Clawblog

There was an interesting article in the local newspaper today, The Sacramento Bee, offering insights and opinions on the increasing battle for coffee supremacy in the local area.  You can view the article here.

In viewing the comments to the article, including my own, it’s clear that true coffee connoisseur’s appreciate the Peets difference when it comes to a quality cup of coffee.  What do you think?

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As an avid griller for many years, I have always taken a keen interest in preparing the best quality grilled foods.  Whether it’s smoking some baby back ribs, cedar-planking some salmon, threading a prime rib on the rotisserie, or simply grilling a steak, I go to great lengths to do it the right way.

While the charcoal v. gas barbeque debate is best left for a future discussion, I believe one can prepare a quality grilled steak on either medium….but whichever option you choose, the preparation for the perfect grilled steak begins days in advance.  Here me out. Read the rest of this entry »

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It occurs to me that there is a large contingent of folks that have DVR (digital video recorder) technology, but do not take advantage of it.  In this article I will explain how the technology works, in simple terms, as well as share examples of how it makes my life easier.

There are many DVR variants on the market, and most of them come as available features with your cable or satellite service.  I have two DVR’s, each built in to a Dish Network dual-tuner HD receiver.  I’ve been using some level of DVR functionality since 2000. Read the rest of this entry »

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Given the current state of high definition television technology, one has the option of connecting their display with either an HDMI (high definition multimedia interface) cable or a component video cable.  I have a great deal of experience with both, and following are my thoughts on the matter.

The first point I would like to make is that I see NO discernible difference in video quality between the two options.  All things being equal, both will deliver a quality image to your display.  That stated, it really boils down to one’s individual setup that may determine the option you choose. Read the rest of this entry »

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Like many parents-to-be, I was overwhelmed by how to properly prepare for the arrival of our baby.  The abundance of baby-related gifts received by generous friends and family at baby showers became somewhat of a burden.  What will we use?  Do we need this?  What would we use this for? 

Being first time parents, my wife and I had no idea what would be absolutely necessary, and on a topic as subjective as this, we confused ourselves further by reading the advice of others.  In that spirit, I’d like to share my thoughts on the items we found useful upon bringing home baby.

• car seat
• piddle pad for car seat
• stroller
• bassinet / sheets
• crib / sheets
• waterproof material to place under sheets
• changing table / cover
• breast pump (manual or automatic)
• onesies
• receiving blankets
• gloves / socks to prevent baby from scratching oneself
• baby monitor
• diaper pail
• diapers!
• baby wipes
• blankets

What have others found useful?

chris@clawblog.com

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Have you ever ordered prints and upon viewing the finished image there was a slight blur in the photo?  It’s likely that you did not adhere to one of the basic principles in photography in order to avoid camera shake.

Camera shake occurs when one is hand-holding the camera and the shutter speed of the photo is lower than the inverse of your camera’s focal length.  For example, if you are shooting with a 50mm lens, your shutter speed will need to be at least 1/50th of a second in order to increase your chances of a sharp image. Read the rest of this entry »

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This is the final installment in my 6 part series on Digital Photography Workflow for the Beginner.  In this lesson, I’m going to share my preferred workflow for easily preparing photos to make quality prints.

In the previous segment I reviewed my approach to creating a photo web page to share with friends and family.  In this lesson I also prefer to use Breezebrowser Pro (BP), and in many ways the two lessons are quite similar.

Note that my interest here is to present a simple method by which digital photos can be enhanced for the purposes of creating a quality print.  If one so desires, there is a long list of “post-processing” techniques that can be applied in the “digital darkroom”.  In the interest of keeping this simple, the process I describe here will do only two things:

1. Balance the color in the image
2. Apply some moderate sharpening

These two elements will provide a dramatically improved print than if an image was otherwise left unaltered. Read the rest of this entry »

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With the end to analog broadcasts looming in February 2009, I’d like to iterate some of the basic differences between conventional TV and high definition, or HDTV.

This article will convey the aspect ratios and resolutions for the following broadcast types:

• Standard definition
• Enhanced definition
• High definition (HDTV)
• Full, or True HDTV

In addition, I will touch on the various HDTV display options and their respective benefits, HDTV Built In v. HDTV Ready, and explain the concept of OTA (over-the-air) HDTV signals. Read the rest of this entry »

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This is part 5 of 6 in my series on Digital Photography Workflow for the Beginner.  In this lesson, I’m going to share my approach.

Earlier in this series I touched on an excellent piece of software from Breeze Sys called Downloader Pro.  I would now like to make reference to another essential piece of software in my workflow from Breeze Sys, Breezebrowser Pro (BP).

I use BP from everything to proofing my photos, to preparing them for email, to preparing images for ordering prints.  I also use the software to easily create web pages to share with friends and family, which is what I’ll focus on in this segment. Read the rest of this entry »

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As one who has enjoyed coffee for many years, it was a significant adjustment for me to come to appreciate the delicate nature of tea.  Following a reading of the widely acclaimed Dr. Weil’s book on Healthy Aging, I became obsessed with the hot beverage.

The purported benefits of green tea include the following:

rich with antioxidants
decreases risk of developing heart disease
lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol
lowers total body fat due to a boost in metabolism
decreases allergies
improves skin
may delay onset of diabetes
fights bad breath

Green tea contains two primary and powerful antioxidants, flavenoids and polyphenols, and they exist in levels that are 8 to 10 times greater than their presence in fruits or vegetables.  In addition, they have a wonderful detoxifying effect on the body and can protect cells from cancer causing free radicals. 

Anywhere from 4 to 10 cups  per day (standard tea cup is 6 ounces) is recommended to achieve optimum health benefits.  Green tea does contain caffeine, but the majority is easily removed by steeping your tea for 30-45 seconds, pouring off the tea, then adding additional water and steeping as you normally would.  Since caffeine is water soluble it is extracted, but the healthy antioxidants remain.

I like the outstanding green tea from Peets Coffee & Tea.

chris@clawblog.com

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