Tuesday, January 23, 2007

My first real computer (1996)

I was going to ASU in 1996 and I decided that I needed to get a computer so that I could do my work from home instead of driving across town to stand in line for a computer in the over crowded computer labs. Prior to this I had used Mac IIx, Mac LC, and even a Powerbook Duo 280c. The 280c was very cool, but it was nothing in comparison to the new PowerMac desktop machines. This is where the power was, so I went out and bought a brand new PowerMac 7200/90 (MHz, not Ghz) with 8MB RAM (yes 8 MB) and a 500 MB drive (yes MB, not GB).
I bought it from the ASU Computer store on 5/14/1996 for $1215.07 including tax. This was several hundred dollars less than I could buy in a retail store then. I was so proud of this computer. It was so fast and powerful. Wow, how things have changed.

All I can say is wow, how impatient with computers we are today. To put this in perspective, I have a several old PC now that emulates a faster version of that same computer. I actually transferred 100% of what was on my old Mac hard drive and put it in a virtual partition on my PC. It now runs about the same speed as it did then, only now it is emulated. Amazing. Simply amazing how computer technology changes in just over 10 years.

I soon upgraded the RAM since even back then 8MB was not enough to run everything I thought I needed to run. So, I added 16MB DIMM so that I now had 24MB total. I thought that was good. Then I started programming. In order to do what I needed then I got more than I thought I would ever need. I got 64MB for $264.00 with tax. I thought to myself, I'll never need more than this. I can't even think of enough programs to open to use all that. Little did I know then, that now on program can take more than that especially if you count virtual memory.


Amazing how things change. I'm sure, things will change just as much if now more in the next 10 years.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Boiling an Egg

Many of you would laugh, but I couldn't remember how exactly to boil an egg today. So I searched the internet on how. Here is what I found. It seems to be a very good method.

The Classic
Hard Boiled Egg


The simple, classic Boiled Egg, is indeed one of the finest and easiest edible delights known on earth, with just 70 calories, and full of nature s most perfect form of protein.

While there are many ways of preparing Boiled Eggs, we suggest below the directions for making eggs which are the easiest to peel and which will not have the dark green discolored coating on the yolk (see step 2 for tips to help avoid the green discoloration).

Extremely fresh eggs will not peel easily. In fact, an egg that is just a day or two old is almost impossible to peel. As eggs age, the shells will peel more easily. It is advisable that eggs used for hard cooking (including Easter Eggs) be at least 2 weeks old before cooking for easiest peeling. Hard cooked eggs that are cooked slowly over low heat (and not  boiled ) will be more difficult to peel.

Directions for Large Eggs:
1. Place eggs in a saucepan with enough COLD tap water to cover completely by 1 inch. Bring to a ROLLING boil over HIGH heat. Once the water is brought to a rolling boil, PROMPTLY reduce heat to a lower medium boil and cook an additional 10 minutes for a "hard boiled" egg. For a "soft boiled" egg reduce the time by a few minutes.

2. Remove from heat and IMMEDIATELY place eggs under ice cold water or in a bowl of ICED water to chill promptly to help yolks stay bright yellow. Chill for a few minutes in the cold water until the egg is completely cooled. This is an extremely important step which prevents the greenish "ring" from forming on the surface of the yolk over time. If the egg is not chilled immediately after cooking an unsightly dark greenish ring will eventually appear on the outside of the yolk.

3. To peel...crack on all sides, roll egg between hands to loosen shell,and remove shell. Enjoy while still warm, with a light sprinkling of salt if desired.

To serve in egg cup, place egg in cup small end down, slice off large end of egg with knife or egg scissors and eat from shell with spoon.

Refrigeration is necessary for hard boiled eggs if they eggs are not to be consumed within a few hours.


Refrigerated boiled eggs, kept in the shell, can be kept for up to 1 week.