

On pasta and music and copyright - bensummers
http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2010/05/01/on-pasta-and-music-and-copyright/

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antirez
Unrelated but related, visiting other countries I discovered that pasta is a
common aliment almost everywhere. Still many people don't realize how to make
it in a proper way, even if it's so trivial, so...:

\- Boil water, a lot, it's not good to make pasta with a few water.

\- When the water is boiling, put some salt, not too much, you can understand
if the amount is right by tasting the water, it should not be tasteless or
clearly salted.

\- At this point put the pasta in the water. Move the pasta until the water
starts boiling again. For a moment it will stop because the pasta will lower
the temperature.

\- Move from time to time (every 2 minutes at least)

\- In total boil it for around 8-12 minute. It's up to the kind of pasta,
check the instructions if you are not a pasta expert, otherwise you'll be able
to understand when the pasta is ready just looking at it and tasting it if
required.

\- Finally drain it.

At this point you are supposed to have a seasoning ready ;) Otherwise just a
bit of olive oil and some cheese will be enough.

Alternatively press some grail with oil and a bit of salt, then add tomatoes
cut in little cubes, everything crude, and enjoy. Some basil will make it
better.

~~~
iuguy
Just an addendum, you need to take the pasta out just before it's done (it
will be soft with a slight firmness, but not full-blown starchiness - leave it
too late and it might get soggy) and put it into a colander or a sieve and
drain the water off. As the remaining water evaporates shake it around
slightly to shake the water loose for the layers underneath. You'll know it's
done because it's dry and slightly cooler.

------
memetichazard
Amusing, but is this really useful? Most of the people who read this are
likely to already agree with the sentiment, and those few who did not yet are
convinced by reading this are unlikely to have any pull where it matters.
(Plus, there was an article recently that suggests that faced with contrary
evidence, people will dig their heels even deeper)

And the massive group of people who don't really know anything much about the
subject and could be useful if they, the entire group, all read about the
issues and thought about it, are hardly likely to read this. (Though I suspect
this is the audience that is being targeted, seeing as how the entire article
is really just an analogy)

Rather than seeing more of these articles, I'd like to see, oh, arguments that
we can use in general regarding such issues.

For instance, someone says (regarding some upcoming restrictive legislation),
"Don't worry about it. It doesn't affect you if you have nothing to
hide/aren't doing anything wrong". What are the main things you want to say to
respond to that?

~~~
yason
_those few who did not yet are convinced by reading this are unlikely to have
any pull where it matters_

All words are golden for _someone_ out there.

I might agree with the sentiment, you might as well, my parents might not
realize what's going on and never get the article (even if they could read
English), many others will disagree, but there will be people who read this
and it will light the bulb in their heads, and they will realize: "Fuck, man!
This is _so_ true, I knew this is how it is but I just never found the words."

Nicely written article, by the way. I didn't even skip to the point, I just
first enjoyed reading about pasta.

~~~
slapshot
> All words are golden for someone out there.

You only get one chance to convince some people. Make it count.

~~~
yason
That's pretty limited; if you feel you have to optimize it's like you were
running out of something.

