Saturday, 28. June 2008, 07:54:09
food, personal, passion
I just invented a new plate. By inventing, I don't mean to say that I'm the first who invented it; just that I've never read about that recipe before.
It's actually quite simple:
- take a few carrots and a few green peppers and cut them in thin slices (chinese style)
- pour olive oil in a pan and put it on high heat; the secret is to make it fast
- when the oil is hot, add the carrots and leave them for a few minutes; they have to remain firm
- after 3-4 minutes add the green peppers
- add soy sauce and sesame oil
- remove from the heat before the peppers get soft
- add salt, pepper and whatever else you like. Serve it immediately.
I'm sure that it can be made even more interesting with some tabasco or other hot sauces.
So, after I did this and ate, I'm enjoying my coffee with a little Belgian truffle. It really is a perfect morning...
Wednesday, 16. January 2008, 13:31:07
reflection, travel, books, food
...
I believe hobbies are very important for any human being, and I'm not excluding programmers from this category. I believe than any person should know what he/she likes to do besides work. This is the key to a balanced lifestyle, and, maybe even more important, to personal improvement.
Personally, I like to read, travel and cook. I visited most countries in the Western Europe during hollidays, and I'm ready for more. I fancy, for example, a trip to the Inca remnants from the Andes; it is a little bit problematic because it's expensive and because I need to get in shape, but I'm willing to make an effort. I have mixed feelings about the U.S.; I'd like to see the Grand Canyon, but I'm not sure if cities like New York or Los Angeles are worth visiting, since I'm not that much into modern architecture. Until then, I will certainly go to Tuscany and to Barcelona and surroundings. Honestly, I can barely wait.
I already
discussed about my passion for reading. If interested, take a look at my
Shelfari bookshelf.
I'm cooking quite often, usually Romanian food (Sour Soups, Polenta etc.) or common plates, like grills (always marinated), skewers and other types of meat plates. I'm also cooking breakfast in the week-ends, meaning omelettes and sometimes pancakes.
I like many things about cooking. First of all, it's a relaxing activity; I can listen to music, talk to my wife and even play while I prepare something. Second, it's a social activity, when we have "kitchen guests". It also allows me to explore the world without going too far; for example, today at lunch I cooked for the first time a Chinese recipe, Stir Fried Beef with Three Vegetables. On other occasions I've tried fried rice (Asian recipe) or Basmati rice with safran. More than that, I learned many words in English and French, in order to understand the recipes. True, I'm still unsure sometimes, but that's part of the adventure.
I feel fine at home, and forget about my work. I think that's a good thing, because every day I come back with batteries reloaded. My hobbies have a lot to do with this.
Do you have any hobbies?
Thursday, 29. November 2007, 17:00:57
food, engineering, personal, software
...
Personally, I am a slow food / natural food lover. It comes from my childhood and from the Romanian culture. Since many Romanians live in villages and use home grown products, it's easy to obtain natural products and to get fond of them.
On the other hand, I've always thought that the distinction good natural - bad non natural food (or medicine) is somehow artificial (no pun intended). The straight forward example is the natural poison found in mushrooms or produced by snakes and spiders.
This difference will probably have the same faith as the analog-digital divide once genetic engineering will become developed enough. After all, the natural products are the result of a long genetic evolution, engineered not by people but by natural selection. And so are we.
The thing that worries me though is exactly the fact that people will be able to use genetic engineering. I'm an engineer, remember?
It's probably time to introduce the most ubiquitous law of engineering:
Any decision in engineering has advantages and disadvantages
This applies to all engineering domains: constructions, software, space ships and will most probably apply for genetic engineering as well.
Now consider the possible disadvantages. In software, a wrong decision may kill a project, move the deadline or introduce a security vulnerability. Only seldom the danger is to kill people. Compare this with genetically modified products widely used in the world.
I know a thing or two about genetics, and the bad news is that the way it works is very similar to software, but with more complexity. There are two reasons why this is bad:
1. As we know from software, complexity produces bugs
2. The software bugs can only be eliminated by thorough testing
If genetic engineering will be similar enough with software, could somebody explain to me how will the above principles be applied in the domain? That's what makes me suspicious to any genetically modified organism today. They will certainly sort this out sometime, but until then I'm very afraid.
There remains one question: since humans and natural products have developed through [natural] genetic engineering, how comes that we don't have the same problems with the natural food? Well, as we've seen above, testing is important. Those products were tested on humans for a long time. We learned to avoid the "bad" natural products, and most of us got along well with the "good" ones. Most of the bugs were already eliminated. The ones that remain are probably the disadvantages from the decisions took in the process...
