No Doggie Bags

Kind of odd: Restaurant: We Don't Charge Enough For This Food, So You Can't Have A Doggie Bag.

f you order food, should you be able to take the uneaten portion home with you? Sure, you can't take home a box full of roast beef and shrimp from an all-you-can eat buffet, but can you take home half of a cheeseburger from a chain restaurant? Jennifer writes that the staff at the McCormick and Schmick's that she visited recently don't seem to think so. Her boyfriend wasn't allowed to take the uneaten portion of his burger and fries home because it was purchased during happy hour, at happy hour prices.

The manager explains why they throw perfectly good food in the garbage, rather than let you take it home:

With the extremely low prices we offer on our Happy Hour Food (our 8oz burgers & fries are less than half the price of the same item at a fast food restaurant and much higher quality) we immediately have people ordering a great many items that they have no intention of finishing at the restaurant. As the items offered are not a profit center for us this does not benefit the restaurant and can actually hurt it.

Firefox 3.6 Annoyance

I upgraded to Firefox 3.6 this morning. One thing that has changed is the position of newly opened tabs. In the past, when I middle-clicked a link, the page opened at the end on the tab list. Now it opens directly to the right of the active tab.

It's weird how a small change like that can be so disruptive to my productivity. I've probably wasted 45 seconds today by activating the wrong tab.

So I went searching for a fix, and here it is: Firefox 3.6 Fix - Open New Tabs in Far Right.

Now, everything is back to normal.

Check Out Paris

Another one of those humungous zoomable photos. This time, Paris.

There are balconies everywhere, but hardly any people. But I found someone eating breakfast.

Diamond-Studded iPad

Apple's iPad isn't available yet, but I found the one I want:

This gorgeous diamond studded iPad features 11.43 carats of diamonds, hand-set in a micro-pave styling. The diamonds are graded G/H in color and VS2/SI1 in clarity. Price tag: $19,999.

It's from Mervis Diamonds. The president, Zed Merfis, sez:

"I buy every diamond as if it's going on my wife's hand."

He can also tell you about the Four Cs.

TV News Breakdown

From a recent study: Local TV News in the Los Angeles Media Market (PDF).

Only 2:10 of teasers? I would have guessed five minutes devoted to telling you to stay tuned for something else.

(via Eric Zorn)

Look At This

Hey, look at this.

This Is Not Me

I got an email from a guy in Portland:

I showed one of your books to a fellow who sells pizza here in Portland, Oregon, and when he saw your photo on the cover he said, "That's me!" It took a couple of minutes to convince him that I had not pasted his picture onto the cover of your book. I've attached a photo taken this evening in his restaurant. Perhaps you won't be quite so struck by the resemblance, but what about that hat?

There is a pretty strong resemblance. And he even wears a similar hat.

If you're in Portland stop my Pizzeria la Lombardia and say hi to me him.

RAS Syndrome?

What is the RAS Syndrome?

RAS syndrome stands for redundant acronym syndrome syndrome and refers to the redundant use of one or more of the words that make up an acronym or initialism with the abbreviation itself, thus in effect repeating one or more words. Usage commentators consider such redundant acronyms poor style and an error to be avoided in writing, though they are common in speech.

Examples include ATM machine, CSS style sheets, and PIN number.

Best Miracle Ever

This is almost enough to make me want to go to church. But not quite. Bank worker saved from fire by divine intervention finds Jesus in his frying pan.

When Toby Elles fell asleep while cooking a late-night snack, it really was a case of divine intervention that saved his bacon.

The 22-year-old was 'miraculously' woken after an hour as his lounge filled with smoke - and quickly had the revelation that he had left a frying pan on a hob. While saying his prayers, the bank worker scraped the remains of crispy bacon rashers from the pan, but could not believe the vision that appeared before him - Jesus Christ staring back at him.

His plans?

"I'm not going to scrub it clean though, just in case I get struck by lightning, it's going to take pride of place on a wall instead."

Interspecies Cooperation

Here we have an excellent example of cooperation between two species.

The kitten wrote a letter, but he was too short to put it in the mailbox. So a little doggy gave him a lift.

(via Nag On The Lake)

Baghdad Children

Even if you hate banjo music, you might like this:

It's Richie Stearns on banjo.

Hoping to spread the message of love even as the country edged ever closer to dropping bombs on Iraq in 2003, Richie was moved to write Baghdad Children. (He wrote the new work on a long car-trip to a banjo-players' workshop, performing it first in Albany where he shared the stage with other master players, including Bela Fleck, Tony Trischka, and others.)

The single, which features Richie on banjo along with his friends Pat Burke (National resonator), Ben Gould (bass) and Kim Sherwood-Caso (back-up vocals), was recorded in early spring, the week before the first bombs were dropped in Baghdad.

That voice sure sounds like Loudon Wainwright III. Download it here.

And here's a poor quality video (but good audio) of Richie: Leather Britches. In this video he demonstrates the banjo style that I'm aiming for. Give me 10 more years.

Color Test

A Color Test.

On my first try I got 6 out of 8. On my second try, I aced it.

(Thanks Gary)

Movie Titles

Probably a repost, but it's a good site to browse: Movie Title Stills Collection.

Such a variety of type faces.

Hocus Pocus Origins

Where did the magical phrase Hocus Pocus come from?

Hocus Pocus or hocus-pocus is a generic term derived from an ancient language and presently used by magicians, usually the magic words spoken when bringing about some sort of change. It was once a common term for a magician, juggler, or other similar entertainer.

The origins of the term remain obscure. According to the Oxford English Dictionary the term originates from hax pax max Deus adimax, a pseudo-Latin phrase used as a magic formula by conjurors. Some believe it originates from a parody of the Roman Catholic liturgy of the eucharist, which contains the phrase "Hoc est enim corpus meum". This explanation goes back to speculations by the Anglican prelate John Tillotson, who wrote in 1694:

In all probability those common juggling words of hocus pocus are nothing else but a corruption of hoc est corpus, by way of ridiculous imitation of the priests of the Church of Rome in their trick of Transubstantiation.

Magnet Guru

I have a set of these magnets, but I can't do this kind of stuff:

(Thanks Ted)