06 December 2008
The 5 best jobs Obama has yet to fill
Here's a look at the five best jobs left to be doled out by Obama. There isn't a lot here that would usually make big headlines, but they are jobs that could get a boost in stature given the economic meltdown and Obama's personal priorities.
QD Vision: A Quantum Leap in Lighting and Display Technology
Making an Immediate Impact on Consumer Electronics
The high efficiency, color purity, materials stability and reliability, and design flexibility of the Quantum Light product platform make it ideal for multiple consumer electronics applications. It will be used in next-generation user interfaces in mobile phones, mobile devices and personal computers, as well as in flat panel televisions. These initial applications alone represent an addressable market of more than $1 billion by 2012 for quantum dot-based components.
Future applications for QD Vision technology include architectural lighting and general white lighting, digital signage and logos, and solar cells, as well as emitters and detectors for national security applications.
Retirement Dinner
Retirement Dinner
A priest was being honoured at his retirement dinner after 25 years in the parish. A leading local politician and member of the congregation was chosen to make the presentation and to give a little speech at the dinner. However, he was delayed, so the priest decided to say his own few words while they waited . . .
'I got my first impression of the parish from the first confession I heard here. I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first person who entered my confessional told me he had stolen a television set and, when questioned by the police, was able to lie his way out of it. He had stolen money from his parents, embezzled from his employer, had an affair with his boss's wife, and taken illegal drugs. I was appalled. But as the days went on I learned that my people were not all like that and I had, indeed, come to a fine parish full of good and loving people.'
Just as the priest finished his talk, the politician arrived full of apologies at being late. He immediately began to make the presentation and gave his talk . . .
'I'll never forget the first day our parish priest arrived,' said the politician. 'In fact, I had the honour of being the first person to go to him for confession.'
Moral: Never, Never, Never Be Late
------------------------------------------
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems,
but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
03 December 2008
Fisker Automotive
Startup Fisker Automotive has unveiled the first production version of its plug-in hybrid, the Karma, and said the car would be on display at the Detroit Auto Show in January. Not much has changed from the prototypes seen since last year's event; according to the company, external design tweaks — such as the grill, now larger at the outside corners — have been minor. A bigger change, however, can be found in the base price, which is now set at $87,900, up from the $80,000 price tag touted at last year's show.
Fisker last month finalized plans for Valmet Automotive of Finland to assemble the Karma when it reaches full-scale production. Today the Irvine, Calif.-based startup slightly narrowed its window for entering the next phase, delivery to North American showrooms, saying it expects to begin that in November of 2009, compared with the fourth-quarter time line laid out in previous announcements.
02 December 2008
01 December 2008
Wholesome Banana Chocolate Breakfast Bars
- 200 grams (2 cups) rolled oats or mixed rolled grains
- 60 grams (2/3 cup) ground almonds, a.k.a. almond meal
- 30 grams (1/3 cup) dried, unsweetened grated coconut
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 120 grams (4 1/4 ounces) good-quality bittersweet chocolate
- 4 very ripe, medium bananas, about 400 grams (14 ounces) when peeled
- 1/2 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) whole almond butter (substitute olive oil, or slightly warmed coconut oil)
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a medium baking dish with vegetable oil.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oats, ground almonds, coconut, and salt. Set aside. Chop the chocolate so the largest pieces are about the size of a chocolate chip. Set aside.
In another medium mixing bowl, combine the bananas, vanilla, and almond butter, and mash thoroughly using a potato masher. Add the oats mixture and mix well. Fold the chocolate in gently.
Pour into the prepared baking dish, level the surface, and slip into the oven. Bake for 25 minutes, until the top is set and golden-brown. Let cool completely before slicing into bars. If you're not serving all the bars at once, I suggest you cut out only what you need. Cover the rest with foil and keep at room temperature.
Adapted by Clotilde from Nikki's cookies on Heidi's 101 Cookbooks.
Ginkgo Biloba - A most remarkable tree
Ginkgos are very large trees, normally reaching a height of 20–35 m (66-115 feet), with some specimens in China being over 50 m (164 feet). The tree has an angular crown and long, somewhat erratic branches, and is usually deep rooted and resistant to wind and snow damage. Young trees are often tall and slender, and sparsely branched; the crown becomes broader as the tree ages. During autumn, the leaves turn a bright yellow, then fall, sometimes within a short space of time (1–15 days). A combination of resistance to disease, insect-resistant wood and the ability to form aerial roots and sprouts makes ginkgos very long-lived, with some specimens claimed to be more than 2,500 years old: One of the oldest Ginkgo trees is in Shanghai, within the Yuyuan Garden; it is four centuries old. A 3,000 year-old ginkgo has been reported in Shandong province in China.
The Ginkgo is a living fossil, with fossils recognisably related to modern Ginkgo from the Permian, dating back 270 million years. They diversified and spread throughout Laurasia during the middle Jurassic and Cretaceous, but became much rarer thereafter. By the Paleocene, Ginkgo adiantoides was the only Ginkgo species left in the Northern Hemisphere (but see below), while a markedly different (and poorly documented) form persisted in the Southern Hemisphere. At the end of the Pliocene, Ginkgo fossils disappeared from the fossil record everywhere except in a small area of central China where the modern species survived. It is doubtful whether the Northern Hemisphere fossil species of Ginkgo can be reliably distinguished; given the slow pace of evolution in the genus, there may have been only two in total; what is today called G. biloba (including G. adiantoides), and G. gardneri from the Paleocene of Scotland.
Extreme examples of the Ginkgo's tenacity may be seen in Hiroshima, Japan, where four trees growing between 1–2 km from the 1945 atom bomb explosion were among the few living things in the area to survive the blast (photos & details). While almost all other plants (and animals) in the area were destroyed, the ginkgos, though charred, survived and were soon healthy again. The trees are alive to this day.
Wikipedia
The Ginkgo is a living fossil, with fossils recognisably related to modern Ginkgo from the Permian, dating back 270 million years. They diversified and spread throughout Laurasia during the middle Jurassic and Cretaceous, but became much rarer thereafter. By the Paleocene, Ginkgo adiantoides was the only Ginkgo species left in the Northern Hemisphere (but see below), while a markedly different (and poorly documented) form persisted in the Southern Hemisphere. At the end of the Pliocene, Ginkgo fossils disappeared from the fossil record everywhere except in a small area of central China where the modern species survived. It is doubtful whether the Northern Hemisphere fossil species of Ginkgo can be reliably distinguished; given the slow pace of evolution in the genus, there may have been only two in total; what is today called G. biloba (including G. adiantoides), and G. gardneri from the Paleocene of Scotland.
Extreme examples of the Ginkgo's tenacity may be seen in Hiroshima, Japan, where four trees growing between 1–2 km from the 1945 atom bomb explosion were among the few living things in the area to survive the blast (photos & details). While almost all other plants (and animals) in the area were destroyed, the ginkgos, though charred, survived and were soon healthy again. The trees are alive to this day.
Wikipedia
- 1 Description
- 2 Distribution and habitat
- 3 Taxonomy and naming
- 4 Prehistory
- 5 Cultivation and uses
- 6 See also
- 7 References
- 8 External links
Ginkgo Biloba - A most remarkable tree
Ginkgos are very large trees, normally reaching a height of 20–35 m (66-115 feet), with some specimens in China being over 50 m (164 feet). The tree has an angular crown and long, somewhat erratic branches, and is usually deep rooted and resistant to wind and snow damage. Young trees are often tall and slender, and sparsely branched; the crown becomes broader as the tree ages. During autumn, the leaves turn a bright yellow, then fall, sometimes within a short space of time (1–15 days). A combination of resistance to disease, insect-resistant wood and the ability to form aerial roots and sprouts makes ginkgos very long-lived, with some specimens claimed to be more than 2,500 years old: One of the oldest Ginkgo trees is in Shanghai, within the Yuyuan Garden; it is four centuries old. A 3,000 year-old ginkgo has been reported in Shandong province in China.
The Ginkgo is a living fossil, with fossils recognisably related to modern Ginkgo from the Permian, dating back 270 million years. They diversified and spread throughout Laurasia during the middle Jurassic and Cretaceous, but became much rarer thereafter. By the Paleocene, Ginkgo adiantoides was the only Ginkgo species left in the Northern Hemisphere (but see below), while a markedly different (and poorly documented) form persisted in the Southern Hemisphere. At the end of the Pliocene, Ginkgo fossils disappeared from the fossil record everywhere except in a small area of central China where the modern species survived. It is doubtful whether the Northern Hemisphere fossil species of Ginkgo can be reliably distinguished; given the slow pace of evolution in the genus, there may have been only two in total; what is today called G. biloba (including G. adiantoides), and G. gardneri from the Paleocene of Scotland.
Extreme examples of the Ginkgo's tenacity may be seen in Hiroshima, Japan, where four trees growing between 1–2 km from the 1945 atom bomb explosion were among the few living things in the area to survive the blast (photos & details). While almost all other plants (and animals) in the area were destroyed, the ginkgos, though charred, survived and were soon healthy again. The trees are alive to this day.
Wikipedia
Steak bardé à la purée de pommes de terre et aux haricots verts
Love it! - Want to share?
Ingrédients pour 4 personnes:
4 tournedos de bœuf dans le filet (d'environ 200g)
4 tranches de bacon
Sel et poivre du moulin
½ cuill. à soupe de beurre
½ cuill. à soupe d'huile
150 ml de vin blanc sec
1 cuill. à soupe de poivre vert en bocal
500 g de haricots verts
1 kg de pommes de terre farineuses
125 ml de lait
75 g de crème fraîche
40 g de beurre
Une pincée de noix de muscade
2 cuill. à soupe de persil ciselé
Steak bardé à la purée de pommes de terre et aux haricots verts
Love it! - Want to share?
Ingrédients pour 4 personnes:
4 tournedos de bœuf dans le filet (d'environ 200g)
4 tranches de bacon
Sel et poivre du moulin
½ cuill. à soupe de beurre
½ cuill. à soupe d'huile
150 ml de vin blanc sec
1 cuill. à soupe de poivre vert en bocal
500 g de haricots verts
1 kg de pommes de terre farineuses
125 ml de lait
75 g de crème fraîche
40 g de beurre
Une pincée de noix de muscade
2 cuill. à soupe de persil ciselé
Préparation de la recette
Recoupez les tranches de bacon puis bardez-en les tournedos, fixez avec de la ficelle de cuisine.
Épluchez les pommes de terre, lavez-les puis faites-les cuire environ 25 minutes à l'eau bouillante salée.
Égouttez-les puis passez-les au presse-purée.
Mélangez les pommes de terre avec le lait, la crème fraîche et le beurre, salez, poivrez puis ajoutez la noix de muscade et incorporez finalement le persil.
Lavez les haricots et faites-les cuire environ 10 minutes à l'eau bouillante salée.
Faites chauffer la ½ cuillère à soupe de beurre et la ½ cuillère à soupe d'huile dans une poêle puis faites-y revenir les tournedos à feu vif pendant environ 1 minute sur chaque face.
Réduisez le feu et laissez cuire encore 2 à 4 minutes sur chaque face (selon la cuisson souhaitée : saignant, à point ou bien cuit).
Salez, poivrez, retirez du feu, enveloppez les tournedos dans du papier d'aluminium et réservez-les au chaud.
Jetez le gras de cuisson, augmentez le feu, déglacez les sucs de cuisson avec le vin, ajoutez le poivre vert, laissez réduire puis salez.
Au moment de servir, présentez les tournedos avec la purée de pommes de terre et les haricots verts sur des assiettes, arrosez de sauce au poivre vert.
30 November 2008
Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization
Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization
by Lester R. Brown
In this greatly revised edition, Brown outlines a survival strategy for our early twenty-first century civilization. The scale and complexity of the issues facing our fast-forward world have no precedent. Brown outlines an ambitious plan that includes cutting carbon emissions 80 percent by 2020, achievable with existing technologies. The choice is yours and mine.
Released 2008
Ceviche - a Sigalon favorite
Wikipedia Ceviche Recipes
Chilean Ceviche
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound halibut or sea bass fillet
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
6 tablespoons freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
1 whole grapefruit
1/2 teaspoon very finely minced garlic
2 tablespoons very finely minced red chiles
1 tablespoon very finely minced green chiles
1 packed tablespoon chiffonade of fresh mint
2 packed tablespoons chiffonade of cilantro
Garnish: Hot sauce, extra virgin olive oil
PREPARATION:
1. Cut the fish into strips 1 1/2 inches long by 1/4 inch wide. Soak the strips in lightly salted water for 1 hour to tenderize. Drain well.
2. Put the fish in a bowl and fold in the lime juice carefully. Add the salt, garlic, and aji and refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Just before serving, mix in the parsley, cilantro, and onion.
Nyttan med Kon
Uppsatsen nedan är skriven av en okänd mellanstadieelev i Sverige.
Nyttan med Kon
Kon är ett husdjur... Men den finns också utanför huset. Och den lever ofta på landet, men den kommer också in till staden, men bara när den skall dö. Men det bestämmer den inte själv.
Kon har sju sidor... Den översta sidan - Den nedersta sidan - Den främre sidan - Den bakre sidan - Den ena sidan - Den andra sidan - Och den invändiga sidan.
På den främsta sidan sitter huvudet... Och det är för att hornen skall ha något att sitta fast på. Hornen är av horn och dom är bara till prydnad. Dom kan inte röra på sig, men det kan öronen. Dom sitter på sidan av hornen. Kon har två hål framme i huvudet. Dom kallas ko-ögon. Kons mun kallas mule. Det är nog för att den säger mu.
På den bakersta sidan sitter svansen... Den använder den för att jaga bort flugor med, så att dom inte ramlar ned i mjölken och drunknar.
På den översta sidan - Och den ena sidan - Och den andra sidan, är det bara hår.. Det heter ko-hår och har alltid samma färg som kon. Färgen på kon heter kulör.
Den nedersta sidan är den viktigaste för där hänger mjölken. Och när mjölkerskan öppnar kranarna så rinner mjölken ut. När det åskar så blir mjölken sur... men hur den blir det har jag inte lärt mig ännu.
Kon har fyraben... Dom heter ko-ben. Dom kan också användas till att dra ut spikar med.
Kon äter inte så mycket, men när den gör det äter den alltid två gånger. Dom feta korna ger helmjölk. När kon är dålig i magen ger den ost. I osten är det hål. Men hur den gör hålen har jag inte heller lärt mig ännu.
Kon har gott luktsinne... Vi kan känna lukten av den på långt håll. Kons valpar heter kalvar. Kalvens pappa heter tjur, och det gör kons man också. Tjuren ger inte mjölk och är därför inte ett däggdjur.
Den som kommer och hämtar kon när den blir gammal heter ko-fångare. Den sitter ofta framme på bilar. Så blir kon slaktad, man häller mjölken i tetror som vi kan köpa i affären. Kons fyra ben skickas till snickaren. Det kallas återanvändning.
Som man kan se är kon ett nyttigt djur. Och därför gillar jag kon väldigt mycket.
Lärarens kommentar: Jag har aldrig läst något liknande!
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