Free wi-fi?

Here’s an ethical question for you. Is it OK to regularly glom onto someone’s (company or individual) wireless Internet access without them knowing it?

That’s the latest poll question at the Great Lakes Geek site.

I see no problem in using a connection once or even twice in a crunch time situation, as long as you’re not sending/grabbing huge files and hogging all their bandwidth.

I know some would argue that since it’s out there in the ether and the people were too inept to secure their access, then it’s OK. I’m not so sure of that. Someone is paying for that access and to routinely use up some of their bandwidth doesn’t seem right.

I might be more forgiving if a company’s access was used rather than a family who just doesn’t know to secure their wi-fi. But still, I think the regular use of such access is wrong. What do you think? Let the Geek know.

OneCleveland or OneCommunity?

I know that the OneCleveland is expanding to Akron and other venues outside of the traditional “Cleveland” geography but I wish they had kept the name OneCleveland.

Can you imagine if a project was developed, spearheaded, financed and brought to fruition in say Boston or Detroit and the name was changed to exclude the home city? It just wouldn’t happen.

I think I am sensitive to how Akron, Canton and beyond might feel but this was a Cleveland project and I think it dilutes the credit and prestige that Cleveland has earned. If Akron people and orgs had developed the project and we wanted to tap into it, I would expect to refer to OneAkron. I wouldn’t expect a name change.

OneCommunity sounds bland and amorphous to me and smacks of political correctness. How can we build an identity and civic pride if we bend in the wind like this?

So far visitors to the Great Lakes Geek site have felt the same way as 90% of voters say they do not like the new name.

Tiny, free utility

I found a tiny but useful utility you may be interested in.

It’s called TinyResMeter and you can download and run it for free.


TinyResMeter is a free utility that displays useful realtime system resource information (CPU speed, usage, RAM, processes, disk space, swapfile, etc) in a customizable format.

It’s not as pretty as the meters in Norton SystemWorks or other commercial programs but it is under 100k, doesn’t modify the registry and doesn’t add any new DLLs to your system.

The next version is supposed to have net connection speed info too.

Pretty slick

Great quote about CAP in PD

There’s a great article about Garden Valley Neighborhood Center (on Kinsman) in the Plain Dealer this AM. Arts & Life F1 and F3. In the article, Garden Valley executive director Tinah Mischer is quoted as follows:

“I love that man,” Mischer sang out happily from her office recently, greeting Henry Birney of Computers Assisting People, a local non-profit. “They just gave us 17 new computers. They brought ‘em here and set ‘em up. For free. Do you hear me? I love them guys.”


That’s one of the main things that CAP, and super volunteers like Henry Birney, does – help community centers, schools and the like in needy, underserved areas with their technology so that the residents in the area have a safe, educational, productive place to be empowered by the technology that many of us take for granted.

Your support and interest in CAP has let our volunteers assist over 260 local non-profits like Garden Valley.

Kielbasa and a Strohs anyone?

I admit it. I am a big fan of the Milan Jacovich stories written by Cleveland Heights author Les Roberts. The stories of the tough private eye are good enough on their own but Roberts uses the city of Cleveland as the setting for his 13 Jacovich titles. So we are inundated with references to local streets, suburbs, restaurants, businesses and institutions.

It’s a blast to read about places you know so well and the streets you travel daily. The first 9 of the Jacovich series are now out in paperback and the final 4 will be out sometime in March. The first in the series is called Pepper Pike – start with that one and read them in order for the best experience.

Sometimes you take for granted the richness of the diverse cultures we have in this area. It reminds me of a business trip to Des Moines, Iowa a couple summers ago. It was so uniform – and boring. The closest I could find to an ethnic restaurant downtown was a national pizza chain.

The proudly Slovenian Milan Jacovich character is a refreshing reminder of what we have here in town.

Look for a special Lolly the Trolley tour this spring of some of Milan Jacovich’s haunts.

Read more about Les Roberts

Read more about the Milan Jacovich books

Listen to a podcast interview as the Great Lakes Geek speaks to Les Roberts

Lute Sr in Houston?

I have to admit I was surprised when I read my sister’s profile of Lute and Sue Harmon for ClevelandSeniors.com. I knew much of the story but was not aware that they left Cleveland in 1983 to start a magazine in Houston. They didn’t come back till 1991. Wow – where was I? I guess I didn’t pay attention much to the local journalism scene back then.

It’s interesting to wonder how Cleveland Mag and Cleveland itself would be different if they had not returned. For people with so much power – and buying ink by the barrel still gives you power – they are genuinely nice people who really care about this city.

Red Room Revolution News

The comprehensive business calendar that I am starting on the Great Lakes Geek site is starting to come together as more people and orgs discover it and send in their stuff.

Example - I think we are the first to publish the information on the next Red Room Revolution event. Check out the calendar. It will be Feb 23rd.

Also, the speakers bureau is starting to fill in nicely. The first 3 listed are definitely heavy hitters with international credentials and experience.

Let me know if you or someone should know should be listed. We're looking for a variety of expertise not just biz and tech. Have already had requests for a speaker on eBay and one for women's issues.

I had a cheese sandwich for lunch

I've been dissing bloggers who write about stuff like the above title for years.
So, I deserve to be treated with equal disdain for the following post. But a lot of people have been wondering where the heck I have been and it’s not the kind of thing I want to send out in a broadcast e-mail.

So if you could care less about my recent health woes – and I don’t blame you – stop reading. Go find something more interesting – even the cheese sandwich stuff is probably a better read.

But for those of you who haven’t seen me around, here’s the last few months episodes of Marcus Welby MD rolled into a few paragraphs. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

I woke up December 12th, and couldn’t move my neck or left shoulder or arm and the fingers on the hand were either numb or tingling. When my doc heard “left arm” he sent me to the ER and I’ve been to several doctors since. They all diagnosed problems with discs C6 and C7 in the neck, pressing on the spinal cord. That’s what caused the problems with left shoulder/arms/hand. So basically, I have only been out of the house since 12/12 for doctors. Missed Christmas, work, my Vegas CES trip - everything. Been a looooong few weeks.

There was no cause of this – it just happened. The week before I was my usual active self – volleyball, lifting weights, carrying computers, walking Hogan, my 100 pound lab, and so on. No twinges or problems.

I have been able to do a lot of work from the home network but can only use the right hand, have to stop after about 20 minutes, etc but I am on 24 hour days because I can’t sleep much with the pain. Yeah they gave me some good drugs but they admit that when it’s nerves on the spine, they just don’t do much.

Actually pain is a pretty interesting thing. I know that the pains on my left side aren’t the normal warning signs – like a burn warning you to pull away from the fire. The damage is in the neck but there is pain on left – weird. But it’s something you can learn to live with. If you had told me in advance that I would have 6-8 weeks of constant pain from stuff pressing on my nerves and spine I would have said get me a gun. Sure there are good times and bad times – nights can be verrrrrry long sometimes but lots of people have it a lot worse than me so I’m not complaining.

Different docs tried all the non-surgery things and none worked so they sent me to the surgeon. But first they scared me telling me not to lift more than 10 pounds or get jostled or I could have some serious permanent problems (you don’t mess with the spinal cord). Yikes!

The spine surgeon said there is too much swelling still so he can't operate yet. I have to go back Feb 1st to be re-evaluated. The good news is he says with the large size of this problem, in the majority of cases the body will correct itself in 6-8 weeks without surgery. That would be great.

More good news is that they said with my age and otherwise great health, I should be 100% about 6 weeks after surgery- plenty of time to recover for sand volleyball this summer. And I do feel I can move the neck more (when I take the darn brace off) so maybe it is healing. I am lucky that I can do so much via e-mail, phone and web.

Yes it sucks that I have this and time has been dragging a lot but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it’s not a permanent thing. Plus, look at the gas money I have saved since I can’t drive.

I am so psyched to get back and see people and do stuff. So if you wondered if I was blowing things off – I wasn’t. Just been out of commission for awhile.

And I don’t think I had one cheese sandwich for lunch this whole time.

More from Philanthropia

Two numbers really stood out in Ronn Richard’s presentation today.

1) He said that only 12% of African-American males graduate from Cleveland Public schools – the other 88% drop out. That is staggering.

2) For whatever reasons, many students move homes, and hence schools, numerous times each year. Some have moved 6 times in a single school year! How can a kid develop any educational or social continuity if they are in 6 different schools in a year?

Neosa gets funding?

Yes, but don’t get excited. At the Philanthropia event today at Landerhaven, almost 900 attendees heard Cleveland Foundation president and CEO Ronn Richard talk about Cleveland, philanthropy and the economy.

When asked how to get Cleveland back on track he offered 3 ways:

1) Convince TRW, BP and others to come back – but he, of course, doesn’t think that will happen.

2) Fund startups. He pointed to the work of Bioenterprise, Jumpstart and Nortech in particular

3) Do what made Cleveland a great city in the first place. That is, by becoming the leader in a new industry. Make Cleveland the home town of not just some new companies but of new industries – stem cell, wind power, etc. Just like the semiconductor industry transformed Silicon Valley, one industry could transform our region.

He added that Cleveland was in some way a victim of its own success. By being so good and important in manufacturing all those years, it may have stayed too long at that party. While manufacturing is still strong here, he suggested it was time for new innovation.

I was schmoozing with tablemates during much of this but my ears perked up when I heard him use Neosa as an example. He said the Cleveland Foundation had just given a grant to an organization called Neosa. I was surprised but thrilled to hear it.

Then he went on to talk about how this regional group lets cities buy salt together in a better way. So the “s” in his example Neosa was for salt, not software. Sigh.

How to Differentiate your Business

Marketing and Branding always seemed to be somewhat lame disciplines to me - something that people who couldn't do science or tech or heavy duty business like accounting got into.

But in an increasingly competitive global market, branding and differentiation are essential.

At the JCU Entrepreneur’s Association meeting last Saturday at Landerhaven, 3 experts – Sara Stashower, Kathy Ross and Jeanne Hauer - gave some ideas to the crowd.

I hadn’t heard of Kathy but when a Stashower (yes, of Ligget-Stashower) speaks, you listen. And Jeanne Hauer is not only Regional Marketing Director at Anthem but also author of Millionaire Women.

They had some interesting, if not revolutionary tips which I listed on this page.

What might be of greater interest is their combined recommended reading list – also available on that page.

Nottingham-Spirk Tour

The common perception would be that a building with 42 miles of Internet cable would be a modern steel and chrome edifice. But there is nothing common about John Nottingham and John Spirk - or their new Innovation Center.

I went to the Neosa meeting at the new Center last week and was blown away. Another world-class facility in that world-class mile or so around University Circle.

Check out some pics and details of the event.

The Man behind the Microchip

The Man behind the Microchip.
Robert Noyce and the Invention of Silicon Valley by Leslie Berlin.

Because the modern tech industry is still so young, people may have personal recollections about some of the events when reading histories of the times. As such, they may also have a personal bias.

This book about Robert Noyce will probably not be a favorite of fans of William Shockley or Jack Kilby with whom Noyce shared credit for innovations. Nor to fans of Gordon Moore and Andy Grove who maybe don't get the credit they deserve from this book.

But in general, it's a very interesting look into the birth of a technology, industry and ultimately Silicon Valley.

I ended up giving it 3.5 (out of 4) pocket protectors.

Read my review

Clevelanders and others in the US should consider that in Noyce's last interview, he said that if he was "emperor" of the US he would "make sure we are preparing our next generation to flourish in a high-tech age. And that means education of the lowest and the poorest as well as the graduate school level."

tech skills=power, no tech skills=dependence - simple as that.

No Video for You

OK, it's not as catchy as the Soup Nazi's "No soup for you!" but I have not bought in to the video - streaming or otherwise - craze.

The new Apple iPod lets you watch video, like missed TV shows, on your device. Oh boy. If the shows are that importnat can't you Tivo or record some other way and watch on a decent screen?

And video webcasts seem like a waste. Even though most of us have decent speeds and bandwidth to support video, too many webcasts just show the speakers head; which may or may not move from time to time. Or they display a Powerpoint slide. Yawn. What a waste.

Plus, video has the same drawback as text - you have to focus your eyes on it whereas with audio (podcasts and the like) you can listen and still do other things.

Just because we have the technology to do video we need a more compelling reason to use it IMHO.

Great Lakes Geek

I have way too much to read. There are all kinds of interesting books out now it seems. Not to mention all the business and tech rags I devour.

Plus there are a ton of blogs that have interesting things to say. But even with RSS, I just don’t get to a fraction of them.

But I have found that I can listen to audio and still do other things – work, walk the dog, workout and so on.

I figured others might feel the same way so I started up a new podcast radio show called the Great Lakes Geek Show. Basically it’s a bunch of audio interviews with local and national people in the business and tech world – and some other categories too just for fun.

So I have a great interview with Tim O’Reilly of O’Reilly Publishing. Great article in Wired this month about Tim titled the Trend Spotter.

Also have Chuck Geschke, founder and chairman of Adobe, but I mangled the mic and the audio has some annoying imperfections. It’s worth the snap, crackle and pop though.

Much of the show will be local people – Tech Czar Mike DeAloia is up as is Neosa's Jim Cookinham and some others.

Most will probably just click on the MP3 link and listen at their PC but I did wrap some in XML to make it a real podcast. XML rocks!

Take a listen when you get a chance and let me know what you think – and who should be on the show.

The Myth of Dell

CRN's Michael Vizard had a great column in the 7/18/05 issue.

One of the comments was: "The myth is that Dell is the low-price leader. The reality is that Dell is exceptionally good at marketing systems that appear to have a low price to end users, but more often than not, when one actually configures the system with the appropriate amount of memory, drives and graphics cards to be really useful, it winds up costing as much as any other compatible system. In some cases, the price tag may come in at even more than what rivals are charging for the same fully configured system."

I have run into this for years. The advertised price sounds great but it has a low quality graphics card or insufficient RAM or... Something else.

Throw in the lack of local support and other options (like Magnum! ) look a lot better.

Ars Gratis Ars

I’m not really an art aficionado. I like to visit the CMA and other venues to see interesting stuff but I’m not a student of the field by any means.

So it is unusual that I would be at 2 arts events in a few days. Sunday I went to the Cain Park Arts Festival. It’s only a few miles from home so I popped in to check it out. Tons of people on a sweltering day and lots of interesting pieces from Cleveland and around the country (and even a booth from Israel).

Tuesday I only had to travel a couple miles more to get to the NEO Show at the Art Museum. Hahn Loeser is sponsoring the NEO Show - formerly the May Show - and they had a private viewing with some tasty drinks and hors d’oeuvres. It was sweltering again so not many people ventured out to the gardens where a harpist and other musicians played. Lots of bigwigs in attendance and CMA Director Katherine Lee Reid spoke for a few minutes.

The show itself was pretty wild. Some interesting pieces and mediums but a few items just flabbergasted me. One was some crates stacked with what the artist claims are exactly 100,000 clippings from the phone book. Another was a horizontal freezer. You were invited to lift the lid and yep, it was a freezer. Empty. That was the entire piece! Someone clue me in to the art behind that one. ;-) I see the same on tree lawns the night before trash pickup.

The best of show had me scratching my, admittedly untrained, head too. It was a black and white video displayed on one of the walls that featured the head and torso of a man screaming and contorting his face for 2 minutes and 27 seconds. That was “best in show.”

Well, it least it got people talking.

Maybe the coolest thing is that I could see these 2 shows without travelling more than about 4 miles.

Lose a few pounds?

If you've ever tried to shed a few (or more) pounds, you'll get a kick out of Claire - the self-acclaimed "Lumpy Girl"

She went public with her weight loss attempt - even posted a picture - and has been updating her progress for all to see. She's a riot to read - even for you skin and bones types.

Check out Claire

Nothing to do?

Ok, the worst thing about blogging IMO is posting a bunch of personal stuff that nobody really cares about anyway. But this is just a taste for all those who claim there is nothing to do in this city.

Where to start...Last Wednesday was a Community of Minds event at CPL downtown. George Nemeth spoke about blogging. The gardens at the library are wifi enabled and a great destination. The weather didn't cooperate that night but it was still a good event. Have you been there?

Thursday - my sand volleyball league out at Bumpers. Indoor is fun but nothing beats sand vball. You don't have to play - lots of people come to watch, drink, eat, listen to tunes, hang out.

Friday - went to the SeniorFest at the Zoo for ClevelandSeniors.Com. I try to get to the zoo a couple times a year. It's so close and so cool. Should do it more. When's the last time you went to the zoo?

Saturday - The Powwow at Edgewater. The American Indian Education Center sponsored their 11th annual Powwow all weekend and it was a new experience for me. Represenatives from various Tribes came from all over - Ontario, North Carolina, Minnesota, etc. Great costumes, dancing, music, crafts - even buffalo meat burgers.

I ended up with a poster featuring Geronimo and 3 others holding guns. The headline says "Homeland Security - Fighting terrorists since 1492."

Sunday I caught the Tribe (9 in a row!) and then headed over to the Irish Summerfest in Euclid for some Guiness and some tunes.

A million other things going on too but still I have friends who complain that "there's nothing to do in this city."

My only complaint is those pesky bugs that have been swarming for the last week.

Perfect for the Dawg Pound

Heard a new term today - migth be old hat to many of you - but it was new to me.

Blawgs - Blogs for law firms.

A consultant sent out a press release called "‘Blawgs’ Little More Than An Expensive Hobby for Many Law Firms."

Wish I had thought of that name.