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Monday, December 30, 2013

These DIY Toilet Tablets Bust Through Clogged Drains

These DIY Toilet Tablets Bust Through Clogged Drains: We've talked about the best ways to unclog a drain before, but these handy toilet-clearing tablets are helpful to have on-hand in case yours stops flushing the way it should. Plus, they're really easy to make. P

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Unclog a Toilet with Warm Water and Dishwasher Soap
It's something that most of us don't like to think about, but toilet clogs happen. If you don't have a plunger handy when they do (or… Read…
The folks at SavvySugar put a tried and true combination—baking soda and dish detergent—to good use in these tiny tablets that you can keep in a box or basket next to the toilet or under the bathroom sink. If your toilet starts flushing slowly or worse, doesn't flush at all and is backed up, one oft hese should clear the way. Here's what you'll need:P

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Just another test post.

I wonder why the post content isn't showing up, even thought {{postcontent}} is included in the recipe.

Testing If This Then That

This is just a test post to see if my "If This Then That" script works. My eventual goal is to do everything online outside of Facebook, and have the content show up on facebook.  That way I'll have searchable, open archives of the unimportant crap I churn out when I should be doing something important.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Learning to Leave Facebook.

I deactivated my facebook account a week or two ago because I have to finish this monstrous teaching portfolio and have a lot of grading to do.  Also I feel like I'm torn between two places--the U.S. and my current residence, and I have little to no interest in politics right now.  However, when I deactivate, it creates the same experience for Facebook friends as being blocked, and I start getting messages from people who wonder if I am undergoing some sort of new trauma or have blocked them.  In other words, Facebook doesn't make leaving easy.    I dislike Facebook for a number of reasons, but the primary one is that every little piece of content I put here is immediately gone and difficult to retrieve.  I'll want to follow up on something or someone will ask me about a link, and it's quite difficult to find again.  I am genetically predisposed towards hoarding, so this actually bothers me quite a bit.

The disadvantage of leaving, however, is that I lose the benefits of many weak network links--those friends who I don't converse with every day, even distant friends, who still surprise me with cool stuff or drop in to help with a question or problem.

Of course, I also lose out on all this content with alpha-friends--the people who are consistently hilarious or thoughtful, and provide that feeling of connection and whatever else that friends provide.  Because let's face it, as an almost-fifty-year-old-male, I am past the point where I make new meatspace friends.  It just doesn't happen, so virtual friends are the only game in town.

I feel like I've walked into a cleverly-designed trap, and escaping will require psychic pain analogous to quickly ripping off a band aid, followed by the unappealing idea of trying to build a community elsewhere.  And I don't have the charisma necessary to convince anyone to follow me into the desert, as it were.

So those seem to be the choices that Facebook offers, given my self-imposed discontent: A constraining friendship simulacrum or lonely freedom.  Of course, there's the third option of public hand wringing followed by inaction.  That has worked well for me in the past.

Can you tell I'm putting off marking the next batch of papers?

Anyway, if my account disappears it will be because I have decided, for the fifth or sixth time, to use twitter or blogger or nothing at all.  Perhaps I'm not complaining so much about Facebook as I am reflecting on the messiness and friction of human relationships.

No, I'm complaining about Facebook.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Thoughts on compact, micro four thirds and beginner DSLR cameras.

This is an email I wrote for a friend who asked about my camera.

Here are some camera ramblings.  Do not feel compelled to read this.

If you want a point and shoot compact that takes images that look close to a DSLR and gives you manual control, I would check out these two:

http://goo.gl/9ZQi4m

The Canon s110 is pretty amazing, and is $150 less than the newest version:

http://goo.gl/N3tl97

If size isn't an issue, The Canon T3i is just a great camera, as would be any Nikon in the same price range of $400-ish:

http://goo.gl/h1OsBa

If you don't think you'll ever change lenses, DPReview loves this camera:

http://goo.gl/9KYFAj

I am shooting with a Panasonic Lumix GX1.  I paid about $250 for the body with a 14mm lens.  The lens is fixed, and wide angle. so it is great at landscapes and for walking in close for pictures.  I really need to get something in the 45mm range so I have some versatility.  The 14mm lens also fits in that cool case.  There are always trade offs.  The body feels totally solid, as do the controls, and it does all sorts of fancy stuff that I haven't figured out yet.

The GX1 is a "micro four thirds" camera, and weird style that sits between compacts and DSLRs.  The thing is, it is still a little too big to fit in your pocket but you don't look like a National Geographic photographer when you want to take a picture of something at a Souk.

If you found a cheap GX1 body on Ebay and then got this lens, you'd have a really versatile, awesome, compact camera for about $350:

http://goo.gl/bs8XRQ

I guess the question remains as to whether it would produce significantly better results than a high-end point and shoot, or if it's just a case of the stats looking good on paper.

As far as everyday shooting goes, the Canon s110 is hard to beat for the price.  And if you are happy with an iphone, they take great pictures in good light conditions and you always have it with you!

the C2 wiki.

I feel like I keep returning to the same types of projects.  Right now I'm collecting, editing and publishing historical rhetoric texts ...