Yeah, the silpat is a replacement for wax and parchment paper regarding most uses. You can't make an envelope and steam a fish inside a Silpat, though.

As you know there are a lot of differences between cooking and baking. Accuracy is one of them. I have this kitchen scale and I do use it, but more often to weigh packages to send to BF members than anything cooking related. But, yes, weight measurement is so much more accurate than volume for baking. I'm sure that chart is accurate enough. Your grandma didn't need no stinkin' scale or chart, did she?

Other than breads I just don't bake much as I'm not a fan of sweets so much. The art of making bread is just that, though, and you can really tell when someone knows what they're doing. Some of my wife's favorite meals (and mine too) are what we call "reach in madness" where I just create something with what is on hand. It's typically very interesting, pretty tasty and seldom replicated.