There's something about tech entrepreneurs talking to superstar tech entrepreneurs that is, as Sarah Palin might say, "so gosh,darn excitin'." While I could have done without people getting so braggy about Columbus and a booming tech industry, but I was excited to meet some tech superstars, who hit the road on behalf of Barack Obamma's presidential campaign at an event called 2.Ohio.

 

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I've long believed that one particular angle or lens from which the facilitation of environmental consciousness and awareness can be fostered is via creative use of technology. Socially conscious websites such as REALNEO help build voice and community around issues that really matter to communities and their vitality.  I was particularly energized and enthused by a recent article in the latest issue of Inside Business which elegantly articulated the efforts of local social entrepreneur Craig Zamary, who sold a successful market research firm to focus on a driving passion for environmental awareness.

In My Colombian War*, Silvana Paternostro reports that the average Colombian reads less than 2 books a year.  Does the average northeast Ohioan top that number?

If you’ve ever spent time in my classroom as a student you’ll know exactly why I kept clicking on the cat, but this charming feline has apparently, and mysteriously, learned to speak Spanish! In fact, Toxie may be a great way to get students in your class thinking about their own homes and observing the things that go on in them through a whole new set of furry sunglasses. That’s because ToxMystery is a brief, fun, and educational game for kids from the National Library of Medicine that takes them through an entire house with their entertaining host, Toxie, locating all the things that are creating an environmental hazard while answering questions about their impact on the health of its inhabitants. And although it’s been designed for children from age 7 to 10, I’ve got to admit it’s a bit amusing to watch the cat dance around once they’ve correctly identified all of the problems in a room. At the end, they get to print out a personalized certificate of completion, letting the world know they’ve learned a bit about protecting the environment in their own homes too.

Can't contain the excitement on this emerging evolution.  Why not celebrate a bit as we finally gain real traction after years of socially-conscious and sometimes stigmatizing suffering we starving artist-technologists know well. I feel we are ready for a RealNEO Rennaissance!

I had the annoyance of going to Beechwod Place Mall today for a meeting. What an astounding celebration of sweatshop labor and wasted resources. This pan is the first floor corner by some silly place called Nordstom, where not only does the coffee shop not provide wifi but the barista doesn't know what wifi means.

Martin Varsavsky, founder of FON, and author of his "Blog of an Entrepreneur", posted there an interesting letter he sent to all his employees: "FON is Dropping Microsoft, Adopting Ubuntu". I had seen, on some of his earlier blog entries, that Martin had a major Windows crash and lost his whole hard drive (been there) and so after 20 years with Microsoft he switched to Ubuntu (done that) and also Apple - after a month he settled on Ubuntu. It has been fascinating reading Martin's celebration of discovering FOSS - I remember having the same awakening. It is very exciting to now see Martin move his company FOSS, and to highlight how he is doing this and why - read his personal account here... and think about how this could be happening all over NEO...

While not currently a powerhouse in Free Open Source Software (FOSS), Northeast Ohio is positioned to begin excelling with FOSS in some very strategic ways that may add great value to the regional economy. 

Because of FOSS, we may now bridge the digital divide more quickly and completely here than has any other large urban center in America, we may soon have the highest percentage of workforce properly educated for the new economy, and we may lead the world in some fields of application development and technology innovation with global, open standards, all if the region now embraces FOSS..

Thanks to Ed Morrison for sending over a link to an interesting analysis of the value of FLOSS (Free/Libre Open Source Software) for European businesses and society. From the article: "European companies are saving a lot of money on software investment and development, due to the existence and emergence of open-source software, a Commission-funded study finds." An especially interesting observation is that "The bigger a company is, the more likely it is to use FLOSS." I wonder how NEO stacks up in the FLOSS world - use of FLOSS in business and government... training of FLOSS programmers and administrators... marketing and purchasing of FLOSS solutions in the region... number of FLOSS professionals and firms deploying FLOSS solutions? Read more about this movement in Europe below...

 

Building blocks for bridging digital divide in East Cleveland 

In a recent article on bridging the digital divide in NEO, "It seems time to open up the OneCleveland network vision of Cleveland Heights, to see if there is value for others", I mentioned "An example of a progressive community building a mesh broadband network environment is found in Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network (CUWiN), which is a world- leader in such grass-roots broadband community service and technology. That is a model we are exploring in trying to help residents of underserved communities of East Cleveland and Cleveland secure access to broadband services, as carriers have underserved their neighborhoods, and poverty there is a significant issue."

Well, I was pleased to start the first work-day of 2007 with the correspondence posted below, from the Executive Director of CUWiN - globally celebrated community computing expert Sascha Meinrath - who is helping us center in on a viable model for East Cleveland and other undersupported urban neighborhoods in the region to bridge the digital divide here. Read on, as we are clearly on the right track and farther along than anyone may imagine. I'll add related insight and next steps as they develop.

On next Wednesday, December 6, 2006,  it will have been two years since I proposed to Northeast Ohio that we can easily and inexpensively bridge the digital divide for East Cleveland, and other communities in need in the region, by deploying mesh wifi networks here and distributing recycled computers running open source software (see original posting below, and linked with other related files here). I called this vision ECHO - originally "East Cleveland Homes Online", renamed "Extending Community Home Online". While I've driven some ECHO progress, over these years, especially deploying to people in need recycled computers running Ubuntu, the mesh is still to come. The time has come.

Two weeks ago saw the second birthday of REALNEO. I started REALNEO in October, 2004, to provide “Regional Economic Action Links for North East Ohio” and implement for the region some exciting open source social networking technology. While the outcomes have not been entirely what I expected, and these years have in ways been rough, I've been thrilled to help drive and support some great developments in the community.

Northeast Ohio's Blogging community is America's most active civic journalism network. Meet The Bloggers is an exciting, cutting edge community lead by George Nemeth, Gloria & Tim Ferris, and Jason Haas, building a national reputation for supporting freedom of speech, citizen dialogue and strengthening transparent political process - keystones of Democracy. 

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Part business guru, part standup commedian, Guy Kawasaki has a knack for making complex things very simple while making you laugh along the way. I first met him when he spoke at the Innovest Venture Capital Conference years ago.

 The following story with its links ran in CASE Daily (Case's online newpaper) today. Do feel like you have entrepreneurial genes? I think I do! Please post your thoughts
"Do genes influence who will be entrepreneurs?"

ABC News (Reuters), June 5, 2006
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2041245