I love eggnog and I try to make my own every season. I got this recipe from my friendly neighborhood liquor store and love it. However, this year I am going low-carb. I thought about it an realized eggnog should convert fairly well, and the following is my creation at 7 grams of net carbs per 6 oz cup. Almost all the carbs are sugar from the Gran Gala, so I may experiment substituting the Gran Gala with more brandy or bourbon and adding orange bitters. But here is the recipe so far, and it is mighty fine.
4 large eggs
6 ounces (0.75 cups) sugar-equivalent artificial sweetener (I used 0.25 cups,
or 12 teaspoons, Truvia)
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon clove
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 ounces (0.25 cups) brandy
2 ounces (0.25 cups) Gran Gala (just as good as Grand Marnier, 1/2 the price)
4 ounces (0.5 cups) bourbon
4 ounces (0.5 cups) heavy cream
16 ounces (1.5 cups) unsweetened almond milk (Silk Pure Almond or Almond Breeze)
1. In a mixer fitted with a whip attachment (or in a blender), blend the eggs for 1 minute.
2. Add the sugar and spices and blend for an additional 30 seconds.
3. S-L-O-W-L-Y add the cognac, bourbon and Grand Marnier, blending another 30 seconds.
4. Add the milk and cream and blend 1 minute more.
5. Cover and refrigerate. (Twenty-four hours or more is best.)
6. To serve, pour into a champagne flute or teacup.
7. Garnish each serving with freshly grated nutmeg and ground cinnamon.
8. Serve.
Io9 just posted an article “Some 1980s and 1990s Movies That Actually Should Be Remade.” No. Seriously. No.
They claim “Everybody knows that remakes are a plague and an abomination,” yet go on “Nobody complained when John Carpenter remade The Thing, after all. …Here are 20 beloved (and not so beloved) films of a quarter-century ago that actually should be remade.”
The Thing was good because it was a remake of an obscure old 1951 film The Thing from Another World, and because it was John Carpenter. Remakes are never good, especially when the original is still fresh enough in popular consciousness to demand direct comparison. Check out this list of The 25 Best Movie Remakes of All Time. With a couple exceptions, it seems like a list of pretty mediocre films. And the original source films are very obscure. I didn’t even know half of those were remakes, or at least have never seen the original, so in that case they don’t really claim the consciousness as a remake.
But check out this io9 list and tell me which would likely be improved upon by a remake? There are a couple I will accept because the original film was under par (Lawnmower Man, They Live), but others failed the first time around and just aren’t good enough to deserve a remake (Virtuosity, Meteor Man). They might have a cool central idea, like AIs and cybercrime, but don’t remake the pathetic old film, just make a new film on the same ideas and be free to create anew.
Is it so hard to come up with original material? At least if the film industry really can’t come up with it’s own stuff, it should stick to just adapting successful novels. Comics maybe they should leave alone, too…
My nice Samsung “smart” tv is connected to my network and the web via DLNA, the rarely-heard-of device networking protocol that has been around for 8 years. It’s a cool project aimed at effortlessly networking computers and other computing devices (routers, tvs, stereos, mobiles, tablets, etc.) so everything can communicate and share data on your home network.
No one’s heard much about it, because everything about it (except what it can do) lacks sexy. What does not lack sexy is the newer proprietary Apple equivalent of DLNA: Airplay.
Smart tvs have been available for several years and are most basically tvs that connect to your network and internet to access media from those sources. The most well-known (but still pretty poorly known) are the Samsung’s, and their main improvement is the inclusion of a mobile-wannabe apps platform. A few are essential and work well allowing you to stream previously computer-only content directly onto your big screen (Netflix, Youtube, Hulu Plus, CinemaNow/Blockbuster for on demand video rental), the rest are crap.
I’m somewhat tech savvy, but even I didn’t really realize how simple and ubiquitous internet tv technology is. It is available on any moderately priced modern tv, and even if you have a “dumb” or crappy old tv, you can still internet-supercharge it by adding certain Blu-Ray players, a PlayStation 3, or the Apple TV.
This is great and all, but first and foremost what I wanted of my smart tv was easy streaming of local video from my computer to my big screen. I have HD movies on my PC, and I want to watch them on my tv. This is a less-than-sexy need and should be easily accomplished considering the bevy of online media the thing can grab.
There is a whole separate article here in the discussion of the intricacies involved in setting up a home DLNA network, but that’s not the point I’m making here. The point here is that one day I tried to play The Nightmare Before Christmas from my PC to my tv. Tv couldn’t find the PC. PC couldn’t find the tv. Reset router. Nope. Restart tv, restart DLNA serve on PC. Nope. No streaming happening.
Out of curiosity, since the movie was an Apple-happy H.264 MP4, I tried my iPad. The iPad can stream this format natively from iTunes, but I prefer to use iTunes as little as possible due to clunkiness and geek-unfriendliness. For streaming to my iPhone/iPad I use the awesome AirVideo app.
I fire up AirVideo on the iPad, it finds the PC running the AirVideo server just fine. Play the movie from the PC to the iPad, then use Airplay to sling the movie from the iPad to the Apple TV, which displays nicely on my Samsung via HDMI (albeit only in 720p, but the movie was only that resolution so no loss).
So the purportedly simple DLNA, with 8 years experience, ought to have, but failed to do this:
DLNA PC server (Windows Media Player 12) —> DLNA display (Samsung tv)
Apple succeeded instead in doing this:
AirVideo Server —> AirVideo ipad app —> Airplay to Apple TV —> Samsung tv
With stories like this (I am not the only one, I’m sure), it is any wonder Apple is kicking everyones’ ass?
spe·cious
[spee-shuh
s]
–adjective
1. apparently good or right though lacking real merit; superficially pleasing or plausible: specious arguments.
I love the word specious. It is perhaps my favorite word in the vocabulary of philosophy. I also have a particular fondness for false, but specious has an academic air that I like.
I also have a terrible weakness for the History Channel’s Ancient Aliens. I am a total sci-fi geek and I would love it to be the case that aliens were responsible for seeding our greatest ancient civilizations. However, what’s sad is that this program is also emblematic/hallmark/quintessential (so many good words for this, huh?) of the aforementioned and defined speciousness.
(Side note: OMG get to know the word quintessence. This word is THE SHIT. Once you get it everything is quintessence, everything else is mere shit. You were hardly philosophers, but you struck gold; thank you Mage [Wikipedia link here because White-wolf.com’s own entry (white-wolf.com=>Old World of Darkness=Mage) sucks ass.])
Sidenote from Hell right there, right?
I love Ancient Aliens, but at the same time it is total shit. This is my Jersey Shore. (I like the TMZ link because it captures the sleaziness absent in the MTV and Wikipedia pages.) This series (Ancient Aliens, not Jersey Shore) has all the accredited-guest-lecturer status of genuine science, yet woefully and exceptionally lacks that foremost and critical fulcrum of logical discourse: evidence.
I cannot undertake a full refutation of Ancient Aliens; it is far too broad and sloppy in it’s liberal dosage of speciousness to be addressed in anything short of an equally voluminous series. (Speaking of a voluminous series, see Carl Sagan’s Cosmos for the closest thing to a scientific exploration of the world, and a retort to specious bullshit, you’ll ever find on film.)
However, I direct the logic-minded among us (see, no appeal to the almighty anit-God “SCIENCE”, so shut your theist holes.) to check this show out. I have never before been more entertained and at the same time logically and evidentially disgusted. This show is an awesome triumph for specious science, with “expert” commentary, cool 3D graphics, and renderings of “true” ancient life. True to the meaning of the the word specious, this program has all the trappings of “good or right” but is “lacking real merit”.
The “experts” are lame. Many do have legitimate academic credentials. However, as my father, a PhD and Notre Dame Professor in physics for 30+ years, says, “any idiot can get a PhD”. Credentialing in your discipline does not mean you are immune to retarded and illogical ideas. I am credentialed in my own discipline and know full well many of my colleagues are quite stupid.
Still, I am mesmerized by this program in particular because it presents evidence so convincingly, and lines up credible experts so well, that the scientifically untrained viewer has little recourse against the pseudologic. This is the proverbial train wreck to which we are all compelled to pay attention, but from which we ought (link not for the weak of will) all separate ourselves and perform responsible logical analysis.
Who sits through an episode of this program and exercises critical thinking? Who questions the conclusions to which this railroad of a program comes? No one. Just me (with a nice Irish Creme martini and a couple Sotols on the books).
Nothing new is happening here. There is always a predominance of falsehood, in the interest of those in power. It’s not even malicious, it’s just merely decadent. People like such sensationalism, why not feed it to them? Ancient Aliens is the highbrow equivalent of Jersey Shore. This is falsely empowering eulogy that makes people feel secure in their perceptions, while in reality simply consigning them to the strata of simpletons.
The Sci-Fi channel is lost to the likes of Ghost Hunters and WWE Smackdown. The History Channel is obviously not far behind (though thankfully Ancient Aliens, maybe with Monster Quest and Nostradamus Effect, seem to be the only total farce programs.)
Speciousness is the hallmark, and the prime weapon, of anti-truth. It is wielded in great numbers by a great host, and with overwhelming influence. Sadly the weapons of truth, logic and validity, are in comparison meager and in short supply. I do what I can to slaughter the gremlins of falsehood where I can. Please do the same as a knight of truth and slay the cunning demons of specious clause as they arise, and replace them with the resplendence of soundness.
Thanks Lifehacker!
Last week, we showed you how to build your own custom PC, from picking the parts, to putting it together and installing your OS. Here’s the complete guide, along with a printable PDF version that you can use as a reference.
Note: Click the lesson title to view the lesson—it’s a link!
Building a computer from scratch gives you the perfect machine for your needs, but it can be daunting the first time around. For our first lesson in building your own PC, we start with a little computer hardware basics.
In this lesson, we’ll show you how to most effectively pick out and shop for your parts.
Assembling your computer can seem daunting, but it’s actually pretty easy. In lesson 3, we show you step-by-step how to put everything together.
Once you’ve put it together, you’re past the difficult portion. Lesson 4 deals with installing your operating system and get everything up and running.
There’s a lot more computer-building info out there than we can fit into one Night School. In our final lesson, we share some other resources that should help you in both the building and post-building steps.
If you’d like all of these lessons in a printable PDF file, click here to download one. That way you can take it with you to the store, to your workbench, or anywhere else you may need it. Thanks for learning with us this week!
Would summer end please soes I can get more Walking Dead? Kthx.
