This is a recently declassified video of the super secret SR-71 Blackbird before it was officially named the SR-71 Blackbird. Back then, it was the A-12 and it looks shiny to me!
via Gizmodo
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Musings
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Operation OXCART
Telescopic eye implants
Sounds like major progress is being made in the field of vision repair and restauration. I wonder what kinds of awesome things we’ll have in our lifetimes! Someday, maybe, we’ll be able to see through things…maybe? In any event, this is pretty awesome for folks who know someone with Macular Degeneration.
In the works for well over a year, and approved by the FDA a couple days ago, VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies’ implantable miniature telescope is intended for patients over 75 years of age who are suffering from end-stage macular degeneration.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/08/telescopic-eye-implant-approved-by-the-fda/
Bread in the Big Green Egg
A couple of days ago I tried once again to make bread in the Big Green Egg. For a recipe, I used my traditional easy recipe which is basically:
- 4 Cups AP flour
- 1 3/4 cups water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
- 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast (1 packet)
Mix it all together, then knead until the dough feels right, let it rise once for about an hour. Then shape it and let it rise again.
While this bread won’t win any awards (I don’t think), it works for me!
At any rate, I made the dough and dusted it with flour during the 2nd rise. With about 30 minutes to go, I lit the Big Green Egg and built a hearth that was 2 half-bricks thick in order to cook the bread directly on the brick. I wanted the BGE to get up to 550F but because of the hearth and the fact that I probably had too much ash on the bottom, it never got above 400F. I put the bread on the hearth and misted it with water. After roughly 45 minutes, the bread was ready.
I think the bread came out really well but it tasted very smoky. I’m not really sure what I can do about the smoke flavor…it’s a byproduct of the charcoal. Next time I bake, I’ll put it in a dutch oven and see how that goes.
Sorry, I don’t have any pictures this time. The bread looked pretty good too!
More to come, and with pictures next time!
Big Green Egg
No
offense to other wives,but my wife is the best! This father’s day (my first), she gifted me the most amazing, awesome, mouth-watering grill in the world, the Big Green Egg.
This thing is amazing and I plan to post a log of most of our cooking here.
On its debut I baked bread, cooked a whole chicken, and grilled steaks, kebabs, and sausages, and salmon for the baby. What a day!
If you don’t know the Big Green Egg, it is a (heavy, 140 pound) ceramic grill and smoker that runs off of hardwood lump charcoal. With very little charcoal, this puppy is able to burn for hours. The temperature is easily adjustable by setting the vents (on top and bottom) to allow or restrict the airflow inside and it gets very hot – up to 750 degrees Fahrenheit or more! Within 10 minutes of lighting the coals, my egg was at 600F!
The foods thus far produced by my Egg have been fantastic. Juicy, perfectly seared, and visually appealing too!
In the near future, I’ll be building a table for the Egg so look forward to that and more cooking adventures!
Big Ten Tuition Cost Comparison
Since I work at a Big Ten university, I was curious and wanted to know how much each university charged for a year of schooling.
The results are in the graph below and represent published figures from each university’s website. Please note that these numbers only represent what they call “Tuition and Fees” and don’t include any room and board, meal plans, book, or anything else. The sources I used to come up with this graph are listed below as well.
While most of the universities did publish their tuition cost, Northwestern University stood out in that their price was not transparent. I did a rough estimate for only their tuition for 3 quarters and did not include any other fees, so this number is on the very low end of their spectrum.
Also, note that not all universities had posted their tuition for 2010-2011 yet, so some of them still have the 2009-2010 cost. The tuition year is show in ()’s.
The most expensive university in the Big Ten is Northwestern University which costs roughly $35,000 for 1 year of education plus all kinds of fees for residents and non-residents alike.
The least expensive university in the Big Ten is Iowa, which costs roughly $7,000 for residents.
The least expensive university in the Big Ten for out-of-town students is Minnesota which costs a little under $22,000 per year.
The sources I used for these figures:
http://admissions.illinois.edu/cost/tuition_freshman.html
http://www.indiana.edu/~iuadmit/cost/tuition.shtml
http://www.uiowa.edu/facts/tuition/index.htm
http://www.finaid.umich.edu/Financial_Aid_Basics/cost.asp
http://admissions.msu.edu/finances/tuition.asp
http://www.irr.umn.edu/tuition/
http://www.northwestern.edu/sfs/tuition/undergrad_tuition.html
http://undergrad.osu.edu/costs.html
http://www.psu.edu/studentaid/costs/est_costs.shtml?reload
http://www.purdue.edu/futureboilermaker/costs/tuitionfees.html
http://www.admissions.wisc.edu/costs.php