American Beer
Thursday, May 15, 2008 - 09:12 AM
Thanks to the growth in micro-breweries and craft brewing, the rest of the world is starting to notice that American beer doesn’t suck anymore. Okay, those beers still suck, but there’s now more to American beer than those beers.
On a side note: It’s mentioned in passing, but I’m glad that I’m not the only one who’s not into the recent trend of “super hoppy” beers:
But the super-hoppy beer trend has its detractors, even among some American brewers. “Can you imagine a chef saying, ‘This is the saltiest stew you’ve ever tried, and you’re not a real man if you don’t like it?’ That’s what some of these breweries are doing,” says Garrett Oliver, brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery in New York.
Don’t get me wrong, I like hoppy beers. But too much is too much. It seems in the past few years there’s been a race to the bottom to see who can make the hoppiest beer.
Some speculate that the recent hop shortage will put an end to this trend as brewers find other ways to experiment with their recipes. One can only hope.
I Want One
Thursday, May 15, 2008 - 08:17 AM
This is the stuff of science fiction come to life. A pilot from Switzerland, Yves Rossy, built a jet powered wing that straps to his back. This is, perhaps, the most awesome thing I’ve ever seen. He calls himself Fusion Man.
Here is an AP account of one of his demonstration flights.
Woohoo!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 - 09:22 AM
I managed to miss this yesterday, but I’ve got a good idea of what I’m going to be doing when I get home tonight: WiiWare finally launches in North America.
More Buildings About Songs and Food?
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 - 08:00 AM
While I wish he would put out a new album and go on tour again (it’s been, what, 4 years since he toured?), at least David Byrne has been busy. He’s converted an entire building into a giant musical instrument.
Unfortunately, it appears that it is only on display until August, and I don’t have any plans on going to New York this summer (and unexpected trips aren’t really in my budget right now), so I guess I’ll miss it. Too bad.
Yet Another Switcher
Monday, May 05, 2008 - 09:06 AM
Much attention is given to “switchers” in the Mac journalism front (and even in general “tech” journalism). I think this one deserves attention, however, because it’s from the perspective of not an average user (or, commonly for these types of articles, a tech journalist), but from a programmer. He digs into the under-the-hood stuff to explain why he, as a programmer, switched to OS X from Windows. And, he doesn’t get bogged down in any of the stupid quasi-religious/political/emotional B.S. that usually surrounds platform choice. He just lays out the facts surrounding his decision.
Part one is here:
Part two is here:
I think this quote sums things up nicely:
There might not be as much third-party software for Mac OS X as there is for Windows… , but the quality of the applications is a great deal better. Third-party developers on Mac OS X strive to make applications that work in a way that’s consistent with the OS itself, with first-party applications, and even with each other.
Of course, the article goes into quite a bit of depth as to the reasons why that is, but (to me, anyway) that seems to be the crux what he’s getting at.