John Von Hollen's Blog

Good Creamy Sabra-like Hummus Recipe

2010-03-08T21:05:00.001-05:00

Hummus has become one of my favorite snacks and wrap-components over the past year or so. But despite my attempts to find other brands the red-plastic-top-$4-for-10oz Sabra brand is still my favorite. However keeping up that habit is getting too expensive. So after a while of searching and tinkering I have this recipe that I have been making:

2 15 oz can of organic chickpeas
2/3 cup tahini
Juice from 2 lemons
10 olives
~1/3 cup of olive "juice"
3 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp coarse salt

Rinse chickpeas and remove skins (don't worry about getting them all).

Add tahini and lemon juice and food processor. Blend in a food processor for about two minutes, until foamy.

Add garlic, salt, and keep blending.

While still blending add a chickpeas through the top a few at a time. After adding half the chickpeas, add the olives and olive oil. Once all the chickpeas are in add olive juice (the liquid in the olive jar) until it is the right consistency.

Let the food processor go for about 5 minutes until it is nice a creamy.

Enjoy.

Add in any flavors you want. I add a little hot sauce some times to give it an extra kick. You can add things like roasted red peppers, extra garlic. Whatever you favorite hummus toppings are. This recipe will make a lot. Fill-up-the-food-processor a lot. This recipe is a modified and doubled version of another recipe my awesome girlfriend found. You can half it if you want.

This will cut the cost of your hummus addiction, the only expensive and harder-to-find item is the tahini. But you can order a bunch from Amazon.com for about half what it is in stores. If you decide you don't want to make it on your own but still don't want to pay Sabra prices, check out Trader Joes. Their "smooth and creamy" hummus is a really good knock off of Sabra for $1 a tub less.

Quick Strawberry Banana Smoothies

2010-02-28T15:52:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorites. Quick, easy, and great just about any time of the day: breakfast, snack, desert, after a workout.

1 Banana*
Frozen Strawberries (about 8oz)
Orange Juice (about 10oz)

Add a banana, a couple handfuls of strawberries, and cover with OJ in a blender.

Blend.

Enjoy.

Other Tips:

- I keep the bananas frozen because so they stay longer. Just peel and put in the freezer.*
- Add a scope of vanilla protein powder to it for a post-workout boost.
- Mix it up with other frozen fruits and juices. I have added cranberries, blueberries, raspberries, apple juice, cranberry juice. All good.
- Add vanilla yogurt or ice cream and make it a desert.

Easy Mac Home Media Server, Part II (iTunes, DVR, Boxee, Hulu)

2010-02-26T19:39:00.002-05:00

Part II

Don't forget to read Part I which covers the overview and hardware.

Each of these programs can be set up by just installing them and adding the link to Front Row so it can be easily accessed with your remote. You do not have to install all of these. Just the programs you want.

iTunes / Front Row

Got your Mac hooked up to your TV? Press "menu" on the Apple Remote (wait a couple seconds for Front Row to open) and *BAM* all of your iTunes media in an easy-to-access remote-friendly menu. Add all your media files into iTunes and you are ready to begin using your Mac as your media hub.

If you are still running Tiger or Leopard you should consider upgrading to Snow Leopard it is especially worth it if you have more than one Mac and you can go for the family pack. Note: If you have issues getting your remote to work in Snow Leopard try using this: http://www.iospirit.com/labs/candelair/

DVR

I have actually no longer subscribe to cable and prefer to stream my shows on-line (See Hulu and Boxee below). But I have picked up a HDTV antenna that I use to pick up all the major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS, and locals like "Peachtree TV") in HD, for free, over the air. But I picked up an Eye TV Hybrid to record and watch shows on my Mac. And I recommend it if you want to a DVR in your Mac.

The Eye TV comes with its own software to do your DVR functions and watch live TV (among many other things including streaming to your iPhone). Once you get it up and running go get the Front Row Plug-in for Eye TV here: http://code.google.com/p/pyetv/. Now you can easily navigate from Front Row to watch recorded shows and live TV.

Boxee

Boxee is a great, almost essential application to have in your entertainment center. It could serve as a replacement to Front Row because it will find all of the media you have stored on your computer and let you access it from your remote. But Boxee's main attraction is its "apps." Most online sources of streaming media have a Boxee app. You can stream Pandora music, watch videos from YouTube, Revision 3, or full movies from Netflix's Watch Instantly feature. All easily controlled from the comfort of your couch.

To install Boxee go to http://www.boxee.tv/ and register and download it. Then install the Front Row plug-in:http://www.holeintheceiling.com/blog/2009/08/28/new-front-row-plugins-for-snow-leopard/

Hulu

Hulu has been available through Boxee but with mixed results since Hulu has actively tried to prevent Boxee from accessing it. So, I recommend installing Hulu Desktop and adding a Front Row link.

If you are not familiar with Hulu, read up. You can use it to legally watch (ad supported) TV shows. Most of my favorites are on there including "The Daily Show", "Colbert Report", "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" among many, many others.

Next Up:

You should now have a nice easy to use home media hub for your living room. If you want to take it too the next level and add more "server" functionality read on:

Part III: Web hosting, Remote Access, ect. (Coming Soon)

Cable / Adapter Guide to Connecting Your Mac to Your TV

2010-02-24T23:27:00.010-05:00

Step One:

Find the video connector on your Mac: Mac Video Connector Guide.

Step Two:

Find the video connector(s) on your TV: TV Video Connector Guide

Step Three:

Find the cable / adapter you need:

Mac Video Out	TV Video In	Cable / Adaptor Needed	Comments
VGA	Composite	Converter
VGA	S-Video	Converter & Cable
VGA	Component	Converter & Cable
VGA	VGA	Cable
VGA	DVI	Converter & Cable	Confirm TV is DVI-I or DVI-D
VGA	HDMI	Converter & Cable
DVI	Composite	Adapter & Cable	Adapter only works on Macs with DVI
DVI	S-Video	Adapter & Cable	Adapter only works on Macs with DVI
DVI	Component	Adapter & Cable & Converter & Cable
DVI	VGA	Adapter & Cable
DVI	DVI	Cable	Confirm TV is DVI-I or DVI-D
DVI	HDMI	Cable
mini-VGA	Composite	Adapter & Cable
mini-VGA	S-Video	Adapter & Cable
mini-VGA	Component	Adapter & Cable & Converter & Cable
mini-VGA	VGA	Adapter & Cable
mini-VGA	DVI	Adapter & Cable & Converter & Cable	Confirm TV is DVI-I or DVI-D
mini-VGA	HDMI	Adapter & Cable & Converter & Cable
micro-DVI	Composite	Adapter & Cable
micro-DVI	S-Video	Adapter & Cable
micro-DVI	Component	Adapter & Cable & Converter & Cable
micro-DVI	VGA	Adapter & Cable
micro-DVI	DVI	Adapter & Cable	Confirm TV is DVI-I or DVI-D
micro-DVI	HDMI	Adapter & Cable
mini-DVI	Composite	Adapter & Cable
mini-DVI	S-Video	Adapter & Cable
mini-DVI	Component	Adapter & Cable & Converter & Cable
mini-DVI	VGA	Adapter & Cable
mini-DVI	DVI	Adapter & Cable	Confirm TV is DVI-I or DVI-D
mini-DVI	HDMI	Adapter & Cable
mini-DisplayPort	Composite	Adapter & Converter
mini-DisplayPort	S-Video	Adapter & Converter & Cable
mini-DisplayPort	Component	Adapter & Cable & Converter & Cable
mini-DisplayPort	VGA	Adapter & Cable
mini-DisplayPort	DVI	Adapter & Cable	Confirm TV is DVI-I or DVI-D
mini-DisplayPort	HDMI	Adapter & Cable

Note: All of these links go to Amazon.com. I make no guarantees that these cables will work. But if they do not, post a comment so I can update the table.

Also, Don't forget to check out my Easy Mac Home Media Server Guide.

Easy Mac Home Media Server Guide

2010-02-23T20:18:00.012-05:00

Overview

Apple computers are ideally suited for work as a home server. They are easy to use, secure, a hub for media, and come equipped with plenty of tools for home server use. Apple's Front Row and integrated remote support make it easy to control from your couch. OS X is built on Unix which has been power servers and mainframes since the 1960's and an ideal base for a secure home server. Macs are already a hub for media via iTunes and there are many third part apps that make it a great home media server.

Using Apple's "Front Row" as a starting point you can easily build a media hub able to support about any source you can imagine. From Front Row you can build links to Boxee and Hulu Desktop which will stream shows from the internet all in an easy interface that you can control from you couch. You won't even need cable after you set it up. But if you want to build in DVR functionality you can use EyeTV which will let you record shows and watch them easily on your Mac.

At the same time you have your Mac as the center piece of your media you can have it doing things that you usually pay a monthly premium to a hosting company for the ability to do. You can host a personal web site, with a dot com and custom email addresses if you choose. You can set up a VPN server so you can by pass web filters, either at work or from China. And by building on that you can make it so you can easily access computers and printers remotely as well.

This guide is broken up into three parts that you can use depending on what you want to do. This part will give an overview and discuss the hardware set-up. Part Two will discuss how to turn the Mac into the center piece of your entertainment center. Part Three will guide you in more advance server functions such as accessing your computer remotely. You can choose which parts you want for your media center, no need to do everything unless you want everything.

Hardware

First of all, why Mac? Windows, Linux, and Mac all have their pros and cons. As you can probably tell from my Triple Boot a MacBook post. I use all three. Windows has some good home server functionality and you can find some good guides out there if you want to go that way. In my opinion windows is not ideal for a media server because it is not as good at performance, security, and user interface. Linux I support. I built a MythTV / Ubuntu a few years ago and it is a more than capable box and feature rich. I am convinced Linux is the future. Linux has made major usability improvements over the last several years. But you will have trouble with things like Hulu and Netflix streaming.

Macs get a reputation for being expensive. And it is true if you are looking for low-end hardware and performance. Apples entry-level product is on the high-end of performance relative to the market as a whole. But for a media server you need some decent hardware so Apples will be a good deal. Especially if you already have an extra Mac lying around. I am using a Mac Mini I bought a few years ago as my first Mac. It was intended to be connected to my TV so I could surf from my couch on the big screen. But over the years it has evolved into all you are reading about here.

The actual hardware you need is not too bad and almost all of it is optional:

-Mac Mini (Or any Mac from the last several years)

Any Mac mac from the last several years should work. You could even use an old MacBook with a broken screen. If you don't already have an extra Mac lying around then a new Mac Mini is worth it for under $600. The Mac Mini is also what I will use for the basis for this article, but as long as the Mac is Intel based (newer than 2006) you should be OK.

-Bigger Hard Drive (Optional, if you have a lot of media)

If you already have or plan to have more media (music, movies, TV shows) than you have space for you should upgrade your hard drive. Even if you are buying a new Mac it will save you money to replace the hard drive yourself over upgrading through Apple. But read through the iFixit guide to see if it is something you are comfortable with.

-EyeTV Hybrid (Optional, if you want DVR)

If you want to record TV shows from either cable / satellite / or antenna on your Mac pick up one of these. You can also do other things with it as well like sync the recorded TV shows to your iPod.

-Cable to your TV

If you want to connect your Mac to your TV you will obviously need something to connect them. You will need to see what kind of connections you have to work with. My Mac has a DVI port. The new ones now come with a Mini DisplayPort. My TV has VGA, DVI, and HDMI ports. You will need to find out what video ports your Mac and TV have and the cables you need. Click here for the Cable / Adapter Guide to Connecting Your Mac to Your TV

I already had a 25 ft VGA cable lying around so I just went with the less expensive option and bought the DVI to VGA adapter. But if you are more concerned with video quality you will want to connect to DVI or HDMI.

-Cable to go to your Sound System

The audio out on the back of your Mac is the "headphone" jack. You can buy just a simple 3.5mm to RCA to connect them. But most of the Macs can do optical audio out through the "headphone" jack, which is about the highest quality audio out you can find. You just need to find the special cable to do it. My RCA connection had a bad buzz so I went with the optical connection.

-Wireless Keyboard (Optional)

If you want to sit on your couch and surf the web or other tyical computer activities picking up one of these is worth it. If not, you can just connect a USB Mouse and Keyboard while you do the set-up and then unplug them and use the remote to control the system.

-Universal Remote (Optional)

Almost all recent Macs have a built in IR port and most come with the little Apple Remote. But if you already have too many remotes and want to make things easier for users you could consider a Logitech Harmony remote. I found a good deal on a 550 when I bought mine, but the 510 is not bad as long as you don't have more than 5 devices to control.

Up Next:

Part II: iTunes, DVR, Boxee, Hulu

Snowing in the South

2010-02-12T21:37:00.009-05:00

Driving from Atlanta to Athens today took over 3 hours instead of the usual one due to a perfect storm of traffic and weather. The snow turned the south white as far south as Savannah. The scene is one much more common to me in movies than outside my window.

Schools and businesses closed even before the snow started to fall and I passed 6 cars that slid off the road on my way to Athens. Some may mock how the south responds to snow. But I love it. It is something to look forward to that happens once or twice a year. An unexpected holiday instead of something to dread as it piles up for weeks on end. I bet those living in colder climates wish they got a holiday on days that the weather was too hot!

Wrapping Up The Office For The Holidays

2009-12-16T20:41:00.005-05:00

Some people in my company's Pittsburgh office are making sure everyone gets in the Christmas spirit.

Back to Mumbai

2008-12-20T01:00:00.005-05:00

We checked out of the hotel did some shopping to pick up some snacks for the train ride and headed to train station for a 17 hour ride back to Mumbai. Which this time came with free meal service, even though we had already bought food for the trip. Then some of Trish's family brought us more food. And so, any hope of losing weight on this trip is lost.

In the morning we got back to Mumbai and our trip came full circle. as we prepared to depart for Atlanta after a shower and couple of meals at Trish's uncle. I was also able to get my Laptop charger fixed. I stopped by a store that sold apple products, they were able to diagnose the problem, but they were out of replacement chargers. SO they gave us contact information for another store that had them. But they were farther away and we were low on time. But they sent out a tech guy to take the train to meet us. He traded out the chargers and had me compete the form so it will get covered under warranty. Now that is service.

We left got our flight but our seats ended up being separated.

More Photos: LINK

Delhi

2008-12-18T01:00:00.002-05:00

After the usual breakfast we went out to roam around Delhi. We wondered around some temples and the capital. Some shopping then we saw a Bollywood movie. A four hour long movie, not in English. I blame Trish. But, it was actually well done.

More Photos: LINK

American food day

2008-12-17T01:00:00.003-05:00

We checked out of our and hit the road, this time for New Delhi. We decided to do an american food day. We stopped at McDonald's. There was about 3 items on the menu that were the same on the menu. As there is basically no beef in India the main items on the menu were vegie burgers and chicken sandwiches. Price for a meal is about $2 - $2.50.

We got into Delhi about dark and checked into the hotel. We decided to order pizza from Dominos. the prices were about the same for a given amount of pizza. But the portions were different. A large here was the size of our medium and there is no X Large. The toppings had different choices.

These have also made me realize how extremely pro-vegetarian this country is. The majority of the food is vegetarian. All of the menus are sorted into veg and non-veg. The food is keep separate, and is labeled with a green dot for veg and a red dot for non-veg.

I had felt fine up till then, but that night my stomach felt a little un-settled.

More Photos: LINK

Agra

2008-12-16T01:00:00.002-05:00

We got up and went to an palace complex that was about an hour outside of Agra. This is where one of the older kings lived. To help bring the his nation together he took three wives. one Christian,one Muslim, and one Hindi. So the each had their own area of the palace.

We returned to Agra and after lunch we went to the Taj Mahal. It is a surreal experience. Even looking back now I feel like I am just photoshopped in there. My 2nd Wonder of the World: Check

More Photos: LINK LINK2

Jaipur

2008-12-15T01:00:00.001-05:00

We got up and and checked out of the hotel and then did some shopping.

Then our driver invited us for lunch at his house to show his thanks. The night before we gave him his tip earlier, he had his wallet stolen in Udaipur with almost Rs 6000 (~$120) in it which was loaned to him to pay our expenses on the tour. We pooled our money to return it to him. With it he was able to pay his children's school fees.

At lunch we were the guest of honor, The youngest daughter gave us necklaces made of flowers and we were served a meal made by his family while neighborhood children gathered on the roof above and shouted "Hi" at us and would giggle when we would wave back.

After lunch we went up to the roof and took pictures with the kids. Then we made the 3 hour drive to Agra.

More Photos: LINK

Jaipur

2008-12-14T01:00:00.002-05:00

After breakfast we went up to a palace overlooking the city. Then we went to some shops including one that was throwing an opening celebration where we got a free lunch. The food here is still an adventure, and I love it.

After that we went and saw an observatory, which had all sorts of ancient instruments to track the sun and the stars, very fascinating to see the level of interest and sophistication that people 500 years ago followed the movements and patterns in the sky.

That evening we went to a Rajastan festival that had all sorts of food, stores, and shows from the region.

More Photos: LINK LINK2

Travel to Jaipur

2008-12-13T01:00:00.004-05:00

After we woke up we had breakfast (omelet, toast, chai) and check out of our room. We got into the car for another day of travel. This time to Jaipur. The sites along the road entertain me plenty on the trip. Every truck is painted and decorated and the buildings and the scenery are quite a change from around the south east US.

We stopped at a nice restaurant at a gas station and got lunch. We finally got into Jaipur after dark. We stopped into a music shop so Bryan could look into getting some music instruments, then we checked into our hotel, which was probably the nicest yet.

More Photos: LINK

Udaipur

2008-12-12T01:00:00.002-05:00

We woke up in Udaipur and headed to the hotel we were suppose to stay in originally to check-in. Then we went to go see the City Palace and gardens. These were extremely beautiful and contain a lot of history.

After that we had a nice meal below the monsoon palace before heading up there to watch the sunset.

We did some shopping, saw a performance with traditional dance, music, and show. Finally we sopped by a coffee shop before heading back to the hotel.

More Photos: LINK LINK2 LINK3 LINK4

Road Trip day, Udaipur via Ranakpur

2008-12-11T12:26:00.003-05:00

We awoke, had breakfast, and checked out of the hotel. We got into the car and headed down the mountain (good curveys, wish I could drive down them) to head to Ranakpur, which is about a three and a half hour drive.

Once we got down the mountain we hopped onto the highway. We were on this for most of the way. However, the rules of the road being as they are (non-existent) and the high still being very much under construction made for a very interesting trip.

Above, we are driving on the wrong side of the highway (correct side for America, wrong side for India) as is does not really matter.

Above, we are going through one of the sections that is still very much under construction (The road is unpaved we ultimately go through the tunnel in the middle of the photo). The highway has been under construction for about 8-9 years, it probably has about that long left till it is done. It makes American construction worked look good, eh? Of course, these are being built mostly by hand into mountains.

We pulled to the side of the road along the way for a break near a sugar cain field. We tried some sugar cain and Bryan helped the guy irrigate his fields (Below).

Then we headed into Ranakpur and had some food, it was good tradition Indian food (which means we had to pick the bones out of our food) and very fancy. However it was a little pricey at almost $6 a person for the buffet.

Then we went to the temple, which is a Jain temple like the one we saw at Mount Abu but bigger. However at this one we were allowed to take photos.

We then drove another 3 hours onto Udaipur, where the hotel we were suppose to stay at was hosting a wedding.

So they put us up in a nicer new hotel. Upon arriving they asked us to be in a commercial for them. So, we sat around in the restaurant and looked white for a few minutes while they filmed.

More Photos: LINK LINK2

Mount Abu

2008-12-10T01:00:00.002-05:00

We awoke and had breakfast at the hotel. We then went to a peace park that included lots of flowers and mediation areas.

Then we went up the top of a mountain (the end of the earth is in the back ground).

We then went back to the lake and up to the top of (B) Todd ("roommate" Johnston) Rock (Yes, "rock" is redundant). On our way up several groups of Indians stopped us to take there picture with us. This is becoming very common.

And then we road horses to sunset point to watch the sunset. We go there a little early, and climbed up on a rock that overlooked the valley below to watch the sunset.

We finished the evening with a nice candle lit dinner at a vegetarian restaurant (which are just as common as not). Where tried India's take on pizza and Chinese food. Which was good, the pizza was only about six inches and on the sweet side, and the Chinese food did not taste like Chinese food I have had in America or in China.

More Photos: LINK

Mount Abu

2008-12-09T01:00:00.002-05:00

First of all, apparently my laptop has stopped charging. So that means that even if I find internet again these may not last as I am counting down about 2 and half hours of battery life.

The night spent on the train was not that great. I was jet lagged and did not get to sleep till later. We did not get into the station until 5AM (about an hour late). Trish brought a cold over from the US and passed it onto Bryan so they spent the night coughing. But mostly, there was a guy in our car that was snoring enough to wake the dead.

We got into the station met our driver and drove the 45 mins up the mountain to our hotel. We checked into our room and slept in till about 10 or 11.

We then showered using a bucket as the shower itself did not provide hot water.

We then set out and got some lunch and did some shopping. There are cows and monkeys roaming the streets.

The food is great, one of my new favorite snacks is roasted corn with spices rubbed onto it with a lemon.

That evening we got some ice cream and did some paddle-boating at the lake.

After that we went back to the room and watched some TV which includes many things you see in American TV. You got your televangelists, sports, movies, and music videos. However here most of it is not in English, the televangelists are not pushing Christianity, the sports are always cricket (Still trying to figure it out) or soccer (football), the movies are Bollywood (4 hours long and full of crazy dances), the music videos are also crazy but still on MTV and often contain snoop dogg.

More Photos: LINK

First Day. Mumbai + Train to Mount Abu

2008-12-08T10:02:00.003-05:00

After getting up we had chai tea (Which is redundant, as "chai" means tea in hindi) and a great breakfast of omelets with onions, peppers, cilantro, and other things, we also had apples, pears, bananas, toast, cereal, and fresh squeezed orange juice. The servants made all of the food and cleaned up after us as we moved through the house. It is quite an interesting experience to have some one cleaning up after you every where you go as I am used to cleaning up after my self, especially when staying with hosts. But I am sure I could get over that.

We showered and packed our bags. Then we left for the train station, we stopped and had lunch at "Bombay Blue" we cottage cheese cubes in a gravy with peppers, "America" corn and cheese balls (not American), Bryan and I split two sandwiches and one had chicken salad, ham, fried egg, lettuce, tomato, and cheese. The other had potato masala, lettuce, tomato and cheese. Then it was about an hour and a half trip to the train station.

The train ride to mount Abu is about 14 hours. We were in the nicer sleeper cars with A/C. There was a nice older Indian couple who sat with us. The people and the view on the train was very interesting. We spent the time talking, play cards and other games, reading, eating dinner and sleeping. At one of the cities we stopped in Trish has family who sent someone onto the train to give us some snacks and fruit. Her family has been very generous.

Slumber party in the top bunks.

Below, our dinner on the train. Curry, rice, patatha, channashaak. It cost us about 40 Rs or $0.80.

More Photos: LINK

Welcome to India

2008-12-07T01:00:00.002-05:00

Outside the airport.

My flight arrived about an hour early, which means that Trish and Bryan had not arrived to meet me at the airport when I got here. Luckily my phone works in India, but at the cost of like $2 a min. Which means that it is off now. But I don't know how we would have found each other without the phones as I waited.

I was very much reminded of Beijing as I waited. People come up to you and try to sell you a taxi ride or a hotel. It was hot, crowded, and noisy. Just here it was more humid and the people were darker. The weather in Mumbai now feels very much like Savannah during the summer. It was in the mid 80s (F) at night, and will get in the 90s during the day. And mind you this is winter here.

Most of the ride back was a blur. Anything resembling a traffic law is only an option. We fly down the street as fast as we can swerving onto on coming traffic when it suited us, blasting the horn the whole way. We passed lots of weddings with lights and fireworks along the way. After about an hour, we arrived at Trish's uncle's apartment, where we were greeted by Trish's family and their other servants. Their home is one of the most beautiful homes I have ever been in. I did not sleep more than an hour on the plane ride, and got little sleep the night before I left. So, I got to bed at about 11PM and slept until about 7:30 AM. When I awoke this is the view that greeted me:

More Photos: LINK

The way to India

2008-12-06T01:03:00.001-05:00

I did not even know it was possible to fly non-stop from Atlanta to Mumbai. I looked up the plane I am flying on, it did not exist until 3 years ago. It is a Boeing 777-200 LR, it is the longest range commercial plane in existence. It can fly from any two points on the planet without refueling. In fact to set its record for its range it had to fly around the world the long way.

The plane looks normal enough, but I was impressed. Being able to fly non-stop is nice, though 17 hours in a coach seat is no easy task. The amenities exceeded my expectations. All of the seats have there own screen where you can follow the flight, play games, watch TV shows and movies. The movie and TV selection was great I watched The Office, Family Guy, Tropic Thunder, Fred Claus and Pineapple Express. They had about any new releases I could think of and the selection was vast and included probably a hundred or so movies and TV shows. The food was good too.

The front half of the coach seats also include power outlets, which is amazing for me. I am typing this on the plane right now. Obviously this will not post until I land and connect to the internet. But I am able to use my laptop for hours of games, music, podcasts, audiobooks, and movies that I have.

I was also interested to see the route we would take, as it has surprised me in the past. When I went to China we flew over Canada, the North Pole, and Russia. This trip I would have expected us to fly over the Mediterranean and the Middle East but instead we went over Great Britain, down over East Europe, the Black Sea, and Iran (I did not know they were cool with that, or maybe there missiles just cant reach that high). I still have not been to Europe, but I have now been over Europe. Does that count for any thing?

Oh, how interesting living on sphere is.

Pre-India

2008-12-04T00:05:00.003-05:00

So, I leave for India Saturday (12/6). Oh man, What to take? I got TP,
boxers, passport, plug adapters, two slabs of jalapeno cheese,
expensive don't die pills, what else does one need in India.

Triple Boot (OSX - Windows XP - Ubuntu Linux 8.04) on the new MacBook (Late 2008)

2008-10-25T17:28:00.004-04:00

I had some issues finding a guide for exactly what I wanted to do, so I adapted my own:

Major Steps:
1. Partition Hard Drive
2. Install rEFIt
3. Install Windows
4. Install Ubuntu

Partition Hard Drive
(Do not use Boot Camp to partition, it will give you trouble)

In OSX open up Disk Utility (Finder > Applications > Utilities)
Click on your hard drive and click "Partition"
Click the "+" and create two new Partitions.
Name and size them as you see appropriate. Format the Windows partition as FAT32. Size them as you see fit. I gave "Ubuntu" 10GB and "Windows" 40GB.

Install rEFIt

Download rEFIt: http://refit.sourceforge.net/doc/c1s1_install.html
Install rEFIt: http://refit.sourceforge.net/doc/c1s1_install.html
If rEFIt did not show up on reboot after the automatic install try the manual install.

Install Windows

Insert your Windows CD
Reboot
Hold down "C" during start-up to boot to the Windows CD
Install Windows to "C:" (Which should be the drive you created)
Install the drivers windows drives from your OSX CD.

Install Ubuntu

Insert your Ubuntu CD
Reboot
Hold down "C" during start-up to boot to the Ubuntu CD
Select Install Ubuntu
Manually Partition the Hard drive when asked. Select sda3 and set it as /.
IMPORTANT: on the last step of setup click advanced and install grub onto sda3.
Let Ubuntu Install
Reboot
Sync the partition table in rEFIt.

You should be good to go!

Sources:
http://wiki.onmac.net/index.php/Triple_Boot_via_BootCamp
http://blog.gnist.org/article.php?story=Triple-Boot-OSX-Ubuntu-Vista

Investing during the Apocalypse by John

2008-10-10T19:08:00.001-04:00

So, I just invested in the stock market for the first time.

Is this a bad idea? Quite possibly.

But here is my logic:

A well diversified portfolio will average high (usually double digit / year) returns in the long term. The markets are down to 5 year lows. So investing in the market now would be the same as investing 5 years ago. Now, the markets have likely not hit there bottom yet, but I will be in when thing turn around.

Now, the other option is that everything truly goes to hell and does not recover.

So, I did invest about a third of my investment in Gold. Not only to diversify, but also because if things do get much worse and we see a collapse like is going on in Iceland, gold will hold its value while the dollar collapses. After all, these bailout have pushed our government debt well over $10 Trillion.

And to be truly invested for the apocalypse, I have also spent about $30 in water purification tablets, matches, emergency blanket, and a hatchet.

If you are brave enough to try and invest in the market, why don't you take advantage of my shameless plug: I got an account at Scottrade which offers $7 flat trades and no maintenance fee. And if you sign up and use "APLT4506" as the referall code you get 7 free trades (and I do too :-) ).

Time to Vote!

2008-09-24T20:12:00.009-04:00

Register to Vote (Due: Saturday, October 4th!):
(You must register to vote if you have moved since the last time you registered, or have never registered. If you have not registered, do it NOW!)

Fill out your voter registration online (You will still need to print and mail the form in):

http://www.rockthevote.com/rtv_register.html
Georgia Election details: http://www.sos.georgia.gov/electioncenter/
Find Election information for your state: http://www.declareyourself.com/voting_faq/state_by_state_info.html

Election Day (Tuesday, November 4th):

Add it to your calendar! Vote from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. in GA.
Find Election information for your state: http://www.declareyourself.com/voting_faq/state_by_state_info.html

Or - Vote Early (in Person):

(It has already begun!)

GA info: http://www.sos.ga.gov/elections/advanced_voting.htm
Find Election information for your state: http://www.declareyourself.com/voting_faq/state_by_state_info.html

Or - Request a Mail-in Absentee Ballot (Request ballot by Oct 20!):

GA info: http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/elections/voter_information/absentee.htm
Find Election information for your state: http://www.declareyourself.com/voting_faq/state_by_state_info.html

Or – The Obama Campaign has an excellent site to help you through the whole process:

http://www.voteforchange.com

Why Vote?

Your vote will be amplified.

The past to elections have been close. This one looks to be the same way. Yours could be the one that makes the difference.

This is important!

Our nation is in trouble and things can continue to get worse.

Vote for Who?

Make your own decisions, but the correct answer is...

Vote for Obama

This should not be surprise to any of you who have talked to me. You don't need to and should not decide who to vote for based on "change," "celebrities," "hope," "lipstick," crazy preachers, phony controversies or any of the marketing B.S. that the campaigns put out. This is too important for that. Don't let that silly stuff get in the way. All you need to do is take a logical look at the facts, issues, and the statistics of the policies of the candidates and how they will affect the country.

Why Obama?

Because I said so? But really, many reasons. See below for a few points.

Economy

This issue alone should be worthwhile enough to set aside all the hype, propaganda, and marketing that the campaigns are putting out.

Fiscal Policy

We need a fiscal conservative:

The Republican Party has been corrupted by fake conservatives. McCain is even worse than Bush, he will continue to spend borrowed money on more wars and tax breaks to the richest. Our debt is going to crush us: [Link]. And these numbers are before the federal bailouts now over $1 Trillion. But no need to worry it is just the largest nationalization in U.S. history. Just because socialization benefits the rich does not make it better, it is still socialization [Link].

PAYGO

Pay-as-you-go rules (PAYGO) is a simple law that says that any increases in spending must be meet by cuts in spending somewhere else. They were put into effect in 1991 and were in effect until they were gutted in 2001 and allowed to expire in 2002 (Notice any trend in the debt during those years?) [Link]. Obama voted to reinstate PAYGO every year he was in the Senate and has made it part of his policy. [Link]

Tax Policy

Three criteria you can measure the success of a Tax Policy:

I. Larger tax cuts for more people

II. Smaller impact on the Federal Budget (Fiscal Conservative)

III. Personal benefit.

I. Obama gives larger tax cuts to more Americans (see above image).

Advantage: Obama

II. Obama's tax plan has smaller impact on the budget. McCain's tax plan will hit the federal budget for an additional $4.5 Trillion over the next 10 years [Link]. Alan Greenspan says we cannot afford the McCain Tax cuts, and Paul Volcker (Greenspan's predecessor) has straight up endorsed Obama [Link]. Advantage: Obama

III. I would say this is the least important to me because the first two points will be what will improve the economy. After all, a rising tide raises all boats. But I don't even have to test my own personal greed because: For me and over 80% of Americans, Advantage: Obama

Other Economic Indicators:

Since 1900, Democratic presidents have produced a 12.3 percent annual total return on the S&P 500, but Republicans only an 8 percent return.

Since 1930 (the first year decent data is available), GDP growth was 5.4 percent for Democratic presidents and 1.6 percent for Republicans. [Link]
But you don't have to take my word for it, ask an economist, or how about 500 of them. They prefer Obama 2 to 1 (59% to 31%). [Link]

Resumes

Education
Obama:
Occidental College - Two years.
Columbia University - B.A. political science with a specialization in international relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude, President of the Harvard Law Review

Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in history and B.A. in political science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank 894 of 899

Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in journalism

Previous Experience

Obama:
4 yrs US Senate
8 yrs Illinois Senate
12 yrs Constitutional Law Professor - University of Chicago

Biden:
36 yrs US Senate,
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations,
Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

McCain:
21 yrs US Senate
4 yrs US House

Palin:
2 yrs Governor of Alaska
6 yrs Mayor of Wasilla (population 7,025)
4 yrs Wasilla City Council

Making Politics even nastier, and losing your interest

I was a McCain fan, I thought he would restore some respect to the political process. I thought he maintain some of his stances he took 8 years ago that separated him from the neo-cons. I was wrong. The McCain Campaign is giving politics a bad name. Not an easy task. [Link] [Link] There are also many conservatives that are pleading for a vote for Obama [Link][Link][Link][Link].

Bad things happen when good people don't vote. People get turned off by the negative campaigning and stop paying attention, and will not research the candidate as much as they would. I don't blame you. However it is your duty to do the research and vote for the best candidate for the country. Search for the facts that matter to you in the election, ignore the drama.

So many more reasons to learn and vote…

I am tired of typing for now.

There are still many more issues out there: Foreign Policy, Healthcare, Environment, Education…

Do a search on the issues that are most important to you and get the facts for yourself. Your country needs you.