Filed under: Dinner, Baking, Raves & Reviews, On the Blogs, America, Comfort Food, Real Kitchens

I started reading blogs sometime around the beginning of 2003 (looking back, it seems inconceivable that there was ever even a time when I wasn’t reading blogs, so thoroughly have they become part of my life). One of the very first food blogs I discovered and read consistently was 101 Cookbooks. Heidi’s writing, creative recipes and gorgeous pictures kept me enthralled and I still shout a little internal ‘yay!’ when a new post from her pops up in my RSS reader. When her book, Super Natural Cooking, came out I tried to hold out for a major gift-giving holiday, but didn’t last a week before placing my order.

I think the picture (that you see above) that she posted on Tuesday of a pan of madeleines, some of the molds empty and all the cookies flipped to show off their ridges is just gorgeous. I admit that my fascination with her (actually, her friend Lanha’s) madeleines might have something to do with the fact that I read Swann’s Way last semester for my Narrativity Theory class and so am very conscious of the madeleine’s ability to evoke a taste memory. Proustian references aside, this recipe confirms what my next kitchen tool purchase will be. The only question is, do I buy the classic size, or the mini?

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Filed under: News

You may recall a while back when Sony released a few concept pics of LittleBigPlanet, specifically their character creation sketches, that drawings of Mario, Master Chief, and Katamari were included. Many people thought this was cute and/or funny, but not entirely possible. Creative director Mark Healey assures us that, while concept art, “…you can customise your character so much that that’s entirely possible.” This is done by importing “stickers” from your hard drive — something we don’t quite understand, but are entirely sure it’s straightforward to do once you try for about ten minutes.

Sony will leave it mostly up to the community to report and moderate dodgy comment. Healey cedes that “the first thing I’d do is make a big c*** and publish it, but clearly we can’t allow that.” Someone will, Healey, someone will. But it’ll be up to us to lay the ban hammer on them and keep our LittleBigPlanet clean and habitable. Either way, we can’t wait to see Mario teaming up with the Master Chief alongside, say, a Helghast in order to make it through a level in LBP.

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Filed under: Gaming

Those terribly saddened by the recent drought of Phantom Entertainment news now have something to celebrate, as the current king of vaporware has seemingly inked an utterly worthless marketing agreement with ProGames Network to “place the Lapboard and Phantom Game Service content in [select] hotels.” Reportedly, the two have agreed to place Phantom’s not-yet-available wares into hotels found in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australasia (fancy, huh?), but to no one’s surprise, neither firm mentions a target launch date.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Cell Phones

We recently reported on a text message hoax in Indonesia that warned of a tsunami and that was taken so seriously by people, they fled their homes en masse for higher ground. Now, India has been the victim of a text gag, with this one aimed at the country’s financial market.

Yesterday at exactly 12:45 PM local time in Mumbai, thousands of traders were hit with a text message that claimed the political left had pulled out of the government and that it would hit the news in 45 minutes. The Senex (a selection of 30 highly-traded stocks from the Bombay Stock Exchange) then immediately dropped 160 points in seven minutes. The plunge into the red didn’t last long though, as buyers saw an opportunity and boosted the Senex 170 points in the following four minutes. Of course, in the end the left never exited and the Indian government didn’t collapse.

We don’t have any money tied up in the Senex, but we like this story because it shows how our new, rapid means of communication and information dissemination are having an effect on our world — especially our financial markets. Just a few months ago, you may remember that Engadget — the most linked to blog on the Web — posted a story about Apple delaying the release of the iPhone and the next update to the OSX operating system. Though the story was incorrect and based on a forged internal e-mail, investors saw the news and Apple’s stock immediately tanked, going from $107.89 to $103.42 in six minutes — though it later made a full recovery.

The takeaway from all of this? Rumors fly around a lot faster and easier than they used to, which means we all need to be a lot more responsible about what we choose to believe, and why we choose to believe it.

From Textually.org

Related Links:

• Teen Struck By Train While Text Messaging
• Blogger Sued for Negative Book Reviews
• ATM Giving Kiosks Arrive in Churches

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Filed under: Action & Adventure, Drama, Foreign Language, Independent, Distribution, Cinematical Indie

The multi-talented Andy Lau Tak-Wah may be best known in North America for Zhang Yimou’s House of Flying Daggers, but in Asia and other parts of the world he’s a superstar. He’s made more than 100 films (Days of Being Wild, Fulltime Killer, Infernal Affairs) and his box office popularity ranks with Stephen Chow and Jackie Chan. He’s also well-known for his award-winning singing career. While he’s always had charm and looks, his dramatic films in the last decade have displayed growing talent and impressive range as an actor. His film production outfit, Focus Films, made six films in their Focus First Cuts program to showcase promising talent from across Asia, and now another program has been announced.

A series of four films will be made under the Focus Fight banner. As suggested by the title, the project is all about making action movies, but the intent is also to uncover “new and talented action movie stars and young directors,” as explained at the web site. “The films will encompass a variety of genres and tastes, and allow young Asian directors to express their innovative visions.” Another objective is to grow the movie-going audience “in terms of geography, age groups, industry, interests and socio-cultural and economic backgrounds.” To help keep costs down, all projects will be shot in HD.

Focus established a fine track record with First Cuts, releasing a healthy variety of films that produced one genuine box office hit (Crazy Stone) and good critical reaction in general. They are actively recruiting directors, script writers and actors, with applications due by September 30. Andy Lau starts his “Wonderful World” concert tour on September 1. He recently shared in a press conference about the upcoming Brothers, to be directed by Derek Chiu; he will also be featured in Peter Chan’s The Warlords, due in December, and Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon, due in 2008.

[ Via ScreenDaily ]

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Filed under: Cellphones

The Palm rumor du jour calls for Palm to deliver its first, Linux-based smartphone in an October release. According to the DigiTimes source, the new OS will be based on Wind River System’s flavor of Linux already in use (and buggy) in Palm’s forthcoming Foleo folly. That’s right, Wind River, not ALP. Really, we don’t care whose OS it is, just as long as we never have to see Garnet rolled out on a new device ever, ever again. Of course, it makes sense for Palm to standardize on a low-risk, OEM-grade Linux platform so we’ll play along with the rumor for now. Oh, and make it ultra-thin with WiMax, please… pretty please, with sugar? We’ll even move to Baltimore if you do. Well…

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Now that Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan are under the police eye, Bolywood is finding itself in a great jeopardy. Who can replace the two of the most countable actors? The question has shaken quiet a few. “They are cult figures and they have a certain equation with the audience which makes them indispensible,” says […]

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The following is a real picture of a real sign, taken in the good ole’ US of A:

This particular sign appears to be from Boston, but apparently the practice is widespread across the states (and particularly well suited to keeping kids out).

I guess this makes A LITTLE sense, but it also seems to be inviting passersby to a challenge. The moment I saw that sign, I’d try to climb the fence. Why not just write “HEY KID, I BET YOU CAN’T CLIMB THIS FENCE”?

NOW … if they had really wanted to keep kids (and curious adults like me) out, they would have put up a sign like this:

That’s what I call an intimidating fence! Too bad law enforcement would probably take it down due to public health concerns.

Thanks Mister Majik for the pic!

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The Lightning GT is no ordinary car - this is an electric car that takes approximately the same amount of time to charge up as it takes to fill up a gas tank. When fully juiced up, it will be able to travel a distance of 250 miles courtesy of Nanosafe technology that powers it. Underneath the hood, the Lightning GT’s will be able to generate a monstrous 700hp and accelerate from a standing stop to 60mph in less than four seconds (!) and has a top speed of 130mph, officially making this the fastest electric car at the moment. Since there is no engine involved, you will definitely save on servicing the car in the long run. Too bad you have to cough up $300,000 for one of these first.

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Filed under: News

Who knew 30 puny frames per second would spur such a huge outcry from gamers? 2K Games isn’t taking any chances, and promises that their upcoming sports games, such as the NBA 2K series, will run at 60fps on both PS3 and Xbox 360. “Our [PS3 version] does run at 60fps,” said 2K Sports PR Manager Anthony Chau to CVG.

Admittedly, developers have had less time with the PS3 than with the Xbox 360. “It’s pretty tough on PS3 but I think it’s because most developers have had the Xbox 360 longer in terms of development than the PS3.” However, if Sony and 2K Sports can develop games at 60fps, there’s no reason why other sports games should be limited on the hardware. Thankfully, EA has already learned from their mistakes.

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