I was at Safeway tonight, waiting in line behind a guy in a Whole Foods shirt (I found this amusing), when he addressed me:
“Excuse me; can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“What do you use coconut oil for? What sort of things do you cook with it?”
“Actually, I’m not going to cook with it at all–I’m going to make soap with it.”
“Soap?”
“Yes. That’s what I’m using the Crisco and the peanut oil for as well. I’m getting a bunch of different kinds of fat, and then I’m going to make soap from them and make a web page about it.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Kinda a silly thing, but it should be fun.”
I imagine this guy thought I was completely weird, but considering the fact that I have a shelf that looks like this, he might be right:
So, inspired by the Cockeyed.com Science Club and the MOTD guy’s experiments, I will soon be posting pictures and experiences from my adventures in the world of soapmaking. Stick around; this will be fun!
Next: Background.
June 28th, 2006
You! Yes, you! With the computer! Go download Google SketchUp right now!
I did about fifteen minutes ago, after the MAKE blog informed me it had been released for the Mac. I’d seen cool stuff done in SketchUp before, but I’d never used it as I didn’t have access to a Windows PC that was powerful enough. I just went through the tutorials, and I am remarkably impressed. It feels a little bit like a 3D version of Visio, but optimized for drawing things instead of diagrams. Much easier than the other CAD programs I’ve used, although I haven’t explored the area very thoroughly. Have a look!
June 12th, 2006
I have learned a horrible thing, as explained this paper by Michigan State’s Brian Kalt: “there is a 50-square-mile swath of Idaho in which one can commit felonies with impunity.”
Here’s the deal, in lay terms. (This explanaiton depends heavily on Professor Kalt’s paper; all quotations and citations to “Kalt” are to it unless otherwise noted. Speaking of citations, I don’t have my Bluebook with me, so keep in mind that I’m faking it.) To begin with the geography of the problem, Yellowstone National Park is mostly in the state of Wyoming, but some bits of it stick into Montana and Idaho. Kalt at 4. Interestingly, these bits are in the states of Montana and Idaho, but the entire park is in the judicial District of Wyoming. Id. at 5, Wikipedia. This incongruity is what will cause problems.
So, let’s hypothetically say you go to the Idaho portion of Yellowstone and run feloniously amok, as hypothetical felons tend to do. The wheels of justice start to grind, but your defense attorney points out that before they get to you, they must satisfy the requirements of the Sixth Amendment. In particular, your attorney points out the requirement of “vicinage,” that is, the requirement that the jury come from “the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed . . .” (Emphasis added.)
And your crimes were committed in a very unusual place, as it was in the state of Idaho, but the district of Wyoming, and so your jurors must be drawn from that state and that district–from the Idaho portion of Yellowstone. However, nobody lives in the Idaho portion of Yellowstone. Kalt at 6.
With no population there can be no jury, with no jury there can be no trial, with no trial there can be no judgment, and with no judgment there can be no punishment. “Assuming that you do not feel like consenting to trial in Cheyenne [where trial would be held if you were in Wyoming], you should go free.” Id. at 7.
It’s highly unlikely that this would ever happen, but it’s remarkably clever.
June 7th, 2006
Sorry, I’m having a massage.
June 5th, 2006
