Donkeys and Elephants and Delegates,oh my!
Check out the most popular
wordless pancake recipe
flickr.com — If you can't make pancakes with this recipe, you should not leave your parents house ever!!!.
bonlebon- 978 diggs
- digg it
- bobasaurus, on 10/12/2007, -15/+71That's a hella tiny picture. Any way to make it bigger, or am I just retarded?
- garfielduk, on 10/12/2007, -24/+7Try http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=242224749&size=l
- MikeSD34, on 10/12/2007, -25/+14I prefer http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=242224749&size=o
but in either case it's not wordless, as the items are labeled such as flour and salt. - Yashar, on 10/12/2007, -2/+45Looks like the instructions ikea gives you.
- iDealL, on 10/12/2007, -10/+4Labeled or not, I could probably follow those instructions easier than some written ones.
- beelz, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurenbugeja/
More recipes
"Visual experiements for my major project" - trogdoor, on 10/12/2007, -2/+27http://static.flickr.com/87/242224749_18afda2f7b_o.jpg
- wjw75, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14If anyone's feeling ambitious there's a chocolate cake one too:
http://static.flickr.com/97/239247558_680df673c0_o.jpg - himey, on 10/12/2007, -15/+8There is also no word on the amounts. How much flour? The whole 5 lb bag? A complete gallon of milk?
If you cannot follow a normal recipe that says "1/4 cup milk" then you probably shouldn't be near a hot stove. - koolaide, on 10/12/2007, -1/+81 Teaspoon baking powder, 1 cup plain flour, 1/2 cup milk.
Look closer :) There's a spoon with a cup of tea next to it for the baking powder. - hotpepper, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6The recipe says 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup milk.
- Toon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+40"That's a hella tiny picture. Any way to make it bigger, or am I just retarded?"
You just make really tiny pancakes. - eazman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@himey: See the picture of a cup beside the flour? I think that means you add a cup ;)
- Monolith2, on 10/12/2007, -11/+6And WTF is the purpose of this...?
- Arramol, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6"Any way to make it bigger, or am I just retarded?"
Click the "All sizes" link above the picture, then click "Original" for maximum resolution. - techweenie1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2totally IKEA inspired, cool
- Mr.Ortiz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16...and a fistfull of salt.
- himey, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5My point is that the whole thing is a little ambiguous for the sake of catering to idiots. If you're not smart enough to read "1 cup of flour" and "1/2 cup of milk", you're probably not smart enough to know what the unlabeled symbol is.
I would fully expect that someone who needs this type of recipe would end up using a coffee mug full of flour, have egg shells in their pancakes and wonder why they had to pour the salt through the "O" in the other hand.
If you can't follow a simple straightforward recipe for pancakes, then you're probably better off hitting Denny's for breakfast or sticking with cereal. - shaolinpunks, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3""Any way to make it bigger, or am I just retarded?"
Click the "All sizes" link above the picture, then click "Original" for maximum resolution."
no all sizes link for me
:( - Clbck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@Mr.Ortiz
Dugg the story for that comment. I don't know why, but that has me in fits of laughter.
- cyroxos, on 10/12/2007, -7/+8The picture is too small, when I go to the links above, I see:
"Sign in to Flickr using
your Yahoo! ID"- hriwo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7http://static.flickr.com/87/242224749_18afda2f7b_o.jpg
- d8cam, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Um, is it just me or is this harder to follow than a normal fully-worded recipe?
- dacheetah, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think it's just you, I could follow that at least as easily as a written recipe.
Also, I use self-raising (thus no baking soda) and don't seperate the eggs, just mix the lot. But I might just try some of these things, always looking for ways to make food better.
- Halifax1, on 10/12/2007, -9/+6Click View All Sizes...
- Takteek, on 10/12/2007, -4/+23There is no "All Sizes" button when I view the page.
- sumgi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You only have the All Sizes option if you're logged in. Otherwise you need to click on the link mentioned above to the source image.
- Halifax1, on 10/12/2007, -3/+28http://static.flickr.com/87/242224749_18afda2f7b_o.jpg
- EiCCA, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12It's actually a wonder why more recipies for basic dishes arn't written like this. They're easier (not to mention faster) to read and understand.
- ArmandoM, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Easier maybe for someone who either can't read or someone trying to read a recipe written in a language that's not their native language.
Faster? Definately not for me. I have to think about the pictures and translate them to words. With a written recipe I can just read the directions and go. - saifatlast, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I agree with EICCA here, I could just look at the pictures and go, with something written, I have to actually read the recipe and pick out the important bits. Not that either is hard, but the pictures would work a little easier for me I think.
- imtigger2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Armando.. Dude... you make no sense at all. Your brain has to translate it either way. If you read it, you have to picture it, then translate it into a visual image as you process the words into an action. If you look at the illustrations, you have to do the same thing... but more than likely in 1/2 the time.
As well, if this recipe was written, think about getting to a step and having to go back to the recipe. If written, you have to read and scan the page to find your place, then read some more. With this, I'm pretty sure your eyes would just grab the correct spot within moments of glancing at the page. MUCH faster. - AeonTorpor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is like the Java of cooking language.
- ArmandoM, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Easier maybe for someone who either can't read or someone trying to read a recipe written in a language that's not their native language.
- haxorjoe, on 10/12/2007, -9/+3sorry, I was in stupid mode
- Halifax1, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6Your forgot to put /sarcasm...
Or were you serious?
- Halifax1, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6Your forgot to put /sarcasm...
- vogelzang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+33I'm pretty sure baking powder, plain flour, milk and salt are all words.
- JimXugle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5maybe those need to be pictorially represented too?
How would you draw "device for baking that appears to be simmaler in consistancy to anthrax, however will not kill you nor make you sick"? - kewldude606, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Baking Soda, etc. are easy to translate because they are simple nouns, not sentences. Translating a written reciple is a lot harder (although still fairly easy).
- JimXugle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5maybe those need to be pictorially represented too?
- halosniper7, on 10/12/2007, -11/+5front page?
- jerr0328, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17Don't worry, when more articles come along it'll be on page 2. Then move on to page 3. One day, it might end up on page 1337!
- Raian, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2one thing I would have done differently is add a legend with images from the real-world and corresponding icons... that way she could avoid using labels. She could show three or four small images from Wheat>grinding>Flour -- with an icon beneath that will represent flour in the recipe.
There are many types of flour and it isn't conveyed which type should be used. - cphuntington97, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Ummm....
mix Aunt Jemima Complete with water as per instructions... heat... serve... enjoy?
Who doesn't use the "complete" mix?- CornStarch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I don't because I think Bisquick egg and milk has a better taste, but still who the hell makes them out of scratch anymore?
- JeffD, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Who makes them from scratch? Evreybody who likes good pancakes.
- CornStarch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Bisquick is close enough for me. Complete mix is too artificial and scratch is too much work so I'm happy being right in the middle.
- lbeaty1981, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I agree 100% with the Aunt Jemima statement. They're not quite as good as homemade, but close enough for me! Then again, my mom always used the Bisquick recipe when my sister and I were growing up, so I've never had "real" homemade pancakes before...
- khyberkitsune, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Cornbread pancakes FTW to hell with flour.
- othersomethings, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I've never seen a pancake recipe that called for seperating the eggs and beating them stiff. I wonder how that affects the final product? = will have to try.
- smeager, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I'm not a professional chef (I had two years of Culinary Arts before turning to technology) but I would think, just like any souffle, that it would give the pancakes a lighter/fluffier taste.
- KirbyKhan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Seems you have to register for a flickr account in order to view the larger size.
- albel65, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4As a note: to give egg whites its peaks, make sure the bowl is chilled. They should at least mention to put the bowl for them in the fridge, unless the blue color indicates that.
- HenryFatass, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Actually, the egg whites and all equipment used to beat them should be at room temperature. At the higher temperature the protein in the egg whites is more elastic and in turn traps more tiny air bubbles, therefore producing stiffer egg whites that have as much volume as possible.
The general rule is to separate eggs when they're cold to get the cleanest separation from the yolk, and to decrease your chances of the yolk breaking. Then let the whites come to room temp before whipping.
However...if you're talking about whipping heavy cream...then that's a different story. The cream and all equipment used to beat them should be ice cold for best volume.
Sorry for the correction, but I've been a student of pastry for a long time and hope to one day leverage that knowledge into a business that will let me flee my craptastic IT career.
- HenryFatass, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Actually, the egg whites and all equipment used to beat them should be at room temperature. At the higher temperature the protein in the egg whites is more elastic and in turn traps more tiny air bubbles, therefore producing stiffer egg whites that have as much volume as possible.
- kakwakas, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5I hope I'm not the only one that didn't think "pinch" at first when I saw the hand next to the salt.
I blame PornoTube. - binnis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Forgive me, but, are the units of measurement for the flour in 'cups' ?
Correct me if I am wrong. The unit of measure in the chocolate cake recipe is metric.- macrogirl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you look through recipe books and websites, you will most likely find that all recipes are a weird and wonderful combination of cups & spoons and metric/imperial measurements.
This work is still preliminary and I'm slowly ironing out the creases.
- macrogirl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you look through recipe books and websites, you will most likely find that all recipes are a weird and wonderful combination of cups & spoons and metric/imperial measurements.
- everfalling, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3some of these motions wouldn't make sence unless you already knew some cooking terms. the 'tea spoon' thing was kind of odd, as well as seperating the eggs.
the pinch icon should have the middle, ring, and pinky finger slightly raised. no so much for an 'OK' sign, but enough to show that you only need to use your thumb and forfinger for a pinch of salt. - jdibiase, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Read the comments to the picture ... there's a war going on about whose idea it was to illustrate a recipe in this style.
- macrogirl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It was really more of a one sided argument that I chose not to partake in, but all seems to have been resolved now : )
- floppyparty, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2We have words for a reason. I would rather have a "words included" recipe for pancakes then a god-awful wordless recipe that is longer then my average grocery list.
How about "mix 1/5 lb flour and 2 eggs" instead of 10 pictures trying to same the same damn thing- macrogirl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I guess we're all different and prefer different modes of information - which is the whole point of the exercise.
- FriscoTony, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Wow... I don't even know where to start... ok, actually I do. Here we go:
(1) Find a box that has both marshmallows and kernels of corn in it and open both ends to pour each into separate bowls.
(2) Put a spoonful of generic cola, one full battery, and one half-charged battery into the bowl with the kernels.
(3) Rotate the spoon in the bowl until the corn turns into polenta.
(4) You have a jar of Skippy peanut butter. You're OK. Mix the marshmallows with a hand blender until you create a tsunami.
(5) Pour the polenta into the tsunami. Oh *****! You dropped your red necklace in the bowl! Nevermind, just poke it under the surface until you can't see it anymore.
(6) Pour the brown scum off the top of the bowl into a pan that's over a flame.
(7) By about midnight the bottom of your pan should be pretty brown.
(8) OK, this part is cool. Slap at the pan with a spatula and... Voila! Your missing necklace returns! Now wait until midnight tomorrow for the pan to get nice and brown again.
(9) Why was 5 afraid of 6? Because 6, 7, 8!!! - tyrione, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Holy crap. One picture of Bisquick poured into the cup size of container listed. Two eggs with some milk. Mix well with an image showing a smooth surface. Picture shown pouring. Another picture showing lightly brown bottom being flipped.
Repeat and rinse.
Pictograms for this is a waste of space. - Salmonized, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1that was worth a thousand words....
- macrogirl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wow.
I just opened up my flickr account to find that my crappy prelim work for my final year project has been viewed 20, 000 times today!
The power of the web.
There are more comments here than I have time to reply to, but in brief (and to give this some context because so many people are labelling this "useless" without understanding the point of the exercise);
The project is an attempt to create a website that allows users to select the mode in which they wish to view information.
All users have very different processing skills and preferences. My project is an experimental attempt to see if it is possible to present recipes in a pure word and pure image format, with a range of possibilities inbetween and allow the users to select the format that they find easiest to use.
I know that I have a preference for picture over words, but others may prefer sounds, words, or any other combination.
Just reading through the comments posted here it is interesting to see the preferences of different people.
While some say "It's actually a wonder why more recipies for basic dishes arn't written like this. They're easier (not to mention faster) to read and understand."
others have said "Pictograms for this is a waste of space. " (and shouldn't that read "Pictograms for this ARE a waste of space?")
Thanks to bonlebon for the initial post, and to everyone who has commented, you have helped me more than you can imagine!
Cheers!- diggergregg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0What does the 6 7 8 circle in step 9 represent? I tried, but I can't figure it out.
- khyberkitsune, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@diggergregg
It means repeat those steps as necessary.
- diggergregg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0What does the 6 7 8 circle in step 9 represent? I tried, but I can't figure it out.
- MikeyJW, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3This got 509 diggs? WTF?
Am I the only one who thinks this is lame?
Some guy posts his school project as news in the technology section on digg, and he gets dugg up. What am I missing here?- d8cam, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yeah I agree. This thing is harder to follow than a normal fully-worded recipe.
Also, this whole digg page reinforces the fact that the only reason that "digging up and down" even exists is so that people can either make sarcastic remarks or correct mistakes by the submitter. - khyberkitsune, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Well, for one, it's not a guy. :P
- macrogirl, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Thanks khyberkitsune, I'm not a guy and I didn't post my work on digg, someone else who saw it on flickr did.
And if you think it's lame - stop looking! - MikeyJW, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Doesn't matter whether it was a guy or not. That was hardly the point of my comment. It also doesn't matter what color shoes she wears.
As for not looking, I would love to stop seeing things like this on digg. If only people would stop posting them. Maybe you're right, though. I really should stop looking at digg. Every day there's less and less cool and/or useful stuff to see here.
As for your project, it's perfectly fine for what it is - a school project. I just don't think it's particularly newsworthy. What I thought was lame is that it made it to the front page on digg. Well actually I guess that shouldn't surprise me - seems like wordless pancake recipes is about par for the course on digg. - macrogirl, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Maybe I'm wrong, but I think there is a difference between a "school" project and a university project that 40, 000 people have been interested enough to look at.
And if the digg community is so "lame" then you know where the exit button is. - MikeyJW, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Yes, you are wrong about that. It's still just a school project. University? So what? I've been to a university, and done projects. So have a large majority of digg users. So have millions of other people. These days, even a Ph.D. isn't *necessarily* something to be impressed about.
As for those 40,000 people, I assume you're talking about site hits. That's also no big deal, since that number has undoubtedly been artificially increased by the site being submitted to digg. Furthermore, most of those 40,000 probably just clicked the link, not really knowing what to expect. That's hardly the same thing as saying they were "interested" in it. How many of those people got to the website and thought "Huh?" or "Yeah, whatever." ? Probably quite a few, since they were led there from digg, which gave them a false hope that it would be something really cool.
Look, I'm not trying to knock your project. Like I said, it's a perfectly good school project. I'm just saying it doesn't belong on the front page of the Technology section on digg. You keep saying I know where the exit button is. Yes, we can agree on that. I've used that button plenty, including on your site. You're belaboring that point, and missing my point. - macrogirl, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0This is wasting everyone's time - let's agree to disagree.
My work got dugg, and you don't like it - no problem.
From the emails, blog posts and comments I've had, lots of other people do.
And that's enough for me.
- d8cam, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yeah I agree. This thing is harder to follow than a normal fully-worded recipe.
- macrogirl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Wow.
I just opened up my flickr account to find that my crappy prelim work for my final year project has been viewed 20, 000 times today!
The power of the web.
There are more comments here than I have time to reply to, but in brief (and to give this some context because so many people are labelling this "useless" without understanding the point of the exercise);
The project is an attempt to create a website that allows users to select the mode in which they wish to view information.
All users have very different processing skills and preferences. My project is an experimental attempt to see if it is possible to present recipes in a pure word and pure image format, with a range of possibilities inbetween and allow the users to select the format that they find easiest to use.
I know that I have a preference for picture over words, but others may prefer sounds, words, or any other combination.
Just reading through the comments posted here it is interesting to see the preferences of different people.
While some say "It's actually a wonder why more recipies for basic dishes arn't written like this. They're easier (not to mention faster) to read and understand."
others have said "Pictograms for this is a waste of space. " (and shouldn't that read "Pictograms for this ARE a waste of space?")
Thanks to bonlebon for the initial post, and to everyone who has commented, you have helped me more than you can imagine!
Cheers! - semiotix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This is pretty clever, although I am a little disappointed. When I saw "wordless pancake recipe" I was sort of hoping for a pancake recipe so complex that it couldn't be represented in our puny Earthling languages.
- macrogirl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0diggergregg: The 6 - 7 - 8 circle means repeat steps 6, 7 & 8.
Though if you didn't get it you're most likely a person who prefers to read words anyways.
: ) - Habemus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No one's yet mentioned the famous pancake video (also wordless)?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnCVZozHTG8 - NoSalt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1TOTALLY DUGG!!! I love it.
- 1ivewire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1wordless* pancake recipe
* - salt, baking, powder, plain, flour and milk are not words- macrogirl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Did you mean that as a question or a point? I'm confused!
I know they are words I'm still refining the visual language for ingredients, which is why the place-holder pictures look so rubbish.
- macrogirl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Did you mean that as a question or a point? I'm confused!
- ripperm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Clicked on the link and was notified of a worm attack. Bury this site quick!
- macrogirl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0A worm attack? On a flickr page?
- macrogirl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0 Wordless pancakes v1.2
As a result of all the comments and feedback recieved I have developed some components of the design, the new & imporved version can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=254474103&size=o - macrogirl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0We've just pre-launched our new site, harnessing the power of recipics!
Check it out: http://coo.kz
Cheers
The cookz team- loreli21, on 04/05/2008, -0/+0there are a bunch of great recipes here, This ginger chicken is as easy as the pancakes. http://www.kidshealthadvantage.com/grilled-ginger- ...
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