Why are phone-books still a thing?

@hibuUS thanks for delivering 2 more phonebooks! We love relentless companies littering our porch with archaic trash https://t.co/mFY66lqeie pic.twitter.com/cBUQxoHJNj

— Jonathan Lansey (@JLansey) December 29, 2016

Clever Google driving directions

Oh Google ... nice job there avoiding that super-long traffic light there.

Where is Jonathan/Yoni update

I'm back in Boston and the skies look so unbelievably blue to me; and at noon it looks like sunset.

Since I just got back from Thailand.

And back from China.

And Singapore ...

And Japan too... yes Japan

Putting things on top of other things

I love it when people stack things up, and nobody does it better than the people in China.



Even the locals were taking pictures of this it was so incredible.







and an unrelated bonus picture of this truck stacked with cardboard.

Aryeh Cooks: Smoked Chuck

This weekend I decided to smoke some chuck.


I started with about 4.5 pounds (two kilograms) of chuck rubbed with a mixture of fresh course ground black pepper and kosher salt.


Then into the Sous Vide bath at 155 degrees Fahrenheit for 36 hours.


After 36 hours I pulled the meat out, patted it dry, and then gave it another rub of fresh course ground black pepper and kosher salt.


Onto a 300 degree Fahrenheit indirect heat grill.  I have a pan of water under the meat to act as thermal ballast and to try and prevent additional moisture loss (the meat lost half its weight from beginning to end, but now I have a pot full of meat drippings).  On the other side of the grill above the flames I have an aluminum foil boat loaded with apple wood chips.  I added some chips ever 30 minutes for a 3 hour smoke.


Off the heat with a bit of smoke penetration to form a bit of a bark.


Sliced across the grain.


On some homemade baguette with lettuce and tomato.  It is as delicious as it looks and the backyard smelled amazing for the 3 hours I was smoking it.

Do not innovate unnecessarily

For fans of The Tick animated series, who also work in labs, I felt the need to recreate a rather hilarious sign in the background in a scene from The Tick vs. Dinosaur Neil:

My re-creation can be found in printable form here.

Chinese GPS Enabled Bike Share Mobike is the best

Over the past few months, at least ten thousand public bikes have appeared all over Shanghai. The bikes are orange and you can see them all over the sidewalks, including these two bikes here.

Each bike has its own GPS and cellular data connection so when you want a bike you just pick one from the map. The map below is an actual screenshot, it is crazy how many there are. You can reserve the bikes for 15 minutes so nobody else grabs it as you meander over.

When you get to the bike you scan the QR code with the same app and it automatically unlocks... and you are off! Down one of the many dedicated bike lanes or streets with generally slow moving traffic.

When you arrive at your destination, park the bike on the sidewalk in a designated bicycle parking area (just a regular spot designated for any bicycle) and slide the lock closed.

The price is crazy cheap, you pay a reasonable deposit of something like $60 and then every hour is 20 cents! Yes I'm not kidding. Essentially free. If you were crazy and rented it for 24 hours nonstop it would cost you less than 5 dollars.

The design of the bike is all about keeping the production cost and maintenance cost low. The wheels are cast metal in one piece, probably iron. The fenders are small, plastic, and identical for the front and back wheels, except the addition of a reflective sticker on the back fender. The gears and brakes are internal and the wheels appear to be made of solid rubber so they won't ever go flat. The seat height is non-adjustable. That is the absolute worst part and sadly precludes me using these for any long rides - so I'll say that again: the seat in not adjustable and is super-short.

Since these bikes are so new, it is not uncommon to see people checking them out for the first time.

If you have any questions let me know in the comments!

Back in Shanghai

Also, if you can get to it, the Facebook earth notification icon switches!

5 steps to make your backyard a parking lot

Here are instructions for how you can turn your entire backyard into a huge parking lot in just 5 easy steps. Steps 1-4 are absolutely required, step 5 depends on what neighborhood you live in.

1. Don't think of the children
2. Don't care about urban runoff pushing pollution into the rivers, lowering the water table and enhancing droughts
3. Don't care about the heat island effect that will roast you in the summer
4. Pour cement into your yard and keep on pouring until every square inch of grass is covered
5. Look like a complete jerk compared to your urban gardening neighbors