Packy Hyland Sr.

I’d like to express my condolences to the family and friends of Packy Hyland Sr. who passed away last week at the too young age of 67.

I first ran into Packy at a meeting of the John Carroll University Private Sector Group back in 1990. He knew I was in tech and asked me a few questions about what I thought of this idea his kids had for a business.

Later he stood up at the meeting and said that his kids had an idea for a business and they thought it would be a big success. He (self-deprecatingly) said he didn’t understand it 100% but they thought it would be big. He asked the group for our opinions and support.

Of course, Hyland Software has become the most successful software story in the region. Sure the products and culture are terrific but the quality of the people, like Packy and his family, are what made Hyland succeed.

I’d run into Packy at events several times each year and he always had a good word and an interest in what would happen next. He could have easily rested on his Hyland Software laurels but he stayed active in working on new ventures. It was in his blood.

I last saw Packy when he stopped in at my church (St. Philomena’s in East Cleveland) for Mass one weekend. I was surprised to see this Westsider in my neighborhood but Packy was always trying new things. We had a good chat about business and life and went our separate ways.

I will miss these meetups with Packy. He was truly one of a kind. Heaven just got themselves a heck of an entrepreneur and a heck of a guy.

Get Well Bobby 'Bingo' Smith

Bobby ‘Bingo’ Smith is one of only 6 Cleveland Cavaliers to have his number retired and hanging from the rafters at The Q. The Cavaliers retired his jersey on Dec. 4, 1979.
Bobby Smith, played 10 seasons and over 700 games with the Cavaliers, helping to shape and mold the young expansion team into playoff contenders.

Bingo’ sweet rainbow jumpers were often the highlight of many dismal games for the young team. Fans will remember announcer Joe Tait’s cry of “Bingo!” after another swish from Smith.

In the “Miracle of Richfield” season, Bingo was a key piece of that scrappy team. In Washington for Game 2, Smith scored a team-leading 17 points and made the game-winning shot with just seconds remaining to secure the 80-79 victory. The win served as the first playoff victory for the franchise and propelled the Cavaliers past the Bullets and into the Eastern Conference Finals.

“Bingo” ranks in the top 10 all time in franchise history in nine different categories [Games Played (2nd), Field Goals Made (2nd), Field Goals Attempted (2nd), Minutes Played (3rd), Points Scored (4th), Assists (10th), Free Throws Made (10th) and Free Throws Attempted (10th)].

Recently, Bingo Smith has been fighting some health problems.
We want him to know that the Cleveland fans support him and wish him the best.

We will be at FanFest at the Q Saturday night before the game with a giant card for you to sign. You can also appear on a video greeting to #7.
If you can’t make it to the Q, please send us your messages and we will get them to Bingo.


Cards can be mailed to
Bingo
3150 Payne Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44114

Or you can send them via e-mail to qa@clevelandseniors.com

Or join the Facebook page (get Well Bingo Smith)

Memorial Day Cookout for Geeks

You have to love this special grill accessory for bean counters, geeks and their ilk. See another at GreatLakesGeek.com

Always be prepared

That's the boy scout motto. Of course I was not a boy scout so things happen.
For example, I was at the terrific CWRU CollabTech last week.

At the lunch keynote there was a small cake on each table. Also a baggie with a candle, book of matches and a note not to do anything till asked.

Near the end of the keynote, speaker Larry Johnson had us all light the cakes and everyone sang Happy Birthday to CWRU CIO Lev Gonick, host of CollabTech.

Johnson sprung the announcement pretty fast so by the time I fumbled around and got my videocam out, I only caught the end of the song.



See more from the event

Horse Fest 2009

There's a lot to do this weekend but one of the coolest things is HorseFest 2009 at Lake Metroparks Farmpark.



Horses, contests, horses, demonstrations, horses, saddle demos, horses, jumping competition - and horses!

Not bad for a few miles outside the city in Kirtland.

Details of HorseFest 2009

Best and Worst countries for Mothers

An organization called Save the Children has been reporting for 10 years on the best and worst countries for mothers.

I expected the US to be in the top 2 or 3 but unfortunately we don't because of our high infant mortality rate. The US ranks # 27!

The Mothers' Index ranks the best and most difficult places to be a mother among 158 countries. Among the top 10 best places: Sweden ranks first, followed by Norway, Australia, Iceland, Denmark, New Zealand, Finland, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands.

Among the bottom 10 places: Niger ranks last, followed by Sierra Leone, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Yemen, Sudan, Angola, Eritrea and Djibouti.

Check out more details

Snow Bunnies in new Convention Center

It's refreshing to hear some new and innovative ideas. Jim Gilmore offers several for Cleveland in his interview with Team Geek columnist Tim Zaun.

For example, he says, "What we ought to do is invent the world's first convention center specifically designed to host winter events. Never-been-seen-before outdoor meeting space ought to created, ice bars ought to be integrated, venue-issued parkas provided, sled rides from one level to another built into the place, and so on. Make meeting planners want to come here in January for the wonderful winter-based experience. "

I love it!

Or how about, "I'd like to see us re-think Public Square. It's been cleaned up but needs a Wow. Think something radically different, like hiring Jon Jerde to enclose it under some uniquely designed dome."

Cool! Check out some more ideas

Do you get Twitter?

There are two kinds of people out there - those who get Twitter and those who don't.

It's easy for someone to grasp the usefulness of a social network like LinkedIn or Facebook but a lot of people have a problem understanding the value of frequent 140 character messages on Twitter.

So I asked Jason Therrien of Thunder::Tech about Twitter and he gives some good advice in this podcast.

Like you should only tweet with about the same frequency that you eat each day. 3-4 times. Listen to some more good ideas.

BTW, you can follow me at Twitter at

http://twitter.com/DanHanson for general stuff

http://twitter.com/greatlakesgeek for techie/science biz stuff and

http://twitter.com/clevelandpeople for info about the many different cultural groups and heritages we have in town.

Barbecue for Bean Counters

You know they type. Maybe you are that type. CPA's and other bean counters sometimes just can't relax - even while camping or at a summer barbecue.

Now they can order up a special grill accessory.



More Geek Fun

The way things work

The current economic conditions are forcing companies to make hard decisions. There is a risk we may have to lay off Andre.

Employee Happiness Kit

Due to the hard economic times and otherwise depressing state of the world today, all personnel will now be required to at least look happy while working.
Company-approved supplies will be provided to each employee at little or no cost.


Check out the Employee Happiness Kit

Cleveland Cavaliers spoof Heineken commercial

The Cavs are sure having fun this season. Just don't let it interfere with the One Goal (like in the 4th Q of Game 2!)

Mike Brown - NBA Coach of the Year

Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach Mike Brown has been named the winner of the Red Auerbach Trophy as the NBA Coach of the Year for the 2008-09 season, the NBA announced today.

Brown received a total of 355 points, including 55 first-place votes out of a possible 122, from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote received.

Brown directed the Cavaliers to an NBA and franchise-best 66-16 (.805) record. With the 66 victories, Cleveland became just the 12th team in NBA history to win 66 or more games in a season. The Cavaliers also posted a 39-2 (.951) record at The Q, which tied for the second-best home record in league history. Their 27-14 (.659) road record tied for the second-best road record in the league this season.

“Mike Brown is one of these rare people that has nearly every tool in his tool box. He is smart, hard working, and selfless. He is curious and hungry to learn. He is philosophically driven and derives his decision making from his strong philosophy. Mike is a man of character and integrity. He is a natural leader and has a ‘magnetic charisma’ which automatically attracts people to him and his message. He has stuck to his ‘defense first’ strategy when it would have been much easier not to. As a human being, Mike treats everyone with respect no matter who they are or where they come from,” Cavaliers Majority Owner Dan Gilbert said.

“Mike Brown is a critical element as to why our franchise is growing into the kind of success we all envisioned and hoped to achieve. I believe I speak for the entire Cleveland Cavaliers organization from players, to Mike’s staff, to our front office, from the business side and the people that work the games themselves, in conveying how excited and thrilled we are for Mike Brown and his family that he has been awarded ‘Coach of the Year’. There is no man more deserving and it proves to the world that, yes, nice guys CAN indeed, finish first.”

Cleveland improved its win total by 21 games from 2007-08 (45-37), tying the 1971-72 L.A. Lakers in NBA history for the second-largest improvement in wins of all teams that won at least 45 games in the previous season. Brown also oversaw NBA bests in terms of improvements in field goal percentage (from .439 to .468), three-point percentage (.358 to .393) and defensive field goal percentage (.455 to .431). The Cavs upped their points per game average from 96.4 to 100.3, the fifth-largest improvement, and lowered their points allowed from 96.7 to 91.4, the fourth best, in 2008-09.

For the first time in franchise history, Cleveland led the NBA in points per game differential (+8.9). The Cavs defense also allowed the fewest points per game in the league (91.4), the lowest opponent three-point percentage (.333) and the second-lowest opponent field goal percentage (.431). The Cleveland defense held opponents under 100 points an NBA-high 63 times (the Cavs were 56-7 in those games).
On the offensive end, Cleveland’s three-point field goal percentage (.393) ranked second, their field goal percentage of .468 ranked sixth and their 12.7 turnovers per game were the sixth-fewest in the NBA and lowest in franchise history. The Cavs won an NBA-best 41 games by 10 or more points.

Brown earned Eastern Conference Coach of the Month honors on three different occasions this season: in Dec. 2008, in Feb. 2009 and in March 2009, when he led Cleveland to 16 victories, tying the NBA all-time record for most victories in any month. At 39 years, 24 days old, he became the fourth-youngest coach to lead a team to 60 wins in a season. He joins Bill Fitch (1975-76) as the only head coaches in franchise history to receive the coach of the year award.

In four seasons as the head coach of the Cavaliers, Brown has a .643 regular season winning percentage (211-117), the best in franchise history and third among active coaches (Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich). The Cavs are one of just four teams (Dallas, Phoenix and San Antonio) to have won at least 45 games in each of the last four seasons. Brown has led the Cavs to the postseason in each of his four seasons in Cleveland and reached at least the second round of the playoffs in each of the previous three seasons (one of just three teams to accomplish the feat along with Detroit and San Antonio). With a 27-20 (.574) record in the playoffs, Brown has the highest winning percentage and most wins of any head coach in Cavaliers history.

Wearing High Heels

I have never understood how women are able to walk around in high heels. I know we all do things to conform to societal standards but high heels seem incredibly uncomfortable and unstable.

Yet I continue to see women running (!) through downtown to make an appointment or catch a bus in these long pointy contraptions.

Women get it. Guys don't.

That may be the selling point of the book The Chic Entrepreneur: Put Your Business in Higher Heels by Elizabeth W. Gordon

The tagline ‘Learn how to take your business from flats to stilettos’ is a good summary but the book is not all girly-girl fluff. The author says you have to “combine style with industriousness.”

Read a review of the book from ClevelandWomen.Com

Healthy Food at an Indians game?

Hot dogs, nachos, popcorn and other such foods are common at the ballpark. But they aren't the most healthy food choices you can make.

Until now you didn't have a lot of options if you wanted healthier snacks while watching the Cleveland Indians.

In 2009, you are able to choose healthy, and delicious, food items at Progressive Field as the Tribe teams up with Cleveland Clinic.

Go Tribe and pass the Baba ghanoush!

See more & Listen to Cleveland Clinic Chef Jim Perko

LeBron James and the Cavs - this is the year

First time in my long suffering Cleveland sports lifetime that we have the best team in the league as we go into the playoffs. OK, a case could be made that the 1995 Indians were the best but this is clear cut.

Lots of good banners/murals at the Q. Take a look.

Go Cavs!

Hidden Cleveland Treasure

As a born and bred Clevelander (still have the 'Cleveland - you've got to be tough' T-shirt) I am always surprised when I discover some place I've never been or even heard about.

That's what happened when I found the very cool Ukrainian Museum-Archives in Tremont.

The Pysanky (beautiful, intricate Ukrainian Easter Eggs) are cool of course but there is so much more than that at the Museum.



And it's free!

Check it out at ClevelandPeople.Com

How does it stay in tune?

The bandura is a Ukrainian stringed instrument. I came across a bandura at the Ukrainian Museum in Tremont while doing a story for ClevelandPeople.Com.



As a (garage-band) guitar player, I know it can be difficult to keep 6 strings in tune. This bandura has 52 strings!

Look for more from the Ukrainian Museum (a hidden Cleveland treasure) coming up next week at ClevelandPeople.Com where we celebrate the numerous ethnic groups that make Cleveland special.

Look for the ClevelandPeople.Com photo of the week too.

Kiss of Death for Zydrunas?

Oh no! Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas is the recipient of the fourth annual Austin Carr Good Guy Award, presented by the local chapter of the Pro Basketball Writers Association (PBWA).

Z is a great guy and deserves the award but the previous winners were:

2007-08 – Damon Jones
2006-07 – Drew Gooden
2005-06 – Larry Hughes


None of those guys are with the Cavs (or doing very well)

Gulp!

Conficker still a threat - easy way to test your PC

Mark Minasi sent this on. Joe Stewart, a fellow who's part of a group of concerned souls called the "Conficker Working Group" -- mostly big-name security and Internet infrastructure folks -- realized that because one of Conficker's side-effects is to block your access to certain security sites (Conficker's creators didn't want you down- loading anti-Conficker tools from those sites), he could build a non-blockable way of testing for infection.

How? It's a great idea: he put together a Web page containing links to several images from those blocked-if-you're-infected sites. See it and test your system