10/07/2014

Cooking with Your iPad and iPhone

From Cooking with Your iPad my latest piece for Peachpit:

Bon_appetie_appUsing iPads and iPhones in the kitchen may seem a little odd at first, but it's a natural progression. You might start by using the iOS Notes app to create grocery lists; then you use apps to discover and save recipes. That leads you to enhanced cookbooks and dedicated recipe apps that are designed to be readable and functional in the kitchen. To make it easier for you to cook with iOS, I've become a kitchen pioneer, testing iPad and iPhone apps and tools designed for cooking. This article describes some of the best cooking apps and tools I've found in my explorations. (All of the apps require iOS 7 or better.)You can use the Web for more than just looking up instructions for how to open a coconut. 

More Cooking with Your iPad and iPhone

Oct 7, 2014 7:38:00 PM | Apple, Food and Drink, iOS, iPad, Software

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Misleading on Marriage: how gay marriage opponents twist history to suit their agenda This is a piece I wrote for BoingBoing on same-sex marriage from a historical perspective. When the Supreme Court in two separate rulings in June established a basis for state legislatures and electorates to decide whether marriage between two people of the same gender were legal [1] or not, all hell did not in fact break loose. Both before and after the ruling, some prominent opponents to so-called "same-sex marriage," came over to the other side. These former opponents say that the institution of marriage is a foundational element in society dating back thousands of years, if not longer, and preserving it by extending its franchise is a better plan than forcing people to value the family unit less. Others, of course, continue to oppose same-sex marriage, often citing the same traditions and longevity. As someone in a same-sex relationship, I followed arguments for and against the overturn of DOMA with some interest. As a medievalist, my attention was particularly caught by arguments against DOMA on Twitter and elsewhere that asserted that Christianity and history unilaterally agreed that marriage means one woman and one man and coitus. This simply isn't historically accurate even within the context of Christianity and European history. Let me take you on a millennia-long walk down the aisle. The modern notion of marriage is connected with the historical, traditional model that those opposed to marriage equality like to cite, but it's not nearly as clean a connection as parties on either side of the same-sex marriage divide would like to claim. It is in fact, varied, changeable, and chaotic. Read the rest of Misleading on Marriage: how gay marriage opponents twist history to suit their agenda
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DRIP Investing for Beginners DRIPs were my introduction to buying stocks, and I still think they’re a super way for ordinary people to invest directly in stocks without having to spend a fortune in fees or having thousands to invest. DRIPs or Dividend Re-Investing Programs are a way of buying shares in a stock whose dividends are automatically re-invested in that stock, thereby buying more shares. DRIPs may be managed by the company whose stock you are investing, or by a transfer agent who manages the program for the company. DRIPs are offered by companies you already know, companies like Hershey (NYSE: HSY), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), 3M Company (NYSE: MMM) Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM), among others. These are not fly-by-night make-a-quick-buck scams, in fact, DRIPs are designed for people who invest for the long haul, years and decades rather than days or weeks. 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First Share First Share is membership service that helps DRIP investors purchase the initial share of a stock before joining the stock's DRIP. Members with shares in the stock sell a share to you at the current exchange price, for a small fee for non members (currently $14.95 per stock), and First Share takes care of the transfer and enrollment paperwork so that the stock is in your name, and you're enrolled in the DRIP. They also offer information about DRIPs in general as well as specific DRIP programs. Drip Investor Drip Investor publishes the Drip Investor newsletter and subscribers have acces to information DRIPs in over 600 stocks that Drip Investor calls "No Load" stocks, or stock plans that permit investors to make the initial purchase of stock directly from the company. Much of the information on the Website is free for non-members who do not subscribe.