Potato-looking Cheese

For those who know me, two of my weaknesses are cheese and french fries. So you can understand unbridled joy when my coworker brought me a Nicaraguan cheese called Cuajada.
When I was looking for it in the fridge, all I found was a ziplock bag with this flat potato.

I opened the bag and knew instantly that this was going to be the best part of my day. This bad boy is smoked out more than most of the kids I see during the day. It has a spongy texture like fried tofu and is salty like a day at the beach.

I cut a few pieces of this unpasteurized goodness and ate it straight, at the disapproval of the Nicaragüense. "You're supposed to eat it with something. Beans or rice or anything." Now, I know why. But I'll let the unicorn tell you why.

LibraryThing v. GoodReads

***Edit***
As I finish writing this entry, I've realized that it is more a promotion of LibraryThing, than a comparative review of LibraryThing and GoodReads. I guess I didn't realize that I had already made a decision!

One of my latest obsessions is comparing LibraryThing and GoodReads. These are two sites that are used to track and catalogue your personal library. That's where the similarities end. There are unique features that set each one apart. I registered at both sites and still am testing them. The cons for each site is mostly the features that the other site has. Here's my assessment, so far.

GoodReads
Definitely has the social networking thing down. It lets you add a profile picture. You can add friends and explore friends's friends myspace-style. It lists your friends on a sidebar. When you first log on, the opening page shows new friend book reviews and/or additions to their library.

LibraryThing
Definitely has the bibliophile thing down. It's for people who really want to catalog their books (specific down to the isbn and edition and cover). It supports tagging, which for me is almost a decision maker.

The "zeitgeist" tab is an amazing collection of lists like the standard "25 most reviewed books," and "top 25 books (by star rating)." But also cool ones like "50 'completists' authors" (avg number of different books held by people who have any books by the author), and "50 lowest-rated authors."

As for social networking LT has support for groups and message boards (especially cool if you want to have a discussion about a particular book with other readers). The book view also has (editable) links to online bookstores, including my fav bookfinder.com.

The best feature, though, is the "Suggestions" tab. There are 3 ways that LT suggests books. First is called "LibrarySuggester" and is based on your own personal library. It's most similar to Amazon.com's "people who bought this also bought..." It even has "most popular books you don't have." Second is called "BookSuggester." You put in a book that you like and it spits out (among other things) suggestions from other people who liked that book, Amazon.com suggestions, books with similar tags, and books with similar library subjects & classifications. The last one is called "BookUnsuggester." Similar to the previous one but takes the book that you don't like and spits out similar books that you are more likely to enjoy!!! (it also lists other books that you will definitely not like. Hilarious!)

I'm in geek heaven.

Well, you can see that LT definitely has the features. I wish it had the social networking that GR has. The biggest con of LT is that it's free only until 200 books are cataloged. Then it's either $10/yr or $25/lifetime. Brilliant marketing, LT!

Last note:
Originally, I was only going to log in the books that I'm currently reading, on my "to read" list, as well as the ones that I've read since I had registered on LT. But now I think I'm going to log in all my favs to get more accurate suggestions. This could take awhile. I could buy a bar code scanner! Oooh la la! Gadget! LT sells a cheap one for $15. yeee haw!

Once again, I'm hip but don't even know it

Well, as hip as the technogeeks at the latest SXSWi Festival. As the C|Net Article titled "To Twitter or Dodgeball at SXSW" begins:

AUSTIN, Texas--One question heard more than any other this week at South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi), "Are you on Twitter?"

I've been trying to get people to join Twitter for the longest. At the time of this writing, I have 9 Twitter friends. Some of which haven't posted in awhile. *nudge* And some who haven't made their first entry, yet. *nudgenudge* I've checked out Dodgeball, but it seems too complicated and too much like Friendster and MySpace. I'm sticking with good 'ol Twitter.

Happy New (Electronics) Month!

I just got my DVR last night. I never thought I'd ever get one. I can pause live tv now! AHHH! As La always says, "there's something wrong about messing around with time." It's not TiVo, so I've escaped that craziness for now (It's the proprietery Comcast DVR. But I've read news that Comcast will be soon using the TiVo operating system). For those who already have been on the DVR train for awhile, please excuse my nascent excitment.

I am so psyched that I can tape football matches now. Because of the time difference, I could never watch a live match because they're always on in the middle of the day. But a new era has begun. Now I can watch all the EPL matches I can handle when I get home from work. I will tape two Champions Cup games today (DC United v CD Olimpia and Houston Dynamo v Puntarenas...go USA!), and already have one Arsenal game to watch on the hard drive! I think I'm going to faint.

Today, I am also picking up my copy of Dance Dance Revolution: Universe, for Xbox 360!!! I already have the additional dance pad. For New Month, I am going to have a DDR party! Woo hoo! I've never played it in my life, not in the arcade or on any console. So I will not only be busting some moves, tonight, but also will be busting my DDR cherry, with friends and alcohol! Hey Danny Terrio, put me on TV!

StorySquared

Those who know me know that I consist of four core components:

• I am a dork (especially when it comes to anything digital)
• I am social
  
• I like to write
• I am a procrastinator
  

What better way to combine all 4 by joining me on some collaborative writing at StorySquared. I haven't figured out fully how to work it. I think it's by invite only, which is bull. The more that I write about it here the more that I think that this could be done right here on this blog, sans StorySquared. The benefit on doing it on that site is that it manages contributions in a more efficient manner than I ever could.

If you're down, let me know. I'll invite you to my next story.

My first story on StorySquared:

Not Burnt Umber

Time and time again, Lisa has been told not to do crossword puzzles in the bathroom. She was feeling particularly skittish this rainy Monday morning and tiptoed into the bathroom with a Pilot gel pen (red) and the whole morning paper.