April 2005 Archives

Cool new GPS product I found via Gizmodo which as they state, looks eerily similar to the TomTom Go product.

The Garmin StreetPilot is one of the first really self-contained GPS units to come out of Garmin. Designed to get you from Point A to Point B without all the fuss and muss. TrustedReviews feels this thing looks a lot like the TomTom Go, but I think any GPS unit with a color touchscreen will now look like the TomTom Go, seeing as how everyone else is now playing catch-up.

For the Full Review, check out Garmin StreetPilot c320 - GPS Navigation System [TrustedReviews]

It's rare I go to Burger King, it's been over 2 years, but I was in a rush so I went through the drive-thru and picked up some chicken tenders, fries, and a Diet Pepsi. Burger King's french fries still suck compared to McDonald's french fries (freedom fries?). Burger King fries used to be good like 15 years ago, but then they went and changed their formula like a gazillion times to try and taste as good as McDonalds fries. Alas, their fries still fall short...

Anyway, I was reading the box on the chicken tenders and it had some amusing text, I thought I'd share:

Ah yes, the 80's and power ballads - affectionately known as "monster ballads". Life doesn't get any better than listening to some 80's monster ballads.

Further, my drink cup had some interesting text as well. I don't recall the exact text, but it said something about "cups talk", and it gave an example. It said that the sound your drink makes sucking through a straw when you reach the bottom of the cup is called "chatter".

Looks like BK is trying to be cool and hip. But their fries still suck, so I don't care how cool or hip their marketing slogans are. Burger King's famous slogan is "Have it your Way"... Well, they can have it their way which it to overcook the fries and to have this weird crunchiness on the skin, but I'll have it my way which is to hit the highway and find the next McDonalds.

Yep, I think when I'm in the mood for fast food I'll stick with my McDonalds and Duchess (Northeast chain with great fries & hot dogs), thank you very much.

FrontRange and Vegastream partner to help bring integrated VoIP & CRM/contact management to small-to-medium businesses. Frontrange has big plans for VoIP integration into their product line, so keep your eye on Frontrange.

Anyway, here's the news...

The ability of small to mid-sized companies to take advantage of cutting-edge VoIP technology to improve customer communications just got a big boost with the news below that FrontRange Solutions has certified VegaStream's line of Vega gateway products for its IP-based contact center solution (IPCC).

Gateways are devices which bridge conventional telephone networks and equipment to VoIP telephone networks, helping call centers to reduce telephony costs, increase customer retention, and improve agent productivity. FrontRange's IPCC (3.7) can be deployed on a modular basis, either as part of the existing communications infrastructure or as a stand-along solution.

VegasStream's Vega SIP (session initiation protocol) gateways are the first interoperable products certified for FrontRange's IPCC. The Vega gateway enables more small to mid-sized businesses to migrate to a SIP-based open architecture for the first time. That also will help them take advantage of the features and flexibility that FrontRange's IPCC provides, including integration with its award-winning HEAT® and GoldMine® products.

FrontRange Solutions Teams With VegaStream On IP Contact Center Solution VegaStream's line of Vega SIP Gateways is certified as the first interoperable product with the FrontRange IP Contact Center solution.

PLEASANTON, CA (April 29, 2005) FrontRange Solutions USA, Inc., has certified VegaStream's line of Vega SIP gateways as the first interoperable product for the FrontRange IP Contact Center (IPCC) solution. FrontRange Solutions, makers of the award-winning HEAT® and GoldMine® products, and VegaStream, a leading Voice over IP (VoIP) gateway vendor for enterprises and service providers, are working together to help businesses improve customer communications in a cost-effective and scaleable manner, using cutting-edge VoIP technology.

FrontRange IPCC offers small to mid-size businesses enterprise-level features in a software solution, such as: virtual agent, Web-based application builder, real-time and historical reporting, and integration with GoldMine and HEAT.

"Our IP Contact Center offers businesses another cost-effective, feature-rich solution for increasing their customer retention and loyalty. FrontRange IPCC is easily managed, flexible, and works in an open architecture," said Mike Heberling, Business Development Manager for FrontRange Solutions.

"IPCC uses the session initiation protocol known as SIP to interoperate with other network elements, like VegaStream's Vega IP gateways," Heberling continued. "We want to encourage businesses to migrate to a SIP-based, open architecture to take advantage of advanced customer service options."

The Vega 400, recipient of industry product and tradeshow awards, provides a scaleable platform (from a fractional T1 or E1 to 120 voice calls) that coincides with many small and medium enterprises' business plans. Companies can commit to a small number of voice ports and add field-installable modules as their business grows. The Vega 50 also connects SMEs and small branch offices to IP networks, but on a smaller scale. The Vega 50 models offer BRI, FXS, and FXO interfaces, with support of up to ten channels.

"This application illustrates that customers do not have to abandon their existing TDM infrastructure to take advantage of IP-based contact centers," said Tim Burne, CEO, VegaStream. "The Vega gateways bridge the gap between the traditional PBX network and IP network. Our business relationship with FrontRange brings a reliable, cost-effective solution to those companies looking to increase their customer service and customer loyalty."

About VegaStream
VegaStream is a leading supplier of dedicated business VoIP gateways. VegaStream's Voice over IP (VoIP) gateways enable service providers and business customers to rapidly deploy and profit from lower telephony costs and improved productivity across their organization's HQ and remote offices. The award winning Vega gateways are based on international communications standards - including both SIP and H.323 - to deliver an open and non-proprietary VoIP solution that can be seamlessly integrated alongside existing communications investments. Established in 1998, VegaStream has EMEA headquarters in Bracknell UK, and North American headquarters in San Diego in addition to the new Asia-Pac HQ in Sydney. VegaStream investors include MTI Partners and VegaStream management.

For further information on VegaStream visit www.vegastream.com

About FrontRange Solutions
FrontRange Solutions develops award-winning software and solutions used by more than 130,000 companies and over 1.2 million users worldwide to manage a wide variety of business relationships and provide exceptional service. FrontRange product families, designed specifically for small-to-medium-enterprise (SME) and distributed enterprise organizations include: GoldMine® for business relationship management, team-based contact management and sales forces automation solutions; IT Service Management with HEAT® and ITIL standards-based modules for complete service management; and IP Contact Center for reduced telephony costs and increased agent productivity, streamlined customer service and communications; and Infrastructure Management, which provides the ability to optimize the full lifecycle of a company's assets. Customers representing 44 percent of the Fortune 100 and 76 percent of the FTSE 100, include Coca-Cola, Shell Oil, Prudential Securities, Électricité de France, Mack Trucks, Campbell Soup, Avaya, Bechtel Corp, Bank of America, and Turner News Network. For more information, call (800) 776-7889 or visit www.frontrange.com.
###

GoldMine, HEAT and other FrontRange Solutions products, brands and trademarks are property of FrontRange Solutions USA Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries.

Too bad in this release 8x8 does not cite how much "demand" there is for the Packet8 videophone, which supposedly is the reason for making the "promotion rate" of $99 to be permanent.. Is it 5, 15, 50, or 500 videophones they have sold at the $99 price resulting in the permanent $99 pricetag? Who knows?

Well, even if this is just a marketing ploy, I will share the news and you can decide for yourself...

8x8 RAMPS PRODUCTION AND REPORTS INCREASED CONSUMER DEMAND FOR $99 PACKET8 VIDEOPHONE

VoIP service provider makes $99 equipment price on DV326 consumer VideoPhone permanent

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – April 29, 2005 -- 8x8, Inc. (Nasdaq: EGHT), provider of Packet8 broadband voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and videophone communications services, announced it will retain the $99 Packet8 VideoPhone pricing model originally constructed as a promotional incentive to stimulate consumer demand for its Packet8 video services.

Due to favorable consumer response to what was initially a "while supplies last" offer, 8x8 has ramped up production of the broadband Packet8 DV326 VideoPhone and expects to continue to offer the $99 per phone purchase price and accompanying $19.95 per month, two-year service plan model unveiled earlier this month.

"As we expected, once we minimized the upfront equipment investment associated with owning a videophone, consumer demand increased as subscribers saw a more affordable opportunity to bring one into their homes," said Huw Rees, Vice President of Marketing & Sales at 8x8. "So far, the results have been positive and indicate that spreading the financial commitment over a two year service period is a palatable option for the consumer. We believe that consumers who are buying VoIP services that do not include video are investing in soon-to-be-obsolete technologies and services. Just as we see in the mobile phone market, consumers are beginning to expect video to be part of their communication services portfolio," concluded Mr. Rees.

The pricing model adopted for the VideoPhone service mirrors that which cell phone providers have been employing successfully for some time for advanced endpoint devices. The revenue generated by monthly subscriber fees over a two year period, combined with advantageous pricing resulting from 8x8's embedded technologies and its hardware vendor relationships, constitutes what 8x8 expects to be a formula for success.

"We are particularly pleased with the enthusiasm and results coming from 5LINX, the network marketing organization brought on by our partner TJF," added Mr. Rees. "With thousands of independent representatives presenting the Packet8 VideoPhone to family and friends, we expect a tremendous amount of valuable face-to-face exposure from this channel."

8x8 channel partner TJF Associates brought 5LINX on board as a Packet8 network marketing firm in March 2005. Headquartered in Rochester, New York, 5LINX provides business ownership opportunities to independent representatives throughout the United States. 5LINX uses a cooperative marketing approach to acquire customers for market offerings such as local, long distance, VoIP and wireless phone service, internet service, satellite television and two-way messaging. Since its establishment in 2000, 5LINX has built a network of over 13,000 independent representatives.

"We feel the Packet8 VideoPhone represents the next generation of telecommunications in both the U.S. and overseas," said 5LINX Vice President and Co-founder Jeb Tyler. "Our representatives are thrilled to have the opportunity to offer this unique, affordable and appealing communications device to their customers."

Available direct to consumers at www.packet8.net, the $99 Packet8 VideoPhone is being sold with a two year service plan, which includes unlimited voice and video calls worldwide to another Packet8 VideoPhone as well as unlimited local and long distance voice-only calls to any phone number in the U.S. or Canada. The $19.95 per month, 24-month service plan carries an early termination fee of $299. All existing Packet8 VideoPhone service subscribers will also see a decrease in their base monthly service fees to $19.95 per month beginning with their May 1 billing statement.

Saw a good article on 802.11n on CNet that explains how 802.11n will help improve wireless bandwidth. As you know, Wi-Fi has a limited range and is susceptible to interference from cordless phones, microwaves, and other wireless devices and is much slower than Ethernet. 802.11n aims to change all that. Go check out the CNet article to learn more. Personally, after 802.11b, then 802.11a (why did they go backwards alphabetically), then 802.11g and now 802.11n, I'm going to hold off and wait for 802.11z, which is the last letter in the alphabet and promises to have speeds of up to 2.4 terabytes/second over a wireless spectrum. Ok, I made that up. I wonder what they will do when they run out of letters for wireless networking standards? Can 802.11aa or 802.11aaa be far behind?

Firefox is a great alternative to Internet Explorer, but I have yet to fully switch to Firefox for a few reasons. My main complaint with Firefox was that it doesn't support saving your session, including all your opened tabs and windows. Ok, neither does Internet Explorer you are probably thinking - it doesn't have tabbed browsing (though IE 7 will). Well, that would be true except I use the free Avant Browser which uses the Internet Explorer 6.0 engine but adds tabbed browsing as well as session saving and it leverages IE's History and Favorites. So when I have to reboot my PC or Avante Browser crashes (which it does & usually when I Ctrl-F to search for something on the page) when I reload Avante Browser, all of my browser tabs I had open before will open automatically. The tabs are automatically saved when I exit or when Avante Browser crashes.

I use tabbed browsing quite extensively. It is not unusual for me to have 12 tabs open in Avante browser and another 12 tabs open in Firefox. The reason why I have 24 tabs is each one of these tabs is a "to do" item that only gets closed when I've completed the "to do". For instance, I may have web page open explaining how to solve a technical issue with MovableType I need to resolve, another web page open with contact information for a VoIP product I want to review, yet another web page open for a blog I want to read on my lunch break, etc.

I yearned to consolidate my browsing to just a single browser, but alas, Firefox just didn't have all the features I needed, and in particular saving my tabs when exiting Firefox. I usually have Firefox and Avante Browser open simultaneously throughout the day. I've wanted to switch entirely to Firefox, but like I said, it doesn't save your session. So if I want to reboot my PC for any reason, I have to either bookmark the 12 Firefox windows into a temporary bookmark folder and re-open them (tedious) or copy/paste the URLs into Avante Browser and let Avante remember where I was.

But I underestimated the loyal Firefox following! I found a few session saving plugins for Firefox and I settled on SessionSaver 0.2.1.025. I think when I last looked for a plugin like this several months ago, I couldn't find one, so I gave up. If you like, you can view the description of SessionSaver on Mozilla's site and download SessionSaver as well.

Might be time to make the full cut-over to Firefox. Now I just need to consolidate my IE/Avante favorites into Firefox and de-dupe. Although, I still have other Firefox complaints and I plan on writing a Firefox rant hopefully today or on the weekend.

I loved the commentary (see bold)! Had to share...

From Gizmodo:

No, that's not the name of a 60s exploitation movie, it's a plan by Alenia Aeronautica, an Italian aeronautics group, to create the X-Sky, a pilotless drone that can make mid-flight decisions without much prompting. X-Sky may then be used to train the Dassault Neuron UCAV drone which may, in turn, be able to launch nuclear warheads. Doesn't anyone watch the Terminator movies? Don't they know when SkyNet goes live?

EUROPE'S KILLER DRONES [DefenseTech]

Read more from this post.

AOL is starting from scratch in building their next converged IM/voice/video software client. In reading the AP news it appears it will be easy to add on additional modules. Say goodbye AIM! Perhaps they will follow the Firefox model and allow third-party plug-ins to be easily added to their main client? It is my hope that AOL will finally ditch their proprietary nature & history and adopt open standards for once. AOL is still a very popular ISP and could do great things in VoIP and the instant messaging space if they become more open.

Here's the AP news:

NEW YORK (AP) -- America Online Inc. is preparing to ditch its decade-old instant messaging platform, building a replacement from scratch that's designed to integrate text, audio, video and future forms of communication.

AOL has released an early, limited-feature preview of its next-generation IM software, called Triton, and hopes to complete it by year's end. AOL plans only one more update to the existing AIM software, now at version 5.9.

The key difference will be the use of tabs to manage a growing list of contacts.

Currently, chats with different contacts occur in separate windows, quickly cluttering the computer desktop. Add to that ways to communicate beyond text, including audio, video and file transfers.

Triton (pronounced TRY-ton) keeps all that within a single window. You'll flip through vertical tabs to change contacts and horizontal ones to switch the mode of communication.

AOL engineers took a modular approach in building Triton. That means new features, such as support for Internet-based phones, can be easily added as a block rather than retrofitted into the software as is now the case.

Chamath Palihapitiya, general manager of AIM, said the original software was designed in 1996 with text in mind.

"Would you ever have thought in 1996 that this computer is going to be used for ... sending stuff to mobile phones and initiating calls over the Internet?" he asked.

Triton will also incorporate "IM Catcher," IM's version of a spam folder. The tool collects all messages from those not on your buddy list.

AOL and CNN.com are owned by parent company Time Warner.

Google is testing Google RSS Feed ads, a new variation of its AdSense program for publishers that allows sites to display text or image ads related to their content and get paid by the click.

In fact, Google just launched this as a "trial" version of their AdSense program that allows publishers to send a text or banner advertisement alongside syndicated content using Really Simple Syndication (RSS) or Atom (Google's adopted format).

In case you've been under a rock or just not technically inclined, RSS is an open standard for content syndication that enables people to access news headlines and other information such as blogs online using a RSS reader. Though RSS is a promising technology, publishers have yet to profit from it. Advertising is widely thought to be the answer. Companies including Kanoodle and Yahoo! are testing similar ad services for feeds.

This gives another reason for publishers to start publishing their content via RSS, especially since it is so easy to do and will provide them with an additional source of revenues. With the ease of RSS deployment, I bet we will see a flood of new publishers setting up RSS feeds of their content to generate additional AdSense clicks. It's only a matter of time. My bet is sooner rather than later.

In fact, I just happened to notice the new Google RSS advertisements in my Engadget RSS feed today. Here's a partial screenshot of Engadget's RSS Ads showing up in my RSS Reader: (the RSS ad is at the bottom of each Engadget blog post)

So what does this mean for us RSS fans? Has the last bastion of the Internet free from advertisements now been invaded and corrupted?

Well, if you look at the ad in the screenshot, it is perfectly visible, but I think it is relatively unobstrusive. So this should satisfy most RSS subscribers and it should
satisfy the advertisers as well.

But what is the really important fact is that while RSS advertising is nothing new, the fact that Google automatically provides advertisements is a major breakthrough. Before sales reps had to sell advertisements to be placed in RSS feeds. Further, these ads had to be sold for each RSS feed and they had expiration dates, etc. Well, no longer! You can now leverage the power and ubiquity of Google to help pool advertisers.

Like the Adsense program, I assume Google is leveraging keyword bidding algorithms to determine which advertisements display in a particular RSS feed. Further, I'm betting Google parses the RSS feed to figure out the title of each blog post (via <title> tag
in the RSS feed) and then post a SPECIFIC ad for each post. Google could also perhaps give the title more "weight" than the article content (via the <description> tag in the RSS feed). Or it could be a free for all. Whoever bids the highest on a particular keyword within that blog entry gets the ad first.

Unlike traditional Google Adsense, which figures out which particular ads to display for a single particular page and displays the bidder's ads in order of their bidding (highest to lowest). Conversely, I believe Google RSS Ads figures out which highest bidding ad to display specifically according to each section within the RSS feed. So if you talk about Disney in one blog post, you will see the top bidding Disney ad at the bottom of that entry, and if you talk about Yankees in another blog post you will see the top bidding Yankees ad at the bottom of that post. Again, both the Disney ad and the Yankee ad will be the #1 keyword bidders for their respective blog post. So you get the maximum earnings per click! Google has done it again. Just wait till Google's revenues come out in the 4th quarter which will surprise the analysts yet again due to this new Google RSS advertising revenue! Don't say I didn't warn you!

I know what you are thinking. "So how do I sign up for Google RSS Feed Ads?". The answer is you have to wait. Google is only picking select Adsense advertisers. Maybe they'll follow the viral Google GMail model and make you have to get an "invite" in order to join the elite Google RSS Feed crew!

Today, OWC and NewerTech have announced the RoadTrip!+. Like the original RoadTrip!, this new model broadcasts the tunes from your iPod straight to your car's stereo at 87.9 FM. Unlike the original, however, it offers the fantastic feature of also charging the iPod's battery while it plays. Pretty cool. Perfect for long trips or just keeping the iPod "energized".

The new RoadTrip!+ being offered by Other World Computing (OWC) and NewerTechnology, Inc. allows consumers to take their tunes on the road and charge their iPod simultaneously.

For $27.95, the RoadTrip!+ provides clean, dynamic audio to a user's FM stereo while also charging the iPod's internal battery. It is compatible with third- and fourth-generation, photo and mini versions of Apple Computer's iPod.

Users simply hook the RoadTrip!+ to the 12-volt power source in their car, plug the dock connector into their iPod, tune their radio to 87.9MHz and enjoy.

"I personally use one and love it," said Larry O'Connor, president of OWC.
"It's just like listening to the radio, except it's my music that's playing. I used to burn CDs to listen to my tunes on the road, but not since I starting using the RoadTrip!. Now I've got it all at my fingertips right from my iPod!"

NewerTech and OWC have paid particular attention to ensuring the RoadTrip!
product line allows you to hear your music as though you are listening to your favorite FM station. It was dissatisfaction experienced with other FM transmitter products, some costing as much as five times more, that resulted in OWC and NewerTech developing the RoadTrip! line.

"You just can't beat it - this economical solution lets you plug and play your iPod to listen to tunes and keep it charged up on the road," O'Connor said. "You enjoy tunes from your iPod while you iPod gets a charge."

The RoadTrip!+ combination FM transmitter and iPod charger is immediately available at

Amazon for just $14.99. The original RoadTrip! FM transmitter only models also remain available. Here's a list of some other good iPod FM Transmitters:

1. Griffin Technology 4031-RDGC RoadTrip FM Transmitter & Auto Charger and Cradle for iPod (Charcoal) Buy new: $89.99 $53.49 49 Used & new from $42.95 In Stock	2.  Griffin Technology 4030-ROAD RoadTrip FM Transmitter & Auto Charger and Cradle for iPod Buy new: $89.99 $54.98 45 Used & new from $49.89	3.  Griffin RoadTrip/FM Transmitter, Auto Charger and Cradle for iPod Buy new: $56.93 3 Used & new from $52.99 In Stock
4.  Newer Technology RoadTrip FM Transmitter Buy new: $14.99 In Stock	5.  Griffin FM Transmitter/Auto Charger Buy new: $92.60 $81.62 3 Used & new from $59.99	6.  Griffin 9501-TRIPCB iTrip Auto FM Transmitter and Auto Charger for iPod Buy new: $106.78 2 Used & new from $69.99

Breaking news... Anytime you have two bigwigs like IBM and Cisco partner, you have to take notice...

IBM and Cisco today announced they jointly plan to deliver to contact centers speech-enabled self-service solutions that combine IBM's WebSphere Voice Server product and Cisco's Customer Voice Portal.

The solutions would combine IBM's integration and application infrastructure software and speech technology with Cisco's Internet Protocol (IP) communications and focus on self-service speech applications, which together can enable easier deployment of customized speech applications that enhance the customer experience.

By using IBM WebSphere Application Server middleware, the solutions would allow contact centers to leverage open standards, including Voice XML and J2EE. These solutions enable contact centers to provide efficient and low-cost speech-enabled self-service transactions to their customers, such as transferring money from a checking account, submitting insurance claims, changing cellular phone plans, making hotel and car reservations or finding the nearest store location using speech automation -- functions that frequently required a live agent in a contact center.

IBM's Business Consulting Services has found that labor -- payroll, turnover, training and retention -- is often 75 percent of contact center costs. Self-service speech solutions can help address this by automating many customer interactions that drive labor costs, which can provide significant improvements in the cost per transaction.

Combining Cisco's Customer Voice Portal with IBM's award-winning WebSphere® infrastructure software would also enable enterprises to incorporate speech into a range of functions. These include customer service, sales and marketing, human resources and inventory management.

Customers and employees of an enterprise can use speech to interact with automated services that seamlessly link together contact centers, Internet Protocol networks, IP communications and enterprise applications and data.

The IBM/Cisco offerings will be designed to let businesses extend enterprise-class speech self-service to remote locations across both IP and non-IP networks -- including local and branch offices. When banking customers make after-hours calls to their local branch, they won't be limited to voicemail, or be asked to call another phone number. The Cisco and IBM solutions can allow customers to use speech to interact with centralized automated applications that reflect up-to-date transactions and past history.

"Speech is an important part of a company's contact center and customer care infrastructure. By using speech within the contact center, as well as to access enterprise applications, companies are improving the customer experience while driving down costs," said Bruce Morse, IBM Vice President, Contact Center Solutions. "This is another example of IBM expanding the speech ecosystem by enabling it to work across heterogeneous environments with open standards as the common denominator. The relationship brings to the contact center rich benefits that enterprise IT has enjoyed for years:
integration, analytics, collaboration, systems management, reliability and scalability."

"Cisco and IBM are raising the bar on self-service with new solutions that provide an easier, more cost-effective way for businesses to deploy speech applications enhancing automated communications," said Laurent Philonenko, Vice President and General Manager of Cisco's Customer Contact Business Unit. "The close integration of these technologies helps companies incorporate speech into today's enterprises, ensuring the highest quality of service is delivered from any global location."

IBM and Cisco Drive a New Generation of Speech Application Development

The combination of Cisco Customer Voice Portal with IBM WebSphere Voice Server for Multiplatforms provides businesses with a single integrated platform upon which to develop a new generation of speech applications.

Cisco Customer Voice Portal incorporates open standards such as VoiceXML (VXML), which provides Internet tools for speech application development, and Media Resource Control Protocol (MRCP), which facilitates integration of speech recognition and text-to-speech.

New features in the IBM WebSphere Voice Server product leverage administration, installation, deployment, load balancing, fail-over and logging throughout the enterprise with WebSphere Application Server middleware. WebSphere integration and infrastructure software can help leverage existing IT investments and resources to support new business models, reach users in new ways, and integrate business processes with an enterprise-wide, flexible, service-oriented approach to application integration.

In addition to IBM's WebSphere Application Server software, customers can use WebSphere Business Integration Server, DB2 Universal Database, IBM Workplace and Tivoli Identity Manager software to enable contact center integration to back end systems as well as customer insight through data analytics.

Cisco also will support IBM's Reusable Dialog Components initiative. RDCs are an open source, Java-based set of pre-built components that aid in the rapid development of speech applications. By offering software components using standards and programming models that Java developers are familiar with, the initiative has opened up speech development to millions of Java programmers, and speeded integration of Web and voice applications into the mainstream business infrastructure. IBM contributed RDCs to the Apache Software Foundation last year.

Global availability of the joint Cisco and IBM solutions is planned for the second quarter of 2005.

Holy! This car is sick! The acceleration of the Ariel Atom 2 makes my Viper look like a Pinto in comparison! This car is an engineering feat created from a company with... get this... only 7 employees! You have to check out this video - 42MB file though - you have been forewarned - you'd better have broadband. Ok, I couldn't resist including a short snippet/clip of the video in my blog as a "teaser". Here's a 59s 5.7MB clip I created from the original. (it should autoplay)

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin has asked his staff to address the difficulty VoIP carriers have providing their customers with access to emergency 911 services.

Mr. Martin told a House subcommittee on Tuesday that he asked his staff to develop a plan to address the problem. Read more...

Remember School House Rock? Schoolhouse Rock was essentially three-minute cartoons, which aired on ABC-TV from 1973 to 1985, and were designed as a catchy way to teach children the fundamentals of government, as well as math, grammar and science. Do you remember the "I'm Just a Bill" they would play to help educate kids on how a bill becomes a law? Ok, does this picture refresh your memory?

How bout this video? It's 2.2MB (compressed from >7MB), so it should be playable after a few moments. By the time you read this sentence, the Flash movie should have started playing, so scroll down and watch the Flash movie, then come back here. I'll be waiting...


Click 'Play' button above and wait a bit for it to download. If video doesn't play, you can play the audio of School House Rock's "I'm Just a Bill" here:


Click 'Play' button above and it should play "I'm Just a Bill" pretty quickly since a small .WAV file. Well, anyway, just last night I came across an interesting news post on Engadget about a new hard drive technology that piqued my interest and enticed me to check out the Flash movie.

Here's what I read on Engadget: (bolded part is what caught my eye)

First Hitachi, then Seagate and Toshiba, now it looks like Fujitsu’s hopped on the perpendicular drive recording bandwagon (dude, that flash movie is obviously having a seriously profound effect on the tech industry), announcing plans for a 200GB 2.5-inch drive by early 2007. Funny, we assumed we’d be seeing 200GB 2.5-inch drives any day now anyhow, can’t you at least try and totally blow us away with some vaporware hyperbole, guys?

[Via The Inq] (Ryan Block) Read more from this post.

So at 11pm last night I decide to check out the Flash movie. The Hitaschi Perpendicular Flash movie explains perpendicular hard drive technology - a new way of "squeezing" more bits onto a hard drive by changing the orientation of the way the bits are recorded. Normally magnetic bits are written parallel to the drive's surface, but not with perpendicularity - its 90 degrees perpendicular to the normal parallel orientation. Because the bits are recorded upright and "into" the surface of the drive platter, you can squeeze a lot more bits together without the bits polarity causing the bits to flip their magnetic orientation. Have I lost you yet?

Well, no problem. This hilarious Flash movie will explain everything in layman's terms just as the School House Rock "I'm Just a Bill" TV clip used to teach children. In fact, there is a striking similarity between the two characters, the voices, and the animation style. When I saw this Flash movie, I immediately thought of the School House Rock "I'm Just a Bill" clip. I've included both the video clips for your own comparison. Let me know if you agree they are very similar and if you laughed as hard as I did.

What's great about this perpendicular technology is we can eventually have 200GB hard drives that are only 2.5" - small enough for the 5th generation iPod! Yes, the perpendicularity is looking good. I must commend and thank Hitachi for educating me about the wonders of perpendicularness. If only all education was this much fun!
(P.S. Calling all Geeks! Check out the cool Perpendicular T-Shirt)

(To view the animation you will need the Macromedia Flash plug in.)

Check out the full review of the new iPod Camera Connector from Apple. Since I am going on vacation next week, I was looking for some way to backup my camera photos to a laptop. In fact, I was planning on "lugging" my laptop while on vacation. I learned the hard way that backing up photos is critical as my camera was stolen on the plane on the way to my honeymoon with my wife. It even had our wedding pictures on it (which were not downloaded/backed up). Ouch!
(begin rant)
To the person who stole the camera, I hope you feel really good about yourself when you turn on the camera and see there were precious irreplaceable wedding photos on it. May you burn in hell.
(end rant)

In any event, this review found that it works well with listed compatible cameras as well as a couple of other cameras not specifically listed as compatible. Basically, if your camera supports any of the PTP, Type 4, or Mass Storage storage formats, you’ll probably be able to use it with the connector.

Overall, they recommend the iPod Camera Connector ($29) as a less expensive alternative to the Belkin Digital Camera Link for iPod (~$79). (see photo)

For one, you can actually view the transferred photos right away on the iPod photo with the iPod Camera Connector. They did find that the transfer speed was a bit slow and the drain on the iPod photo battery to be significant. Additionally, the Apple iPod Camera Connector only works with iPod Photo and not iPod Mini or regular iPod. Since I do not own an iPod Photo, (I have a regular iPod) this is a big drawback. I guess I will be spending the $79 for the Belkin Digital Camera Link for iPod. Or simply lug the laptop on my vacation. If I do lug the laptop I could continue to blog from my trip. Hmmmm...Very tempting.