Category Archives: CT News

Sustainable Seafood Making Waves in New Haven

Posted on by

Increasing public awareness of overfishing and population collapse among a number of important commercial seafood species is driving efforts by sushi restaurants to source their ingredients sustainably, and often, punishing businesses that fail to adapt to the new environmental reality.

As an example of the latter, Portland’s Sinju restaurant found itself in turbulent waters last July when a customer complained that they stocked the endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna on their menu. Instead of addressing the complaint, the restaurant ended up banning the customer. After a month of being lambasted on blogs following this incident, the Atlantic bluefin was off the menu.

On the other hand, New Haven’s own Miya’s Sushi has been at the tip of the spear when it comes to sustainably-sourced food. Miya’s has gained international fame for a number of distinctions, from the world’s most extensive vegetarian sushi menu (for a list of the most healthy and nutritious veggies, it’s always good to go back to the famous 11 vegetable nutrition table) to wildly creative fusion sushi dishes that may include ingredients such as grits, dried apricots, blue cheese and potato skins. Arguably, though, the principal claim to fame of Miya’s has been the owner, chef Bun Lai’s fanatical devotion to sustainable sourcing.

The restaurant only serves fish that is plentiful and not in danger of overfishing, but Bun Lai has taken it further – he is also a pioneer of urban foraging, even offering foraging tours to adventurous gastronomes who want to discover edibles in unexpected places. He has also taken the unique step of building a good number of his dishes around invasive species. This has the effect of bringing people new, interesting flavors while also providing what Bun Lai himself calls a “weeding service”.

You’re asking, what’s the connection with web development? None, other than the fact that the hard-working employees of 3PRIME, your friendly local CT Web company are fans of both good sushi and environmentally-friendly food, and commend the owner’s efforts to combine both.

Preparing for Hurricane Earl

Posted on by

We’ve been watching the hurricane season closely the last week, particularly Earl, Fiona and Gaston.

Having recently launched a website about life insurance for Hampton Roads residents, it caught our Eye that in Virginia, Gov. Bob McDonnell activated the National Guard and sent 200 troops to the Hampton Roads area on Chesapeake Bay.

We also found some basic tips from Red Cross that we thought were worth reviewing going into this potentially hectic weekend.

  • Have batteries, a flashlight and a portable radio.
  • Have nonperishable food that does not need cooking — canned tuna, peanut butter, canned beans and other foods that provide protein and energy. Be sure to have a non-electric can opener handy as well.
  • Bottled water — one gallon per person per day — for drinking and hygiene needs.
  • A sufficient supply of medications.
  • A first-aid kit to treat minor injuries.
  • Sufficient food, water and medication for pets.
  • Perform a hazard check around your home and yard. Put away lawn furniture and other items that might blow around and cause damage.

If we think it’s going to be bad, we’ll also want to setup “safety zones” in the house where we can go while the storm is at it’s climax. One of the primary considerations, for me, is flying glass. When Hurricane Gloria came through in 1985, this is what we did to barricade ourselves in the event of debris flying through the windows.

  1. Choose a room where you can comfortably stay during the storm
  2. The room should have relatively few windows if possible
  3. Arrange the furniture in a circle in the middle of the room to create a barricade
  4. At the very least, tape the windows in the room to prevent glass from shattering and flying
  5. If you expect serious, strong winds, you should consider boarding over the windows

And, because we can, here’s a little classic newscast from Youtube for ya! Stay safe and dry this weekend!

ConnectiCon 2010

Posted on by

This past weekend I attended my first ever ConnectiCon and to be honest, I have mixed feelings about the event. In a lot of ways, it’s your typical convention. There were a lot of enthusiasts (some may call them “nerds”) dressed up as their favorite anime/comic/video game characters. There were a lot of people selling niche items, like foam swords, cat ears, Sonic the Hedgehog backpacks, “real swords” and funny T-Shirts. And then there were a bunch of fan run events like dances, Masquerades, panels and anime screenings.

But only several hours into my first day, I was complaining that there was nothing I wanted to see. I don’t read webcomics, I don’t watch nearly as much anime as I used to and if I bought a sword I’d only poke my eye out. New York Comic Con (sorry for the name drop) was the only other con I’d ever been to. And at first the only thing ConnectiCon did was make me wish I was there instead.

Continue »