Two brains are better than one August 26, 2010
Posted by tedbrassfield in Uncategorized.Tags: food, cocktails, She
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One of my favorite food sites is 101 Cookbooks – lots of yummy, interesting, healthy, and most importantly, vegetarian food. (Don’t worry friends, the infamous vegetarian-hating, bacon-loving Ted Brassfield has not converted – this is She, guest blogging while He cooks up fish tacos for dinner.) I usually leave the adventurous recipes to Ted, but it just so happened that I was perusing 101 Cookbooks and came across a chile blackberry syrup recipe on a day when I had a pound of blackberries in the refrigerator. So I hopped over to our Latin market, picked up some guajillo chiles (the one item I didn’t have on hand), and gave the recipe a whirl. The result? A gorgeous, deep purple syrup with a bright blackberry flavor (not at all jammy) and a healthy dose of heat (yowzer!).
Having just finished the last of the 32 ounces made in that first batch, let me share a few suggestions for usage:
- Add a dash to sparkling water for a refreshing summer drink (though there was a bit too much heat for me to consume much of it this way)
- Add some bourbon to make a Briar Patch, a delightful little cocktail
- Ted’s brilliant creation: shake with shochu for a lighter cocktail that perfectly highlights the flavors of both the syrup and the liquor
- We topped off a blueberry crumble, made by our friend Alexandra, with some syrup – so very berrylicious!
- And the piece de resistance? Ted added some to his fish tacos tonight. I was skeptical, but by god, it was actually quite good!
Recalls Galore (But Vegan is NOT the answer) August 24, 2010
Posted by tedbrassfield in Uncategorized.Tags: Local food, vegans, recalls, egg recall, Polyface, transparency
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A half billion eggs have been recalled. Tyson just issued a recall of deli meat shipped to Walmart. And the host’s comment on NPR’s Marketplace: “Vegan, anyone?“
Two quick responses: First, I hope that he is not sued under the veggie libel laws, as I really enjoy marketplace, and industrial agriculture has way, way, way too much influence in our legal system. (The latest proposal in Colorado was to add a year of jail time to anyone who disparages and discourages the eating of Colorado Food… If you remember, Oprah had to spend $5 million bucks to beat the accusations of Texas cattle ranchers after her comments regarding a beef recall.)
Second: Vegan is NOT the answer! Vegans would have been screwed by the Organic Peanut Butter Recall and the various spinach and salad mix recalls of the past few years. No, the answer–for those who can afford it–is to move away from industrial agriculture and enjoy local food. Not exactly local to me, but a wonderful stop on a camping trip last year was Polyface Farms. They have a truly sustainable, free range, and holistic setup for eggs, beef, rabbits, pigs, etc. Phenomenal food, enthusiastic workers, and beautiful land. They were criticized (and had legal action brought against them) for their open air butchering–which they do because they want consumers to know every step of the food process–by big Agriculture, but the action was dropped after they proved that their meat was exposed to a fraction of the bacteria present at the mega-rendering facilities. Better food through OPEN methods (also works for software, legislation, and oil spill cleanup).
Exciting Weekend Ahead! August 23, 2010
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The Tea Partiers are coming, the Tea Partiers are coming!
I am very excited about this opportunity to engage people from outside my narrowminded neighborhood in intelligent discourse about the role of immigration in contemporary society. I might even get to meet one of those 19-percenters who hopes to remove our foreign-born president* from office. (In the interest of full disclosure, I am pretty sure that I was born in Colorado, but I don’t have any newspaper clippings with my birth announcement, so I hope that they can see past my Canadian relatives and that we can talk like real Americans.)
As of right now, I am planning on meeting misguided people at the metro station and politely requesting that they not take advantage of my tax dollars on their way home–they should instead take a pedi-cab or a foreign-oil-fueled vehicle back to their hotels. Because this will only help inform their decisions on the way back, I have submitted a request to Metro to add a special surcharge for all farecard-based travel this Saturday (after all, if someone has a SmartTrip Metro card, they are probably already subsidizing the system with their tax dollars) to offset any tax-payer subsidized taint of the transit system; I don’t want some innocent tea-partier to unknowingly encourage taxation during their visit!
Unfortunately, I have made a grave error in my plans for this weekend. I invited an immigrant. He is a nice guy, but, as an immigrant, he has taken an American job from the lovely people who will be gathering at the Lincoln memorial. Perhaps if I ask him to wear a pin that says “I am a Canadian and I am sorry for taking an American job. If you have a master’s degree in foreign relations, we can discuss how to return what is rightfully yours,” we might be able to get another American employed. It would be unfortunate for my friend to be deported, but one has to be consistent!
*Normally, I would not footnote what I consider obvious sarcasm respectful disagreement over facts, but in light of the intense debate over this issue, please let me state unequivocally that the Earth is an irregular sphere, Newton’s description of gravity is pretty good for my daily life, and President Obama was born in the United States and is a practicing Christian.
Another Privacy Problem with Facebook August 20, 2010
Posted by tedbrassfield in Uncategorized.Tags: danger, Facebook, places, privacy
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You might have thought that after their new privacy controls debacle, facebook would have carefully checked the layout of their latest innovation privacy destroying tool, “facebook places,” before launch. You would be misguided.
The latest update to the site I joined to share silly photos with friends-far from the prying eyes of employers and parents-now shares your location whenever you “check in” (read a message, accidently leave the app open, etc)
How convenient! Now everyone can know that you went to the opera… Or that when you called in sick, you were at the ball game. Or that you skipped church to go to Dawkin’s lecture.
But wait, you say, Ted is a luddite. Facebook offers improved privacy controls. If you have your boss on limited profile, she might not get that update. And, better yet, you can just turn off places. Sure, it won’t help you in that last example, but you’ll be safe from getting caught playing hookie.
Wrong.
Your coworker didn’t turn off places and will automatically share your location with the boss.
But you thought that after the last round of privacy mistakes that facebook would have tied the “no places” setting to the friends can’t share places setting? You thought wrong.
It’s time for another round of “find the right facebook settings” game. Hope you enjoy playing!
Nicholas Merrill, a Hero August 12, 2010
Posted by tedbrassfield in Uncategorized.Tags: ACLU, civil liberties, governmental overreaching, John Doe, National Security, Nicholas Merrill
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Hero is an overused word. In this case, it is appropriate.
Then the CEO of an Internet Service Provider in New York, the FBI came to Nicholas 7 years ago with a National Security Letter demanding a significant amount of information about some of his customers, and
although the letter’s gag order “was totally clear that they were saying that I couldn’t speak to a lawyer” about it, he immediately contacted his personal attorney, and together they went to the ACLU in New York, which agreed to represent him.
Review: Candella’s August 2, 2010
Posted by tedbrassfield in Uncategorized.Tags: candellas, mexican, review, san diego
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Set next to the san diego ferry landing, Candellas is the most wonderful late night non-dive I have ever encountered. After one of my classic nine pm realizations that I hadn’t eaten, we headed off to an irish pub, the only place that was open on the island… Fortunately, the kitchen had just closed. Our waitress recommended that we head to Candellas for the “late night”happy hour.
Every night, the entire bar menu, and the entire bar, half off. A very tasty neuvo-mexican menu, a phenomenal wine list, and great service. Everyday after ten.
Pretty crazy and pretty awesome.
Here are pics of my tasty jicama, mango and carrot salad and my carne asada tacos.
Apple, and AT&T lose big July 26, 2010
Posted by tedbrassfield in Uncategorized.Tags: iphone, AT&T, DRM, captivate, Apple, jailbreak, DMCA
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Guess what: the Librarian of Congress and the Registrar of Copyrights are going to allow you to jailbreak your iPhones and other locked devices (read: anything on AT&T’s network): go EFF!
Ars notes that this temporary reprieve is only good for the next three years, so make use of it and make your mobile devices better. I haven’t read it yet, as I am busy getting ready for yet another bar exam.
Before I go, I just wanted to share a picture of the best veggie burger ever. She made it for me last night and I can’t thank her enough.
AT&T: I call bullshit on your dropped calls July 22, 2010
Posted by tedbrassfield in Uncategorized.Tags: Android, AT&T, captivate, damn lies & statistics, dropped calls, lock screen, security
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Slashgear cites an AT&T claim that only 1.44% of calls on it’s network are dropped. I know that I am an atypical customer, insisting on my unlimited data plan and not caring for texts (I really wish that people would stop texting in the US. Recipient also pays is a horrible system!), but I have no idea how they come up with these numbers.today I had three dropped calls in three different parts of the city.And this doesn’t even begin to look at the 3g dropping in Logan Circle. Thanks to the AT&T X marks the spot app, I have reported six of these in the past two days. Not that I have only had six complete data drops, mind you, but the app doesn’t seem to allow you to manually enter addresses or to cache reports when it can’t lock onto your location.
Of course, this could be related to the new phone. But I had the same (maybe even worse) voice problems with my old feature phone (EDGE only), but had no way to report them. Looking at my call volume, I can say for certain that my personal rate has consistently been well above the “official stats”.
Speaking of the new phone, Riskin: all of these concerns I cite are considered features with your iPhone 
But, there is one thing that is really bothering me today: is there a way to customize the Captivate’s lock screen? I would like to have a dialer to my google voice number and my contact info displayed. I think you can even do that with “vanilla touchwiz”. Yes, I found the owner app, but I’d rather not resort to an untrusted third party for my piece of mind.
It would really be a shame if AT&T blocked that basic bit of functionality. The only other option I have come up with is a custom wallpaper-but I wouldn’t want to look at my mug and v-card all day!
Off to bed, I have a full day of essays to get through tomorrow.
Comcast broke the internet July 21, 2010
Posted by tedbrassfield in Uncategorized.Tags: broken internet, colorado, Comcast, flight, trip
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I am trying to get ready for my trip out west. It is late. And according to twitter, comcast is down for a good portion of the eastern seaboard. Good thing I already printed my boarding passes.
Nothing else I need, mind you, but that is a start. Damn you, Comcast.
A new business device? July 20, 2010
Posted by tedbrassfield in Uncategorized.Tags: Android, AT&T, bloatware, business phone, captivate, crippled, samsung galaxy s
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After two retail store visits and five calls to ATT customer service (total hold time in excess of two hours) I can finally return to regular, responsible business practices: I have a smart phone again!
The Samsung Captivate is fast and the screen is crystal clear. Even in direct sunlight this baby is understandable and perhaps even a bit mind-blowing.
The audio is vastly improved over my old phone. Still, much of my clarity problem seems to stem from the ATT NETWORK in DC and not the devices.
This is another plus for the smart phone-the x marks the spot app,with which I have already sent in three service reports regarding dropped calls and 3g dead zones.
While I love the zippy processor and overall performance of the device (swype is AMAZING), I will likely be trading it in for an Epic come Sprint’s belated release. Why abandon the worldwide gsm standardfor the glory of private industry-driven-failed-competition (the sort that keeps the US at the back of the broadband and mobile packs) wonder that is CDMA?
Bloatware. Crippling of the phone. And general need for a physical keyboard.swype is great and I can see myself getting really proficient, but haptic response simply isn’t sufficient for enterprise use.
But the real problem is that AT &T doesn’t get android. My phone came with about a dozen undeletable apps, most of which are free for fewer than fifteen minutes (lord help you if you are not grandfathered into an unlimited plan-the charges will get silly quite fast), and all of which have better alternatives in the market.
Seriously, ATT,why three navigation apps, numerous crappy audio apps, and a significantly more useless than an appendix contacts app? And why not let my delete these things once all seven minutes of free usage are over?
And what is with locking down my settings so I can’t go to about: config? Not cool. Not cool at all.
And the biggest reason? The carrier unnecessarily crippled the hardware as well! No camera flash??? No front camera? No physical keyboard?
And no online users guide (though it is referenced in the meager printed materials) until a few entries appeared this morning? That’s a bit late, dontchathink?
This phone will be a godsend for the next few weeks, but I am hoping for a significantly better alternative at that point. The real question will be whether I sell an unlocked phone or if i return it at the end of the month.
