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NCMR 2008: Bill Moyers Speech
Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 06/08/08 at 05:06:23 amThe National Conference for Media Reform is in full swing in Minneapolis this weekend. Unfortunately I didn’t make it down to the convention center to experience the discussions and workshops first hand but Free Press is uploading videos of the featured keynotes and speeches. Here is yesterday’s keynote from legendary journalist Bill Moyers –
2008 Hooters Swimsuit Contest
Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 05/25/08 at 02:05:27 pmIt’s been a very busy holiday weekend for me but I wanted to mention one of the many highlights and share some of the many photos I had taken. My birthday was on Thursday and part of my celebration was spent with some friends at Treasure Island Resort & Casino near Red Wing, Minnesota. They were hosting the 2008 Mall of America Hooters Swimsuit Competition and my friends made arrangements to get us VIP passes and a hotel room for the night. In addition to the hotel room, the VIP package scored us free drink coupons for the bar, dinner at the buffet, and some blackjack money.
I can only barely express how much of a blast I had but the photos from the swimsuit contest should give you an idea. You can see all of the pictures I took of the beautiful Hooters girls on Flickr (probably NSFW).
When will Global Warming be the cause?
Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 04/26/08 at 09:04:00 amIt’s April 26th and I woke up to about an inch of snow outside, we got off lucky. Parts of MN will get up to 18 inches of snow over this weekend meaning there will be plenty of snow on the ground into May. It’s supposed to be summer in about a month and we’re still getting a seemingly endless stream of winter weather, why?
It’s not because it’s Minnesota, our normal 6 month winters are long enough. This year we’re looking at 8 months infected by freezing temperatures and snowfall leaving us with 4 months of decent warm weather. Why even bother filling the pool? Or taking down the Christmas lights for that matter. The local news can blame it on cold fronts lingering over Canada all they want, most of Canada is experiencing warm spring weather right now. This is just another real-life example of Global Warming and its toll on normal weather patterns and this time around we just so happen to be in the middle of it all.
You might ask how Global Warming could cause more winter weather, it’s supposed to be warming right? Every time it snows in MN I find myself reading countless blogs and articles that say Global Warming isn’t real because there’s snow. People need to understand that Global Warming doesn’t mean that every particular location on the Earth will get warmer, some areas may get colder as weather patterns shift. This article explains how Global Warming increases the overall water temperature in the Great Lakes which in turn increases the gap between water temperature and air temperature making it ideal for snowfall, and that’s just one example.
People who still deny the existence of Global Warming amuse me, I’m wondering how long it will take before the local news mentions the possibility of these out-of-the ordinary weather conditions actually being caused by something other than mysterious pressure systems from Canada.
Micro Center: Best Buy meets Ax-Man
Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 04/13/08 at 02:04:45 amImagine a computer store that has absolutely everything you could possibly conjure. Everything you would need to build yourself a new PC, all of the accessories, networking supplies, software, games, and gadgets you could ever desire. Now imagine this store as if it were like your local surplus outfit. Just stacks of product everywhere in the most completely random places, power supplies next to mp3 players, video cards next to camera lenses, multiple isles with precisely the same products on opposite sides of the building, miscellaneous items lying around such as printers and computer cases. If this setting is starting to sound familiar then you may have already visited a Micro Center store.
Micro Center is a relatively small reseller with a handful of locations scattered across the US and Minnesota just so happens to have one of these stores just west of Minneapolis. If you’re from Minnesota you may have also heard of the Ax-Man stores which are essentially these surplus shops with everything from military gas masks to motherboard transistors. The Ax-Man store could give you nightmares from the strange array of things they sell but they are known for stocking hard to find gems. Combine a store like Ax-Man with a big box retailer such as Best Buy and you will end up with a place like Micro Center.
Micro Center not only has hard to find parts and accessories that you would otherwise have to order online, their prices are also very competitive. This weekend I wanted to purchase a cheap secondary SATA II hard drive for my desktop. I visited one of my favorite online retailers and I found myself a new 80GB OEM drive for about 40 bucks. The drive I ended up purchasing at Micro Center is a 160GB Western Digital for $57 plus tax. When you figure in the shipping for the hard drive from the online retailer it would cost about the same and I got a bigger and better product in a retail box without any hassle. Heck of a deal if you ask me.
Among the many things I stumbled across at Micro Center today I found something that I truly needed to purchase – Bawls G33K B33R. Nothing would make a nerdy computer store more complete then stocking a favorite geek refreshment and I have to say I’m digging the new flavor. The fact that this store is the only place I’ve seen that sells the new Bawls root beer makes me want to make the trip down there again just to stock up.
It’s a shame that Micro Center is so far away and I waited this long to venture down there, but in retrospect maybe that’s a good thing as I’d go broke from all of the new-found treasures I could blow my money on.
Thoughts and photos from a HERO.
Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 04/02/08 at 10:04:59 pmI’m not sure if everyone is aware of this but… I am a real live hero. It’s true, at the launch event I attended yesterday Microsoft told me that I along with all of the developers, geeks, and admins in the IT industry are heroes as long as we run their new software.
That new software is of course Microsoft Windows Server, SQL Server, and Visual Studio 2008. The all-new additions to the Microsoft arsenal offer endless new features and functions designed to make management, storage, and development easier for the rest of us. You can check out all of the details about the new titles and the launch events on the tour website.
This was my 4th Microsoft event, 3rd Launch event at the Minneapolis Convention Center (MCC). My first Microsoft conference was the Windows Server 2003 launch about 5 years ago and when I compare the photos from then and now not a lot has changed. There are more vendors at the partner pavilion and some of the workshops (or breakout sessions as Microsoft calls them) moved around but for the most part it’s the same event just with new banners and products to show off. Still, it’s a lot of fun.
Tuesday’s conference had a great keynote speech done by Gabriel Broner who is the General Manager of the Storage Solutions Division at Microsoft. Gabriel claims that he works in Redmond, WA but keeps a home in Edina, MN. I found that interesting because it is a ‘tour’ after all and the other speakers didn’t claim to be residing in Minnesota. I’m curious if Gabriel actually does have a home here or maybe he just looks up a city in each state he hits on the tour and claims he has houses there also. As if I didn’t already have limited free time on my hands now I’ll have to call random residents of Edina asking if they work for Microsoft just to get to the bottom of his shenanigans.
The massive convention center is a great venue for something of this size as each area can essentially have its own floor and each session has its own room. The Partner Pavilion where all of the sponsors had the booths set up was moved to the lower floor into an utterly gigantic warehouse like space. Totally underground, I didn’t even know it existed. In fact, MCC is such a large complex that while the Microsoft thing was going on they were also holding the Minnesota Sportsman’s Show along with another private conference simultaneously and there were still tons of unused space.
Having the opportunity to learn about the new technology is quite an experience but we all know the best part about trade shows is the free garb. I literally got a huge Dell tote bag full of pens, t-shirts, balls, Frisbees and magazines along with a flying monkey, USB charger, and a thing that untangles the cord on my phone. I also received a very nice Microsoft branded lunch bag but the crème de la crème, the big enchilada is of course the mind blowing $550+ worth of software just for attending. I received a kit that includes full copies of Windows Vista Ultimate SP1, Visual Studio 2008 Standard, and a year licensed copy (extended trial) of Server 2008 Enterprise. Now you know why I bother going to these things.
Despite snapping pictures with a camera being frowned upon I did manage to take a few more pictures while I was down there, you can see them all by Clicking Here.
NCMR 2008 in Minneapolis, MN June 6-8th
Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 03/26/08 at 06:03:10 pmThe National Conference for Media Reform (NCMR) is coming to Minneapolis, Minnesota this June 6th through 8th. NCMR is put together by FreePress.net which is the same organization that coordinates the efforts behind the SavetheInternet.com Coalition for Network Neutrality. NCMR is an event for everyone from concerned citizens and activists to educators and journalists who are calling for change in our nation’s media system.
The people who know me personally should know that I’m a firm believer in media reform and with NCMR in Minnesota this year I just might drop the cash for registration. Passes aren’t cheap but right now they are offering early bird discounts until the end of March, scholarship opportunities are also available for those who qualify.
Want to learn more? Check out the video clip and PSA posted below or visit the NCMR website here.
A break from the internets.
Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 03/16/08 at 11:03:20 amI haven’t been on my computer much this weekend. Last night I went out to dinner with a good friend of mine, we hit the Best Buy in Blaine then I decided that we needed to drive around in downtown Minneapolis for a while, just for the hell of it… It was fun to get out and just bum around with no real plan or destination.
I wish I had my camera with as there was plenty to see, while we were in Minneapolis we drove by the 35W Bridge Collapse site which has been converted into a massive construction project with the assembly of the new St. Anthony Falls Bridge. There was also plenty of nightlife with all of the clubs and bars hopping in west downtown, the warehouse district, and U of M campus.
It’s a whole new environment when compared to a typical Saturday night in greater Minnesota, I wish I could experience it more often.
A Duluth Weekend.
Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 02/20/08 at 10:02:44 am
Now that I have had some time to sort and upload all of the photos I took this past weekend in Duluth I thought I’d blog a bit about them. I already had a Duluth, MN photoset started but I added a bunch of beautiful photos of the Lift Bridge, Canal Park, and parts of the Duluth skyline. While we were in Canal Park we also visited the Lake Superior Maritime Museum which is owned and operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The museum features artifacts and information about Lake Superior and the massive in-land harbor based in Duluth. They also have exhibits on the other great lakes, the ship wrecks, weather, all of the different technology used, just endless information about the importance of in-land shipping and maritime culture.
I mentioned before that we we’re going to dinner last Friday, the big mystery location was the Top of the Harbor Restaurant which is located on the roof level of the Radisson Hotel in downtown Duluth. Top of the Harbor is a rotating restaurant with an amazing view of the harbor and the hills that surround the city. My mother wrote more about the restaurants we visited this weekend but if you’re interested in the pictures you can find them in this photoset.
For lunch on Saturday we went to this place near Canal Park called Hell’s Kitchen. It’s not quite like the TV show, instead Hell’s Kitchen is a gothic themed restaurant with a limited but amazing selection of food. Only the pictures can describe what this place is like, and again you can find a more detailed review here.
We did have plenty of time to enjoy the sites of Duluth but most of the weekend was spent in the Hotel, Edgewater Resort and Waterpark. Although I didn’t personally spend a lot of time in the waterpark this place offers plenty to do for everyone. They have a good size arcade, daily activities and crafts, blazing fast broadband internet, and the breakfast bar turns into a fully featured lounge in the evening for some good clean alcohol inspired family fun! I took plenty of pictures, take a look for yourself.
There’s so much to see and do in Duluth that there’s no question why it’s one of my favorite Minnesota destinations. I’m glad that I had a chance to spend some time there this weekend and I can’t wait to do it again.
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