Fabulous Food Show - Spring

Let the backyard barbeque battles begin!

The first edition of the Spring Fabulous Food Show pays homage to the masters of the flame April 28 & 29, 2012, at the I-X Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse and more.

Win free tickets to the Fabulous Food Show

NOTE - If you are a reader of this blog, type the word "blog" after your city in the form and you will double your chance to win

But Macs don't get viruses

Smarmy Mac fanboys always claimed that Macs were immune from viruses because of superior coding. In reality, virus writers chose to ignore the relatively small (4% or so) percentage of Macs and concentrated their efforts on the Windows world.

Now that the Mac is gaining some market share, they are becoming a target.

The Flashback Trojan has compromised an estimated 600,000 plus Macs, making it comparable to the massive Conficker worm botnet that affected Windows PCs.

PC World reports that "According to current data from Net Applications, Mac OS X is the number two desktop OS with 6.54 percent market share. Windows, on the other hand, accounts for 92.48 percent of the market. Based on market share, the Flashback Trojan botnet is equivalent to a Windows botnet of nearly 8.5 million PCs. That makes it an even larger threat than Conficker--just on a much smaller platform."

They continued, "It doesn’t help anything that Apple perpetuates the myth of invulnerability. It takes time to develop a patch, but as soon as Apple was aware that the threat existed, it should have proactively communicated to Mac OS X users to make them aware. In fact, it should have provided users with instructions to disable Java and mitigate the threat pending a patch to resolve the issue. The fact that it didn’t is probably a contributing factor to why the Flashback botnet is as large as it is."

Cleveland Hungarian Development Panel - Paprika 2012

The Cleveland Hungarian Development Panel recently held their annual Paprika event.

This year's theme was The Global Trek and featured MC David Wittman and speakers Dr. Michael Roizen and Albert Ratner

Paprika 2012 - Photos and Videos

Albert Belle and the Tribe

To me, Albert Belle was one of the most intimidating hitters ever. The way he snarled and grimaced at the plate had to scare opposing pitchers. And the famous photo of Albert pointing to his bicep is a classic.

He, of course, has been estranged from the Cleveland Indians but through the efforts of Carlos Baerga, Kenny Lofton, Sandy Alomar and Mike Hargrove Albert Belle visited spring training this year and the door was opened for more participation.

I am ready for it.

Watch Indians VP Bob DiBiasio tell about it.

Food at Progressive Field for 2012 Season

I am normally a hot dog and beer guy at the ballpark but when there's a Cleveland Indians media preview and you get to sample all the goodies, it can be hard to resist.

There is a new Food Network Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese at sections 121, 154, 163, and 550. As an introductory offer, the Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese will be offered for $2 (regularly $4.50) for the first home stand, while daily supplies last.




There's a decadent praline cake soaked in Jim Beam bourbon.



Some other interesting choices too.

Check out the new foods at Progressive Field this season

Cleveland Indians Experimental Wind Turbine

The Cleveland Indians continue their pioneering efforts re sustainability (solar panels, recycling, etc.) with the installation of a wind turbine at Progressive Field. Assistant director of operations Brad Mohr says they worked on the wind turbine with their neighbors from Cleveland State University. The wind turbine is located on the south-east corner of the ballpark.

See more about the wind turbine and the Cleveland Indians solar panels and other sustainability efforts.

April Fool's Day Pranks

Since April Fool's Day is on a Sunday this year, there are not as many opportunities to prank your co-workers but here are a few fun ones to try anyway. You need access to their PC for these.


Go into Word and set up the AutoReplace with something funny and irritating. You can be obvious and have the system replace a common word like "the" with an insult. Or delay the agony by making more discrete changes such as a misspelling of your company name.

Everyone has access to a wireless USB remote control for PowerPoint presentations, right? Sneak the wireless receiver into the victim's USB port and then when you are ready, and in range, start messing with his mouse movements and clicks.

See more geeky pranks for April Fool's Day

Cleveland Indians and Social Media

The Cleveland Indians have been involved in social media (blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc) for years and are expanding their efforts to engage with fans on different platforms such as Google+, Pinterest, Tumblr and a new behind-the scenes blog called Tribe Vibe.

Anne Keegan, Assistant Director of Communications for the Cleveland Indians, tells the Great Lakes Geek about these new efforts.



More on the Tribe and Social Media including how you can apply for the Social Suite and a list of all Cleveland Indians Twitter accounts.

Healthy Granola Recipe

Fast, Fabulous, Fresh Foods Class 9


Breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day, yet so often we skip it or just grab any old thing as we run out the door. Fast food offerings and pastries are laden with fat and calories and can actually make us feel hungrier as our blood sugar spikes and drops.

Granola sounds like a good choice, but so many granolas are high in fat and sugar - and expensive. Our recipe is for a basic granola that is low in sugar and fat - it has only ½ cup of oil and ¾ cup of total sugar added to almost 10 cups of mix.

Healthy Granola Recipe

Cherry Blossoms in Cleveland

The 130 cherry trees that line Cleveland's Brookside Reservation were a gift from JANO (Japanese Association of Northern Ohio)

Pictures of the Cherry Trees in full bloom

Dennis Kucinich at Parade

Congressman Dennis Kucinich and his wife Elizabeth Kucinich marched in the 2012 Cleveland St. Patrick's Day Parade but they didn't march with the Public Officials group in the beginning.

Kucinich marched with the West Side Irish American Club instead.

Dogs at the St. Patrick's Day Parade

There were 500,000 humans at the 2012 Cleveland St. Patrick's Day Parade.

But there were a lot of dogs too.

See pictures and videos of the dogs at the Parade.

Irish Setters, Irish Wolfhounds, Siberian Huskies, Pugs, Newfies and lots more.

It was a great day for dogs - and their people.

Tweet Smart with Twitter

The Great Lakes Geek just finished reading #tweetsmart: 25 Twitter Projects to Help You Build Your Community

It's fitting that a book that focuses on the short (140 characters or less) messages of Twitter would itself be fewer than 100 pages.

But don't let the brevity of the 85 page paperback dissuade you from checking it out.

Great Lakes Geek Book Review of #tweetsmart

Latest Recipe

Fast, Fabulous, Fresh Foods - Class 8

Quick Tomato Concasse Sauce for Pasta Recipe.

Tomatoes offer massive health benefits. Besides healthy doses of vitamins, minerals, and fiber, tomatoes have been show to aid in the fight against heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis. They are an essential element in the "Mediterranean Diet" which is being touted for its myriad of health benefits - and they taste good!

The fresh basil and parsley flavor the oil and vinegar and then the fragrance blooms when the warm pasta hit it. Don't forget, though, that herbs add so much besides flavor to a dish. Most of them are densely packed with vitamins and nutrients.

Parsley has the highest concentration of anti-oxidants of any plant, as well as vitamins A, C, K, B complex, fiber, and potassium. Basil also offer Vitamins A, C, E, K, niacin, and riboflavin. These are just some of the benefits of basil and parsley.

Pope Shenouda III

"Egypt is a nation that lives within us and not a nation we live in."
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III



Our condolences to the Egyptian community and the Coptic Orthodox Church on the passing of the beloved Pope Shenouda

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Sure the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a great source of civic pride. The entire world knows that "Cleveland Rocks." But does the economic impact of the Rock Hall measure up?

Terry Stewart, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and Joel Peresman, President of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation spoke at the Corporate Club at Landerhaven. Listen to the podcast on how much the economic predictions have been blown away by the success of the Rock Hall.

And if you are a member of the KISS Army (or a fan of Rush, Yes, etc.) listen to the criteria for selection into the Hall of Fame.

And don't miss the exciting news about a Rock and Roll Walk of Fame where plaques of inductees will be strewn throughout downtown.

More from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame event.

Saint Patrick’s Day message from Irish President Michael D. Higgins.

Irish President Michael D. Higgins sent out a message to the Irish around the world for St. Patrick's Day 2012.

Saint Margaret Mary Church

Saint Margaret Mary Catholic Church was one of the many churches that was closed by the Cleveland Catholic Diocese.

It is also one of the churches that may have received a reprieve from the Vatican.

A group of former parishioners put together a quick prayer vigil at the Church on Wednesday March 14 and almost 90 people attended.

Here are some photos of Saint Margaret Mary before it closed in 2010.

Here is a short video and photos from the prayer vigil.

You can also choose to be notified of any updates about Saint Margaret Mary, including future events, on that page.

Lithuanian Independence

The Cleveland Lithuanian community gathered to celebrate February 16, 1918 and the declaration of Lithuania's independence.

Pictures and videos from Lithuanian Independence Day celebration in Cleveland

Manufacturing in Cleveland, Ohio and the US

Astronaut Gregory Johnson and
Manufacturing Mart President Mary Kaye Denning

Manufacturing has a higher multiplier effect on the economy than any other sector. For every $1 in manufacturing value added, $1.4 in additional value is created in other sectors. (US Dept. of Commerce - EE Times).

The Manufacturing Mart officially opened its doors within The Galleria in Downtown Cleveland on November 8, 2010. Did you know that Cleveland is located within 600 miles of 60% of all U.S. & Canadian manufacturing locations?

Mary Kaye Denning founded The Mart with the intention of reinvigorating the manufacturing industry in the Rust Belt. Her goal was to unite manufacturers of components, equipment, and consumer products with OEMs. Traditionally, these cutting-edge manufacturers lacked a definitive and effective way of illustrating their capabilities to a hungry OEM market.

Their first Expo last month featured over 150 exhibitors, 3000 North American manufacturers, engineers, inventors and purchasers covering all industries.

Pictures and More from the Manufacturing Mart in Cleveland

Man's Best Friend

Dogs don't care if you are homeless or having problems. They are unconditionally loyal.

DMA Cleveland

Another group you may be interested in, especially if you work in the Marketing department, is the Cleveland Chapter of the Direct Marketing Association.


Their tagline is "Marketing with Focus" and they cover a wide array of marketing topics from the traditional (direct mail) to the latest Internet strategies.

Mike Jones, president of DMA Cleveland, explains the organization and tells who would/should be interested.

Web Association

Do you work in a field that deals with SEO, SEM, paid search and other web site and social media projects?

The Web Association may be the group for you.

The Web Association "is an exciting nonprofit professional organization built upon the prior success of the Cleveland Chapter of the Association of Internet Professionals (AIP). The Web Association has roots as one of Northeast Ohio's oldest and most respected professional associations.

Our mission is to serve as a professional technology organization for the Northeast Ohio Internet and Business communities, offering an open forum, education, mutual support and networking opportunities to stimulate business growth."

Chris Serger, president of the Web Association, explains the organization and who would/should be interested.



See more Cleveland and Northeast Ohio groups you may be interested in.

Search Engine Strategies: Techniques and Tools

Whether it's a blog, website or Twitter account if people aren't aware of and able to find your masterpieces, they may not be worth the time you invest in producing them.

Search Engine Optimization or SEO has been the most cost-effective way to let people find you in Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines.

But Google and other top search engines are constantly changing their search ranking formula so what worked last year may not be as effective now. Plus there are always new tools and techniques to manage your SEO and SEM Search Engine Marketing) efforts.

The Web Association and DMA Cleveland combined to present Search Engine Strategies: Techniques and Tools. Over 100 professionals attended the meeting and heard from moderator Ryan Morgan, Online Marketing Coordinator at ERC, and panelists Dave Skorepa, Chief Creative Officer at Aztek, and Eric Pryor, SEO Strategist at Rosetta.

View some of the SEO techniques and tools

2012 Irish Walks of Life Awards

Sister Kathleen Kilbane

Every year since 1997, members of the Irish American community are honored for their contributions. Their achievements bring pride to the Irish American community. Past honorees are a veritable Who's Who of Irish success stories. This year's class is certainly no exception.

The Irish American Archives Society produces the annual Walks of Life Awards dinner.

In 2012, Michael Cleary, Edward Crawford, Sister Kathleen Kilbane, CSJ and Janice Murphy were honored.

Pics and videos from the 2012 Irish Walks of Life Awards

(Don't miss Janice Murphy's Top Ten reasons she loves being Irish)

Pinterest

Pinterest seems to be the hot social media property right now. So what do the experts say about it?

Check out the short video where Dave Skorepa, Chief Creative Officer at Aztek, and Eric Pryor, SEO Strategist at Rosetta, give their take on Pinterest at a meeting of the Web Association in Cleveland.

Skorepa says "don't abuse it" and Pryor reminds users to add value.

Congresswoman Judy Chu in Cleveland

Mandarin teacher Li Luling and Congresswoman Judy Chu

Judy May Chu is the U.S. Representative for California's 32nd congressional district, serving since 2009. She is the first Chinese American woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress and is chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.


The Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) Cleveland Chapter and Margaret W. Wong & Associates sponsored a New Faces of Leadership meet and greet with the Congresswoman.

See photos and videos from the event.

TV Pioneer Fred Griffith Retirement

Mark Johnson, Lee Jordan, Fred Griffith,
Andrea Vecchio and Michael Cardamone

There was a special mood at the taping of WKYC's Good Company Wednesday morning.

There was frivolity - balloons, cake, champagne.
There was nostalgia - remembering good times with good friends.
There was sadness - saying good bye is always difficult.

The occasion? Fred Griffith, Cleveland television legend, was doing his last show. He was retiring after having logged in more live hours on television than anyone else in history. (Regis Philbin and Fred are very close in hours).

Everybody in Cleveland knows Fred Griffith. He has been a familiar and well-loved face on television for decades.

Read the official Fred Griffith ClevelandSeniors.com profile here.

Wednesday February 22, 2012 was Fred's last day on the air at WKYC on the Good Company Today show. Family, friends and co-workers from the present and past paid tribute to the TV pioneer.

Whatever is next for Fred Griffith he will tackle the task with the charm and grace he always has and we look forward to his next adventure.

Photos and videos from Fred Griffith's last show party.

Greater Cleveland Sports Awards

Erin Andrews and young fan

Another sellout crowd honored the area’s best athletes for their outstanding accomplishments at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel.

The Greater Cleveland Sports Awards were created in 2000 by the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission as its annual fundraising event.


ESPN Sportscaster Erin Andrews served as MC for the event and attendees lined up for a chance to take a photo with the popular journalist.

Photos and more from the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards

Go Red for Women

Lindsay Silverstein, Susie Kilgore and Jen Vogrin

By now you know that heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States. It kills nearly half a million women each year at the rate of about one per minute. They are our sisters, mothers, daughters, friends, neighbors and colleagues.

The annual Cleveland Go Red For Women Health Expo & Luncheon educates and raises research funds. The following two short videos are for you Medical Geeks.

First, Dr. Attizzani from University Hospitals in Cleveland explains OCT - Cardiovascular Optical Coherence Tomography which is a catheter-based invasive imaging system. OCT uses light rather than ultrasound and produces high-resolution images of coronary arteries and deployed stents.



Then Jeff Foster from University Hospitals Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Center in Cleveland shows devices to improve the quality of life for heart patients.

Linsanity - Jeremy Lin

New York Knicks' Jeremy Lin, an unknown point guard, shot to stardom overnight. Jeremy Shu-How Lin had no athletic scholarship offers out of high school and was undrafted out of college.

Lin is one of the few Asian Americans in NBA history, and the first American player in the league to be of Chinese or Taiwanese descent. He is a 2010 Harvard University graduate.

What a refreshing story after so many NBA divas.

Joe Tait and Terry Pluto

After listening to Joe Tait as Voice of the Cavs for so many years it was hard for all of us to hear that he was sick. Then we felt relief that he was recuperating and finally a little melancholy that he was retiring.

So it was with eager anticipation that hundreds of people flocked to the Corporate Club luncheon put on by Executive Caterers at Landerhaven on January 19th to hear Joe Tait and Plain Dealer sports reporter Terry Pluto talk sports.

Together Tait and Pluto have written Joe Tait: It's Been a Real Ball (Stories from a Hall-of-fame Sports Broadcasting Career) a book that has both chronicled Joe's life and Cleveland sports.

See more from the Joe Tait and Terry Pluto event including photos.

Chinese New Year in Cleveland

I just realized that I never posted about the Chinese New Years celebrations in Cleveland.

This year I attended events at two locations - Asia Plaza at 30th and Payne and the new Asian Town Center on East 38th by Superior.

Both had performers, music, food, dragons and community organizations.

See videos, photos and more from Cleveland Chinese New Year

Stalker app or cool connection tool for singles?

What do you think of this idea?

ClevelandWomen.Com received a press release and an invitation to try a new smartphone app called SinglesAroundMe for Valentine's Day.

They say that "SinglesAroundMe (SAM) is a location aware mobile dating app for the iPhone, Blackberry and other smart phones. The patent pending SinglesAroundMe (SAM) app is the new cool way to find singles and it is a must have app for singles on the go like you. Covering the globe, and in your local city, SinglesAroundMe is there. Travel someplace; see who is single around you right now.

The "SAM" search plots your location with singles around you on a geographical Google map, in real time, and lets you control the distance and set results to match your desired profile. From here you can view a user's profile, photos, and send various winks and messages. View their GPS location, add them to your hot list, block list, and control your privacy.

The "Destination Search" option allows you to view matching singles at a location of your choice, in real time. Check who is in a bar before you decide to go, scope out a resort, club, university, city, etc. Meeting new singles has never been easier or more enjoyable than with SinglesAroundMe. With complete privacy, you can turn your GPS location on or off."

What do you think? Is this an invitation to stalkers and other unsavory characters or a fun new way to see who is near you?

Let me know what you think.

Peruvian Peace Corps Adventure

Katie Campbell-Morrison is working for the Peace Corps in Cusicancha, a village in Huancavelica, Peru.

Though she only gets Internet access about once each month, she is sending ClevelandWomen.Com stories and photos from her experiences.

Really interesting stuff!

Check out Katie Campbell and her Peruvian Peace Corps adventures.

Global Cleveland Welcome Center

Bienvenue. Welkom. Willkommen. Dobrodošli. Vitajte. Huanyíng. Benvenuto. Bienvenido. Merhaba.

No matter what language you say it in, Cleveland now has a physical space that says "Welcome."

The ribbon cutting and grand opening of the Global Cleveland Welcome Center took place on Tuesday February 7, 2012.

3 pages of pics and videos from the Global Cleveland Welcome Center ribbon cutting and grand opening

Groundhog Logic

Wikileaks Cleveland Connection

Ambassador Heather Hodges spoke at the Federation of India Community Associations (FICA) India Republic Day Celebration in Cleveland Ohio.


She told how she was "kicked out" of Ecuador because of Wikileaks documents. She was the first female US ambassador ever to be declared persona non grata.

She now serves as Amabsaador in residence and President of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs.

Black History Month opening ceremony

Black History Month began with an opening ceremony titled Celebrate Music at the City Hall Rotunda on February 1, 2012.

Several soloists and choirs were featured. I had never seen a Praise Dance before - very powerful.

Videos and photos of the Black History Month kickoff

Mahjong at the Maltz

The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage was transformed into a Mahjong Hall in honor of The Chinese New Year. Some have said the game is the single most factor that has brought Jews and Chinese together.

Check out the photos of the people and exhibits

New recipes from Fast, Fabulous, Fresh Foods Class

Class 7 of the Fast, Fabulous, Fresh Foods had Tuscan Bean Salad as the main recipe and

White Bean and Tuna Salad Recipe as a bonus recipe.

Republic Day of India - 3 regions

Sometimes you can forget just how big India is.

Imagine if someone asked you what the favorite food or musical style or sport or... was for the US? You would ask "What region" or "Which people?"

Now consider India with 1.1 billion people!

At the 63rd Republic Day of India celebration in Cleveland there were 3 different dance performances from 3 different regions of India.

First was Bharata Natyam or Chadhir Attam - a classical dance form from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

The second dance was from the western state of Gujarat where we were entertained by a Garba Dance.

The third came from the northern state of Punjab where the ladies performed Giddha, the popular folk dance performed by women mainly at festive and social occasions.

Pictures and videos of the dances and more from Republic Day

Geek Love

One of the first columns I ever wrote for Inside Business Magazine (about 12 years ago) was titled Geek Love.

It told about nerdy and techie places that Geeks and Geekettes might find each other - like user group meetings.

We are in the smartphone/tablet age so of course Geek Love has evolved.

There is a new free app called Kiss My Valentine that will "send text kisses and text hugs to family that normally I may have not taken the time to reach out to in the past"

Learn more about the Kiss My Valentine app.

The Scottish can party!

Never let it be said that the Scottish can't party.

The 253rd anniversary celebration of the life of Robert Burns, Scotland's National Poet, was held at the Croatian Lodge in Willoughby on January 21, 2012. The event was put on by the Scottish Heritage Association of Northeast Ohio (SHANO).

Great music from various pipe bands. Plaid Sabbath pipe band played. That may be the best name I ever heard for a pipe band.

One of the highlights of the evening was the Presentation of the Haggis. Yes, haggis. Haggis is like a savory pudding made of such things as sheep's heart, liver and lungs along with oatmeal, suet and spices. It is encased in the sheep's stomach and cooked for a minimum of three hours.

They recited Robert Burns Ode to a Haggis with great gusto and toasted the Haggis with some tasty single malt Scotch whiskey. Of course, toasts were not few in number at this party.

3 pages of pics and videos from the Scottish Robert Burns celebration.

What's wrong with the world

Happy Indian Republic Day

On January 26, 1930 the Indian National Congress declared 26 January as Independence Day or as the day for Poorna Swaraj (Complete Independence) which occurred 20 years later.

On January 26, 1950 the Constitution of India comes into force, forming a republic. Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first President of India.

Also, On January 26, 1965 Hindi became the official language of India.

Tablet and E-book reader Ownership

The recent Pew Internet report had some not very surprising news about Tablets and E-book readers.

"The share of adults in the United States who own tablet computers nearly doubled from 10% to 19% between mid-December and early January and the same surge in growth also applied to e-book readers, which also jumped from 10% to 19% over the same time period.

The number of Americans owning at least one of these digital reading devices jumped from 18% in December to 29% in January.

These findings are striking because they come after a period from mid-2011 into the autumn in which there was not much change in the ownership of tablets and e-book readers. However, as the holiday gift-giving season approached, the marketplace for both devices dramatically shifted. In the tablet world, Amazon's Kindle Fire and Barnes and Noble's Nook Tablet were introduced at considerably cheaper prices than other tablets. In the e-book reader world, some versions of the Kindle and Nook and other readers fell well below $100."

Year of the Dragon

Happy Chinese New Year




Yin Tang explains the Year of the Dragon

Cleveland International Hall of Fame

The 2012 Class of the Cleveland International Hall of Fame (CIHF) got a writeup in Mike O'Malley's column in the Plain Dealer today.

Check it out online.

China, Art and Cleveland

For the first time in museum history, the Cleveland Museum of Art assembled distinguished business and government leaders in a symposium to discuss how Cleveland can learn and benefit from China's successful emergence as one of the world's leading economies in the 21st century; and how the expertise of the symposium's panelists can influence the development of an international business agenda for Northeast Ohio.

Highlights included:

• Ambassador James Keith addressed the upcoming elections in the US and the power changes in China and how they might play out in 2012 and beyond.


• Eaton CEO Sandy Cutler targeted 5 areas whereby NE Ohio can benefit from China's growth


• Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic said we did not lose our jobs to the Chinese.


• Cleveland Museum of Art President and CEO David Franklin, PhD spoke about the Museum's history with Chinese art and artists


• Dennis Scholl, VP/Arts, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, expressed concerns about Intellectual Property in China


• and more

The Art of Reinvention: China, Ohio and the New Global Economy

Art with Pendulums - that's Physics

Remember from Mechanics that the period of a pendulum is proportional to the square root of the length of the line suspending the weight? Simply put, the longer the pendulum, the slower it swings.

Harvard students built a device with a series of 15 pendulums in a row, each one slightly longer than its neighbor, then set them in motion and filmed the result.

The resulting patterns in this short video are quite fascinating to watch ... sure it’s physics, but it's also art.

Tweet Choir - Microsoft CES Keynote

Tweet Choir at Microsoft CES Keynote. I'm not kidding.

Where is the Geek in Inside Business Magazine?

Looking for Dan Hanson's eIndustry column in the January issue of Inside Business Magazine? It's online.

Dan Hanson eIndustry January 2012

The column focuses on making your web site more friendly to mobile devices.

Culinary Bucket List

How many of these 100 foods from the Culinary Bucket List have you eaten? The average person has tried less than 20.

I got 48.

Immigrant Entrepreneur Success Story

Luong Thi Gia Hoa Ryan was born in Viet Nam, the oldest of twelve children. She worked for U.S. Government as Interpreter and Secretary during the Vietnam War and supervised local workers for the U.S. Government.

Over 250 friends gathered at the Sai Gon Plaza on Saturday November 5, 2011 to celebrate the 40th anniversary since Gia Hoa Ryan first came to America in November 1971 from Viet Nam. This was also the 18th anniversary of the establishment of the Friendship Foundation in December 1993. This was also the 6th year since the opening of the Sai Gon Plaza in November 2005.

She's a terrific lady, a dynamic entrepreneur and a credit to her new country and city.



Gia Hoa Ryan and Mayor Frank Jackson

Gia Hoa Ryan's 40th Anniversary Party
4 pages of photos and video

Christmas 1981 - A Flame for Freedom in Poland

It was 30 years ago, December 13, 1981, that martial law was imposed upon Poland by the communist government. Poles were aghast, horrified, frightened. And so was the man in Rome, a Polish native named John Paul II, and so was another man thousands of miles away in Washington, DC, President Ronald Reagan.

When word of the communists’ actions reached the White House, President Reagan was furious. He wanted to help the people of Poland in any way he could. At that very moment, Reagan committed to save and sustain the Polish Solidarity movement as the wedge that could splinter the entire Soviet bloc, as the first crack in the Iron Curtain.

“May I ask you a favor, Mr. President? Would you light a candle and put in the window tonight for the people of Poland?”

Read the eyewitness account of that special night

Merry Christmas

Even Santa needs to meditate and relax sometimes.

Digital Nativity

You have to like this video - the Christmas story told as if there was social media 2000 years ago.

Geek Christmas

Let's face it. As people like us make the holiday rounds, we will be on one long tech support incident. Especially if the relatives have the tech knowledge of the guy who hung these Christmas lights.



"Can you look at Cousin Mary's PC? She lost all her icons."

Can you get my wireless set up?

How do I hook up my phone/tablet/mp3 player to my computer and TV?

Why do I get these boxes popping up on my screen every 15 seconds? I swear I didn't touch anything!

So make sure you travel with a USB flash drive that has anti-virus, anti-malware, a registry cleaner and other utilities. Upgrade them to at least Internet Explorer 8 if not IE 9 and/or Google Chrome. Maybe set them up for one of the cheap cloud backup services too so they won't be calling you on New Year's Day saying their PC crashed and they don't have any backups.

And try to enjoy the holidays - even if you are left upstairs in the computer room while everyone else is downstairs drinking eggnog.

Ho Ho Ho.

Rock of Ages - for Hanukkah?

You learn something new everyday.
To me, Rock of Ages has always been an old time Christian hymn.

I learned yesterday that Jews have a Rock of Ages song too. They sang it at a ceremony celebrating the first night of Hanukkah at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage.



See more photos and videos from the Maltz Museum Hanukkah ceremony

Project Love

Each year Project Love honors individuals for their roles as influential persons on behalf of humanity at an annual Rescuer of Humanity Awards Dinner. This year's dinner was held on November 30th at Executive Caterers at Landerhaven.

The dinner emphasizes the Project Love theme that one person, willing to take a chance and reach out their hand, can truly make a difference.

Cleveland Collinwood High School student Imane Blaine recited her poem Pressure about student peer pressure.



See more from the Project Love Awards

Philanthropia

After the tragedy of 9/11, New York City absorbed such a large portion of all charitable donations that many local non-profits struggled to reach their own goals. In response, Harlan Diamond and Executive Caterers rededicated their December Corporate Club luncheon to the support of local charities, especially smaller organizations without substantial resources of their own.

That first Philanthropia saw 200 guests and raised $9,000. In 2007 it had outgrown the Grand Ballroom, spilled into the Lander Ballroom, and with over 1200 guests they raised over $128,000. Each year's community response is bigger and better.

As you can see from the giant check held by MC Leon Bibb, the 2010 Philanthropia raised $141,905 for local charities. Congratulations to Harlan Diamond and his team for another outstanding community event.

Pictures and video from Philanthropia

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans

Despite being a destitute, divorced, single-mother at age 16, Dale went on to be a role model for millions of young girls, author 28 inspirational books, write over 300 songs, provoke a generation to care for special needs children, adopt five children, and live out a beautiful 50-year marriage to Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys.

A commemorative 2-DVD set was issued on November 5, 2011 in conjunction with Roy’s 100th birthday.



Did you know that Dale's first marriage was to Thomas Fox when she was 14 years old?

Or that The Roy Rogers Show debuted on December 30, 1951 and aired 100 episodes until 1957. Stars of the show were: Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger, Dale Evans and her horse Buttermilk, Pat Brady and his Jeep Nellybelle, and Bullet The Wonder Dog.

See more fun facts about Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.

Cleveland Clinic Medical Innovation Summit

The 9th annual Cleveland Clinic Medical Innovation Summit was held October 3-5, 2011. The focus was State of the Heart: Cardiovascular Technologies and about 1,000 senior executives, investors, entrepreneurs and clinicians gathered at Cleveland Clinic to discover the future of medicine.


3 sessions stood out for me. The Top 10 Medical Innovations for 2011, the Vice-President Dick Cheney session and the Jeopardy game with IBM's supercomputer Watson.

More from the Cleveland Clinic Medical Innovation Summit

My Cleveland

An Indian-American (Mike Srestha) playing a Spanish song (Feliz Navidad) at a Christmas event at an Irish Catholic Church (St Colmans). That's my Cleveland.



An Asian-Indian group called Project Seva has been working with St. Colman's Church at West 65th and Lorain since 1999. "Seva" means "Selfless service" or "To serve humanity" in both Hindi and Punjabi. Serving Humanity is one of the pillars of the Sikh faith.

Volunteers of Project Seva have been serving the community for many years. Last year, Project Seva served over 125,000 pounds of food in 3 churches and the American Indian Education Center.

Witnessing the neighborhood people so thankful to receive a hot meal and some Christmas cheer was a real eye opener.

See more from Christmas at St Colman's.

MedWish

Do you know about MedWish?

As the result of an experience he had in Africa even before he became a doctor, Dr. Lee Ponsky started MedWish in his garage. Simply stated MedWish takes supplies that would normally be discarded, but are still of good quality and in good working condition, and sends them to third world countries where they are saving thousands and thousands of lives.

What a great idea and project.

I learned about it at the annual Project Love Rescuer of Humanity Awards

Some amazing people were honored.

Gifts for Geeks

Last chance to get Gifts for Geeks in time for Christmas. Free shipping too!

Hard Drive Shortage

“The availability of Hard Drives has decreased dramatically since the floods in Thailand caused many manufacturing plants to close. At this moment, Hard Drives are under worldwide constraint and there are no Hard Drives in Canadian distribution. Any device with a Hard Drive in it may be under constraint. Therefore, pricing will fluctuate without notice.”


I have seen prices go way up and some "one to a customer" limits.

How about you?

WIN Cleveland Party

We should have photos and video from the WIN Cleveland Holiday Diversity Party at City Hall up soon at ClevelandPeople.Com.

The photo above is most of the WIN Ambassadors with Mayor Jackson in the Red Room of City Hall before the event.

If not STEM, where are bright students headed?

I’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon over the last few years and recent events have added more data to the thesis.

We all know that the US is lagging in producing students in STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – disciplines. This will lead to a huge competitive disadvantage in the global marketplace.

At a recent City Club speech, Adobe co-founder Chuck Geschke told how Adobe was having a very difficult time finding properly educated people from the US to fill their science and techie positions. They have to go overseas to find enough candidates.

At local NEOSA events and from direct conversations with people in the tech business it is apparent that companies are desperately seeking talented programmers, engineers and other STEM-type people.

When are schools and parents and students going to do something about this? When companies are fighting over a single Dot Net developer for example, don’t you think the educational system (public or private) would work to produce graduates with these skills. High-paying, white-collar jobs are just waiting for applicants.

Read the other interesting trend and listen to the One Minute Podcast