Sunday, April 10, 2005

IBM's Business Transformation. Business Week writes about IBM's focus on business transformation services: "BM, with its legions of PhDs and closets full of patents, is not built to duke it out with the likes of Dell. Palmisano's strategy promises a neat escape. Instead of battling in cutthroat markets, he takes advantage of all the low-cost technology by packaging it, augmenting it with sophisticated hardware and software, and selling it to customers in a slew of what he calls business transformation services. That way IBM rides atop the commodity wave -- and avoids drowning in it." [E M E R G I C . o r g] 11:16:40 PM          Google It!

	Tuesday, March 22, 2005

MSNBC: "HERE COME THE VLOGS". MSNBC: Ready for your close-up? Here come the vlogs is a great snapshot of videoblogging by Michael Rogers. He namechecks all our favorites including Rocketboom, Ryanne, Jay, Human Dog, Steve Garfield, and Dylan. He also mentions the tools making it easier to find videoblogs, such as ANT and MeFeedia. And, inescapably, Serious Magic's Vlog It! software, which nobody I know actually uses. Check out Rocketboom's aggregation of SXSWi video/audio/pics/text and the official video coverage of SXSW for all the geekery you'd ever want to munch on. If you're just looking for fun, please immediately watch Dylan's latest vid, Toys of Our Lives, where Dylan's dolls engage in sick and hilarious romantic shenanigans. Then why not see me "shake my thing" (am I saying that right?) on 6th Street in Austin for DanceFlash - it was like a mini-Burning Man. Via Blogumentary [unmediated] 8:22:44 PM          Google It!

Do The VoIP Math. Russell Shaw does the math and shows how VoIP is cheaper than a cell phone only.I agree. Which is why I think the wireless companies need to be in the VoIP business and fast.... [VoIP Watch] 8:20:36 PM          Google It!

Blog, Vlog, Podcast, Mobcast. So many new words, so little time. Blog (web log), Vlog (video web log), Podcasting (including audio in your RSS (really simple syndication) feed for download into an Apple iPod or other MP3 player) and Mobcasting (mobile podcasting) an Andy Carvin acronym which posits the use of smart phones to create podcasts -- are all relatively new words that represent one extremely big idea -- unfettered plebeian access to the fifth estate. Until a few years ago, governments (secular or non) had almost complete control of information. That made (and continues to make) information a form of currency -- like the military and other stores of economic value. These "new words" are much more powerful than the technologies they represent, they speak a new language of information and, to be sure, currency. The value you will place on this information is in direct proportion to the use you have for it. Most people won't care about the rantings of a technophile or a housewife lamenting her need for appropriate child care -- or will they? Imagine a world where a group of protesters use their cell phones to acquire and document their experience with government forces and aggregate (and spin) that audio/video experience on the web. How about a simple group of friends witnessing a car accident or something worse. We are at the dawn of a new era -- not the cliche version of the phrase -- "new era" the home game! Imagine the power of an individual when they are able to publish and internationally distribute audio and video more efficiently than CNN or Fox News. That's not years in the future ... it's already here. Want to believe? Check out some of the websites like http://tv.oneworld.net or http://www.audiolink.com or http://www.audiolink.com and just play the tape .. err ... file to the end. [unmediated] 8:13:00 PM          Google It!

	Monday, March 07, 2005

Small telecom carriers focus on providing choices. WASHINGTON - As traditional competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) retool to keep up with U.S. regulations and battle the huge regional Bells, a range of new business models are emerging. [InfoWorld: Top News] 10:00:44 PM          Google It!

Ten To Watch in Mobile Content. This is not a definitive list, just a list of smart young blood in the mobile content sector. Notice that except for one, none of them are CEOs (yet), but you’ll hear a lot from and about them in the next few years (that was the criteria). Just a way of recognizing the people in the second wave of mobile content (in no particular order): » Greg Clayman, Vice President, Wireless Strategy and Operations, MTV Networks » Rio Caraeff, mobile head at Universal Music » Thomas Ryan, Senior VP, Mobile Development, EMI Music » Mark Levy, VP content at InfoSpace Mobile » Lucy Hood, VP, Content, News Corp » Shawn Conahan (end of page), CEO, Intercasting Corp » Adam Flick, Chief Marketing Officer, Airborne Entertainment » Robert Tercek, Chief Strategy Office, mForma » Manish Jha, Senior VP, ESPN Mobile » Russell Beattie, Yahoo Mobile I realize this is a US-centric list, and if you want to add to my list of the people influencing our fast growing sector, post them in the comments below… [unmediated] 9:58:47 PM          Google It!

Telesym Podcast: the Future of VoWLAN. If you're interested in where Voice over IP over WLAN is heading in the enterprise, listen to this interview with Telesym: I met over in Bellevue, Wash., today with Telesym, a firm that extends an enterprise-based phone exchange (PBX) system into laptops, handhelds, and "scanners": bar-code devices used in retail and logistics by store and floor personnel. I spoke with Mike Houston, Telesym's director of Marketing, Ken Myer, senior VP of sales and marketing, and Jennifer Gehrt, a founding partner at Communiqué Public Relations about Telesym's position in the market, but more largely about the future of VoWLAN. (Ken had to leave for a meeting, so I spoke primarily with Mike in this podcast). You'll hear at the outset of the recording after my introduction a conversation we had using Telesym technology: I was on a USB headset connected to a Telesym client running under Mac OS X; Mike was on a cellular phone. I had the recorder up to the headphone on the headset; next time, I'll plug the recorder into the line out on the laptop to better demonstrate the quality. The audio file is available as an 8 MB MP3 download, a 6 MB MP3 compressed with ZIP, or your podcast-capable news reader should already have identified it.... [Wi-Fi Networking News] 9:57:28 PM          Google It!

CLECs search for new business models. WASHINGTON - Recent months have been tough for competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs), as their allies get gobbled up by competitors and the government dismantles network-sharing regulations. But CLECs say they will survive by adopting new business models and focusing on customer relations. [InfoWorld: Top News] 9:56:18 PM          Google It!

Podcasting The Night Away. Forbes: "For now, Podcasting is no threat to radio as we know it. But pay attention to it. It may not always be called Podcasting, and it may not always be free in the way it is now, but as we've seen with MP3s, these things sometimes have a funny way of taking on a life of their own." [Adam Curry's Weblog] 9:55:00 PM          Google It!

	Sunday, March 06, 2005

New Free VoIP, Video & P2P IM Client using Open Standards. ineen is new P2P IM software with VoIP and Video that's easy and free to use. The client was built using Xten's eyeBeam SDK and makes use of SIMPLE for P2P IM and Presence. VoIP is supported by SIP and the Video media is H.263[+]. You can use ineen to call over other networks as well, including: Free World Dialup, SIPphone, & iptel.org. Xten will be demonstrating ineen at VON next week. [SIPthat.com] 12:41:46 PM          Google It!

Searching for weather, by web or phone As a kid, I would stare for hours at repetitious weather reports on TV. Boring, you say? Not to me - I love weather. And since I've worked here, I've wondered why Google doesn't do weather. It seemed like a perfect 20% project for me, so now I'm pleased to report that you can get current conditions and a forecast by typing [weather Chicago], or whatever your U.S. location is (zipcodes are also fair game). If you prefer, use Google SMS to send a text message to the U.S. five digit shortcode 46645 (GOOGL on most mobile phones) followed by your meteorological query. Ben Sigelman Software Engineer [Google Blog - Live] 12:40:12 PM          Google It!

Spring 2005 VON: In the News Today. Investors Business Daily - March 7th: Internet Telephone Service Buzz Comes Calling At Big Trade Show Mercury News - March 6th: Phone calls destined to be sent like e-mail, as packets of data (requires subscription) [The Jeff Pulver Blog] 12:34:59 PM          Google It!

SODA. A month or so ago, I was reading a Gartner handout for a conference, and came across an acronym they invented- SODA[1]. SODA (Service-Oriented Development of Applications), as Gartner defines it, consists of the following areas:... [] 12:32:57 PM          Google It!

Yahoo Web Service API. Yahoo joins the growing number of web sites exposing their API as Web Services. Their API is available from Yahoo Developer Network.... [] 12:31:44 PM          Google It!

	Thursday, March 03, 2005

Liberty Focuses on Mobile Web Services February 14, 2005 By Clint Boulton The Liberty Alliance Project released Mobile Business Guidelines 2.0, a document for describing how service providers can deploy secure mobile Web services. The Mobile Business Guidelines document addresses issues such as quality standards, risk management, liability/dispute and resolution policies for those offering single sign-on and Web services via handheld computers, smart phones and laptops. The publication of the schema was made in time for 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, France, where the notion of being able to access Web services safely via will be a major topic. Software makers such as Microsoft, IBM, BEA Systems, and others are intent on expanding the adoption of Web services, application-to-application communication that enables users to purchase goods securely via the Internet. But the software needs some service providers and wireless operators to use the Web services infrastructure and applications written by the software companies, enabling them on mobile gadgets to spur Web-based purchases for mobile commerce. This is a step in the right direction. Those operator wishing to accelerate their Liberty/SAML  deployment should look at http://dv3.agileco.net/eTRUST 3:17:44 PM          Google It!

MBOA, WiMedia Alliance Merge UWB Organizations. The two leading industry groups for ultrawideband merge: The Multi-Band OFDM Alliance and the WiMedia Alliance are merging their two groups to align goals more fully and reduce the number of acronyms and institutions. The two groups' have very similar general technology goals for UWB, and this leaves Motorola and Freescale even more in the lurch as the personal area networking (PAN) focus of WiMedia and the consumer electronics focus of MBOA come together. Both groups work with the IEEE, the 1394 Trade Association (wireless 1394 or wireless FireWire), and the Wireless USB Promoter Group within the USB Implementers Forum. The merger announcement is scheduled for this afternoon at an Intel conference.... [Wi-Fi Networking News] 3:11:31 PM          Google It!

	Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Jeremy Allaire recently founded BrightCove http://www.brightcove.com/ (2004) to meld television and the Internet. It would be truly awesome to see BrightCove and iComCentral http://dv3.agileco.net/iComCentral to find a way to work together.   10:00:17 AM          Google It!

Tips for Customizing a Radio Blog Template: To edit the template for a Radio blog (such as Radio Free Blogistan) go to the Preferences > Templates > Home Page Template page. You can cut and paste the contents of this file into a Dreamweaver document, and then edit and replace it much the same as you would a Blogger template as explained in the previous section.. Alternatively, you can open the #homeTemplate.txt file directly in Dreamweaver from the www subfolder of your Radio Userland folder. Dreamweaver won't render the page because it doesn't recognize HTML markup in a .txt file, but you can copy the contents to a new file (a good practice anyway, to avoid accidentally overwriting a working file) and save it as temp.html or something like that. Other links on how to customize Radio Userland here: http://frontier.userland.com/customizingSite http://www.loftesness.com/radio/stories/2002/01/20/notesOnRadioCustomization.html http://ruminations.weblogger.com/stories/storyReader$4 http://radio.weblogs.com/0107846/stories/2002/08/23/radioDocSources.html http://www.activerenderer.com/outlines/aR/gallery.html 9:48:17 AM          Google It!

Enterprise grid group expands (InfoWorld). InfoWorld - The Enterprise Grid Alliance (EGA), formed last year to promote use of computing grids in enterprises, will announce five new members on Tuesday, including Unisys and Univa. [Yahoo! News: Technology] 9:13:17 AM          Google It!

Yahoo! Web Services. Paul Bausch takes a look at the new Yahoo! Web Services interface and shows how to tap into the API with a sample application. [O'Reilly Network ONJava.com] 9:10:38 AM          Google It!

HP whacks own storage software in favor of AppIQ. Friend with benefits [The Register] 9:06:09 AM          Google It!

Introducing: IP-4-IT - A New Event to Focus on Challenges and Opportunities of Enterprise-class IP Communications. pulver.com, CMP Media and TIA Band Together to Produce: IP-4-IT I've been working the vision for a new Enterprise event which focused on effects of the advent of IP in the Enterprise and the resulting challenges and opportunities this reprsents in Enterprise-class IP Communications for quite some time. I'm happy to announce today that pulver.com, together with both CMP Media LLC and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) will be jointly producing a new tradeshow that addresses the unique challenges and opportunities faced by Enterprise IT decision makers in their deployment of IP-enabled networks, applications and solutions. IP-4-IT, scheduled to take place November 14-16 in Las Vegas at the Rio Hotel and Convention Center, is expected to attract an international audience of over 3,000 attendees, as well as 125+ exhibitors of IP-related products and services. The IP-4-IT tradeshow will be unique in its mission, which is to expand the reach of IP Communications into the Enterprise. IP is not just voice, but a new infrastructure that offers truly converged communication and streamlined business processes. I am looking forward to working with both TIA and CMP and turning the vision of this event into reality. :-) For more informaton regarding IP-4-IT, please visit www.ip4it.com or contact: Gene Sanders at 703-907-7981; gsanders@tiaonline.org or Nancy Largay 631-961-8996; nlargay@pulver.com for exhibitor sales. [The Jeff Pulver Blog] 9:00:57 AM          Google It!

	Monday, February 28, 2005

Wake up to the Philips PSS110 MP3-playing alarm clock. We heard about it in January at CES, but finally have some info on what Philips is doing to answer our call: why no decked clocks? Their new MP3 and WMA-playing PSS110 clock has 256MB of flash memory—more than enough room to fit Missy E’s “Wake Up” (or Simon & Garfunkel, if you’re down). You should be able to pick one up in April for about $160. [Via DigitalMediaThoughts] [Engadget] 9:30:22 PM          Google It!

Developing Quality Technical Information: A Handbook for Writers and Editors, 2nd Edition. The #1 guide to excellence in documentation--now completely updated! Direct from IBM's own documentation experts, this is the definitive guide to developing outstanding technical documentation--for the Web and for print. Using extensive before-and-after examples, illustrations, and checklists, the authors show exactly how to create documentation that's easy to find, understand, and use. This edition includes extensive new coverage of topic-based information, simplifying search and retrievability, internationalization, visual effectiveness, and much more. Coverage includes: Focusing on the tasks and topics users care about most Saying more with fewer words Using organization and other means to deliver faster access to information Presenting information in more visually inviting ways Improving the effectiveness of your review process Learning from example: sample text, screen captures, illustrations, tables, and much more Whether you're a writer, editor, designer, or reviewer, if you want to create great documentation, this book shows you how! [O'Reilly Network Safari Bookshelf] 9:27:38 PM

XtremeMac's got no less than 13 shuffle accessores. XtremeMac, yet another company whose sole product lineup consists of iPod accessores, has a new lineup of no less than 13 shuffle add-ons. Highlights include a line splitter (for sharing with that special someone on the subway), the AirPlay (an FM transmitter), Bumperz (molded rubberized shuffle bras), Shieldz (molded rubberized shuffle cases), Wrapz and SuperWrapz (molded form-fitting shuffle shrouds), and the SuperHook (a hook for, you know, whatever). The best part is, if you buy more than two or three, you’ve already spent more than the value of your player—gotta love that! [Engadget] 9:23:10 PM          Google It!

Vonage IPO This Year?. Om say Vonage IPO. I don't think they can wait. Reports are their growth is slowing, that costs are rising and that founder Jeffrey Citron has a bundle of his own cash in the venture.... [VoIP Watch] 9:19:25 PM          Google It!

Wireless Companies Turn Their Eyes To TV (Investor's Business Daily). Investor's Business Daily - There's a major push under way to bring more TV content and video to wireless devices. Asia's big consumer electronics firms, as well as Europe's Nokia and U.S.-based Qualcomm , have jumped into the fray. They're supporting a number of different standards for beaming digital TV to mobile devices. [Yahoo! News: Technology] 9:11:10 PM

Steve Rubel: "This is a pivotal discussion that bloggers, journalists, PR professionals and marketers need to jump into. Do you really want Google, Microsoft, George W. Bush, God or anyone adding links to your content?" [Scripting News] 9:07:22 PM

Skype and SMS. I'm still catching up on email and voicemail from being away from the office for a week attending Internet Telephony Expo - which by the way was a resounding success. I'll link to some photos in my next blog entry.... [VoIP Blog - VoIP News, Gadgets] 5:41:54 PM

First chapter posted on our corporate blogging book. We've posted our first chapter over on the Red Couch. Steve Lacey already praised it. Thanks! Bob Wyman, founder of my favorite blog search engine, Pubsub.com, wonders if the book will still be useful by the time it's published. [Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger] 5:32:03 PM

BPO battle heats up. BPO (business process outsourcing) is quickly becoming a frontline solution for CIOs desperate to reduce costs and automate business processes. ADVERTISEMENT Reducing the Total Cost of Ownership Learn how to reduce the total coast of ownership in enterprise data management in this case study. [InfoWorld: Top News] 5:31:01 PM

Official: Wi-Fi on Airplanes Not Lies. So who else heard about internet on airplanes and said, "Golly, I can't wait to not afford that!" A person who calls hirself 'Alexander,'—the bishonen anime hermaphrodite avatar isn't giving me much to go on, although who are we to talk?—tried out the Boeing Connexion broadband service on a flight from Frankfurt and varified that it does actually work, then went on to talk about the battery life on their Axim X50. Awesome, glad to know it actually works and the Lufthansa stewards don't just come by and ink a big LOADING on your newspaper or something, but maybe next time you could benchmark it and tell us how fast it was. Also, do that other idea, where you were going to test Skype—that would almost make the $30 fee worth it. Alex speaking from Flight LH 432 [MobileRead] [Gizmodo] 5:27:55 PM