1. Peanut butter

The jump from low-fat peanut butter to the organic version is the most noticeable. To make peanut butter “low fat,” it is essentially diluted with corn or soy products. Organic or all-natural peanut butter actually tastes like peanuts and is generally not as sweet, if it contains sugar at all.  Organic, no-stir peanut butter is about twice as expensive as regular peanut butter.

2. Yogurt

I started buying organic yogurt for myself  and continued to buy Grant cheap stuff because he said he “couldn’t tell the difference.” Well, I definitely could. Once I started eating organic yogurt, anything else tasted like corn starch. Not surprising, because corn starch is high on the  ingredient list. Eventually I caught Grant stealing my yogurt and he admitted he prefers the organic version.  Now it’s all we buy. The bad news is that it costs about twice as much as “regular” grocery store yogurt.

3. Maple syrup

We bought “real” maple syrup when there happened to be an enormous container of it at Sam’s Club. Everything is different. It tastes totally different, has a viscosity closer to water, and requires refrigeration. Typical grocery store call maple syrup is generally corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup with coloring, flavoring, and preservatives added. Real maple syrup easily costs two to four times corn syrup-based products and (aside from what you might find at Sam’s Club or Costco) comes in much smaller containers.

Camera: Still Photos

The N85’s camera has become a substitute for our relatively bulky “real” digital camera. It performs well in high (bright sun) to adequate light. As previously stated, the photography style in which this phone shines is macro. Its optics will auto-focus at a very short distance, allowing photos such as the bug-and-flower picture below.

The primary weakness I have found is the quality of photographs in low light. The dual LED flash supplements dim ambient indoor light, but is not sufficient for a dark area. The resulting images are off-color and grainy. I am not sure whether the xenon flash on the Nokia N82 is significantly better in these situations. I don’t find this a major drawback, as available lighting is adequate most of the time I want a photograph taken. Below I have provided a few examples of lower-light photos.

Camera: Video

Video capabilities of the N85 are on par with our “real” 5 MP digital camera. Similar to still photograph performance, the camera does well in adequate light, but videos in poorly lit rooms are grainy. With the 8 GB of space standard on this phone, I don’t have to worry about keeping the videos short. The N85 allows me to capture candid moments with sufficient quality to post a video on YouTube. I doubt any other phone does it better, though you could certainly find newer digital cameras and obviously digital camcorders with better performance.

Other Features

Somewhat odd perhaps, but I will classify making phone calls under this category. I appreciate the N85 as a camera. As a phone it is sufficient but not exemplary. This may be remedied by eventually reading the instruction manual, but so far I have found no way to reach certain features, such as call logs or profiles (e.g. silent, airplane mode), without a number of click-throughs. It also has a tendency to not alert me to missed calls until far after the fact.

Second caveat is the screen. It is impressive indoors, but almost unusable outside in bright sun. This can make it difficult to take pictures outside, as it’s hard to verify they are in focus.

Final Thoughts

The N85 obviously does have weaknessess–lack of a touchscreen or full keyboard, internet browsing is difficult, plus those two mentioned above–but overall I am very happy with the phone. My primary motivation was to use it as a more convenient substitute for our traditional digital camera, and in this capacity I think it has exceeded my expectations.  However, if  texting, e-mail, or web browsing are important, the N85 may not be the best choice.

The above sums up how I describe my new cell phone, the latest electronic toy added to our menagerie. After  years of merely getting by with a free Motorola Razr, I am now living large with a Nokia N85. As with most Nokia phones worth owning, the N85 is not available from AT & T. It can be purchased unlocked from various online retailers such as Amazon.com.

Oh N85, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

1. The stunning OLED screen is excellent for viewing videos and pictures or playing games.
2. The combination of FM transmitter and standard headphone jack also makes the N85 a capable music player.
3. Two cameras are included, the important one being a 5MP camera with dual LED flash and Carl Zeiss lens.  This lens is protected by a  sliding lens cover that also immediately opens the photography software when engaged. As seen below, the N85’s camera particularly shines in macro shots.
4. The N85 can also record DVD-quality video (640 x 480 resolution).
5. An 8 GB microSD card is included, though that is not explicitly stated on Amazon.com’s website. This is more than enough space to hold all of my music, videos, and photographs. At least for now.
6. I was pleasantly surprised by how small and light the phone is, given all its features.

Impressions:

The first thing you’ll notice, these glasses are extremely light compared to your standard pint glass; roughly half the weight. They use a much thinner glass and as such, are much more fragile. I would not recommend putting these glasses in the dishwasher. Another neat thing you’ll notice is that the inside layer of glass does not touch the outside layer except at the top. This characteristic makes your drink look like it’s suspended in air–pretty neat. The lack of condensation is also a nice side-effect of this construction. Given that I’m doing this experiment in the middle of winter, I don’t think condensation will be too noticeable on any glass. Finally, having the double-wall construction means your hand won’t get cold (or hot) from your beverage and vice-versa.

Initial conditions and Procedure:

• Glass 1: Luigi Bormioli Duo double-wall drinking glass
• Glass 2: Triumph Brewing Company pint glass
• Beer: Yuengling Traditional Lager (…it’s cheap)
• Beer chilled in fridge for 16 hours. Beer chilled an additional 25 minutes in the freezer prior to measurements to increase the temperature range.
• Both beer glasses stored at the same temperature.
• Ambient room temperature kept at 71 F +/- 2 F.
• Equivalent amounts of beer poured into each glass and left for 75 minutes
• Temperature probe placed at roughly the same spot in each glass, not touching the side.
• Beer temperature measured every 20 seconds for 75 minutes: 225 total data points each
• Beer consumed — for purely scientific reasons

Collecting Data:

Results:

For some strange reason, the starting temperatures were about 2 degrees off. The figure below shows temperature versus time for the standard glass, in red, and the double wall glass, in blue. I also plotted a linear trendline with its corresponding equation on the plot. The temperature change for the double wall glass was significantly less than that of the standard glass.

Conclusion:

Based on the results above, the double wall glass provided approximately 30% better insulation than the standard drinking glass. The bottom line: after 75 minutes of collecting data, the beer in the double wall glass was much more enjoyable, again, from a purely scientific point of view.

History:

Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant opened its first location in Newark, Pennsylvania in 1996 with a team of two award-winning homebrewers and an experienced restaurant professional. Since 1996, they added six more locations in Pennsylvania and Delaware with plans for more. They are among the top 100 brewers in the United States according to RateBeer.com with numerous awards at the Great American Beer Festival, World Beer Cup, and more. Since opening, they have continuously been recognized for both their business practices and quality beer. I went there on August 8th with Maggie, who had heard very good things about the brew-pub.

Beer:

During the summer, Iron Hill offers a “salute to wheat beers.” They have anywhere from 6 to 8 seasonal Weisse beers on tap! These beers are in additional to the 6 house beers that are usually on tap.

I was a bit overwhelmed with the selection, but lucky for me, their cask-conditioned scotch ale called Braveheart (pictured above, right) was just put back on tap–a no brainer. The Braveheart is described as a “Strong Scotch ale, big malty-sweet and complex beer brewed with a Belgian yeast strain to give it a distinct fruity characer,” with OG: 1095, Color: 15, IBU: 30, Alc by Vol: 9.5%. The Braveheart had an extremely full mouthfeel, extremely creamy, and very different from any scotch ale I had tried before, likely attributed to the cask-conditioning–I liked it a lot.

Maggie’s first beer was their rendition of the Belgian Wit (pictured above, left), described as “an Unfiltered Belgian-style wheat beer. Pale in color and light-bodied yet very complex. A distinct yeast and the use of spices give it a fruity citrus flavor that is very refreshing,” with 4.4% Alc by Vol. It had a very floral lemony taste that was very light an refreshing. She really liked it and I imagine it would taste great with seafood, but it didn’t quite last till then.

I wanted to get a taste for their standard house beers (though that decision was tough given all the great Weisse beers), so I tried their Vienna Red Lager. This lager is described as “an amber Austrian lager has a distinct bready malt aroma and flavor, followed by a crisp, clean finish typical of lager styles. The nose also shows plenty of the spicy hop aroma contributed by the use of Saaz hops,” with OG: 1.054, Color: 13, IBU: 25, Alc by Vol: 5.0%. It poured a copper color and has a very slight hoppy aftertaste. It was a little better than your average lager, but I wasn’t blown away by it.

Maggie’s second beer was another seasonal Weisse, the Munich Helles described as “German-style pale lager, AKA “Lodestone Lager”, is a malt-accented beer with a touch of spicy hop aroma, and a crisp, clean finish,” with OG: 1046, Color: 4.5, IBU: 25, Alc by Vol: 5.0%. Maggie said it had a nice full pleasant taste, but probably preferred the first beer more.

Given the relatively numerous Iron Hill Brewery locations, it was clearly evident they have not lost focus on producing quality beer, even at their newest location in Lancaster.

Food:

Iron Hill Brewery is the first brewpub I’ve been to where I’ve seen people order just food and not beer; the food was excellent. The menu was very extensive, ranging from $10 burgers to very nice seafood dinners. I was originally going to get pizza, but Maggie talked me into the pan-seared shrimp and scallops, which came in crabmeat, asparagus, leek and tomato fricassee in napa valley chardonnay cream. I’m glad she talked me into it. It was so good that I’d be tempted to order it again if I went back, but my opinion might have been tainted by the Braveheart I’d had earlier.

Maggie had the Summer Traditional New England Lobster Bake special, which came with 1 and 1/4 pound steamed lobster, littleneck clams, Prince Edward Island mussels, corn on the cob, fingerling potatoes, and drawn butter and lobster broth. While she enjoyed it, she didn’t think it was particularly spectacular.

Atmosphere / Service:

Iron Hill Brewery in Lancaster is located across the street from Franklin and Marshall College. Inside, the brewery is very large with lots of tables, fairly close together. I called for a reservation around 4:00 PM on a Friday and no reservations were available. I was told to call back a half hour before I got there for call-ahead seating. I called around 6:00 PM for a 6:30 PM arrival and was seated within 10 minutes from arriving–not bad. They also offer walk-in seating, but I imagine that’d be a significant longer wait time. Inside, it was a very comfortable well-lit restaurant.

We were both kind of taken by surprise when the manager offered us another round of drinks on the house after he brought out our food. He apologized for our food taking so long to come out, however, we barely even noticed the half hour wait time. Regardless, we opted to have our previously round credited, as we were already on our second round and had to drive home. It was a nice treat. As a new location across from a college, I’m sure they were trying to “spread the word” to the college community.

Final Thoughts:

I really enjoyed our trip to Iron Hill Brewery; it’s definitely a brewery worth visiting. I would’ve given anything for a brewery like Iron Hill across the street when I was getting my undergrad. Both their beer and their food are excellent. I look forward to going to back to the brewery any (and every) time I visit the area.

Rating – 4/5 

Warranties on electronics have been getting pretty pathetic in recent years. For example, most consoles (Xbox,PS2, and Wii) come only with a 90 day manufacturer warranty. Can a device be so unreliable that manufacturers can not stand behind their own products? Perhaps a topic for a different blog post. In 2000 I purchased JBL PB12 subwoofer, which was great on the speaker end but poor in the electronics. Its power amplifier was poorly designed and would break down soon after its warranty ended (you can read peoples’ cries here). Needless to say, it eventually broke in 2005. I decided it was more cost effective to replace the amplifier with an external amplifier, the Pyle PZR1000 professional amplifier. This too broke in 2006, a few days after the warranty ended. After much pleading, Pyle customer support said there was nothing they could do for me, it was out of warranty. What is a poor graduate student to do, abandon his dreams of deep, thunderous, bass?

The American Express Blue Card provides a free service called the Buyer’s Protection Plan that supplements purchased items with less than five year warranties with an added year. For items with only 90 day this increases is huge and helps protect customers from the unreliable products companies are churning off the assembly line. I had to fill out very little paperwork and was immediately transferred to AMEX customer support. The most surprising part is that the customer support was amazing. They were helpful, courteous and actually wanted me to get my money back. Today, they credited my account nearly two hundred dollars, which will go toward the Crown XLS402 professional amplifier that powers my subwoofer now.

Updated: 01/11/09

Favorites – Must try
Green Mountain Lake & Lodge
Green Mountain Hazelnut Dark Roast
Green Mountain Sumatran Reserve Extra Bold
Green Mountain Wild Mountain Blueberry (best flavored coffee I’ve had, even non-coffee drinkers love this one)
Green Mountain Dark Magic Extra Bold (VERY dark)
Green Mountain Kenya AA
Tully’s Breakfast Blend
Tully’s Kona Blend
Tully’s Full City Roast

Good Blends – Your average cup of joe
Caribou Coffee (all)
Gloria Jean’s Cappuccino
Gloria Jean’s French Vanilla
Gloria Jean’s Hazelnut
Gloria Jean’s Special Blend
Green Mountain Breakfast Blend
Green Mountain Rain Forest Nut
Green Mountain Southern Pecan
Timothy’s Mocha Java
Tully’s French Roast (VERY strong)

Worst K-Cups – Avoid like the plague
ALL Coffee People K-Cups
Gloria Jean’s Irish Cream
Green Mountain Mocha Nut Fudge

Overview

Before starting the review I should give some perspective on the type of person writing it. I am a technology freak, constantly researching the gadgets that can make my life easier (or more complicated – depending on device!). My first real watch, following the Zelda wristwatch, was a Casio calculator wristwatch. This watch served me loyally into high school until the battery died. I tried to replace it myself, but ended up cracking the LCD. Then I thought, “Is there a watch that didn’t need a battery?” to save myself any future embarrassments. My next purchase was a Seiko Kinetic, which converts mechanical motion into electrical energy. It lasted seven years before the dial broke off. Now I thought,” Is there a watch that sets itself, doesn’t need a battery, and as an added bonus is waterproof?” This leads us into the main topic, the Casio Waveceptor. An atomic watch receives the radio signal sent from Fort Collins, Colorado to set its time. A user need only enter their time zone and whether their location observes Daylight Savings Time. While a few manufactures make atomic watches, including the Dakota Watch Company and Junghans, Casio was the only one I could find that also runs on solar power. I purchased the WVQ500DA-2AV because I felt it provided the best balance in the four categories of features, cost, quality, and style. The category order also reflects how I personally rank each in importance.

Features

Most digital watches have more features than needed. Below I listed those features worth mentioning.

• Solar power with rechargeable battery
• Atomic time
• 100 m water resistant
• Battery level indicator
• Both analog and digital displays
• Auto calendar
• Backlight

All the features worked as advertised. From central Illinois I get a clear radio signal, although I had difficulty programming the time zone. I found two features missing on the watch. The wristband was the most lacking feature. It had huge links which makes sizing difficult – my wrists could have used a half link size. Some watches have multiple pin holes near the clasp for fine tuning band length, this one only had one. I assume that the watch face is scratch resistant glass because neither Casio nor its vendors listed the material. Oceanus (a subsidiary of Casio) sells a version with a sapphire crystal face, but for about twice the price.

Cost

The list price for the WVQ500DA-2AV was $320, but it can be purchased for much less online. I had wanted to purchase the watch at a local store so I could inspect it and get the band sized. Due to the brand and the price most jewelers avoid this model like the plague. I purchase my watch from Kenmar Watches for around $200, and I received it quickly. Comparing the looks and features to the Oceanus OCW510DA2A (approx. $450 online) below, I felt this watch was a good value in comparison.

Quality

This part of the review is difficult since I have not owned it long enough to comment on its durability. I plan to update the post if any issues arise. In term of physical quality, the watch is hefty and large and does not feel cheap. The watch was heavier then my Seiko Kinetic which surprised me considering the Kinetic has a mini-generator in it. If you want a lighter watch, you should go with the titanium version, but the titanium metal body will scratch more easily than stainless steel. Underneath the watch itself, an inscription indicates it was made in Japan. However, the watchband quality is a different story. The clasp is very thin, a real issue considering its importance, and did not have the extra pinhole many other bands have for fine length adjustments. The watchband inscription says made in China.

Style

If you’re the type who cares about style, stop reading, and go buy a Rolex. The watch was stylish amongst my engineering friends.

Conclusions

The Casio Waveceptor was the only watch I could find that was both atomic and solar, two features I most wanted in a new watch. While Casio offers cheaper Waveceptor watches, the WVQ500DA models can almost pass for a classy timepiece. So far I have been happy with the watch and recommend it to others. I have already contacted Casio’s Dover New Jersey service center once with a question and was attended to quickly and satisfied with their response. Although the watchband might seem like a real show stopper, it can probably be replaced with a better one if desired.

UPDATE: Three years now and the watch still works. For about 6 months I thought my watch light was broken since it kept turning on. A reader in the comments later  pointed out that this was a feature!  If you hold down the light button, it enables the auto-light on.  The watch turns the light on if you tilt your wrist in the dark–cool. I went through the effort to get an online quote for the imaginary repair. If it were broken, it would cost $80 to get an out of warranty repair (Casio warranty is only 1 year).  Thanks readers.

Many different earphones have popped up over the past few years that provide nearly total outside noise isolation by creating a seal in your ear canal.  With the earphones driver(s) on the inside of this isolation, you can expect to hear a much more accurate reproduction of your music with a much wider range of frequencies than you’re used to hearing with earbuds, because fewer frequencies are being lost to the outside.  I did not want to spend more than $125 on an pair of earphones, so I narrowed down my options to the following: Shure E2C/E3C, Bose In-Ear Headphones, and Etymotic’s ER-6, and ER-6i earphones.  I decided not to go with the Shures simply because I didn’t like the idea that I’d have to wrap them around the top of my ear (ie, hearing aid style).  I decided not to go with the Bose ones, because they do not provide noise isolation, which I believe to be an important factor both sound quality and in noisy locations like trains and planes.  So I got the Etymotic ER-6i earphones.

I paid $79.99 for the earphones from Buy.com, down $70 from the list price from Etymotic Research, Inc.  I really appreciated all the technical information Etymotic provided on their website, comparing the frequency response, impedence, and “accuracy” on their website.  Accuracy can clearly be tuned to meet the test conditions, which Etymotic defines as the following:

From Etymotic.com 

Earphone response was measured on a KEMAR® manikin that has the same acoustic properties as the average head and ear. 25-band accuracy scores are calculated by summing the difference between the earphone response and the target response in each 1.3 -octave band from 50 Hz to 12.5 kHz.

Sound quality is not the only factor that makes up good earphones/headphones though.  First opening up the earphones, the first thing I noticed was the cord thinness.  When I was researching the headphones, no where did I see mention of the thinness of the cords.  However, I expect that the reason Etymotic went with such thing cable was to achieve such a low impedence of 16 Ohms.  This is an EXTREMELY low impedence, which means it’ll take less power to drive these headphones at a desired volume.  Etymotic has clearly engineered this product for portable devices (like MP3 players), as this low impedence will translate into less power required to pump out your tunes, meaning longer battery life. 

Etymotic recommends the medium sized ear piece for most people, but I found this ear piece to be incredibly uncomfortable (I guess I have a small ear canal).  Luckily, Etymotic includes additional ear pieces to account for these different size.  The small ear piece fit very comfortably and indeed provided nearly complete isolation.  I have never experieneced such isolation, even with traditional foam ear plugs.  I couldn’t even hear my roommate come in the room with the door 5 feet away, pretty remarkable. It take a few tries to get used to putting them in your ear.  Initially it would take me about 5 seconds each to get in my ear.  But now I can do it pretty quickly.  Regardless, it’s kind of annoying having to take them out if you want to hear something.

Now, on to the sound quality.  I burned-in the headphones for about 5 hours and then tested them to a variety of music: electronic, orchestral, hip-hop, and acoustic.  The sound quality was excellent, very even response between the highs, mids, and lows.  Without a proper fit though, the bass was incredibly lacking; it’s important to make sure you try out all the ear pieces to see which fits your ear best while providing the best seal.  The quality was as good, if not better, than my Bose Triport headphones, with the added perk of having noise isolation.  I also tested the headphones in a variety of locations.  In the cafe on campus, I could not even hear the super-loud latte machine.  I cannot explain how great they were in the gym; it was like a completely different experience.  Best of all, no one can hear even a murmur of what I’m hearing, like you typically can with earbuds.

Here is a summary of the pros and cons of the earphones:

Pro’s

• Excellent sound quality
• Nearly complete outside sound isolation
• Good style: they don’t stick out from your ear and they’re NOT wrap-arounds
• Inexpensive compared to other comparable headphones.  I get the feeling it costs a lot less to make them, but at the quality they provide, it’s worth the premium.

Con’s

• Thin cable
• Soft carrying pouch, doesn’t protect the earphones
• Have to replace filters every so often

When you pay to enter museums you expect it permits you to see everything offered, right?  WRONG!  Museums coax you into paying more for special exhibits.  Personally, I forego extra frills, and stick to normal admission, but the situation is different with City Pass; it includes bonus exhibits like IMAX and the temporary exhibits.  With these, City Pass pulls its weight.  Another City Pass feature is it bypasses waiting in line.  I can’t tell you how gratifying it was, waltzing past a crowd of screaming children and anxious parent, and through the front entrance.  In summary, I recommend the City Pass, especially during the travel season, it definetly made my visit more enjoyable.