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By Dave, April 10, 2008 10:51 pm

Went to pay bills today and to check out the books and other stuff at a few of the local thrift stores. Got a few good books, a tie (Italian silk Christien Dior) for $0.50 and pair of worsted (?) wool hand tailored trousers ($2.25) at the Salvation Army.

Headed on south and took a look at the stuff at the Salvage Store on Greenbriar, just west of 21. They have a lot of stuff but it’s mostly junk IMHO.

Then back down Noble to check out a new thrift store by Lott Cabinet shop that we had seen on the way south. No parking in front so since the parking lot at Lott was empty but for one truck we parked there. Got to the door of the thrift store and they had a sign saying if you had parked in Lott’s parking area, to move you car before coming in the store. We moved, right on down the road. I’m sure they have had problems with the cabinet shop owners or something but they need to be in a location that has some kind of parking instead of saying park across Noble in the grass by the train tracks. I don’t like crossing that street at a cross walk and there are none in that section of town… 👿

Went to Jacksonville and had a rather uninspiring meal at the China Starr. Will most likely be our last visit. Food was mediocre with limited quantities available and we were both dizzy by the time we left with the MSG. And have been all afternoon and evening. They must use it by the gallon now. Course with rubber chicken you need something to add flavor. 👿

Left and went to Center of Hope thrift store, looked at the posted prices on the books, turned and looked at each other, Cat said they are out of their minds, as I said they are f*&^%$# crazy, turned and left. 👿

Headed toward Anniston again to look at a couple of other places we had passed up wanting to get to lunch, but got to feeling worse so came home.

Will go out again tomorrow if the storms don’t keep us in. Guess we will head toward Gadsden, Attalla, and Rainbow City if we do go out. Several places over there that we like to browse around in.

Tis getting late and I am still uncomfortable from lunch, so think I’ll hit the sack and hope for a better day tomorrow. Till then… 😉

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By Dave, April 10, 2008 9:23 pm

“Green Gasoline”: Like Gasoline, But Made from Cellulose : TreeHugger
Though they may share many of the same compounds and properties, “green gasoline,” the creation of UMass chemical engineer George Huber, differs from regular gasoline in one important respect: it can be produced from biomass sources. And, unlike the various forms of ethanol that have been bandied around, green gasoline can take advantage of the existing gas infrastructure and be pumped into cars as is.

To produce this biofuel variant, Huber and his students heated plant cellulose in the presence of solid catalysts and then rapidly cooled the products – leaving behind a liquid that already contained many of the compounds typically found in gasoline, such as naphthalene and toluene. The whole process takes less than 2 minutes to accomplish and needs only moderate heat; the final liquid can be further refined or immediately used as an alternative to a high octane gas blend.

I guess the big questions are: what is the cost of the catalysts and are they a reusable or expendable agent? This sounds wonderful, but if it’s this simple why is it gonna take them 5 years at a minimum to get it to the pumps? I realize that scaling up is gonna make a difference and building the infrastructure will take a while but still sounds like there are things about this process or the resultant fuel that they don’t bring up.

That said I hope this works out and results in a viable fuel making process using biomass. 😎

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By Dave, April 10, 2008 9:10 pm

Slashdot | Mediasentry Violates Cease & Desist Order

Opps! Guess the RIAA and it’s thugs doesn’t have to worry about little things like abiding by the law. Till they get caught (again) with their pants down. Arsehats!

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By Dave, April 10, 2008 9:05 pm

DIY Organic Fly Trap – Ecobites.com

Update – They have posted drawings and rewritten the original article so that it is MUCH clearer now! Thanks folks, it makes a LOT more sense than what I was getting from the text the first time around!

Looks like what I was visualizing was upside down which I wondered about at the time, which is why I kept going back and rereading and trying to get some picture in my head of what they were doing.

Please note that I was NOT attacking the article or author but simply trying to understand how to build this device and having trouble understanding the original textual instructions without having some visual aid to assist me.

Thanks again for taking the time to clear up the text and for adding the drawings of the construction of this inexpensive and easy to construct fly trap. I’ll be building several of these asap.

———

Had a couple of comments on this article since the one of Steve’s, that I am moving to another post all their own so I can discuss some of the points they bring up in more detail than is possible in the comments section of this blog. The new post is located at – Update on Organic DIY Flytrap – Ecobites.com

Original post follows –

Okay, I’ve read this article about half a dozen times now and without pictures or drawings I only vaguely understand what they are talking about and what I do get isn’t making sense.

What I seem to be getting is that the bottle bottom is now the top with the wire Y piercing it to hang by and the top of the bottle being inside the bottom with the cut off neck facing the round bottom. Then the seam where the two meet is taped together and the water and bait is supposed to be held in by the taped seam.

Do we cut off the screw neck so they don’t have a place to land? Yellow tape? What kind of yellow tape is gonna make a water tight seal? I’d think some kind of glue or caulk would work better. That is if I am visualizing this correctly.

Guess I am just being dense tonight. Will reread it tomorrow and see it there is a light bulb lit then. Of course if the author had bothered to include pictures or even a basic drawing I (and all the other really dense folk out here in reader land) wouldn’t be having to try to figure out what the hell they are talking about.

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By Dave, April 10, 2008 8:24 pm

Have this Crispy Tofu Dish for Dinner Tonight : Planet Green
Crispy Tofu With Shiitakes and Chorizo
Serves 2

1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained and sliced crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick slabs
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 1/2 cups (4 ounces) thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps
3 ounces cured chorizo (1 1/2 small links), diced (or substitute cured Chinese sausage)
2 scallions, thinly sliced, dark green parts reserved for garnish
1/4 cup chicken broth
3 to 4 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons mirin or dry sherry.

1. Using paper towels, pat tofu dry. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Place tofu slabs in pan and cook, peeking as little as possible, until golden on bottom, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook other side, 2 to 3 minutes more. Drain slabs on a paper towel-lined plate.

3. Increase heat to high. Add mushrooms, chorizo and white and light green parts of scallion. Cook, tossing occasionally, until mushrooms are softened and light golden, about 3 minutes. Stir in broth, soy sauce and mirin or sherry. Cook until sauce reduces and thickens slightly, about 1 minute more.

4. If tofu is no longer hot, push vegetables in pan to one side; add tofu and cook until heated through. Transfer hot tofu to serving plates and top with mushroom mixture and pan sauce. Sprinkle with dark green scallions.

Sounds quite good. Been years since I’ve fixed tofu as the ex didn’t like it (claimed she was allergic, and maybe she was but she ate many other soy bean products with no problem so???) and I just got in the habit of not using it. Also need to pick up some peanut oil, keep forgetting it for some reason. 🙄 Will have to pick some up some of both and try this. 😎

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By Dave, April 10, 2008 6:22 pm

Computerworld > Open source 3D printer copies itself

Once again life imitates science fiction. Don’t remember when it was that I first ran across the concept of the universal replicator or in what story/book but I do remember that at the time I was in awe of the concept. And here are a gropu of folks that are working to make an open source device that can be used to make the parts to reproduce it’s self. The overused “cool” is just to mild for this, fantastic and wonderful both apply but there again just not right. What/which ever, this is great! And I want one!