What the Vikings Should Be Thinking

The more I think about it, T Jack could easily give the Vikes a 2-1 record in the next three games (Lose to the Pats, win at home against Arizona and on the road at Chicago) By then, Brett's healthy enough to beat the Packers at home and the Vikes are 5-5 and (probably) in a tie for first at that point.



There. Problem solved. No need to lose any more sleep or productivity. Skol.

Minneapolis and Saint Paul at Sunset and Sunrise

Work on the Riverside Plaza video communications plan is underway! Earlier this week, I made my way to the top of the tallest building in the apartment complex. From 40 floors up, downtown Minneapolis and Saint Paul are even more beautiful than they look from ground level...

Here's looking east toward downtown Saint Paul at sunrise...

The sun going down over Minneapolis...

Riverside Plaza: Rebuilding Minneapolis History

It's a city within a city. More than 5,000 residents living in high rises on a space about the size of Target Field. It's a place with history - this winter it could be added to the state's historic register - and also a place with nearly 10,000 Facebook fans. If you've ever lived in Minneapolis, you know that place; perhaps by its not-so-flattering name, but for those who live there it's Riverside Plaza.

Riverside is back in the news and that's a good thing. Check out this FOX 9 report for part of the story:

Now here's the rest of the story. To answer Jeff Passolt's question at the end of the above FOX piece, this January the landlords will be starting a two-year renovation project that will rehab every square foot of living space in Riverside, including new plumbing to address the pipes mentioned in the FOX story. The renovation will preserve Riverside's history while once again making it a comfortable home for the people who live there. Warehouse Media is fortunate enough be the firm chosen to produce the video communications associated with the renovation.

The videos will...

• Communicate important renovation-related messages with all of Riverside's residents in several different languages. (Versions will be translated in multiple languages to serve the community's diverse population)
• Explain why the renovation is happening and what needs to be fixed.
• Talk about the history of a complex that has been part of Minneapolis' skyline since the early 1970's.
• Tell stories about life as a resident in Riverside.

The last point is what excites me the most. Perceptions of the people who inhabit this place aren't always positive. Probably because the people with those misconceptions don't know stories like the one where a child who lives in the complex, whose family makes roughly $10,000 a year, led a massive fundraising effort to gather money and supplies for the earthquake victims in Haiti. Those aren't the stories you'll see on 60 Minutes, but they are the stories we'll be telling on Riverside's soon-to-be-developed YouTube channel.

So stay tuned...

Warehouse Media Expands

While I've talked personally to many of you about this, my career path has taken an unexpected, but (so far) rewarding turn - I am now 100 percent self-employed. Yep, Warehouse Media is no longer just a silly Twitter handle ...it's also the silly name of my company!

In short, I create high-quality video content for organizations to use on their blogs, websites, Facebook pages ...basically, I give you something to show people online. Which is important, because Google loves nothing more than YouTube videos (SEO). For more, check out my short video explanation of Warehouse Media:



So if you know anyone who wants to get noticed using video, please send them my way! Justinwarebco at gmail dot com.

Minneapolis Recycling - Sort it ...sometimes

Recycling is beyond important. The amount of glass, plastic, metal and paper that would otherwise end up in landfills is evident every time you drive through one of Minneapolis' many alleys on that area's recycling collection date. So, it would stand to reason that the city would make recycling as easy as possible for its residents. After all, plenty of other midwestern cities have adopted commingled recycling (where the city does the sorting for you) ...so why not Minneapolis? Well, here's the explanation from the city:

Sorted recycling generates the biggest revenue. Revenue from recycling provides money for:

-Large item pickup
-The voucher program
-Clean City programs
-Ongoing operating costs

If the City of Minneapolis used single-stream recycling (all recycling in one bin, as some areas do), the higher cost of processing these materials would result in lower revenue, and possible cuts in other waste services.

OK, that makes sense. I really do appreciate being able to leave large items out and have the city take them, at no extra cost. Which leaves me with just one question ...if all recycling needs to be sorted by individuals, then where does the trash from the commingled recycling in city parks go? In those blue cans, conveniently placed all over heavily used public areas, we discard all of our recyclable waste all in one intermixed container. Is that recycling sorted by hand? ...or does the city have a machine for that?

This is not a complaint, just an honest question. If anybody knows the answer, please share! Ultimately, I'd like to see recycling made as easy as possible for everyone.

Offshore Wind Potential

Coastline touches more than half the United States and off those coastlines exists massive energy potential. Oil? Nope. Wind is the energy source and there is enough of it to power the entire country with energy to spare. In the video below, fast forward to the 4:46 mark for more on the power potential off-shore wind has to offer (or watch the whole video ...it's worth six minutes of your time!):

(Video courtesy of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory or "NREL")



A lot of Federal money goes into subsidizing the current form of energy pouring in off our coastlines - and recently, onto our coastlines thanks to BP's colossal, on-going spill. Let's push our lawmakers to start redirecting those subsidies toward clean forms of energy, like the offshore wind turbines described in the above video. It's the only guaranteed way to prevent another oil spill like the current disaster taking place in the Gulf of Mexico.

Behind the "B16 Ten" Logo

The Big 16 appears to be over before it happened, which is a shame for an alum from the University of Iowa.

On June 11th, with Nebraska joining the Big 10 and seemingly assuring the destruction of the Big 12, many members of the sports world theorized the Big 10 would be adding as many as 5 teams, making it a 16-team league. Had that happened, the conference would be in need of a new logo. And within the day, a graduate student from the University of Iowa produced the image you see embedded in this column. His name is Chiraag (he asked that I don't use his last name) and he cobbled the could-be logo "just for fun."

"I thought I had an idea that worked for the Big Ten if they did expand to 16 teams ... and wanted to share it," said Chiraag. "I've been pleasantly surprised with all the support and compliments I have seen on many different online forums. Graphic design has always been a hobby of mine, and as a graduate of a Big Ten school (University of Iowa), this was a natural interest of mine."

Chiraag has not been in contact with anyone from the Big 10. If Nebraska is the only addition, it's likely he won't ever hear anything from the conference. However, should Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Missouri or any other combination of four teams end up joining the ranks, will Chiraag's hobby turn into a lucrative business brought about by the instant, info-sharing nature of the Internet? It'd almost be worth adding four teams to find out, wouldn't it?