Boeing 737 Takeoff

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Chris

This is a cross-post from http://aif.teamsiems.com/

I think I finally figured out the screen resolution I need to fill a youtube video viewing box. I set my screen and FSX to 1280 x 720. It makes everything pinched, but the outcome is widescreen 16:9. I also converted the video from Fraps’ AVI to MPEG4 using widescreen setting for both input and output.

This also gave me the opportunity to install an iframe plugin for WordPress so I can use YouTube iframes and WordPress doesn’t zap the HTML. Thanks to Túbal Martín for his plugin and shortcode and the link to YouTube parameters.

St. Louis Spare Ribs

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Chris

Ribs on the grill at 12 noon

This Memorial Day weekend (2011) I wanted to do something different than last year’s Memorial Day Memphis Style. I was inspired by a video on YouTube called “St Louis Spare Ribs” and the information I read on the BBQ Pit Boys website, Barbecue Web.

Preparation

I started by buying 9 lbs (2 slabs) of spare ribs from the butcher on Friday before Memorial Day. I had them trim the ribs “St. Louis style” which means they cut off the “knuckles” or the gristly rib tips on the edge opposite the “baby back” cut.

On Sunday, I started at 8 AM by trimming the flap of meat and fat off the meat side and removing the membrane on the bone side. I also cut each slabs in half. Then I spread on a thin layer of regular yellow mustard – the key ingredient to tangy St. Louis barbecue taste – and the rub. Then I put the ribs in the refrigerator at 9 AM to let them get happy for 3 hours. I planned on starting the low and slow cooking at 12 noon.

For my rub I made a variation of the Amazing Ribs, Meathead’s Memphis Dust Rub Recipe:

3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup garlic powder
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons ground ginger powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 teaspoons rosemary powder

I set up my grill with the left burner on low and a 13×10 drip pan on the right. I filled the pan with about 1/2 inch of apple juice, put the ribs in a rib stand, and put the rib stand into the pan. I added the rib stand this year because I thought the tilted grate method last year didn’t expose the ribs enough to the heat and moisture. This year I found the perfect sized pan, but the problem with the stand is that it’s too big to go into the pan the correct way – so that the ribs rest on the sides of the stand. So, I had to improvise and I put a strip of tin foil down the middle of the inverted stand and let the ribs drape over the strip.

Cooking

Ribs at 5 PM

The key is 225°F for five to six hours. Open the lid sparingly (get it spare ribs, sparingly). As Meathead says, if the lid is open, you aint cooking.

My grill isn’t the most consistent thing on the market and I admit I’m cheap when it comes to thermometers so I just use an oven thermometer. My grill will vary by as much as 50 degrees with less than a 1/4 inch turn of the dial. I have to check it every 1/2 hour to make sure it’s not too hot or too cool.

Results

I cooked the ribs for a total of 5 hours. I flipped the ribs in the stand at 2 hours in and 4 hours. In hour 4 I added some locally made, but pre-cooked, sausage. At 5 PM I took a knife to the ribs to test the tenderness – they weren’t tender.

I took the ribs in and put them in a 350°F oven for 20 minutes. That didn’t help. They came out tough.

All that work and money up in smoke, literally. I give up. No more ribs from me.

On the flip side, the sausage was tough but good. The corn wasn’t quite what my wife was aiming for, but the pinto beans came out pretty good.

Phish Warning! Police Dept #225 225@osagecity.com

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Chris

By the looks of it this phish email has been around for years. I Googled it and found it back in 2005. Don’t click on any links you see in this email if you get it. The link that says CLICKINGHERE points to www.flourishpainted.com/msind.php (I’ve disabled it here.)

The best part is the first few words – webmail police!

FROM: Police Dept #225 <225@osagecity.com>

SUBJECT: Restore Your Web-Account Access.

Attention;

We the webmail police investigating department recently reviewed your account, and suspect that your Mail Account might have been accessed by an unauthorized third party.

Protecting the security of your account is our primary concern.Therefore, as a preventive measure,we have temporarily limited access to sensitive account features and we need information from you to enable us curb the crime rate in identity theft in internet.You have to restore your account with your webmail account management.

To restore your account access, we need you to confirm your identity by CLICKINGHERE.

Thank you for your patience as we work together to protect your account.

Thank you.

System Administrator And Police Department.

Rubix Cube Solution

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Chris

Here is my shorthand version of pogobat’s video series “How to Solve a Rubik’s Cube!”

3x3x3 Notation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdeYaLi91Nk

6 Centers
8 Corners
12 Edges
Front face (F)
Back face (B)
Left face (L)
Right face (R)
Up face (U)
Down face (B)

Twists are normally clockwise. Twists counter clockwise are noted with an apostrophe (‘).

Solve Green Cross

Green cross

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox90TQfjpmg

Start with green center on up. Twist an edge piece with one side green to the down face. Then turn the down face to orient the edge piece of the other color under its center.

Then make the other color the front face.

2F : This puts a bottom green edge piece on top, next to green center
center.

F’ U L’ U’ : If the edge piece is in right spot, but oriented incorrectly. Start with flipped edge piece at the top center (next to green center).

Solve Green Corners

Green corners

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAeLResB4nQ

R’ D’ R D: Have green corner in bottom right, below the corner it needs to go to. May be oriented wrong. Repeat the algorithm to orient the corner piece correctly.

This could take 5 times.

Top should be green and top row colors should be solved: top row complete

Solve Second Layer

Second layer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja9hleuUEhA

Make green side down

Orient an edge piece of the top-front (neither side blue) with its center color. The other color (top) of the edge piece will be the same as one of the centers of either the left or right face.

U’ L’ U L U F U’ F’ : If left

U R U’ R’ U’ F’ U F : If right

U R U’ R’ U’ F’ U F : If all edges have blue before second layer is solved. Orient cube so that unsolved piece is in the center right of the front face.

Solve Blue Cross

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okEuogvZDmk

With blue as top

F R U R’ U’ F’ : If none of the edge pieces have blue on top

F R U R’ U’ F’ : With blue L in back left corner. This makes a blue line through the middle.

F R U R’ U’ F’ : With blue line going left to right.

Finish Blue Cross

Finish blue cross

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YPy-5ixlhs

Looking at the sides of the edge pieces. They probably wont all match their center pieces.

R U R’ U R 2U R’ : If two edges do not match

R U R’ U R 2U R’ : If two matching edges are opposite sides. With one of them as front.

If the two matching edges are next to each other, orient cube so that matching pair top corner is right and away from you. Then perform

R U R’ U R 2U R’

All edge pieces of blue cross should be in correct spot and oriented correctly.

Solve Blue Corners

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stw6YV7AlQc

Get blue corners in correct spot.

U R U’ L’ U R’ U’ L : If none of the corners are in the correct spot. This should put one corner piece in the correct spot.

U R U’ L’ U R’ U’ L : With correct corner in top right front (near you)

This will get corners in correct spots, but not oriented correctly.

Orient Blue Corners

Orient blue corners

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL4zsPdL6FM

With 1 unsolved corner in upper right of front face.

R’ D’ R D : Twice

Keep the front face the same throughout this entire step! (I chose white as front)

Turn top so that next unsolved is in upper right of front face.

R’ D’ R D : Twice

Luigi’s, not so much

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Chris

Here is the review I posted on OpenTable.com about Luigi’s Patio Ristorante:

We we’re seated in the ‘villa’ section which has concrete floors and a vaulted wooden ceiling. It was nicely decorated, but 1 large party made enough noise in the room that my wife and I could hardly hear each other. My comment to her was, ‘How much does it cost to sit out in the patio area.’ (ambiance 3 stars)

We had two servers stopping by every 5 minutes (1 in training maybe?) – we felt a little rushed. That coupled with the noise was the opposite of a relaxed Italian meal. (service 3 stars)

The food tasted fresh; however, both our meals were not what we expected: too much of one ingredient not enough of the traditional ingredients. (food 3 stars)

Now we know Luigi’s, not so much.

The restaurant was beautifully decorated. The servers were attentive. The food was good.

Design quirks like concrete floors and wooden ceilings make putting 20 people a mistake.

The microscopic table combined with a server in training and trainer hovering right behind made us conscious of two servers there at all times.

My veal scallopini (Saltimbocca alla Romana) came with scalloped potatoes covered with a cheese blanket and chefs vegetables. The veal had some breading and was smothered in a prosciutto and sage sauce; odd. My wife ordered the chicken parmigiana (Pollo Parmigiana allo Stile di Luigi). It was chicken smothered in a deep red tomato sauce. It was a little too much. She said maybe serve the chicken on top of a bed of pasta with a little sauce on the side.

We also kept comparing it to other restaurants in the area. Needless to say, there were other places that we like more. So we decided, Luigi’s, not so much.

Leasing a Camry

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Chris

Tonight my wife leased a Camry from Atkinson Toyota for 36 months and 12,000 miles. This is her first lease and first new car. She was able to get the payments down to her terms and everything seemed to work out. Yay! The lease is up in March 2014 and with a residual of $13,700.

My Cardinals 2011 Schedule

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Chris

I put the St. Louis Cardinals 2011 Schedule on my mobile site complete with links to the Cardinals MLB mobile site and the DIRECTV mobile site.

I had to cheat a little because MLB.com doesn’t provide XML or RSS so I imported a CSV into Excel and exported to HTML. (Excel’s XML sucks and it’s one more complication to deal with.)

I hope this is a better season for the Cards.

Twitter Links:

@stlcardinals

@mlb

Happy 6th Blogoversary

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Chris

Today is my 6th Blogoversary. I defined teamsiems zeitgeist in my first post.

I know I always say this, but a lot has happened in 6 years and 320 posts. My mom and aunt Ruth died, Twitter and Facebook grew up as social media giants. Barack Obama became the first black President of America. I traveled to Europe. And, I got remarried to a wonderful woman.

And now I’m listed at blogoversary.com

Calendar Daily Bible Mashup

Posted on January 30, 2011 by Chris

Three weeks ago I wrote about using a little technology to help me keep on track with reading the Bible in a year. Well, I went one step further and made a mashup of a PHP calendar with a daily verse list (it was XML), linked each verse to its mobile version of the NIV Bible, and voilà – a calendar with links to Bible verses.

teamsiems

A team of Siems making observations on the web.

Category Archives: Personal