The Journey to a Birthday Cake

Each year I bake cakes for the kids birthdays. 

This year my daughter asked for Doctor Who. I obliged.

 

Look! I cleaned!

Now I can start the REAL work. I've already preheated the oven.

This HAS to be done by tomorrow. That means a late Friday night tonight.

 

What? Don't judge me! This is what it takes! I'm sure the #Doctor would agree.

No custard here though.

The Chocolate Half is in the oven. Now I had to use a different pan because I had no 9x13's. Someone absconded with them. So I used the roasting pan that came with the new gas oven. This may be a better solution although I am not sure if this may rise too high. We'll see. I do want some bubbles so I only banged it twice instead of really thumping it to make it dense.

Ok, it's high, but I don't think it's TOO high. It certainly hasn't overflowed the pan, it's still got a shape and hasn't fallen miserably. I just have to convince everyone to be QUIET!!! in the kitchen.

Chocolate half DONE.

ALRIGHHHHHHHT. It turned out BEAUTIFUL. I am so glad the baking force is still with me. Double box method in a roasting pan and it's light, spongy, baked in a half hour, didn't overflow and smells great! 

The bad thing is... I only have one roasting pan. I have to wait for this to cool sufficiently so I can get it out of the pan, wash the pan, and start the vanilla half of the cake.

Why yes, that is a box of wine behind the cake, and I am partaking. 

Trivia: Did you know the Gallo winery in California stores their wines in MILLION gallon tanks? It's true.

Chocolate cake fully cooled and the top evened by cutting it with a greased string. 

The vanilla cake is the same so I won't show pictures of that until the two cakes come together. The vanilla is cooling in the fridge now.

Oh what's this then? I love this!

Chocolate and vanilla have come together in harmony. (mostly, except for that tiny slice in the middle that I am SO not worried about. yes, I had to slice off a bit of the top of the chocolate because it baked up much fluffier than the white cake did. No one will notice once the fondant goes on so ssshhhhh!

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... Marshmallow fondant. 

Coloring next.

Swirly blue just like I wanted! :D

Rolling fondant, even marshmallow fondant takes real effort.

A normal rolling pin does NOT cut it for this job.

 

Covered, but even as fast as I tried to work the fondant got dry and cracked a bit. 

I'll deal with that later.

 

Windows! Not 95. No not 7 either. 

These windows are special.

 

 

Doors and a bow tie. Because bow ties are cool.

Don't. Blink.

This is what I did with the crack. Prisoner Zero has escaped!

 

5a.m. Saturday - DONE!

In the end I completed the cake. My fondant DID run dry finally and I did not get the piping around all the bottom edges done, but here it is, my daughters completed birthday cake :)

Making It: Better, Faster, Easier

Making It: better, faster, easier.

     One of the earliest modern conveniences in food technology that helped to shape food was the invention of a packaging material that could really take a beating. The lowly tin can is still prominent on our supermarket shelves today, though it was patented back in 1810. It was in 1847 when Allen Taylor figured out that you could use a machine to create the packaging faster. This machine would flange the end of the disks that were cut so that it wouldn't have to be done by hand. Once this first step was completed, progress was swift. A pendulum press and combination die came out that cut out most of the can, flanged it to fit to the can neatly, and punched a filler hole in one end. By 1883 the can was being cut, rolled, seamed, soldered and pressure cooked at a rate of 2700 cans per hour as opposed to 5 or 6 cans per hour by one persons hand in the beginning. The industrial revolution had sent food technology on it's way toward automation. (Busch, 1981)

     As our global population grows the need for faster production rises. Although we have had basic advances such as the conveyor belt system, and modern advances such as ovens that can bake 100,000 hamburgers at a time, automated production levels are still very variable. This means that there is lots of potential for those who want to make it faster, easier, and better. (Wells, 2010)

     The beer industry saw its first automation efforts in 1765 with pumps and automatic stirring mechanisms. This not only made it easier to produce the beer, but further restricted the introduction of bacteria which could easily turn a beer “sour.” Today it's not just the big commercial breweries that are beginning to use automation, but smaller craft breweries such as Ninkasi in Eugene, Oregon. TAG (The Automation Group) is a provider of automation equipment that can bring floor data such as temperature controls, mash times, adjunct processing and volume metering to a central hub of the brewery to ensure that Ninkasi wastes no time with a batch so they can move on to the next batch. This also has the pleasant effect of creating more consistent batches of beer. (TAG, 2013)

     Automation of beer has even reached down to the home brewer. A recent Kickstarter campaign has introduced the PicoBrew, an automated beer brewing appliance for the home. Put in the grain, the hops, the malt, the adjuncts such as flavoring, the water, then choose a recipe and turn it on. The PicoBrewer will infuse, mash, boil, transfer, and ferment for you with a limited amount of interaction by the brewer. (PicoBrew, 2013)

     The world food supply is sometimes sketchy at best and rife with all sorts of social difficulties such as rising toxicity levels and how we should treat the animals we eat. Experts in robotics handling of meat state that reducing human involvement reduces the cost of manual labor, improves health and safety by reducing contamination and solves many problems in ethical and aesthetic concerns. So what if we could simply print our food and avoid many of these difficulties? (Sorenson, 1993)

     Modern Meadow, building on a concept that has been around for a decade is creating a process in which they can “build” meat one cell at a time. This is part of a process known as 3-d printing. Stem cells, which are able to replicate themselves are cultured carefully, then laid carefully in the pattern the printer creates. The cells undergo fusion and printed cells can become a steak, a hamburger, a breast of chicken, a fillet of fish. (Mironov, 2007)

     There are still many difficulties with food printing, such as flavor, texture, coloration. The nice brown crust on a steak or burger is called the Maillard Browning effect. This has been modeled through moisture retention in microwave technology so as to accurately reproduce it in an automated environment. (Microwaves being another automation breakthrough) (Lu, 1995)

     These problems should not represent obstacles, but rather we should see the challenges as possibilities for automation in food technology. By combining information accessibility, scientific research, and creativity in biology, chemistry, and engineering, we can continue to provide solutions to the world's needs where food is concerned.

Bibliography

Busch J. (1981) An Introduction to the Tin Can. Historical Archeology. Volume 15:No 1: 95-104

Khodabandehloo, K. (1993) Robotics in Meat, Fish and Poultry Processing.

Lu, G. (1995). Effect of water content and amino acids on Maillard Browning kinetics in propylene glycol based modeling systems during microwave heating. Ho, C.T. Flavor Technology: Physical Chemistry, Modification, and Process. Washington, D.C. American Chemical Society. Pgs 40-47.

Mironov, V., Prestwich, G., Forgacs, G. (2007). Bioprinting Living Structures. Journal of Materials Chemistry. Volume 17: 2054-2060.

Moskvitch, K. (1/21/2013). Modern Meadow aims to print raw meat using bioprinter. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20972018 (Accessed 10/12/2013)

PicoBrew LLC. (9/30/2013). PicoBrew Zymatic: Automatic Beer Brewing Appliance. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1708005089/picobrew-zymatic-the-automatic-beer-brewing-applia(Accessed 10/10/2013)

Sorenson, S.E. (1993). Automation in the production of pork meat. Khodabandeloo, K. Robotics In Meat, Fish, and Poultry Processing. New York, NY. Blackie Academic & Professional. Pgs 145 – 147.

TAG (2013) http://www.tag-inc.us/home/tag/smartlist_62/ninkasi_brewery_oregon.html (Accessed 10-23-2013)

Wells, R. (2010) Bristow Boasts The Biggest Ovens In The World.http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=13762638 (Accessed 10-23-2013)

Cubic Measurements

Common measurements

I recently had the opportunity to go shopping for a new stove. Sometimes when we are looking at certain appliances or yard work, we come across references to cubic measurements. Most people can get very flustered. Measurements can be confusing. When we are in a store looking at stoves for instance, some measurements will say 30 inches, and some will say 5 cu ft. What do these measurements mean?

This is a graphic of what a standalone or a slide in stove looks like.

When you see a stove advertised in inches, this refers to the width of the stove. This is good for those who need a slide in unit that will only fit in a certain space. Measure across the front of the space, this tells you how big a unit will fit.

Cubic Feet

When you see a unit measured in cubic feet. This refers to the inside measurements of length, width, and height, or the volume of your unit. The important thing to remember is that you need to get the measurements inside the unit. This works for both stoves and refrigerators.

Remember that area refers to length x width. To get the cubic measurement, you need to multiply length x width x height. If you have measured in inches, this will give you cubic inches. To get cubic feet, simply divide your answer by 1728. 1728 is 12" x 12" x 12",

For example:

You want a free standing stove. Your current stove measurements inside the oven area are 18" for the length, 16" for the width, and 23" for the height.

Multiply. 18 x 16 x 23 = 6624 cubic inches. Divide. 6624/1728 = 3.8 cubic feet. This is how big your current stove volume is. Now you can decide how big you would like your new stove to be. If you have measured in feet, make sure you measure to the second decimal or the hundredths place.

For example:

16 inches = 1.33 feet

18 inches = 1.5 feet

23 inches = 1.91 feet

If you just multiply 1.3 x 1.5 x 1.9, you will get 3.7 cubic feet which is close, but not quite accurate enough. The second decimal is important. 1.33 x 1.5 x 1.91 = 3.81 which rounds to 3.8. This is more accurate and will give you a much better idea of the measurements inside your oven. This can be especially important if you are ordering online. Amazon.com. In the title of the item you may see 5 cu ft. When you look for more information however, the product dimensions tell you the outside dimensions of the stove such as 27.7 x 29.9 x 46.9. The outside dimensions come to 22.5 cu feet. The 5 cu ft refers to the inside volume of the oven.

Remember that a stove can have the same dimensions outside, and yet have different volume dimensions inside the oven. Each manufacturer can be different.

Hopefully, this information helps you understand more about what you are looking at when you go hunting for your new appliance. 

Carbonation

Carbonation. We all know it happens. But do we talk about it much? Well, maybe beer geeks do.
I recently had someone on Google Plus circle me, found out I post about beer and food and quickly uncircle me. They were looking for more "Science" posts. But what happens in beer making IS science. The exchange of ions, the fermentation process. the transformation of proteins and sugars. Mmm...beer.
Ok, so I decided to take a little more "sciency...sciencey...science..ee...?" approach today. Lets talk about carbonation.
My beer is currently undergoing fermentation. The yeast that I put in the beer is changing sugars to alcohol. A byproduct of that is CO2. (Hey, can we find a scientific notation app for Blogger???)
Now note in the video that when we ferment, we allow that CO2 to escape.

Yes, I know, I know, "Why do you let it escape if you need the beer to carbonate anyway?"
I let the gas escape, because far too much CO2 would be produced and my whole bucket of beer would go...boom. It's what happens when you build up a lot of gas in a confined space. I don't want my beer to be evil, so, I set my CO2 free.
AFTER the fermentation has been done and I let the beer rest for awhile - it's hard work making alcohol after all, I then put the beer in bottles. In the bottles is a teeeny tiiiiny amount of yeast that was left in the bucket after fermentation. It's all I need. I add a measured amount of sugar to the bottles too.
Now what do you think happens when the yeast and the sugar come together in the same environment again? You've got it, they start cha-cha ing. Even as tired as that yeast is, it still has enough dance moves left to produce more CO2 even if it doesn't have enough to produce more alcohol. Just enough in fact, to carbonate those bottles nicely. Yes, the CO2 IS the carbonation that makes the bottle go HISS when you pop the cap off.
In the end, you have a lovely, bubbly bottle of ale or lager to enjoy at your leisure.

Meal in a Can

I recall quite vividly the last time that I was too tired to cook. Too tired to bake fish, to steam veg, to dust potatoes artfully with paprika and salt. Too tired to wait 3 hours for a roast. It was yesterday. I have learned, therefore, to be prudent when I do have the energy to do these things.

I buy whole fish on sale. I buy large cuts of meat for buy one get one prices. I use veggies and herbs from the garden. This year has been good to us, all the newly planted herbs survived, the mint, the sage, the marjoram, the thyme, the lemon balm, the parsley, the basil. We had a bumper crop of container snow peas!

The difference this year, is that I looked at the prices for ziploc baggies. Which for some reason have gone sky high! It galls me to use baggies anyway. All that plastic going to waste..and I started thinking, "Hey, plenty of freezer space. I have quart jars. What if I just froze a meal in a canning jar? A quart jar can usually contain enough food for one to two people. So this is what I did.

Tonight I cooked a whole salmon. Marinated it in apple cider vinegar, sprinkled it with salt and paprika, rubbed olive oil all over it, and stuffed it with sage and mint. That fish turned out really tasty! After we had dinner, I was still left with enough servings for six people. I put two servings of fish in a quart size canning jar with a wide mouth, then two handfuls of snow peas, and sliced potatoes on top of that.

The next time I stop work or school, weary unto death and think "I do NOT want to slice a potato tonight." I will remember that lovely fish meal and break out the can from the freezer. I'll dump the entire contents into a square baking dish, top with with some butter or instant sauce, bake it for 20 to 25 minutes at 350F and I won't have to worry whether my meal is going to cause me to die of cancer or give me high blood pressure from the amount of salt and preservatives that went into it.

I still have an entire crate of quart jars..and a whole shoulder of lamb.......

Half Mast

Half-Mast

Put not the flag at half mast for me

I am alive, not dead, in you

As long as you remember me.

I have not fallen.

I fought, and fight still,

in those that I inspired.

I did not cry when I died, I smiled,

for it was not an end,

only a changing of the guard.

-Linda Teppler

And now for something completely unexpected. The Unit Circle

The Unit Circle
The first time you look at this fat..hodgepodge of unrelenting chaos, all you can think is “My god, numbers EVERYWHERE, I'm supposed to remember THIS?”

Well, if you're using Trigonometry, it helps. It really does, please believe me.
Today I want to explain something about the Unit Circle. For all you types who have seizures at the thought of doing high school math, it may not be your cup of tea, but for even a small portion of us, it will become invaluable and maybe even a liiiiiittle interesting. When you want to know how tall something is for instance... or how many stones you will have to buy for that brand new ^%^%ing path from the house to the gate that you have to put in yourself because the estimates from the "pros" would have put your retirement at 103.

I will explain only one part of the Unit Circle. It's called the First Quadrant. I will restrict my explanation to only the angles, not the values that they are associated with.
Plain and simple, the Unit Circle has degrees and radians that are the angles you see inside a triangle. Each quarter of the circle is called a Quadrant. In each quadrant there are points that have both a degree, and a radian. Don't be intimidated by the name "radian" it just means that it has a pi symbol.
The circumference of a circle is 2 times pi, times r. The Unit circle always has a radius (from the middle of the circle to anywhere on the outer edge) of 1. This means the circumference of the whole Unit Circle is 2pi. The very first point we put on the circle is 0. It always starts at the right of the circle, and is the beginning of Quadrant I. The end of Quadrant one is the 90 degree angle right at the top of the circle.
Trigonometry tells us the story of the sides and the angles of triangles. So to get the points of Quadrant 1, we look at two "special triangles." The first is called a 45-45-90 triangle 

 and the second is a 30-60-90 triangle.

 These are both right triangles in which we place one 90 degree angle, and that makes the points that describe the angles on the Unit circle. One 30 degree point right after 0, one 45 degree point in the middle, one 60 degree point, and of course 90 degrees at the end of our first quadrant.

Now we have all the degrees we need. So what else do we need? Well, degrees, believe it or not, are not very accurate. Yes yes, I hear you yelling now "But ships and planes and stuff use them!" Yes, and they do a very fine job. But can you imagine trying to measure the tip of your pencil with a yardstick? This is what it is like for those who are using Trigonometry with sciences in which they need smaller numbers, finer, more exacting detail. Degrees sometimes just won't cut the mustard. So we have Radians. Radians is like using a fine tip sharpie to paint that moustache on Amerigo Vespucci's butt in your textbook, instead of that massive, thick nubbed pen which makes it look like he's...well..incontinent. con..ti..nent....get it? oh never mind.

At any rate, here we are. We know all our degrees, how do we get our radians? Well. We know that the entire circumference of a circle is 2pi. Try cutting that in half. Go ahead. Good!! it's pi. This is half a circle. 
Now, to get to the end of the first quadrant, or a quarter of the Unit circle cut pi in half.. ah yes, pi/2. This equals 90 degrees.

Well, we have two points already. We nearly have the whole thing solved. This may become...a little...tricky.
Cut pi in half again. Don't be shy. Just divide pi/2 by 2. Remember that when you divide a fraction by a number, you can get the answer by multiplying that fraction by the reciprocal of the the other number!

Did you get pi/4? So did I!! Guess what, that equals 45 degrees.

So what now? we have two angles left. How do we get 30 degrees? Well there are 3 points separating 90 degrees or pi/2 from 30 degrees just as there are two points separating 90 degrees from 45 degrees. So lets divide pi/2 by 3.
pi/2 divided by 3 = pi/6. Good job!

We have only one more radian to go to get all the degrees and all the radians on this quadrant of the unit circle. Stick with me, it's a brain teaser.
There is a difference of 30 degrees between 0 and 30, and 15 degrees between 30 to 45, then 15 degrees between 45 to 60. So if we add 30 degrees and 30 degrees, we come up with 60 degrees. Since we already know that 30 degrees equals pi/6, we should be able to add pi/6 to itself, and we will get....pi/3. When you go "but wait...I got 2pi/6!" Remember that 2pi/6 is a fraction and we must reduce. 2 goes into 6 a whole 3 times giving us pi/3.

Now you know the radians and the degrees for the first quadrant. By remembering the changes in the first quadrant of the unit circle, you can figure out every quadrant there after by adding multiples of pi/6, pi/4, and pi/3. But just in case you get stuck with radians, here is a tip. After you figure out all your degrees for each quadrant, you can change those degrees to radians, by simply multiplying the degree by pi/180. for instance,  Multiply 30 degrees times pi/180 degrees. The degrees cancel, 60 goes into 160 six times, and you are left with...

You can do this for any degree on the Unit circle and it will work. But do try to add multiples of pi/3, pi/4, and pi/6. Learn to see the patterns that occur between the fractions, and you will also reinforce your basic math skills. 
By the way ... you won't buy enough stone for the path to the gate. You'll go back twice before you do, then it will rain, making work impossible for two weeks. You'll stare broodily out the window wondering how the gods could hate you so much. You should probably quit your job and become a writer with all those violent thoughts. Make a million bucks.

---

A party formed

"Well...look who's awake."

Lycosia grunted and sat up. "How long?"

"How long were you asleep? A few days. That scorpion bite really hurt you."

Lycosia reached up and touched her shoulder. It didn't hurt.

"Here..drink this.."

Lycosia took the carved cup that was handed to her and looked at the man across from her.

"I..don't understand.."

"You're thirsty aren't you? I was told you would be."

Lycosia stared into the cup without drinking it though her mouth was dry as a bone.

"Who are you? What is this? ...the stalker! Who healed me?"

The broad shouldered man leaned forward to rescue the cup before Lycosia dumped it out. He grasped her other hand as well.

"I promise, if you drink it, I will answer your questions. If I wanted to kill you, I would have let the scorpion do it."

Lycosia gave in and drank it. The man sat back.

"My name is Cormac. I was watching you kill those giant scorpions. Nice shooting."

She ignored the compliment and the introduction, "Where did the stalker go?"

Cormac motioned with his broad square jaw to a tree where the stalker lay hung over a branch like a toy. His eyes glittered like black diamonds as he kept his gaze on the stranger.

"He wasn't very happy with me."

"I'll bet. I'm surprised he didn't try to take a mouthful out of you."

"I was wearing armor."

Lycosia couldn't help it, she laughed.

"You are a funny sort Cormac. Where are you headed?"

"Anywhere those monsters are. I was asked by the Prince to find and kill any I saw. How about you?"

"The same. I need experience."

"You'll get plenty of it out here. Past the Fort, high up in the hills I hear there are creatures created from ice. They walk around, attacking the humans in the area. Amylon would be well rid of them."

"So who healed me? You?"

"Kind of." Cormac pulled out a stone and tossed it to her. "It's a summoning stone."

"You summoned a healing spirit..."

Cormac nodded. Lycosia smiled and stretched, feeling energy return to her through the stone. She handed the stone back then got up and with a few movements wrapped up the blankets she had been laying on. Cormac looked surprised.

"What are you doing?"

She slapped Cormac on the shoulder.

"Come on then! Lets go kill some ice demons! You do want to go don't you?"

Her laughter led the way down the road as Cormac scrambled back into his armor and stamped out the smoldering remains of the fire and dumped water on it. His freshly sharpened axe winked brightly in the sunshine and he smiled to himself.

"Wait! I don't even know your name!" he called after her. In response he saw the stalker jump off the branch and bump him purposefully in the back. When he didn't move forward fast enough, the stalker pushed him forward. He heard Lycosia whistle lightly somewhere up ahead and hurried along. Apparently he'd joined a party.

Cormac

The stalker looked a little taken aback with his ears flat against his head, but a sudden burst of true blood-lust hit Lycosia and she knew the feline was just getting worked up. Lycosia leaped for the rocky cliff and made it up onto an unwieldy branching tree root sticking out of the dusty side of the canyon. The stalker began leaping on the backs of the giant scorpions, swatting at their eyes and biting at the antennae that waved from their tiny heads. Lycosia took a brief moment to mutter the spell that gave her arrows a forceful draw and taking a deep breath, put herself into a deep frame of mind where she drew and fired without ceasing. She heard her arrows thump into their targets one after another. The last on the ground she took great pleasure in aiming right for its tiny brain.

She did not see the scorpion above her. Neither did the stalker. Seconds after the last bow left Lycosia's arrow she felt the weight of a monster bear her off the tree root and right to the ground. She dropped the bow and wriggled, but could not get free. She heard the stalker above her screaming angrily.

She heard, rather than felt, the scissored jaws sink into the bone of her shoulder. The crunch of her shoulder collapsing preceded the terrible pain. She screamed and pushed with all her might against the thick shell. Above her she could see the stalker had ripped off both the monsters antennae and was digging into its eyes. She felt the breath being squeezed out of her as the rest of the legs began an inexorable advance around her body in what promised to be a fatal hug.

As she began to see spots in front of her eyes from lack of air she felt the scorpion shudder. Another voice joined the stalker.

"Let go! Let go foul creature!"

Two hits. Three. Faintly, Lycosia thought it sounded like a woodcutter, chopping his ration for the day. Then the monster relaxed and she sucked in a wheeze of breath. Another breath began to bring her vision back. Her throat felt tight and dry as she struggled to regain her air. The monstrous scorpion was yanked off her and Lycosia stared up at quite possibly the biggest man she'd ever seen. He was dressed in a set of slightly used plate armor and a massive axe was laying by his feet. Lycosia could see bright red tendrils of hair sticking out from the edges of his helmet.

"Are you alright?"

Lycosia blinked. "what?"

The man knelt down and removed his helmet. His wild red hair captured almost all her dizzy attention.

"Are you..alright?"

Lycosia smiled, "When I grow up, I want to be just like you....." she breathed.

The man looked confused, then looked down at her shoulder, "You've been bitten! No wonder you aren't making any sense.. the poison, we have to purge the poison. I've got wormwood, or was it althea..?"

Lycosia drifted off to the sounds of the man making a fire and taking pouches out of a pack. She felt warm and sleepy and content. Except for that nagging sensation that there was something she needed to deal with.

Then came the pain.

So You Want to be a Ranger 2

The man who spoke turned around, and Lycosia was caught by the brilliant blue of his eyes.

"I said...you want to be a Ranger?"

Boldly Lycosia stared him in the eyes, "I am already a Ranger. I need to be a better Ranger."

"Impertinent. What do you know of being a Ranger?"

"I know of the history of the animals and the land of Amylore. I have studied how the the lands are changing outside the wall...and inside."

The tall man narrowed his eyes.

"So you know."

"I know of the rumors. I have not seen the horrors for myself, but I am dedicated to eradicating them."

The man grasped her shoulder firmly. Lycosia was surprised that the stalker lay down silently, even indolently.

"Then here is your chance Lycosia. Oh, don't look startled. I know every ranger in this kingdom. Now, I want you to go to the Fort on the road. Before you leave I will teach you several spells. On your way to the Fort I want you to use your bow and these spells, to clear the road...of these."

From a bag tied to a tree, the man pulled a tiny light brown scorpion, holding it carefully by the tail. Lycosia looked confused.

"You wish me to kill scorpions? All of them?"

Orwell looked at her and smiled. "Oh don't worry. There aren't that many, and this one is just a baby. You won't have to find them...They'll find you." he dropped the scorpion on the ground and Lycosia had to blink her eyes as it literally vanished in front of her eyes.

"Where..where did it go?"

"Here..look you can see its trail in the sand."

Orwell pointed out the trail, which was a light depression in the sand leading to a small hump a few feet away.

"They travel just beneath the surface, but don't worry, they surface all too quickly. When you can rid the road of all of them, then you will be a Ranger."

Lycosia swallowed heavily, wondering what she was about to get into. The spells were easy. Who had time to learn complicated spells while trying to shoot something?

"Don't forget to ask your friend to get out there first Lycosia. He's fast and agile. He can draw enemies away from you so you will not have any problem getting a sight on them."

Orwell had turned back to his vigil on the hilltop as Lycosia turned away. The stalker followed, huffing softly. When she had left Orwell peeked back at the retreating tail of the animal.

"I would love to know how she did it old friend. How did she get YOU to agree to accompany her?"

There was a very creepy silence through the rocky pass to the Fort. Lycosia was very nervous. She picked up a stone and tossed it into the path. The ground in front of her shivered and she saw the form of not a small scorpion, but an eight foot long monster with four claws lash its way through the ground and stare at her. It's gaze was baleful. Her arms fell numb, her throat dried up and she backed away. Only the large form of the stalker behind her stopped her movement. He growled.

"I'm not going in there! That's not a challenge that's SUICIDE!"

In response, the stalker snarled and dodged forward, slapping the monster before darting away. Now the air filled with sounds of clacking and clicking. Lycosia fumbled trying to get an arrow on the string of her bow. A yelp from the stalker as his tender tail was nipped by a claw sent her into action. An arrow lodged in the scorpions eye and it flung itself back and forth in agony. Another arrow sent it to the ground.

Lycosia breathed a huge sigh of relief, but the air had not stilled. The clacking had not stopped.

Dozens of pairs of eyes now stared at her, and more shook the dust from their shelled backsides...lots more.

So You Want to be a Ranger?

Lycosia stared out over the bridge. It was broad, it was stone.

"It's a big, fat target waiting to happen," Lycosia muttered to herself.

She looked behind her. In the trees the stalker lay flat against a rock.

"It's won't be the last time I ask you to do something uncomfortable you know."

The stalker huffed and ears flat, he got up. His grey coat slunk into the sunlight. On his muzzle and flanks were broad black scars where his fur refused to grow. Lycosia put her hand on his head. He bumped her chin with his muzzle. The silent speech was enough.

The young ranger walked to one side of the bridge, the stalker the other. They hugged the sides and their wariness showed in every step. Halfway across Lycosia stopped behind one of the large pillars to take a deep breath. She put an arrow to her bow and moved forward once again. Her skin prickled with the feeling of being 'watched.'

A flicker of red and orange was all the warning the duo had. Lycosia fired an arrow that flew through a ball of fire before flinging herself off the side of the bridge to avoid the flame that burst violently behind her. She could smell the heat of the fire as it singed her boots. The stalker leaped forward and traversed the bridge in bounding leaps.

The sounds of the stalker mercilessly ripping his prey to pieces drifted down to Lycosia as she rose back out of the water, sputtering and searching for a way up the bank. A hand grasped hers and she found herself yanked onto the bank.

"The stalker! Watch out!" she coughed. A feline scream was the only warning as the stalker flung itself at the person who had given her a hand. Blinking river water from her eyes Lycosia desperately reached out a hand to stop the stalker.

"no! No!"

There was a moment of silence, but when Lycosia looked around fearing the worst, she saw the stalker, on top of a man wearing furs. The fangs of the stalker were inches from the man's throat, but there they stayed. The breath of the stalker slid across the goosebumps that stood out on the mans skin. Lycosia spat out the last of the river water and stood up.

"Release him."

The stalker slid away slowly, reluctantly. The man pulled himself as far away from the stalker as he could manage before regaining his feet.

"You're lucky. If I could not speak to him, he would have slain you. Who are you?"

"my lady..." the man whispered "I am Orovere. I am a..trader. Are you well?"

Lycosia squeezed the water from her shoulder length hair and glanced at the stalker.

"I think I'm in rather good hands. Don't you?"

"My lady...crossing the bridge in the middle of the day was...foolish at best. Didn't you see the flamestrike mages??"

At the mans agitated tone the stalker snarled, causing him to cringe back. Lycosia looked at him steadily.

"I am looking for a man. A ranger. His name is Orwell. Perhaps you know of him?"

The man nodded, his eyes pinned to the stalkers every muscle movement.

"Ye..yes. He's my cousin. You can find him up there, on that hill over yonder. But wait! How will you get there? There are mages in between here and there!"

Lycosia lifted her bow and with a smooth movement, restrung the smooth wood with a dry string.

"Well, now that I know about them..."

Nocking an arrow, Lycosia turned, sighted and fired. A strangled choking noise heralded the fall of the body of a mage behind them. To the shock of the trader, she turned and walked away confidently.

The hill was not far and a few short hours later, they reached their destination.

It was Lycosia's surprise, however, to come upon a tall, thin man dressed in green leather standing out in the open. His tone as he spoke, was full of scorn.

"So, you want to be a Ranger."

A step back in time part 2

"Lycosia... Wake up girl. Wake up!"

Soft slaps on her face brought the ranger to full attention. She looked up at the attendant to the Ranger Shrine. The woman was dressed in soft green leather armor covered in the symbols of the animals that lived within the forest.

"You sure picked the right Stalker. Just as stubborn as you! Your job isn't done yet. It's in pain. Get up!"

Lycosia sucked in a deep breath and hefted herself to her knees. She felt a strange shakiness and held out her hands in front of her face. Her tongue was thick. Strangely her head was clear. Preternaturally clear. A shiver ran up her spine and a wave of nausea passed over her. A feeling of deep longing drew her forward. She staggered to her feet.

The attendant to the shrine watched helplessly, knowing that the path was Lycosia's alone to travel. Once a ranger cast a companion spell, nothing could stand between the ranger and the animal companion. Until the spell was completed the animal and the ranger would feel the agony of separation. She watched as Lycosia crashed through the bushes, heedless of the noise she made.

The stalker lay next to a tree, a small way away a spider half its size twitched in the throes of death, claw and bite marks covering its hairy body. Lycosia ignored the spider and sank down next to the stalker who snarled. Lycosia felt their mixed anger, and fear as one emotion. She winced when she saw the spiders savage fang marks in the cats haunch. The ranger reached out with both hands and lay them on the stalkers body. A blue haze covered the cat.

"You...you will ...be mine...", Lycosia whispered. She shivered violently. "I will..."

In one last ploy, the stalker sank its fangs into Lycosia's arm. Her voice strained against the pain that echoed between them.

"I will HEAL you, and be...yours!"

With the rangers effort, the blue haze retreated back into the stalkers body and the rangers eyes glowed. A burst of magic swept through one, then the other.

Memories, painful and sweet. Milk, meat, the thrill of the chase. Blood lust, anger. Lycosia felt her own memories mingle with the stalkers. She felt the stalker startle at her understanding. Then assent. The spell released them. When Lycosia came to her senses again, it was to the stalker pawing her anxiously and circling her. She winced as his rough tongue swiped her sensitive arm.

"I'm fine. I'm fine."

The stalker pushed her to her feet urgently. Together they made their way back to the shrine. The harsh light of noon beat down on them both as they drank from the water of the shrine.

"A fine pet you have Ranger Lycosia."

Lycosia lifted her head to look at the attendant. The stalker next to her huffed. Lycosia shook her head.

"This is no pet Master Ranger Merck. He is a willing assassin. A wild animal at heart who chooses to walk my path. He was willing to die rather than be ruled. The spell may have been completed, but it will never make me his mistress."

A step back in time to the beginning of Lycosia

A ranger cannot be a true ranger without a weapon that strikes at the heart of it's prey....without being able to stalk it's prey. Once Lycosia chose to become a weapon for the Prince, she knew she had to have a partner that would fall in her footsteps and be her advance guard. On purpose, she chose the oldest of the feline stalkers to cast her spell upon. The one that nobody had been able to cast a spell upon. Here was the most magnificent, the wiliest, and most dangerous stalker ever born.
--

Amylore, built on the ruins of old cities that came before it. Lovely stone towers and sweeping marble steps were attractive to those of the higher class. Within the walls the main city led to sweeping hills, a large lake, and peaceful farming land. Beyond the walls, however, lay reams of destruction. Howling monsters ripped the land to dust, slaughtered citizens by the dozens, and lay waste to anything useful to those who called Amylore home.

Most citizens lived peaceful lives, but increasingly the citizens felt the pressure of a force beginning to wend its way within the walls. In the sweeping hills larger numbers of bandits waylaid travelers. in the east rumors of spiders bigger than men dropping from the trees kept all but the most dedicated of rangers from traveling through the orchards. Massive annelids with multiple rows of needle sharp teeth were springing from farmers soil as if charmed by some evil spell. Even deep down in the underground lochs of the holy abbey came the noises of the dead, restlessly waking from their long sleep.

The Prince of Amylore sent out a call for those who would be brave enough to settle the problems inside and outside the walls of the city. From the ranks of the young and brash a girl answered. A girl with a particular talent for talking to animals.

Blue eyes searched the darkness. Water splashed softly among the stones of the shrine the woman hid behind. Lycosia kept her breathing soft, even, quiet. Patience....patience... A movement caught her attention. The blue eyes followed the shadow that made no sound. She dared not close her eyes. She had to wait until it was close enough to feel the spell. The shadow slipped into the space between the rocks and Lycosia could hear it's tongue lapping at the cool water. One movement brought Lycosia to her feet.

"Champa me ai Stalker. You will be mine...you will be.."

The blue glow that outlined the large predatory feline cracked as a roar split the darkness and broke the spell in pieces. Lycosia never got to finish the spell. Claws stretched and sank into her shoulders. The young ranger found herself on her back, the skin of her chest ripped wide open by the stalkers claws. Then it was over. The cat had vanished, back into the shadows.

The ranger grunted in agonizing pain. "Oh goddess..." she whispered. The front of her cloak became red with the blood that streamed from her wounds. She rolled over and plunged her hand into the water of the shrine.

"Stop..", she whispered. The water crept up her arm at her command and covered the claw marks. The wounds closed up leaving broad scars behind. The pain of the poison continued on, sinking into the rangers nerves and in the night shadows, her screams mingled with the stalkers angry roars.

The Proposition of Open-source?

Linda M. Horne

May 9 2013

The Proposition of Open-source?

The question of ownership of information is not a new concept. With technology in a make-or-break world there are a variety of reasons that answer the question, "Why would an entity, either public or private, choose to change to open-source software?" Let's begin with what open-source software is (Beal). Open-source software is information which has its base programming available for others to see and use. Licensing is also a part of open-source software. The person who own the software may allow others to modify the code for their own use or even allow them to modify it and then sell it on as long as they allow others to see the code as well. By offering the basic programming, or source code, the owner hopes that the people who collaborate will make the program stronger, more reliable, and more available. The point is not usually financial gain, though as further on we will see financial gain can be a potential side benefit. An open-source program can be cheaper and more reliable than its proprietary counterpart in which only people involved in the ownership of the program are allowed to see and interact with the code.

Economic

In 2003 the city of Munich, Germany decided on a migration of at least 13,000 computers from Windows NT and Microsoft Office to the operating system Ubuntu and Open Office for its processing software. Munich's motivation was economic in nature (Heath). In 2012 they released figures that demonstrated they would save over 10 million Euros in the move. Why the savings? For a business to use the Microsoft operating system, they must pay licensing fees. It's like paying for your own copy of Windows, but the fees are higher, and occur yearly. The fees may include charges for customer support or referral services for migration of native applications that run on the computer. Most applications that the city of Munich uses are web based, meaning they run just fine in a browser and so did not have the usual charges for attempting to get the programs for the Linux based Ubuntu.

Most people now will notice that Microsoft no longer supplies Office at a set boxed rate. They only offer their products online at the Microsoft office site (Office). Now you must pay either a full priced box rate per computer, or pay a per month charge for a premium price. There are no longer student discounts, the home computer price for the software is the same as the student rate. Office applications can be purchased separately, but only for one computer at a time. These were some of the problems Munich had to consider when searching for cheaper software.

Time and Security

Some private individuals such as Scott Rowed decided that security was a big enough issue that switching to an open-source operating system made sense (Laden). After finding large amounts of spam on his computer, Scott attempted to remove it and found it was impossible to find it all. He reformatted the drive and attempted to reinstall Windows. It took him two days for the entire procedure. He decided to divide his computer in half, and then install Ubuntu on one side and Windows XP on the other. He rapidly found out that Ubuntu was far more secure, requiring a password to install anything at all, and all his peripherals (printer, scanner, MP3 player, digital cameras) worked just fine. The open source operating system also took far less time to install and configure than Windows did. Installing Ubuntu took less than half an hour.

Open-source software is not just limited to operating systems and word processing. Sourceforge.net contains a repository of thousands of software items available for download. Business, AV (Audio/Video), communication, Education, Games, Science, Security utilities, and Administration software is included. Bugs can be tracked and commentary or even software fixes can be submitted through the site. So with all these difficulties with proprietary software, why NOT go open-source?

In watching the newest Linux operating system Ubuntu 13.04 come out, many people complain of problems that are just not instantly or easily fixable. Chrome, the browser by Google is one that is required for some educational programs. In the new Ubuntu operating system, the old Chrome doesn't work. There are missing libraries that contain information that Chrome needs. This requires the user to go find these missing libraries. If a user is not a computer jockey, this may seem nigh impossible. A proprietary software company can usually spend more money on a customer service center where easily accessible representatives are available. An Open-source software provider may or may not have that ability. Fortuitously, the Linux community is an experienced one in terms of interaction and problem solving. For users who are overwhelmed, there are many boards, blogs, and social media outlets that are willing and quite able to provide common-sense solutions to tricky problems.

Hardware is another consideration. Proprietary hardware does not always play "nice" with open-source software leading to more confusion. The drivers for some graphics cards may not work correctly. Open-source drivers may or may not work with proprietary hardware. In order to prevent alternate operating systems from being installed in competition with Windows, Microsoft created the UEFI secure boot sector called UEFI Secure Boot, in which open-source operating systems have enormous difficulties attempting to install (Tung). Open-source hardware manufacturers are required to get permission from Microsoft in order to turn secure boot off. Permission may be revoked at any time. This leads to another reason some entities choose to go open-source.

Politics

There are certain entities that take open-source very seriously. The open-source initiative (OSI) at http://opensource.org/osd provides a community with directives that each of its members agrees to. The people who are a part of this community utilize open-source not just because of economic or technical reasons, but because they believe it is the right thing to do according to their values. They believe that, "The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in." (Such as UEFI Secure Boot)

In 2005 Dana Blankenhorn, a professional business journalist, remarked that the key to open-source is transparency. That the key advantage to open-source [software] is that you can see the code. It doesn't mean no regulation, it means you can tell that regulation is being followed and the process becomes "fair." (Blankenhorn) A good example of this is a mathematician who was an assistant professor at Harvard also noted that transparency was an issue for his profession. William Stein says that the proprietary software tools available didn't allow mathematicians to see how a computer calculation was performed, so in collaboration with the University of Washington he decided to create his own open-source tool. Sage is not just more affordable, it is collaborative and transparent so that programmers can make a more reliable program that does the math correctly (ScienceDaily).

Side Benefits

While the direct purpose of open-source software is not financial, Canonical, the backer of the Linux based operating system Ubuntu has discovered that a side benefit of their operating system is that there are people willing to put money into it for a good product resulting from open-source software. Recognizing that HTML5 is open source, Canonical began developing an operating system that would go mobile for phones and tablets.

Phonedog.com, a major reviewer of phones acknowledges that Android has a spot that an Ubuntu phone could fill. While most Android code is open, not all of it is consistently available. This makes for a frustrating time for developers and an opportunity for Canonical to actually make an impact with a mobile system people will be willing to pay for (Bonar).

As Canonical and other open-source software developers become more major players in the technological arena it is conceivable to think that a significant amount of consumers will continue to become more interested in open-source projects. Why? Because the issues that proprietary software originally brought to the consumer have now become detrimental problems. These can only be addressed by the affordability, reliability, security, and transparency that open-source provides.

Works Cited

Bean, Vanie. "What is Open Source Software?". Webopedia. N.p. Sep. 26 2008. Web. May 6 2013.

Blankenhorn, Dana. "Open Source Transparency." Moores Lore. Corante. Apr. 19 2005. Web. May 6 2013.

Bonar, Chase. "Hey Canonical: I just tested Ubuntu for phones and I'm sold." PhoneDog. PhoneDog LLC. Feb. 24 2013. Web. May 6 2013.

"Free Software Brings Affordability, Transparency to Mathematics." Science Daily. ScienceDaily LLC. Dec. 7 2007. Web. May 6 2013.

Heath, Nick. "No Microsoft, open source software really is cheaper, insists Munich." ZDNet. CBS. Feb. 7 2013. Web. May 6 2013.

Laden, Greg. "Switching to Linux: One man's personal experience." Science Blogs. National Geographic. Dec. 22 2011. Web. May 6 2013

Office. Microsoft Corporation., n.d. Web. May 6 2013. <http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/ >

Tung, Liam. "Microsoft Windows 8 UEFI Secure Boot complaint: The case for and against." ZDNet. CBS. Mar. 28 2013. Web. May 6 2013.