Categories
Geek

Stories on "Global Nerdy"

Over at Global Nerdy, the tech blog that my buddy George and I write, we’ve got a motto:


Photo courtesy of Amber Mac.

And as people from the internet, we’ve got the latest news on what’s going on. For example:

  • More Thoughts on OpenJDK: “Watching these implications unfold is fascinating. I guess the bottom line is that Java really is free in the sense of freedom: the freedom to expand the platform into places Sun alone couldn’t have taken it. With that kind of freedom to move, who knows what the future holds.”
  • Rural Broadband: Rural areas are generally underserved by the big access providers, but that doesn’t mean that country folk have been left out of the loop.
  • iPod Joins the Mile High Club: Apple and a number of airlines are promising iPod docks in plane seats that let you charge your iPod and view your iPod videos on the seat-back entertainment system.
  • Zune Clearance Sale: All Links Must Go! George’s collection of links about the personal media player we love to hate.
  • Zune, Meet Vista. Vista, Meet Zune… “Yeah, I know. Vista’s beta, and I’m sure this incompatibility was mentione somewhere in the documentation, but come on! How hard would it have been to foresee someone trying to install Zune software on their beta copy of Vista? Would some public information about an upgrade plan have killed Microsoft?”
  • Paul Tyma’s Tips for Startups: A laundry list of tips from Google senior engineer Paul Tyma for the one- or two-person startup hoping to make it.
  • More Advice for Entrepreneurs: Get Big Cheap! “Don’t waste expensive development on untested ideas, and don’t let a fat marketing budget mask a weak value proposition. If instead you tinker your way to scalable organic growth, you’ll have a valuable business on your hands.”
  • Cuban Was Right! Anyone who invests in a company I work for is likely to be right, don’t you know. But seriously, he was right about Google setting aside some cash to deal with YouTube’s copyright issues.
  • Zune’s Disastrous CNN Appearance: There used to be a time when a Microsoft product getting featured on CNN would be the death knell for the comptetition. These days, it’s a hilarious train wreck.
  • New Word: “Podenfreude”! It’s the hot new word of the month! Use it in everyday conversation! You’ll be the hit of the party!
  • Internet Ads Cross the $4 Billion Mark. This blog makes the equivalent of a Nintendo Wii every month from advertising. With any luck, I’ll be making the equivalent of a PlayStation 3 every month!
Categories
It Happened to Me

Chicken Fried Steak at Mama Dip’s

The Ginger Ninja and I spent the weekend in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where we attended a family friend’s wedding on Sunday. The day before, we toured about town with her college buddy Liz, and we had lunch at Mama Dip’s, a restaurant specializing in good old-fashioned American country cooking. Here I am outside Mama Dip’s:

Joey deVilla poses with the sign outside Mama Dip's restaurant, Chapel Hill, NC.

You may have heard of the movie Fried Green Tomatoes (which is based on the book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, but you haven’t lived until you’ve tasted one. The dish is made of green tomato slices, which are then battered and fried. Here’s one that I had as an appetizer:

Fried green tomato at Mama Dip's, Chapel Hill, NC.

I rarely get a chance to eat one of my favourite southern dishes: good old chicken fried steak (a.k.a. country fried steak). If you’ve never heard of this unhealthy-but-yummy dish, it’s a thin slice of beef steak, pounded until tender and then breaded and pan-fried like chicken, then smothered in gravy. Here’s what my meal looked like:

Chicken fried steak with macaroni and cheese and turnip greens at Mama Dip's, Chapel Hill, NC.

Dishes at Mama Dip’s come with your choice of sides; I went with macaroni and cheese, turnip greens and biscuits. Let’s get another look at my plate:

Chicken fried steak with macaroni and cheese and turnip greens at Mama Dip's, Chapel Hill, NC.

Oh, yeah, that’s the good stuff.

And for dessert: chocolate pecan pie with a scoop of ice cream:

Fried green tomato at Mama Dip's, Chapel Hill, NC.

I also helped Wendy finish off her dessert, which was Mama Dip’s banana pudding.

It was so good that we ended up there the next day, bringing along Wendy’s parents and aunt and uncle. We got to sample the corn bread, sweet potato fries, fried okra and fudge pudding. All terribly unhealthy, all great tasting. If you’re ever in Chapel Hill, go to Mama Dip’s!

I think I’ll be atoning for this one at the gym for some time.

Categories
Uncategorized

"Y – M – C – A…"

I went to Catholic school for 8 years, and never did this stunt occur to me. Clearly my imagination’s not as good as I think:


Photo courtesy of Miss Fipi Lele and bonaldi

Sacrelicious!

Categories
Uncategorized

New Simpsons Movie Trailer

It’s a teaser trailer, so it doesn’t show anything substantial. It relies on the often-used “let’s hurt Homer as much as we can” gag…

…which is done much better in the classic 2nd-season episode, Bart the Daredevil:

Hopefully, the movie’s flavour will be more like the snippets shown at ComicCon earlier this year.

Categories
It Happened to Me

Fried Green Tomato

Here’s a preview of an upcoming post — a photo of the appetizer for my lunch on Saturday, a fried green tomato at Mama Dip’s Traditional Country Cooking Restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. These things are delicious!

Fried green tomato at Mama Dip's, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Southern cooking will probably kill me slowly, but I’m not in a hurry. More photos to come later today!

Categories
Geek

Meanwhile, at Global Nerdy…

There’s always lots of tech news over at Global Nerdy, the tech blog that me and my friend George write, and we’ve got some interesting surprises in store. Plus, it’s easier on the eyes than that butt-ugly Valleywag since its redesign.

Categories
It Happened to Me

I’m Back Home and Blog Entries are Forthcoming

My schedule’s been rather busy for the past week, what with flying down to San Jose last Monday and then taking the early bird flight on Friday from San Jose to Raleigh to attend a wedding in Chapel Hill, and then back to Accordion City last night. I’m going to be knee-deep in Star Alliance points from this trip.

As I said in the title, blog entries are forthcoming. Let me get some real work done, and then I’ll start posting.