links for 2009-10-27

• BPS RESEARCH DIGEST: A warm room makes people feel socially closer
  (tags: motivation temperature psychology research science work social)

links for 2009-10-21

• Grocery Store Musical « Improv Everywhere
  (tags: improv fun nyc musical)

Kudos to Feed Your Soul cookies

I have to say, I am really pleased with Feed Your Soul cookies. Their cookies are delicious and they donate a portion of all sales to the charity of your choice, which is wonderful. But their online order form has been a nightmare from the start. It is only because their cookies are so delicious that I ever persisted with ordering cookies, although there were plenty of times that I gave up and ordered something else as a gift.

But, I think they finally learned that if their method of capturing login data and allowing people to keep an address book and all of their shipping and billing info is not working, that it is okay to just abandon that tactic. Today, I was pleasantly surprised that not only was I not forced to log in multiple times, but that I could not log in at all. The option is gone. Rather than stick with a faulty system that was supposed to make ordering simpler, they went back a step, and actually made ordering much easier – at least for me.

I think the last time I tried to order something, it took me over half an hour of constantly inputting my information, switching browsers, re-logging in, etc., before I gave up the attempt altogether. Today, I made my purchases with ease, despite the fact that I had to input my billing information again. Because I allow for my data to be saved in forms as an autofill option in my web browser, it was easy as pie.

Thank you Feed Your Soul! I will definitely order many more treats as long as you keep up simplification of your order process.

Also, a side note about how great the customer service is – I had some cookies sent to my husband several months ago, and as part of an inside joke, I had the gift message say, “To Erik, Love Erik.” Customer service actually called me to make sure I hadn’t made some kind of mistake when filling out the gift field part.

links for 2009-10-19

• Would It Kill You To Smile?: Observatory: Design Observer
  (tags: design photography psychology people bershon)
• Junot Diaz Talks About What Made Him Become a Writer – Oprah.com
  (tags: inspiration writing authors)
• How To Embed Only A Part Of YouTube Video
  (tags: youtube embed howto tutorial tips video)

Creepy commercials

I really dislike this commercial for Roadrunner, featuring a creepy guy whispering to his wife, and then asking where his cowboy hat is. Why is he even looking for a cowboy hat?

If you’re in a horror movie, don’t stand with your back to a window!

So I was flipping through channels and stopped at the ScyFy channel, where Dog Soldiers was playing. It is definitely a new favorite ridiculous movie. The basic premise is that there are Scottish soldiers fighting with werewolves in the Scottish Highlands. Having never seen Kevin McKidd in anything other than the disastrous Journeyman, I never heard him with his full brogue before. It is amazing how much more attractive he is with the brogue. He should definitely not lose the brogue.

Anyway, one scene is a huge battle between the soldiers and the werewolves in a bedroom. The soldiers chase the werewolves out, and one of the soldiers stands with his back to the window, mockingly saying, “Dogs.” Of course a werewolf smashes through a second later, snatching the hapless soldier and carrying him away. Never, ever stand with your back to a window or a door!

25 seconds!

These acai packs are darned handy, but the instructions are oddly specific. You’re supposed to run each pack under hot water for 25 seconds before opening the package. 25 seconds? I am surprised they didn’t specify how hot the hot water is supposed to be! What happens if I run it under hot water for 27 seconds? What happens if I do it while crossing into a different time zone?

links for 2009-10-11

• High-testosterone People Feel Rewarded By Others' Anger, New Study Finds
  (tags: anger interesting social cognition science psychology behavior emotion society health)
• Mystery Google – You get what the person before you searched for.
  (tags: google fun social internet tool search funny)

Easy Roasted Eggplant Dip

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put some aluminum foil on a sheet pan and drizzle a nice coating of olive oil over it. Keep the olive oil out – you will need more. Get some eggplant – any kind of eggplant – japanese, italian, purple, white – whatever is available and looks good. Cut it up into uniform 1/2 inch slices (doesn’t have to be perfect, you just want it all roughly the same size so they cook evenly).

Put the eggplant slices in an even layer on the sheet pan – you can double layer but you will want to make sure all sides are covered with olive oil. Sprinkle sea or kosher salt and cracked black pepper over the slices. Optional but very nice: cumin, coriander seed, curry powder, parsley (fresh or dried), oregano, red pepper flakes. The eggplant will have probably soaked up all of the olive soil. If you see any spots that have not soaked up some olive oil, apply some more. Optional, but very nice: squeeze some lemon over the slices. For additional flavor, zest that lemon over the slices as well.

Cook for 30-60 minutes until the skin of the eggplant has turned a nice toasty brown and the flesh falls apart easily when poked at with a fork. Let cool for a few minutes, use a spatula to transfer the eggplant into a mixing bowl or serving dish. Use a fork (or food processor or hand blender if you have) to smash up the eggplant. Use any olive oil left on the sheet pan to aid in the mixture coming together.

Optional but also very nice: greek yogurt to mix in for creaminess, additional lemon juice, dash of red wine vinegar. Serve with crackers, veggies, bread, etc.