How Serious People Do Jobs Like Mine

Of course, that takes a lot of effort. And could be seen as a cost-centre.

Linking hands and minds

"My real concern here is not with the economics of skilled manual work, but rather with its intrinsic satisfactions."
"...There is pride in meeting the aesthetic demands of a workmanlike installation. Maybe another electrician will see it someday. Even if not, one feels responsible to one’s better self. Or rather, to the thing itself—craftsmanship might be defined simply as the desire to do something well, for its own sake. If the primary satisfaction is intrinsic and private in this way, there is nonetheless a sort of self-disclosing that takes place. As Alexandre Kojève writes:

The man who works recognizes his own product in the World that has actually been transformed by his work: he recognizes himself in it, he sees in it his own human reality, in it he discovers and reveals to others the objective reality of his humanity, of the originally abstract and purely subjective idea he has of himself.

The satisfactions of manifesting oneself concretely in the world through manual competence have been known to make a man quiet and easy. They seem to relieve him of the felt need to offer chattering interpretations of himself to vindicate his worth. He can simply point: the building stands, the car now runs, the lights are on. Boasting is what a boy does, who has no real effect in the world. But craftsmanship must reckon with the infallible judgment of reality, where one’s failures or shortcomings cannot be interpreted away."

"

Skilled manual labor entails a systematic encounter with the material world, precisely the kind of encounter that gives rise to natural science. From its earliest practice, craft knowledge has entailed knowledge of the “ways” of one’s materials—that is, knowledge of their nature, acquired through disciplined perception and a systematic approach to problems. And in fact, in areas of well-developed craft, technological developments typically preceded and gave rise to advances in scientific understanding, not vice versa. The steam engine is a good example. It was developed by mechanics who observed the relations between volume, pressure, and temperature. This at a time when theoretical scientists were tied to the caloric theory of heat, which later turned out to be a conceptual dead end. The success of the steam engine contributed to the development of what we now call classical thermodynamics. This history provides a nice illustration of a point made by Aristotle:

Lack of experience diminishes our power of taking a comprehensive view of the admitted facts. Hence those who dwell in intimate association with nature and its phenomena are more able to lay down principles such as to admit of a wide and coherent development; while those whom devotion to abstract discussions has rendered unobservant of facts are too ready to dogmatize on the basis of a few observations...

"So what advice should one give to a young person? By all means, go to college. In fact, approach college in the spirit of craftsmanship, going deep into liberal arts and sciences. In the summers, learn a manual trade. You’re likely to be less damaged, and quite possibly better paid, as an independent tradesman than as a cubicle-dwelling tender of information systems. To heed such advice would require a certain contrarian streak, as it entails rejecting a life course mapped out by others as obligatory and inevitable."

Lunar Eclipse

Snow! In Toronto...

How Cathryn's Killing Time These Days

Kite Yukon - Snow Kiting Adventures in the Far North

Gender Bias in American Politics?

Tina Fey retorts on Hillary's behalf...

2-29-08 Work Clips

Future of SaaS

SFC has a good quarter

Cdn Copyright Rule Reform

Oof.

Well, at least I don't work for KPMG. And more

Saasy

Well, it's not like the company will do anything about it.

Random Links that I was Interested in

Going back to one of the original points of the blog - storekeeping random finds online that interest me, without filling up everyone's inboxes...

Checking out the Personality Profile of Prospective Presidents. This would be fun to do for the next Canadian election. Or for your own personality...

The seven words of eating right guy in town, but sold out. The words? "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." More details here - which is the precis of his book.

Toronto's future. Well, one possibility for Toronto's future that will be partially, and badly implemented.

Toronto's Past. Well, fictional past and how it intersects with the real past. The TPL has done a great job of thinking about the book and how it impacts Toronto. See here for all sorts of cool toys, incl. an annotated chapter, a guided walking tour both by map and speaking tour (via mp3), a map of the old city, etc. Spacing Wire is getting in on this too. The role of cemeteries in the book, riverdale, old buildings, Toronto Islands, etc.

Loss of Toronto's Past in the Present. Bye Bye Duke's.

Cool Art on Ugly Road. Great explanation of the Harbour Commission building as well

Spying on Toronto's Rivers.

Roomie in Europe (and no Interpol calls so far)

Recent Eclipse

Cool talks at TED Conference

CIS Volleyball Live Webcast

What an awesome idea. If TSN, SportsNet and CBC are going to continue to ignore live amateur sports in favour of poker and wrestling, then perhaps this can get the product out to the masses.

Here's the schedule:

Friday, February 29:
1:00 pm, 3:00 pm, 6:00 pm, 8:00 pm: 1st round

Saturday, March 1st:
1 :00 pm – consolation
3 :00 pm – consolation
6 :00 pm – semi-final
8 :00 pm – semi-final

Sunday, March 2nd :
11 :00 am – 5th and 6th position *
1 :00 pm – 3rd position (Bronze) *
4 :30 pm – Final (Gold) *

* TBD : depending of TV broadcast

Google's Data Centres

How they manage the infrastructure behind the searches and ads, and emails and ads, and maps and ads...

Billy Bee flies south

Boo. One of my more famous employers gone. If I can, I'll post a pic of the (in)famous costume for everyone's comedy value.

Look Up!

There's a lunar eclipse over Toronto tonight at 10:00 pm.

Canadian Ski Marathon

Ow. But thanks to all the volunteers...

The True Price of SMS Messages

Between this and Tom Purves' post on Canadian mobile data rates, it's all very depressing.

Soros is gloomy

“The current crisis is not only the bust that follows the housing boom. It’s basically the end of a 60-year period of continuing credit expansion based on the dollar as the reserve currency.” Is the US finally having it's post-Edwardian England moment?

What's the halflife of online personal data

Cory Doctorow: why personal data is like nuclear waste

3000 years of the Middle East explained

In one easy to use graphic!

The propensity for engineers to be terrorists

Hmm. Something to ponder.

This is Crazy

Someone was shot, during the day, where I used to live. And shop. Crazy.

All of 2007 Lists

The best of's for 2007

Ads / Architecture / Art / Autos / Books / Business / Comics / Design / DVDs / Fashion / Film / Food & Drink / Gadgets / Games / Ideas / Media / Music / People / Sports / Science / Technology / Theatre / Travel / TV / Videos / Words

Why I Retired From Telecom

Most of the profitable niches in telecom are now gone. Home phone service, long distance, small business phone service, conference calling, mobile — all have become low-margin commodity markets dominated by established companies. The capital costs of prototyping new phone services have declined, but not nearly as much as retail pricing, and hence, the margins are near zero. The liquidity and exit opportunities for small telecom companies are also not good. You either need massive amounts of capital, or you need to be bought by a phone company (the stereotypes about phone companies exist for a reason). There are exceptions, of course, but they are rare.

Mobile should be a huge opportunity for developers, but unless and until the carriers open their platforms and create something like Ad Sense for developers, it’s a rotten business to be in. The mobile operators micromanage application developers, and they do not share revenue freely. They often charge for network access when they should be rewarding you for stimulating usage.

What’s the message in all of this for entrepreneurs? Telecom seems like a great industry. After all, billions of people use cell phones. The problem is that there is nothing like the web for mobile, and by that I mean the entire set of standards and business practices that have grown around it. It’s hard to see this changing significantly in the near future.

A Surfer's Life

Nice work if you can get it...

101 Simple Appetizers in 20 Minutes or Less

Some good simple options here.

The Year's Ideas in Review

NY Times' 2007 Ideas in Review

Happy Christmas to you all

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Creating your own Brazilian name!

Not sure mine fits, but hey...

how to be creative

gapingvoid's essay. Hmm.

gapingvoid: Scathing, but often funny

gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards"

First Sign of Winter

Is a Ford Explorer in the ditch...

Snow mixed with freezing rain created slippery driving conditions this morning, with the weather causing as many as 200 crashes in the GTA since rush hour Wednesday. Most of the collisions were single vehicles sliding into ditches, hitting guardrails, and spinning off the highways.

Ouch!

Worth checking out the hits

Craiger!!!!

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead.
Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
John McCrae

A Day of Remembrance

A Day of Remembrance - Veterans Affairs Canada

The Legion - and the poppy's history

Meetings and How Much They Cost

Apparently our Monday morning meeting costs the company more than $2.25 per minute for the four of us.

Lest We Forget

City of Toronto's Remembrance Day ceremonies

Toronto Airports

[quote="rob in angus"] Another airport in Toronto area is somewhat needed.

Are there any neutral studies showing this? The GTAA master proposal is based on forecasted passenger levels from 1999. Given that's pre-9.11, I imagine things have changed (see here).

[quote]would reduce congestion around Pearson. Congestion means increased CO2 emmisions from idling traffic[/quote]

1) Presumably opening a new airport would shift the traffic volume to the new airport.
2) people should turn their engines off instead of idling - as the City bylaw requests
3) Congestion around YYZ is not driven by the airport's presence. YYZ is immediately adjacent to the 401/427/27/409/Eglinton interchange as well just west of the 401/400/Black Creek Drive interchange. That particular section of the 401 is among the highest volume arteries in the world, averaging average annual daily traffic of 607,800 cars. Pointing to the airport as the sole cause, or establishing a new airport won't help. Reducing congestion driven by visits to YYZ requires a mass transit link to the airport. One effort to do just that was Blue 22 (about which see here and here, but but it appeared to be killed by the McGuinty's pre-election MoveOntario 2020 announcement. If you're interested in reading about efforts to incorporate mass transit access to YYZ, try Steve Munro's website, especially this post.

[quote]If not Pickering then where? Is there a better spot to build?[/quote]

How about improving trains? That might move a high % of the short-haul flights to a different mode of transport, which concomitant environmental benefits. One of the most striking parts of Monbiot's book Heat was on the impact of flying. His blog has some analysis on it here, here and the UK government's Royal Commission here. Short recap for the 99% of people who don't wish to read all of that - aviation is a remarkably awful contributor to global warming, not just from the physics of flying (burning a lot of extremely high octane gas to keep aloft) but also from impact of contrails, etc.
Anyway, I would be extremely curious to find out what % of YYZ and YTZ's flights are w/in the Windsor/Quebec City corridor. I would prefer to use better (read: faster & more reliable) train service as in France to visit my Montreal/Ottawa-based clients - especially b/c it cuts out the commute, boarding & security hassles on both ends.

Canoeing Guest Speakers

Some cool topics here, including Shawn's family friend Al Pace.

The great books we haven't read

Where to begin?

When Will the West Run Out of Water

Fascinating article.
Actually, there's a series of Canadian implications that aren't spelled out here (well, duh, it's the NYT, why would they...)

1) Water diversion. The "Great Lakes" looks like a huge pool of fresh water. But it's not actually self-replenishing, meaning that it's not actuall a renewable resource, meaning that any sensible public policy action is to ban water exports. Chicago has already messed with Lake Michigan. the St. Clair river drain hole (explained here) . Water levels are shrinking across the Great Lakes - adding exports will mess with the ecosystems (and boating, cottaging, fishing, the St Mary's River, the Soo Locks, etc.). Martin Mittelstaedt of The Globe had a great series on this... In fact, I'll steal a graphic from it below.

Actually, the CBC has a solid page on this as well.

And here.

2) Western Canada itself. Professor Schindler has written in the past of consequences to the West of the shrinking glaciers. As they continue to retreat, the western rivers become shallower - meaning warmer and lower in volume - and less reliable for drinking water, irrigation, or other industrial uses. This leads into the kinds of issues being confronted by the US states profiled in the NYT article above. In fact, the simple way of putting it is here. More here

2a) Energy patch vs. water. Some of the issue in the oilsands are spelled out in a report by U of A and U of T which can be found here.

Top Chef's Last Supper

Featuring some of the world's biggest names in cooking:

Ferran Adrià

April Bloomfield

Daniel Boulud

Alain Ducasse

Martin Picard

Gordon Ramsay

and Mario Batali.

Local Farmer's Markets

Basically available every day now.

Thursdays

DUFFERIN GROVE ORGANIC FARMERS' MARKET, 875 Dufferin, south of Bloor, 416-392-0913 Toronto's largest organic market is open from 3 to 7 pm year round in the park.

METRO HALL FARMERS' MARKET, 55 John, at Wellington, 416-338-0338 8 am to 2:30 pm through October 25.

Fridays

BIRCHCLIFF VILLAGE FARMERS' MARKET, 1512 Kingston Road, at Manderlay, 416-686-6528 Next to St. Nicholas Church, from 2 to 7 pm till October 19.

HIGH PARK FARMERS' MARKET, beside Grenadier Restaurant, south of Bloor, 416-882-5140 Noon to 7 pm, plus Saturday and Sunday 9 am to 6 pm, till November 25.

Saturdays

BRICK WORKS FARMERS' MARKET, 550 Bayview, south of Pottery, 416-596-1495 In the Don Valley eco centre 8 am to 1 pm till December 1.

FARMERS' ORGANIC MARKET, St. George the Martyr Church, John and Stephanie, 647-226-2418 Toronto's oldest organic gathering takes place from 9 am to 3 pm in south Grange Park year round.

ST. LAWRENCE FARMERS' MARKET, 92 Jarvis, at Front East, 416-392-7219 In the North Market from 5 am to 5 pm year round.

VILLAGE MARKET, 9100 Bathurst, at Rutherford, 905-707-5771 Suburban organics at the Toronto Waldorf School from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm year round.

WITHROW PARK FARMERS' MARKET, 725 Logan, at McConnell 9 am to 1 pm till October 27.

WYCHWOOD BARNS FARMERS' MARKET, Church of St. Michael and All Angels, 611 St. Clair West, at Wychwood, 416-653-8546 2 to 5 pm till October 27.

Sundays

LIBERTY VILLAGE FARMERS' MARKET, 34 Hannah, at East Liberty In the parking lot from 9 am to 2 pm till October 28.

Mondays

SUNSHINE GARDEN ORGANIC MARKET, CAMH Grounds, 1001 Queen West, at Ossington, 416-363-6441 10 to 11:30 am Mondays and Thursdays through October 18 .

Tuesdays

RIVERDALE FARM FARMERS' MARKET , Riverdale Park West, Winchester at Sumach, 416-961-8787 3 to 7 pm till November 27.

TRINITY BELLWOODS FARMERS' MARKET, Dundas at Crawford, 416-350-9694 3 to 7 pm till October 30.

Wednesdays

TORONTO CITY HALL FARMERS' MARKET, Nathan Phillips Square, Bay at Queen, 416-338-0338 Same vendors as Metro Hall's, through October 17, 10 am to 2:30 pm.

COMMUNITY-SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE (CSA)

PLAN B ORGANIC FARM, 905-659-2572, www.planborganicfarms.ca Drop points throughout Toronto; winter and summer shares.

Very Cool Trails

Vaguely reminescent of parts of Lake O'Hara's trail system.

Humber Bay Bridge from Canoe

Unfortunate events

My heart goes out to the families and friends of Fontaine and Juryn.

10 things I learned during this election • Spacing Votes • blogging Ontario’s 2007 provincial election

From John Lorinc on the Election

More MMP guesses, err models

See the spreadsheet for details.

Modelling MMP in Prior Elections

Sure there's a Big Assumption inherent here, but it's interesting...

Hypothetical MMP in 2003 Results

Now this makes MMP easier to understand/analyze...

Tories Against MMP

Which makes sense. The most plausible future for the Ontario Tories under a Proportional Representation system would be permanent leader of the opposition, while the Liberals make concessions to either the NDP or Green or other minority/fringe parties (an as-of-yet non-existent Northern Ontario Party comes to mind as a strong possibility) to stay in power more or less consistently, until the inevitable scandal.

So, if you're a Tory, then for purely partisan reasons, I can't think of any reason to endorse any sort of PR system - even the mixed version proposed here.

It's That Time of Year Again

"As God is my Witness, I thought turkeys could fly..."

The New Boat in Action!

WCA has Acquired the MyCCR

http://www.myccr.com/announcement.htm
Well, the good news is that it is not folding! Not sure if there is any bad news.
Certainly still the first and last word in backcountry canoeing (and often winter camping) online.
All credit to Richard Munn for founding and establishing the site over the years - must have been tough but my gratitude at least.

...and now with painted baseboards!

 

Annual Fall Colour Report, pt. 1

"The fall colour season is just barely under way..."

WooHoo!

Laurie and I are the proud new owners of this!!!
 
 
 
Can't wait for Algonquin.
Speaking of which... Look for the next post

New Floors Cont'd

 
 
 

Return of the Colour Report

So far, not much colour change going on in Ontario's forests. Soon though. Soon.

Carpets Begone!

 

Out West

2007 Canadian Ultimate Championships

Start Thursday.

The aptly named Paradise Valley

Alpine blooms have short lives

Congratulations!

Sunset over Rundle

Frappuccinos: summer's liquid cheeseburger!

"A cup of black coffee is a three-calorie beverage. Add a teaspoon of sugar and a splash of milk and you're up to 35 calories. But order a frozen coffee drink and you've turned a low-calorie beverage into a 500-plus-calorie liquid dessert."

How children lost the right to roam in four generations

The article is good, but the map is better. Succinct and compelling.

The Polish John Cleese

"However, Ms Merkel views Poland, rather than Britain, as the main opponent of a deal and the hardest nut to crack. Such perceptions were confirmed when Warsaw raised old grievances about Germany to try to bolster its case for a "fairer" voting system in running the EU. Under current arrangements dating from 2000, Germany has 29 votes to Poland's 27 in EU councils. The new system, based on population sizes, will give Germany more than double the Polish vote. The Poles are demanding a new way of calculating votes that would diminish German "hegemony."
Under the nationalist Kaczynski brothers, prime minister and president of Poland, it seemed Poland was bent on refighting the second world war against Germany in the bunkers of Brussels.
"If Poland had not had to live through the years 1939-45, Poland would be today looking at the demographics of a country of 66 million", rather than 38 million, and would warrant a much higher quota of votes in the EU, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the prime minister, told Polish radio.

Well. Seeing as the founding principle of the EU is "Don't Mention The War!" it seems to me that the only possible response would be repeated viewings of this classic Fawlty Towers sketch. However, the Poles had a different response - thinking out of the box as it were and I have to say, I didn't see this coming:

Neat Sailing Tricks

Apparently this is important before you sail around the world...

Not Another One

Toronto Police: Cyclist Killed. Here

That's Gotta Hurt!

Frenchman Marc Gicquel (R) gets medical aid by a doctor after he received a... - Tennis - Yahoo! Sports

Despoiling a Treasure

Once again, the MNR and forestry companies cut off their nose to spite their face. This is truly a shame, and MNR should be ashamed of itself - although given that it is little more than a vessel for the industry needs to begin with...

Luminato is over

This is my awful snapshot of PulseFront. You can find much, much better ones in places like this such as this one.

There were lots of other public art things around, such as Union Station's horses.

Fascinating Engineering Feats

Galveston on Stilts

Wayne Gretzky-Style 'Field Sense' May Be Teachable

Wayne Gretzky-Style 'Field Sense' May Be Teachable

Gender Blender X-Rays

Apparently a fun time was had by everyone except those with broken bones - captured online!

Cubicle warrior's guide to office jargon

Oh so painfully true.

Where is your fish from?

May 24 Weekend

Doors Open Toronto is this weekend!

For a complete list of the open door buildings, look here.

John trying the footblock on Noah!

Doors Open guide - May 24-26

From The Star.
There's also an online map here.

100 Mile Diet in Toronto

Technically, Bonnie Stern cheated, but this is seriously impressive for Toronto in the spring:

An incredible taste of the place she lives. The salad alone contained marvels we’d never eaten before: a winter lettuce called Tango (among 11 other lettuces), marigolds, chickpea sprouts, popcorn shoots. On top of the greens, roasted white beets with smoked ricotta cheese and smoked, sun-dried Principe Borhgese tomatoes (an Italian food tradition that has faded so badly that Ontario’s David Cohlmeyer now ships his to Italy - so it goes in the global-local food chain). Then came sweet potato and maple syrup mash, roasted carrots, and braised short ribs from Cumbrae Farms, a group of selected small farms working with special breeds. (Someone asked Cumbrae’s Stephen Alexander if there was a simple way to tell small-farm meat from industrial, factory-farm meat; he replied, “Forget claims and trust your eyes and trust your palate.” He says he can instantly smell the sulfates from industrial animal feed.) We drank apple sangría and local wines. Dessert was caramelized apples with maple syrup semifreddo over crepes.

A Kitchen On The Cheap

The New York Times on the bare minimum one needs to provision a kitchen - for $300.

In Toronto, you could go to :

• Nikolaou

• Nella

• Dinetz

The list:

• 8-inch, plastic-handle stainless alloy chef’s knife for $10
• Instant-read thermometer $5
• 3 stainless steel bowls $5
• Sturdy tongs: $3.50
• a sturdy sheet pan
• plastic cutting board
• Paring knife $3
• Japanese mandoline for $25 (for thin, even slices or a real julienne)
• $4 can opener
• vegetable peeler
• colander
• a small, medium and large cast-aluminum saucepan (total: about $30) - just not the awful wafer thin sets of stainless or aluminum ones sold in big-box stores.
• medium nonstick cast aluminum pan (10-inch; $13)
• a large steep-sided, heavier duty steel pan (14-inch; $25)
• single lida skimmer (for removing dumplings or gnocchi)
• a slotted spoon
• a heat-resistant rubber spatula (replacing the classic wooden spoon)
• a bread knife (good for crusty loaves and ripe tomatoes)
• a big whisk
• food processor (12-cup capacity)
• salad spinner
• Microplane grater
• coffee and spice grinder
• An immersion blender
  
• A whetstone or a decent steel

What not to Get!

• BREAD MACHINE You can buy mediocre bread easily enough, or make the real thing without much practice.
• MICROWAVE If you do a lot of reheating or fast (and damaging) defrosting, you may want one. But essential? No. And think about that counter space!
• STAND MIXER Unless you’re a baking fanatic, it takes up too much room to justify it. A good whisk or a crummy handheld mixer will do fine.
• BONING/FILLETING KNIVES Really? You’re a butcher now? Or a fishmonger? If so, go ahead, by all means...
• WOK Counterproductive without a good wok station equipped with a high-B.T.U. burner.
• STOCKPOT The pot you use for pasta will suffice until you start making gallons of stock.
• PRESSURE COOKER It’s useful, but do you need one? No.
• ANYTHING MADE OF COPPER More trouble than it’s worth, unless you have a pine-paneled wall you want to decorate.
• RICE COOKER Yes, if you eat rice twice daily. Otherwise, no.
• COUNTERTOP CONVECTION OVEN, ROTISSERIE, OR “ROASTER” Only if you’re a sucker for late-night cooking infomercials.

Jesse in the Garden

Some photos of the rapidly changing garden.

The Five-Second Rule Explored

Testing the Five-Second Rule. Basically - don't eat it...

Go walking Saturday to remember Jane Jacobs

Spacing Wire • understanding the urban landscape » Go walking Saturday to remember Jane Jacobs

Early Days of Toronto's Streetcar System

Fascinating - up to the Lake Simcoe service from the 1920s.

Maybe I Won't Work on the House After All

The NY Times has a compendium of DIY horror stories. . .

Pwned: Syllabus

Seemed somehow relevant given the blog name.
Anyway, I'll populate the post with more info, but I just wanted to say how amused I was by the Globe's coverage of the Digg HDDVD issue.

Astonishing Kayak Trip

From BC to Tuktoyaktok. In a kayak.

100 Mile Diet: The Book's Arrived

Here's the blog, but go buy the book here

On Virginia Tech

"There is no reason that any private citizen in a democracy should own a handgun. At some point, that simple truth will register. Until it does, phones will ring for dead children, and parents will be told not to ask why."

Shootings: Comment: The New Yorker

The Way We Age Now

Human beings fail the way all complex systems fail: randomly and gradually. As engineers have long recognized, many simple devices do not age. They function reliably until a critical component fails, and the whole thing dies instantly. A windup toy works smoothly until a gear rusts or a spring breaks, and then it doesn’t work at all. But complex systems—power plants, say—have to survive and function despite having thousands of critical components. Engineers therefore design these machines with multiple layers of redundancy: with backup systems, and backup systems for the backup systems. The backups may not be as efficient as the first-line components, but they allow the machine to keep going even as damage accumulates. Gavrilov argues that, within the parameters established by our genes, that’s exactly how human beings appear to work. We have an extra kidney, an extra lung, an extra gonad, extra teeth. The DNA in our cells is frequently damaged under routine conditions, but our cells have a number of DNA repair systems. If a key gene is permanently damaged, there are usually extra copies of the gene nearby. And, if the entire cell dies, other cells can fill in.

Nonetheless, as the defects in a complex system increase, the time comes when just one more defect is enough to impair the whole, resulting in the condition known as frailty. It happens to power plants, cars, and large organizations. And it happens to us: eventually, one too many joints are damaged, one too many arteries calcify. There are no more backups. We wear down until we can’t wear down anymore.

Annals of Medicine: The Way We Age Now: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker

Pearls Before Breakfast

The Washington Post has a brilliant concept piece, perfectly written and illustrated with video. Wow. Joshua Bell, Kant, Stradivarius, Koyaanisqatsi and the life of a commuter all in one article.
Likely the best article I've read in months - and those that know me know that encompasses several thousand articles (which is actually an interesting point in itself. I should one day work out just how many words a day I read. A scary thought, greatly in inverse proportion to how much I write). I wonder if it will actually change my behaviour on a day to day basis.
Anyway, I imagine that the WashPost will take it offline or behind subscriber doors soon, so I highly recommend reading/watching/pondering it.
Also - a follow-up here.
and here
and here

The 4 Kinds of Flat Roofs

Hmm. What to do...

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/knowhow/exteriors/article/0,16417,1127447,00.html

housing prices rollercoaster

What a ride! And quite the information aesthetics. I want to do that for some of my work data...

Have Your Say On Toronto's New "Street Furniture"

Toronto's sell-out of public space continues.
It's instructive to examine the vendors record on illegalsigns.ca

Toronto's hidden rivers

This is great. Check out the sub-links on Toronto area river basins: http://www.thestar.com/photoGallery/199469.
http://www.lostrivers.ca/
http://www.torontofieldnaturalists.org/

Canoe Paddling - Canadian Style

Wow. Makes me look like such an inelegant hack.

Trip Recap: Wapta Un-Traverse

Pictures are here.