Sam's Blog: September 2011

Friday, September 30, 2011

Apple axes iPod click wheel games in iTunes, is the 'classic' model next?

Apple axes iPod click wheel games in iTunes, is the 'classic' model next?:

We're all well aware that a new iPhone will see daylight next week. What's still a bit unclear is whether or not Apple plans on discontinuing the ol' faithful iPod classic. However, we may be getting a clue as to what fate the PMP may soon meet. The folks over at AppleInsider discovered that the link to iPod Click Wheel Games no longer appears on the App Store drop-down menu in iTunes. Since 2006, the folks in in Cupertino have been offering added entertainment for the popular mobile jukebox for $7.49 each, but only about 50 titles were available for purchase -- it's kind of hard to develop software when a third-party kit wasn't publicly released. So if you're planning on hanging onto your iPod classic for a little while, we hope you're content to keep playing Vortex, Klondike or whatever else you've already downloaded.

Apple axes iPod click wheel games in iTunes, is the 'classic' model next? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Magic Sauce

Magic Sauce:

I call this magic sauce. In part, because it makes everything it touches shimmer with deliciousness. It's magic like that. Technically, it's a riff on a chimichurri sauce - one that veered off the rails in a big way. Much tweaking has rendered it a distant second cousin. If that. In fact, the hallmark of that sauce, parsley, I skip entirely. But I love this. Love love love. And I use it a hundred different ways.

Magic Sauce Recipe

Let's just start by putting one thing out there. You're best off making a double or triple batch. This is the sort of stuff you burn through in minutes. Not exaggerating. I cook eggs in it - scrambled, omelette, frittata, you name it. I drizzle it on soups. This time of year that means corn soups, brothy bean pots, or lunch time slurpy noodle bowls. I can attest it's the sort of thing that makes baked potatoes even better than usual. And salads welcome it as well - particularly shaved salads, or ones made from spicy greens. You can use it to marinate or slather ingredients before grilling or roasting. And its the sort of dressing that turns a bowl full of farro or quinoa or soba noodles into something close to a full meal - just toss in another favorite seasonal ingredient or two.

Magic Sauce Recipe

It's as versatile as a black dress. Although, it's not really the little black dress of sauces. Think more bohemian that that - earthy, intricate and interesting. Completely approachable. The way the garlic-perfumed oil suspends flecks of rosemary, thyme, and oregano is really nice. And the rusty red tint of the paprika makes everything this sauce touches look just that much more special. If you do anything extra special with it, give a holler in the comments. I still have a half-full mason jar of it ready for business. -h

Continue reading Magic Sauce...

roasted tomato soup with broiled cheddar

roasted tomato soup with broiled cheddar:

Lest you think I spend any part of my days doing Important Things — preparing, and totally not at the last second or haphazardly, for my only child’s second birthday, or for his first week of pre-preschool; assembling warm, wholesome meals for his lunch each day; meeting my manuscript deadline; dealing with the shoe bomb that went off in my closet, etc. — it’s only fair and honest that I tell you that I’ve spent a significant portion of the last year considering ways to merge grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup in a single vessel.

In a way, though, it relates to all of those things (well, not the shoes). There’s something very back-to-school-ish about tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, and because it’s still September, if you’re lucky, you can still get some tomatoes worth eating, and if not that, at least worth cooking down. In my imagined intersections of grilled cheese and tomato soup, I dreamed of grilled cheese croutons in one-inch rounds but rejected it for being overly precious. I considered grilled cheese bread bowls, but never worked out the logistics. But it was when I revisited the ne plus ultra combination of cheese and soup — French Onion Soup — this past spring that I knew unequivocally that the very best solution would be to simply broil an open-faced grilled cheese sandwich on top of a bowl of tomato soup. The only thing left to do was to wait (and wait, and wait) for the slim overlap of tomato season, soup season and a gloomy, rainy week. And that, my friends, brings us to today.

... Read the rest of roasted tomato soup with broiled cheddar on smittenkitchen.com

© smitten kitchen 2006-2011. |
permalink to roasted tomato soup with broiled cheddar | 349 comments to date | see more: Photo, Soup, Summer, Tomatoes, Vegetarian

Tacos, Burritos, and Enchiladas: Tasty Breakfast Burritos

Tacos, Burritos, and Enchiladas: Tasty Breakfast Burritos:

Tasty Breakfast Burritos

4.33 / 5 Stars | 36 Reviews

by Kayse

"Baked tortillas, packed with sausage, cheese and eggs. Swimming in a hearty sausage gravy."

View Complete Recipe Details and Reviews

Google's OnTheFly Airfare Search Tool Updates with Flexible Dates, Saved Itineraries [Updates]

Google's OnTheFly Airfare Search Tool Updates with Flexible Dates, Saved Itineraries [Updates]:

Click here to read Google's OnTheFly Airfare Search Tool Updates with Flexible Dates, Saved Itineraries

Android: Google just updated their mobile airfaire search tool, OnTheFly, with some extra features that make planning a trip ahead of time much simpler. More »

Format Factory

Format Factory:

Format Factory is a Windows-only piece of software that will convert any video format to any other video format. It will do the same for audio files. It will do the same for digital photos. It is free.

I have been using it for six years in my job as an eLearning producer, and my hobby as a "Let's get this movie to play on the computer, the iPod, the iPad" and so on.

I have paid for and used virtually every other video format converter, and this one is the clear winner for ease of use, flexibility, speed, and being able to stack up several conversions and have them run serially. You can even add a new task while it is busy working on another.

Want to rip a DVD to play on your iPad? Easy.

Want to convert a video file to Flash? Easy.

Want to extract audio from a video file? Easy.

Want to convert your home videos to YouTube format? Easy.

It has built-in settings for iPod, iPad, Blackberry, Asus, PSP, and many other devices.

Advanced tools for the tinkerer allow you to choose the codec, aspect ratio, bit rates, and other settings. You can also trim segments from the video, or join video files. You can name and save your settings.

Did I mention it was free?

-- William Eberwein

Format Factory

Free

Available from http://www.formatoz.com/

Workers To Get Minimum Wage Of £8?

Workers To Get Minimum Wage Of £8?:

national minimum wage Workers To Get Minimum Wage Of £8?

Are we on the brink of a service industry filled with cheery individuals with diamond teeth?

It could well happen if the unions get their way in their requests to get the national minimum wage upped to £8 an hour.

Unions are pressing for a “living wage” of £8 an hour ahead of an increase in the statutory rate from tomorrow which will see it meander through the £6 barrier for the first time.

If you didn’t know (and would like to start checking your wageslip), the adult rate goes up by 15p to £6.08 from Saturday, by 6p to £4.98 for 18- to 20-year-olds, and up by 4p to £3.68 for 16- and 17-year-olds. The apprentice rate goes up by 10p to £2.60.

Okay?

So with that, Unison reckon that they’ll be pushing for a further increase which is in line with the rising cost of living.

General secretary Dave Prentis said: “More than 10 years on, the minimum wage has become a valuable safety net for millions of workers. It is a lasting legacy of the trade union and labour movement The rise to £6.08 is a welcome cushion, but with the price of everyday essentials such as food, gas and electricity going up massively, it won’t lift enough working people out of the poverty trap.

“We want a more substantial figure and a decent living wage for all – a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work, regardless of age. Good employers should be looking at the mounting pressures on their workforce and paying them more than the absolute minimum.

“The Government must be vigilant in enforcing the minimum wage – those earning the least should not have to suffer the most because of the recession. Without decent pay they will sink further into poverty and the economy will fail to recover.”

If this goes through, would we see a more cheery workforce? Or is the answer not an increase in wage, but rather, a lowering of tax and VAT on products?

Canadian Ice Shelves Halve In Six Years

Canadian Ice Shelves Halve In Six Years: eldavojohn writes "The CBC reports on new research that shows thousand-year-old ice shelves (much different than sea ice) are breaking up and have been reduced by half in a region of Canada over the last six years. 'This summer alone saw the Serson ice shelf almost completely disappear and the Ward Hunt shelf split in half. The ice loss equals about three billion tonnes, or about 500 times the mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza.' More detailed pictures can be seen at The Conversation, with a quote from Professor Steven Sherwood, Co-Director of the University of NSW's Climate Change Research Centre: 'The real significance of this, in my view, is that this ice has reportedly been there for thousands of years. The same is true of glaciers that have recently disappeared in the Andes. These observations should dispel in one fell swoop any notion that recent global warming could be natural.'"

Edit Steps

Airplane Mode

Using this function will disable cellular signals sent out by the iPad. You will still be able to work on documents as well as enjoy iPad functions such as music, photos, and videos if, and when, permitted by the aircraft operator.
Tap the Settings icon and then turn Airplane Mode on.

Tap the Settings icon and then turn Airplane Mode on.
Turn Wi-Fi on if your flight operator provides wireless Internet. Do so by tapping on the Settings icon and switching Wi-Fi on.

Turn Wi-Fi on if your flight operator provides wireless Internet.
- You can also customize your Internet by setting up or joining a virtual private network or VPN. Set up a VPN by tapping the Settings icon, then choose General, then Network, then VPN. You will have to contact the VPN administrator to find out what settings to use.
  
  You can also customize your Internet by setting up or joining a virtual private network or VPN.

Notifications

Be aware that some apps come with Notifications that will send you a text message, a sound alert, or display a numbered badge on the app icon if new information related to the app is available. This is usually turned on by default, but you can turn if off if desired.

Be aware that some apps come with Notifications that will send you a text message, a sound alert, or display a numbered badge on the app icon if new information related to the app is available.
Turn on/off all Notifications. Tap the Settings icon, then the Notifications icon, then turn off Notifications. If Notifications are already turned off, then you can click the switch to turn them on.

Turn on/off all Notifications.
- You can also turn off Notifications for individual apps by choosing an app from the list in Notifications.
  
  You can also turn off Notifications for individual apps by choosing an app from the list in Notifications.

Location Services

Note that some apps, like Maps, use Location Services to establish where you are and make the app more effective. An arrow icon will appear if an app is requesting your location. This is usually turned on by default, but you can turn if off if desired.

Note that some apps, like Maps, use Location Services to establish where you are and make the app more effective.
Turn on/off Location Services. Tap Settings, then tap Location Services and turn off the function. If the function is already turned off, flip the switch to on to restore them.

Turn on/off Location Services.
- You can also turn Location Services off individually by choosing the app listed in Location Services.
  
  You can also turn Location Services off individually by choosing the app listed in Location Services.

Carrier and Cell Data Settings

Tap Settings and then tap Carrier to pick the network you wish to use.

Tap Settings and then tap Carrier to pick the network you wish to use.
Tap Settings and then tap Cellular Data to turn Roaming on or off. Tap View Account to change account settings.

Tap Settings and then tap Cellular Data to turn Roaming on or off.

Video

Tap Settings, and then tap Video.

Tap Settings, and then tap Video.
Personalize. You can do a number of things here, including turning Closed Captioning on or off, or setting up your iPad to play videos on your TV.

Edit Video

Edit Tips

To customize iPod settings, tap Settings, then tap iPod Settings.

Edit Things You'll Need

iPad 2

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