terriko

Why kettles boil slowly in the US (and Canada)

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 23:57:10 GMT

This post about kettles is strangely fascinating:

To raise the temperature of one litre of water from 15°C to boiling at 100°C requires a little bit over 355 kilojoules of energy. An “average” kettle in the UK runs at about 2800 W and in the US at about 1500 W; if we assume that both kettles are 100% efficient† then a UK kettle supplying 2800 joules per second will take 127 seconds to boil and a US kettle supplying 1500 J/s will take 237 seconds, more than a minute and a half longer. This is such a problem that many households in the US still use an old-fashioned stove-top kettle.

I actually did have people ask why I have a stove-top kettle back when I was in Ottawa. I usually said it was just habit (true) and I just didn't have space for another appliance (true) and then later when I wound up with a free electric kettle, I'd tell them that my electric kettle was terrifying (also true), but now I realize I could have said it was all about voltage and seemed *way* more into the science of my tea.

I'm doubting that all of us who use stove-top kettles actually thought about it that way, though. It's just what I was used to. I only switched a few months ago when an electric kettle was all I had while my stuff was in transit. And even if I'd cared, I might not have noticed a difference since water boils around 85°C here instead of 100°C (woo! Altitude helps protect me from burnt tongue!)

... all that said, I almost always boil water in the microwave now. 55s to hot chocolate!

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Pseudonymity enables my creative relaxation

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 06:39:10 GMT

It is incredibly relaxing for me to be working on new art projects and posting them under a completely new identity.

I'm working in a style and media in which I'm not proficient, and it's kinda fun to do it risk-free. No one's going to search one of my existing ids and find my first tries at stuff. "She" can experiment and squee over pretty creations and no one will use it as leverage about how I'm not a Serious Academic or Real Programmer or whatever because I'm playing around with some art.

As an incredibly surprising bonus fun thing for me, My alternate identity's already got some fans! Complete strangers are actually excited about seeing more of what she can do!

There's a lot of good reasons to care about pseudonymity. Many of those apply to me; sometimes I use my "real name" or derivatives thereof anyhow. But I'm really digging this playful use of a pseudonymous account to gain access to some extra creative freedom without being totally introverted about it. Fun!

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No one is going to let me near their kids now...

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:13:45 GMT

I saw this piece on regretsy which was making fun of the typo in the last word.

Despite the typo, I actually think this artist's word prints are kinda fun (e.g. the Canadian one), but I simply couldn't resist the urge to parody this, focusing on some less cute parts. ;)

Babies
by Terriko.

Wouldn't this make a lovely fridge magnet? ;)

My apologies to my many pregnant friends, who maybe don't want the reminder. I'm guessing both my friends with small children and my childfree friends will be able to suggest much funnier words to put in there.

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Web Insecurity: I admit, I laughed: LulzSec as popular as orgasms?

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 07:01:29 GMT

Been a while for a Web Insecurity post, eh? I blame thesis.

Anyhow, here's the teaser:

Web Insecurity : I admit, I laughed: LulzSec as popular as orgasms?

I don't know about you, but I got a great chuckle out of the thought that LulzSec might be as popular as orgasms... at least when it comes to scam bait.

Read the full post here (and learn about how LulzSec hacked the sun!)

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Branches

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 05:41:27 GMT

I love my nerdy friends:

Me: "they removed the branches on my tree that i think were causing dsl issues correlated with wind.. But today dns isn't working."
M: "dns is like a tree structure, so it's no wonder it's sad now!"
A: "Have fun reverting them!"

*giggle*

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Agents of Secret Stuff

Wed, 08 Dec 2010 21:19:39 GMT

If you've got half an hour to spare, I recommend this fun secret agent high school romantic comedy:

Aden is an Agent of Secret Stuff (A.S.S.) whose final mission is to protect high school girl Taylor from the assassins of the Society Involving Not-so-good Stuff (S.I.N.S.). It's cute, it's funny, with really amazing performances and even the music to back it up.

This appears to be a labour of love and not a paid production. I've got a soft spot for these, having worked on a few myself (mostly as crew, although I "act" in one production), but this is something else: high high production values, entertaining if slightly silly script, music that totally goes with the secret agent theme, actors who can make more than two facial expressions (I'm looking at you, Hollywood) and... It may be the best comedy I've watched this year (and given that I get stuck watching them on planes a lot, that's not a small sample!). It's a little bit of a cross between Harold and Kumar and a love story, but in a fun way. Worth watching with friends -- I had even more fun when I got Susan and Dan to watch it with me!

( Full length video under the cut )

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