Archive for June, 2007

Happy 30th Birthday To The Apple II!

Tuesday, June 5th, 2007

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It was June 5, 1977 that Apple released the Apple II for retail sale.

The first Apple II computers went on sale on June 5, 1977 with a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor running at 1 MHz, 4 KB of RAM, an audio cassette interface for loading programs and storing data, and the Integer BASIC programming language built into the ROMs. The video controller displayed 24 lines by 40 columns of upper-case-only text on the screen, with NTSC composite video output suitable for display on a monitor, or on a TV set by way of an RF modulator. The original retail price of the computer was US$1298 (with 4 KB of RAM) and US$2638 (with the maximum 48 KB of RAM). To reflect the computer’s color graphics capability, the Apple logo on the casing was represented using rainbow stripes,[1] which remained a part of Apple’s corporate logo until early 1998.

Wow; 4 KB of RAM standard. Another $1,340 to max it out to 48 KB!

Just for a fun comparison, that same $2,638 could buy you a brand spankin’ new 24″ iMac with 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB SDRAM, a 250GB hard drive, Bluetooth and AirPort wireless built-in, a SuperDrive 8X, iWork, a wireless keyboard & Mighty Mouse, and all of the bundled software that comes with the iMac. After all of that, you’d still have an extra $75 to take your sweetie out for dinner.

We’ve come a long way, baby!

The Cows-Line?

Monday, June 4th, 2007

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Here’s a slightly funny photo; newborn calves hanging on a fence! Get it? Cows-Line — Clothes-Line! (ok, bad joke.) And in case you’re wondering, the calves are not dead; they are just fine.

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Cluster Ballooning

Sunday, June 3rd, 2007

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When I first saw a post about this over at Neatorama, my first thought was a scene in the ancient movie “The Red Balloon”, where the kid floats away at the end hanging from a bunch of balloons. I may have only seen it once in primary school, but because the images from the movie are so persistent in my mind, it must’ve been shown multiple times.

John Ninomiya, who runs the www.clusterballoon.org website, says that same scene was what inspired a lifetime of ballooning for him, and his pioneering work in the field of cluster ballooning. According to Ninomiya, he’s one of six people in the world doing this, and the only guy in North America. And it looks like he’ll be flying at the Great Plains Balloon Race, right here in Sioux Falls, SD, next weekend! (June 8-10) That would be worth getting up at Oh-dark-thirty in the morning to go watch!

From a quick perusal of his site, it looks like the technology of the sport hasn’t advanced much since Larry Walters’ dramatic attempt in 1982. (was it that long ago? Man, I feel old!) Ninomiya uses standard — but very large — vinyl balloons for this, along with a harness designed for paragliders & other off-the-rack gear. Guess a pioneer has to make do with what’s available and custom fabricate the rest. It does look like Ninomiya takes a bit more of a scientific approach to it than Walters did; he carries ballast up with him to help control ascent & descent, and has a better method of loosing balloons (and reducing lift) than Walters and his pellet gun.

What Kind Of Meat Is That Anyway?

Saturday, June 2nd, 2007

I’d seen ads on TV about the 99 cent Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches at Wendy’s, and today I decided to try one on for size. And… Hmmm… What to say about this?

My first bite into it revealed that it’s certainly not a breast filet; all processed meat inside. But the thing that got me was the color of the meat. Not white, as you’d expect with breast meat. Not brownish, as you’d expect with thigh meat. But pink. Yup. Pink.

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The photo might not do it justice; best I could do on short notice. But it was noticeably pink. I suppose they could say that it was the buffalo sauce that colored it that way, but it looked a bit funny to me. It tasted alright — nicely spicy! — which isn’t too surprising, but that color just kinda sticks in my mind. And not in a good way.

I checked the Wendy’s website, and there is full nutritional(?) information for the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich there: 15 flippin’ grams of fat in each sandwich! Yikes! That and the following…

Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast with Rib Meat, Water, Seasoning (modified corn starch, sodium diacetate, salt, sodium phosphates, citric acid, soybean oil, and natural flavor), Flavor [flavoring, salt, gum acacia, vinegar solids, paprika, citric acid, contains less than 2% (cayenne pepper seeds and skins, sodium diacetate, modified corn starch, corn syrup solids, autolyzed yeast extract, tocopherol)]. BREADED WITH: Wheat Flour, Bleached Wheat Flour, Water, Salt, Modified Corn Starch, Yellow Corn Flour, Leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate), Corn Maltodextrin, Dextrose, Garlic Powder, Spices, Natural Flavor, Yeast, Extractives of Paprika, Soybean Oil and Onion Powder. Breading set in vegetable oil. CONTAINS: WHEAT.

So, between the fat content and that color thing, I doubt I’ll be having another any time soon.