Tag: Lincoln

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Fall Concerts 2014 (The Glitch Mob & Skrillex)

The Glitch Mob

The roommate and I drove to Des Moines, IA to see The Glitch Mob on a Thursday afternoon. The venue was different, much like a big community center. They had about half of it marked off with a big curtain for the concert. Parking was great though about 15 feet from the front door and free. The Glitch Mob (Soundcloud) sounded great during the entire show. I was worried that with just the 2 large stacks of PA speakers on either side it would not be loud enough but it was. Sound quality was not up to Bassnectar level but still better than most concerts. Lighting was pretty good for a small venue too. The controllers they were using to que the sounds were pretty cool. All touch screen based, with segmented areas it would be interesting to know more about them. Behind the large turbine looking props were digital drums/triggers too.  Summary I would drive 3 hours to see The Glitch Mob again, especially for a $20 ticket. I may come back and post a little video if there is interest please leave a comment below.

 

Skrillex in the Streets

Love him or hate him, Skrillex is a a pretty big name in modern music. I am admittedly not the biggest fan but decided to go to support a bigger show like this in Lincoln. It was unique because they closed down a intersection in downtown Lincoln and had the concert outside in the streets. Weather ended up being clear but pretty cool for early October. Opening acts were a few local DJ’s that did a good job and then Waka Flacka Flame who played a lot of his older rap songs and had a lot of stage energy to get people going. Skrillex came on and played a lot of his bigger songs but also a lot of mashups from others. I had pretty mixed feelings about it expecting some more of his original content. We did get to hear a exclusive to a new song he did say.

The concert was not physically setup very well which this combined with the crowed kind of ruined it for me to a degree. The front of the stage was about even with where the crosswalk would be, and the sound booth was set across the interesection just past the other crosswalk. This left very just the middle of the middle of the intersection for people who wanted to be directly in front of the stage where the best viewpoint, best sound, and best lights were. There were just too many people for this, and that left people spilling over the sides where sound and lights deteriorated a lot. There were also beer carts in the major walkways forcing people further into these pinch points to get from one side to the other. The crowed was more rude and rough than I have experienced in a while, even with a large police presence. You expect some of this but not to this extent. The next day the comments in the local newspaper’s online article was a great laugh with people complaining about noise for blocks etc. The promoters did a good job of announcing the show in advance and it ended at the reasonable time of 11pm sharp. I hope they can continue to offer this type of outdoor show in the future and make some improvements in setup and layout.

All photos taken with a Samsung Note 2.

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Summer Concerts 2014

Arctic Monkeys With Royal Blood

It was nice to go to a Rock Show again. The Harrah’s casino is a pretty good venu. It was the first smoke free concert I have been too indoor or out. Sound quality was good, not great. Royal Blood was my surprise of the show, having never heard of them I became a fan and had to grab their album when I got home. Arctic Monkeys put on a good show, focused most on their music playing song after song.

 

Katy Perry

I wasn’t originally planning to go to this one but got a ticket at the last minute. While not the biggest Katy Perry fan I left the show very impressed.  Seats were great at midcourt since the stage was a big triangle and went to just over midcourt. This show was a huge production, over 15 trucks brought in tons of lights, screens, moving floor sections, props, and fireworks. Sound quality in the PBA is really great, although bring your earplugs, it’s loud. You really forget about how many hit’s Katy Perry has had and she sang them all.

 

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Pretty Lights Analog Future Tour – Lincoln NE

Pretty Lights came to Lincoln on November 15th as part of his Analog Future Tour. Unlike other electronic artists, this show had real live musicians playing along with Pretty Lights.  The keyboards and horn players were pretty cool.  This was a more laid back show in comparison to Bassnectar but this is to be expected.  It was a long show at over 3 hours of music playing.  I enjoyed it for sure.  All photos and video below were taken with my Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

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Wide Range Broadband Review

Please make sure to see my updates at the bottom of the page.

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I have talked with Lincolnites citywide who share similar frustrations with the ISP options in town.  The big guys tend to overpromise, underdeliver, have over utilization problems, and reliability issues.  For me, the last 6 months have been worse than average, with huge fluctuations in speed, especially during peak times.  I had techs out, replaced modems, talked with support and there just was not much that could be done.  On top of this, new fees and a fairly high bill have been enough for me to start looking at other options.

In Lincoln there are not a ton of options.  Lincoln has a fairly limited market.  We have one cable provider and one traditional POTS phone provider.  There are a few resellers but they mainly use the infrastructure of the first two, thanks FCC.  There have been other options, but they typically have not been able to offer the price/performance ratio I was looking for, especially delivering a faster upload speed.

The Solution

Wide Range Broadband (WRB) is a small, locally owned and operated ISP, wanting to give Lincolnites another option to get Internet, phone and TV service.  When I first ran across them in late 2012 they didn’t have service in my area, but this has recently changed as they expand to cover more of the city.  View a coverage map here. WRB is a point to point line of sight Wireless ISP (WISP).  They use a RF technology and mount an antenna on a high point of your home and then run CAT5 inside.  More on the install later.  They are using fiber for the backhaul between their current 5 towers in town.Their main provider is Level 3 who dumps to the internet in Dallas TX.  The transmissions from the antenna to the providers tower is encrypted using 128 bit AES, which is a great thing.

Rooftop AntennaThis is the rooftop antenna on my house.

The Install

The install at my house took about 1.5 hours on a weeknight.  It was refreshing to have an appointment time that was not a 4 hour window.  During the install, Aaron, the company owner,  installed an antenna on my rooftop.  They had a lots of options, and I chose to put it on the side of my chimney.  Another common install point was the PVC exhaust vents many roofs have.  This is a good choice if you can’t put holes into the structure. The install is similar to a satellite dish install, with the mount actually being from a satellite dish.  From there he ran a length of outdoor rated CAT5 wire down the eave of my house and inside, with the rest of the service wires.  The antenna and CAT5 blend in pretty well, I think.  You can see them if you’re looking for it, but if not it blends in pretty well. Inside there is a simple small POE injector that plugs into electricity and a patch cable to your router.

Performance

I will admit I was a little skeptical at first of a wireless point to point service.  I have two pretty heavy users (Gaming, Streaming, Online Backup and more) in the house, so low lag and performance is a must. Point to point systems of the past are associated with having problems when there is weather, and high ping times.  So far I have not found this to be the case.  I am on the top residential package (21×5) and am seeing download speeds between 18-20mb/s and uploads of between 5-7mb/s   Upload speeds to seem to vary some, but they don’t dip that low, and are still significantly faster than I was previously receiving with my old ISP. Higher speeds are being seen at non peak times. The speed test screenshots speak for themselves. There are no bandwidth caps with the service either.

Speedtest

Service is dependent on distance from the towers, and according to Google Maps I am about 2.5 miles from the tower.  My housemate reports his ping times when playing online games are about 1/2 or 1/3 less with the new service.  Ping times to Google during peak hours are less than 30ms.   Youtube and Netflix performance are a lot better; much less buffering and no throttling. So far we have not had any thunderstorms roll through to see how that affects the service.  WRB told me that rain or snow would not affect the service.  So far in the one storm we have had I didn’t notice any performance differences.

After having the service about a week, I can easily say it’s the best ISP experience I have had in Lincoln and the best value.  The top package is quoted as a (21×5) for $60 a month.  With my old ISP I was paying $65 for (15×1) and that was not being delivered, so this is a much better value. Other packages are available as well with various levels of speed and price. I also like supporting a local company.

WRB also offers a referral program.  If this post has made you interested in signing up please let them know LiquidRetro referred you.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them below or find me on Twitter at @Liquidretro and I will reply back.

UPDATE1: I just wanted to write a quick update on the performance in the crazy weather Lincoln has had in the past 2 days.  On Tuesday some very significant thunderstorms rolled through town.  These brought with them some intense hail, that did cause a problem with my service.  After talking with the ISP they acknowledged a bit of downtime due to the weather. The hail had struck some of their antennas.  This was unexpected and they were looking deeper into the cause of the problem.  Good news is the outage only lasted about 20 minutes.  During the rest of the rain in the later thunderstorm there were no problems.  Today Lincoln has received a at times heavy wintry mix of precipitation   I have not had any problems with reliability or speed.  Speeds are still nice and fast.

UPDATE2: As of October 2017 I no longer was a Widerrange customer. I had the opportunity to get Allo Fiber to the home which is the best thing to happen to the Lincoln ISP market. It’s a fantastic service with great customer support.

Since my Update 1 My service with Widerrange declined in speed, because unstable and customer support suffered greatly. Running a WISP takes knowledge of the wireless spectrum above general networking and it woudl appear the new owner is lacking in this. My service required resetting due to vulnerable firmware that was known to the ISP but instead of being proactive they were reactive when users called in about a problem.

At the current time I do not recommend Widerange if you have other options.  The product being delivered did not meet expectations nor did the customer service. Lincoln now has better options, and I would recommend using one of them if possible.

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Greta’s Gourmet, Lincoln NE Review

It looks like I am turning into a food blogger. I enjoy trying lots of new places in town, so it’s fitting. I will need to remember the P&S camera since my cell phone photos are only so so.

Friday I packed my lunch and intended on eating it at work, but that all changed once I smelled coworkers warming up things in the microwave.  Browsing my stream on Google+ I noticed Brian’s postabout a great Friday burger deal from Greta’s Gourmet here in Lincoln.  Since this was fairly close to work I decided to give it a shot.I walked in and ordered the Greta Burger, which was the house ground beef patty with bleu cheese crumbles mixed in with the meat, seasoned with KC Steak seasoning.  This was served on a toasted gourmet bun with tomato, onion, and mixed greens.  I am a bleu cheese fan and have had several other bleu cheese burgers around town, but this one tops them.  It was very flavorful; every bite had a great bleu cheese flavor to it.  It was a juicy patty that was cooked perfectly, with a hint of pink in the middle. It was seasoned nicely and the onion was a great addition.  One of the problems with other restaurants bleu cheese burgers is that they are always messy.  Sometimes they crumble from too much bleu cheese or the bleu cheese just falls off the top. Since this one was mixed in it had none of these problems.  I had Sweet Maui Onion kettle chips, which were similar to a more subtle sour cream and onion flavor.  They were a good fit for the Greta Burger.

The atmosphere of the shop is nice.  It is a butchers shop so the cafe takes second place, but there are tables up against the window and some nice butcher block tables in the center.  It reminds me of a kind of deli that you would see in a place like NYC. It has a good lunch spot vibe.

For a total of $6.40 after tax I got a good sized gourmet burger, kettle chips, and a large iced tea.  I thought this was a pretty good deal.  It was cheaper than “Value” meal choices at the chain fast food places and much better food.  Compared with other gourmet burger places in South Lincoln, for what you get it was a great deal.  I plan on going back to try the other things on the menu.  They have a lunch special every day that ranges between $5-6 and chef specials on the weekend that they post to their Facebook and Twitter pages.

 

Update 10/05/12:  Since this original post I have been back to Greta’s probably a dozen times.  The Greta Burger (Blue Cheese) is my favorite.  The balsamic burger is my second favorite.  It really is the best burger in town in my opinion and the opinion of many people I have brought with me.  The potato salad is a great side, and the baked beans are to die for.  They are more of a cowboy bean with several different types of beans, and small pieces of meat.   I also recommend getting their house Iced Tea.   It is a black tea, but just a great blend.  Nothing fruity just great simple Iced Tea.  The specials on many of the other days are very good as well.  You really can’t go wrong with anything at Greta’s.  

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GUP Kitchen, Lincoln NE Review

GUP Cuban

WOW! is the one word way I would describe my experience for lunch on Sunday at Lincoln’s newest food truck. I found out about GUP Kitchen from friends and social media (both Twitter and Facebook). Their location hasn’t been convenient for me in the past, but on Sunday it did and I knew I had to give it a try.

GUP, stands for Ground Up and is a concept for both the food and way of making it. It comes from the idea that you should know where your food comes from; “literally from the ground up.” The reality is that everything you will eat is seasoned with hand-ground and custom-blended spices and sauces. Chef and Co-Owner, Erik Hustad studied Culinary Arts at The Art Institute of Seattle and came back to start GUP with cousin and co-owner, Gabriel Lovelace. http://eatgroundup.com/the-story/

GUP is a modern take on a food truck. It is actually a large trailer pulled behind a pickup truck. The white outside is decorated with their logo, website, twitter address, Facebook, QR code, etc. The menu is on a flat panel monitor too, pretty neat. From word of mouth I had heard that the Cuban Spiced Pork sandwich was fantastic so that is what I got along with the Mac n’ Cheese (More on that in a minute). Ordering was simple and quick.

From the first bite of my Cuban Sandwich I knew it was going to be good. The sauce makes this sandwich stand out from your average Cuban. There is a reason GUP calls it awesome sauce. It was a mayo based sauce with some unique spices. I could taste garlic, a little sugar, some citrus, and other flavors I could not really pick out distinctively, but that doesn’t matter, because it was amazing. The pork meat was very tender and juicy. It also had onions, lettuce, and small sweet peppers on it. I was a little surprised not to find pickles since this is pretty traditional on a Cuban. All of this goodness was served on a ciabatta roll from Le Quartier. I happened to eat this at my parents house and my dad wanted a bite. His response was that it was as good of Cuban Sandwich as he has ever had. I have to agree.

I had originally ordered Potato Salad with my sandwich but at the last minute decided to go with the Mac n’ Cheese because it had bacon in it. Typically Mac n’ Cheese is not something I order. It is never something I crave, but this was pretty good. This was a rich Mac n’ Cheese made with cheese, onion, and bacon added in. The bacon added something but not quite as much as I was expecting. With bacon the more the better right?

Service was fast and I enjoyed talking with the guys in the truck as they assembled my meal. They explained that it is tough to find locations where they can operate (Private Parking lots) because Lincoln’s laws do not allow them on public property or on in a parking place on,say, O street in Downtown Lincoln. Prices were very reasonable for the amount and quality of food I received. I paid $6.95 for a sandwich and it must have included a side as well because I was not charged for the Mac n’ Cheese. Portions were good, not huge but not small. I would put the value ranking higher than other “Fresh Local” food places in town with expensive overhead (Review of that place to come someday).

In conclusion I hope these guys continue to have success. Going in to the dark months of winter won’t be easy but their food is worth a trip into the cold outdoors to get. The food is outstanding, and I am happy to support young entrepreneurs in a family business venture. I will be going back and trying the Chicken Salad for sure and some of the other sides. I encourage everyone to find these guys (social media is the best way) and try them out.

GUP Kitchen Facebook Page
GUP Kitchen Twitter Page
GUP Kitchen Website

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First Snow in Lincoln, NE 2011 Timelapse

Today was the first major snow storm in Lincoln. Predictions called for up to 4 to 6″ but in the south part of Lincoln we only got about 2-3″. I made a timelapse video of the storm and of me scooping the driveway. I took about 750 individual frames totally 8.5gb to make this. The music is Emancipator – First Snow (Ooah Remix).

Make sure to watch this in 720P or 1080P at full screen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh6cNPKYcng?hd=1

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Pepperjax Grill, Lincoln NE Review

On 11-22-11 I visited PepperJax Grill (2801 Pine Lake Road, Lincoln NE) with my family at 6:30pm for dinner. This is a new Philly sandwich place very near my house. I would call it custom made to order fast food, similar to the way Chipotle makes their burritos. The line was long, way past the queuing area, past the front door and bending into the dining section. There were roughly 64 people in front of us when we got in line. To be honest I am surprised we waited, as there are other good options nearby (Crave review to come sometime soon I hope). It took about a half hour to get up to the first station where you place your order.

The Food:
Your choices at the beginning are your choice of meet (beef, or chicken), single or double meat, and then your choice of vegetables that are grilled along with the meat (onion, mushroom, green pepper). Your food is grilled in front of you as it moves down the assembly line. At the end they slap some cheese on the meat and pile it into a slightly toasted 12” hoagie roll.
The sauce table follows the cash register and is filled with lots of great stuff. They had several liquid sauces such as Au jus, mushroom sauce, and creole. Then they had toppings/sauce such as Spicy Ranch (my personal favorite), ranch, hearty steak sauce, bold steak sauce, salsa, mustard, ketchup, and many more.
I experimented and found that my perfect mix that night was a bit of au jus, followed by some bold steak sauce inside, followed up with a bit of spicy ranch in place of mayo. This combination proved to be very messy but good. Probably not the best food choice for a first date, but it would be a fun date place because of all the different choices and things to try. I really enjoyed the French fries. They were thin, straight cut, and fried to a perfect crisp. Portions of fries were small by most places standards but with such a large Philly I found that it was about the perfect amount. All of the toppings/sauces were great for dipping too.

Decor and Atmosphere
The place had a nice feel with bright colors, stainless steel, etc. The décor on the walls was neat too. It was many historic photos of Lincoln from the 1950’s and older. It was neat to see the evolution of town while waiting in line. They also had flat screen TVs in a few places as well.

Value
This place is a good value. The sandwiches are large (See picture below) and could easily be split for 2 meals if you ate a portion size with some fries. I believe the cost was about $5.50 for the beef, fries were an additional $1.50 or so. I am guessing that this place will be busy at lunch because of the good value and large portions.

The Cons
There were a few things that do need improving though. This is a new place and it was obvious that staff was still being trained on what their responsibilities are, so I am really hoping these problems will improve with time. The lines were long, and slow, let’s hope that the hype of a new place dies down and the employees are trained. While the grill team had multiple people, it was essentially made one at a time. I think they will need to improve on the workflow to speed things up to reasonable standards (10 min). The floor was dirty, lots of crumbs, some used napkins, etc. Tables were relatively clean though. I am sure this is just because they were super busy.

To sum it all up, I enjoyed my time at PepperJax Grill. I really think they will smooth out the few problems and have a lean, fast operation up in maybe another month. The food was good for fast food, and a great