Blogging Ottinger (tim)

Dawson is tired of dealing with the usability problems with installing windows, and especially the bizarre way it is being “protected”. In his article, he actually has to use Ubuntu to get the information he needs to install windows on a coworker’s computer.

It makes you wonder why people bother with inferior operating systems.

If you install sound-juicer in your Ubuntu OS you can go to edit/preferences and set the program up to rip to a favorite format, such as AAC, FLAC, or Ogg. It might be better to go to AAC or FLAC because they are lossless or maybe Ogg because it’s free (as in freedom, as in fun, as in no-cost).

If all your music players want MP3, though, you are stuck.

So, the secret for Ubuntu people is to install “ubuntu-restricted-extras”. If you install it, MP3 ripping is an option under edit/preferences. Until you do, nothing you do will help.

Of course, if you can go with AAC, Ogg, or FLAC, then don’t bother.

You know, it was just another presidential election.

Made of paper, mostly.

I want a to get an ESP guitar. In particular, I want this esp guitar


Not only is it pretty in basic black with a rather Les-Paul-ish single cutaway, a compensated nut, grover tuners, a set neck, and chrome hardware… it has two Seymour Duncan P-Rails pickups. This guitar will be the most versatile electric guitar ever devised, able to play as single-coil (rails), P-90s (soapbar) or Humbucker-style pickups. The Duncans definitely have my attention. So far, I’ve liked every Duncan pickup I’ve played through. Those guys make amazing stuff.

Now that there is a guitar pre-wired for P-Rails (SHPR-1) I really want it. I guess I had better start saving some money. Not a lot of money, though. It’s not nearly as expensive as I thought it would be. I’m so tempted to buy one on credit.

Sweetness.

This has been a week of culinary oddities and enhancements.

I have had my first experience with bacon salt. It’s actually pretty good. Hard to believe it’s entirely vegetarian, kosher, et al. Not only did I finally get to try it (due to Doug T’s birthday) but I find that my local grocery store (Jewell/Osco) has it on the shelves. I guess the novelty is dying off as the practicality kicks in. How strange to have something with no meat in it that tastes like meat.

The less odd bit is that I’ve had a windfall of peppers. We made some chili this week for the church fall festival. To ensure it was edible by normal humans, Libby made it. I remembered a little can of La Preferida mild jalapenos, but didn’t find it in the store. I got a larger can instead. Whereas the little can added pepper flavor without heat (wimps!) the big can was good and hot. We left it out of the chili, but we opened the can so we had to refrigerate the chilis & carrots.

At the church event, a friend gave me some “super chilis” — little tiny, very hot, green peppers. I ate one of them on the spot, but the rest were destined to be ingredients.

Today I was grinding up peppers for a mix my wife likes, and decided to try reconstituting some of the dried ones (Koss suggested it). That Ancho really does taste like a smoky raisin. It’s so yummy, but you have to add something with heat. I like adding arbol and/or cayenne. A favorite powder recipe involves grinding 10 arbol for every ancho (along with onion power, garlic powder, ground mustard, and ginger). Now I have some reconstituted Ancho, Arbol, and New Mexico chilis. Hmmm.

I tossed the super chilis, reconstituted chilis, and super chilis in a pot, cooked them up, and nailed them with the immersion blender. The result has a nice chocolate color and a great consistency. It tastes great. It’s true that there is a strong salt and vinegar component, but it doesn’t kill the flavor of the chilis. The heat comes in a little late. Personally, I can eat this stuff with a spoon. It’s not killer hot, but it’s yummy.

Libby thinks that some papaya or pineapple and lime and a bit of allspice would make this a pretty good jerk sauce, which is plausible. I think we’d have to kick up the heat, too. Maybe I should get a bunch of scotch bonnet (habenero) peppers and try to make such a thing.

For now, I have a batch of pepper powder, a hot sauce, and a little can of bacon salt. Time to go and get something to pour it on.