HBO Now, Now Available
I cannot express in words just how excited I am that HBO is finally, finally available sans cable subscription. Today, when I saw that it had launched, I immediately signed up. HBO's programming (it surely goes without saying) is top-notch and well worth the $15 a month.
I'd gotten a taste of that HBO goodness last year, when a friend of mine shared her HBO Go account with me, but I always hated having to mooch. And since I'm not a fan of pirating shows, I wanted a fair way for me to get HBO content.
And now it's here.
Fast Company has a nice longform article about the backstory to HBO Now—its history and how it came to be. It's worth a read.
Now I'm going to crawl into bed and watch some programming that's not TV. It's HBO.
Junk Food Stamps
A few weeks ago The New York Times ran an op-ed piece about ways to boost the consumption of healthy fruits and vegetables in "food deserts," and it struck a chord with me. The piece starts with the statistic of only one in six low-income zip codes having access to a supermarket compared to one in two supermarkets for higher-income areas. With little access to fruits and vegetables, residents in those places turn to highly processed foods from convenience stores and the like, where good, healthy choices are relatively scant.
What the writers propose includes a change (which seems, to me, pretty reasonable) in the Department of Agriculture's requirements for stores accepting food stamps as well as a reevaluation of what kinds of foods qualify for the SNAP program.
The article is pretty brief, but it's worth a read. I used to work in a small-town grocery store, but it wasn't until recently when I started to learn more about cooking, nutrition, and the dangers of processed foods that I began to realize how insane it is that junk food and soda still get a pass when it comes to food stamps.
Chipotle's Assembly Line Timeline
Kyle Stock and Vanessa Wong at Bloomberg have an interesting look at the history of Chipotle, one of my favorite semi-fast food (or "fast casual") restaurants.
I'm hesitant to completely buy into Chipotle's quality ingredient claims—all companies have some degree of marketing spin, after all—but I feel like Chipotle is one of the places most deserving of my trust as a consumer.
For one thing, the food at Chipotle always tastes fresh, even compared to other fast casual places like Panera, where although the food is prepared after you order it, you can tell a difference. I don't think I've ever had a burrito from Chipotle that hasn't tasted great. Compare this to Qdoba, which while similar in the type of food and assembly line execution, does not come anywhere close to matching the freshness or taste.
Stock and Wong's article is a fascinating and relatively quick read. If Chipotle's skyrocketing success in the fast food industry continues, it could mark a change in direction for the food industry, which I am all for.
On Cooking "Light"
I say "Amen" to Joy Manning's piece today on The Kitchn.
A lot of the time, when it comes to cooking diet foods I get really wary. My expectations for these recipes tend to fall much lower than with other, non-lightened versions of the same or similar kinds of food. Too often diet recipes lose sight of the true cost when it comes to cutting calories and losing flavor.
I'm in agreement that in order for a diet to be successful, food shouldn't have to be unrewarding.
Food is an essential magic in our lives. Without great food, what point is there in living? I mean, if I ever lose my taste buds, I'm calling it quits.
For a while, home cooks were afraid of using salt because, of course, too much sodium is bad for us. But then we started to realize that only about 5% of our sodium intake comes from home cooking. The rest, that dangerous majority, comes from heavily processed foods.
I think the key to weight loss is in great tasting food that, as with so many things, is both prepared well and eaten in moderation. Because what use is a recipe that produces something with all the flavor of a cereal box when eating it does nothing to make you feel satisfied?
Divided Attention
From Daniel Levitin, writing in The New York Times:
“Every status update you read on Facebook, every tweet or text message you get from a friend, is competing for resources in your brain with important things like whether to put your savings in stocks or bonds, where you left your passport or how best to reconcile with a close friend you just had an argument with.
If you want to be more productive and creative, and to have more energy, the science dictates that you should partition your day into project periods. Your social networking should be done during a designated time, not as constant interruptions to your day.”
Some seemingly common sense stuff about dedicating our brain to one activity or task at a time. It’s easy to get swept up in notifications and alerts, but at a certain point (and often fairly quickly, it seems) those things that we think are making us more productive are actually dividing our attention and making it even harder for us to get things done.
The Driver's License of the Future
Very cool. I, for one, would love to be able to have an official copy of my driver's license stored on my phone. I've forgotten my wallet before, and having a digital backup would be a great thing for peace of mind.
Alan Adler and the Birth of the AeroPress
A fascinating look at one of my favorite coffee gadgets. Before I picked up an AeroPress earlier this year, I was using a French press, which was okay...except for the disgusting coffee grounds that always got through the mesh metal filter and into my cup.
With the AeroPress, I get a great cup of coffee with no grounds in no time.
Rolling Stone Interviews Stephen King
A nice interview with Stephen King, one of my favorite authors when I was growing up. I'm in the middle of rereading his book On Writing from back in 2000, and I'm reminded of how much I respect not only his dedicated work ethic but also his down-to-earth sensibilities.
King really is one of the writing treasures of our time.
U.S. Postal Service Suffers Data Breach
We need to start getting serious about data security. Having retailers hacked is bad enough, but government breaches are even scarier.
Sheesh.
But The Better Question Is, How Many Should You Eat?
“Once diners have proven that they have completed the Challenge Set, then they can eat as many Whoppers as their hearts desires (and stomachs can handle) in half an hour.”
The answer? Probably zero.
(However, I do have a flyer of Burger King coupons that I have not thrown away. Whoppers are kinda tasty.)
You Are What You Eat
Mark Menjivar, Refrigerators
Artist and photographer Mark Menjivar traveled across the country, taking pictures of the contents of people's refrigerators. Very interesting to see how people keep their fridges and what gets put in there.
The Brick
In Bloomberg Businessweek today, Apple CEO Tim Cook made his first public acknowledgement that he is, in fact, a proud member of the LGBT community.
It's something that's been hinted at and speculated on for several years now, but today marked the first time Cook has specifically addressed it.
And what a confirmation.
Reading his essay this morning, I was struck by how moving it is. Cook doesn't tread much in terms of new ground, but the confidence, humility, and dignity in his words make it all the more effective.
Public figures coming out is a great thing, a way to help people understand just how normal and non-threatening gay people are. Although it's a shame that in 2014 anyone coming out can still be classified as a big deal, I think it's wonderful that the leader of one of the world's biggest, most successful and innovative companies, a man from small beginnings in Alabama, put this detail about himself out into the world.
Apple under Tim Cook has made (and continues to make) big pushes in so many important areas that go beyond phones and tablets, computers and gadgets. Areas like the environment, sustainability, human equality, and more. Some of this has marketing and PR value, sure, but it really feels like it stems from an honest desire to be better, to do better. To drive progress forward.
Cook ends his piece with an image. "We pave the sunlit path toward justice together," he writes, "brick by brick. This is my brick."
Beautiful.
Taco Bell Goes All 21st Century
Interesting that they're the first of the fast food chains to get mobile ordering. I'll admit, the idea of being able to pre-pick your food (and pre-pay) is kind of cool. Panera and a few other "fast casual" places already have systems like this, although I haven't tried them myself.
The thing that seems odd here though is the "we won't make it until you arrive" part.
If you're eating Taco Bell, don't you automatically expect it to come from an industrial sized steam tray, get assembled, and then wait for you under a heat lamp, just like the food you'd get if you placed your order in the store? What's so different about the food that gets thrown together once you arrive?
Portlandia's Fred and Carrie on Coffee Shop Etiquette
“Think about the way you would approach a car mechanic. You’re a little intimidated, and the mechanic definitely knows more than you do. Don’t ask too many questions, like, ‘Oh, Is this good?’ or like, ‘Isn’t there a way you can add this to it?’ Don’t do any of that.”
How can you not love these two together?