Third Planet

"The universe is shaped exactly like the earth, if you go straight long enough you'll end up where you were" -Isaac Brock (of Modest Mouse fame)

This classic quote from Third Planet, by Modest Mouse, seems relevant for today's final posting. As one could see from scrolling through my posts, I have obviously exhausted what amount of creative writing skill I ever possessed, and I am now rambling on about random websites that I have been to. What was originally a place to find out about interesting blogs has now become a barren wasteland of entries stretching from a wind map to Google Docs.

I figured the only feasible way to end this blog-de-cool-blogs is just how I started it. Hipster Dads. Dads Are The Original Hipsters  is still the greatest place on the internet, and will stay that way... forever. 

Your dad played in a band nobody had heard of before you did and they were so indie that even you don’t know who they are. Have you ever heard of the genre house-clash slam-punk fist-rock? Probably not, and your dad’s band invented it. They sounded like an amplified boxing match inside of a stampede. He was the ring leader of noise that gave sonic bitch slaps to eardrums and brought the ruckus so hard buildings were condemned when they left. 

So hipsters, next time you’re finger-raping the guitar neck in an attempt to sound like the Portland backwoods while dreaming of never making it big so that you never have to explain why you sold out, remember this… 

Your dad could actually play an instrument, and maybe if you gave him a call, he could teach you a chord or two that might get you laid by something other than your hand. 

Thanks for having me in your class and have a great summer! P.S. I'm not sure how the font and background color got so screwed up, but after unsuccessfully attempting to fix it, I am left with this red and white font. I blame the new Blogger interface.

Hella Clips

Like most people that are into action sports, it comes naturally for me to appreciate the other disciplines besides the one I participate in (BMX). Growing up, I was always riding at the skatepark with a lot of my friends that skateboard. I have a ton of respect for skateboarding, and enjoy keeping up on what is happening in their corner of the action sports realm. The creativity and constant progression of skating, along with other "extreme" sports keeps me coming back for more. HellaClips is a blog-ish website where one can go to find internet edits of some of the premiere skaters. Everyday, plenty of clips are uploaded to keep anyone satisfied (today, there has been 30 edits linked to already, and here is one of them).

WIND MAP

Winds are crazy and so is this real-time map. The site that it is on, Hint.fm is a collaboration between Fernanda Viegas and Martin Wattenberg, who lead Google's "Big Picture" visualization research group. The oddly paired mathmetician- designer duo combines art and design with data representation, and comes up with some very unique outcomes. Another piece they came up with is called "Web Seer." The site, which is down right now unfortunately, allows the user to enter a phrase, and see what is most commonly searched using that same phrase on Google. I did a terrible job of explaining that even after giving it a few go's, so these pictures should fill you in a lot better. (In these diagrams, the arrow thicknesses show the number of web pages for each question.)

Graham's Weblog

I'm not sure how its been this long before i mentioned the greatest, most entertaining, sleekest blog of them all: Graham's Weblog! Deviating from the normal use of the oh-so-exciting Desire2Learn, Graham adds a bit of excitement to our lives with the use of a blog.

Visually/ Aesthetically Compelling D2L Interface

Instead of clicking on the "content" tab and scrolling down a list of 12-point font titles until I find what I am looking for, I am able to receive entertaining, yet still relevant, updates about the class. The blog provides not only required information regarding the class, but also links to pages that we, as marketers, might find to be interesting. Graham also keeps relevant with internet culture references, classic ads and colorful and humorous pictures. In addition, it shows a level of interest and involvement from a professor that usually doesn't come across with most classes. Most professors wouldn't go out of their way to post a relevant link, or to warn students of a sick day (before they trudge to class through a foot of snow), but Graham does. Thanks Graham!

Baby Sick Day

GoogleDocs

Google, hate it or love it, its here to stay. Recently, I have had a couple IT projects that use Google Docs extensively. It makes it nice to be able to work from anywhere and still input ideas to one other like we are in the same room. The programs that Google offers for free are amazingly useful. In my wiki, I talked about Word-Of-Mouth campaigns, and Google's extra features seem like a great example. They offer great, free programs that students (and non-students) all across the world have recommended to one another.  I may or may not be skimping on this week's blog (again?) but there's lots of stuff going on as we approach the 1-month-left milestone.

GOOGLE. 


/irrelevant post about site everyone is aware of

Online Alarm Clock

Alarm clock on phone doesn't work. Instead of getting a new $40 phone off craigslist, (or a $10 dollar alarm clock at wal-mart) this website and I slowly kill away my aging laptop by keeping it on all night, every night. I suppose it would technically be the website I spend the most time on. KUKU KLOK

First tracks down Saddle!!!

Ya ya ya, most the websites I visit don't really relay any direct benefit to my well-being or future success, but this week, the tables have turned. Admittedly, when I first came to Bozeman, my knowledge in the realm of backcountry safety in the winter was nill. I still am no guru, but I like to think I can make educated decisions regarding snowpack and terrain assessment. I owe what knowledge I do have almost exclusively to the friendly folks at the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center and the programs they set up. 

MTavalanche.com is the homepage of the center, and contains a wealth of knowledge. Each and every day, either Mark Staples, Doug Chabot or Eric Knoff wake up and deliver an advisory for each mtn range around Bozeman. This may include, but isn't limited to: the "danger level," persistent weak layers, or even how much water content the new powder fell with. The website also includes a ton of photos and videos of slides and results of Rouche block tests from around the Bozeman area.

In addition to sharing their expertise on avalanche conditions around the area, and website also includes another extremely useful resource. They provide weather information from multiple sites on all 3 of the resorts, and other popular backcountry destinations. Some of these feeds are provided by the resorts, some from purchased and donated equipment, and some from SNO-TEL sites. Depending on what the station offers, a person can find out tidbits of info such as: temp, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, snow depth and new snow fall. All this knowledge really helps in a person's decision of where and when to step into the backcountry.

Bridger Bowl 48-Hour Weather from the Bridger weather station
     as of March 11th, 2012 at 8:00 PM

    DATE    TIME     AIR     AVG     AVG     MAX     NEW
                    TEMP    WIND    WIND    WIND    SNOW
                           SPEED     DIR   SPEED    FALL
--------------------------------------------------------
   03 11    2000    34.2      24     SSE      44     0.2
   03 11    1900    35.7      16     SSE      37     0.2
   03 11    1800    37.5      17       S      48       0
   03 11    1700    39.4      17     SSE      38       0
   03 11    1600    40.4      20     SSE      44       0
   03 11    1500    43.7      15     SSE      30       0
   03 11    1400    45.9      13     SSE      30       0
   03 11    1300      44      15     SSE      34       0
   03 11    1200    41.7      14     SSE      32       0
   03 11    1100    42.9      10     SSE      19       0
   03 11    1000    39.8      12       S      21       0
   03 11    0900    37.2      11     SSE      19       0
   03 11    0800      33       9       S      17     0.3
   03 11    0700    31.2       8       S      15     0.3
   03 11    0600    30.2       4      SW       9     0.3
   03 11    0500    29.7       2      SW       5     0.4
   03 11    0400    31.4       2     SSW       7     0.3
   03 11    0300       0       0       N       0       0
   03 11    0300    31.6       3     SSW       7     0.4
   03 11    0100      33       2       S       7     0.3
   03 11    0000      34       2       S       6     0.3

Another resource on the site is a listing of education opportunities. Whether it be attending the short intro lectures at MSU, or sporting good stores around Bozeman, or going on to get level 1 or level 2 certified, it is imperative to get some help in assessing terrain and snowpack. As you can see by scrolling through the photos section of the site, more and more people are going into the backcountry, and more and more human-caused slides are occuring. Winter in Montana, or any other place with a continental snowpack, can be extremely dangerous, and is underestimated frequently. Get educated, make good decisions, stay alive. 

Saddle Peak, popular slack-country bro-brah destination. Feb. 2010. Notice the masses of tracks that occured before it actually slid.