Google's Neat New Feature

So, yeah, my last post was ragging on Google Maps, but this one will balance that out a bit. There is a new feature in Google that I was unaware of, which is pretty impressive. If you do a search on Google, you may see something like this (click the images to see them larger):

Google is suggesting other searches you might like, but is also smart enough to know that Calexico is both a band as well as a town in California. Ok, that's neat, but not that cool. It does get cooler, though. Let's change the search to Gunnerkrigg Court, my favorite webcomic.

Note that now the suggestions are not similar searches to my search, but are other web comics. Google has turned into a webcomics suggestion engine! And if we change the search to Theater Hopper, which is a webcomic about movies (and also has reviews), the results change to include other webcomics about movies that also review them. Below that are webcomics that give the same treatment to video games.

So, not only is Google aware of what webcomics are, but also is aware of their theme or content. That's pretty impressive! I imagine this has been around for a while, but I just noticed it, and it's pretty cool. I was hoping it would link searches for musical artists to similar artists, like Pandora or Last.fm does, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I imagine it is only a matter of time though before Google does scrobbling for music, and improves it for webcomics.

The Lies of Google Maps

I like Google Maps in general. However, recently I have run into one feature that is not to be trusted, it seems. The Traffic layer of the app seems to be hit or miss with regards to freeway traffic, but it can be dead wrong on surface roads. Namely it has said that roads were clear which were definitely not. Lately I have hit snags in my morning commute due to intermittent construction on 287. Google Maps would show it clear when there was a traffic jam. I used Google Maps to find a route around that construction, and it showed that 120th was clear. Instead I spent around 10 minutes at one light on that route.

Today it was Speer Ave. on my way home. I was in a hurry to get home, and Maps showed my normal route down 8th as really bad, I-25 as bad, and Speer as clear. I opted for Speer against my better judgement on this advice. I spent so much time at lights and just stuck in heavy traffic. Granted, it did clear after passing the convention center, but it was considerably slower than my normal route. So I will not be trusting Google Maps for surface road traffic any more.

Work has been very, very busy. I workes this Saturday and pulled a couple all nighters at the beginning of this week. Which reminds me, I should go to bed now. I'm exhausted.

Torrential

This evening I drove through some pretty terrifying rain. Having grown up in Oregon, this is saying something. I don't think I've seen rain this torrential other than a couple of other times in my life. Driving home, I could barely make out the taillights of the truck that was about 40-50 feet in front of me. I've driven in better visibility in snow storms.

I was coming home from our new office. RealEyes has moved over into the Capitol Hill neighborhood, literally two blocks away from the Tower of Odd Smells. I now have a perch up in the top of a historic mansion overlooking the street. It'll be interesting to see what this building does to the dynamics of our company. We just hired our 16th person a week before the move, so we're a fairly familial company. Now we're more spread out and sequestered in rooms, whereas the old space was largely open and you could communicate with about anyone if you shouted loud enough.

It's nice to have more space and more reliable climate control. We certainly have a great selection of restaurants to choose from, too. We're just up the hill from Little India, which means I will probably up my pakosa and kheer intake significantly. Fortunately I will be getting my workout going up and down the four flights of stairs between my desk and the kitchen.

Camp Out & Hike Up

I just got back this morning from a camping trip with a couple from our church, David and Emmy Lou. We went up to the Rainbow Lakes campground high above Nederland. However, arriving at about 7 on a Friday night, the campground was quite full and most of the dispersed camping was taken. However, we found an awesome spot up and over a ridge from the road. Of course this necessitated us hauling all our gear up and over the ridge, but it shielded us from the wind and, more importantly, from the noise of the throngs of people dotting the borders of the road. Seriously, the cars were lined up all along the road, like we were parking for a big concert or some other event.

Our event the next day was a hike up to the Arapaho Glacier Overlook. It was a 12-mile round trip hike that left us sore and exhausted. However, the trail was not a killer. It was quite gentle at first and then a mild-to-moderate grade for a lot of it. The trail was in pretty good condition, but it was long. Rather than summiting, it crossed over a saddle and then skirted the summit of a peak before coming around to an overlook of the Arapaho Glacier, with the dramatic South Arapaho Peak looming above. By the time we got back to the campsite, it was quite the effort just to cook dinner. We had brought games, but exhaustion and some light rain sent us to bed early.

After a rainy night, we had breakfast and packed up. We've just now finished the clean up from camping. I've got pictures up in my web gallery.

Exotic Ice Creams

My company is moving to a new office soon. This means a longer commute for me, though into familiar territory. The office is literally a couple of blocks from the Tower of Odd Smells where I used to live. It also means that I will be moving far from the wonderful Savory Spice Shop. So I recently made a trip down there to stock up on things that I thought I might need. I ended up coming away with bags of Mayan cocoa and smoked paprika and a shaker of seasoning.

For whatever reason, my brain put the Mayan cocoa and smoked paprika together, namely in ice cream. So yesterday, using egg yolks left over from my apricot meringue pie I made this weekend, I made some ice cream. But why put in the effort to make one when approximately the same effort can make two batches of ice cream?

Here's the base ice cream recipe:

Ice Cream Base

• 1/2 C. water
• 6 T. granulated sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 1/4 C. heavy whipping cream

Place water and sugar in a sauce pan and heat gently, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and boil until the syrup reaches thread stage (225° F on candy thermometer).

Place egg yolks in a heatproof bowl and whip until frothy. Put bowl over simmering water and gradually whip in hot sugar syrup. Whip until creamy. Take bowl off heat and continue whipping until cool.

Mix the flavorings into the cream, then fold into the thick and creamy mixture. Turn into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions.

For the flavorings, here's what I did:

Hot Chocolate Ice Cream

• 2 T. Mayan cocoa
• 1/2 tsp. smoked spicy paprika
• 1 T. vanilla
• a pinch salt

Spicy Banana Apricot Ice Cream

• 1 banana
• 6 small apricots
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. dried minced orange peel (or orange zest)
• 1 tsp. Mayan cocoa

Mash the banana and apricots together until blended. Stir in other ingredients.

Both were delightful. The hot chocolate came out intense and rich with all sorts of earthy spiciness. It has a bit of a bitter aftertaste, so it might be good to reduce the paprika a bit. The fruit ice cream also turned out lovely, with even the subtle apricot matching the banana. I think I would put in a tablespoon of the Mayan cocoa rather than just a teaspoon. When I first had a taste, it mixed awesomely with the cocoa, but when it was mixed in with all the cream and custard base, that flavor got overwhelmed. I also think some fresh orange zest rather than dried peel would add a lot.

I now have too much ice cream in the house. It is a dangerous thing, especially when I am alone. I need to find a way to experiment without gaining 50 pounds. I'd invite people over to have some, but people keep no showing without warning or explanation, ignoring my invites, or cancelling last minute. It's a dilemma. Maybe I'll have some ice cream and think about it.