Secrets of the City

According to an IT executive from Minneapolis, the iPhone doesn’t fare too well during the city’s frigid winters. When temperatures there plummet – sometimes well below zero – the touch screen won’t dial anymore.

Forbes announced it’s list of the most wired cities in America and Minneapolis tied with Washington D.C. at 11th place.

A new report by the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Race and Poverty shows that while the digital divide remains a problem in Minnesota, community technology centers can help bridge the gap.

We all know the Minnesota leads the nation in volunteerism. With all of the new tech-based volunteer opportunities (Free Geek, CTEP, Patchwork Quilt, Open Circuit), what are some aspects of technology you know that can be used to benefit the Twin Cities community?

The Consumerist set up a sting operation to keep an eye on a Geek Squad tech who was asked to install iTunes. Guess what else he did (there’s video). [See also: Geek Squad Reads Your Porn]

So, it’s here. Who’s getting one? Who’s going to be inline like this guy? Who wouldn’t be seen with one? But the real reason for this thread is I’m looking for a new mobile carrier and want to know what you all think is the best in the TC?

So who went to Geek Prom? Last year when I went, there was no pepper spraying at the streakers. This livejournal user tells of getting caught downwind.

Ross has a nice collection of photos. So does Chuck. Flickr photos tagged with Geek Prom.

Did you go? Was it geektastic 2.0?

And more! An astounding tale of how the Bloomington-based company has been ruined by its relationship with Best Buy, who pushed them into passing off used computers as new, replaced the company’s staff of experts with ill-educated salesmen, and hired people who were savvy enough to track down the naked photos of you and your significant other that you thought were safely deleted (and those same people turned out to be unscrupulous enough to download these same images to their thumb drives.)


After reading this, I think next time I need my computer fixed, I’m just going to just take it behind the barn and shoot it.

The Least Dangerous Game, will be doing a trial run this Saturday. All you need is a Twitter account, which is free, and some gumshoe skills. This is an interesting technology inspired social experiment started by Matteo Turchetto.

Here’s how it works:

Every Saturday from noon to 6pm, I will be hiding somewhere in the Twin Cities area. Using Twitter, I will slowly update you with clues to where I am.

The first person to find me receives a prize. They will also be profiled in Mondays video podcast.

The game begins when 50 Twin Cities Twitterers become Least Dangerous Games friend through Twitter. That way, we have ourselves a contest!

You can only win once a calender month. Feel free to find me though. We can have a cup of coffee.

Sprint just announced that they’ll be setting up a city-wide wireless internet service in Minneapolis using WiMax technology. The service would compete with the city’s planned Wi-Fi connection.