Mackeson Triple XXX Stout (Milk Stout)

Beer Advocate gives the beer a 89 out of 100. My review is quite different:

The appearance is good, the smell is also good. However, the taste is much to sweet for my liking and it is not smooth and creamy; rather it has a bit of a bite to it. Ordinarily, I don’t mind this in a beer however, my expectations are quite different for a milk stout. I am glad to have tried this beer, but I need to make sure I don’t purchase it again in the future; as there are so many other beers I have tried that I like much better. For instance if I were to drink a milk-stout in the future I would choose to drink a left-hand milk stout. It seems to be just as stout, only with a smooth finish and it is much less sweet.

Black Douglas Ale

Beer Advocate gives the beer a 87 out of 100. I think it is a bit better than that:

This beer was amazingly dark for an ale; really reminded me of what I think a porter should be. It had a great nose, slightly bitter but not hoppy; – but a nice smooth beer I look forward to having again. The nose was flowery like most Scottish beers, but this one had more of a big mouth feel, I was expecting blackberries as they are in the picture on the label. Instead it delighted me with its smooth flavor, and was much better than my session beer for the night – AnchorSteam Porter.

Kiltlifter Scottish Style Ale

Beer Advocate gives the beer a 84 out of 100. My review is again very different:

That sign actually hangs in my kitchen. I know many may not agree with me, however, The smoky hints and flavor are peat, something found in only in an Islay Single Malt Scotch. This is something I personally enjoy so much That this is my favorite beer of all. I am always seeking a smoky flavor; however, none have the complexity and spice of peat it is very distinct to me. I also love porter and stout beers; to let you know what my tongue/nose bias is. However, Kiltlifter is just a wee bit darker than an ale; smooth like water. It just doesn’t get much better than this for me.

Anchor Steam Porter

Beer Advocate gives the beer a 89 out of 100. I agree:

This is ‘just’ a good smooth porter. Pours a dark ruby to black with a thick thick head. The head is medium brown in color. Smells of sweet mollases with a bit of expresso. Spice and burnt malts come through as well. Taste like sweet mollases. then a nice hop bitterness comes through mid gulp. After that you may be able to pick up on dark fruits, and some burnt malt flavors. Mouthfeel is smooth. This beer drinks easy, a is a great session beer. Because of its wide availibility; I choose this as a ‘standby’ beer – because I will almost always try something new if I get a chance to learn more about my own taste pallate. 

Black Butte Porter

Beer Advocate gives the beer a 88 out of 100. I agree:

I almost always pick this up when I don’t feel like a Kilt Lifter, this is my backup beer

MacTarnahan’s Blackwatch Porter

Beer Advocate gives the beer a 80 out of 100. I really like it though:

Guinness Extra Stout (Original)

Beer Advocate gives the beer a 85 out of 100.

Nefarious Ten Pin Imperial Porter

Beer Advocate gives the beer a 86 out of 100.

Just opening this beer filled the kitchen with an wonderful ‘hop’ smell. Upon release from the bottle into the glass, it provided a nice 1 inch off-white head; and a very dark body. When held up to my lights you just can not see through this beer at all! However, I seem to get a hint of a redness to the body. My first sip reveals a very complex, smooth body, a hint of licorice and malt. Additionally there is something I have not noticed before in my beers; ‘ohm.’ Ohm is something that tea drinkers use to measure the quality of teas. Ohm is a kind of an after taste, a flavor that lingers in the back of your throat. This has a rich spicy ohm. 

Thomas Hardy’s Ale

Beer Advocate gives the beer a 89 out of 100.

Fraoch Heather Ale

Beer Advocate gives the beer a 84 out of 100. I disagree:

Brewed in Scotland since 2000 B.C. heather ale is probably the oldest style of ale still produced in the world. From an ancient Gaelic recipe for “leann fraoich” (heather ale) it has been revived and reintroduced to the Scottish culture. I really wanted to like this beer so much – this is so old; it is like really tasting history – in fact it is just that. And I recommend that if you do come across this bottle; you snap it up and see how history brewed the beer. In my humble opinion I am grateful that I had the ability to both sample this drink; and that it paved the way for the drinks that I love so much today. That said however, it is not that I don’t like this beer; as much as I really don’t like heather. I wish I did; because I would drink more of this if I did.

Left-Hand Milk Stout

Beer Advocate gives the beer a ** out of 100.

About 140 foreign intelligence organizations are trying to hack into the computer networks of the U.S. government and U.S. companies, a top counterintelligence official said.

Blogged with Flock

Dennis,

I recently attended a seminar of a consulting company pitching Microsoft. Is it true that Vista has only 11 vulnerabilities all of which were fixed? Seemed like a low number and this pro-MS company was pushing it. Thought you may know off the top of your head.

Dave

This is my reply – and a very, very brief synopsis of my thoughts:

Vista has a much better track record right now – but it is also having a very difficult time getting adopted. Additionally; it really has not been out all that long compared to its predecessors. Michael Howard is a very important security figure at Microsoft itself; and he has issues with the fundamental security model used in the operating system itself.

As I see it the problems are thus;

• Microsoft is entrenched – firmly; can you say “backward compatibility” – it must remain backward compatible; enterprises are not willing to spend billions to re-engineer their enterprises to work with new products, and in some cases simply can not because of legacy systems.
• “developers, developers, developers, developers” – you have all seen the video. Microsoft has built its empire not on an OS as much as it has a development platform. When you give developers API access to every bit in the system – you give all software access to every bit in the system. And as such; you have an inherent security issues right down at the engineering level.

Compound all of that with the fact that if your job has not been “National Security” for the last 30 years; security is a brand new concept, let alone industry. And the issues are not just with Microsoft. TCP/IP is fundamentally flawed – it also has no security model, it has no concept of trust, authentication or even identity. The framework for security doesn’t even exist at the network stack level – and this is the foundation we to build upon?

Ken Thompson; wrote papers about IT security in 1984 – “Reflections on Trusting Trust“; but more specifically; just 23 years later, Mark Curphey (the founder of OWASP) created a project to identify all of the attacks that could make a web application vulnerable. It was a project known at the time as “Attack Categories” that Jeremiah Grossman volunteered to head up. In October of 2001; I (co-founder of OWASP) put forth my own “Classification of Vulnerabilities” Identifying attacks by cause; rather than by types of attack. It was at this time that “Input Validation“; a major problem in web applications; came into use. However, it is really the re-identification of Ken Thompsons earlier “reflections on trusting trust”.

The Morris worm – the invention of buffer overflow; pure genious! (in fact Robert Tappan Morris is now a professor at MIT) Buffer overflow remains a very effective attack vector to this day; but further on the network side – the litmus test of security as set forth by Stephen Northcutt; is the recognition of the Morris worm; not a single firewall product; nor network device and even most Humans would not be able to recognize nor mitigate the risks of this attack today. This vulnerability has remained unchanged since 1988!! The attack vector “sendmail” has been patched – but that is simply the attack vector! The risk actually remains! Buffer overflows are not “solved”.

There is exactly one text book in the united states on computer security… Mathew Bishops.

No serious study of the problem outside of his exists in the USA. Further; the press and the government vilifies security professionals as evil hackers.

People talk about Microsoft; but honestly the problem is much, much deeper – it is cultural even.

The problem with security in this country is that there is so much to do; so much that it is difficult to know where to begin. You can pick anything and significantly advance the body of knowledge. And this is in no way any attempt to minimize the incredible work done so far; but rather an attempt to help you understand the magnitude of the problems facing security professionals.

For example to illustrate the magnitude of the problem:

Are you familiar with the idea that your password should change every 90 days and have certain characters and be of a certain length? Those ideas come from the Department of Defense in 1985! Unfortunately, in todays computing environment those recommendations are as obsolete as the equipment they were designed to mitigate risk on. Rainbow Tables allow passwords to be cracked instantly. And if they are brute forced; it doesn’t take very long either. Fortunately there is some sanity to be had if you know where to look and yet many websites created today require you to create passwords that conform to the standard as set forth by the DOD in 1985!? 

And if you ask me – I wonder if passwords are really the best method of Access Control in the first place.

Everything needs to be rethought.

I am sorry that I did not do more linking to substantiate my ideas; however, I could very well spend another day or two linking to all of the ideas that I reference; and in days to come I may very well do that; but for now I am done.

What hope is there of democracy and liberty when the citizens are not outraged by violent acts committed against their fellow man; but in fact consider it a form of entertainment? 

The world perceives us as a country full of ignorant people and we continue to demonstrate the correctness of their perceptions daily both in our speech and in our actions.

Is it not high time we changed?

“Prince said that in YouTube’s case it could not argue it had no control over which videos users posted on its site: “YouTube … are clearly able (to) filter porn and pedophile material but appear to choose not to filter out the unauthorized music and film content which is core to their business success,” Prince said.”

Oh snap!

Last time I read an argument that solid, David Hume was proving that miracles don’t exist.

“This finding, from an analysis of 30 long-term studies of colon cancer, reinforces the link between obesity and colon cancer in men and, to a lesser extent, in women. Obesity, the study shows, boosts the risk of rectal cancer in men but not in women. Perhaps most importantly, the study suggests that belly fat is more relevant to colon cancer risk than fat in other places. For every 4 inches gained around the waist, the risk of colon cancer goes up 33% in men and 16% in women.”

Yikes!! That there is just one more of a billion reasons why exercise is so important.

http://www.betterfitnessproducts.com/

At any rate; the last month I exercised 17 out of 28 days (about 4 of every 7 on average – I need to step that way up to at least 6 of 7). Tonight though I was sore from Wii Boxing last night for an hour; and I really blew my diet for the first time – I ate clean; I just ate 2000 kcal when I only need 1600. And I did not exercise.

And although my waist is dropping like a rock, my weight isn’t; actually that is very typical and I imagine why people don’t actually succeed in “dieting”. If you watch the scale you will go crazy – but if you watch your body change you will feel very successful.

I like to call it “body hacking”. I likely have the same weight because of the heavy leg exercises that I have been doing; and doing for a reason – legs kick-start your metabolism and your testosterone production. My legs have gone from 24 inches to 24.5 inches in a month! (After just 17 hours of exercise really!)

I have no idea what that translate to in terms of weight; but it is quite visible in that my body fat; particularly in how the “spare tire” is going away – and my legs are getting bigger (but you can’t really see it in my legs; it is just on the tape measure that you see it…)

However, that is why I recommend that anything that is worth doing is worth measuring; and that you keep a diary. I have a diary of every exercise and meal that I have eaten in the last month; as well as body measurements each week; and a weekly weight-in weight. I wouldn’t otherwise know that I was making progress toward my goal – you can not see it on the scale, or in my legs – but the changes my body is going through are measurable – it takes 90 days of real effort to really ‘see’ ‘changes’ and in our instant gratification society; much to long for most people to stick with the ‘program’…

—

Boxing

Here is a list of control motions for Wii Boxing (from GameSpot Forums posting):

High Guard: Hold Wiimote and Nunchuck vertically, then tilt both controllers inward toward your body to cover face.

Mid Guard: Hold Wiimote and Nunchuck parallel to ground, then tilt both controllers inward if still not covering center of body.

Left Dodge: Hold Wiimote and Nunchuck vertically, then tilt both controllers to your left.

Right Dodge: Hold Wiimote and Nunchuck vertically, then tilt both controllers to your right.

Right High Jab: Hold Wiimote vertically, with controls facing yourself, and jerk it forward with the wrist. Helps to keep arm stationary, and just let the Wiimote fall forward.

Right Mid Jab: Hold Wiimote parallel to ground, and jerk downward. Again, keep arm stationary and just push Wiimote downward with wrist.

Right High Hook: Hold Wiimote vertically, with controls facing yourself, and rotate it quickly to the left, as in this (please forgive my ASCII art):

BEFORE:

____

| D |

| A |

| 1 |

| 2 |

AFTER:

___________

|D A 1 2|

Right Uppercut: Hold Wiimote parallel to ground, and then jerk upward. It’s the exact opposite movement from the Right Mid Jab.

Right Low Hook: Hold Wiimote parallel to ground, but turn it 90 degrees COUNTER-CLOCKWISE so that the face of the Wiimote is looking out to your left, then jerk it in the direction of the face of the controller. It’s exactly like the right uppercut, except the entire motion is rotated to the left 90 degrees.

Left High Jab: Hold Nunchuck up vertically so that the analog stick is facing you, and then jerk it forward. Just like Right High Jab.

Left Mid Jab: Hold Nunchuck parallel to ground, and jerk it downward. Just like the Right Mid Jab.

Left Uppercut: Hold Nunchuck parallel to ground, and jerk it upward. Just like Right Uppercut

Left Hook: Hold Nunchuck parallel to ground, but turn it 90 degrees CLOCKWISE so that the face of the controller is looking out to your right, then jerk it in direction of the face of controller. Basically just like the Right Mid Hook.

* Turn your Boxing Gloves Silver: After you’ve beaten the Grand Champion, Matt, in a boxing match you’ll be able to wear silver boxing gloves. To do so, hold (1) when the screen becomes black before a boxing match.

======================================

I have seen it over and over and over again, complaints about how Wii boxing isn’t responsive or sensitive enough yadda yadda yadda… I just beat my trainer and am currently at 1800 something points… after a VERY frusterating learning experience, as the training doesn’t teach you how to play.

Basics.

Wii boxing is the most complex of the sports on the disc, utilizing ALL of the mechanics introduced in the other titles, plus some more.

the biggest one: TIMING.

Then there is acceleration

and movement/positioning

Punching

1. Power

There are 3 levels of power to each punch, weak (but fast recovery) medium, and Strong (Power punches)

Weak punches have the fastest recovery time, meaning you can attack again very quickly, with proper timing your first glove should be ready to go again after you use the other glove. These should be used for starting combos, as a hit lets you continue, and a miss or block wont leave the blocked glove ‘stunned’ it just comes back

Medium punch, these do more damage than weak punches, but also take some time to recover, if you haven’t caught on yet, if your glove is recovering you can’t use it to punch. These are good to begin ending combos with, for the good old one two punch.

Power punches: These are the ones you all love to land, with the satisfying sounds coming from the speaker, and the red collision graphic appearing. These also have the longest recovery rate, and missing or getting blocked on a power punch leaves you open and your glove useless for what seems like forever…. Ideal for finishing combos, taking a fresh opponent down in one combo ending with a power punch is a garunteed KO… of course, this applies to you too. It does not take a lot to activate a power punch, as Nintendo has purposely set all max power levels to a rather low acceleration requirement to avoid people breaking things…. most people I see ONLY use power punches, which always leaves the gloves in recovery afterwards, which brings on complaints of lack of responsiveness.

These 3 levels of power apply to ALL punches.

Straight punches, just move the remote forward, you can actually control the angle of your punch, but it is REALLY sensitive, so starting off, just position yourself by leaning and throw perfectly straight punches. You can punch the head, chest, or gut by adjusting your glove position BEFORE throwing the punch.

Hooks: To perform a hook, simply move the controller left or right in a straightline, don’t try to emulate a hook (I know, wah, get over it, I did) more powerful than straight power punches.

Overhand: Perform the hook motion when your glove is at it’s highest position. Truly Devastating

Body Hook: Have your glove at body level and perfom the hook motion

Gut hook: Have your glove as low as it will go and perform the hook motion. These Hurt.

All hooks have longer recovery times than straight punches, and they take longer to hit. I suggest not overusing them, or making sure they are in the middle of a combo as they can be countered easily, and painfully. If a hook gets blocked or missed, that side of you is pretty much boned.

Uppercut/gut buster. Simply move your remote up. if your glove is down at body level, it’s a gut buster, if it’s higher, it’s a chin smashing uppercut. Hard to land, but definately satisfying. Unless you have already hit your opponent, and they moved thier gloves in pain, or their gloves are no where near there face this will probably get blocked.

blocking: Blocking is pretty straightforward, to block a punch simply have your glove positioned so it intercept your opponents. In order to block hooks your glove must be out to the side… THis also means in order to score a hit, you have to expose a part of your body or face so that your punch wont be blocked. Also, when you block a punch, the glove used to punch with will be in recovery for a breif moment, use the other glove to counter the side of your opponent you blocked. Straightforward but definately not simple and easy.

Dodging. There are three dodges

Weaving: Angle both controllers towards the side like you were leaning.

Ducking. Angle both controllers forward, this can duck high punches, but you are begging for a brutal uppercut.

Lean back, lean both remotes back, and you will lean back, you can still get hit, but proper timing can make this very useful.

Matrix dodges: Dodge from on direction and then quickly switch to another to enable matrix counter mode, made noticable by a disrupted air flow around you, should an opponent miss you during this time, time slows down and you have a few brief seconds to land a devastating counter attack.

Hope this gets some people trying boxing again.

Five Basics

An Oxygen Magazine expert gives the five best exercises you can do using body weight alone in the comfort of my own home. The basics are always best. Here are five exercises that you can do in a circuit to get shockingly fast full-body results without any fancy equipment. Do 8-12 repetitions per exercise. Don’t rest between exercises. Go through the circuit up to three times, resting one minute after each circuit. For a once-a-month challenge, do each exercise to failure in your final round through the circuit.

Summary of Workout

Y-Squats

Perform a normal body weight squat with your arms held up in a Y-position. Brace your abs and keep spine in a neutral position as you

bend your legs and lower yourself so that your thighs are parallel to the floor. This also works the muscles of your upper back and helps

counter-act the negative effects of sitting at a computer all day.

Push-Ups

Kneel down on the floor and place your hands flat on the floor and slightly wider than shoulder width apart. With your shoulders directly over your hands, straighten your arms. Move your feet back, placing your toes on the floor, so that your knees are off the floor and your legs are straight. At this point, your body should form a straight line from your shoulders to your ankles. Your body should remain straight throughout this exercise. Keep your head and neck in line with your body so that your are looking down toward the floor. This is the starting position. In a controlled fashion, lower your body down toward the floor, bending your elbows, until your body is nearly touching the floor. Now, push your body up away from the floor, straightening your arms, until you have returned to the starting position. If you need to reduce the intensity of this exercise you can perform the pushup from your knees.

Lunge

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Step forward with your right leg, taking a slightly larger than normal step. Press the front of your left foot into the ground and use it to help keep your balance. The left knee should also be bent. Contract your glutes, brace your abs and keep your spine in a neutral position. Lower your body until your right thigh is parallel to the ground. Keep your upper body upright and your lower back flat. Push up to the upright position, but don’t step back. Stay in a split-squat stance; perform all reps for one leg and then switch.

Mountain Climbers

Start in a pushup position, brace your abs and slowly bring one knee towards your chest. Touch the toe to the ground and then return your foot to the start position. Alternate sides. Keep your abs braced and your hips low. Do not let your hips sag or rotate.

Reverse Lunge

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, and take a large step backward with your right leg. Contract your glutes, brace your abs and keep your spine in a neutral position. Bend both knees and lower yourself into a regular lunge position so that your left thigh is parallel to the floor. Bring right leg back to start position and switch legs. These require less balance than forward lunges but also work the glutes and hamstrings more than forward lunges.