StringGrrl sees the World

Really sad to hear that HitchBot has come to an end. http://m.hitchbot.me/about-me/canada/ Hitchbot is a robot from Port Credit, Ontario. conceived by Dr. David Smith (McMaster University), and Dr. Frauke Zeller (Ryerson University) to travel the world by the good acts of strangers. Or as put in his own words on the HitchBot blog: Simply put, I am a free-spirited robot who wants to explore the world and meet new friends along the way. I am an avid instagrammer and tweeter. On my downtime, I can appreciate a good game of trivia and would never pass up any opportunities to bake desserts. On instagram @hitchbot   has posted photos from the many travels around the world. Oh dear, my body was damaged, but I live on back home and with all my friends. I guess sometimes bad things happen to good robots! My trip must come to an end for now, but my love for humans will never fade. Thank you to all my friends: http://goo.gl/rRTSW2 A photo posted by @hitchbot on Aug 1, 2...

Dusseldorf Haven  In a very significant shift from the first time we had visited Dusseldorf Haven we visited during the summer months. Dusseldorf Haven in December of 2009 while they hosted the World Cup of Nordic Skiing. In the winter of 2009 I visited the old center of Dusseldorf for the first time. That was with StringGirl 1.0 in her original incarnation. No broken arms or legs, lemon yellow tresses, and bright pink shirt. She was only at this point only traveling for about one year, Maybe less. Sunny warm days very different than when here for the Weinachtsmarkt  StringGirl 3.0 missed this trip. She was left behind rather callously by me as I tried to get to the airport after several false starts. After years of traveling and building up a repeatable routine, I find now that if I break that routine in anyway I completely lose my head. In the bustling Japanese Asian quarter plenty of izikawa styled restaurants at street side  I have been touring the ...

The Sushi bar at this bustling Japanese Place in Troy  I wandered into Haru Noodle and Sushi thinking of focusing on their Ramen offerings. I had been on a Ramen kick after a recent trip to Zurich when a colleague brought me to the local ramen place there. Truly, it is hard to isolate when the Ramen kick started maybe in kindergarten? Lunch Special, Sashimi salad But as any plan needs to be flexible, i had sat down for only a moment before I noticed the display of the lunch special for the day. Wrapped in cellophane at the front of the restaurant just like I would expect in Japan was a wonderful looking bowl with the daily special assembled underneath. Large chunks of tuna, salmon, whitefish, and "krab" over rice and veggies made the lunch special of the Sashimi Salad a welcome surprise. Udon Noodle Soup that came with the lunch special

The exterior of Johnny Noodle King in a very modest part of town In the shadow of the ambassador bridge this area has yet to catch up to the kind of resurgence going on in nearby Corktown. However, with the amount of demolition and clearing of old buildings and the ever looming potential of another bridge in the area that may change. The interior is completely Hipster Chic As I was only there for a quick bite before having to head to Comerica Park for training on operating the concessions (doing it as a fundraiser for the school chior and drama programs), I only had time for one simple bowl of Ramen. I went for the Shoyu which seemed to be the most like any classic ramen option. Ordered it with the Pork Belly (Chasu). The Shoyu Ramen For a noodle joint like this the speed of service for the ramen was not bad. The place was empty at the time with only 4 other patrons when I entered. All of whom appeared to have already ordered. One large stock pot was visible from t...

Le Temple de lah Renommee du Hockey, The Temple of Hockey!! Lord Stanley's Cup For the Win! Careful don't touch it! Not really, mostly those who defied the "Jinx" have gone on to win. The Great One is prominently displayed Back to back cups in the '50s Legendary! Howe, Lindsay, Delvecchio, Sawchuk.  The Current Cup The Original Cup '52, '54, '55 on the original cup base

StringGirl and I love a good ramen noodle, and we were pleased to find that there are some options in Zurich for enjoying them. IKOO   not far from the Langstrasse and HB it is a pleasant walk from the city center or short tram ride from most places in town. Tantanmen: Spicy beef ramen  Today I went for the Tantanmen . It has a bright red you-can-see-the-spicy broth where the noodles quickly disappear from view only a few mm below the surface. Topped with a spicy ground meat (rindfleisch- beef? what I remember from the menu, but others claim it is pork. Might be a mix), ginger, greens and onions. Gyoza  They do also offer various starters like gyoza and rice onigiri. I had the gyoza on a previous visit. They are fair, not great and taste almost exactly like the ones I buy frozen at local Asian markets. They were cooked appropriately, I have never personally mastered the technique used at all the best gyoza places in japan, IKOO at least go that right. ...

Jason, Cisco, and Russ from FedEx with StringGirl http://about.van.fedex.com/innovationchallenge/ As a result of the FedEx Innovation Challenge we got to meet several leaders at FedEx while in St. Louis, MO for the FRC World Championships. We were honored to have them as frequent visitors to our pits and along side the team during competition. Challenge #1 A heavy crate is on board Lewis and Clarks canoe. Given the mass of the crates and the volume of the crates, what happens when the crate is removed from the canoe and placed in the River? Challenge #2 Create an Ambigram of the word Robot. Ambigrams are word form or symbolic representation, whose elements retain their meaning when viewed from different direction. a rotational Ambigram of Robot. reads the same when you rotate it 180 degrees Challenge #3 Create a video showing why your mentors are the best Challenge #4 For the circuit shown in the image below. Find the path to the center in the fewest numb...