St Paul Saints

I have 2 fun broadband applications for summer. First is an example of how technology is even making baseball better; the second is a way to celebrate Minnesota environmental efforts on YouTube and possible win a prize. Also it’s a great project for kids.

Saints Instant Replays

First, I am a huge Saints fan. The Saints are the Minnesota Minor League baseball team. On July 22, they are hosting the American Association’s All Star Game and for the first time ever the umpires will use instant replay in professional baseball for the first time ever.

So, how will it work? Video replay will be streamed to a mobile phone kept in umpire crew chief’s pocket, giving him immediate access to the play from his position on the field. The umpire will be able to control the video – functions such as rewind, fast forward and pause – from his phone using Slingbox technology.
Umpires will review decisions involving homeruns, fair or foul ball, hit batsmen, catch or no catch, plays at the plate and any play with two outs. The crew chief will have the authority to overturn the original call. Geek Squad Agents will be stationed in each team’s dugout in order to quickly respond on the field to any technical issues experienced by the umpires.

The solution designed by Best Buy Mobile and Geek Squad includes the following components:
• Sling Media Slingbox Pro
• TiVO Series 2 Digital Video Recorder
• HTC Touch smart phone

Minnesota Minute

The second fun thing requires broadband to participate. Here’s the gig:

My Minnesota Minute is a short video contest sponsored by the Bell Museum. Make a short video that shows how you or someone you know is helping to improve or maintain Minnesota’s natural environment. Upload your video to YouTube and tag it with the words My Minnesota Minute. Selected videos will be featured on the Minnesota Minute Blog, where you can learn and discuss how ordinary Minnesotans are taking a Minnesota minute today to protect the natural world for tomorrow.

My daughters and I are working out a video to submit. I just love this project in that it combines experiential and tech-based learning and because it’s virtual, it’s an event that involves the whole state equally.