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Wired News: by Cyrus Farivar Cell phones that could be recharged with a shot of Coke, Kool-Aid or even maple syrup might hit the market within five years, using experimental, enzyme-based fuel-cell technologies described in a recent study by Shelley Minteer of Saint Louis University. Minteer’s team released a similar study nearly four years ago, showing that it was possible to use ethanol, or even shots of tequila, to power fuel cells. At the time, Minteer reported that the research…

Last night, I made the best Persian rice (with tadiq, the burned crunchy bits at the bottom of a rice pot) that I’ve ever made! Chowhound helped a bit, but this was all me. Previously my tadiqs haven’t been quite as uniform, nor the saffron as diffuse. So freakin’ delicious. Also, one of the benefits of working at home is that I get to cook lunch in my own kitchen if I want to. The other week I made this…

Crap. I’m about 70 minutes (read about $30) over my monthly allotment on my cell phone. No one call me between now and 9 pm tonight. Thank God for upcoming free weekend minutes.

When I first read the headline “The Year Without Toilet Paper” in today’s New York Times, I thought to myself “Um, that’s not a big deal.” Most people in many parts of the world don’t use toilet paper (read: most Africans as well as people in the Middle East and many other places, I’m sure). While that may sound repulsive to many Americans, it’s really not as hard as one, typical American consumer might think. Sliding down past the headline,…

Wired News: By Cyrus Farivar March 20, 2007 How do you get 120 terabytes of data — the equivalent of 123,000 iPod shuffles (roughly 30 million songs) — from A to B? For the most part, the old-fashioned way: via a sneakernet. It’s not glamorous, but Google engineers hope to at least end the arduous process of transferring massive quantities of data — which can literally take weeks to upload onto the internet — with something affectionately called “FedExNet” by…

My MacBook is for sale. Lemme know if you’re interested.

So after trying Monica’s favorite burrito place in the East Bay, Chavez Market in Hayward this weekend, I still haven’t found any burrito superior to the ones from El Ojo de Agua in Fruitvale. I just found a January 2006 piece from the Chronicle talking about how awesome the taco truck and blue-collar Mexican food scene is on International Blvd. “Ojo de Agua (on Fruitvale Avenue at E. 12th Street). Legendary for its al pastor tacos, but they can be…

It was so crowded, I didn’t actually get to see him until after the speech. But it was a good speech nonetheless.

Two Years Before the Mast, 1869: Late in the afternoon, as there were vespers at the Roman Catholic churches, I went to that of Notre Dame des Victoires. The congregation was French, and a sermon in French was preached by an Abbé; the music was excellent, all things airy and tasteful, and making one feel as if in one of the chapels in Paris. The Cathedral of St. Mary, which I afterwards visited, where the Irish attend, was a contrast…

March 17, Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland Doors open at 3 pm. Register here for free tickets.