Django Unchained. I finally watched it.

Why did it take me this long to watch it? I have two little kids and its NOT kid friendly nor short enough to watch during naps. Kind of obvious for a Tarantino film.

Note: Chrome's spell checked has Tarantino in the dictionary, interesting.

Today is Daddy's day off, they are with Mom and the pool and I'm getting some rest. Django has been staring at me on Netflix for awhile now. I turn up the volume and watch it. My movie review style is simple: short analysis (hopefully) summing up lots into little.

Quentin Tarantino has finally channeled his inner JJ Abrams re-imagining 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly'. Brilliantly.

Another film it reminded me of: O Brother, Where Art thou?' Replace Homer's Odyssey with Brunhilde.

Too obvious?

How about this take away.

Cinema has always had a ethos where it was okay to root for certain types of characters to be killed. Its morbid, but true since at least John Wayne was shooting people.

First it was American Indians. Then Nazis.

It's still Nazis (doubt that every gets old), but Tarantino has successfully added slave holders and their lackeys. I for one hope Dave Chappelle had a hand in this.

Windows 10. Am I the only one that liked Windows 8.1?

I just updated to Windows 10.

Where the hell are my programs I had nicely organized on the start menu as a whole screen thingy?

I click the magnifying glass (I assume that means search) and try to search for anything. I just want to type something and get a filtered list of my installed programs. there is no search, I type, and nothing. Its real easy to change the name of the "start screen" why would I want to do that? When I hit the Windows button before I saw my programs organized the way I organized them. Or I could just start typing and it would search for stuff. Sure it was slow and searched Bing (i guess) but it at least (eventually) found the program I recently installed and now need to run.

O look what I wanted was to hit the Windows button then scroll down further. There is the program I need. I prefer to search. Scrolling in a tiny popup is so not a good idea.

I guess I'll find out Monday if they murdered Visual Studio, too. Someone buy me a new MacBook. Please.

The role of STEM in American Education

From the Washington Post: Why America’s obsession with STEM education is dangerous

Fareed makes some very good points about over emphasizing STEM in the American education system. Especially about how the American economy has for long been powered by people 

However, I think this piece is best viewed as a long term warning then it is a current problem. Our education system is far from STEM dominated. The pendulum may be swinging away from humanities and towards STEM but its still heavily on the side of humanities. 

In my opinion we still need a stronger presence of math, science, and engineering (and foreign languages) and at younger ages. Its simply a matter of keeping up with the times. For example, a student passionate about creative writing benefits tremendously from having some knowledge and exposure to computer programming just as a writer 50 years ago would benefit from having some knowledge of the publishing industry.

The American education system has been stagnant for too long. We need to keep it current and diverse. This means retaining the framework of liberal education but increasing the array of skills being taught. Creative thinking and problem solving remain the cornerstones but they must be viewed through the lens of the internet and service based economy as opposed to a manufacturing economy. 

Some excepts:

“Is it a vital interest of the state to have more anthropologists?”asked Florida’s Gov. Rick Scott. “I don’t think so.” 

How can a Governor make such a prediction? There is no way to know where the next growth industry will come from, it could be anthropology students who found the next big thing. This is why a liberal education system is necessary, because we shouldn't be relying on top down decision making (somethign Rep. have always shunned). Instead, let the peoples own creativity loose.

Exposure to a variety of fields produces synergy and cross fertilization. Yes, science and technology are crucial components of this education, but so are English and philosophy.

In our modern economy synergy and cross fertilization happen on the internet one way or another and are driven by data - which requires statistical analysis to understand. Now more then ever math and science are needed for a liberal education system to succeed. 

Better for you (slightly) Chocolate Chip Cookies: Spelt-Whole Wheat

Better for you (slightly) Chocolate Chip Cookies: Spelt-Whole Wheat

Basically the recipe on the back of chocolate chips except the the all purpose flour is replaced with an even divide of spelt flour and whole wheat flour which are better for you then regular flour (at least a little). I use a little extra vanilla and more brown sugar then granulated.

Wet team

• dark brown sugar 200 g
• granulated sugar 100 g
• vanilla extract 1.5 tsp
• unsalted butter 1 cup (2 sticks) softened
• large eggs 2

Dry Team

• baking soda 1 tsp
• kosher salt 1.5 tsp
• spelt flour 290 g (little more then 1 cup)
• whole wheat flour 290 g (little more then 1 cup)
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 bag (2 cups)

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix the dry team in a bowl.

I used a stand mixer but a hand mixer should do fine.

Add the softened butter to the mixing brown with the sugars and vanilla. Beta on medium until combined. Add the eggs, whip until creamy like a frosting.

Turn mixer to low, slowly spoon in dry team until its all combined. Add chocolate chips until combined.

Line cookie pan with parchment paper. Spoon cookie dough onto pan. I used a melon baller.

Bake for about 11 minutes.

Why You Should Never Eat Vegetable Oil or Margarine

Why You Should Never Eat Vegetable Oil or Margarine: "Canola Oil
Corn Oil
Soybean Oil
“Vegetable” oil
Peanut Oil
Sunflower Oil
Safflower Oil
Cottonseed Oil
Grapeseed Oil
Margarine
Shortening
I Can’t Believe Its Not Butter (You better believe it!)
Smart Balance (Not a Smart idea!)
Any fake butter or vegetable oils products"



'via Blog this'



Agree or disagree? I think its a good guideline but personally follow the "eat everything in moderation" plan. Except trans fat, definitely avoid that completely and minimize sugar intake.



This article promotes these foods:

Coconut Oil

Meats

Butter

Organic Cream

Olive Oil

Palm Oil

Avocado

Fish

Eggs


Eat in Moderation:

Flaxseed Oil

Walnut Oil

Macadamia Nut Oil

Nuts

Salted Paleo: Crunchy Butternut Squash Chips

Salted Paleo: Crunchy Butternut Squash Chips:

'via Blog this'

Fantastic recipe.  A bit time consuming for the amount of food, but a great healthy snack.

Seasoned some with paprika and garlic powder others with cumin and turmeric.

Sweet Potato Casserole Two Ways for the Holidays

This year I made sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving. Several people have asked for the recipe so here you go.

First, the basic recipe is this one from my Aunt Nell who lived on the Eastern Shore of Virginia near Wallops Island. This is super southern and super sweet, I consider it a dessert.

Aunt Nell's Sweet Potato Casserole
3 cups sweet potatoes (probably canned)
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup butter
1 cup finely chopped pecans

Mix first five ingredients. Put in a 4-5 qt. casserole dish.
Mix sugar flour and pecans with melted butter, pour over casserole.
Bake at 350F 45 minutes to an hour.
I would cover with foil then remove for last 10 minutes.

This is not the recipe I made but the idea is the same.

My version is inspired by baby food. My 2 year old likes to eat mashed combinations of vegetables including sweet potato, rutabaga, butternut squash, parsnips, etc. So I made my casserole filling and toddler food at the same time!

The baby's portion gets removed from the mixer before all the spices go in or the bourbon goes on the pecans.

All the measurements are to taste because when using fresh vegetables its going to come out a little different every time. This amounts should do about a 9x13 casserole dish with about an inch of filling, maybe a bit more.

Sean's Root Vegetable Casserole with Bourbon Pecan Topping
For the filling
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, cleaned, diced
1 large rutabaga, peeled and diced
6 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 egg
1/4 cup brown sugar, the darker the better
1 tbs vanilla extract
2 sticks of butter, softened
Note: All these spices I did to taste, measurements are a best guess to show proportions
2 tbs kosher salt
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground all spice

Preheat oven to 200F.

Cook all the vegetables on a low boil until very soft, falling apart when a fork goes in. They can be stringy if you under cook. Rutabaga takes the longest, then potato, then squash so either add them at different times or dice them at different sized.

Drain and pour cooked vegetables into the casserole dish, sprinkle salt all over. Put casserole into the over for about 30 minutes to help dry everything out. The more you can spread out the vegetables the better.

I don't know how to explain what a 'dry' looks like but they shouldn't be roasting in there. When they are dry you can add more butter so it tastes better :)

Remove vegetables, crank over to 375F.

Put vegetables into your mixer with two sticks of butter, sugar, vanilla, and start mixing. Add the egg, beat until smooth. Add your spices and salt to taste, more sugar is desired.

Grease your casserole dish with butter and add your filling. After making the topping, add it to the dish, cover with foil, bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, cook another 10 and your done.

Bourbon Pecan topping
1 pound pecans coarsely chopped. I just hit the unopened bag with a rolling pin a few times.
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 stick butter
tsp flout
little nutmeg
1/2 cup bourbon, Evan Williams is a good choice because its cheap but still decent quality

In a sauce pan on medium low, melt the butter, add the sugar and pecans, keep stirring until just bubbling. Add the bourbon, might want to kill the flame first so you don't flambe it, or flambe it might be better ;) Watc h your eyebrows. Let that reduce by half and stir in the flour and a bit of nutmeg.

Pour it over the casserole and bake it.

I did this once with cashews instead of pecans and it tasted fine but the pecans are a better texture.

MvvmLight: Sharing code between WPF and Windows Store app using Portable Class Library (PCL)

There is a great blog write up setting up a project to share code via a PCL so the code can be used in MvvmLight projects targeting Win8 and Windows Phone.

I am attempting the same thing with a Win Store app (Win8) and a WPF45 app.

 Following along the tutorial, I get the WPF version working.

The Store version has this funky error:

Error 1 Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Practices.ServiceLocation, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. The assembly version has a public key token that does not match that of the request. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80132001) Visual Studio 2012\Projects\MvvmPCLExample\Mvvm.Store\App.xaml 13 13 Mvvm.Store

If I run the project, it throws an exception that it cannot locate ViewModelLocator.

The problem was the store pointing to the PCL Version of Microsoft.Practices.ServiceLocation.

Fix

1. Store project, References, Remove Microsoft.Practices.ServiceLocation 
2. Add Reference, Browse  
3. Under the project directory find packages\CommonServiceLocator.1.0\lib\NET35\Microsoft.Practices.ServiceLocation.dll and add that. Rebuild and it runs.

Although Visual Studio still reports the 'Could not load file or assembly error...'. But it doesn't seem to cause a problem.

UPDATE: After rebooting my computer, the error is totally gone! Reminds me of the joke about fixing a car made my Microsoft ;)

Sample Project if anyone wants to take a look.

Windows 8.1
Visual Studio 2012
MvvmLight 4.2.30

.Net 4.5 WebSocket Server Running on Windows 7? - Stack Overflow

.Net 4.5 WebSocket Server Running on Windows 7? - Stack Overflow:

'via Blog this'

Did you know you can't use the .NET WebSocket's in Windows 7?

using System.Net.WebSockets;
...
ClientWebSocket _webSocket = new ClientWebSocket();

This throws a big whopping PlatformNotSupportedException.

What  load of crap. Now I need a WebSocket client implementation for Windows 8 and a separate one for Windows 7. Unbelievable.

EDIT: WebSocket4Net solves this is much easier to use then the .NET implementation.

WebSockets in .NET 4.5: System.Net.WebSockets.ClientWebSocket vs Windows.Networking.Sockets.MessageWebSocket

Props to this guy's example project on how to implement a simple WebSocket using System.Net.WebSockets in .NET 4.5. Another good example is here.

I am working on a Windows Store App (WinRT, Metro, Win 8, or whatever name they are trying to market this under currently) and a .NET 4.5 application. Both will be using a WebSocket to talk to the same server.

The WinRT Windows.Networking.Sockets.MessageWebSocket is a wonderfully simple way to use a WebSocket to send and receive strings back and forth. Microsoft has a nice sample project here.

The .NET 4.5 System.Net.WebSockets.ClientWebSocket is just the opposite. See aforementioned blog for a 'simple' example.

Please see both sample projects for details: MessageWebSocket, ClientWebSocket

Two things make the MessageWebSocket really easy to use. First, it has a messageRecieved event handler, so all you need to handle incoming messages is attach a method thusly:

messageWebSocket.MessageReceived += MessageReceived;

See the sample project for the MessageRecieved implementation.

ClientWebSocket requires wrapping the Send and Receive actions in tasks and monitoring the receive buffer with a loop. Reminds me of old time socket monitoring. I though WebSockets were supposed to make my life simpler?

Secondly, MessageWebSocket provides a DataWriter so all you have todo to read or write strings is set the message type, grab the reader, and send a string.

//set the message type

messageWebSocket.Control.MessageType = SocketMessageType.Utf8;

//wrap the output in a DataWriter

messageWriter = new DataWriter(messageWebSocket.OutputStream);

//put a string on the writer

messageWriter.WriteString(message);

// Send the data as one complete message.

await messageWriter.StoreAsync();

Compare this to the ClientWebSocket in .net 4.5:

byte[] sendBytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(message);

  var sendBuffer = new ArraySegment<byte>(sendBytes);

  await socket.SendAsync(

      sendBuffer,

      WebSocketMessageType.Text,

      endOfMessage: true,

      cancellationToken: cts.Token);

byte[] seriously? I already have a string why would I want to revert to such a low level wrapper?

Reading messages is similarly easy in MessageWebSocket vs ClientWebSocket. See the example projects for details.

Conclusion:

Its good to have all the options provided in the System.Net.WebSockets namespace, but the end of the day, a WebSocket should make my life easy when all I need to do is send and receive some strings (json for example). I find it vexing this is provided for Windows Store Apps, but they don’t provide the same thing across platforms.

If I iron this out I’ll try to get a sample project uploaded showing how to get behavior similar to MessageWebSocket while using ClientWebSocket. No timeframe on this, sorry.

MVVM Light, WPF, and Opening New Windows

Ran across this while trying to figure out how to properly open a new window in a WPF project using MVVM Light toolkit.

Viv posts a good example project using Messenger to communicate between ViewModel and View. But the code used to new up the appropriate ViewModel and View for the new window is all in the code behind for MainWindow (MainWindow.xaml.cs). I generally avoid putting anything in a code behind, so I added another button showing how to do the same thing without the code behind.

Sample Project - Dropbox download page

Which method is better? Pro’s and Con’s? Let me know, I just dislike code behind.

Here are the main points, see the sample project for the details.
I'm utilizing the ViewModelLocator singleton for this static method

   1:      public static void CreateWindow(OpenWindowMessage message)

   2:      {

   3:          var uniqueKey = System.Guid.NewGuid().ToString();

   4:          var nonModalWindowVM = SimpleIoc.Default.GetInstance<NonModalWindowViewModel>(uniqueKey);

   5:          nonModalWindowVM.MyText = message.Argument;

   6:          var nonModalWindow = new NonModalWindow()

   7:          {

   8:              DataContext = nonModalWindowVM

   9:          };

  10:          nonModalWindow.Closed += (sender, args) => SimpleIoc.Default.Unregister(uniqueKey);

  11:          nonModalWindow.Show();

  12:      }

The MainWindowViewModel has a RelayCommand so the button on MainWindow.xaml has something to bind to.

public RelayCommand OpenNonModalDialog_NoCodeBehind { get; private set; }

Constructor wires up the RelayCommand

      OpenNonModalDialog =

        new RelayCommand(

          () =>

          Messenger.Default.Send<OpenWindowMessage>(

            new OpenWindowMessage() {Type = WindowType.kNonModal, Argument = SomeString}));

        //No Code Behind

      OpenNonModalDialog_NoCodeBehind =

        new RelayCommand(

          () =>

            ViewModelLocator.CreateWindow(new OpenWindowMessage() { Type = WindowType.kNonModal, Argument = SomeString }));

Notice the first is using Messenger to tell the code behind to create the window.

The No Code Behind is using the static method on ViewModelLocator.

MainWindow.xaml, Button.Command is bound to the no code behind relay command

    <Button Grid.Row="1"

        Grid.Column="0"

        Margin="10"

        Command="{Binding OpenNonModalDialog_NoCodeBehind}"

        Content="Open No Code Behind" />

Dell Optiplex 9010 All in One and Windows 8

I'm testing a Dell Optiplex 9010 AIO machine with 64 bit Windows 8 and a solid state hard drive.

Highly annoyed by an issue with Windows Store Apps. Some of them try to open then just shut down. Either a blank blue screen (not a blue screen of death, just a blank background) or right back to the Start screen.

Some apps that failed: Evernote Touch, Drums, Elemento

Some that worked: Netflix, Bing, IE

Dell support thought it was the hard drive so they sent me a new one. While installing it was a somewhat interesting look inside this very solid piece of hardware, it did not fix my problems. I did notice there is room to stick another huge spinning hard drive should I need the disk space. Just leave windows on the SSD for speed (it does boot/wakeup ridiculously fast).

Note: if you get Dell to send you a hard drive, make sure you have install media, I didn't realize the resource DVD did NOT have a Windows 8 image on it. Had to wait for them to send me a USB key with the image.

None of this solved my problem!

Ran across this post, pointing to a display driver issue. Ran Windows Update, didn't find any driver updates.
Went to Device Manager, right clicked Display device, Update Driver, found nothing.

Solution!
Dell support site, put in Service Tag, downloaded and installed the latest drivers from there for the Intel HD Graphics card.

This fixed everything, Dell seriously needs to update there image to use the new drivers.

Current driver:
Dated: 2/22/2013
Version: 9.17.10.3040

MLB All Star Voting: Usability flaw

Just voted for my Orioles All-Stars, 35 times.

Weird usability thing. They let you fill out one ballot and submit it 35 times. But you have to actually type in 35 separate validation keys.

Why?

It's not causing 35 separate page views with new advertising on each page. I could understand that.

Why not just let me pick the number of votes I want for this ballot the submit?

No, I don't care enough about the NL to vote on 3 outfielders ;)

And I can't in good conscience vote for Brian Roberts (Orioles 2B) who has played like 12 games in 3 years but somehow made the ballot.

OH Challenge: Vote Machado into Starting Spot

OH Challenge: Vote Machado into Starting Spot:

'via Blog this'

MLB All Stars: Vote for Manny! Go O's.

OriolesHangout.com - Tony's Take - Chris Davis: MOO bat

OriolesHangout.com - Tony's Take - Chris Davis: MOO bat:

'via Blog this'

If you haven't been paying attention to the Orioles, you should. Chris "Crush" Davis is an absolute monster and you should be watching what he does and how he does it.

Holy Crap there is a new Stooges album

Listen To New Iggy Pop Interview At NPR | The Official Iggy and the Stooges Site:

'via Blog this'

How +Iggy Pop has survived life is a miracle. Its a good album.

Soft crab chips?!

As a follow up to my Crab Chip Heresy, I present this:

What. Is. This.

Apparently only available in Asia.

How to Run Cmd as Administrator in Windows 8

How to Run Cmd as Administrator in Windows 8:

'via Blog this'

Better way! As mention by Hassan in the comments:

WindowKey+X

One of the choices is Command Prompt (Admin)

WindowKey+X is wildly useful.

Crab Chip Heresy

Herr's Old Bay Potato Chips are better then Utz Crab Chips.

There, I said it. As a native Marylander, Eastern Shore no less, I have been swayed by Herr's chips with there real Old Bay seasoning and the key factor: vinegar, which really captures the essence of steamed crabs.

And yes there is concern when I hit that orange 'Publish' button Chessie the Sea Monster will leap out from the cove and eat me alive. But I'm saying it anyway!

Prove me wrong.

The Last 30 Rock

I have only seen a handfull of 30 Rock episodes (not a fan) but this one, the last of the series, was surely the worst.

What the hell just happened?