Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

Minnov8 Gang 311 – Talk to me Mickey!

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talk-to-me-mickey_mainWhile Phil and Steve await their Apple Watches, Graeme already has his and loves his Mickey Mouse face. Um wait…did Disney get a new Mickey?

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music: Swing the Future by The Fearless Band under a Creative Commons License.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:04:12 — 37.8MB)

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Story Links
Past Week’s Biggest MN Stories
Other Top Stories

Steve’s Security Tip of the Week

Cool Thing of the Week

Upcoming Events

Minnov8 Gang 299 – Tim’s Raspberry Pie

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Tim loves him some raspberry pie…or is it Raspberry Pi? Listen and find out.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott and Phil Wilson (Graeme Thickins is off).
Music: Stickybee by Josh Woodward. Brought to us by the podsafe Music Alley.

The Podcast

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Story Links
Past Week’s Biggest MN Stories
Other Top Stories
Steve’s Security Tip of the Week
Cool Thing of the Week
Upcoming Events

Minnov8 Gang 298 – Welcome to Skynet

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skynet-mainWhat if our internet-connected world wakes up, becomes super-intelligent, and Skynet becomes a reality? Should we really be concerned about that? Entrepreneur Elon Musk and physicist Stephen Hawking sure think so, and this past week Bill Gates joined them in expressing his concern about the coming super-intelligent machines.

The Gang, on the other hand, focuses on much more pressing issues like broadband, Apple making the most profit in one quarter than any company ever, and how annoying linkbait has become.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music: What Makes A Fool Fall In Love by BooBoo Davis. Brought to us by the podsafe Music Alley.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:00:52 — 35.6MB)

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Past Week’s Biggest MN Stories
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skynet

Steve’s Security Tip of the Week
Cool Thing of the Week
Link Bait of the Week

linkbait

Upcoming Events

Minnov8 Gang 297 – We Found Bigfoot

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Skymall has declared bankruptcy!?! Say it isn’t so. Now we’ll never be able to buy another lifesize Bigfoot statute for $2,250 again.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music: Silent Fog by Dave LaGrande. Brought to us by the podsafe Music Alley.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:08:42 — 58.8MB)

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Story Links
Past Week’s Biggest MN Stories
Other Top Stories
Steve’s Security Tip of the Week
  • Serious threat, so patch (or disable) Adobe Flash Player right now!
    • Brian Krebs: Flash Patch Targets Zero-Day Exploit
    • What can you do? You have two choices: Disable, or patch, the Adobe Flash Player:
      • Uninstall and disable Adobe Flash Player altogether (recommended)
        • Uninstallers and/or instructions for Windows  |  Mac  |  Linux
        • Additional steps:
          • Google Chrome has Adobe Flash Player embedded in its install and, even though the uninstaller will likely eradicate Adobe Flash Player from your machine’s browsers, it is highly recommended that you ensure it is disabled. Here are the disabling instructions for Google Chrome on Windows/Mac/Linux/Chrome OS.
          • Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, et al: Though other browsers also likely will Adobe Flash Player removed during the uninstall process, you should still double-check your browser’s plugins to be certain Flash is disabled.
      • Install (or update) if you must have Adobe Flash Player running. But if you do, make certain you check the installer box to allow Adobe’s auto-updating!
Cool Thing of the Week
Upcoming Events

Minnov8 Gang 294 – The CES Lounge Singer

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lounger-singer-mainGraeme is headed to Las Vegas for the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show and will be performing his lounge act, no doubt. (Actually, he’s working with some of his Minnesota clients showcasing their offerings at the show, but who knows?).

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott and Phil Wilson (Graeme Thickins is off).
Music: Handful of Stars by Midnight Music Quartet. Brought to us by the podsafe Music Alley.

The Podcast
Story Links
Past Week’s Biggest MN Stories
Other Top Stories
Steve’s Security Tip of the Week

Top Five Security New Year’s Resolutions

1) Use two-factor authentication whenever possible

2) Use a password manager

3) Be smart, and safe, with your computing

4) Encrypt your hard drive, especially on your laptop!

5) Use a VPN

Cool Thing of the Week
Upcoming Events

Minnov8 Gang 293 – 2015 Predictions Show

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4-wisemen-new-mainWhat predictions for 2014 did we hit? Miss? And what do we predict for 2015? Are we the four Christmas wisemen or something else? Listen to this show and find out.

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music: Merry Christmas Baby by Calvin Owens. Brought to us by the podsafe Music Alley.

The Podcast
Story Links
Past Week’s Biggest MN Stories
 Past Week’s Other Big Stories
2015 Predictions Links
Cool Thing of the Week

Phil: Cool gingerbread creations
Tim: Aeon Labs DSC06106-ZWUS – Z-Wave Smart Energy Switch
Graeme: Slingbox M1
Steve: Plantronics Backbeat Go 2 — Bluetooth headset

Upcoming Events

Minnov8 Gang 292 – You Need a ‘Cone of Silence’

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As you’ll hear about in the podcast in ‘Steve’s Security Tip of the Week’, now anyone can listen in on your mobile phone calls. Reminded us of the 1960s spy show Get Smart and how we need their Cone of Silence (video)!

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music: Xmas Blues by Boo Boo Davis. Brought to us by the podsafe Music Alley.

The Podcast
Story Links
Past Week’s Biggest MN Stories
 Past Week’s Other Big Stories
Agents 86 and 99 take calls on their shoes

Agents 86 and 99
take calls on their shoes

Steve’s Security Tip of the Week

 

Cool Thing of the Week
Upcoming Events

Displaced Minneapolis Microsoft Developers Find a New Home

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Well, that didn’t take long. As many of our readers know, this fall Microsoft Corporation closed its local product development office, which was called the Twin City Development Center, leaving between 30 and 40 software engineers without jobs.  Today, about 20 percent of those professionals have found new opportunities with a 2013 Minneapolis-based startup called Smart Social Media — a wholly owned subsidiary of Texas-based Next Wave Health — that leverages the power of social media to take on and meet healthcare-industry challenges.

SMM-widegraphicSmart Social Media’s technology is designed to address the complex challenges of healthcare delivery and management by providing custom, interactive, peer-to-peer, and enterprise social collaboration platforms for hospitals and healthcare IT users.  It supports new, smart communities that can drive change.

According to its web site, the Smart Social Media team develops “secure, mobile social platforms for the healthcare industry and hospitals that not only want to connect with their audience, but also leverage the audience to drive beneficial outcomes from collaborative interactions.”

The Minneapolis office is located at 221 North First Street and is headed by Scott Diestler, VP of development.

“The former Microsoft developers, now with SSM, share their new employer’s dynamic vision to combine the power of IT and social media to improve an industry at a tipping point,” said Gina McAllister, the company’s spokesperson, in an email to me.  “They find the opportunities of working in an agile environment that allows them to wear many hats in the development of unique new software to be worthy of their accomplished pasts and considerable skills.”

To learn more, follow Smart Social Media via its presence on Twitter or Facebook.

Minnov8 Gang 291 – Tim is NOT happy!

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Poor Vikings fanboy Tim Elliott. He doesn’t understand why Vikings RB Adrian Peterson’s suspension appeal denied by arbitrator. The other three of us, um, shook our shoulders and went on to talk technology innovation!

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music: The Complainer’s Boogie Woogie by William Clarke. Brought to us by the podsafe Music Alley.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:16:26 — 44.9MB)

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Story Links
Past Week’s Biggest MN Stories

 

Past Week’s Other Big Stories
Cool Thing of the Week

Phil: Pyro
Tim: The Innovators, by Walter Isaacson
Graeme: The Beatles Lyrics: The Stories Behind the Music
Steve: Media Temple SSD-based Grid, VPS and Dedicated

Upcoming Events

Minnov8 Gang 289 – I *LOVE* My TV

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love-my-tv_mainJulio Ojeda-Zapata from St. Paul Pioneer Press’ TwinCities.com (Julio writes YourTechWeblog) joins us and, during our “Black Friday Deals” discussion, we learned that Julio absolutely LOVES his TV…so much so that he hugs it. Um…OK.  😉

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott and Julio Ojeda-Zapata (Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson are off).
Music: 4.23 by Chris Greene Quartet. Brought to us by the podsafe Music Alley.

The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:12:16 — 42.2MB)

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Story Links
Past Week’s Biggest MN Stories

Other Top Stories

Cool Thing of the Week

Tim: Hemingwrite
Steve: Spam Nation by Brian Krebs
Julio: ByWord and Polaroid Cube

Upcoming Events