While I have never considered Issue 1 - the Third Frontier - offered me direct opportunity, as an Information Technology entrepreneur I do recognize this relatively low-burden, low-exposure state funding offers great opportunities for many other important technology initiatives across Ohio. The results are well documented by the well organized supporters of Issue 1 - see their message posted below - and I certainly expect this will pass by a large majority (if not, I will be shocked). Assuming this passes, I'd like to see changes in the processes for how Third Frontier money is used in the future, as I believe all our processes in the state and region must become brighter and greener. But we can't try to accomplish that without this funding being available for the technology sector. I'll vote for Issue 1, and then become active making sure the money has as great an impact as possible - results so far provide a good foundation. I recommend you do the same... see the official story below:

I've been asked what our traffic looks like over time, so I pulled a few quick charts of the number of visitors to realneo since we started using Google Analytics, and what they have visited, to measure performance of this site - and we've grown by pretty much all counts I've considered important by 30-100% since then - in some cases by 1,000s% - in less than a year-and-a-half.

I just received great news from our friend Max Eternity - very inspiring developments for him in Atlanta, including saving a Breuer (why we all met Max in the first place)... CONGRATUALTIONS AND THANK YOU MAX!!!!!!!!!!!!

Family, Friends and Colleagues:

 

When I was asked the other day to be interviewed by Architects + Artisans, it caught me by such surprise that all I could do was laugh.  You see, in the last several years I've spent so much of my time thinking, talking and writing about others--advocating for various causes--that it had become unfamiliar to actually have someone want to write about who I was, my art, and what I was doing personally.

 

For a piece entitled "To Write, Paint and Save a Monument", the Editor of A +A, Mike Welton, who has written for The New York Times, Interior Design Magazine and Dwell Magazine, writes in part:

 

Now that he’s saved Marcel Breuer’s last building from the wrecking ball, Max Eternity has returned his attention to the things that really matter, like painting and publishing.

"Kudos on providing a forum for hatred, racism and trolling. Hope you considered this project a "success"" - believelandd. I couldn't say it better myself... this comment by a Cleveland.com reader, posted on Cleveland.com today, condemning the departing "Chief Executive" of the smoke and mirrors PlainDealer/Newhouse's wretched little portal to spam. Hard to calculate anything that has harmed  development of the new economy in Cleveland so much in our history... and so The Chief Executive is being universally trashed in departure.

On May 11th you may benefit three important peace organizations while being smart and local about your foods... simply by grocery shopping. The Food Coop will generously donate a portion of your total bill, on the second Tuesday of every month, to benefit Cleveland Peace Action, InterReligious Task Force on Central America (IRTF), and Women Speak Out for Peace and Justice

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For a humorous take on a previous transition—the shift from scrolls to books—
watch this clip from Norwegian television NRK (with English subtitles)

realNEO is popular with librarians, and our members are certainly data intellectuals, so I expect an extensive treatment of the future of libraries - Gutenberg 2.0 - in the May/June Harvard Magazine will be of great interest here.

The insightful feature begins:

I have lived in Northeast Ohio most of my life... have founded the amazing realNEO... have done lots of other important work here and worldwide... have proposed the most innovative economic development platform in the region...

I just stumbled through the stark, ghost-town of Ed-and-Hunter-Morrison-self-promoting formerly George-Nemeth-self-promoting Brewed Fresh Daily land, and over to the neon lights of the glitzy apparently paid product placement based unCoolCleveland dynasty, now featuring original low budget video programming called NEOtropolis... after I finished puking, a lot, I wondered who pays for this unCoolCleveland Dynasty and why? Who really believes such propaganda may be real? Or cool? Or helpful for our economy?

I was pleased to see posted on Secretary of State Brunner's campaign for U.S. Senator blog a video provided by the Cleveland Plain Dealer of her opening remarks at the City Club debate, this week. This was the highlight of the entire debate... watch to the end, as she differentiates herself from Fisher - nice to see the PD make this available, including allowing it to be embedded in other sites.

Richard T. Andrews writes an insightful blog called "The Real Deal", which he describes as "Periodic reporting and commentary from Cleveland Heights OH. Primary interests: Cleveland/NEOhio regional public affairs; African American politics, commerce, culture and society; public education; national and international affairs; Cavaliers∫Browns∫Indians." I receive it by email and suggest everyone on realNEO check it out. I strongly agree with his most recent posting "Brunner the Best for Ohio Democrats" and suggest all Ohio voters read through to his posting, which I introduce below:

I just received this email from Anita the Weblady, of Shaw High On Line and many other important social networks in the area, about the "Current Plus Plan." This seems to offer valuable help for area residents struggling with their past heating expenses this time of year... I thought I would pass this on to realNEO members . Note, the compliance deadline is April 15th! While reflecting on paying your Winter 2009/2010 heating bills, now, plan for how you will reduce consumption, conserve energy, and pay less going into 2011!!!!! Read on for your options in paying for your mistakes of the past...

Ohio Secretary of State and realNEO member Jennifer Brunner shows love for realNEO, so there is certainly much to support about her (besides thanking her for cleaning up the Secretary of State's office)... and she is running for US Senate, so now is your chance...

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I've been printing out many of the unique panorama photo collages of real NEO that I have created over the past six years, which I have displayed as headers on realNEO, as I plan to sell editions of some favorite images to raise money for realNEO. I'm currently producing a series from many shoots at Whiskey Island, in memory of my friend Ed Hauser.

They are stunning, printed in their full glory. Composed of often dozens of high resolution images, these panoramas are 100s of megapixels in size and, printed at 300x300 ppi resolution, they are around 8 feet long... and some may be printed up to 36 feet long, while still holding a strong image.

How low will Cleveland and Northeast Ohio sink in the global new economy, as a result of the embarrassment the leadership of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and their Newhouse parents have brought upon this community, as a result of their pathetic if not illegal misuse of information technology and the Internet here? It doesn't get much lower than this... "Cuyahoga County Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold files $50 million lawsuit against The Plain Dealer and others".

Linked above is the PD spin on this case. Read the actual lawsuit linked as a PDF here (1.13 MB)... and read all the way to the end, where it concludes "Plaintiffs demand a trial by jury by the maximum number of jurors permitted". Smart move for the citizens-Saffold to choose to be judged by their peers.

"Entrepreneurs" do not maintain résumés for employment, but they do need to maintain a running tally about their professional lives, for various purposes... something I refer to as a curriculum vitae (CV). As I'm growing many entrepreneurial initiatives, I'm updating my CV... so I tracked down my latest version, from 2000. Since then, I've launched ICEarth, realNEO, Star Neighborhood Development, 7Gen, and Bigbang Tech, which I must now add to my life-list below... useful information for someone first getting to know me... but is that good enough for Ireland?

Psychic Hearts is a solo album by Sonic Youth member Thurston Moore. The album was released in 1995 through Geffen Records.

I include below in its' entirety the most irresponsible words ever published by a newspaper, and I include the profiles of the Editorial Board of the Cleveland Plain Dealer that published these words, on this day, for the permanent record, for all history. I include this editorial here because the Plain Dealer has a history of hiding their online content, and this content is terrorism that may not leave the free public view and record ever... this Plain Dealer editorial is the equivalent of bio-terrorism and should be prosecuted by the Federal Department of Homeland Security. The line: "Many youngsters and some adults suffer from respiratory problems, particularly in the summer, when smoggy days can be pure misery" is especially harmful and insulting to the citizens of Northeast Ohio, who live under health-crisis conditions here. The Plain Dealer is highly responsible for the poor health of our citizens, and the poor state of the regional and global environment, even as their editors deny the reality of climate change. They are hereby disgraced forever.

Would any Realneo members like to participate in a seed and plant swap? I would be happy to host. Please post your thoughts on possible dates and times. We could also include garden tools and other gardeing related items if people are interested.

Growing up on punk, in the 1970s and 1980s, I like a direct, open, honest approach to decry injustice... and the Clash offer some of the best expressions of that ever. Enjoy.

There has been a great deal of anti-community if not illegal Troll activity on realNEO, since it's beginning. What Internet activity is "illegal" and what are the consequences are increasingly being defined by new terms in society and the courts, like cyber-sex crimes, cyber-harassment, cyber-terrorism, and cyber-stalking, as early cases of attacks over the Internet against individuals and society are working their ways up the legal systems in America, and around the world, to supreme levels.

Since Evelyn featured as Art of the Day the Ronald Bladen "Light Year" sculpture, recently installed near Kelvin Smith Library, on the Campus of Case Western Reserve University, and I hadn't seen it yet, I thought I'd see how it looked in the dark.

Minimalist art should look good in the dark!

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Traffic to NormRoulet YouTube Channel - 02/01/2010-03/21/2010

Over the past three months, since I posted "2010 REAL COOP Annual Report and REALNEO Five-Year Report, at 10,000 Nodes", realNEO has continued to show 30%+ annual growth, having the second highest "Monthly Unique Visitors" of the realNEO ICE 25 Regional Social Media Benchmarking Sample, as of 02/10.  Cleveland Scene has higher traffic than realNEO, most months, and has demonstrated the fastest growth of any site in the region for this sample period.