Author: Sam Kornstein

The Super PAC App!

Posted on by in Current Events, Technology

As I previously mentioned here and here, my good friend Dan Siegel has been hard at work developing the Super PAC App, an iPhone app that helps people who are interested in researching election-related commercials funded by Super PACs identify (1) which organizations are paying for the ad, (2) what other political initiatives they support, and (3) what research has been done to substantiate their claims. Today the app was officially released in the Apple App Store. I’m obviously a bit biased, but I must say I’m very impressed. The first thing I did was pull up an election ad on YouTube and try out the Shazam-like tagging feature. While the ad was playing, I pressed the tag button in the app, and

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Hazelnut Brown Ale Homebrew (2012 Batch #2)

Posted on by in Beer, Homebrew Recipe

I brewed a Hazelnut Brown Ale the other night. It’s an original recipe I put together after reviewing a few similar brew recipes online. I’m shooting for about 6% ABV and something a bit hoppier than a traditional brown. Here’s the recipe summary: Grains: 7 Pounds Light Liquid Malt Extract 1 Pound American Crystal 20 1 Pound American Crystal 80 1 Pound English Brown .5 Pounds Chocolate .5 Pounds Light Munich Hops: 1 Ounce Perle (7.5%) @60min 1 Ounce Saaz (3.5%) @20min Other: White Labs American Ale Yeast 1 Whirfloc Tablet @5min 4 Ounces Hazelnut Extract at Bottling 5 Ounces of Priming Sugar at Bottling Original gravity reading: 1.06 And here’s the detailed recipe.

Who’s Curiosity? Bleep-Bop.

Posted on by in Current Events, Technology

I just discovered that NASA’s curiosity rover, which who landed on Mars last night, has its own Facebook and Twitter pages where it posts updates about its mission in the first person. It seems a bit over the top, but why not? I guess NASA thinks they can gain more media attention if they pretend their robot likes Carly Rae Jepsen. What’s funnier is that it’s probably actually pretty effective. Here are some highlights from the Facebook page: FYI, I aim to send bigger, color pix from Mars later this week once I’ve got my head up and Mastcam active. No photo or it didn’t happen? Well lookee here, I’m casting a shadow on the ground in Mars’ Gale crater. Call me, maybe? All

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Apricot Ale Homebrew Update

Posted on by in Beer, Homebrew Review

It’s been just over two months since I brewed an Apricot Ale, and it was finally ready to drink earlier this week. Overall, I think it came out well. It tastes a lot like a slightly hoppier and more bitter Magic Hat #9, which I attribute to the dry hopping. The apricot flavor is a bit stronger than I’d like, but my experience is that it’s strength will fade as the beer ages for a few weeks. It spent ten days in primary, six weeks in secondary with the dry hops, and about ten days in the bottle before I opened the first one. I had originally planned to only keep it in secondary for a week or two, but I changed

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Gordon Brown

Posted on by in General

Not the former Prime Minister of the UK. My friend Gordon Brown, who lives out in San Diego, and is just beginning his acting career. He’s the good looking guy driving the Dodge Journey on the beach: