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Tim Hortons, oh how you have let me down on coffee.

Tim Hortons Coffee

It’s a Canadian icon, one of the largest corporations in the country and an integral part of our plans to take over american business (especially coffee). Yes, I am speaking of Tim Hortons, the gold standard in coffee shops in this wonderful country of ours (Canada that is, just to clarify for any of you foreign visitors).

So, now time to get onto the topic at hand. I have for the past few years found that the quality of Tim Hortons coffee has gone downhill, as has their service, food quality and the value. Oh, and don’t get me started on Roll Up the Rim to Win… 2/30 this year.

Let me start with the coffee, since it is their speciality. More often then nought recently, I have found the the coffee has had a burnt taste and on numerous occasions contained coffee grounds. I know they like to push their “Always Fresh” policy, where each pot of coffee should be served within 20 minutes of brewing. So with said policy in place, one has to wonder how they get a burnt flavour… unless it comes down to the cleaning of the machine and carafe.
Service, it used to be a strong point in Tims favour, now it seems to be an after thought. I frequent the same location near work a few times a week, and have noticed that the wait times, both in-store and at the drive-thru, are to a point bordering on ridiculous. In-store has seen me (and others) wait 5-10 minutes, with the same person that takes your order, making it… which I find slows things down, and the Drive-thru, normally well staffed has seen wait times of 7-15 minutes… yes, I waited 7 minutes between placing my order and getting my coffee, and I was the 3rd car in the line!
The food quality, well… that dropped when the doughnut size started getting smaller (see the bit about value) and when they switching in 2006 to using the centrally made made pastries, which get frozen and then shipped to each store. I no longer buy any doughnuts… unless I’m really desperate or hungry.
Lastly, the value is gone. The pre-made, smaller doughnuts… and the cup size change, although it looks like a deal, was carefully attached to a price change. What most people used to consider an Extra Large, became a Large… but kept the Extra Large price… the same filtered down to the other sizes… size got bumped up, as did the price, but they marketed the change using a “You can continue to order the same coffee” campaign. This also was a careful ploy to get us buying larger coffees… and getting addicted to the larger drinks.

I for one, am switching to McDonalds coffee… or K-cups.

Bacon, Beer

The Colby 2012 Campaign – The Forgotten Cheese

Inspired by the massive attention that was given to the Kony 2012 campaign that was started by the non-profit group Invisible Children, I decided to step into the game with something else that needs attention, Cheese.

I give you this: Colby 2012

Colby Cheese 2012

Colby is a cheese, and a damned good one. It is time to raise awareness for this often forgotten and misunderstood dairy product.
Let’s begin with cheese, I’m sure you all know what it is, but in case, we’ll give you a quick education (or maybe a refresher).

Cheese is a rather generic term for a group of milk based products, that vary in texture, colour and taste. Not only is it made from the milk from cows, but also from goats, sheep and even buffalo. The cheese is produced through the coagulation of the milk into curds, which are created by adding an acidic enzyme. These solid curds are pressed together and have the moisture (some times not all of it) removed, and are shaped, aged, coloured and/or flavoured. Shapes can be wheel, brick, block or even the favoured Colby shape known as Longhorn (think a tube of cheese). Age should be self explanatory… seriously. Flavour can be added by using Herbs, Spices, wood smoke or even using molds, either in the cheese or in the rind. I summarized the cheese wiki page, you can get more info from it too.

Now that you know a little more about cheese, let’s get to Colby. It was developed in 1874 by Joseph F. Steinwand at his fathers factory, which was located just outside of Colby, Wisconsin. Colby is very similar to Cheddar, but does not go through the ‘cheddaring‘ process, thus producing a cheese that is softer, milder and moister. Colby is considered a semi-hard , and goes through a washed-curd process, where the whey is replaced by water, resulting in the milder flavour. Colby is created in a fashion similar to Monteray Jack, although the Jack is not coloured and is softer, and sometimes the 2 cheeses are combined to create Colby-Jack. Colby should not be aged, as it dries out rather quickly.

It is now time to free Colby from being a table cheese. No longer should it only be grated or shredded as a topping for salads and snacks. No more time spent on the grill. No longer bound to nachos. It is time to make Colby the cheese we choose in 2012.

#colby2012 #savethecheese

Cheese and Colby information taken from Wikipedia, credit belongs to the Wiki authors. Thanks guys and gals.
Beer

The Beer is ready for consumption!

Now that the waiting is over, I finally get to taste my Cowboy Golden Lager that was part of the Mr.Beer Premium Gold Edition kit I ordered from Amazon before Christmas. You will probably have to go back through some of my previous posts to follow the process from start to finish, but it’s all written down somewhere.. (Specifically here, here and here.) Now, I’ve tried numerous different beers over the years… Stout, Pilsner, Lager, Wheat, Ale, Bitter and Cider… and this was my first venture into brewing more complicated then my 2 litre Mister Beer Bottle Brew‘s.

Cowboy Golden LagerI had taken the time to place the beer in the downstairs micro fridge on Friday before heading to work, with the intention to have it ready when I got home, but other things came up and I was unable to consume it that night.  Finally, Saturday and lots of free time, so fire up Netflix, find some episodes of Battlestar Galactica, find a clean glass from the bar and finally try my first real home made beer.

Wow. Light. Smooth. and even slightly bitter (umm… extra hops). I was slightly surprised by the bitter taste, but it wasn’t over powering or anything that would put me off drinking the rest of the batch, though I would not drink it all right away.  Two and a half glasses later, and it was all gone… though the last glass did have a cloudy experience due to the sediment. One bottle down, 7 to go… should be fun, though I may share some with a few other beer fans… I hope they will let me down gently.

P.S. I know it has taken forever for me to finally post this, but life has been busy and my free time hasn’t really been there… hopefully, I will at least be able to post some other things more frequently.

Hardware, Tech

Router switching on my FibreOp connection

Dear Aliant,
The provided ActionTec R1000H router is… well… crap… at least for anyone like me.
Regards,
Power User.

[singlepic id=15 w=320 h=240 float=left] Say hello to the ActionTec R1000H gigabit, 4-port router with wireless N and HPNA support. It’s designed for FTTH (Fibre To The Home), and is Aliants choice for FibreOp installs. The ActionTec connects into the ONT (Optical Network Terminal) where the Fibre line terminates inside the house, via ethernet cable. If you also signed up for FibreOP TV, then your receiver(s) will also connect to the ActionTec, either via Cat5 or with the HPNA connection. [singlepic id=17 w=320 h=240 float=right]You also get 4 (3 if 1 is used for TV) gigbit lan ports to wire up your desktops, laptops, and other devices. The router also has wireless N, with a decent output level, for strong reception where ever you might need a good wireless connection.

I found (with some help from the internets on a few of them) a few weak points in the ActionTec router…
1 – No DHCP reservations. This sucks for users, like me, that have servers and devices with dedicated ip addresses.
2 – 1024 concurrent connection limit. This is no good for users, like me, that use torrents.
3 – Lacklustre QOS. Not much of a let down for me, but I was able to see a difference between 2 PC’s playing World of Warcraft.
4 – Software NAT. This added more load to the router while processing packet requests.

So, having followed a thread on Digitalhome.ca closely, I decided to go ahead with the purchase of an Asus RT-N56U. [singlepic id=16 w=320 h=240 float=left]This router overcomes the short comings of the ActionTec, along with looking a lot nicer. What really seals the deal, one of the other members on the DH forums took the time to customize the Asus factory firmware, to tag port 4 with the vlan for the FibreOP TV. So now I get all the feature of the ActionTec, with DHCP reservations, 30,000 concurrent connections, Intelligent QOS, Hardware NAT, UPnP file and print sharing, and bandwidth monitoring!

If you have FibreOp, I highly recommend switching to the Asus router.
You can find them at NCIX, CanadaComputers, FutureShop, MemoryExpress and more… or like me, you can snag one cheap on eBay.
A must read for anyone thinking of switching is here.

Games, Software

Why I’m buying into the Play 4 Free game model

By now, most people have heard of the ‘Play 4 Free’ gaming model. Basically, developers and publishers will put out a game, which costs the gamer nothing. Theses games may be supported by advertisements, backing from a major publisher, or even paid for premium content or extras. Now, I wouldn’t call this approach to games new, as it seems like a new take on the old Shareware methods of the 80’s and 90’s

So, some of the big players that have put out games that I have played, and am probably still playing, include EA, Funzio, Wargaming.net and Turbine. Yes I am including a few browser based games in the mix, partially because of the portability factor with them.

Let me start with Funzio. They are responsible for the browser based game Crime City, which I bumped into on Google+. It is also available in Facebook, and through the Apple iTunes store for iOS devices.

 

Next up, Turbine. They gave us Lord of the Rings Online, based on the J.R.R. Tolkien series of books. The game has decent graphics, DirectX 10 support, and does require a client download. They have also recently announced an upcoming expansion, Riders of Rohan, due out later this year.

Now, we’ll get into Wargaming.net. They responsible for World of Tanks. Who doesn’t want to drive around in a selection of WWII period tanks, blowing other players up. It does require a client download, but it’s worth it. The game has a tiered based system for upgrading to newer and larger tanks, and each tank can be customized with different guns, ammo, engines, etc. Wargaming.net has also announced that they are working on another WWII game called World of Planes… say hello to my next time vampire.

Lastly, I’ll mention the biggest name in the field… EA, but I won’t detail there products quite as much, as just list the ones that I play, or have played and enjoyed. My list of games that have garnered my attention include:
– Lord of Ultima
– Battlefield Heroes
– Battlefield Play4Free
– Tiger Woods Online
– Something that I cannot name due to having signed an NDA and it is still in closed beta.

And why do I like Play 4 Free type games so much? I don’t get tied to them like I did with Warcraft… I can play when I want, and for as little or as long as I want.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to login into World of Warcraft…

Beer

The Beer is ready to drink… almost.

[singlepic id=12 w=320 h=240 float=left]A bit late with this one, but it’s time for an update on my adventure with making my own beer. It was just over 2 weeks ago that I re-checked my keg to see how the fermentation of my wort was coming along, it still had a slight cloudy appearance to it, but had lost any hint of sweetness, so I decided that it was a good time to go ahead with the bottling. The instructions called for adding 2 1/2 teaspoons of sugar into each bottle, so I used a funnel to get that in, then slowly add the fermented beer wort into the bottles, and fill them up to the spot right around where the neck of the bottle starts.

[singlepic id=11 w=320 h=240 float=right]After I filled all 8 bottles, I had to gently flip the bottles a few times to make sure that the sugar was fully mixed in. I then had to move all the beer back to my office, again to spend the next 10 to 14 days with temperatures between 20’C and 24’C. I also took the time to add a label to each bottle with the bottling date, ready to drink date and expiration date. All this waiting is going to leave me extra thirsty… thank goodness I’m making a lot of beer!

Now to speed up to 88mph and jump ahead a few days…
[singlepic id=13 w=320 h=240 float=left]The fermentation is done, and the bottles are nice and hard, and the beer has become clear. Now, this doesn’t mean that I can just crack open a bottle and start drinking… at least not without chilling the beer, no one likes warm beer, right? I am living up to following the instructions, and will do the conditioning step, which has me setting the beer aside for 2 more weeks minimum (up to 3 months). So, now I am setting a date of 3/3/12 to enjoy the first sip of my first batch of home brewed beer, at least, that didn’t come in a 2 litre bottle, though I still enjoy my Mister Beer too.

My Tips, Tech

My crazy ideas – or – Am I just nuts?

[singlepic id=10 w=320 h=240 float=left] So, I have been struck with this crazy idea to setup my own online channel dedicated to technology in general, and of course get a corresponding website. This idea came to me after watching some recent episodes of commandN.tv, one of the online projects that Amber MacArthur does, not that I don’t like commandN, but I feel there are other areas that could use some coverage. Now, I’m a big fan of Linux, being a Fedora/RedHat user for the past 13 years, though I will openly admit to keeping a Windows machine for gaming (Blizzard, please port your games to Linux… please).

I’ve already come up with a cool name (This space removed to protect my wacky idea), but I’ve already found hurdle number 1… someone has the domain I want. I will also need to work with my current host, or look for a new one that will offer unlimited bandwidth, unlimited traffic, email, and (hopefully) cheap domain registration.I will probably also need to look into getting some decent A/V gear, although I’m sure I could get some decent video with my Canon PowerShot ELPH 300HS, it probably won’t suffice for the audio. I will also need to get some other people to get involved in the project, and I have a few people in mind, who I think will get on board.

Well, I guess to get this crazy idea going, I’ll need to draw up a plan, present it to a few people, and then see if we can make it happen.. and then to free up some time to work on it.

To play on an old meme…
1 – Setup blog/website/youtube partner channel
2 – Get sponsors
3 – ???
4 – Profit!!

Oh yeah, the title is an homeage to the old Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, yeah these guys:
Rocky and Bullwinkle, the idea guys

Beer

Where was I last week

Carpool

Well, it’s doesn’t seem like a week has passed since my last update, but it has. I didn’t get to bottle my beer the last weekend, but got a chance on the weekend that just finished, and I also got to setup some carpooling for work.

Most of last week is long forgotten now, but I did my first ride-share on Friday, having a passenger named Jordon, who needed to get up to Fredericton to finish up some stuff for his passport. The weather tuned crappy, so I decided to leave Fredericton early, and it took almost 2 hours to get home due to the snow, rain, and sleet.
Using the power of a Facebook group and Kijiji, I was able to arrange for a full time passenger for this week, along with help a young lady get home from Fredericton tonight. My passenger this week has his own car, but it was damaged last Friday morning and is currently not road worthy, so for now I get to drive into Saint John to pick him up. I am also thinking that we might be able to get one or two additional people into the pool to save on costs.

On the weekend, I happened to enter a random Facebook contest put on by the Saint John Sea Dogs, the local major junior hockey team, who also happen to be the 2011 QMJHL and Memorial Cup champions. Yeah, I won 2 tickets for the game on Sunday, which the Sea Dogs managed to win 6-3.

I also re-tested my Mr.Beer mix to see how it was doing, and decided that it was ready for bottling. Luckily, the bottles were still sealed with the sanitizer, so I was able to use them. I added 2 1/2 teaspoons of sugar, since that was the recommended amount for the 1 litre bottles, then fill them up to just about where the neck starts. I have some pictures, I’ll get them added later. The bottles have been placed in storage, again in my office due to the nice 21’C temperature that it likes to hold. The bottles should take between 7 and 14 days

Mister Beer

to fully carbonate, and at that point they are ready to drink, though I plan to condition them at least another month. While I wait for my home brew, I picked up some Mister Beer bottle brew, which is the easiest home made beer ever… just pop in the yeast pill, wait 10-14 days (store between 20 and 24 Celsius), then chill for 12 to 24 hours and it’s ready… easy as that, and it tastes decent too.

And to end off on a fun note, I picked up a celebrity follower on Twitter today! My new follower? It’s Amber MacArthur, you’ve probably heard of her. If not, check out her page, her facebook, her twitter or Google+.

 

Longdog

Tinker gets out for some fun in the snow

I noticed something this weekend on Youtube, and figured why not join the crowd. Videos of animals doing cute or silly thing, tend to get a lot of views.
My answer to this? Take Tinker outside to have some fun in the snow and capture it with the camera, and for those who do not know, Tinker is our 3 year old smooth hair Dachshund. She is not quite a full size, and just a bit to big for a mini, so she falls under the category of a tween (and thankfully, she is not a Twilight fan). She is also a dapple pattern, not the more frequently seen Red, Black or Tan colours.
For a camera, I used the Canon PowerShot Elph 300HS that I bought last spring before my trips to Washington DC, Chicago IL, and Kolkata India. I really like this camera for it’s ease of use and size. It also has the ability to shoot in 1080p HD and do to slow-motion at 240fps at 320×240, which is really fun to play with.

Since it has recently snowed, I figured why not take Tinker out and have some fun.

Here is Tinker on the deck, and I’m part way up the hill in the back yard calling for her, but she doesn’t want to jump off.

Here she is running through the snow, using my footprints as a guide.

Here she is trying to figure out how to get down the hill to mommy, without having to run through the snow.

Here she is plowing through the snow, running down the hill to mommy.

And finally, I had to get a slow-motion capture of her running back up the hill.

She was starting to get cold, so I called it a day… next time, I’ll make her wear her coat.

Beer

Beer bottling day has arrived…. or not.

I have waited the 14 day period to let me Mr.Beer keg ferment, and am ready to start bottling my beer. Now, I have had the keg resting out of direct sunlight, in the only room that I know will stay between 20’C and 24’C, my office, as having 3-4 computers always powered on does generate a decent amount of heat, and I only set the thermostat to 16’C just in case, though I did have to keep the door closed over night to keep the heat in. I checked the keg with an LED flashlight to check on the state of the contents, but it’s hard to tell the cloudiness inside the brown keg.

[singlepic id=7 w=320 h=240 float=left] Now the instructions directed me to sanitize the bottle that I would be putting the beer into, and lucky for me, the Premium Gold Edition of the Mr.Beer kit, came with 8 1 litre bottles. So, using the remaining sanitation mix, I prepared 4 litres of cleaning mixture and filled each bottle half way, capped them, and shock the crap out of them, before letting them sit for 10-15 minutes in the sink, and then shaking them again just to make sure the sanitizer had made contact with all surfaces.

[singlepic id=6 w=320 h=240 float=left] At this point, I brought the keg out of hiding, in preparation to dispense the beer into the bottles. I was able to see a nice layer of sediment built up along the bottom of the keg, and double check the clarity of the contents, and it did appear a tad cloudy, so I would have to draw a sample to verify that. If you look closely, you can see how far up the beer mixture is in the keg, just shy of 2/3’s full.

Here is a good look at the sediment.
[singlepic id=8 w=320 h=240 float=left]

 

 

 

 

 

And here is a look at my sample, after I took a taste test.
[singlepic id=9 w=320 h=240 float=left]

You can see how cloudy the beer still is, and I was able to detect a some sweetness in the taste, but it did almost taste like flat beer, which is what I am aiming for. Now, I’ve never tried the Cowboy Golden Lagar before, so I’m not quite sure of what the taste should be, but I’m guessing something close to flat Budweiser.

Well, with the beer not quite ready, I’ll put the keg back into storage for 2-3 (probably more like 7 days), then do a sample draw again to check for cloudiness and taste. For now, the sanitized bottle will remain sealed. For now, you will just have to wait another few days, just like me.

 *All pictures in this post are mine. I took them with my camera. If you want to use them for your own non-commerical use, go right ahead.