I put up this Instructable on how to make the cake.  It is easy, delicious, and vegan.

Ginger Syrup

from Dr. Justin
time 30 min
yield 3/4 – 1 Cup

Ingredients
1 lb ginger
1/4 C honey
1/4 C sugar
1 C water

Directions
1. Peel ginger and cut into 2″ chunks
2. Combine all ingredients in a pan
3. Set heat to medium-high and bring to a boil
4. Reduce heat and simmer until reduced

I just upgraded to the lastest WordPress and also finally got around to trying the WP touch plug-in (http://www.bravenewcode.com/wptouch/).  This takes my Word Press site and formats it nicely for iPhone/iPod/Android visitors.  There is also a link for them to see the standard site if they so desire (via a Mobile Theme ON|OFF selector at the bottom of the page).

Nice and easy!

I’ve been learning Italian and am always looking for ways to enhance the learning process.  A friend of mine told me about an interesting new site http://www.babbel.com/ Babbel is a language learning site with social networking.  They have content for English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.  There are chatrooms for each language and ways to match up Italians looking to learn English with English speakers who want to learn Italian.  The language content goes a bit fast.  It seems aimed at someone who has already started learning a language and would be a good refresher and way to keep in practice.  In fact, they have reminders on the site telling you how many days you have before you should review material again.

The site requires flash (so I can’t use it from my iPhone) and not all the kinks are worked out.   The interface is a bit confusing when you first attempt some of the lessons.  On the other hand, they have a feedback link on every page so you can send the feedback you want to provide.

The site is free (for now at least) and I’ve really enjoyed it.

I actually heard about the MacHeist bundle from Wil Wheaton’s twitter stream.  He asked if it was worth it and got a positive response from his Mac followers and bought it.  Wondering what *it* was, I searched for it on Google and found my answer at MacHeist.  According to Wikipedia this is the third year of the “heist”  which starts out with a bundle of software at a reduced rate from individual purchases and then “unlock” more by meeting fund raising goals by the amount of money raised for charity.   The next piece of software unlocks at $400,000 and they are currently $379,128.

I’ve played around with a few of the apps and I really like PhoneView which offers a direct way to interact with files on the iPhone.  You can add folders and files or edit Notes from the Mac.  You have access to all kinds of data SMS messages, call history, etc.

World of Goo is cute, but I haven’t spent much time with it yet, I’ve been downloading and installing the apps (while it is a bundle, the apps are individually downloaded and installed)

SousChef looks pretty cute.  It has facilities for importing your recipes, making shopping lists and even using the mac with voice activation to go through each step of the recipe.

MacHeist is a great way to get some good software and donate money to charity a the same time.

I ran out of mascara recently and instead of buying my favorite mascara, decided to try a cheaper replacement.  I liked the name and ads for Lash Stiletto and am constantly looking for a product to provide me the shiny, black lashes that Maybelline promised.

MLS was soft when applied, but the coverage and shine was light.  The packaging said that the product could be removed with soap and water or makeup remover.  What it didn’t mention is that it also just disappears after a few hours of wear.  Adding soap and water to the removal requirements was laughable.  I do want smooth lashes, but if they can’t last through one date, then it isn’t even worth the time to apply.

It’s experiences like this that make me want to spend more on important items where I can test them out first and not waste $8.00 on a completely useless one.

FreeRice not only is a great way to practice vocabulary (especially for high school kids practicing for PSAT, SAT, CHSEP, etc.) it donates rice to the UN World Food Program.  FreeRice (www.freerice.com) also allows you to choose what you are learning while you earn rice. For example, I am practicing my Italian vocabulary at freerice.com/index.php?&s=Italian.

• To change subjects:
  • Click Change Subject
  • Select the desired subject

One student I worked with loved seeing how her studying was earning rice. I had the same feeling, as I earned 1000 grains of rice, molto bene!

If you want to search for a twitter user but don’t want to search by email address, it isn’t obvious from the twitter web site.  What you need is: http://search.twitter.com/. This allows you to search for twitter users by user names rather than email address.

I started this last year and finally finished the baby blanket today.  I didn’t really have a baby in mind, but now I’ll be prepared when I need one.  I am also trying to finish up all of the half finished projects I have lying around, Organization will find me yet.

I also find having my ravelry site makes me want to complete things just to post them.

Here is a sampling of the cards I made for Halloween, they are simple, but I think they came out cute

Tonight I made a bracelet and earrings.  It was going to be a necklace and earrings but someone got a little carried away crimping the clamshell and had to do some creative work with materials on-hand.

I also saw this big spider at M’s house.  I know there isn’t anything in the frame for comparison but the body was about as big as a quarter and maybe almost 1/2 an inch thick.  Eww and cool at the same time.

I found these bunnies on my street.

I finished Zeeby’s Bag from the Stitch and Bitch book!  This was the first thing I tried to knit from the book when I got it (and the first thing I have ever knit from the book) and I just couldn’t do it for some reason.  I could never get the first few inches to be the correct length and I just took it out and started over and over again until I gave up.  I was also massively medicated from my accident, so who knows what the real status was.  I decided to try it again so I would have some practice sewing things together before I finished my Kyoto Kimono which I have completed all of the knitting but haven’t sewn it together yet.  I also wanted a bag to carry my knitting while I am out and this is big enough for  a sketchbook or knitting project.

The Kimono is cool and I am afraid to mess up the seaming after all of the hard work I put into the knitting.  M asked me what would make me feel like I was good at knitting and I said that completing the sweater (which R and I started years ago!) would be the thing.  I’m not sure it is, but it is improvement.  I actually feel pretty good about the bag.  It has a bit of a homemade feel, but that’s probably OK.  When I made my very cool batik shirt, no one ever notices, because they think I bought it at a store, so that whole, selfish, “I made it” part of creation gets ignored.  Vain, Vain, Vain.

Not quite ready-to-wear

I finished the handle for Zeeby’s bag.

Added a new page for Llinks. Not sure if I am how to get the Tech Bllog page to be what I want, more on that soon.

Overview

If you have have a legal copy of Microsoft Office 2007 you can use this  Add-In software for free to create PDFs from Microsoft Office.

PDF Add-In Installation

If you have problems with the Validation tool installation, try this alternate method (which is what I use because I don’t want to install more on my machine than necessary)

1. Click Continue
2. Instead of using the installer, scroll to the bottom and choose Try the alternate validation method
3. It will give you a code to enter and then you should be able to install the PDF Add-In

Using the PDF Add-In

1. Click the File menu (now the little Office circle in the upper left corner)
2. Point to Save As
3. The menu will expand to the right and choose PDF or XPS
4. Browse to the desired location
5. Enter a name for the file
6. Click Publish

NOTE: If the Open File after publishing checkbox is checked it will open the PDF for viewing (which I use to let me know when the process is complete

Yep, the gusset is done.  Now two straps and a pocket and it is time to practice sewing

Paul Newman died.  I met him once and he was polite and had the BLUEST eyes I had ever seen. He was probably in his 70’s and still great looking and charming.