Afitek Stil » Hobbies

iPad 2 Knocking At Your Door!

admin — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 20:43:20 +0000

I just found out that there are already iPad 2 accessories available for pre-order. I’m amazed, I must say. The new iPad has been announced no longer than two days ago. Two days! Today I discovered maybe 10 different skins and cases for the new iPad 2, plus some stands and a cool backrest for the car seats. Well, you can’t actually buy any of those things tomorrow, but you can pre-order them and you’ll have them shipped as soon as they will be available.

I love many of them, especially the smart Covers from Apple, which attach with magnets to the iPad, so you can buy them in all ten colors and match them with your mood or with your clothes. Nonetheless, I don’t think I’ll upgrade from my iPad to the new one, because I heard some rumours that iPad 3 is going to be really sensational. I’m going to wait for that. What about you?

The Guitar I Learned To Play On

admin — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:52:09 +0000

There’s a beginning in everything. With the beginning also comes the memory of that beginning, often materialized in some item which we’d keep in our closet forever, useless baggage we move from place to place, memories of a past which is not going to come back anyway.

When it comes to keeping old stuff, I’m one of the best. I’ll show you only one example: my first ever guitar. It was probably more than 10 years ago when I decided I wanted to take guitar lessons, but that lasted very little. I never managed to find time to show up at those lessons, nor at the practice sessions with my band, so soon I had to give up my dream and put the guitar back in its box, where it lies also today. Would you like to see it? Well, I’m going to show it to you even if you don’t:

How cool is that? I still kept the amplifier that I got as birthday present that year. The equipment is in excellent shape, because I take care not to skip the regular maintenance. Besides, the guitar has its place in the box, away from light. If you didn’t know that, find out that the exposure to light is daunting to guitars because it makes the finish fade. Here’s my guitar in the box:

I’ve just decided today I’m going to sell it. If you are interested, just let me know by commenting here and I’ll send you all details by email.

My iPad Got Scratched. Is It Too Late for Screen Protection?

admin — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:09:35 +0000

I still remember how happy I was last week, when I finally got my iPad. I just loved it, so I rejected the idea of covering it with any of those bulky cases, no matter how good they may have looked. I wanted to use my iPad just as it came because I really thing Apple computers have the best design in the world. I only wanted to enjoy that. However, I should have considered (and now I have late regrets) buying an ipad screen protector before the inevitable happened.

Sorry, but I have to tell you the story, maybe I can make you understand why such expensive gadgets are better be protected. Yesterday afternoon I was sanding some glass. Yes, I haven’t told you about my new hobby yet, I’m into the stained glass art and I truly believe I’m an innate artist. So, I was sanding a big sheet of glass because I needed it for my current project which is going to successfully replace my sliding glass door window treatments which I no longer like. The iPad was on a coffee table in the workshop, but I thought it was safe because I had a very good control of all tools. I did have good control. At a point, I felt an itch on my left leg. I looked down to see what it was, thinking that could have been a drop of sweat going down my leg, finding its way through the curly hairs I’ve been gifted with. Well, the sweat drop proved to be a two-inch diameter spider with thick, hairy legs and shiny black eyes. I’m fearless, however seeing that cutie crawling down my leg had an unexpected effect on my muscles: I had an involuntary move that made the sand jet land right on my iPad.

The good part is that I’m fine and the iPad is still working. The bad part is that it’s now far from being the cool gadget it was yesterday morning and I’m afraid it will never be like that again. When I think of those military grade screen protectors like Zagg InvisibleShield I can’t tell you how sorry I am for not getting one from day one. I suppose now it’s too late. Or maybe can some of you teach me how to polish the iPad to get rid of those sanding marks?

Cheesy herbed pork chop recipes anybody?

admin — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 22:37:13 +0000

I still remember 10 years ago I used to cook no baking pork chop recipes using only the chops, cheese, some spices and sometimes a few veggies such as carrots, peas and potatoes.

This is one of my best recipes ever. My kids were absolutely crazy about it, so I remember I had to cook it two-three times in a row sometimes.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced
6-8 center cut pork chops at least 1-inch thick
Oregano
Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic and sauté until lightly browned; remove. Brown the chops on both sides. Put chops in a large enough baking dish to have one layer. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon fresh chopped or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano on each chop. Top with one tablespoon parmesan cheese on each chop. Dissolve pan drippings with 2 tablespoons water and add to baking dish. Cover dish tightly and bake one hour. Serve with Southern Rice.

Serves 6 to 8

Do you know any other recipes like this? Let’s share!

How to Make Stuffed Pork Chops Wrapped in Bacon

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:18:35 +0000

In a previous post, I was wondering how to make the best pork chops ever. I found this video which is very interesting. Learn how to make bacon stuffed pork chops in this free recipe video clip about adding salt, pepper, and garlic. Haven’t tried it yet, but it’s on the next week’s menu.

Which Spyware Blockers Are Best?

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:25:15 +0000

I need to block spyware in real time and I don’t know what spyware blocker to choose. I heard a lot of good things about Spyzooka, but I’d really want to know if anybody else can confirm it’s as good as it seems at first glance.

Need pork chop recipes ideas

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:15:42 +0000

Hey, I’ve got an important dinner next week and I want to impress my guests. I wonder if any of you could come up with some ideas on how to prepare a top loin pork chop so tender that it melts in your mouth. I have a hard time in cooking pork chops, because I always end up with steaks that are so tough that chewing is almost equal to half hour workouts at the gym. I must be doing something wrong, so I figured out that I could use some cooking instructions from people who are better cooks than myself.

Later update: I just found http://porkchopsrecipes.net/, a site that seems to explain well how to tenderize that pork meat by marinating it overnight.

Another update: thank you all, this is the recipe I’ve chosen: orange pork chops

4 boneless pork loin chops (3/4 inch thick and 5 ounces each)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can (6 ounces) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1-1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 cups cooked brown rice
Directions:
Sprinkle both sides of pork chops with salt and pepper. In a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook chops for 3-4 minutes on each side or until browned.
Transfer to an 8-in. square baking dish coated with cooking spray. In the same skillet, cook garlic for 1 minute. Stir in the orange juice concentrate, broth and Worcestershire sauce; bring to a boil. Remove from the heat.
Pour 1/4 cup sauce over pork. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160°, basting twice with sauce.
Bring the remaining sauce to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until reduced to 1/2 cup. Serve pork chops with sauce and rice. Yield: 4 servings.

Easy Cooking Recipes: Where To Find Some?

admin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 03:32:27 +0000

I love to cook but all my recipes are hard to make. So what are some easy cooking recipes that also taste good? I need to save some time for other activities. Any tips for managing to get the preparations done faster are also welcome. I don’t know about others, but I find it hard to finely chop vegetables without mixing a bit of human skin or some fingernail dust inside.

Learn How To Cook By Watching The Cooking Channel?

admin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:20:57 +0000

I don’t know how to cook, nobody has ever taught me. I usually avoid watching the cooking channel because it makes me hungry and eat, but could it teach me how to cook if I keep watching all the shows?

I promise to stop myself from eating, so I won’t need to diet then.

How To Make Cooking Salt?

admin — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:38:31 +0000

How do you produce cooking salt from a double displacement reaction?
Could you produce cooking salt from these reagents Na2Co3(s) and HCl (aq) ?
I know that this reaction yields the by-products NaCl(aq) and H20(l) from its ionic equation.
could I evacuate the water from the system then uses the NaCl(s) for cooking or if I were lost in a remote desert to replace my body salt that was lost from sweating?