Monthly Archives: November 2008

or Coffee, as we say it.  Went to Ikea today and one of the items we picked up was a ‘Kaffe’ coffee press.  I know a lot of people swear by them, and now I know why.  They are simple to use and make a great cup of coffee.  Well, it actually makes about 4 to 5 6 oz cups of coffee.  It is strong, but not bitter.  Even though it was the same coffee we always use, it tasted much better in the press.  No bitter aftertaste and tons of aroma.

It is actually pretty environmentally friendly as well.  No electricity or filters needed, and it frees up quite a bit of space on the counter top as well.  I should of tried one years ago, but I know a Bodum is much pricier.  This one is about $13, which is a steal compared to electrics.  Just boil some water, put in 2 Tablespoons of coffee, stir, wait 2 minutes and press down slowly.  The whole process, with boiling seems to take less than 5 minutes, with about 45 seconds of actual human interaction.

Not sure why it tastes better, I am thinking:

• The water is hotter, at about 210F instead of 160, like standard drip makers.
• The water is in contact with the grounds longer, instead of dripping through, they are actually in direct contact with the water, for as long as you want.
• The container is all glass (must be a copy of Pyrex) and stainless steel, so no plastic like conventional makers.
• No paper filter.  Who knows what flavors that adds.

So far, I know it has to be good, since Tiffany actually drank 2 cups, which she never does 🙂

Another walk down memory lane here.  Here are some technological breakthroughs, in rough chronological order.  They may seem mundane now, but amazed me when I was growing up and in adulthood.

The VCR.  I remember when Dad first leased a VHS VCR.  Yes, they were that expensive when they first came out.  It had all mechanical buttons, but it was very cool to rent movies and watch them at home.  Seems common place now, but not in 1979.  I also remember recording TV shows, like Dr. Who.

The Amiga computer.  I remember seeing one of these demoed in an Electronics Boutique.  It was playing a 3D flight simulator in full color, at 640×480 resolution…in 1986.  It was way way ahead of its time.  We never owned one, but I still remember it.

The Atari Lynx.  I still one two of these and crapload of games.  Full color, stereo sound, 3d graphics, and portable.  All in 1988.  20 years later, it still is remarkable.

Windows 3.0 (3.1?)  Don’t laugh, but it was a huge step up from a plain DOS prompt.  I remember Mr. Coleman in high school had a couple of computers running this in the back of the physics lab.  I still remember how different and modern it looked.

The Sega Genesis.  At the time, it was a giant leap from the 8 bit consoles.  Still bitmapped graphics, but it was very impressive looking with great sound.  The controller was pretty modern as well.

Doom.  Yes, Doom.  I don’t think people realize just how groundbreaking this game was.  A true 3D game with lots of killing.  Still fun to play today.  IDKFA.

The Sony Playstation.  Another huge jump in home video games.

America Online. Yes, I did use AOL.  When it was new(ish) it was the easiest way to get to the Internet.

Winamp.  My first introduction to MP3’s.  It was and still is a rock solid MP3 player.  MP3’s really revolutionized the music world and Winamp was part of it.  I use XMMS in Linux.

Mandrake Linux (V7.0).  The Linux version that started it all for me.  After a bad security failure running Windows 98, I switched to Linux in 1999 and haven’t looked back. It was (and is) stable, secure, and free.

The Olympus C-3000Z.  A 3.1 megapixel digital camera.  Our first ‘real’ digital camera that looked better than film.  We took thousands of photos with this camera.  It was replaced with our C-5060WZ, a direct descendant.

DVD players.  A nice way to rap up the list, since it more or less replaced the VCR.  The picture was a hell of a lot sharper and the sound was about 10 times better.  I think Blue Ray won’t replace it, but online media will.

Honorable mentions:

The Pentium processor

Mac OS 7.0,

An Acer laptop (486X4, 100Mhz), the first active matrix laptop I used.

The Motorola StarTac.  Beam me up Scotty.

The Sony Diskman.

Okidata color printer.

Netscape 3.

Seiko Kinetic watches.

Calculator watches.

Fuel injection.  Anyone who has driven an carbuerated car appreciates this one.

LCD computer screens.

The iMac (goose head model).

et al.

Let me know what amazed you when you were growing up.

and other signs of the 70’s returning.  Everywhere I read about the economy and news in general, I can’t help but be reminded of the 1970’s.

• American auto makers in trouble, due to an over reliance on high profit gas guzzlers and not able to react quickly.
• Involvement in an expensive and ultimately pointless war.
• A republican president in the White House who should of been impeached for lies.
• A deep recession looming with deflation or stagflation.
• Heavy, almost constant losses of manufacturing jobs.
• Heavy dependence of foreign oil.
• Endless shipping jobs overseas.
• On the plus side, we are getting back into space exploration, ironically with a space station in orbit and lots of planetary probes, much like the 70’s.
• We had a very defining moment when Obama was elected, a point to be proud of, much like how we got mostly along in 1976 to celebrate the bicentennial.

I could go on, but the parallels are striking.  We survived the Seventies, I just hope we are not paralleling the 1930’s.  That didn’t turn out so good, since it took a World War to resolve those issues.  I think it feels more like a 70’s vibe, I just hope some roaring teens ala the 80’s  follow this malaise.

It was a cold day for a walk, that’s for sure.  Just over freezing.  One thing I have discovered, it is that my wool pea coat far outperforms any synthetic coat I have ever worn.  It is pretty light, stops the wind, and will keep me warm, even if it is wet.  It also looks really nice.

I went for a walk to a local antique store.  One interesting thing is to look at the packaging that is still around after 40, 50, 60 years or more.  This is stuff designed to last just long enough to get it from the store to your house, and here it is, the better part of a century later.  Makes you think of the packaging not recycled now.  How long will it last?  I am sure blister packs will last a couple of centuries or more.  The most common packaging I see in antique stores is glass.  Luckily, it is easily recycled.  You do see metal tins, but they tend to rust.  You even see old paperboard packaging, so I guess just about any packaging will last, given the right conditions.  So, unless you are planning on keeping the box for retirement investment purposes, recycle!

Another thing I noticed, being a watch lover, is that Elgin must of sold a whole boatload of watches after WWII.  It is, by far, the most common antique watch I spot.  The real life and eBay prices reflect this fact as well.  You can get a decent looking, working, Elgin for less than $50.  Timex of 50’s I guess.  Speaking of Timex, you almost never see antique Timex’s.  The reason behind this is simple, they used hardened steel pins instead of jewels on their less expensive watches.  It makes them durable in the short term, but age very poorly in the long term.  A jeweled watch can last decades without maintenance and a lifetime with.  (The pallet jewels can even be replaced.)  A pin lever watch, which Timex was famous for, rarely lasts more than 10 years and is not economical to repair.  So I guess they were all tossed and the jeweled Elgin’s and Bulova’s went on.  Another interesting thing about watches, ladies watches outnumber men’s by about 5:1.  I think men must be hard on their watches and are not as sentimental about them.

Over the weekend we were able to go out and see the new Bond flick.  It was pretty decent and didn’t drag on.  A little more sex and a little less violence and the newest Bond would be perfect.  It was nice to spend a couple of hours with the Wifey.  Glenn keeps on growing and being two.  So much must be going on in that little head, so much he likes to bang it into hard objects from time to time.  I sure hope it is normal.

I am sure it has been written about before, but now I notice more than ever how disconnected people are becoming from the real world around them.  What do I mean?  Go to a local coffee shop, restaurant, bar, or even busy shopping mall and look around.  Look at all the people on cell phones, smart phones, blackberries, and laptops.  We went out to eat at a Corner Bakery and Tiffany and I observed a young man with a laptop computer.  Across from him was, ahem, a very attractive young woman.  I don’t know about you, but if I was sitting across from that, the last thing I would do is be staring at a screen.  But, the whole time we were there, he was just surfing away.  I can only hope it was his sister, but I kinda doubt it.

Another time was just this past weekend.  We went up to Gurnee Mills.  I passed a man diddling with his iPhone before we went into a store.  About 40 minutes later, after we left the store, he was still there.  You are in a mall, you can surf at home.

Another odd thing I see is teenagers walking down the street talking or texting on their phones and not talking to the people right next to them.  You went to the effort to go walking with these people, but why did you bother?

I don’t know about you, but when I go out, I go out to do things I can’t do at home.  I guess I am old fashioned.  It is wonderful we can all be connected, all the time, but what are we giving up?  I know you can convey so much more information with body language than with 1,000 lines of text messages.  I only need to give a glance to Tiffany and she will know what I am thinking, even without words.  Maybe I am just crotchety,  but I know I am seeing it more and more.  It is also beyond the “gee wiz” this is cool or “look at what I can do” aspect of technology.  You can tell people have fully integrated these tools into their lives.  I guess as I get older, I appreciate human interaction more.  Hopefully the younger generation will as well, and not get lost looking at minute screens.