NorthStarNerd.Org

Need an invite to knowledge? StartupBus!

Some of you may not remember last year's post: Highway 61 Revisisted, Innovation at Milepost 23. Here is the quick synopsis. StartupBus is a rolling software factory, and by the time the bus reaches South by Southwest (SXSW), the geeks on board will have created a new product. Imagine ... Diet Cokes, Twinkies and hundreds of lines of code generated as the bus streaks through the night across America. Take it for granted that the bus is connected to the web.

The NorthstarNerd just submitted my own application to ride the bus, and I have a few invites to give away. Comment on this blog post and let me know why I should give you one!

Recovering from a Corrupt Video Header File

Videos have header files associated with your movie which serve like a road map in terms of giving instructions to your computer. This header file has all kinds of technical information which not being present, will prevent your computer from even opening the file (let alone playing it).

Recently I had a problem when one of my video header files became corrupt due to a power failure during filming. Given the header file is the last item written to a video file, if power is ever interrupted to your camera, you will have a major wasted effort. Editing a header file is not for the weak of heart, and even this "nerd" did not want to make the attempt. 

After hours of scouring the web for some means of rescuing my video, I found a great (and free) utility named Fix Player (review and download options via Softperdia). This software package saved me from disaster. I was able to open my corrupt file, view it, and most importantly ... save it successfully with a new header file (use a new file name).

Nordic Nomad ...

New dictionary term this Winter: Nordic Nomad.

Definition: Northern tribe of humans often found travelling great distances in search of white stuff. Distinguishing features: Wears bright clothing and moves on long skinny sticks. Conversations are most often centered around a "class of chemical compounds that are plastic (malleable) near ambient temperatures. Characteristically, they melt above 45 °C (113 °F) to give a low viscosity liquid, but soluble in organic, nonpolar solvents" (quoted text from Wikipedia)

Are you a Nordic Nomad?

 

Engineering Exam Flash Mob

Just in case you've been asleep for the past two years, orchestrated flash mobs have been sweeping the globe. One of the best takes place in the Copenhagen train station involving the local symphony. However, as much as I like the effort from my Danish cousins, this blog focuses upon technical content, quite often engineering material.

Thus, can you imagine what it might have felt like as a first year engineering student at the University of Toronto ... taking an exam (sounds like it was a sample exam during freshman week). Still cool! The new students don't know how to respond! 

Brule River Wipeout!

Snow! Finally.

Had a great time this weekend over at the Brule River (After Hours Ski Trails). On Saturday I skied 40 kilometers (Birkie training), but today was the day to play in the sun! Hope you enjoy some of my GoPro photos / movies from the Northwoods. I even captured the aftermath of a wipeout!

At 3:18 the video switches from videos of Galen to me! The movie has some outtakes after the credits at 5:06. 

Click to maximize any image.

 

 

 

Fire and Ice at Sunset

What a great way to slide into Friday evening! We received 3 inches of fresh snow today, and at dusk the sun exploded on the scene. I live in northern Minnesota on the edge of a pine forest (and across from a waterfall). I took these photos using HDR photography (see prior post: HDR for the Amateur Photographer).

Click upon any image to view at full resolution.

Amity Snow Pine River

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Amity Snow Pine Gazebo

Using Your Kindle Fire Browser (screenshots)

With Amazon's latest Kindle Fire upgrade, their browser has become much more web friendly. Let's take a look at how the the browsing experience has improved. With this release, you may now utilize the entire Kindle Fire screen for viewing a web page. Given the smaller tablet size compared to an iPad, this is HUGE (literally and figuratively!).

I've also included a couple of other screenshots which should help you use your Kindle Fire browser, including how to easily get rid of the hundreds of tabs that always seem to be open. 

You may also be interested in linked to my post: Personalize Your Kindle Fire w/o Rooting. It helps you get rid of the dreaded Amazon Carousel.

Click upon any image to view at fullo resolution!

When you open your Kindle Fire browser, you will see four arrows in the bottom right hand corner of your screen. Pressing them maximizes your browser to your full screen. The second screenshot's lightly shaded red area demonstrates how much viewing area you gain.

Browser Default Status

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Browser Vewing Maximized.
(press the "up arrow" at the bottom center to return the menus) 

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Getting rid of all those tabs!
(press and hold on any tab ... this pop up menu appears) 

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Accessing the browser menu items

 

USA Pond Hockey Championships Slide Show

How do you describe the frozen northland where 30,000 people descend upon Lake Nakomis on three cold days in January to watch teams vie for the Golden Shovel Award? Fantastic!

Welcome to the USA Pond Hockey Championships.

Take a moment to watch my animated slide show (with music). I spent the afternoon over at the championships taking photos (after first skiing 25 kilometers this morning). This is Winter in Minnesota!

2012 finds teams competing from all over the United States and Canada (even a team from Latvia)! Players range from old rink rats to former NHL players. The final aerial photo in my slide show is courtesy of the local CBS affiliate (story). Enjoy!

Finally, if you're on this page, I assume it's because you like hockey being played outdoors! Link to a previous post of mine and watch the movie trailer for Pond Hockey!

USA Pond Hockey on PhotoPeach (click in bottom right to expand)

(click upon to view at full size)

 

Rube Goldberg Meets Target

I pinged Target rather hard on a customer service fiasco early last Fall. With this video and their Rube Goldberg Machine, they are back on my good side. Well done, Target! I don't even mind I am helping you advertise by featuring this video. It's worthy! (Learn more about Target's Rube Goldberg Machine)

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From Wikipedia!

Kindle Fire & GoLauncher: Where are my books?

A number of folks have had a difficult time finding their books after installing GoLauncher (no root) in their desire to rid themselves of the dreaded Amazon Carousel. While the Kindle Reader App appears, when launched it appears as if all of ones books have disappeared. Thankfully, this is not the case, but it is confusing at first. Thus, here are some Kindle Fire screenshots and instructions.

Please note that after you "launch" a book via the traditional Amazon Carousel interface, you are able to use the GoLauncher Kindle Reader app to continue reading your book. In other words, you need only return to the Carousel when you want to open a NEW book.

Should it be your desire, this process also allows you to reset the Carousel home screen as default.

Note: This entry is additional help for the Personalizing Your Kindle Fire Post

Here are the promised screenshots: (click to maximize)

#1: Bring up the GoLauncher Menu

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#2: Press upon <Add>

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#3: Press upon <Application>

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#4: Scroll down and check <Launcher>
(this app will always return you to the Amazon Carousel) 

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#5: Now start the "Launcher" app 
(yours may be located somewhere else on your screen) 

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#6: Select or Navigate to <Books>

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#7: Open your desired book
(you may now return to GoLauncher and read via the Kindle Reader app)