Controllable Christmas Lights are baacckkkk ...

MG'ers have had fun with the controllable holiday lights in the past, so I thought I'd toss it out there again - see blurb below.

I'd also like to add an attaboy to Jim/Tim who (among other things) provided assistance in 2004 when I needed some additional bandwidth. This year, I have four dedicated 100 Mbps servers - one for the main site, and one for each webcam - all running Linux/Apache/mod_perl. It handled the front page of DIGG pretty well yesterday! ;-) There are some christmas lights video of the action yesterday. I might add that "Christmas Lights for Celiac Disease" (something my kids have) has raised over $14,000 for charity and help find a cure.

And yes, I still have the MG shirt pictured below in case the media come knocking again ... ;-)

Use the christmas lights webcams to view live images of a lot of christmas lights and also CONTROL them - heck, you can even inflate (or deflate) the giant Elmo, Frosty, Santa, and Homer Simpson - D'OH! The webcams are online 7x24 from Thanksgiving to January 1st and you annoy the neighbors by turning stuff on & off from 1700 to 2200 MST (GMT-7). Plus you can send "Instant Messages via Webcam" for everyone to see. HO HO HO! ;-)


http://www.komar.org/christmas/2004/majorgeeks.jpg

 

WOW! You'v outdone yourself

 

Thanks Halo and Ricky - I actually have a few more lights to put up ... and a cold front blows in tonight ... but at least I got most of it done in shirt-sleeves weather.

 

It should be christmas every day so i can mess witht the lights!!! MUAAHAH!!

 

Latest thing for the environmentalists / greenies / those witha grudge against everything, to "get down" on, in OZ is Christmas lights.

Too much power used, to much greenhouse gas generating the power, yata yata yata.

Bazza

 

I live in the Republic of Boulder, so yea I've seen some of this "Christmas Lights are bad" stuff. There was actually a letter in our local newspaper about this. Below is that letter followed by my response (which hasn't been printed).


Published in BDC Open Forum on November 21st, 2006
*LIGHTS*
*This Christmas, less can be more*

Every year, the Daily Camera does a story honoring the beautiful displays of holiday lights in our community.

In the 2006 Season of Light, I'd like to make a plea that the Camera seek out the most /imaginative/ displays, not the most extravagant and energy-intensive. In a year that's seen global warming established as a fact in most minds, as well as a threat to our kids and theirs, it seems to me wrong-headed to pile on the lights (unless solar powered!) or to praise anyone for doing so.

With a little imagination, and encouragement from community leaders (such as yourself), we can do more with less and be the better for it.


Here's my response

An Open Forum letter a week ago encouraged Boulder residents to be more imaginative (rather than just have more lights) with their Christmas Displays in order to reduce the impact on Global Warming.

As someone who is often called Clark Griswold this time of the year, here’s what I’m doing along those lines - may also provide ideas for others:

1. Less Lights – “only” 15,000 this year – down from 26,000 in 2005.

2. Xcel Wind Power – Will be the 3rd year I've been in this program.

3. Carbon Offset – even though I’m using "clean" energy, I made a contribution to CarbonFund.Org for twice last year's 2 Megawatt-Hours of electrical power consumption.

4. For the second year in a row, you can (really) view the display on the Internet via live webcams. I.e. you don't need to burn fossil fuels by driving to see it in person.

5. Just like 2005 (but not 2004), environmentally inclined Internet surfers can go to the website and turn the lights OFF. Be forewarned that people from around the world (119 countries so far) enjoy seeing 'em ON ... so you will have to "battle" for control.

6. Lights off after 10:00 - I use a master timer so the display is typically only active between 5:00-10:00MST nightly. The overseas web surfers would like 'em left on all night, but I have great neighbors and figure they deserve a rest from the blinking lights.

Being an open-minded Republic of Boulder resident, I respect that some people still may not feel that is enough. However, many folks don't realize that the cost to run the 26,000 Christmas Lights in 2005 was $5/day – i.e. one Double Peppermint Latte.

And for me, that’s plenty well worth it for the joy it brings to people and especially the kids when they see the display in person and/or on the web. "Imaginative" additions this year are giant Inflatable Elmo and Homer Simpson - D'OH! So while my Christmas Lights might be a bit tacky, they make an effort to be environmentally conscious; plus they are just a darn lotta fun. ;-)

Finally, the Internet site has garnered thousands of dollars in donations to charity to help find a cure for Celiac Disease - something my kids have. So you better believe that komar.org is lit up again for 2006!

Merry Christmas and HO-HO-HO! ;-)

 

Thanks Halo - the "Open Minded Republic of Boulder resident" is one of several semi-subtle inside jokes - heh, heh! ;-)

BTW, if you want to hear something funny, check out some of the christmas music page - the blurb from the radio station in the UK is hilarious along with a few others on the bottom of that page.

 

It'd be great to go to the homes of the people who are complaining see how energy effiecient thier homes are or what steps they are taking

If it were up to me I'd ban electricity for a few days a year just so we had enough for the christamas lights

 

Another expression applied to the Republic of Boulder (which actually is a nice place to live BTW) is that it is "20 square miles surrounded by reality."

I did a blog entry about the Republic of Boulder a while back that was kinda entertaining. And don't even get me started about the angst over our Prairie Dog problem.

 

Good job man.

Hope you get a lot of donations too!

 

Great response, Hulkster. Bazza

 

FYI: Fark comes by in a half hour ... should be interesting ... - heh, heh! ;-)

 

Very impressive! I love the holidays! I am sure your naiborhood injoys the lights also!