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  • Missouri Style Barbecue Ribs

    For a little winter relief I decided to come up with a little low and slow cooked barbecue spare rib recipe that can be done in your oven. Not only will this give you hope that summer is coming but it will keep your kitchen warm for a few hours while it cooks. These ribs are styled after Missouri ribs, where a slightly spicy dry rub is applied and a wet mop is used at the end of cooking. These ribs are tender, juicy and have a little kick to them. I did not include any barbecue sauce for dipping and left them as the strict interpretation. For those of you concerned about fat grams this may not be the recipe for you but please be comforted with the thought that I will be presenting barbecue rib recipes of all kinds and you’re likely to find one that fits your personal plan. If any of you are from the "show me state" please let me know if these ribs remind you of home. I think they’ll come pretty close. I hope you enjoy.

    Missouri Style Barbecue Ribs

    Ingredients:

    1 slab St. Louis style spare ribs, about 4 1/2 to 4 3/4 lbs.

    Dry Rub:
    1 Tbsp. kosher salt
    1 Tbsp. chili powder
    2 Tbsp. Splenda
    2 Tbsp. paprika
    1 Tbsp. ground cumin
    1 Tbsp. black pepper, freshly ground

    Mop Sauce:
    1 cup white vinegar
    1 tsp. kosher salt
    1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
    1 1/2 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground
    1 Tbsp. Splenda

    Preheat oven to 225′

    Begin by cleaning the ribs and removing all possible visible fat. Turn the ribs to the bone side and remove the skirt by sliding your knife between the bone and this piece of meat. Run the knife as close to the bone to remove. Reserve this piece and clean it to use later. Rinse the ribs under cool running water and pat dry with paper towels. Combine the dry rub ingredients in a small bowl. Rub ribs thoroughly with this mixture, gently massaging in on both sides. Use up all the rub for this. Prepare a sheet pan by covering it with aluminum foil and setting a heavy rack inside. Place the ribs on the rack and cook in 225′ oven for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Do not turn while cooking as the slow cooking infuses the spice into the meat. If desired, the ribs can be covered and refrigerated at this point for up to 2 days and can be finished then.

    Combine the mop ingredients in a container. Increase oven temperature to 425′ and cook ribs until browned on each side, basting every 10 minutes for 30 minutes and turning once during this process to finish cooking. All the mop sauce should be used and the ribs will be a rich, deep mahogany color. Turn slab to bone side and cut following the lines of each rib. You can use either an electric or manual knife.

    Nutrition Facts
    8 Servings
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 355.3
    Total Fat 26.4 g
    Saturated Fat 9.6 g
    Polyunsaturated Fat 2.6 g
    Monounsaturated Fat 11.7 g
    Cholesterol 103.0 mg
    Sodium 381.9 mg
    Potassium 119.2 mg
    Total Carbohydrate 5.0 g
    Dietary Fiber 1.4 g
    Sugars 2.1 g
    Protein 25.3 g

  • CRP debuts eCRP 1.0 all-electric motorcycle for TTXGP 2010

    ecrp1

    Eco Factor: Zero-emission superbike runs on electricity.

    Italian firm CRP has unveiled its zero-emission motorcycle for the TTXGP 2010. The all-electric motorcycle, dubbed the eCRP 1.0, is powered by two Agni motors and features a touch panel interface and full wireless connectivity.

    (more…)

  • New Variety of Apple: Piñata Heirloom Available in 2010

    Screen shot 2010-01-09 at 10.34.43 AM.png
    Our grocery stores are filled with the same generic varieties of fruits and vegetables, when countless heirloom varieties are coveted by home gardeners. Not all agricultural producers are stuck in the same variety rut.  Stemilt Growers is introducing a new variety of apple: Piñata.

    • The PIÑATA!® apple originated in the 1970’s after researchers in Dresden- Pillnitz, Germany crossed the Golden Delicious, Cox’s Orange Pippin and the Duchess of Oldenburg varieties. The apple was released commercially throughout Europe in 1986.
    • In 2004, Stemilt Growers–a leading tree fruit company based in Wenatchee, Washington–trademarked the name Piñata. Stemilt holds the exclusive rights to grow and market this variety in the United States.
    • Under its former names (Pinova and Sonata), Piñata was deemed “Apple of the Year” in Germany in 2001. In 2004, Stemilt renamed the variety Piñata, in order to tie-in the apple’s given names with its exciting attributes.
    • Piñata apples are stripy red over an orange background. A blend of high sugar and high acid levels give Piñata a special flavor. Crisp and juicy, Piñata has a classic apple flavor with a unique tropical twist.

    The Piñata reminds me of a Pink Lady, one of my favorite varieties of apples, and my children really loved them. They are tangy and sweet, they are quite beautiful in appearance. They are available under the Artisan Organics label.

    Personally, I am annoyed that heirloom varieties would carry a registered trademark. These varieties belong to the people of the world, not agricultural companies.  It shouldn’t need legal protection or have exclusive rights.

    Disclosure: I was sent free samples of these products to review. No prior assurances were given as to whether the review be positive or negative.


  • Lotus F1 Will Launch 2010 Car on February 12

    Lotus Formula One Team has joined the group of teams that will unveil their 2010 challenger during an organized media event. However, unlike the established teams of the series, the Malaysian outfit will only launch their car towards mid-February, whereas the former have all announced late January dates.

    Lotus F1 issued a short statement in which it confirmed that their 2010 car will be unveiled to the media & fans on February 12th. Although the team’s technical chief Mike Gascoyne previously… (read more)

  • Skype to FCC: Keep Internet Open & Neutral

    Skype, a big proponent of open networks and net neutrality, in a filing today with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) argued that net neutrality was “about growing the broadband ecosystem and preserving a borderless, open Internet” and it would “promote investment, jobs and innovation.”

    The company said that it “welcomes the Commission’s focus on preserving an open Internet and strongly supports the proposed six principles described in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM.)”Earlier, FCC had come up with a framework pertaining to broadband and wireless networks and issues of network neutrality. FCC’s has been seeking responses on the sensitive and divisive issues such as reasonable network management.

    Skype’s stance shouldn’t come as a surprise — the company needs net neutrality to keep going and growing. In its filing (embedded at the end of the post), Skype argued:

    Evidence suggests that carriers have the incentive and ability to harm innovation in the real-time communications application market, such as that made possible by Skype, either by outright blocking or more subtle forms of discrimination. Because these applications offer consumers additional choice and savings, they should not be delayed, obstructed or throttled by broadband access providers.

    The filing didn’t say anything surprising. After all we all know that it is services such as Skype and YouTube and Twitter are the reasons people subscribe to broadband connections, and in order to keep the demand for faster (and more expensive) broadband connections, the technology industry needs to keep creating such applications.

    Interestingly, Skype wants the FCC to keep the mobile broadband networks open much like fixed-line broadband networks, but it understood the need for some sort of network management when it comes to wireless networks, but wants FCC to make sure that VoIP providers such as Skype are allowed to offer their services over all kinds of networks.

    Skype believes that it should never be reasonable for any network operator, including wireless network operators, to block, throttle or degrade particular applications without regard to the network capacity such applications actually are consuming. Not all video applications, or peer-to-peer or VoIP applications, consume the same amount of bandwidth or place the same demands on network capacity. Skype, for example, optimizes its software application to adapt to network congestion and consume very few network resources — between 6 kbps and 40 kbps for a voice call depending on the level of network congestion, which is less than traditional POTS or other popular voice protocols.

    Thus, simply blocking all VoIP applications in response to network congestion is an over broad practice not based on fact and should be viewed as unreasonable. In addition, blocking practices or network management practices that use categories such as “P2P” or “VoIP” are both over- and under-inclusive. Some P2P applications might consume large amounts of network resources, while others, such as Skype, do not. Some VoIP applications include video communications capabilities, while others do not.

    Skype is but one example of a P2P application that both transcends the ‘voice’ category but is respectful of network resource issues and does not consume large amounts of bandwidth. The Commission should therefore reject network management practices that rely on these broad application descriptions because they do not bear any close relationship to actual demands placed on broadband networks.

    In a post earlier this week, Stacey pointed to research by The Public Policy Institute of California that said that broadband can boost economic development, but only up to a certain extent.”Whatever positive effects broadband may have on employment growth, it did not result in either higher employment rates or higher pay for residents in areas where broadband expanded in the 1999–2006 period,” the study found.

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  • December was the best month ever for video game sales

    2Looks like the recession is helping at least one industry. NPD Group reported that the video game industry turned in $5.53 billion dollars in sales for December, topping the results from last year by 4 percent!

    Boring as all these statistics are, the bottom line is people spent a whole lot of money on video games last month. The previous record was set in December of 2008, which was the first time that sales went over $5 billion.

    The Wii did the best, which is surprising since everyone pretty much wrote it off as being stalled out. Next up was the PS3, but it only beat out the Xbox 360 by a very small margin. The PS3’s unexpected comeback is credited to the launch of the PS3 Slim back in October, which has revitalized sales of the console.

    [Via Cnet]


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  • Suntech graces China Pavilion and Theme Pavilion with 3.12MW BIPV installation

    theme pavilion_1

    Eco Factor: China Pavilion for Shanghai Expo gets a BIPV installation.

    Suntech Power Holdings Co has announced the completion and grid connection of two solar systems on the China Pavilion and the Theme Pavilion designed for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. Collectively the two solar power systems will generate a power output of 3.12MW.

    (more…)

  • Explosive growth for Tower Jazz

    Anyone familiar with what this company is doing. It’s stock price went up 15% this week.

    TowerJazz sees profits, $500m revenue in 2010
    CEO Russell Ellwanger: We’re entering 2010 with almost limitless opportunities.
    Yossi Nissan13 Jan 10 14:09
    TowerJazz Ltd. (Nasdaq: TSEM; TASE: TSEM) predicts that it will report $500 million revenue in 2010 and will become profitable in the second half of the year, said CEO Russell Ellwanger yesterday at the 12th Annual Needham Growth Conference in New York.
    "We’re entering 2010 with almost limitless opportunities," said Ellwanger in a presentation to investors. Tower’s fourth quarter revenue 2009 guidance predicts $98-102 million revenue. Projected growth in the first half of 2010 is 100% compared with the first half of 2009. 2010’s growth rate is projected to be double the growth rate of 2009, and that the projection was before a $130 million 18-month contract in Asia.

    In the presentation, Ellwanger noted that that many companies focused on actions to enable survival rather than "innovate themselves" out of the crisis. However, Tower’s merger with Jazz Semiconductor was a very timely and strategic merger in September 2008, prior to crisis. According to the company’s presentation, the merger with Jazz doubled its customer base and led to cost savings. This merger enabled the company to become stronger quarter over quarter on both top and bottom line.

    TowerJazz’s share closed at $1.07 on Nasdaq yesterday, giving a market cap of $200 million. The share rose 5.7% by early afternoon on the TASE today to NIS 4.06.

    Published by Globes [online], Israel business news – www.globes-online.com – on January 13, 2010

  • NewsCred Relaunches, Looks To Become “Ning For Newspapers”

    Back in 2008, we wrote about a startup called NewsCred, which looked to help identify the most trustworthy news sources using a combination of community voting and algorithms. That didn’t really take off, so the company is now heading in a new direction: it wants to help users build their own custom online newspapers in a matter of minutes, offering a professional-looking site tailored to include the content you’re interested in. And using NewsCred premium features, you could potentially create a combination news aggregator/opinion site in the same vein as The Huffington Post.

    Using the site is simple: you choose the title of your new virtual paper, then specify which topics you’re interested in following. The site includes a number of categories to choose from, including tech and politics, but you can also generate one based on a keyword if you’d like. Once you’ve chosen your topics, NewsCred will generate a virtual newspaper containing the latest stories from each area. Stories are drawn from popular relevant news sites and blogs, and you can specify a RSS feed if it isn’t in the NewsCred directory. Along the left side of the screen is a list of sections that you can jump through, much as you would in a physical paper. There are a handful of sample sites you can test for yourself, like this one on Mobile News, Celebrity Gossip, and Manchester United.

    We’ve seen news aggregators before, but NewsCred has a few options that are less common. For one, the site allows you to write editorials, which can be incorporated into the front page (or the topic specific sections). And the site will soon offer a premium version called NewsCred Pro, which is designed to help you further customize and even monetize the papers you’ve built. With NewsCred Pro, you can host your paper at a personal domain, run your own advertising on the page, eliminate NewsCred branding, and further customize the layout and newspaper template. Together, these features could allow you to build a Huffington Post-style news hub, complete with your own opinion pieces, focused on whatever topic you wanted.

    NewsCred has done a nice job putting their custom papers together, and most of the site looks very well done (though I did find some poor results as I searched for topics to add). But the new space it is entering is going to be competitive. For one, homepage sites like iGoogle allow users to include news feed widgets. And there are sites that are more directly competitive, like Meehive, the Kosmix-powered custom news site (covered here). That said, NewsCred may be able to build a business helping users build their own niche news portals, the same way Ning appeals to users building custom social networks.

    NewsCred closed a seed round of funding last year from private investors in the US, UK, and Switzerland, as well as “one of the large Silicon Valley VC firms” (the company won’t disclose the names of their investors).

    Information provided by CrunchBase

    Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0


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  • Sanyo and Mitsubishi come together to develop solar-powered hybrid car carrier

    sanyo hybrid car carrier using natural energy

    Eco Factor: Hybrid car carrier uses solar energy for low emissions.

    Sanyo has announced that the company will participate in R&D of a hybrid car carrier that uses natural energy. The car carrier will be developed by Sanyo, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd and Mitsui O.S.K Lines Ltd. The hybrid ship is scheduled for completion in 2012.

    (more…)

  • Queensland University of Technology to develop multi-purpose solar-powered UAV

    green falcon_1

    Eco Factor: UAV to offer 24-hour services while consuming solar energy.

    Researchers at the Queensland University of Technology are creating a solar-powered unmanned flight system for round-the-clock surveillance. Dubbed the Green Falcon, the solar UAV aims to save lives and millions of dollars, using the latest in green technology.

    (more…)

  • Sainz Grabs 2nd Win in 2010 Dakar Rally, Closens to Overall Victory

    With only a couple of stages to go in the 2010 Rally Dakar, Spanish driver Carlos Sainz seems to have taken a comfortable lead from Volkswagen teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah, for his first ever win in the event. The Spaniard completed the San Juan to San Rafael stage in a little over three hours and a half but, more importantly, almost a minute ahead of the Qatari driver.

    Sainz began the yesterday stage with a clear goal at restoring his overall lead in the standings, after it had been cut down t… (read more)

  • Ethiopian Airlines eyes China/India profit boost

    By Barry Malone

    ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopian Airlines hopes to boost profits this year by taking advantage of growing ties between Africa and China and India, adding new routes to the Asian powers, Chief Executive Girma Wake said on Thursday.

    China and India have displaced many western countries as the major investors in Africa, where they have invested billions of dollars in recent years.

    "Because we are also flying to more destinations in Africa than any other airline, we can connect a lot of African traffic to China and India," Girma told Reuters in Addis Ababa.

    "We are seeing a significant increase in our traffic to China and India and we are planning to launch more flights to different cities in both countries."

    Ethiopian Airlines operates 14 flights a week to Beijing and Guangzhou and 12 flights a week to New Delhi and Mumbai. Girma said the airline was planning to add flights to Shanghai in China and Chennai and Bangalore in India.

    The state-owned carrier flies to 35 African destinations and has remained profitable despite a downturn in the aviation industry.

    Its full-year net profit more than doubled to 1.3 billion birr in 2008/09 due to an aggressive international marketing campaign and a cost-cutting drive.

    "If fuel prices do not go up, we can expect about $150 million net in 2009/10," Girma said. "If fuel goes up, we think we’ll stick at about $128 million."

    Ethiopian Airlines is one of a trio of African carriers along with South African Airways and Kenya Airways, spearheading change in Africa’s fast-growing airline industry with more modern planes.

    "The major engine of our growth will always be Africa," Girma said. "And China and India are now important destinations because of the interest that a lot of Africa has in these countries. But we will expand in Africa, too."

    Air travel is more expensive in Africa than in other parts of the world and some Africans say they are priced out of travelling around the continent.

    Girma said that open-skies policies operating in many African countries would bring in more airlines and ultimately reduce costs.

    Ethiopian will begin to add four new African routes a year.

    "We will expand until we are operating to every major Africa city,"Girma said. "We can be operating to every major sub Saharan Africa destination within 2 to 3 years. And probably every North African destination within 7 or 8 years."

    Girma said the airline planned to exploit China and India’s burgeoning middle classes by marketing Ethiopia as a tourist destination and building a hotel.

    Just under 400,000 holidaymakers visited the Horn of Africa nation in 2008, and the tourism ministry expects that to increase to half a million this year. :ohno: The government target is to attract one million foreign visitors within five years. …. Still way too small for a large historic country like ours. There needs to be a more aggressive approach to their marketing style.

    http://nazret.com/blog/index.php?tit…&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

  • Columbia 2006-2009, 3 years of pics

    i did a thread of 2003-early 2006 pics i then moved away, but returned to visit my girlfriend (now fiancee) and friends.

    so it’s time for a mid 2006-late 2009 thread…3+ years of pics.

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  • Enjoying the Spectacular with Kids

    This morning, as I drove my grandson to school, we noticed the lovely sunset streaking the eastern sky in pink, purple and gold. 

    Sunrise image: sxc.hu

    Sunrise image: sxc.hu

    It was spectacular as I pointed it out to Alex, and we marveled at the nice beginning to a day.

    For me, noticing the marvels of nature around us is something that carries over from my childhood and a mother who was constantly remarked on these to her children and then her grandchildren.  Sometimes we may have felt Mom was too mundane, that there were more important things in life as we grew into our teen years.  But I find these early beginnings, influenced by my mother, now spread to my relationships with daughter and grandchildren.

    They often point out to me…or take pictures with their digital cameras of:

    • Flowers in the garden or growing wild
    • Animals that visit our yard
    • Snow swirling over the birdhouse roof
    • Lacy patterns of ice along the small stream
    • Unusual bark patterns on a tree
    • A stone with layers of color

    What do you and your children see when you walk in the out-of-doors?  Even the most mundane can seem spectacular when you take the time to notice and pass this insight along to your children and grandchildren.

    Post from: Blisstree

    Enjoying the Spectacular with Kids

  • Debunking The Silly Complaints From People Who Don’t Like Social Networks

    Cory Doctorow has a fun column over at The Guardian responding to three of the common quips used by people to dismiss social networks, and pointing out why those complaints miss the mark. He responds to the following three:

    • It’s inconsequential — most of the verbiage on Twitter, Facebook and the like is banal blather, by noting that what’s inconsequential to you is most likely not inconsequential to those it’s actually targeted at.
    • It is ugly — MySpace is a graphic designer’s worst nightmare, by noting that this is done for a good reason, which is to make it a place where blatant overly designed marketing can’t take over.
    • It is ephemeral — Facebook will blow over in a year and something else will be along, by noting this is a feature and makes sure that the services adapt or die.

    There are, of course, lots of other silly “complaints” but my favorite (and perhaps this is really a subset of the first one) is that “I don’t want to use Twitter because I don’t care what someone is eating for lunch.” And, certainly, at some level I can understand the thinking behind that. And, yet, one of the first times I realized how useful Twitter could be was a couple of years ago, when a random Twitter message about what someone was eating for lunch resulted in a chance to meet up with someone who I’d only known as an occasional email acquaintance — because it passed on a variety of little tidbits of information that we wouldn’t have realized otherwise. Since then, I’ve noticed this quite often. No, I might not care what everyone I follow ate for dinner all the time (not that very many people I know share that info), but quite often these random tidbits of information paint a great picture of someone, which can be useful at other times. And, honestly, if your complaint is that you don’t want to know what someone had for lunch — stop following the people who post what they had for lunch.

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  • Do you have a gas or an electric stove?

    This is very important thread.

    Answer poll wisely.

  • New to website

    Hello everyone! I’m 28 years old. Type 1 diabetic and have had diabetes for going on 9 years, after having my first child. I’m new to this site. Anyone out there using an insulin pump like me???

  • Revenge Verde Supercar is fast, efficient and green

    revenge verde_1

    Eco Factor: Low-emission car powered by a green engine.

    Australian auto design firm Revenge Design Inc has unveiled its latest green creation, the Revenge Verde Supercar that tops 200mph and offers an amazing fuel efficiency of 100mpg. Priced at around $200,000, the vehicle has been made using the “best from the best” parts that are assembled in America.

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  • Digital Cube works WiFi, HD playback into i-Station T9, forgets the HD screen

    It’s pretty obvious what it takes to play in the current generation of PMPs: enough juice to process HD videos, and an HDMI port to get it off the player and onto the big screen. Unfortunately, the new i-Station T9 from Digital Cube sort of stops there. It has great codec support, and even WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity (to be enjoyed by what OS is unclear), but unlike its big brother S3’s WVGA display, the mere 4.3-inch, 480 x 272 screen on the T9 will have us looking for an HDMI port a bit early. No word on price or availability.

    Digital Cube works WiFi, HD playback into i-Station T9, forgets the HD screen originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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