Yonah Talks Tech

GrandCentral - not the commuter hub.

2008-03-21T11:04:00.000-04:00

About 8 or 9 years ago, my company had switched one of our clients to a new ISP, and we were given a 1-800 support number. Well, the first support issue came up, and I dialed the number - only to be greeted by a pleasant female voice that assured me it was looking for a support technician. After our issue had been resolved, I asked the support tech what was with the digital secretary - mind you this was well before the age of taking to IVR systems and voice mail hell. He explained to me that he was using a service called Wildfire. Wildfire and other similar services would offer people a single number that would route all of their incoming calls using pre-defined rules. It could send calls during business hours to your desk phone, calls after hours to your cell, etc. It could also consecutively ring different phones until it found you.

Unfortunately, a lot of these services didn't quite make it, primarily because they were before their time. However, lately I've been playing with a similar service from GrandCentral (now owned by Google) GrandCentral offers me a lot of the services of Wildfire and company for free! (Okay, in classic Google fashion, its a beta, and will be free during the beta period, and I am not so sure how much it will cost when it goes 'live' but I will milk it for now).

With GrandCentral, I get to pick a phone number, and give it out to friends and family. I then can re-direct my incoming calls based on who's calling me. I can also switch phones in middle of a call - for example, if you call me on my GrandCentral #, and I pick up on my cell phone. I can switch it to my home or desk phone seemlessly!

I can also record calls, screen calls, and even screen voicemails - i.e. I can listen to a caller while they're leaving me a voicemail and jump into the call if I need to.

Want to try it - there is a button on the side of this page that will let you give me a call using GrandCentral, try it and leave me a message!

Long time no post

2008-03-06T17:33:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately this is my most neglected blog. I think I want to get posting here regularly so I will promise 1 post every two weeks (time permitting) thanks again to all of my loyal readers.

Why the Internet can be a scary place

2007-12-10T15:27:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone, I am sorry for not posting in a while. I wanted to share a strange experience with you guys. A few days ago, I typed in what I thought was a valid URL. It turns out, it wasn't. But instead of getting the IE 'Can't connect to server' error message, or a Google Search for the domain name, I wound up getting redirected to my ISP's search Page!

So I guess all of the money that I and others pay our ISP each month isn't nearly enough for them - that's why they need to hijack my browser and suggest alternative search results so I click on their advertising links. Yes, I can disable it, but that's not the point. It's just another way that the big ISPs can stick it to the little guy, with the ignorant not knowing that they're being watched.

What makes this really scary is that this can easily be done on their servers without our knowledge. Imagine if you will, a wi-fi network operator does this very thing - i.e. they force a redirect for not found pages and domains to their search engine. Yes, it's a nice way to generate some revenue to support a free network, but at the same time, as a consumer of that service, you need to wonder aloud if there are other things that they can be doing with your network traffic that you don't know about?

Finally the World Has Caught Up

2007-10-02T12:16:00.001-04:00

A couple of years ago, I made a comment to the effect of how I was unimpressed with Ajax, to the extent that I had been working with some of the technologies that helped spawn AJAX as early as 1998. In those days (1997-2001) I was jaded, because I worked for a company called Knowledge Strategies Group, and one of my key responsibilities was to live on the cutting edge of technology and how to apply it to both the emerging e-commerce world, but also finding synergies that would tie the e-commerce world to traditional bricks-and-mortar stores. We had all kinds of crazy ideas - some which were ultimately realized, and some which were not, but the bottom line was that all of us working there, from the founders all the way down the totem pole, that it was only a matter of time before companies would create a viable business model to unite the two.

Fast forward 6 years later. I walked into Starbucks this morning, just like I do on many other occasions, but something was very different today. With my overpriced cup of coffee, I also received a little card. The card was good for a download on iTunes. Apparently as part of the new deal between Starbucks and Apple, each purchase at Starbucks will come with a free download from now until November. In addition, Starbucks is opening up its wireless access points to offer free access to the iTunes music store for Computers as well as the iPod Touch and iPhone. The premise of course is to use in-store displays to drive traffic and sales to iTunes. Starbucks has been selling music for quite some time, but can now do so with less production costs, and better support. In fact, I also noticed today that the in-store CD's that Starbucks has been selling for years, have now been replaced with cards to redeem those albums online. Yes, this is reflective of the paradigm shift in music listening patterns, but still, it is an amazing extension of the retail store to the online world, and a brand-booster for both Apple and Starbucks!

What's even more interesting, it seems that the service offered is location-aware too! In the sense that you can see what song is currently playing in-store, and/or purchase recently played songs using iTunes.

I hope that this program proves successful, as I know that it will be the first of many similar ventures coming our way.

And while we're on the topic of Video Convergence

2007-06-05T13:01:00.000-04:00

Alienware (one of my favorite computer companies! - if anyone from Alienware is reading this, feel free to send me a laptop!) released it's Hangar 18 media center today. Granted, it is a lot more expensive than an Apple TV, but it is also a lot more full-featured.

Regardless of the flavor of your video, or TV-connected peripheral, it all points to convergence.

My local TV providers - YouTube and Apple!

2007-06-05T12:43:00.000-04:00

A the D5 conference last week, Steve Jobs announced that AppleTV will soon release a plug-in to view videos on your AppleTV. My first thoughts were - big deal, who really cares. If I wasn't ready to plunk down $300-400 for a device that can play iTunes videos, adding little Johnny and Jane's foibles wasn't going to make an iota of difference.

But then today, the Boy Genius Report announced that is going to begin offering local TV. As I read this, I thought back to a post I made here, more than 3 years ago!

I can now buy an Apple TV, take it anywhere, and it has content on it, and can also access local TV! Its only a matter of time before people start to realize this, and as local TV becomes more available on line.

The Palm Foleo - and why don't like it.

2007-05-30T14:18:00.000-04:00

Just a few short minutes ago, Palm's Jeff Hawkins announced the company's new Foleo - a mobile companion, if you will. Granted it's still early, but I just don't get it. In a video on the company's site in which Hawkins describes the vision of the Foleo, he states "It's not just an accessory". Personally, I can't see how it is anything more than just that.

As far as I can tell, the folio is simply a wireless keyboard and monitor for your smart phone (Palm or otherwise). Even if it works with 90% of the PDAs and SmartPhones out there (think iPhone, BlackBerry), I can't see it being successful, and here are the reasons why:

It's Not Innovative - 4 years ago, I saw a presentation by microsoft illustrating how a PDA would go from someone's home, to their car, to their office. In the home, the PDA information was broadcast on the screen. In the car, voicemail playback was initiated, and information popped-up on an in-dash display. In the office, the PDA synced up with a Keyboard and a 3-screen wraparound LCD. I can already get bluetooth keyboards for most PDAs - Windows Mobile and Blackberry alike - how long do you think it will be before a group of PDA manufacturers come out with a device the size of a USB dongle that can connect to my PDA and allow me to use any standard Keyboard or Monitor of my choosing?
Where does it fit in? - I'm not sure who this device is for. Is it for the corporate user who needs a bigger screen and keyboard, but doesn't want to lug a full laptop? There are so many thin and lights on the market today, that I can't imagine that group being large enough. While many users the world over can get buy with just e-mail attachements and web browsing, I can't see them dumping PCs for what is tantamount to an overpriced display and keyboard.
Too easy to copy - Patented or not, within 6 months there will be taiwan knockoffs of this, and they'll work with Blackberries and iPhones.

I wish Palm well, but this doesn't seem like it will ressurect Palm from the dead.

If Michael Dell isn't using Vista why should I?

2007-04-05T10:36:00.000-04:00

Someone slashdotted a page from the Dell website that identifies the computers that Michael Dell uses (http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/corp/biographies/en/msd_computers?c=us&l=en&amp;s=corp) . Interestingly enough, not a one of them is using Windows Vista? What does that say when the founder of one of the world's largest PC companies isn't using Microsoft's latest?

He is also using Ubuntu on one of his machines too.

I wonder if Bill Gates is using Vista, or if he is waiting for the first couple of service packs like everyone else.

The bizarre and macabre world of Skype Phones

2007-03-13T10:18:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I wasn't too kind to Skype's new Prime feature yesterday, however, I am a big fan of Skype overall. I have now replaced my 'landline replacement' phone service at home with Skype (I am still using an Ol' Skool POTS line for most calls), and I have found the quality to be pretty darn good. Recently, I have been coming across a wide swath of Skype Phones and devices, and they range from the normal to the quite eccentric. While Skype's own Gear Blog seems to provide good insight and reviews on the latest and greatest products for Skype, I thought I would take a specific look at some of the more 'portable' gadgets for Skype, since many of us Skype users travel with our laptops and use Skype to call home from whereever we are at the moment. Obviously, we all like to travel light, so here are some interesting, if not weird options:

1. The Sony USB Mouse Phone (above Right), if you normally lug a mouse with you on the road, this option is essentially a mouse the folds open into a phone. This is very stealthy looking device, and it very sexy and functional in the classic sony style, but it begs the one question: Let's say I'm on the Skype Call, how do I use my computer?

Next up is the Panasonic Skype Router phone. Panasonic followed the lead of others like D-Link and Linksys and created a travel router. These small form factor routers are designed for travelers to create a hotspot out of your hotel room's wired connection. This one also comes with a Skype Phone as well (however, it is unclear to me if this is a true wi-fi skype phone than can be used with any open hotspot, or if it will only work with this hotspot). Again, an interesting concept, complete with a leather travel case, but do you really want to shlep this around on business trips, when you can by the Belkin or Netgear phones for less?

Finally, the Kensington's PC Card phone rounds out this interesting trio. Essentially, this is a bluetooth Skype Handset. No LCD, nothing fancy, just your average bluetooth headset but in a handset form factor. But here is the kicker - it fits into a PC card slot and charges itself off of your computer's battery - I smell a winner.

If by chance you make skype gadgets, and you want me to review one, please feel free to contact me :)

The good and the bad of Skype Prime

2007-03-12T17:17:00.000-04:00

Last week Skype announced Skype Prime. In a nutshell, Skype prime allows individuals to run their own pay-per-use or pay-per-minute VoIP services. I have not tried this service yet, but I can already realize how this is both a great and potentially bad thing:

What makes it great? It makes it very simple for you to offer premium phone services to the Skype community. You could offer tech support or homework help for $0.50 a minute or you could offer a daily joke for a $1 a call. Or, you can charge certain people more money to call you so that they don't call you every 3 seconds. While not necessarily good, although not necessarily bad, I wouldn't be surprised if this turns into a huge porn venue (heck, you can charge for video calls, I would be surprised if someone didn't start such as service already). But then there are the downsides.

Imagine if you will that you initiate a call legitimately to a 'Prime' provider and you accept their fees, but then feel you didn't get what you were promised? Or you agreed to a high per-minute rate and felt that they were prolonging the call? What is your medium for dispute? How are both buyer and seller protected? (funny, doesn't this sound a lot like eBay issues?)

Worse than that, I am sure that it won't be long before folks find illegitimate ways to profit from this. For example, a malicious user could theoretically force you to download a skype Plug-in that randomly calls a 'prime' service and eats away your credits. They wouldn't even have to rob you blind - they could extract 10 or 20 cents from a few hundred thousand people and still make some serious cash. Or, they could offer prime services in some obscure currency that masks the real rate and makes the service seem cheaper. In the former case, it would cause skype to change the rules and permissions for writing extras, thereby eliminating some of those skype extras that are legitimate.

While I think that this has a lot of potential on the upside, the downside of it is really scary, and I hope the Beta Period Helps Skype figure out how to address some of the security concerns.

If only it came in my Toyota

2007-03-08T11:41:00.000-05:00

BMW and Google announced today that you can now send Google maps directions and info straight from Google Maps to the BMW's Assist GPS system. While the likelihood of me ever owning a Bimmer is slim, this shows that Car manufacturers are embracing technology more and more. C|Net now even offers a Car Tech site, where they review all of the latest in-car technology. It seems that every car now has a factory-installed Bluetooth hands-free option that let's you talk over the stereo system, and many more offer various iPod and MP3 intergration options. Still, the Bimmer is probably one of the first to be net-connected.

Interestingly enough, about 3 years ago, I was at a conference and saw a presentation by someone from Microsoft regarding where they felt mobile technology was going. The presentation showed a demo of someone walking into his car and having it automatically recognize his PDA. The car could read incoming e-mails and voicemails (integrated into one inbox) and could also access the PDA's contact database to make phone calls via voice dialing.

While we are not quite there yet, we've definitely come a long way baby!

Tell me something I didn't already know.

2007-02-16T09:41:00.000-05:00

C|Net today reports that Symantec has just published some research performed by scientists at the University of Indiana that exposes a possible vulnerability of consumer routers. As King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun. Since they came onto the market, home routers have had many a security hole. Something that many people have (myself included) have been warning about for years. However, this research simply shows a practical attack that is very simple to pull off.

In a nutshell, they put together some simple JavaScript/Java code that logs on to your router and changes your DNS settings. In doing so, attackers could say, re-route your requests to say, your banks website so that when you type in https://www.mybank.com - you are really logging in to their phishing site, and you wouldn't know the difference, as even most existing phishing filters would be fooled. (You can get a full PDF here: http://www.cs.indiana.edu/cgi-bin/techreports/TRNNN.cgi?trnum=TR641 ).

Of course, this is just scratching the surface. For example, there are certain brands of routers that use GPL'd code, and make the source code available on their websites. Are truly enterprising Hacker could - download this code, and use a similar method to upload it to replace your router's firmware. The changes could be almost invisible to the end-user, but far more malicious. Why? Think about what those attackers could do.

They could easily modify the router's code to capture and/or intercept all web traffic coming through the router. On the benign side they could, say, re-write Google's ads with their own. On the more malicious side, they could easily capture passwords, credit card numbers and more. Or find other ways of using your web viewing habits against you. They could also forgo the use of computers as 'Zombies' for DDOS attacks, and put them straight on the router. Even worse, they can make the traffic appear as if its coming from any of the PC's on your network.

What's even worse - they don't need to exploit the default password or an uprotected wi-fi network. They can simply publish their code on their website and tout that they have a
'high-performance' version of the firmware.

Granted wi-fi routers are great, and provide tremendous benefit for their owners, I hope that this research will enable manufacturers to take more steps towards securing them.

Yahoo's Big Comeback

2007-02-12T09:49:00.000-05:00

A bunch of years ago, before I was introduced to a small project called Google, I used to use Yahoo! for my searching. It was clean, easy and relatively well organized. It also had all kinds of great free services like personals, classifieds, e-mail, etc. But then Google came along, and started to gain steam, and I like many others left Yahoo for Google.

But Yahoo!, it seems, is making a comeback. First they bought Flickr - the photo sharing site, then they announced their new mobile tools at CES - http://go.yahoo.com (which alas, isn't available for my blackberry; during CES, they also went to MacWorld, to announce their partnership with Apple on the iPhone), and now they have come up with Pipes.

While Google has come up with tons of innovative ideas lately, this one is one of the greatest I've seen of late. What is pipes? It is a very simple tool that let's you combine website data - visually. For example, pipes can take a bunch of RSS feeds, mix them together and sort them so that you get a giant super feed, without having to a lick of programming.

The potential for pipes is huge, especially because it enables developers like me to do more with less work.

It will be interesting to see how Google answers Pipes!
Go Yahoo!

Data Centers in the Wilderness

2007-01-22T09:53:00.000-05:00

Since the dawn of the dotcom days a decade ago, there have been many cities that have sprouted up as high-tech hubs across the country. Most of these cities of course are large cities in general, but their tech-specific growth originally was due to a handful of factors - primary of which seemed to be the abundance of technical talent. For example, places like Research Triangle Park in North Carolina (Duke and UNC are nearby), or the SF Bay Area (Stanford and Berkeley), or Austin Texas (U of Texas).

And along with the tech growth in these areas, all of the major ISPs opened data centers in them or nearby, so that the Tech Giants would be close to their data and that they would rely on someone else to manage it.

But now it seems that the trend is reversing. Recently, companies like Yahoo, Microsoft and Google are opening up data centers in rural Oregon and Washington, and Google recently announced plans to build a data center in western North Carolina, far from the big cities.

Why this boom? Two reasons - Power and Prices. Both real-estate and utility charges are lower in this area. In addition, these areas look forward to cash-laden companies who want to help develop their local economies.

It is also interesting to note that the whole dotcom era practice of using outsourced data centers is seemingly reversing a bit.

Two things people aren't really saying about the iPhone

2007-01-18T09:42:00.000-05:00

So apple introduced the iPhone last week. While it has all the makings of a potential hit (even at the ludicrous price point -$5-600 with a 2-year deal), there is a lot of talk about how effective it will be and how it will change the face of telephony.

I am not going to jump into that fray right now, as there are millions blogging and reporting on its features and its future. I will, however point out two things that, if they have been mentioned by others, have not been mentioned with as much fanfare:

1. Palm is on its last legs - While the Treo was revolutionary, it never quite garnered the market for business wireless e-mail the same way that BlackBerry did. So, it quickly became the darling of the Prosumer (i.e. High-end consumer world). While the Q-Phone and Blackjack were starting to take market share away from Palm, the iPhone will ultimately do it in. Palms devices are in a form factor that is already tired and lacking inspiration. Why would I want a bulky Palm 750, when I could have a much more svelte Blackjack or Q-Phone running the same Windows Mobile software? Yes the Treo 680 is a nice consumer phone with a lot of plusses, but how many are they really going to sell? I give Palm about 18-24 months left before it goes belly-up or gets acquired, unless it comes out with something innovative.

2. This iPhone isn't anything more than a stopgap measure - If I haven't learned anything about Apple and the iPods is that the first iteration is just a stopgap to wider innovation. Think about it. The first iPod was only 5GB and retailed for 500, with a mono screen and only connected to macs. Dana Carvey once joked to Jay Leno that he considered buying an iPod one morning, but then decided to wait until after lunch when the new ones came out. The iPhone will hit the street in June, which means the blogosphere will not be buzzing with real-world reviews of it until August - just in time to coincide with the MacWorld 08' rumors. Interestingly enough, the form factor of the current iPhone would make for a good iPod as well, and Flash Memory now comes is sizes up to 32 MB. My advice, unless you're one of the true apple faithful, don't jump on the first iPhone. Wait until a year from now for the next version.

Web 2.0 Mashups are so yesterday

2006-12-29T09:51:00.000-05:00

While everyone and their sister is trying to come up with code mashups (i.e. plot your flickr pictures on Google Maps), a guy named Chris Hughes (see the accompanying video), has found a way to use a Nintendo Wii remotes motion sensing capabilities to control his Roomba. This is such a great concept. 20 years ago, even our phones were closed boxes, now everyone can be their own hacker. Don't like your alarm clock? Want to use your cell phone to shut your lights on and off. And if you don't want to go onto the Internet, you could just as easily buy books on these subjects in your local bookstore.

Kudos to you Chris Hughes, and all of the other people out there who don't ask why, but why not.

The second end of the VoIP Candle

2006-12-27T23:41:00.000-05:00

As Murphy's law dictates, a newer better technology will come along the day after you bought the latest and greatest technology, rendering it obsolete. Just the other day, I blogged about SkypeOut and my new Skype phone, and today I discovered that T-Mobile has rolled out its Hotspot@Home service. Essentially, for an extra $20/month on top of your T-Mobile bill you get a phone that can connect to either a wi-fi network (your home or any other public wi-fi network) or to the cellular network. When on Wi-Fi calling is free anywhere in the US and unlimited. It can also supposedly switch over seemlessly from Wi-Fi to cellular networks and back again.

Of course, I am trying to see the real benefit in this? I guess this works if you have broadband at home but bad cellular coverage, or if you talk a lot in proximity to wi-fi networks and the $20 unlimited will provide you with cost savings. It goes without saying that if I am in a Foreign country and I can get my US phone to ring without having to pay international roaming, this would be tremendously beneficial.

But all that aside, the concept of UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access), and T-Mobile's launch of it, shows that the VoIP candle is being burned on both ends. On one side you have startups like Skype and Vonage that are trying to bridge VoIP to traditional phone networks using PSTN access points, and on the other you have cellular carriers looking to roam seamlessly between their Cellular and Wi-Fi networks.

A couple of years ago I made a prediction that in 3-5 years everything will be running off a giant IP-based platform. At least one of my predictions is coming slowly to fruition

Trying to have some fun with Google Maps

2006-12-22T13:43:00.000-05:00

Back in the day, in the B.C. (before children) era, I used to code for fun. To some of you the very notion of coding in general sounds bizarre in and of itself, yet alone as something that someone might enjoy.

On Thanksgiving, something cool happened - I was showing some family members aerial photos of my in-laws new place down in Florida using Google Maps. Everyone was impressed with the levels of detail, down to the pictures of my in-laws backyard. Upon seeing all of this, my Grandma asked if they had the same maps and pictures for Europe. I wasn't sure, but we put in the address of her childhood home in the Alsatian city of Saarbrucken. Sure enough, she was able to zoom in down into her old neighborhood, and all of the childhood memories of street names came echoing back.

It was than and there that I started thinking that there was a lot more to maps than simple driving directions and traffic reports. People are developing mash-ups with Google maps of all kinds, but those mash-ups, for the most part, so far, seem to be primarily 'kick the tires' products. i.e. Flickr photos on the map, or a topographical view of our contacts. But GIS (Geographic Information Systems) have hundreds of other purposes that have yet to be invented. One good example, law enforcement. The NYPD and other law enforcement agencies have use GIS for years now to help map geographic crime patterns and help solve crimes as well as investigate and discover environmental factors that lead to more crime.

I have started reading the maps API docs from Google, and I am thinking about ways to create a fun, but practical GIS tool. Any suggestions?

My Review of the iPhone (uh... the Linksys CIT 300)

2006-12-21T10:04:00.000-05:00

I know what you're thinking, but unfortunately I do not have the 'Inside Scoop from Infinite Loop'. I do however enjoy the many benefits of VoIP. While I have been using Skype for a while, I never quite viewed it as a true VoIP phone, in the vane of VoIP providers like Vonage, OptimumVoice, and Broadvoice who actually provide me with something akin to a traditional phone experience. Skype was too IM-like for me to consider using. But then the lovely folks at Skype offered free calling to any phone in the US and Canada for free to the end of 2006. Since my phone calls at work are metered (we are only allowed a certain amount of long distance calls for non-business use per month), I starte using Skype to make long distance calls via the PC. And while it wasn't perfect, I was definitely impressed with the call clarity, and its ease of use. Although I didn't use them, Skype also had dirt-cheap rates for international calling.

Still, as impressed as I was, I didn't look to skype as a full-time replacement for my VoIP phone - that is until last week. Last week Skype upped the ante in the VoIP wars - it began offering a full year of unlimited calls to the US and Canada for $29.95 (only $14.95 if you sign up before 12/31/06). In essence, Skype's annual rate is what its competitors charge monthly! While I was very intrigued by this, I knew that I couldn't sell skype to my wife without having a 'real' phone to call on. Since our VoIP phones offer low international rates, we actually use that as the only source to keep up with family and friends overseas.

Thankfully, I discovered the CIT 300 - one of new Linksys's new iPhones (touche Apple!) that connects to your PC and landline (i.e. it's a two-line phone) so that you can choose to make calls either from Skype or your home phone. I also discovered that with a $10 Linksys Rebate and Google Checkout's $20 discount, I was able to get this phone for $50 (a lot cheaper than the current Wi-Fi skype phones which run about $150 on the street).

So I bought the CIT 300, and have since installed it half-way (I don't have an available landline near my PC) and here are some of my impressions so far:

For starters, the phone has several large drawbacks. First and formost, this phone is just like all of the other USB phones that one can use for Skype in that it requires you to interact with the existing Skype application to work. This means that your computer will always need to be turned on with Skype running and you being logged in. Essentially, the Skype phone is set up so that all of your audio for Skype calls is routed through the phone. This means that if you don't have the phone handy (or if someone else is using it for a landline call), you won't be able to answer a skype call with your PC. In addition, there is no way (that I have discovered yet) to make a call directly from your PC without dialing it from the handset. So if you are sitting at the computer and want to call someone, you need to initiate it from the phone first, or change your Audio settings.

Another inherent issue with Skype is that it allows you to log in from multiple places at once. If someone tries to call you on Skype, and you are logged in at Work and at home, it will ring in both places, but whoever picks up first, wins. So if your CIT 300 is at home, and someone answers it while you are waiting for a work call, you won't be able to pick it up. It can also be annoying to have the phone ring at home even if they know not to pick up.

2 other pet peeves of mine about this phone - to dial a landline using Skype, you need to either prefix your number with 001 or a + sign, otherwise it won't go through. In addition, there is no way to bridge the gap between the landline and Skype - so if you want to make a three way call, you will need to do it with SkypeOut and not the landlines.

Quirks aside, this is a good phone. All of my skype contacts come through to the handset for speed dialing (both Skype contacts and landlines that I have added to Skype as SkypeOut contacts), and the speaker phone is great. Call Quality is as good as your skype quality - i.e. it's not the phone's fault, and the backlit keys make it easy to dial in the dark.

All told, this phone is a decent option if you want to use Skype for VoIP, but if you can afford it, you will get a little more flexibility with a Wi-Fi skype phone or Linksys' CIT-400 iPhone (which has skype built-in, and doesn't require your computer to be on to work).

One more note, it seems that these Linksys phones allow for multiple handsets, but I have yet to find where they offer an individual handset for sale. However, since they just released some new products in the 'iPhone' line, it could be that those are not too far away.

Off the Spot?

2006-11-29T11:22:00.000-05:00

A while ago, there was a lot of buzz about Microsoft's SPOT Technology. SPOT was an information delivery technology that used FM radio frequencies to send data updates to small devices like watches and clocks. In addition to getting atomic time, you could also get stock quotes, sports scores and the weather. While people initially greeted it with great fanfare, it seems to have fizzled out a little bit.

Yes, just like Microsoft always does, it seems to be fiddling with new uses for it, and maybe in the 3rd round of revisions they will get it right, but I wonder, will its promise be utilized? Melitta thinks so, they created a coffee maker with SPOT built-in to give you the weather and time along with your daily grind. I wonder what comes next for SPOT? I wonder if Microsoft has any SPOT announcements brewing (pun intended) for CES?

Regardless of the early adopter caché of such devices, will people really shell out $200 for a coffee maker that tells you the weather?

Why Open Access Trumps Open Source

2006-11-14T15:04:00.000-05:00

A handful of years ago, during the dotcom boom, there was a period where Linux and other Open Source technologies were getting a lot of headlines and attention on Wall Street. They were the next revolution. While some of the spotlight on Open Source seemed to flame out a bit along with the dotcom boom, companies continued to (and still do) take it seriously. Despite that, many companies realized that just because the software is free doesn't mean it has no cost. While there are many Pros (and Cons) to Open Source software, people have come to realize that using open source software does come with it's own costs - hardware, maintenance, training and customization aren't free. While many companies find Open Source to be a good fit, many others see it as too costly. Quite frankly, the latter have come to the realization that sometimes, for specific needs, COTS (Commercial - Off-The-Shelf) software is a much better, less costly alternative. But therein lies the rub.

One of the biggest benefits of Open Source is your ability to customize it. As a Software Professional with over a decade in the industry, one of the key pain points for CIO's is Integration. If I had a Nickel for everytime I was asked to help with an Integration issue, I could've bought YouTube myself! Yes I can buy great COTS for CRM, and for ERP, and for Financials, but how do I get them to talk? How do I get my website to talk with my fulfillment and inventory systems? How do I get my suppliers and customers systems to talk to my own? How do I create unified reports across all of these systems so that I can get a clear picture? With two incompatible COTS packages this can get very tricky. Open Source seemed to solve some of these issues, because it enabled companies to get at an applications underlying data structures and make them integrate with their neighbors. But along with power comes responsibility. Using open source meant that you had to keep up with patches, that you had to do regression testing that you had to work harder to ensure your own data integrity. While this worked for many, it was obviously not the most ideal situation.

Enter Web 2.0, the birth of the 'New' web, blogs, and rich content recently caused two very important things to happen - first, it bolstered the popularity of a little-known technology concept called AJAX (I was using the underlying technologies of AJAX in 1997, but they weren't called AJAX then) and as people became more and more creative with AJAX, the advent of the Mashup. These two concepts have given people the ability to visualize a new concept - Open Access.

In my definition, Open Access is the notion that a developer of commercial software provides its users with an API or Web Service that allows them to directly interact with the application's data. IMHO, Open Access is great. It enables me to leverage my existing COTS by scripting integration points between them. By utilizing COTS with open access, my development staff can focus on specific integration needs without having the extra burden of maintaining software patches for Open Source Software. Interestingly enough, Open Source also benefits from open access, as it now becomes easy to even integrate Open Source and commercial products.

As companies like Google, Salesforce, and even Microsoft open up these Web Services and APIs, it will give new dimension to the trials and tribulations of integrating software.

Now if only I can discover that killer mashup? :)

e-mail 4rmal-t? - u have got 2b j/king

2006-11-09T14:06:00.000-05:00

For those of you who actually read my blog, you know that I am a big fan of G-Mail, and Google Talk. I was very pleased that they integrated IM and presence into e-mail. Just like Microsoft has done, albeit with a different set of features, to outlook and office. Yet today, Yahoo announced that it too is integrating IM into it's web mail client. Finally we are seeing the convergence of IM and e-mail, with the only distinction to be whether or not the user is currently available to chat. I would think that this is a good thing, but there is one reason holding back the rays of light between the clouds - my Brother.

No, my brother isn't some kind of evil dictator nor does he work for any of the aforementioned companies. But my brother is, at least for me, a prime example of what might soon happen - the loss of formality in e-mail. My brother is one of those people who's first exposure to communications on the Internet was IM. What's wrong with that? Simple - its not a formal means of communication.

When e-mail was introduced, it was simply a means to communicate formal communication via an electronic medium. In simple terms, people used e-mail to type up the same memos as before, however they now didn't need to make 500 physical copies of them, but could distribute them almost instantly. Despite the influx of spam, forwards, and viruses, e-mail today still has that level of formality.

IM on the other hand, was a way of talking with text (and now voice and video via the computer). Since we all talk faster than we type, a shorthand evolved. And since e-mail was primarily an informal means of communication, people were willing to forgo things like grammar and punctuation for the sake of expediency.

Enter the AOL generation. Somehow, because they are IM'ers first and an e-mailers second, the lines between the two are very blurred. These are the people who will use IM shorthand in e-mails all the time. The people who are reminded by their first bosses that e-mail communications needs to be formatted in proper English. It's a hard enough battle as it is, think of how much harder it will be now that the software companies are blurring those lines.

I hope that despite this innovation, people will still be able to write a decent letter every once in a while.

Second-class Google Accounts

2006-11-08T23:20:00.000-05:00

I have been using Google Apps for my domain for a few months now, and by and large, I have been very satisfied with their service. But all that aside, there is one big problem that I have with my Google Apps accounts - that I can't use them in any other services aside from those setup for my domain.

If I want to use Orkut, the new Blogger Beta, or even the Google Toolbar's custom features, I still need to use my old G-Mail account. Granted, this isn't a major inconvenience, but I would much rather have an opportunity to do this with just one account, and just one password - it would make things a lot easier.

Are you listening Google?

If you Write it, It Will Come + Applesque Simplicity

2006-11-07T17:05:00.000-05:00

No sooner did my last posting about wanting an iPod hit my RSS feed, did I win an iPod in a raffle (which is weird, because I never win anything). No, not the 4GB Red Nano that I wanted, but even better - a 30 GB Video iPod. (Of course, I would still love the Zegna iJacket, and maybe a Mirage Omnivibe to go with it, instead of the Nike + Sport Kit). I have been wanting one for a long time, and I in my first few days I have been enjoying and playing with it.

In my first impressions, I have been discovering the beauty of Applesque Simplicity. I wanted to start studying things, and thought that an MP3 player of any kind would be beneficial for me, so that I could, say, learn a foreign language, or listen to lectures or audiobooks (and of course, the ocassional vodcast). I thought subscribing to podcasts would be hard - but it's so simple. With just one click, I add a podcast subscription and next time I sync the iPod - presto, it's there. It just works. No downloading multiple MP3s, or 5 different software packages, or worrying about compatibility between my player, it's loading software, my favorite music software, and the web site producing the podcast. It Just Works!

This is precisely the reasoning that Microsoft is creating the Zune. To provide its users with the same kind of user experience. Of course, Microsoft has a lot of work to-do, as Apple is currently perched at the top of the mountain.

Still wish I had one...

2006-10-16T15:51:00.000-04:00

The iPod is just about 5 years old, and I, of all people, still don't have one. Personally, at the moment I have conjured up a 100 reasons to justify me buying one, but none of which pass the Spouse/Sleep test (i.e. if I buy one without spousal approval, will I still be able to sleep in my own bed). The irony here is that an iPod isn't just about playing music. Firstly there is Podcasting. Podcasting is great. Not only can you get Music and video podcasts, but you can also get all kinds of Radio and Learning programs on the Podcast. For example, you can subscribe to a PodCast to help you learn the Talmud or even download MP3 and other files to help with your workout. Speaking of workouts, in addition to giving you the inspiration and motivational music you need to keep going, the iPod can also track your workout . Finally, what is a good ipod without accessories? That's why you need to buy a good jacket with iPod controls.

I just hope someone is kind enough to get me one :)