JPDavidson.com

Researcher releases adorable baby robot in central park -will the brainless automaton be able to depend on the kindness of strangers to reach its destination?  Let’s watch!

After a successful attempt at homemade ginger beer syrup I’ve decided to go one step further and try fermenting my own bubbles with yeast!  Here’s the step-by-step:

Wash out a standard 2-litre pop bottle - this is our brewing vessle.

 Add 3 cups of the aforementioned ginger beer syrup

Add a pinch of baker’s yeast

(although I’m told champagne yeast yields the best results)

 Top up with water, leaving about an inch of head space.

Cap tightly and leave in a warmish place (like on top of the fridge) for 2-3 days.

You’ll know it’s done when the bottle is rock-hard.  Check it frequently and place in the fridge as soon as it’s done or risk a gingery explosion (fermentation slows to a crawl in the fridge).  It’s normal for the finished product to have a cloudy sediment a the bottom - just pour gently to avoid it and consider tossing the last inch or so.  I’m told this method will result in about 0.5% alcohol but without a way of measuring it’s probably best kept from pregnant women and children.

This recipe tastes great and produces a more complex and subtle ginger beer than mixing the syrup with soda water.  The bubbles are smaller and more delicate too.  All told I really enjoyed the process and won’t shy away from making another batch!

From the look of this screenshot it would appear the spammers have found my other site: GreenDeals Daily.  Orange shows blocked spam posts (nearing 500/day) while that thin green line at the bottom indicates legitimate posts:

I’ve been working on reviving the long-dormant site after moving away from the horrible Pligg CMS to Drupal with the Drigg extension.  It’s still very much a work in progress at this point (looks hideous in IE6&7, needs a lot of visual and usability tweaks etc…) but I’m really happy with the decision.  A big part of the decision to stop using Pligg was the many security holes that made it easy for spammers to post with impunity.  Now that I’m on Drupal with its excellent Mollom spam filter I barely ever see a spam post show up on the site.  The graph above shows that despite a massive spike in spam recently, Mollom hasn’t skipped a beat - gotta love it.

I’m still curious though, who told the spammers about my site and how can I get them to tell some legitimate users?

Ginger beer is a delicious, refreshing drink - like a blast of spicy sunshine - especially now, in the dead of winter. I finally decided to take a crack at making my own last night with surprisingly yummy results. Here’s my easy 2×4 recipe:

• Boil 2 cups water with 2 cups sugar to make a simple syrup.
• Blend well with 2 cups washed fresh ginger.
• Strain and add the juice of 2 lemons.
• Chill in the fridge and it should last a long time.
• Now you can mix the syrup with soda water to taste, I usually go for 1-part syrup to 2-parts water. I think this might make one hell of a ginger tea if you mixed it with boiling water too.

Next I plan on trying naturally carbonated ginger beer made with yeast!

Em and I just started budgeting in a serious way.  After some serious research I decided on PearBudget to help keep track of everything.  The simple and intuitive system is basic enough not to overwhelm with unnecessary features but still powerful enough to get the job done.  I’m really liking it so far and you can try it free for 30 days (after that it’s $3/month).

Anyone else been diggin’ that song from the Pineapple Express trailer?  Here’s Paper Planes by MIA for your listening pleasure:

For some reason while watching Family Guy tonight I got to thinking that Seth MacFarlane and Jesse Thorn look nearly identical…

 So, am I crazy?  Ok, yes probably.

You’re probably aware of the fairly funny Family Guy and pretty terrible American Dad created by Seth, but many may not know about Jesse’s work in podcasting and public radio.  Head on over to MaximumFun.org and check out the excellent Jordan, Jesse GO! and The Sound of Young America.

They look scary but they’re delicious.  Click through for the full slideshow from the crawfish boil Em and I recently had the pleasure of attending (thanks for setting it up Ryan!).  Good times Louisiana style.

Behold, the Budweiser Chelada - a tangy mixture of Clamato and Bud. I’m embarrassed to say it actually tastes better than you’d think.