I appreciate your efforts over past decades to create a “super” sink. A beautiful and stain-resistant accoutrement to the kitchen environment is always welcome. That said, I think you are missing the boat with your product line. Yes, people need sinks, but some people have different needs.

I applaud the research and development dollars that are funneled into the improvement of sink technology. While a super-duper techno sink may be the dream of some homemakers there is one quality a great many need: Size. Yes, dear Sirs, please make a larger sink. In fact, invent a giant sink for the general public. Maybe one large enough to hold and comfortably wash was a full-grown Bull Mastiff, or a full set of 1-year-old sextuplets.

A great many folk don’t use the sink the way it was intended. Sure, it’s a place to wash dirty dishes and pots, but that isn’t always the case. In fact, the kitchen sink is often a repository of dishes waiting to be washed. The standard-sized sinks available today don’t allow for a lot of deposit room for yet-to-be-washed kitchen utensils.

Your company could see a boom in sales if you were to develop a larger, nay, a giant kitchen sink. In this crazy, busy world, who has time to wash dishes each day? Certainly not the young couple busily pursuing their careers. Soccer Moms are too busy in the family minivan to get to that stack of dirty crockery. The Boomers are golfing and traveling with no extra time for washing duties. And, the lazy always need more room to stack dishes.

You have an incredible opportunity here, Sink Manufacturer. What may be seen by your competitors as a niche market could explode given the right marketing campaign. Imagine the slogans: Acme Giant Sinks, Forget about the dishes a little longer. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? How about: Acme Sinks, You’re not lazy, you’re busy. Nice, eh? I want residuals if you use any of these slogans.

In closing, dear Sirs, I ask that you please consider this idea. A larger sink would make my life, and lives of many others, a lot easier. If you wish to expand your kitchen equipment line to cover Robotic Household Assistants (RHAs) I would be happy to assist in your marketing efforts.

Regards,

Busy (maybe lazy) Man

On your camera there is probably an Automatic setting, denoted on the dial by a green icon of some sort. In this mode the tiny brain inside your camera makes all the decisions regarding shutter speed, aperture, ISO speed, etc. In many situations it’s a handy tool to have in your arsenal. Taking photos at an inside/outside party? You don’t need to worry about changing settings as you move location.

Pros, or the seriously enlightened, will shun Automatic mode and those that use it, labeling them amateurs. When you have a $1500 f2.8 zoom lens it’s easy to act haughty. Automatic mode has its place but also has limitations. The camera will try to capture the best image possible based on the data it is receiving. Taking a photograph of a sunrise with Automatic mode will net you something like this:

Automatic setting: f4, 1/60

The wonderful thing about digital photography is the ability to experiment for free. Back in the day film and processing were expensive, as was setting up your own darkroom. Photography could be frustrating for the neophyte. Luckily this is no longer the case.

Twist that dial away from Automatic. Experiment with both over and under exposing your photographs. Yes, you can make changes in your image editing software but not to the extent you can in your camera.

This photo was underexposed (see the EXIF data for details.) The colors are far more vivid. It’s what a sunrise should look like:

Read your manual and experiment. It’s free, and fun, and you’ll be surprised with the results.

A reenactment of the Transformers movie, sans robot suits, during the summer camp talents show. Oh, to be young.

What would take-out Chinese food be without little packets of soy sauce? The innocuous brown condiment is synonymous with Asian cuisine. Few people know about the sauce’s long history.

Soy sauce was developed in China more than 2500 years ago. Originally it was a byproduct. Without refrigeration meat and fish were treated with salt to preserve them. The liquid that leeched from the preserving foods was kept as a seasoning. When Buddhism and its vegetarian practices became popular in China the meat-based sauce was replaced by one made of salty, fermented grains.

Read the rest here…

Confucian Temple, Prince’s City, Guilin, China.