Archive for October, 2010
In Utero
Posted on 24. Oct, 2010 by Karri Wells.
This would’ve been a way cooler cover for Nirvana’s In Utero
( via http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com)
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If You Love Wes Anderson So Much, Why Don’t You Marry HIM?
Posted on 24. Oct, 2010 by Karri Wells.
Interesting spin on the Save the Date concept.
(image via Mirka23)
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How Can I Integrate Other Music Streaming Services with Last.fm?
Posted on 21. Oct, 2010 by Karri Wells.
Dear Lifehacker,
Last.fm has announced that they’re getting rid of some streaming services in November. What other streaming services can replace these features, and how can I continue scrobbling their songs to Last.fm?
Sincerely,
Losing Last.fm
Dear Losing,
It is a bummer that Last.fm is losing certain subscriber streaming services, namely the ability to stream your loved tracks, playlists, and personal tags. Sadly, music licensing is pretty difficult for a lot of these guys, so the landscape is always changing. Luckily, the best part about Last.fm is not just the streaming, its the ability to “scrobble” all those songs, as well as songs played in desktop music players, to be organized and counted in your personal Last.fm statistics.
If you’d like to continue scratching your online radio itch but don’t want to lose the ability to scrobble those songs, you’re in luck—most other popular streaming services have third-party workarounds that scrobble to Last.fm. Here, we’ll go through a few of your choices for streaming services, and mention a few ways you can scrobble their tracks to the Last.fm service.
Grooveshark
Like we said, the online radio scene is constantly changing—even our recent Hive Five on the topic seems a little out of date, what with Lala shutting down. Luckily, the winner of that Hive Five, Grooveshark, is still one of the best services out there, especially if you like to have more of a say in what you listen to. While it does have a recommendation engine, it also allows you to create custom playlists from their huge library of music, and even upload your own music if the artist or track you want isn’t available. And, it has built-in, official Last.fm scrobbling to boot. The only catch is you need to be a VIP subscriber to scrobble—but if you were a Last.fm subscriber, it shouldn’t be too much of a stretch to downgrade your Last.fm account to free and get a premium Grooveshark account.
Pandora
Trusty ol’ Pandora’s been around for awhile, and it’s still one of the best and most widely used recommendation-based streamers around. It doesn’t have quite as many features as the other services, including the Last.fm features that got shut down—you can’t really choose what songs you listen to or create any playlists, but with the power of the Music Genome Project behind it, you’re sure to like whatever it churns out.
The other big benefit of Pandora is that, as one of the most popular and long-standing streamers, it has quite a few options for scrobbling to Last.fm. Previously mentioned PandoraFM and the Last.fm Firefox extension both scrobble your Pandora tracks beautifully. If you prefer a desktop experience, previously mentionedPandoraJam is a fantastic Mac client for Pandora that will not only scrobble to Last.fm, but update your IM status, stream to AirPort Express, and record tracks to iTunes (albeit low-bitrate tracks). Windows users looking to scrobble Pandora from the desktop can use OpenPandora, while Linux users can try out Pithos.
Slacker Radio
Slacker Radio hasn’t been popular quite as long as the others, but it seems to be gaining quite a bit of traction. Slacker has a very neat set-up, allowing you to customize your streaming radio station with a few different options, from a very simple Pandora-like experience to defining your station by popularity and era to choosing how often your favorite artists and tracks are mixed into the stream. Slacker has fewer scrobbling options, but the aforementioned Last.fm Firefox Extension will work with Slacker on the desktop.
The biggest downside to all this is that, unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as if there are a lot of options for scrobbling Pandora, Slacker, and other streaming services from their mobile apps. So, as of right now, you’ll only be able to scrobble from the desktop, but it’s better than nothing—Last.fm does have a pretty nice API, so as these mobile apps become more popular, we hope that they (or some clever third-party developers) find ways to bring those features to our smartphones. Until then, enjoy!
Sincerely,
Lifehacker
P.S. As always, we’ve presented just a few of the many options out there. Grooveshark, Pandora, and Slacker are some of the most popular streaming services around, and as such they have pretty good Last.fm integration options available. That said, if you have a favorite streaming service or know of a scrobbling solution we missed, sound off in the comments!
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Real World McDonalds Experiment
Posted on 20. Oct, 2010 by Karri Wells.
1 burger, 1 order of fries, 137 days later.
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Roasted Beets and Carrots with Hummus and Pita
Posted on 15. Oct, 2010 by Karri Wells.
When I was a kid my mom grew beets in our garden, but you couldn’t have paid me to eat them. I didn’t understand how a vegetable could turn such a brilliant color of red when cooked. I was convinced that blood was somehow involved, and I didn’t want any part of it. Plus, they smelled like dirt.
As an adult, I’ve come to love beets, especially in salads or with goat cheese. Until recently I had never actually cooked beets myself. This recipe was my first attempt, and I would say it was a success.
Ingredients
- 8 medium red beets cleaned, trimmed
- 5 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup water
- 5 medium carrots
- 4 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots (about 1 large)
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Hummus
- Whole wheat pita
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400°F. Place beets in roasting pan; drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil over. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt; toss. Add 2/3 cup water to pan. Cover with foil. Roast until tender, about 50 minutes.
Meanwhile, peel carrots and cut into thirds crosswise, then quarter lengthwise. Place carrots on rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with thyme, salt, and pepper; toss to coat. Roast until carrots are tender and beginning to brown, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Cool carrots and beets.
Using fingers, rub peel off beets. (Considering wearing gloves, you WILL stain your hands, nails, and everything around you.) Cut each beet into 6 wedges. Place in medium bowl.
In a small bowl, combine cumin and vinegar; whisk in 1/4 cup oil. Season vinaigrette with salt and pepper. Do ahead Beets, carrots, and vinaigrette can be made 1 day ahead. Cover separately; chill. Bring all to room temperature and rewhisk vinaigrette before continuing.
Combine carrots and beets in a large bowl. Add parsley, shallots, and lemon juice; toss to blend.
Drizzle vinaigrette over the beet and carrot mixture before serving. Serve with warm whole wheat pita and hummus*.
*I used the Sabra Supremely Spicy hummus, because that is what we in the fridge. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t really go with the other flavors very well. I suggest using plain or garlic hummus.
This recipe went over very well and I will definitely be making it again sometime soon. Anybody have any beet recipes? I want to explore the possibilities of this vegetable!
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Quinoa With Zucchini and Chickpeas
Posted on 11. Oct, 2010 by Karri Wells.
One of my more successful concoctions involves quinoa, zucchini and chickpeas. It was inspired by a similar dish from Bon Appetit. It’s flavorful, healthy and inexpensive (all things I like). I made this for my sister when she was here a few weeks ago, and she loved it.
So, ‘what the F is quinoa?
Quinoa prounounced “kinwa” is a high protein, amino acid rich, tasty little seed. It has become my new favorite ingredient in dinner experiments. It’s pretty easy to cook, and it’s really versatile. Plus it’s gluten-free if that applies to you.
Ingredients
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 4 garlic cloves, minced*
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons turmeric, divided
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika,* divided
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup quinoa (about 6 ounces),** rinsed well, drained
- 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
- 6 medium zucchini, trimmed, quartered lengthwise
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 6 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
*If you have a hot date cut the garlic in half.
Instructions
Combine chickpeas and lemon juice in large bowl. Add 3 tablespoons oil; press in garlic and stir to combine. Let marinate at least 15 minutes and up to 2 hours.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon turmeric, and 1 teaspoon paprika; stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add 2 cups water, quinoa, and coarse salt; bring to simmer, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until all water is absorbed, about 16 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the grill* (medium high heat). Place zucchini on rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil. Sprinkle with ground cumin, 1 teaspoon turmeric, and 1 teaspoon paprika. Toss to coat evenly.
Place zucchini on grill; sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Grill until tender and browned on all sides, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to work surface. Cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces. Add zucchini, green onions, and parsley, then chickpea mixture to quinoa. Toss to blend. Season with salt and pepper.
*If you don’t have a grill, or if that just sounds like a lot of work, you can also bake the zucchini in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes at 350.
This makes about 8 servings. I realize that sounds like a lot, but you will want them. The leftovers are great! Do you cook with quinoa often? Please share your recipes with me! I’m always looking for a new dish to try out.