NorthStarNerd.Org

Normandy Battleground Photos ... then and now!

Let me invite my online friends to take a look at these dramatic photographs of Normandy. You will get to see World War II battleground photos juxtaposed with the same exact view from today's France. My father is both a World War II and Korean War Veteran. Thanks, Dad.

The link and one screenshot are given below.

http://opendoorway.multiply.com/video/item/172/Normandia-ontemehojePARTE1

Oops .. Sorry Dad .. Missed Minnesota While Flying my A320 Airbus

This is almost funny, except it could have been tragic (fuel, aircraft handling, other jets, etc). Two Northwest / Delta pilots of an Airbus A320 "missed" Minneapolis on Wednesday and took a "Sunday drive" over central Wisconsin. Now I know many folks from both coasts consider Minnesota "Fly Over Land", but this is taking it to the extreme. Anyhow, the flight from San Diego missed Minneapolis (we really are a big city) and flew on into Wisconsin

Traffic controllers tried for 78 minutes to contact the wayward jet ... while it maintained radio silence and flew past my fair city by 150 miles. While the speculation is the pilots fell asleep, I have a much more logical explanation ... maybe the pilots are Green Bay Packer Fans who are upset the Vikings now have Brett Favre!

• Read the full article via the Wall Street Journal

And of course the classic cover from the New Yorker Magazine ... a New Yorker's view of America. Notice Minneapolis is not even on the map! I think we're somewhere up in Canada.

The Old Testament (He Qi's Traditional Chinese Folk Art)

It's not often in life you get the opportunity to combine your major beliefs and ability. With that brief introduction, I am pleased to present this musical web mashup of the Bible's Old Testament, traditional Chinese folk art and music (Amazing Grace). All the art was created by my friend, Chinese artist He Qi.

We may be friends, but He Qi's life and mine could not be more different ...

While I was growing up in Minnesota during the 1960's, and worrying about the fortunes of my favorite Minnesota Twins baseball players, He Qi was being "re-educated" by the Chinese. He Qi was considered an "undesirable" due to his Christian faith, and was sent into the Chinese country side to learn proper thought. The local authorities learned of his artistic ability, and he was given the task of painting portraits of Chairman Mao. By night, he painted the Madonna. (Learn more about He Qi via Christianity Today)

I own two of He Qi's large silk prints including the Nativity and Finding Moses. Both works of art hang in places of honor in my home and appear in the video (more on He Qi's Silk Print Style |detail). Here is the link to He Qi's online gallery.

As a reminder, my wife Molly and I have been privileged to learn a little bit about China through our work and trips that built both an elementary school and a dorm in rural China. Our travels took us up in the mountains near the Vietnamese border. I hope you enjoy this web mashup. You may wish to maximize the video to get a better view of the Chinese Folk Art:

Old Testament (China) on PhotoPeach (video link)

Baby Boomers Drive the Web!

Baby Boomer Web ... think about it. Classic thought would lead to the conclusion that it is the young who are driving the web's growth, but this may be wrong. Earlier today I read a great blog post by Dominic Basulto on this subject. In his post, he reviews this theme, and links to some great web usage demographics from CNN. I'll list some facts from the CNN article, but consider this first ...

• The Baby Boomers will be the first generation to approach retirement with both significant money and tech savvy know how. Companies that build successfully upon this demographic should make nice profits.

Here is some Nielsen web usage data provided by CNN:

Users with household income above $75,000
Facebook -- 41.74 percent
MySpace -- 32.38 percent
LinkedIn -- 58.35 percent
Twitter -- 43.34 percent

Users with household income under $50,000
Facebook -- 28.42 percent
MySpace -- 37.13 percent
LinkedIn -- 17.34 percent
Twitter -- 28.36 percent

Female users
Facebook -- 56.33 percent
MySpace -- 56.69 percent
LinkedIn -- 48.11percent
Twitter -- 53.59 percent

Users aged 18 to 24
Facebook -- 10.27 percent
MySpace -- 15.46 percent
LinkedIn -- 3.99 percent
Twitter -- 9.51percent

Users aged 35 to 49
Facebook -- 31.54 percent
MySpace -- 29.09 percent
LinkedIn -- 43.64 percent
Twitter -- 34.02 percent

If you would like to do some more exploring of web demographics and usage, I also recommend linking to the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Opus Meets Google Wave

I received my invite to Google Wave at 6:15 a.m. yesterday morning. Yipee! My wife knows that I am a lost cause each evening as I explore the depths of this ocean!  After all, I receive inspiration in life from Opus (from Bloom County). I may even stop by the library today on the way home from work! (click to view full sized)