This blog is a maintained as an archive to my 28+ years as a web development / software project manager with Honeywell. However in the Spring of 2014 I decided to retire at the early age of 57. I have never looked back. I am now a Duluth based outdoor photographer / naturalist.
Here is one image ... see more via my web site: 365DaysOfBirds.Com.
You may also want to visit my Flickr account.
Northern Hawk Owl After the Storm
This case study starts in the wee hours of the morning on St. Patrick's Day 2015. Yours truly was on the frozen ice of a remote lake in northern Minnesota (Boulder Lake ... 25 miles north of Duluth). During the cold night I was watching what would turn out to be one of the strongest Northern Lights Display of the last ten years. I was recording the event with my camera.
Actually, this story / case study started at 1:45 am as I lay fast asleep in bed. Although NASA and NOAA had forecast for an Aurora to start the following night, it was not expected the night of March 16/17. Suddenly the quiet of our bedroom was broken by a fierce alarm ... Bing Bong, Bing Bong, Bing Bong! My Android smartphone app, Aurora Alert from Eagle's Orbit was sounding off. Groggily I check my app which I had customized based upon my exact location on the planet Earth to ring if the Aurora was expected to exceed a Kp of 4.33. I woke up quickly when I read the Kp was expected to reach 8.0 in one hour!
At this point I reached for my Google Nexus 10 tablet and logged into Facebook. Please understand I am a member of the Great Lakes Aurora Hunters. Thus Facebook enters into the equation. This group which now exceeds a membership of 4,000 gave me an easy place to check what was happening in real time. Yup, several members from near Ely and Grand Marais, Minnesota were already outside and reporting great displays. It's now 1:50 am; I bound out of bed and throw on my long johns! Remember, this is northern Minnesota in the winter time. I am about to head for a frozen windblown lake on a cold winter night, and stand for hours. In short, I will have a fantastic time!
After 3+ hours of watching one of the best displays I had ever seen, I head home. Arriving at the old homestead I wake my wife up at 6:00 a.m. with a tale of "wows"! Read Molly's tale of woe via her blog, Superior Footprints, "An Aurora Hunter's Wife"! At this point, you may be thinking ... okay Facebook, but why a case study?? Take a look at the photo taken that night, and then read on below ...
Getting home I naturally processed my photos. Now remember it was St. Patrick's Day. Realizing that a photo showing the heavens as green would have some traction, I now posted the image via the following methods:
By 1pm that afternoon, I know that my photo had already been posted (with my premission) on Destination Duluth, The Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minnesota newspaper) and the Smithsonian website! By Thursday the combined groups had been combined groups had been kind enought to let me know the St. Patrick's Day Aurora Selfie had been seen by over 250,000 people!
Now you should understand the power of social media ... thus a case study. Some important items to remember. I had content that fit the day / news (green in the heavens on St. Patrick's Day), and I took action quickly upon realizing the value of my image.
Here are more photos from that morning.
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If you're still reading, and would like to see a few photos from the second night out, browse to my other blog, 365 Days Of Birds. Yup! The Aurora lasted for days, and I kept going out at night to watch nature's fireworks!
Many of you know that I am gung-ho about the value of Flipboard Magazines. Here is a post from Jeff Bullas which documents great reasons for creating your own Flipboard Magazine. Recently Flipboard has upgraded their bookmarklet which gives even more ways to maximize content you flip into magazines, including choosing the exact image and size, plus the ability to call out products. Link here for my own post on the value and tutorial on creating a Flipboard Magazine.
Today I want to test the tracking of Flipboard links to a web site (in this case, back to this blog) via Google Analytics and Google's URL Campaign Builder. The basic idea is that I will be able to insert an image / page into Flipboard and easily track it back to this blog. From a marketing vantage point this adds huge value to any online referral source. I will update this post in a few days with a report on whether the Google Analytics Campaign Builder worked as desired. (update on November 18th: Using Google Campaign Builder I have been easily able to track Flipboard magazine referrals to my site)
If you just want to view my own magazine, here is Lake Superior Waves
One content item I like to post into Lake Superior Waves is information and photos about the Northern Lights, which are quite viewable here in northern Minnesota. One way I keep myself informed is via the use of a Northern Lights app on my Android smartphone, Aurora Alert.
Thus, when conditions are optimal, you will often find the NorthStarNerd viewing the nightime skies and photographing the Northern Lights. However, given optimal viewing is often at 2:00 or 3:00 am, determining whether it is worth getting out of a warm bed is important. I want to minimize my lost sleep! The app, Aurora Alert, is well worth the price of admission ($1.99). It brings together in one spot data from NOAA and other government web sites which allow one to receive both a Aurora Borealis forecast, and know the exact current conditions. One place the app shines is giving the user an alert that is geographic specific to one's exact location. Here are a few screenshots taken from my own smartphone. Click upon any image to view at full size and resolution.
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My Phone's Home Screen, and Current Northern Lights Conditions
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The Northern Lights Forecast and Ovation Aurora (web page)
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The Alert Settings and my Preferences.
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Here is a photograph from a recent night spent photographing the Northern Lights. This picture was taken in Duluth, Minnesota up on Hawk Ridge. The trees in the foreground are illuminated using "light painting". Click upon the image to view at full size and resolution.
Google / Motorola may be attempting to do with hardware what Android is doing to the software operating system world ... a revolution! Project Ara is attempting to develop modular compenents for smartphones which incorporate open hardware design. Imagine this idea for a phone:
Sound interesting? Read up on Project Ara.
I've signed up with Motorola to be a beta tester. I'll report back at the project progresses. At this point I've installed the Ara dScout app to my smartphone and have complete the three requested "missions".
