mmmmmm, BBQ, aaarrrggguuuhhh

so, i happen to see a cooking video on youtube via one of my RSS feeds. one thing lead to another and all of the sudden, i was watching "how to cook this and that" for hours. and since BBQ is the quintessential combination of all things awesomeness - food, fire, friends and family (just be sure to know which recipe goes where) - i thought i share some of my favorite yums.

it all started with [ Maangchi ] - in korean it means [ hammer ] - making one of my favorite eats [ Job Chae ] (Korean stir fried noodles and vegetables).

oh, but what's this? how to make: Sweet and crispy chicken wings ("dak kang jung")

OMG! it's almost like my most favorite dish in the world ("Hot & Saucy Chicken Wings) from the [ Great Sea Chinese Restaurant ] here in Chicago... i can just taste it and smell it while writing this... DAMN IT!!! it's sooo good... if you happen to go there, i would also recommend:

• "Three Sea Spicy Noodle Soup" (a.k.a Jampong)
• "MaPo Tofu" (Hot & Spicy Tofu)
• "Seven Seas Jja Jang Myun" (noodles with blackbean sauce) and make sure it's "seven seas" -- 'cause they have a smaller regular "Jja Jang Myun"

anyways, back to BBQ's. so then i run into this guy's youtube channel: the [ BBQ Pit Boys Show ]. a few of his early vids just does "fill in your favorite bbq sauce here". but it does get better with actual recipes, times and step by step info. here's a fun one: BBQ Chicken Recipe Beer Can Barbecue

some of my other favs are:
indirect grilling:

• Barbecue Pork Loin Roast Recipe
• BBQ Chicken Split Roasted Style Barbecue Recipe

smoking:

• Real Pulled Pork Barbecue Recipe
• Real Barbecue Chicken Recipe

something a little random:

• Bacon Cheese Hotdogs & Stuffed Sausages Recipe
• Brick Oven Pizza Recipe

i FOOD!
i mean, really, who doesn't?

Microsoft needed to kill OLPC

the story that made everyone scratch their head:
Microsoft to Limit Capabilities of Cheap Laptops
pcworld.com May 9 2008

some good speculations:
Why is Microsoft underpowering One Laptop Per Child?
cnet.com May 13 2008

and then the final solution - use the sledge hammer to stamp out the competition:
Windows XP on the XO Laptop - Microsoft Buys Out OLPC
olpcnews.com May 15 2008
so i thought to myself and wondered about the whole low-end requirements. you should already know about where i stand in microsoft dictating the direction of any hardware design -- and they need to stay out of the way from what the PC manufacturers want to do.

at first, i thought the low-end PC requirements was to create such an unwanted experience that it would kill itself. but linux can run on very slim resources. i still run two ancient 300MHz sony vaio laptops who are notorious for not following using alternative port values on some common IO devices.

but i really think, IMHO, it's basically down to these two points:

1) when the ASUS eeepc (3E PC) laptops were coming out with larger hard drives on linux (20GB) versus the window (12GB) version (eee 900 series), the add-on perks gave the perception of what's a better value with a hard tangible product on a system that provided basically the same functionalities. this made the choice of what OS running on it a secondary thought.

2) and i believe this is ultimately the main reason why microsoft want XP or what ever else they can put on a computer, on any computer; to get a person familiar with an OS where they will learn usability habits. this is one major sticking point i run into all the time when trying to teach/help people on how to use/fix computers. after someone learns a pretty complex behavior, they tend to stick to it and refuse to change in fear of learning more complex routines. that is, until they find something else that's easier to use.

i can't tell you how many people i know who switched to MACs and completely forget how to use a windows box in less than 4 months (shortcut, hot keys, where things are located, etc. -- usability).

but if you ask me, microsoft has also done a fine job doing this themselves by moving all of the configuration panels to who-knows-where-it-didn't-make-sense on their latest vista product. this basically required any one who knew anything from NT up to XP in a production house to re-learn all the little nuance again. not to mention the fact that it was also a huge problem integrating shared networks with vista and XP without upgrading all kinds of servers to make it vista aware.

you might as well get a MAC if you're going to re-learn some new system. that platform is by far the most user friendly, graphical eye pleasing and the most intuitive computer to use. i've been recommending that to everyone i know. disclaimer: i don't own any MACs, i've just used a lot of them. and i only build linux and bsd boxes.

i command line tools.

never gonna buy Microsoft hardware again

before you accuse me of jumping on the microsoft bashing bandwagon, the following are actually $#!t that's broken on microsoft released products.

first, there was the xbox power cord fire hazard:
Xbox.com | Press: Microsoft Announces Power Cord Replacement for Xbox

next, xbox 360 Red Ring of Death:
Xbox 360: Three red lights flash on the Ring of Light

and my microsoft branded optical mouse died.

it wasn't until when the mouse died on me (a fricken optical mouse, mind you) that really made me question why did microsoft go into all of this hardware business, get kicked in the left nutt with major manufacturing defects, survived it, get kicked in the other nutt with another defect and is still able to go on. to which i guess, if you have more money than god, then you can pay off any debt you have with the devil.

fast foward to these recent weeks, and you'll see these headlines:

• DRM sucks redux: Microsoft to nuke MSN Music DRM keys
• Interview: Microsoft's Rob Bennett defends DRM decision
• Microsoft turns the DRM screw on MSN Music owners

The reason for shutting down the DRM-licensing servers was "every time there is an OS upgrade, the DRM equation gets complex very quickly,"

ok, these are technically software and not hardware failures -- but if you follow the music content to your PC and then to your zune or any of your other PlayForSure device, garbage. who else even had a "playforsure" device for that matter... so what if you paid for all of that content. when you get a new computer you need to pay for it again?

the "DRM equation gets complex very quickly" ?!? what a total cop out admission.

which finally, brings us to the icing on the cake:

• NBC-Vista copy-protection snafu reminds us why DRM stinks
• Update: Why is NBC Flagging Digital TV Programs - and Why is Microsoft Obeying It?
• Microsoft's Masters: Whose Rules Does Your Media Center Play By?

now, they will actually go out of their way to break your viewing experience. usually, you would want to cater to your audience. present your product that provides and delivers value and entertainment, not frustration and anger.

yes, this is another software "problem". but this isn't like a bug or a security hole. this is planned "let's ruin the viewer experience". and to tie this to the whole "i'm not gonna buy microsoft hardware ever again" mantra, if i have a remote control in my hand, and i press "record this show" - like how i can do this on my TiVO, cable DVR, VHS VCR, MythTV, etc. - i expect it to record it. now, i will never pick up (nor recommend to anybody) a media center PC. too bad for the PC manufacturers, who is not to be blamed, but who suckered into using the crippled OS.

to the fans of DRM, go ahead, lock your content out. you will loose your audience in droves when they basically "can't" watch your shows. people will find something else to watch. or on something else that will allow them to continue to watch their must see tv.

air force wants a botnet?

Preparing for cyber warfare: US Air Force floats botnet plan
arstechnica.com - may 12 2008

Air Force Colonel Wants to Build a Military Botnet
blog.wired.com - may 12 2008

in both of those articles, they kinda missed a very important point that piling a bunch of computers to run DDoS attacks isn't the most efficient way to do this. however, a pile of routers on the other hand...

first, let's say that the attacks are foreign -- the best course of action is to take control of the routers that are the gatekeepers for all communication lines to inside the states. this step is much easier to do if carnivore is already installed on the routers. if carnivore is not installed, commandeer them via a root kit. contact "ted" at NSA to enable the tube. if they ask if you are an AT&T customer, respond "yes".

Rootkits on routers threat to be demoed
theregister.co.uk - may 15th 2008

reconfigure the routers for firewall duty and done, you are able to fend off any inbound attacks.

to initiate the attacks, reconfigure the routers to generate network traffic with your method of destruction. search for "DDoS types" in your favorite "the google" if you need examples. you don't need an army of computers. just one misbehaving router. preferably one that's closer to the source/target of the attack.

now, if the attacks originate stateside, the defensive option should only used. do not launch any DDoS offensive in this case. the president may be inadvertently knocked off the internet while reading those missing emails.

if hacking routers proves to be too difficult, look into placing your own pre-hacked routers the old fashion way:

FBI looks into fake Cisco kit
techworld.com - may 12 2008

i the armed forces.

a shout out to
dave, ryan and iggy
in the USAF.

multi CPUs GPUs and Cells, Oh My!

a few weeks ago, i wrote the GPU is the new CPU and then ran into these little nuggets of goodness:

ASUS Creates Upgradeable Graphics Cards

Linux-friendly SBC hosts dual quad-core Xeons

a CPU-centric board and a GPU-centric board -- just the way i wanted! not quite what i had envisioned, but slap these on an industrial backplane like this one and there you have it:

PBPE-06V3

will it work? i have no idea -- but i am willing to try if someone would send me these items... =)

ah, this brings back memories of carrier boards and those ginormous "compact" PCI mini-fridge size chassis back in the day. except this time, i can probably fit these boards inside a shoe box, i.e. shuttle-sized. although, i'll have to get a backplane that has all the slots on one side like the PBPE-06A364. but if there's a 1U backplane available, then i can fit it in a pizza box!


and finally, will the CELL processor become the third major player in the video graphics arena? forth, if you count intel... oh, snap!

Toshiba to ship laptops with Cell-based GPUs this year

i Art of Pizza

Wii Sports? No, Vii Sports

i talked about the wii-remote-with-everything a few months ago. and now, there's this:

Another Wii knockoff arrives to give Vii some competition [ via engadget ]

HAHAHAHA, this is too rich.


Nick: Vii? Sounds German...
Katharina: I am German.
Nick: Your accent is adorable.
Katharina: Go aVay from Mii!


but, really, here's something that actually pretty useful:

Lightning Review: Nyko Kama Wireless Nunchuk [ via gizmodo ]

now, you can play nunchuk enabled games without restricting yourself with an arm span of a two year old.

the GPU is the new CPU

there's seems to be a lot of smack talk with the nVidia versus Intel shenanigans in the feeds lately.

Nvidia CEO "Not Afraid" of CPU-GPU Hybrids

CE-Oh no he didn't! Part LV: NVIDIA boss says "We're going to open a can of whoop-ass" on Intel

NVIDIA continues to hate on Intel, promises sub-$45 integrated chipset


basically, the VIA Isaiah + nVidia GeForce(5?) combo are pit against the Intel Celeron + G945. and really, the performance they are talking about is akin to my solar powered calculator.

however, i do like the idea of putting a full fledged GPU on the motherboard (and not just an IGP).

i predict that motherboard manufacturers will one day make mobos targeted with GPU specific chipsets just like how they are currently CPU centric. zif sockets for the GPU on the motherboard is an evolution that needs to happen and long overdue. the dedicated memory chips on a speedy bus found on all modern graphics cards is probably going to prevent this from happening. but hopefully, as the xbox consoles have demonstrated, a unified memory architecture will satisfy that limitation / requirement.

to offset the dedicated RAM + speedy bus loss, programmers will need to learn to make their code go "one-way" in a "fire and forget" style coding. set top box, portable media players, the playstation 1 2 & 3, etc., all perform very well when you push data through one end of the hardware accelerated "blackbox" and just let it do its thing spitting stuff up on the other side (normally the end destination as well).

Toshiba releases SpursEngine graphics co-processor for testing

but, what's most likely going to happen is:

the CPU will gobble up the GPU

in terms of raw number crunching, the CPU will become less important in pushing the performance bar while the GPU will dominate the clock cycles for painting and positioning pretty pixels. and i'm not talking about those office or other desktop apps, but as a graphics / multimedia combo system.

in light of all of this, i don't know why AMD/ATI hasn't made a run for a mobo with sockets for their CPU and GPU separately. it would have been quicker for them to push this out in to the market instead of them trying to complete their CPU/GPU combo first. and who knows how much that's going to cost.

War for Visual Computing: Why AMD Could Have the Best Chance

just as the CPU has gobbled up the once separate math co-processor, this shouldn't be a surprise to see the clash of the GPU and CPU colliding. hopefully, the GPU will win this time, 'cause the plain box PC isn't exciting anymore. the cool stuff is all of the eye candy you see now-a-days on stuff like the latest OSX and compiz goodness. what? vista?!? you're insane...

i

the original human powered GPU
who bitch-slapped the CPU
into submission.

i HATE the RSS feeds on April 1st

oh holy jeebus, there was twice the number of RSS entries today and damn nearly all of them were filled with "haha, fools day" -- i felt like taking a $#!t on my reader.

the only saving grace was the bazillion Mr.T cameos from Gizmodo's posts.


i couldn't tell if the video card releases from both nVidia and ATI were real because i was p33ing on the screen.

all of the autoblog entries were useless, "cars now eco friendly made from TP and water proof." no, really, how about this: "Double-decker smart fortwo a little top-heavy":

be sure to see this to the end if you watch this.
you can never tell which of the MAKE:Magazine projects are fake -- because, i mean, have you seen some of the projects they feature? none of them look like they would work... you know, ever since the first issue came out.

even the podcasts i listen to and video shows i watch are all in this f$@kfest.

crikey, i would rather them take a day off than me trying to scan through the piles of @$$ while scraping my eyes out with chopsticks...



BTW, i still Ars Technica, Autoblog, Gizmodo, Make:Magazine and Systm