Archive for January, 2009
Author’s Nightmare
12,000 pounds of books; six tons; eight pallets with three layers each containing 14 boxes; each box weighs 37 pounds and has 14 books in it. If you’re doing the math you know that one pallet wasn’t full. Bad enough that the hardcover edition of hackoff.com: an historic murder mystery set in the Internet bubble and rubble isn’t selling enough to justify keeping inventory at the printer/distributor. When the truck delivered them to our rented storage shed it couldn’t...
Google Mistakenly Labels The Internet as Malware
Google labeled the entire Internet as malware earlier this morning (between 6.30 a.m. PST and 7.25 a.m. PST), warning visitors that pretty much every website could harm your computer. The news spread across the blogophere and twitterverse pretty quickly. Many speculated that the problem arose from Google’s effort to integrate the malware-blocking functionality promoted by stopbadware.org. Google confirmed that in a blog post. “What happened? Very simply, human error,” said Ma...
Announcing the SocComm Scholarships Program
I am looking forward to being in New York City on February 10th for SocComm. I have been fortunate to bring together a world-class group of speakers, some of them who are just returning to the States after being at DLD and Davos. Together I look forward to exploring the state of Social Communications, where the money is today and where it will be tomorrow. Given the current state of the economy, I am extending an offer to up to 20 people to join us who would have liked to attended SocComm but du...
David Sifry @ DLD09: Introducing Offbeat Guide to Davos
During DLD09 I had a chance to catch up with David Sifry who introduced his Offbeat Guide to Davos and spoke about his new startup, offbeach guides. - - - Tags: DLD, offbeat guides, DLD09 David Sifry, Jeff Pulver ...
Toronto’s Teeming Tech Scene: Good But….
There’s a good article in today’s Globe & Mail about Toronto’s vibrant high-tech community, and how there are so many people engaged in innovation, new ideas and new solutions. The article puts the spotlight on what I consider to be the strength of Toronto’s high-tech sector - an abundance of optimism, enthusiasm, energy and the belief that change can be implemented if people pull together. As a member of the community, I’m always impressed to see so many people...
can’t skype tonite
"don’t worry if you can’t skype tonite, get some sleep." ...
Goodbye Martin Schaedel
A few minutes ago, Jon Callaghan, general partner with True Ventures and an investor in our company emailed me to let me know that Martin Schaedel, a long time friend of ours had died in a plane crash in Santa Monica, California. The news was reported in Los Angeles Times blog. My prayers and thoughts go to Martin’s family, back in Sweden, in this time of trial. I am overcome with a sense of extreme sadness, wondering why the good have to die young. Martin and I had become good friends, over...
Who Wins, Who Loses With Broadband Grants
Congress is debating a stimulus bill that would funnel more than $800 billion into the economy. There are two versions of it wending their way through the legislative houses, so we gathered the key differences, put them in the chart below and pointed out which ISPs and technologies win under each. Regardless of the final version, it’s safe to say that ISPs will want Congress to spend more, and equipment providers will take whatever they can get. .post table { font-size: 11px; line-height...
Why Google Needs the GDrive to Fight Microsoft
The Internet is abuzz these days with speculation over the launch of a new online storage offering from Google said to be dubbed GDrive. The service would apparently be bundled with Google Pack, the company’s software download offering that includes products such as Picasa and Google Earth. With no official word, many questions remain unanswered about the service. But I have a theory as to why Google is introducing what is essentially a commodity service. Online storage isn’t quite t...
Dual Stack SIP and Skype IP Phone Coming
Image is of the IPEVO Solo Desktop Skype phone not the forthcoming product. But picture something like this device that supports SIP, Skype, and has a color LCD A source has told me about an interesting new VoIP/Skype product that is coming to market in Q3 2009. It’s your typical desktop IP phone supporting the standard SIP stack, however it has an interesting twist - it also supports the Skype protocol. The product is a dual-stack desktop phone supporting both the SIP and ...
Bookmarking Service Ma.gnolia Suffers Massive Outage, Data Lost
Matt Cox points out that Ma.gnolia, a bookmarking service, may have lost all the data (bookmarks) curated by its customers. The situation seems pretty dire. ...
7 Timeless Web Memes
Sure there are the flashy memes tied to poorly translated video games, 80s pop singers (I warned you) and bad dancing, but there are also serious topics of conversations that pop up online over and over — and over — again. Maybe they’re not Internet memes in the Wikipedia sense, but they are cultural ideas that live and exist because of the web. Below we offer a crash course on seven of them, complete with summaries and links. Renting vs. owning digital content: The varyin...
Slowdown Hits Telecom Gear Makers Hard
The current economic slowdown is beginning to hurt telecom equipment makers, and their prospects aren’t likely to change much in 2009, as indicated by the spending plans outlined by some of the major service providers. For instance, AT&T said that it will cut its capex spend by 10-15 percent, or about $3 billion, and moderate its U-verse expansion plans. Verizon hasn’t been quite as blunt about its plans, but analysts expect the company to tighten its belt as well, and its supp...
Telcos to Congress: More Money Please
An association of small telecommunications providers, some of them rural, has taken a look at the broadband dollars in the stimulus bills making their way through both houses of Congress and said, “Please sir, can I have some more?” What’s more disturbing (although just as predictable), is they want to lower the speed requirements to 1.5 Mbps downlink. The stimulus bill that passed Wednesday in the House offers $6 billion in grants for providing broadband (much of that in rura...
Event: Breakfast with Jeff Pulver (and friends) in Washington DC on Feb 5th
On Thursday February 5th I will be in Washington, D.C. and hosting my eighth “Breakfast with Jeff Pulver (and friends)” event of the yearfrom 8-10 AM. To RSVP, please visit this event on Facebook. Everyone attending this breakfast will receive a “Personal Social Networking Toolkit.” Friends can learn more about my Personal Social Networking Toolkit by watching the video below: — The Jeff Pulver 2009 Breakfast Tour (Jan / Feb ) 2009 (as of: January 30, 2009) ...
Quote of Note: Barack Obama
“Shameful.” President Barack Obama, yesterday [source]. Technorati Tags: GreatDepression2.0 ...
Beholden to Google: Good or Bad?
The speculation about Google launching a “GDrive” to let people store their photos, music and documents has been jump-started after people with clearly lots of time on their hands found some code within the Google Pack software bundle providing some hints of what’s to come. Given how online storage has become so popular, especially, as people become more comfortable with having things happen and stored in the cloud, the interest in the GDrive is understandable. Of course, there...
head on my pillow
"Going to sleep now.. Maybe.. I might. But then again, I might be on my iPod waiting for a skype call. :)" ...
TechCrunch is a Media Sponsor of SocComm
Just wanted to share the news that TechCrunch is now a media sponsor of SocComm Earlier today twitter amazed me once again. I needed to deliver to TechCrunch a 125×125 banner as part of our media relationship and I didnt have the ability to create the banner ad on my own. In less than 30 minutes not only did 10 people came forward and offered to help solve my 125×125 banner crisis but I ended up with a banner ad in the process. Special thanks to @lucymaylene for designing the 125...
Dell’s Smart Phone. Seems Real This Time!
Dell Computer, a Round Rock, Texas–based computer maker is looking to enter the smart phone market and is currently toying with phones based on Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating systems, reports the Wall Street Journal. The news confirms rumors first reported last January. Later, Michael Dell, CEO and founder of Dell dropped some mobile-related hints in an interview with me in July 2008. When I asked him about the possibility of his company going after the smart ph...
With ION, Nvidia Covers the Mobile Market
I just got back from Nvidia’s Austin office, where I saw a demo PC running the ION platform that marries a GeForce 9400 GPU with the more powerful of the Intel Atom processors. ION seemed like a sweet deal when Nvidia launched it in December, and seems even better now that I know it doesn’t add much to the price of the netbook (only $20-$40), according to Brian Burke, the Nvidia spokesman interviewed below. With such a small difference in cost, why wouldn’t you try to get a f...
Tell your love story, win a pair of webcams
IPEVO and Skype Journal believe in love. So IPEVO is putting up five pairs of their naughty POV webcams in time for Saint Valentine’s Day. Share your love story in our POValentines Day Confessions Contest. We’ll publish all decency will allow right here on Skype Journal. All we ask is that it’s true, it’s your own story, and in your own words. Winners will be selected randomly because, frankly, we thought we’d get into lots of trouble picking the most romantic, sexi...
Does Perfection Have to Have a Price?
Earlier this week, a new billboard (see below) went up across the street from my apartment building. Every morning on my way to the gym or Starbucks, the message (not the beer) winks at me, challenging my own personal belief system by asserting that perfection has to have a price tag attached to it — and more importantly, that the pursuit of perfection is what makes life worth living. As George Bernard Shaw once said, “If there was nothing wrong in the world there wouldn’t be ...
Quote of Note: John Boehner
“The consequences of our not acting are overwhelming.” House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), September 29, 2008, referring to Bailout 1.0 [source]. Contrast this with Boehner’s instigation of House Republicans on Bailout 2.0 yesterday — not a single Republican voted in favor. The bill passed the House 244-188. Here’s to consequences. Technorati Tags: Politics, GreatDepression2.0, QuoteOfNote ...
The Handset Market Is Getting Darwinian
The economic downturn knocked the wind out of the handset market in the third and fourth quarters of 2008, resulting in shipments of 1.2 billion handsets for the year and overall growth of just 5.4 percent, according to data released today from ABI Research. And it’s only going to get worse. But economic upheaval isn’t just about huge losses, it’s also a chance to snatch market share. In good times, the weak can stay afloat, but bad times force businesses to prove their mettle...
Owning Servers is Passé
Cloud computing isn’t just for little guys anymore. Both local hosting businesses and MIS-managed computer centers are likely to disappear into the clouds in the next couple of years. Small is NOT beautiful in host computers anymore. Amazon (for example) CAN do it better and cheaper than you. For years many of us have been hosting our applications with local hosting companies. Sometimes this has meant buying a computer and having it in a cage at the hosting service; sometimes this means r...
StatShot: GPU Shipments Nosedive
The drop-off in demand for personal computers is hitting the graphics chip market hard. Jon Peddie Research has issued a report showing that total GPU shipments fell to 72.4 million in the fourth quarter — down 2 percent year-over-year and 35 percent from the third to the fourth quarter. This is the first time fourth-quarter shipments have fallen sequentially since 2000. Maybe people are buying netbooks and smartphones rather than PCs. Check out the chart for market share. Nvidia and VIA ...
StatShot: Tech Job Cuts Inching Closer to 200,000
The technology industry cut close to 186,955 jobs in 2008, up 74.2 percent from the 107,295 job cuts recorded in 2007, according to data collected by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a recruitment company based in Chicago. The firm claims that job cuts soared 167 percent in the second half of 2008 and the velocity of cuts is going to increase in 2009. With Microsoft, Ericsson, Sprint, AMD, and Corning announcing tens of thousands of job cuts in January, we would have to unfortunately agree wi...
What Sony Ericsson Must Do To Stage a Comeback
Sony Ericsson recently reported huge losses for the second straight quarter, for which it blamed the struggling economy. The results included a $240 million quarter loss and a 21 percent drop in phone shipments, garnering a vote of low confidence among analysts. And as Dick Komiyama, president of the joint venture between Sony and Ericsson, noted, the global handset market is contracting — in other words, the bleeding won’t stop anytime soon. But Sony Ericsson faces more problems th...
Adhearsion - Voice as an Application
Why VoIP + Ruby is a winning formula. Read More… ...
Where’s the Google Phone Bump?
T-Mobile said today that it had 32.8 million customers as of the end of the fourth quarter after adding 621,000 more during the three-month period. That’s a 35 percent drop in net adds from the same three-month period in 2007 and 49,000 less than T-Mobile added in the third quarter of 2008. It’s also far less than the 2.1 million net adds reported by AT&T and the 1.2 million Verizon gained during the fourth quarter. Unlike AT&T’s gains that came via its exclusive deal...
Verizon Shutting Down VoIP Service
Five years after it launched Voicewing by rebranding DeltaThree, Verizon is shutting down the VoIP service that never managed to get any traction. It was launched to compete with Vonage. AT&T stopped signing up new customers for CallVantage, another Vonage competitor, in 2008. Voicewing will be shut down on March 31, and will most likely be replaced by FiOS Digital Voice, a new offering. The decision will almost certainly push DeltaThree over the edge — the company has been running ...
Qwest Cuts Off SkyWi in Network Dispute
According to the Albuquerque Business Journal, Qwest has cut off a rival local exchange carrier over a billing dispute. Qwest and SkyWi, a wireless broadband provider that pays Qwest for backhaul, have been involved in a billing dispute that resulted in Qwest cutting off service to SkyWi on Dec. 30. New Mexico’s utilities regulator ordered Qwest to turn it back on until such time that a court hearing is held, in February, and to give 10 days notice before shutting down service again. But ...
ME Consulting: So Far, So Good
Now that ME Consulting is solidly up and running, I wanted to provide an update on what’s been happening. The great news is business is good. I’m working with some really great people on a variety of interesting projects. Not surprisingly, a lot of the work that I’n doing involves social media. A lot of companies are exploring the idea of getting into social media or looking for ways to improve how they’re doing social media. It’s encouraging to see so much interes...
As netbooks become the new mobiles, will AT&T preload Skype?
American wireless companies are control freaks when it comes to configuring the mobiles they sell. They limit hardware features, choose applications, and otherwise protect their walled gardens. Now they’re set to sell netbooks with wireless data plans. AT&T piloted this with Acer and Radio Shack over the holidays. The software that comes on PCs is usually determined by the manufacturer and the operating system. Skype comes on some netbooks via Linux, on some PCs via manufacturers. Wi...
noodling the wife
"can’t sleep. again. cup-a-noodle supper with wife over skype." ...
Google Battles ISPs With Technology
In the war between Google and Internet Service Providers, Google is trying a new weapon — information. The search giant has teamed up with New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute and PlanetLab Consortium to create Measurement Labs, a server platform and a series of software tools to measure broadband speeds, whether or not your ISP is filtering BitTorrent traffic and a diagnostic tool for last-mile problems. Coming soon are tests to help a user figure out of their ISP...
SocComm Summit Agenda (Update #3)
On February 10th 2009 at the 3LD Art and Technology Center in New York City, I am producing SocComm - The Social Communications Summit. At SocComm, we will explore the state of Social Communications, where things are headed in the future and where the money is today and will be tomorrow. The topics at SocComm will span across: Media / Internet / Communications / Entertainment, something I call the “MICE” space. SocComm will have a mixture of individual talks, on-stage interview...
Why for AOL, the Future Is Content
AOL over the past few days has been making the wrong sort of news. Today, Kara Swisher reported that the company is going to slash 700 jobs (10 percent of the total employee base), pare down its operations and essentially shrink itself into a much smaller entity. Kara also obtained the layoff memo sent out by AOL CEO Randy Falco, which details the three major areas of focus AOL will be left with: Content, as defined by the recently formed MediaGlow group, which includes properties such as Enga...
Taking Data Privacy Day Beyond SSNs
Today is Data Privacy Day, but instead of reading about privacy violations and pledges to make good by various corporations, pick a Congressman (or woman) and explain to them that when it comes to protecting our privacy online, our laws need a rewrite. Tell him (or her) the issues go far beyond identity theft using social security numbers. The web is controlled by private entities, from the pipes (Verizon, Comcast, AT&T) to the portals (Google, Yahoo and Microsoft). These companies have a f...
Antarctica, even more photos
More Antarctica pictures. Adelie on belly. Gentoo chick gets pre-digested meal Gentoo also. Gentoo three. Fur seals rock Chinstrap clean. Here I can say, “literally full of s*!#” and mean it. ...
So Far, Wireless Data Looks Recession-proof
After taking a look at the earnings of the largest U.S. wireless carriers, it’s clear that growth in wireless data at the top carriers is still going strong, despite a recession. There are concerns that some of this is the result of holiday sales (all those new iPhones for Christmas), so we’ll keep an eye on next quarter’s numbers to see if folks are ditching their data plans so they can pay rent, or if the ongoing layoffs are resulting in disconnects as employers stop subsidi...
House Says No To DTV Transition Delay
Members of the House this afternoon failed to pass a bill that would delay the transition from analog to digital television signals by four months. Without House approval, the deadline for the switch stands at Feb. 17. Qualcomm is undoubtedly rejoicing, as it stands to lose the most from putting the transition on pause. Prompted by the fear that millions of consumers would see their televisions go black after the transition (Nielsen puts the number at 6.5 million), President Barack Obama and th...
Ifbyphone To Present At iDev on March 2-4
The iDev conference brings together the best and brightest of the iPhone development community! This 3-day event will take place March 2 to 4, 2009 @ eBay’s Headquarters in San Jose, CA. This time around, Ifbyphone’s CEO Irv Shapiro will be giving a presentation on how to develop a telephony app for the iPhone, based on the experience of developing our Voice Broadcast and Conference Call apps. Sound interesting? Register for iDev. ...
AT&T Slave To Steve & iPhone? Fo Sho!
AT&T reported its fourth quarter 2008 results, and they show how dependent the company is on Apple and iPhone for its future growth. For instance they added 2.1 million new wireless subscribers during the quarter. Nearly 1.9 million iPhone 3G were activated during the quarter and 40 percent were new to AT&T or about 760,000. That works out to a whopping 36% of total new customers for the company that has bleeding landline customers and is facing serious problems because of the economic ...
Messages Here, Messages There, Messages Everywhere
If you’re a social media enthusiast, chances are you’re on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and perhaps a few others. In some respects, all of these services are ways to receive direct messages from people - on top of your e-mail account. Over the course of a day, you might receive messages from a variety of sources. This means you need to either check each one, or configure each service so that messages get routed to your e-mail in-box. In any event, things are getting increasingly comp...
More Antarctic photos
Here are a few more photos from my trip to the Antarctic Peninsula, January 10-24. Gentoo penguin Gentoos under water Icescape with humpback Giant berg with caves Humpback Ice scape in snow ...
Palringo Add Geographic Presence to iPhone
IM client brings presence up to date by showing where a user is as well as their contactabilty. Read More… ...
3CX Assistant preview
And here it is. A sneak preview of the new 3CX Assistant. What will it do? Well its an easy to use utility to allow users to manage their extension - take, transfer or park calls. It works in tandem with any phone. It also shows presence of all other users, and can be used to see Queue status as well if you have the rights. We are working on a beta, which should be available in a few weeks ...
lonelyskypr16
"YOU disappeared from Skype. I had no one to talk to while I couldn’t sleep. *sniffle*" ...
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News, opinions and announcements about fast changing communication tools and technologies, from various blogs and ezine.