Pretending to EngageWe speak of social networks, but this term has become misleading as, in practice, we really only mean Facebook and Twitter. This is an incidental note, but one I feel we should start to consider more carefully. We don’t use many social networks, but we are on Facebook, and this has changed a great deal about how we act. Or, perhaps it hasn’t.
I loathe team sports. While I’m quite keen on going for a bike ride or perhaps a hike in the woods, I find the notion of sitting on the couch, while rooting for “my” team, rather ghastly. While I can appreciate the desire to actually partake in some sport, this hysterical behavior from the sidelines seems pointless and masturbatory. While it may make you feel good, it accomplishes very little else.
In spite of criticizing this dialogue, I don’t mean to silence anyone. Instead, I ask when we take the next step. Posting a status update regarding one’s fears for their nation is a start. Putting down the mouse and actively joining a party that more accurately reflects one’s beliefs is so much more. For all those folks who posted their gripes online, I’ll bet less than 1 in 10 watched the debates. I’ll bet that less than 1 in 100 knocked on doors, campaigning for their party of choice. I’ll go one step further and bet that less than 1 in 1,000 considered exercising their democratic rights, and running for a seat.
This, then, becomes the tragic irony of the social network. We “like” pages in order to not offend our friends, “share” mundane nonsense and self-promotion, and “engage” with well-intentioned causes, so long as none of it avoids us doing anything more than contributing a click. We’re all “concerned” about the environment, but few of us sell our cars. We “boycott” oil companies for a day, only to fill our tanks the next. We think we’re “engaging” with our friends, but when we see many of them in public, we hardly know how to behave.
Most notably, we’ve convinced ourselves that we’re doing something constructive, when we’re mostly just adding to the chorus of meaningless banter that has become a global affliction. Want to connect with a friend? Invite them over for dinner. Want to share something? Give them something you’d actually miss. And for heaven’s sake, if you want to affect change in your community (or nation), turn off your computer, get off your ass, and actually do something.
via ideasonideas.com
I will say, though, that Facebook and Twitter do have the ability to give clients that nice veneer of 'measurability'.
We got 10k likes! Woot! KPI met!
But what did it actually accomplish?
...
Well... it got us likes...
That means something, right?
(It's not that I dislike all social media on principle, it's just that it's often used wrongly. If it's REALLY a channel for constructive customer feedback, or helps customers to solve problems / help each other solve problems, then it's great.)
via projectnoah.org
This is just so cool and beautifully done. Must acquire digital camera at some point and have another go at taking pictures of non-food-thingies.
Now to the griping. Why do recipes never tell you the exact way to put the pancackle in the pan, in order to get the classic perfect pancackle? >.> <.<
Oh well. Nao I haz finally figured out that the key to the perfect pancackle is:
- Pancackle mix waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay thicker than the commercial pancackle mixes
- VERY low heat, the lowest possible (on a gas stove) without the fire going out
- Swirling the pancackle mix very slowly onto the greased pan, using the same motions one uses to get a soft-serve ice-cream outta a 7-11s icecream thingie, only in reverse
- Wait until the bottom is a lovely crumpet sorta bubbulatory mass
- Slide spatula carefully under pancackle
- Flip and cook for a few seconds more
- On to the next pancackle!
I think my crafting methods when it comes to cooking leave nuggetboy feeling slightly disturbed. -_- You see, I don't measure anything. >.> I just throw stuff in till it looks right.
With that in mind, (and yes, I know everyone reading this can prolly make perfect pancackles already but I don't care), here's the Nuggeteh Perfect Pancackle not-exactly-recipe:
1 egg
2 gloppily full tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk
A hunk of salted butter, melted (about 2inches x 1inch x 1inch)
Orange cordial to taste (which really, we all know just means throw it in there till you feel like stopping)
Buttermilk... you guessed it.. to taste =P
Flour.. I have no idea how much, you'll see...
Baking powder ... about 1/8th of however much flour you use
- Mix all the wet stuff until it forms a smooth mixture with the approximate consistency of a protein shake.
- This is where the nuggeteh way gets a bit tricky... The idea is to whisk flour into the protein shake mixture until it has the consistency of a freshly glooped Mcd's milkshake. The thing is, I just eyeball how much flour will give me that consistency then add the baking powder to it, and whisk in the whole thing. I'm not sure it works as well if you whisk in the flour, THEN the baking powder but oh well...
- Grease pan with lots of butter
- Plop pancackle mix into pan as described above.
Makes about 5-6 pancackles.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Note:
After talking to Suicide Granny, apparently these instructions only apply for us MMO Crafting Cooks, who own only one pan, and most certainly do not own a cast-iron pan.
For cast-iron pans, the opposite of everything I said applies, and instead of waiting for crumpets, wait till half the bubbles of a crumpet.
It seems pans that belong to us MMO Crafting Cooks (as opposed to real cooks, who presumably have cast-iron pans) heat up way too fast, and get way too hot - which is why my method works.
How to make lusciously creamy icecreamies!
- Get milk!
- Whisk in an equal volume of cream!
- Add whatever flavourings you like (to taste). In this case I put in about 100g of brandy butter from the jar.
- Pour mixture in soup dish/casserole dish. (Just needs to be flat and shallow.)
- Pop in freezer.
- Whisk every 30 minutes to break up the pesky crystals that show up as the stuff freezes.
- Once the stuff is the consistency of thick cream, drop in the pomegranate seeds (or chocolate chips or whatever).
- Whisk a few more times, until you can't drag the whisk through the mixture anymore. (It usually takes me about 6-8 rounds of whisking, so that's about 3-4 hours.
- Ignore till next day.
- Ta-da! You haz icecream!
To achieve optimal ice-cream fluffiness, let sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Build up a nice little ball with an ice-cream scoop by scraping a little bit of the softened icecream at a time.
I don't like my icecream very sweet, so the sugar in the brandy butter was more than enough for me. If you do like it sweet, then just add sugar syrup to taste. You can probably use condensed milk, though I'm not sure what happens if you try whisking sugar directly into the mix.
Noooooooooooooooooom!
Here's a webnugget for you!
P.S. Can you spot the punny domain name!
Hopefully the drawing jams from CGHUB will get me more motivated this year.
This nugget comes in many flavours (skillsets) you see, and that can be a pain if you're only looking for one specific flavour.
Sooooo... here's where you can check out the Illustration Flavoured Nugget.
For the route to Galrath, see the The Villainy of Galrath. He is surrounded by several groups of level 30 bandits. Careful pulling of these mobs is essential to avoid being overwhelmed. Be aware that the mobs tend to aggro simultaneously, so be prepared to conduct long pulls to string them out.
While I wouldn't exactly say this quest is horribly hard, it is horribly annoying.
Oh look! A bandit! And a bandit! And another bandit! And yet another identical bandit! Over there! A bandit!
...what, they all have different classes and skillbars?
XD The worst part of this mission was watching for the healing skills and then trying to CLICK ON THE RIGHT BANDIT after identifying it as a pesky healer.
Quest difficulty rating: Somewhere between LOL and sheesh!