Like the LAPD scanner link I posted week or so ago, this link to LiveATC.com lets you listen in to that is happening at Van Nuys airport as aircraft arrive and depart. Van Nuys is the business general aviation airport in the US, so there is always a lot going on. You can also listen in on what other aircraft, like LAPD, are doing near the airport, as they need to stay in contact whenever working in the Van Nuys airspace. Van Nuys is also the base for LA County Fire Helicopters.

This feed could also be useful if you happen to visit the Van Nuys Airport Observation area off of Woodley Avenue. Using your iPhone or other mobile device, you could listen in on traffic as you watched the planes arrive and depart. When my son was younger, we used to visit here so he could watch the airplanes up close.

Link: Van Nuys Ground and Tower – KVNY radio feed via LiveATC.com

Information: Listen to Van Nuys Airport Tower Communications is a post from My Word with Douglas E. Welch

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Watch “Angry Birds Christmas Light Game” on YouTube.com

Video Description:

“Help! The pigs are trying to ruin Christmas. Grab the sling shot and fire those birds! From the people who brought you the Guitar Hero Christmas Light game! Running on two computers and 10 Light-o-rama 16 channel controllers, uses more than 20,000 lights and less than one cent of electricity per game. Audio is broadcast on 99.1FM, and the controller has a long enough cord for people to play in their cars on the street. Easier than the iPhone version, and bigger too.”

Video: Play Angry Birds on my friend’s Christmas Lights is a post from My Word with Douglas E. Welch

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Yes, it is that time of year again when visions of iPods dance in your  head and you are trying to figure what technology gifts to get your friends, family and co-workers. Do you need advice on this year’s technology gifts? Let me help you make your way through the dense thicket of tech possibilities.

Ask your questions as:

• Comments on this blog or on the TechnologyIQ blog
• On my Facebook Wall
• Via @douglaswelch on Twitter
• Via my profile on Google+

Let’s make this technology holiday the best that it can be!

You can find technology gift recommendations in The WelchWrite Bookstore and more! I will be adding new items each day.

Need help with your technology gift decisions? Let’s Talk! is a post from My Word with Douglas E. Welch

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Check out Ric’s past shows and games on his YouTube Channel

Video: Halloween light show is also a playable video game! is a post from My Word with Douglas E. Welch

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Related posts:

1. Video: Halloween Light Hero – Holiday Light Show
2. Ric Turner’s Christmas Light Show 2010 – Snowball Blaster – The Game
3. Video: Play Angry Birds on my friend’s Christmas Lights

Radar graphics courtesy of Weather Undergrounds WunderMap

Storma a-comin’, Ma! Get to the cellar! is a post from My Word with Douglas E. Welch

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No related posts.

This started to roll out here in the US yesterday, but I see today that the LA Public Library now has the ability to check out Kindle format books via its online eBook Catalog.

Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can download free software to read Kindle books on almost any device including Windows and Mac computers, iPhone, iPod Touch and Android device. I have “checked out” several eBooks via the existing methods, but I think this Kindle method will open up the number of titles available and also make them easier to download and read.

Kindle Books now available for check out from the LA Public Library is a post from My Word with Douglas E. Welch

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Following my successful founding of CareerCampLA and CareerCampSCV, I am moving forward with another unconference idea I have had for a while — MediaCampLA.

This unconference will focus on New Media of all sorts including online video sharing sites, podcasting and social media like Facebook, Twitter and more. I have attended many New Media conferences over the years, but it always seemed odd that Los Angeles — the main hub of entertainment in the US — didn’t have its own conference. There are so many people that could greatly benefit from such a conference — both in entertainment and other businesses — so I wanted to develop some sort of event here in my own backyard.

Having attended several BarCamps and other unconferences, I am sold on the concept of a conference organizing and structured by its attendees. Instead of calling in the typical A-list speakers, unconference draw on the large amount of amazing talent and information that exists locally. It provides a space for the underseen and underheard people to start sharing their message. Often these messages turn into something much larger, but these people and their ideas need the opportunity to be heard and spread. MediaCampLA hopes to provides a platform that allows for creation of “The Next Big Thing!”

If you are interested in helping to organize MediaCampLA, you can join the mailing list for MediaCampLA and check out he MediaCampLA blog. We are also on Twitter at @MediaCampLA and Facebook.

For more information, read What is MediaCampLA?

New Project: MediaCampLA! is a post from My Word with Douglas E. Welch

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This a is big book (544 pages) but quite an easy read. It has taken me less than a week to make my way through using both print and ebook versions of the text, depending on which was most convenient at the time. Both copies, as is typical, came from the Los Angeles Public Library, to which I offer my undying appreciation.

Now, granted, I am more than a bit of a geek, but I have come to love overviews of specific scientific concepts. In this book, Gleick follows the path of information in our history. More precisely, he discusses the progression of our understanding of information as it exists in all parts of our lives. The discussion of computers appears surprisingly late in the history. Information existed long before the digital computer. It might also be said that all the scientific theorizing about information that occurred before its introduction were critical to its discovery/invention. Without deep understanding of mathematics and boolean logic, the modern-day computer could not exist.

If you desire a deeper understanding of the information concepts that lie beneath your computer screen — as well as your entire life — The Information can show you the way.

Link: The Information by James Gleick (Amazon.com)

Book: The Information by James Gleick is a post from My Word with Douglas E. Welch

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Ric Turner of Santa Clarita ups the ante from last year’s Christmas Light Hero by creating an interactive video game — Snowball Blaster — using the Christmas lights on his house. Players sit in a moving rocket seat and try to blast the snowballs to help Santa make his rounds. The garage door is the play field and the entire house interacts with the game. Old school arcade fun on an entirely new scale!

Ric adds…

“The Christmas Light video game – Snowball Blaster! Hop in Santa’s electric training sled and grab the game controller for an adventure in snowball dodging. Press the left button to move left and the right to move right. Make it past all the snowballs for a big light show! (nobody has made it yet!) Game is easy enough for kids and challenging for adults… and quite addictive. High score so far is 910.”

The game is designed around the limitation of having very few positions to light up. The timing of when they light up is more versatile, so that’s where the game lives. It’s easy to learn, starts easy and gets harder pretty quick. The audio is broadcast on FM so people watching in cars get a good show too.

You can stop by and play Snowball Blaster – The Game on Philbrook Avenue in Santa Clarita most nights after dark.

Ric Turner’s Christmas Light Show 2010 – Snowball Blaster – The Game is a post from My Word with Douglas E. Welch

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Related posts:

1. Video: Halloween light show is also a playable video game!
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3. Video: Halloween Light Hero – Holiday Light Show