Doug-at-Large http://douglerner.com Most recent posts at Doug-at-Large posterous.com Sat, 26 May 2012 07:25:31 -0700 The easiest way to cook a potato http://douglerner.com/the-easiest-way-to-cook-a-potato http://douglerner.com/the-easiest-way-to-cook-a-potato Believe it or not, until yesterday I never cooked a potato.

But potatoes are great for a heart-healthy diet. They aren't really high in calorie, have almost no fat and have a good amount of fiber. Yet they are very satisfying. They are great for a plant-based diet.

So I spent some time searching on the Internet, and found what has to be the most drop-dead (pardon the expression) easy way to cook a potato.

It really is this simple.

1. Scrub the potato (i.e. wash it really thoroughly), but don't peel it.
2. Poke it 4 or 5 times with the tines of a fork.
3. Put the wet potato on a plate and microwave on high for 5 minutes (don't cover it). 
4. Turn it over and microwave for another 5 minutes.

Be careful, because it is VERY hot. But you have a perfectly cooked "baked potato" where the skin is firm, not soggy, but the inside is soft and moist, just like you like it. And you haven't boiled out valuable nutrients.

I couldn't believe it was that simple.

This is the potato I made yesterday. It was a good-sized medium potato weighing 200 gm, which is just 186 calories, almost no fat, and 4.4 grams of fiber.

I added some Japanese furikake to it for seasoning (that's really meant for rice, so it must look strange to my Japanese friends) but it was very tasty. Next time I think I'll top it with some salsa.

doug

Potato

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner Sat, 26 May 2012 03:27:47 -0700 Mixed greens and beans salad with ume dressing http://douglerner.com/mixed-greens-and-beans-salad-with-ume-dressin http://douglerner.com/mixed-greens-and-beans-salad-with-ume-dressin OK. I would hardly call this a "recipe" because it's too simple to make. But please understand that I am a 55 year old male and "survivalist cook" who can barely make anything. Yesterday I cooked a potato for the first time in my life, and had to look up how on the Internet.

Serves 1:
  • One individual sized package of cut lettuce with sliced bell pepper mix.
  • One cucumber (a small, thin cucumber - not a giant one like in the U.S.).
  • One medium tomato.
  • One can of mixed beans (120 gm).
  • 4 T of non-oil ume (pickled plum) dressing.

Mix everything and eat. Extremely tasty and filling. The legumes give you that "protein satisfied" feeling. Only 219 calories and much less than 10% calories from fat. Be a little cautious in your dressing selection or you can end up with something relatively high in sodium.

I've attached a photo. Looks good, doesn't it? 

doug


Photo

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner Fri, 25 May 2012 03:39:05 -0700 My heart-healthy supermarket basket http://douglerner.com/my-heart-healthy-supermarket-basket http://douglerner.com/my-heart-healthy-supermarket-basket
Photo

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner Tue, 15 May 2012 17:43:53 -0700 Cesium spikes in Tokyo Bay samples; Contamination linked to Fukushima plant; no immediate threat to health http://douglerner.com/cesium-spikes-in-tokyo-bay-samples-contaminat http://douglerner.com/cesium-spikes-in-tokyo-bay-samples-contaminat Sludge samples taken at the mouths of two major rivers emptying into Tokyo Bay showed radioactive cesium contamination linked to the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant crisis grew by 1.5 to 13 times since August, a researcher at Kinki University said Monday.

The contamination poses no immediate health risk since no seafood from Tokyo Bay has seen contamination levels exceed the government-set threshold. But close, long-term monitoring of the seabed mud is needed, said Hideo Yamazaki, professor at Kinki University's Research Institute for Science and Technology.

"Contamination is flowing into the bay from rivers, including the Edogawa River, where cities with high radiation levels like Kashiwa (in Chiba Prefecture) are located upstream," Yamazaki told The Japan Times.

"Contaminated sludge appears to be . . . accumulating on the bottom at the mouth of the rivers," he added.

Yamazaki, an expert on how radiation and chemical substances impact the environment, and his team took the samples at three locations at the mouths of the Arakawa and Edogawa rivers on April 2 following studies carried out in August.

Samples of mud pulled from 1 meter below the seabed at the sites turned up cesium contamination ranging from 7,305 to 27,213 becquerels per square meter. The August readings were between 578 and 18,242 becquerels per square meter.

Yamazaki noted a thirteenfold rise was detected in a spot where the August readings were relatively low. He said, however, the contamination does not pose a health threat, even if a child were to play in the water.

Although radioactive mud will continue to flow into the bay, the peak contamination concentrations should be within the next couple of years, considering that the half-life of cesium-134 is about two years, Yamazaki said.

"If the contamination were to spread to fish, it is possible that radioactive isotopes could accumulate when bigger fish feed on smaller ones," he said. "We're scheduled to continue our monitoring in the following years" to study such cases.

ref: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120515a4.html

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner Sun, 13 May 2012 07:57:50 -0700 A bath in the hand… http://douglerner.com/a-bath-in-the-hand http://douglerner.com/a-bath-in-the-hand

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner Fri, 11 May 2012 03:36:44 -0700 Not everything is black and white http://douglerner.com/not-everything-is-black-and-white http://douglerner.com/not-everything-is-black-and-white
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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner Thu, 10 May 2012 06:13:22 -0700 Hao went shopping but bought more than he could carry http://douglerner.com/hao-went-shopping-but-bought-more-than-he-cou http://douglerner.com/hao-went-shopping-but-bought-more-than-he-cou

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner Thu, 10 May 2012 06:13:20 -0700 After the storm http://douglerner.com/after-the-storm http://douglerner.com/after-the-storm
Photo_1 Photo_2 Photo_3 Photo_4
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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner Mon, 07 May 2012 17:33:58 -0700 'Hot spots' detected at 20 schools http://douglerner.com/hot-spots-detected-at-20-schools http://douglerner.com/hot-spots-detected-at-20-schools Kyodo

FUKUSHIMA — More than 20 schools in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, have radiative "hot spots" on their premises, a civic group said Sunday.

The finding was based on city board of education documents obtained through an information disclosure request, it said.

The board instructed elementary and junior high schools as well as nursery schools in January to check air radiation levels in side ditches, hedges and drains on their premises. Schoolyards and classrooms were excluded as the levels there have been regularly examined.

Reports submitted by each school in April showed at least 14 elementary and seven junior high as well as five nursery schools have hot spots where the cumulative annual radiation dose could reach 20 millisieverts, or more than 3.8 microsieverts per hour.

At the start of the new academic year in April, the board of education lifted a restriction that had limited students to playing in schoolyards for less than three hours per day due to the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant disaster that started last year.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner Sat, 05 May 2012 05:45:08 -0700 Tonight's super moon http://douglerner.com/tonights-super-moon http://douglerner.com/tonights-super-moon
Supermoon2

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner Sat, 05 May 2012 03:04:39 -0700 Visited the newly completed Sky Tree today - the tallest self-supporting tower in the world http://douglerner.com/visited-the-newly-completed-sky-tree-today-th http://douglerner.com/visited-the-newly-completed-sky-tree-today-th

2012-05-05_14 2012-05-05_15 2012-05-05_15 2012-05-05_15 2012-05-05_15
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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner Wed, 02 May 2012 17:54:30 -0700 Stray parakeet gives cops his address, is driven home http://douglerner.com/stray-parakeet-gives-cops-his-address-is-driv http://douglerner.com/stray-parakeet-gives-cops-his-address-is-driv YOKOHAMA — A male budgerigar, which was missing and later captured at a hotel in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, has been safely returned to its owner, after the pet parakeet told police its home address, authorities said Wednesday.

The budgerigar fled from 64-year-old woman's home in Sagamihara early Sunday morning. The pet bird was later captured at the nearby hotel after it perched on the shoulder of a male guest, according to police.

The bird was turned over to the police, which kept it in a cage.

Late Tuesday night, the budgerigar suddenly began to repeat an address, prompting the police to contact the owner, they said.

"We never thought that we could find the owner in this manner," a police officer said.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner Wed, 02 May 2012 16:40:55 -0700 Two drawbacks (so far) found in SkyDrive http://douglerner.com/two-drawbacks-so-far-found-in-skydrive http://douglerner.com/two-drawbacks-so-far-found-in-skydrive I've been trying SkyDrive and have run into two stumbling blocks so far.

Here are my questions in the SkyDrive forums and replies from Microsoft which explain the issues.

(1) Local storing of files on an iOS device

Me: I've been hunting around for some manual or feature explanations of SkyDrive for iOS but can't seem to find anything. I'd like to know some details such as, are the items all stored locally on my iPad and iPhone, or do I have to mark items I wish to save locally? Any tidbits like that.

Microsoft:  You can read features we support from the app description in appstore. We temporarily don't have Offline support on iOS. But we do cache files/photos locally on your phone once you've manually opened it. You may use that as an alternative way for offline access but it requires you to manually open each of the file you want to access.

Me:  I see. 

I would just like to point out that this makes dealing with large-ish files in iOS quite awkward in comparison to, say, DropBox. In DropBox you mark as "favorite" those files you wish to store locally, and it downloads them in the background.

For example, I created a family slideshow yesterday - a movie that is about 180 MB in size. In DropBox I marked it as favorite and eventually it downloaded and I was able to view it in DropBox in airplane mode. But I wasn't able to do this in SkyDrive. In fact, I wasn't able to watch the whole movie in SkyDrive because the streaming was poor and I could never get past the first 15 seconds of the 6 minute movie.

I hope this is improved sometime.

(2) Search doesn't work

Me:  Search doesn't seem to work. I created a test Doc file via the web interface in a folder, and in the doc I wrote: To whom it may concern. And I had a sentence in my test document: This may concern you.

But if I try to search documents for the word "concern" it keeps coming up with no results.

Is this still buggy? Or does it take a long time to index? Are others experiencing this?

Microsoft:  Hi Doug,

 

Please be informed that the search function in SkyDrive only supports files that are in .doc, .docx, .ppt, .pptx, .xls, and .xlsx formats. Also, you cannot use the contents within each documents when searching. You have to search for the name of the document instead.

 

Thank you.

Me:  Search in SkyDrive cannot search the contents of documents created in SkyDrive? :)

Hmm...

OK. Thanks.

doug

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner Sun, 29 Apr 2012 20:36:44 -0700 Over 2,000 quakes greater than magnitude 4 since 3/11/11 http://douglerner.com/over-2000-quakes-greater-than-magnitude-4-sin http://douglerner.com/over-2000-quakes-greater-than-magnitude-4-sin
Over2000

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner Sun, 29 Apr 2012 03:35:41 -0700 Earthquake alert on my iPhone http://douglerner.com/earthquake-alert-on-my-iphone http://douglerner.com/earthquake-alert-on-my-iphone But the alarm came simultaneous with the quake, so yes, thank you for letting me know my house is strongly shaking.

Photo

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:12:46 -0700 A 5 minute look at SkyDrive http://douglerner.com/a-5-minute-look-at-skydrive http://douglerner.com/a-5-minute-look-at-skydrive If you know DropBox, you know SkyDrive. In my 5 minutes cursory look at SkyDrive I can see it being a real challenger for DropBox. Or another way of looking at it is, why not have both?

Conceptually they work the same way. But there are some immediate advantages to SkyDrive as well. For one thing, there is more free space (7 GB to start with, instead of 2 GB). And you can more selectively control sharing. While I hear this is/has changed in DropBox, their permissions has always been very rough. Basically giving somebody shared access to a DropBox folder lets the other person control the folder's contents, and all the sub-folders and files therein. SkyDrive has more selective settings it seems.

SkyDrive also lets you create Word and other Office documents via the web, much like Google Docs. I haven't checked to see if there is collaborative editing or not.

There are also search features (though it was not able to find a word in a test Word doc I created via the web UI). Photos uploaded can also be automatically resized, which is nice when sharing. That worked great from my iPhone.

Google is also coming out with Google Drive, but (1) it's not ready for me yet when I try to access and (2) the iOS apps are not available as of this writing. But I was able to immediately download and use the iPhone app for SkyDrive (which synced to my iPad) and it works just fine on both. So Microsoft has beaten Google out the door on this one.
I see a lot to like and not really anything to dislike about SkyDrive in a first test drive, except the search didn't work on the web. Of course I never get search to work in DropBox either, so they are even on that score so far.

This is just a superficial look so far, but I say why not go for it and get some more cloud storage. I mean, why not?

doug

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:55:59 -0700 It sure woke me up http://douglerner.com/it-sure-woke-me-up http://douglerner.com/it-sure-woke-me-up
Tokyo Earthquake 2012: 5.5-Magnitude Quake Reportedly Rattles Japan Capital
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/24/tokyo-earthquake-2012_n_1450152.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:15:39 -0700 Walmart http://douglerner.com/walmart http://douglerner.com/walmart I am shocked, shocked to learn that Walmart could have used bribery in Mexico to quickly expand its operations. And here whenever I've thought of Walmart, the first things to come to mind have been high ethical standards and good citizenship. What next?

doug

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:25:27 -0700 Fukushima air to stay radioactive in 2022 http://douglerner.com/fukushima-air-to-stay-radioactive-in-2022 http://douglerner.com/fukushima-air-to-stay-radioactive-in-2022 FUKUSHIMA — A decade from now, airborne radiation levels in some parts of Fukushima Prefecture are still expected to be dangerous at above 50 millisieverts a year, a government report says.

Nn20120424a3a

The report, which contains projections through March 2032, was presented by trade minister Yukio Edano Sunday to leaders of Futaba, one of the towns that host the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant.

The report includes radiation forecasts for 2012 to 2014, and for 2017, 2022 and 2032, based on the results of monitoring in November last year. It was compiled to help municipalities draw up recovery and repopulation programs for the nuclear disaster.

The forecasts do not take into account experimental decontamination efforts.

Earlier this month, the government designated areas where annual radiation dosage exceeds 50 millisieverts as those likely to remain off-limits to evacuees in the near term.

The report said that annual radiation levels in March 2022 will probably exceed 50 millisieverts in some of the areas, including Futaba and Okuma, the other town that hosts the radiation-leaking plant.

In another meeting between the central and local governments, Reconstruction Minister Tatsuo Hirano presented a draft policy for reviving Fukushima that is based on a special reconstruction law that took force in March.

The draft said the central government will provide fiscal support to improve living conditions and revive the regional economy and communities.

The government plans to give Cabinet approval to the policy as early as May.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner Sun, 22 Apr 2012 21:57:48 -0700 No explanation was really needed... http://douglerner.com/no-explanation-was-really-needed http://douglerner.com/no-explanation-was-really-needed やっぱり説明は要らないのに・・・

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/984539/doug20110105.jpg http://posterous.com/users/YSdiSMDVFq9 Doug Lerner douglerner Doug Lerner