"Worker Deaths Raise Questions at an Apple Contractor in China"

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Another inflammatory headline from the New York Times:

"Apple supplier"? Really? Pegatron makes notebooks, netbooks, desktop PCs, tablets, other mobile devices, motherboards, graphic cards, cable modems, set-top boxes, phones, game consoles, mp3 players, e-readers, and a host of other devices for many companies - but all the New York Times can focus on is that Apple buys stuff from them so somehow this is an Apple problem? Apple is probably the only customer they have who holds them responsible in any way. Mentioning Apple in the headline is an easy way to get clicks. Android apologists will share it and then go on to explain that this is why they don't use Apple products, even though they use devices made in the same facility, for a company that does less to ensure safe working conditions than Apple does.

House Status: Pre-closing walk through edition.

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We did our final walk-through of the house today prior to closing. We went around and inspected every inch of every wall, floor, ceiling & surface to point out things that need to be touched up, fixed, etc. It took about 2 hours to do, and overall we're very happy with the progress. You'll notice all of the blue painter's tape marks throughout - that's part of what we did today on the walk-through. Steffanie had a lot of fun picking out things with the tape she wanted them to touch-up or fix. If you ever want your house covered in blue painters tape, go buy a roll and she'll be glad to come do it. (Really, she very much enjoyed this.)

The story of out-of-control debts and deficits is just plain wrong. US deficits have fallen in the past four years

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Dean Baker, at The Guardian writes:

Republicans are delusional about US spending and deficits

Contrary to the widely repeated stories of out-of-control deficits and spending, deficits have plunged in the last four years falling from 10.1% of GDP in 2009 to just 4% of GDP in 2013. The Congressional Budget Office projects the deficit to be just 3.4% of GDP in 2014. The latest projections show the debt-to-GDP ratio falling for the rest of the decade.

Nest 'Nestifies' A Smoke Detecter

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I had read news that Nest was probably going to release something in this segment of the market. Given that we are mere weeks away from moving into our new home, and I'm planning two install two Nest Thermostats as it is, the announcement from Nest this morning has me very excited.

Nest Protect

Safety shouldn't be annoying. The Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarm quiets down when you wave - no more swinging towels or brooms - and messages your phone when its batteries run low. Nest Protect speaks with a human voice, telling you where and what the danger is, and gives you a friendly Heads-Up before turning on a loud alarm.

A few points that I found interesting:

  • They have both battery and wired versions
  • If you also have Nest Thermostats, the Nest Protects will share information with them.
  • Information shared can do things like turn off the furnace if it detects CO2, or motion data to assist with Nests learning.
  • Sends data to its iOS application
  • You can wave your hand near the Protect to signal for it to turn off in the event the smoke is from a source you're aware of.
  • At night, it can emit low light based on its motion sensor to help light the room in the event the lights are out (presumably so you don't trip over things on your way to the bathroom in the middle of the night without having to wake up your spouse.).

Making Apple Butter

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This past weekend, my family got together with some friends (and a ton of planning on the part of my Dad) and held our 2nd annual Apple Butter cooking day.

This year's stats:

  • 17 bushels of Stayman Apples
  • 75 lbs of sugar (25 lbs less than last year)
  • 1 dram of clove oil
  • 1.1 fl oz of cinnamon oil
  • 1.1 oz of powdered nutmeg

The copper kettle in the photos is a 50 gallon kettle. We started peeling apples on Friday at 10:00 AM and were finished by 3:00 PM. We started the fire under the kettle around 5:30 AM Saturday morning, adding the first bushels of apples + some apple vinegar. The apples were then ground through the antique grinder you see in the photos and added to the kettle. By 9:00 AM we had all of the apples grinded and added to the pot. Around 3:00 PM in the afternoon we removed the fire from the kettle and began canning. Total 2013 yield: 143 quarts of Apple Butter or 35.75 gallons.