For those of you without an iPod: if you have an Internet-enabled cell phone, our restaurant guide is in pre-beta and available by typing the usual link into your phone's web browser.
If the logo at the top of the screen is black-and-white on a solid orange background [XHTML-Mobile], you're good to go.
If the logo is black-and-white on a white background [WML], your phone is oldish and I haven't gotten to that part of the site yet.
And if the logo is black-and-white on a flowery orange background [XHTML], your cell phone would like to think it's a desktop.
In particular, if you have a super beefy mobile device [PocketPC, palmtop, &c.] I'd like to know which site you get [mobile/desktop] and which site you'd prefer to get.
- Z
Zobar's Journal
My Podcast Link
04/10/2006 18:29 #37301
buffalo's geekiest restaurant guideCategory: food
04/09/2006 13:45 #37300
free your mind and your ass will followCategory: web 2.0
Yet another geeky post, but there's a cool technology preview at the end. Feel free to skip the geeky part.
<geeky>
I am considering how to do a distributed GUI for backend database management at work, and I remembered I had done a presentation on Mozilla XUL when I was at school. XUL [XML User-interface Language] is used to describe the entirety of the Firefox user interface, and a very neat feature of Firefox is that if you browse to a XUL file on the Internet, it will render the XUL UI and let you interact with it.
</geeky>
I came up with a proof-of-concept demo for an iPhoto-like online photo album based on XUL. If you are using Mozilla/Firefox [it will not work in any other browser, I promise you] visit xPhoto
to see some pictures of my aunt's cottage on the lake and (e:dragonlady7) 's sister's springer spaniel Scout.
Now I'm going to see if I can score some points by cleaning the house before (e:dragonlady7) gets home.
- Z
<geeky>
I am considering how to do a distributed GUI for backend database management at work, and I remembered I had done a presentation on Mozilla XUL when I was at school. XUL [XML User-interface Language] is used to describe the entirety of the Firefox user interface, and a very neat feature of Firefox is that if you browse to a XUL file on the Internet, it will render the XUL UI and let you interact with it.
</geeky>
I came up with a proof-of-concept demo for an iPhoto-like online photo album based on XUL. If you are using Mozilla/Firefox [it will not work in any other browser, I promise you] visit xPhoto
to see some pictures of my aunt's cottage on the lake and (e:dragonlady7) 's sister's springer spaniel Scout.Now I'm going to see if I can score some points by cleaning the house before (e:dragonlady7) gets home.
- Z
04/08/2006 12:12 #37299
god bless the vanilla suburbsCategory: food
So I did my annual white suburbanite duty today, drove into the East Side, spent 45 minutes and $4 at the Broadway Market, and got back to Kenmore, happy to report that my car did not get 'jacked' by any 'gangstas.' I look forward to going back next year, if it's still open.
This is sarcasm, of course, but it's all true - does it make it any less terrible that I at least realize that it's terrible? No, it makes me a ponce who would rather feel guilty than do something. Perhaps I will make an effort to do regular shopping at the Market this year. Perhaps I say that every year.
Broadway/Fillmore reminds me a lot of where I used to live in Greenville, Jersey City. Both neighborhoods, obviously, have seen better days. I don't know about Greenville, but B/F used to be a bustling shopping district not very long ago. Unlike other areas of the East Side, B/F is ripe for large-scale retail investment. All the buildings - gorgeous, big, retail buildings - are still there [excepting Sattler's, which is now a gorgeous, big, empty parking lot], are largely vacant, and the real estate is dirt fucking cheap. I firmly believe that if you build it they will come - but seriously, who's going to invest millions in renovating a dilapidated old department store in the ghetto when you can spend millions on a brand-new box store built to spec out on Niagara Falls Blvd? It's fuckin' depressing.
But enough with the sadness; the Broadway Market brought me great joy today as well, for nowhere else in the world would they bother to clean 25 fresh smelt (WIKIPEDIA - Smelt) per pound for four bucks a pound. Hell yes. The noble smelt averages six inches long, and is best described as 'bait.' Smelt are extremely plentiful in the lower Niagara near Lewiston early in the spring, and all you have to do to get a bucketful is to dip your net in the river and pull it out. You have not truly tasted seafood until you've eaten a basket of fresh smelt, six hours from river to fryer - but you have also not truly prepared seafood unless you've cleaned a five-gallon bucket of fresh smelt, 25 to the pound.
One of my happier childhood memories involves my dad coming back from a fishing trip with a drywall bucket full of smelt he'd just pulled out of the river. He showed up at my aunt's house with the bucket and a hopeful grin.
"Nuh uh, no way. Get away from me with those. There's gotta be at least a hundred fish in there. If you don't want to clean them, I'm sure as Hell not going to clean them."
"No, no. It'll be great. Let's do this." So they spent the entire afternoon gutting and beheading the little fuckers, and we gorged ourselves on just this insane pile of the most delicious fried fish you can get.
I think that was the last time I ever had smelt, for obvious reasons, and this is why I love the Broadway Market. You think Danny Jr's got the cojones to offer fresh smelt at $4/lb? pfft.
- Z
This is sarcasm, of course, but it's all true - does it make it any less terrible that I at least realize that it's terrible? No, it makes me a ponce who would rather feel guilty than do something. Perhaps I will make an effort to do regular shopping at the Market this year. Perhaps I say that every year.
Broadway/Fillmore reminds me a lot of where I used to live in Greenville, Jersey City. Both neighborhoods, obviously, have seen better days. I don't know about Greenville, but B/F used to be a bustling shopping district not very long ago. Unlike other areas of the East Side, B/F is ripe for large-scale retail investment. All the buildings - gorgeous, big, retail buildings - are still there [excepting Sattler's, which is now a gorgeous, big, empty parking lot], are largely vacant, and the real estate is dirt fucking cheap. I firmly believe that if you build it they will come - but seriously, who's going to invest millions in renovating a dilapidated old department store in the ghetto when you can spend millions on a brand-new box store built to spec out on Niagara Falls Blvd? It's fuckin' depressing.
But enough with the sadness; the Broadway Market brought me great joy today as well, for nowhere else in the world would they bother to clean 25 fresh smelt (WIKIPEDIA - Smelt) per pound for four bucks a pound. Hell yes. The noble smelt averages six inches long, and is best described as 'bait.' Smelt are extremely plentiful in the lower Niagara near Lewiston early in the spring, and all you have to do to get a bucketful is to dip your net in the river and pull it out. You have not truly tasted seafood until you've eaten a basket of fresh smelt, six hours from river to fryer - but you have also not truly prepared seafood unless you've cleaned a five-gallon bucket of fresh smelt, 25 to the pound.
One of my happier childhood memories involves my dad coming back from a fishing trip with a drywall bucket full of smelt he'd just pulled out of the river. He showed up at my aunt's house with the bucket and a hopeful grin.
"Nuh uh, no way. Get away from me with those. There's gotta be at least a hundred fish in there. If you don't want to clean them, I'm sure as Hell not going to clean them."
"No, no. It'll be great. Let's do this." So they spent the entire afternoon gutting and beheading the little fuckers, and we gorged ourselves on just this insane pile of the most delicious fried fish you can get.
I think that was the last time I ever had smelt, for obvious reasons, and this is why I love the Broadway Market. You think Danny Jr's got the cojones to offer fresh smelt at $4/lb? pfft.
- Z
zobar - 04/08/06 15:07
Lake Erie is shallow and has a fast turnover; this, in addition to our zebra mussel problem, keeps the lake very clean. According to the health department, you are allowed one meal per week of Lake Erie fish [except carp, which is limited to one per month due to PCBs].
Lake Ontario is deep, has a slow turnover, and is the lowest of the Great Lakes, so it collects all the contaminants from everyone [as well as Kodak, may they rot in Hell]. There are severe restrictions in place for eating Lake Ontario fish.
The only advisory for smelt in NY is for the waters off Staten Island.
- Z
Lake Erie is shallow and has a fast turnover; this, in addition to our zebra mussel problem, keeps the lake very clean. According to the health department, you are allowed one meal per week of Lake Erie fish [except carp, which is limited to one per month due to PCBs].
Lake Ontario is deep, has a slow turnover, and is the lowest of the Great Lakes, so it collects all the contaminants from everyone [as well as Kodak, may they rot in Hell]. There are severe restrictions in place for eating Lake Ontario fish.
The only advisory for smelt in NY is for the waters off Staten Island.
- Z
ajay - 04/08/06 14:24
Umm... haven't there been countless health advisories about eating Lake Erie fish?
Umm... haven't there been countless health advisories about eating Lake Erie fish?
zobar - 04/08/06 14:07
A lot of people in North America also have difficulty telling their ass from a hole in the ground. Bottom-feeders and baitfish are where it's at. Catfish. Smelt. Sardines and anchovies. Hairy and scaly, Hell yes.
I went to a fish market in Westchester County and said, hey, I'd like two haddock fillets. No haddock, they said. I said I'll take two of those Boston scrod then. Yes sir, of course, eight bucks a pound, they said, but it's the same damn thing. I did not last long in Westchester.
- Z
A lot of people in North America also have difficulty telling their ass from a hole in the ground. Bottom-feeders and baitfish are where it's at. Catfish. Smelt. Sardines and anchovies. Hairy and scaly, Hell yes.
I went to a fish market in Westchester County and said, hey, I'd like two haddock fillets. No haddock, they said. I said I'll take two of those Boston scrod then. Yes sir, of course, eight bucks a pound, they said, but it's the same damn thing. I did not last long in Westchester.
- Z
mrdt - 04/08/06 13:35
alot of people in north america consider smelt and other oily fish as garbage fish. you would probably make alot of my ancestors very happy.
alot of people in north america consider smelt and other oily fish as garbage fish. you would probably make alot of my ancestors very happy.
ladycroft - 04/08/06 12:21
i used to work the broadway market for a whole summer when i was 15...fruit farm.
i used to work the broadway market for a whole summer when i was 15...fruit farm.
04/07/2006 18:04 #37298
the tastiest thing in your ipodCategory: food
The annual restaurant guide is set to be published on April 27th. It looks like it's going to be a good one - we're listing over 100 local restaurants, and I'm putting together an expanded online component for year-round reference. But what happens if you're out and about, you got the hunger, and you're one of these people who doesn't carry a computer with them at all times?
You look it up on your iPod, duh. iPods have this great underutilized feature called Note Reader [devnotes ] that lets you put plain text and hyperlinked content on your iPod. I want to preview this in front of some 'normal people' before unleashing the beast, so if you're interested, try this out.
1. Download the menu guide from gather:0801401001144445585 and unzip it. [Note: this prerelease is incomplete. The final version will have more listings and will be searchable by neighborhood, cuisine, and price range.]
2. Connect your iPod to your computer. If it does not show up on your desktop:
- in iTunes, select iPod in the Source list and click the Options button.
- Click General and select "Enable disk use."
3. Copy the "Menus" folder from your desktop into the "Notes" folder on your iPod.
4. Eject the iPod from your desktop and disconnect it. That's it! The restaurant guide is now available on your iPod by selecting Extras -> Notes -> Menus.
Please let me know your opinions on this - is it good? bad? dumb? too hard to use? needs more features?
- Z
is set to be published on April 27th. It looks like it's going to be a good one - we're listing over 100 local restaurants, and I'm putting together an expanded online component for year-round reference. But what happens if you're out and about, you got the hunger, and you're one of these people who doesn't carry a computer with them at all times?You look it up on your iPod, duh. iPods have this great underutilized feature called Note Reader [devnotes
] that lets you put plain text and hyperlinked content on your iPod. I want to preview this in front of some 'normal people' before unleashing the beast, so if you're interested, try this out.1. Download the menu guide from gather:0801401001144445585 and unzip it. [Note: this prerelease is incomplete. The final version will have more listings and will be searchable by neighborhood, cuisine, and price range.]
2. Connect your iPod to your computer. If it does not show up on your desktop:
- in iTunes, select iPod in the Source list and click the Options button.
- Click General and select "Enable disk use."
3. Copy the "Menus" folder from your desktop into the "Notes" folder on your iPod.
4. Eject the iPod from your desktop and disconnect it. That's it! The restaurant guide is now available on your iPod by selecting Extras -> Notes -> Menus.
Please let me know your opinions on this - is it good? bad? dumb? too hard to use? needs more features?
- Z
museumchick - 04/08/06 01:00
I thought the restaurant guide was fantastic. What a great resource!
I thought the restaurant guide was fantastic. What a great resource!
twisted - 04/08/06 00:14
p.s. - that's "creme brulee" but with a bunch of accents. They look very impressive on my iPod.
p.s. - that's "creme brulee" but with a bunch of accents. They look very impressive on my iPod.
twisted - 04/08/06 00:12
OMG, that is so cool! Now I want to try Tsunami's Crème brulée “tasting†featuring servings of four variations: chocolate, passion fruit, Kona coffee and classic vanilla so bad!!! They offer take-out, but no delivery! Especially not to California.
I keep my shopping list synched to my iPod. (The ingredients for your Pumpkin Ginger Soup are there right now, in fact.) This would be a great resource to carry with me as well. When does the SF edition come out? ;-)
OMG, that is so cool! Now I want to try Tsunami's Crème brulée “tasting†featuring servings of four variations: chocolate, passion fruit, Kona coffee and classic vanilla so bad!!! They offer take-out, but no delivery! Especially not to California.
I keep my shopping list synched to my iPod. (The ingredients for your Pumpkin Ginger Soup are there right now, in fact.) This would be a great resource to carry with me as well. When does the SF edition come out? ;-)
jenks - 04/07/06 23:28
umm, probably a stupid question, but where did gather go? Things are acting all funky in safari today... Paul suggesting clearing the cache, which helped some stuff, but not the rest. (the he suggested a new computer, which may be a bit extreme.) I just assumed some upgrades are going on... But point is- I can't find this to download to demo it for you. (and i'm ashamed to admit it, but I have more than 1 ipod, and can demo it on different screens for you.)
umm, probably a stupid question, but where did gather go? Things are acting all funky in safari today... Paul suggesting clearing the cache, which helped some stuff, but not the rest. (the he suggested a new computer, which may be a bit extreme.) I just assumed some upgrades are going on... But point is- I can't find this to download to demo it for you. (and i'm ashamed to admit it, but I have more than 1 ipod, and can demo it on different screens for you.)
uncutsaniflush - 04/07/06 20:53
paul, zobar, you guys should do whatever you want with the technology around.
As to the "not natural" thing, to quote the love and rockets song:
"You cannot go against nature
Because when you do
Go against nature
It's part of nature too"
So ha.
An aside: I'm starting to think that desktop linux users like me are the vegetarians of the computer world.
paul, zobar, you guys should do whatever you want with the technology around.
As to the "not natural" thing, to quote the love and rockets song:
"You cannot go against nature
Because when you do
Go against nature
It's part of nature too"
So ha.
An aside: I'm starting to think that desktop linux users like me are the vegetarians of the computer world.
zobar - 04/07/06 19:36
Saniflush: Jesus Creeping God, that's not natural. I don't even have a TV but I've still got a beat up old 10G.
Paul: Should work on any iPod with a screen. Am v. interested to know how well it translates to a Mini/Nano.
- Z
Saniflush: Jesus Creeping God, that's not natural. I don't even have a TV but I've still got a beat up old 10G.
Paul: Should work on any iPod with a screen. Am v. interested to know how well it translates to a Mini/Nano.
- Z
paul - 04/07/06 19:29
I also don;t have an ipod but that isnt goign to stop me from making the journals available in ipod format. I will make (e:mike) install the menus and test it on his nano. Will it work on there too?
I also don;t have an ipod but that isnt goign to stop me from making the journals available in ipod format. I will make (e:mike) install the menus and test it on his nano. Will it work on there too?
uncutsaniflush - 04/07/06 19:25
You forgot the first and most important step:
1. Obtain an iPod.
Yes. Believe it or not, there people in this or any other universe who don't have iPods. Well, there are at least 2.
You forgot the first and most important step:
1. Obtain an iPod.
Yes. Believe it or not, there people in this or any other universe who don't have iPods. Well, there are at least 2.
04/05/2006 22:05 #37297
sociable technologiesCategory: potpourri
Three things:
1. Neat event at the UB Art Gallery entitled 'NET<3: Sociable Technologies.' Some geeky computers-facilitating-human-interaction stuff, some digital art, some miscellany. I'm in; anyone else?
2. Pumpkin Ginger Soup, a la Cafe 59 [this is purported to be their actual recipe]:
Combine in saucepan:
28oz canned veggie broth
1 cinnamon stick
2 whole cloves
1/4tsp crushed red pepper (start with less to taste)
8Tbsp white sugar
1Tbsp cider vinegar
1Tbsp kosher salt
Cover & bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer 5min. Remove cloves, then add:
14oz unsweetened coconut milk
29oz solid pack pumpkin
1Tbsp + 1tsp fresh ginger, grated
Bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat & simmer again 5min.
3. Current Music: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Greyhound
- Z
1. Neat event at the UB Art Gallery
entitled 'NET<3: Sociable Technologies.' Some geeky computers-facilitating-human-interaction stuff, some digital art, some miscellany. I'm in; anyone else?2. Pumpkin Ginger Soup, a la Cafe 59 [this is purported to be their actual recipe]:
Combine in saucepan:
28oz canned veggie broth
1 cinnamon stick
2 whole cloves
1/4tsp crushed red pepper (start with less to taste)
8Tbsp white sugar
1Tbsp cider vinegar
1Tbsp kosher salt
Cover & bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer 5min. Remove cloves, then add:
14oz unsweetened coconut milk
29oz solid pack pumpkin
1Tbsp + 1tsp fresh ginger, grated
Bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat & simmer again 5min.
3. Current Music: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Greyhound
- Z
jenks - 04/06/06 07:39
wow that soup sounds awesome. Solid grounds had a pumpkin ginger soup a while ago that I'm told was great, too.
wow that soup sounds awesome. Solid grounds had a pumpkin ginger soup a while ago that I'm told was great, too.
paul - 04/05/06 23:38
I probably should have been involved in that seeing as I am a grad student in their media studies program. I am just so removed from amherst these days. It feels as far away as europe.
I probably should have been involved in that seeing as I am a grad student in their media studies program. I am just so removed from amherst these days. It feels as far away as europe.
Thanks for the <geeky> </geeky> warning.