Grant Mahoney and Jeff Woody sit down with Cyclone legends Jaylin Noel and Darien Porter to discuss their careers at Iowa State, how they became the players they are, and more before looking ahead to the NFL Draft. Presented by Kelderman Manufacturing.

Enjoy!

Thought I'd post this as an update from the summer thread on passport applications. The "beta" system the State Department was testing is now a full feature. I filled out my renewal application online last week and just got a confirmation that it has shipped. So less than two weeks and no farting around with mailing in your passport and worrying about it getting lost.

You can only do this for renewals, not first time passports. And you can't do "expedited" although this is maybe just as fast as that , just not guaranteed as fast. If you google up "online application" you'll get all sorts of BS first from companies that want to charge you to do what the government is doing for free (well, not free as you still pay an application fee but no extra charges for something that is now really easy to do yourself). It's does require you to setup up an account but I already had one via the Smart Traveler Program.

Official Government linky:

Renew my Passport Online

This page includes information about our online passport renewal system, and instructions to complete your application.

travel.state.gov

Note, I still had my photo taken at a local photoshop and rather than printing a photo they emailed me the digital file. Since that is sort of the new option they didn't quite know what to charge me so they did some minimum $3 something! The thing about the photo store is they had a little setup with a Sony camera that had a person profile outline so the image would likely be 100% up to the passport standards. If you elect to take the photo yourself they have a very detailed photo guide in the application. If you have to pause to take the photos you can save the application and pick it up later.

Good luck to 30Rock

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Anybody have any news on whether and when there will be a football season poster this year?

Wife and I will be here for a few days in July as part of a North Woods/Lake Superior trip (starting near Brainard, stopping in Duluth, and ending in Bayfield). I'll have my mountain bike with and plan to ride Mt Ashwabay, but after that we're kind of open and trying to learn more about the lay of land.

We really want to do a kayak trip out to one of the Apostle Islands, but are also open to some (motor) boat tours and things of that nature too. We definitely want to get to the burned down bar place on Madeline Island too.

Anyone have experience with and recs for this area?

Chris Williams and Brent Blum discuss the basketball portal and Iowa State’s remaining needs before diving into a preview of the 2025 NFL Draft. All this and more courtesy of Mechdyne.

This week at OTN we're looking at the beginning of next month. The First of May. AKA May Day. Since Mayday is the radio signal code for distress we are branching out as follows:

Acceptable words in title or lyrics:

May Day
Mayday
Distress
Danger
Risk

Your weekly hosts for OTN are @cyclones500, @CycloneRulzzz and me.

Last week's posting was "Save It." It can be found here: https://cyclonefanatic.com/forum/threads/on-that-note-save-it.292322/

I’m sure there are plenty of folks on here working on some project vehicles. I haven’t had any vehicle projects since before the kids until now. I got talked into a 1993 F250 460 that an extended family member had parked for the last 6 years. Bought it for cheap and have been running it around.

So far -
Front fuel tank
Fuel Pump/Sender Assembly
Fuel Filter
Oil Change
Tranny Fluid
Coolant Flush
Power Steering Fluid
Deep Clean

Up next is some paint work and more cleaning. The 8’ bed has already come in handy.



What are your projects?

Does anyone get their internet service from Northwest Communications? Do you like the service? Or not? We are about 8 milestone the tower, and they struggle keeping us connected. We are exploring a couple different options.

Updated: I forgot to add the bill would also remove city council approval for new developments *IF* the comprehensive plan and zoning districts permit the development. The rational is the city already agreed to housing in certain areas through the public review process, so adding additional council review increases time and drives up cost. The bill would mandate an administrative review process.

The Minnesota Legislature is advancing a bipartisan bill (SF1750) that bans cities from requiring commonly-owned lots in new developments in order to force the creation of an HOA for that development.

The rational is that HOAs limit the construction of new home and raise prices and monthly costs for buyers.

In Iowa, most cities require an HOA for ALL new developments. You cannot build a new subdivision without an HOA in all parts of the DSM metro. The HOA is then required to maintain storm water ponds, drainage, etc. HOA boards are not filled with engineering professionals, so it's a terrible position to put homeowners in.

What are your thoughts?

There are a million threads about NIL, and I think it's pretty unanimous that the current model is **** in many ways. Great for players to get compensation, but that isn't really what is being done in a lot of cases.

1 - Regardless of if you wanted player compensation (aka NIL) or didn't, is NIL what you expected?

2 - What specific rules or changes would you recommend to make it better?

Former four star (Rivals) OT. Redshirt freshman. Looks like a mauler. Clanton likes those.

Was teammate of DL Jace Gilbert.

Well, the football team is the focus of most of our attention at the moment but hoops seasons are upon us (or have started in Europe). So, again, I'm starting this year's thread to post about our ex-Cyclones. While most of the attention will be on the NBA guys, I'll try to keep up some with other pros that Cyclones fans care about.

Here are the four that we know will be on opening day rosters in the NBA:

* Georges Niang - Cleveland Cavaliers
* Monte Morris - Phoenix Suns
* Tyrese Haliburton - Indiana Pacers
* Talen Horton-Tucker - Chicago Bulls

It'll be interesting to see how each of these fit into rotation plans early in the year. Maybe we can get some guys that go the G Leauge route throughout the year.

I'll do some posts below to catch you up on some of the guys overseas.

Not surprising. Hope she's able to find a place where she can find her shot again.

Chris Williams & Brent Blum discuss significant recruiting victories for Iowa State football and men’s basketball over the weekend. Plus, Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule throws some perceived shade towards Ames. Why? Discussing high school recruiting in general and more, all presented by Mechdyne.

Wondering if anyone has attended an NFL draft recently and what to expect.
Taking my teenage son, so also need some activities in the Appleton area during the day.

Polls are starting to emerge for 25-26 with common sense picks and some real head scratchers...

This is a great visual for the upcoming big 12 football schedule. I use this all the time and thought i'd share.

Monday Musings on a Tuesday

Here's @cfchangs9 on
-A pair of 4-star pickups for Iowa State over the weekend
-More wins for @CycloneSB, which looks poised for the postseason
-John Cena
-Something to follow for every NHL playoff series & more.

I’ll start with, “ they can guard 1-5”.
Tell me who could have guarded AI and Shaq?

I keep up with the other thread. As a non farmer, but a central Iowa kid born in the 60s, I find the discussion very interesting.
I'd like to know your thoughts on what those deceased farmers .... say age 90 plus ....would say about today's technology. Perhaps some of you have been able to take an elderly retired farmer out for planting and harvesting. Just a thread about generational advantages. Thanks!

Finally got it finished.....