April 2007

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Let’s hear it for more readable web addresses

April 20, 2007 in Frugal Tech by Rebecca | No comments

Okay, here’s a little internet quiz. How many of you have seen URL’s (universal resource locators, internet speak for a web address) like this?

http://www.ryansaghir.com/archives/www.thelongestdomainnameintheworldandthensomeandthensomemoreandmore.com

Or maybe this?

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?ovi=1&mqma
p.x=300&mqmap.y=75&mapdata=%252bKZmeiIh6N%252bI
gpXRP3bylMaN0O4z8OOUkZWYe7NRH6ldDN96YFTIUmSH3Q6
OzE5XVqcuc5zb%252fY5wy1MZwTnT2pu%252bNMjOjsHjvN
lygTRMzqazPStrN%252f1YzA0oWEWLwkHdhVHeG9sG6cMrf
XNJKHY6fML4o6Nb0SeQm75ET9jAjKelrmqBCNta%252bsKC
9n8jslz%252fo188N4g3BvAJYuzx8J8r%252f1fPFWkPYg%
252bT9Su5KoQ9YpNSj%252bmo0h0aEK%252bofj3f6vCP

Yeah one of those broken web addresses you have to copy by hand into your browser to make work. Always a barrel of laughs those are.

So what to do?
Well shrink the multi-line monstrosity above to this:

http://tinyurl.com/6

Sound appealing doesn’t it? The tool to use is called TinyURL and it takes super long URL’s and makes them shorter. You can try it out yourself at http://www.tinyurl.com We think you’ll find it handy and helpful.

But are there any downsides?
Not really as far as we can tell but then again somedays we don’t get quite enough caffeine to make our brains work properly. But others have found a voiced a key concern that being it’s poor writer etiquette to make your reader wonder where it is your new shorter, spiffy link is taking them. With phishing in vogue today that’s a valid concern of course. So a possible compromise is to show the longer link so your readers see the original and post the shorter for their web surfing convenience. Another option is, presuming your readers trust you (you are the honest type are you not?) you simply put a descrtiption near the link such as, “Click over to the wikiepdia by going to this link here” where “here” is the link to the Wikipedia article or other locations.

Are there any alternatives?
Why yes there are! DoIP will do essentially what TinyURL does with one simple twist: you can choose the suffix or last part of the new shorter URL you create. For example, a standard URL to an article in the Boston Globe looks like this:

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/11/03/plaintiff_alleges_alito_conflict/

Using TinyURL it looks like this:

http://tinyurl.com/2lntfq

Using DoIP it looks like this, based on your choosing the suffix:

http://doiop.com/bostonglobe

So, readers know they are going to see the article you referenced in the Boston Globe. It’s a nice touch.

“Too complicated, gotta do it on the fly from my browser”
Always a naysayer in this crowd but we’ve got you covered as well. Firefox has a addon that allows you to use TinyURL right from the browser. You can get to that add-on at this link here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/126

Like all things frugally at the Frugal Tech TinyURL is a bargain in price and usablity.  It’s free and easy to  use so it meets our tightwad desires well.  So bring back web address elegance with TinyURL, your readers will be happy they don’t have to cut and paste your long URL’s again!

Wii for Web

April 13, 2007 in Web/Tech by Rebecca | No comments

At the Cafe we own a Wii. The thing really is fun, in fact, it’s so fun we’re considering keeping the patrons usage TIMED so that everyone gets a chance to use it. The free Wii Sports pack, particularly the Bowling, is the big hit here, as is YouTube on the Wii. Yes, the Wii streams video and audio.

So it was a natural to see how the Wii does with browsing the Internet. Frankly, it works just great. Nintendo has released it’s final version of it’s Internet for Wii and we like it. You can sit back with a latte, browse the net, and watch it on your TV. A few years ago this was possible of course, but, not nearly as useful, primarily due to lack of content. But now with more streaming video, audio and yes news and features, such as Beck’s Cafe, browsing and using the net from your couch isn’t such a weird idea.

We think the Wii will do a few things to change life as we know it on the planet - or at least the game console buying planet. First, the whole virtual reality part of gaming and entertainment is now very accessible to Jane Doe. It’ll take some fancy programming, good marketing, and some inexpensive hardware but, predicted here, a virtual reality setup for Wii shouldn’t be more than 12 months away. The Wii’s revolutionary motion sensing technology makes it possible. And, not too long ago, one of Beck’s Cafe’s writers helped develop micro-screens for eyeglasses (think a computer screen on the inside of your sunglasses). Put those together and you may be running from PacMan rather than just playing him on the screen!

Over at GigaOM, Wagner James Au has his own thoughts on what the Wii will do in his article, “Wii will remake the web?” here’s some of his thoughts to tease you to go read the whole article:

…according to a recent Merrill-Lynch study, by 2011, an astounding 30% of American households will own a Wii. If that estimate holds up (and given the Wii’s still-thundering sales figures, there’s no reason to doubt it), about one out of every three U.S. homes will soon have a new kind of Web browser sitting in their living room.

One in Three…think about those numbers Mr. and Mrs. Marketeer! Oh and how about this?

The obvious immediate objection, or course, is “who’s going to browse the Web without a keyboard?” The most obvious immediate answer: the very young, who already send text messages over their cellphones

If it was as easy to use the Wii controller as it is a keyboard, why wouldn’t you just chose the easy option? From our experience at the Cafe, about 10% of the time, patrons chose to use the Wii over the computers we have installed for surfing and email. Interesting huh? We thought so.

Look out, there are changes coming in the way we reach the internet which has become highly necessary to much of the world to get information and to communicate. And it’s not all through the PC. Is it any wonder Intel, Microsoft and everyone else is vying for the living room now?

A little note can bring relationship strength

April 12, 2007 in Relationships by Rebecca | No comments

Okay, if you’ve had your coffee here’s a riddle…

  • What is one of the simplest things you can do for another person but it’s impact is larger than you’d expect?
  • Takes two minutes to write but two days to fret over what to say?
  • Can be sent fastest electronically but best by postal mail

Figure it out? Well it’s the simple “thank you”.

The “thank you note” seems to be fading into the distance as a standard tool of communication in business and inter-personal relationships but it’s one of the most important tools to strengthen a relationship with someone in any sphere (staff at Beck’s Cafe take note!!)

According to Kim Izzo, etiquette columnist, during an interview with Oprah on Thank You notes (see that interview at Oprah’s site here), “It’s making the effort. People really appreciate getting mail that’s not a bill, for one thing, and just taking that extra bit of time to write a thank you note really means everything.”

So how do jumpstart this so you to can say “thank you”?

  • Do it right away: That’s right, as soon as you’ve got a minute (and think consciously about making that minute by the way) do it. What’s the max time you can wait and send a Thank You? According to Ceri Marsh, etiquette columnist, “give yourself a week because if you wait longer then you put it off another week and then you feel dumb about acknowledging it. People like a thank you note more than they even like a gift”. (source: Oprah: Thank You Note Etiquette)
  • Write it by hand That’s right, even if you scrawl like a physician do it the old fashion way; pen to paper IF you know their snail mail address. If you don’t, then an email or e-card are reasonable fall-backs. According to Jill Bremer of Bremer Communications, a professional image development and presentation skills coaching firm, “The impact of a handwritten thank-you note is often overlooked in today’s fast-paced “why-write-something-when-I-can-email-it” world. A note written promptly and sincerely is an important ritual of etiquette that is much more effective and appreciated than a phone call or electronic message. Yes, we have a lot of technology at our fingertips, but just because we can do that way doesn’t mean we should”. (source: Thank-You Note Etiquette, Jill Bremer, AICI, CIP, Bremer Communications )
  • Do it for gifts, acts of kindness or friendship, or just because. Often times we don’t do it as we aren’t sure how. And usually the ideas on how to do it are tailored only for thank you notes for gifts. But substitute “gift” for act of kindness or friendship and any concepts on how to write a thank you note applies. Susan Dunn, MA, A Professional Life Coach has this advice (remember substitute the word “gift” for some other act of kindness and her advice applies universally too), “When you write the note, mention the gift or gifts specifically. Mention some way that you will use it, or what it meant to you, how much you love the color red, or how you’ve been wanting to read that book”. (source and examples: “How to write a Thank You note and Why“, Susan Dunn, MA, Professional Life Coach, Emotional intelligence & Etiquette

So get your pen in hand and paper on the desk today, you’ll improve your relationships with this simple act.

Thank You for reading ;)

Unwritten

April 9, 2007 in Coffee Chat by Rebecca | No comments

I am unwritten, can’t read my mind, I’m undefined
I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Oh, oh, oh

I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines
We’ve been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can’t live that way

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten

Oh, yeah, yeah

Live Acoustic Version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH0ZgJXzlkk
Music Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKQdX-Ui4zo

(Lyrics: Natasha Bedingfield, “Unwritten”, 06.09.2004, from the album “Unwritten”)

Annual cost for transexual health care? About .39 per person

April 4, 2007 in Gender by Rebecca | 2 comments

JPMorgan Chase has done some interesting work on the actual cost for transexual healthcare we just stumbled on here at the cafe. It’s a good read over your monring coffee. They presented the eye opening facts at the 2006 Out and Equal Workplace Advocates Seminar.

If at first blush your response is, “I didn’t know this wasn’t covered” or “Why the heck should it be covered” consider this:

  • Most health plans do not cover transexual health care
  • Employers considering including such benefits are concerned the cost is either unknown or simply too high to be able to afford
  • No good data exists on the actual costs to be able to make an informed decision

The slide deck, in pdf, is an interesting read well worth your time. It covers data that was collected on what the costs are, what some major companies actually paid out for health benefits for the transgender community, assessment on prevelance rates and more.

So go see our barista, grab a mug (this one is on the house) and have a read of the deck, “The Cost of Transgender Health Benefits” by JP Morgan, by going to the Out and Equal link HERE.

A mom with three kids

April 2, 2007 in Funny Bone by Rebecca | No comments

It’s Monday and…well it’s Monday, that’s about all you can say about it.

So if your like everyone else visiting Beck’s Cafe your brain has not engaged with the rest of your body and, frankly, a good laugh would really get you going before you hit that latest weekly report your late on.

Presenting, via You Tube,….A mom with 3 kids…Sarah Maizes @ The Comedy Store

(make sure you have your headphones on, or invite your boss in to listen).

Farfalle with White Wine Sauce

April 1, 2007 in In my Kitchen by Rebecca | No comments

Saturday nights SHOULD be a time to go out to dinner not eat dinner in. But, when your week’s been long sometimes it’s just nice to kick back, skip the espresso, have some wine (well more than some) and use the kitchen for something a bit more upscale in evening fare.

And that’s what we did at the Cafe Saturday night. We whipped up some Farfalle with White Wine Sauce. Yummy is only one of the sounds we heard upon serving it. But before serving it you have to make it, so let’s start there shall we :)

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb farfalle
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (depending on pan size, we like a large, deep skillet for this recipe
  • One whole onion (the sweeter the better)
  • Four garlic cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • One large sweet bell red pepper (which you’ll leave uncooked)
  • Two pounds cooked extra jumbo shrimp, completely de-shelled, thawed
  • 1/2 cup white cooking wine (or regular white)
  • 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese

First things first, have some of your wine :) Happy? Good, now let’s start.

Fill a large soup pan with water, add about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and get it on your stove, turn on the burner to bring it to a boil. That’ll take a few minutes and you’ll be boiling the Farfalle in it.

Fill a large, deep skillet with the olive oil. We used 1/2 a cup but a 1/4 will probably do just as well. Then, turn on the burner under this pan. Be sure to set the burner for low. Using a lower heat more slowly warms up the oil and leads to less “sputtering” up of the oil from the pan once the oil is really hot.

You’ll want to cut up all your ingredients before you start cooking as things will need to be stirred as you cook on the stove so:

  • Cut the onion into thin rings, by slicing it. Place onto a plate and set aside.
  • Mince the garlic into small pieces. Place into a small bowl and set aside.
  • Chop the sweet red bell pepper up into strips then chop those strips up into small squares. You’ll be adding these in raw to the recipe at the very end. They bring a refreshing crunch to the mix.
  • Make sure you shrimp is thoroughly thawed by placing them into a colander and then into a large bowl of cold water, thawing takes about 30 minutes or so. Once thawed, insure the tails are off and the shrimp are in a large bowl for you to easily reach and use later in the recipe.

Once you’ve got your ingredients prepared the action gets a bit more intense. Your water may be boiling now, if so, turn the heat down on it, you’ll need it boiling in a few minutes so just keep it hot for now. The oil in the pan should be very hot by this time.

Pour the onions and garlic into the pan with the hot olive oil in it. The sound of searing vegetables and their wonderful smell should make you hungry immediately. You’ll want to stir the cooking onions and garlic pretty much constantly in order to lightly brown (emphasis on lightly) the garlic and onion. That’ll take about 5 minutes or so.

Crank up the heat on the pan of hot water in which you’ll be boiling the Farfalle, you’ll want to bring it back to a boil to cook the Farfalle in.

Once the onion and garlic are browned, pour in the shrimp. Stir and cook for about 8 minutes. Cooking the shrimp makes them softer for this recipe and really helps to bring out their flavor (providing you like shrimp of course).

While the shrimp are cooking, the pan of boiling water should be, well, boiling. Put in the 1/2 pound of Farfalle. Stir and let it cook about 10 minutes. You’ll want it to be al dente - soft to the bite but not squishy. A sort of firm/soft kind of state of being.

About now, the shrimp’s color should be turning a bit more red but more important they should be softening. Take one out and give it a bite, it should be a bit softer. It’s at this point you want to pour in the 1/2 cup of white cooking wine, stir it a bit, and then put the cover back on the pan. You’ll want to simmer this mix, so turn the heat down to low/medium. Let it cook until the shrimp are tender, that’ll be about 10 minutes.

By now the Farfalle should be al dente, so drain it into a colander, and then rinse it with cold water to stop the pasta from cooking. Pour the Farfalle into a large mixing bowl - you’ll be mixing it with all the other ingredients in this bowl so make sure it’s large enough to mix things around.

Turn the heat off under the shrimp and then, pour it onto the Farfalle. There should be a nice light white wine sauce that comes out of the pan along with the shrimp. Make sure you scrape in any of the onion and garlic sticking to the bottom of the pan. Pour the red bell pepper in as well that you chopped up. Then toss everything together in the bowl till it’s all covered. Sneak an occasional taste (cook’s privilege!).

Place into serving bowls, garnish with 1 Tablespoon of parmesan cheese and enjoy! Serves four; add a salad and fresh bread for a nice meal.

What did the taste tester’s think?
Human taste tester one: “Very good, I really like the subtle tastes in this. It’s like upscale comfort food”.

Dog taste tester one: “Woof” (this was after the Cafe Hound sneakily snuck her snout into my plate).