adult male consumes “2475 calories and 1833 calories (per day) for females”, not 4000-calories per day as in the graphic. There’s a list of references in the graphic - check them out.

What this does show however is that while there’s often skewed information on the net, it can lead to good conversation and fact-checking, especially through sites like Reddit. You just have to learn which “reddits” are worth reading and which are snark-factories.

Ultimately, it seems that the goal of the Internet is actually working - that the demographic born to the Internet is smarter, more politically active and more willing to share America, but that’s another post…

Via Online Schools...

Posted by Admin on 08/12 at 09:05 AM
Posted in: Idle Chatter  
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Thursday, January 21, 2010

Best quote of the day:

“Spiteful words can hurt your feelings but silence breaks your heart.” 
Oooh, so true.

Posted by Admin on 01/21 at 03:57 PM
Posted in: Idle Chatter   Personal   Project 52  
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Sunday, January 17, 2010

Ellipses…

Last year was the year to cut back on commas. This year, ellipses…

See what I mean?

I blame my poor grammar on living abroad for 11+ years - use it or lose it. I’ve also noticed my speech as become more lazy, less articulated, almost texan. Then again, don’t all Americans sound like either George Bush or Woody Allen?

Is it too late to make a resolution?

Posted by Admin on 01/17 at 09:43 AM
Posted in: Idle Chatter   Living in Holland   Project 52  
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Friday, January 01, 2010

2010 - now is the time,,,

I’m looking forward to 2010 with a mix of excitement and apprehension. Happy, not an equal mix. 

Let’s cover apprehension first: I’m a web developer, and unlike many of my peers I’ve worked with only 2 big companies over the past 10 years, not hop-skipping from one job to the next. There are pluses and minuses on both sides, but for an American, moving to another country - different language, different work/life mix, different mindset…different everything - the best thing to integrating into a culture (aside from marrying someone there) is getting stuck into a company.

The thing is - as a non-EU citizen, you need to have the company sponsor you. That means them navigating the changing channels of immigration policies, tax credits and financial barriers, etc. Very few are inclined, unless you possess a skill that is in need, and happily web development is such a skill. The problem is, ultimately, you can be too jacketed in a company, especially when they know you can’t actually leave without leaving the country as well.

I’ve been fortunate in my first two companies - the initial group were tied to government and big business, and could move glacially slow, but we were asked to always innovate and so we went from FrontPage websites to Flash (yes, sorry, it was 2000) and up to Broadvision and Documentum-based sites. The latter also goes to show that often large organizations are moved to change not by needed technology but by valued partnerships. Documentum, a great package for document storage and archival, can’t make a website without considerable back-end programming. Ultimately we moved on to a smaller application, ExpressionEngine, that did more than either of the previous powerhouse efforts - but only with major management changes.

The next jump went to a company who has long-since run fast and actively tried new technologies, but it too suffered from politics and internal wrangling. I came to work on the EE platform, and while I (and others) could try many options, the final choice of Wordpress was made long ago, for reasons long since invalidated. So, considering the number of css developers alone who can mark-up a WP template, it’s no surprise they no-longer do new development in-house - far too expensive. Still, you grow and learn, and they were fantastic people to work with—one of the few groups I’ll genuinely miss.

So here I stand - where to next?

I love the Netherlands, but they’re often more management-driven than solution-driven. Do I work for another company? Do I start out on my own. My heart says the latter, but previous work habit instills apprehension, and that can divert energies. Must. Stay. Focused.

Where to next…that’s the $2010 question…

Posted by Admin on 01/01 at 11:59 AM
Posted in: Idle Chatter   IT notes   Project 52  
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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

THIS is why you’re fat

Amazing micro photo website with some of the most disgusting fast-food you’ve ever seen.

Witness this: The Double Bacon Hamburger Fatty Melt

image

Three bacon-stuffed grilled cheese sandwichs for buns, cheese, bacon and two four-ounce beefs patties.

I only just wrote that and now I need to go spinning…

Posted by Admin on 02/11 at 03:23 PM
Posted in: Idle Chatter   Malarkey  
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