Tech in Toledo

Toledo Linux User Group February Meeting

2010-02-19T07:28:00.001-05:00

When:: Saturday, February 27th, 2010
Where:: Sanger Branch Library - Meeting Room B
Time:: 1:00pm
Topic:
Installfest / General Q&A

Other Info

We will not have a specific topic for February's meeting. What we will have instead will be an installfest. If you've got a desktop or laptop that you'd like to install GNU/Linux or another *nix distribution onto, bring it in! Distribution gurus will be present to help you get your distribution of choice up and running.

Attention all distribution gurus! If you'd like to help out at the meeting with a particular distribution, please contact us and let us know so we can add you to the list.

GNU/Linux and other *nix distribution CDs will be provided free of charge. We can also burn one for you at the meeting if we don't have a CD made already.

Link

Tech Connect Featuring Mayor Mike Bell

2010-02-19T07:21:00.001-05:00

The next Tech Connect is February 24, 2010 and will feature newly elected Toledo Mayor Mike Bell!

If you are an entrepreneur looking for others with like minds -- or if you are or a business person with valuable services to offer the tech world, Tech Connect is for you. Plan to attend the next Tech Connect event -- Northwest Ohio’s premier networking experience for tech-minded entrepreneurs. This event will feature newly elected Toledo Mayor Mike Bell.

Event Time and Location:

February 24, 2010
Toledo Club 5-8 pm
Tech Connect
Toledo Club
235 14th St.
Toledo, OH 43604

Click here to register

RGP Tech Connect Event

2009-07-13T06:13:00.002-05:00

RGP Tech Connect is a networking event that the Regional Growth Partnership throws every once in a while. If you want to meet other tech entrepreneurs in the area this is a great opportunity.

The Glass Pavilion at the

Toledo Museum of Art

2445 Monroe St.Toledo,

Ohio 43620

Thursday, July 29
5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.This is a free event, including free parking, with complimentary hors d'oeuvres and cash bar available

TECHCONNECT is Northwest Ohio's premier networking opportunity for entrepreneurs and technology companies. This program will feature presentations from entrepreneurs showcasing their paths to success and the programs and services which helped lead the way.TECHCONNECT is dedicated to enhancing Northwest Ohio's entrepreneurial technology spirit by connecting entrepreneurs and researchers with business owners, service providers, and representatives from the financial sector-connecting minds, motivation, and money!

Tattooleetup

2009-07-11T10:55:00.005-05:00

Last night there was held a tweet-up. It was held that the 20 N. Gallery in downtown Toledo. There was music, art, tattooing, chocolate, poetry and some great people. The event was organized by Mark Pannell @7son75, Ken Thompson @kongslide , and @8thLopez

Here's a link to some of the goings on at the party.

@Kongslide's Flickr Photos: Link

Photo by @Drintlemann: Link

Here is the live video broadcast of the event: Link

Also there is a series of Qik videos that Mark took in his stream. Link

For more information about the local community building group, Toleeps Join them at Ning.

Great event Looking forward to the next event these guys throw.

Mud Hens Tweetup

2009-05-13T19:32:00.003-05:00

The Toledo Twitter users are getting together again. They are meeting at the Mud Hens Field. You can check out info and buy tickets on the Mud Hens website They offer a discount if you tell them your twitter name. So if you want to socialise with with really cool people in the Design, Social Media, and Tech in the Toledo area and see some great baseball check it out.

Jewels and Trains Coming to Toledo

2009-05-13T06:37:00.003-05:00

Ruby on Rails is another web based programming language much like ASP and PHP. Some developers and designers are forming a group around the programming language. They will be meeting once a month they are still working out the details. But if you would be interested in learning a new programming language and or meeting some people in the area then check them out their Google group page at http://groups.google.com/group/toledorb?pli=1 .

Lucas County Library: Teen Tech

2009-03-03T12:09:00.002-05:00

Lucas County Library branches will be holding events throughout the week of March 8-14th to interact with teens about technology. Here is a listing of the events that are going on at some of the branches throughout the week.

Birmingham Branch Library, 203 Paine Ave. Technical Teens (Th) March 12, 4 p.m.
Grades 5-12 Technically, how good are you with technology? Join us for a Teen Tech Week celebration using some of the latest technology.

Heatherdowns Branch Library, 3265 Glanzman Rd. RuneScape (Th) March 12, 4 - 5 p.m.  Grades 6-12 Celebrate Teen Tech Week by joining us in the Heatherdowns Computer Lab for an hour of uninterrupted RuneScape action. Open to the first 10 participants.

Holland Branch Library, 1032 S. McCord Rd. Smiley and Emoticon Challenge March 9 - March 14, 9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.  Grades 6-12 Celebrate Teen Tech Week and take the challenge. Identify the smileys and emoticons on the quiz sheet. One entry per person. A grand prize will be drawn from the entries with the most correct answers.

Kent Branch Library, 3101 Collingwood Blvd. Teen Tech Week: Computer Café – Power Point (M) March 9, 4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Grades 6-12 Join us on our laptops, as we learn the basics of Microsoft Power Point while creating a stunning presentation that looks as if it were designed by a professional. Class size is limited to 20. Registration is required. 419.259.5283

Locke Branch Library, 703 Miami St. Teen Tech Week March 9 - March 14, 9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Grades 5-12 Do you know what a punch card is? What about FORTRAN? Celebrate Teen Tech week by challenging yourself with our computer history quiz. Correct answers will be entered in a prize drawing.

Sanger Branch Library, 3030 W. Central Ave. Teen Tech Week Survey (W) March 4, 6 - 7 p.m. Enlighten us on the latest and greatest trends in the tech world. Take the Tech Survey and take it to the Information Desk to trade for chocolate.

Sylvania Branch Library, 6749 Monroe St. Press Play @ Your Library March 9 - March 14, 9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.  Grades 6-12 Think you’re tech-savvy? Find out during Teen Tech Week when you take our technology test. If you’ve got the right stuff, you could win a cool flash drive.

Main Library, 325 Michigan St. Teen Tech Week - Books on Gadgets (M) March 9, 3 - 4 p.m.
Grades 6-12 Celebrate Teen Tech Week by sampling some of the latest technology we offer to share the love of reading! Explore the new facets of recorded books! Try out a Playaway title, see how easy it is to read an e-book or listen to one downloaded to a computer or personal listening device. It does make reading more fun!

For more details, please call 419.259.5297

Toledo Tell Link

NWNUG- Brian Prince - Computing in the Clouds

2009-02-09T07:49:00.003-05:00

Brian Prince will be discussing Microsoft Azure at the upcoming NWNUG meeing. On Feb. 17th starting at 6:00 PM at the HCR Manorcare Building in downtown Toledo. Azure is Microsoft's move into cloud computing joining the ranks of Amazon EC2 and Google's App Engine.

Link

Sdudi LLC Coming to Town

2009-02-02T23:38:00.001-05:00

Sdudi LLC, the creators of the Sdudi Smart Stick™ are moving to the Toledo area. They are joining the Clean and Alternative Energy Incubator at the University of Toledo. The Sdudi Smart Stick™ is a USB drive that you can plug into any PC and boot up into a Linux operating system. Basically you are carrying your desktop around with you, It includes software including Open Office software, GAIM, firefox, etc. They also have their own data center which you can store your data on the cloud, including video, pictures, and office documents.

They are going to be testing their product on several University of Toledo Students.

Link to a document explaining their product.

Link to the Blade article that brought this to my attention.

Engineers Week

2009-02-02T21:49:00.006-05:00

Engineers Week is approaching. E-Week is represented nationally at http://www.eweek.org/ This week is used to bring Engineering into the spotlight even for a week. This post may be a little late as far as registering to participate in the events but Engineers week is coming up. Here is a list of the scheduled events going on in Toledo.

2009 ENGINEERS WEEK CALENDAR
Friday, Feb. 6
8:00 am – 3:00 pm UT* - JETS Competition
For NW Ohio Students

Saturday, Feb. 7
8:00 am – 2:00 pm MATHCOUNTS
UT College of Engineering, Nitschke Auditorium
Contact: Dan Stark – 419-720-2692 EMAIL: danstark at rlcos dot com

Sunday, Feb. 15
5:00 – 10:00 pm UT* - FAMILY NIGHT
UT Recreation Center
Sponsored by UT Alumni Engineering Affiliate (EAUT)
Contact: 419-530-2586

Monday, Feb. 16
12:00 noon ENGINEER OF THE YEAR LUNCH
Gladieux Meadows, Heatherdowns Blvd.
3:00 p.m. UT* - POP BOTTLE ROCKET
For High School & College students
Engineering Courtyard - Sponsored by Triangle Fraternity

Tuesday, Feb. 17
2:30 p.m. UT* - EGG DROP CONTEST
For High School & College students
Nitschke Hall/First Floor - Sponsored by Triangle Fraternity

Wednesday, Feb. 18
9:00 a.m. UT* - ENGINEER FOR A DAY
For High School Students
University of Toledo/College of Engineering
11:30 am –12:30 pm ENGINEER FOR A DAY LUNCH
First Floor—Nitschke Hall
12:30 pm STUDENT SHADOWING
Offsite at various corporate locations
FOR ADDITIONAL INFO: Contact – Sarah Rowland – 419-213-4557
EMAIL: efad.nwohio at gmail dot com

Thursday, Feb. 19
3:00 p.m. UT* - TOOTHPICK BRIDGE CHALLENGE
For High School Students
First Floor - Nitschke Hall - Sponsored by Society of Women Engineers
4:00 p.m UT* - EGG LAUNCHER
For High School Students
First Floor - Nitschke Hall - Sponsored by First Year Rocket Engineers
6:00 – 9:30 pm Engineers Week BANQUET
Gladieux Meadows, Heatherdowns Blvd.
Contact – Lisa Aller – 419-530-3436 EMAIL: tst at eng dot utoledo dot edu

Friday, Feb. 20
5:30 p.m. UT* - RUBE GOLDBERG
For Students of all ages-Teams from various UT organizations
Main Hall - Nitschke - Sponsored by Theta Tau

UT* activities are held at UT College of Engineering, Nitschke Hall.
Contact -- Jon Pawlecki PH: 419.530.8045 or jpawleckat eng dot utoledo dot edu

I'd like to thank the Technical Society of Toledo for providing the Schedule. Link

Luncheon with Suganit Systems Inc.

2009-02-02T17:28:00.005-05:00

Praveen Paripati, president of SuGanit Systems Inc., Toledo, is the speaker
at the monthly luncheon meeting of the Technical Society of Toledo on Friday 2/6/2009. SuGanit Systems is working with The University of Toledo to develop cellulosic ethanol. Together they have several pending patents.

The luncheon begins at 11:45 a.m. in the Centennial Room of the Toledo Club. Reservations by Wednesday. Contact Lisa Aller at 419-530-3436 or at tst@eng.utoledo.edu.? Cost: $20.

University of Toledo holds Saturday Morning Science Programs

2009-01-30T08:46:00.003-05:00

The University of Toledo is holding a set of Saturday morning presentations to address common questions about science. This is a free event open to the public. Parking is free as well.

Here is the the snippet from their web site:

We will provide FREE light breakfast: coffee, milk, doughnuts... The event starts at 9:30 a.m. and runs until approximately 11:00 a.m.

Location: Bowman-Oddy Laboratories, Room 1059, University of Toledo main campus.

Parking: Lot 13 and west ramp parking garage, free to public (map).

Once more we will have local professors and researchers show you what science in general is all about. There will be tutorials, demos, hands-on activities, etc.. We promise it will be fun!!!

SPRING SCHEDULE

Jan. 31st:

Wind Farming: Making Energy is a Breeze

Kevin M. Maynard

Director of Utilities

City of Bowling Green, OH

Feb. 14th:

Flames, Flashes, and Foam: A Chemistry Demo Show

University of Toledo Student Affiliates of the American Chemical

Society

Feb 28th:

Inflammation: Why is my Arm Turning Hot and Red?

Asst. Prof. Randall G. Worth

Dept. of Medical Microbiology and Immunology

University of Toledo

March 28th:

Fish: Choices and Issues for Consumers - The Good, the Bad,

and Maybe the Ugly

Prof. Joseph Regenstein

Dept. of Food Science

Cornell University

April 18th:

Aluminum: Its Early History in Ohio and How this Metal

Changed the World

Emeritus Prof. Norman Craig

Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Oberlin College

Organized by Prof. Joseph Schmidt, (Chemistry)

Official Link

Toledo firm writes Iphone App

2009-01-29T08:25:00.003-05:00

Local Web Development Firm Magnate Interactive, the same company that brought us ToledoMenu.com recently published an Iphone game named MASH (Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House) a game where you enter some information people, universities, etc... and it randomly generates your future for you.

This is the first company in the area that I know of that is producing Iphone apps and has gotten them published. This first game is very simple and I'm sure it was more of an experiment. The writter said that they are coming out with an update for the game and is awaiting approval. I am anxiously awaiting mor e news from this company and the creation of more apps. You can follow the creator on twitter at http://twitter.com/mattbraun

You can get MASH for $0.99 via this Link to Itunes. You will need to own a Ipod Touch or Iphone with the 2.2 firmware to play.

Technology Innovation Luncheon

2009-01-26T07:36:00.002-05:00

Rocket Ventures is holding a Luncheon on March 5th at 11 AM - 1 PM for $20 at the Toledo Club with Dr. Tony Dennis, President and CEO of BioOhio, an Economic Development group that accelerate bioscience industry, research, and education in Ohio.

Official Notice Link

Third Frontier

2009-01-21T07:42:00.004-05:00

I received this message through E-mail from the Toledo RGP. With a link to a form. This is for anyone who is interested in in applying for seed funding thought the Third Frontier program.

Please see attached a current summary of the open RFP's from the Third Frontier Program. There are two open RFP's:

1. Success and pre-Seed Fund Initiative (SPSFI)
2. Innovation Ohio Loan Fund (IOF)

The Ohio Research Commercialization Grant Program (ORCGP) is no longer accepting Letters of Intent. The Proposal due date is January 22, 2009.

For more information, please visit the website at www.thirdfrontier.com.

Best regards,

Tasha Hussain Black
Vice President Technology
Director Launch Program
Regional Growth Partnership
Building a High-Performance Economy
300 Madison Avenue, Suite 270
Toledo, Ohio 43604
www.rgp.org

Toledo Solar power research mentioned in the AP

2008-12-11T07:58:00.004-05:00

I know this really isn't a story but it is nice to see some favorable press about our area. An AP writer reported on the solar research being done in the Toledo.

Give it a read: link
The Regional Growth Partnership was the source.

“Computer Friends” Stack the Memory

2008-11-26T16:23:00.001-05:00

Funny Nerdy video. Singing about upgrading.

Business Incubator Breaking Ground

2008-10-30T06:27:00.002-05:00

A new technology business incubator is breaking ground today October 30th at 10:00 AM. with a check presentation and groundbreaking ceremony. Speakers at the event will include Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, Mr. Nitschke and state government representatives. The event will take place near the Nitschke auditorium.

The University of Toledo received a total of $4,000,000. The donors include Norman Nitschke and grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration and some State and local money as well.

The grant will go toward a new, 40,000-square-foot building that will consist of laboratories and office space to house a mix of technology startup companies. Construction is expected to be complete in fall 2009.

Link to UTNews
Link to ToledoBlade

Intro to Linux

2008-10-28T07:50:00.005-05:00

I'm going to the TALUG,(Toledo area Linux User Group) tonight 6:30 PM at UT North Engineering Building . The topic is an "Intro to Linux". I've got a bit of exposure to Linux but I'm sure that there are some things that I can learn. I'm mostly self/web taught. I'm looking to make better use of the Linux operating system in the near future so I'm hoping this will be a good crash course. See you there.

First Solar gets Tax Credit

2008-10-01T06:23:00.002-05:00

First Solar (FSLR)is getting a tax credit worth $175,126. This tax credit will go towards The building of a Research and Technology Center in Perrysburg Township, a suburb of Toledo.

Source (Toledo Blade)

Toledo Regional Growth Parntnership Featured on Fox Business.

2008-09-30T23:06:00.003-05:00

Steve Weathers, CEO of the RGP speaks with one of Fox Business's Corespondents. I think that he does a great job of getting information out about the region and the alternative energy scene in Toledo. Something that I thought was interesting was that the corespondent did not really seem to have done any real research on our region outside of the usual headlines of unemployment. Mr. Weathers did a wonderful job of making sure that usual stuff wasn't all that was heard.

NWNUG meeting on Oct 20th

2008-09-30T22:55:00.003-05:00

The NWNUG crew is going to be having a meeting on a Monday which is a little unusual for their meetings but it looks like they are bringing in a heavy hitter for their meeting. They are bringing in Wally McClure who I ran across a couple of years ago when I was looking around for some podcasts on topics that interested me. Wally's Podcast happened to be one that followed for a little while. It got very technical and I like to be able to look at code so audio didn't work for me. Anyway they haven't decided on what the topic for the meeting will be but I'm sure that it will be entertaining and informative.

Xunlight Gets 11 Million more in funding

2008-09-15T23:25:00.004-05:00

Hope I didn't get you news hounds too excited this is kind of old news but I thought I'd mention it.

Toledo based solar power start-up Xunlight recently, August 29th 2008 announced that they raised 11 million in funding from Rabo Ventures. The funding will go toward their manufacturing facilities.

They are also going to be exhibiting at Solar Power International October 13th through 16th
Booth #1145.

NWNUG Meeting Sept. 16th

2008-09-15T23:07:00.002-05:00

The NWNUG is having a meeting on September 16th where they have a speaker, David Giard, who is covering two topics. MEF and Velocity.

Official Link

Upcoming

Yahoo releases documentation on YQL and Social APIs

2008-09-15T22:11:00.006-05:00

Yahoo has been on a mad dash to go ultra open with all of their properties. They have been talking for the last couple of months, around the time of the MS take over bid. They have had APIs(application program interface basically tools to give you access to their programs), available for products like Upcoming, Flickr, Fire Eagle, Mobile, etc... Recently they have opened up their Search APIs with Search Monkey and BOSS. This new batch of programming tools will give you access with their Social Directory, Contacts, User Status and Updates and also YQL. Unfortunately we only get to read about what these new tools can do for us. Hopefully they will release the code soon but for now we can only read the documentation.

We will have to see if opening up all of their properties will draw the developers in to program on their platform and add value to their properties like it did for the likes of Facebook, the iPhone, Meebo, and many of the other sites and tools that have opened up.

Boss mashable challenge

2008-09-13T08:40:00.003-05:00

Yahoo is running a contest. Write the best application using their BOSS API and win $2000 for first prize and $1000 for second prize. Submissions must be made by Sept. 28th. Details at http://mashable.com/boss .

Microsoft new ad with Jerry Seinfeld

2008-09-05T06:53:00.002-05:00

Here is the new Microsoft ad in a series of ads that Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld are doing together to sell Vista.

Initial impression to me is that there had better be more this first ad was pretty underwhelming.

Upcoming My Weapon of Choice

2008-08-07T21:39:00.006-05:00

Most everyone in Toledo knows that it can sometimes seem like there is nothing going on in town but often what is the problem is that the promoters/organizers have not done a good enough job of getting the word out.

I like to look up and report about events that are going on around Toledo which is why I started this blog in the first place. I've been mulling over how people learn about and find events going on in town. I know from first hand that it is very difficult to find out what is going on. There are a lot of people who post on their organization's website but that is as far as they get which to the uninitiated is too difficult to find.

There are quite a few sites out there that try to put things together. Eventful, Eventsetter, Craigslist, various local solutions, Toledo.com, dotoledo.org . No product is perfect and some of these products fill a void that others don't but Out of all of them I think that due to the social aspect of the site my vote is with Upcoming.

With Upcoming you can post an event and make it public or private (telling only some of your friends). I believe you can make the location of the event public or private. You can create groups which are moderatable for those of you involved in churches, clubs, governments, classes, families, major public events, whatever.

For those of us who are interested enough you can develop a program that uses it API. Some people already have. You can put an Upcoming badge on your website, blog, myspace page. There is a Facebook application that you can hook your account up to notify the people closest to you about events.

The main problem is that there just aren't that many current active posting users. There are currently some interesting events that the library, zoo and some local bands have posted but I think that there need to be more posters on this site to make it more effective. I'm going to start posting event that I find around town. Initially I'll probably start with only the ones that I find interesting but who knows. This site is wholely user generated content so it is up to us to fill it.

Check me out on Upcoming.yahoo.com http://upcoming.yahoo.com/user/185306/ my username is Laser... yeah I know it is kind of lame but so what maybe I'll change it sometime but I kind of like it.

If you feel like joining the fun start posting your events and maybe people will start to realize that there really are things going on in Toledo.

NWOACM having a social dinner

2008-08-07T21:34:00.004-05:00

The NWOACM is having a social dinner August 21st at 6:30 PM at Cucina di Betto in Bowling Green. All are welcome just notify chair at nwoacm dot org.

http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/990640/

I know I'll be there.

NWNUG Meeting: Building Web Applications with the Microsoft ASP.NET MVC Framework

2008-08-07T21:28:00.002-05:00

The NWNUG are having their monthly meeting on August 19th 2008 at 6:00 PM till 8:00.

http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/990675

I don't know if I can make it but it sounds interesting.

Playing on Twitter

2008-07-31T23:01:00.002-05:00

I've been playing on Twitter an awful lot lately. I've run into some people in the area who I don't think that I ever would have in other circumstances. The ability to follow people and message them is incredibly easy. I'm finding it very rewarding to be able to post any old thought or happening online. The shortness of the messages, (140 characters) make it very quick. The omnipresence of the tool is also a great feature. You can connect to it with your mobile phone through mobile web or text messaging, there are also apps for all the smart phones. You can connect to it on your computer using their web interface or you can connect with a third party application like twhirl (my personal favorite)

There is a bit of a friend curve. It is more fun the more people you follow and talk to. So if you want to try it out you can follow one of the top twitterati they give you a good idea of what you can do with Twitter but don't forget that they are Celebrities and most likely will not have time to talk to you. Some of these are followed by thousands of people. To get the most out of Twitter you will want to enlist your friends or you can just search for people in your area.

I'll probably be posting about the developments that I come across this service. So stay tuned.

Hulu Days of summer

2008-06-19T08:13:00.004-05:00

I've become a fan of Hulu, a joint venture between NBC and Fox, over the last couple of months. It allows me to watch some shows that I would have missed during their regular schedule. Hulu is now going to be releasing something everyday till the end of summer. They have a widget that I'm going to embed to test it out below.

NWNUG Iron Python Launch Event

2008-05-08T06:31:00.003-05:00

The guys at NWNUG are having an Iron Python Launch event on Tuesday May 13th.

They will be giving away copies of Visual Studio 2008 and possibly raffling Windows Vista Ultimate ( Must be more than 20 people in attendance) .

Link

NWOACM Social Dinner April 17th 6:30

2008-04-10T08:24:00.003-05:00

There is going to be another social meeting with ACM. I'm planning on being there.

The Northwest Ohio chapter of ACM is holding a social gathering at Cucina di
Betto’s in Bowling Green on Thursday, April 17, 2008. We will be there
from 6:30 to 8:30 enjoying some drinks and dining. Anyone interested in
attending, please respond to this email or send one directly to chair@nwoacm.org by 8:00 pm on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 so we
can reserve enough seating at the restaurant.

Jing Screencasting

2008-04-08T06:38:00.001-05:00

One of the coolest programs that I have run into for a while, Jing, written by TechSmith. What it does it you can capture a screen image, or capture video and audio (including microphone) of your desktop and send a url. You can use it to show users what you want them to do rather than trying to explain it on the phone or through e-mail. I recently used it and it saved me like 20 minutes of explaining. It was great. If you ever need to explain anything to anyone about computers then you will love this program. Check it out

link

Computer Recycling

2008-02-21T06:44:00.003-05:00

Goodwill has started accepting computers for donation. They are working in cooperation with Dell Computers. They will be accepting donations at 15 donation centers areawide.

A word of caution about this is that if you are going to donate your computer with old sensitive data on it either run a data wipe program, (format isn't necessarily the best option) or remove your hard drive from the computer completely.

This is a great option for people who have an old computer that they aren't going to use anymore.

Link

MS launch event in Detroit

2008-02-20T07:49:00.003-05:00

Looks like Microsoft is doing another launch event for Visual Studio 2008, Server 2008, and SQL server 2008. There is one in Cleveland on the 13th of March 2008 and there is one in Detroit on March 18th 2008. Looks like they are giving away copies of all the software. I think that I may have to go.

Series of posts

2008-02-20T07:42:00.003-05:00

I've got an idea for a series of posts. I am going to cover some of my thoughts on trends dealing with computer maintenance, security also some thoughts on the internet. If there is anything that you would like to know about feel free to ask. I'll try to cover any topic that I feel I have a relatively good amount of knowledge about.

NWOACM Social Dinner

2008-02-19T07:32:00.000-05:00

The Northwest Ohio chapter of ACM is holding a social gathering at Cucina di Betto’s in Bowling Green on Thursday, February 21, 2008. They will be there from 6:30 to 8:30 enjoying some drinks and dining. Anyone interested in attending, please RSVP to chair at nwoacm.org by 8:00 pm on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 so they can reserve enough seating at the restaurant.

Topic: Whatever suits the mood
Date: February 21, 2008
Time: 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Where: Cucina di Betto, 121 S. Main St., Bowling Green, OH, 43402

Yahoo! Mobile Platform

2008-01-14T23:03:00.000-05:00

I have to admit that I've always had a soft spot for Yahoo. I use their e-mail service for my personal e-mail, I use flickr for photo sharing, and del.icio.us for keeping and sharing bookmarks, and Upcoming to post events online. They have a mobile service that lets you do web searches, check e-mail, maps and more.

They have launched a 3rd party platform for developers that allows you to add widgets to their mobile service. You can do something as simple just attach a RSS feed or you can write an XML based application. You do have to use their simplified markup language called Blueprint. It seems pretty straight forward. I'm kind of tempted to write something for it. Unfortunately I don't have a mobile data plan so I wouldn't be able to test it but I seems easy enough you could probably throw something together in a matter of a couple of hours. MySpace is launching a widget that will allow you to post and see your friends moods, browse photos, and send messages.

One of the benefits of this is that Yahoo wrote the platform which works on many different types of cell phones so you don't have to write your application for every different type of phone.
Link

Hand bell hero

2007-12-21T09:03:00.000-05:00

I found this flash game, "Hand Bell Hero" it is very similar to guitar hero and it is played with your key board. You get to play Christmas songs. Have fun.

Link

Demolition Lately

2007-10-03T07:16:00.000-05:00

In my travels back and forth from work lately I've been noticing a lot of demolition. In the picture that I snapped they were knocking down a building behind Sanger Branch Library. I think it was a school or something.

Along my route to work I noticed 2 different buildings get knocked down. One a Grave marker seller or something and an old bar or store. Hopefully these are developments happening rather than just buildings falling apart.

I also noticed in the old west end quite a few houses that either were damaged or caught fire that look like they have been boarded up and probably will get knocked down eventually. It seems like a shame since many of those houses are beautiful Victorians.

Also there is the destruction of the old Jeep Plant. It looks like they have gotten rid of a lot of that. And as some of you know they are leaving one of the smoke stacks up as a reminder of the old factory.

You also have the demolition of the old arena and the demolition of the old Club Bijou who moved out to Byrne from their old N. Superior location for the new arena. Which you can see the progress of the construction of the new Arena here. I'm looking forward to this Arena I think that it will help liven up the downtown scene a little. Plus I have a passing interest in hockey.

Eventually there will be the demolition of the buildings that are along the river on the East Side of the River near Downtown for the Marina District.

I just thought that it was interesting how many buildings have been demolished lately. Some for progress some we will have to see about.

Update: I found an article on "The Blade's" web site. That covered the same thing. Turns out one of the buildings was a motorcycle bar. Link

NWOACM Social Gathering

2007-10-02T17:55:00.000-05:00

The guys at the NWOACM are having a get together at Cucina di Betto in Bolwing Green, OH on Thursday, October 18, 2007. This gathering will be from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm and will be open to any ACM member and their guests.

r.s.v.p. to chair AT nwoacm DOT org .

I'll try to make it. Can't say yet.

TARTA to offer free "Family Learning Loop"

2007-07-27T08:11:00.000-05:00

I received this in the mail this morning and I thought that it was interesting. TARTA Busses are offering a free trip around to area attractions including The Toledo Museum of Art, Zoo, COSI, the Main Branch of the Toledo Public Library On July 28th. Link

MS Silverlight presentation at NWNUG

2007-05-14T07:28:00.000-05:00

Josh Holmes is going to be presenting on Microsoft's new multi-platform plug-in Silverlight at the NWNUG Meeting on Tuesday the 15th which is tomorrow at 6:00 PM at the HCR Manorcare building located at:

333 North Summit St.
Toledo, OH 43607

Silverlight is one of Microsoft's latest technologies. It is still in beta but from what I've seen it is pretty cool. They talked a lot about it at the Mix 07 conference. If you want more info about Silverlight go here.

RGP gets $3.2 Million in grants

2007-05-03T07:33:00.000-05:00

Northwest Ohio gets another shot of money from the state throgh the State Entrepreneurial Signature Program.

The $3.2 million will be used to establish a business grant called Ignite, which will fund $50,000 grants to assist and support early-stage businesses, according to Steve Weathers, president and CEO of the RGP. The original grant is being used to create Rocket Ventures, a nonprofit organization whose sole focus will be to execute the plan. The remaining $6 million will be used to capitalize a pre-seed investment fund.

It looks like in order to get the money they will have to raise $1.6 million to match the state's money.

I hope that these injections of money really help the area.

Link

Day of .NET in Ann Arbor

2007-04-27T08:05:00.000-05:00

I heard about the Day of .Net in Ann Arbor Link from the good folks at the Northwest Ohio .Net User Group

I'm going to try and make it.

Happy Earth Day

2007-04-22T09:47:00.000-05:00

It is Earth Day again. There has been a lot of talk lately about climate change and going green.

There is information all over the place when it comes to going green. If you like watching TV then go to the Earth Day Network TV. They have some interesting information about alternative fuels, going green and some other environmental information. Some of their stuff is kind of alarmist but I feel that the issue is very important. Taking what the scientists who study the Earth's Climate are saying things could make a change for the worse here on Earth.

There are so many ways that we are damaging our environment but I think that the most interesting way that we can reduce the impact that we have on our environment is that we can seek different forms of energy production. We have the First Solar manufacturing plant in Perrysburg. There are 4 wind turbines in Bowling Green. There is also a web site about renewable energy in Ohio.

TARTA is participating in a government funded study by driving biodiesel buses.

Also to see what what the government thinks about the environment you can go to the Ohio EPA

I don't know much about them but I thought that I'd mention if you would like to become active the environmental action go to Environment Ohio. I'm sure that there are some local environmental groups but I couldn't find any with a simple Google search.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Earth Day.

Walk about my neighborhood part 2

2007-04-22T08:45:00.000-05:00

The second interesting part of my walk around my neighborhood was when I went into the Ottawa Park. I found out that there is a very interesting amphitheater in the park. It is just screaming for a show to be performed in it. maybe some live musical performances or a play. I just wonder if anyone knows about it.

I noticed that there was a fallen tree in the amphitheater. I hope they clean it up soon.

There was a small group of University of Toledo students going around and cleaning up around the park. I stopped for a while and helped out. Unfortunately due to my terrible memory I have forgotten their names and the name of the organization they are members. (please forgive me) If you ladies happen to stop by and read the post then please let me know and I'll fix it. I think it is wonderful that some of the student in the area are contributing to the area surrounding the university.

Walk about my neighborhood.

2007-04-21T21:23:00.000-05:00

Today I took a walk around the neighborhood usually I just stick to walking around my house but today I felt like walking along Central and Monroe.

There are a couple of interesting looking buildings along the way. There were two major surprises along the way. First I looked around a very interesting almost abandoned building on the corner of Monroe and Central. I've been fascinated with this building since I moved into the area. It actually has a lot of architecturally interesting features. What surprised me was when I looked into the window of the once "Doctor's Inn" The inside actually looked very nice and respectable.

The Front side of the "The Doctor's Inn"

The Back Door to "The Doctor's Inn"

A Peek inside "The Doctor's Inn"

The font of the Building

I think that this building has suffered from poor accessibility There is no way of turning into the building going East along Central. Additionally there is no way to park in the front which used to be a feature of the building as you will see later. But due to traffic streamlining the front parking has been eliminated. Though as a driver I think it is great that it is so easy to drive around Toledo I think that it is one of it's downfalls as well. People are too busy going where their going they don't have time to look around themselves. I think with a couple of modifications this intersection could be a more desirable place to stick around.

I found this picture of the same spot from the 1930s in the book "Images of America Toledo A history in architecture 1914 to Century's End. By William D Speck which is an interesting read.

Click image above for a larger image

More in the next post...

Playing Darts with cars.

2007-04-20T19:07:00.000-05:00

Totally entertaining! I love that they are shooting cars with a gas powered gun into a giant dart board.

link

Who is sick

2007-04-19T22:39:00.000-05:00

I came across a site today called whoissick.com. It is a web site that lets you post your symptoms if you are feeling under the weather. You can see trends of who is sick and with what.

Right now there are 4 guys in the Toledo area who aren't feeling all that that hot. I bet there are some more of you out there. Go ahead and post your symptoms. You may find out you're not the only one.

Link

Happy Darwin Day

2007-02-13T00:02:00.000-05:00

I just found out that today was Darwin Day. I want to wish everyone a happy evolution.

I want to thank Jenni Laidman for posting on her blog letting everyone know.

edit: Sorry it was late last night and I didn't find out that it was Darwin Day till past midnight.

Wi-fi Network covers Toledo

2007-01-18T06:51:00.000-05:00

Here is an article that I found on the city web site. The city is looking for a company to provide wi-fi to the entire 88 square miles of Toledo. At least that's what it sounded like to me. The article was a little tough to decipher. I had to read through it twice. I think the part that threw me off is their term "Request for Proposals" I'd assume that means they are looking for someone to provide this service. I'm going to have to do some more research on this.

RGP gets Grant for $11.8 Million

2007-01-16T23:33:00.000-05:00

Looks like the Regional Growth Partner is doing a pretty good job of getting Grant Money from the State for our region. I'm not sure exactly when this announcement was posted but it must be pretty recent. The money is supposed to go toward high technology Not necessarily Computer technology but that is fine by me I suppose but it would be nice to see some of that go to computer tech.

Part of that $11.8 million award includes $6 million to capitalize a pre-seed fund, investing in 32 to 38 companies, primarily focused in the signature areas of Advanced Materials and Agbiosciences. Advanced materials is focused around the region’s national leadership in thin films materials, but also includes polymers, nanomaterials and other structured materials. Agbioscience supports business in the food production industry, food manufacturing/processing industry and agricultural biofuels

I hope they do some good with that money. I'm still wondering what the results are going to be from the consulting they did with IBM.

Ugg

2007-01-16T21:52:00.000-05:00

Normally Dell has given me wonderful service. But this time sucked. I bought a new laptop over the x-mas season. I was and still am excited about it. But when I got it the monitor was flaky and later that day went dead. I called and I had to send the darn thing to get repaired. It finally came back today. I start using it. Then I notice that the screen looks weird. I check the settings. It turns out that the resolution is at 1280x800 and won't go any higher. I paid for a screen that can go up to 1440x900. It is looking like they put the wrong LCD screen on my computer and now I get to send it back to get the right one. I won't get to play with my new laptop till it comes back in a week or more. I'm soooo unhappy right now. I just want to play with my new toy.

-Mark-

CodeMash

2007-01-16T07:09:00.000-05:00

I should have posted about this months ago but I have been shirking my blogging duties...

There is a major conference going on for programmers of all types to swap skills and listen to speakers. It is happening right at our back door over in Sandusky Jan 18-19. I believe it is only $99.

CodeMash It looks like the site is down for the moment but hopefully it will be back up soon.

NWNUG - Writing Quality Code

2007-01-15T06:30:00.000-05:00

NWNUG is hosting a talk by Dustin Campbell about writing quality code on the 16th of January.

Link

Fun over the holidays.

2007-01-08T22:34:00.000-05:00

Over the X-mas season my wife and a couple of my friends made our way to the annual "Tour de Noel" hosted by the Women of the Old West End. On the tour we were able to see several of the historic homes in the old west end of Toledo. My favorites on the tour were the Libbey House, and the Mansion View Inn

Here are some pictures that I took.

.

It was a good time. It was the only time this winter that it was actually cold. I highly suggest catching it next year if you can.

Mark

Purfectly pampered pets

2006-12-08T06:27:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since my last post. I think that I may try to get back into this again. I may change things up a little bit but I keep kicking myself for dropping off.

I want to plug my brother's business. He started up a pet care business and I thought that I'd link to it. Puurfectly Pampered Pets They take care of your pet while you are away. From what I understand they service our area and are still taking bookings for the holiday.

More later,
-Mark-

ACM Social Dinner

2006-10-05T06:11:00.000-05:00

NWOACM is having a meeting coming up on Wednesday the 11th of October 2006. This is a social event. The event is open to anyone who wants to attend. Below are a copy of the e-mail I recieved.

Topic: Whatever anyone wants to talk about.
Date: Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Time: 7:30 – 9:30
Where: Cucino di Betto

For this social meeting we will be on the main floor for Cucino di
Betto’s. This social is open to any ACM member, student or
professional. The full menu will be available for purchase from.

Please RSVP to mbrinkman at nwoacm dot org or nwoacm at crabbynick dot com.

We hope to see you there!

Michael Brinkman
Chair - NWOACM

Microsoft day report

2006-09-28T06:15:00.000-05:00

Well I had a good time on Tuesday. I got to see demos of Windows Vista, Office 2007, Sharepoint, Microsoft Dynamics CRM. I also got to try out Virtual Server 2005 and Sharepoint on the Microsoft Bus. I got a break and left again at 5:20 for the NWNUG meeting.

I have to say that the products that really stood out at these sessions were the Sharepoint and Virtual Server for me. I could really see myself using these tools. Don't get me wrong I thought that Windows Vista was very pretty and had some cool new features that will be nice to have but the fact that I can haver virtual computers for free is so sweet.

Also with sharepoint I am very excited about not having to write my own intranet. I'm going to have to do some more reading about it but it looks like you can integrate it with some of their office servers (I know next to nothing about this). The presentation was too fast for Sharepoint but it looked really cool.

At the Northwest Ohio .NET User Group meeting there were lots of tutorials going around. We had a presentation done by Jason Follas. He talked about Delegates in C#. "Basically it is a pointer to a function." It was a very good presentation. I'm awaiting a downloadable version of the .PPT file. I couldn't catch everything on the first swing.

Next was Greg Huber who did a presentation on Microsoft Atlas. Though he explained it isn't called Atlas anymore that's just it's code name. Now they are going with Microsoft AJAX something something. And there are two diffent ways of making your web site look like a desktop application. One is "server centric" with more overhead or there is "client centric" with less overhead but more of that pesky javascript.

The meeting was a good time I was told that the turnout was less than usual but I enjoyed myself. Plus thanks to HCR ManorCare we had a great view to downtown Toledo, a great board room to meet in and some Papa John's Pizza. Additionally I got a free book in their per-meeting raffle thanks to Microsoft.

Next I'll let you know about my trial of the demo software that Microsoft gave me.

Microsoft all day long!

2006-09-26T05:49:00.000-05:00

I'm going to the Microsoft Tech Fair that I mentioned on the 15th from 8:30 to 3:30 today. Hopefully I'll be able to play with Windows Vista. I haven't gotten my hands on one of the betas yet. I'm supposed to get to see Office 2007 there as well. Then tonight I'm going to the AJAX presentation at the NWNUG meeting that I mentioned on the 19th.

I was thinking about having a meetup next week on Monday or Tuesday between technolgy professionals in the area at the downtown Frickers. I'll post more about this later.

Downtown Technology Incubator

2006-09-25T19:33:00.000-05:00

I was went to my first press conference ever yesterday. It was a good time. I got to meet Ben Konop who is running for the Lucas County Commissioner. He is put forth a proposal to start a high tech incubator downtown. This proposal in it's essence is to help spur tech startups using state funds. The facilty would provide some technical support, utility discounts and other such incentives. The inspiration came from the Youngstown Business Incubator.

The Non-profit organization a (501 (c) 3 charitable , non-profit corporation) out in Youngstown was able, with their incubator, to create about 200 tech jobs, and 16 patents since the year 2000, when they started. Primarily they work with B2B software. Here are a list of the companies that are part of the incubator out there.

This proposal seems like a very good idea to me. It would provide opportunities to technical people who normally wouldn't have the funding to start developing the ideas they have.
I think that in order for Toledo's ecconomic survival it needs an industry other than manufacturing. I think that the talent is definately in the area between all the universities in the area that provide high tech education: University of Toledo's Engineering and business technology and technical degrees, Bowling Green State University's progams and Owens technical degrees.

Mr. Konop suggested that the people who end up being involved in the incubator can determine which high tech industry to pursue. Whether or not Ben wins the election I'd like this idea to continue. It is encouraging that someone is thinking about ways to encourage tech business in the area.

I want to thank Lisa Renee at the glass city jungle for posting the press conference notice.

One thing that I found interesting with being at the press conference was that only a couple of people showed up for the press conference. Don from the Nookular Option was there along with a reporter Erica Blake from The Toledo Blade, a camera man from WTOL was there too. It was fun. I feel like a real reporter.

I think that with this sort of creative ideas I think that Toledo could become a better place.

Ajax .net at NWNUG

2006-09-19T06:25:00.000-05:00

The president of the North West Ohio .NET group is doing a presentation on AJAX in .NET titled: "An Introduction to Delegates in .NET" on Tuesday September 26thLooks like they are going to be doing a series of these sorts of presentations.

International Talk like a Pirate Day

2006-09-19T06:11:00.000-05:00

Shiver me timbers it's International Talk like a Pirate Day today! In Meebo they have a filter that will translate your conversation into pirate speak if you type "pirateon" and "pirateoff" to turn it off. I tried it out it's funny.

Here's how it translated what I just said.

Mark Chandler: Shiver me timbers 'tis International Talk like a Buccaneer Day t'day! In Meebo they have a filter that will translate yer conversation into buccaneer speak if ye type "pirateon" and t' turn it off, with a chest full a' booty. I tried it out 'tis funny.

Aktion Associates hosts MS Tech Fair

2006-09-15T08:32:00.000-05:00

There is a Microsoft Technology Fair on Tuesday September 26th from 8:30AM - 3:30 PM hosted by local information techonology company Aktion Associates registration seems to be required.

Meebo

2006-09-14T06:03:00.000-05:00

I'm trying out this Web 2.0 product called Meebo. It is a web based instant messager program. It allows you to instant message across multiple IM networks (aol, yahoo, msn, ICQ, and Jabber or GTalk) and it allow you to put a widget on your web site as seen to the right. This allows visitors to your web site to strike up a conversation with the owner of the site.

Local Meetings

2006-09-12T07:42:00.000-05:00

Talug is celebrating Software Freedom Day on September 16th 2006
Additionally they are advertising for the Ohio Linux Fest event on September 30th.

IEEE is holding several events:

The Toledo Section is pleased to host a presentation by Dr. JOHN M. FRAZIER of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research on September 21 at Mancy's Italian Restaurant. Dr. Frazier will present research on Modeling and Simulation of Biological Constructs. Click on this link for details and reservations.

Arc Flash Hazard Seminar, Wednesday, October 25, Presentation Room at SSOE, Inc., 1001 Madison Ave. We plan to certify 1 PDH (CEU) for registered PEs attending. Click on this link for details and reservations.

NWNUG posted about a meeting in Findlay on the Sept. 13th about the "Five (Supposedly) Scary things about .NET"

I know this is out of my jurisdiction but I thought I'd post about it. The Detroit SQL User Group is having a meeting on Sept. 14th 2006.

Late addition:

Also MOCHI is having a presentation on the Sept 20th 2006 @ 6:30-8:30 PM titled: "Evolving Technique in Digital Art". Kind of interesting that they didn't post the event on their web site but posted it on the semafx.net web site.

Looks like the semafx.net guys are having a guest speaker Alex Lindsay of the Pixel Corp on Sept. 19th 2006 starting at 6:30 PM. I have heard some great things about the Pixel Corp, if you have an interest in computer graphics, design, animation, etc... I would suggest attending. Alex Lindsay is the Chief Architect for Pixel Corps so I'm thinking he's pretty important and has a lot of interesting things to say. . .

Technology Group International

2006-09-08T08:08:00.000-05:00

I found an interesting article in the "Toledo Free Press", featuring a software development company in Toledo called Technology Group International. They are a small comapany that makes Enterprise Resource Planning, (ERP) software named Enterprise 21 among others. Looks like they are doing pretty well for themselves.

Spreeder

2006-09-05T21:33:00.000-05:00

I just got turned onto this tool called Spreeder by the v-log "Command-N" I'm not into Macs but they link to some cool web 2.0 sites and neat tools like this one.
I'm still trying to determine if this is a worthwhile tool but it helped me get through a couple of articles that I was trudgeing through. It's a web tool that forces you to read fast by flashing the text by one word at a time. It's kind of hard to absorb it all but I think it worked. Just don't blink. Copy the text you want to read into it and hit play. I rate it as a 3 out of 5 spiffys.

Org Schedule

2006-08-14T06:21:00.000-05:00

Looks like there are several meetings coming up in the near future.

TALUG is having a meeting on Saturday August 19, 2006 2:00pm to 5:00pm at Stautzenberger College (5355 Southwyck Blvd Toledo, OH 43614) There isn't any official topic of discussion announced yet but I'll post if they do.

Also the NWNUG is having a speaker, Tim Landgraves in a speach called: "Composable Systems - The Developer's Toolkit.

ACM is trying to figure out their current schedule and they are going to be planning a geek dinner for sometime in the future. I'll have more about this in the future.

Frappr map

2006-07-28T08:33:00.000-05:00

I created a Frappr map so that people around Toledo could add themselves onto my map.

Blog It, Toledo

2006-07-19T21:30:00.000-05:00

Welcome all "Blog it, Toledo" Readers!

Well it looks like I'm going to really have to get down to work now I made it into Lisa Renee's Column in the Toledo Free Press.

I've gotten addicted to her blog at the Glass City Jungle and can't help but post on the political topics she writes about. I never thought that local politics could be so interesting.

I'll have some content on this site soon I promise. My time's been taken over with moving. I'm still formulating what exactly I want to do here. Thank you for being patient.

Till next time,
-Mark-

Upcoming meetings

2006-07-17T09:25:00.000-05:00

NWOACM (North West Ohio Association for Computing Machinery) is tenatively having a meeting on the BGSU Campus Hayes Hall on the second floor at 7:00 PM July 31st

Talug (Toledo Area Linux User Group) is having a meeting on August 2nd.

NWNUG (Norhtwest Ohio .NET User Group) is sponsoring a presentation by Brian Prince: Windows Workflow Foundation and BizTalk Server 2006 on Tuesday July 25th starting at 5:45 PM at their meeting place described on their site.

Sir Ken Robinson

2006-07-13T08:15:00.000-05:00

Here's Sir Ken Robinson who speaks on creativity and the education system. He is a very heart-felt speaker and rather entertaining. I think that if we took his advice then there would be many more happy people in the world.

I know this post is somewhat off topic but I think that all subjects come back to education and creativity. Plus I think that it is awesome to hear such a great speaker for free.

I stole this link from the Scoblizer.

Still here

2006-07-12T10:43:00.000-05:00

TALUG is having a meeting on the Saturday July 15 at 2:00 PM.

And it looks like NWOACM is going to be having a meeting soon. Date and time to be announced.

I'm painting and moving into my house this week so sorry I haven't posted for a couple of days.

TALUG Event

2006-07-01T01:14:00.000-05:00

Looks as though the Talug Group is holding an event on the 5th of July.

*Wednesday* July 5, 2006
6:30pm to 9:00pm
Topic(s): Intro to Shell Scripts
UT College of Engineering (maps & directions)
Palmer Hall (old South Engineering), room 3020
Bancroft Campus (park in lot 20)
Westwood Ave at Douglas Road
Toledo, OH 43606

Excitement

2006-06-29T07:49:00.000-05:00

I think that I'm really going to go through with this idea. It's kind of scary. I've never been a journalist or even a rogue journalist. I just think that the topic is important and that it should be discussed. I don't think that the sciences get any sort of press in the area of the world so I'm going to create it.

I know there has to be some sort of tech community around here but there isn't anyone to recognize it. As I was looking around last night I ran across several different organizations, ACM, IEEE, TALUG, there was a meetup with web developers, and more.

I have been exposed to the professional organizations while in college but I had little to no contact with the professional chapters even after I graduated. I also ran across a blog or two, like Keith Instone's. I was in contact with Keith a while back. He was trying to help revive the the local chapter of ACM. Which it looks like they got their paperwork completed.

I think that I'm going to have to pay my dues, finally to ACM.

Looks like I missed a presentation on "Active Learning for Speech Recognition".

I'm going to have to do this. Wish me luck. I just hope that I don't get distracted by something shiny.

-Mark-

Serious or Not

2006-06-28T09:06:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking about starting a Techish blog for a while. I read/listen to a lot of tech news and I think that I could do some writing about it. I guess that I'll talk about some of my history. I came to Toledo to study Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Toledo. I used to be involved with the ACM(Association for Computing Machinery), got to be their Chairman, vice-chair for a couple of years during that time I got to see it's decline but I can talk about that some other time. I'm currently working in Toledo as a Jack of all Trades Information Technology Specialist. I dabble in a lot of things from Web Programming/design, SQL Server Administration, Desktop support, telephone systems, Mail Server Administration etc...

I like to complain that there isn't any tech in Toledo, I know it's wrong so I'm going to see if there is some way for me to uncover those out there that love tech around here as much as I do and what they are doing.

I'm kind of doing this on a whim so sorry if it starts off kind of shaky. Also I'm moving into a house so there may be spans between posts... Buying a house kind of made me think more about this town as a permanent residence so I may as well write about it.

Talk to you soon.

-Mark-