Like many, when I first heard about rice cookers (maybe 15 years or so ago) I was unconvinced. That was then. Now I'm completely convinced, and seeing as I have to use electricity for cooking anyway (except for barbeques when I use spare bits of firewood we have around from the hundred or so trees we've planted over the past 5 years) it's probably a good bit more efficient than the electric hob. When the old rice cooker broke after 10 years or so, I used the microwave for a bit, but it wasn't as good. I still have the magic touch. Visiting friends a few months ago, they were amazed at the 2-volumes-of-water-to-1-volume-of-rice-method.
Anyway, the question is would I spent US$1000 on a rice cooker? Well, if US$1000 was loose change for me (which it ain't), I might. As they I say in tla land, that's pfn
Woah Voxeterians,
My wife can spend infinite quantities of time pottering in the garden (as well as doing useful work), wheras my approach is to stick something in the ground and leave it for a couple of years to see how it does. So we have a bargain, I tolerate her pottering, and she tolerates my endlessly poking the computer. (Although just for balance we both claim that what we're doing is acutal work). Anyway, above is a picture of some social invertebrates. There's a book out about primitively social insects that I know is in my local library, and one day I'm hoping to give it a squizz
But my head is too full of other kinds of crap to do that kind of recreational reading at the moment - maybe I'll save it for the summer holidays. Todays recreational reading is brought to you by the Scottish town of Falkirk:
A monster tree somewhere in the bush near here. This tree is probably 200+ years old and has survived rapacious logging.
The second pic is of some South Americal religious art.
Really I'm just playing with vox again. I'd like my wife to use it for her support material for school (it's science) but the fairly hefty system requirements (in that a lot of computers in schools are old, flakey and crappily maintained) , and the ads on the page probably mean that it ain't going to happen.
In any case I should be getting back to the lightweight social-web stuff I've already 80% done.
Alex is visiting so I thought I'd show him vox.
Invertebrates
There are far more invertebrates around than any other kind of animal. Here are a few from hereabouts:
No insects were harmed in the creation of these photographs.
