I don’t normally just post random funnies, but this is pretty much the most hilarious conversation I’ve read in a long time: Man hired to kill woman instead warns her. I’ve never been a DND person, but that tounge-in-cheek earnestness is right in line with my prejudices about tabletop RPG players.

For another laugh of a similar ilk, see also xkcd #189. (for the borderline nerds in the audience, str is strength and con is constitution)

I swear, the longer I’m in engineering school, the funnier and funnier Wasted Talent becomes. For a synopsis of the last three months, see Angela Melick’s life of a second-year mech, part 1 and part 2.

My next-door neighbour has these taped to her door.

Rands has a fantastic article this week on truth and spin:

Traditionally, the opposite of Truth is Spin. Spin is a pejorative term that comes out of Public Relations land. Spin is the deliberate selection of facts constructed to prove a specific point. For example, if there was a presidential debate where one of the candidates magically transformed into a blue whale in the middle of the debate, there would be someone from the blue whale’s camp on camera, after the debate, explaining the many benefits to America of being lead by a blue whale. They’d point out, “Are you aware of the average brain size of a blue whale? What do you think they’re doing with all that grey matter? Can you name a single war involving a blue whale?” While the rest of us would be giggling, someone, somewhere would think, “Yeah, I really want a blue whale as President… we could really use a bigger pool in the White House”.

In the rest of the article, he goes on to discuss the efficiency of communicating enthusiasm that good spin has. I was reminded somewhat of this guy, who was told by YCombinator that he was a “Woziak looking for a Jobs.”

Sometimes a good idea isn’t enough; you need a good idea and the charisma to persuade everyone else of its significance.

I’ve mentioned The Book of Bread previously, but it really is the definitive resource for any kind of bread you can imagine. I thought I’d share one of the recipes I tried recently that was particularly delicious.

I’m cautious of any recipe that claims to be creamy, as I had a bad experience once with bread so creamy that each bite tasted like a glass of whole milk. This recipe isn’t just soft and airy, it’s also tough enough for nice big sandwiches, and has a yellowish colour and very slight sourness that’s extremely pleasant. Read on…

It’s been a couple more weeks since my initial honeymoon post about the MacBook. Since then I’ve had two issues with the computer, both of which were resolved quickly and with no expense on my part.

Obviously, I’d prefer to have the machine never malfunction in the first place; seeing Apple take responsibility for its product gives me greater confidence in them and in the future of my purchase. While at first I was unsure about getting extended AppleCare, I will now almost certainly buy it before the complementary warranty year of coverage expires. Read on…

They say Engineering school is hard. But there’s a point at which you simply become numbed to it… when 78 of 99 students get a midterm mark below 50%, it’s not hard to start fantasizing about a long and successful career as a line worker screwing lids on toothpaste tubes.

And apologies to arts majors for the image. We think it’s funny. (They think it’s funny at UBC, too…)