Geeky Posts

What’s a geek to do in town?

I’m going to be moving to Duluth in the next couple months and was wondering what kind of nerdy stuff is around town.

What’s the best computer store in town for components? Somewhere where they’ll know what a GTX680 is. Are there any hacker/maker clubs? I’m also interested in volunteering; does anyone know of a computer refurbishing program? Are there any local tech websites or handouts?

I know there are more nerds like me; what are you up to?

He got married but … you get the presents!

If you haven’t become a member, or even if you have, check this sweet deal out on Blacklist’s Beer+Art Project! Only a few more days left to back this Kickstarter project and make it happen in Duluth!

Minnesota Flood 2012: Is that the best name we’ve come up with for it?

It seems to me the best local storm names tend to be tied to a holiday or otherwise significant date:

Leap Day Snowmageddon 2012
The Geek Prom Blizzard of 2008
The Halloween Megastorm of 1991

The Great Thanksgiving Blizzard of 1983

Following that tradition, our recent flood would be the Summer Solstice Flood of 2012. But I haven’t heard anyone call it that, and it’s been over a month.

What are you calling it? Any good ideas? Maybe if we come up with a good one there will be more federal relief money sent our way, so perhaps we should work the word “disaster” in.

Google Fiber up for registration in Kansas

I think Duluth needs to start a pre-registration campaign to show Google we are serious and want to be next to get Google Fiber. Pre-register here.

Duluth National Citizen Survey 2012

The results of the Duluth National Citizen Survey are now available. Click here to open the PDF.

The report provides the opinions of a representative sample of residents about community quality of life, service delivery, civic participation and unique issues of local interest.

  • 78 percent of respondents felt the quality of life in Duluth was “excellent” or “good.”
  • 56 percent of respondents felt Duluth was headed in the right direction.
  • 72 percent rated Duluth’s image or reputation as “excellent” or “good.”

Tallest Structure in Duluth

Here’s a question to contemplate: What is the tallest standing structure within Duluth city limits?

Here’s what I was thinking for determining this: The tallest height should be relative to the starting point of the structure in the ground. So a structure that begins on a higher elevation does not have advantage. Also, “ground” can be defined as the Lake bottom, so a structure could begin on the Lake bottom, but the footings (or anything underneath the ground [or Lake bottom]) wouldn’t be part of the equation.

The Duluth Arial Lift Bridge is pretty high (177 feet), but other higher buildings and structures are clearly in view.

Another Geek Prom rip-off?

[This post originally linked to phoenixcomicon.com, which is no longer a functioning URL.]

Looking for some sports geeks to join a fantasy football league

Some friends and I are trying to put together a new fantasy football league for the 2012 season. Most of us don’t spend a lot of time with other sports fans and we’re having trouble getting enough people together. I thought this might be a good place to look for participants. Also, we’d like most of the teams/participants to be from the Twin Ports area. We’ve yet to establish fees or specific scoring rules for this league and you’d be involved in that. We’re mostly creative types, music geeks and/or musicians who enjoy professional sports and hope to find similar people but would like to hear from anyone who’s interested. We really only ask that you’re excited about fantasy football and you’re not an asshole (sexist, racist, homophobe, etc.).

If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, contact us at footballtwinports @ hotmail.com. Please don’t express interest solely in the comments section. I’m sure the comments will mostly be about how football is dumb, we’re lame and soccer is cooler, so I probably won’t bother reading the comments.

Thanks!

Hang gliding in Duluth

Have you ever seen someone hang glide in Duluth?

I think I did once, but it might just be a weird dream I had back when I was kid. What I remember is that I was at the Little League baseball end-of-season carnival/Olympics, or whatever it was, at Wheeler Fields. It would have been about 1984. I think I saw some guy launch off the hillside where “The Wall” is on Skyline Drive, and then land on one of the baseball fields at Wheeler.

Is hang gliding just a dying sport in general, or is there something about Duluth — maybe the lake winds are too unpredictable and strong or the hills aren’t high enough to produce a good “ridge lift” or whatever — that makes hang gliding here rare or impossible?

And whatever happened to the guy with the hot-air balloon?

Exploring Lake Superior by Submarine

Jim and Allen Richardson of Gonzo Science explore Lake Superior in a two-man sub.

Summer camps for area kids into technology

With the Duluth East Daredevils robotics team again going to nationals this year and high school robotics teams now also at Denfeld and Marshall, how can kids get started in robotics before high school?

Scenic Ice Station Zebra, MN

It's a long story, and not that funny. But here it is, anyhow.

Instagrammers PDD?

There are 50 million users on Instagram but there are no Perfect Duluth Day hashtags? Duluth iger’s, you need to get on this. It’d be a great place to curate creative shots of D-town.

Nerd Nite Road Trip Edition

Below, a selection of photos from Nerd Nite Road Trip Edition.

Lake Recreation