7Ghent's New Writeups

Green Chile Stew (thing)

2005-11-22T22:53:04Z

This is a simple recipe that's been passed down for countless generations in my native New Mexican family. It's also the best food for flus and colds EVER, due to the natural antibotic effects of garlic and the vitamin C in green chile, not to mention the sinus-clearing effect. Best eaten with a hot stack of home-made flour tortillas.

Ingredients:

2 cups green chile, chopped
5 good-sized potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 lb pork steak, cubed
1/4 lb bacon, chopped
4-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4-1/2 tsp Mexican oregano (add more if your chile is hotter, less if it's mild)

Reserve 2 potatoes. Combine all remaining ingredients in a large pot, add about 2 quarts water. Boil on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add water if it boils down too much. Boil for about 2 hours, at which point the potatoes should have more or less dissolved. If they're not dissolving, you probably didn't chop them small enough. Fry the remaining potatoes,…

How to get Apache to send compressed versions of static HTML files (idea)

2005-02-16T18:59:42Z

In addition to the above, you may also wish to try The not-ass-backwards method

Install mod_gzip.
Configure mod_gzip.
Enjoy your intellectual superiority.

You see, mod_gzip gzips and serves compressed versions of static HTML files for you, so you don't have to bother with compressing and serving them manually.

The install and configuration in more detail:
Download the latest version of mod_zip. This example uses version 1.3.26. Adjust accordingly.

tar -zxvf mod_gzip-1.3.26.1a.tgz
cd mod_gzip-1.3.26.1a

make APXS=/usr/local/apache/bin/apxs
make install APXS=/usr/local/apache/bin/apxs

Then edit your httpd.conf file

vi /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

and add the following (in the AddModule stuff):
first uncomment:

#LoadModule gzip_module libexec/mod_gzip.so
to
LoadModule gzip_module libexec/mod_gzip.so

and

#AddModule mod_gzip.c

AddModule mod_gzip.c

…

Feo, Fuerte y Formal (idea)

2002-07-19T18:02:01Z

He always looms larger-than-life in my mind's eye. Perhaps it was the way in which he stood, feet apart, hands like baseball mitts loose at his sides. Solid, stolid, unchangeable. Perhaps it was in the deep lines of his face, weathered like a mountain. However it had happened, I've always equated my grandfather with The Duke.
My father introduced me to John Wayne films very young. Apart from the occasional cartoon, most of the movies I can remember seeing were Westerns- The Searchers, Rio Grande, Hondo. I'd never had trouble discerning between reality and fiction, but this was different. Sure, they looked a little different. My grandpa wasn't quite as tall, maybe. But I knew that in some way I didn't quite understand that they were fundamentally the same person.
Maybe they're archetypes, reflections of a cultural ideal of some kind. Mythic figures surrounded by stories about honor and strength and general badassery.
Curly-haired little

…

Crypto-Jews in New Mexico (idea)

2002-06-14T02:56:16Z

I can confim this somewhat with personal anecdote. My family is one of the original 38 that settled New Mexico in 1598, and we know several other old colonial families. I know of at least one family that recently discovered their Jewish origins. This particular family was remodeling their 250-year old adobe home and found a mezuzah hidden in the wall next to the front door. They were shocked, being a very devout Catholic family. I spoke to the patriarch of the family about it, and he did mention playing with something like a dreidel as a child as well as an avoidance of pork. They were all very embarrassed about the whole thing.

June 7, 2001 (thing)

2001-06-07T00:51:54Z

It is summer. The air is heavy with the burden of heat and the trees outside my apartment building stretch upward, bare to the relentless sun. The shade they afford is scarce, and doesn't do them any good anyways. The heat that doesn't bake homes, apartment buildings and places of business soaks into the streets and vacant sand lots. Concrete, asphalt and dry dusty soil glint aimlessly, reflecting the heat back into the air, none guiding the excessive energy in a particular direction, just AWAY.

The tired denizens of the city vainly attempt to create pockets of cooler weather in this sea of shimmering haze, and succeed with varying degrees of success. Meticulously air-conditioned, harshly lighted and haphazardly decorated office buildings dot the desert landscape, each building built like a multi-level terrarium, segmented into levels and sections with stain-resistant carpet and acoustic ceiling tiles. Within these are the cube farms.

This is where I live for one out of every four…

Kel-Tec P-11 (thing)

2001-04-07T04:32:35Z

The Kel-Tec P-11 is a relative newcomer to the world of small, easily concealed pistols. Similar in size to a Walther PPK, the P-11 shoots a 9mm Luger round, considered by many to be the minimum for a primary weapon. Because of its small size, however, the P-11 can just as easily be carried as a backup or a deep concealment weapon. Of course, given its small size, there are certain trade-offs that one must make. It weighs under a pound, and thus felt recoil will increase. Still, it'll put a 3-inch grouping from a bench rest at 15 yards, which is excellent for any small pistol.

I particularly like the feel of this gun. Though tiny, it feels like you're holding a much larger handgun because of the exceptional ergonomic design.

Here are some technical specs:

Caliber:       9 x 19mm Luger
Weight:        14 oz. (400g)
Length:        5.6" (142mm)
Height:        4.3" (109mm)
Width:         1" (26mm)
Sight radius:  4.6" (116mm)
Muzzle energy: 400ft/lbs (540J)
Capacity:

…