How to clean the food burnt stainless steel pot or pan

Photo by cookwarebuzz.com

Couple weeks ago my roommate cooked burgers with the stainless steel pot. Since he was so focus on the tv instead of cooking, he burned the stainless steel pot, very similar to the photo on the right hand side. He tried so hard to clean out the stains by using soap, water and mesh dish cloth. Only small amount of the stains came off the pot. I was mad about the burning pot. This is the only cooking pot we have in the apartment, and I used the pot almost every day. I was thinking to throw the pot away, it's kind of waste as I remember stainless cookware is very durable. I remember baking soda can clean out most of the stains. Then I did a bit research on baking soda. It's amazing tools and must have in your household. I will talk the baking soda later.

To sum up what I found on the website and my experience. I am going to show you:


How to clean the food burnt stainless steel pot or pan 

You need 
Water
Baking Soda
Vinger (white vinger that you can buy from supermarket)
Dish cloth with mesh

Instruction
1. Pour vinger into the pot / pan. Make vinger is good enough cover the burnt area.
2. Add water into the pot / pan (about equal amount of the vinger in step 1).
3. Turn on your stove and boil the liquid (mix of vinger and water).
4. When the liquid in boil, pour half cup of baking soda into the pot / pan. You will see the bubble come out because of the reaction of baking soda and vinger.
5. Boil it for another 5 - 10 mins, and sit for 30mins.
6. Pour off the liquid.
7. Spread the baking soda evenly on the pot / pan, scrub the pot / pan with mesh dish cloth. Most of the stains should able to come off easily.
8. Rinse the pot with water and soap, and now your pot / pan looks new and ready to go again.

If you still see the stains, repeat the steps 1 - 7.

The cost of cleaning the food burnt stainless steel pot or pan is very cheap. A 1kg of baking soda only cost me $1.5. A 500ml of vinger cost $1.5. Total cost is less than $3 because I still have more than half box of baking soda and half bottle of vinger.

This is my cleaning pot.

Photo taken by Keiyan Ng

Source: theKitchn

New Angry Bird Seasons - Piglantis

Photo by Google Play - Angry Bird Seasons

Yes.. It's Angry Bird again. Rovio released the new pack for Angry Bird seasons today June 14, 2012, and they called it Piglantis. This time they put the angry bird in underwater which means another physics technique - pressure and buoyancy. Of course, don't get too serious to the calculation :) If you have no background on pressure and buoyancy, it's ok. You will still find lots of fun. It's worth to try it.
So far I like the Angry Bird Piglantis and very appreciate Rovio creativity. What's next ?

Photo by Google Play - Angry Bird Seasons

Starbucks Coffee celebrate their 25th year in Canada

Photo by Starbucks.ca

In 1987, Starbucks Coffee opened their first store outside Seattle in Vancouver, BC. Tomorrow June 12, 2012 Tuesday at Starbucks Coffee, you can buy one tall brewed coffee for only 25cents (too bad it's only until 11:00am), for celebrating their 25th anniversary in Canada.   Go and enjoy the 25 cents coffee :)

Photo by Starbucks.ca

From Starbucks Coffee website:

"Celebrating these moments is part of Starbucks 25th Anniversary here in BC. It is your story that makes us who we are.

To our partners and customers in Vancouver, B.C. and across Canada, thank you for your support and sharing so many happy memories. "

Some Starbucks Coffee story if you are interested.

Source: Starbucks Coffee

Take a Screenshot in Mac

I used screenshot quite often. When I first tried to take a screenshot on my Mac. I found that there's no screenshot button on the keyboard. How do I take a screenshot in Mac? Thanks for the internet.  Here you go

• Command-Shift-3: Take a screenshot of the screen, and save it as a file on the desktop
• Command-Shift-4, then select an area: Take a screenshot of an area and save it as a file on the desktop
• Command-Shift-4, then space, then click a window: Take a screenshot of a window and save it as a file on the desktop
• Command-Control-Shift-3: Take a screenshot of the screen, and save it to the clipboard
• Command-Control-Shift-4, then select an area: Take a screenshot of an area and save it to the clipboard
• Command-Control-Shift-4, then space, then click a window: Take a screenshot of a window and save it to the clipboard

Source: MacRumors' Guide

Cloud Storage Comparsion

Google Drive VS SkyDrive VS iCloud VS Dropbox VS SugarSync

Google Driveis a file storage and sync service by Google that was released on April 24, 2012. Rumors about Google Drive began circulating as early as March 2006. Google Drive is an extension of Google Docs. Google Docs is a free, Web-based office suite and data storage service offered by Google. It allows users to create and edit documents online while collaborating in real-time with other users. Google Docs combines the features of Word and Spreadsheets with a presentation program incorporating technology designed by Tonic Systems. Data storage of files up to 1 GB total in size was introduced on January 13, 2010, but has since been increased to 10 GB, documents using Google Docs native formats do not count towards this quota.The largely anticipated cloud storage feature by Google is said to be replacing most of Docs' features in 2012. This extension or replacement of Google Docs called Google Drive was opened to the public on April 24, 2012.

SkyDrive(officially Microsoft SkyDrive, formerly Windows Live SkyDrive) is a file hosting service that allows users to upload and sync files to a cloud storage and then access them from a Web browser or their local device. It is part of the Windows Live range of online services and allows users to keep the files private, share them with contacts, or make the files public. Publicly shared files do not require a Windows Live ID to access. The service offers 7 GB of free storage for new users. Additional storage is available for purchase. Users who signed up to SkyDrive prior to April 22, 2012 could opt-in for a limited time offer of 25 GB of free storage upgrade. The service is built using HTML5 technologies, and files up to 300MB can be uploaded via drag and drop into the web browser,or up to 2GB via the SkyDrive desktop application for Windows and Mac OS X. On its launch, SkyDrive was provided as a limited beta available to a few testers in the United States. On August 1, 2007, the service was expanded to a wider audience. As of 22 May 2008 SkyDrive was available to 62 countries and regions.

iCloud is a cloud storage and cloud computing service from Apple Inc. announced on June 6, 2011 at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). The service allows users to store data such as music files on remote computer servers for download to multiple devices such as iOS-based devices, and personal computers running OS X or Microsoft Windows. It also replaces Apple's MobileMe service, acting as a data syncing center for email, contacts, calendars, bookmarks, notes, to-do lists, and other data. MobileMe will be discontinued after June 30, 2012, with anyone who had an account before the unveiling of iCloud having their MobileMe service extended to that date, free of charge As of 2012, iCloud has over 125 million users.

Dropbox is file hosting service operated by Dropbox, Inc. that offers cloud storage, file synchronization, and client software. Dropbox, Inc. was founded in 2007 by MIT graduates Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi, as a Y Combinator startup company. Dropbox's basic service follows the freemium business model. Dropbox announced a new service, "Dropbox for Teams",marketed to businesses and other groups in 2011.Dropbox provides client software for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Android, iOS, and BlackBerry OS, and web browsers. In 2008 Dropbox launched as a dead-simple cloud storage service that could be used by just about anyone. Even your grandparents can use Dropbox without calling you up, asking you to explain each of its features. Dropbox claims to have 50 million users worldwide.Apparently Apple wanted to buy Dropbox to launch their own cloud storage services before iCloud but surprisingly Dropbox refused.

SugarSync is a service that actively syncs files across computers and other devices. SugarSync is operated by SugarSync Inc. and is based in San Mateo, California. SugarSync enables its users to backup, access, sync and share all of your documents, photos, music and movies so that you can access them from your laptop, iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, or any other device. SugarSync is available for Windows and Mac OS X. For mobile devices, SugarSync has an app for iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Symbian devices, and a Windows Phone 7 app is in development. SugarSync was launched in March 2008. The software is designed to sync all of a user's files (documents, media, photos, etc.) across as multiple machines. The company, formerly called "Sharpcast", and its service have received press coverage and reviews from various media outlets. In September, 2011,Gizmodo reviewed SugarSync and 10 other services and named SugarSync the Best Cloud Service.

Here is the summary of comparison on different cloud service

I only used Dropbox, Google Drive and iCloud. I cannot comment anything on Skydrive and Sugarsync.

I found that iCloud is more for the users with all the Apple devices. iPhone, iPad and Mac. If you are not using them all together, I can say iCloud is useless. For example, I can't even open Microsoft excel or word by using iCloud unless you install iWork.

I have been using Dropbox and Google Drive for a long time. Both of them offer very similar function. If you have an android phone and android tablet, Google Drive is very convenience for you. However, if you have android phone and iPad or iPhone and android tablet, I will suggest Dropbox. It's easier to access all your files.

Source: Phonearea.com, Wikipedia