Alex Scoble CISSP

buying socks is what target and '*.mart' stores are for. - Morgan Haley

Heh, yeah...I was looking for gift ideas to add to my Amazon wish list...unfortunately, Amazon isn't exactly the best place in the world to buy clothes from. - Alex Scoble CISSP

Hold on, you actually WANT socks as a gift? - Cains

Yes...dress socks to wear with my khakis that I wear everyday to work. Most dress socks don't last long. - Alex Scoble CISSP

Dress socks? Aren't you Mr Fancypants! :) - WorldofHiglet

Surely he'd be Mr Fancysocks? - Cains

Yeah, but you get that friendly transfer kit! Seriously though, the New Xbox Experience makes the upgrade worthwhile. The new feature allowing you to copy games to the hard drive is awesomesauce! - Alex Scoble CISSP

like ripoff expensive :( - John Cozen

Yes, it's more expensive than it probably should be, but the value add is worth it, in my opinion. So get off my lawn! Just sayin'! - Alex Scoble CISSP

Alex, you make a great point about the ability to copy games to the HD. I forgot about that feature. - Alan Le

I'm tempted. I wiped out just about all the content on my 20GB awaiting the NXE. After copying Rock Band 2, downloading the free 20 tracks, importing Rock Band 1 songs, and downloading additional songs, I have only about 3-4 GB's left now. - Rodfather

OK, I am tired so excuse my rantiness but I live in a country where tipping every person who comes within your general direction is not an established practice. When I go out and eat at a restaurant, I will tip only if I get great service. I refuse to be made to feel guilty cause I don't tip average service just cause it's the done thing. If you work at that restaurant, that is your job. I don't get tips for doing my job. If you just do your job, then you should just get what you are paid... - The Last Sound You Hear

If you show a level of customer service above just what is expected, then it should be up to the individual to decide whether to reward you in some fashion. The prices on the menu is what I should HAVE to pay, not a starting point. If you pay isn't sufficient to support your lifestyle then take that up with your employer, not the customer </rant> - The Last Sound You Hear

I like The Waiter - he is a great writer. I will always tip something unless service is truly terrible - but my percentage depends on the quality of service. I refuse to tip 18% if the service was subpar just like my company doesn't pay me a bonus or added commission if I do not add any clients in a quarter. - Nation Hahn

+1 Johnny - Cains

i worked for years in the restaurant industry and didn't ever expect a tip, but knew how to work the tables to get some good ones... as for being the tipper, i definitely tip if i plan to return (and i usually don't return if the service sucks) so starts an upward spiral of great service on subsequent visits. i don't care if they need the tips or not, though, and i don't look at it politically the way the article ends. - Trish Haley

+1 for Geoff - xero

There is no single setting for "greedy", genetically speaking. There's clearly a spectrum. Too much of anything = FAIL. Adapt or die. It probably isn't that natural selection selected *for* greed. It's that it selected *against* pure altruism. - Victor Ganata

*nods* There is a natural survival trait, but that drive toward acquisitiveness turns into greed when it comes at the pain of others. Of course, that's not a clear-cut boundary. You can tell "very greedy" from "not greedy at all," but it's kinda hard to tell with the 98% of us in the middle. - Ladybug Heather

Not allowing someone to borrow does not equate to greed, it equates to lack of trust, a want to continue immediate usage, or possessiveness. Greed is actively seeking out more, not maintaining what you have. Similar, but not the same. - xero

Oliver Stone = fail, that is all. - Cains

And mind you, there is a difference between simply wanting more, more, more, and wanting more and then making sure nobody else can have some. Granted, the latter often turns you a huge profit in the markets, but it's quite clearly evil, too. - Victor Ganata

greed is another word for fear, and if it once had evolutionary value that time has passed ... but there is another point of view, that it is based in the ignorance of our true nature, which is already whole and complete .. anyway, now we know that there is strategic value to morality .. the great lesson of these times - Gregory Lent

I did a little bit of a ponderance post about our concepts of good and evil.. http://www.alphaxion.com/?p=51... - alphaxion

Tip one: Use some form of heat to cook the bird completely. I can't stress the word, Completely, enough. :) - Wizetux

Outside of frying, my fave way is giving it a good rub down inside and out with butter & cajun seasoning, blasting it at 475 for 20 min and turning the heat down to 350 for 20 minutes a lb, tenting w/foil the last hour to prevent the outside from getting too dark. - Heather Solos

Use a thermometer and remember the temp will rise for 5 - 10 min after it's taken out of the oven. Let it rest 30 min, covered with foil before carving. Carve in the kitchen, it's stressful w/ an audience if you aren't practiced. - Heather Solos

Get a meat thermometer, especially if you can get the electronic wireless kind that gives you a pager to go in your pocket. Then, depending on weather conditions, use oven, grill, deep fryer, or smoker to cook the bird. Google is always my friend for time estimates. - Ladybug Heather

Carving as in like Norman Rockwell picture I don't know. Carving as in feeding a bunch of people, you need a large knife and some sort of large fork. Have the turkey on its back. Cut down the breast through to the back of the turkey. Cut on each side of the spine making sure you get down to the joints along the thighs. You will then have four large pieces of meat and the backbone. Pull the legs from the thighs at the joint. They will pop if you do it right. Its easy from there to see the bones from under the breasts and the thighs. Once done with all bones and skin throw them in a pot with some water and let them start stewing for soup later. - Chris W

As for carving it, I thought that was inborn on the Y chromosome. I sure as heck can't carve ANYthing. - Ladybug Heather

Theres more but I only have so much space and I don't have a turkey in front of me to take pictures. - Chris W

Never trust the little pop-ups on the turkey. Use a proper thermometer. And you're shooting for 185 degrees - Secret Ninja Steven

@Heather - If you think that, I'm sure you'll be sorely disappointed next Thanksgiving! - Scott from Canada

I grill our turkeys, as we don't have an oven. The bonus is that they cook *much* quicker: a 20 lb halfway thawed bird took 4 hours my first year (and no, it wasn't dry). I'm not any real help on carving, as we just hack off what we want. - Stupid Ninja (aka Tina)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... Here is the beginning part of Good Eats with Alton Brown in which he tells you how to deep fat fry a turkey. - Wizetux

Turkey Calculator!! --> http://friendfeed.com/e/8a287c... - Susan Beebe (Santa Claus)

Yet another example of why I love friendfeed...you guys rock. - Alex Scoble CISSP

I'm definitely the "clear juices" kind of person (that's how you know it's done). Also: rub butter & proscuitto inbetween the skin and the meat. Carving: if right-handed, start with bird lengthwise, opening close to you, and carve nice pieces of white meat (breast) 1/2 inch thick. Don't worry about the other stuff. voila! - anna

I'll create a video of a carving on Thursday if your interested with a master chef. He will do the whole thing. It takes him a couple of minutes but I'll ask him to explain it while he does it. I'll see if I can get one of the first turkeys he does so it can be posted early. - Chris W

The USDA actually suggests the thigh temp should be 165 http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactS... - Heather Solos

Found this: http://www.slashfood.com/2008/... - Aaron Hood

NY Times article today ---> http://friendfeed.com/e/beb4c3... - Susan Beebe (Santa Claus)

This is Alton Brown's recipe. Follow it to the letter, cook to 161F, and your turkey will be the best you've ever had. http://www.foodnetwork.com/rec... Brine FTW! - Dave Roth

PUT IT IN A PAPER BAG! It will be more moist than any turkey you've every eaten. We ran a test run, on Sunday. You can't go wrong! - Trevor Carpenter

yes, Alton Brown's recipe rocks. i've been using it since the Good Eats Romancing the Bird episode first came out and it still gets rave compliments - Imabug

I second the Alton Brown method. - Kreg Steppe

Based on an AT&T commercial I saw, thaw the turkey before you deep fry it. - Bill Miranda

Alton Brown bird works well, but be ready for a some smoke in the beginning. - Eric @ CS Techcast

Montreal chicken seasoning and a bag. I had to cook a turkey for a Thanksgiving party at work one year, with only a vague idea of how. Came out pretty good. - Missile-TOW

Turkey dinner was a success...I ended up using the NY Times article so thanks to Susan for that. Next year I'll have to remember to put the pine nuts in the stuffing, and manage the kitchen a bit more as the turkey ended up sitting a little too long and was a little cold, but all in all it was all good. - Alex Scoble CISSP

You're welcome, glad that worked out well for you!! :) Those photos did look great didn't they?! (Tip: Make a "tent" out of aluminum foil and closely cover the turkey until you're ready to serve it to keep warmth in) - Susan Beebe (Santa Claus)

Anothe vote for Alton Brown's brime recipe. Have used it successfully for several years, it's our traditional Turkey dinner! - Victor Ryden

rofl @ PWND. - Shawn Farner

Chris, my mortal nemesis, we meet again. :p hehe - Alex Scoble CISSP

Shawn, PWND is what started it all. I commented that I should own some just on basic principle =D - Stupid Ninja (aka Tina)

Thats what the people at the top believe. They are successful so it must work. Too bad the foundation of the people they made money off of are crumbling. When up higher, its just farther to fall. - Chris W

Its not about fixing from top down, before we fix it we have to put the people in place that have the desire and ability to fix it. So, like every other gang or monopoly, when you cut off the head the rest slinks back to the darkness from whence it came. After that we get to work with the fixing. The problem with the GWB reign is that they sucked really hard at everything except step 1. - Aaron Krug

I've said this numerous times.. stop bailing out the companies who will only lay off staff anyway. Bail out the humans, you win every damn time and clear away dead wood for new saplings to grow. How much of the $800billion would that pay for those losing jobs due to folding companies to keep paying their dues until they can find a new job AND offer loans to the small guys for RnD and ramping up production? - alphaxion

I reminded my husband yesterday to be sure he was putting in the max we could afford. - Heather Solos

Every dollar I put in a 401K for the last five years is now worth, lessee, $0.63. :-( - Glen Campbell

Alex, can you do the math on that for me, because I'm a little confused. First are you including matching funds in this $10? Second, even if $1 went to $5, you are saying that we'll be at Dow 40,000 in 2013? When we were at 14,000, what was your prediction for 5 years later? - Chris White

Yes, Glen, the last 5 years have not been very kind to retirement accounts, but that's the entirely wrong reason to decrease investment into them now. - Alex Scoble CISSP

I invest the maximum I can, but right now it's all going into bonds and money market funds. - Glen Campbell

Heather, Glen still has to pay taxes on those funds when he takes them out, no? - Chris White

Chris, every dollar you put in now will reap huge gains over the long term, don't go playing math games. Yeah, so I added some hyperbole to my statement, but it still will be true and you know it. Telling someone who can afford to put x into their 401k to put in less because of the economy is doing them a severe injustice. People should be putting in the max that they can, especially now. The next few years will be much larger dividends to a person's retirement account than any period we are likely to... - Alex Scoble CISSP

see for some time to come. And moving 401k funds into money market is a virtual guarantee that you will miss a large portion of the upside of the market. - Alex Scoble CISSP

Alex, I disagree about gains over the next 5 years. I think we'll continue to be in a bear market, and will not recover until at least 2010. I don't think we've seen the lows to the stock market, and I agree with what Glen is doing by investing in bonds. Some dividend stocks might be okay, but the yields are pretty low right now. There's no harm in waiting if you continue to monitor the situation. - Chris White

There is no bubble we know of on the horizon. First we had the dotcom bubble, then we had the real estate bubble. Real estate is still unwinding, given the Alt-A loans haven't started defaulting, but they will soon. Commercial real estate is next on the chopping block, and retail will be horrible this year. Many more stores closing, many more layoffs, which means less people to buy stuff. People that need money to live on should not gamble with it. 70% of GDP is consumer spending! - Chris White

I'm not talking about gains in the next 5 years...I'm talking about the power of investing in one of the worst drops in the stock market that most of us are liable to see for the rest of our professional lives. If you aren't investing in the down you are missing on the huge upside awaiting on the other side. For anyone able to invest the max into their 401k and who's younger than 45 or so, the next 10 years will net them the most worth for their retirement. - Alex Scoble CISSP

Alex, would you have advised people to invest in 1930? - Chris White

We are in a reverse bubble as we speak, Chris. And I clearly used the word "afford" when talking about how much you should be putting into your 401k. If you can afford to put in x and are putting in less than that, you are really short changing your future. - Alex Scoble CISSP

Yes, and I would have been right. Anyone who didn't invest in stocks from 30-40 missed out on a huge upside. - Alex Scoble CISSP

Well, I don't have a 401k, but I could afford to put a lot of cash to work in this market, and I am choosing not to. The real estate values are not a reverse bubble--we haven't even gone down to where we should be yet. - Chris White

This conversation is about people investing into retirement accounts, which is a bit different than investing directly in to the stock market. - Alex Scoble CISSP

The market dropping as fast as it has is certainly a reverse bubble. - Alex Scoble CISSP

Actually, there are good dividend yields from stocks if you know where to look. I almost bagged a couple of 20%-yielding equities but the market turned up before they triggered my limit orders. - Morton Fox

Alex, I realize it is different, although if having more money for retirement is important to you, I would be investing in bonds now, and stocks later. - Chris White

I disagree...if you have a 30 year time horizon, you should be investing as aggressively as possible. - Alex Scoble CISSP

Alex, if in 2013, we're still on FriendFeed, we can discuss who was right. :) Remember you said 10x increase in 5 years. That was what I was responding to. Not a 30 year investment horizon. - Chris White

Sorry, I guess you didn't get my intent. - Alex Scoble CISSP

I am not afraid of your vagueness. - Josh Haley

Isn't the verb form marinate? Oh wait, we're only supposed to correct Mona. Never mind, Alex, carry on with the awesomesauce. :-D - Ladybug Heather

Lamesauce FTL! - Susan Beebe (Santa Claus)

Please provide instances of lamesauce. KTHXBAI! :p - Helen Sventitsky

how about light dustings? is that ok? - Marco (aureliusmaximus)

agreed - Cee Bee

mmm, lamesauce - Morgan Haley

Little Lamesauce on a nice chicken breast, mashed potatoes on the side.. - L0GiX

No, examples...just vague proclamation. And for the record "marinade" is both noun and verb http://dictionary.reference.co... - Alex Scoble CISSP

I like my lamesauce with some fava beans and a nice chianti. - Anika Malone

People who use lobotomized terms like 'lamesauce' instead of actually saying what they mean need to get off of *MY* lawn. - Akiva Moskovitz

Now I have a vision of Alex outside in his bathrobe, unshaven, wearing a McCain button. :) - Ontario Emperor

Lamesauce? Wazzat? Time to unfollow or block methinks - Sally Church

Is lamesauce anything like mint jelly? - Nine

Lobotomies FTW, Akiva! - Victor Ganata

Lobomized term? I take exception to that...I have a brain and my brain chooses to like terms like lamesauce, oddsauce, ubersauce and awesomesauce. Ergo there's nothing lobotomized about them. :p - Alex Scoble CISSP

Alex, totally agree. Language generativity FTW! Heh, I feel like you've had a string of posts featuring dictionary sparring. Are you perhaps a closet cunning linguist? - Victor Ganata

Alex, have I told you lately that I love you? - Monique via fftogo

I know I'm in the minority here but I think all of these cutesy, super-trendy terms like [whatever]sauce, FTW, FTL, fail, epic, epic fail, meh, buh, feh, nom, om nom, etc., are completely shallow. They're so widely overused that they've lost all real emphasis and come off as grammatically lazy. I know my opinion isn't a popular one but it's mine and I'm sticking to it. - Akiva Moskovitz

Unfortunately, I think you have the history of human language evolution against your opinion, Akiva. - Victor Ganata

Hardly. Words come and go. I don't know too many people who still use words like 'groovy' or 'ripping' anymore. When was the last time you heard a guy referred to as a 'gate' or a girl as a 'dame'? It's just a matter of time before these words fade away just like 'gnarly' and 'wizard' did. - Akiva Moskovitz

Can I still use 23 Skidoo? - Christopher Harley

It's true, usage frequency ebbs and flows. But they're permanent parts of the lexicon now. 'Groovy', 'ripping', 'gnarly', and 'wizard' in the senses you're citing will always exist. But I have to admit, I don't know what 'gate' means in that usage. - Victor Ganata

The natural history of a lexicon is to expand, never contract. And where do new words come from? - Victor Ganata

Did this thread really just turn into a philological debate? - Nick Austad

I wasn't arguing against the expansion of a lexicon. I was stating that those words are so over-used that they've lost any compelling emphasis. - Akiva Moskovitz

Wouldn't that be "marinate". Lamesauce itself would be a marinade, however. - Clay Newton

I've often wondered what will someday replace the ubiquitous "LOL" - Nick Austad

Dude, I totally use groovy. Bruce Campbell made that word complete awesomesauce by using it in at least two of the Evil Dead movies (2 and 3). - Alex Scoble CISSP

Oh, well, since Bruce Campbell said it in a movie... - Akiva Moskovitz

Couldn't you combine awesomesauce and lamesauce to make tamesauce, or at best meh'tatouille? :-/ - Jonathan Hardesty

I mean, isn't that what happens? Whatever you think is ridiculous now doesn't just disappear. It usually gets replaced by something even more ridiculous. - Victor Ganata

Lamesauce is a carcinogen. - jlt

Mmm. Cancersauce. - Victor Ganata

I took this to heart in a way, and went back to plain ole "banane"- also was told the woman who coined awesomesauce would be annoyed with my appropriation... but what I really wanted to say is, FF has sucked for me lately, and I think I'm going to start pruning. - anna

.... - WorldofHiglet

? you smoking something? - L0GiX

Just the Friday juice, L0GiX...just the Friday juice. - Alex Scoble CISSP

9 minutes so far :) - Joe Dawson (beta)

Well, you caught me. And edythe can't be too far behind. - Ontario Emperor

LOL - Tanath

47 minutes. I was out having dinner. - Morton Fox

Sucked into the Morton Fox LIKE magnetic forces -*LIKE* button has been hit! - Susan Beebe (Santa Claus)

Wouldn't Mint.com do this almost all of this? They wouldn't let you maintain a watchlist but that would be easy to setup on Google or Yahoo. And then it would download your actual portfolios. Showing a broad view of the returns or portfolio specific views. It's pretty nice. - Occasional Headbanger

No, it has to allow a watchlist. Mint doesn't work. It HAS to have the feature specified. - Alex Scoble CISSP

Sounds like a good reason to downgrade to an older version of Quicken. - Wizetux

Talking about the online Quicken portfolio manager, Wizetux...unfortunately, he cannot downgrade that anymore than someone could go back to the old Facebook. - Alex Scoble CISSP

Does the home PC version of Quicken do what he is wanting? I know that it does stocks and bonds, but not really sure if it has all of the features you are needing. It tends to be that the online versions do not have all of the same features as the actual product. - Wizetux

I'm pretty sure he wants to avoid buying a product if a free online website will do what he wants. - Alex Scoble CISSP

Homes out my way (East Bay - Walnut Creek) are definitely going down and I expect that trend to continue. Biding my time .... - AJ Kohn

Seems too much... 30% strikes me as the proper correction amount. - Mark VandenBerg

Mark, based on what? - Chris White

Happening everywhere in CA. I live in Ojai & bought in '05 $500k, foreclosure next door went for $269k last month. - Kenley Neufeld

Chris: Can't find the link. Based on trends that showed a spike in home values in the last 10 years or so, and a graph that showed where the values would be without the spike. The difference, averaged nation-wide was around 30%. - Mark VandenBerg

It's not happening in San Jose. My dad's house has lost less than 10% of its value from the peak, which is what you'd expect from places like Cupertino, Almaden valley, Palo Alto and San Francisco proper. - Alex Scoble CISSP

Alex, it will take Alt-A loans defaulting, stock market crashing, and massive layoffs in tech companies to cause these to come down. Even right now, things aren't selling in SF, which does not a market make. All we need for prices to come down is something causing sellers to need to sell more. - Chris White

that's amazing if the numbers are real. buyer's market - Cee Bee

(This is one of those times where I wish Friendfeed's "like" function were labeled "interesting" or something else.) The economic downturn has been so difficult for so many people. - karen2

Friggin' hilarious - Hutch Carpenter