NYC Dining: Taverna Kyclades

Taverna Kyclades
33-07 Ditmars Boulevard, Astoria NY
(718) 545-8666

Web Site: http://www.tavernakyclades.com

Taverna Kyclades in Astoria, Queens has a nice outdoor dining area and specializes in fresh seafood cooked in Mediterranean/Greek style.

As I have written in my previous posts about Telly’s Taverna and Kabab Cafe, Astoria, Queens has now become my go-to place to eat lunch or dinner before heading out on a trip, given that LaGuardia has now become my preferred airport to travel from.

Astoria has many, many Greek restaurants, some of which are old established restaurants such as Telly’s Taverna, Uncle George’s (Papa Georgi) or Stamatis, and others are newer. One of the “newer” ones is Kyclades, a seafood specialist cafe which I had gotten a few nice recommendations about from Greek friends that really know their food.

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Yay for Fungus Fest!

As I have said in the past, I am a shroom fanatic. I could eat huge plates of the things. So when I heard that the Morristown NJ Frelinghausen Arboretum was going to have Fungus Fest, an event sponsored by the New Jersey Mycological Association, I was excited beyond belief. I mean, nothing makes me happier than being in a building filled with musty odors and listening to lectures from Myco-nerds about the symbiotic relationships between apple trees and Morels.

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Stallracasaurus Rex

While RMS’s hatred of all things proprietary has fueled the FSF’s and GNU’s mission to create Free software alternatives for what seems like eons, the overwhelming desire for interoperability between open and proprietary systems makes his narrow-minded Cretaceous world view ripe for extinction.

As I have said in previous columns, I live as a citizen of two distinct worlds with diametrically opposing software development ideologies — the world of Microsoft, Windows and 3rd-party vendor developed proprietary software and systems, and that of Open Source and Free Software.

Click to read the rest of this article at ZDNet Tech Broiler.

Hilton Head, South Carolina Dining: Barnacle Bill’s

Barnacle Bill’s Seafood Market
614 William Hilton Pkwy
Hilton Head Isle, SC 29928-3550
(843) 785-9007

Web Site: http://apul2003.googlepages.com/barnaclebillsseafood

As I mentioned in my previous post about Hudson’s Seafood, South Carolina is famous for its Carolina White Shrimp, a species that is indigenous to the region and is consumed almost entirely in the local area. The species thrives along the entire eastern seaboard, and you might get a small percentage of them caught in local catches further north and south, but the highest concentrations of them are in the Carolinas.  It has a characteristically sweet flavor and its texture isn’t as firm as shrimp from colder waters.

While many local restaurants in Hilton Head, Savannah and Charleston serve the Carolina shrimp, it is also possible to buy it from local seafood retailers and bring it back to your timeshare unit to cook yourself. One of the ones we were recommended to on Hilton Head Island itself was Barnacle Bill’s.

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Hilton Head, South Carolina Dining: Hudson’s

Hudson’s Seafood House and Docks
1 Hudson Road, Hilton Head Island SC 29926
(843) 681-2772

Web Site: http://www.hudsononthedocks.com

Hudson’s is an old school, waterfront seafood restaurant that looks like thousands of others across the country. However, dismissing it as just a tourist trap would be a mistake.

During the Labor Day weekend and the second week of September, Rachel and I went on vacation to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. For the most part, the intention of this vacation was to soak up some sun, relax at the pool and the jacuzzi, read a few books, and confine our thoughts to what we’d be eating for dinner rather than racing around  and finding various activities to do. It was a decompression vacation.

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OTB Economic Stimulus Outing with Victor Sasson, Saturday September 26, 2009

PLEASE NOTE RECENT VENUE CHANGE! — Jason

For our second event in our series of OTB Economic Stimuli, I’ve enlisted former Bergen Record restaurant writer and fellow food blogger Victor Sasson to bring us on a tour of the “Little Damascus/Little Ramallah/Little Arabia” section of South Paterson, NJ. On Saturday, September 26th, we will meet and have lunch at 12 noon at a local Middle Eastern restaurant in Paterson and then go on a shopping tour of the local area which will include markets and local bakeries.

When: Saturday, September 26, 2009, 12 Noon

Where: Aleppo Restaurant, 939 Main Street (at Thomas), Paterson NJ

Estimated Cost: Approx $30.00 per person for Lunch

What we will be doing: Eating great Middle Eastern food and Shopping with Victor Sasson

For those of you who have already reserved a spot: Due to maintenance issues at the original restaurant, please note Victor Sasson has changed the venue for this event. He has arranged for a classic Syrian meal of small plates called maza, followed by several entrees, such as stuffed vegetables, kibbe with cherries and a mixed grill, for Saturday at Aleppo Restaurant, 939 Main St. (Thomas Street) in Paterson; 1-973-977-2244. There will be some parking on the side street, Thomas Street, but others won’t have a problem.

The meal will be $30 per person, including tip and tax. The appetizers will be on the table at 12:15. Please allow yourself plenty of time to find parking. :)

We expect that we will only be able to accommodate about a dozen people total, so please reserve on our facebook page or contact rperlow AT gmail.com if you would like to attend.

Best Buy: Dress all the sales reps up like Dumbledore!

My colleagues Mary Jo Foley and Adrian Kingsley-Hughes wrote today about the plans that Microsoft has in place to train retail sales staff at Best Buy how to position PCs with Windows 7 for prospective systems buyers against Apple’s Macintosh systems and of all things, Linux.

This sort of grassroots negative campaigning against the Mac and Linux is really not the way Microsoft should address buyers in the upcoming year and holiday season. Just like negative political campaign advertising and grassroots door to door stomping, it often leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and comes off as completely without class. Worst case, it has even been known to even backfire as a campaign technique. From the perspective of effective sales and marketing tactics, at best I would classify this as bottom feeding.

Click to read the rest of this article at ZDNet Tech Broiler.