Inflamed by the New York Times's article on perfect chocolate cookies (in which it is revealed that the two secrets are: one, a little salt prior to baking; two, aging the dough for 36 hours in the fridge), the Ideas in Food blog tried (successfully) to shortcut the process by vacuum-sealing the dough:

From the Times story by David Leite:

At 12 hours, the dough had become drier and the baked cookies had a pleasant, if not slightly pale, complexion. The 24-hour mark is where things started getting interesting. The cookies browned more evenly and looked like handsomer, more tanned older brothers of the younger batch. The biggest difference, though, was flavor. The second batch was richer, with more bass notes of caramel and hints of toffee.

Going the full distance seemed to have the greatest impact. At 36 hours, the dough was significantly drier than the 12-hour batch; it crumbled a bit when poked but held together well when shaped. These cookies baked up the most evenly and were a deeper shade of brown than their predecessors. Surprisingly, they had an even richer, more sophisticated taste, with stronger toffee hints and a definite brown sugar presence. At an informal tasting, made up of a panel of self-described chipper fanatics, these mature cookies won, hands down.

The second insight Mr. Rubin offered had to do with size. His cookies are six-inch affairs because he believes that their larger size allows for three distinct textures. “First there’s the crunchy outside inch or so,” he said. A nibble revealed a crackle to the bite and a distinct flavor of butter and caramel. “Then there’s the center, which is soft.” A bull’s-eye the size of a half-dollar yielded easily.

Now, Ideas in Food:

What I can tell you is that the dough darkened and became fully saturated, similar to the way that the dough usually looks after a couple of days in the refrigerator. It also changed the texture of the dough, making it a bit more elastic to the touch. The just made dough was too soft to shape and needed to chill, so I left in the fridge for about three hours before baking.

The resulting cookies were pretty damn good. They had a slightly cakey texture in the center with chewy yet crisp edges and rich buttery, caramel flavors. It was impossible to eat just one and I was thankful that I had not baked off the entire batch.

Link (via MeFi)

Munkcy sez, "A dad took his boys to a park and was photographing them as then slid down a slide. An attendee at the slide asked him to stop, he protested, other parents also started telling him to stop, with one even accusing him of taking pictures of children to put on the internet. And here's the truly fun part: he, the accused, got two cops who backed up his claim that he was doing nothing wrong."

He said: ‘The children wanted to go on an inflatable slide and I started taking photos of them having a good time. Moments later the woman running the slide told me to stop.

‘When I asked why, she told me I could not take pictures of other people’s children. I explained I was only interested in taking photos of my own children and pointed out that this was taking place in a public park.

‘I showed her the photos I had taken to prove my point. Then another woman joined in and said her child was also on the slide and did not want me taking pictures of the youngster.

Link (Thanks, Munkcy!)

If you ever doubted, even for a second, that non-Newtonian goo (e.g., cornstarch and water) is from a totally different (and infinitely preferable) universe, behold! Cornstarch paste + subwoofer == proof positive. Link (via Neatorama)

I just stumbled on Kikkerland's "Anatomic 3-D Puzzles" in a shop and was absolutely enthralled. These are snap-together models (calling them "puzzles" is a little weird, actually) showing the anatomy of various critters, from humans to cows, mammoths, and my favorites, beetles and snails. They're made out of plastic that feels just like the plastic they use for the anatomical models you had in senior biology class, with the same color schemes, but the sculpting is absolutely gorgeous, making them into stylish knick-knacks as well as interesting scientific instructional materials.

Kikkerland's online shop carries the whole line, albeit at about 10 percent higher prices than other webstores that carry one or two. My advice is to check out the items here, find the ones you want and google for a cheaper one at another store. Link

Back in April, I told you about the new Shepard Fairey cover designs for Penguin's reissue of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm. They've just gone on sale! Link to Nineteen Eighty-Four, Link to Animal Farm

Sybil's Garage magazine has an interview with Lauren McLaughlin, a new young adult writer whose debut novel, Cycler, will be published in September. I've known Lauren for some years now and she inevitably says the smartest stuff about writing in any conversation around the table. I've enjoyed her short fiction and the films she wrote immensely, and can't wait to read this book.

Storytelling is the foundation of any good novel and I think it's actually a very rare talent. Plenty of writers get by on killer premises and witty style. But effective storytelling is all about structure. It's very mechanical, almost architectural. When you can marry that structure to a framework of ideas, then the novel can transcend pure entertainment. The trick, in my opinion, is to weave these ideas invisibly into the story so that they are discovered, unraveled by the reader. My goal is to seduce my reader into a compelling narrative that whittles away at some preconceived idea and leaves them with an uncomfortable but somehow intriguing gap in their sense of the world. I want them to close the book and have a head full of questions. I'm not interested in merely diverting them for a while or helping them fall asleep. Nor do I want that from the books I read. I want to be unsettled, challenged. I want to close a book and say “I never thought of that before.”

Link (Thanks, Matthew!)

Locus Magazine's just published my latest column, "Nature's Daredevils: Writing for Young Audiences," written in honor of their special young adult publishing issue -- in it, I examine the lessons I've learned in writing my first YA book, Little Brother:

Genre YA fiction has an army of promoters outside of the field: teachers, librarians, and specialist booksellers are keenly aware of the difference the right book can make to the right kid at the right time, and they spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to convince kids to try out a book. Kids are naturals for this, since they really use books as markers of their social identity, so that good books sweep through their social circles like chickenpox epidemics, infecting their language and outlook on life. That's one of the most wonderful things about writing for younger audiences — it matters. We all read for entertainment, no matter how old we are, but kids also read to find out how the world works. They pay keen attention, they argue back. There's a consequentiality to writing for young people that makes it immensely satisfying. You see it when you run into them in person and find out that there are kids who read your book, googled every aspect of it, figured out how to replicate the best bits, and have turned your story into a hobby. We wring our hands a lot about the greying of SF, with good reason. Just have a look around at your regional con, the one you've been going to since you were a teenager, and count how many teenagers are there now. And yet, young people are reading in larger numbers than they have in recent memory. Part of that is surely down to Harry Potter, but on this tour, I've discovered that there's a legion of unsung heroes of the kids-lit revolution.

Link

Blik's Nintendo wall stickers are fantastic -- an easy way to turn any room into a Mario or Donkey Kong level. Link (via Tokyomango)

Here's a cool tip for a hot day from Parenthacks: have your kids paint the house with water:

All of the recent talk about spray bottles for summer water play made me remember something my mom used to do with me. She would take a paint brush and water and let me "paint" the house. Works like a cheap aquadoodle. This just bought me a good half hour of peace with my 2 year old. He painted my car, the driveway, the house, and even me!

We also used ice cubes like crayons to draw on the driveway. The teacher in me loves that it combines so many elements: sensory, art, dramatic play, and writing

Link

Eric sez, "Instructables user madhatter1138 meticulously interpreted the 'Jungle Cruise' ride at Disneyland into a backyard playhouse for his lucky daughters. He posted a slideshow of the construction and the finished product up on the site." Link (Thanks, Eric!)

Stones Edges offers free samples of their papercraft game-terrain -- check out the full (and reasonably priced) sets, which allow you to build entire, elaborate multi-level scenes out of paper and glue. And the free stuff's great too: Whose desk wouldn't benefit from some 1" paper crates? Link (Thanks, Eclecticos!)

Jacob sez, "Some of the cigarette vending machines in Japan use a camera to do age verification. They can be tricked by holding up something so simple as a photograph from a magazine. Pwned."

When the reporter went to check out the new age-verifying machines after they were introduced in the Osaka area in June, he soon discovered that the machines equipped with face-recognition cameras would let him buy cigarettes when he held up a 15-centimeter (6-in) wide magazine photo of a man who looked to be in his 50s.

The reporter also went to Kobe, where different face recognition hardware is being used. There, he bought cigarettes using an 8-centimeter (3-in) wide magazine photo of a female celebrity in her 30s. He also reportedly tried to use a 3-centimeter (1-in) wide photo, but the machines rejected it.

Link (Thanks, Jacob!)

In order to raise awareness about the various malicious bots looking to colonize your computer via the net, Symantec/Norton have whomped up a couple of downloadable cute malware papercraft bots for you to cut, fold and glue. Available are the Identity Theft Bot and the Extortion Bot. Link (Thanks, Kenn!)

Kathryn sez, "American Eagle returns a plane to the gate to kick off a toddler and his mom. Apparently, the flight attendant kept yanking on the autistic toddler's seatbealt to make sure it as tight, touching off a temper tantrum. Doesn't this make you feel safer?"

"She kept coming over and tugging his seatbelt to make it tighter, 'This has to stay tight'. And then he was wiggling around and trying to get out of his seatbelt. And she kept coming over and reprimanding him and yelling at him," Farrell said...

"The pilot made an announcement that there was a woman and her child on the plane and the child is uncontrollable. And at that point I just broke down," Farrell said.

Link (Thanks, Kathryn!)

Wlahti sez, "Finnish public television channel one(YLE1) broadcast a couple of Soviet Era Russian animations of Winnie the Pooh last night. I watched both episodes that they broadcast, delighted to have found a bright spot after a completely rainy Midsummers vacation." Link (Thanks, Wlahti!)

Flying Pig sells downloadable, functional papercraft models of combination, cylinder and warded locks, along with a locksmithing booklet so that you can learn to fix, pick, and assemble locks while having scissory-glue fun. Link (Thanks, Dug North!)

From the Smithsonian's Flickr stream of historic, public domain photos, a shot commemorating the end of being able to ship your children by postal mail:

This city letter carrier posed for a humorous photograph with a young boy in his mailbag. After parcel post service was introduced in 1913, at least two children were sent by the service. With stamps attached to their clothing, the children rode with railway and city carriers to their destination. The Postmaster General quickly issued a regulation forbidding the sending of children in the mail after hearing of those examples.

Link (Thanks, Marilyn!)

The Rogues are a collection of Creative Commons licensed, downloadable papercraft dolls who wear fearsome masks that flip up to reveal their true, gentle nature. They're really delightful -- designed by 24lemons. Link (via Paperforest)

Here's a fine instructable for making a YipYipYip Martian costume from Sesame Street, consisting primarily of lots of fabric, a couple styrofoam balls, sponge and pipecleaners. Link (Thanks, Kevin!)

Over on Boing Boing Gadgets, our John has spotted this Japanese piggy-bank that includes an RPG that gives you rewards for saving:

This new Tomy piggy bank gives forward-thinking youngsters a reason to save their quarters: it features a miniature RPG game on the front, and every coin you pump into the bank is translated into gold, which can be used to buy weapons, items and armor for your character. Ultima meets Tamagotchi, basically. Although I'd hasten to add that a savings account is a better return on investment than putting your money into a wardrobe for an imaginary elf.

Link, Discuss on Boing Boing Gadgets

Michael Geist continues his ongoing series on activities that will be illegal under Canada's new copyright act, the so-called Canadian DMCA (Bill C-61). Today, backing up DVDs and scanning school photos:

Diane, who is four years old, is a huge fan of the popular TV character Dora the Explorer. For her birthday, she received four Dora DVDs. Given Diane’s habit of scratching them, her dad has begun to create backup versions. That day, Diane brings home her kindergarten class photo, which was taken by a local photographer. Josee digitizes the photo and sends a copy to Diane’s grandmother.

If Industry Minister Jim Prentice’s Bill C-61 becomes law, all of these copying activities arguably violate the law.

Bill C-61 does not allow users to make backup copies of DVDs. The act of backing up the DVD is an infringement. Moreover, in order to make the backup copy, users must typically circumvent the copy-protection on the DVD, also an act of infringement.

For decades, Canadian copyright law has vested copyright in commissioned photographs – like school photographs – in the person who commissions the photo. Bill C-61 reverses that practice so that copyright now belongs to the photographer. (repeal of Section 13.2) Assuming the photograph came with an all rights reserved restriction, the act of distributing the digitized photo to Diane’s grandmother now violates the law. (Section 29.21 (1)(e))

I'm pretty sure that every Canadian reading Boing Boing knows about this law and what's wrong with it, and I hope you've all contacted your MPs. But the point of these posts is to help you communicate to your less tech-savvy friends about these issues. Did you email your grandmother a photo of your kids' kindergarten photos? Call her up and tell her that you won't be able to do it again with the grade one pics next year unless she calls up her MP and puts him on notice that he'd better oppose the CDMCA or lose her vote. Did your brother back up his DVDs to his laptop when he went away to university? Call him now and let him know that he'll be a criminal next year unless he calls and writes to his MP and lets her know what he thinks of Bill C-61. Link

Over on Boing Boing Gadgets, our John writes about Cuisipro's improved ice-cream scoop:

Simply plunge the scooper into a bucket of ice cream, twist and lift out a perfectly ovular 3.75 ounce scoop... precisely the width of an ice cream cone. Since the top is flat, this will facilitate structurally sound ice cream towers.

Link, Discuss this on Boing Boing Gadgets)

Here's Halli Civelek's papercraft robot toy "Klaus Herluf" (click through for a downloadable PDF for building it) -- it comes with a rotating head! Link (Thanks, Halli!)

See also: Papercraft cartoon characters for kids and regressive adults

In August, Bandai subsidiary Mega House will ship its new "Biri Biri Kaze Hiki Wanko," ("shocking sick puppy") toy, which commemorates the thirtieth anniversary of toy slime with a plastic vomiting doggy.

This children’s game functions somewhat like Milton Bradley’s Operation, though with a much higher ick factor: the toy puppy, who has caught a cold, drools a concoction of slime and plastic germs. Players must extract these germs using the tweezers without letting the metal part touch the slime, an act which produces a buzzing shock. The player who collects the most germs wins. Play continues by loading the mess into a compartment in the dog’s head.

Link (via Gizmodo)

The administration at Terry Fox Elementary in Barrie Ontario called Children's Aid on Colleen Leduc and accused her of allowing her autistic daughter to be sexually assaulted. They based the accusation on something a "psychic" told the special ed worker who worked with the kid.

"The teacher looked and me and said: 'We have to tell you something. The educational assistant who works with Victoria went to see a psychic last night, and the psychic asked the educational assistant at that particular time if she works with a little girl by the name of "V." And she said 'yes, I do.' And she said, 'well, you need to know that that child is being sexually abused by a man between the ages of 23 and 26.'"

Victoria, who is non-verbal, had also been exhibiting sexualized behaviour in class, actions which are known to be typical of autistic behavior. (See other typical actions here) That lead authorities to suspect she had a bladder infection that may have somehow been related to the 'attack.'

Link (Thanks, Bruce!)

This roll-top kids' chair has a sitting surface that works like an old-time roll-top desk, sliding away to reveal storage space for toys, cookies, siblings, etc. Link (Thanks, Marilyn!)

Joel sez, "Education Queensland in Australia is creating a database of children including photos, 'ambitions,' addresses and other personal information as part of a state-wide intranet. The Education Minister is saying that if parents refuse to allow their children's details to be included in the database, they'll be refused an education - subverting the legal requirement that the govt provide children with an education, AND the kids' privacy in a very disturbing way. As someone who watched a fifteen year old get inside an Education Queensland 'secure' intranet within ten minutes a couple of years back, there's no way it'd be difficult for a determined individual to get inside." Link (Thanks, Joel!)

Amazon's got a four-pack of Alice in Wonderland temporary tatts (inspired by the Tenniel engravings) for a mere $1.50. Link

Book-binder Abi Sutherland took one of the misprints from Pablo Defendini's limited edition prints of his concept art for a paperback edition of my young adult novel Little Brother and custom-bound a hardcover of the book with it. I am consumed with lust for this one-of-a-kind edition. I hope Abi will let me see it in person some day!

Oh, and while I'm on the subject: the book's just gone into its fifth week on the NYT bestseller list, and it's still on the Indie list (formerly the Book Sense list) and as of this week, it's also on Publishers Weekly's bestseller list! Ho-ah! Link

Update: Abi sez,

Slight corrections: it's a blank book rather than a copy of Little Brother, mostly due to printer constraints. Printing out a whole book double-sided on my printer would be soul-destroying, and I don't have signature-sewn editions to tear down.

The binding is a "sewn boards" binding, about halfway between hardcover and softcover. The paper that Pablo used for the prints has such a nice feel and weight; I wanted to work with its sensual qualities.

And I confess that it's not one of a kind. I plan to make five or six of this set, one of which will be heading your way in the very near future. I was going to surprise you with it, but that requires secrecy. I got too excited about how the book came out and had to show it off: secrecy fail.