Story of Wood Stone Oven - why cooks love the oven

I use my Wood Stone over 2-3 times a week, cooking salmon and chicken so much more than pizza.  Bacon comes out the best, but means I need to need get up early to heat up the oven before I cook.  I have cooked many meals for my friends and family.

To give an idea of the oven check out this video.

Perhaps you have heard our story...... In 1989, challenged with the task of finding a wood-fired stone hearth oven or "brick oven" that could withstand the intense rigors of the restaurant world, Keith Carpenter set out for perfection. Inspired to create a better wood-fired oven, Carpenter pitched some ideas to Harry Hegarty, an experienced builder of large-scale, high-temperature ceramic incinerators.


Facebook Changes from buyer of Cheap Coal Power to Pushing for Renewable Energy

Wired's Cade Metz has a post on Facebook's frustrated efforts to buy renewable energy for its data centers.

“FACEBOOK’S NEW DATA center will run entirely on wind power. This means three of the five massive computing facilities that will drive the company’s worldwide social network in the years to come will run use only renewable energy. But Peter Freed, who helps oversee renewable energy efforts at Facebook, isn’t entirely pleased. Buying clean energy, he says, remains far too difficult.

“It should be easier to get these kinds of things done,” he says, “and we’re seeing an increasing number of companies that want to do them.””

Facebook has come a long way from when it built its first data center in Prineville, Oregon, choosing coal power in Oregon.  Why coal?  Because coal power was more abundant, therefore lower cost than hydropower.  The attention from this event covered by Matt Stansbery and then others helped to make Facebook the target of Greenpeace.

Now Facebook is considered part of the renewable data center leaders - Apple and Google are the other two.

And others play catch up like Amazon.

“On Monday, in the wake of Facebook unveiling its latest data center site in Texas, Amazon announced that it will open a 670.000 MWh wind farm in North Carolina. The turbines are set to start turning in December of next year.”


Google will expand Georgia data center 808,355 sq ft by end of 2016

Atlanta Business Chronicle reports on the size of Google's data center expansion.  The article proudly says they have an update on the size, but my friends who work on data centers would want to know how much power.

I would guess 600,000 sq ft is white space multiple by 125 watts/sq ft and you get 75MW. That seems about right for a Google project.

“Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) said last month it will invest in a $300 million expansion of its Lithia Springs, Ga., data center. The company, however, did not disclose details about the size of the expansion.
A public filing on July 9 revealed Google’s plans to build a mammoth 808,355-square-foot data center at the site. The expansion will include a four-story data center and auxillary structures.”


Microsoft focuses on 3 areas for Mobile, not including the youth

Microsoft announced a change in its focus on Mobile and three market segments.

“We plan to narrow our focus to three customer segments where we can make unique contributions and where we can differentiate through the combination of our hardware and software. We’ll bring business customers the best management, security and productivity experiences they need; value phone buyers the communications services they want; and Windows fans the flagship devices they’ll love.”

In the above there is no mention of the youth market.  Teenagers and college students are some of the most intense mobile users and Microsoft isn't targeting those users. What is missing are the apps that the youth market uses.  Microsoft's strategy is enterprise which many will want office.  Given Office apps are on iOS and Android, the value Microsoft is providing is in management, security and productivity.  Management and Security sound like the rallying cry for Blackberry.

The kids of parents who work for Microsoft have been more and more convincing their parents they want an iPhone, not a Windows phone.  Why?  Because the apps.  Microsoft won the battles of DOS and Windows vs. others with availability of apps.  The losers where OSs like CP/M that couldn't compete with the lack of apps.

Microsoft making layoffs in the summer is turning into an annual event.  Microsoft wrote off $7.8bil and the stock didn't budge.

“Microsoft Corp. plans to cut as many as 7,800 jobs and write down about $7.6 billion on its Nokia phone-handset unit, wiping out nearly all of the value of a business it acquired just 14 months ago.”
— http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-08/microsoft-to-cut-7-800-jobs-as-it-restructures-phone-business