NWNUG- Brian Prince - Computing in the Clouds

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Funny Nerdy video. Singing about upgrading.

Business Incubator Breaking Ground

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.