idea: food-focused map tool

hmmm, a way to figure out food-groupings on the recipe blogosphere. hmmm. yummy. i wonder if anything could be done.

The Power of the Marginal

The Power of the Marginal: "When I was in college the rule seemed to be that you should study whatever you were most interested in. But in retrospect you're probably better off studying something moderately interesting with someone who's good at it than something very interesting with someone who isn't. You often hear people say that you shouldn't major in business in college, but this is actually an instance of a more general rule: don't learn things from teachers who are bad at them."

Discovery Channel :: News - Human :: Serious Study: Immaturity Levels Rising

Discovery Channel :: News - Human :: Serious Study: Immaturity Levels Rising: "Charlton explained to Discovery News that humans have an inherent attraction to physical youth, since it can be a sign of fertility, health and vitality. In the mid-20th century, however, another force kicked in, due to increasing need for individuals to change jobs, learn new skills, move to new places and make new friends.

A “child-like flexibility of attitudes, behaviors and knowledge” is probably adaptive to the increased instability of the modern world, Charlton believes. Formal education now extends well past physical maturity, leaving students with minds that are, he said, “unfinished.”"

TIM HARFORD | The Poker Machine

TIM HARFORD | The Poker Machine: "Many commentators now fear that the robots will destroy the online game that so enthused their creators in the days of IRC poker. Online poker players are thought to wager more than $250m a day - a tempting incentive to write a software program that could be let loose on unsuspecting 'fish' all over the world. A decent poker player can make thousands of dollars a month playing the online game, so what if that player was replaced by an unlimited number of copies of a fiendish computer program?"

Language Log: A man and a statue and a codex and a cadaver

Language Log: A man and a statue and a codex and a cadaver: "I mention those of the same origin which are contained in one name, but not one definition, but derive as it were from one source, e.g. when `Tullius' can be understood as a man and a statue and a codex and a cadaver. For these cannot be contained in one definition, but they have one single source, i.e. the real man himself, whose statue, books, cadaver they are."

Crazy On Tap - I'm sitting here watching American Pie and getting depressed

Crazy On Tap - I'm sitting here watching American Pie and getting depressed: "Oh, and when you are under 30, you also tend to think you can control emotions like who you fall in love with and how long the pain lasts." - sharkfish

Fraysters dissect the government's proposed reforms. Compiled by Adam Christian

Fraysters dissect the government's proposed reforms. Compiled by Adam Christian: "Tracker recaps the following four-step program laid out by 'Richard Swinburne (Cambridge Philosophy of Religion Dept Head)':

When someone has intentionally or cognizantly produced serious, unjustified harm to someone else, they must render,

1 Reparation.
2 Apology.
3 Repentence.
4 Penance.

You (1) repair as far as possible for you the damage done to the victim, (2) say you're sorry, (3) turn from the person you were as perpetrator and begin establishing habits of a life devoted to leaving that personality behind, and (4) constitute your apology as sincere by making it costly: when you apologize, offer some sort of servitude, goods, furtherance of the injured's favorite causes, etc., that could not have been required of you before you harmed that person(s)."

Reading Faulkner with Oprah. By Meghan O'Rourke

Reading Faulkner with Oprah. By Meghan O'Rourke: "For all his brilliant obscurity, Faulkner was obsessed with speaking in a language of mythic essentialism. His religious vision was an austere version of relic-worship, attached to place and to objects." In writing about the South he knew, he was trying to articulate a story of doomed consciousness, of pain, of being hyper-cognizant of the demise of not only family but of an entire culture established in bad moral faith. Out of these pressures are forged the self-made flaws of characters who collide with their families (and their culture) as violently as wrecking balls.

The war for the soul of literature - Salon

The war for the soul of literature - Salon: "The hysterical realist novel, Wood insists, is a noisy 'perpetual-motion machine' engaged in 'the pursuit of vitality at all costs.' Its authors produce 'books of great self-consciousness with no selves in them; curiously arrested books which know a thousand different things -- How to make the best Indonesian fish curry! The sonics of the trombone! The drug market of Detroit! The history of strip cartoons! -- but do not know a single human being.'

Without a doubt, some contemporary novels are overly frenetic and data-stuffed. But Wood doesn't seem to be able to distinguish between the frankly bad specimens ( Salman Rushdie's 'Fury,' a book that, contrary to Wood's predictions, was widely panned) and those that enjoyably gratify readers' curiosity about things like the drug trade in Detroit (why not?). They all strike him as inhuman because he has no interest in their struggle to describe what it feels like to live in a jittery world where authenticity has disappeared in a maze of electronic screens, and people often feel that the freedom to choose between multiple identities leaves them unsure whether any of those identities can be real. Wood is a great champion of the real in fiction, and particularly of characters who believe so entirely in their own reality that they convince the reader of it too."

The war for the soul of literature - Salon

The war for the soul of literature - Salon: "Wood labels it 'secular comedy.' Satire, he writes, is 'religious comedy,' because it doles out 'punishment for those who deserve it' as opposed to 'secular comedy,' which offers 'forgiveness to those who don't.' In Wood's secular comedy, characters are 'free to contradict themselves without being corrected by the author, are free to make mistakes without fearing authorial judgment.'"

Why I’m Happy I Evolved - OLIVIA JUDSON

-Why I’m Happy I Evolved - OLIVIA JUDSON : "No other animal that I have heard of can live so peaceably in such close quarters with so many individuals that are unrelated. No other animal routinely bothers to help the sick and the dying, or tries to save those hurt in an earthquake or flood."

The Weaker Sex - New York Times

The Weaker Sex - New York Times: "Perhaps the reason many societies offer boys nutritional, educational and vocational advantages over girls is not because of chauvinism — it's because we're trying to ensure their survival."

The rest of the article also points to this possibility .... that a sexist culture is affirmative action for men. Maybe the sexism is overdone. But then it's a question of balance not absolutes.

'American Vertigo: Traveling America in the Footsteps of Tocqueville,' by Bernard-Henri Lévy - The New York Times Book Review - New York Times

'American Vertigo: Traveling America in the Footsteps of Tocqueville,' by Bernard-Henri Lévy - The New York Times Book Review - New York Times: "Any American with a big urge to write a book explaining France to the French should read this book first, to get a sense of the hazards involved. Bernard-Henri Lévy is a French writer with a spatter-paint prose style and the grandiosity of a college sophomore; he rambled around this country at the behest of The Atlantic Monthly and now has worked up his notes into a sort of book. It is the classic Freaks, Fatties, Fanatics & Faux Culture Excursion beloved of European journalists for the past 50 years, with stops at Las Vegas to visit a lap-dancing club and a brothel; Beverly Hills; Dealey Plaza in Dallas; Bourbon Street in New Orleans; Graceland; a gun show in Fort Worth; a 'partner-swapping club' in San Francisco with a drag queen with mammoth silicone breasts; the Iowa State Fair ('a festival of American kitsch'); Sun City ('gilded apartheid for the old');a stock car race; the Mall of America; Mount Rushmore; a couple of evangelical megachurches; the Mormons of Salt Lake; some Amish; the 2004 national political conventions; Alcatraz - you get the idea."

Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses

Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses: "There are nineteen rules governing literary art in domain of romantic fiction -- some say twenty-two. In 'Deerslayer,' Cooper violated eighteen of them. These eighteen require:"

The mysterious appeal of Garrison Keillor. By Sam Anderson

The mysterious appeal of Garrison Keillor. By Sam Anderson: "The 'News From Lake Wobegon' is basically an old-style Talk of the Town piece about the Midwest."

contract faq

1099 FAQ:

- hourly rate = current annual pay/1000

- don't do firm fixed price

- do have a fixed set of requirements in place before signing anything

- specify up front what hours you will answer the phone/SLA on email

- outside those hours, DO NOT ANSWER THE PHONE.

- as much as possible, do not let the client specify implementation. That's your job

- charge for documentation

- retain rights to the code you write, if you can

- specify passing through charges on unique tools (for example if you need a server pdf library)

- contract programmers work where they choose, or else they're employees

Make sure the client understands that you expect prompt payment, that
work will cease without payment and that you are prepared to sue if not
paid.



Do not hand over source until paid.



Some clients are past masters at delay. Beware the "suddenly
discovered unacceptable flaw" that hinders payment while the client
carries on using the system. You'll never be able to fix it to their
satisfaction. Sue.



Of course this presupposes that you deliver systems that work in accordance with agreed WRITTEN specs.


http://www.crazyontap.com/topic.php?TopicId=5488&Posts=27

people mellow with age

Elderly people may be better at perceiving happiness and worse at
perceiving fear, a new study suggests. The finding supports the idea
that people do mellow with age.

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn9344&feedId=online-news_rss20

orexin and sleep

He believes this could explain why we naturally feel sleepy after a
meal and also why it can be difficult to sleep when we are hungry,
since the activity of the neurons would be higher when there is less
glucose in the blood.

“We
think orexin neurons make sure that we are awake and alert when hungry,
in order to ensure optimal food-seeking,” Burdakov says. He adds that
it makes evolutionary sense for animals to turn off their wakefulness
and conserve energy once they have eaten their food, since it could be
risky or wasteful to expend too much energy looking for more food.

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn9272&feedId=online-news_rss20

previous link

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19025544.200&feedId=online-news_rss20

story idea

The appearance of websites detailing the recreational use of these
drugs, which even post recipes on how to heighten the hit, is the
latest twist in this trend (see "Recipe for abuse").
The traffic on some of the sites is enormous. One, which includes
around 3000 personal accounts of experiences with a wide range of legal
and illicit drugs, receives an average of 420,000 hits a day. "Some
people post their progress on beating a new formulation almost on a
daily basis. Then others respond with questions and experiences of
their own - it feeds on itself," says Cone.

low-calorie sweets throws body's calorie detection out of whack

Some researchers think artificial sweeteners may actually interfere
with our efforts to diet. A 2004 study by psychologists at Purdue
University found that when rats were fed artificially sweetened liquids
for 10 days, they lost their innate ability to gauge the calorie
content of foods containing real sugar. In nature, the sweeter
the food, the greater the calories. Humans have adapted over millions
of years to seek out food that tastes sweet, and not just for survival.

Time

locavores

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1200783,00.html

Bipolar teens see hostility in neutral faces

Teens diagnosed with the bipolar disorder are more likely to
interpret neutral facial expressions as hostile and react with fear, a
new study shows.

Brain scans also showed
that the brain centre that processes fear – the amygdala – shows more
activity in these youngsters than in those free of the disorder. The
researchers say the findings provide insight into how bipolar
individuals process emotions differently to their peers.

... says adolescents with bipolar disorder may have a suicidal reaction to
something as simple as a friend not calling them back on the phone. She
adds that patients with the disorder also show inappropriate reactions
during their manic phases: “A teacher will be yelling at them and they
might think this is the funniest thing.”

...

All participants reacted similarly to images of happy and fearful faces. But the patients with bipolar disorder were more likely to interpret
neutral facial expressions as hostile and feel more fearful of these
faces. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being most fearful, those with the
psychiatric condition gave an average rating of 2 while others gave an
average rating of 1.4.



New Scientist

hyper-efficient showers

The shower unit is a watertight cylinder with very fine nozzles all
around. As the traveller steps inside, an optical sensor measures their
height and shape and pumps water mixed with shampoo at high pressure
through only those nozzles needed to cover the body.

New Scientist

critical social density causes differing behavior (locusts)

The experiments showed that at low densities of just 2 to 7 locusts,
the insects moved independently, while at slightly higher densities of
10 to 25 locusts they banded together, changing direction in unison,
rapidly and spontaneously.

New Scientist

locust commotion .... funny pun.

ornamental sex-selection features grow square

The study showed that sexual ornaments – such as antlers or a peacock's
feathery display – become disproportionately large as body size
increases.

They found that in virtually every case, ornament size grew by roughly the square of the overall growth rate.

New Scienist

business idea to think about

Each "bird" carries a document, which is automatically assigned a
string of numbers depending on the words it contains. Documents with a
lot of similar words have number strings of the same length and a
virtual bird will naturally fly with others carrying documents with
number strings of the same length.

When a new
article appears, software scans it for words similar to those in
existing articles and then files the document into an existing flock,
or creates a new one. The team has used the system to categorise online
news stories from CNN and the BBC. The next step will be to allow
people to click on a bird to display its document.

New Scientist

caloric-restriction diet

"Andrzej Bartke and colleagues at Southern Illinois University in
Springfield worked with normal mice and mutant mice missing the
receptor for growth hormone. Half of each type were allowed to eat at
will, and the other half were fed 30 per cent fewer calories than
usual. As expected, normal mice on fewer calories lived 20 to 30 per
cent longer. Mice without the growth hormone receptor also showed
similar increases in longevity on a normal diet.

This suggests that restricting calories has a similar effect on the
body to knocking out the growth hormone receptor. Doing both does not
make the mice live even longer: the mutant mice on low-calorie diets
had similar lifespans to those on the normal diet (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol 103, p 7901).

"The actions of growth hormone are somehow implicated in linking
caloric restriction to longer life," Bartke says. Insulin may be the
connection. Both groups of long-lived mice had a greater sensitivity to
insulin, and caloric restriction in the mutant mice failed to increase
their strong insulin sensitivity any further.

"Insulin
resistance is a risk factor for just about any problem you don't want
to get: diabetes, atherosclerosis, cancer. It's sort of intuitive that
the opposite situation would be beneficial."

"

New Scientist

kundalini

kundalini: "kun•da•li•ni

Pronunciation: (koon'dl-?'n?), [key]
—n. Hinduism.
the vital force lying dormant within one until activated by the practice of yoga, which leads one toward spiritual power and eventual salvation."

Weltschmerz

Weltschmerz: "Welt•schmerz

Pronunciation: (velt'shmerts'), [key]
—n. German.
sorrow that one feels and accepts as one's necessary portion in life; sentimental pessimism."

another gymnist thing

Slate Magazine: "Yes, I think you're taking it too seriously when you respond to (almost) every single post.

'Must defend gymism! Must defend gymnism against these hordes of Anglican heretics!'

I don't disagree there's a wonderful feeling. The wonderful feeling one gets in the middle of a workout (an endorphin high?). It's a feeling of power, of self-confidence, of connecting to something bigger than yourself (ie, having more power than one does). I love that feeling too.

But it's a very serious feeling, it's incompatible with humor. Humor deflates power. It's hard to laugh at yourself looking at the mirror in a gym and not lose that feeling (you will be mere dust soon enough). As it's hard to laugh in the middle of sex. Or when defending your religion.

The O'Neill article deflates an illusion (debunking's in the subtitle of the column afterall), too - that going to a gym is a morally virtuous act by pointing out that people we know are immoral, ie, the terrorists, went to the gym. The more intense they were the more often they went. There was nothing bringing their mania back to earth. No healthy self-parody. No balance. No ying to their yang. (I'd imagine a Daoist fanatic is a contradiction in terms.)


So many people in the modern world have no idea that their physical existence can be a source of pleasure or satisfaction.



Modern people hate physical pleaure. Goddam. Except for sex, food and violence (even if the last is vicarious), of course.

people don't go to the gym out of a sense of virtue or self-righteousness; they go because their lives are too stressful,



People go to church for the same reason - to relieve stress. They may say it's because they are being virtuous, God-fearing and so forth, but social animals feel good when engaging in social bonding. (Something about endorphin high, perhaps?) Quite a few gym-goers confuse the causality relationship of the two feelings as well (the two are probably in a virtuous/vicious cycle).

I know I go to the gym because I have told myself it's the right thing to do, in the long run. How else to explain my getting up out of my comfortable stress-free Sunday and going for a bike ride or a swim? Certainly lounging around reading the paper would also reduce stress. So would beer and chocolate cake. Or video games on the computer. To go to the gym I need to persuade myself there's a 'higher' or more long-term reason to go. I've had to package it in a moral rationale (by way of health/market competitiveness). Everyone does - even if the moral rationale is 'Doing what feels good, is the right thing to do.' That's still a moral statement.

(Goddam, all this introspection is going to make it hard to go to the gym tomorrow. I need my myths. Luckily the lifeguard is cute.)

The connection between British/WASPs and flabbiness eludes me, also. Didn't the British Victorians practically invent modern athletics? From golf, tennis, soccer, rugby, cricket, rowing, etc.

Maybe what pisses you off is that the British commit the heretic's worse offense -- being silly."

Slate Magazine

Slate Magazine: "Yes, I think you're taking it too seriously when you respond to (almost) every single post.

'Must defend gymism! Must defend gymnism against these hordes of Anglican heretics!'

I don't disagree there's a wonderful feeling. The wonderful feeling one gets in the middle of a workout (an endorphin high?). It's a feeling of power, of self-confidence, of connecting to something bigger than yourself (ie, having more power than one does). I love that feeling too.

But it's a very serious feeling, it's incompatible with humor. Humor deflates power. It's hard to laugh at yourself looking at the mirror in a gym and not lose that feeling (you will be mere dust soon enough). As it's hard to laugh in the middle of sex. Or when defending your religion.

The O'Neill article deflates an illusion (debunking's in the subtitle of the column afterall), too - that going to a gym is a morally virtuous act by pointing out that people we know are immoral, ie, the terrorists, went to the gym. The more intense they were the more often they went. There was nothing bringing their mania back to earth. No healthy self-parody. No balance. No ying to their yang. (I'd imagine a Daoist fanatic is a contradiction in terms.)


So many people in the modern world have no idea that their physical existence can be a source of pleasure or satisfaction.



Modern people hate physical pleaure. Goddam. Except for sex, food and violence (even if the last is vicarious), of course.

people don't go to the gym out of a sense of virtue or self-righteousness; they go because their lives are too stressful,



People go to church for the same reason - to relieve stress. They may say it's because they are being virtuous, God-fearing and so forth, but social animals feel good when engaging in social bonding. (Something about endorphin high, perhaps?) Quite a few gym-goers confuse the causality relationship of the two feelings as well (the two are probably in a virtuous/vicious cycle).

I know I go to the gym because I have told myself it's the right thing to do, in the long run. How else to explain my getting up out of my comfortable stress-free Sunday and going for a bike ride or a swim? Certainly lounging around reading the paper would also reduce stress. So would beer and chocolate cake. Or video games on the computer. To go to the gym I need to persuade myself there's a 'higher' or more long-term reason to go. I've had to package it in a moral rationale (by way of health/market competitiveness). Everyone does - even if the moral rationale is 'Doing what feels good, is the right thing to do.' That's still a moral statement.

(Goddam, all this introspection is going to make it hard to go to the gym tomorrow. I need my myths. Luckily the lifeguard is cute.)

The connection between British/WASPs and flabbiness eludes me, also. Didn't the British Victorians practically invent modern athletics? From golf, tennis, soccer, rugby, cricket, rowing, etc.

Maybe what pisses you off is that the British commit the heretic's worse offense -- being silly."

Slate Magazine

Slate Magazine: "I read the same article and I didn't get the gym-hating tone you're alluding to. Sure it was prickly, but it was supposed to prick some sort of CW - that gyms are morally virtuous. I guess it worked as you came out swinging in defense.

You're taking it far too seriously. As if your God/ritual/community/symbol had been insultingly drawn in a cartoon. Or made the villain of a popular book/movie starring Tom Hanks. Which proves the author's point, no?

Yes, he did call gym goers preening and narcissistic, but is it that particularly inaccurate? I started a gym regimen a few months ago, and I can definitely attest to looking in the mirror far more often (what can I say, it's a beautiful sight!) - must have done it three times today already. And preening? Well, that's what's it's called when one takes the long way around the pool when the teenage lifeguard and her friend are chatting over on the other side as I did this morning (laughs at self).

I don't think narcissistic and selfless are polar opposites anyway. People are social animals who live under the gaze of others. Abstract away the social context in one way (the agency of the others), and one gets the extreme of just gazing, ie, narcissism. Abstract away the social context in a dfferent way (their physicality), and one gets the extreme of just judging, ie, asceticism and aestheticism.

Self-idolatry and self-immolation are the Scylla and Charbdis of a certain personality type, those that are too viable to abstract social contexts. Mysticism tries to tame the excesses of the first. When it overreaches, it veers into those of second."

NPR : Summer's Here: Grills Catch Fire

NPR : Summer's Here: Grills Catch Fire: "Grilled Tuna Steaks with Summer Salsa

Serves 4

5 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise, seeded and coarsely chopped

2 chopped scallions (all but 2 inches of the green)

1 medium clove garlic, peeled and minced

1/2 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 cup chopped basil leaves

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 jalapeno pepper or other hot chili, seeded and minced (or to taste)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

4 tuna steaks, about 8 ounces each, about 1-inch thick

2 tablespoons olive oil

Coarse sea salt to taste

The Salsa:

In a bowl, combine chopped tomatoes, green onions, garlic, 1/2 cup olive oil, cilantro, basil, lemon juice and jalapeno. Season with salt and pepper. Best if refrigerated for an hour or more, then taste again.

The Tuna:

Coat the tuna steaks with 2 tablespoons olive oil and season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. (Remove fish from refrigerator about 10 minutes before grilling; it should not be cooked icy cold.)

Grill tuna steaks about 6 inches from the heat, about 4 to 6 minutes per side, depending on thickness. (Check by making a thin incision in a thick part of the flesh). Remove before they reach desired doneness because they will continue to cook a bit."

NPR : Summer's Here: Grills Catch Fire

NPR : Summer's Here: Grills Catch Fire: "Spice-Rubbed Flank Steak with Cajun Swamp Sauce

Hanger steak also is excellent prepared this way.

2 medium garlic cloves

1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds (optional)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon cayenne (optional)

1 1/2 pounds flank steak, trimmed of excess fat

With a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic and ginger into a paste. (You can use a flat meat pounder or mince very well with a large chef's knife). Add the remaining seasonings. Salt to taste.

Pat the steaks dry with paper towels. Rub the paste all over. Cover in plastic wrap and marinate steak for about 5 hours or, better, overnight.

Oil the grill grates. When the grill is hot, cook the steak for 5 to 8 minutes on each side for medium-rare (depending on thickness). Test with a meat thermometer -- 145 rare, 160 medium. Transfer steak to a cutting board and let stand 10 minutes.

With a very sharp knife slice the steak thinly with the grain and serve."

NPR : Summer's Here: Grills Catch Fire

NPR : Summer's Here: Grills Catch Fire: "I asked him to identify the three most common errors committed by amateur grill cooks.

'Number one is overcrowding the grill,' he said. 'The second is confusing burning food with cooking food -- that's where direct and indirect cooking comes in.'

Number three: 'You should not put on barbecue sauce too early, only in the last few minutes of cooking,' he advised, noting that this is particularly critical with a sauce that contains sugar. 'It'll burn right up.'

Because grilling is a dry-cooking method that extracts water from foods, marinades are beneficial for their moistening and flavoring effects. Contrary to widespread belief, a vinegar-based marinade does not tenderize a steak any more than Kool-Aid does because it barely penetrates the surface. The same is true with seafood. In fact, it generally is not a good idea to marinate fish or shellfish for more than half an hour because the acid can make the surface gray and mushy.

At this time of year, simple marinades can be assembled in minutes using fresh herbs, vinegar, olive oil, lemon, wine, even beer (it's great with shellfish)."

NPR : Summer's Here: Grills Catch Fire

NPR : Summer's Here: Grills Catch Fire: "So, assume you have a shiny new grill. How do you get the best from it? Here are a few pointers:

· Maintain your grill as you would a new car -- well, as some of you would. Keep it clean, both inside (especially the cooking grates) and out, so it doesn't discolor.

· Grilling is more than just dropping food onto a flame and joining the volleyball game for 10 minutes. Some foods benefit from the 'direct heat, indirect heat' treatment. For example, a thick steak should be placed over the hottest part of the fire until it chars and develops a nice crust, then moved to a burner on a lower setting to continue cooking without burning. Most medium to large gas grills have two adjustable burners, one left, one right. If using charcoal or wood, move the food to the perimeter of the grate where the heat is less intense. Flip the steak and repeat. Cuts of meat 3/4-inch thick and thinner do not have to be moved because they cook quickly.

· Use long tongs to grasp food and rely on a meat thermometer. Experienced cooks know how to judge the doneness of a steak or thick filet of tuna by pressing them with their fingers. Amateurs should not try to show off this way -- it's safer and more accurate to use a thermometer. Steaks are rare at 145 degrees Fahrenheit, medium at about 160 degrees. Since meat and seafood continue to cook a minute or two after they are pulled from the heat, remove them a minute or so early to assure desired level of doneness.

· Let the meat rest. Sometimes when I am grilling, shortly before the food is cooked, I find myself surrounded by a wolf pack of hungry eaters. Don't give in to the rabble-rousers. When a steak is removed from the fire, it definitely needs a few minutes of downtime for the juices to redistribute."

Slate Magazine

Slate Magazine: "If we can create 'fine tuned' manufactured foods then we could mass produce celebritys for consumption in another way. 'Give me a pound of Oprah and some Paris Hilton for desert...' If you were a particularly delicious person you could get rich on the property rights to your own flesh (though the law will no doubt ensure that big corporations get 'first bite')."