Norwegianne.net

Category: Geekery

  • Dye yarn

    I tried my hand at dyeing yarn with Wilton’s gel food coloring recently. I tried two methods, one on the stovetop and one in the microwave.

    The (100% wool) yarn I started with was fluffy. After being in a water bath with vinegar, it was no longer fluffy. But it took color really well, and quickly.

    The one in the microwave ended up purplish, which was logical since I used the violet food coloring. I found that (as I suspected) my microwave is less than optimal, and it took several more minutes in the microwave on high than in the original instructions.

    The one on the stovetop, I actually used two pots with different colors to get a more fancy yarn. Burgundy and green. (Suitable for the Christmas period, no?) The two pots meant that yarn hung between the pots, so it ended up dripping quite a lot on the stove.

    If I only had used one color on the stovetop, there would hardly have been any difference. Now, the stovetop was messier. But time-wise the microwave was preferable to the stovetop.

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  • I have been knitting a lot lately.

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    I’m hanging out over on Ravelry, as norwegianne.

  • Scotland

    It is crazy to think that when I wake up tomorrow, Scotland might be independent.

    National Library of Scotland

  • Color palettes

    Nifty – if you’ve got an image in mind and want to see what the colour palette would be…

    Color thief – I think this is my favourite. It is javascript based, drag-drop, and super easy to use. The one downside is that you can’t immediately see the codes of the colors that come out of it. But fairly accurate and gives a great representation of the colours in the images.

    Image palette – a bit more clunky. You can either upload or use an url for the images. Not as attractive as Color thief, but you get the codes you need for re-use more easily. Still pretty accurate.

    Pictaculous – Somewhat similar in style as Color thief, but you upload the images. It does not give as broad palette, and therefore it doesn’t feel as accurate to me. But the colours that come out does visually represent the image, although maybe not to the same depth that Color thief does.

     

  • 2048

    Have you heard of the game 2048? It is addictive.

    And then come the rip-offs – some are funny, like the BBC Sherlock edition. Or even more difficult, like the Tetris version.

    You can also make your own version of the game – I made an Alphabet one.  And then I thought of the possible royal twists – The longest reigning British monarchs for example.  Or this Royal Heirs edition, and the complementary Monarchs, going from shortest “reign” to longest.

    (I was originally going to make it all European, but there is one monarchy short in Europe for that, so I included Thailand. Since Alois hasn’t taken completely over in Liechtenstein, I still have him down as a heir.)

  • Twitter, Facebook, Google+, oh my…

    The news that Twitter is rolling out new profiles is not happy news to me. Especially since they will end up looking like Facebook profiles.

    Mashable argues that it might not be a huge problem, since most of Twitter’s existing users probably already read/send their tweets through various applications – and not on the main site.

    I actually don’t have a problem with the idea of a redesign in itself. But why would you want to make your site look just like another site?

    And especially one that I am growing less and less fond of as a user.

    I am really expecting the “popular tweets” to overrun the regular timeline of Twitter any day now.

    Dear Twitter, Facebook, and Google,
    I know my mind. I follow the people I want to follow because they’re interesting.

    I don’t necessarily have to interact with the people I follow to want to read what they post. If I follow them, and don’t hide them from my timeline, I want to read their posts.

    I don’t need to know what they “Like” in my feeds. I want to know what they share with me. (As a childless person, I don’t care that a gazillion of my friends like a shop that sells baby/children’s clothing online…Or as someone trying to eat healthy, that a friend of mine liked a page for ecological chocolate… )

    Similarly with Google+ – not that I use it awfully much. After the disastrous disappearance of one Google service I loved, I try to get attached to more of them than strictly necessary. There is a “What’s Hot and Recommended” box that keeps popping up in all my circles. Why can’t this be a separate thing and not take up space on every circle?

    Serendipity is well and good, but not when it comes to my regular “social media needs”. I know what I would like to be informed about – because I initiated the contact with the person in the first place.

  • BuzzFeed Style Guide

    For the more popcultural linguistics out there: BuzzFeed’s Style Guide.  How BuzzFeed authors should write certain words or phrases, to get “consistency and accuracy across…”

  • Linguistic question

    Linguistic question

    20140206-102805.jpgIn Norwegian, an umbrella is called paraply. It takes its name from the French (presumably) parapluie. It means defence against the rain.

    A parasol is designed to use as defence against the sun.

    This lady in front of me today was using her umbrella to protect herself against the snow. I wonder if there is a phrase for that. Or if (since) snow is cold rain it therefore uses the same phrase?

  • WordCamp Norway

    WordCamp Norway

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    Last weekend I hung out at WordCamp Norway. Something I would not have done if I wasn’t in Oslo this year. So much fun!