Reviews

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Grilling Chicken On Cast Iron

Lodge Cast Iron makes some nice products.  They are quality cast iron, made in the USA, and sold at incredibly good prices.  Here is a link http://shop.lodgemfg.com/

I was at Walmart the other day to restock up on Corelle dinnerware (which is also great – they just don’t play nicely with a tile floor – and my numbers were dwindling).  I noticed this Cast Iron Grill pan:

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I never saw the point in these before, but then again, never used one…  But the price was less than $20, so I figured I’d get one…. well I liked it so much I ended up with two :)

So far I’ve cooked Pork Chops and Chicken Tenderloins.  Here is a picture of the chicken from lunch today.  I must say, some of the best chicken I’ve ever eaten.  Perfectly seared, drizzled in salt, pepper, lemon, and butter, it was cooked completely but soooo tender and juicy.

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This deserves a longer post, but I’ll put the rundown here for reference:

  • Rinse tenderloins in sink and shake off excess water
  • Liberal amount of kosher salt and pepper
  • Get grill pan(s) screaming hot (starting to smoke) and lay the chicken on it for about 3-4 minutes until the underside has nice grill marks.
  • Turn chicken over, turn burner to LOW, and let other side also get grill marks (another 3 minutes or so).
  • Turn over every 1-2 minutes brushing butter on the freshly turned up side and drizzling fresh lemon juice on each side.  Continue this until internal temp reaches 165+ in the thickest part.
  • Let rest for 5 min in a pile on a plate.

Enjoy!

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The Distance – an online magazine

The Distance is an online magazine that features different businesses in each article.  I recently read an article titled “Life of Pie” which was written by Wailin Wong.

Do you like your delivered pizzas hot? If you do, thank Ingrid Kosar. Ingrid Kosar invented the pizza delivery bag that keeps pizzas hot until the pizza delivery man gets it to your door.

You can read all about the Life of Pie here: https://thedistance.com/thermal-bags-by-ingrid/

des

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New Commodore 64?

From Slashdot:

“After nearly 30 years, the Commodore brand has taken on new management and is re-releasing its flagship computer, this time with all the amenities of a modern-day computer packed inside. From the article: ‘The new Commodore 64, which will begin shipping at the end of the month, has been souped-up for the modern age. It comes with 1.8 gigahertz dual processors, an optional Blu-ray player and built-in ethernet and HDMI ports. The new Commodore is priced between $250 to $900.'”

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/06/the-new-commodore-64-updated-with-its-old-exterior/?ref=technology


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Starting to use SolidWorks

We recently purchased a copy of SolidWorks to use with our various engineering projects.  In about 3 hours, I was able to learn how to create parts, assemblies, and drawings.  

The software (to this point) is nothing short of incredible.  And I’m just using the most basic features.  

Here is a graphic of Rubber Band Gun #6 internals…

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I’ll have more updates as we progress deeper into the software.

-Jason

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Backup Solution for Home

While data backups at AppCove are taken very seriously, my personal computer at home has, well, been put off for a bit too long…

A recent bite by the Vundo virus lit a fire under me to better be able to recover from a catastrophic loss of a personal computer.  I did some research on online backup providers, and found what has turned out to be a great one:

http://www.sugarsync.com

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SugarSync is a slick little program that you install on your computer.  You tell it what folders to backup, and away it goes.  It constantly watches the folders to see when new or changed files need picked up.  They also provide a great web based interface to access your files online.

What got me really interested in Sugar Sync was the fact that it can synchronize folders across multiple PC’s.  Wow, to have all of your important files on your HDD at all times?  That’s really cool.

Under one account, you can add multiple PC’s.  You pay for disk space allocations, starting at $2.49/month.  60GB is currently $10 per month.

Security?  Anything that you can login on the web with a simple username and password, including a “forgot password” link, in my opinion, has limited security.  In other words, there are half a dozen ways to circumvent it.  But for the purposes of storing our documents and pictures in a safe place, I believe it is quite suitable.

Here is some info from the About Us page — this was very important in making my decision:

Sharpcast is pioneering innovative solutions that combine fast offline applications with rich online services for protecting, sharing, accessing and enjoying digital files from anywhere on a broad range of devices — personal computers, mobile phones and more. People shouldn’t have to worry about where their files, photos and music are located to be able to enjoy them from anywhere. We make this dream a reality.

A team of wireless and consumer Internet industry veterans with a proven track record for building large-scale wireless data systems and successful Internet businesses founded Sharpcast in 2004 with a mission to make digital life simple. Sharpcast is backed by top Silicon Valley venture capital firms Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Sigma Partners and Selby Venture Partners.

Our flagship service, SugarSync, launched in March of 2008 to rave reviews and is available direct to consumer. SugarSync is built on our proprietary Sharpcast Universal Sync Platform which is also available for license by Wireless Carriers, Internet Service Providers, and Device Manufacturers.

Conclusion:

  • Good company backing + a real company
  • Clean and lightweight client software
  • Easy to use and very functional web interface
  • Sharing Folders now available
  • Folder Sync + Magic Briefcase
  • Most recent five versions of any given file retained
  • Very reasonable price. (Reasonable in the sense that they can make money for a good service provided.)

Highly recommended.