Wallpaper Ndol: November 2009

Olympus E-620 Features

Olympus E-620 Features:

12.3 megapixel Live MOS sensor
Sensitivity: ISO 200-800 (ext. 100-3,200)
Continuous shooting: 4 fps
Maximum shooting speed: 1/8000s
Live view mode
Optical viewfinder (penta-mirror)
95% coverage viewfinder (Approx. 0.96x magnification)
Sensor shift image stabilization
Autofocus system: 7-point with 5 cross-type points
49-zone metering
Sensor dust removal system
2.7″ tilt-and-swivel LCD screen (230,000 dots)
Flash: 17 GN
Memory slots: CompactFlash & xD Card (but with no possibility to use both at the same time)
475 g (body only)

Olympus E-620 List price:

$699 (body only), $799 (kit with the ED 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens), 700€ body only

ASUS EEE Convertible Netbook for Windows 7 Shipping

The world’s first convertible netbook-tablet for Windows 7 has arrived stateside. The specs for the ASUS EEE T91mt are pretty similar to the regular ol’ T91, though it does ship with Windows 7 Home Premium and the hard drive is twice as large.

This is an exciting development because we’ve been waiting for a convertible like this one to take full advantage of Windows 7’s advanced touchscreen capabilities. Touchscreens are all nice and fine, but will end up a novelty on desktop computers–arm strain is an issue, and mouses are easier to use anyway. But a tiny machine like the TC91mt eliminates the strain problem (just lay it flat!) and the touchscreen capabilities could prove to be very useful for, say, students who use it to hand-write class notes with a stylus.

In any case, the T91mt features an 8.9-inch multi-touch swivel display, 1.33GhZ Intel Atom Z520 processor, 1GB RAM, 32SSD, and a 5-hour battery life

T-Mobile workers accused of selling customer data

Employees of T-Mobile have been accused of selling millions of customer records, and could be prosecuted by privacy watchdog the Information Commissioner's Office.

The data alleged to have been sold included customers' names, mobile numbers, contract details and the expiry dates of those contracts, an ICO spokesperson told ZDNet UK on Wednesday.

The ICO said the records had been sold through brokers to rival mobile firms, so those firms could cold-call T-Mobile customers when their contracts were due to expire, in order to offer them alternative contracts. The records were sold for substantial amounts of money, according to an ICO press statement on Tuesday.

The news that a mobile operator had been involved in a serious data breach was revealed on Tuesday in a submission by the ICO to a Ministry of Justice consultation. The consultation is asking whether custodial sentences for reckless data breaches would be appropriate.

An accompanying ICO press statement did not specify which mobile operator had been involved. However, it emerged through reports on Tuesday that T-Mobile had kicked off the ICO investigation when it approached the watchdog with concerns about its employees.

T-Mobile said in a statement on Wednesday that other parts of the mobile-phone industry had been involved in the misappropriation of customer data.

"While it is deeply regrettable that customer information has been misappropriated in this way, we have proactively supported the ICO to help stamp out what is a problem for the whole industry," said T-Mobile.

An ICO spokesperson on Wednesday declined to say which phone companies had allegedly bought the T-Mobile customer data, and declined to say if or when the case would go to court.

"It's too early in the investigation to say," said the spokesperson. The ICO is currently preparing a prosecution file.

The maximum fine available to the ICO for reckless data breaches is £5,000. The Ministry of Justice is currently consulting on whether the maximum fine should be raised to £500,000.

Inspiring Swimming Pools

Italian Sausage Soup

I love soups! They make great meals in one and I enjoy trying new soup recipes. I recently saw this one in a Paula Deen magazine. I adapted some but it is still basically the same.

This soup is quick and easy. It is also frugal, especially if you cook your beans at home instead of using canned beans. I cook up a bunch of beans at one time and freeze them to use in recipes like this.

I served this with bread and my whole family enjoyed it.

Italian Sausage Soup

1 lb sausage

1 onion, chopped

1 cup celery, minced (I left this out, I don’t like celery)

1 cup carrot, minced

3 (14 ounce) cans beef broth

2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with basil oregano and garlic ( I used canned tom. and some italian seasoning)

2 (16 ounce) cans red kidney beans, drained

1 (15 1/2 ounce) can great northern beans, drained

2 cups macaroni, uncooked

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

In large Dutch oven, cook sausage, onion, celery and carrot over medium-high heat until sausage is browned and crumbles.

Drain well.

Stir in broth, tomatoes and beans; bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add pasta; simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until pasta is tender.

Stir in salt and pepper.

Serve immediately.

Cheeseburger Pie

This is a simple recipe. It is based on my cheeseburger calzone. It is basically the same with a different crust. Instead of using pizza crust, I used pie crust. I really like the calzone version, but I think I like the pie version better. Maybe that is because pie crust is not nearly as healthy as pizza crust is. I mean who doesn’t like pie crust.

I made a big “pie”, but I think you could easily make these into mini version. I think I might try that next time. I think my kids would enjoy each having their own little one.

Cheeseburger Pie

2 pie crusts, unbaked( I was a bit lazy busy this week and I used a store crust)
1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup chopped dill pickles
3/4 cup ketchup
1 – 2 tablespoons mustard
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Cook and crumble ground beef. Cool slightly. Add chopped pickles, ketchup, mustard, and cheese. Mix all together. Set aside.

Roll out 1 pie crust on a large cookie sheet or pizza stone. Place filling on crust, spread filling to about 1 inch from the edge. You need to leave enough dough around the edge to seal the crust. Roll out second crust and place over filling. Seal edges. Make a few slits in the top crust to make steam vents. Bake at 375 for about 17 minutes or until crust is slightly browned.