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Comment Re:Buy some suntain lotion (Score 4, Insightful) 230

Actually, this isn't too far from the truth. I've heard of a few cases where simply changing the URL has brought up documents that should be private and the person who reported it was brought up on charges for "hacking". Unfortunately, the public does not understand the difference between simply poking around and trying to mess up someone's system for nefarious reasons. Perhaps someone here on /. will remember the particular cases involved but as sad as it sounds, you are on a shaky legal foundation.

Comment Re: Long Term contact... (Score 3, Insightful) 698

Perhaps one thing that you can share with her is _your_ own history. Tell her about your years growing up and the things you learned at every stage. A contemplative history of your life would be very valuable to her. Tell the stories of when you went fishing with your grandparents when you were five. Tell her about what you remember of your great grandparents if you ever met them. What books you enjoyed and why. Tell her the stories that will be lost and that she will never be able to hear otherwise. Tell her of your first love and your first loss. Tell her what made you as a person. One of the saddest things about my grandparents for me (they all having passed away) is that I can never ask them questions about their lives. It came as a huge surprise for me long after my grandfather passed away that I found out he played a key roll in the Apollo program and saved the program tons of money. (He noticed at the last moment that the blueprints had the various stages diameters off by one foot. he was the last person to see the blueprints prior to manufacture so if he hadn't seen it they would have next noticed when they put the stages together. Boy would I love to hear that story directly.) Tell those stories. Tell the story of her birth and recount the precious moments of her childhood she will likely forget. My heart goes out to you and it says a lot about you as a father and husband that you'd take on a project like this. Oh, and don't forget your wife.

Comment Re: Overstamp twice. (Score 1) 133

Let's see: I live in Utah. In the vast majority of cities in Utah, there is a 50% ownership per household. (Of those households, the majority own more than one firearm.) There are LOTS of firearms here to be had. There is very little crime. The same holds in Wyoming, Nevada, Idaho, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, South Carolina, etc. etc. etc.

On the other hand states like California, New York, Illinois (Chicago especially), Massachusetts, Hawai'i etc.etc. etc. by in large have significantly higher crime rates and stricter gun laws to the states mentioned.

Comment Re:Cocoa is also disgusting without sugar (Score 1) 224

This is not always true. Good quality cocoa can taste great without sugar. However, most cocoa is not of very good quality (only 1% of the world's production is considered "fine".) Even then, most of the fine quality cocoa is not particularly good quality. However, I regularly make chocolate from a bean from the Dominican Republic that tastes like burgamot oranges and lavender. The flavor of the raw beans (or freshly roasted) is amazing and highly addictive. So in general, you are right but if the beans have been properly fermented and dried (something most farmers don't do well) they can taste quite magical.

Comment Re:Still useful research (Score 4, Informative) 224

I own a chocolate factory. I would HEAVILY recommend NOT eating raw chocolate. I travel to some of the very best cocoa plantations in the world in countries such as Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Peru, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Mexico, etc. etc. Cocoa is processed at the farm in conditions which are far from sanitary. I've watched dogs walk through cocoa (can you say: fecal coliform bacteria?). I've watched chickens walk through it and pidgins peck at it, and turkeys walk around it and EVERY time you have birds, you have salmonella bacteria.

Roasting is important to not only bring out the chocolate flavor but to kill all the nasties that came from the farm, from the cocoa processing center (or co-op), from the warehousing, from the shipping on the boat in open jute bags, from the transport on the semi to the chocolate factory in the US, etc. There are a million ways that even clean cocoa beans can get contaminated even if they left the farm in great condition. While I've made raw chocolate as an experiment for myself (and it is part of my job afterall), there is no way that I'd ever release the chocolate on a commercial basis without having each and every batch go through extensive microbial testing something that few raw chocolate companies do.

Comment Re:Still useful research (Score 5, Informative) 224

I'm sorry, you are incorrect. In the United States, you can not have any other fats other than cocoa butter or milk fat (which is in milk and is thus in milk chocolate). If you check the FDA standards of identity for chocolate: It is regulated in the United States and you can read the Standards of Identity here: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?CFRPart=163
I own a chocolate factory so I know just a bit about this subject.

Comment Re:Still useful research (Score 5, Interesting) 224

This is incorrect. It is illegal to use palm oil or any other fats (other than milk fat -- which you need in "milk chocolate"). Hershey's wanted the FDA to allow a change in the "Standard of Identity" for chocolate. Gary Guittard (from Guittard Chocolate and a good friend of mine) spearheaded a public rebuttal. The FDA had more comments opposing the changes to the standard of identity of chocolate than they ever had over any issue EVER. (The sad thing is that when they have public comments over an issue, only 3-4 comments are typically submitted. I don't remember how many comments were submitted over the chocolate issue but it was very large.) In the end, MARS came out with a public statement that even if the standard of identity for chocolate were to change, they would never put palm or any other oils in their chocolate. This was a clear statement against HERSHEY's who immediately backpedaled and withdrew their proposal and the FDA decided to not change the standard of identity of chocolate. You can not use ANY other fat other than milk fat and call it chocolate. You can call it chocolate "flavored" or you can call it "Butterfinger" but you can not call it chocolate if it has any other fat in it other than milk fat and cocoa butter. I understand now why you posted as "Anonymous Cowered" as you clearly don't know what you are talking about.

Comment Re:The Fix: Buy good Chocolate! (Score 2) 323

It is easy to blame the middle men. It is depressing to me when I see various products in the store and I know what everybody down the line is making. For example, with candy (which chocolate is -- at least in mind of the stores product buyers), the wholesale price is 50% of the retail. Distributors take an additional 20-30% of what is left. That's a lot (and not much left for the manufacturer such as myself). There are all sorts of other costs along the way including packaging which is way more expensive than you'd think. This doesn't just have to do with the food industry but every industry. Unfortunately, if you want your products on the shelves, that is simply what it costs to get it there. Many of the people along the way (such as the distributors) do provide a function. Most stores don't want to work directly with the factory for each and every product they sell and it allows them to consolidate shipping. So while it costs, they do provide value. While we make very good chocolate, it certainly isn't a cash cow in terms of a business --- and part of it is because of the hidden costs on what it takes to get your product to the shelf.

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