FeedMe

Xanthan gum: Get past the weird and it's magical

Sometimes, I have a soup, sauce, or dressing and I wish it had more body. What I need is a fast, convenient thickener that, unlike flour and starch, doesn't need to be heated to work.

Found it: A very cool thickener with a weird name that turns out to be a kitchen superstar. It's magical! Super-convenient: 1/8 or 1/4 teaspoon and a hand blender are all you need to go from watery to wonderful.

I was dismayed that I could not find a simple guide to using it, so I did some experiments.

Summary

Want just the basics? OK:

• Easy to find online or in stores. One bag will last a lifetime since you use 1/4 teaspoon at a time and it is shelf-stable.
• No heat required: Just blend it into the liquid. Works for hot and cold! Salad dressing, sauces, etc.
• Use a hand blender or blender and sift the powder into the whirring mixture, because it clumps easily.
• Use 1/8-1 teaspoon per cup of liquid. A light dose adds body; medium to thicken; more to gel. Easy to overdose: Go lightly.

What is it?

First, let's get past the funny name and fears of test tubes. Xanthan gum is an approved food product made by fermenting sugars. It's very commonly used in food products such as salad dressing (which is one of its killer apps!). It's common in gluten-free baking because it produces the thickening and elastic properties needed for baked goods like bread and pizza dough. 

Some key advantages and characteristics:

• All it does is thicken. It adds no flavor. 
• It's very simple to use: add to water- or oil-based mixtures and hit it with the blender or immersion blender. 
• The amount controls the thickening. Use a small amount (1/8 teaspoon per cup) to add body to a liquid; or 5-10 times that much to make a gel. 
• The thickened mixture is cloudy but still transparent (like jelly or cornstarch or tapioca-thickened foods).
• Unlike starch-based thickeners, it doesn't require cooking to activate its thickening power.
• In fact, it's immune from heat. Some thickeners lose their power with boiling — not so, with xanthan gum, which retains its superpowers. Freezing also does not affect it. 
• Xanthan gum is easy to find and economical. Most groceries in my area carry the Bob's Red Mill brand and it is easy to find online. If it seems expensive, you should know that one bag is a lifetime supply, since you generally use 1/4 teaspoon at a time. Shelf life is indefinite.
• Seems to be safe but some people report intestinal distress, even in the small quantities suggested here. 

Using xanthan gum

I found a lot of contradictory information online and decided to try my own experiments to come up with some guidelines. 

First: How much should you use? Applications usually call for 0.1% to 1% by weight and this range was pretty good. At 0.1%, the thickening is just noticeable — think of the difference between juice and water. Ramp it up to 1% and it's a thick gel.

 

I made a video that shows different amounts. In the video, you will see what 0.25% looks like (1/4 teaspoon in 100 ml of water, blended using an immersion blender), then what 1% looks like, then a real-life application of salad dressing. 

For the video, I made a quick vinaigrette using a standard formula of one part vinegar to three parts of olive oil, with a little mustard as an emulsifier and some herbs. Whirring it with the immersion blender yielded a nice salad dressing. I added 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum and blended again. I started with 1/2 cup (125 ml) of dressing, so this maths out to 0.5%. Which is more than I would want in a dressing.

(In the video, the caption at about 0:52 says 125 ml is 1/4 cup. Ignore that caption, as commenter Ole let us know, that's wrong!) 

Rule of thumb

As you can see in the video, xanthan gum is powerful. It takes only small amounts.

• For a cup of liquid, as little as 1/8 teaspoon makes a difference and in most uses, you will use 1/4-1/2 teaspoon per cup of liquid.
• In the salad dressing example, that's more than I would ever use — use just 1/8-1/4 teaspoon per 8 oz (the video shows 1/4 tsp in just 4 oz.) 
• To use, add the powder and mix with a blender or an immersion blender. If you mix without a blender, it's not as thick and prone to clumping. 

Recipes and conversions

Some recipes will list the amount in grams, typically 1-2 grams. Few cooks have scales that can measure weights that small. I found little consistency in web resources so I took to the kitchen and did a few tests, measuring out 6 teaspoons of xanthan gum and weighing.

Here's a handy table.

Xanthan gum measures

I measured 1 teaspoon as 2.5 grams but note that the product can be packed to get 3-4 grams, so you may see some variation from other sources. I used Bob's Red Mill brand. Other brands may measure differently. But don't worry about variations — if you use 3.5 g when you were intending to use 2, the difference will not ruin the dish. 

By weight	Teaspoons	% when added to 8 oz. (250 ml)
1/4 gram	~1/8 tsp	0.1%
1/2 gram	~1/4 tsp	0.25%
1 gram	~1/2 tsp	0.5%
2.5 grams	1 tsp	1%

More:

• Wikipedia on xanthan gum
• How to clean up spilled xanthan gum
• Comparing xanthan gum and guar gum

 

Want to be a kitchen science ninja?

New sous vide gadget? Want to learn more sous vide? Or just want to crank up some kitchen skills? Coffee? Baking? Grilling? 

ChefSteps is a great site for modern cooking techniques ("modernist cuisine" such as sous vide and foams). They have several excellent instruction programs, well-tested recipes, and gorgeous photography. Join as a premium member for a one-time $19 fee and you get access to all their lessons, now and in the future. Great deal, highly recommended.

Even if you don't go premium, do explore this site as there is a ton of great free content. 

https://www.chefsteps.com/premium

 

One Camera, Two Remarkable Stories

The story begins with a photographer, Jamie Livingston, who began a project in 1979, to take a photo every day. He continued until the day he died, in 1997. The photos tell a very human story.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/15131 

 
Photo: Jamie Livingston's Photo of the Day 

There's a side story, equally compelling, about the camera he used: The Polaroid SX-70. An instant camera that delivered color photos with quality that rivalled traditional film, it became an art tool that inspired many projects, including Livingston's.

 
 Photo from Wikipedia

This camera's technology story has always interested me because it is not just about a camera. The SX-70 was a system that embodied dozens of remarkable technologies. Inspired by the genius Edwin Land, the Polaroid team reinvented every aspect of the SX-70 -- the way it works, the film, the mechanics and the electronics, the lenses for both viewing and picture-taking, the flash, the form factor and remarkable folding mechanism, the manufacturing and design processes, the amazing chemistry, the motors, the battery. Few inventions have such a broad range of innovations. 

It is a human story, too, as Land and his team spared no effort and no expense to develop what any sane person would have called impossible at the time.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/15231

View the film that is included in the article. "Charles and Ray Eames produced an eleven-minute advertisement/explainer film for it in 1972. The film starts with a discussion of Polaroid’s history and goes into a surprisingly technical description of the camera’s operation and even its manufacturing process." It talks about how the SX-70 broke down creative barriers to bring photographers closer to the images and to the stories they wanted to tell.

Who Wants Better Internet?

Who wants better Internet?

I know, everyone. Especially those paying $50 a month for residential Internet connection that's not dependably fast. Want to feel worse? Look at how we fare against other nations. 

But help may be on the way. The FCC will announce a national broadband strategy tomorrow. Google is among the voices who support a nationwide Internet connectivity initiative. They draw an apt comparison to "Power. Clean water. The Interstate highway system."

I am guessing the barrier to this is not technology or even funding; it's the cable and phone companies who won't want to let go of their low-competition regional markets. This is politics, not technology. So sadly, the more apt comparison may be to health care, with entrenched companies in restricted markets use every means to maintain the status quo, even as other countries pass us.

Unless we, the citizens, speak up and demand our interests be out first.

Edmund Pseudoscientific

As a science-minded boy growing up on a farm, I depended on mail-order for scientific tools and toys. The most coveted source was Edmund Scientific (or as they now call themselves, "Scientifics Online"). Even as an adult, I order from them still. I have been their customer for more than 45 years.

I was surprised to read a thread on Facebook, posted by Skeptical Inquirer, in which John S. Duckering, another customer, objected to their inclusion of a Ghost Meter in their present offerings. He said, "A reputable scientific products company selling Ghost Meters?! What in hell are you doing? With the pandemic of misinformation promulgated by paranormalists, spiritualists, Creationists, seers, and other quacks and con-artists, Edmund Scientifics is also jumping on the lunatic band wagon?! ... You thoroughly disappoint me!"

To the company's credit, Tim Burns, a brand manager at Edmund, replied, openly explaining that customer objections are leading him to rethink their policy. He later agreed to Mr. Duckering's request for permission to share the thread. He sais, "...I realize now that this is offensive to some the Edmund Scientific customers, people with very strong scientific sensibilities who look to Edmund for products that promote critical, empirical thinking, and real science as a hobby. I am currently rethinking my decision on this product line. I apologize for the offense."

Impressive. I am writing Mr. Burns to express my disappointment as well, and to support his willingness to rethink the policy, in public. I haven't found a direct e-mail address, so I used snail mail — letters (on paper) are a great way to be noticed in the electronic messaging era.

If you would like to write one, here's the address:

Tim Burns
Brand Manager
Edmund Scientific and X-treme Geek
60 Pearce Ave.
Tonawanda, NY 14150

Audio Phoolery

This is for geeks, and people who like geek culture.

I have always been fascinated by what people will believe. Particularly interesting to me are the many halfwit audiophiles who believe a lot of whacky (and invariably expensive) voodoo. The pinnacle of moronity is in speaker wire — where 'oxygen-free' copper and metallic crystal structure are used to con morons into spending hundreds and thousands of dollars for — well, for wire.

What follows is Dave Jones, an Australian electrical engineer who has probably the only EE video blog. Don't listen to the whole thing but skim enough to enjoy an engineer's passionate plea. Best part is at the end where he says (and you need to hear it in the genuine Aussie) how the really interesting thing is that the voodoo actually works. People who spend $1000 on fancy wire will hear a difference, even if no one else can.

http://www.eevblog.com/2009/09/07/eevblog-29-audiophile-audiophoolery/

I saved the best for last, though. The original perpetrator of audiophile voodoo is Monster Cable. If you think they're scum (and discriminating EEs do), you have to love this:

http://gizmodo.com/380055/blue-jeans-cable-calls-bs-on-monster-cable-patent-suit-vows-to-fight-to-bloody-death

Maker Faire, May 30-31, San Mateo

I have attended this for the past couple of years and it is awesome. Huge -- they had over 50,000 people last year. Hundreds of exhibits, mostly by people or small clubs, show off cool things they have made. A little art, a little science, a little magic. Fire, electricity, and some serious welding skills.

The site gives details. I think they make it seem like it's for kids (and it is a great event for them) but really, it's for anyone. Plenty there to interest adults. The video (scroll down the page) does a good job.

http://makerfaire.com/

I wouldn't miss it!

Don't Mess with Bacon

One of my godsons, Daniel, knows how I am about bacon and let me know about an article, in Popular Science, in which bacon cuts metal. Bacon. Metal. Fire. That boy is growing up with some proper values.

Ten Famous People You Didn't Know Were Engineers

 Since we have exposed my geek cred (thanks, Carolyn, Keith), here is an interesting article: Ten Famous People You Didn't Know Were Engineers. (I knew about the first four, plus the guy from Boston). Which is worth not much, but I have to maintain my geek cred. Hey, is there any geek bling?)

xkcd for EEs

This is for all the EEs out there.

From xkcd.com.

Car Skin Revisited

What is the skin of a car were more like skin? Instead of sheet metal, a stretchy fabric? Do you really need the skin to be rigid? What does the skin really do?

BMW's answer is a design idea they call GINA, documented in an article on Autoblog. When you get there, click on the photo to see more and scroll down to see the video.

Hubble Alive Again

Happy news. The Hubble Space Telescope is sending pictures again.

Imagine this: Your car fails and you're stranded. Instead of sending a tow truck, your mechanic electronically connects, runs some diagnostics, and enables some alternate circuitry. That fails, but they take additional readings and restart modules in a different sequence and with a bit of diddling (yeah, that's a valid technical term), your car comes to life.

That's what this was like.

Hubbley Goodness

For Hubble Space Telescope fans: NASA has been achieving steady progress toward restoring operation. The 'scope failed on Sept 27 and NASA delayed a Space Shuttle repair mission, which will be the final service call to the Hubble.

They decided to switch over to the "B side" electronics -- a dicey proposition, since they have been idle for 19 years. Imagine finding a radio in your garage that you bought in 1987 and turning it on, and you get the idea. Except that this is a bunch of radios, three processors (including a pre-Pentium Intel '486 and a '386), and a mess of — well, other stuff.

The blow-by-blow description has been interesting to watch. The systems tossed themselves into "Safe Mode," powering down due to detected faults, but these so far have been artifacts. As they learned the causes, they have gotten more and more systems to wake up. Most recently, they found that the safety system was checking for a supply voltage before the monitoring gear had collected the data. The voltage was up, but the monitoring gadget didn't know it yet.

See the report from Popular Mechanics. If you want to really geek out, a blog from electrical engineer Steve Leibson goes into great detail on the engineering challenges. There are several articles. Click on the Hubble-threads listed under "Recent Posts."

Hubble Trouble

Who doesn't love the inspiring images we get from the Hubble Space Telescope? Alas, it has had troubles and just weeks before the launch of its lastrepair mission, Just two weeks before the next schedule repair mission, the whole machine has failed. NASA has a good record for rescuing victory from the jaws of defeat and the mission is delayed while they revise the strategy.

This interesting report, on the blog of electrical engineer Steve Leibson, gives an engineer's inside view of the troubles.

This is too cool. The "Tilted Twister" is a robot, built from Legos, that solves Rubik's cube, with no external PC. It was built with standard Lego Mindstorms NXT kit.

You need to see it in action to appreciate it. First, it scans all the sizes and determines the colors the cube has. Then it begins twisting sides:

More info on the Tilted Twister page to the video.

From: Tilted Twister, via Hackzine.

Microsoft

Why do I dislike Microsoft? They're really a great company, with smart people, and have contributed a great deal. As much as people dislike Bill Gates, I never did. I really admire his charitable work which is precisely what he said he was going to do a decade ago. Their trade practices haven't been pristine but for the most part in recent years, it's been legal and mostly ethical. They're ruthless competitors but that's not, in itself, evil.

I also credit them for fixing the Macintosh! If Microsoft hadn't launched Windows, the Mac would totally suck.

And yet, Microsoft makes me nuts.

Standards

This is their biggest offense, in my book. Microsoft pretends to follow industry standards and common practices, while really co-opting, or even sabotaging, them. Under the guise of enhancement, they add "features" in a way that damages competing products. The best example is their web browser. Generation after generation sought to derail web standards, adding elements (such as ActiveX controls) designed to get web developers to write sites that would not work well on other browsers. It is a pleasure now to see them outfoxed.

Another example: Their Exchange mail server uses a Microsoft-proprietary format for attachments and text formatting. Non-Outlook e-mail programs can't read them. There are standard methods for doing this, but Microsoft does not adhere to them. You can configure the server to not do this, but you should not have to.

One more: SharePoint is the most popular collaboration system for companies. It works pretty well if the user has Windows and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Other browsers and systems are supposed to work but it's a hair-pulling experience. As far as I can see, everything they're doing could be done in an industry-standard way that works universally. I can't tell if the Explorer-dependence is deliberate sabotage or incompetence.

It makes me crazy because it is arrogant, anti-user, and predatory. It's one area where they exploit their leadership in a way that damages the community.

Taste

Steve Jobs once said about Microsoft that they "have no taste." Say what you will about Jobs and his arrogance (I would not argue) but he is right. They are successful — and Jobs does not begrudge that, a least in this video — even if their products and strategies are artless. He says, "they don't think of original ideas and they don't bring much culture to their product."

It's obvious to me that engineers design their interfaces and graphics. I recently saw the new release of MS Office 2008 for the Mac. It was demonstrated for me by a Microsoft program manager, who proudly showed me 3D charts in PowerPoint. I was horrified by the amaterish 3D. They had added shadows and highlights that were blocky and unrealistic. The colors were Crayola basic. Labels were improperly centered on shapes. To many business users, I am sure these look fine, but any top-tier company would have them redrawn before using them in any material that goes outside the company.

There is nothing evil or badly intentioned about this: I think it's because they're unaware, like the engineer who dresses in plaid and dots and is honestly befuddled when it's pointed out.

Interface

Then there are the user interfaces. Microsoft has some of the most advanced user interface labs in the world and a large UI staff. Yet, their interfaces are consistently confusing and convoluted.

MS Office is a case in point. It has tons of functionality, but finding and performing a function is often painful. The worst part is that with each revision, it becomes more painful! Why? Because their UI labs are very good at identifying user complaints, very poor at fixing them. When they find a function people can't do, such as mail merge, they never seen to think that the user interface is fundamentally in need of ground-up redesign. Almost invariably, they think the answer is to add something. They added a mail merge palette. A help system. Then that paper clip animation. Then a wizard. Then a "ribbon." A sequential palette. Now they have a bar thing that has no name that brings up a series of icons that, um, does something. Like a wizard. But they can't call it that because the wizards, um, didn't help.

They seem to toss solutions at the problem, never quite figuring out that the problem is underneath all these wizardly layers.

The project manager who demonstrated Office 2008 for me showed me the wizard-like bar thing they had added for special user operations, like mail merge and templates. It takes up about an inch-high row of the document window. I asked if it could be made vertical. "We thought about that," he said. "Especially with displays tending to be wider. But no, it's horizontal only."

Duh. Even when they know they're making a mistake (and they usually don't), they proceed and make the mistake.

Code

And then, there is the underlying stuff: The code. It's bloated. It's buggy. Year after year, release after release, many bugs remain. It's slow and inefficient. The new Office 2008 for the Mac takes longer to load (a lot longer) and is not noticeably faster than the six-year-old, two-revs-ago version I had.

Someone did an interesting comparison between the open-source web server, Apache, and Microsoft's server, IIS. These "call graphs" hint at the underlying structure and you don't need to be an expert to see the difference.(thanks to Paul Rako's Anablog — which presents his own case against Microsoft — for showing me these.)

Is this typical? Meaningful? I wouldn't know, but I would bet it is.

I Don't Hate Microsoft

I don't hate Microsoft. I certainly don't hate their people. I don't even hate their products or what they have done for the industry. But I hate using their products, I hate being slave to their manipulations and incompetence.

Most of all, I hate it when I have no alternative.

Maker Faire, May 3-4

For those in the Bay Area, I would encourage you to attend Maker Faire. May 3-4 at the San Mateo Fairgrounds -- and not to be missed!

I went last year and vowed next time to go both days. It's huge and full of really, really fascinatng exhibits and brilliant ideas. Lots of free stuff.

What is it? It's the heart and soul of do-it-yourself. Hundreds of people who make stuff and love what they do so much that they stand for 12-hour days waiting for people to come by and gawk at their magic. Organizations and museums that have created hands-on demos you can play with.

If you like metal and fire, gears and gadgets, Legos and things that move, honk, squirt, squeak, spark, and belch, you have to go.

See: http://makerfaire.com/

150-Year-Old Computer Brought to Life

In Scientific American: "Designed nearly 150 years ago but never actually built until recently, the Difference Engine No. 2 designed by Charles Babbage (1791 to 1871) is a piece of Victorian technology meant to tussle with logarithms and trigonometry long before the first modern computer. Technophiles have a rare opportunity beginning May 10 to see one of these devices (only two exist) on display at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif."

More (including really cool photos)...

Electronic Translation

I think we have a ways to go before machines can translate text. We received this at work.

Note the last sentence, in the P.S.

The customer is asking about samples that did not arrive:

The top of the morning to you. Ex rubs weeks not get to my house samples disposal ( 499923; 499390; 498997; 498983; 498218; 497302; 497294; 497285; 497181; 497179) Whether item what yourselves history ex commissioned sample? Warm-heartedly thank you too those whom received. Readies produces panel LED built of disposal your part. Very I am set on it disposal part whose plannings shopping are not to level pcs/ yer. If you please of correspondent on that deal. If you please quote nr touch to can pay in dollar too ordered disposal. Good day.

P.S.Pardon me too my english. Beneficiary ex translating program.

Health Records Online: A Matter of Trust

A new online service, HealthVault.com, provides a single, web-accessible repository for all your health records. There is much here to like, but — there are a lot of buts.

It has always bothered me that every new doctor or medical service asks the same questions, and each with a separate form. Dentist, specialists, emergency clinics, labs, pharmacies — same questions, again and again. What drugs are you taking? Which of these diseases have you had? Family medical history. It's inconvenient but more important, it compromises one's health care: I'll bet I have answered these 100 times and there are certainly differences, either because things have changed or I don't remember every detail.

This can be important information: A doctor's diagnosis and treatment depend on what the doctor knows about you. And in an urgent situation, or when the patient is not lucid, having accessible medical records can be life and death. I really want better online medical records.

As a technologist, it makes me especially crazy. Everyone else, from the DMV to the grocery store, has an online record system that is better than the medical community's. There are legitimate issues but nothing that can't be solved — and that have already been solved. Every medical office can readily access my credit information already. Clearly we can solve the privacy and networking and access issues.

Some worry about the security issue: Having all your medical data in some centralized database worries people. But do you really think your privacy is more guarded when there are 25 uncontrolled, unencrypted copies of your records, in 25 medical offices all over the county, immediately readable by 100 office staff?

Along comes HealthVault. It's a good start. It keeps all the information for you and your family under what looks like tight security. It holds contact and profile information, medical records, etc. You can upload image files and documents. The sharing facilities seem robust — you can invite someone to view the information and choose what they may see.

Two issues are access and trust. In terms of access, will my doctors accept a HealthVault login as a substitute for their form? Not yet, but they have a few partners who are using the date.

The bigger issue is trust. Note that I did not say "security" — that's a technical issue. It's the human issue of trust that will make or break this, and other, medical automation solutions.

HealthVault is owned by Microsoft. Do you trust Microsoft? I don't share the common distrust of of their corporate intent — I think they mean well and their corporate ethos is that technology is powerful medicine to help people. They also believe that profit and benefit go hand in hand. So I trust their intent.

I am not sure if I trust their technology. They're competent technologists. They certainly are capable of making an accessible, trustworthy, secure system. But will they?

Every Microsoft product is full of defects. Even after years of refinement, glitches remain — sometimes the same issues for year after year.

I worry about bloat. Huge applications mean more opportunity for bugs and functional flaws and Microsoft often seems to not know how to say no to a feature. Worse, they keep adding rather than fixing — a palette, an assistant, a wizard, a "ribbon" — layer upon layer of new things to repair incomprehensible interfaces only a programmer could have designed.

This all affects usability. I am always in awe of what they spend on usability testing and redesign. They seem incapable of simplicity. The continuous repair tells me they know there is a problem but don't know how they are causing it.

Then there are the bugs. I registered and in the process discovered four bugs. Some were cosmetic or minor functional issues, such as a spray of Javascript across the top of one page. There were many user interface oddities. Right now, it logged me out and won't let me log in. Most people at this point would give up. I went in through the top of the application and found a screen that let me sign in.

I tried to edit my contact information. There is no link to let me do that. I think I know why. I haven't confirmed my identity by replying to the e-mail, but guess what: It's not telling me that. There is no Edit link and they give the user no clue. It's programmer-think: If a capability is not available, don't show it. Would Apple or Amazon or Yahoo have done this?

So, will I use this? Even without my doctors' buy-in, there is enough functionality for me to get started. But that's mostly because I am a tech geek. Others would not likely try this, yet.

And then there is the trust issue.

I expect that the underlying security is fine. But it's like the president of United Airlines once said, "If the tray tables are dirty, the customer has to be wondering about the condition of the engines." As much as I may want this service, I am not going to be uploading my data, given how dirty their tray tables are.

Makers

A buddy of mine was griping:

Have we become a nation of observers?  Non-participants?  We don't make/build anything anymore. ...

It's something I have been thinking about for a while. I used to think, as my friend said, that we watch, we buy, but we don't build and do. I heard some parents talking about his kid who made a computer -- all the kid did was buy a chassis, supply, motherboard, and processor and plug them together. I was worried about our creativity. But then I started looking harder.

I started tuning into the Makers. There are huge communities of kids building things, doing extreme sports, making videos and tunes with their computers, making fun with fire. Look up catapults, siege engines, potato guns on the web. Here is one I saw just two days ago -- a guy wanted to build a solar reflector and got carried away. Bought a satellite dish (the huge ones) and outfitted it with mirrors.

Check out MAKE magazine, published by O'Reilly, and their annual Maker Faire. I went this year and it was awesome. Must have been 1000 exhibits of stuff people are making and doing.

Do you know about Lego Mindstorms? The son of the Lego founder did a Lego-based robot kit and people started hacking it. After some soul-searching, they decided to open the architecture and the result is a fantastic network of clubs doing Lego robotics.

And likewise for the Roomba -- the company, iRobot, has developer kits and people are making robots out of them.

And you don't have to go to geekland to see it. It's all over -- Home Depot, Food Network, Martha Stewart, and the mall stores where you paint pottery. The lady who runs a coffee shop I visit is making a quilt and told me quilting is big! And the web itself is swarming with words and images and music produced by ordinary people.

Seems to me creativity is alive and well.

Gotta go now. I need to go make something.

Take One: Strategies for Minor Pain Relief

"Take two aspirin and call me in the morning."

Why two?

Though the standard adult dose of most pain relievers is two tablets, try just one, especially for a minor ache. It may be all you need and a lower does reduces the possibility of side effects.

More advice on pain relievers:

• Take it sooner rather than later. An ache is much harder to control once it's raging. You can certainly overdo it — you don't want to go running to the medicine cabinet for every little imagined twinge — but if you know a genuine ache is coming on, a small dose early may do the trick.
• If the pain is persistent or stronger, take one each of ibuprofen (e.g. Advil) and acetaminophen (e.g. Tylenol). They work via different mechanisms and taken together, can be more effective. 
• Be extra careful with acetaminophen (Tylenol) because in rare instances, overdose can wreck your liver.

The important thing is to know your body and figure out what works for you. With experimentation, you can take a lower dose, less frequently.

More hints: Lifehacker on how to stop headaches before they star

Transistor Costs

The average selling price of a transistor in 1952 was $5.52. In 2004, it was a billionth of a dollar. Source: Lehman Brothers (not verified).

Microsoft's Tune Problems

The unspoken dark side of the iPod phenomenon is that music you buy from iTunes can only be played with iTunes or an iPod.

Some people think that Zune, Microsoft's coming MP3 player, is a strong contender, that Microsoft can challenge Apple's hegemony in a way that Creative can't. I wouldn't take that bet. Anyone who has bought more than a few songs from Apple is tied in. Those songs will not play on any other player. You can change them to MP3 format and use them on other players but most people won't understand that.

Apple was smart. Take the lead, build the brand, establish the presence -- and technically create a barrier to entry.

It's Microsoft's third biggest problem. (Their second biggest problem is open-source software. Their biggest problem is Vista.)

More Good News for Apple, Not Good News for the "Rest of Us"

"More than 70 percent of 2007-model U.S. automobiles will offer iPod integration," says the iPod VP of product marketing in the wake of news that GM, Ford, and Mazda plan to join BMW and a host of others in offering iPod connectors in their cars.

"The agreements could open new doors for the market-dominating iPod, more than 58 million of which have been sold, and for Apple's iTunes digital download store."

From news story "Apple to connect iPod in cars."

A technologogist friend has predicted that iPod domination would crumble in the face of superior cost/performance from vendors better suited to low-cost manufacturing. I did not doubt that it would eventually be true but through clever maneuvering, Apple has thwarted the inevitable, by three things: 

• Fashion and Style: iPod remains the choice of those who choose taste. Fashion is fickle but style less so and Apple has stayed ahead of the curve.
• Apple's ability to tie their hardware to material sold in the iTunes Music Store. Thanks to digital rights management, only iPods can legally play iTunes material. Jobs did it again -- he gave the RIAA what it thought it wanted but managed to serve Apple's interests far more than that of the music industry.
• The iPod connector, which is the device's gateway to thousands of accessories -- which now includes more and more glove compartments.

Microsoft's MP3 player is doomed before its late start. No matter what they offer, the billion songs sold through iTunes lock their owners into iPod and now, so will many of their cars.

It's all but over.

This is not a good thing, even for iPod owners like me because companies like Apple do not behave well when there is no competition. If iPod's dominance continues, innovation will suffer just as Windows and MS Office users have to choke down whatever Microsoft feeds them.

Flight Sites

For people who travel and people who like airplanes, some links:

http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=3623038

(This is a search engine optimization site but this article strays from their usual.)

Most interesting link to me is SeatGuru. Name the aircraft and carrier and it not only diagrams the seat but rates them.

Other links list stats on flights, frequent flyer programs, etc.

And for aviation lovers, several flight sites. Including a complete and clean version of the F-18 video you may have seen floating around the net, the one that shows it breaking the sound barrier.

The Search for Truth

Someone sent me a link to one of the several videos and PowerPoint files out there that point out some shocking "truths" about the events of 9/11. It led me to draw together some thoughts about conspiracy theories.

Conspiracy theories fascinate me because they illustrate how malleable the human mind is. One of the great talents of a our brains is to discern patterns -- a key survival skill. But we are so good at it, we can discern information that's not there.

The theories also illustrate the durability of myths. "Thomas Crapper invented the toilet!" You will find thousands of references to prove it, in print as well as on the web. But one problem: It's not true. All those references stemmed from one source which was passed around until they had the appearance of multiple sources.

I just learned that the power of coincidence to create the appearance of truth has a name:  "coincidence theory." If you want to find a coincidence, you always can, especially if you are willing to scour the planet for evidence that supports it. You have probably seen the one that talks about the "amazing" coincidences between the assassinations of Kennedy and Lincoln.

• Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
  John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.
• Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
  John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.
• The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters.
• Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.
• Both wives lost their children while living in the White House.
• Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.

There are dozens and dozens of these. Do we believe there is a real relationship?

More on "coincidence theory": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coincidence_theory

Roomba Review

Note: This is one of several articles here on the Roomba. Use the search at http://feedme.typepad.com/ and search for "Roomba."

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Have had the Roomba for over a week now and wanted to share some impressions.

First, I will note that I bought some stock in the company that makes it because I think it's a cool product and a clever company. Full disclosure and all that.

Overall impression: It works, it's useful, it's fun to watch, and it's technologically interesting. I love mine.

Negatives

Not cheap. For $250-320 or so, you can buy a top of the line, top-rated vacuum cleaner like the Hoover Wind Tunnel.

If what you want is a robot that will do all your vacuuming and keep your carpets beautiful, I don't think Roomba will quite cut it. I think you still need to use a full-sized vacuum cleaner every week or two. Roomba is quite good but probably not as deep a cleaner as a real vac.

It runs for hours and the noise may bother you. I run it mostly when I am not home, so no issue.

You may find it requires more fussing than you are willing to do, because you need to empty its dust bin after each use and clean hair out of the rollers every 2-3 runs. I don't mind this (in fact, I get a thrill out of tossing a big wad of dog hair into the trash.)

Those vacuum tracks — looks like you hired a drunk to do your vacuuming.

Positives

It really works. I find it very gratifying to have this gadget that effortlessly cleans.

While I don't think it quite matches my Hoover, I think the Roomba is great for in-between. And if you have pets, it's a boon because it will suck up lots and lots of pet hair.

It wanders everywhere. It's really quite clever at exploring behind, under and among objects.

It does a great job on edges with its spinning flicker brush and its dogged edge cleaning.

It hasn't damaged anything. It nicely detects and circumnavigates objects.

It's fun.

Update

The Roomba was not the most reliable of appliances but a new generation introduced in October of 2007 improves reliability and makes most components user-replaceable. They also increased performance, dust capacity, and added features. I don't have one of the new units so all this is based on the company's materials.

Good Deals on Roomba

I had several postings lately on my new robot (see: "I Bought a Robot Today") that have led some people to want to  buy one. The Roomba is not generally discounted much but if you're interested, here are the best deals I have seen:

Right now, Linens 'n Things and Bed Bath and Beyond both have $50 rebates. Search the web for "roomba rebate" and you should find them.

In addition, both stores often have discount coupons good for 20% off any item. I bought mine from Linens and Things with both deals, saving over $100.

Amazon carries the Roomba products for the usual prices but sometimes has them on sale for around $40 off. And no shipping or sales tax, makes this a nice deal.

The models I suggest are the Discovery (4210) or the Scheduler (4230). Pretty much the same but the Scheduler can be programmed to start later. If it's just finished one set of rooms and you are leaving, you can leave it on the charger and tell it to start again in three hours, after it has charged. Otherwise, you have to be there to start it. I think the Scheduler is worth the extra $40.

Older models (Red and Sage) are available and cost less, but lack some newer features that I think are pretty important, such as improved mechanisms, better batteries, and larger dust bin. To compare, see iRobot's site.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'll mention that I am now a shareholder -- bought some stock in the company, iRobot, because I think their products are smart. Not pushing their products because of that -- only because I like my Roomba!

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Note: This is one of several articles here on the Roomba. Use the search at http://feedme.typepad.com/ and search for "Roomba."

Roomba's Best Friend

A friend, Mike Weston, responded to the first Roomba article ("I Bought a Robot Today"), asking how my dogs like it. Funny, I was planning an article about that because it was a real surprise.

My most energetic dog, Denali, a 2-1/2-year-old Cardigan Welsh Corgi, goes nuts over vacuum cleaners. Whether it's a hand vac or a larger model, she begins barking wildly with a high-pitched bark designed only for vacs! My plan was to use the Roomba only when she was outside.

In a TidBITS review, Tonya Engst writes:

Our cat, who is easily scared, will leave the room if Roomba is running, but he otherwise ignores it. Some dogs, however, have a more dramatic reaction, as you can see in these videos:

<http://www.ljcfyi.com/ 2005/ 04/ for- small- dog- oscar- sheds- excessive.html>
<http://stevenf.com/ downloads/ sophie- vs- roomba.mov>

Check those videos out. They're funny. The first one is pretty much how Denali reacts to vacuums.

But oddly -- she barked at the Roomba for maybe half a minute, then stopped and walked on by. She's ignored it since.

The other two dogs don't care. One, a 13-year-old Corgi-Australian Shepherd mix, won't even move out of its way. The Roomba rolls up, bumps into him, then alters its course and he doesn't even move.

Not what I expected.

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Note: This is one of several articles here on the Roomba. Use the search at http://feedme.typepad.com/ and search for "Roomba."

 

I Bought a Robot Today

I did something remarkable today. I bought a robot.

What I really did was entirely non-remarkable: I walked into a store, laid down a credit card, and came home with a consumer electronic product in a glossy, four-color box. What made it remarkable was that what was in the box was just an appliance — and it really is a robot.

The Roomba, by iRobot is a home vacuum cleaner that wanders around the house, vacuuming everything in its robotic path. To most people, the Roomba looks like a meld between a vacuum cleaner and a bumper car, aimlessly wandering the room and and brainlessly switching direction when it hits a wall. But what fascinates me is that there is a great deal of design intelligence.

Watch the Roomba for a little while and one begins to notice behaviors. For instance, when it hits an object, it explores it with a series of small turns and nudges. It can distinguish a corner from a table leg and once it knows it's a leg, it does a tight right turn all the way around it, so that it's edge-cleaning, spinning brush can clean effectively around it. I read online that many Roomba owners — and they have sold 1-1/2 million — find it fascinating to watch and notice new subtleties in its behavior, much as we might watch animals in the wild and notice new things we hadn't seen before, that give us hints as to the inner workings of their minds and their development. It's surprisingly interesting to watch.

Someone (I can't remember who) talked about how you can tell a technology has matured when it becomes invisible. I will let the technologists argue about the definition of intelligence and what defines a device as a robot. But for me, the Roomba turns a corner in hiding a surprising degree of sophistication in a home appliance.

Some people have gone so far as name their Roomba. Some dress them up (really). I am just going to watch. I'll let you know what I see.

Update: Since this posting, I have added articles with a review of the product, how to tinker with it, where to get good deals. See note below.

Disclosure: I also bought stock in iRobot, the company that makes the Roomba, because it's a neat product and the company seems like it has clever people. I am a crappy investor though, so please don't take this as advice! Just wanting to disclose that I have stock.

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Note: This is one of several articles here on the Roomba. Use the search at http://feedme.typepad.com/ and search for "Roomba."

Pandora's Music Box

A friend, Mike Weston, directed me to Pandora (www.pandora.com). He said:

"You give them an artist or even just a single song, and they create a station based on that. As things play you can tell them which ones you you like and which you dislike, and they adjust accordingly. Apparently they have been creating this "music genome" for several years, having trained musicians listen to each song and categorize it with hundreds of attributes."

I was intrigued. Websites that match your tastes to music lists are not new (first one I saw was in 1995). The early ones use "collaborative filtering" which matches your tastes to other peoples' and guesses that you will like what they did. It works pretty well but stumbles, especially when you have varied tastes. This one is a lot more sophisticated and engaging. Way cooler than I expected.

Right off the bat, I tossed it a hard one -- "Beatles." It's hard because it tells them nothing much about my tastes. Early, mid, or late Beatles and which of their many styles? Do I like it because it's pop, because of the instrumentation, or a billion other reasons?

It played "Twist and Shout" and then something I never heard of (Sandy Salisbury, "Here Comes that Feeling") which was recognizably similar in musical structure, but bland and uninteresting to me. I gave it a thumbs-down. Then they tossed me an Elton John cut I had never heard ("Who Wears These Shoes") which I liked.

Then "Ticket to Ride" and Fleetwood Mac's "Monday Morning" and Badfinger's "Baby Blue." I like all of these but my station was locked into a narrow groove . So I added some new artists using the items I have rated most highly in my own iTunes collection. I deliberately chose a range (Al DiMeola, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Sarah McLachlan, U2).

It kept coming up with songs I liked, including many that were new to me. The styles varied.

I threw it some slightly whackier choices like Gorillaz, Zero 7, and Shania Twain.

It continues to play a pleasant mix of known and unknown cuts and artists. What I find impressive is how it combines dissimilar music profiles. And I really like how it has found stuff I'd never heard of.

After that second cut, it never gave me anything I did not like!

You can set up "stations" to accommodate different moods and tastes. I could make myself some narrow programs -- jazz, female vocal, aged hippie dinosaur rock -- in addition to the variety mix my first station embodies. I'll experiment some more and see if it continues to work as a benevolent robo-DJ.

Interesting to click on the song and ask "why did you play this song?" They will tell you the common aspects -- e.g. " Based on what you've told us so far, we're playing this track because it features mixed acoustic and electric instrumentation, extensive vamping, electric rhythm guitars, and a dynamic female vocalist." The text varies with each song, reporting what in this track resembled the overall profile. Another one from my station, for instance, said that the track "features jazz fusion elements, electric bass playing, unusual rhythms..." Isn't it interesting how it recognized two different styles that I like?

The user interface is very nicely engineered. It doesn't demand you register, instead seducing you to by offering something of value. Pandora is free if you are willing to see ads, $3-4 a month for ad-free.

(Speaking as an Internet marketer, I found the idea engaging in other ways. They have the opportunity to do highly targeted advertising. For instance, you can buy music, and they can aim ads at you based on what you like.)

Mysteries of the Panama Canal

A friend posted the very cool video of the Panama Canal in action, in time lapse:

"One week of the Panama Canal in 11 minutes.  It is strangely surreal.

All 11 minutes is not required, but I recommend playing some of it in fast forward."

  http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9040875966564826702

Another friend asked:

"Why are the oceans at different levels?  I thought sea level was sea level.
Is it because of some tendency for the ocean to flow in one direction
causing the level to "pile up"?

"What would happen in they didn't have the locks?  Would there be a permanent
flow of water?  If so couldn't they generate a lot of power with that?"

Great question. I had to look up the answer. Many surprises.

http://www.pol.ac.uk/psmsl/puscience/#3

Sea level apparently varies all over the place, depending on location as well as the tides. Salinity is a factor. Salt water is denser so areas of greater salinity are lower!

Locks would be needed even without the level difference because the canal goes up over hills! "Most of the passage through the canal is at 85 feet above sea level."

The locks are run without pumps! They use water, gravity fed from mountain lakes.

Another reference said:

"The locks are gravity fed from the Chagres and Gatun Lake. No pumps are needed. Water pours through a huge culvert in the center wall of each lock, a culvert so massive that a locomotive could pass through it. Other large culverts pass through the side walls. Water fills or empties through vents along the bottom of the locks, 26 million gallons in just eight minutes."

Wow!

I also learned that the Panama Canal runs north to south, not east to west as I'd thought.

Update: Jim Knapp tells me the canal actually runs from Northwest to Southeast and is east of Miami.