PHP Lens: Having your cake, and abstracting it

Grok Headline matches for PHP Lens: Having your cake, and abstracting it

Abstracting CSS

Abstracting CSS 01/07/2004 05:35 PM
The further you abstract the structure of your markup, the weightier your CSS file becomes. It's inevitable, and by all indications, the way things are meant to go for two important reasons: it fulfills the complete separation of structure...

Fresnel Lens

Fresnel Lens 05/23/2004 01:53 AM
Random Destructive Acts via Focused Solar Radiation .. people named B. C. Lee cannot betrusted .. Giant Fresnel Lens .. Fun with Fresnel

www-personal.umich.edu/~bclee/lens.html
track this site | 4 links

Through the lens of a soldier

Through the lens of a soldier 11/14/2003 04:44 AM
lentes de um soldado

pbase.com/sms/iraq
track this site | 4 links

screaming into the eye of the lens

screaming into the eye of the lens 12/02/2003 01:07 AM
Have you ever seen your father cry? You know how it makes you feel so . . . awkward? Like this invincible person is just as human as you are? I felt compelled to speak. The last time I saw my dad cry was at my grandfather's funeral.

Lens does away with blurry snaps

Lens does away with blurry snaps 09/13/2004 03:18 AM
A specially-shaped camera lens which means images are never out of focus could find its way onto camera phones.

Varioptic Liquid Lens

Varioptic Liquid Lens 12/19/2004 03:01 PM

Here's a picture of the actual liquid lens technology that French start-up Varioptic has sold to Samsung. These little discs will add a 3x optical zoom and true autofocus abilities to cameraphones while remaining suitably rugged for use in a knockabout phone. Phones using the technology aren't expected to hit the market until 2006 at the earliest, unfortunately. And while I hate to rub rivalries wrong, The Register had a good story earlier this month about how the lenses actually work.

Variable optics – the cure for cameraphones? [TheInquirer]

Let Them Eat Cake

Let Them Eat Cake 04/16/2004 08:49 AM
A growing debate pits accessibility against usability. From our point of view, it's like pitting peanut butter against jelly. This article helps you create a page that is both usable and accessible, saving readers the trouble of scrolling with a little help from JavaScript and the Document Object Model.

Things You Can Do With A Giant Fresnel
Lens

Things You Can Do With A Giant Fresnel
Lens 05/21/2004 09:59 PM

Lensbaby Lo-Tech Digital SLR Lens

Lensbaby Lo-Tech Digital SLR Lens 04/19/2004 05:46 AM
Lenbaby is a lens that lets you add the smudged, leaked-light-look of Holga and Lomo cameras to your expensive digital SLR. Self-described as the "love children of an old-fashioned bellow camera and an up-tight tilt-shift lens", the Lensbaby is available in either Canon or Nikon mounts for around $96. Photography...

Camera lens mimics human eye

Camera lens mimics human eye 03/06/2004 01:58 AM
Philips Electronics has invented a tiny digital-camera lens that can focus on objects and create sharp pictures in ways similar to the human eye.

Longhorn Through the Open Source Lens

Longhorn Through the Open Source Lens 07/20/2004 09:24 PM
"Avalon is the next Active X"

Sony's 360 degree camera lens

Sony's 360 degree camera lens 12/09/2003 12:06 PM
A new full-circle camera lens from Sony that can capture a 360 degree panoramic shot without having to rotate or move. No word on when...

Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake 12/02/2003 04:52 PM
I adore the Cook's Illustrated cookbooks. I don't have many cookbooks but I have nearly all of the CI...

Sony PSP Cake

Sony PSP Cake 04/11/2005 08:18 AM

That took longer than it needed to, people. Really, we should be getting these cakes before launch, to ease the pain. I'll be waiting come E3, my baking friends.

PSP Cake [HardwareGeeks via Kotaku]

More Cake:
Playstation, A Sacred Institution [Gizmodo]
iPod mini Wedding Cake [Gizmodo]
More iPod Wedding Cake [Gizmodo]

Let Them Eat Cake: A List Apart

Let Them Eat Cake: A List Apart 04/17/2004 10:06 AM
accessibility and usability .. Let Them Eat Cake

alistapart.com/articles/eatcake
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Cake or death?

Cake or death? 06/20/2004 11:59 PM
Amazing Cakes («flash link) from the food networks Wedding Cake Challenge. Whether it's Mikes Amazing Cakes, Michelle Bommarito's Cakes, or Colettes Cakes, these are all some awesome cake s.

Cake with your Chocolate

Cake with your Chocolate 03/14/2005 06:01 PM

« Best chocolate cake ever.... »

I have a puppy who doesn't often let me relax on the couch in the evening but somehow sleeps contentedly on the kitchen floor if I am baking something, so I have been baking a bit more than usual lately. I was looking for a cooking pan one evening and rediscovered the gothic cathedral Bundt pan I've had for a few years that I'd forgotten about and thought about making a Bundt cake that would appeal to the Finnish dessert palate. I figured I could make the cake for some friends we were having over but I would subject my coworkers to a test cake to see if they liked it as much as I guessed they might. It's funny how so many products in Finland claim 'Authentic American Taste' but how few of them are anywhere near the actual taste and, when given something that really does taste like it does back home, how few Finns really enjoy it. I have learned through trial and error that it is a rare American dessert that appeals to the Finnish palate. The cake is very chocolatey, not overly sweet and the whipped cream and raspberries are a near constant feature in Finnish desserts.

As a disclaimer, I'm not all that crazy about chocolate cakes, but if I had tasted the batter before I poured it all into the pan and shoved it into the oven, I could have easily decided to eat the entire bowl of batter myself instead of having only the spatula to lick the remainder from. I think a couple of people at work went back for a second piece so it's safe to say that it was well received. I made the first cake with kermaviili because I didn't think that Finland really had a true sour cream and kermaviili was reasonably close to the mark. The second cake I made with smetana, which I was told was more like sour cream than kermaviili. Kermaviili is about 10% fat, smetana is about 47% fat and American sour cream is somewhere around 21% fat. Of the two cakes, the kermaviili cake was far better because it was more moist and less rich than the smetana cake. I think this is one of the few occasions where less fat is better than more.

Don't overdo the mixing as it will introduce too much air into the batter and cause the cake to rise more than it should. I used my standing mixer for the first cake and noticed that I really didn't need it save for the creaming of the butter and sugar. The cake release should be used on any pan you use, even if it is the most stick-free teflon on the market. Wrap cake in foil or plastic wrap after cooling for an hour or two if you don't plan to eat it right away to help keep the cake moist.

The Best Chocolate Bundt Cake

Serves: 12 to 14
Special equipment: Bundt or tube pan
Time: about 90 minutes
Source: Cook's Illustrated

Cake Release

• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon cocoa

Cake

• 3/4 cup (2.25 oz) or 1,75dl cocoa, natural (not Dutch-processed)
• 6 oz or 170g bittersweet chocolate (2 100g bars of Fazer baking chocolate which leaves a few bits for eating.)
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional)
• 3/4 or 1.75dl cup water (boiling)
• 1 cup (8.75 oz) or 2,5dl sour cream (kermaviili not smetana if in Finland), room temperature
• 1.75 cups or 4,25dl unbleached all-purpose flour 
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 12 tablespoons(1.5 sticks) or 170g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups (14 oz) or 4,75dl light brown sugar 
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 
• 5 large eggs, room temperature
• confectioners' sugar for dusting

FOR THE PAN:

1. Stir together butter and cocoa in small bowl until paste forms; using a pastry brush, coat all interior surfaces of standard 12-cup Bundt pan. (If mixture becomes too thick to brush on, microwave it for 10 to 20 seconds, or until warm and softened.)
2. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350F/175C degrees.

FOR THE CAKE:

1. Combine cocoa, chocolate, and espresso powder (if using) in medium heatproof bowl; pour boiling water over and whisk until smooth. Cool to room temperature; then whisk in sour cream.
2. Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda in second bowl to combine.
3. In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, beat butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Reduce speed to medium and add eggs one at a time, mixing about 30 seconds after each addition and scraping down bowl with rubber spatula after first 2 additions.
5. Reduce to medium-low speed (batter may appear separated); add about one third of flour mixture and half of chocolate/sour cream mixture and mix until just incorporated, about 20 seconds.
6. Scrape bowl and repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining chocolate mixture; add remaining flour mixture and beat until just incorporated, about 10 seconds.
7. Scrape bowl and mix on medium-low until batter is thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds.
8. Pour batter into prepared Bundt pan, being careful not to pour batter on sides of pan.
9. Bake until wooden skewer inserted into center comes out with few crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes.
10. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert cake onto parchment-lined wire rack; cool to room temperature, about 3 hours.
11. Dust with confectioners' sugar, transfer to serving platter, and cut into wedges; serve with Tangy Whipped Cream and raspberries, if desired.

Tangy Whipped Cream

• 1 cup or 2,50dl heavy cream (cold)
• 1/4 cup or ~.60dl sour cream 
• 1/4 cup or ~.60dl packed light brown sugar 
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract 

With electric mixer, beat all ingredients, gradually increasing speed from low to high, until cream forms soft peaks, 1.5 to 2 minutes.

Lightly Sweetened Raspberries

• 3 cups or 7dl fresh raspberries gently rinsed and dried
• 1 - 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 

Gently toss raspberries with sugar, then let stand until berries have released some juice and sugar has dissolved, about 15 minutes.

Rat Birthday Cake

Rat Birthday Cake 02/07/2005 01:28 AM

craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=24412.0
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Cake for Coffee

Cake for Coffee 06/17/2005 04:28 PM

« Sour cream coffee cake with raspberry and cinnamon streusel filling. »

When I think of coffee cake, I think of a dense, slightly sweet cake with cinnamon swirls and nuts in it, but when I say coffee cake in Finland, I get this weird look as if to ask why one would put coffee in a cake. Treats with coffee in Finland, if not some kind of pulla, are some sort of seriously heavy and sweet cream confection. I've also noticed that while berries have an exalted, perhaps even near ubiquitous, place in Finnish desserts, I've not found any local cakes that have the fruit baked inside the cake and instead are always part of the topping or unbaked filling. I don't know if this holds in all parts of Finland, but I couldn't find a single recipe in older, and even some recent, cookbooks that had berries baked in the dough or batter. It's interesting and makes me wonder why not.

So, I decided to torture my familiar test subjects, a.k.a. coworkers, to a sour cream coffee cake with blueberries to see if the concept was too alien or if a real coffee cake might not appeal. A couple commented that it was strange, but few crumbs were left on the serving plate so in spite of the unfamiliar concept, it didn't appear to slow down consumption. :) So, if Finns want to try this cake as a change of pace, I don't think there will be any leftovers.

Coffee cake is another one of those comfort foods that make me think of home. I totted up a list of foods from home that make me feel homesick and, strangely, almost all of them are sugary dessert or breakfast kinds of foods, neither of which I ate very often back home. I'm sure there is a doctoral dissertation on the gastronomic nostalgia of expats in there somewhere.

At long last, too, I finally found the dairy product in Finland that most closely resembles American sour cream, Flora Fraîche with a 20% fat content. It's not créme fraîche, not smetana, not kermaviili, just fraîche. I figured that a country with a dizzying array of dairy products, especially sour ones, that I'd eventually try the right one. It performed perfectly where I had previously been somewhat disappointed with kermaviili.

A sturdy, powerful mixer is highly recommended for the mixing of the butter and sour cream with the dry ingredients as it gets quite stiff and difficult to work with. You could probably also do it with a biscuit dough tool/potato masher [the one that cuts the butter into the flour] but that will take more time and effort. Jarkko was playing World of Warcraft on the computer which is plugged into the step-down transformer my mixer requires so I had to do the first cake the hard way which made my hand mixer very, very hot. Adding in the egg mixture should also be done slowly as it will slop over the sides of the bowl if not added slowly.

Adding the streusel and fruit layers is easy, but I was disappointed when I followed the recipe to the letter with the 2 cups of batter between layers as I found that it wasn't enough and that they melded into one band of goo. I had so much batter left over after the adding the layers that the streusel distribution through the cake was suboptimal. So be more generous with the batter between layers and save a wee bit for yourself as the batter is damned tasty.

Lemon-Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Makes: 1 cake that serves 12 to 16 people
Special tools: A fixed-bottom, 10-inch tube pan (with 10-cup capacity), good mixer, preferably standing
Time: 20 mins prep and 1 hour baking
Source: CI

Berry filling

• 1 cup or 2,5dl frozen blueberries or raspberries
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Streusel

• 3/4 cup or 1,75dl unbleached all-purpose flour (3.75oz or 106g)
• 3/4 cup or 1,75dl granulated sugar (5.25oz or 150g)
• 1/2 cup or 1,25dl packed dark brown sugar (3.5oz or 100g)
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons or 30g unsalted butter, cold, cut into 2 pieces
• 1 cup or 2,5dl pecans, chopped

Cake

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) or 170g unsalted butter, softened but still cool, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons or 30g butter, softened for greasing pan
• 4 large eggs
• 1.5 cups or 3,5dl sour cream [Flora Fraîche is the closest to American sour cream in .fi with 20% fat]
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2.25 cups or 5,25dl unbleached all-purpose flour (11.5oz or 325g)
• 1.25 cups or 3dl granulated sugar (8.75oz or 250g)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon table salt

1. Toss 1 cup frozen blueberries with 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest in small bowl and set aside.
2. For the streusel: In food processor, process flour, granulated sugar, 1/4 cup (,75 dl) dark brown sugar, and cinnamon until combined, about 15 seconds. Transfer 1 1/4 cups (3 dl) of flour/sugar mixture to small bowl; stir in remaining 1/4 cup (,75 dl) brown sugar and set aside to use for streusel filling. Add butter and pecans to mixture in food processor; pulse until nuts and butter resemble small pebbly pieces, about ten 1-second pulses. Set aside to use as streusel topping.
3. For the cake: Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350F/175C degrees. Grease 10-inch tube pan with 2 tablespoons softened butter. Whisk eggs, 1 cup (2,5 dl) sour cream, and vanilla in medium bowl until combined.
4. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl of standing mixer; mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend. Add butter and remaining 1/2 cup (1 dl) sour cream; mix on low speed until dry ingredients are moistened and mixture resembles wet sand, with few large butter pieces remaining, about 1 1/2 minutes. Increase to medium speed and beat until batter comes together, about 10 seconds; scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Lower speed to medium-low and gradually add egg mixture in 3 additions, beating for 20 seconds after each and scraping down sides of bowl. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until batter is light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
5. Using rubber spatula, spread 2 cups (5 dl) batter in bottom of prepared pan, smoothing surface. Sprinkle evenly with 1/2 cup (1 dl) blueberries. Sprinkle evenly with 3/4 cup (1,75 dl) streusel filling (without butter or nuts). Repeat with another 2 cups batter, remaining 1/2 cup (1 dl) blueberries, and remaining 3/4 cup (1,75 dl) streusel filling (without butter or nuts). Spread remaining batter over, then sprinkle with streusel topping (with butter and nuts).
6. Bake until cake feels firm to touch and long toothpick or skewer inserted into center comes out clean (bits of sugar from streusel may cling to tester), 50 to 60 minutes. Cool cake in pan on wire rack 30 minutes. Invert cake onto rimmed baking sheet (cake will be streusel-side down); remove tube pan, place wire rack on top of cake, and reinvert cake streusel-side up. Cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. Cut into wedges and serve. (Cake can be wrapped in foil and stored at room temperature for up to 5 days.)

Casio Develops Tiny Ceramic Lens

Casio Develops Tiny Ceramic Lens 08/02/2004 02:08 PM

Casio has developed the world's first optical lens constructed from transparent ceramics, making it possible to create cameras with optical zoom that are even thinner than existing models. Not only do the new ceramic lens have a greater refractive index (they bend light more than glass) they are also considerably stronger - important in something that gets dropped as often as cameras.

No word when to expect the tiny lens to start being used in cameras (and cameraphones), although I'm sure if you're a manufacturer Casio would be delighted to talk to you about it.

Read - Press Release [Casio]

Implanted Lens Sharpens Blurred Vision
(AP)

Implanted Lens Sharpens Blurred Vision
(AP) 09/13/2004 04:53 PM
AP - There's a new option for people who suffer from extreme nearsightedness, whose world loses its crisp edge just a few inches from their noses. The first implantable lens for nearsightedness was approved Monday by the Food and Drug Administration.

Liquid Optical Zoom Lens Overview

Liquid Optical Zoom Lens Overview 04/07/2005 09:22 AM

Sunny Bains's overview of liquid oil-and-water camera lenses in this month's Wired is up on the web. If you've been following the technology there's probably not a lot of information, but it's something I like to keep in the front of my brain—the promise of durable, portable, low-power optical zoom lenses in everything is just too appealing to forget about. If you haven't heard of this technology, simultaneously developed by Varioptic and Philips Research, this is a good place to jump in.

Smile, You're on Liquid Camera [Wired via MobileTracker]

Lens Flares, Smoky, Burn Baby 1.0

Lens Flares, Smoky, Burn Baby 1.0 05/28/2004 10:53 PM
Compositing Elements for Effects and Graphics artists.

Cartier-Bresson, Artist Who Used Lens,
Dies at 95

Cartier-Bresson, Artist Who Used Lens,
Dies at 95 08/04/2004 09:58 PM
Henri Cartier-Bresson, who used his camera to become one of the major artists of the 20th century, died today. He was 95.

Diane Arbus, a Hunter Wielding a Lens

Diane Arbus, a Hunter Wielding a Lens 01/08/2004 08:17 PM
While the show at the Grey Art Gallery provides some kind of window onto Arbus's working method, the photographs are uniformly routine and banal.

Philips 3-D Display Uses Patented Lens
Technology

Philips 3-D Display Uses Patented Lens
Technology 05/20/2004 07:00 PM

Full-Circle 360 at once panoramic camera
lens

Full-Circle 360 at once panoramic camera
lens 12/10/2003 09:14 AM
Sony introduces 360 degree one shot lens! .. image a full 360 degrees .. Sony CX-News Vol.34 .. Sony

sony.net/Products/SC-HP/cx_news/vol34/featuring2.html
track this site | 6 links

Lens effect reveals distant world

Lens effect reveals distant world 04/16/2004 07:36 AM
Gravity helps astronomers find the most distant planet yet seen in our galaxy.

"Full-Circle 360° at once panoramic
camera lens"

"Full-Circle 360° at once panoramic
camera lens" 12/10/2003 10:15 PM

Snack takes the cake

Snack takes the cake 08/14/2004 04:35 AM
USA Today Aug 14 2004 9:00AM GMT

Chocolate cake and butter

Chocolate cake and butter 03/06/2004 01:54 AM
Yesterday for a brief moment I was in that bitter jaded place where I felt people just suck. It lasted...

iPod shuffle Cake

iPod shuffle Cake 04/13/2005 11:07 AM

Danny Sohayda's wife had baked nearly the perfect cake, but at the last moment realized she didn't have enough icing to draw a screen.

Update: Wow, she makes a lot of cakes!
Cake Central [.Mac]

More Cake:
Sony PSP Cake [Gizmodo]
Playstation, A Sacred Institution [Gizmodo]
iPod mini Wedding Cake [Gizmodo]
More iPod Wedding Cake [Gizmodo]

More iPod Wedding Cake

More iPod Wedding Cake 09/22/2004 08:38 AM

Someday I'll have a beautiful wedding with individually decorated cakes, including ones will little icing iPods on them. Or on second thought, I will just make some cakes.

And before iPod haters get on the stick and send me hate mail, try to remember one thing: this isn't about the iPod. This is a post about cake. You don't hate cake, do you?

Read - One of the beautiful, tiny, wedding cakes... [Flickr via CultOfMac]

Related
Cake Archives [Gizmodo]

Wedding cake casemod

Wedding cake casemod 01/24/2004 03:36 AM
A casemodder proposed to his girlfriend by building her a wedding-cake PC with a miniature bride and groom, a secret ring-tray, and ribbon-wrapped, illuminated internal connectors visible through a cutaway transparency. Link (Thanks, Jay!)

Blue Screen of Cake

Blue Screen of Cake 02/01/2005 09:08 PM

I have no story for you, but it looks like someone has had one blue screen too many if they feel the need to memorialize. Would that all laptop errors were so delicious to fix. (Thanks, Psymonetta!)

Larger Image [Gizmodo]
Playstation, A Sacred Institution [Gizmodo]
iPod mini Wedding Cake [Gizmodo]
More iPod Wedding Cake [Gizmodo]

Amacrox Telephoto Mobile Phone Camera
Lens

Amacrox Telephoto Mobile Phone Camera
Lens 03/31/2005 12:34 PM

Sony Cyber-shot F88 camera has rotating
lens

Sony Cyber-shot F88 camera has rotating
lens 05/25/2004 07:10 PM
globetechnology.com May 25 2004 10:38PM GMT

DV plug-in Au Naturel produces realistic
lens blur

DV plug-in Au Naturel produces realistic
lens blur 07/29/2004 08:28 AM
Buena Software Inc. announced the release of Au Naturel, a plug-in that's compatible with Adobe After Effects, Final Cut Pro and discreet Combustion. The plug-in allows you to work on digital footage in linear RGB as you apply realistic lens blur, adjust exposure in f-stops, scale, rotate or otherwise transform and composite with an individual alpha channel for each color channel. It sells for US$79 through Aug. 12, when SIGGRAPH ends -- you can visit the Buena Software Web site to obtain a serial number that will allow you to use Au Naturel for one day.

Philips 3-D Display Uses Patented Lens
Technology And New Software

Philips 3-D Display Uses Patented Lens
Technology And New Software 05/20/2004 07:17 AM
Space Daily May 20 2004 10:38AM GMT
Grok Description matches for PHP Lens: Having your cake, and abstracting it
GrokA matches for PHP Lens: Having your cake, and abstracting it

PHP Lens: Having your cake, and abstracting it

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