Dan’s Surfing Snippets

Despite a recession and high unemployment in most of the country, new technology will be one of the most important ways for us to climb our way into profitability.

Dayton, Ohio has thrived in the past as a center for innovation and invention. Many things we take for granted in our lives were born out of the minds of Daytonians like the airplane, electric starter, artificial heart, bar code scanner, cash register (manual and electric), cellophane tape, chrome plating, double glass windows, ethyl gasoline, filter cigarette, heart-lung machine, gas mask, high-octane aviation gasoline, ice cream cone, ice cube tray, instant blood-glucose testing, laser weapons, microfiche, mood ring, ring-pull can opener, self-starter, space food, step ladder, storage battery, time pill, yo-yo and thousands more. For a more detailed list see: http://www.cityofdayton.org/departments/pa/Pages/inventionlist.aspx

Being at the forefront of new ideas was what helped Dayton to thrive in the past and it will be what is needed to help us thrive again.

I recently asked Brad Proctor, CEO of the new Dayton RFID Convergence Center, to speak to our Metro Dayton Chapter of BNI (Business Network International) and was fully excited about what he had to say.

We are all accustomed to bar codes and items being scanned at the grocery cash register. With this new technology you will be able to leave all the items in the shopping cart and they will all be scanned at once!

This technology has other many other applications, like the ability to track each manufactured item from production, thru shipping, thru receiving, thru selling and inventory control. The industries that can use this technology for increased efficiency and productivity are endless, from blood banking to egg farms.

Brad and VP Matt Kussman are looking to attract other businesses in the RDIF industry to assist each other in furthering this technology. The future is wide open as to how far this project can go.

Learn more about this technology by visiting the Dayton RFID Convergence Center’s Web site — www.daytonrcc.com.

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There comes a time when the average man and woman have had enough and take a stand for human dignity, for human rights, especially when they have been oppressed.

This is exacerbated when rulers and ruling parties take their people for granted and insult their intelligence by making false claims and acting like despots.

This country, the United States of America, was born from the average people having enough of tyrannical rule and taking a stand and fighting for freedom.

With that high moral example other countries have followed this lead through the centuries to establish democracy, rule by and for the people.

Now, through the advent of modern technology, the world is watching and witnessing the birth pangs of the cry for freedom in Iran. A cry mixed with the blood of its own people who had the courage to peacefully march in protest to a blatantly flawed election process only to be beaten and gunned down in cold blood.

Neda, a young woman, was one of these victims who did her part to peacefully march only to be shot to death on a street in Tehran. Unfortunately, this victim is only one of many. She has become a martyr, a symbol of this peaceful stand for freedom.

Several thousands of miles away we can only watch and physically do nothing. But we can lend our moral support to the people of Iran who are yearning for the freedom we take for granted.

With such support around the world we can make a difference. The momentum has begun and we need to do what we can to keep this momentum for freedom alive.

Josh is sixteen and like most boys his age he likes to hang out with his friends.

One afternoon this past summer Josh and several of his friends decided to build a barn fire in their back yard as they have done, with parental supervision, on many occasions.

But this time would be different and have a lasting impact on them all. While standing close to the fire one of his friends spotted a gas can in the yard and without much thought, as common to boys his age, threw the gas can into the fire.

There was a flash and Josh was covered with flames. Everyone scrambled to put out the fire on his head, arms and body. 911 was called and in a short time he was care-flighted to the nearest hospital. Subsequently, he was transferred to the Burn Center in Cincinnati.

After a lot of pain, operations and therapy he was finally able to make it back home. There will be many, many more operations and therapy for a full recovery, both physically and mentally.

His grandfather had an idea. He and his son, Josh’s dad, bought this old log cabin farmhouse and were going to slowly rehab it anyway. Maybe Josh would be able to do some work on a limited basis on weekends as a motivational tool to get his spirit back.

His dad belongs to our BNI group and when we heard about the project we felt that we wanted to help. Since the family would not take any cash contributions we decided to contribute with our hands on this project.

Yes, we got our hands dirty and felt sore the day after but there is a certain satisfaction you get out of helping others and there is a time that work doesn’t seem like work.

http://www.bni-referrals.com/JoshWorkProject.htm

Wisdom transcends continents and cultures. These little gems of knowledge were given at a Metro Dayton Chapter of BNI (www.bni-referrals.com) Educational Moment by Sheri Smith of National City Mortgage in Troy, OH and are well worth sharing. See if you can determine the meaning before reading the translation.

A ripe melon falls by itself - Zimbabwe

(All things happen when their time comes.)

Talking does not fill the basket in the farm - West Africa

(Success requires planning and hard work.)

If your house is burning, that is not time to go hunting

(Priorities are important in life and planning activities.)

Lack of knowledge is darker than night - Nigeria

(Knowledge is light.)

A bird is in the air, but it’s mind is on the ground

(Where ever you are it is important to remember where you came from and what is important.)

Do not insult the crocodile until you cross the water

(Be careful about criticizing others.)

If you run after two hares, you will catch neither

(Focus, Focus, Focus.)

For tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.

Solopreneurs are solo entrepreneurs and Solopreneurs.org is a website devoted entirely to those individual small business entrepreneurs and is loaded with plenty of help, advice and tools so that your solo operation will have a better chance of success. 

Many small business owners up until now wish they had a place that they could go to in order to get global expert advice and coaching when starting up a new business venture.

The International Association of Solopreneurs provides that and much more as close as your fingertips. You might say it’s a one-stop way to access tools, applications and help whether you are just thinking about opening up your own business, just getting started or even for those who have been in business for several years. There is something for everyone.

For a small monthly fee, rather then hiring a high-priced business consultant, you have access to support from the experts in the field and can collaborate and share best practices.

Why go it alone when you can benefit from the years of knowledge and experience of a community? A reason many choose to go alone is because they enjoy going it alone and calling all the shots. However, one of the risks of going it alone is always being alone.

At IAS you can connect with other like-minded business owners to create and improve your successful and profitable business while still having fun.

The website contains many innovative and interactive tools to help in that regard, which include:

• Recommended Reading
• Teleconferencing
• File Sharing
• Access to Blogs / Podcasts / Articles
• Communication System with private messaging and discussion boards
• Live Broadcaster
• Reviews
• Task Manager
• Web Audio Chat
• Web Video Chat
• Audio / Video Postcards
• Audio / Video Presentations
• Video / MP3 Gallery
• And more

The idea was started by well known and certified business coach Donna Amos who has many years of experience in the use of proven, practical techniques to leverage her client’s strengths in order to succeed.

Are you ready to discover your potential and strategize your next step?

Join URL:
http://www.solopreneurs.org/members/solopreneur/info/DanBarrett-join.html

Over 250,000 homes and businesses lost power when the remnant of Hurricane Ike slammed into the SW Ohio area tearing down trees, light poles and damaging businesses and homes and causing fires that burned several down to the ground.

When disasters and other business interruptions happen more then physical damage takes place. There is an affect on our psyche.

We are stunned and can easily fall into a mental and physical rut.

Serious instances like the effects of hurricanes, floods, etc. cause a mental trauma that can impact you and your business.

Ideally a person needs to have a clear head and clear focus to carry on their business responsibilities. So how does a person bounce back?

The best way to deal with these feelings is to force yourself to do productive things. Yes, I said force because there is a tendency to procrastinate that has to be overcome.

Get back into the swing of things. Set up an appointment or lunch with a colleague or client. Start a new project.

Get involved, get involved get involved!

Recommendation: Join Solopreneurs.

http://www.solopreneurs.org/members/solopreneur/info/DanBarrett-join.html

As predicted, the wind was steadily picking up from the remnant of Hurricane Ike. The forecast was for some rain and a windy Sunday. But no one in the Miami Valley of Ohio expected hurricane force winds that would tear down large trees and telephone poles and spew them across roads, on top of houses and cars and leave hundreds of thousands in the dark for a week!

Wow! One minute you are enjoying a lazy summer day and then in an instant no power.  

We sat in the living room watching the strong winds bend the large trees and talked in the quiet. Wonder where are all the little birds that we usually see? Where did they go to hide?

As first we didn’t know how long it would last while we still had daylight so we went to the store to stock up on batteries and other items.  The few stores that were open were running on generators and people were scrambling for supplies.

As night approached we hunkered down with no lights, no air conditioner, no TV, no computer. We had an old battery powered radio and through the static we heard that there were a lot of people in our situation.

My wife and I were concerned about her 94 year old mom who lives with us but as long as we stayed calm and gave direction and reassurance she was ok.

A little after 8 pm our lights came back on and we were relieved. We hurried to shower and take care of what we could before going to bed in case the power went out again.

We were the few fortunate ones as Monday we found out that over 225,000 in the Dayton area and 600,000 in the Cincinnati area were without power. Trees and poles were down everywhere. The schools and many businesses were closed. The County and City stated a State of Emergency and urged everyone to stay off the streets.

As the days past and businesses were slowly back on line I was able to communicate via email to many others only to find out that while they had power at work their home situation was very different… still no power. That meant cold showers and loss of food in the refrigerators and freezers.

One week later and still 60,000 customers without power!

We were all blessed that the weather this week has been beautiful so people without power were able to grill outdoors and clean up their property. We were also fortunate that although we lost our power, once it returned, most of us still had our homes in tact. Look at the devastation on the city of Galveston and the Texas-Louisiana coast in comparison. Yes, we were very fortunate and Blessed!

I also witnessed people helping others with food for those without electricity, especially the elderly, and jointly cleaning up their neighborhoods. It is a joy to see people coming together as Americans –Ohioans– do so well.

How did you weather the week the power went out?

 

Seems like every day we hear about TV and radio promos, people or businesses emphasizing a “green” program or initiative.

 

I feel that these are all good for our country, our city and our state. It is good for our daily lives to be less polluted and more environmentally friendly. It is good to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. It is also good for us all to enthusiastically get behind a worthy cause that has positive and motivating consequences.

 

Like many things in this world, one person alone makes little impact but collectively we can move mountains, or in this case, move it greener.

 

The daily soaring of gas prices is forcing us all to change our habits and be more cost-conscious now instead of putting it off for a future “to do” list. It is certainly getting our attention. Going Green is something we should all be embracing not only from a personal but also a business perspective. We should take this adversity and turn it into opportunity.

 

There are many things we can do to make even a little impact, like changing from incandescent to fluorescent light bulbs, quit smoking cigarettes, driving cars that get better mileage or use alternative fuels, reducing unnecessary driving and being more aware of our own environment and habits while thinking about what else we can do to help in this cause.

 

From a business standpoint we can also do our part. I hear about many initiatives by companies and government entities that are making a large impact like converting their fleets to propane, installing solar panels on the roofs of their buildings, installing wind turbines, and re-cycling garbage and waste into energy.

 

Even a small business such as ours can do its part. Our “green initiative” is to have less face-to-face meetings which means not driving to and from meetings and thereby saving on both the cost and consumption of gasoline. We accomplish this by creating a wip (work in progress) website so our clients can see the progress of their new website design 24/7, from any computer with Internet access via this link. This also saves a lot of meeting time for our clients and is less disruptive to their normal business daily routine.

 

Video conferencing is being used by the medical field, in education, by corporations and even on individual video phones to virtually bring people together without the cost, travel expense, time and gas consumption that they would normally encounter.

 

This is now the “new frontier” when it comes to invention, innovation and investment. Finding a better and cleaner way to produce energy is the new wave that can not only help us get “greener” but can also be the saving force that helps our country’s economy by producing more jobs and wealth right here in the USA.

 

Dayton has a long history when it comes to inventions. We are currently losing a lot of manufacturing businesses and jobs. What better way to boost our economy than to be at the forefront of ‘going green.’ Think about the possibilities. I’d like to hear what you are going.

 

Here’s more info:

 

http://www.treehugger.com/gogreen.php

 

http://www.forbes.com/2007/07/02/green-environment-energy-biz-cx_db_0703greenbiz_land.html

 

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/07/02/ecocities/

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/03/AR2006080301454.html

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/002-4063737-6851259?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=going+green&x=16&y=18

My wife and I first moved to Dayton, Ohio from New York in 1978 during the winter blizzard of ‘78. So we have been here for 30 years! And that trip took 3 days by car!

 

You can say it was a bit of culture shock coming from a very large city of many millions to the Dayton Metro Area of a couple hundred thousand people. New York is the “city that never sleeps” and Dayton closes up shop at 5 pm.

 

The difference is striking but very positive for both of us. We love the Dayton area and the Dayton people.

 

Looking back it seems that a lot has changed in Dayton in 30 years. I can remember only two shopping malls, The Salem Mall (in Trotwood) and The Dayton Mall (actually in Centerville). They were both much smaller then. The Salem Mall was attractive and many times we would go there not only to shop but to do our daily walk. Many others had the same idea. We no longer have Harrigan’s Ford, Wolohan Lumber, Builder’s Square, the Kon Tiki Theater and Miami Valley Hardware.

 

On the radio we listened to Lou Emm and on TV 7 we watched Gil Whitney with the weather and Don Wayne, the Walter Cronkite look alike, seriously doing the news. I am sure you had your favorites. There were others on the other channels too like Johnny Walker on TV22 and Omar Williams on TV2. Remember Steve Kirk on WING radio? I also remember Erma Bombeck…gosh she was funny. Si Burick was a great sports writer for the Dayton Daily News. Oh yes, there was another paper called the Journal Herald.

 

James McGee was Mayor and we not only didn’t have I-675 but we didn’t have the Trotwood Connector either. This was before the pedestrian bridge at Deeds Park and there was no RiverScape Park and of course no RiverScape Fountain, which we enjoy. No Dragon 5/3 Field and no Schuster Center Theater.

 

Downtown at that time did not have the Fifth Third or Dayton Centre buildings. Coming from NY I don’t call them skyscrapers. We didn’t have the Private Fair Soldier Statue on Main and Monument. Although I heard that they did have it back in the late 1880’s. Wonder if it is the same statue?

 

I remember eating ice cream at Sherer’s and bowling at Bolero Lanes. Hara Arena is still around but I remember attending a lot of events there through the years including music concerts, pro wrestling, hockey (Dayton Gems then the Dayton Bombers) and country western concerts. Not a big CW fan but we took my Mom whenever she would visit from NY. She loves her “country music.” We were delighted to show off our town, including the Air Force Museum which just keeps growing and growing.

 

Sinclair Community College was much smaller then and has steadily grown in size and stature. And remember Rike’s Department Store and the famous Christmas Display.

 

Remember the Roger and the Zap Band? That was a tragic story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnTxhO8L_YI&feature=related

 

We had no Internet then and no home computer until the early 80’s with the introduction of the Commodore. We did not have a cell phone but we did have a car phone that was attached to a large bag that we plugged into the cigarette lighter of our car and had very limited reception.

 

I wonder what 30 years in the future will hold? Will anything be left of the big automotive industry? What will be the Dayton Area population? What will be the main industry?

 

I am sure you have your Dayton Nostalgic moments too and I’d love to hear about them.

Click here for more Dayton Nostalgia:

 

http://mhs77.com:80/Nostalgia.html

 

http://www.thinktv.org/demand/dema_demand.html

 

http://www.gigsalad.com/Music-Groups/Oldies-Music-Group/OH/Dayton/5

Since the first dazzling commercials of the Apple iPhone I was both amazed and intrigued. I saw the crowds of people line up for hours to get their hands on a new generation of phone that used an innovative “touch Screen” method integrating gps technology to make calls, connect to the web and make phone calls all combined with the functions of a widescreen iPod.

 

For some reason I just stayed on the sideline and watched. Since I currently use Sprint I wasn’t too keen on switching to AT&T. This pricey device had some initial problems including slow connectivity to the web and a costly monthly phone bill.

 

Then Apple listened to its audience and came out with the faster and somewhat less costly iPhone 3G with even more features added. Still, you have to sign up with the AT&T network which leaves a lot to be desired. I have been using Sprint for years and if the iPhone let users choose a different network I might have purchased the 3G.

 

However, just a few weeks ago Sprint released their “touch screen” multimedia Smart phone the Samsung Instinct. The ads caught my eye and my curiosity peaked so I dove into my research of this alternative to the iPhone.

 

Having been fully satisfied with the better $129 price, better phone network with faster speed and similar options (as I compared the two) I ordered the Sprint Samsung Instinct. Value-wise the Samsung Instinct is also better than the new Verizon LG Dare. As a Sprint customer I was entitled to an additional rebate savings.

 

I did the order by phone and it took about two weeks to arrive because so many people have had the same idea. Sprint has been so swamped with orders that they are desperately trying to fill them as fast as possible.

 

The phone had to be activated so I did this by phone with a friendly Sprint representative and then they asked me to wait about 2 hours more for my current Sprint phone to be deactivated and for the transfer to take place.

 

The Samsung Instinct came with an additional battery and external battery charger which I thought was thoughtful. Other items include stereo Bluetooth headset and USB cable to connect with your PC when using the Media Manager Software to transfer music, photos and video clips.

 

Sure enough I was finally connected and online. The Instinct comes with a ton of features and some (to my surprise) not found at all on the iPhone like live mobile TV or speed dialing from the home screen and voice activated commands. With the iPhone you can only buy music via WiFi (when you can connect) and not cellular as with the Instinct.

 

I found it to be very user friendly and easy to navigate, especially with the three shortcut buttons at the bottom for back, home and phone. The iPhone only has one “home” button. The touch screen menus are very easy to navigate and you can adjust the touch sensitivity to suit your needs.

 

Narrower and lighter than the iPhone, the Samsung Instinct has a haptic feature  –a slight vibration when you touch a screen button— that lets you know that your command is received.

 

Samsung Instinct texting is in landscape mode which seems easier to use for me and vertical mode (you can also draw the characters with your finger or stylus) while the iPhone can only be used in vertical view during this operation. Yes, the visual experience using the iPhone is slightly better.

 

In comparison to the Apple iPhone and Verizon’s LG Dare the Sprint Samsung Instinct has the most features, the best value and does it all very well. These include Sprint TV, streaming audio content, visual voice mail, camera, camcorder, web browser, listening to music, viewing photos, GPS, Voice Command System, purchasing music online or slide loading from my computer, and the other standards such as calculator, clock,

email, test messaging, voicemail, notes, and more.

 

I am having a very a positive user experience with the Samsung Instinct. I have been able to easily make calls whether using Voice Command, Contact List or typing in the phone number. Call quality has been excellent. I was able to pull up the GPS Navigational system easily from both buttons and Voice Command. I especially like this feature for driving because a soft sounding voice gives you turn by turn instructions.

 

Although many online reviews have called the Samsung Instinct the “iPhone Killer,” which denotes a lot of praise, I wouldn’t go that far but would say that it can stand up head-to-head to the iPhone 3G. For me, I find it very practical and a lot of fun! For more info go to: http://www.instinctthephone.com/