Sunday, September 11, 2005

25 food hacks

 Here are 25 ways we humans show we can't ever be satisfied with the "usual" ways of preparing, cooking and even eating our food. Make it yourself. Do it yourself. Hack it yourself. There's something for everyone here.

  1. How to avoid crying when chopping onions
  2. Make fire with a can of Coke and a chocolate bar
  3. Peltier beer cooler
  4. Lighting a barbeque with liquid oxygen
  5. Open-source beer
  6. OpenCola
  7. Geek your barbecue
  8. Liquid-nitrogen ice cream
  9. How to process sap from trees and make maple syrup
  10. 43Folders hacks for food, food storage, nutrition, coffee, tea, water, recipes and the kitchen.
  11. Making "bad" vodka "good" using a Brita filter
  12. How to make ginger ale and root beer at home
  13. Do-it-yourself Margarita maker
  14. Make your own marshmallows
  15. Chill a bottle of wine in six minutes
  16. Make your own Peeps
  17. Do-it-yourself brick pizza oven
  18. The big red juicer
  19. Beer can chicken
  20. How to cool the burn of chiles
  21. Cookin' with Google
  22. The Cook's Thesaurus
  23. Thorax cake
  24. Gastronomy for geeks
  25. Aluminum can backpacking stove

From Slashfood via growabrain

Fingerprint keypad door lock

Fingerprint lock Enjoy the safety and security with the Q-See Fingerprint and Keypad Door Lock.  It is the perfect combination of top biometric technology w/ keypad technology.

Features:

·          Adopts Optical Sensor w/ High Resolution (500 DPI)

·          3 Ways to Unlock: Fingerprint + PIN, PIN, and Mechanical Key

·          Single Latch Easy to Install

·          Capacity: 138 Fingerprint templates maximum

·          Fingerprint can be enrolled and deleted on the lock directly.  No software needed.

 

Functions of the Keypad:

·          Wake up the lock w/ PIN

·          Unlock w/ PIN
Enable to enroll Fingerprint

·          Modify PIN

·          Delete enrolled fingerprints

·          Initialize the lock

·          Unique normal open state for meeting or gathering 

 

Technical Specifications:

·    Fingerprint sensor: Optical sensor 

·    Sensor resolution: 500 dpi 

·    Authentication speed: <1 second 

·    Authentication methods 1:N or 1:1 

·    FRR: =0.0001%

·    Angle for putting finger:  ±45°

·    Fingerprint scanning: Once to get one fingerprint template 

·    Fingerprint template:  All enrolled fingerprint template will be saved while replacing the batteries

·    User capacity: 138 max 

·    Light jam: Sunlight resistible 

·    Sensor surface: Optical glass with PVD coated 

·    Operating voltage: 4 AA alkaline batteries, DC 4.5~6.0v

·    Battery life: Approx 12 months 

·    Temperature for storage:  -25°C-85°C

·    Static current: <10uA

·    Dynamic current: 110mA~180mA

Available from Costco for $199.99

Saturday, September 10, 2005

25 Mind-Numbingly Stupid Quotes About Hurricane Katrina

Here are just a few of them:

 1) "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." –President Bush, on "Good Morning America," Sept. 1, 2005, six days after repeated warnings from experts about the scope of damage expected from Hurricane Katrina 

 2) "What I'm hearing which is sort of scary is that they all want to stay in Texas. Everybody is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so this (chuckle) – this is working very well for them." –Former First Lady Barbara Bush, on the Hurricane flood evacuees in the Houston Astrodome, Sept. 5, 2005

 4) "We've got a lot of rebuilding to do ... The good news is — and it's hard for some to see it now — that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house — he's lost his entire house — there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch." (Laughter) —President Bush, touring hurricane damage, Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2, 2005

 5) "Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans, virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively well." –FEMA Director Michael Brown, Sept. 1, 2005

 7) "I have not heard a report of thousands of people in the convention center who don't have food and water." –Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, on NPR's "All Things Considered," Sept. 1, 2005

 10) "You simply get chills every time you see these poor individuals...many of these people, almost all of them that we see are so poor and they are so black, and this is going to raise lots of questions for people who are watching this story unfold." –CNN's Wolf Blitzer, on New Orleans' hurricane evacuees, Sept. 1, 2005

13) "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did." –Rep. Richard Baker (R-LA) to lobbyists, as quoted in the Wall Street Journal

 14) "Louisiana is a city that is largely under water." –Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, news conference, Sept. 3, 2005

 15) "I also want to encourage anybody who was affected by Hurricane Corina to make sure their children are in school." –First Lady Laura Bush, twice referring to a "Hurricane Corina" while speaking to children and parents in South Haven, Mississippi, Sept. 8, 2005

 16) "It's totally wiped out. ... It's devastating, it's got to be doubly devastating on the ground." –President Bush, turning to his aides while surveying Hurricane Katrina flood damage from Air Force One, Aug. 31, 2005

 20) "We just learned of the convention center – we being the federal government – today." –FEMA Director Michael Brown, to ABC's Ted Koppel, Sept. 1, 2005, to which Koppel responded " Don't you guys watch television? Don't you guys listen to the radio? Our reporters have been reporting on it for more than just today."

Here’s the complete list

via J-Walk blog

What can Brown do TO you?

Brown

Blowing booger bubbles

Booger baby

Notice anything funny in this pic from the movie "Troy"?

Planeintroythemovie

Top Ten Reasons To Eat Macaroni and Cheese

Authorized List

10. Tastes great!
9. Easy to make!
8. Kids love it!
7. Cheap!
6. Fast!
5. Is a meal in itself!
4. Has as few as 2 ingredients!
3. Anyone can make it!
2. Everyone will like you!
1. You can order this great book by clicking here!

Unauthorized List

  • You can still eat it after you lose your teeth.
  • Some brands glow in the dark for romantic meals.
  • The noodles have no feelings (not really).
  • You can store it in your cheeks for between meal snacks.
  • Leftovers can be used in a pillow case in the guest room.
  • Comes in convenient nostril sizes.
  • Protects your fall if you nod off at the dinner table.
  • Doesn’t taste like brussel sprouts.
  • Grows mold very slowly.
  • You can tell small children it’s yellow candy.
  • If you hold it to years you can hear the wind rustling through the cheese fields.
  • Contains no cheese!
  • Ideal for that new Pasta and Cheddar Diet plan.
  • Vegetarian! Has no vegetables!
  • Cheaper than Prozac.
  • OK to chew during the national anthem.
  • Rinses out with Visine.
  • Cheap way to bribe politicians.
  • Works well with the Heimlich maneuver.
  • Even if it clogs your arteries the blood can still flow through the little tubes.
  • Can be used to hide small, yellow tubes.

via Information Junk

Make your own snow at home

Snow

Make snow at home

via Information Junk

Nice guppies

2006-bikinis

Grandpa is not gonna be happy

Waterfall

via growabrain

World Record Watermelon

Weighing in at 268.8 lbs.
Watermelon

Grown by the Bright family in Hope Arkansas.  Read all about it.

via growabrain

How to make a smoker out of a trash can

Elecsmoker-10Grilling is cooking meat by the direct application of high heat with a gas burner or an electric heater.  Grilling is simple since temperature is easy, but doesn't bring any new flavors to the party.

BBQing is cooking meat by the direct application of heat with charcoal or wood.  The burning of the fuel adds flavor to the meat.  BBQing requires more skill since the flames must be managed to prevent burning or low temperatures.

Smoking is cooking meat by the indirect application of heat with wood at low temperatures.  Low temperatures are considered around 225°.  The smoke of the burning wood adds significant flavor to the meat.

Due to the lower temperature, smoking meat takes a longer time than grilling or BBQing.  Using different woods leads to different flavors being imparted into the meat. 

Complete instructions on how one guy created an electric smoker.

via growabrain

Here's a different kind of event - The Bacon-Off

BaconThe Bacon-Off 

Rules

  • everybody brings 8 1lb packages of bacon, a skillet and a good attitude
  • you puke, you lose, loser.
  • turkey bacon is NOT bacon
  • bacon will not be cooked to order.
  • bacon is eaten in rounds
    • each round is one package of bacon
    • the first three rounds last five minutes each
    • each round after the third is five minutes longer than the previous
    • there is a 10 minute break between rounds
    • contestants may walk around between rounds
  • this is a drug-free event.  no stoners with munchies.
  • ROAR

via growabrain

First Lady in to rescue Bush's character after Hurricane Corina

Laura-Bush-CorrinaIn a LIVE interview Laura Bush urges all children to get back to school after “Hurricane Corina.”

I know it's hard to believe, but we have all been calling the Hurricane by the wrong name. Laura Bush sets us straight.

                            Video-WMP so far

                           Video-QT

Are George's speech difficulties contagious?

This stuff is funnier than anything I could make up.

via Crooks and liars

Wanna buy a phone book?

Here’s the 1963 St. Louis phone book.  You can buy it for only $38.  I knew I shoulda been saving them.
Slu63wp

Click here for more old phone books.

via J-Walk blog

Friday, September 09, 2005

Breakfast - fortified with iron

Iron egg

We really mean an iron…. like Mom used to use on your shirts.

A good wife knows her place

Housekeeping Monthly – May 13, 1955,  advice column on how to be a "good wife." Highlights include:

  • Good wife Freshening up
  • Being a little gay
  • Catering to his comfort
  • Showing your sincerity in your desire to please him
  • Preparing the children to be quiet around him
  • Remembering that his topics of conversation are more important than yours
  • Making the evening his
  • Readying his drink
  • Arranging his pillow 
  • Knowing your place

I guess we have come a long way                                     

                                                                                                                           Click image to enlarge

via Lawgeek

Cheeze Puff anyone?

Cheeze puff babe

If your city flooded as much as New Orlenas did... how far would it reach?

Here’s the St. Louis equivalent flood map:
Stlouis-flood-map

Check out your city.

via Metafilter

Being poor

Something to think about:

  •  Being poor is hoping the toothache goes away.
  •  Being poor is wondering if your well-off sibling is lying when he says he doesn't mind when you ask for help.
  •  Being poor is off-brand toys.
  •  Being poor is a heater in only one room of the house.
  •  Being poor is hoping your kids don't have a growth spurt.
  •  Being poor is Goodwill underwear.
  •  Being poor is not enough space for everyone who lives with you.
  •  Being poor is relying on people who don't give a damn about you.
  •  Being poor is a bathtub you have to empty into the toilet.
  •  Being poor is stopping the car to take a lamp from a stranger's trash.
  •  Being poor is hoping you'll be invited for dinner.
  •  Being poor is needing that 35-cent raise.
  • Being poor is people surprised to discover you're not actually stupid.
  • Being poor is people surprised to discover you're not actually lazy.
  •  Being poor is picking the 10 cent ramen instead of the 12 cent ramen because that's two extra packages for every dollar.
  •  Being poor is deciding that it's all right to base a relationship on shelter.
  •  Being poor is a $200 paycheck advance from a company that takes $250 when the paycheck comes in.
  •  Being poor is knowing how hard it is to stop being poor.
  •  Being poor is people wondering why you didn't leave.

More Being poor

via Look at this