laptop

A laptop is a personal computer designed for mobile use and small and light enough to sit on a person's lap while in use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device (a touchpad, also known as a trackpad, and/or a pointing stick), speakers, and often including a battery, into a single small and light unit. The rechargeable battery (if present) is charged from an AC adapter and typically stores enough energy to run the laptop for two to three hours in its initial state, depending on the configuration and power management of the computer.

Laptops are usually notebook-shaped with thicknesses between 0.7–1.5 inches (18–38 mm) and dimensions ranging from 10x8 inches (27x22cm, 13" display) to 15x11 inches (39x28cm, 17" display) and up. Modern laptops weigh 3 to 12 pounds (1.4 to 5.4 kg); older laptops were usually heavier. Most laptops are designed in the flip form factor to protect the screen and the keyboard when closed. Modern tablet laptops have a complex joint between the keyboard housing and the display, permitting the display panel to swivel and then lie flat on the keyboard housing.

Laptops were originally considered to be "a small niche market" and were thought suitable mostly for "specialized field applications" such as "the military, the Internal Revenue Service, accountants and sales representatives". But today, there are already more laptops than desktops in businesses, and laptops are becoming obligatory for student use and more popular for general use. In 2008 more laptops than desktops were sold in the US.

watches

A watch is a timepiece that is made to be worn on a person. It is usually a wristwatch, worn on the wrist with a strap or bracelet. In addition to the time, modern watches often display the day, date, month and year, and electronic watches may have many other functions.

Most inexpensive and medium-priced watches used mainly for timekeeping are electronic watches with quartz movements. Expensive, collectible watches valued more for their workmanship and aesthetic appeal than for simple timekeeping, often have purely mechanical movements and are powered by springs, even though mechanical movements are less accurate than more affordable quartz movements.

Before wristwatches became popular in the 1920s, most watches were pocket watches, which often had covers and were carried in a pocket and attached to a watch chain or watch fob. Watches evolved in the 1600s from spring powered clocks, which appeared in the 1400s.
Functions
The Rolex Submariner is an officially certified chronometer


All watches provide the time of day, giving at least the hour and minute, and usually the second. Most also provide the current date, and often the day of the week as well. However, many watches also provide a great deal of information beyond the basics of time and date. Some watches include alarms. Other elaborate and more expensive watches, both pocket and wrist models, also incorporate striking mechanisms or repeater functions, so that the wearer could learn the time by the sound emanating from the watch. This announcement or striking feature is an essential characteristic of true clocks and distinguishes such watches from ordinary timepieces. This feature is available on most digital watches.

A complicated watch has one or more functions beyond the basic function of displaying the time and the date; such a functionality is called a complication. Two popular complications are the chronograph complication, which is the ability of the watch movement to function as a stopwatch, and the moonphase complication, which is a display of the lunar phase. Other more expensive complications include Tourbillion, Perpetual calendar, Minute repeater, and Equation of time. A truly complicated watch has many of these complications at once (see Calibre 89 from Patek Philippe for instance). Among watch enthusiasts, complicated watches are especially collectible. Some watches include a second 12-hour display for UTC (as Pontos Grand Guichet GMT).

The similar-sounding terms chronograph and chronometer are often confused, although they mean altogether different things. A chronograph has a stopwatch complication, as explained above, while a chronometer watch has a high quality mechanical or a thermo-compensated quartz movement that has been tested and certified to operate within a certain standard of accuracy by the COSC (Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres). The concepts are different but not mutually exclusive; so a watch can be a chronograph, a chronometer, both, or neither.

ipod

The iPod is a portable media player designed and marketed by Apple and launched on October 23, 2001. The product line-up includes the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the video-capable iPod Nano, and the compact iPod Shuffle. The iPhone can function as an iPod but is generally treated as a separate product. Former iPod models include the iPod Mini and the spin-off iPod Photo (since reintegrated into the main iPod Classic line). iPod Classic models store media on an internal hard drive, while all other models use flash memory to enable their smaller size (the discontinued Mini used a Microdrive miniature hard drive). As with many other digital music players, iPods can also serve as external data storage devices. Storage capacity varies by model, ranging from 2GB for the iPod Shuffle to 160GB for the iPod Classic.

Apple's iTunes software can be used to transfer music to the devices from computers using certain versions of Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows operating systems. For users who choose not to use Apple's software or whose computers cannot run iTunes software, several open source alternatives to iTunes are also available. iTunes and its alternatives may also transfer photos, videos, games, contact information, e-mail settings, Web bookmarks, and calendars to iPod models supporting those features.

facebook

Facebook is a social networking website that is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. Since September 2006, anyone over the age of 13 with a valid e-mail address can become a Facebook user. Facebook's target audience is more for an adult demographic than a youth demographic. Users can add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by workplace, school, or college. The website's name stems from the colloquial name of books given to students at the start of the academic year by university administrations in the US with the intention of helping students to get to know each other better.

Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow computer science students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. The website's membership was initially limited by the founders to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University. It later expanded further to include (potentially) any university student, then high school students, and, finally, to anyone aged 13 and over. The website currently has more than 400 million active users worldwide.

The original concept for Facebook was borrowed from a product produced by Zuckerberg's prep school Phillips Exeter Academy which for decades published and distributed a printed manual of all students and faculty, unofficially called the "face book".

Facebook has met with some controversy. It has been blocked intermittently in several countries including Syria, China, Vietnam, and Iran. It has also been banned at many places of work to discourage employees from wasting time using the service.

Privacy has also been an issue, and it has been compromised several times. Facebook settled a lawsuit regarding claims over source code and intellectual property. The site has also been involved in controversy over the sale of fans and friends.

A January 2009 Compete.com study ranked Facebook as the most used social network by worldwide monthly active users, followed by MySpace. Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade 'best-of' list, saying, "How on earth did we stalk our exes, remember our co-workers' birthdays, bug our friends, and play a rousing game of Scrabulous before Facebook?"

There have recently been reports of Facebook proposing an initial public offering (IPO), i.e. issue equity shares as stock to investors. However, Zuckerberg stresses that it will not be for a few more years, and the company is in no need of additional capital. Also, some analysts fear the Facebook IPO might be a particularly weak one.

History

Mark Zuckerberg invented Facemash on October 28, 2003, while attending Harvard as a sophomore. The site represented a Harvard University version of Hot or Not, according to the Harvard Crimson. That night, Zuckerberg was blogging about a girl who had dumped him and trying to think of something to do to get her off his mind

I'm a little intoxicated, not gonna lie. So what if it's not even 10 p.m. and it's a Tuesday night? What? The Kirkland [dorm] facebook is open on my desktop and some of these people have pretty horrendous facebook pics. I almost want to put some of these faces next to pictures of farm animals and have people vote on which is more attractive.
—9:48 pm

Yea, it's on. I'm not exactly sure how the farm animals are going to fit into this whole thing (you can't really ever be sure with farm animals...), but I like the idea of comparing two people together.
—11:09 pm

Let the hacking begin.
—12:58 am

According to The Harvard Crimson, Facemash "used photos compiled from the online facebooks of nine Houses, placing two next to each other at a time and asking users to choose the 'hotter' person". To accomplish this, Zuckerberg hacked into the protected areas of Harvard's computer network and copied the houses' private dormitory ID images.

Harvard at that time did not have a student directory with photos and basic information and the initial site generated 450 visitors and 22,000 photo-views in its first four hours online. That the initial site mirrored people’s physical community—with their real identities—represented the key aspects of what later became Facebook.

"Perhaps Harvard will squelch it for legal reasons without realizing its value as a venture that could possibly be expanded to other schools (maybe even ones with good-looking people...)," Zuckerberg wrote in his personal blog. "But one thing is certain, and it’s that I’m a jerk for making this site. Oh well. Someone had to do it eventually..." The site was quickly forwarded to several campus group list-servers but was shut down a few days later by the Harvard administration. Zuckerberg was charged by the administration with breach of security, violating copyrights, and violating individual privacy, and faced expulsion, but ultimately the charges were dropped.

Zuckerberg expanded on this initial project that semester by creating a social study tool ahead of an art history final by uploading 500 Augustan images to a website, with one image per page along with a comment section.[25] He opened the site up to his classmates and people started sharing their notes. "The professor said it had the best grades of any final he’d ever given. This was my first social hack. With Facebook, I wanted to make something that would make Harvard more open," Zuckerberg said in a TechCrunch interview

movie preview

Clash of the Titans is a 2010 fantasy film which is a remake of the 1981 film of the same name. This remake is very loosely based upon the Greek myth of Perseus. Directed by Louis Leterrier and starring Sam Worthington, the film was originally set for standard release on March 26, 2010. It was later announced that the film would be converted to 3D and was released on April 2, 2010.


The film begins with a narration describing how the Olympians managed to overthrow their own creators, the Titans, through the aid of the Kraken, Hades's creation. After their fierce struggle, Zeus (Liam Neeson) became the King of the Gods, his brother, Poseidon (Danny Huston), the Lord of the Seas, and their brother, Hades (Ralph Fiennes), tricked by Zeus to rule the sickening Underworld in chaos and terror.

A coffin is then seen drifting through the sea before it is rescued by a fisherman, Spyros (Pete Postlethwaite). When Spyros opens it, he discovers the baby Perseus and his mother, Danaë, inside and raises the boy as his own. Perseus does not know who his real father and mother are, and worries that he will be neglected when his adoptive parents have a child of their own, but Spyros reassures him of his love. Years later, Perseus (Sam Worthington) and his family are fishing when they witness a group of soldiers from Argos destroying a massive statue of Zeus, effectively declaring war on the gods. Immediately following the fall of the statue, Hades rises from the ocean, killing most of the soldiers and then destroying the boat Perseus and his family are on. Perseus attempts to save his family from the sinking boat, but is unable to, and passes out on driftwood from the wreckage. The surviving soldiers find him and take him back to Argos.

When King Cepheus (Vincent Regan) and Queen Cassiopeia (Polly Walker) of Argos, at a feast for the returning soldiers, compare themselves to the gods and compare the beauty of their daughter, Andromeda (Alexa Davalos), to that of Aphrodite, Hades appears again, killing the remaining soldiers. When Perseus is unaffected by his attack, Hades realizes he is a demigod, and tells him of his true father, Zeus. Hades kills the queen, and demands that Argos further pay for its insolence and vanity; in 10 days, the Kraken will be released, and if the princess Andromeda is not sacrificed, then Argos will be destroyed. Hades then seeks out the gods on Mount Olympus and convinces Zeus to agree to his plan in order to punish mankind for their lack of love.


Initially, the Argives see Perseus as an agent of the gods and imprison him, but the king later seeks his help. A woman named Io (Gemma Arterton), who has been watching over Perseus his entire life, advises him that the only way to avenge the death of his family is to agree to the king's wishes and attempt to defeat the Kraken. He is sent out with a small group of soldiers, led by Draco (Mads Mikkelsen), along with Io to seek the Stygian Witches, while Hades visits Acrisius (Jason Flemyng), a disfigured man who was married to Danaë when Zeus impregnated her with Perseus. When Acrisius planned to kill his wife and the new born Perseus, Zeus sends down a thunderbolt from Olympus, badly scarring and disfiguring Acrisius's entire body. To help him achieve his goals, Hades imbues him with superhuman powers to enable him to kill Perseus. Acrisius attacks the Argive group, killing several, and even when his hand is severed in the fight, his blood falling on the sand causes giant scorpions to rise from the desert and continue the attack. Perseus and the Argives manage to kill the first two scorpions, but are surrounded by three more, even larger than the first. As they are about to attack, the scorpions are suddenly calmed by a group of Djinn, gentle and benevolent Sand-Demons with magical powers. There is initially mistrust between the two groups, until the chief heals Perseus of grave injuries sustained during the fight, and the two sides agree to cooperate.

Perseus and his group, via the scorpions, arrive at the barren, rocky "Garden of Stygia", the site where the Gods ended the Great War and defeated the Titans. They find the three Stygian Witches, who are hideous and share one eye. They tell Perseus, after he threatens to throw their eye off the mountain, that Medusa's head will be able to kill the Kraken, but that he will die in the process. The soldiers go to the Underworld, where Medusa lives in seclusion in a temple, and only the soldiers enter (Io cannot because she is a woman). Medusa turns all the remaining soldiers into stone, the Djinn destroys himself with his heart, weakening Medusa, and Draco, who is gravely injured by one of Medusa's arrows early in the fight, rescues a cornered Perseus by skewering Medusa with a stone pillar from the ceiling and allows himself to be turned to stone in order to give Perseus a clear shot at Medusa's head. Perseus, eyes shut, kills Medusa. As he exits the temple, Acrisius returns and stabs Io. Perseus fights him again and, this time, successfully kills him, which turns Acrisius back to human form. Io dies, telling Perseus "this is the part of the journey you do alone..."
Perseus finds Pegasus and flies back to Argos as the Kraken is being released, thus destroying the city. As a priest is about to sacrifice Andromeda, Hades appears, and has his creatures attack Perseus and steal Medusa's head. Perseus defeats the creatures and regains the head, as well as successfully turning the Kraken to stone before it consumes Andromeda. Hades appears once more and boasts that he cannot die because he is immortal; but Perseus throws his sword, charged together with Zeus's lightning at him which banishes him to the Underworld. Perseus then saves Andromeda from drowning when the apparatus used to restrain her falls into the ocean, but refuses to become king of Argos.

In the final scene, Perseus stands at the broken statue of Zeus seen at the beginning. Zeus appears and offers to make Perseus a god on Olympus; but he refuses. Zeus notes that Hades will return one day for revenge when mankind is in fear. Zeus states that if Perseus is still intent to stay on earth then he might give him a gift since he is the son of Zeus after all. A resurrected Io appears before Perseus, and the two begin to embrace while Pegasus flies above them.

mobile phone

A mobile phone or mobile (also called cellphone and handphone) is an electronic device used for mobile telecommunications (mobile telephone, text messaging or data transmission) over a cellular network of specialized base stations known as cell sites. Mobile phones differ from cordless telephones, which only offer telephone service within limited range, e.g. within a home or an office, through a fixed line and a base station owned by the subscriber and also from satellite phones and radio telephones. As opposed to a radio telephone, a cell phone offers full duplex communication, automates calling to and paging from a public land mobile network (PLMN), and handoff (handover) during a phone call when the user moves from one cell (base station coverage area) to another. Most current cell phones connect to a cellular network consisting of switching points and base stations (cell sites) owned by a mobile network operator. In addition to the standard voice function, current mobile phones may support many additional services, and accessories, such as SMS for text messaging, email, packet switching for access to the Internet, gaming, Bluetooth, infrared, camera with video recorder and MMS for sending and receiving photos and video, MP3 player, radio and GPS.

chef of the month..

Robert Rainford is a Canadian chef and host of Licence to Grill (LTG) on Food Network Canada, Discovery Home in the U.S. and Asian Food Channel across Asia. The format of the show involves Rainford hosting a get-together at his home for one reason or another, and preparing meals on his grills for the occasion. The different "occasions" provide the impetus for the food choices, and allow Rainford the opportunity to demonstrate different techniques. One such "occasion" involved Rainford and his guests watching the movie The Godfather on television. This gave Rainford the opportunity to prepare an Italian meal, and to impersonate Marlon Brando on camera. Another occasion involved a "70's party", which gave Rainford (who is bald) the opportunity to wear a 70's "Afro" wig.

Best known for his role as host of LTG he is now preparing to unveil his new brand "The Rainford Method". Rainford is a proponent of grilling food to give them char marks. Rainford's signature line in nearly every episode of LTG has been "Look at those beautiful char marks!"

Robert also loves to refer to his food as "babies". He can often be seen saying "I'ma gonna put these babies on the grill!". When referring to "these babies" he is usually talking about chicken, pork, salmon, tuna, shrimp, squid, beef, duck and other tasty babies.

Born in Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica November 30, 1966, Rainford moved to Canada with his family when he was three. Rainford enrolled in culinary school at George Brown College in 1994 and after completing his formal training, began his professional career at:

* Kensington Kitchen
* Accolade/Crown Plaza
* Senses
* Chef Instructor George Brown College Continuing Education Program (Sept 2002 to present)

Rainford also starred in Fresh Cooking, a series of promotional videos issued in 2007 and sold through several supermarket chains, particularly those owned by SuperValu.

darts

History

The dartboard may have its origins in the cross-section of a tree. An old name for a dartboard is a 'butt', which might imply that the bottoms of wine barrels were the original dartboards; but the word in fact comes from the French word butte, meaning target. In particular, the Yorkshire and Perrigo Manchester Log End boards differ from the standard board in that they have no treble only double and bullseye, The Perrigo Manchester board being of a smaller diameter, with a playing area of only 25 cm across with double and bull areas measuring just 4mm. The London Fives board is another variation. This has only 12 equal segments numbered 20,5,15,10,20,5,15,10,20,5,15,10 with the doubles and triples being a quarter of an inch wide.

There is speculation that the game originated among soldiers throwing short arrows at the bottom of the cask or at the bottom of trunks of trees. As the wood dried, cracks would develop, creating "sections". Soon, regional standards emerged and many woodworkers supplemented bar tabs by fabricating dart boards for the local pubs.

The standard numbering plan with a 20 on top was created in 1896 by a Lancashire carpenter called Brian Gamlin.[4] However, a great many other configurations have been used throughout the years and in different geographical locations. Gamlin's layout was devised to penalise inaccuracy. Although this applies to most of the board, the left-hand side (near the 14 section) is preferred by beginners, for its concentration of larger numbers. Mathematically, removing the rotational symmetry by placing the "20" at the top, there are 19!, or 121,645,100,408,832,000 possible dartboards. Many different layouts would penalise a player more than the current setup; however, the current setup actually does the job rather efficiently. There have been several mathematical papers published that consider the "optimal" dartboard.

Height and distance

In the standard game, the dartboard is hung so that the bullseye is 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) from the floor: eye-level for a six-foot (183 cm) person. The oche (IPA: /'ɒki/)—the line behind which the throwing player must stand—is generally 7 ft 9¼ in (2.369 m) from the face of the dartboard measured horizontally. This is the recognized world standard as set by the World Darts Federation and is used in most areas.

The London 5 board or narrow 5's board set up is slightly different from the standard board. The height is set at 5 feet 6 inches to the centre of the bull and the oche is at 9 feet from the face of the board.

Dartboards

Before the First World War, pubs in the United Kingdom had dartboards made from solid blocks of wood, usually elm. They had to be soaked overnight to heal the holes made from the darts, and it was a messy business for the publican, although darts was a popular game. This changed when a company called Nodor, whose primary business was making modeling clay (which has no odor, hence the name Nodor) made a dartboard. Their model of dartboard was not a great success until someone came up with the idea of making a dartboard from sisal fibres. Small bundles of sisal fibres of the same length were bundled together. The bundles were then compressed into a disk and bound with a metal ring. It was an instant success, as the darts made little or no damage to the board—they just parted the fibres when they entered the board; this type of board was more durable and required little maintenance.

Modern dartboards are made of sisal fibers; cheap boards are sometimes made of coiled paper. However, several types of sisal fibre are used in dartboards today, originating from East Africa, Brazil and China.

A regulation board is 17¾ inches (451 mm)[2] in diameter and is divided into 20 radial sections. Each section is separated with metal wire or a thin band of sheet metal. The best dartboards have the thinnest wire, so that the darts have less chance of hitting a wire and bouncing out. The numbers indicating the various scoring sections of the board are also normally made of wire, especially on tournament-quality boards, but may be printed directly on the board instead.

chef of the month

about me
I was born in May 1975 and straight into the business, really. My dad runs a lovely pub-restaurant, The Cricketers, in Clavering, Essex, where I grew up. I remember being fascinated by what went on in the kitchen. It just seemed such a cool place, everyone working together to make this lovely stuff and having a laugh doing it.

When I was about seven or eight, they let me peel the potatoes and pod peas, that kind of thing. By the time I was 11, I wasn't half bad at veg prep and I could chop like a demon! A lot of the boys at school thought that cooking was a girlie thing. I didn't really care, especially as I could buy the coolest trainers with what I'd earned from working at the weekend.

When I was 16, I didn't really have the results to stay on at school - besides, I knew by then that I wanted to be a chef. So I went to Westminster Catering College and then did some time in France, learning as much as I could, before coming back to London to work as head pastry chef for Antonio Carluccio at The Neal Street Restaurant. I was really fortunate to have the chance to work at such a renowned restaurant so early on in my career and I made the most of it.

After The Neal Street Restaurant, I worked for Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers at the River Café for three and a half years - what an amazing experience that was. Those two ladies taught me all about the time and effort that goes into creating the freshest, most honest, totally delicious food.

It was there that I first got in front of a TV camera. A documentary about the restaurant was being filmed and the editors decided to show a lot of this cheeky kid who was so into the cooking that he'd answer back to the crew. The day after the programme was shown, I got calls from five production companies all wanting to talk about a possible show. I couldn't believe it and thought it was my mates winding me up!

The result was The Naked Chef and that's where it all kicked off I guess. Have a look around my website and you can find out a bit more about the books and TV shows I’ve done and you keep up with the latest stuff by checking out my diary. Right now I've never been busier in my life! It's a complete whirlwind - and the only thing I wish I had more time for is my family - my lovely girls Jools, Poppy, Daisy and Petal. Although we now have a place in the country to spend our weekends at, so I really look forward to Friday nights when we can pack up and spend the weekends together. That's what it's all about!

why pe0pLE SmokE....?

Most people start smoking when they are in their teens and are addicted by the time they reach adulthood. Some have tried to quit but have returned to cigarettes because smoking is such a strong addiction. It is a habit that is very difficult to break. There are many different reasons why people smoke.

Three of the main reasons that young people smoke are to look mature, to be like their friends, and to experiment. Since teens see older people all around them smoking, especially their parents and relatives, they smoke to act older. If their friends or peers smoke, they may feel pressured into doing the same to be accepted. The last reason is the excitement of experimenting with something that is forbidden. In Massachusetts it is against the law for anyone under 18 years old to smoke. Usually parents do not allow their under age teens to smoke. Therefore, smoking becomes very attractive. It is exciting to get cigarettes and sneak away to smoke without being caught.

Adults smoke for other reasons. They may have a lot of stress and pressures because of economic and personal problems. They may be unemployed or working but not making enough money to take care of themselves and their families. They may be homeless, or they may be dealing with alcohol or cocaine/heroin addictions. Some may be in bad marriages or relationships in which there is physical and/or verbal abuse. All these people may smoke to feel relaxed or to give them energy while going through a hard time.

Whether young or old, some people smoke to control their weight. Smokers, on the average, weigh seven pounds less than non-smokers. Smoking reduces a person's appetite. It lessens his/her sense of taste and smell. This could be why ex-smokers gain weight after quitting cigarettes. Food tastes and smells so much better.

Finally, there are people who say they love to smoke. Smoking gives them pleasure. It just makes them feel good.

what Is GL0bAL wArminG..??

Global Warming is defined as the increase of the average temperature on Earth. As the Earth is getting hotter, disasters like hurricanes, droughts and floods are getting more frequent.

Over the last 100 years, the average temperature of the air near the Earth´s surface has risen a little less than 1° Celsius (0.74 ± 0.18°C, or 1.3 ± 0.32° Fahrenheit). Does not seem all that much? It is responsible for the conspicuous increase in storms, floods and raging forest fires we have seen in the last ten years, though, say scientists.

Their data show that an increase of one degree Celsius makes the Earth warmer now than it has been for at least a thousand years. Out of the 20 warmest years on record, 19 have occurred since 1980. The three hottest years ever observed have all occurred in the last ten years, even.

Earth should be in cool-down-period
But it is not only about how much the Earth is warming, it is also about how fast it is warming. There have always been natural climate changes – Ice Ages and the warm intermediate times between them – but those evolved over periods of 50,000 to 100,000years.

A temperature rise as fast as the one we have seen over the last 30 years has never happened before, as far as scientists can ascertain. Moreover, normally the Earth should now be in a cool-down-period, according to natural effects like solar cycles and volcano activity, not in a heating-up phase.

What is more, climate change won’t be a smooth transition to a warmer world, warns the Tipping Points Report by Allianz and WWF. Twelve regions around the world will be especially affected by abrupt changes, among them the North Pole, the Amazon rainforest, and California.




references : http://knowledge.allianz.com/en/globalissues/climate_change/global_warming_basics/global_warming_definition.html

idol chef of the month.....Chef Wan Ismail

Chef Wan's Biodata
•Born Redzuawan Bin Ismail, in Singapore in 1958
• Accountant
• Professional Chef
• Food Ambassador of Malaysia
• Resident Chef to the Asian Food Channel
• Food Critic and Malaysian Magazine Writer
• Cookbook Author
• Actor
• Entrepreneur

Credentials
•Associate degree in Professional Chef Training and Hotel Management from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, United States
•Ritz Escoffeir Diploma (Ecole Ritz-Esscoffier De Gastronomie Francaise) from the Ritz Hotel in Paris France

International Star
•The Resident Chef (Premier Star) to the Asian Food Channel based in Hong Kong
•Chef Wan is the man behind the image of the channel. He is the face seen by millions of people throughout Asia as an international chef.
•The Brand Ambassador to Emway 1 Cookware as well as Samsung Silvernano Refrigerator and Home Appliances
•Assigned to YTL Cooperation under Tan Sri Francis Yeah as the Company’s Brand Ambassador

Books
• Flavours of Malaysia, Selera Antarabangsa (MAS Golden Boutique 1996)
•Chef Wan’s Sweet Treats (Times Edition 2000)
•Simply Sedap! Chef Wan’s Favourite Recipes (Times Edition 2000)
•Around the World with Chef Wan(Times Edition 2000)
•The Art of Entertaining
•Flavours of ASEAN
•Sajian Raya Bersama Chef Wan (Media Corp. TV Suria Singapore 2003)
•Langkak Demi Langkah Bersama Chef Wan (Berita Publishing Sdn. Bhd.)

Book Awards
•Flavours
•Jelita
•Malaysia Tatler Food and Restaurant Guide
•Marie Claire
•Lonely Planet World Food Malaysia and Singapore

Film/ Theatre
•Lurah Dendam (Valley of Vengence) – 1996Best Supporting Actor Nominee – in the 13th Asian Film Festival
•Baginda (1997) – ComedySupporting Actor
•Soal Hati (2000) – Comedy Supporting Actor
•A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum(2002) Live Stage Performance - Leading Role
•Scenerio XX (2004) – Comedy Supporting Actor

TV Shows (Highlights)
•The Kuali Cook Show (1992) –Malaysia TV3
•Chef Wan – Malaysia TV3
•Citarasa Sedunia Bersama Gas Petronas (1999/ 2000)premiered in South-East Asia, India, Australia, Japan, China, South Africa
•Flavours of Asia – Prime 12, Singapore Television
•A Taste of Australia With Chef Wan (Part 1 and 2)Australia ABC Network broadcasted throughout Asia
•Chef Wan and Gino’s Specials – Norge TV, Oslo
•Martin Yan’s The Best of Asia and The Edible Roots (1997)
•Guest Chef on the American Food Channel, United States
•Family Feud (2002) – Malaysia NTV7hosted one year of this highly rated game show aired on Prime Time.
•Food of the World – TV4 Stockholm, Swedensponsored by Ikea
•A Taste of Malaysia – Discovery Channel produced by New Zealand TV Production
•No Reservation Please – Discovery Channelco-host with Anthony Bourdain for American Food Channel

Food Ambassador of Malaysia
•Over the last 16 years, Chef Wan has represented Malaysia in many Food Expo and Tourism Exhibitions around the world for example, exhibitions organized by the Malaysian International Trade Board (MALTRADE), Malaysian Airlines and Tourism Malaysia.
•Due to his extensive knowledge on Malaysian cuisine, Chef Wan has done numerous cookery demonstrations at the following fairs.

1. The World SIAL Food Expo in Paris, France and Beijing, China
2. The World Anuga Food Fair in Koln, Germany
3. The United Kingdom Food and Beverage Show held annually in London
4. In-store promotion for MALTRADE in Japan, India, United Kingdom and Australia
5. The Ethnic Food Fair in Birmingham. United Kingdom
6. The Fine Food Exhibition in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia
7. The Food and Wine Tasting Festival in Adelaide, Australia.

•In October 2002, Chef Wan gave a seminar on ‘The Excitement and Enticement of Malaysian Cuisine’ at the IFCA/ IFSA (International Inflight Catering Association) Asia Pacific Conference held in Kuala Lumpur organized by Malaysian Airlines. He received a standing ovation by the participants at the end of his speech.

•He was co-emcee at the Gala Dinner for the 9th Gourmand World Cook Book Awards 2003 held in Barcelona, Spain

•Chef Wan presented a working paper at the Singapore Writers Festival. His presentation was on ‘Preserving the Malay Cuisine and its Heritage‘, based on his current compilation of menus for his First Encyclopedia of Malay Food. He also presented another topic called ‘My Secret Garden’ based on the significance of Ulam (Malay Herbs) as well as Jamu Rempah in Malay cuisine and its advantages in Asian Traditional Spa. This presentation was very well received and got rave reviews in the Singapore Straits Sunday Times.

•Chef Wan has been interviewed in many regional talk-shows for example, in Indonesia, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore. Apart from CNBC Asia, in October 2004, he appeared in a programme called ‘Driven’ on CNN TalkAsia with Lorraine Hahn. During this programme, Chef Wan discussed his role as Food Ambassador of Malaysia. Besides this, he was also interviewed on September 1st on Channel News Asia for a half an hour live programme on his presentation at the Singapore Writers Festival.

Udang Tumis Petai...first recipe...Malaysian Food

serves 6
petai or stink beans are an acquired taste, but go well with other strong-flavoured ingredients such as dried prawn paste used in this dish. Enjoy it with plain rice.

ingredients :
stink beans (petai) 15 pods
cooking oil 4 Tbsp
prawns (shrimps) 600 g (1 lb 51/3 oz), small, peeled
tamarind pulp 1 heaped Tbsp, mix with 125ml (4 fl oz/ 1/2 cup) water and strained
sugar 1 tsp
salt 1 1/2 tsp

ingredients to be ground (A) :
galangal 2.5-cm (1-in) knob, peeled
turmeric 2.5-cm (1-in) knob, peeled
cashew nuts 10, roasted
lemon grass 4 stalks

ingredients to be ground (B) :
dried chilies 20, soaked to soften
red chillies 5
bird's eye chillies 5
shallots 240 g (8 1/2 oz), peeled
garlic 2 cloves, peeled
shrimp paste (belacan) 4 x 2.5-cm (1 1/2 x 1-in) piece


method :

• Remove stink beans from pods and peel off outer skins.
  
• heat oil in a wok and fry ground ingredients (A) until fragrant. Add ground ingredients (B) and fry over low heat until fragrant and oil separates.


• add prawns and stir-fry for a few minutes, taking care not to overcook them. Add tamarind liquid and bring to a slow boil.


• add stink beans, sugar and salt. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes. Dish out and serve.