Wordsmith Extraodinaire

Spiff recommends...

Her point is...

Jennifer Maestre

Thanks /ambivalence

Lay down low and stand up swinging....

...land on me with both feet...HARD!

Let me just save...

...up enough of it so I can give it away.


. . .

Thoughts on Google's Wave

Disclaimer 1: I drank the Google Kool-aid a long time ago...

Disclaimer 2: The extent of my knowledge about Google Wave comes from the 1:20 video presentation seen at wave.google.com

1. Unlike some other social media critics I am IMPRESSED! Having few preconceptions and very little expectations I was simply blown away by the forward thinking of the Wave team.
   
2. My personal yardstick in matters of software/application tools: Does the tool meet the hand. To this I say a resounding "Yes!"

Observations:

The evolution of the Internet or any technology for that matter is not defined by desires or expectations. The evolution of technology is defined by on-the-ground, in-the-moment, proven achievements. Pundits all too often predicate their views and criticisms on their personal "vapor-ware" preferences as opposed to the existing, working, less-than-perfect real-ware tools offered in real-time.

New Word Order

Written On The City

Roasted Potato Salad... (Part 2 - The Eating)

There is something about simple potato salad. The creamy texture of the mayo, the bite of the mustard, the crunch of celery and the bright highlight of the onion all surrounding - in this case - the body of roasted potato cubes. With that last element the salad went from elegantly simple to simply elegant.

Now, if I might, let me round out the epicurian picture.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

I removed the "silver film" from the pork tenderloin (the smaller cut, 1 - 1.5 lbs) and then tied it into a pinwheel. Salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder to taste then seared on all "sides" in 2 tbls of olive oil in a smoking hot cast iron skillet.

Once the browning is complete then cover the pork loin with strips of hickory smoked bacon. The bacon does three important things for this meal. First, it is a 'moisturizer' for the little roast. Second, it is a cooking indicator. I know I will be taken to task for saying this but, "when the bacon is done, the pork loin is done" (Yeah, I am one of those that prefers pork done. Sorry.)

Finally, the third and perhaps most important reason for the bacon is to compliment the potato salad.

So, in presentation there are three slight slices of roasted pinwheel pork loin opposite a serving of cold roasted potato salad married together with a strip of chrisp bacon.

Enjoy...

Roasted Potato Salad...

This will be an experiment in cross culinary thinking... so here goes.

I pealed and cubed a mess (4 medium & 5 small) russet potatoes. Then parboiled them, just a little too long but we will see. I had intended to only bring them to a boil and then stop but... distracted folding laundry. Subject to my own criticism - cooking is a full time, full attention activity.

I thooroughly drained and tossed the cubes with a mixture of olive oil, fresh cracked black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, crushed dried rosemary, a sprinkling of marjoram and a touch of red pepper flake. I added a little more olive oil and then spread the cubes onto a stick resistant baking sheet. Popped the whole thing into a 325 F oven and set the timer for 15 minutes.

Turned them gently, still soft, due to being over parboiled. I will have to watch that next time.

Second turning begins to show a little body to the cubes. No color yet.

Like the Emril Lagassi fellow is fond of saying, I wish you could have Smell-o-vision ... just the scent of these roasting potatoes is to die for. Now I am torn. Just a second...

Third turn - cubes are now quite firm and beginning to show a haze of that GBD color (Golden Brown Delicious).

So I am torn... and so here is my resolve. I will divide this nearly 6 cups of cubes and only make potato salad with half of them. Just have to eat the rest of them straight up...maybe...

decisions...decisions...

We are all children of the digital age...

... it is just that some of us have more analog baggage than others.

My overgrown field is not empty!

I would call it more lazy than green. I stopped mowing the majority of our 1.58 acre parcel some time ago. It actually started out of boredom. I was bored with mowing a 1.58 acre short grass fairway. Open Mowing sums it up rather well...

This morning while I was out assessing the state of our poison ivy patch I saw a devastating sight. I cursed. I swore. My heart wept at the sight. Some lowlife careless human being had thoughtlessly driven their automobile across a section of my unmowed (unmown ?) yard. Worse still they flattened a 3 year old White Pine.

This isn't just any White Pine. This isn't a nursery 3 year old. No, this is a grown from a single twiglette sapling planted by my own hands White Pine. One of the few that we could find again after the grass grew tall at summer's end. One of the fewer still that survived not only the first winter but the second which included a wicked ice storm. Now to be laid low by some careless person who could not see that my overgrown field is not empty.

Cast Iron perspectives...

Carrying a 10" cast iron skillet full of boiling water from the stove to the sink offered a clear lesson: keep the water level. It is not about carrying the pan level. It is about keeping the boiling water calm and level.

Building a structure on a hillside might require extreme architectural measure but it can all be overcome by keeping the contained space level and calm.

A potter seeking to throw a utilitarian vessel must keep the contained space level and calm.

In personal relationships no matter how jagged and acute the angles one's heart must remain level and calm.

Don't watch this video... it will only confuse you.

For everyone else there's...

Thanks to

The Linux and Unix Menagerie

FUD: Don't get it on your shoes - it stains.

First: BrandIndex - cited as the authority that Mircrosoft is winning the PC vs. Mac war... Okay, but when I went to visit BrandX BrandIndex this is what I found...

Latest News Alerts

Below are some of the latest news alerts from BrandIndex - all stories are delayed by at least 24 hours.

Retail Downturn Rains on Macy's Parade »

Date Posted: 01 December 2008

Macy’s and it’s strong reputation scores

Please, note the date of this late breaking news item ... Hmmmmm, probably has a strong grip on the current market situation. Further down the page we got all the way to ...

The Recession Tracker: The Real Story of the Recession »

Date Posted: 20 February 2009

All the way up to 20 February 2009 - late breaking news....

---

Then there was the case of the the cataclysmic concern that SSDs Can't Replace HDDs ...

Report: SSDs Can't Replace HDDs

. . .

However, storage system integration specialist Origin Storage quickly fired back at the company's claim, saying that any plan to replace magnetic hard drives--especially in laptops--is doomed to failure. Why? Andy Cordial, Origin Storage's managing director, said that SSDs definitely have their place, but cannot replace the "flexibility" and "longevity" that magnetic drives offer most laptop users in rugged environments and other "specialist" situations.

Always cordial, Andy Cordial makes his case that SSD 'cannot replace ... magnetic drives...'

In other late breaking news pundits affirm that the horseless carriage will never replace ol' Bossy and the surrey with the fringe on top.

Just lego yo feelin's

Maniac T-Shirt

Again with the negative vibes...

"Why Linux Is Not (Yet) Ready for the Desktop"

Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 18th May 2009 19:06 UTC

We all know them. We all hate them. They are generally overdone, completely biased, or so vague they border on the edge of pointlessness (or toppled over said edge). Yes, I'm talking about those "Is Linux ready for the desktop" articles. Still, this one is different .

Let me be very clear here: Linux should not be used for mainstream desktops.

That being said it doesn't matter how succinct or eloquent the kvetching ... it is still kvetching. Artem S. Tashkinov ( this one is different ) has simple stated the one-sided obvious - a.) Linux is not Windows and b.) Linux is not suited for mainstream desktop use.

Okay! Please take your ball and bat and go home! Stop kvetching that something you obviously don't like isn't meeting your standards. Okay! Use Windows!

Linux should not be used for mainstream desktops. This is in part true because most desktop users are not computer literate enough to use anything but the most simple point-n-click user interface. This is in part true because the majority of users don't care how/when/why/where things get done - they only want it to happen in a way that they won't have to think about.

Windows is the best OS for automatons! Don't let them near Linux, they will only hurt themselves.

(I have been using Linux as a desktop OS since the turn of the century. I know first hand that it is not Windows. From my ivory-tower geek perspective the merits of Linux so far out-weigh Windows that the seeming sacrifice is well worth it.)

Too much "stuff"...

Recently I have become aware of a growing interest in small homes...

Welcome. Come on in. My name is Jay Shafer and since 1997 I have been living in houses smaller than some people’s closets. I call the first of my little hand built houses Tumbleweed. My decision to inhabit just 89 square feet arose from some concerns I had about the impact a larger house would have on the environment, and because I do not want to maintain a lot of unused or unusable space. My houses have met all of my domestic needs without demanding much in return. The simple, slower lifestyle my homes have afforded is a luxury for which I am continually grateful. Read more…

I once lived in an apartment with two other college chums in the "good old days". It was a two bedroom apartment but we talked the landlord into allowing me to move in ... to the 6Wx9Lx10h closet. (Desperate times called for desperate measures.) It was a time before "stuff". Previously I had been living in my step-van - one of those little right-hand drive mail delivery trucks. I just didn't have much "stuff".

With a 6'x2' window at the far end and a 4'x8' loft for sleeping suspended I had both a vista and almost twice the floor space, as it were. Rolling out of bed in the morning was a bit interesting ... a nearly 6' drop to the floor required a clear head and certain physical agility.

Now when I see how well appointed some of these tiny homes are I am very envious. But more than the appointments I am envious of the lack of "stuff". How very neat and clean these small homes appear. Oh to have such a simple life. Oh the irony of having just purchased a 10x16 'shed' (unfinished on the inside) to hold just some of my "stuff". Some of the "stuff" that owns me.

How conveeeeenient.... more Bushillt!

Bush's 'Smoking Gun' Witness Found Dead
IndictBushNow files Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to get to bottom of story

The cover-up of Bush-era crimes is taking a shocking but not unexpected turn. A fateful move has been made and it is certain to backfire.

Colin Powell used al-Libi's tortured and knowingly fabricated testimony to tell the United Nations that Saddam Hussein's government was helping al-Qaeda develop weapons of mass destruction to kill Americans. It was all a lie.

IndictBushNow.org is joining with the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund and the ANSWER Coalition to demand that the truth be told. We have filed a Freedom of Information Act Request (FOIA) with the CIA, Department of Defense, Department of State and other agencies to reveal information in their possession about Libi’s imprisonment, torture, false testimony on Iraq and the circumstances of his death. To read a copy of the FOIA, click this link.

A prisoner who was horribly tortured in 2002 until he agreed - at the demand of Bush torturers - to say that al-Qaeda was linked to Saddam Hussein is suddenly dead. Several weeks ago, Human Rights Watch investigators discovered the missing inmate and talked to him. He had been secretly transferred by the administration to a prison in Libya after having been held by the CIA both in secret “black hole prisons” and in Egypt.

Under conditions of extreme torture, the prisoner, Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi, agreed in 2002 to supply the Bush-ordered interrogators what they sought as a political cover for Bush’s marketing of the pending war of aggression against Iraq. Mr. Libi agreed to tell them whatever they wanted in exchange for an end to the torture. The now famous Torture Memos providing legal cover for the torture were written at the same time starting in the summer of 2002.

Libi’s tortured and knowingly fabricated testimony was the source of information used by Bush to sell the war to the U.S. Senate, and the source for Colin Powell’s bogus and lying presentation to the United Nations in 2003.

Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice are now running around saying that the torture regime “protected the country from terrorist attack.” But the torture was used for the personal political goals of Bush and Cheney: namely, to sell their Iraq invasion to a very skeptical and disbelieving country.

Having been discovered by human rights investigators two weeks ago, Mr. Libi’s story coincided with the release of the Torture Memos and the growing clamor for criminal prosecutions of Bush officials.

His testimony is the smoking gun that would reveal that the torture regime was not for “national security” but for the personal political aims of Bush and Cheney.

He was Exhibit A in the indictment that alleges that tortured confessions and the contrived legal justifications of torture set up by Justice Department lawyers in July/August 2002 were central to the launch of the war against Iraq.

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died and tens of thousands of U.S. service members have either been killed or badly wounded in a war that was based on lies fortified and promoted by the most sadistic torture.

Mr. Libi is suddenly dead. A Libyan “newspaper source” says that his death is an apparent suicide. His friends don’t believe that.

Barack O Spock, man

"Now that we have a vulcan in the Whitehouse..."
- comment by NPR interviewee



















Thanks /Ambivalence