Hasta La Gadget!

Square’s seemingly odd decision to buy a restaurant delivery service is starting to make sense. The company has just released Caviar’s first mobile app for iOS, letting you order high-quality cooking from your iPhone in eligible cities like Chicago, …

We’ve seen haptic feedback in mid-air before, but not quite like this. The folks from Bristol University are using focused ultrasound in a way that creates a 3D shape out of air that you can see and feel. We know what you’re probably thinking: How do…

Wisconsin and Ohio State meet in Indianapolis for the Big Ten Conference Championship Game, the first featuring the new “East” and “West’ divisions of the conference (previously Wisconsin and Ohio State had been in the same division – one of them participated in all three previous title games). To answer the most interesting question first, the Predictalator played the game with Ohio State starting freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett 100% healthy and still had Wisconsin as the favorite, 50.2% of the time in 50,000 simulations and by an average score of essentially 29-28 Badgers. Sportsbooks have attributed the downgrade from Barrett to Jones to be around seven points, suggesting that Ohio State would have been around a field goal favorite on a neutral field. We agree with the size of the shift in points, though we have a decent opinion on the Badgers to cover the spread either way.

Regarding the game as it will be played on Saturday, Ohio State has dropped all the way to #17 in our College Football Power Rankings that evaluate how many teams would be favored on a neutral field over the Buckeyes as presently constructed (Florida State is just two spots ahead of OSU). The Buckeyes are 11-1 straight-up and 7-5 against-the-spread versus just the 60th ranked schedule in FBS this year. Ohio State has only played ONE team all season that ranks within the Top 40 of our rankings. While the schedule is already troubling, putting numbers into context shows some of the Buckeyes’ issues even before the Barrett injury. Ohio State ranks as having just the 55th ranked run defense in the country. The team has allowed more than five yards-per-carry to its opponents on the season despite only playing two games against Top 25 rushing teams. Wisconsin is the nation’s best rushing team.

As for the difference between new starting quarterback Cardale Jones and Barrett, there seems to be a reason that Barrett was named the starter to begin the season after Braxton Miller’s injury, despite the fact that he is just a redshirt freshman and was coming off a significant injury of his own. Jones is not remotely close to the runner that Barrett is and his accuracy appears to be an issue in the passing game. Barrett just set the all-time Big Ten touchdown record for a single season. Jones is now leading a passing offense that we rank just 40th in the nation.

Wisconsin is really good too and it’s not all Melvin Gordon and the top-ranked running game. The Badgers are 10-2 straight-up and 6-5 ATS against the 61st ranked schedule. Given that their schedules have been similar, it’s easy to compare teams. Wisconsin has the notably better run defense, allowing less than four yards-per-carry. The pass defenses are almost identical and the Badgers’ pass offense has seen recent steady improvement as last year’s starter, Joel Stave, has gotten healthier and is able to start and finish games (both losses came before Stave was fully inserted into the lineup – since then, Wisconsin is averaging exactly 40 points-per-game offensively, winning by almost three touchdowns on average).

With everything else essentially even, the massive advantage the Badgers have on the ground is the reason to expect Wisconsin to win and cover the spread. The total is of interest as well as it has been plummeting as of late and currently sits at 52.5. Both teams have gone OVER the total more often than not this season, combining for a 15-6 record on over/unders. Expect Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes to continue playing at a fast tempo and for some of Jones inevitable mistakes to help lead to easy Badgers’ points, all favoring the over.

According to 50,000 games played by the Predictalator at PredictionMachine.com, Wisconsin wins over Ohio State 60.5% of the time and by an average score of 32.8-25.5. As four point favorites winning by a touchdown, the Badgers cover the spread 54.9% of the time, which would justify a $26 play from a normal $50 better. The total goes OVER 52.5 58.0% of the time, which warrants a wager of $59 from a normal $50 player. There are two stronger totals and three stronger against-the-spread plays on Saturday according to our Week 15 analysis.

Jaggery (pronounced jag-uh-reey) is a hugely popular sugar in South and Southeast Asia, but do you know exactly what it is? Why are Americans, who are always on the hunt for alternatives to refined white sugar, in the dark about this tasty, unrefined sugar? Slightly less sweet than maple syrup, a little thicker than honey and boasting a rich, brown sugar-like flavor, jaggery is worth getting to know. It’s like a cross between spicy molasses and buttery caramel. Interested yet?

Jaggery typically comes from the sap of palm trees, which might explain why it’s relatively unheard of in the United States. Palm trees grow in tropical environments, and unfortunately for us, most of the United States doesn’t quite count as tropical. There are many different kinds of palm trees, and jaggery can come from date palms, coconut palms or sago palms, Wise Geek explains. In Myanmar, jaggery is made from toddy palm trees. The sugar is tapped from the trees and can be boiled down to be used in a variety of ways, just like maple syrup.

Jaggery can also come from sugar cane juice. After sugar canes have been crushed to produce cane juice, the liquid is boiled down and reduced to make jaggery. (Boiling sugar cane is also how you make molasses.) Jaggery might be labelled according to type — whether it’s made from palm trees or sugar cane — but not necessarily. Cooks Info explains that because jaggery doesn’t require “expensive refining,” it can be produced by anyone, including small producers where labeling may not be used at all.

Whether it comes from palm tree sap or sugar cane juice, the boiled and reduced liquid is only the starting place for many different products. The syrup might be cooled and cut into candies, or mixed with ingredients like nuts or coconut. In Myanmar, it’s common to eat jaggery candies by themselves, or to roll the sticky syrup with tamarind into little balls that are then coated in sugar.

In addition to tasting delicious, jaggery is also said to have medicinal properties. According to The Washington Post, it “is used to treat respiratory infections” in Ayurvedic medicine. Because it is unrefined, it retains more of its vitamins and minerals than refined white sugar does, WiseGeek says. Purported health benefits aside, the subtly spicy, rich flavor of jaggery is enough motivation for us to seek out this Asian treasure.

If you can’t find jaggery in a local South Asian market, you can buy it from Pure Indian Foods or from various suppliers on Amazon.

See below for photos from a jaggery manufacturer outside of Bagan, Myanmar.

Climbing a toddy palm tree to retrieve the sap.

Jaggery that has been boiled, reduced and cooled into a sticky, caramel-like texture.

Cutting jaggery into candies.

Pure jaggery candies.

Jaggery mixed with coconut shreds.

Jaggery cut into fudge-like cubes.

Jaggery mixed with tamarind and coated in sugar.

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The day everyone has been waiting for has finally arrived: We can all attend Hogwarts.

Thanks to a few Polish Harry Potter fans who were determined to take their magical education into their own hands, the College of Wizardry was born. Set in a Polish castle, around 200 LARPers (live-action role players) from 11 countries gathered for a few days in November to experience the first session of Czocha College of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

“Students” are sorted into five houses (Durentius, Faust, Libussa, Molin and Sendivogius) and must complete their S.P.E.L.Ls (Senior Protective Enchanter’s Lifelong License) to pass. The school is filled with a variety of professors, ranging from “bumbling, absent-minded professors with scant memory of their own youth to sharp-tongued young lecturers.”

The second session has been scheduled for April 9-12, 2015, still in Poland, and will cost attendees about $345.