I just got word from Tim Courtney the next Silicon Prairie Social will be held on Thursday, January 24, 2008 at Mullen’s Bar and Grill in Lisle, IL. This is second in what I hope will be an on-going quality tech networking event for the western suburbs of Chicago.

The event is free, though you must register, and registration is now open. Check out the Web site for full details. Unfortunately I won't be there myself, but I have RSVPed in spirit. There is also the opportunity to become a sponsor, joining an excellent list of current sponsors. For those in the burbs, it is a must attend, and as well for those of us in the city - as we are all part of the local tech community.

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At one point last week as I was scrambling to put together the list of recipients for Dunkirk Systems’ holiday cards, I needed to go to LinkedIn to look up a couple of contacts. When I arrived at the social networking site I saw a familiar face, a wizard image LinkedIn puts up when it takes the service down for maintenance. When I went back after the maintenance window, I was pleasantly surprised to see more familiar faces.

If you have a LinkedIn account and you visit the home page, you can see updates to people in your network. As I have previously stated, this is a highly valuable feature of LinkedIn as you can find out changes for contacts, including if they have a new job. Now these changes include if a person has added a photo to their profile. The accompanying image is a partial screen grab from my own LinkedIn home page, showing networking guru Jason Jacobsohn recently added a photo to his profile.

This is a good step forward for LinkedIn, and as competition heats up from other social networking sites like Facebook, I am eager to see what other changes they will make.

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There’s less than 24 hours left until Christmas arrives, and you still need to get someone a gift. As they use the Internet, why not get an Amazon Gift Certificate?

Amazon Gift Certificates can be redeemed for anything from Amazon.com. The recipient enters the code when they check out to apply the gift certificate value. They make a great gift for anyone – including yourself for doing more of your shopping online.

Merry Christmas!

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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On a recent trip I flew United Airlines out of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. When I checked in online, a message on my boarding pass said I could use a dedicated bag check counter to skip the normal e-ticket check-in. Sweet! When I did so, I asked the attendant at the counter how long this service has been in place, and she said almost 2 years.

Then it hit me – I had not flown in or out of O’Hare for well over a year, if not longer. All of my flying had been out of Midway Airport, Chicago’s second, smaller airport.

And let me add more convenient, which was the real reason. With reconstruction of the Blue Line subway to the airport slowing down service, the further distance outside of the city plus how ginormous O’Hare is, Midway’s small size, 20 minute trip from downtown Chicago by the Orange Line subway not to mention streamlined security and better food and retail offerings makes Midway my preferred choice.

So why then was I flying out of O’Hare? AirTran Airlines “discontinued” for several months a direct flight I took many times in the last few years, and as there was no other direct flight from Midway, I was forced to fly through O’Hare, where I could get a direct flight. Maybe forced is too harsh of a term, as my experience with United was all-around good and the staff and crew were all pleasant, and the extra legroom in Economy Plus was more than worth the extra $29.

This is something I will observe more as I make more purchasing decisions, and as I offer my own products and services to clients and potential clients.

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Heritage travel is a term relating to vacationing while discovering and learning history. One of my clients, Kira Gale, is the author of Lewis and Clark Road Trips, and excellent book on the trail and travels of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark over 200 years ago. Her Web site is an extension of the book, with detailed maps and destinations along the trail.

Just in time for the holidays, she is featuring several items for sale related to Lewis and Clark. You can get a personally autographed copy of her book, a comic book titled, “Jefferson's Lewis and Clark Expedition: Heroes Unlimited” by a Native American author, and two stuffed animals – Biddle the Bear and Lynch Dawg. All of these items are pictures and detailed on the home page of the Web site, and are good reading (and companions!) to the person who is a history buff, or for the kid you may want to be one.

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