Kiger's Notebook

Storm Chasers' Dominator blowing into Roch.

The Discovery Channel's "Storm Chasers" regularly drive their Dominator vehicle through crazy weather even wilder than Rochester saw last night.

Local fans will have a chance to check out the Dominator on Thursday (tomorrow) when Line-X of Rochester brings the tank-like vehicle to Rochester for an appearance. Line-X offers special spray-on protective coatings, primarily to protect truck beds.

Look for the Dominator to be parked on display in the parking lot of Andy's Liquor at 3125 Wellner Drive, near Whistle Binkie's North.

Local Line-X owner Chris Mertesdorf says the Dominator should be out there by 10 a.m. and should be out there until at least 4:30 p.m.

The Dominator is designed to plow through storms with winds up to 200 mph. The winds that hit Rochester last night topped out at just a little more than 70 mph.

The whole vehicle is covered with Line-X's XS-650 spray-on protective coating.

Ex-KTTC building going off the air

The former KTTC-TV building in downtown Rochester is going off the air today as demo crews level the long empty complex.

The building at 601 First Ave. S.W. is in the city's "urban village" district, part of the Downtown Master Plan, and is considered to be part of a University of Minnesota Rochester campus eventually. It is owned by the city.

Fraser Construction is handling the dirty work after being awarded a $69,940 contract by the City of Rochester to demolish it.

Not included in the contract is the demolition of the antenna tower, which would have cost another $11,290. The city might rent space on the tower to cellular phone companies.

Thanks to the Rochester Design Advocacy Forum for the heads that this demolition had started.

Local man + shopping channel deal = 7,000 lbs of fudge

Here's an interesting treat from the crew at the eclectic  and slightly mysterious White Wolf Creek, the cafe/art gallery/fudge shop in the ex-Taco John's on the U.S. 52 North frontage road.

Holiday treats are already adding pounds for David Christenson.

Thankfully, it is the Rochester chocolate artist's workload that is rapidly growing, not his waistline.

To fill an order for an upcoming appearance on the omnipresent QVC shopping channel, he needs to make an avalanche of fudge — a whopping 7,000 pounds' worth — in the next few weeks.

Yes, 7,000 pounds. The calorie total must be mind-boggling and well beyond my limited math skills.

He, along with wife, Lisa Loucks Christenson, are slated to offer a truckload of 2-pound boxes of their White Wolf Creek fudge for sale in mid-November, probably on the show hosted by the popular David Venable.

The details are a bit of a moving target, but right now now they are scheduled to appear at 11 a.m. Nov. 13.

That means David has a lot of his special flavored fudge — peanut butter, red velvet cake, turtle and caramel apple pie — to cook up. Each box will include those four flavors.

Lisa, a wildlife photographer and artist, is helping, while keeping their eclectic bistro and art gallery running along U.S. 52 in northwest Rochester in a former Taco John's restaurant. They are still be serving quiche, wild game, vegetarian dishes, caramel apples, crepes and, of course, fudge. However, they might be not be open quite as many as hours as usual as the tower of QVC fudge is created.

So how does a Rochester chocolatier end up making a featured holiday item for the popular shopping channel?

Lisa says they submitted David's fudge for consideration about a year ago. Lots of steps were taken in between, including flying out to chat with QVC mavens. Now the Med City-made treat is going to seen worldwide.

"Obviously, it is a big thing for us. The best part is the exposure," she says. "And it is a good plug for Rochester."

Dancing With The Stars + Minnesota apples?

Two things I never expected to come appear together in a business item - Minnesota apples and the "Dancing With The Stars" TV show.

And yet they will come together on Oct. 16, when dancer Chelsie Hightower will make an appearance at the expo booth of an orchard that grows Minnesota's up and coming apple variety, SweeTango.

Get it? She's a dancer, right? And the tango is a dance, though in this case… uh… it really is an apple.

The SweeTango name for the University of Minnesota created apple variety came from Dennis Courtier, the president of Pepin Heights Orchards in Lake City.

Courtier also spearheaded the creation of the Next Big Thing cooperative of SweeTango growers that govern the growing and marketing of the apples, which are a cross between Honeycrisp and Zestar.

Now playing off that name, Hightower is slated to appear at the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit in Atlanta later this month.

She'll be at the booth of Fowler Farms Of New York. Fowler is one of the 45 members of the Next Big Thing co-op.

I think there needs to be some sort of reality show competition to choose the best apple variety. It could be called "America's Next Top Apple."

Uh… or maybe not. Heh.

IBM's Watson and Jeopardy - the rerun

It seems unlikely that anyone in the Rochester area (who wanted to watch it) missed the TV showdown between Watson IBM's big brain computer and the top Jeopardy! quiz show contestants back in February.

Watson runs on Power 750 servers, which are manufactured as well as partially designed here.

However, if you did miss it or you just want to re-live the moment, "an encore presentation" (better known as a rerun) will air in mid-September.

Here are the details from a press release that rolled in today

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IBM and America's Favorite Quiz show Jeopardy! today announced that Jeopardy! will broadcast an encore presentation of the first-ever man vs. machine Jeopardy! competition between IBM's "Watson" computing system and the show's two greatest contestants -- Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter.

Millions of North American viewers will be able to again witness TV history as Watson successfully competes against two human champions in two matches played over three consecutive days. The episodes will air on September 12, 13 and 14, 2011.

"With the Jeopardy! challenge, we accomplished what was thought to be impossible - building a computer system that operates in the near limitless, ambiguous and highly contextual realm of human language and knowledge," said Dr. David Ferrucci, IBM Fellow and scientist leading the IBM Research team that created Watson. "Watching the match again reminds us of the great power and potential behind Watson to be able to make sense of the massive amounts of data around us and to solve problems in new ways."

Six months after the original competition, Watson's Deep Question Answering (QA) technology has already driven progress in new fields such as the healthcare industry. IBM is working with Nuance Communications, Inc. to explore and develop applications to help critical decision makers, such as physicians and nurses, process large volumes of health information in order to deliver quicker and more accurate patient diagnoses. Working with universities and clients, IBM is identifying many potential uses for Watson's underlying QA technology.

KTTC / Fox news folks move on

It has been a quick three years.

In Feb. of 2008, I wrote about a bunch of a new fresh faces in front of the KTTC and Fox news cameras in Rochester.

And now at least two of those still fresh faces with more experience are moving on this week.

KTTC's Steph Anderson and Fox's Ali Lucia is packing it up and heading out of Rochester.

I believe today is the final one for both of them.

Congratulations on a job well done to both of you.

IBM's Smarter game show goes live today

Remember today at 4:30 p.m., Big Blue will take the national stage as it introduces its sci-fi smart Watson computer to the world as a contestant on the Jeopardy! quiz show.

In case you missed it Friday, here's some from my piece about this latest IBM computing milestone:

Whether IBM's new computer dubbed Watson wins or loses next week as it competes on the Jeopardy! quiz show, expect to see this "science fiction smart" milestone machine move beyond playing games.

"In the future, Watson could easily become Dr. Watson and become an adviser to a doctor,"  says Ian Jarman, Power Systems software manager. "Because it is based on Rochester's Power 750, we can adapt and commercial that technology for other workloads. One first area like that is health care."

It won't replace human brains, but "it is much closer to emulating the human brain. This is really the first time we've come close to that," said Tim Alpers, Rochester's Power Product Manager.

Watson will take the stage with Alex Trebeck  to compete head-to-head for $1 million with the best contestants in show's 28 years on the air — Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. They will compete live Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Jennings and Rutter will face 10 refrigerator-sized racks filled with 90 Power 750 servers built in Rochester. Running on a Linux operating system, it can complete about 80 trillion computer operations per second.

Watson will not be connected to the Internet and it will need to decipher puns and plays on words that are often used in Jeopardy's questions and categories.

Unlike IBM's one-of-a-kind Deep Blue computer, which played chess against chess master Gary Karpov, this human-like system is based on standard and commercially available Power 750 servers, which are manufactured as well as partially designed here.

"Watson's secret sauce is DeepQA," said Jarman.

The IBM research team has spent four years developing DeepQA to understand the complexity of how people talk. That means figuring out sarcasm, jokes and other fluid turns of phrase that children can understand, but have traditionally bewildered computer's rigid programming.

"With DeepQA, we are creating a framework where the computer can essentially make up its own rules. It is an entirely different paradigm for a system to work in," said Henry Hocraffer, IBM's Power Software program director in Rochester. "We are on the cusp of entering an area that has always been science fiction."

New tenant on way for Roch's ex-Charter building

After providing in-home care therapy in the area for years, the Minnesota Autism Center is gearing up to open a large treatment facility in Rochester.

Construction started last week to transform the 16,000-square-foot former Charter Communications building at 3380 Northern Valley Place N.E. into an autism treatment center.

It is already accepting enrollment of students ranging in age from 2 to 21. The plan is to open the center on Jan. 31.

Ron Carey, chairman of the statewide nonprofit group, says this new facility is one way the autism center is trying to help children and their families deal with the "explosion" of autism cases.

"This is a good launching place for us outside of the Twin Cities," he says. "The goal is to have centers around the state."

The group already has centers in Minnetonka and Woodbury.

The Rochester center will feature classrooms, a cafeteria, a 3,000-foot gymnasium and a fenced-in, outdoor play area.

It is designed to accommodate more than 30 students

Instruction is offered one-on-one with an instructor for each child in their own individual classroom, explains Kathryn Marshall, Minnesota Autism Center executive director.

She expects the nonprofit's employee numbers to grow to more than 50 from the about 20 staff members who already provide in-home services throughout southeastern Minnesota.

In addition to providing clinical therapy and school preparation services, Carey, who has a child with autism, says the nonprofit also offers support for families trying to cope with autism.

"We're a full-featured service provider, ready to treat the whole family," he says. "Unfortunately, the demand just keeps growing for our services."

The building being changed into the Minnesota Autism Center has been empty since Charter Communications moved into its new complex on Superior Drive Northwest.

Darci Fenske of Paramark Real Estate and Ned Rukavina of Northmarq brokered the deal to bring the Minnesota Autism Center into the Rochester building.

KAAL's marketing director moving to ad agency

KAAL-ABC 6's loss is Fresh Brew Advertising's gain.

Heather Holmes is leaving her position in Rochester as KAAL's marketing director to team up with Deanne Breitenbock to run Fresh Brew Advertising.

Holmes gave KAAL four weeks notice last Friday. Her last day will be Sept. 3.

"Something I've always wanted to do is to be my own boss," Holmes says. "And this opportunity came knocking at my door."

It all started with her becoming friends with Breitenbock when she did a stint working at KAAL. Earlier this year, Breitenbock launched Fresh Brew.

As a friend, Homes began offering opinions as Breitenbock bounced Fresh Brew ideas off of her. Then it started to make sense as a career opportunity.

"I'm the kind of person who believes you have to take chances when they present themselves," Holmes says.

Bringing their experience in marketing, media and advertising together, the duo are co-owners of the start-up.

"We can offer clients everything," she says. "I think this town is ready for us. I think there is a need."

Home entertainment biz to open in Roch.

When it comes to home entertainment, Curtis Sorenson says his business can do it all with a personal touch.

Sorenson, who owns Direct Communications in Austin, is getting ready to flip the switch on a new Rochester office.

He hopes to open the doors in mid-March at 2660 S. Broadway, next to the Dots clothing store. Direct Communications is a certified provider and installer of DirecTV satellite television service and Qwest Internet. 

"We do everything. Everything stays in house," he says. "You never have to call a 1-800 with us."

Sorenson also offers a selection of high-definition televisions and stereos in his showroom. His business can set up anything from a full home-theater room to just hanging a TV on the wall, he says.

The Rochester office will have six people on staff. He opened in Austin three years ago and says now he is ready to expand a bit as well as creating a few jobs.

"I figure I'm young. Why not give it a try?," he says.