Digital Common Sense

The past couple of weeks have been a flurry of activity. Family from Texas came to visit. For them it was the first real vacation in a long time. It’s meant cramming in outings and sightseeing and just generally made for a pretty hectic couple of weeks. Fun, but also tiring.

Last weekend at Cannon Beach was great, but it’s always great to get away down there. I only posted a few pictures here. Mostly because we were busy running around and playing.

Now Independence day’s approaching.  No really big plans. Going to meet some friends for an evening fireworks show on Tuesday, and Wednesday wi;; probably be a lazy day around home.

Filed by Ken at 5:13 pm under General
No Comments

Don’t miss the closing credits.

Filed by Ken at 7:41 pm under Politics
1 Comment

Heading out tomorrow for a day at Johnson Rigde Observatory, wandering and taking pictures of and around Mt.St. Helens. Hoping for nice weather. Pictures will go up online afterwards.

Technorati Tags: Mt. St. Helens, photowalk

Filed by Ken at 12:03 pm under Meandering
1 Comment

Recently I wrote about Skype’s relevance to enterprise business and to me personally. I since uninstalled it from my computers, and to be honest, I haven’t felt the loss at all. There isn’t a single person with whom my contact diminished because I removes Skype. Not one.

So why reconsider? Convenience and for testing. The word is that in a week or two a new Skype client will be out for the Nokia N800. I use my N800 almost constantly, and Skype on it could extend the funtionality. So I’m going to reinstall on my PCs. I don’t expect to use it on the PC much, but I’ll want to do some cross-platform comparison and testing once the N800 client is out and I’ve got it installed and set up.

I can’t see Skype ever making it’s way back to being my primary VoIP or IM tool. It’s one in a suite of tools. Unfortunately in today’s work environment, we all have to build our own suites. VoIP and IM tools tend to encompass whatever we have to install to communicate with our friends and colleagues, and whatever’s available for the hardware and OS tools we use. Skype on a PC doesn’t add value for me today, but couple it with the N800 and my personal value proposition changes a bit.

I’m still concerned about the relevance of Skype in enterprise space. I still recommend corporate policies disallowing its use for most of the organizations I talk with, but there are plenty of small to medium size businesses that can indeed make good use of Skype.

Technorati Tags: Skype, VoIP, IM

Filed by Ken at 12:32 pm under VoIP/Unified Communications
No Comments

To Mr Noded. I think he turns 29 today, no doubt on a golf course somewhere nice and sunny.

Filed by Ken at 12:17 pm under General
1 Comment

Thanks to Brough for the post that sent me to read this. His post raised some intriguing points from this article in Technology Quarterly

Home truths about telecoms

Jun 7th 2007
From The Economist print edition
Technology and society: Anthropologists investigate the use of communications technology and reach some surprising conclusions

SUCH is the social significance of mobile phones that when it comes to evaluating their use and planning new products and services, mobile operators and handset-makers cannot rely on the technology-driven, engineering mindset that has traditionally dominated the telecoms industry. Most famously, industry leaders expected people to embrace videotelephony, which flopped, but failed to anticipate the success of text-messaging. So they are turning to social scientists, and in particular to anthropologists, the better to understand how telephones are used.
[Read full article]

I was intrigued my Steffana Broadbent’s (an anthropologist who leads the Swisscom User Adoption Lab) findings. The typical mobile user spends 80% of their time talking to just four people. Here’s something relevant to unified communications and convergence that I thought really stood out.

Next, despite much talk of “convergence” within the industry, people
are in fact using different communications technologies in distinct and
divergent ways. The fixed-line phone “is the collective channel, a
shared organisational tool, with most calls made ‘in public’ because
they are relevant to the other members of the household,” she says.
Mobile calls are for last-minute planning or to co-ordinate travel and
meetings. Texting is for “intimacy, emotions and efficiency”. E-mail is
for administration and to exchange pictures, documents and music.
Instant-messaging (IM) and
voice-over-internet calls are “continuous channels”, open in the
background while people do other things. “Each communication channel is
performing an increasingly different function,” says Ms Broadbent.

There’s a lot of insight for thought, and further validation, here. VoIP, mobile networks and tools, unified communications, IM, social networking and other areas of our communications technologies may not be maximizing the human usage tendencies shown here. A study like this could help an unknown become the next big thing.

Filed by Ken at 7:45 pm under Mobility & Handheld, Portable Pleasures - PDA/Smartphones, Tech in General, Technology, Unified Communications, VoIP/Unified Communications
No Comments

I’ve been doing a little network rearranging here, so I thought I’d do a quick speed comparision today. All done via WiFi connected laptop. Done around 5:30pm

Qwest DSL

Not bad for DSL. 89 imllisecond latency isn’t great, especially for interactive voice and video, but anything under 150ms should be ok for VoIP. Throughput is about what I’d expect on a good day.

Comcast Cable

Barely beats the DSL on throughput. Negligible difference there. That’s actually appalling as cable should clobber DSL on the download side. Better latency than DSL.

Covad T1

Covad continues to rock. Throughput in both directions is pretty consistent with full T1 speeds. Actually higher latency than the cable, which surprises me. I checked and didn’t have any spurious QoS settings like Tom Keating did when he ran his tests.

Off to look at some other things, but thought I’d post this.

I love my Covad T1!

Technorati Tags: Covad, Covad T1, performance tests

Filed by Ken at 5:43 pm under Technology
1 Comment

Techcrunch is reporting this

Google To Acquire GrandCentral
Google is in acquisition discussions with telephone management startup GrandCentral,
we’ve learned, and we have a high degree of confidence that the deal
has actually been closed. We are trying to nail down the acquisition
price.

The basic idea around GrandCentral is “one phone number for all your
phones, for life.” As we change jobs, homes and cell phones, there are
a lot of phone numbers to keep track of, and keeping everyone up to
date with your most recent phone numbers is a real cost. If you use
GrandCentral you can give out a single phone number. What happens when
that person calls that number depends on his/her relationship to you,
and what you are doing at the time.

Just coming back from a holiday weekend, it’s the first I’ve heard of this news and I have a mixed, but mostly not very positive reaction. I’ll nose around a bit to see what I can learn and comment further when I know I little more.

Technorati Tags: GrandCentral, Google

Filed by Ken at 12:02 pm under Unified Communications
1 Comment

This is really a predecessor to some thoughts in response to a post Andy Abramson recently wrote that set me to thinking.

I’ve used a Treo700W since the day they were announced. Now it’s potential renewal time on my Verizon contract and my experiences with the Nokia N-series over the past several months have led me to watch mobile solutions very closely.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the Windows Mobile platform is going nowhere. It’s time to move to another platform. I’ve already got the Nokia stuff well covered under a Cingular/AT&T plan. Frankly, I don’t like Cingular/AT&T as a carrier. Don’t think much of T-Mobile either.

I’ll keep the Cingular stuff and definitely use it, but right now I’m thinking that the Blackberry 8830 World edition is likely to be my next personal cell phone. No camera, but it will serve the other needs I have. It will jockey with the Nokia N95 for first choice, but when it comes to a Qwerty keyboard, it will clearly win out.

Nothing firm, just today’s thinking.

Technorati Tags: Bladkbery, 8830 World edition, mobility

Filed by Ken at 11:47 am under Mobility & Handheld, Portable Pleasures - PDA/Smartphones
6 Comments

Lone Sentry, originally uploaded by kencamp.

Left on duty at Haystack Rock on Cannon Beach

Filed by Ken at 9:23 pm under General
1 Comment

It’s been a weekend that was both relaxing and exhausting. Nonstop playtime in Cannon Beach. Home again now and getting things together to dive back into the work week. I’m sure I’ll have pics and things I noticed to share when I get caught up.

Filed by Ken at 8:13 pm under General
No Comments

Filed by Ken at 9:55 pm under Lifeblog
No Comments

Filed by Ken at 9:54 pm under Lifeblog
No Comments

Filed by Ken at 9:52 pm under Lifeblog
No Comments

Filed by Ken at 6:59 pm under Lifeblog
No Comments

Filed by Ken at 6:58 pm under Lifeblog
No Comments

Filed by Ken at 6:57 pm under Lifeblog
No Comments

winmail.dat

Filed by Ken at 9:15 pm under General
No Comments

I got a note from my friend Frederik Hermann over at jajah yesterday that I’m only just now getting a chance to really review. It’s about their JAJAH Cuts The Cords With “NO HEADSET” Campaign.

I knew I had to go dig into this when I saw all the “Jajah takes on Skype” chatter around the net. Regular readers have noted that I pretty muched walked away from Skype recently. The press release is at the end of this post.

Given the funding and support Jajah’s won recently, I’m intrigued to see someone openly take a run at Skype. I think Skype’s lost their vision, lost their traction, and lost their leadership. And while Skype remains wildly popular, I’m not optimistic about their future. I Think they’ve stagnated and turned the corner toward the telco mentality. With Jajah’s momentum, this could shape up to be interesting.

And I love this “dispose of your headset” campaign. Jajah’s made something fun out of change, turning this into an event of sorts. Good marketing and positioning tactic in my view.

JAJAH Cuts The Cords With
“NO HEADSET” Campaign
Free Global Calling from Any Landline or Mobile Phone

Mountain View, California - June 20, 2007 - JAJAH, the worlds most innovative communication company, announced today its “No Headset” campaign and Web site, using the slogan “If You Liked Skype, You’ll Love JAJAH.” The “Skype alternative” campaign is designed to make the public aware that there is no better way to make free and low-cost global and long-distance calls than with JAJAH. JAJAH is rewarding users who try the service and switch with official über-cool, “No Headset” wear if they creatively dispose of their existing computer headset. Headsetweary visitors can go to www.noheadset.com to watch the videos and get program details.

“JAJAH is revolutionary because it lets you make free and low-cost global calls using your everyday mobile or landline phone,” said Roman Scharf, JAJAH co-founder. “Services like Skype require headsets, software downloads and sometimes other technical equipment, making them way too hard for the everyday consumer to use.” Recently infused with strong investments from Intel and Deutsche Telecom, JAJAH is positioned to revolutionize how people make calls. Companies like Skype were able to offer free and low-cost calling to users, but required downloads, headsets, broadband or a Wi-fi connection - while JAHAH doesn’t require any of that. With JAJAH you can initiate a call from your desktop and just walk away, or you can even make free global calls right from your mobile.

“Don’t get us wrong, we love Skype for what they’ve done to advance the world of communication,” said Scharf. “We share a common vision of making the world a better place by bringing friends and family together at a price they can afford. We are simply taking what Skype has done to the next level and bringing it to a new group of non-technical users. If you can do a Google search, you can now make a JAJAH VoIP call, it’s that easy.”

Callers can try JAJAH today by visiting www.jajah.com. Users simply enter their cell or landline phone number along with the number they wish to call and JAJAH does the rest, connecting both parties. JAJAH calls are generally free between registered JAJAH users for up to 30 minutes a day to the most called places on Earth. And when they are not free, they are ultra low-cost.

JAJAH TV
In related news, JAJAH today is also launching an early version of JAJAH TV (www.jajahtv.com), which will present user submitted videos, along with live commentary and other JAJAH and industry interest stories. Users who submit videos that are selected to run on JAJAH TV will be rewarded with No Headset wear.

About JAJAH
JAJAH, the world’s most innovative global communications company, is dedicated to bringing users vastly improved telephony solutions at a fraction of the traditional price. JAJAH enables consumers to make free and low-cost telephone calls, locally or globally, dialing from either their computer or mobile phone. By combining the best of the Internet with the best of the existing telephony infrastructure, JAJAH removes the barriers to communication and makes it easier for people everywhere to stay in touch. JAJAH recently announced 2 million global users, in their first year of operation. JAJAH has offices in Mountain View, California and Luxembourg. For more information, please visit: www.jajah.com

Technorati Tags: Jajah, No headset, Skype, unified communications

Filed by Ken at 5:31 pm under Unified Communications
2 Comments

My good friend Peter Csathy just posted this piece. Peter’s teh CEO at SightSpeed, and trsut me when I tell you he knows video and watches it closely.

Mobile Video Calling — Now Reality for the First Time in the U.S.: A Picture May Be Worth a Thousand Words, But Being There is Priceless!I have frequently blogged about the promise of mobile video calling — not only one-to-one video calling, but the power of “see what I’m seeing” from anywhere, and anytime.

Well, this is no longer fiction here in the U.S., as AT&T — in a major strategic initiative announced yesterday by Randall Stephenson, AT&T’s new CEO — is rolling out a new consumer-focused wireless service dubbed “Video Share” which enables just that — i.e., live video streaming from cellphone to cellphone. AT&T — which is the first carrier in the States to offer such a service — fully touts the power that only video can bring in its messaging for this new service — as an example, imagine grandparents watching the first steps of their grandkids. The possibilities are endless …
[Read Full Post]

Like Peter, I’m very keen on the future of video calling and the next generation of services to help us keep in touch. Like Peter I am hopefully optimistic about the future of video and video calling.

That said, I am not particularly optimistic about AT&T’s ability to execute successfully.I think it’s interesting because the industry will learn from their pain. We’ll all get to learn what not to do as video services in the mobile market unfold. I see this as very much an early foray into what the future might hold, but it sure isn’t anything I’ll go sign up for.

Technorati Tags: Video, SightSpeed, AT&T, mobile video calling

Filed by Ken at 5:30 pm under Unified Communications
1 Comment