Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Tonight's food experiment: Sliders.


So I had a craving for white castle, sometimes that happens. I remembered watching an episode of some food network show a while back that explained how they do it. I tried and it worked out really well. Here's what you'll need:

1lb ground beef frozen in a tube
1/2 onion
1 Dozen Bakery Buns (uncut dinner roll style)
Cheese that melts well (2% singles were great)

Get out a serrated knife and cut the tube of ground beef into circular patties about 3/8" thick. Put these back in the refrigerator when you're done, you don't want them to thaw too much.
Finely chop 1/2 of your favorite onion. I used a sweet yellow onion and my off-brand "slap chop" made quick work of it.
Drizzle some oil into a 10" skillet and place over medium heat. Pour in the onions and let them sweat for a few minutes stirring occasionally. Add about 1/2 cup water to the pan, place the patties equidistant from each other (8 fit nicely in my pan), cover and leave on medium heat for about 15 minutes. Make sure the pan doesn't go dry or you'll caramelize your onions. Never stir or flip, the point is to steam the meat on the onions.
Remove the cover and check the temp. Safe temperature for ground beef is between 160F and 165F.
Dress the heel (bottom) of the bun with 1/2 slice of cheese if you want that, use a spatula to scoop the patty and some of the onions onto the bun. Dress with your favorite burger condiments, JalapeƱo peppers go very well with sliders.

Happy eating!
CK

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Thursday, December 17, 2009

Should I see Avatar in the theater?

I just watched the extended trailer for James Cameron's 'Avatar'. It pretty much looks like "Dances With Wolves" in space. But maybe that's just the trailer.




I've never done the 3-D thing before and I think this movie would be the perfect opportunity to try it on a movie that can really use the technology. I guess UP was great in 3-D but we saw that at the cheap theater.

The science fiction blog io9 has been raving about this movie for months. They've led me to quite a few good books and some great movies I had somehow missed.

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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

I really want to move back to MN

"Giant Killer" Sen. John Thune gets metaphorically bitchslapped by the junior senator from Minnesota, good ol' Stuart Smalley.
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Monday, December 14, 2009

Another chicken-little facebook status is going around. Here's the truth

There's no such thing as privacy online. Even if you go completely private, all of your friends can still see all of your info. That means one nefarious friend can grab a screenshot of your phone number and give it to the NSA. Are you paranoid yet?
If you're truly concerned about managing who can and who can't see your facebook statuses, wall posts, and photos just go to facebook's Privacy Settings page. (Click on your name in the upper right hand corner of the window, then click on Privacy Settings.)
As far as what Google (and Bing) index about your page. As far as I know only things that are set to "Everyone" are shared with search engines. I could be wrong.
Here's a Wired.com Wiki on how to secure your facebook data, if that's what you really want.
http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Un-Facebook_Yourself

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Watched 'The People Speak' last night on History. You should catch the re-run.

The program is a narrative wandering through the history of the U.S. as told by regular people and artists. This isn't your standard 'Hitler Channel' fare. It doesn't take a linear approach to History nor does it focus on the top-down view that most historians use. Here's a good description from the discussion guide:

Every year on September 17th, Constitution Day, Americans
reflect on the meaning of the founding documents and the rights
they affirm. The People Speak offers moving examples of how people
throughout U.S. history have fought to see these ideals come to
life for all people. Slave narratives, testimonies of striking workers,
and civil rights protestors are among the moving and poignant
proclamations included in this 90-minute film. Based on the books
A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn and Voices
of a People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn and
Anthony Arnove, these performances give students an active and
fresh perspective on the people and events that have changed the
course of our nation’s history.

It's also great for people into communications studies; all of the personal accounts, letters, and prose clippings are performed much like forensic oral-interp.
There's also great music performed by Eddie Vedder, Bruce Springsteen, and others.
I'm sure it will re-run constantly just like everything else on the goood ol' "H". I highly recommend it. I plan to add the Zinn books to my Amazon wish list.
http://www.history.com/content/people-speak

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Friday, December 11, 2009

I'd go to temple if I got this for Chanukah

We celebrate the miracle of the dilithium crystals lasting for 8 days when Scotty said she coudna take any more.

It would be even better to get all of the parts so I could assemble it myself.
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/12/star_trek_pez_led_menorah.html

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Merry Christmas from your pastafarian friend

If I could get away with it I would give out this ornament to all of my friends and family. But I'm a little more tolerant than some of them are.
http://www.venganza.org/2009/12/07/fsm-ornaments/
May you be touched by his noodly appendage.

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Thursday, December 10, 2009

finally got the new security settings on facebook

I really don't think there's anything truly "private" on the internet. I see it as a dichotomy to try and put yourself out there while also hiding certain things. If someone is really determined to follow your every movement all they really have to do is google you and you'll pop up in a few places even you might not expect. (like that linkedin page I made forever ago, but can't back into)
The spam filter on gmail works great, and farmville requests are only a bit more annoying.
Have fun setting up your new privacy settings whenever you get the chance.

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Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Interesting article on climate change denialists

I guess it makes a little sense to just blow off something that doesn't appear to affect you directly. I can count myself in the crowd on that one. I'd rather not drive 86 miles every day, but I'd also rather live in the same place as my wife. But at least I'm realistic about the science behind climate change. Others apparently have been hoodwinked by disinformation campaigns.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/12/climate-psychology/

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This is what I REALLY want for Christmas

Inside joke...
http://engrishfunny.com/2009/12/07/engrish-mp3-prayer/

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Trying this out

I'm composing my first email to posterous. This makes it easy to post to multiple services at once.

I'll add a second paragraph just to see what twitter does with it.
-CK

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Monday, November 16, 2009

Spock Cries

Promo video for the Star Trek Blu-Ray. I hear it has a ton of extra features. This may be the disc that encourages the purchase of some new hardware.
In the middle of this video Leonard Nimoy makes a speech after he is finished filming his last scene.



Hat tip to io9

New Blog

The first step of any blogging effort is to set up the blog page itself. I've done that twice now. In this attempt I'm severely limited in what I can post. Those who know me know I work for a statewide news organization. That pretty much precludes me from stating any of my opinions in any kind of public space. I'm not necessarily bound by any rules, but my credibility could suffer if I started spouting my opinions about SD politics or news events. So I'll probably stick to tech news and personal things. Or I'll just share it on facebook instead. That would save everyone the step of using an RSS reader or actually bookmarking the page. We'll see where this thing lands. If anyone reads this, thanks for taking the ride.
-CK