Hey Cleveland! This Friday! Be there!

Breaking news for typists in the Cleveland, Ohio area:

"California Typewriter" opens this Friday, September 22, at the Cedar Lee Theater at 2163 Lee Road in Cleveland Heights.

After the 7:15 show, I'll be there to take questions along with Clevelanders Will and Dave Davis. Will is the creator of an amazing set of typewriter websites that has been very influential in opening people's eyes to modern portables and other machines. He and his brother Dave are the authors of the blog Davis Typewriter Works, and Will recently started the blog On the Margin, about rebuilt typewriters.

I'll have signed copies of my book, The Typewriter Revolution, available at a good price.

I'm also bringing this Smith-Corona Silent-Super from my own collection. The theater is sponsoring a free sweepstakes with this machine as the prize. It will come with a typed, signed copy of The Typewriter Manifesto, and it has a very unusual Yes/No type slug. Enter the sweepstakes here by September 28. You will need to pick up the typewriter in Cleveland, of course.

And I'll be in Chicago the following weekend — more details on that event as they become available.

Berkeley, CA type-in on September 26

There's a type-in coming up at the real California Typewriter, in conjunction with the theatrical release of the film! Be there if you can, and please spread the word.

Ruminations on digital sabbath & smart speakers

PS: Apparently the generic term for things like the Amazon Echo is "smart speakers." Of course, even that is a lie: the speaker itself isn't "smart," but connects you to a remote server that runs an artificial intelligence program. Nicholas Carr's piece can be found here.