Archive for the ‘General Gubbins’ Category
Snow
Posted by: Dav in General Gubbins on February 6th, 2010
This is published a couple of week month’s late, but I just tripped over my notes I made sat on a park and ride bus after this winter’s snow had been with us for a few days.
Ah, snow. Like it or loathe it, it’s impossible to ignore it.
England isn’t used to snow in any real quantity, which is why these past couple of weeks have been so newsworthy.
Apart from my Scandinavian car not coping with ice as well as I’d prefer, I’ve been lucky enough to not be significantly inconvenienced by it all. Things are just different, Being Prepared helps more than ever, driving to work just takes 3 times as long and you can’t always rely on shopping at the last minute.
Parliament Street
But that’s not a bad thing, with roads, rails and runways all suffering from the snow, travel suddenly becomes hugely more valuable. When driving, you have to take your time to be aware of the road and your car’s reactions to it. We’re all used to being able to quickly go wherever we want, whenever we want, so this is an incentive to be aware of, and enjoy our surroundings more.
If I lived nearer the Wolds, I’d be considering getting some skis for a bit of fun, the snow round my home is perfect, just need a slope 
The thick blanket of snow on the fields is refreshingly like a canvas, showing what and who has passed by, the low winter sun picking out in orange contrast all the foot, tyre and hoof prints left on the lane as the day’s business goes past. Only to be filled in after darkness and snow falls anew, ready for the next days activity.
Chilly Busking
Most people round the city centre seemed to be enjoying themselves, from the kids throwing snowballs at each other and the world in general by the fountain in the middle to the slightly bonkers but very good busker by the Minster, effortlessly playing the piano with gloves on in the subzero wind.
LCD Monitor and HD PVR for the watching of digital TV
Posted by: Dav in General Gubbins on December 25th, 2009
As this is the third time I’ve been asked this question in as many weeks, this is my answer to “What should I get to upgrade my old 14″ CRT television set now that Digital exists?”
Unless you’re in the market for a large television, I recommend a reasonably large LCD monitor instead, their LCD panels tend to be much higher quality than an LCD TV and are also generally cheaper because they don’t have unnecessary rubbish inside like TV tuners and remote control receivers. Why these are unnecessary will be introduced in just a moment.
The choice of monitor should be limited to those with a native resolution of 1920×1080, or just “1080p” in current parlance, it allows you to use the same device to watch TV, play XBox and run your computer though and generally saves space, money and the planet. This year has seen the release of a lot of 21.5″ LCD panels that run at this resolution, but I’d pick one with a larger pixel size because you’ll be watching it from a few feet away.
These are a few options in various sizes:
Watching digital TV without the help of a Personal Video Recorder (PVR) is missing out on some major opportunities, such as recording two channels at once whilst watching a third, pausing live TV whilst you answer the [phone/oven/small child], and series link recording. Series Link is one of the most misunderstood techologies out at the moment and people usually expect miracles, even though they didn’t when they used VHS or DVD recorders. The implementation also varies between different Manufacturers, so you must read and understand how it does it.
Anyway, the current PVR I recommend is the Topfield TF5810. As long as the PVR of your choice has an HDMI output and contains a function called an ‘upsizer’ which just takes normal TV and scales it up to fill a HighDef screen, you’re good. Be careful, upsizing is a generally a software function and a lot of them are of an unwatchably low quality.
Unlike the Humax 9200T that I’ve been happy with for years, the Topfield’s menu system is fast to use, its USB download to computer function doesn’t crash it and, most importantly, the software is customisable. Which means that the community supplies user interface improvements way faster than the manufacturer can. http://www.toppy.org.uk/ is the place to start looking, but if you just get the addon (or TAP as they’re called) called MyStuff you won’t go far wrong. Download MyStuff.
Finally, don’t forget a good quality spare HDMI cable to connect things to the monitor with:
This setup isn’t for everybody because monitors generally don’t have as many video inputs as TVs, neither are they as large, but this article is just to point my friends and family towards and they can cope with moving a plug when they want to change inputs over
Edit:
I’ve been reminded that I forgot sound. In which case, pick one of these monitors with built in A/V switches and tinny little speakers:
Tojiro Senkou Santoku
Posted by: Dav in Food, General Gubbins on December 7th, 2009
I’ve had a post about kitchen knives in my website’s drafts file for a little over 18 months now, but it’s been hard to knock it into a sensible shape. I’ll probably follow up with one about whetstones nearer Christmas sometime, keeping your knives sharp makes the world of difference.
For now, however, I’m going to contain myself into a bit of a rave about my latest toy. It’s one of those tools that’s going to have to last my lifetime, but I’ve recently succumbed to temptation and treated myself to a Santoku, made from Damascus folded steel by Tojiro.
After deciding which knife to get, there was a lot of shopping around to be done. It turns out that the cheapest place was York’s very own Barnitts! Whilst they had to order it in especially for me (“these don’t exactly fly off the shelves you know”), it was still £45 cheaper than the RRP. This isn’t exactly an impulse buy, I don’t part with that much money at all easily, so being an Engineer, I made sure the specification was right before I chose my product
Unlike its cheaper counterparts from, say, QVC shopping channel, the pattern isn’t so much painted onto the blade as reflected out from inside it. Beautiful stuff.
Tojiro 180mm Santoku
It wasn’t just the appearance that I chose this material for the blade, however,I wanted steel that was malleable enough to be able to be sharpened but hard enough to keep its edge once it got it, anything over 60 on the Rockwell scale would do. I also wanted a sensible grip on the handle. I’ve tried a few other knives, IO Shen were good, but I felt were edged out by Tojiro. Despite their innovative sharpening gadgetry and the genius marketing man that is Mr Global, Min, I don’t rate Global’s style at all (although they sell a huge volume of good quality knives to Western Europe, so I’m in the minority with this opinion).
The weight is perfect for me, it’s heavy enough to have a heft of its own and unlike my French knives, the balance is slightly forward of the handle which makes my life easier. The shape of the blade is a great compromise between piercing, chopping and rocking whilst still being thick enough for me to rest my knuckles against whilst using (big hands aren’t always a bonus). Whilst I will still use my 6 and 8 inch Sabatier cooks knives, it’s immediately clear why this shape of blade outsells all others in Japan.
I thought I’d used sharp knives before, but Oh My God. I chopped a stir fry this evening and I eventually had to be told me to stop giggling before I cut myself. Not a chance with that knife, it was completely controlled. I wasn’t bored enough to make a video of it, but this will cut through a ripe tomato, perfectly, under its own action alone. No need to put the point through the skin and cut back through it, or to draw the cutting edge across the skin like a serrated edge.
It literally cut through vegetables as if they weren’t there. Now I begin to underst how TV chefs do their rapid fire showing off action, they use properly sharp knives.
