The Cleveland Port Authority has a new boss and a new plan. 

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Asleep on the job....                  photo courtesy Tim Littler                            Xian,  China

I was up at the Ubuntu website downloading the latest version to my ThinkPad (from a mirror site at OSUOSL, which I hopefully thought would be Ohio State University Open Source Lab, but was of course Oregon State) and I noticed a promo that "Ubuntu on Dell now available in the UK, Germany and France" with support from Canonical... one promo said this is available in the USA as well. This is a major development for Linux and for Ubuntu, and for open source development in the world. For the first time ever, I am a Dell fan... I'll be interested how pricing will differ between comparable Dell Ubuntu and Windows boxes... especially after you add Office (v.s. free OpenOffice)... more below and here.

When the Cleveland population dipped below 500,000, the population basis for many federal grant formula, the ability of the federal partner to help on our urban problems was constrained, as the City became one of only many cities across the country, rather than one of the larger, most impactful cities on its own. So strategies to increase the city population deserve special consideration, yes? Well, perhaps not.

 

A brief time-out on “point of view” blogging to simply share some exciting information. The City of Cleveland released information about the the Cleveland Midtown Innovation Center at Euclid Avenue/East 44thStreet.

I grew up and lived in Cleveland and, other than school, stayed here until I moved away for about ten years. Since coming back home, one distressing thing I've noted is that decision-makers, at all levels, closely guard information, almost as if a Captain who would rather go down with the ship, than loosen up and perhaps not go down at all.  The Medical Mart non-debate has all those strange dynamics.  Is it possible, I wonder, if a true, public-private partnership on a Medical Mart/Convention Center/Urban Design District might actually make sense after all?

Who's my candidate, the pollster asks?

I will pledge to support what ever candidate does more to make the world hate America less. At the outset, I want to say how truly appalled I am at myself for having such an abysmal standard for evaluating candidates. How can I tolerate, much less espouse, such a bleak, cynical prism to separate the candidates? Yet, I am more troubled by America and an America political system that is content to operate in denial.

Once again, Cleveland's daily is excited about the latest “drive-by shooting” of the film industry, reporting that 'visitors to the Rock Hall got an extra treat — watching Rainn Wilson, chief geek from “The Office,” shoot scenes for his upcoming movie “The Rocker.” Once again, however, we are missing the big picture ... literally.  While one day's shooting in Cleveland warrants the media attention, the “The Rocker” will be shooting forty-five days in Toronto, Ontario.

Following are images of the concepts which were received by Sally Levine and David Ellison for the reuse of the Marcel Breuer designed Ameritrust Tower in Cleveland Ohio.  I extend my appreciation to the designers for their generous dedication and creativity.  I will endeavor to number each of the entries  so that comments can be directed to  specific designs.  I will also  try to make legible the text which is important on many.  A submission from Italy was especially poignant in its text.   Designers, please feel free to log in and amplify your presentations.   This is very cool that so much volunteer creativity went into this event.   Here's my hoping that all the designers who contributed will reap a referred commission or two from their contributions....

Here's a worthwhile event notice from one of the Founders of Meet The Bloggers, George Nemeth, for their BLOGGAPALOOZA. Now at the Beachland Tavern, mixing with Arts Collinwood, this should be an amazing gathering - need to check this out for sure:

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There are many points regarding the proposed medical mart that still don't make sense for me, so I want to post this quick note...

1) At some level, the proposal is an effort to shift some marketing infrastructure, and perhaps some inventory control, expenses of some private companies to the public sector. So what are the current costs for those activities by the affected private sector and why don't we start with that as an amount that the private sector should be required to start with in estimating ways of allocating burdens? Otherwise, this isn't a partnership, it's a bail-out.

The IngenuityFest public outreach efforts of Sally Levine  and David Ellison are intended to prevent Cuyahoga County from demolishing Cleveland’s Marcel Breuer designed Ameritrust Tower.    Ms. Levine and Mr. Ellison present a “Right vs Might” poster boy case of passionate public citizens who are “right” going up against “City Hall” “might”.   Except in this case it isn’t “City Hall”,   but “County Hall”.  

 

Here's the photo of the Breuer Building which respectfully reflects the Breuer neighboring buildings.    Where has the Cleveland Foundation been during the discussion of the removal of the Marcel Breuer Building out of downtown Cleveland, Ohio? 

The CF hasn't been shy about lobbying for wind energy, for which the Foundation is to be applauded.   And the wind energy issue certainly has a political side – the other side from the republican oil and gas industry.  Why doesn't the CF jump in on this historic preservation issue?

 

Beauty inside the mind of the beholder? sure, but education from our peers who know the difference helps get us up the ladder of appreciation.  Here's a shot from the plebian street...GOT UGLY?  Marcel Breuer – do you get it?

7GEN is pleased to provide a Drupal virtual community for the historic Cleveland Club of Washington, D. C., and they have used the technology very well - visit their clean, effective site here. If you frequent D.C., or have friends or family there with a "keen interest in Cleveland", connect with club President Brooke Stoddard at their online presence here. Their next event is this private tour of the U.S. Capitol, July 11, 2007, which will be exceptional.

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Why are we so behind in Northeast Ohio when it comes to preservation?

Two articles converged onto my conciousness this week in the midst of an attempt to save the Breuer from destruction.

Brooklyn Waterfront Called Endangered Site

here's a quote: “The buildings really represent an important part of Brooklyn’s heritage, and it would be a tragedy to lose it,” Richard Moe, president of the trust, said in an interview. “We’re very concerned that there’s such a rush on to demolish everything.”

and

Great Architecture Finds a Home in Indiana

here's a quote: "Columbus (Indiana) is a small town (population 39,000) that just happens to have the most incredible collection of modern architecture in the Midwest (outside Chicago, of course). Everyone from Eliel Saarinen and his son, Eero, to Deborah Berke and Richard Meier has worked there, designing so many schools, churches and libraries that, at least in theory, you can’t walk a single block without stumbling on an elegant glass-and-concrete building or a house of worship soaring like a Euclidean fantasy.

“You actually have to see it to believe it,” wrote Christopher Porter, a reader."

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!

Ever wondered how a designer conceives a product? What the process involves? Top CIA graduates innovating products for corporations such as Chrysler, Hyundai, Hasbro and Kyocera will open the vault, displaying sketches, concept drawings, renderings and actual consumer products at the second-annual Design Values alumni exhibition at CIA’s FUTURE Center for Design and Technology Transfer, June 1—August 3, 2007.

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Located in the heart of the historic Hough Bakeries Complex is the Inner Circle, a weekend club and reception facility operated for the past 7 years by the Hot Sauce Williams family. Starting shortly, operation of the Inner Circle will expand to extended hours every day, featuring a cybercafe, meeting space, computer terminals, free wifi, independent film, the Linux Cafe, art, culture, and great food, coffee, and even wine tastings, via a broader partnership of friends. This pan is from the deck and patio area, and features Guyanese chef and reggae performer and DJ Edwin, who will help operate the Inner Circle, shown with Hot Sauce Williams founder LeMaud Williams, as well.

I recently received an email from ClevelandSGS giving props to realneo, with a link to the ClevelandSGS space on Flickr. I hadn't heard of ClevelandSGS so I checked it out and was awed - it is an amazing assemblage of scanned historic documents and current photos of signage and scenes in Cleveland - a significant community asset in those respects - and a powerful gallery of "Mash-ups" not to be missed. But I still don't know what is ClevelandSGS. Do you? It is the Art of the Day, so read on

 

As a contrast to yesterday's Header of the Day, of Beechwood Place Mall, here's a new pan from a shoot at new Cleveland Big Box Mall Steelyard Commons, still in development, on April 20, 2007.

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.

Bill Callahan and I are pleased to offer a last moment opportunity to join an important conversation just beginning on making NEO a global leader in the use of Free Open Source Software, with the man who wrote the Open Source Definition, Bruce Perens. Bruce is Vice President of Developer Relations and Policy for FOSS-related SourceLabs, of Seattle. NEO is fortunate to have a local connection with Bruce, as the Director of Marketing for SourceLabs, Athena Diamantis, lives in this region. Digital Vision Director Bill Callahan and East Cleveland CIO Abu Alli met with Bruce and Athena last week to discuss how to make NEO a world FOSS leader, and we decided that is a topic deserving much broader and more open attention. So tomorrow we continue growing the dialog.

 

Join us, if you may... 8 AM breakfast tomorrow at the Juniper Grill.

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When I was traveling a number of years ago in Santorini, Greece with a young woman I still know,  I had an experience that doesn’t happen much in this country.   We were eating dinner in a small bistro when volla! The waiter came to our table with a bottle of wine and two glasses, filled the glasses and left the bottle  – announcing that the wine was “compliments to the lady” from two men at another table.  That was great!