2006 News/Media stuff about Alek's Controllable Christmas Lights for Celiac Disease Research

It been entertaining over the years to read the various media reports about my Christmas lights webcam. I certainly had my 15 minutes of fame for Christmas 2004 where there was international publicity about my lights. I'd be happy to get 15 seconds in subsequent years to benefit the Celiac Disease fund-rasing effort - over $15,000 has been raised. Here is a chronological listing of various mainstream media sightings (the online linkage is wayyyy too numerous to list) along with some misc. media resources.

2006 Thanksgiving Day The online community tends to be ahead of the traditional mass media so I'm seeing a number of inbound links pop up daily to my web site as people circle back and basically say "Controllable Christmas lights - way cool ... and what a great idea raising money for Celiac Disease." One new feature this year is the christmas maps which uses geolocation and the Google Map API to show where surfers are coming from - country #100 was Trinidad and Tibago.

2005_11_26: Even though I'm not quite done yet, it hits the front page of DIGG. Good stress test for the 4 dedicated 100 Mbps servers (running Apache/Linux/mod_perl) and they never hiccupped under the load.

2006_11_28: Dave at RedHotRadio in the UK made this hilarious advert about my site - gotta love that accent and ending.

2006_12_08: The Boulder Daily Camera says this is Boulder County's Brightest and includes a nice front-page picture.

2006_12_12: Nice radio interview with Bob Miller at KPAM Portland. Had a double-header grandslamfest when this site hit the front page of both DIGG and Fark at the same time - servers get hammered, but never go down.

2006_12_13: Some nice "mates" at MoreFM in New Zealand.

2006_12_14: The Rocky Mountain News selects this site as one of their top-10 favorite Christmas Displays and includes a half page picture. Previous coverage by them in 2005.

2006_12_26: American Public Radio writes about The Season of Light Bills.

Resources for Media Folks

BTW, for those media folks that actually happen to be reading this, pls read the Christmas FAQ which should answer most questions for 'ya. Lotsa lights on the christmas pictures page. Some misc. points of contact tha might be helpful to 'ya are:

I'm trying to raise money for the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research which is doing leading edge research into the causes and possible cures for Celiac. See their webcam page and/or give Pam King (pking@peds.umaryland.edu) a holler at 410-706-8021 for more info.
Brass Key Property Partners from Broomfield, Colorado was the first $1,000 contributor and said: ""We've enjoyed Alek's Christmas Lights website for years and were happy to donate a $1,000 toward Celiac Research in appreciation for all the Christmas Cheer he has brought people around the world. As thousands of web surfers check out the great lights display and techno wizardry we hope they'll stop by www.YourWayHome.com to check some of the great real estate available in Colorado. Money Magazine ranked Louisville, Colorado the 5th best place to live in the United States and the generosity of people like Alek in supporting Celiac research is just another reason Colorado is a great place to live. Andrew Batson, President, 888-446-6637"
Steamboat Springs Skier (aka Jon Wade) was the first $100 individual contributor. Jon has been an invaluable consultant on the christmas webcam project for years and was quoted in the Wall Street Journal article. Great resource who has had an inside view since the beginning and reachable at 970-819-6930. Jon wrote some incredibly nice things in that link that got me a bit emotional ... although he failed to mention how Dirk barfed in his new house the first three times we visited! Yea, it was a bit rough at times before Dirk was diagnosed with Celiac. Jon's words are too good to try to to excerpt, so here's that link again - go read it!

Again, I'd strongly recommend reading my Christmas FAQ which should answer most questions ... and (obligatory plug) since media companies tend to have deep pockets, pls consider donating for Celiac Disease.