Easter 2015

Easter 2015

Todd Swank's Diary Entry for April 5, 2015

Our neighbors' dogs had 11 Golden Retriever puppies.  Luke and Avery have been going over to see them on a regular basis and Luke has been working every angle he can to hard sell us on the fact that we need a new puppy in our house.

Avery hasn't been selling quite as hard as his brother, but we knew he was loving the puppies as well.

So they finally wore us down and we chose one to come home with us.  The selection process was pretty tough because they are all so adorable.  All the puppies have different color collars each with a number on it.  We had it narrowed down to two, one that we were referring to as number 6 and one that had a blue collar.  I finally decided to push the family to choose, so I told them "I like 6."  Luke jumped in and said "I like 6."  Then Sheri said "I like 6."  We all looked at Avery who was holding this guy in his arms.  He looked back at us and said "I like Blue."  I told Avery that the three of us all chose 6 and that he needed to re-consider.  He held firm.  I then said, "Avery, we can't have three of choosing the number 6 because that represents the number of the beast and we certainly don't need any devil dogs in our house."  After that realization, I put 6 back in the box and Luke and I started focusing on Blue.  He was adorable.  So I looked at Luke and exclaimed "You're my boy, Blue!  And that's how we finalized our pick.  He needs to be with his parents for a few more weeks and then he'll be able to come home with us.

We're really hoping Sunny is going to be OK with our plans.

This is where the line "You're My Boy, Blue!" comes from.

On Saturday night, we went up to see our good friends, Kim and Mike Bailey, as well as some other guests they invited to their house.  Jason was kind of sleepy.

I wanted to get a picture of everybody, but Luke wasn't having it.

We ended up having a ball playing in a 500 tournament.  Unfortunately, my partner, Steph, and I lost and Miss Sheri didn't do much better playing with Jason.  It was still fun, though, but I would have much preferred winning.

Easter morning came and the bunny brought a couple of baskets, although it was like pulling teeth to get these high school kids to go look for them.  I guess they're getting too old for that.  We'll just leave the Easter eggs hidden in the yard for the squirrels to find.

We had a pleasant day taking Grandma Linda to church and to Sunday brunch afterwards.  Avery isn't very pleasant sitting next to at church.  He gets a little bit surly.

2015 FRC Regionals with Robotics Team #2169 KING TeC

Published on Apr 4, 2015

This video features clips of Prior Lake High School FRC Robotics Team KING TeC #2169 and their robot competing in the 2015 FIRST Robotics Competition, Recycle Rush.

The video shows the team progressing through the challenges in their first regional in Duluth, Minnesota as they learned the nuances of the game and the driving logistics of their newly created robot through their next tournament in Milwaukee where the team had improved considerably and ended up just missing the finals, but ended up winning a coveted award sponsored by NASA..

Here’s my blog post from their Duluth trip.

2015 FRC Robotics Northern Lights Regional in Duluth, Minnesota

http://www.toddswank.com/2015/03/2015...

Here’s my Blog Post on their Milwaukee trip:

2015 FRC Robotics Wisconsin Regional in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

http://www.toddswank.com/2015/03/2015...

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Springtime in Minnesota

Springtime in Minnesota

Todd Swank's Diary Entry for March 29, 2015

Spring rolled in this week with a pleasant reminder that we live in Minnesota.  We had one of our largest snow storms of the year with more than 8 inches of snow landing in Prior Lake which filled our yard again.  We just love winter weather.

Sunny has been just dying to go swimming and has no hesitation about jumping in the water the second there's a hole big enough for him to fit.  I don't know how he does it without freezing to death, but he seems to be impervious to the cold.

We always love watching the unique birds that wander through our neighborhood and this big guy stood out to us.  I think he's a hawk, but I'm sure someone will point out that I'm wrong.  

On Friday night, we met up with our good friends Jason and Jen for a trip to Mystic Lake Casino.  We go there because we get tired of carrying around that heavy money all week and this place seems to be a good way to get rid of it.  They're nice that way.

On Friday nights they always have interesting dance competitions going on.  One of these days, I'm going up there again and I'm bringing Miss Sheri with me.  I just really want to see her dressed this way.

Luke hasn't been able to drive for the past couple of months since he received his pacemaker.  So now he's back on the road and I'm sure the cops will be back in our lives again soon.

On Saturday night, our good friends, Jen and Dan, came over so we could play dress-up games.  We like to wear the same clothes.

Then we go and take a bath and start over again.  Some people might think it's a weird game, but we like it.

On Sunday, Miss Sheri's Aunt Mary and Cousin Mary were in town so we met them at Fuddruckers for lunch.  Mmmmm.  Fuddruckers.

Hard Drive Malware Hack Opens A Pandora's Box, But Storage Vendors Have Been Closed Off On The Implications

Todd Swank, senior director of product marketing at Minneapolis-based Equus Computer Systems, told CRN that customers have yet to ask about the malware. 

"Maybe people are now used to being spied on," Swank said. "It's creepy." 

The response to the malware will have to come from the hard drive manufacturers, Swank said. 

"For now, it's hard to see how the system and storage manufacturers could be at fault," he said. "But it's pretty crazy to think someone has been able to spy on us all this time."

Read The Full Article Here:

http://www.crn.com/news/storage/300075830/hard-drive-malware-hack-opens-a-pandoras-box-but-storage-vendors-have-been-closed-off-on-the-implications.htm

Intel Acquisition Of Altera Would Further Drive It Into IoT

Todd Swank, senior director of product marketing at Equus Computer Systems, a Minnetonka, Minn.-based system builder, said buying Altera would be a great move for Intel, particularly as the vendor looks to take more steps to capitalize on the rising Internet of Things opportunity.

Swank said that while Intel continues to be a leader on the client side of the PC business, the excitement for channel partners is around the Internet of Things. This will allow them to play both sides of the field, he said.

"Intel continues to be a leader in that space and this is a really interesting move for them. ... I think Intel is smart, they know where the marketplace is going, they know where technology is going," Swank said. 

"They're a leader in the space right now, but I think an acquisition like this is going to help them leapfrog where they are today. Bringing the two organizations together is just going to be a win-win for Intel's partners and customers to be prepared for the new devices coming."

Read Full Article Here:
http://www.crn.com/news/components-peripherals/300076308/partners-intel-acquisition-of-altera-would-further-drive-it-into-iot.htm/pgno/0/1?itc=hp_ots