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When My Memories contacted me about doing a giveaway of their digital scrapbooking software, I hesitated because I've always been a TERRIBLE scrapbooker. I have one disgraceful album of magazine clippings and photos thrown together with Scotch Tape, so I didn't want to shame My Memories for life if I screwed things up. When I started reading more about the product itself though, I realized there was no way even I could mess this up.
The setup was super simple, I just clicked a few buttons and done. As for the the actual program itself....let's just say I don't like to read instructions...so I didn't. I jumped right in and began browsing all of the layouts, pages and embellishments. They have a great selection of embellishments like the ric-rac I used below, buttons, flowers, stitching, you name it. And to top it off, they even offer a ton of free downloadable packages on their website.
The hardest part was actually figuring out exactly what I wanted to do. The best part is that you can use the My Memories software for more than just scrapbook layouts. With Connor's 1st birthday coming up, I decided to make birthday invitations!
I used their background and embellishments, and then I decided to make a little monster on the bottom out of several of the shapes they offer. See? No design degree needed. And no Elmer's glue or magazine pages :)
So how bout some free stuff? My Memories has offered to give one of my fantastic readers a free copy of the My Memories Suite software (a $40 value) too!
Additional entries: go check out their blog or like them on Facebook and leave me separate comments telling me you did.
Even if you don't win, My Memories is giving you all a coupon code that gives you $10 off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - a $20 value! Just copy and paste the code below when you check out. Merry (early) Christmas!


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This is the result of my following an excellent tutorial by Kevin Lee Jacobs on his blog, A Garden for the House. The post is called, "How I Prepare Geraniums for Winter Bloom" and can be found under his tab, Gardening and then, Annuals. I started with around 25-30 of these plantings, but through attrition and bad methodology on my part, lost several, leaving me with around 15-17 that I think will make it. It is really a thrill to know I won't have to buy geraniums this year! Visit Kevin's blog for complete instructions and information.
22 Jan
Propagating Geraniums with a Method by Kevin Lee Jacobs
20 Jul
"Livinonthecrowrock" – What the heck is that?
We live out in the country. The Crow Rock is a large outcropping of rocks on the side of a hill just south of us on a neighbor's property. It's a local landmark that, except for locals, is largely unknown. So, while we don't live "on" The Crow Rock, we live near it, and in a way, we do live on it.
Out here in the country we have challenges and thrills that are absent in other places where people choose to live. We have limitations and freedoms that aren't found elsewhere. Sometimes it's VERY challenging.
We had several strong storm systems come through in the last couple of weeks. The last one did a number on the treeline below our backyard. It had to be something like a micro-burst of wind because there was considerable damage in a concentrated area below us down the hillside. The pics will tell the story of the clean up. It was a long hard day and the DH had already spent a whole day on it and there are probably a couple more in the near future, but now we can mow.
I figgered I'd add a couple others that depict "Livinonthecrowrock." That might be continued in the next post, too. 🙂 Happy Sunday!
19 May
Cat-ching Fire
My husband and I have a cat who is 14 years old. She is an orange mackeral tabby. (Mackeral is the type of pattern in the fur, mackeral means stripes. There are also classic, spotted, and ticked tabbies.) Her name is Taggy and she's never been all that much of a people person, er, cat. She's also never been much of a cat cat. She took up residence with us after our son, who survived in a house fire and lost his little kitten, KG, was gifted with her as a "replacement." Pet lovers know that pets can't be randomly "replaced". The young lady had good intentions, but, the orange mackeral tabby was left at home with us when our son recovered and went about his life. He never bonded with her, nor she with any of us, really, having come from a litter of barn cats.
But, there we were with our first pet as marrieds. She still had no name, so we named her "Tag" or "Taggy" after a field hockey player whom we admired. A few years later, we moved to a house in the country. Taggy came with us.
Shortly thereafter, on the way home from church, we passed a sign that said, "Free Kittens." We thought Taggy might need some company in the new (to us) house. We stopped and had no intention of taking one home. We walked in and were shown a passel of kittens all rolled up around one another in a big ball on a chair. Our hearts stopped. We poked one another and I bent down to pick up a very furry, brown and black striped kitten with a high white chest and white paws. Moments later, we were in the car on the way home choosing a name for our new baby. We named him Texas. The funny thing is that Taggy hated him from the get go. But, if it wasn't for her, we probably wouldn't have had him in our life. But, this is a story about Taggy, not Tex.
Taggy has never been very nice. After we got Tex, she was relegated to the "lower level," or the basement as some non-real estate people call it. It's a finished basement and is heated and cooled, but she had to live separately from Tex for fear of his bodily harm. We do go down there and see her. My husband works down there frequently in his workshop and in these later years, she has started to come upstairs for short periods of time. She does not like our Maine Coon, Gryphie. But, she and Tex became pretty close to friendly in the last years of his life. It was nice to see. If she is feeling lonely, she comes to the top of the steps. Most of the time she cries a little in a sorrowful little meow. Last night, I woke up and had to visit the necessary room. When I sat up in bed, I noticed that she was sitting at the top of the steps. Kinda unusual for her not to be meowing a little. When I returned to bed, she was still sitting there, silently. I lay down and just kept an eye on her from my bed. My eye was drawn to a shimmering light reflected on my bedroom door near where she sat. I sat up and quickly walked to the door. By the time I got there, I looked down and she was gone.
But there, flickering in the darkened living room, was the candle that I had forgotten to blow out.
22 Mar
Some things never change!
When my husband and I were newlyweds, Bob Villa was on This Old House and we watched it all the time. Then came FoodTV and DIY shows of all sorts and we watched them all the time. Now, I have an iPad and my desktop and I am on them all the time. Doing what, you ask? Admiring old houses, looking for recipes, and compiling ideas for DIY and projects on Pinterest. All.The.Time. Back then, we spent so much time watching This Old House and The New Yankee Workshop (I'm really dating myself here, aren't I?), we didn't do many home improvement projects.
Today, now, I am trying to tear myself away from Pinterest and Hometalk on one of the soon to be nicest days yet this year in Western Maryland. I have new chalk paint that I bought yesterday, a new (old) metal drawer that I want to turn into something, previously frozen "melted" fall pumpkin guts on my porch from which I want to glean seeds (and then get the heck off of my porch since they are disgusting), and so many other projects that it makes my head spin. But, here I am, blogging about my issues and not DOING anything! So, after I post a couple of pics of hopefully-to-be-done-today projects, I am going to hop to it!
Carpe diem!
19 Mar
Morning Happiness
Someday, when they are closer to the road I travel to work every day, I will take a picture of "my" little herd of friends who make me smile whenever I pass them. With Spring right around the corner, the teeny little kids, who are new this year, can be seen jumping and running in and out of the rest of the herd. They are so lively and playful! They always warm my heart and make me smile. It's a wonderful way to start off my day.
Today was cloudy, so I didn't see one, but on sunny mornings, my interstate route takes me through a mountain pass and the sunrise is always visible right through the middle. Sometimes, it's spectacular and sometimes it's not as much so, but it is always something to look forward to. Other times, I have to wait a little longer to get a glimpse and if it's really good, I sneak a pic. I know, please don't lecture me, but how can I not preserve something so beautiful? I promise I am really careful!
God is good and there is always evidence of His love for us. I thank him daily for the ways He shows me each morning that there is something for which to be grateful.
18 Mar
Am I going to have a blog or not?
Spring! It might finally be here in a few days!
Well? Am I? I have had a form of this blog for a few years. First I was on one blog site, then, I switched to WordPress (which I really like), then I decided, after almost complete inactivity, to go to my own domain. For one year. I think that maybe my FB posts are a lot like blog entries. Sometimes, I try to rein them in so they stay FB posts. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Seems most of my FB posts resound more readily to my FB friends; at least some of them. I often find myself wanting to post about something more, well, well…um. Frivolous? Fun?
In the past, my blog posts (all 3 or 4 of them) have been all over the map. Is this a diary? Is this a confessional? Is this a lame attempt at humor? Do I want to write about my feelings? What we used to call "Current Events?" Humor in my life? Horror in my life? Why do I feel this desire to write? And put it out there? I don't want to be another blahblahblahblahblahblah blog. No.I.Don't. I see quite a bit of that and the blog world doesn't need more of the same.
I'm not brilliant or erudite. But, I see things and maybe it's in a way that you haven't considered. But, maybe you have and I'm not alone! Yay!
I have too many interests to list. At the same time, though, I would like to see if anyone else shares, at least, some of the same. I would like to not have a blog that asks that stupid question at the end, "What do you think of ______?" Blah. Blah. Blah.
I am a grandmother (and not ashamed of my name, Grammy Sue), I am a wife and am blessed with a wonderful husband. I am a mother of two very different, yet wonderful children. I am a sort-of-reluctant-full-time employee who loves her company, the men and couple women with whom she works, and the time I spend with my mind engaged in something other than fabric, antiques, and all things decorative or grandmotherly.
I, I , I , IIIIIII! Too many I's! But, I feel like I am starting over again and this is the Spring of my blog (please let it be the Spring of 2014!). This time, I will either stay with it or I will let it go. Not everyone needs to, or should, blog. I might be one of them, but I would like to give it one more shot. One year. I gotta get what I paid for. Not going to waste it. Thanks for going along for the ride. Long or short, hope it's a blast. Or at least bearable. 😉
21 Dec
Christmas House Tour in MD
One of my best friends recently was part of a Christmas House Tour in her small historic little town near Baltimore. Actually, her house was in the tour, not her. But, she was there. And, so was I. It was fun. Busy. Hectic. Lots of people came through. I was the "docent" in the family room. I think it was one of the favorite rooms- but I think the whole house was much admired by all who came through. I decided that I had to post a couple of pics so that maybe, some others might enjoy her home. I will be pinning a couple of the pics to Pinterest and I hope you do, too! Enjoy!
Have a wonderful Christmas and a safe New Year- if we make it past tomorrow. 😉

subset: commoncrawl


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This weekend, we spent a glorious Saturday morning at the Kingston Farmers Market. This market is the most local of local haunts in our area. Saint John also has a wonderful City Market with loads of mostly-local goods. Still, when we can muster a few hours on a Saturday morning to directly support our rural farming community, we head to the country refuge of Kingston.
Along with the local farmers, the weather really delivered yesterday. It was a beautiful day for the short ferry ride to the penninsula where the weekly market is held. We came back with bellies full and trunk weighed down from all of our wonderful market finds.
Here are a few tips on how we make the most of our trips to the farmers market. Sure, there are a number of non-trivial planning activities that help our day go smoother, but we think the real key is in "the flow factor". And that brings us to our first tip.
1. Honor the outing. If we're having one of those Saturdays when we just need to get things done, we opt for the City Market or the grocery store. If we're willing to go with the flow, there's nothing that matches the quality and experience of the farmers market.
Farmers work on a different schedule than we do. It's tied to seasons and cycles (or so I've heard). It's pretty simple really; farmers bring whatever they have to the market. And what they have varies greatly from season to season, and is mostly dependent on good old mother nature for its volume and quality.
Don't get us wrong. It's always good to have a rough plan for the market (veggies, fruits, plants, etc.) and to roughly understand what's in season, but getting the best possible produce is mostly about looking at all of the possibilities and then picking whatever's calling to you.
It's early in our growing season yet, so we came home with a stash of greenhouse lettuce and beat greens on Saturday. We hadn't even realized we could get local greens at this time of year, so this was a nice surprise – not to mention a nice addition to Saturday's supper.
2. Talk to the farmers and trust what they tell you. On a related topic, we like to use the farmers market as an opportunity to try new things. We circle the stalls and look at all of the options. We read the signs. But then, we usually talk with the farmers. We ask them what's particularly good this year. If they suggest something we don't typically buy, we almost always buy it. And we typically ask the farmers how to best prepare it.
This weekend, we bought the world's most amazing range-fed bacon. I mean, we haven't had bacon in months because (a) we only eat meat about once a week and (b) we generally don't eat anything processed or containing preservatives, so this was a very nice find. This bacon tasted like nothing we've ever had before. Seriously, now we know what bacon is supposed to taste like. And it's nothing like that stuff in the processed meat aisle. (If you're local and interested, the farmers are Joel and Jennifer from 57 McMillan HIll Rd, Head of Millstream, NB.)
3. Arrive early. We know, we know. The best deals happen at the end of the day, but we still love to arrive early. We feel that a farmers market trip with 2 small kids works best (a) well before naptime and (b) on a full stomach. The Kingston market has volunteers serving breakfast all morning, so we like to get there early and let the kids fuel up on breakfast prior to starting our real shopping. We also find that the best produce sometimes goes early, so it's worth it for us to make the early start.
4. Bring enough cash. (As much as you can afford.) We like to make sure we come with enough cash to get what we want. When the growing season is a little further along, we happily replace most of our grocery order with our market finds. We also sometimes find things we thought we'd have to buy elsewhere. For example, we managed to land all of the potted herbs we'd been wanting for our herb garden from a local herb grower on Saturday. We paid a little less than we would have paid at the local nursery as well.
We hope these few tips help you get the best out of your local farmers market. If you're new to buying local, remember that it takes time to find your flow. Keep an open mind and you won't come back empty-handed.
This post was inspired by Healthy Child Healthy World's call for posts on "Navigating the Farmers Market".
Free images from FreeDigitalPhotos.net


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Mi-Co Customers Eli Lilly, Children's Hospital Boston, ECU School of Dental Medicine & the NC Department of Agriculture receive awards for their innovative use of Tablets to improve business processes and productivity at Mi-Co's PartnerEd 2012 conference.
Durham, NC April 12, 2012. Mi-Co, a leading mobile e-Forms software company, honored innovative Mi-Forms users at the Awards Luncheon during the Mi-Co PartnerEd 2012 conference last week, for their use of iPads, Tablet PCs and other mobile devices that dramatically improved the business processes of their organizations. The following awards were presented: Mi-Forms User of the Year to the NC Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (Structural Pest Control & Pesticides division); Mi-Forms Impact Player of the Year to ECU School of Dental Medicine; Mi-Co Innovation Award to Children's Hospital Boston, and Mi-Forms Process Change Champion to Eli Lilly & Company.
Mi-Forms User of the Year awardee, the NCDA&CS Pesticides group has used Mi-Forms technology on Tablets to streamline a 3-4 week field inspection workflow to just 1 day, and has also 'gone green' by eliminating most paper-forms used in the process. Mi-Forms Impact Player of the Year ECU School of Dental Medicine uses Mi-Forms iPad e-Forms software for admissions committee decisions and student practical exams with a complex multi-stage workflow, across several hundred iPads. Children's Hospital Boston uses Tablets powered by Mi-Forms in their Audiology department, connected to audiology meters as well as their Cerner EMR system and saves 4 minutes per patient encounter as a result. And Eli Lilly uses Mi-Forms Tablet e-forms for Pharmaceutical QA inspection processes, replacing their earlier paper-forms process and boosting data accuracy by 98.8%.
This is the seventh year that Mi-Co has presented awards to organizations that have demonstrated innovation in the use of Tablets and other mobile devices for mobile data capture and process change. Past winners of Mi-Co Partner of the Year Awards include organizations like Optiform Imaging Systems, Custom Data Processing, Inc. and more. According to Greg Clary, CEO, "HiSoft has been a great partner to work with, having a thorough and professional consulting staff with deep experience in several areas including Microsoft SharePoint and other enterprise systems. With the proliferation of iPads, Android slates and other new Tablets like the Ricoh eQuill from Ricoh EWS and Windows 8 Tablets, Mi-Co expects to implement many more innovative Tablet-based projects with HiSoft to reduce the use of paper forms, and improve the productivity of businesses."
About Mi-Co
Mi-Co, the Mobile Information Corporation, provides software to automate paper forms-based business processes. Mi-Co's enterprise Mi-Forms Software System provides flexible electronic forms design for data capture using touch input and digital ink and has proven capabilities for handwriting interpretation and verification, data validation and the communication of forms-based data. Mi-Forms supports Tablet PCs, Digital Pens, iPads, Android Tablets, Windows Phone 7 smartphones, signature capture devices and industry standard software technologies. Mi-Co reaches historically paperwork intensive markets such as healthcare and government and supports an extensive network of channel partners. The company is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina with a customer service center in Seattle, Washington.


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Comparison of Vertical Velocity Measurements in the Great Lakes Connecting Channels with Theoretical Profilesby Jan A. Derecki, Great Lakes Environmental Research, Lab, United States,
Frank H. Quinn, Great Lakes Environmental Research, Lab, United States,
Document Type: Proceeding Paper
Part of: Hydraulic Engineering
Vertical distribution of velocities was measured with an upward looking acoustic Doppler current profiler in the upper St. Clair River during November 1984 - April 1986 and the Detroit River from November 1986. With water depth of about 14 m at both meter locations, the profiler provides 11 vertical velocity readings at 1 m increments between about 2.5 m above the bottom and about 0.5 m below the surface. The measured data are recorded at 15 min intervals, from which hourly and daily values are derived. These velocity vectors are later combined to produce vertical velocity profiles of the two rivers. The velocity data for shorter periods indicate somewhat larger scatter, but the vertical velocity profiles for all periods illustrate high consistency and verification of the theoretical, logarithmic vertical distribution of velocities.
Subject Headings: Velocity distribution | Rivers and streams | Comparative studies | Velocity profile | Lakes | Channel flow | Acoustic techniques | Water meters | Great Lakes | Detroit | Michigan | United States
Services: Buy this book/Buy this article
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Summer Spectrum, 2011 // via //
Make Your Own Way, 2013 // via //
Insa: an artist or a collaboration? I don't know, really. Perhaps mainly one guy with some collabs along the way... Most articles refer to 'him' and the official site says 'artists,' but either way, I was instantly drawn to these images that I started to see going around the internet. 'GIF-iti,' if you will, by the UK-based artist(s). Full-fledged street art with the added dimension of the tech edge. And if tech could be kitsch, then I think, here ya go! And I mean kitsch is the best possible way. No matter how many write-ups I saw on this artist, I couldn't help being rather amazed at every image I scrolled to. Some are amusing. Some are technically inspring. And some are just plain rad. So it's well worth checking out the official site, because there's a lot more to Insa than just paintings on walls. There's a shop and everything. Worth a look, proooobably NSFW. ;)


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I haven't seen my elderly aunt in many years so the aim of our summer holiday was to go see her before it becomes impossible. We'd never been there before, but when we found her house and peered through the glass in the door it was pretty obvious that an elderly Chinese lady lived there.
It looked like a much tidier version of my mum's place, plus I could see some chairs that had been covered by a protective layer of plastic. A yellowing photo of her late husband had pride of place on one of the low tables which were otherwise decorated with doilies and Chinese ornaments. The remote was covered in a layer of clingfilm.
Once we were inside I was amused to see that she - like my mum - had a second fridge. It was in the garage, along with an assortment of pots, pans and woks, a cupboard full of dried ingredients and a couple of gas cooker thingies. The sheets on our beds smelled like the parcels we used to get from Hong Kong when I was a child and were decorated with florals on a peach background.
Needless to say we were pretty well fed those days, on pork ribs, soy sauce chicken, stirred green beens, almond cakes, coconut jelly and lashings of Chinese tea.
In case you were wondering, I didn't get a chance to go to DressMart, which came up at the top of Google's list of things to do in Onehunga.


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Perform Liverpool offers a fully equipped and comprehensive rehabilitation gym, staffed by specialist practioners.
Perform Liverpool houses AlterG, an anti-gravity treadmill providing a revolutionary approach to rehabilitation and training. Its uses technology developed at NASA which creates air pressure to lift your body, helping to limit the stress on your body whilst exercising. This allows pain free rehabilitation from injury or reduced risk of over training.
The machine is now used by many professional sports clubs as a core part of their athletic conditioning and training programmes.
At Perform Liverpool we also use the Cybex Norm Isokinetic Testing and Rehabilitation system which helps us measure the force you are able to generate from the muscles surrounding the joint being tested. From this we can create a rehabilitation program to improve the muscle strength.
Our Compex Muscle Stimulation uses electrical muscle stimulation to reproduce the body's natural process of voluntary muscular contractions with 'optimal' electrical impulses. When an electrical impulse is applied to the motor nerve, it provokes a deeper and more complete muscle contraction than can be attained through standard voluntary training.


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Hulu Plus will offer its TV shows and selection of movies on Microsoft's Xbox 360 videogame consoles starting Friday, with navigation possible using the Kinect motion sensor.
Service will be available to Xbox Live members for $8 a month. Current Hulu Plus subscribers will be able to access the video offerings for free as long as they are Xbox Live members.
More than 30 million people have created Xbox Live accounts. Microsoft has sold 50 million Xbox 360 consoles to date. Earlier this year, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar said Hulu Plus will reach 1 million paying customers by the end of 2011 and generate revenue of more than $200 million.
As a promo, Hulu Plus will be available for free for a week through May 6, paid for by Jack Link's Beef Jerky.
Launch didn't occur until now so the companies could perfect compatibility with the Kinect motion sensor.


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For Amazon's summary, please click here.
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Official Rules: Entrants must be 18 years old or older. This giveaway is open internationally. This entry ends at 11:59 PM EST on May 24, 2012. All entries must be submitted before then. The winners will be notified via email and have 48 hours to respond. If there is no response, a new winner will be chosen.
a Rafflecopter giveaway


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Hey Beauties!
I'm just gonna say it, I am so excited for Autumn/Winter fashion!!
It's as if the fashion world took note of all my favourite trends and looks and rolled them all together to form Autumn/Winter fashion this year.
From the Highland Fling trend that is dominating labels everywhere in all it's Tartan glory to the chic Ladylike trend that is sure to bring out everyone's inner diva, this season I truly feel like there's something for everyone.
I haven't been this excited for a season in a long time so when Boohoo.Com sent me the press release for their Autumn/Winter offerings, I just had to share it with you guys in all of it's high fashion glory!
The Ladylike trend has been embraced hugely by Boohoo this season, from rich jewel tones that remind you of far off cultures to chic silhouettes and tailoring, these pieces will have you looking like you just jetted back from Milan instead of the office!
I love how Boohoo have added some amazing drama to this collection with no apologies, with their voluminous prom dresses, jewelled collars and leather-look paneling bringing the fierceness that every girl needs.
Don't worry though, Tartan is still featured in this collection with the Jenny Tartan Dress being a standout piece for me.
Accessories take the luxury to the next level with stacked heels, gloss clutches and oversized jewels packing a serious punch!
But less talk and let's get on to the good stuff, feast your eyes on the Autumn/Winter deliciousness girls!
The Boohoo Boutique Autumn/Winter Collection is available from September 9th and prices start at €30!
Click here to check out Boohoo.Com!
What do you think?
Which is your favourite piece?
Stay Beautiful! xoxo


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This Is What Success Looks Like
Engineering advances and better airline procedures have made crashes less deadly | Gaining "precious more seconds to get everybody out of that airplane"
Mary Jane Credeur and Mary Schlangenstein, with Andrea Rothman and Julie Johnsson
After a look at the battered wreckage of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 strewn along Runway 28L at San Francisco International Airport, most observers might assume the worst had happened. The tail section had been torn from the wide-body Boeing 777 during an ill-fated landing. One of the huge engines was ripped from the aircraft's wings. And a gaping gash atop the fuselage revealed a fire-gutted interior from the conflagration that engulfed the airliner soon after it came to rest next to the tarmac. Yet only two of the 307 passengers and crew on board the jumbo jet died in the July 6 crash. Thanks to near-empty fuel tanks, design enhancements that helped keep its aluminum body largely whole, and scores of safety modifications adopted since the 1980s, the crash landing of Flight 214 became primarily a story of survivability instead of disaster.
"This crash shows how the plane really did its job," says Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at the Teal Group consulting firm. "The fuselage stayed intact and kept almost everyone alive even after such a violent landing." Adds Richard Healing, a former National Transportation Safety Board member who now runs Washington-based R Cubed Consulting: "This was a phenomenally survivable accident."
Although investigators could take months to understand the wreck fully, the low loss of life suggests that advances such as more-resilient aluminum hulls and continuing efforts to forestall onboard fires are having an impact. "Aircraft are generally more crashworthy now than they were," says Paul Hayes, director of air safety at aviation consulting firm Ascend.
Fatal plane crashes remain rare. According to Ascend, about 9.9 million air passengers were carried for every one that lost his or her life in a crash in 2012. That's a 20 percent improvement from 2011. The passenger fatality rate for the last five years is one per 6.1 million; in the 1990s, it was one per 1.8 million. "We took a very safe industry and made it even safer," says consultant Robert Mann. "The problem is when you get down to these vanishingly low accident rates, the space to improve decreases."
Designing more crash-proof planes has meant studying previous tragedies, or what industry experts bluntly call tombstoning. "As far as seeing how crashworthy is an airplane, all the computer modeling isn't as good as having an actual crash," says Hans Weber, president of consultant Tecop International.
Such research led the Federal Aviation Administration in 1988 to mandate that newly developed aircraft have passenger seats that can withstand 16 times the force of gravity, up from the previous standard of nine times. "These new 16G seats stay firmly bolted into the floor system, whereas in the past the seats would break free and pancake into each other and cause fatalities," says Kevin Hiatt, a former Delta Air Lines pilot who is chief executive officer of the Flight Safety Foundation.
Past accidents also prompted the FAA and European Aviation Safety Agency to require that manufacturers design their planes to allow for 90-second evacuations even if half the emergency exits are blocked. Airbus's mammoth A380 double-decker widebody passed that test in 2006, when 873 occupants were removed in 80 seconds. (The only injury was a broken leg.) Modern aircraft also are required to have nonflammable material for seat cushions, carpet, walls, and other interior parts. Insulation blankets in aircraft walls are designed to slow the spread of flames. That protection, plus the jet's skin, can provide at least four minutes for evacuation before a fuel-fed post-crash fire can burn through the interior of the passenger cabin, according to Boeing.
"Thirty years ago there were survivable accidents but people died in the post-crash fire," says Steve Wallace, former head of the FAA's accident investigation office. "The cabin interior materials are vastly improved now, and rules were rewritten around getting precious more seconds to get everybody out of that airplane."
In the Asiana crash, Bill Waldock, a professor who teaches crash investigation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, says investigators and aircraft designers will review the way the 777's tail, which is made of composites, broke off whereas the aluminum alloy fuselage (the central body of the plane that carries most of the passengers and crew) stayed intact. "They'll be looking at the crashworthiness aspects of it," Waldock says, "what helped so many people survive and where the weak spots were."
Todd Curtis, a former safety analyst at Boeing who now runs AirSafe.com, a safety and crash data firm, has seen such lessons taken to heart. The circumstances of the hydraulic failure that caused the 1989 crash of a DC-10 in Sioux City, Iowa, killing 111, were once thought to be nearly impossible. Events proved otherwise, and engineers then fashioned ways to allow pilots to maintain some control if a mechanical failure robbed them of the ability to steer, he says. "This Asiana crash will be studied, too," Curtis says. "It will inform future design in ways we can't even guess yet."
Still, more study of structural stress loads or fire retardant materials won't have much effect on the largest causes of aviation accidents: the human element. According to the FAA, three of four aircraft accidents result from some form of "improper human performance" rather than mechanical issues. That's one reason the San Francisco accident, like an Air France crash that killed 228 people in 2009, is again sparking debate over whether basic flying skills are becoming a lost art for pilots conditioned to helming planes so sophisticated they can land themselves. "The stick-and-rudder skills get lost sometimes," says Mark Epperson, a former chief pilot for American Airlines in San Francisco.
Pilots' ability to switch adroitly between full and limited automation, where the aviator's flying skills supersede a jet's technology, "should be of concern to the entire industry," says David Greenberg, a consultant and former executive vice president of operations at Korean Air Lines.
An inactive glide-slope indicator on the San Francisco runway, which forced the Asiana crew to disengage the jet's autopilot and fly using visual clues, "should not have led to this result, and I can't say it was the cause, but there's a good chance it was a factor," says Greenberg.
The bottom line The air passenger fatality rate was just one in 9.9 million fliers in 2012, the safest year ever.
Seat Cushions
An October 1984 FAA rule required cushions with more stringent flammability standards than traditional foam seats. U.S. aircraft carriers replaced 650,000 cushions.
The new material provided 40-60 seconds more time for aircraft evacuation
In 1988, the FAA issued regulations requiring 16G seats. Previously seats were approved to a static 9G standard. Seats were tested with dummies.
In 1986, a rule established burn through resistance criteria for plane cargo and baggage compartment ceiling and wall liners. In 1998, large passenger aircraft were required to have fire detection and suppression systems in cargo compartments.
Proven to delay fire from breaching the perimeter of the cargo compartment
In 1990, the FAA required materials to meet a level of reduced heat release to prevent cabin flashover. By 2009, insulation had to be replaced with materials that met flame propagation standards.
A flashover (flash fire) event is when conditions no longer support life
Fire Extinguishers
In 1986, portable fire extinguishers, two per aircraft, were added to all commercial planes. In 1987, carriers were required to install automatic extinguishers in the wastepaper bin in all aircraft lavatories.
In 1986, smoke detectors had to be installed in all lavatories
By 1986, U.S. commercial planes were retrofitted with floor proximity lighting that marks the path to exits when smoke obscures overhead lights. In 1994, walkways to over-wing exits were widened.
Can speed a plane's evacuation rate by 20%


text:
I recently received this walnut server from my Mom who has moved to a smaller condo. I have always loved the look of it and thought the slate top really made it stand out.
So I was really happy to see that it was also out on the 1stDibs website!
I'm still working on what I want on top but am loving the look so far. My Mom always did have an eye for the classics.
Happy Tuesday!


text:
Physician Assistant Job Opening
Physician Assistant Position
Alaska Pediatric Surgery LLC
Anchorage, Alaska
Open Date: Immediately Close Date: Until Filled
Job Details:
Physician Assistant for a dynamic general Pediatric Surgery service. There are 2
surgeons and 3 mid-level practitioners. A successful candidate will provide inpatient and
outpatient management of pediatric patients including ED, PEDS, NICU, and PICU
along with surgical and clinical rotations. Rotate through surgical first assist, averaging
12 cases a week. Rotate through outpatient clinic, 3-5 days a week. Rotate through call
24/7. 1-2 weekends a month. Excellent salary and benefits, including CME
allowance. Lots of opportunity to develop programs, build practice and contribute to
outreach efforts.
Qualifications – Required
Alaska licensure in process.
Credentialing in process at PAMC, Regional, ANMC and surgery centers.
New graduates are welcome, we provide training.
Great attitude a must. We are a fun dynamic team but we work hard and need
team players.
Qualifications – Preferred
Pediatric experience preferred
Apply with CV and cover letter
Linda Carleton


text:
Rip Torn and "Matilda's" Mara Wilson are two reasons to tune in Sunday to "The Wonderful World of Disney's" bit of froth, "Balloon Farm."
Torn, light years away from his brilliant "Larry Sanders Show" role as dark, manipulative Artie, is the substance in this pleasant but otherwise inch-deep family movie. Softening that hawkish Artie glint into crinkly-eyed goodwill, Torn plays mysterious Harvey Potter, who, with a touch of rainbow-colored magic, changes the lives of some farmers plagued by drought. He's ably complemented by Wilson as spunky, pure-of-heart Willow.
Based on the children's book "Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm," by Jerdine Nolen (Steven M. Karczynski wrote the teleplay), the tall tale--with shades of "Peter Pan" and "The Rainmaker"--has a message: "It isn't always what you see, it's what you believe."
At first, the farmers embrace that message when they see Potter, overnight, raise a very odd crop indeed: balloons on cornstalks.


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Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Something is coming v2 at lafraise.com
A 10 colors version of my illustration "Something is Coming V2" sent to lafraise.com.
Url coming soon.
Posted by Wax at 9:37 AM 1 comments
Friday, April 24, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Drummer
Posted by Wax at 10:48 AM 0 comments
Turquoise shoes
Here's my new shoes design for RYZ Wear.
You can vote for me here!
Posted by Wax at 10:36 AM 0 comments
Monday, April 20, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Vote for Jackalope
I've sent Jackalope at uneetee.com. I tried another color scheme.
You can vote for me here!
Posted by Wax at 12:43 PM 0 comments
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Lotus at teextile.com
You can vote here! :)
Posted by Wax at 3:21 PM 0 comments
Diamond Crow
Sent to Design By Humans.
You can vote here!
Posted by Wax at 12:01 PM 0 comments
Nuit Bleue
Posted by Wax at 11:50 AM 0 comments
Star Wolf is shirt of the week at DBH! :)
Posted by Wax at 7:13 AM 0 comments
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Star wolf is now available at designbyhumans.com!
You can buy it here!
Posted by Wax at 8:07 AM 1 comments
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Saturday, March 5, 2011
MASH: Grapefruit Citrus Zing
Yes, I love New York. I think everyone who reads this blog knows that very well. But one of the few things that I hate about New York is that sooner or later, small neighborhood stores that I have loved going to, visit after visit, almost always end up changing from cute little independent local spots to just another national chain outlet that I can easily go to at home.
That's sort of what happened to my favorite little bodega (mini-mart to the rest of us). Honestly, the service had been bad, the prices were kind of high, and the food tended to be out of code...but what they did have going for them had been the Universe's biggest selection of Snapple (as well as many other soft drinks, both popular and obscure). I could always find something interesting there. Well, times have changed since my last visit, and the location is now a rather generic cafe/sandwich place. The sandwiches aren't bad and the staff is a heck of a lot nicer, so it's not a complete loss. But sadly gone is the amazing drink selection.
They did, however, have the MASH line, which I have never seen before.
MASH, according to the bottle blurb, is meant for everyone. It's not a soda nor is it 100% juice. And it also boasts of being a low calorie option. Yeah, we are going to get to all of that in a second...
Anyway, I happen to like grapefruit juice -- or even grapefruit soda -- so I thought I would start there.
The drink is only very lightly carbonated, which I really liked. It's pretty much a known fact to long time readers, but I will repeat myself: I am one of those people who like my carbonated beverages on the slightly flat side, so whenever something is already going easy on the bubbles that works for me.
The grapefruit flavor comes across as very natural. It's got just a slight bitter edge with no aftertaste. If you've ever eaten a really ripe, fresh pink grapefruit and sprinkled it with sugar, and then drank the juice that stays in the rind...well it tasted pretty close to that. It is a sweetened drink ,but it uses sucralose (AKA Splenda) as the sweetener rather than HFSC or even regular sugar. Personally, I can live with that, as I am one of those people that don't mind or notice the taste of Splenda/sucralose (it's my sweetener of choice for coffee, actually).
I liked the body of it. It wasn't as thick and filling as a juice, and yet it was as sweet and as bubbly as a (somewhat flat) soda. I actually went through several of these over the course of my stay. New favorite grapefruit beverage, hands down!
Remember I said we could get back to a couple things that bothered me? Well, here goes: The first thing being that the label says it's not soda, but it's not 100% juice either. Actually, the label calls it a "water drink." Well, a water drink that uses sparkling water (AKA carbonated water...gee, kinda like SODA!). Interesting choice of words there. While I certainly wouldn't exactly call it a soda, considering that it contains only one per cent actual juice, I think they were creatively dressing the proportions. After all, soda as a soft drink choice is starting to go down the same dark, scary back alley that trans-fats and other delicious but questionably beneficial items go to flash their wares while hiding from the fuzz.
This also extends to the calorie count. I understand that at the moment there is a lot of pressure on manufacturers to make everything as low-cal as possible (because we certainly can't expect people to just, ya know, be responsible for their own portion control) and the bottle boasts that the drink is a mere 40 calories a serving! Problem is, the bottle is 20 ounces, and the serving is considered to be 8 oounes...so there are 2.5 servings per bottle. Now, really -- how many people are going to actually pour out the precise 8 ounce serving? Yes, I realize a small percentage will. But let's be honest; most people are just downing the entire bottle. Would it really be that horrible a sin to list the true calorie count of 100 calories for the entire bottle? 100 calories as to compared to your average soft drink is still pretty damn good!
I'm not basing the rating on anything other than the flavor -- but clearly I am annoyed by the trend of creatively wording the blurb and manipulating the serving size to keep the food police happy. A pox upon both or however many houses they have!
94 Corner Cafe (94th & Broadway, New York City)
40 Calories per 8 oz. (or 100 for the entire bottle)
Kosher, sweetened with sucralose
Posted by Gigi Miller at 7:56 PM
Labels: 100 Calories, Beverages, Citrus, Grapefruit, Kosher, MASH, Soft Drinks
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Tag: maven
Maven Irritation
I'm looking at Maven related stuff for the first time in … perhaps 4 years. This is long enough that I've forgotten how irritating it is. My task is simple: redirect the writes from the project's directory to another location on local disk. This is because the project is located on a filesystem where writes are expensive (something like an NFS filer, but worse). I have to do this for all projects, not just my own, so saying "edit the POM to do X" is not an option. Given how disparate the projects are, there isn't even a company-wide POM I can alter.
Of course the maven documentation tells you everything you don't want to know. So, off to stack overflow.
First, is the helpful description of
${project.build.directory}. This is exactly what I want: a way to affect all settings related to the output directory (
target by default). See pom-4.0.0.xml for how this works.
Except… it doesn't work. You can set
-Dproject.build.directory=/tmp on the command line, and maven will happily ignore you. I think this is because AbstractCompilerMojo marks it as read-only.
It turns out there's another way to do this, via profiles.
<profile> <id>move-output-dir</id> <activation> <activeByDefault>true</activeByDefault> </activation> <build> <directory>${java.io.tmpdir}/maven-builds/${project.groupId}/${project.artifactId}/target</directory> </build> </profile>
This works perfectly! But it has to be done on a pom-by-pom basis. What I want is to use maven's settings.xml to do this. So I pasted it into the profile section there and got:
[WARNING] Some problems were encountered while building the effective settings
[WARNING] Unrecognised tag: 'build' (position: START_TAG seen …\n
… @263:14) @ /…/conf/settings.xml, line 263, column 14
It turns out that profiles in
settings.xml are different to profiles in
pom.xml ("The
profile element in the
settings.xml is a truncated version of the
pom.xml profile element.")
At this point, I'm kind of stuck. Maven has provided the illusion of configurability, but all attempts to do so have failed.
The importance of Central
One of the selling points of maven is it's dependency mechanism. You say what code you need, and maven makes sure it's there for you. The magic behind this is called central. It's a phenomenal collection of software (much akin to Perl's CPAN).
This is useful enough that other projects have sprung up that also use central, like apache ivy.
Central also has source code jars (most of the time). This means it's possible to jump from your piece of code seamlessly into 3rd party code that's available on central. I can't imagine getting up to speed with other people's code anywhere near as quickly without this sort of facility available. Sure, the source is available, but is it a single click away from your code? Not likely. m2eclipse and NetBeans 6.7 make this trivial.
So, having your open source project on central is a really good idea. It lets your users get at it easily and automatically. You really want to do this.
However, getting your projects on to central isn't simple (see Guide to uploading artifacts to the Central Repository). It boils down to two choices:
- Package up your code using
mvn repository:bundle-createand file a Jira issue for it. This can take four weeks or more.
- Set up and host an rsyncable repository somewhere. This can be automatically pulled into central.
Both of these options are fairly painful. That's why for the latest release of jslint4java, I was pleased to see that Sonatype are offering an alternative: oss.sonatype.org. This is much simpler because you can just use the usual maven deployment mechanism (or presumably ivy equivalent). A short while later, oss.sonatype.org will sync up with central.
However, the sonatype guys are (rightly) concerned with the quality of artifacts on central. You have to jump extra hoops to go down this road with your open source projects. The main one that tripped me up was requiring all artifacts be GPG signed, which entailed learning GPG and the maven-gpg-plugin. This took me some time. However, subsequent releasing to central is much easier now I've been through all the hoops.
- If you want to get your open source project on central, I'd definitely recommend checking out oss.sonatype.org.
- If you want to contribute to an open source project, offering to help get it on to central could be very useful. You'll not just be helping that project, you'll also be helping all users of central. The bigger it gets the more useful it is.
Documenting with maven
Recently, I've been thinking about documentation more and more. I've just finished up some documentation for an internal product, which was all done using the maven-site-plugin and APT. This worked reasonably well: I get a generated website, with javadocs and a few howto pages I wrote.
But it really feels like it starts to fall apart when you get to a multimodule build. Maven does quite a few nice things for you, but you start to see some annoying glitches here. One of the first ones I came across was the url element. If you set it correctly in the root pom (e.g.
http://mycompany.com/project/) then maven automatically appends the artifactId when constructing the site for submodules. So you end up with
http://mycompany.com/project/mysubmodule/, which isn't necessarily correct.
After thinking about this for a while, and how best to document jslint4java, I've come to the same realisation as Mark Pilgrim: plain old HTML works best. I've tried a few like Textile (yuck), Markdown (better), POD (too simple) and docbook (too complex). HTML strikes the right balance. Especially with the new HTML5 tags. And it doesn't require any building to view it. Just hit refresh.
So how to make it part of the maven build? Easy. Stuff it into it's own submodule. Then, it can be referenced by the assembly plugin later and put in the correct place in your distribution. Check out jslint4java-docs for details. It would be nice if maven natively supported zip packaging, but that's easily overcome.
This does mean it doesn't get automatically deployed to a server. But that doesn't really matter. It happens infrequently enough that I'm happy to do that by hand where needed. Or at least find a better solution when I get bored of that. 🙂
A real maven plugin for jslint4java would be nice. I will write one, but until then, you can always get away with using the antrun plugin. This is fairly simple to do now that jslint4java is available in the central maven repository.
Here's a plugin definition of how to do it.
<project> <build> <plugins> <plugin> <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId> <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId> <version>1.3</version> <dependencies> <dependency> <groupId>com.googlecode.jslint4java</groupId> <artifactId>jslint4java-ant</artifactId> <version>1.3</version> </dependency> </dependencies> <executions> <execution> <id>jslint</id> <phase>test</phase> <goals> <goal>run</goal> </goals> <configuration> <tasks> <ant antfile="${basedir}/jslint.xml"> <property name="root" location="${basedir}" /> <target name="jslint" /> </ant> </tasks> </configuration> </execution> </executions> </plugin> </plugins> </build> </project>
Notice how you can add the jslint4java-ant dependency to the antrun plugin without affecting the dependencies of the project.
At the test phase, maven will now run jslint for you. This relies on a small external ant build file to actually perform the jslint task.
<!-- jslint.xml --> <project xmlns:jsl="antlib:com.googlecode.jslint4java"> <target name="jslint"> <jsl:jslint> <formatter type="plain" /> <fileset dir="${root}/src/main/webapp" includes="**/*.js" /> </jsl:jslint> </target> </project>
We can use the nice antlibs namespace style of declaration because the jslint4java jar is in the classpath already.
Here, I'm assuming that we're in a war project and want to validate all the files under
src/main/webapp. If this goes wrong, you'll get an error and the build will stop. For example:
… Tests run: 26, Failures: 0, Errors: 0, Skipped: 0 [INFO] [antrun:run {execution: jslint}] [INFO] Executing tasks jslint: [jsl:jslint] contact.js:1:8:Bad line breaking before '+'. [jsl:jslint] + " Nulla in felis Aliquam luctus Proin tincidunt nisi Donec suscipit" [jsl:jslint] ^ … [jsl:jslint] load.js:17:6:Missing semicolon. [jsl:jslint] }) [jsl:jslint] ^ [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [ERROR] BUILD ERROR [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [INFO] An Ant BuildException has occured: The following error occurred while executing this line: /Users/dom/work/someproj/jslint.xml:4: 3 files did not pass JSLint
One side note: originally, I tried to fold the
jslint.xml file into the POM as well. But this failed to load the antlib. I suspect that xmlns attributes were not being passed in to the tasks definition. It's not a big deal..
Conditional maven modules
This is a little something that's now caught me out a few times. Quite often, I'll have a project with a parent POM, and a module that I only care about in certain circumstances. So I naturally do this.
<!-- foo/pom.xml --> <project> <modules> <module>foo-core</module> <module>foo-webapp</module> </modules> <profiles> <profile> <id>dist</id> <modules> <module>foo-dist</module> </modules> </profile> </profiles> </project>
Unfortunately, this can interact badly with the release plugin. Unless that profile is activated during release, the module won't have it's version updated. So the next time you use that profile, it'll break.
The correct solution is to "push down" the profile into the
foo-dist module. i.e.
<!-- foo/pom.xml --> <project> <groupId>foo</groupId> <artifactId>foo-parent</artifactId> <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version> <modules> <module>foo-core</module> <module>foo-webapp</module> <module>foo-dist</module> </modules> </project> <!-- foo/foo-dist/pom.xml --> <project> <artifactId>foo-dist</artifactId> <parent> <groupId>foo</groupId> <artifactId>foo-parent</artifactId> <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version> </parent> <profiles> <profile> <id>dist</id> <!-- add dependencies & plugins here --> </profile> </profiles> </project>
That way,
foo-dist is always available, but is a noop unless the profile is activated. But it does ensure that the release plugin (and also the versions plugin) know that it's there.
Using a Java 6 based Eclipse with Cocoa
This is somewhat niche, but I'm going to post it anyway in case it helps somebody else…
I recently saw a problem with Eclipse and m2eclipse. When I tried to import a Java 6 based project, I got an error in the maven console.
Failure executing javac, but could not parse the error: javac: invalid target release: 1.6 Usage: javac
This is happening because m2eclipse is trying to run the compiler from within the same JVM that Eclipse is running. And by the eclipse.org downloads only offer Carbon and Cocoa options. Both of these are 32 bit. Which means they'll only ever run using Java 5, even if you've got Java 6 installed (unlike my iMac G5, grumble, grumble).
Thankfully, the 64 cocoa version is available, though it's only the old "Eclipse SDK" download. But ekke wrote up [galileo] EPP for Cocoa 64-bit, which shows how to go about getting (effectively) the same setup as the eclipse.org downloads.
If you follow along that procedure, you get an eclipse that works well with m2eclipse and Java 6 project. As a bonus, it feels quicker to me.
Hopefully future versions of Eclipse will offer a 64-bit cocoa download.
gnupg very basically
I'm trying to get jslint4java into central, via oss.sonatype.org. Part of this requires that you use the maven-gpg-plugin to sign your artifacts. All well & good, but I've never used GPG before (though I've been playing with SSL certificates for years).
So, following along the howto, I did:
$ gpg --gen-key gpg (GnuPG) 1.4.9; Copyright (C) 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc. This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. Please select what kind of key you want: (1) DSA and Elgamal (default) (2) DSA (sign only) (5) RSA (sign only) Your selection? 1 DSA keypair will have 1024 bits. ELG-E keys may be between 1024 and 4096 bits long. What keysize do you want? (2048) Requested keysize is 2048 bits Please specify how long the key should be valid. 0 = key does not expire <n> = key expires in n days <n>w = key expires in n weeks <n>m = key expires in n months <n>y = key expires in n years Key is valid for? (0) 0 Key does not expire at all Is this correct? (y/N) y You need a user ID to identify your key; the software constructs the user ID from the Real Name, Comment and Email Address in this form: "Heinrich Heine (Der Dichter) <firstname.lastname@example.com>" Real name: Dominic Mitchell Email address: email@example.com Comment: You selected this USER-ID: "Dominic Mitchell <email@example.com>" Change (N)ame, (C)omment, (E)mail or (O)kay/(Q)uit? O You need a Passphrase to protect your secret key. We need to generate a lot of random bytes. It is a good idea to perform some other action (type on the keyboard, move the mouse, utilize the disks) during the prime generation; this gives the random number generator a better chance to gain enough entropy. +++++.++++++++++.++++++++++.+++++++++++++++.+++++++++++++++.+++++...++++++++++.+++++.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++>++++++++++>+++++......+++++ We need to generate a lot of random bytes. It is a good idea to perform some other action (type on the keyboard, move the mouse, utilize the disks) during the prime generation; this gives the random number generator a better chance to gain enough entropy. ..++++++++++++++++++++.++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++...++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++.++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++.+++++++++++++++.+++++...++++++++++.+++++>.++++++++++>..+++++>+++++.......+++++^^^ gpg: /Users/dom/.gnupg/trustdb.gpg: trustdb created gpg: key A24D5076 marked as ultimately trusted public and secret key created and signed. gpg: checking the trustdb gpg: 3 marginal(s) needed, 1 complete(s) needed, PGP trust model gpg: depth: 0 valid: 1 signed: 0 trust: 0-, 0q, 0n, 0m, 0f, 1u pub 1024D/A24D5076 2009-06-24 Key fingerprint = 2F2E 85D8 A945 41C2 B7D1 667A 8616 2CE5 A24D 5076 uid Dominic Mitchell <email@example.com> sub 2048g/4C2D8074 2009-06-24
As an aside, I am using gnupg 1, as I had some issues with the maven-plugin and gnupg 2. And it was simpler to just install gnupg 1 than fix the issues. 🙂
This creates a bunch of files in
$ ls -l ~/.gnupg total 64 -rw------- 1 dom dom 9154 21 Jun 20:39 gpg.conf -rw------- 1 dom dom 1171 24 Jun 20:44 pubring.gpg -rw------- 1 dom dom 1171 24 Jun 20:44 pubring.gpg~ -rw------- 1 dom dom 600 24 Jun 20:44 random_seed -rw------- 1 dom dom 1320 24 Jun 20:44 secring.gpg -rw------- 1 dom dom 1280 24 Jun 20:44 trustdb.gpg
Next, it needs to be published on to one of the key servers. The default configuration comes set up with a keyserver keys.gnupg.net. You can send your key up there easily:
$ gpg --send-keys A24D5076
gpg: sending key A24D5076 to hkp server keys.gnupg.net
And now it's published.
Integrating this with your maven build is fairly simple. The example configuration works exactly as expected. I did one thing slightly differently: I created a gpg profile, and then referenced that from the release plugin. That means I'll only sign releases, not all builds. Which seems reasonable enough to me.
<project> <build> <pluginManagement> <plugins> <plugin> <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId> <artifactId>maven-release-plugin</artifactId> <version>2.0-beta-9</version> <configuration> <releaseProfiles>gpg</releaseProfiles> </configuration> </plugin> </plugins> </pluginManagement> </build> <profiles> <profile> <id>gpg</id> <build> <plugins> <plugin> <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId> <artifactId>maven-gpg-plugin</artifactId> … </plugin> </plugins> </build> </profile> </profiles> </project>
The Maven Ecosystem
Last night I went to see Jason van Zyl of sonatype talking about various bits of the maven ecosystem, and where they're going. The main bit for me was what's coming up in maven 3.0. There was a great deal of talk about OSGI related issues, but it reinforced my belief that whilst there's some good technology in there, it's still quite complicated to use and manage. Steps are being taken to address this (better tooling support), but they're not there yet. Also, for the kind of things I do (simple, content-driven, somewhat static webapps), it doesn't seem to be necessary anyway.
So what's coming up in maven 3.0? Fundamentally, there won't be that many new user-visible features (wait for 3.1!). Internally, there have been huge refactorings by the sound of things (along with integration tests to ensure no user-visible regressions). They're switching away from plexus and towards guice + peaberry. But that's internal detail. And in theory, it shouldn't matter even if you're a plugin author.
What sounded really nice was the focus on making life much easier for users of the embedded maven. Primarily, this means IDE authors. Things like plugin & lifecycle extension points, and incremental build support should allow m2eclipse to be much, much more intelligent about the work they do. Jason mentioned that a version of m2eclipse which builds on the trunk of maven 3.0 can now build the trunk of maven in seconds rather than minutes. Why? Because it's not duplicating work that's already been done by Eclipse.
The main change is to the artifact resolution system. It's been one of the main source of bugs in maven 2.0. It's been completely junked in 3.0 and replaced with mercury, which handles both transport and resolving artifacts. It should be better tested, and things like version ranges much closer to how OSGI does things.
One (minor) change is that the error messages should be much better. That's a welcome relief.
There are other tidbits that I think are scheduled for 3.1 that should be really nice:
- everybody's favourite: versionless parent elements
- attributes in the POM — hooray, that should make POMs vastly smaller.
- mixin POMs — should allow much more flexibility in constructing dependencies on both groups of artifacts and groups of plugins.
There were further talks about hudson & nexus, but I'm fairly familiar with these, so I didn't see much of news to me.
My thanks go to Peter Pilgrim for organising and EMC/Comchango for hosting.
dependency complexity
I love the google-collections library. It's got some really nice features. But, it's not stable yet. They've explicitly stated that until they hit 1.0 it's not going to be a stable API. So there are changes each release. Nothing major, but changes.
As an example, in the jump from 0.9 to 1.0rc1, the static methods on the Join class became the fluent API on the Joiner class.
(as an aside, could we have some tags, please?)
Following this change is simple.
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ } catch (KeyStoreException e) { throw new RuntimeException(e); } - return Join.join(" | ", principals); + return Joiner.on(" | ").join(principals); } /**
But the knock-on effect comes when you start getting lots of things which have google-collections dependencies. At
$WORK, I've got a project whose dependencies look like this.
I wanted to extract a part of DC2 into its own library,
commslib. This was pretty easy as the code was self contained. Naturally, I wanted it to use the latest version of everything, so I upgraded google-collections to 1.0rc1. Again, fairly simple.
This is what I ended up with.
Except that now there's a problem.
- commslib uses
Joiner, so it'll blow up unless it upgrade
DC2's google-collections to 1.0rc1.
- GSK uses
Join, so it'll blow up if I upgrade
DC2's google-collections to 1.0rc1.
And thus have I painted myself into a corner. 🙂
As it happens,
DC2 had a dependencyManagement section forcing everything to use google-collections 0.8. → Instant BOOM.
The solution is to upgrade all my dependencies to use google-collections 1.0rc1. But this turns out to be a much larger change than I had originally envisaged, as now I have to create releases for two dependent projects. This isn't too much of a hassle in this case (yay for the maven-release-plugin), but it could be a large undertaking if either of those projects is not presently in a releasable state.
I'm not trying to pick on google-collections (I still love it). I'm just marvelling at how quickly complexity can blossom from something so simple.
Github Pages with Maven
Github recently introduced their pages feature, for serving static content. This sounds like an ideal match for a maven , so I thought I'd give it a go. I managed to get happygiraffe.github.com/tclogview/ up and running in fairly short order, but I'm not totally happy with the end result. And that's not just the fault of the default maven site.
First things first. We need to set up the gh-pages branch as devoid of content. I nicked most of this from drnic's sake-tasks, even though the instructions are also on pages.github.com.
git symbolic-ref HEAD refs/heads/gh-pages rm .git/index git clean -fdx echo "<h1>Coming soon!</h1>" >index.html git add index.html git commit -a -m 'Initial page' git push origin gh-pages
Soon, you should be able to see the "Coming soon!" message on
Now that's there, we need to set it up so that maven can deploy the site to it. First, let's add the branch as a submodule.
repo=`git config remote.origin.url` git submodule add -b gh-pages $repo site
That should create a directory "site" which contains the index.html you committed a moment ago. Now you have to ask Maven to deploy the site there. Add this to your POM.
<distributionManagement> <site> <id>gh-pages</id> <!-- This gets automatically pushed to the gh-pages branch. --> <url>file:${project.basedir}/site</url> </site> </distributionManagement>
Now you can say
mvn site-deploy and it will fill up the site directory with lots of lovely HTML. Then you have to commit it (separately, since it's a submodule) and push it back to github.
mvn site-deploy ( cd site git add . git commit -a -m 'Generate site.' git push origin gh-pages )
And shortly thereafter it shows up on the web site. Magic.
I like this a lot in principal. But I have a few issues with it as well. Mostly, this is down to git submodules being quite a blunt instrument:
- They don't auto-update when there's a new commit in the submodule — they point at a fixed commit. You have to ask for it to be updated.
- On top of that, you can't point the submodule at a branch. It's always pointing at a specific commit.
- The submodule location is recorded in
.gitmodules. The main issue I have with this is I can't find a way to say "my current repository". Why is this a problem? Well, if somebody forks the codebase (and they will, this is git) then they want their site to point at their gh-pages branch, not mine.
- The submodule location is my private push URL, not the public one. Which is all well and good, but when somebody checks out the project, they're going to have an error when they try to check it out. As I found out when setting up the build in hudson.
- When somebody else checks out the repository they have an extra step to go through to fetch the submodule contents (
git submodule init git submodule update).
I think that next time I try this, I'll skip submodules and just checkout a second copy of the repo in
I still think it's the right way to go. Not just for the site, but you can also use github pages to serve up a maven repository in a very similar fashion. Github and maven do seem to go together rather well.


text:
I now work as an independent web developer, helping to launch new websites, and re launch not-so-new ones. I worked with a number of Polish digital agencies implementing projects for them and their clients.
I love to design beautiful things.
Web Development
I like designs that look as good as they perform.
Intuitive back-end admin interfaces are crucial for me.
Sublime Text 3, Firebug, Photoshop, FTP clients, GitHub, Basecamp, Gulp
Project Management
html / css / wordpress / visual composer
dr Kubik - Aesthetic Medicine Clinic
html / css / wordpress / woocommerce


text:
We love this time of year – family, friends, celebrations and FOOD .. lots and lots of food! By now you've probably pulled out all your best party tricks, but don't worry. We've got a few new, fantastic New Year's Eve celebratory recipes that are sure to draw cheers from any crowd and fit any (post-holiday shopping) budget.
Sparkling Snacks: AKA Party Food!
We love to host parties and serve "heavy hors d'oeuvres" instead of dinner. With these simple & delicious appetizers you're sure to fill up your party guests so they'll be awake to ring in the new year, but you won't have all the mess or the stress of a full dinner. And finger foods are way more fun at parties anyway!
Butterfly Shrimp Caprese: SeaPak Shrimp Company makes you the envy of all your friends with this amazing appetizer! It's an old Italian favorite with a new, coastal twist!
Scampi Bruschetta: Again, SeaPak lets you in on their secret to a great party with the simpli-tastic bruschetta. DELISH!
Crescent-Wrapped Meatballs: Elegant and scrumptious! So scrumptious, in fact, you'll want to double this recipe!
Artichoke Pizza: Perfect for a crowd! Cut into bite-sized pieces and voila! - a yummy, affordable and impressive appetizer!
Still hungry? Need a few more dishes to make your party spread appropriate for ringing in 2010? Try Carrie's favorite Parmesan Crisps (one ingredient!), or the Feta Cheese Spread or one of these.
What New Year's Eve party is complete without a signature cocktail? And a little bubbly? We've combined both into the Poinsettia Champagne Cocktail. Refreshing, festive and a perfect complement to the array of bites above.
Countdown In Style!
Who says you need watch the Dick Clark countdown like you've done for the last 20 years? Stir it up a bit this year with a game like Celebrity or Catchphrase - both are favorites around our homes. Lots of fun for groups of all ages. Any sort of pop culture game would be fun given all the crazy events of 2009!!
Healthy Holidays
New Year's Eve is a time of reflection, anticipation and sometimes a little over-indulgence. Recent studies show that dark liquors give you more of a hangover than clear liquors. So, if you're going to indulge stick to vodka, light rum and clear tequila. Oh, and drink lots of water and get some extra sleep so you can start the new year off on the right foot (and not on the couch!).
And don't worry ... it's OK to indulge on New Year's Eve. In fact, we encourage it! We'll be back in early January with a winter slim down menu to help fight the holiday bulge!
Bon Appétit!
Carrie & Vicki
Holiday Survival Guide: 10, 9, 8 ...Posted by Vicki Labels: the holidays
We love this time of year – family, friends, celebrations and FOOD .. lots and lots of food! By now you've probably pulled out all your best party tricks, but don't worry. We've got a few new, fantastic New Year's Eve celebratory recipes that are sure to draw cheers from any crowd and fit any (post-holiday shopping) budget.
Happy Holidays from FunnySpoonPosted by Vicki Labels: the holidays
Your friends at FunnySpoon, from the bottom of our cookie-filled tummies, wish you a very happy holiday season!
Thank you for all of your support during our first year! With your continued help we've begun to fulfill our dreams. You've given us many things to celebrate this year and we thank you.
Have a happy & safe holiday and scrumptious 2010!
Bon Appétit!
The FunnySpoon Team
Carrie, Vicki, Lindsay, Mark & Elle
Veggie Tuesday: Pizza TimePosted by Vicki Labels: contests, Veggie Tuesday
OK, I know it's late, but I went to see "A Christmas Story" (the play version) and it was awesome. Anyway, what I meant to recommend early for a quick and easy dinner (perhaps before going to see a holiday play?) is this yummy Spinach and Artichoke Pizza from Farm Rich. We all know I love cheese, so the cheese sticks totally hit the spot, but then the spinach and artichokes make me feel less guilty. So happy holidays and bon appetit!
Pssst! Notice how this recipe uses Farm Rich? Just leave a comment on the blog, the recipe, or our Facebook fan page and you're automatically entered to win our weekly contest for a free Farm Rich product. So what are you waiting for?
Holiday Survival Guide: T Minus 7!!Posted by the jaynes family Labels: appetizers and snacks, easy recipes, parties and entertaining, the holidays, time-savers
The holidays are upon us! It's the time of year for shopping, gift exchanges, decorating, and, best of all, parties! FunnySpoon helps take the stress out of the holidays, so check out our fast party fixes that'll make all your elves giddy with joy!
Seasonal Eats: AKA Party Food!
Ensure your spot on the nice list with these Santa-stic party foods guaranteed to be loved by all and save you time in the kitchen. That's a holiday duo every cook loves!
BBQ Bacon Chestnuts: Make a double batch because these mouthwatering apps will be devoured in minutes!
Best Party Dip Ever: The name says it all! And if you're not a feta-lover, substitute shredded sharp cheddar for an equally fabulous taste.
Crab Rangoon Dip: Simple and elegant! So scrumptious that you might not want to share (but you better if you want to remain on the nice list!)
Need to feed the kids before a big party? Try the Spinach Pita Pizzas or the Ravioli Bites. They're hearty enough to be substituted for a meal and double as a party appetizer, too!
And go ahead, be a little naughty. Pair these melt-in-your-mouth Mint Chocolate Brownies with a King's Cider. We promise Santa won't hold it against you!
Mirth-Making Mood
Update your holiday playlist with "A Very Special Christmas" compilations – they're loaded with contemporary artists that are bound to brighten your mood and chase scrooge out of the house!
Healthy Holidays
'Tis the season to falalala ... and that leads to lots of rundown and sick people! Take care of yourself and your family this merry season with our top tips to fight off colds:
Most importantly ... take time to enjoy the holidays with your family and friends. Didn't get something done? Don't sweat it! There's always next year ...
Bon Appétit!
Carrie & Vicki
Chocolate Covered Anything??Posted by the jaynes family Labels: the holidays, who knew?
Wow ... I think this just might be my favorite day ever! It's National Chocolate Covered Anything Day. Yep, that's right - chocolate covered pretzels, peanuts, raisins, marshmallows, fruit, espresso beans. I believe that even chocolate covered chocolate counts!
Looking for a little inspiration? Never fear, try some of these chocolate recipes.
Go ahead and indulge. January 1 and your new year resolution to work off the holiday pounds is right around the corner. Go out in style!
Veggie Tuesday: Holiday StylePosted by the jaynes family Labels: Veggie Tuesday
Tick-tock, tick-tock. The days are flying by and somehow my list keeps getting longer with all of the last minute things to do before the holidays are here! And, to be honest, I'm still struggling a bit to get in the Ho-Ho-Ho spirit of things. However, tonight we're going to have this delish Holiday Rotini for dinner. And I think I'll turn on a little 'Santa Baby' while I'm cooking. Between the festive food and the merry music I'm sure to get in the holiday spirit, right?
What are some of your favorite holiday dishes? Or holiday mood-making tricks? Help me out, please?!?
Cozy Up Tonight!Posted by Vicki Labels: contests, Fantastic Fridays, sweet stuff
With the cold wave passing through the nation (and if it hasn't hit you, don't rub it in!) why not cozy up tonight with these tasty cinnamon treats:
Cinn-ful Apple Cider
Maple, Apple, and Cinnamon Dip
Got something to say? Share it on the blog, Facebook or Twitter! If you mention Farm Rich you'll automatically be entered in our contest for a free Farm Rich product. While you're at it, might as well check out all our fabulous contests!
Farm Rich is a brand we personally love and is also one of our sponsors. Thanks to brands like them, we can recommend tasty, high quality products while keeping the site alive. Want more info? Check out our advertisers page.
Festively Fun SaladPosted by Vicki Labels: salads, the holidays
I know, I know, who wants to talk about salads when there are tons of cookies and party appetizers and roasted turkeys everywhere? Well, maybe that's precisely WHY we could all use a salad! Instead of overloading on all the decadent holiday stuff, why not take a break this evening with a light salad, but one that's still festive so you don't feel like a scrooge?
Voila - this Bridal Shower Salad (not just for bridal showers, obviously!) from our partner Stephanie Ashcraft is the perfect solution.
Festive (with the red and green) - check
Light (save those calories for parties) - check
Tasty (even if you aren't big on salads this is a winner) - check
Easy (hello, it's FunnySpoon, easy is our middle name) - check
National Pastry DayPosted by Vicki Labels: contests, sweet stuff, the holidays
We'll probably be indulging ourselves all month, so might as well start now, right? For National Pastry Day try one of the following easy treats, and spend the rest of your time making your wish list for the holidays!
These Chocolate Croissants are a taste of Paris (home of the best pastries in the world!) right at home - and only have two ingredients!
This Strawberry Shortcake is marginally more difficult with a whopping three ingredients but I'm pretty sure you can handle it. Plus it uses one of our freezer faves: Farm Rich French Toast Sticks.
Got something to say? Share it on the blog, Facebook or Twitter! If you mention Farm Rich you'll automatically be entered in our contest for a free Farm Rich product. While you're at it, might as well check out all our fabulous contests!
Farm Rich is a brand we personally love and is also one of our sponsors. Thanks to brands like them, we can recommend tasty, high quality products while keeping the site alive. Want more info? Check out our advertisers page.
Veggie Tuesday: If a Beatle says so ...Posted by Vicki Labels: Veggie Tuesday
If I learned one thing from my mom, it's that Paul McCartney is the coolest Beatle. So if he says it's a good idea to go meatless once per week, I'm cool with doing it. Especially since we've already been doing it.
However, "going meatless once a week" is easier said than done for most people who are used to throwing some ground beef in a pan or some chicken in the oven for a quick dinner. So hopefully you'll find our meatless dinner suggestions helpful (and tasty!) as opposed to preachy.
Tonight, why not try the Spinach and Articohoke Strata? It only takes 10 minutes to prepare, then you can toss it in the oven for 30 minutes while you do something else (like throw on your comfy pants, pop in the Beatles Love album, and dance like an idiot. No? Just me?). Plus, the festive red and green will put you in the holiday mood!
Now, if anyone has Mr. McCartney's number, I'd be happy to cook this for him tonight. Just trying to help, you know.
5 Things You Probably Didn't Know About MushroomsPosted by Vicki Labels: veggies, who knew?
I was digging through some papers and found a newpaper clipping with some interesting facts about mushrooms. The good news? You get interesting facts about mushrooms. The bad news? I didn't save the whole thing so I'm having a hard time giving proper credit. But I found the same info on this site so hopefully that proves to you that I am in no way trying to be Mushroom Information Queen of the World (but that would be cool). And now, without further ado:
Margo Kraus, a registered dietitian and consultant for The Mushroom Council, advises:
1. 20 calories: Just a handful of mushrooms may be nature's hidden treasure for healthier meals. Mushrooms have essential nutrients that are good for heart health and help boost immunity. With just 20 calories per serving, they have fewer calories than a rice cake.
2. Flavor: Mushrooms have umami -- the fifth taste. They add savory flavor when paired with other foods.
3. Vitamin D: Mushrooms contain 4 percent of the daily value of vitamin D. No other fresh vegetable or fruit has vitamin D.
4. Good for you: Mushrooms' antioxidant capacity is comparable to that of brightly colored vegetables such as zucchini, carrots, red peppers and broccoli.
5. Hold the burger: Data suggests if men substituted a 4-ounce grilled portabello mushroom for a 4-ounce grilled hamburger over the course of a year and didn't change anything else, they could save more than 18,000 calories and nearly 3,000 grams of fat. That's the equivalent of 5.3 pounds, or 30 sticks of butter.
Did that get your taste buds going? Then check out these easy recipes with mushrooms or try Farm Rich's breaded mushrooms for a quick appetizer.
Take mushrooms to the max with this Portabello Lasagna.
Speaking of Farm Rich, if you haven't entered our contests yet, what are you waiting for?
Farm Rich is a brand we personally love and is also one of our sponsors. Thanks to brands like them, we can recommend tasty, high quality products while keeping the site alive. Want more info? Check out our advertisers page.
Two Ways to Win This Holiday SeasonPosted by Vicki Labels: contests
This holiday season we're offering two ways to win some great goodies from Farm Rich!
The Farm Rich Coupon Giveaway
You probably noticed we've been talking about Farm Rich lately. That's because we really love their products! They're totally tasty and super easy to prepare, which is exactly what FunnySpoon is all about.
But enough blabbing from us - what do you think? Have a favorite recipe using Farm Rich you'd like to share? Tried a Farm Rich recipe and want to tell us how it went? Addicted to a particular Farm Rich product and want to admit it to the rest of us?
Simply cruise over to your fave FunnySpoon online destination - FunnySpoon.com, here at the FunnyScoop blog, Facebook, or Twitter - and share what you think about Farm Rich. From now until December 31, 2009, the first two people to buzz about Farm Rich each week will score a coupon for a FREE Farm Rich product. (Read the rules here.) So c'mon, get into the spirit of giving and share your kitchen wisdom!
The Meatball Cookbook Giveaway
We've got a few copies of "101 Things to do with Meatballs", by Stephanie Ashcraft, and we'd love to share them with our fans. So from now until December 31, 2009, everyone that opts in to receive our FunnyMail emails will be entered to win a free cookbook. (Read the rules here.)
We're spreading the joy, you're spreading the word!
Farm Rich is a brand we personally love and is also one of our sponsors. Thanks to brands like them, we can recommend tasty, high quality products while keeping the site alive. Want more info? Check out our advertisers page.
We Want Chili!Posted by Vicki Labels: who knew?
According to Google's Zeitgeist (a summary of what people searched on each year), the recipe most people were looking for this year was chili. You want it, you got it! Below are some of our favorite chili recipes on FunnySpoon.com:
Lazy Man's Chili
Lindsay's Spicy Vegetarian Chili
FunnySpoon's Turkey Chili
Poorman's Blackbean Chili
White Turkey Chili
Were you one of the people looking for a chili recipe? Did you find something good? Share your recipe with the rest of us!
The FunnySpoon Holiday Survival Guide - Revving UpPosted by Vicki Labels: parties and entertaining, the holidays
Now that Thanksgiving is over, it's time to trim the tree and deck the halls. Wait, what? How'd that happen so fast?
Never fear, the FunnySpoon Holiday Survival Guide is here to help. This edition features easy recipes, healthy holiday tips, and simple ideas to get in the holiday spirit. Save your energy for the festivities and leave the planning to us!
Seasonal Eats
You'll make everyone's gift list when you serve SeaPak's Holiday Scampi Tortellini. Not only is it amazingly simple, it's also festive for the holidays with roasted red peppers and fresh spinach tortellini.
For a versatile holiday dish try these scrumptious Mini Crab Cake Sliders from SeaPak. They make a great meal, snack, or party appetizer. So whether you're starving after shopping or have partygoers to feed, these sliders are a must.
Pair up sliders with easy Holiday Spinach Dip and voila - your mirth-making meal is complete.
Healthy Holidays
In December our social calendars are busier, we eat more cookies and party food, and exercise less. Don't let the holidays get the best of you! When planning a meal or browsing an appetizer spread, keep seafood top-of-mind.
Eating seafood twice a week gives your body fabulous health benefits since it's:
- High in omega 3's and vitamin D
- Low in "bad" cholesterol
- A good source of low-fat protein
Get in the Holiday Spirit
Not quite ready to dive into the holiday spirit? Stimulate your senses with these simple merry-mood-makers and ease into the holidays:
- Fill your house with that wonderful holiday aroma with easy homemade potpourri.
- Enjoy the tastes of the season by adding a splash of egg nog to your morning coffee.
- Create a mini wonderland by setting out just one holiday decoration: a candy dish, a tiny tinsel tree, or a glass bowl filled holiday ornaments.
A Season for Giving
In the spirit of the holidays, FunnySpoon is donating $1 to Toys for Tots for every new fan we receive on our Facebook page. Join the Facebook fun and help make the holiday season a little more special for some deserving children.
Happy Holidays!
Holiday Scampi Tortellini
Mini Crab Cake Sliders
Holiday Spinach Dip
Homemade Holiday Potpourri
Egg Nog Latte
View all our holiday recipes
View all our SeaPak recipes
Money-Saving MondayPosted by Vicki Labels: stretching your dollar
In honor of Cyber Monday (and all the great deals you're hopefully finding online!), we figured we'd share some money-saving tips. We rounded up the food and cooking-related tips from this great Real Simple article about saving money:
- From 10/2: Bulk up on basics. Purchase oranges, onions, and potatoes in bags rather than individually. You'll pay roughly half the price, and the staples will get eaten before going bad.
- From 10/7: Look up, look down. At the grocery store, pick products on the top and bottom shelves. Bigger sizes of items, which tend to offer a lower price per unit, are usually placed on the highest and lowest shelves.
- From 10/10: Shop locally, late in the day. Plow through the farmers' market right before it closes and you'll find sharp discounts (up to 35 percent), because no one likes to head back home with perishable goods.
- From 10/13: Put your herbs on ice. To extend the short six-month shelf life of little-used herbs and spices, try freezing half of a new bottle's contents in an airtight bag or container (don't forget to label it). When the unfrozen portion of the herb or spice loses its aroma or flavor, replace it with the other half from the freezer. No more chagrin over throwing away a half empty $6 bottle of marjoram.
- From 10/14: Break out the crockpot. You don't have to serve lobster to have a memorable dinner party. Stewing uses inexpensive cuts of meat, but the results taste great and you get to spend more time with your guests.
- From 10/18: Wine about it. Instead of buying by the bottle, spring for an entire case of wine at once. Some retailers will offer a 10 percent discount.
- From 11/1: Use your leftovers. Chop up chocolate candy or candy corn you didn't hand out on Halloween and use in your cookie recipes in place of pricey chocolate chips.
Be sure to check out the full article for all sorts of good tips!
Reinvent your leftovers!Posted by Vicki Labels: lip-smacking leftovers, the holidays
We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed relaxing with their families. Maybe even caught a few zzz's in front of the TV after dinner. Not that we did that (shhhh).
So now you're probably looking at a pile of tupperware dishes full of the exact same stuff you ate yesterday. If you want to whip up something new and exciting (but don't want to go to a lot of work) check out our Thanksgiving guide from Saturday and these easy recipes:
Turkey Melt
Mashed Potato Pancakes
Stuffing Cupcakes
Cranberry Bran Muffins
Want more? Check out all our Thanksgiving leftover recipes!
Homemade Holiday PotpourriPosted by Vicki Labels: no brainer tip, parties and entertaining, the holidays
Not quite in the holiday spirit yet? Black Friday and Cyber Monday didn't bring out your merry mirth-making energy? Never fear ... you've got plenty of time! And we've got some tips to help get you there. Like this Homemade Holiday Potpourri. It'll make your house smell like the holidays and brighten your mood. Plus it's SO simple and SO cheap!
Heat 2(ish) cups of water on medium-high heat. Add a handful of cloves and 4 or 5 cinnamon sticks. When it comes to a slow boil reduce heat to simmer/low and let it sit on the stove for a few hours. Be sure to keep an eye on it and add more water if it gets too low.
What are your holiday homemade rememdies? C'mon ... share with us. It is the season to give, right?!
Happy Thanksgiving!Posted by the jaynes family Labels: the holidays
FunnySpoon wishes you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you have a relaxing day!
(Psst! Procrastinators! Need some last-minute Thanksgiving help? Check out all our Thanksgiving recipes for ideas.)
The FunnySpoon Toys for Tots Facebook ChallengePosted by Vicki Labels: contests
We set a goal for ourselves to reach 1,000 Facebook fans by the end of the year. We really think Facebook is a great way to reach fans like you - people that are internet savvy and interested in recipes - because most people are already on Facebook and it makes it one less place to go to get what you're looking for.
We also like to help out charities around the holidays. This year we chose Toys for Tots because we saw all the children in our lives we were buying presents for and felt bad that there are less fortunate kids who won't be getting any presents.
So you're probably wondering what our point is! Well, we decided to combine our two goals and donate $1 for every new Facebook fan we get before Dececember 31, 2009 (up to 1,000 total fans). The contest started yesterday and we've already added 60 new people! So (and you don't have to be a math whiz for this), that's $60 already headed toward Toys for Tots.
Want to help us reach our goal? Want to help kids in need this holiday season? Become a fan of FunnySpoon on Facebook or share this with your friends and encourage them to!
FunnySpoon and Toys for Tots thank you!
Check out the full contest rules.
Veggie TuesdayPosted by Vicki Labels: easy recipes, Veggie Tuesday
Yesterday we gave some tips on fighting fat before turkey day, now today is Veggie Tuesday - a great way to help the environment and also save a few calories in anticipation of Belt-Busting Thursday (also known as Thanksgiving in some parts).
So for a quick an easy dinner tonight - don't tell me you've got everything so under control for Thursday that you have time for a big meal tonight (but if you do, congrats! Care to share your tips????) - try out Poorman's Black Bean Chili:
Only two more days!
Fight Fat BEFORE Turkey DayPosted by Vicki Labels: light and healthy, the holidays
With Thanksgiving just a few days away, some of us are digging out our big comfy pants and some of us are worrying about all the pounds we're going to pack on. I'm trying to settle somewhere in the middle - I'm going to let myself enjoy the foods I love on Thanksgiving, and just try to go a little lighter from today up until then. That way I'll (hopefully) still fit in my favorite jeans but I won't feel deprived on turkey day!
Thanks to Self Magazine, here's a helpful list of 8 fat fighting foods (with some Thanksgiving recipe suggestions!):
- Almonds
- Berries
- Cinnamon (check out these "Cinn"ful Cupcakes)
- Mustard
- Oranges
- Soybeans
- Sweet potatoes (check out these Mashed Sweet Potatoes)
- Swiss cheese
Happy (early) Thanksgiving!
Menu Planning: Help is here!!Posted by the jaynes family Labels: Menu Planning
One thing I've learned over the last few years is that my weeks go MUCH better when I take 10 minutes on Sunday and plan the menu out for the work week. Weekdays are usually a bit hectic and dinner is complete chaos when I walk in the door at 5:30 with hungry children and absolutley no plan! Especially this week - all the preparation for Thanksgiving, houseguests and travel you're sure to be rushed. Don't stress out over it ... let us help!
MONDAY: Ease into your week with this very simple, no hassle Scampi with Broccoli Florets.
You can walk in the door at 5:30, decompress for 10 minutes and still have dinner on the table before 6pm. And this is a PERFECT way to start the week off with seafood!
TUESDAY: As you know, we like to celebrate Veggie Tuesday to encourage ourselves to live a little healthier and take it easy on the environment when we can. In the spirit of that, why not try the Poorman's Blackbean Chili? It's unbelievably simple, yummy and SUPER affordable (the entire meal will cost less than $6 to feed a family of 4.)
WEDNESDAY: Tomorrow's Thanksgiving so definitely give yourself a break on the cooking tonight! This delish Almost Lasagna is simple, perfect for your houseguests and gives you a nice alternative to all the Turkey and American Goodness you'll be eating tomorrow!
THURSDAY: Happy Thanksgiving!! We're sure you've already got a huge menu and family celebration planned; however, if you find yourself in need of a little help check out our Thanksgiving recipes. And if you find yourself trying to fight off the turkey induced coma later in the day, take a few minutes and take our Facebook Quiz: What Type of Cook Are You? Gobble, gobble!
FRIDAY: We know you enjoyed your fabulous feast yesterday and don't want to have repeat of the same meal, but you've got lots of leftover turkey. No worries! Whip up this simple Turkey Tortellini Soup. It's yummy, easy and can easily feed all the houseguests still lingering around! Not in the mood for soup? Put your leftovers to use with one of these simple recipes.
Now go tackle your week and worry about the big stuff ... not the cooking.
We hope this helps make your week a little simpler and stress-free! We'd love to hear your thoughts on the dishes - were they yummy? Were they easy? We're also interested in hearing your stories about how planning helps you avert a crisis (like a 3-year old hunger meltdown!)
NOTE: You can find these meal plans under "Menu Plannng" on our blog.