On pasta and music and copyright | Hacker News Reader

On pasta and music and copyright

confusedofcalcutta.com

28 pointsbensummers9 comments

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.

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.

If you want to make an easy and tasty sauce: Buy one can of San Marzano tomatoes (must be San Marzano!), one onion (yellow works well), some fresh garlic, fresh basil and some olive oil. Chop and then saute onion in pan with some olive oil. While onion is cooking, tear off a few leaves of basil and chop. Once onion is about done add some garlic to the pan (pressed is great) and let it cook for a minute. Add onion, garlic, basil and tomatoes to blender (or food processor). Blend to consistency you like. Bring to boil on stove, then turn down to simmer. Add salt, and pepper to taste. (Red pepper if you like it spicy.) Once you have drained your pasta (see above) you can toss the pasta in the sauce. Depending on how much sauce you like, you can optionally store some in the refrigerator for later use.

I highly recommend using fresh pasta if you have access to it. In the US most grocery stores carry it in one of their refrigerated aisles. It's more expensive but the texture is night and day. Be sure to read the instructions as you need only boil if for a couple of minutes.

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?

Very long and abstract to get the point across. Many people who don't already agree with the confusion will just start fighting the details of the pasta-related hypothetical. To take just one, lots of lawyers will argue that it is already illegal under U.S. anti-trust law to require that buyers bundle a patented good (the pasta makers) and the supplies to run it (wheat). That's why you see generic inkjet cartridges. The actual legal reality is substantially more complex, but it's the sort of trivial detail that will trip people up.

A good allegory must be short and simple to understand. Kurt Vonnegut understood this. His allegorical tale of Harrison Bergeron (original: http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/harrison.html) (summary: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Bergeron) is incredibly simple to understand: in a world of PC gone mad, the government ties weights to the ankles of the best ballet dancers so that nobody is jealous that somebody else dances better. He repeats the tale as applied to intelligence (constant distraction) and good looks (must wear an ugly mask). There's exactly one step in his allegory: if you excel in any way, you'll get punished.

You have to write clean crisp allegories like that if you hope to leave a lasting impact. Ten-step tales of patented pasta and wheat and wheat-making machines and so forth just lose too many people in the details.

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.

> All words are golden for someone out there.

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

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

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