Friday, October 10, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Clover coffee review...
Well, ever since McDonald's was found to have better coffee than Starbucks, you knew Starbucks was going to do something about it.
Well, they did. In March Starbucks announced they were acquiring a coffee equipment company and more specifically their hailed coffee machine called 'Clover'.
Watch in wonder as a cup of Clover coffee being made (pre-Starbucks):
Early adopters of this $11,000 coffee machine were turning around and charging $7/cup...not so with Starbuck. I paid closer to $3/cup for my this morning at my local Starbucks.
The coffee was good....really good. You can think of it as entering the realm of wine. By that I mean, some people will go to a restaurant and order "A glass of red please", while others will order "A glass of Chateau Pouyanne Grave Bordeaux please". I'm not a coffee connoisseur (more of an espresso addict) but even I can appreciate the quality/complexity of this coffee (sure, feels silly to type that but eh, it's true!).
I enjoyed a cup of Tanzania Clover and chatted with the barista in charge of this strange contraption. In all honesty the employee's there were very excited about this, and loved to talk endlessly about it to the customers (who had gathered around to watch this thing in action).
How does it work? I'll let Wired take this one (great Wired article on Clover here):
"Here's how it works: 1. A barista selects dose, water temperature, and steep time. 2. A piston pulls down the filter platform while freshly ground coffee is poured into the chamber. 3. Hot water flows into the chamber. 4. The barista briskly stirs the grounds with a whisk, and the water and beans steep for several seconds. 5.The piston rises, creating a vacuum that separates the brew from the grounds, then lowers, forcing the joe out of a nozzle below. 6. The piston rises to the surface again, pushing up a disc of grounds, which are squeegeed away."
It gets two thumbs up from me. If nothing else, give it a try at least once. If you like coffee you love Clover.
Well, they did. In March Starbucks announced they were acquiring a coffee equipment company and more specifically their hailed coffee machine called 'Clover'.
Watch in wonder as a cup of Clover coffee being made (pre-Starbucks):
Early adopters of this $11,000 coffee machine were turning around and charging $7/cup...not so with Starbuck. I paid closer to $3/cup for my this morning at my local Starbucks.
The coffee was good....really good. You can think of it as entering the realm of wine. By that I mean, some people will go to a restaurant and order "A glass of red please", while others will order "A glass of Chateau Pouyanne Grave Bordeaux please". I'm not a coffee connoisseur (more of an espresso addict) but even I can appreciate the quality/complexity of this coffee (sure, feels silly to type that but eh, it's true!).
I enjoyed a cup of Tanzania Clover and chatted with the barista in charge of this strange contraption. In all honesty the employee's there were very excited about this, and loved to talk endlessly about it to the customers (who had gathered around to watch this thing in action).
How does it work? I'll let Wired take this one (great Wired article on Clover here):
"Here's how it works: 1. A barista selects dose, water temperature, and steep time. 2. A piston pulls down the filter platform while freshly ground coffee is poured into the chamber. 3. Hot water flows into the chamber. 4. The barista briskly stirs the grounds with a whisk, and the water and beans steep for several seconds. 5.The piston rises, creating a vacuum that separates the brew from the grounds, then lowers, forcing the joe out of a nozzle below. 6. The piston rises to the surface again, pushing up a disc of grounds, which are squeegeed away."It gets two thumbs up from me. If nothing else, give it a try at least once. If you like coffee you love Clover.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
How to disable semantic error highlighting in Visio...
Getting those annoying red highlighted "UMLE00044: ...If a contained element, which is not an association or generalization has a name, then the name must be unique in the namespace." errors? Know its the same name but you don't care and just want to remove the red highlighting?
To disable:
UML->Options
Uncheck 'Check semantic errors on UML model element'
Still not sure why this isn't easily found in the help, or online.
To disable:
UML->Options
Uncheck 'Check semantic errors on UML model element'
Still not sure why this isn't easily found in the help, or online.
Monday, August 25, 2008
How did the featured Home Depot olympians fare in 2008?
So you remember that commercial Home Depot ran over, and over, and over again about how they "Employ more Olympic/Paralympic hopefuls..."?
Well, I was wondering, how did the featured Home Depot Olympians fare in 2008?
This is the commercial titled "Sweat":
Olympians featured in the commercial and their 2008 results:
Howard Bach (Cashier):
Professional badminton player. Competed in the 2004 Olympics, but no mention of him making it to the 2008 Olympics.
Kristi Marano (Lawn & Garden):
Freestyle Wrestler. Not at the 2008 Olympics. It is spelled "Kristie" everywhere and not "Kristi" as shown in the video, so they must have made a spelling mistake in the video.
Ryan Reser (Millwork):
Judo wrestler. Was actually at the 2008 Olympics, but he was knocked out in the round of 32.
Rebecca Quinn (Kitchens):
Racing cyclist. Not selected for the 2008 squad.
Brian Sell (Garden):
Marathoner and distance runner. Made the 2008 Olympics marathoner squad. Finished 22nd (3rd among Americans) with a time of 2:16:07.
A.G. Kruger (Tools):
Hammer thrower. Competed in the 2008 Olympics, but did not reach the final as he finished in the bottom 7 in qualifying.
Mary Wineberg (Lighting):
Competed in the 400m race, and finished 5th in her heat. Competed in the 4x400m relay and won gold!
Well, seems like this was more of a "check out our past and present Olympians" commercial rather than the "check out our 2008 Olympians" commercial I was hoping it was. Still, at least there was a gold medal in there.
Home Depot was quoted as saying "So far this year, 17 Home Depot athletes have qualified for the U.S. Olympic team"
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2008/05/10/hdolympics_0511.html
So, where is the list of the other Olympians? Not on Home Depot's web page. I found some listed in some flash here:
http://teamusa.homedepot.com/
Olympians NOT featured in the commercial and their 2008 results:
Lindsey Durlacher:
Greco-Roman style Wrestling. Appears to have not qualified. I can't find her in any results.
Merrill Moses:
Water Polo. Qualified for the Olympic team. Team won the silver medal!
Kristin Heaston:
Shot Put. Qualified 2nd for the Olympic team. Placed 23rd in the qualifying round with a throw of 17.34m
Ronda Rousey:
Qualified for the Olympic team. Lost the quarter final match, but ended up winning a Bronze medal via the repechage bracket!
Chris Boyles:
Decathlon runner. Does not appear to have qualified. No results listed under his name.
Michelle Guerette:
Rowing. Earned a silver medal with a time of 7:22.28 in the single sculls!
Josh McAdams:
3000m Steeplechase. Qualified for 2008 Olympics. Finished 9th in his heat, so did not advance to finals.
Simona Hradil:
Taekwondo. Does not appear to have qualified. No results under her name.
Hanna Thompson:
Fencing. Qualified for the 2008 Olympics. Did not advance past Women's Individual Foil - Round of 32. However, as part of the American foil team, captured the silver medal!
So, overall pretty good for "Team Home Depot". If I missed anything, be sure to let me know. It would be nice if Home Depot had a 'list' instead of me having to glean this information from various locations.
Well, I was wondering, how did the featured Home Depot Olympians fare in 2008?
This is the commercial titled "Sweat":
Olympians featured in the commercial and their 2008 results:
Howard Bach (Cashier):
Professional badminton player. Competed in the 2004 Olympics, but no mention of him making it to the 2008 Olympics.
Kristi Marano (Lawn & Garden):
Freestyle Wrestler. Not at the 2008 Olympics. It is spelled "Kristie" everywhere and not "Kristi" as shown in the video, so they must have made a spelling mistake in the video.
Ryan Reser (Millwork):
Judo wrestler. Was actually at the 2008 Olympics, but he was knocked out in the round of 32.
Rebecca Quinn (Kitchens):
Racing cyclist. Not selected for the 2008 squad.
Brian Sell (Garden):
Marathoner and distance runner. Made the 2008 Olympics marathoner squad. Finished 22nd (3rd among Americans) with a time of 2:16:07.
A.G. Kruger (Tools):
Hammer thrower. Competed in the 2008 Olympics, but did not reach the final as he finished in the bottom 7 in qualifying.
Mary Wineberg (Lighting):
Competed in the 400m race, and finished 5th in her heat. Competed in the 4x400m relay and won gold!
Well, seems like this was more of a "check out our past and present Olympians" commercial rather than the "check out our 2008 Olympians" commercial I was hoping it was. Still, at least there was a gold medal in there.
Home Depot was quoted as saying "So far this year, 17 Home Depot athletes have qualified for the U.S. Olympic team"
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2008/05/10/hdolympics_0511.html
So, where is the list of the other Olympians? Not on Home Depot's web page. I found some listed in some flash here:
http://teamusa.homedepot.com/
Olympians NOT featured in the commercial and their 2008 results:
Lindsey Durlacher:
Greco-Roman style Wrestling. Appears to have not qualified. I can't find her in any results.
Merrill Moses:
Water Polo. Qualified for the Olympic team. Team won the silver medal!
Kristin Heaston:
Shot Put. Qualified 2nd for the Olympic team. Placed 23rd in the qualifying round with a throw of 17.34m
Ronda Rousey:
Qualified for the Olympic team. Lost the quarter final match, but ended up winning a Bronze medal via the repechage bracket!
Chris Boyles:
Decathlon runner. Does not appear to have qualified. No results listed under his name.
Michelle Guerette:
Rowing. Earned a silver medal with a time of 7:22.28 in the single sculls!
Josh McAdams:
3000m Steeplechase. Qualified for 2008 Olympics. Finished 9th in his heat, so did not advance to finals.
Simona Hradil:
Taekwondo. Does not appear to have qualified. No results under her name.
Hanna Thompson:
Fencing. Qualified for the 2008 Olympics. Did not advance past Women's Individual Foil - Round of 32. However, as part of the American foil team, captured the silver medal!
So, overall pretty good for "Team Home Depot". If I missed anything, be sure to let me know. It would be nice if Home Depot had a 'list' instead of me having to glean this information from various locations.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Are dunkin' donuts hash browns bad for you?
I'm not sure. Nothing jumps off the page at me, so I'm going to say they aren't terrible, but could do with a bit less artificial-ness. A lot of it seems to be stemming from the fact that they are prefrozen and need to last and 'look good' at the time of reheating.
Ingrediants Breakdown:
https://www.dunkindonuts.com/aboutus/nutrition/Product.aspx?Category=OvenToastedItems&id=DD-977
POTATOES - ok, glad to see that is listed first in hash browns
VEGETABLE OIL - makes snese
DEHYDRATED POTATO FLAKES
(POTATOES, - more potatoes, ok
MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, - Used to blend the potatoe flakes with the veggie oil.
SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE & CITRIC ACID) - keeps color from fading in frozen hash browns
SALT - yup, salt
GRANULATED ONION - ok
POTATO STARCH - MODIFIED - binding and texturing agents
MODIFIED CELLULOSE - another stabilizing, binding, or suspending agent is my guess
SPICES - mysterious spices...I think I see rosemary
LEAVENING - Causes a foaming action intended to lighten and soften the finished product
SODIUM ALGINATE - Used to increase viscosity and as an emulsifier
GARLIC POWDER - Ghahhhlic
CALCIUM LACTATE - white crystalline salt used as a baking powder
SODIUM CITRATE - Salty tart flavor additive
XANTHAN GUM - Probably used as for gluten-free baking
MALIC ACID - Normally used in candy for extreme tartness
DEXTROSE - glucose
SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE - keeps the color from fading
Ingrediants Breakdown:
https://www.dunkindonuts.com/aboutus/nutrition/Product.aspx?Category=OvenToastedItems&id=DD-977
POTATOES - ok, glad to see that is listed first in hash browns
VEGETABLE OIL - makes snese
DEHYDRATED POTATO FLAKES
(POTATOES, - more potatoes, ok
MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, - Used to blend the potatoe flakes with the veggie oil.
SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE & CITRIC ACID) - keeps color from fading in frozen hash browns
SALT - yup, salt
GRANULATED ONION - ok
POTATO STARCH - MODIFIED - binding and texturing agents
MODIFIED CELLULOSE - another stabilizing, binding, or suspending agent is my guess
SPICES - mysterious spices...I think I see rosemary
LEAVENING - Causes a foaming action intended to lighten and soften the finished product
SODIUM ALGINATE - Used to increase viscosity and as an emulsifier
GARLIC POWDER - Ghahhhlic
CALCIUM LACTATE - white crystalline salt used as a baking powder
SODIUM CITRATE - Salty tart flavor additive
XANTHAN GUM - Probably used as for gluten-free baking
MALIC ACID - Normally used in candy for extreme tartness
DEXTROSE - glucose
SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE - keeps the color from fading
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