Geeky
Justin Berke’s Year in Duluth
Justin Berke recently celebrated his one-year anniversary of living in Duluth by creating an infographic website at ayearinduluth.tk.
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Help with Duplicator
No, I’m not trying to copy myself. I have a Model 70 Conquerer Spirit Duplicator which I am trying to figure out. I have never used one but am interested in how the machine works and would love to get this one back in action. If anyone could share some knowledge or point me in the direction of some good resources I would greatly appreciate it.
Happy eleventeenth birthday to us
Perfect Duluth Day is eleven years old today – Sunday, June 29, 2014. The official celebration is at Carmody Irish Pub tonight at 8 p.m. Fabulous prizes will be awarded to the top finishers of this week’s Pub Quiz, the questions for which will all be related to PDD. It’s a super tough quiz, so study intensively.
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Duluth Scavenger Hunts
Above is KBJR-TV video from the Duluth Citywide Scavenger Hunt of 2004. Last month Scavaganza was put on by Youth for Duluth. What other scavenger hunts can you recall from day’s past? (more…)
“Little Pirate” Turns 15!
Little Pirate, aka August, began blogging on PDD when he was four.
Speed Research at UMD
The UMD Visualization Lab‘s monthly Speed Research is up, and ready to be watched.
Talks about telepresent art, Hobbesian political science, and humor in business education. Fun!
Video Archive: How many geeks can you fit into a Kia Rio?
The third iteration of Geek Prom was held in 2004 at the Great Lakes Aquarium. As a publicity stunt, the prom committee decided to find out how many geeks could be crammed into a Kia Rio. Answer: 21. The more important question, however, was: Would the sight of it make WDIO-TV Eyewitness News anchor Dennis Anderson lose his composure? Answer: Yes.
Nerd Field Report: Firefly, Nerd Nite, Icebox Radio Theatre, Arts Advocacy
It was a week for several varieties of Nerd for me. (more…)
How many pay phones are left in Duluth?
Ah, the once-ubiquitous pay telephone. I remember when they could be found on every major street corner, but if I needed one today, I would have no idea where to find one.
Are there any pay phones left in Duluth? If so, where? Confirm their existence by commenting below, but please post only current confirmations. If you have a vague memory of one existing a few years ago, that doesn’t count.
(more…)Presenters wanted for Browncoat Mondays
I’m lining up short (10 minute) presentations on Joss Whedon’s Firefly for Browncoat Mondays at the Zinema 2 starting at the end of this month. These presentations can be on any topic related to the series or the movie.
Trampled by Turtles’ song deserves Oscar
There I was, sitting in a cavernous multiplex theater at Duluth 10. The movie, The Way Way Back, is one that I had actually chosen by accident. Or chosen erroneously, I mean. The Mrs. and I were on an impromptu date night and picked The Way Way Back thinking that it was actually another movie I had heard about.
A good 30 minutes in I realized both my error, and that the film was not what I had hoped for, a fluffy summertime coming-of-age story, and that it was instead a sort of dark, introspective coming-of-age story that just happened to be placed in a summer setting. At points during the movie I could actually viscerally feel my own awkward teenage summer loneliness flaring up in some deep, dark buried place in my gut. So the film makers nailed that part.
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Duluth knows how to do snow removal, but where does it all go?
I was very impressed to happen upon this epic snow removal operation on Second Street on Thursday at about 11 a.m.
You might be able to see in the photo that this clean-up convoy of sorts includes numerous heavy construction vehicles stretching from where this was taken at about Second Avenue East, all the way back to Fourth Avenue West.
PDD Shovel Cam
While Cory has been traveling to exotic locations and honing his skills with the PDD Drone, I’ve been perfecting the PDD Shovel Cam.
Save the robots! Volunteers needed.
On March 6-8 there are two major regional For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology robotics events scheduled at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. High School teams from all over Minnesota and beyond will participate in these events.
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More thoughts on Duluth neighborhoods
All of the recent postings have reignited my interest in our city’s neighborhoods. Their unique aspects are really interesting. And there are so many things I still don’t know, even after living here for 20+ years.
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North Coast iOS Developers!
Krekeltronics, a small Minnesota-based firm, is looking for iOS developers! We’d like to talk to independent experienced folks looking for a bit of stability, burnt out corporate subjects seeking a simpler lifestyle, or even skilled recent grads looking to pair with someone.
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We want your cat (videos)
You probably heard about the Walker Art Center’s Internet Cat Video festival this summer and you were probably devastated to miss it. But don’t get your whiskers out of whack because the Zinema Theater and the Duluth Art Institute are bringing the cats north. On Dec. 10, at 7 p.m., Zinema 2 will screen the insanely popular Cat Video Film Festival along with some special videos made right here at home. Imagine – you can see your favorite feline on the big screen next to lil bub!
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Duluth Little Free Library Guide
It’s been more than a year since the first post on Perfect Duluth Day about Little Free Libraries, and the trend seems to be growing. So now it’s time to update the list and include some photos to show what’s out there.
Little Free Libraries, of course, are boxes full of books where anyone may stop by and pick some up or drop some off.
(As usual, click on these photos to see them larger.)

997 84th Ave. W. (Morgan Park neighborhood)
Steve & Janelle Schoenbauer, Stewards #2336

16 E. Seventh St. (Central Hillside neighborhood)
Colin Engstrom, Steward #8416

1612 E. Skyline Parkway (East Hillside neighborhood)
John Pastor, Steward #2278 (more…)
Graduate Study in the Twin Ports
I am lucky enough to have been declared the director of graduate studies in the Master of Liberal Studies degree at UMD.
It made me think that a guide to local grad programs would be helpful. So I built one. Which programs listed below are you an alumnus from? And what advice might you have for new students?
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Another (Unexpected) Duluth-Related Kickstarter
For those of you who know your comic book writers, the name Alan Moore is usually found at the top of most peoples “favorites” list (maybe because he’s an incredible writer, or maybe because he’s a fucking wizard and people are scared of him).
Anyway, I was watching Alan Moore’s Kickstarter video for the “His Heavy Heart” project, and was completely surprised to hear the Duluth connection!
Skip ahead to 3:45 if you want to hear Alan Moore drop Alan Sparhawk’s name as a collaborator on the project!
Field Guide to Duluth Apostrophe’s
While PDD users are vigilant in reporting sightings of improper apostrophe use — what for these purposes we call the Duluth Apostrophe, or “the DA” — these reports are widely scattered over many different posts. I decided to correct the situation by aggregating all known examples of the DA, past and present, into a single post.
Here is the list, in alphabetical order, followed by the locations of each example.
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