Abetrujillo

Lies girlfriends tell each other and what they really mean

Read my lips: what people say and what they really mean are usually two different things. Thankfully, writer Mikael Wulff and artist Anders Morgenthaler who teamed up to publish a series of "Truth Facts" cartoons under the name Wumo (previously on Neatorama), has got the translations:

Visit Wumo's website Kind of Normal for more of this kind of lovely shenanigans!

hank does not reply to the next one. penelope is angry with him for weeks.

hey cool guys! i’m doing a new podcast with mikey that we think you’ll like. it’s called morning rush, and we’ve been put in charge of a morning show. that’s why i don’t sleep anymore

you can listen to the first episode right here:

Before someone even enters your home, your doormat lets them know a little about you. Are you friendly, efficient, OCD? What about geeky? That's right, now you can express your nerdy self with all kinds of great doormats. 

Over on Homes and Hues, we rounded up 12 such geektastic rugs to greet your guests with. From fantasy to gaming and from Doctor Who to IT jokes, whatever your favorite geek interest, there's sure to be a great rug out there to make you smile.

Check out the full list of nerdy rugs over on Homes and Hues: 12 Wonderfully Geeky Doormats

Whether you stash your plastic storage containers in a drawer, cabinet, or some other hidden spot in your kitchen, we're going to take a guess that it is one of your least favorite places to deal with.

While we're not promising that any one organizing trick will keep that Tupperware tamed, these seven ideas can help keep things a bit more in order.

READ MORE »

Plastic one-piece screw-top lids sized to fit wide-mouth canning jars. Mine came from Lehman’s but they are often available at hardware or kitchen-ware departments, where they sell the jars. These are not for canning, but simplify storage in the pantry or fridge. They are easier to handle than two-piece metal lids, don’t rust or dent, and clean easily. I’ve used them daily for years.

-- Lynn Nadeau

Ball Wide-Mouth Plastic Storage Caps

Available from Amazon

This is a Cool Tools Favorite from 2015

Yep, I’m still playing Rocksmith 2014. A lot – at least IMO, with around 300 hours of playtime (still an order of magnitude away from what I’d need to really get “good”, I know…). I recently hit something of a minor breakthrough – you know, the point where you finally escape the plateau you’ve been on for a while? I can’t tell you exactly what it was, although I suspect that some of it was simply that I am more cognizant of how hard I’m fretting (a bad habit from an old acoustic I started learning on when I was 16, I think) and simply greater familiarity with certain scales. It’s not like I’ve been practicing the scales as much as I should have, simply that I’ve been learning enough songs with similar keys that I have developed a feel and familiarity with where my fingers should naturally play. It’s a small victory, but it’s pushed my scores up a bit more, and my playing “unplugged” is … well, better. Not great, but better. Still nothing I’d really feel like showing off, but then it always sounds better when you are backed by a band.

As far as musical preference, I’m still pretty old-school. I listen to classic rock radio stations, and I tend to think of “new” music as being anything less than fifteen years old. So my preferences for music to learn from Rocksmith 2014 tends to be kind of biased. I want to learn to play my old favorites. Although sometimes I discover that old favorites aren’t always the most useful for learning new skills. But as someone still very much at an intermediate level, it’s nice having some easier songs where I can just focus on the basics.

A lot of my favorite packs are actually from the original Rocksmith. I’ve not included them here, but for a while there (like, the first quarter of last year), it seemed like the focus had shifted to smaller, indie bands I’d never heard of. Good stuff (especially for learning some more unusual chords and techniques outside of the old radio-friendly basics), but lacking infinite time and money (and possessing even more limited skill), I’ve only picked up a couple of those.

So listing my favorite Rocksmith 2014 DLC packs is almost a case of saying “What’s my favorite music?” Even excluding the stuff I’m not too familiar with, I’ve probably spent as much on Rocksmith (including the old game) as I did on my new guitar. But comparing my skills to where I was a couple of years ago, I’d have to say it’s money well spent.

So I’ve tried to weight these as much as how much they have to teach me as how motivating they are simply because they are old favorites. Here are the ones that have been the biggest ‘wins’ for me, and if I were to recommend the game to someone with my same old-school tastes, these are the packs I’d suggest getting along with it:

1. Jimi Hendrix Pack

This is a mega-pack and feels like cheating. But so what? It can be purchased as a single pack or as four smaller packs, and all told includes a dozen classic rock tracks by one of the most influential rock guitarists of all time. This is as much a “must buy” for Rocksmith 2014 as any other pack. Unless you got the XBox One or PS4 versions, in which case you get it as a free incentive until the end of this month. The songs include “The Wind Cries Mary,” “Voodoo Child (Slight Return),”Castles Made of Sand,” “Purple Haze,” “Foxey Lady,” “Little Wing,” “Red House,” “Fire,” “Bold as Love,” “If 6 was 9,” “Freedom,” and “Manic Depression.”

2. Bachsmith

This is an all-original arrangement of classical music by musicians on the Rocksmith team. The music has been arranged in a variety of styles and techniques to provide a good advanced learning tool, but it’s just awesome stuff. Fun, educational, and good to listen to. The songs include Bach’s “Little Fugue in G Minor,” Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata,” Mozart’s “Ronda Alla Turca,” and Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries.”

3. Arena Rock Singles

I’m a sucker for hair metal. And this is it. This is a collection of singles and can’t be bought as a pack at a discount, sadly, but they are all different bands & labels. These are songs that make you feel like you are a rock god when you play them, the good ol’ fashioned Guitar Hero feeling. Three of the five require you to down-tune your guitar a half-step down to E flat. But between this and a few other packs, there’s enough songs tuned to E flat that you can play a nice variety of pieces while you are down there these days. The songs include Autograph’s “Turn Up the Radio,” Dio’s “Holy Diver,” Billy Squire’s music industry send-up “The Stroke,” Winger’s “Seventeen,” and Poison’s “Nothin’ But a Good Time.” There’s a big list of candidates – especially one-hit-wonders – who could have been included in this one, so I’m looking forward to a potential “Arena Rock Singles 2″ in 2015.

4. Surf Rock

I thought surf music was the one thing that was really missing from Rocksmith 2014. Not that I’m a big fan of surf music, but as my skills have developed, I’ve found myself appreciating it more. It’s older music from a simpler era, but still fun and catchy and immediately recognizable, and isn’t too hard to learn to play. The songs include Dick Dale’s “Misirlou” (a must-have for anything calling itself a surf rock pack!), The Surfari’s “Wipeout” (the other must-have for a self-respecting surf pack!), and The Venture’s “Walk Don’t Run.” And hey, it’s a good chance to exercise that whammy bar!

5. Boston

Technically challenging and one of the best rock groups of all time. The only thing wrong with this pack is that it was only three songs, but that leaves plenty of room for a second pack. The songs include “Don’t Look Back,” “Foreplay / Long Time,” and “Hitch a Ride.” Fortunately, Rocksmith 2014 came with “Peace of Mind” as an included song, so we’ve got a pretty decent collection. IMO, the Boston songs often have more challenging rhythm guitar parts than the lead parts, so don’t get too hyper-focused on playing lead on these songs, as fun as they are.

6. The Who

Five songs by one of classic rock’s superbands. If you want a real rhythm part workout, try “Pinball Wizard.” There’s not a lot of guitar part in “Baba O’Reily,” but it’s fun to play along with. “Who Are You” is another “must-have” for this pack, and I’d have been sorely disappointed if “Behind Blue Eyes” hadn’t made it in. “The Seeker” rounds out this pack. The one downside of this pack is that two of the songs aren’t “true tuned,” so you have to retune your guitar a little to play along (to E447 for Behind Blue Eyes, and E454 for Baba O’Reily) . If you want to practice a single song over and over again, it’s not a big deal, but I find myself skipping them out of laziness.

7. No Doubt

I’m not a huge fan of No Doubt, but their music fuses rock with ska, which makes for some interesting chord progression and rhythms that are unusual in traditional blues-based rock. They are fun, sound great, and teach some new skills. Win! The songs include “Don’t Speak,” “Spiderwebs,” and “Ex-Girlfriend.”

8. Iron Maiden

Because… Maiden. One of the best and most influential metal groups of all time, and challenging without seeming completely out of my league. And it’s a five-pack! It includes “Run to the Hills,” “Aces High,” “2 Minutes to Midnight,” “Fear of the Dark,” and “The Number of the Beast.”

9. The Killers

They sound like the 80s, but … different. And IMO, kind of angsty, but in a personal way, unlike the generic disaffection of the grunge period. It’s mixed in with the synth and the 80s style, but it has accumulated a flavor of its own. For me, I found myself dealing with some unfamiliar chords / fingerings, which remains a fun challenge. All but one of the songs are down-tuned to E-flat, so it is another good pack to get if you want a variety of fun songs to play while you are down-tuned. The songs are mainly their “greatest hits” plus a new one: “Mr. Brightside,” “When We Were Young,” “Somebody Told Me,” “Runaways,” and “Spaceman.”

10. Tom Petty

This was a tough call, and the pack is something of a mix. Some song parts are downright boring to play, but if you are really trying to master some strum patterns with all the “voice” of the originals, they’ve got a lot to teach you. And as a bonus (for me), most sound pretty good on an acoustic guitar, although some of the bends wouldn’t work so well. The songs include “Learning to Fly,” “Refugee,” “American Girl,” “Free Fallin’,” and “I Won’t Back Down.” Coupled with “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” that comes with Rocksmith 2014, and “Good Enough” from the original game (if you have the original game and paid the fee to migrate it over), that’s a lot of Tom Petty.

Honorable Mentions

Bon Jovi – because, hair band stuff again. Fun and not super-challenging. Duran Duran – because 80’s. Get used to some really funky bends and slides. Foreigner – because they rock, but to me it’s mainly isolated riffs without much to learn. Foo Fighters 2 – because more Foo Fighters is not a bad thing, and their songs feel like a decent stretch from the more conventional stuff. And Aerosmith. Gotta love Aerosmith.

So… which ones have I mastered yet? None of the above. Although I can do pretty well on a couple of the Surf Rock songs – I’d just need to focus on getting them down perfect. I’ve been working a bit on “Foxy Lady” but going from the simplified version I once kinda-learned to a note-perfect version is more of a challenge than I’d expected.  One of the problems with having so many songs to work with is that it’s very tempting to go for playing the variety rather than really focusing on getting one song note-perfect. Many of the songs I still find myself playing the most come from the first game and from its DLC… but that’s simply because they snagged some great ones for the first game.

I wasn’t sure if this was a foreshadowing or just a New Year gag from Chris at Lunarbaboon, so I went to his Facebook page and it appears to be an announcement, indeed! Expect a new character in the strip this coming June. Congratulations!  

Today, is the fourth day of my husband's and my new diet and exercise routine. I've already caught him eating junk food 4 times. He has lost 2 lbs and I've gained 3. FML

YouTube Link

Six-year-old Sadie Adam has been hearing impaired since birth. In previous years, when Sadia visited Santa, any communication she had with him required a sign language interpreter. This year, however, Westminster, Massachusetts Police Chief Salvatore Albert, who has played Santa for 15 years, learned sign language just so he could communicate with Sadie. The fact that Santa knew how to speak with her was an early Christmas gift to the little girl, who was thrilled. What a sweet story.

The First World War was an unprecedented catastrophe that shaped our modern world. Erik Sass is covering the events of the war exactly 100 years after they happened. This is the 160th installment in the series. Would you like to be notified via email when each installment of this series is posted? Just email RSVP@mentalfloss.com.

December 24-26, 1914: The Christmas Truce

In December 1914 the world was reeling from the trauma of five months of horrifying bloodshed, which spread death and sowed hatred on a scale almost beyond comprehension. As a particularly fierce winter blanketed Europe in snow and ice, civilians on the home front found their worries compounded by the first shortages of food and fuel. Worst of all, most people now realized that there was no end in sight: the war would probably go on for years.

But in the midst of all this misery humanity still somehow prevailed, if only for a moment, creating one of the most powerful cultural memories and moral examples of the Great War.

The famous Christmas Truce of 1914, when exhausted foes put down their guns to enjoy a brief evening of peace and camaraderie, began with music. It started on Christmas Eve, when British and German soldiers huddling in the cold, damp trenches tried to cheer themselves up by singing Christmas carols and songs from home – then were amazed to hear their enemies applauding and responding with songs of their own. William Robinson, an American volunteer in the British Army, recalled the strange scene:

"During the evening the Germans started singing, and I heard some of the most beautiful music I ever listened to in my life. The song might start just opposite us, and it would be taken up all along the line, and soon it would seem as if all the Germans in Belgium were singing. When they had finished we would applaud with all our might, and then we would give them a song in return… The men were getting along well with it, when someone in the German trenches joined in singing in just as good English as any of us could speak."

There were many talented musicians on both sides, who now paid tribute to their foes by playing their national songs, showing that the national hatreds were far from universal even among men on the frontline, who had the most reason to embrace them. Phil Rader, an American volunteer in the French Foreign Legion, described one such exchange:

"After dinner we heard a blast of music that thrilled us. A little German band had crept into the trenches and announced itself with a grand chord. Then came the unexpected chords of the 'Marseillaise.' The Frenchmen were almost frantic with delight. George Ullard, our Negro cook, who came from Galveston, got out his mouth organ and almost burst his lungs playing 'Die Wacht am Rhein.'"

The exchange of songs across no-man’s-land built trust and encouraged curiosity, leading to shouted verbal exchanges, followed by men poking their heads over the parapets – normally a suicidal move – only to find their erstwhile enemies looking back at them, waving and beckoning. When it became clear that neither side was going to shoot, in a matter of minutes soldiers were climbing out of the trenches and crossing no-man’s-land to meet the men who had been shooting at them a few hours before (top, British and German troops fraternize).

They shook hands, embraced, and tried to communicate as best they could, helped by informal translators, who in many cases had lived in the enemy’s country before the war. One British junior officer, Edward Hulse, met a German counterpart who had lived in Britain for years and lost everything he loved when the war started:

"He came from Suffolk where he had left his best girl and a 3 ½ h.p. motor-bike! He told me that he could not get a letter to the girl, and wanted to send one through me. I made him write out a postcard in front of me, in English, and I sent it off that night. I told him that she probably would not be a bit keen to see him again… They protested that they had no feeling of enmity towards us at all, but that everything lay with their authorities, and that being soldiers they had to obey…"

The truce continued into the next day, as junior officers took advantage of the break in hostilities to get some important tasks done – above all, burying the dead. Victor Chapman, an American in the Foreign Legion who would later become the first American pilot killed in the war, recalled:

"Christmas morning a Russian up the line who spoke good German, wished them the greetings of the season, to which the Boches responded that instead of nice wishes they would be very grateful to the French if the latter buried their compatriot who had lain before their trenches for the last two months… The burying funeral performed, a German Colonel distributed cigars and cigarettes and another German officer took a picture of the group."

Indeed, as it was Christmas, it was only natural to exchange presents, which not only demonstrated goodwill but allowed men on both sides to get things they lacked. Edward Roe, a British corporal, recalled:  “They gave us bottles of wine and cigars; we gave them tins of jam, bully [beef], mufflers, tobacco etc. I annexed a tin of raspberry from the sergeant’s dugout and gave it to a stodgy and bespectacled Saxon. In return he gave me a leather case containing five cigars… The line was all confusion [with] no sentries and no one in possession of arms.”

In some places the truce continued into December 26, “Boxing Day,” and even as late as December 27 – but inevitably it was bound to come to an end. Senior officers on both sides were livid when they heard about the informal ceasefire, which they believed threatened to undermine morale and discipline; after all, as some German soldiers told members of 2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers: “We don’t want to kill you, and you don’t want to kill us. So why shoot?” British war correspondent Philip Gibbs summed up the contradiction in simple, damning terms: “The war had become the most tragic farce in the world. The frightful senselessness of it was apparent when the enemies of two nations fighting to the death stood in the grey mist together and liked each other. It became so apparent that army orders had to be issued stopping such truces.”

It’s worth noting, however, that the truce wasn’t universal. According to British eyewitnesses, German troops from Saxony were often eager to fraternize, perhaps because of their shared ethnic heritage with the Anglo-Saxons, whereas Prussian troops were much less likely to make any friendly gestures, if only because they were under the stern supervision of committed Prussian officers. Meanwhile, on the Allied side, French troops were understandably also less inclined to fraternize with invaders occupying their own homeland – indeed, in some cases, their own homes. And regardless of nationality, some individuals simply seemed unable to put aside their personal hatred of the enemy. A Bavarian dispatch runner, Adolf Hitler, voiced strong disapproval of the truce, according to one of his fellow dispatch runners, who later recounted: “He said, ‘Something like this should not even be up for discussion during wartime.’”

Although some men held back, the Christmas Truce still delivered an unambiguous message to the world that the ideal of a universal humanity, along with basic values like human kindness, had not yet fallen victim to the war. The war would continue, but that declaration would not be effaced, lasting until the present day. Back in the trenches Roe captured the wrenching sense of sadness among soldiers who would have to continue fighting, knowing neither they nor their enemy wanted to:

"Would the Spirit of Christmas be maintained?... Would ambitious Statesmen and Warlords, who only think of the Regimental officer and common soldier in terms of mathematics, cast aside their ambitions, stupidity, pride and hatred and allow the angel of peace, instead of the angel of death, to spread his wings over stricken and bleeding humanity. I, or any of my comrades, as far as I can ascertain, bear no malice or hatred against the German soldier. He has got to do as he is told, and so have we… I’m afraid I’m a damn bad soldier. I’m preaching peace in the spirit of Christmas."

See the previous installment or all entries.

After a month of researching sous vide appliances I purchased the Anova Sous Vide Immersion Circulator. I have been cooking with the Anova for three months now and have been very pleased. I have used the Anova to cook everything from poached eggs, steaks, and for Christmas, 25lbs of tri-tip. Each time the food came out perfectly as is the nature with sous vide.

For a brief background, sous vide (French for “under vacuum”) cooking is essentially cooking in a warm water bath for an extended period of time. Much like smoking or traditional barbecue the lower temperatures and longer cook times can produce delicious tender food. Foods do not need to be under vacuum; a re-sealable freezer bag with the air removed (air is a poor heat conductor) works quite well. Since the foods are contained inside the bag, no moisture is lost and all flavors remain in contact with the food. Additionally, some chefs will directly poach in fat, oil, or butter with their immersion circulator. When cooking sous vide the chef will set the final desired temperature while the device will hold the water at that point indefinitely. Over time the food will be cooked to that exact temperature throughout without ever going over. Unlike traditional methods where high heat is used for faster cooking times, the temperature is low and the foods can never over-cook. For more detailed information about sous vide I would recommend visiting this site or anything written by Dave Arnold.

The Anova is a circulating heating element combined with a PID (proportional-integral-derivative) controller. The PID constantly compares the set desired temperature compared to actual measured temperature and adjusts the heating element to account for any discrepancies. This allows the Anova to accurately hold a desired temperature to within ± 0.01°C in a range of 25°C to 99°C. The 1KW heating element is powered through 115-120 & 220-240 VAC. The impeller pump is capable of moving 12L per minute. The device measures 2.5″ wide by 15.5″ tall. It attaches to any vessel using a study rubber-tipped screw.

The device is controlled through a color touch-screen liquid crystal display, LCD. The user interface is simple and intuitive. The user need only set the desired temperature, set an optional timer for shutdown, and select “Start.” The screen will show the current temp, set temp, and run time. Like a crockpot or slow cooker the device is “set and forget.” The Anova has a low water sensor and will shut off automatically. Occasionally on longer and hotter cooks water may need to be added to the vessel to maintain adequate levels.

What separates the Anova from other similar devices is 1) its price, at $200 it is less expensive for the same specifications of its rivals. 2) the heating element guard is stainless steel and easily removable for very easy cleaning. 3) it features a directional nozzle for the impeller. 4) it is made by a medial laboratory device manufacturer with experience in the field.

Unlike the previously reviewed Sous Vide Supreme, an immersion circulator can be used an a variety of vessel sizes. For larger cooks I use a Cambro full-size gastronorm food pan which holds 27 qt. For smaller cooks I use my stock pot. It is also half the price and a fraction of the size. Similar devices are available, most notably from a rival medical equipment company PolyScience. The PolySci circulators are $300 more expensive than the Anova and have plastic heating element guards which must be removed using a screwdriver.

In summary, the Anova is a professional grade device which is simple to use, easy to clean, easy to store, powerful enough for even your largest cooks and reasonable priced (in the world of sous vide).

-- Reid Bradshaw

Anova Sous Vide Immersion Circulator
$200

Available from Amazon

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