Digital Common Sense

Just say no. We’ve had enough 2.0

Technorati Tags: Traffic 2.0

Filed by Ken at 4:32 pm under General, Technology
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Plain and simple. And I’m not alone. Here’s the driver -

From:FlickrHQ
Subject: Update for Old Skool members

Dear Old Skool Account-Holding Flickr Member,

On March 15th we’ll be discontinuing the old email-based Flickr sign in system. From that point on, everyone will have to use a Yahoo! ID to sign in to Flickr.

We’re making this change now to simplify the sign in process in advance of several large projects launching this year, but some Flickr features and tools already require Yahoo! IDs for sign in — like the mobile site at m.flickr.com or the new Yahoo! Go program for mobiles, available at Yahoo! Go.

95% of your fellow Flickrites already use this system and their experience is just the same as yours is now, except they sign in on a different page. It’s easy to switch: it takes about a minute if you already have a Yahoo! ID and about five minutes if you don’t.

You can make the switch at any time in the next few months, from today till the 15th. (After that day, you’ll be required to merge before you continue using your account.) To switch, go to Merge a Flickr and Yahoo! account.

Nothing else on your account or experience of Flickr changes: you can continue to have your FlickrMail and notifications sent to any email address at any domain and your screenname will remain the same.

Complete details and answers to most common questions are in our FAQ: Yahoo! IDs, signing in and screen names.

Thanks for your patience and understanding - and even bigger thanks for your continued support of Flickr: if you’re reading this, you’ve been around for a while and that means a lot to us!

Warmest regards,

- The Flickreenos

I don’t like this. I have multiple Yahoo IDs. They are disposable, in part, because Yahoo is disposable. My loyalty to Yahoo is non-existent. Their email sucks. The IM client is a bloated pig given years of creeping featurism with continual incorporation of crap the doesn’t work and users don’t want. In short, I’m not a Yahooligan.

It so happens that my Flickr ID could be the same as my Yahoo ID except I’ve forgotten that password information and not used it since 1997. Yeah, you can see I’m a big Yahoo user. But their password reset crap doesn’t work for that (and other) IDs that are actually me. And they never time out a dead user, so even though it’s me and I haven’t used it for years, I need yet another Yahoo Flickr ID.

It makes sense, Yahoo wants to leverage their Flickr purchase into Yahoo users. In my case, the reverse is far more likely. It’s highly likely I will delete all my photos from Flickr and go back to just hosting locally and not sharing. Sort of devalues the Nokia N-series and some other tools too.

I’m not alone in dissatisfaction at Yahoo fucking over bulk moving Old Skool users. We’re the ones who made Flikr so valuable Yahoo bought it. They don’t owe us anything. Then again, if we all leave, Flickr becomes pretty worthless.

Anyway, I don’t use Yahoo photos. I’m not interested in being a Yahoo member for any particular reason. They don’t excite me.Actually, Yahoo bores me to tears (sorry Jeff). I may be the lone dissenter who packs his bags and leaves. Or not. Not sure what I’ll do about this, but I am not pleased at all.

Technorati Tags: Yahoo, Flickr, forgetting users, dance wit the one who brung ya

Filed by Ken at 10:34 am under General
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This post is triggered by a series of catalysts that aren’t hitting me in the face for the first time. In the past I’ve taken a fairly open stance seeking out women in technology. Several months back I cross posted my search for Women in VoIP here and here. It isn’t that there’s a total absence of women in the unified communications field. I know many. But the ratio often seems out of whack to what I’d expect the demographics to be.

Every now and again I get smacked in the face with my own naivete. I like to think I’m an open-minded, thoughtful sort of guy. But I grew up in multi-racial Los Angeles stupidly believing for the most part that racism and such were things of the past. When taking college courses in the early 90’s one of my classmates was an Air Force MSG the same age as I. It shook my foundations to learn that he’d grown up working as child laborer picking cotton in Mississippi. I was blinded by my own ignorance. It’s a variation on the problematic theme of ethnocentricity we have here in the US. We too easily believe that we’re the center of the universe and that the rest of the world is just like our little ecosystem. And that’s bullshit.

One of the most thoughtful and insightful people I know in technology blogging is Thomas Anglero (see Telecom’s Tsunami). I know he’s in Oslo. I know I’ve been reading his work for as long as I can remember. I know I often feel challenged to bring the kind of expertise, knowledge and insight he brings to the communications industry. I’ve never met Thomas, but he’s some I hold in very high regard and respect enormously. I knew a small bit of his prior work at Vocaltec and Free World Dialup.

I’m using Thomas as an example here for a reason. Since my last week or so has been rather unusual, I’ve managed to tag several blog posts that I wanted to get back to. I felt compelled to comment. First this from my friend Alec Saunders:

Another newly discovered VoIP blog
Thomas Anglero has been writing Telecom’s Tsunami since 2003, and I’m embarrassed to say that I wasn’t aware of it. He complains that the VoIP blogging community is closed. I guess in his position you might think that. [read Alec’s full post]

That got my attention and I went looking to make sure I didn’t miss what Thomas had to say. I actually found two posts. I’m not going to copy them in their entirety, but I encourage you to go read both.

Opening the VoIP community… to everyone
As I read through the VoIP blogs, it is clear that VoIP bloggers and the VoIP community itself, does not allow for just anyone to become a member. VoIP bloggers talk about each other (over-and-over), and the VoIP development community only respects those who have done something so glorious before in code. This mindset will kill our industry.

Now that VoIP is truly an application that can be written or created by anyone in any part of the world, the quantity of members of the VoIP community shall grow exponentially. The time of innovation is upon us with those who have no VoIP past entering the community and creating something that we could not have because our VoIP bloodline. [read Thomas’ full post]

I join Thomas in noting that we bloggers aren’t the innovators. I may have an occasional innovative thought or idea, but that’s an accident. I find my niche in discovering, describing, and pointing to the real innovators in the tech sector, but I sure don’t claim to be one.

I’m not sure I agree entirely that the VoIP community is
closed, but it is very highly blog oriented. It’s not a closed circle,
but sometimes we don’t do the best job in the world of reaching out to
others. I try, but I’m as guilty of failure as any of us. We build
circles of trust that become stronger over time, hence a barrier to
entry, whether real or perceived. To Thomas, I’d say, point taken and I personally will strive for being
more open and inviting. That’s a behavioral shift that needs to be
learned and ingrained over time.

Then I read another post from Thomas and found myself dumbfounded and appalled. It’s an old one, from nearly a year ago, but somehow it appeared on my radar and left me shocked in some ways.

Why aren’t “Colored People” at IT/Telecom Events…Because They Can’t Get Through Customs!

I just arrived back from Cebit 2006 in Hannover, Germany a few days ago and it took me these many days to calm my thoughts and think through this posting. I will try to be brief and to the point. You can draw your own conclusions…

While in Germany, I was hosted so graciously by Deutsche Telekom and had the pleasure of spending time with one of their female Senior Directors. I do not speak German, so she uncomfortably had to translate many of the comments we received. In those tense moments, I knew something degrading had occurred because when a person makes a racial remark to you, it doesn’t matter what language they are speaking, their body language says the same thing…complete disgust! [read Thomas’ full post]

I’m honestly not sure how I reacted at first. I honestly never gave a thought to the color of Thomas’ skin color and had no idea that a polished, well-spoken professional of any color would experience this kind of treatment today. And, as you read the post, you’ll see a behavior that’s repeated in more than one country.

I’m embarassed on behalf of thinking adults everywhere. Appalled. Ashamed. Pissed. At myself and at narrow-minded people too. How can we possibly behave this way?

I find I have so many thoughts and so much to say, yet, as an American white male, I don’t feel I’m entitled to an opinion. I feel too much like part of the problem and not enough like part of the cure. And it’s a cure for a greivous human condition I won’t ever even experience. I can try to empathize, but I can never truly understand. Hell, I can’t even understand it from my viewpoint. How could I understand Thomas’ feelings.

I’m lost for words beyond these few - while we’ve never met, I consider Thomas a friend and a trusted colleague. A colleague I’d welcome into my worklife. A friend I’d welcome into the guest room in my home (consider that a standing invitation if you ever come to Olympia, Thomas).

That this behavior still exists in our world speaks deplorable volumes about the state of humanity. That’s something we all have to change. Lost for words beyond these, I post for your own thinking.

Technorati Tags: VoIP industry, closed circles, Thomas Anglero, humanity

Filed by Ken at 8:02 pm under General
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Blogging pal Ted Wallingford posted this today.

Bye bye gallbladder
Tomorrow, my gallbladder will be tugged through the lining of my abdomen by a laparoscopic device. So I’ll see all my readers again in a few days! Take care.

I’ll be keeping Ted close in my thoughts and prayers that all goes quickly and smoothly. Ted’s one of the neatest guys I know and I wish we lived closer to one another so we could actually hang out and work on some projects together.

Technorati Tags: Ted Wallingford

Filed by Ken at 3:30 pm under General
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Here’s a new twist to desktop publishing. I’m not sure I’m reading it all right, but it sounds like an entry into what will become web-enabled media publishing as the solution grows. I don’t do a lot of “prep a presentation and run to Kinkos” sorts of work these days, but this looks like a pretty powerful tool.

ink2 Debuts the Web’s First Personalized Print-on-Demand Platform at DEMO 07

Turnkey Printing Platform Transforms Digital Content into Printed Products and Generates New Revenue Streams for Content Owners

Palm Desert, Calif., and Emeryville, Calif.–Jan. 30, 2007—ink2, the new online printing solution, made its debut today at DEMO 07, the premiere showcase for emerging technology companies.

While other on-line printers simply use the Web to take orders, ink2 empowers the owners of digital content to quickly and easily turn their content into high-quality personalized printed products that they can easily market and sell to their customers.

Almost as easily as adding Google AdSense to a website, content owners can incorporate ink2 technology into their Web infrastructure at no cost and without extensive integration. As a result, ink2 provides them with a new way for their customers to utilize the Web site’s digital content in a high quality personalized printed format creating a new revenue stream. And, unlike ads, which take customers away from the content owner’s site, ink2’s products give the customer another reason to remain at the owner’s site forming a deeper relationship between content owners and their customers.

Ink2 also manages the licensing element of the process. Rights management is not an issue as the high resolution images are passed directly to the ink2 print service and never exposed to the Web.

ink2 starts at the desktop and ends at the doorstep. It puts the customer in control by providing high quality design templates to choose from, allowing him or her to personalize their piece and then provides the option of mailing the materials. The customer is also in control of the quantity by being able to choose whatever quantity from one to 63 to 1,054. There are no minimums or pre-set quantities.

“We’ve been moving towards ink2 since 1999. Now with Web 2.0 technologies available, ink2 is taking the print on-demand industry to the next level,” said Mark Rinella, president and CEO. “We’re excited to be the first to launch this technology that can be implemented by any individual, business or organization. It applies to anyone who wants to explore revenue opportunities by turning their digital images and web content into high quality, personalized printed products.”

For more information visit www.ink2.com

# # #

Technorati Tags: ink2, print-on-demand, publishing

Filed by Ken at 11:42 am under Technology
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I’m not one who’s looking for new ways to manage multimedia publishing, but that’s a unique, personal issue. I publish to multiple destinations and require a very fine element of control. Many of you create all sorts of multimedia including photos, videos and music. This new service debuting at DEMO ‘07 may be something you want to check out. I know I’ll check it out myself, but it’s low on my list of things to do.

Mixpo’s Online Media Publishing Service Debuts at DEMO 07

Service helps individuals create multimedia portfolios so they can effortlessly tell and promote more compelling stories across Web sites, blogs and other social networks.

Palm Desert, Calif., and Seattle–January 30, 2007—Mixpo, a new online media publishing service that lets individuals create portfolios of video, photos and audio is now available. The service made its debut today at DEMO 07, the premiere showcase for emerging technology companies.

Mixpo has created an easy way for users to organize, share and control their multimedia collections and make them available online. Mixpo allows users to organize their material in a way that works for them, unlike many online services that do not give users flexibility in presenting their material. Mixpo also gives users the simplicity to manage their media across Web sites, blogs, or anywhere their online material is published, right from their desktops.

The service is designed especially for people who need an easy way to compile multimedia content to showcase their expertise, creativity, talents, profession, business or services and connect with their audiences. Mixpo enables users to create audio-visual portfolios in a straightforward way, and without relinquishing control of their media once it’s online.

“At Mixpo, we believe that multimedia, led by video, will become the language of the people,” said Anupam Gupta, COO at Mixpo. “For that to happen, however, there must be a simpler way for everyday people to compose more useful digital stories and manage where those stories get published over time. Mixpo offers that capability.”

The Mixpo service is designed around two key features: Mixcards and the Mix Center.

First, the Mixcard. The Mixcard is the content widget to the world and showcases a collection of multimedia. There is no limit to the number of files or file sizes contained on a Mixcard. Think of the Mixcard as a digital business card, or a digital portfolio, or a digital flyer, or a digital listing…it’s up to the user to decide. Mixcards can enhance a user’s own Web site or blog, extend his or her message to other sites and social networks, or even become a multimedia Web site if the user doesn’t have one.

Second, the Mix Center, which is the media control center. Once a Mixcard is published, users have complete control at their fingertips to change, delete or add content to that Mixcard anywhere it’s posted, with a few simple mouse clicks. No other service else offers this level of flexibility.

“Digital media is becoming part of the mainstream fabric of how people communicate and promote what they do,” said Chris Shipley, executive producer of DEMO 07. “What’s been lacking is a simple, effective tool to help people share their stories using their digital multimedia. Mixpo fills that need.”

About Mixpo
Mixpo is based in Seattle and British Columbia. Mixpo’s online media publishing service is the result of more than two years of creative and technological development. Mixpo completed a US $6.5 million Series A financing round in May 2006 led by Seattle-based Madrona Venture Group, and including Canadian investors Working Opportunity Fund (managed by GrowthWorks Capital Ltd.), Yaletown Venture Partners, Springbank TechVentures and private investors.

For more information, visit Mixpo online at www.mixpo.com

Technorati Tags: Mispo, media publishing service,

Filed by Ken at 11:37 am under Technology
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01292007310, originally uploaded by kencamp.

Filed by Ken at 5:59 pm under General
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Ok, I’m in between hospital runs and have to do something to keep from losing my mind. A quick check online tells me it’s Alec Saunders’ birthday. I’ve got lots going on, but Performancing for Firefox (or whatever they call it now) makes it easy to say happy birthday my friend.

Technorati Tags: Alec Saunders, happy birthday

Filed by Ken at 4:54 pm under General
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Thank you all

Filed by Ken at 4:51 pm under General, Vlog
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I’m trying to unwind after the most harrowing experience of my life. I’ve debated posting this because it’s decidedly personal, but many of you who read here are personal friends. And I’ve thought about this a great deal. I think it’s important to share if just for what I have to say at the end.

Monday night, I awoke to a thump and the dog shaking her collar. I got up and found my wife lying on the bedroom floor. She said she was dizzy and needed help to the bathroom. When I got her in there, she started convulsing, her eyes glassed over, there were some awful gasping noises I cannot describe. The she was vomiting blood everywhere as I was trying to hold her steady.

I managed to get 911 on the phone while doing CPR and keeping her airway clear. At first I thought I had lost her. CPR roused her. She was shivering. I wrapped her in a blanket and held her, urging her to hang on until paramedics arrived. The were fast and got her to emergency.

She seemed to recover somewhat. They moved her to ICU. They gave her 3 units of blood and ran some tests. On Tuesday she seemed to be a bit better. Then in the middle of the night she spiraled down again. 3 more units of blood and tests to try and find internal bleeding. Nuclear medicine imaging found a rupture in her small intestine. 2 more units of blood to get her stable so they could go in with a scope to try to repair. They hoped, but if scope didn’t work they were going to do major surgery tonight to repair.

The scope got it. Fixed internal bleeding completely.Almost immediately all her vitals came back to normal. When I left the hospital she was awake, lucid, drinking water and eating jello. Skin color back to normal and doctor said if ICU needed the bed they’ve move her to a regular room tonight.

I had been home 15 minutes when I got a phone call. It was her, asking where in the hospital room her glasses were. She was up sitting in a chair and wanted her glasses.

It’s likely she’ll move to a regular room during the night. Doctor says a day or two in regular room to make sure she’s ok and she can come home. Says she’ll bounce back almost immediately. Bounce back from what I thought was certain death on Monday night. I honestly thought she was gone at one point.

I can’t begin to describe the terror that rips through your gut at a time like that. It’s something I hope I never experience again. I hope nobody I know every has to experience that. I hope none of you who are total strangers but stumble across this ever have to experience that.

I’ve been running on fumes and emotion for 48 hours. I’m unwinding now. I’m going to take a very hot shower, say another prayer of thanks, and get some sleep. Already the shock is starting to fade, but in the dark and quiet hours, the wee hours when I pad about the house alone, for as long as I live, this will haunt my dreams and remain one of my greatest fears. It’s something I will never forget

I’m sharing this here because life is a precious thing. I appreciate again how very fragile it can be. I know this changes me as I see things through a different perspective again.

Whether you know me personally or not, and whether this badly written tale of my recent experience touches you in some way or not, I urge you, every one of you who ever reads this, to get in a class. Learn CPR. Learn how to give mouth-to-mouth. Learn the basics. In the most frightening and desparate of times, you may need them. Take care of yourselves, your family, and your friends.

For those of you who through whatever way kept sending thoughts and prayers of hope and encouragement, I can only say thank you my friends. I’m going to crash in bed now and allow equilibrium to begin to creep back.

Technorati Tags: Ken Camp, CPR, taking care of one another

Filed by Ken at 12:15 am under General
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I’ve seen several indicators this was coming, but I’m glad to see it moving forward. At least now there’s a Dem who could win my vote and my support in the race now. The others all seem to ahve one or more major holdback and I don’t think I could vote for any of them.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson Announces Presidential Campaign Exploratory Committee
Richardson has unparalleled experience and
proven record of success as a Congressman, UN Ambassador, Energy
Secretary, and Governor

SANTA FE, NM–New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson today
announced the formation of a Presidential campaign exploratory
committee, with the clear intention of seeking the Democratic
nomination for President in 2008.

“I am taking this step because we have to repair the
damage that’s been done to our country over the last six years,” said
Richardson. “Our reputation in the world is diminished, our economy has
languished, and civility and common decency in government has perished.”

“The next president of the United States must get our
troops out of Iraq without delay. Before I became Governor of New
Mexico, I served as Ambassador to the United Nations and as Secretary
of Energy. I know the Middle East well and it’s clear that our presence
in Iraq isn’t helping any longer,” said Richardson.
[Read full press release]

Technorati Tags: Bill Richardson, Persidential campaign

Filed by Ken at 10:52 am under Politics
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Todd posted this amazing linkage graphic of bloggers faces with links and made the code available to share. Thanks to Doc for the pointer. I found that the only face I recognized first pass through was Don Park. That really surprised me, but it also surprised me that Doc siad he only recognized three. How many to do you recognize?

Updated 1/21/07 - After a few comments, it occured to me that while this looked interesting, it’s also just a gigantic linkwhoring post. I choose links more carfeully and deleted the body because I’m just not going to whore out links to a bunch of people I don’t know. Most of them are blogs I’ve never read and people I”ve never heard of. Go to the link and look at the interesting project, but I’m now whoring our Googlejuice just because it looked interesting,

Filed by Ken at 2:25 pm under General
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I’ve seen a hundred stories about this lately. To be honest, I don’t hear a buzz. More like the sound a small gnat or mosquito makes looking for a place to land. I haven’t written about it because I’m not at all impressed and think it has an incredibly low chance of sustainable success in the accelerated race to the bottom.

Technorati Tags: Nimbuzz

Filed by Ken at 1:16 pm under Unified Communications
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A few days after Christmas, a mother was working in the kitchen
listening to her young son playing with his new electric train in the
living room. She heard the train stop and her son said, “All of you
sons of bitches who want off, get the hell off now, cause this is the
last stop! And all of you sons of bitches who are getting on, get your
asses in the train, cause we’re going down the tracks.”

The mother went nuts and told her son, “We don’t use that kind of
language in this house. Now I want you to go to your room and you are
to stay there for TWO HOURS. When you come out, you may play with your
train, but I want you to use nice language.”

Two hours later, the son comes out of the bedroom and resumes playing
with his train. Soon the train stopped and the mother heard her son
say, “All passengers who are disembarking from the train, please
remember to take all of your belongings with you. We thank you for
riding with us today and hope your trip was a pleasant one. We hope you
will ride with us again soon.” She hears the little boy continue, “For
those of you just boarding, we ask you to stow all of your hand luggage
under your seat. Remember, there is no smoking on the train. We hope
you will have a pleasant and relaxing journey with us today.”

And, “For those of you who are pissed off about the TWO HOUR delay, please see the bitch in the kitchen.”

Technorati Tags: humor

Filed by Ken at 12:59 pm under General
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I had a nice chat this afternoon with an old friend and colleague, David Isenberg. David and I worked for AT&T at the same time, but not together, back the the day. The days prior to his essay “Rise of the Stupid Network“. As fortune would have it, we left that mothership about the same time, headed in different directions.

One of the things David’s done since then, and he’s done many things, is to put together a conference called Freedom to Connect. Last year I was unable to attend due to scheduling logistics. It was one of the most important conferences for me to attend this year. Sadly, because of short notice and scheduling conflicts, I have to miss it this year as well. I wrote a bit about my frustration and disappoinment here.

As I said in that post, I’ve met David personally and had the pleasure of sharing dinner with him. I also know, through emails and chats over time, that David invests a great deal of himself in this conference. He doesn’t make any money from it. Knowing David, I’m confident he loses money and puts more than just time into this effort. It’s something he’s been passionate about for years.

Here’s some background, then I’ll tell you why this conference is important.

F2C: Freedom to Connect updated 7Jan07

WHO: F2C is a meeting of people engaged with network connectivity and applications as vendors, customers, regulators, legislators, citizens and co-creators. This year, the theme of F2C is how networks are changing our fundamental economic and social assumptions. (F2C is produced by David S. Isenberg of isen.com, LLC.)

WHAT: F2C is a two-day meeting where the builders and users of the networked economy engage communications policy makers, network technologists, application creators, and the builders and operators of the new infrastructure.

WHEN: 8:00 AM on March 5 through 5:00 PM on March 6, 2007. Program here.

WHERE: AFI Silver Theater, Silver Spring MD. More travel, lodging and venue details here.

The web site says it - F2C is a two-day meeting where the builders and users of the networked economy engage communications policy makers, network technologists, application creators, and the builders and operators of the new infrastructure. That’s important on more levels than I can document in a blog post.

One big issue that gets a lot of attention is the whole idea of Net Neutrality. I won’t like and tell you I feel strongly either way. That isn’t because of the issue, but because of how the issue has been framed. I struggle with that myself.

But the people involved are the ones who can help bring change. For me personally, there’s a much bigger issue than Net Neutrality in play. There’s a tangible digital divide in the world, even here in the US. And the have nots aren’t being pulled into the digital universe at the rate they should be. That’s an issue for society to address at the local, regional and global level. That problem directly impacts literacy and education. The impact of technology on society will be measured by history, and many leaders today, both in the tech sector and in policy shaping areas, will be found wanting in the balance.

Freedom of the press is an issue. It’s a new issue in some parts of the world. Or perhaps not an issue because the digital divide provides a measure of control over mass publication. No matter what your thoughts, this is an important issue.

Yochai Benkler from Yale Law School sets the stage for much of that discussion. Mark Cooper from Stanford will doubtless share insights into the business side of mergers and how they impact market power (ie. control).  Reed Hundt always presents a compelling story, and brings insights few of us get to see firsthand. In addition, I see Susan Crawford, Dan Gillmor, Mary Hodder, onathan Krim, Blair Levin, Cory Ondrejka, Gigi Sohn and David Weinberger on the speakers list. And I’m sure David’s working to get Michael Powell to join the conversation. David’s relentless at times.

But it isn’t just these leaders. People like Bob Frankston, Martin Geddes, Jerry Michalski, Tom Evslin, Bruce Kushnik, Doc Searlsand Tim Wu participated last year as I recall. And some other bright minds like Dean Landsman and Frank Paynter. This conference truly isn’t about the speakers. It’s about the conversation. The conversation in the hallways, in the restaurant, and at the coffee pot. Some of the keenest minds on our planet join in this conversation. This is the kind of conference that will open your eyes and make you think anew about some of the issues we’re all faced with.

‘m still very disappointed that I can’t be there, but I can’t. And I know given it’s coming soon, many of you can’t either. If you’re close, available, and can attend, I encourage you to get there. And if you can’t, read the blogs, watch your RSS feeds and pay close attention to the conversations that come out of F2C. This conference will set the stage and frame the conversation for more than one issue we’ll be talking about for the next year or two.

Technorati Tags: Freedom to Connect, F2C, David Isenberg

Filed by Ken at 7:07 pm under Politics, Technology
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And as long as Conan got his shot at an iPhone YouTube, I feel obliged to share Stephen Colbert too.

Filed by Ken at 4:48 pm under Technology
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Everyone’s linking to the AT&T and Cingular commercial today. I thought I’d go for something different - the iPhone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLo1USJIkgY

Filed by Ken at 3:55 pm under Technology
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Filed by Ken at 1:21 pm under Lifeblog
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This is a follow up to yesterday’s post.

I got email from a number of folks about my concerns with the conference logistics for the O’Reilly ETel conference. Last night I did receive email telling my I’ve been “reinstated” so I am planning on attending the conference.

I’ve learned through this that I’m not alone. Friend and fellow VoIP blogger Luca Filigheddu is experiencing similar problems. I gather he was hoping to speak at the event, but now his attendance seems questionable even as a blogger.

I do understand the logistics with putting on a major event like this. I’ve done it in the past for AT&T myself, coordinating major corporate events. That was years ago, but it’s a lot of work. I know the O’Reilly efforts have grown as the number of events has increased in a big way for them. I hope they get the kinks all worked out.

I’m making my reservations and will be at the O’Reilly ETel Conference. I know the Marriott loves me and will give me a room and take my money. The airlines will happily transport me to San Francisco and back. And I assume that any other hurdles I encounter along the way will be overcome. Hope to see you there. I know there are some folks I’m really looking forward to having some time with.

Technorati Tags: ‘Reilly ETel Conference

Filed by Ken at 5:38 pm under Unified Communications
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I like the O’Reilly team. I especially like the ETel blogging team. O’Reilly books are always top notch.

I’ve never attended at O’Reilly conference for a number of reasons. I may or may not attend the upcoming O’Reilly Etel conference. Now it seems they can’t make up their minds whether I qualify for a press pass or not. It seems they may have just revoked their confirmation of that pass.

I find myself losing interest rapidly and now don’t know whether I’ll be attending or not. I was planning to make travel arrangements today. Thankfully, I haven’t gotten to that yet.

I sent an email and will see what shakes out, if anything. Timeliness, organizational skill and competence in putting on a conference are important factors to me.

I am not happy at the moment.

Technorati Tags: O’Reilly ETel Conference

Filed by Ken at 4:05 pm under Technology
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