Archive for February, 2010

LEGO Luge: Tough sledding at Winter Games

Day 3 of Our Winter Games marked the first outdoor event in Pentathanerd history. Fans and competitors bundled up and trekked across The Nerdery’s parking lot to a snow bank for the LEGO Luge event. Here’s how things went (about halfway) down:

LEGO Luge from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

Except for the usual doping allegations and some fairly typical objections regarding sleighs with non-LEGO-ey features, it was a day of relatively good sportsmanship in and around Pentathanerd Village. No one’s talking about judging/scoring discrepancies – at least not on record. You get the sense, though, that more than a few Pentathanerd fans and competitors are still picking at lingering scabs from the Summer Games’ Rubixgate and Bogglegate).

Moving on, the Gold medal in LEGO Luge goes to Greg Wurm, who earned 920 points. Justin Hendrickson took Silver with 793 points and Matt Tonak wins the Bronze with 780 points. In overall Pentathanerd standings after three events, Justin is on top with 1473 points, followed closely by Manish with 1413 points.

Next up: The Winter Games will stay outside for the Pentathanerd Snow Sculpture competition. Not athletically inclined whatsoever? This one’s for you if you can follow these rules.

Shoot to thrill: Biathalon at Pentathanerd (and the winner is?)

The Biathalon was created by peace-loving/cross-country skiing/gun-toting Scandinavians. These are my people. Some purists of the sport shuddered when Pentathanerd’s non-skiing version was voted into the Winter Games (and not just as an exhibition; it counts) by The Nerdery. These too are my people. Watch them shoot paper plates with Nerf guns and walk briskly to retrieve ammo:

Gunplay at Pentathanerd Biathalon from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

Now, while it’s reasonably certain that Manish Shrestha has won the Biathalon’s Bronze medal, there are conflicting accounts of final placement on the upper steps of the medal stand. Pentathanerd judges have noted that Mark Hurlburt’s strong showing doesn’t jibe with how he skipped training and has entered the first two events at the last minute – seemingly on a whim.

One high-placed Pentathnerd judge has also conceded that it was Hurlburt who posted the third-highest score in the Trivial Quiz, thus qualifying for the Friday finals. Still, some have wondered aloud, “Is he a serious competitor?” Others note that he’s kicking some serious ass regardless.

Anyway, the Gold and Silver for The Pentathanerd Winter Games Biathalon almost surely belong to Minh Vu and Hurlburt – but in what order?

We report. You decide.

Trivial, quizzical opening to Pentathanerd Winter Games

Sports fans: If you were worried about surviving the weeklong void between the Super Bowl and Those Other Winter Games, Pentathanerd has your back. Watch and wonder how they do it:

Trivial Pursuit of Pentathanerd Winter Games Glory from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

Official results for Day One’s Trivial Quiz:

1^st: Jon Rexeisen – 340 points

2^nd: John Shimeck – 240 points

3^rd: Konr Ness – 190 points

Notably: Justin Hendrickson – negative 220 points

Top three finishers qualify for Friday’s championship round. In this Trivial Quiz Q&A, the answers appear to be redacted but you have a right to know; click on the far left side of the black “redaction” bar (or highlight it entirely) for final wisdom (courtesy of Penthathanerd founder Mark Seemann). The posted Pentathanerd rules are plain and simple and made to be broken.

Next up, Nerf bullets will fly as The Biathalon invades the Great Indoors (not in the face, Cheney.) Other events: LEGO Luge; Snow Sculpture/Snowflake Contest; Hardware Teardown/Rebuild; and Trivial Finals.

And until the mainstream media wakes up to what the people want, we will continue to provide exclusive coverage of The Pentathanerd Winter Games. Complete coverage at http://pentathanerd.com.

Perfect for your nerdy Valentine

Spotted over at Dingbat Press, and perfect for the nerd in your life (or the one you want in your life).

And one more:

From Pop + Shorty.

Friday Links: A brief history of the computer

• Photo essay: A Brief History of the Computer.
• Periodic Table of World Internet Facts.
• Also, The Periodic Table of Smellements.
• Logos are dead: “They are a hangover from old-school thinking about branding. There is no desire by the public for a new logo.”
• Google Android Toys. My heart exploded when I saw that little green robot in shirt and tie.
• Read the first interview with Calvin & Hobbes creator Bill Watterson in 20 years.
• Fallon: Promotions emphasize ‘people-centered’ digital approach.
• How the iPad will change the advertising business.
• Why Animals Speak in Super Bowl Ads: How Rating Systems Have Ruined the Creative

Know your history: 38 years of Super Bowl Commercials

The Super Bowl is Sunday, and for those of us who don’t get into sports it can still be considered an event what with The Who playing the halftime show (though they do have big shoes to fill after The Boss’ performance last year), and, of course, the commercials. Before the big game, take a look at this archive featuring 38 years of Super Bowl Commercials. It’s a fun history lesson in pop culture, technology, and advertising.

Even if you don’t watch all the commercials even the thumbnails are pretty revealing. For instance, Michael J. Fox had quite a commercial run for Pepsi from 87-89 when in 90 he was usurped by Fred Savage.

Here’s the commercial for the Tandy computer, a steal at only $2,999 (1984):

Also running the same year (1984), the iconic Apple commercial:

I also loved this one for IBM Typewriters (1986):

MnPHP user group tonight; MSP WordPress tomorrow at The Nerdery

Tonight only, the Minnesota PHP user group graciously yields it usual first-Thursday-of-the-month slot at The Nerdery to make way for tomorrow’s Minneapolis-St. Paul WordPress group meeting. Please note that Minnesota PHP will return to regularly scheduled programming in March.

Minnesota PHP, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 6-9 p.m.

PHP 5.3 - Mike Willbanks will go over new features in PHP 5.3 (major and some minor you likely wouldn’t know about unless you troll the release logs) as well as anything to watch for in migrating.

Zend Framework Introduction to Zend Application - Nerdery rockstar Justin Hendrickson discusses Zend Framework and utilizing Zend Application.

Please RSVP.

Minneapolis-St. Paul WordPress, Thursday, Feb. 4, 6:30-9 p.m.

Session 1:

• HTML for Beginners (Tony Thomas)
• Building WP Widgets with the “new” Widget API (Ray Champagne)
• MSP WordPress Team Meeting to prepare for Overnight Website Challenge: Part I (Tim Elliot)

Session 2:

• CSS for Beginners (Daniel J. Post)
• MSP WordPress Team Meeting to prepare for Overnight Website Challenge: Part II (Tim Elliot)

Please RSVP.

Both events are free whenever you are.

Also, if you’re looking for even more user groups and other tech community-building initiatives to get involved with, check out Central Standard Tech.

Tech Tuesday: Development for (and getting our Nerdery hands on) the Apple iPad

By now, you’ve read all about the Apple’s new tablet, the iPad. You’ve watched the videos. You’ve maybe giggled about the product name; let’s be honest though, the Nintendo Wii’s name hasn’t hurt its popularity. You’ve either dismissed it as a big iPod Touch that won’t go anywhere, or, you’ve already smashed your piggy bank and have money in hand. Regardless, Apple has a pretty good track record with their latest products (iPod, iTunes, iPhone) and we don’t want our ad and marketing agency partners to be the last ones to the party.

First, the iPad debut doesn’t mean that our agency partners should stop making iPhone applications. All iPhone applications will work on the iPad out of the box.

But how does the iPad affect our agency partners who have already created applications for iPhone and now also want to take advantage of the bigger screen of the iPad? Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as hitting an Easy button (trust me, I have one) and magically all your applications are reformatted for the iPad. The user interface will have to be redesigned to support multiple resolutions. It’s also not just relaying out the design for the larger screen; it’s also understanding what the iPad is, and designing an amazing user interface to take advantage of the new user interface features.

When looking at creating a new iPad application, our agency partners really have two options: target just the iPad or target the iPhone and the iPad.  Targeting the only the iPad should have a similar development cycle and cost as developing an application just for the iPhone. If the choice is to target both devices, there will be some design layout changes, but the core of the application will stay the same. There will also be some additional time for our crack Quality Assurance team to make sure we release a great application.

If you don’t think the iPad is going anywhere, I present Steve Ballmer.

Then again, if you think Apple is infallible, I present the iPod Hi-Fi.

Either way, The Nerdery is ready to help you create great applications, no matter the platform.

Only 16

When The Nerdery announced a couple weeks ago it had invited 16 (rather than 12) teams of web development volunteers to the Overnight Website Challenge, some who’ve been in the 24-hour needy-meets-nerdy room for extended periods scratched their head while recalling their experience. “That’s a lot of people – and twice as many feet – in some mighty close quarters,” some said.

“The Nerdery went a bit nuts here, even for them,” said one industry observer.

So, while we draw up schematics for the new-and-improved seating chart, here are the 16 (rather than 12) nonprofits coming to the 2010 Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge (listed in no particular order, other than alphabetical)

• Bloomington Chorale
• Centro Campesino
• Child Protection International
• Common Ground
• Dakota Wicohan
• DesignWise Medical Incorporated
• Homeward Bound
• Kinship of Greater Minneapolis
• Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health
• Minnesota Jaycees
• Minnesota Senior Corps Association
• Multicultural School for Empowerment
• Redwood Area Communities Foundation
• Restorative Justice Community Action
• Rural Renewal Energy Alliance (RREAL)
• World Savvy

More on the Big Green Monster.