seriouslyeric

On my podcast rotation: WTF with Marc Maron: Marc interviews comedians and digs deep into their crazy backstory (some highlights: Conan O'brien, Garry Shandling, Ed Helms). Frequency/Length: Twice weekly /~1hour WNYC Radiolab: Polished show that takes a curious subject and lends scientific insight to it in interesting ways. (recent subjects: AI, Altruism, Getting lost) Freq: Monthly? it's a long time between updates. / 1 hour 99% Invisible: A very well produced 5-10 minute podcast that delves into to Art, Design, and anything that is more than what it seems. (Recent episodes: Cul de Sacs, Movie Title Sequences, Chicago's downtown Jailhouse, Icons of Soviet design) It's hard to describe how good this is... if you try only one of the podcasts I mention, try this one. Freq: Weekly or biweekly The Dinner Party Download: Two interesting hosts provide a "dinner party" worth of excitement in 15-20 minutes. There is an ice breaker (joke told by a celebrity or musician), small talk (odd news item), cocktail (a short history piece and a cocktail recipe to go with it), the guest of honor (a celebrity interview), and the main course (a food related story). There's also a well curated full length indie rock song at the end of each show. Freq: Weekly How to do Everything: If you try DPD above and like it, I will bet you will also like this one. Two engaging NPR producers take questions from listeners and find experts to answer them. I'm always impressed with the quality of people/experts they get on the show, Kevin Bacon answered one listener's question recently. The topics are generally quirky or off the wall, such as "how to escape a charging rhino" or "how to not look stupid when ordering wine". Weekly / 30 min Some others, but you've probably heard of these already: This American Life Freakonomics Radio The Moth Every NPR show you like

Jam40jeff brings up some interesting counterpoints about a group blogging site. I suggest that there is a very different audience for front page articles vs. forum logs, and adding articles to the front page would have the potential to bring in new and returning community members. I found some good information on Community Blogging that discusses the startup of the "Chicagoist" website that still uses volunteers to post articles. http://www.webraw.com/quixtar/archives/2006/01/blogging_101_community_blogging.php http://chicagoist.com/ I'll also add that there are quite a few forum posts on UO that read like short articles already. One of UO's greatest assets is the diverse community members and this might be one way to leverage our knowledge and desire to create. Anyway, all this is just one suggestion to consider as you re-tool the site, and I agree with Jam40Jeff that it would take some effort to implement. Keep up the good work in any case, I really enjoy UO. On the wiki subject, I'm not a big fan of them myself, but I thought I'd offer Case Wiki as an example of one: http://wiki.case.edu/Main_Page

Couple of questions: What's the overall goal of the site redesign? Are you trying to attract more visitors, add functionality for existing users, or both? I think the forums are both well frequented and well designed from a users point of view, but could always use a few tweaks, like others have suggested. I do believe the front page could use a shift in direction if there is intention to attract more and returning viewers & participants. Take some time to consider a wordpress site for the front page. There are a lot of people like me that follow RSS feeds and return to sites with interesting articles and regular or semi-regular updates. There was a site that I used to follow called "BloggingOhio" that had really interesting UrbanOhio-esque type stories about Ohio architecture, art, events, history, life etc. It's frozen in time (2007) at www.bloggingohio.com. The site must not have made enough money for AOL to keep it active. Implementing this type of site without paid labor is the difficult part. One way would be to have volunteers (likely forum regulars) submit articles that are posted only when central editors (likely forum moderators) approve them (or at least approve the ones that fit the mission of the site). The daily activity on the forum seems to support this kind of arrangement. I think this type of site could draw a wider audience that may be looking for interesting local information, but are unable/unwilling to sort through the forum posts. Good luck with the site redesign, no mater what direction you go.

Appears Micky-Dees wants to break ground in University Heights. http://blog.cleveland.com/sunpress/2010/05/mcdonalds_hopes_to_come_to_war.html To me this is an unhappy meal. Even though it will bring jobs to the area, I'm not thrilled at having more unhealthy options for dining for this community. I'm surprised that feedback to the UH mayor so far has "all been positive". Any thoughts on businesses that could go in this location (Cedar/Warrensville) that the community really needs?

I can do Thursday. <Edit> I'm now booked. The flyer peabody mentioned above can be found at http://jimboco.dnsdojo.com:8081/fix216/flyer.doc

I'll be there, though probably around 6 like AMN. Thank you cd for organizing.

I recommend checking out Felice Urban Cafe which is located in a century home on Larchmere near Shaker Square. I discovered it recently and enjoyed every bit of the meal, atmosphere (cozy fireplace, nicely restored home, casual, fine dining), and service. They have a Wednesday meal special and happy hour. Their menu is online: http://www.coolplacestoeat.com/felice.html

I'll be attending tonight as well. I'll apologize now that I have to take off around 8 as I have a class this evening. I am looking forward to meeting everyone (and getting a Bar Cento pizza)! :laugh: -Eric

I hope this qualifies as a skyline...

For some reason I got a "Baltic" vibe from that photo... Is it Vilnius, Lithuania?

If you love Cleveland Heights, check out the futureheights auction which opened today: "The 4th Annual FutureHeights Online Auction, a sale of local goods and services to benefit the programs of FutureHeights, will take place October 10 - November 9, 2008 and is now accepting item donations." http://www.futureheights.cmarket.com http://futureheights.org

I rode on Saturday and had a good experience. The middle "swivel" chairs are kind of fun, sort of like a sit-and-spin ;). Many on board didn't know what to make of the yellow strips throughout the cabin, I had to explain their use to a few people.

Was at Lolita last night watching NIC (standing room only). Symon and Ruhlman were at the restaurant smiling at their own on-camera antics. The crowd was very lively, with cheering at the judges kind comments and booing at any critiques of Symon's food. A very surreal restaurant experience - like a sporting event! I love Cleveland.

On the topic of Little Italy/Corbo's, they just got some national press courtesy Mario Batali: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/10great/2007-10-04-little-italy_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

The Anatolia Cafe (currently in Cedar Center) looks to be moving to the Cedar-Lee District in September. I recommend checking it out (at either location), I've been there a handful of times and always left happy. Looks like they found a good spot (next to TavCo?). There's a small rendering on their website: http://www.anatoliacafe.com/