Archive for December, 2011

The future of links in publications

Posted in Uncategorized on December 14, 2011 by daviddiel

It’s pretty cool that WolframAlpha can provide plots and explanations given an input in one of several formatted string notations. In the future, I hope that this concept is expanded to provide greater depth of understanding to academic publications through embedded links. Ideally, several recommendations would be auto-generated for the author, who would choose which ones to include in the paper. This could go a long way toward making academic publications easier to understand.

How to cook gourmet steak

Posted in Health & Food on December 14, 2011 by daviddiel

I received these tips on how to cook a gourmet steak from the head chef of a famous restaurant:

  • Choose the thickness of the steak based on how rare or well done that you prefer your steak. Thin cuts are better well done, while thicker cuts are better rare.
  • Get aged steak if you can find it. It will have a layer of stuff growing on it which must be thinly sliced away and discarded.
  • If the steak is not aged, at least dry it out. Wrap it in a paper towel and put it in a plastic bag. Change the paper towel daily for a couple of days.
  • On the day before you plan to cook it, put it in a plastic bag with your choice of oil mixed with Herbes de Provence (savory, fennel, basil, thyme).
  • Add either white wine or lemon to the bag a few hours before cooking.
  • Sear at maximum temperature on a cast iron pan with raised grooves.
  • Turn the steak only once near the end of cooking.
  • Allow it to cool somewhat before serving.
  • Pair with red wine.