Here's a treat for those of you who (like TANSTAAFL and DavidRM have told me on separate occasions) like to find small things that make their lives slightly more optimum, much like Mr. Gilbreth of Cheaper By The Dozen.

And I'm referring to the book. Not to that crappy Steve Martin movie that took nothing of the original story but the title

Anyway, today's fractional optimization for your life is the Ian Knot, which is a way of tying your shoelaces that's much better than the way you're doing it now. As shown in the little animation on top of the page, it's almost instantaneous if you practice.

Also I can confirm from about two months' use of the knot that it's better than the standard way you were taught in that it's much less likely to come undone by itself. In fact, I had some pesky too-thick too-slippery shoelaces on some old sneakers. They were great at untying themselves, but they don't with this new knot.



Also a note for everyone (and by everyone I mean Shelly). Those monstrous plastic shopping bags you get at IKEA are a great value at 80 cents, but they have one problem --their usage is limited because they're large enough to carry a Yugo. This person did a little cutting and sewing and was able to make a much more conveniently-sized bag out of it, complete with inner pockets.

Of course, if you're not in easy driving distance from an IKEA store, this advice is pretty-much of no worth to you. So feel free to not read it.