NorthStarNerd.Org

ABR Trails (Winter Wonderland Video)

Molly and I are snowed in ... spending an extra day in the Ironwood, Michigan area at the Black River Crossing Bed and Breakfast (fantastic place) ... which gave me the opportunity to create a video from yesterday's ski at ABR Trails.

2012 American Birkebeiner Photographs (GoPro)

I skied yesterday's Birkie Classic (54 kilometers / 33 miles). I wore my GoPro camera and took timed photographs every 5 seconds while wearing a chest mount. I did not keep the camera turned on for the entire race (storage limitations), but did get some nice sections:

• Moment of Start
• Classic / Skate Split
• Birke Warriors and Inge
• Bi.ch Hill
• My Wipeout on the Last Downhill

In total you will find 55 pictures (edited down from 554). My apologies for some snow smudges in later photos. I fell twice during the race, and some powder got on the lens. I was too tired to notice!

Unfortunately my camera ran out of file storage space 500 meters short of the finish. Bummer!

• Picasa Album
• Slideshow (full screen view)

This post is the first fron Nordic Ski Week which starts with the Birkie and ends with the Wabos Loppet (a 25 kilometer ski in the Lake Superior northern Ontario wilderness which starts with a one hour train ride to the small lumber village of Wabos).

Selected images including Garmin data: click upon to maximize

   
.

 

Nordic Skiing Through America's Northern Forests

Nordic Ski Week!!!

On Saturday, Molly and I will start a week's vacation with the American Birkebeiner (a 54 kilometer race with 9,000+ other skiers through the Wisconsin woods). After a day's recovery from the Birkie we will slowly work our way across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan stopping to ski ABR Trails and the Porcupine Mountains on the shores of Lake Superior (see photos from a Summer solo hike through the Porkies).

We will end Nordic Ski week with the Wabos Loppet which is an Ontario wilderness ski through the forests north of Lake Superior near Lake Superior's eastern end. Here is how Stokely Creek Lodge defines the Wabos Loppet:

"The Wabos Loppet takes place in March and begins with a scenic hour-long train ride from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario to the lumbering village of Wabos. At Wabos, skiers begin an uninterrupted 27 KM (16 mile) cross country course that leads through the woods, over two lakes and several beaver ponds to Sheppard Lake, where tea and oranges are served. The rest of the course is on groomed cross country trails leading to Norm's cabin at the edge of Bone Lake. There skiers will enjoy refreshments of tea and cookies. The last part of the trip takes participants to Stokely Creek Lodge for a festive celebratory barbecue."

I promise plenty of updates to this specific blog post with Garmin data and photographs utilizing my GoPro SkiCam, and my Canon 30sxi. Experience Nordic Ski Week through America's Northern Forests via the Northstar Nerd!

Nordic Ski Week Photographs and Garmin Data
(will be updated as Nordic Ski Week progresses) 

• American Birkebeiner Photos and Garmin Data
• ABR Winter Wonderland Video (Upper Peninsula of Michigan)
• Wabos Loppet Musical Slideshow (Stokely Lodge, Ontario)

And one more Nordic Skiing post from a few weeks earlier. It's not part of Nordic Ski Week, but how many of you can imagine skiing across the frozen ice of Lake Superior at night!

• Skiing Through the Boreal Darkness!

QR Codes on Your Business Card

Most of you have seen QR codes in magazine advertisements and other media. These images are also giving the ancient art of exchanging business cards new meaning! How many of you have a pile of business cards on your desk, but have not taken the time to enter some of the contact information into your computer's database (Outlook, etc)? While LinkedIn is a super service for managing contacts, having everything in your own private database has definite advantages.

The process of adding a QR code image to your business card is not difficult, but there are some steps which will facilitate the process. Once the code is enabled, anyone with a smartphone may scan you into their contacts database.

From an apps vantage point, I would recommend these two services:

• Android: QR Droid
• iPhone: Tap Media QR Reader (also exists for Android)

Both services have free versions which accomplish the basics of getting your scanned data into your contacts database.

On the QR Code creation side of the equation, here is my recommendation:

• QR Stuff
  • Select the option <Contact Details (VCARD)>
  • On the resulting form, enter your data
    • Limit your number of fields
      • Too many data fields = complex code that does not work on business cards
    • Also select <Embed VCARD data in QR code as-is>
      • This enables a more universal / easier to use image

Important Note: While there are many QR Code generators on the web, not all QR codes are created equal. I like QR Stuff because I know it works. The images generated by some sites are not of high enough quality to be used via the various web based services which you might utilize (i.e. business card services like this template from Zazzle)

Remember who will be using your business card (someone on a mobile device). Thus, make your linked content "mobile friendly". Learn more about this need (The 3 Rules of QR Codes). If you are looking to be creative, take a look at these 50 examples of business cards which have QR codes enabled.

Finally ... here is the Northstar Nerd's QR code!

All my data is valid except my cell phone number. Sorry.

Max, the Skiing Accordionist!

Two of my passions in life are cross-country skiing, and playing the accordion. However, never in my wildest dreams did I think of combining the two skills! Perhaps this Saturday while skiing "up" Bitch Hill at the American Birkebeiner, I will need to imitate Max!

Regardless ... Max is way cool!