Tomb Raider Anniversary Sony PSP Eidos Teen B

I have been on the verge of giving up on my PSP ever since starting Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters. To say that the controls suck is a bit of an understatement. Kooshmoose, who is a total R&C fanboy, says it took about two thirds of the game for him to get used to it. In my book that equates to between sucks and unplayable.

Apparently, however, it is not my fault or the fault of my PSP. Otherwise how can you explain how the controls on Tomb Raider Anniversary took me about two thirds of a second to get used to. I didn't even play the mansion level, I just launched into the game, and it just works.

The game is, of course, a re-hash of the original, but since I never finished the original it will be "new to me". They've added some cinematics and a bit more level to make it a better playing experience, and bumped up the quality (though not too much on the PSP, since it is a PSP). I'm looking forward to playing more than the first few minutes, and may actually finish this one (unlike the aforementioned R&C:SM that I just couldn't take anymore).

Here's a great place to start:

With moderating your consumption. You can dramatically reduce the size of your footstep on the planet just by making smarter choices in the things you buy and the amount your household uses. It's not something you have to do all at once: just commit to steady, incremental change. Small steps become big journeys over time.

[ Lighter Footstep - The Dirty Dozen: 12 Products You Should Avoid ]

Over the past couple of years Yaty and I have shifted much of our purchasing in the direction highlighted in this article, and none of it has been difficult.

Plastic-wise this article should have pointed out that you need to see what plastic is recycled in your area, for example #5 isn't shown to leech BPA's and isn't Styrofoam (#6 PS) but in our area #5 isn't recycled so we avoid it. Odd that #1 isn't on their list when it seems to be the most easily recycled and hasn't shown any BPA leeching, as far as my research has indicated...

It occurred to me recently to check what the dryer sheets were made of, now I know and it's something else to no longer consume. I think I prefer the Mrs Meyer's liquid fabric softener anyway, much "yummier" flavors...

Plastic Utensils, oddly enough, are tough to avoid. There don't seem to be any other options when it comes to disposable utensils except for chop sticks, and non-Asian restaurants don't tend to have chop sticks. I've tried to figure out how to get take out without utensils, napkins, sauces I won't use, etc. but they tend to be in a groove where each bag gets the same thing, and they'll just throw it in there without thinking.

Cleaning-wise I just switched to vinegar (props to Liam and Holli) with a touch of oil so it's not so vinegar-stinky, and in some cases that even works better than the chemical cleaners.

Maybe it all seems a bit extreme, but it all comes down to sustainability (unless you don't care about your grandchildren or grand-nieces and grand-nephews...)

how i'm skinned

Clockwork Orange w/Vista Substyle by vStyler

Stardock is pleased to officially announce that the beta of WindowBlinds 6 is now available for users of Object Desktop. WindowBlinds 6 represents a whole new generation of Windows skinning with advanced new features such as animation overlays, blur glass effects on both Windows Vista and Windows XP, user created sub-styles, full font control, explorer backgrounds, complete Windows Vista skinning, faster performance, and much more!

[ Stardock News: WindowBlinds 6 Beta Released ]

I haven't used WindowBlinds since I upgraded to Vista, WB5.5 just didn't work well enough for me and I actually was a bit down on the WindowBlinds due to it's poor handling of Vista. Well Stardock, please forgive me, 'cause you guys are back!

WindowBlinds 6 beta works tremendously better than WB5.5 did on my Vista Laptop, and I'm back to messing with the general look and feel of my OS on a regular basis. I'm hoping that soon it will be clear which skins have made sure that they work well on Vista, with all the pretty trimmings I've been used to on Aero, but for now I'm just happy to be able to "paint the walls" whenever I want.

Update: I should mention that it wouldn't install happy-happy at first, and I had to follow the guidelines here and then reboot twice before it would work. But that's what "beta" means, right?

Is Barak Obama "black enough"?

She disputed the notion that Obama's upbringing in Hawaii was much different than hers in Chicago's predominantly black South Side.

"We are not that far apart," she told the Sun-Times. "He was raised in his grandmother's home, and his grandmother is from Kansas, eating tuna with pickles in it. The same conversations that we had around my kitchen table, we have at her house on Christmas. We are not that far apart. It's just that it feels like people have benefitted from us feeling and believing that we are far apart."

[ Forum Puts Obama's Heritage in Focus | The Trail | washingtonpost.com ]

Ah, so you can tell if the childhood tuna has pickles in it. But doesn't everyone put pickels in their tuna fish salad? Or am I "black enough"?

I saw an advert for this last night:

The Pancake Puffs™ pan is made from durable, non-stick cast iron which evenly distributes heat over each of the 7 Pancake Puffs™ wells for golden-perfect puffs every time. Simply pour your favorite batter into the wells of the pan, add your filling, turn and enjoy! Each Pancake Puffs™ pan comes complete with the Quick & Easy Recipe Book to get you started making some of the most delicious pancake puff treats you have ever tasted.

[ Pancake Puff ]

But you can't fool me, that's a Takoyaki pan! I assume that marketing an Octopus Dumpling pan to a western market requires a bit of a change in product claims. I can't find one reference to "Octopus Pancake Puffs" on the Pancake Puff website. In the commercial, and I'm assuming the video on the site, they flip the little cakes exactly how the Japanese flip their Takoyaki at a Takoyaki joint, so I'm sure they know exactly what their selling here.

Tyler Florence is a genius. Witness his Ultimate Steak Sandwich:

Gruyère bechamel:

• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole milk
• 2 cups grated Gruyère
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

Arugula mayonnaise:

• 1 bunch baby arugula
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

Steak sandwich:

• 12 soft hoagie rolls
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 pound rib-eye, finely sliced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

[ The Ultimate Steak Sandwich Recipe: Recipes: Food Network ]

And yet no where to be seen on the Applebee's new menu. Personally I've never been a fan of Applebee's, and even less so with the new acquisition, but the Tyler Florence thing did peak my interest, unfortunately what Applebee's has allowed him to style for them leaves much to be desired. If you were smart, Applebee's, you'd get him to give you some of his "Tyler's Ultimate" recipes for your menu.

And welcome to solid foods.

First Meal - Rice Cereal

Second Meal - Peaches!

Windows is certainly not the platform for doing anything with video. The second video needed some cropping, so I converted the video to something I could edit, and cropped it, but in the process it sped up the video, haven't a clue why. I'm sure there is some program I could buy that would make it all easier, but that seems stupid. Score one for Steve Jobs...

Oh, wait that's October 9th, today is National Ice Cream Sandwich Day!

Ice cream sandwiches are handheld desserts consisting of a slice of ice cream (usually vanilla), with a small layer of a soft cake-like pastry (usually chocolate) on the top and bottom.

[ Ice cream sandwich - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]

And it looks like this:

Or this:

But not this:

'cause that's just weird... (Sorry Sweetie) Unless that roll is like Hawaiian bread...

...but I didn't know about Ben Franklin:

Ben Franklin, the founding father of many important institutions in Philadelphia, a key diplomat and a framer of the US Constitution, wrote in his Autobiography concerning a non-denominational place of public preaching he helped found "so that even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a missionary to preach Mohammedanism to us, he would find a pulpit at his service."

[ History News Network ]

Interesting and well stated article, it would seem that much thought was put into freely accepting Muslims in the fabric of America even way back at the beginning.

Newsweek and the Washington Post have a little website thing called "On Faith" where they hope to provide some insight into the worlds religions, in an attempt to help us all better understand each other. This week has been all about clearing up some confusion when it comes to Islam and how the west might be confused about some aspects of it:

"On Faith" and Georgetown University asked dozens of the world's leading scholars to discuss Islam's view of violence, human rights and other religions in "Muslims Speak Out." The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life provided analysis of public opinion surveys.

[ On Faith: Muslims Speak Out ]

The good part is the commentary by Islamic scholars from around the globe. I find most of the experts to be on the mark with my understanding, and the understanding of any of my fellow Muslims that I've ever discussed these things with. If there are a good number of people who read this site, and take these opinions to heart, perhaps we can begin to mend the vast rift of misunderstanding between the communities of the world. However...

The bad part is the threaded discussions that allow any and all make comments, this clearly includes vile, evil, bigoted, hate mongers. It's rather hard for me to read the comment threads without getting quite upset. There appears to be a few people, so filled with hate, that they have nothing better to do than try and spread it through the comments. This was an honest set of questions answered by prominent scholars in an honest way only to have a torrent of hate tossed there way. There are a few who try and dispel this wave of hate, and who praise the scholars for their time and honesty, but I can only hope that those invited to share don't come back to read the comments for it truly shows the worst of us all.

Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam originated in the Middle East. As F.E. Peters shows in "The Children of Abraham," the commonalities can be striking. Muslims worship the God of Abraham, as do Christians and Jews. Islam was seen as a continuation of the Abrahamic faith tradition, not a totally new religion. Muslims recognize the biblical prophets and believe in the holiness of God's revelations to Moses (in the Torah) and Jesus (in the Gospels). Indeed, Musa (Moses), Issa (Jesus) and Mariam (Mary) are common Muslim names.

Muslims believe in Islam's five pillars, which are straightforward and simple. To become a Muslim, one need only offer the faith's basic credo, "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the prophet of God." This statement reflects the two main fundamentals of Islamic faith: belief in the one true God, which carries with it a refusal to worship anything else (not money, not career, not ego), and the crucial importance of Muhammad, God's messenger.

«snip»

The three next pillars of Islam are prayer, which is to be performed five times daily; giving alms, in the form of an annual wealth tax that helps support the poor; and fasting during daylight in the holy month of Ramadan. The fifth pillar requires that Muslims perform the pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca at least once.

We tend to equate Islam with the Arab world, but the largest Muslim communities are found in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Nigeria. Only about one in five of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims are Arabs. Islam is the second-largest religion in Europe and the third-largest in the United States.

[ Want to Understand Islam? Start Here. - washingtonpost.com ]

Greetings from Amazon.com. 

We thought you would like to know that we are preparing your items for shipment. 

«snip»

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Qty      Item                              Price  Shipping  Subtotal
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Amazon.com items (Sold by Amazon.com, LLC) :
   1     Harry Potter and the Death...   $39.00      1   $39.00

Not as excited as Kooshmoose, since I ordered super-saver shipping and Yaty gets first crack, but soon I too will know if Snape is Friend or Foe...

[ The Simpsons Movie ]

Props to Alykat