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Today we announced the 2008 Iowa Web Awards - an effort to honor all the hard work being done by all our local web gurus. it’s pretty much just like the Webby’s only local to Iowa.

Here’s how it will play out…

1. The community will vote on the categories for which we will be giving out awards, ie “best blog”, “best news site”, etc

2. Once the categories have been chosen the community will nominate entries for each category.

3. Once all the nominees have been decided, the community will vote for their favorite in each category.

The only rule is that the nominee must be from Iowa!

This is an effort to promote all the advancements on the web that are happening in the state of Iowa with a hope that these efforts can be recognized by a broader audience.

And yes, these awards will be given out annually.

If you would like to contribute to the Iowa Web Awards, see this post.

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You’ll see me in there somewhere. I think they misspelled my name and may have taken my “corn and pigs” comment out of context. But all in all they did a good job with the story…

Note: I cannot for the life of me get this clip to not auto-play… If you have any ideas let me know. Also note how much Gov. Chet Culver is sweating!

Technorati Tags: microsoft, data center, west des moines, iowa

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Microsoft *officially* announced its plans for the $500 million West Des Moines data center it is building.

Here are some details…
- “Next Generation” facility
- 50-75 workers at $70k annual salary
- 42 acres in West Des Moines (see map below)
- Construction to be completed in 12-18 months

Why Iowa?
- Tax Incentives
- Cheap Land
- Very (relatively) affordable power
- Cheap Labor (lower costs of living here mean lower relative wages)
- Fiber Backbone (the very UNDER-UTILIZED ICN Network)
- Central Geographic Location

Overall, there are up to and over 35 factors in data center site selection of this magnitude including what I mentioned above.

What’s a “Next Generation Facility”?
So what is this next generation facility going to power? As more and more of the web and business moves into “the cloud”, the need for an infrastructure to keep up demands new data centers. Microsoft is in a position where it’s taking many of its traditional platforms and and software into the “SaaS” model - or Software as Services. So when the next version of Microsoft Word comes out - it will be via a web browser, online. To power this next wave, Microsoft needs to build up its infrastructure. To get a handle on the challenge ahead of Microsoft, here are some numbers:

Microsoft challenges:
- 15x growth on servers
- 9x growth on egress
- 15x growth on power
- 3x growth on number of data centers
via DataCenterLinks

This “next-gen” facility will be different than the traditional data center, supposedly using the “container” model they have been working on. Basically a container is a semi-trailer (or shipping container that you see on barges and trains). Within this container are 1,000 - 2,000 servers. These containers are, literally, trailers that can be hauled in via trucks to scale the system. Microsoft has built a similar data center in Chicago that has two floors. Currently, the entire first floor is made up of 150-200 of these containers.

So basically what happens is a truck loaded with a “container” will pull into the facility, drop off the container, “plug it in” and turn it on. Bam! This container based data center often times can hold up to 11 times more servers than a traditional data center using the same amount of space.

Here’s a 3-D Demo of the Chicago Data Center - and what is likely coming to West Des Moines…

So where’s this going to be?

View Larger Map

Technorati Tags: west des moines, data center, microsoft, iowa

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Thursday, August 14, 2008
6:30 PM

Impromptu Studio
300 SW 5th Street Suite 220
Des Moines, Iowa 50309

Des Moines Web Geeks Kickoff event is planned for Thursday, August 14th.

We’ll kickoff presentations at 7, come around 6:30 to get a tour of the new coworking space. First up will be an overview and discussion of the Django framework followed by an adhoc session discussing latest and greatest trends. Please RSVP, there will be a few door prizes as well.

RSVP Here…

More Info Here..

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If you are a web geek living in Central Iowa, we are forming a group to get together to discuss all things web. Aside from discussing the latest and greatest technologies we will be using the group as a soundboard to discuss projects we are working on in order to facilitate feedback and brainstorming…

Thanks to Jeremy Harrington (@jharr) for setting up the website and getting the ball rolling… And sorry for my horrible

Potential Topics of Discussion (via website)

Say What?

Des Moines Web Geeks is proposed to be a group of web professionals and enthusiasts looking to meet, share ideas and have some fun. We are currently scouting locations to meet and find some times that work for most folks.

While the intent is that these be casual meetings it’s always great to have some featured topics, presenters or concepts for each meetging. Some topics other similar groups have hosted include:

* XHTML/CSS Primer
* Wordpress
* AJAX/Javascript Frameworks
* Content Management Systems
* Developing Social Media Tools
* Google Apps
* Yahoo! Pipes

Some awesome stuff going on in Des Moines…

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