Tuesday, 29 July 2014

Kitchen timer / stopwatch review - numeric buttons!






A timer with numeric buttons! I love this Maplin timer (only £4.49) because I haven't the patience to press and hold one button for ages waiting for the setting to count up to the number of minutes or seconds I need.maplin-Numeric-Timer

Simples. Just press 2 0 0 for 2 minutes, & the Start/Stop button to start, the same button to stop, again to restart, and Clear to, errr, clear. (And you'd press 1 5 0 0 for 15 minutes & so on.) Instructions are on the inside of the cardboard packaging anyway.

Also works as a stopwatch. Press the Clear button so the timer is set to all 0s, then press Start.

At the back there's a handy attachment with a hole so you can tie string to the timer and hang it from a hook or something else, a kickstand to stand it up on a worktop, and a magnet if you prefer to stick it to your fridge or other suitable metal surface.

Takes a single AAA battery, not some esoteric hard to replace type of button battery.

Low tech yes, but a good kitchen timer is gold if you cook a lot like I do.

Only downside: the magnet isn't very strong, so be a bit careful when pressing the buttons, to make sure that you don't knock it off the fridge!

At the moment you can't get it online, you have to see if your nearest Maplin store has one. If it does, you can order online for collection and payment at the shop, but you have to pick it up within 7 days after you reserve it.

I really hope Maplin doesn't discontinue this, because my previous timer with numeric buttons died a few years back and it's taken me this long to find a replacement. Pity Maplin's website description doesn't trumpet the existence of the individual number buttons for search engines to find and index, it should! I only found it from idly browsing round the site, not from searching for a timer with number buttons.

Tuesday, 15 July 2014

Nominative determinism 13






Here's another example of nominative determinism - people whose jobs suit their names.

In a study of long-tailed tits' co-operative breeding, entitled "Ecological and demographic correlates of helping behaviour in a cooperatively breeding bird", the lead author is…..

Prof Ben Hatchwell!

 

(See other blog posts on nominative determinism.)

Tuesday, 8 July 2014

Shampoo on Amazon - for millionaires only!






I always knew personal care products were pricey, but this shampoo sold via Amazon takes the biscuit! Or rather the soapsuds?
Some pricing algorithm….
£999.99 shampoo