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San Francisco on Brink of Return to Purple Tier
San Francisco could move into the purple tier as soon as Sunday. If that happens the curfew would take effect in 48 hours on Tuesday. Betty Yu reports. (11-20-20)
San Francisco could move into the purple tier as soon as Sunday. If that happens the curfew would take effect in 48 hours on Tuesday. Betty Yu reports. (11-20-20)
If confirmed, Ret. US Army Gen. Lloyd Austin would be the first Black defense secretary for the United States.
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) -Former Honduran president Manuel Zelaya said on Friday that he had been "unjustly" detained at the Central American nation's Toncontin international airport for carrying $18,000 in cash, which he said was not his. Zelaya, who led Honduras from 2006 to 2009 and was an ally of late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, was deposed by the military in a June 2009 coup as he was preparing to hold a referendum on presidential re-election, which his opponents said was a ploy to stay in power.
The high-profile epidemiologist who led Sweden's no lock-down strategy in the spring appears to be being sidelined by the government after his prediction that greater immunity would mean a lighter second wave proved badly wrong. Anders Tegnell's biweekly press conference was on Thursday pushed into the shade by an overlapping press conference fronted by Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, where new scenarios prepared by the Public Health Agency were announced. "There's certainly a split, and I'm pretty sure that many in the government have rather lost faith in the Public Health Agency," said Nicholas Aylott, an associate politics professor at Stockholm's Södertorn University. "By some counts, we've now got exactly the same level of spread of the virus that we had in the spring, and that's about as clear a refutation of Tegnell's strategy as you could wish for." Dr Tegnell has always insisted that his Public Health Agency has never pursued a herd immunity strategy, but he repeatedly suggested in the summer that his counterparts in Norway, Finland and Denmark would face a tougher task over the winter because of lower levels of immunity in their populations. This month, though, the number of deaths in Sweden has again begun to soar above that of its Nordic neighbours, with 630 deaths so far registered as a result of Covid-19. That is about ten times the per capita death rate in Norway -- where just 30 Covid-19 deaths were registered between October 28th and November 25th.
The Central American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras have rounded up hundreds of suspected street gang members as part of a U.S.-backed effort known as "Operation Regional Shield." The attorney general's office in El Salvador has taken the lead, reporting that it obtained arrest warrants for 1,152 suspects, of whom 572 had been arrested by Friday. The U.S. Department of Justice noted that authorities in El Salvador and Honduras arrested three dozen suspected immigrant traffickers.
Five leaders of college Republican groups told Business Insider what they thought of President Donald Trump's election loss.
Dr. Joseph Varon, of Houston's United Memorial Medical Center, has worked 251 days in the COVID-19 ICU. He said the 'darkest days' are to come.
Men plead innocence following arrest in 2017 as State Department demands release
A recount in Wisconsin's largest county demanded by Republican President Donald Trump's election campaign ended Friday with Democratic President-elect Joe Biden gaining votes. After the recount in Milwaukee County, Biden had a net gain of 132 votes, out of nearly 460,000 cast. Overall, Biden gained 257 votes to Trump's 125.
Six people in China, four of whom are doctors, have been sentenced to prison for illegally harvesting organs from patients, often car accident victims or those with severe brain damage. A court in Anhui province has handed down terms of 10 to 28 months to the group of six, declaring them guilty of harvesting organs from 11 deceased patients, according to Chinese state media. The detailed judgment, issued in July but made public only now, described a network of doctors from different hospitals who worked together on the organ harvesting scheme. After identifying potential candidates, the doctors would then approach patients' families and ask them to sign fraudulent consent forms agreeing to organ donation on behalf of their deceased relatives. Families, however, believed they were signing legitimate papers. Operations to remove the organs were performed by the doctors in delivery vans disguised as an ambulance, according to state media. China has long struggled to manage voluntary organ donation and experts have said that there isn't enough to meet demand. Human rights experts have long drawn attention to the practice of harvesting organs from prisoners, including political dissidents who have been put behind bars, in order to supply a lucrative organ trade. Last year, an independent tribunal in the UK led by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, concluded that China was a "criminal state," which "beyond reasonable doubt" had committed crimes of humanity, acts of torture, and found that enemies of the state were medically tested and killed for their organs. The China Tribunal heard evidence over six months, and in a judgement that took one-and-a-half hours to read, concluded that followers of Falun Gong, a religious spiritual practice, were among those used as a source for forced organ harvesting. The finding also said there was a risk Uighurs, an ethnic Muslim minority persecuted by the Chinese state, have suffered similar treatment. Last year, a study published in BMC Medical Ethics journal found "highly compelling evidence" that China was falsifying organ donation numbers, potentially masking the source and fueling further concern that transplants were still coming from prisoners. In 2005, former health minister Huang Jiefu publicly acknowledged that China had indeed harvested organs for transplant from executed prisoners. Beijing, however, has long denied doing so.
White rice contains less fiber, protein, and other key nutrients compared to brown rice. As a result, white rice has fewer health benefits.
Democrats once dominated Koochiching County in the blue-collar Iron Range of northern Minnesota. "We've got to see if we can get the Democratic Party to moderate and accept the fact that rural Minnesota is not getting more conservative," said Bakk, who announced last week that he would become an independent after serving 25 years as a Democrat. The party lost House seats in the Midwest, and Democratic challengers in Iowa, Kansas, Montana and North Carolina Senate races, all once viewed as serious threats to Republican incumbents, fell, some of them hard.
An Iranian diplomat refused to appear at the first day of his trial in Belgium on Friday, where he and three others face charges of plotting to bomb an Iranian exile opposition meeting in France that was attended by five British MPs. Antwerp prosecutors accuse Vienna-based diplomat Assadolah Assadi and three co-defendants of conspiring to attack a 2018 rally of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). Labour's Roger Godsiff and Conservative MPs Bob Blackman, Matthew Offord, Sir David Amess and Theresa Villiers, attended the event in Villepinte near Paris, where US President Donald Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, gave the keynote speech. "Had the plot remain undiscovered, it would have been Iran's biggest ever state-sponsored terrorist act," claimed Mr Blackman, who is one of 25 civil parties to the case. "It is time to hold the Iranian regime accountable for its repression and home and now in Europe," he told The Telegraph. The trial is the first time a European Union state has prosecuted an Iranian official for terrorism. "I think the words 'brave little Belgium' are entirely appropriate today," said Rik Vanreusel, a lawyer representing participants at the rally. "We are one of the only countries that has dared to put such rather politically sensitive matters in a proper perspective." Mr Assadi, 48, denies the charges and did not cooperate with investigators. Lawyer Dimitri De Beco said his client claimed diplomatic immunity. He was arrested while on holiday in Germany, where prosecutors say immunity did not apply. Lawyers for the plaintiffs argue that diplomatic immunity cannot be used to evade prosecution where the charges are terror related, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment. According to a police report obtained by Reuters, Mr Assadi warned authorities in March that unidentified groups could carry out retaliatory attacks if he was found guilty. Tehran dismisses the charges against him as a "false flag" plot by the NCRI, which it calls a terrorist organisation. But French officials say Mr Assadi, who was the third counsellor at Iran's Austrian embassy, was directed from Tehran to carry out the attack. France says Iran's intelligence ministry was responsible for the plot and subsequently expelled an Iranian diplomat. Belgian authorities say he gave a Belgian couple of Iranian origin half a kilogram of explosives and a detonator, which they believe he brought to Vienna from Tehran aboard a commercial flight. The explosives were found in the car of the couple, Nassimeh Naami, 36, and Amir Saadouni, 40, when they were arrested in Brussels in a joint operation involving Belgian, French and German security services. They are charged alongside another alleged co-conspirator Mehrdad Arefani, 57. Their lawyers deny they planned to kill anyone at the rally, which was attended by an estimated 25,000 people, including a delegation of 35 Britons, according to the NCRI. The NCRI is the political wing of the People's Mojahedin of Iran, otherwise known as the MEK, which supports the overthrow of the Iranian government. The group carried out a series of attacks against the government in the 1980s. The MEK was removed from EU and US terrorism blacklists in 2009 and 2012 respectively after renouncing violence and following an intensive lobbying effort. The trial, which may deliver a verdict as early as the end of the month, could strain relations between Iran and the EU. The 2015 nuclear deal promised to improve relations between Iran and the West but European countries have subsequently accused Tehran of several attacks against opponents abroad. These included two killers in the Netherlands in 2015 and 2017 and a failed assassination in Denmark, all of which Tehran denied involvement in.
The World Health Organization's top emergency expert said on Friday it would be "highly speculative" for the WHO to say the coronavirus did not emerge in China, where it was first identified in a food market in December last year. China is pushing a narrative via state media that the virus existed abroad before it was discovered in the central city of Wuhan, citing the presence of coronavirus on imported frozen food packaging and scientific papers claiming it had been circulating in Europe last year. "I think it's highly speculative for us to say that the disease did not emerge in China," Mike Ryan said at a virtual briefing in Geneva after being asked if COVID-19 could have first emerged outside China.
'This defendant terrorised an entire family by threatening to kill African American parents and their four children'
President Trump said Thursday he will "certainly" leave the White House if the Electoral College, as expected, casts its votes for President-elect Joe Biden on Dec. 14, formalizing his victory.Taking questions from reporters for the first time since the election after addressing U.S. troops stationed around the world on Thanksgiving, Trump was asked if he would depart on his own accord. "Certainly I will, and you know that," he said. The Washington Post notes it was the first explicit commitment Trump has made about vacating the White House, although his advisers have maintained he would do so for some time.That said, Trump remains determined to expose the widespread voter fraud he claims occurred in swing states, despite there being no evidence there was any. "It's going to be a very hard thing to concede, because we know that there was massive fraud," he said.Trump also said he's decided whether he will attend Biden's inauguration, but he wanted to keep the suspense going and refused to reveal the answer. "I don't want to say that yet," he said. Read more at The New York Times and The Washington Post.More stories from theweek.com South Korean intelligence believes North Korea is nervous about dealing with Biden administration Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel link Trump's turkey pardon, odd Randy Quaid retweets, Giuliani Our parents warned us the internet would break our brains. It broke theirs instead.
French people who discriminate against compatriots due to their accent face a maximum three-year prison term under a new bill seen as a victory for the country's maligned provincial twangs over well-educated Parisian speech. The law, which was passed after its first reading on Thursday night, places discrimination due to accent on a par with race, gender or handicap. Those who flout it also face a €45,000 fine. Tabled by MPs in President Emmanuel Macron's centrist political party, the law notably seeks to counter prejudice in the workplace against regional and lower-class accents. The issues of "accent discrimination" came to a head in recent months after the appointment in July of Jean Castex, the new prime minister, who is a rarity among senior politicians in having retained his thick southwestern accent. Christophe Euzet, MP for the Mediterranean port of Sète and lead sponsor of the bill, said he had been appalled at the way Mr Castex, a former top civil servant and mayor of Pyrenean town Prades, had been mocked for his accent after taking the top government job. Northern French often equate southern accents with sun, aperitifs and idleness. Mr Euzet, a native of Perpignan with similar southwestern tones to Mr Castex, said it was time to end stereotypes in which a southerner is seen as "a fun guy ... not there to talk about serious things." "Accents have no right of place in radio and television channels, in the world of politics and the helm of high office, administrations and French public businesses," he added. Unlike in Britain, French media, in particular, has made no visible effort to employ newscasters and other prominent personalities with provincial twangs. During debates, MPs complained that TV personalities with southwestern accents were "relegated to the rugby column or the weather". Patricia Mirallès, a Macron MP, whose parents were French from North Africa, recounted "painful" memories of being mocked for her pied-noir accent. Maina Sage, an MP from French Polynesia, denounced what she called "a form of racism" every time she opened her mouth in parliament. "Our nation, which often prides itself on the great diversity of its regions, paradoxically disappoints through the toned-down uniformity of public speech," said Mr Euzet. The dominance of the Parisian accent is often equated with France notoriously centralised and urban administration whose failure to take into account the provincial mindset fuelled the "yellow vest" revolt two years ago.
French authorities have suspended police officers accused of assaulting and racially abusing a Black man in Paris, after CCTV footage of the incident was released and caused an outcry. The music producer, who has identified himself as Michel, was beaten at the entrance to his studio. French President Emmanuel Macron was quoted by France's BFM TV as being "very shocked" by the CCTV and mobile phone images, which were obtained by the LoopSider news outlet and made headline news on French channels. The officers involved were suspended pending investigation at the interior minister's request. Michel told reporters he'd been walking in the street without a face mask, against French COVID-19 rules. When he saw a police car he went into his studio to avoid getting a fine. But the police followed him inside and arrested him, violently. The video purports to show them kicking and beating him, and he says they hurled racial abuse at him too. They then leave, and throw a tear gas canister into the studio. As anger grew, French soccer stars added to the chorus of condemnation. Kylian Mbappe tweeted that the video was "intolerable" and his fellow Les Bleus striker, Antoine Griezmann wrote: "My France is hurting." The alleged attack on Michel risks inflaming racial tension, and fuelling criticism of a draft law that would limit journalists' ability to show images of French police officers at work. The prime minister's office said on Thursday (November 26) it would set up an independent commission to propose a new draft of the legislation. Some "BlackLivesMatter" protests broke out in Paris in June, a month after the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in the United States. The movement resonates in France, in particular in deprived city suburbs, where rights groups say accusations of police brutality, often against people with immigrant backgrounds, remain largely unaddressed. And Paris police were already under fire this week after social media photos and videos showed officers hitting protesters as they cleared out an illegal migrants campsite in a central Paris square.
Donald Trump Jr. tested positive for COVID-19 last week. Although he is asymptomatic, the CDC recommends sick people like him isolate for 10 days.
Malaysia will hold a general election when the novel coronavirus pandemic is over, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Saturday, shortly after he averted a showdown by winning parliamentary support for his administration's budget. Parliament passed the largest-ever budget by a voice vote on Thursday despite weeks of threats by the opposition and some of Muhyiddin's allies to derail the government's 2021 spending plan, which could have triggered a crisis. "God willing, when COVID-19 is over, we will hold a general election," Muhyiddin said in a speech at a virtual annual general meeting of his Bersatu party.
Since the latest session of parliament began in mid-September the KMT has protested against the pork decision by blocking Su from delivering regular reports and taking questions by occupying the podium where he speaks. As Su began speaking, KMT lawmakers threw buckets of pig guts his way, and some exchanged blows, with a short but vicious encounter between a group of KMT legislators and Chen Po-wei from the small Taiwan Statebuilding Party. President Tsai Ing-wen announced in August that the government would, from January 1 next year, allow imports of U.S. pork containing ractopamine, an additive that enhances leanness but is banned in the European Union and China, as well as U.S. beef more than 30 months old. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) condemned the protests, saying in a statement the throwing of the pig guts was a waste of food that "stank up" the parliament floor and was "disgusting," calling for a return to rational debate.


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Recently I picked up a few different types of emulsifiers in bulk powder form when I saw them in passing at a catering wholesaler.
Having never used powdered emulsifiers before in cooking or baking, I figured I'd find pretty comprehensive instructions for their use on the web - but I can't.
I'm not a stranger to food science but nor am I a chemist. I understand that emulsifiers are at least sometimes prepared by pre-mixing them into a (heated?) liquid or fat and then using the resulting solution in the actual recipe, which may explain why a lot of commercial emulsifier mixtures are packages as tubes of gel or paste. I've also checked several industry-level textbooks about emulsifiers and while they are fantastic for in-depth explanations of the chemistry behind each emulsifier, they do not (as you might imagine) provide guidance on how a lowly baker or cook would actually use a powdered form.
So does anyone know how to prepare and use a dry powdered form of any of the following in a real recipe?
Specifically I am most interested in enhancing baked goods and adding stability to sauces, but would also like to know how to use them for other processes such as sausage-making too.
E471 Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids E481 Sodium stearoyl lactylate E482 Calcium stearoyl lactylate E472e DATEM (diacetyl tartaric acid ester of mono- and diglycerides)
I cooked two turkey breasts sous vide. This year had access to the Meater+ thermometer probe which I managed to vacuum seal in the bag without difficulty (it is small). Since it works wirelessly I was able to monitor and it records the internal temperatures at the thickest part of the breast.
I thought the results were interesting. I cooked at 60C for 8 hours. I have always used https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/a-better-way-to-turkey-cook-that-bird-sous-vide-for-the-best-feast-ever which gives long cooking times at lower temperature. I have found that as according to this page https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/11/sous-vide-turkey-breast-crispy-skin-recipe-thanksgiving.html that 55C gives turkey which is just a little too pink for most tastes. Over the last few years have increased the temperature up to 59/60 and I find it perfect - very moist and tender, but pale not pink.
See attached images. I changed my mind a couple of times and started at 58 then 60 then 59 again, so ignore the slight variations. The thing I found interesting was that the thickest part (of a large breast) reached 55C in around 1 hour 40 mins and target of 59 in 2 hours 30 mins. Now I appreciate that sous vide is a combination of temperature and time or duration, but the data make me think that around 4 hours would be sufficient, as per the seriouseats table. I have previously used the chefsteps 55-58 for their much longer advised times, up to 12 hours and the meat is still quite pink at the end, so I dont believe 55 for 12 hours would effectively be the same.
From now on I will watching the internal temperatures with interest. This has always been the (relative) unkown for sous vide amateurs.
I have to say designing the Alinea kitchen has been one of the most exciting experiences thus far in the opening of this restaurant. I have been fortunate to have been "raised" in some of the best kitchens in the country. When I arrived at the French Laundry in August 1996 the "new kitchen" had just been completed. Often times you would hear the man talk about the good old days of cooking on a residential range with only one refrigerator and warped out sauté pans with wiggly handles. When I started about 50% of the custom stainless steel was in place. The walls smooth with tile and carpet on the floors. I recall the feeling of anxiety when working for fear that I would dirty up the kitchen, not a common concern for most cooks in commercial kitchens.
The French Laundry kitchen didn't stop, it continued to evolve over the four years I was there. I vividly remember the addition of the custom fish/canapé stainless unit. Allowing the poissonier to keep his mise en place in beautiful 1/9 pan rails instead of the ice cube filled fish lugs. Each advancement in technology and ergonomics made the kitchen a more efficient and exacting machine.
When I returned to the Laundry this past July for the 10th anniversary I was shocked that it had metomorphisized once again. The butcher room was now a sea of custom stainless steel low boys, the pot sink area was expanded, the walk-in moved, and an office added to the corner of the kitchen. The kitchen as I left it in June of 2001 was beautiful and extremely functional, of course it is even more so now. It is the relentless pursuit of detail and concise thought that allows the French Laundry kitchen to be one of the best for cooks to execute their craft…..16 hours a day.
This was good motivation.
When it came time to design my kitchen I drew on experiences at Trio, TFL and other kitchens I was familiar with to define the positives and negatives of those designs. We were faced with a 21x 44' rectangle. This space would not allow for my original kitchen design idea of four islands postioned throughout the kitchen, but ultimately gave way for the current design which I think is actually better than the original. But most the important aspect in shaping the final design was the cuisine. Due to the nature of food that we produce a typical layout with common equipment standards and dimensions do not work. Here is where the team drew on our experiences from Trio. By looking at the techniques we utilized we came to several conclusions.
1. A conventional range was not our main heat source. We do need the flat tops and some open burners for applications such as braising and limited stock work. But our overall use of this piece of equipment is somewhat low. Given that we wanted four open burners and two flat tops with two ovens I began to source out a reliable unit. We settled on the Molteni G230.
2. Upon analyzing our other heat source needs we decided to place a large focus on induction. By utilizing portable induction burners we are allowed the flexibility to give as much power as needed to a specific station in the kitchen. Obviously induction's radiant heat is very low, and this allows us to keep the temperature in the kitchen reasonable, yet the power is quite high. 31,000 BTU's of highly controlable heat. But the main reason for choosing this flexible source of heat is the fact that each chef typically employed at least four different cooking applications on a given night. This huge flux in technique and the realization that the menu would change entirely in 8 weeks time meant that we had to design a kitchen that could evolve on a nightly basis. And last, we are very specific with temperatures; induction makes it easier for us to hold a liquid at a predetermined temperature for long periods of time without fluctuation. They operate between 85 and 500 degrees farenheit. We did a great deal of research on the different producers of induction and favored Cooktek. The fact that they are the only U.S manufacturer of commercial induction cooking equipment and located in Chicago made the decision easier. Their innovative approach to induction may prove to be even more exciting as we are already talking about new product development in the future.
3. a. The complexity of the presentations and a la minute plate-ups of the food require a great deal of surface area devoted to plating. This was one of the most critical factors in determining the basic shape of the kitchen. The size of some of today's popular plates, the amount detail in each composition, coupled with the fact that producing tasting menus vs. ala carte means sometimes large waves of same dish pick ups made it necessary for us to have over 44' of linear plating surface.
b. Virtually nothing goes vertical above the 36" counter top in the space. All food, plates, equipment, and dry good storage are contained by under counter units. There are a few exceptions such as the infrared salamanders, the three-door refrigerator, and the hood. This allows all the cooks a clear line of communication between each other and the front staff. It allows me an easy sight line to survey the entire kitchen's progress with a quick glance.
Given these two points it seemed obvious that we needed to combine the two and create custom pieces that would fulfill both needs. Large spans of plating surfaces with all food and equipment storage below. As you can see we ended up with two 22' long units. Each function as a pass and under counter storage.
The building is 21' wide wall to wall. This allowed us just enough space to create two lines on each exterior wall with their passes forming a 60" corridor for the pick up of plates and finishing of dishes.
4. We decided to add a station to the kitchen. At Trio we had five including:
a. pastry
b. cold garde manger
c. hot garde manger
d. fish
e. meat
Now that we had more space, and the ability to give each station multiple heat
sources regardless of their location in the kitchen, we could spread the workload even further. We also realized it doesn't make much sense to identify each station by classic French Bragade terms. A saucier did not solely cook meat with classic techniques and prepare various traditional stocks and sauces…in fact quite the opposite. This holds true with most of the stations, with the exception of pastry, but even they will have very unconventional techniques, menu placement and involvement in the kitchen systems. We will add a station that will be responsible for a large majority of the one-bite courses both sweet and savory.
5.Given the size constraints of the building we realized a walk-in would not be possible in the kitchen. If we were to have one it would be in the basement. Having experienced this at Trio we decided to design the kitchen without a walk-in, making up for the space in various lowboy locations and a three-door reach-in. I experienced the walk-in less environment when I worked at Charlie Trotter's. It is certainly different, but as with most things if done properly it provides a very efficient environment. It works best in situations where fresh products are brought in daily for that days use. And prevents ordering in large quantities. It also provides us with very specific units to house different items. We will utilize the 3-door refrigerator to store the majority of the vegetables and herbs along with some staple mise en place, and items that cannot be made in very small quantities like stocks. Raw meat will have it's own lowboys as well as fish, dairy, and all frozen products.
6. At Trio we found ourselves using the salamander a great deal. It is very useful for melting sugar, bringing on transparent qualities in things like fat and cheese, cooking items intensely on only one side, and it is a highly controllable non-direct heat source. Due to the air gap between the foodstuff and the heat elements the cook can control the degree of heat applied to the dish based on the technique he is using. It becomes a very versatile tool in the modern kitchen, so much so that we will install three Sodir infrared salamanders.
Again, this is to insure that all the cooks have access to all of the techniques in the kitchen. As I said before it is important for our cooks to be able to sauté, simmer, poach, fry, grill, salamander, and freeze at the same time and sometimes for the same dish.
We have a few unusual pieces of equipment in the kitchen; the most is probably a centrifuge. A few months ago Nick and I were driving home from a design meeting and ended up talking about signature dishes and menu repetition. Of course the black truffle explosion came up and he asked if I would have it on the menu at Alinea. I replied a firm no, but shortly thereafter said I would enjoy updating it. We threw around some tongue and cheek ideas like White Truffle Implosion, and Truffle Explosion 2005….I said it was a goal of mine to make a frozen ball with a liquid center….but then dismissed it as nearly impossible. Within a few minutes he said …"I got it…we need a centrifuge" His explanation was simple, place the desired liquid in a spherical mold and place on the centrifuge…place the whole thing in the freezer. Within days he had one in the test kitchen. I guess this is better suited for the kitchen lab topic that we will be starting in a few weeks…
We are working on a upload of the kitchen blueprints. When those post I plan on going into more detail about certian aspects of the design. Doing so now would be pointless as the viewer does not have a reference point.
It's the first day of cooking in Alinea's Food Lab and the mood is relaxed. We're in a residential kitchen but there's nothing ordinary about it. Chef Grant, along with sous chefs John Peters and Curtis Duffy are setting up. The sight of the 3 steady pros, each in their chef's whites, working away, does not match this domestic space. Nor does the intimidating display of industrial tools lined up on the counters. While the traditional elements are here in this suburban kitchen: oven, cooktop, sink, so too are the tools of modern restaurant cookery: pacojet, cryovac machine, paint stripping heat gun…wait, a paint stripping heat gun?
In the physical realm, the Food Lab is a tangible space where the conventional and the unconventional are melded together in the quest for new culinary territory. With Alinea's construction under way, the team must be resourceful. This meant that renting a space large enough to house both the office and the kitchen aspects of the food lab was out of the question.
The decision was made to take over a large office space for the research and administrative aspects of Alinea and transform a residential kitchen into the Lab. Achatz and the team would work three days per week at the office researching all aspects of gastronomy and brainstorming new dishes, while managing the project as a whole. The remaining time would be spent in the kitchen executing the ideas formulated at the office. "At first I thought separating the two would be problematic," says Grant "but in the end we are finding it very productive. It allows us to really focus on the tasks at hand, and also immerse ourselves in the environment conducive to each discipline." The menus for opening night—containing as many as 50 never-before-served dishes--must be conceived, designed, tested and perfected. The Alinea team does not want to fly without a net on opening night.
On a more abstract level, the Food Lab is simply the series of processes that continually loop in the minds of Chef Grant and his team. While there is no single conduit by which prospective menus--and the dishes which comprise them--arrive at Alinea, virtually all of them start in Chef Grant's imagination and eventually take form after brainstorming sessions between the Chef and his team. Menus are charted, based on the seasonality of their respective components, and the details of each dish are then laid out on paper, computer or both and brought to the kitchen for development. In this regard, the Food Lab provides something very special to the Chef and his team. "We consider the food lab a luxury," says Grant. Once Alinea is open and the restaurant's daily operations are consuming up to 16 hours of each day, time for such creative planning (aka play) will be scarce. Building a library of concepts, ideas and plans for future menus now will be extraordinarily valuable in the future. Otherwise, such planning sessions will have to take place in the 17th and 18th hours of future workdays, as they did when the Chef and his team were at Trio.
Today, several projects are planned and the Chefs dig into their preparations as soon as their equipment setup is complete…
Poached Broccoli Stem with wild Coho roe, crispy bread, grapefruit
Stem cooked sous vide (butter, salt, granulated cane juice)
Machine-sliced thin bread
Dairyless grapefruit "pudding"
Dried Crème Brulee
Caramel orb shell made with bubble maker and heat gun
Powdered interior made with dried butterfat, egg yolks, powdered sugar & vanilla
Peeled grapes on the stem
Peanut butter coating
Wrap in brioche
Micro-grated, roasted peanuts
Instant Tropical Pudding
Freeze Dried Powders of coconut, pineapple, banana
Young coconut water spiked with rum
Muscovado Sugar
Candied Chili
Jamaican Peppercorn
Vanilla Bean
The steps required to comprise each dish are, as one might imagine, intricate and numerous. For the Poached Broccoli Stem, Chef Grant begins by separating the broccoli stems from the florets. The stems are stripped of their fibrous exteriors and pared down until they are uniform in size. Grant comments on the use of the second hand part of the vegetable: "This dish started with the roe. Every year we receive the most amazing Brook Trout Roe from Steve Stallard, my friend and owner of Blis. Typically, we serve the eggs with an element of sweetness. I find it goes very well with the ultra fresh salinity of the week-old roe. This time around we wanted to take a savory approach so I began looking into complimenting flavors in the vegetal category. About the same time, our group had a discussion about secondary parts of vegetables and the stem of broccoli came up. I had a past experience with the stem and found it to be very reminiscent of cabbage. Knowing that cabbage and caviar are essentially a classic pairing, I felt confident that we could work the dish out. Now I'm struggling to decide if this is a broccoli dish or in fact a roe dish, I think they really battle for the top position and that helps makes the dish very complex."
Chef Grant processing the broccoli
The stems are placed in a polyethylene bag, along with butter, salt and granulated cane juice. The bag is sealed with a cryovac machine
The sealed stems are placed in a 170 degree F water to cook, sous vide, until extremely tender; about three hours
Broccoli stems after cooking
The crisp bread element is fabricated via the use of an industrial deli slicer. Chef Grant then brushes the sectioned pieces of poached broccoli stem with eggwash, affixes them to the thin planks of brioche and places them in a fry pan with butter.
Grant's mise. not your ordinary cutting board
Poached Broccoli Stem and Crisp Bread cooking
Ready for plating
A bright green broccoli puree is made with a vita-prep blender. Here, Chef Grant "mohawks" it onto china given to him by Thomas Keller
Smoked Coho roe has arrived via Fed-Ex, courtesy of Steve Stallard
Chef Grant devises a plating scheme for the Poached Broccoli Stem while Curtis looks on
Chef Grant ponders one potential plating of the dish. He called this incarnation 'predictable' and started over.
Another plating idea. This version is garnished with broccoli petals and ultra-thin slices of connected grapefruit pulp cells. The yellow petals are stand-ins for what will ultimately be broccoli blossoms
Grant is still displeased at the dish's appearance. "The dish tastes as I envisioned it. texturally complex, with the crispness of the bread, the soft elements of the floret puree and stem, and the pop of the eggs. The buttery richness from the bread gives the stem the flavor of the melted cabbage I loved at the [French] Laundry. And the hot and cold contrasts from the roe and broccoli …I like it…..I just don't like the way it looks." Another attempt and the group agrees, it is better but not "the one." The use of the thinly sliced cross sections of peeled grapefruit energizes the group. In the next rendition, they make small packets with the ultra thinly-sliced grapefruit containing the roe.
A third plating configuration for Poached Broccoli Stems; this one featuring the packets of roe wrapped in ultra thin sheets of grapefruit pulp cells
At this point the team decides to move on and come back to it next week. After some conversation they decide that in the final dish, broccoli will appear in at least 5 forms: poached stems, floret puree, some raw form of the stem, the tiny individual sprouts of broccoli florets, and the blooms. Grant feels that Poached Broccoli Stem could be ready for service, although he still envisions some changes for the dish that will make it even more emblematic of his personal style. "Our dishes continue to evolve after they hit the menu. It is important for us to get to know them better before we can clearly see their weaknesses."
The thought for the dried crème brulee originated over a year ago when a regular customer jokingly asked for a crème brulee for dessert. "He said it as joke, I took it as a challenge," says Grant. "Of course, we never intended to give him a regular crème brulee." The team tried various techniques to create the powder-filled caramel bubble while at Trio to no avail. An acceptable filling for the Dried Crème Brulee has been developed by the Chef and his team but several different methods, attempted today, to create the orb from caramelized sugar have been less than 100% successful.
Caramel blob awaiting formation. Chef Curtis kept this pliable by leaving it in a low oven throughout the day
Chef Grant's initial idea to use a metal bubble ring and heat gun (normally used for stripping paint) to form the bubbles does not work as hoped. Attempts to fashion them by hand also come up short.
Says Grant, "At Trio we tried a hair-dryer. When Martin told me about these heat guns which get up to 900 degrees F, I thought we had it for sure. If it was easy everyone would do it I guess." Eventually, Alinea partner Nick Kokonas garners the task's best result by positioning a small, warm blob of sugar onto the end of a drinking straw and blowing into the other end. The results are promising. Curtis suggests using a sugar pump to inflate the orbs. That adjustment will be attempted on another day.
"We intentionally position whimsical bite in the amuse slot, it tends to break the ice and make people laugh. It is a deliberate attempt to craft the experience by positioning the courses in a very pre-meditated order. A great deal of thought goes into the order of the courses, a misalignment may really take away from the meal as a whole." For PB&J, the grapes are peeled while still on the vine and then dipped into unsweetened peanut butter. They are allowed to set–up, and then they are wrapped with a thin sheet of bread and lightly toasted. When the peeled grapes warm, they become so soft they mimic jelly. The composition is strangely unfamiliar in appearance but instantly reminiscent on the palate. PB&J is, according to Grant, virtually ready for service. There are a couple of aesthetic elements, which need minor tweaks but the Chef feels very good about today's prototype.
Chef John peels grapes while still on their stems
Peeled grapes on their stems with peanut butter coating
Chef Grant studies the completed PB&J in the Crucial Detail designed piece
Often, creative impulses come by way of Alinea's special purveyors. "Terra Spice's support over the past couple of years has been unprecedented, and it has accelerated with the start of the food lab," says Grant. "It is great to have relationships with people that think like we do, it can make the creative process so much easier. Often Phil, our contact at Terra, would come into the kitchen at Trio and encourage us to try and stump him on obscure ingredients. We always lost, but not from lack of trying. He even brought in two live chufa plants into the kitchen one day." The relationship has developed and Terra team has really made an effort to not only search out products that the chefs ask for but also keep an eye out for new ingredients and innovations. In August, Phil brought by some samples of products that he thought the Alinea team might be interested in trying.
Phil of Terra Spice showing the team some samples
Coconut powder and other samples
Grant recalls "the most surprising item to me was the dried coconut powder. When I put a spoonful in my mouth I could not believe the intense flavor and instant creamy texture, it was awesome." That was the inspiration for what is now Instant Tropical Pudding. The guest is presented with a glass filled with dried ingredients. A member of the service team pours a measured amount of coconut water into the glass and instructs the guest to stir the pudding until a creamy consistency is formed.
The rum-spiked coconut water being added to the powders
At the end of the day, the Chefs assess their overall effort as having gone "fairly well." It's a mixed bag of results. Clearly, the fact that things have not gone perfectly on Day 1 has not dampened anyone's spirits. The team has purposely attempted dishes of varying degrees of difficultly in order to maximize their productivity. Says Grant, "Making a bubble of caramel filled with powder…I have devoted the better part of fifteen years to this craft, I have trained with the best chefs alive. I have a good grasp of known technique. The lab's purpose is to create technique based on our vision. Sometimes we will succeed, and sometimes we will fail, but trying is what make us who we are." The team's measured evaluations of their day's work reflect that philosophy.
According to Chef Grant, "The purpose of the lab is to create the un-creatable. I know the level at which we can cook. I know the level of technique we already possess. What I am interested in is what we don't know. making a daydream reality." With little more than 100 days on the calendar between now and Alinea's opening, the Chef and his team will have their work cut out for them.
A special thanks to eGullet member yellow truffle, who contributed greatly to this piece
Sometime this week, at an undisclosed location in the city of Chicago, Chef Grant Achatz begins the next leg of his journey to open his new restaurant, Alinea. Grant will christen the 'food lab' where the menu for Alinea will be developed. eGullet will be trailing Grant and his team throughout the process -- not just in the food lab but through every facet of the launch. Over the next six months, we will follow the Alinea team as they discover, develop, design and execute their plan. We'll document behind-the-scenes communications, forwarded directly to us by the Alinea team. We will be on the scene, bringing regular updates to the eGullet community. And Grant will join us in this special Alinea forum to discuss the process of opening Alinea. eGullet members will have the opportunity to ask Grant, and several other members of the Alinea team, questions about the development of the restaurant.
A Perfect Pairing?
By the time he was 12 years old, Grant Achatz knew that he would someday run his own restaurant. The story of Alinea is the story of Grant's personal development as a chef and a leader. Grant was brought up in a restaurant family. He bypassed a college education in favor of culinary school, after which he ascended rapidly to the position of sous chef for Thomas Keller at The French Laundry in Yountville, California. In 2001, Grant took the helm of Trio in Evanston, Illinois, which had previously turned out such noted chefs as Gale Gand, Rick Tramanto (Tru) and Shawn McClain (Spring, Green Zebra). In 2003 Grant won the James Beard Foundation's "Rising Star Chef" award, and other prestigious awards followed. By 2004, Grant was recognized as one of the most influential and unique voices on the international culinary scene.
In January 2004, Grant met Nick Kokonas, a successful entrepreneur who was so obsessed with haute cuisine that he had traveled the world in search of it. After globe-trekking specifically to eat at such culinary meccas as Alfonso 1890, Taillevent, Arpège, Arzak, and the French Laundry, Nick was in near disbelief when he realized that the "best food in the world was 10 minutes from my house." Nick had not previously consideredbacking a restaurant, even though he has both relatives and friends in the industry. But in Grant, he saw an opportunity to help create something great.
Through Grant's cuisine, a bond formed between the two men. So inspired was Nick by Grant's culinary ideas that he returned to Trio almost monthly. Finally, he challenged two of his friends, one from New York and the other from San Francisco, to fly to Chicago and experience Trio. He wanted to prove definitively to his skeptical, coastal buddies that Trio was the best and most important restaurant in the country, assuring them that "if the meal at Trio isn't the best meal you've ever had, I'll pay for your meals and your flights." Nick won his bet: his friends were blown away.
Later that night, after service, Grant joined Nick and his guests at their table. The men chatted about a variety of topics and in the '14 wines' haze of the late evening, they discussed Blue Trout and Black Truffles: The Peregrinations of an Epicure, Joseph Wechsberg's gastronomic memoir. The next day, Grant emailed Nick to ask again about the title of the book they had discussed. Not only did Nick remind him, but, within a few days, sent Grant a copy of Wechsberg's book. A friendship was born.
Shortly thereafter, Grant sentNick his business plan for Alinea, sending an email after evening service. By the following morning Nick had read it and replied with his own enthusiastic amendments. With a burgeoning friendship already in place, trust developing between the two men and proof they could work together crystallizing before their eyes, it became clear that they would become a team. Says Grant, "I think most people, in a lot of ways, look for themselves in other people in order to match with and I think to a large degree, the reason why we get along so well is that our personalities align very well."
Nick felt the same way. "It's one of those situations where everything just lined up right. I had the interest, I'd started a number of different businesses and I felt like it would be an opportunity to work with someone who I'd get along with very well. I wouldn't want to build a restaurant just to build a restaurant and I doubt I'll ever develop some other restaurant. I think this is the right situation at the right time."
Grant adds, "I think we're both very driven and passionate people. So for me, it was about finding someone I could trust, someone that I knew was going to think like me, be as motivated or more motivated than me. Those things were very, very important--and something I hadn't seen--or something I didn't believe in--that I saw in Nick." Nick continues, "I think a lot people come to a chef with their pre-existing vision of the restaurant they want to build. I didn't even want to build a restaurant before I saw his vision, so it wasn't like I was saying 'I'm building this restaurant and I want you to be my chef' -- it was more like 'I think you should build a restaurant, what can I do to help you build it?'" Grant would have the additional supportive backing he'd need and Nick would have another venture -- and one he solidly believed in -- in which to direct his business acumen.
It's All About The Container
Anyone who's eaten Grant's cuisine at Trio knows that he is intensely concerned with food and the optimal ways to prepare and serve it. His dishes innovate in flavor; they challenge, tease and delight the senses. But Grant is also driven to innovate in service and technique, constantly seeking new vehicles to deliver sensations to the diner. He works closely with a trusted collaborator, Martin Kastner of Crucial Detail in San Diego, CA to create original service pieces for many of his dishes. And as Grant has searched for additional ways to expand the continuity of the dining experience, it has become clear to him that it starts before the diner even gets to the restaurant's front door.
According to Grant, "You can pull it back as far as you want. The experience is going to start before someone even picks up the phone to make a reservation to this restaurant. It's going to be about their perceptions; why are they picking up the phone to make a reservation? What did they see? What did they read? What's leading them up to that point? They call to make a reservation, that's another experience. The drive to get to this neighborhood is another experience. The minute they open their door and take one step out of their car, now they're surrounded by another experience."
Advancing the functional elements of how food is served is an innate part of the cooking process for Grant, who seeks to render the traditional boundaries of dining obsolete. When asked what he will be able to accomplish at Alinea that he couldn't accomplish at Trio, Grant says, "the obvious is to create the container in which we create the experience. I think that's the very exciting thing for me that I've never been able to have a part in." For Grant, a restaurant's physical space represents the ultimate container and the ultimate personal challenge. The result should break new ground in the world of fine dining. Grant and Nick are intense and competitive. In both their minds, "crafting a complete experience" is the primary focus of Alinea. According to Nick, "the whole idea is to produce an experience where the food lines up with the décor, which lines up with the flow through the restaurant and from the moment you get, literally, to the front door of the place and you walk in, your experience should mirror in some respects--and complement in others--the whole process you're going to go through when you start eating." Grant takes it a step further. "It's about having a central beacon from which everything else emanates and therefore, it's seamless. The whole experience is crafted on one finite point and if everything emanates from that point, then there's no chance that the experience can be interrupted."
The search for Alinea's space further reflects not only their shared philosophy but also their separate intensities. Says Nick, "One of the things we felt really strongly about, and we both came to it, was that we wanted it to be a 'stand alone' building because if you're in something else you can't help but take on some of that identity. And it's really difficult to find the right size building in the right kind of location, with the right kind of construction that was suitable for the identity of Alinea."
Nick and Grant drove down every street within a chosen geographical band, armed with a giant map and a set of green, yellow and red markers. Once they had found a set of acceptable streets, they asked a realtor to show them every space available on them.
"Once we did find the building," says Grant, "whichever space we would have chosen, we would have analyzed and considered each different aspect to provoke a certain emotion, a very controlled emotion depending on how we wanted it arranged. But I also think that we wanted the neighborhood to feel a certain way, the street to feel a certain way. Is it like Michigan Avenue where I have people 4-deep, walking straight down the sidewalk, non-stop, all day and all night or is it more of a tranquil environment outside? All those things were spinning around and once you identify the golden egg, then you have to go find it."
While they would probably never admit it, each innovation, each step they take together in building their venture serves as yet another a opportunity for the Alinea team to challenge the restaurant's competitors. Their attention to all the details provides countless opportunities to distinguish Alinea from other restaurants.
Here the two men can share in the creation, combining their diverse skills and experiences into a unified and shared vision. Alinea will be their baby. They want it to be the best --not just the best food -- but the best everything. They even want the experience of calling for a reservation to be a memorable one.
The Path From Here
In that spirit, the Alinea food lab opens this week. Grant refuses to promote even one of his legendary creations to 'signature dish' status. Instead of populating Alinea's menu with previous favorites from Trio or 'trial' dishes that have been only roughly tested, Grant and his team will take six months to devise, develop and perfect the dishes and delivery modes that will appear on Alinea's opening menu. When the idea of maintaining a kitchen staff for six months before the restaurant's opening was presented to its investors, in spite of the additional expense, "it seemed like a no-brainer" according to Nick. Grant is an equity partner--a true chef/owner--in the venture and there is a solid consensus among all the backers about the priority of his vision.
* * * * *
In addition to being one of today's foremost chefs and culinary innovators, Grant Achatz is a long-time member of eGullet, and a lively, provocative contributor to our discussion forums. Read his March, 2003 eGullet Q&A here.
Photos courtesy Alinea
eGullet member, yellow_truffle, also contributed to this report

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Matt Marshall / VentureBeat:
Exclusive: Barack Obama to name a "Chief Technology Officer" — The campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has given VentureBeat an exclusive look at his technology plan, which he plans to unveil officially tomorrow (Wednesday) before a visit to Google's headquarters.
Discussion: CrunchGear, IP Democracy, PE HUB, Daily Kos and San Francisco Chronicle
Doug Aamoth / CrunchGear: Obama plans to really geek things up around here
Cynthia Brumfield / IP Democracy: Obama Would Create Nation's First CTO
Dan Primack / PE HUB: peHUB First Read — Some links to kick off your Wednesday:
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
Obama outlines federal CTO position; Where's the power? — Barack Obama unveiled plans for a chief technology officer, support for Net neutrality, improving education, next-generation broadband networks and more research spending. Oh yeah, and there will be more open government and feds using wikis and blogs.
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch: Barack Obama's Google-Friendly Technology Platform
Anne Broache / CNET News.com: Obama's tech vision: Blogs and wikis for the feds
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Inbox 2.0 Makes Me Sad — Saul Hansell at the The New York Times is reporting that both Yahoo and Google are planning to use their email services as the core of their social networking strategy over time. — Of course, by social network, they mean Facebook and MySpace.
Saul Hansell / Bits:
Inbox 2.0: Yahoo and Google to Turn E-Mail Into a Social Network — Ignore Orkut, OpenSocial, Yahoo Mash and Yahoo 360. Google and Yahoo have come up with new and very similar plans to respond to the challenge from MySpace and Facebook: They hope to turn their e-mail systems …
Discussion: mathewingram.com/work, Search Engine Land, The Open Road, Don Dodge on The Next …, A VC, michael parekh on IT, TechConsumer, The Social Times, bub.blicio.us, GigaOM, Valleywag, Lost Remote, Changing Way, Feld Thoughts, Pulse 2.0, Getting Granular, Between the Lines, Mashable!, Download Squad, Gizmodo, CNET News.com and Joe Duck
Fred / A VC: The Biggest Social Graphs
Nick O'Neill / The Social Times: Email Becomes Center of Social Networks?
Brian Solis / bub.blicio.us: Inbox 2.0 Is Not Social Network 2.0
Nicholas Carlson / Valleywag: Google and Yahoo's Facebook killer is email [Bad Ideas]
David Johnson / Lost Remote: Yahoo and Google have similar designs for social inboxes
Aimee Kessler Evans / Getting Granular: Yahoo Goes Social, Following Google's Footsteps (NY Times)
Kristen Nicole / Mashable!: Is the Inbox the Next Social Network?
Brad Linder / Download Squad: Social networks of the future could be email based
Haroon Malik / Gizmodo: Google and Yahoo Want Your Inbox to Get Social [Inbox 2.0]
Elinor Mills / CNET News.com: Yahoo Mail, iGoogle to take on Facebook?
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
Social networking: Quietly being subsumed by your everyday apps
Social networking: Quietly being subsumed by your everyday apps
Discussion: Business Filter
Marshall Kirkpatrick / Read/WriteWeb:
Yahoo! Says the Future Will be Modeled on Facebook
Yahoo! Says the Future Will be Modeled on Facebook
Discussion: Practical Blogging
Robyn Tippins / Practical Blogging: Gmail Goes Social Already?
PC Pro:
Music boss: we were wrong to go to war with consumers — The boss of Warner Music has made a rare public confession that the music industry has to take some of the blame for the rise of p2p file sharing. — Speaking at the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress in Macau, Edgar Bronfman told mobile operators …
Discussion: mathewingram.com/work, MacUser, MacDailyNews and iLounge
Charles Starrett / iLounge: News: Warner's Bronfman praises Apple, iPhone
Direct Comparison of iPhone and Hard-Key QWERTY Phone Owners Indicates Higher — Text Entry Error Rate for iPhones — User Centric, Inc., a Chicago-based usability consultancy, finished a third and final study examining the user experience of Apple's iPhone.
Ben Worthen / Business Technology: Sorryy. IÂ'm Tyipng on my iPhonw
Nicholas Deleon / CrunchGear: Study says iPhone not great for txt messaging
Dennis Sellers / Macsimum News: Study: iPhone owners make more errors during text entry
Michael Santo / Alice Hill's Real Tech News: Surprise! Virtual Keyboards on iPhones Have Higher Text Entry Error Rate: Study
Kevin Maney / Portfolio.com: iPhone Keys &$#*#^)! Stink
Jason Mick / DailyTech:
Ballmer Welcomes Google's Android OS to "Microsoft's World" — Ballmer has some more interesting insight into looking at the world through Microsoft-colored glasses. — At a recent Tokyo press conference, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had some interesting things to say about Google and its new Android OS …
Discussion: TechSpot News
Justin Mann / TechSpot News: Google defends Android
Google Android gets positive early reviews
Google Android gets positive early reviews
Discussion: Search Engine Journal
Mike Butcher / TechCrunch:
Google pitches Android to European mobile developers
Google pitches Android to European mobile developers
Discussion: Google Code Blog, localmobilesearch.net and Slashdot
Zonk / Slashdot: Predicting The Google Phone
Zack Urlocker / InfoWorld:
Virtualization: C'mon In! — The market for server virtualization software appears to have gotten a whole lot more crowded this week. Not only did Oracle announce free server virtualization software at the Oracle Open World conference, but Microsoft and VMWare also made announcements of competing free offerings.
Discussion: ChannelWeb Breaking News and Computerworld
Dan Farber / Between the Lines:
Sun launches xVM virtualization platform
Sun launches xVM virtualization platform
Discussion: Information Manager Journal
Walt Mossberg / The Mossberg Solution:
Singing a New Zune — Microsoft's Retooled Player Marks a Vast Improvement; However, It's Still No iPod — November 14, 2007 — by Walter S. Mossberg and Katherine Boehret — Last year, when Microsoft Corp. introduced its Zune music player to take on Apple's iPod juggernaut, the software giant struck out.
Discussion: Bit Player, Gizmodo, Engadget, Chris Lanier's Blog and MacDailyNews
Jon Healey / Bit Player: News flash: Zune no iPod
Adam Frucci / Gizmodo: Mossberg on Zune 2: 'Still No iPod' [Pulpbite]
Thomas Ricker / Engadget: Mossberg's new Zune review sounds familiar
Chris Lanier / Chris Lanier's Blog: Short Bits: Zune Roundup
'Virtual theft' leads to arrest — A Dutch teenager has been arrested for allegedly stealing virtual furniture from "rooms" in Habbo Hotel, a 3D social networking website. — The 17-year-old is accused of stealing 4,000 euros (£2,840) worth of virtual furniture, bought with real money.
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Wilson Rothman / Gizmodo: Teen Steals Over $5K in Virtual Furniture, Gets Busted By Very Real Cops [So Real]
Susan Arendt / Game | Life: Dutch Teen Arrested for Virtual Theft
Mark Androvich / GamesIndustry.biz: Teen arrested for "virtual" theft
It's what cameras have become - the new Nokia N82 — Nokia introduces a leading edge connected camera, navigation device and multimedia computer in one — Espoo, Finland - Nokia unveils the Nokia N82, the latest multimedia computer optimized for photography, navigation and internet connectivity.
Peter Ha / CrunchGear: Nokia officializes N82
Rafe Blandford / All About Symbian: Nokia N82 information round up
Tim Conneally / BetaNews: Nokia's N82 5-Megapixel Handset Launches Worldwide
Nick Mokey / Digital Trends: Nokia Launches N82 Convergence Device
Russell Shaw / IP Telephony, VoIP, Broadband: With more powerful cellphone cameras, who needs stand-alone digital cameras?
Eric M. Zeman / Phone Scoop: Nokia Bolsters N Series Lineup With N82
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Joe Strupp / Editor and Publisher: 'WSJ' Executive: Murdoch's Free Web Site Talk is 'Jumping The Gun'
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch: The Wall Street Journal Gets Cozy With Digg
Nintendo warns of Wii shortages — A chronic shortage of Nintendo's popular Wii console could mean disappointment for those putting it at the top of their Christmas list. — The BBC has learned that high street retailers are struggling to keep up with demand for the console, which has been in short supply for months.
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Nilay Patel / Engadget: Holiday Wii shortages expected in the UK
Alexander Sliwinski / Joystiq: BBC reminds that Wii supply is still an issue
Geoff Duncan / Digital Trends: Wii's Still Running Short
Tim Stevens / Switched: Want a Wii for Christmas? Get in Line.
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Nick Mokey / Digital Trends: SanDisk Vaulter Takes New Approach to SSDs
Luigi Lugmayr / I4U News: Sandisk Vaulter quickens your PC
Warner Crocker / The Tablet PC: SanDisk Vaulter: Flash Based Storage and Accelerator
Ashkan Karbasfrooshan / HipMojo.com:
New Tee Vee Conference - Video Advertising — The next panel sought to answer the question: Is there money in Long Tail Video?" or mainly: how do you make money. The panel was moderated by Jeremy Liew, from Lightspeed Venture Partners. — Eric Hadley Heavy.com — Jayant Kadambi YuMe
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Chris Albrecht / NewTeeVee: NTV Live Panel: Is There Money in the Long Tail?


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Woman on Texas death row loses federal appeal
HOUSTON — A woman on Texas' death row lost a federal court appeal Wednesday, moving her closer to execution for the fatal stabbing and bludgeoning of a 71-year-old neighbor during a robbery 15 years ago.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused an appeal from Kimberly McCarthy, 51, a former nursing home therapist from Dallas County who is one of 10 women awaiting execution in Texas.
McCarthy was sentenced to die for the July 1997 killing of retired college professor Dorothy Booth at her home in Lancaster, about 15 miles south of Dallas.
Evidence revealed that McCarthy showed up at Booth's door pretending to borrow sugar and then attacked her with a metal candleholder and stabbed her at least five times with a knife. Booth's finger was cut off while she was still alive to remove her wedding ring, authorities said.
The ring was pawned for $200, and McCarthy drove Booth's Mercedes-Benz to a crack house to buy cocaine and used the woman's credit card at least four times, evidence showed.
McCarthy was tried twice for the slaying, most recently in 2002. Her first conviction in 1998 was thrown out three years later by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which ruled police violated her constitutional rights by using a statement she made to them after asking for a lawyer.
In the appeal rejected Wednesday, McCarthy's attorneys contended her trial lawyers were deficient for not introducing into evidence at her punishment trial a statement she made to police acknowledging she was at the crime scene but blaming the killing on two men with her.
Her appeal also argued trial attorneys improperly allowed the daughter of her victim to be present in the courtroom as the trial unfolded. The daughter became distraught as crime scene photos were described in court and she had to be removed from the courtroom. McCarthy's lawyers then asked for a mistrial but the request was denied by the trial judge.
Prosecutors also presented DNA and fingerprint evidence that tied McCarthy to the similar slayings in 1988 of two other women, one 81 and the other 85. One was beaten with a metal meat tenderizer and stabbed, the other beaten with a claw hammer and stabbed. McCarthy denied any involvement in the killings.
Since Texas resumed carrying out capital punishment in 1982, only three of the 482 convicted killers put to death have been women.
An execution date has not yet been set for McCarthy.


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Below are the Top IUI Centres in India with options to book your first appointment FREE. Check Reviews, IUI Cost, Success rates, Fees, Contact Number and Address for all Intrauterine insemination treatments. Also find affordable test tube baby costs.
IVF and Infertility Clinic
Bandra West ,Mumbai
IVF Centre
Kakadeo ,Kanpur
IVF and Infertility Clinic
Parel ,Mumbai
IVF Centre
Nehru Nagar ,Ahmedabad
IUI and Infertility Hospital
Laxmi Nagar ,Delhi
IVF Centre
Malad West ,Mumbai
IUI and Infertility Hospital
Sector 16 A ,Faridabad
IUI and Infertility Hospital
Andheri West ,Mumbai
IUI and Infertility Hospital
Itki Road ,Ranchi
IVF Centre
Gopalpura Bypass ,Jaipur
IVF and Infertility Clinic
Agra Bombay Road ,Indore
IVF Centre
Malad West ,Mumbai
IVF Centre
Malviya Nagar ,Delhi
Infertility and Gynecology/Obstetrics Clinic
Memnagar ,Ahmedabad
IVF and Infertility Clinic
Lambhvel ,Anand
IVF Centre
Gomti Nagar ,Lucknow
IVF Centre
Wakad ,Pune
Infertility and Gynecology/Obstetrics Clinic
Gomti Nagar ,Lucknow
IVF Centre
Ghatkopar East ,Mumbai
IVF Centre
Kalyanpur ,Lucknow
All the services of Ovo Health to its patients and all our services are FREE and Transparent.
We have received your request. Ovo Health Team will reach back to you within the next 48 hrs.
IVF Doctors
6 yrs exp
IVF Doctors
31 yrs exp
IVF Specialist
11 yrs exp
Test Tube Baby
10 yrs exp
IVF Center
Fertility Center
IVF Center
Infertility Clinic
Infertility these days has become a common medical issue. Dealing with infertility perhaps is something a couple would never want to experience in their lives. The child-rearing phase is like a dream come true for a couple. This is the phase when you start searching for those 'early signs of pregnancy'. The failure to conceive leaves a deeply poignant effect on the couple. In such a situation, visiting the best IUI Centres in India is the best way out to deal with this stress.
In view of increasing infertility issues and conception failure in couples, numerous IUI Centres in India have come forward to meet standards that most infertile couples are looking forward to experience. You can visit the best IUI centres in India to experience the world-class medical settings including sanitation and hygiene available at the centres. You can expect lesser waiting time at the centres.
The IUI centres in India are well equipped with latest and modern technologies and usually excel in services like Infertility treatment, Intrauterine Insemination treatment (IUI), In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), Surrogacy, Minimal Invasive Surgery, Oncology, Cardiology and Orthopedics. It is valuable to stick to the IUI centres in India where one can get proper equipment quality, proper accreditation and qualifications of the best IUI doctors in India. The paramedic staff at IUI centres is empathetic and compassionate towards their patients. They understand how infertility can be challenging for a couple and treat every patient with equal concern and support. From expectant mother to pregnant women, IUI centres in India have always been competent in providing highly specialized treatments to their patients.
Uncertainty is an unavoidable phase of life, but still you can visit the IUI centres in India to avail the best of their services. One can find all the emergency and intensive care facilities at the centres. Ambulances services are provided by most of the IUI centres, however, the treatment and services cost may vary from one centre to another. All the required action plans are established at the IUI centres in India to cater to emergencies.
The IUI treatment is intended to increase the number of sperms that reach the fallopian tubes, thereby increasing the chance of fertilization.
Intrauterine Insemination also known as artificial insemination, is an Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) typically used for infertility treatment. IUI treatment is a procedure in which washed sperm is transferred directly into the uterus using a thin catheter. The treatment is performed to increase the number of sperm that enters the uterus.
The Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) procedure is conducted at the IUI centres in India. The procedure is quite simple. Male partner sperm or the donor's sperm will be thawed and prepared. The semen then goes through a washing process. This process is used to take out the impurities.
You can visit the best IUI centres in India to have a better understanding of all the options and risks involved in the procedure.
Female infertility is based on physical and social characteristics that vary by culture and situation. Female infertility is when a woman fails to conceive even after having unprotected sexual intercourse for a year. There can be some usual hormone imbalances, which intervene pregnancy. Cervical issues are other major reasons for female infertility, a condition that does not allow sperm to pass through the cervical canal.
Over time, technological advancements in the medical field have evolved many effective infertility treatments, whichtake place at the IUI Centres in India.
In Non-medical ways, adopting a healthy lifestyle can treat Infertility. Here are some points to remember:
The flagship programme available at most of the IUI centres in India will help you in treating the infertility problems and double your chances of getting pregnant. Also, female infertility can be treated by:
Your doctor at the IUI centres in India may perform several tests, including a blood test to check hormone levels and an endometrial biopsy to examine the lining of the uterus.
Male infertility is common these days. It occurs when there is something wrong with sperm production or sperm transport. It is said that for about one in five infertile couples, the male partner has some problem, which prevents pregnancy. The IUI doctors at the IUI centres in India will help in determining the cause of infertility and will let you undergo some medical tests.
The cost of IUI in India varies from one case to another. IUI cost in Asia is nominal than that of other countries. It depends on the medical parameters of couples that how much the treatment will cost. The treatment cost also depends on the IUI success rate. Higher the success rate, higher will be the cost of IUI. The Fair Treatment Cost (FTC) calculator on ovohealth.com can help you calculate the prevailing IUI cost in India. The FTC calculator works on an algorithm that calculates the cost of IUI based on the success rates. The IUI success rates range from Fair, Good to High category. You can visit your nearest IUI centres in India to get a detailed IUI treatment plan and cost.
There is a plethora of factors on which IUI success rate depends. The IUI process conducted at the right time i.e, just before a woman ovulates, boosts the IUI success rates. You will be asked either to perform (HPT) Home Pregnancy Test or to visit the IUI centres in India for ultrasound monitoring in order to ascertain the best time for pregnancy. Another reason, which is directly proportionate to IUI success rate, is the cost of IUI in India. You can check the IUI cost based on the success rates at ovohealth.com.
In order to increase the IUI success rate, your doctor at the IUI centres in India will prescribe some fertility medications for ovarian-stimulation.
The fertility medications can lead to following side effects:
With the availability of the finest IUI centres in India, the infertile couples have the access to seek infertility treatment at a place where the medical staff is dedicated to offer innovative medical facilities and affectionate care to infertility patients. The IUI centres assure their patients to provide the best of their services under safe, hygienic and peaceful ambiance. IUI centres in India help infertile couples to enjoy happy and healthy pregnancy and a safe delivery of the baby. Latest treatments are conducted under the supervision of highly skilled doctors having a track record of phenomenal success rates.
At IUI centres in India, every norm and policy is kept in a clear form among the patients. The centres have always been striving to offer the most competitive price, which does not have anything extra or hidden to it. IUI centres in India ensures your full satisfaction in terms of cost and services simultaneously. IUI centres in India does not include any hidden cost that really cut into your profitability.
Almost all the IUI centres in India are well equipped with all sorts of medications, consultations, Lab work and Tests. The centreshave glorious decade's experience of rendering the service of infertility treatments. IUI centres in India have played a major role in delivering their best services in the field of infertility. The centres comprise highly advanced IUI/Infertility labs that help in optimizing the results of Assisted Reproductive Techniques.
You can plan a visit to one of the best IUI centres in India if you have witnessed failed conception after 12 consecutive months of trying. The common causes leading to which couples decide visiting IUI centres in India are blockage in fallopian tubes, age-related infertility in women, decreased sperm motility, endometriosis, and unexplained fertility. Women body starts producing lesser eggs for unknown reasons after a certain age. To collect complete information, frame a set of questions you would like to ask your doctor about infertility. Tell the doctor everything about the family history of infertility. OVO Health intends to provide the best of its services to the infertile couples helping them getting their own biological child. One can find all sorts of information about the IUI centres in India, best IUI doctors, IUI success rates and the cost of IUI in India. You can book an appointment at ovohealth.com.
Enter Details to Book Your FREE Consultation


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Go See It.
The movie is only 45 minutes long but contains more science than most American school children receive in a year. (And if they're in Mississippi or California or Hawaii, more than they will probably get from K-12).
Avatar and Alice in Wonderland have given the world a new appetite for big screen effects. Done right, 3D adds immersion unapproached by flat projection. Hubble 3D combines those effects with reality in a way that the imaginary worlds of Pandora and Wonderland cannot. Yet so many Americans will ho-hum this because it's about science.
Go See It Anyway.


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MILLBROOK — Senior Jimmy Ross ran back a kickoff and punt for touchdowns, caught a TD pass and made two interceptions on defense to lead his Millbrook football team to a season-opening win over Spackenkill tonight, 34-14.After the game, I talked to Ross about his performance and you can click here to watch video of that interview, in which the upperclassman talks about the win and what it means for the Blazers. Be sure to check out full stories about the game both in Saturday's edition of the Poughkeepsie Journal and on our website.
We'll have coverage of all tonight's games both online and in print, so keep reading!


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Learn how to make and fly a kite in your neck of the woods.
Planning a trip to Southern California? All the fun is not necessary had at the amusement parks. Take a side trip to Seal Beach, a quaint beach town, that has much to offer. While there, you won't want to miss the monthly Seal Beach Kite Club meetings. Click here to see what the city of Seal Beach has in store for you and your family. Then, venture to Hobby City for some additional free hands-on fun.
Learn how to make a band in minutes. Yes, you and your children can make a coffee can drum and yogurt container shakers by following the easy instructions provided by Kidsongs.com.
Montessorian Dale Gausman will show you how to make and introduce rhythm sticks in your school and home classrooms. Click here for details.
The Blow Ye Winds , Paddle Wheeler and Erie Canal – and Wabash Cannonball are free extension activities from the guide written by Dr. Kathryn A. Short, for Kimbo's CD release: "Songs About America," Celebrating America Through Song.. See Kimbo for details.
Download The Number Eating Alligator from Kidsongs.com and discover how these songs can be incorporated into your ECE and elementary math and music lesson planning. Click here for details.
Marjorie Kiel Persons presents two marvelous integrated lessons for your summer music presentations. – Water Music Alla Hornpipe by George Frideric Handel. and Oh, How I Love Italy ? Music, Art, and Food seasoned with History and Geography See Click on this link to access both lesson plans.
Dale Gausman, owner of the North American Montessori Center, shows how children can plan, prepare, and execute a Spring or Summer Tea. Dale's Friendship Salad makes a perfect addition to the Spring Tea menu or any other event planned for the upcoming months. Click here for details.
Encourage children to try making some new recipes this summer! Make lunchtime interesting by including some rollie poultries and stuffed apples into your meal planning. See http://www.amonco.org/summer7/montessori_summer7.pdf
Learn how to present an authentic Montessori food unit study featuring the yummy Watermelon Blueberry Banana Split recipe.
DIanne Knesek, Montessori teacher and owner of Conceptual Learning, shares a mouth watering Summer Fruit, Cheese, and Meat Kabobs recipe. Visit this link for complete information
Planning a unit study about pirates? Try these three pirate snack ideas – Treasure Chests, Pirate Ships and Cannonballs, all of which, can be easily integrated into any pirate unit study. Click here to access the recipes.
For a festive change, create your own hot dog buffet and serve some fudge cupcakes for dessert. Then, cool down your lazy afternoon with some delicious green smoothies. http://www.amonco.org/summer7/montessori_summer7.pdf
Are you looking for an additional aid to help inspire good penmanship? Nan Barchowsky may have just what you need. Check out A Bit of Yarn for Good Pen Hold http://www.amonco.org/summer2/montessori_summer2.pdf by clicking here.
Begin the summer science learning adventure with hands on fun. Children will discover how to change the color of a flower and how water travels up plants by participating in the Changing a Flower's Color activity submitted by Dale Gausman. See http://www.amonco.org/summer6/montessori_summer6.pdf for details.
John, from Exploration Education, presents an excellent, fun-filled simple and effective activity about static electricity is for children six and up. Click here for details.
Invite children to vicariously go on an animal safari! To access resources for a unit study, visit http://www.amonco.org/summer7/montessori_summer7.pdf
Children marvel at identifying the different birds that they encounter at the park, beach or even in their backyard. Find out how Backyard Birds can be incorporated into your ornithology presentations by visiting http://www.amonco.org/summer5/montessori_summer5.pdf
Rae, from Creative Process, shares a leaf print activity that combines the study of botany with art. To access this information, visit http://www.amonco.org/summer4/montessori_summer4.pdf
Richard, from the Montessori Materials LORD Company, is offering FREE reading books, and a Montessori land and water labels http://www.amonco.org/summer7/montessori_summer7.pdf
Easily create a seashell unit study. Quickly locate links to seashell classification materials and other resources by visiting http://www.amonco.org/summer/montessori_summer1.pdf
Summer gardening can be especially meaningful if you plan ahead. A Gardening Unit Study (With the Focus on Summer)Montessori Lessons will provide the info you need to customize your garden lesson planning. Find the gardening resources and lesson plans now, so that you embark on your summer gardening journey when late May arrives.
In Nurturing Budding Botanists – Learning and Teaching the Basics of Plant Science, author Sara L. Ambarian has provided the indepth botany lesson planning information and resources needed Click here for details.
Receive some free hands-on algebra exercises designed by Dr. Henry Borenson See Hands On Equations for details. Check out DIanne Knesek's Montessori problem solving lessons by clicking here.
What type of learner is your child? Mariaemma, from Coaching for Learning Success(tm), has the resources you need to discover the answer to this question, plus she has generously contributed her Basketball and Whole Body Memorizing Activity. Access this information, as well as The Whole Body Learner – Gifted for Moving! article by visiting Click here for details.
Stillsonworks offers more unique puzzles designed for middle school students. Try your hand at the free exercises included by clicking here Access additional FREE puzzles for children/teens by visiting http://www.amonco.org/summer7/montessori_summer7.pdf
Be sure to check out the cooperative games by Rae from Creative Process. (Click here for details.)
THIS and THAT…. Additional unique, creative lesson planning info.
Rae from Creative Process generously has provided the following free activities], articles, and lesson plans: Calendar Activity, Teacher as Curator : Setting up a School Gallery and Sharing Food, Food in Art? Access this information by clicking here
Are you taking your class on a literature journey? Why not start with the classics. Let Rita Arpaia of literature.com show you how. Point your browser to http://www.amonco.org/summer6/montessori_summer6.pdf Read Rita's other articles and learn more about how literature.com's resources for your school and homeschool libraries.
Sara Ambarian has written a two part article which will further help you with your selection of children's books. In http://www.amonco.org/summer2/montessori_summer2.pdf Part I of her article, you will learn about the books selected by the AMC resource participants.
In http://www.amonco.org/summer4/montessori_summer4.pdf Part I read about community recommendations. This balanced article is sure to help you select just the right books for your school and homeschool classrooms.
If you would like to view the complete table of contents of the newsletter, or you have experienced any difficulties accessing the links above, please visit http://www.amonco.org/montessori_summer_handson.html
Now, with these fun activities, recipes and lessons, you are set to make this summer the best yet!
Heidi Anne Spietz


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Higher Education for Development Awards 13 More USAID-Funded Grants in Africa-U.S. Higher Education Initiative Grant Competition
WASHINGTON, DC - Higher Education for Development (HED) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced today that an additional 13 partnerships will be funded through the Africa-U.S. Higher Education Initiative Planning Grant Competition.
Funding was originally proposed and awarded for 20 partnerships in April 2009 (a complete list of winning partnerships is available at www.hedprogram.org). However, the competition drew such a high level of interest, with nearly 300 applications submitted, that USAID decided to award funding to 13 additional applications. Partnerships, comprised of one U.S. and one African higher education institution, will each receive $50,000 grants from USAID to develop plans to address regional and national economic development priorities including such as engineering, health, agriculture, environment and natural resources, science and technology, education and teacher training/preparation, and business, management, and economics.
"We are extremely pleased to fund these additional 13 partnerships," said Alonzo Fulgham, Acting Administrator of USAID. "With the addition of these 13, we now have a total of six historically black colleges and universities in the initiative and a number of well-respected, top-ranked academic institutions in the United States and throughout Africa. The expertise and experience delivered by these institutions will have a critical impact as this effort moves forward."
The following are the new 13 winning partnerships:
African Higher Education Institution
U.S. Higher Education Institution
|Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
|University of California, Los Angeles
|Bayero University, Nigeria
|Ohio University
|Cuttington University, Liberia
|Southern University System
|International Institute for Water & Environmental Engineering, Burkina Faso
|Tuskegee University
|Kenyatta University, Kenya
|Syracuse University
|Kigali Health Institute, Rwanda
|Emory University
|Makerere University, Uganda
|University of Wisconsin, Madison
|Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria
|Massachusetts Institute of Technology
|Rhodes University, South Africa
|University of Florida
|University for Development Studies, Ghana
|Florida A&M University
|University of Cape Town, South Africa
|University of Cincinnati
|University of Ghana
|Brown University
|University of Liberia
|Indiana University
HED manages the competition which grew out of the Africa-U.S. Higher Education Initiative (www.aplu.org), a collaborative effort between a number of higher education associations and other organizations, led by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (A-P-L-U), formerly the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC).
"We are highly enthusiastic about the expansion of this effort," said Dr. Tully Cornick, executive director of HED. "We were so impressed with the quality and caliber of the applicant pool; it was a difficult peer review process to whittle down a final list of winners. By funding these additional 13 partnerships, we recognize that even greater expertise, knowledge and connections will be brought to bear to address a variety of critical development needs."
"Africa has an urgent need to strengthen institutions that cultivate human and research capacity." said Peter McPherson, president of A-P-L-U. "Working together in partnership, African and U.S. higher education institutions have the ability to increase the quality and access to education, and help solve local problems. The partnerships that will be created through this initiative have the potential to make a difference in the future of the African continent."
HED, funded by a cooperative agreement with USAID, was founded by the six major U.S. higher education associations to engage U.S. colleges and universities in international development. For more information about HED and to view details about the planning grants competition (including a complete list of the winning institutions), visit www.HEDprogram.org.
The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for nearly 50 years. For more information on USAID, visit www.USAID.gov.
Transmitted by the USAID Public Information, Production and Online Services group, contact number 202-712-0000.\n


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Barney Frank Demonstrates Precisely How to Handle Townhall Wingnuts
Last night Barney Frank held a health care town hall meeting in Massachusetts. Near the end, a woman stepped to the podium and asked, "Why do you continue to support a Nazi policy?" Frank then eviscerated her completely.
It looks as though all of those shouting matches with Bill O'Reilly have taught Barney Frank a thing or two, because I don't think he could have handled this more perfectly. He just sort of swatted the woman, who was holding a poster with a picture of Obama altered to look like Hitler, away like a troublesome fly, albeit in that slightly bitchy and condescending manner that is oh so very Barney Frank. It's beautiful.