There’s an identity war going on out on the Internet right now… there are multiple aspects to it… but the key is that: it is a battle for control of YOUR identity! Think of any website you’ve visited lately that…
Aug 29
Happy Birthday, Skype! Celebrating 8 Years of Disruption
It was 8 years ago today that the first public beta version of Skype was released… and so began the amazing journey of a product/service that has truly disrupted the telecommunications industry. The Wikipedia page on Skype has a good…
Aug 29
The Hellacious Purgatory of Waiting
Waiting sucks. There is no other way to say it. More polite phrasings simply do not convey the correct emphasis. Waiting sucks. And now… we wait. Two weeks ago we visited my wife’s oncologist to learn what would be the treatment options for her breast cancer now that the mastectomy was done. Naively, we thought based on what we had heard after the operation that all we would really be talking about was whether or not it made sense for her to start taking a hormone drug, Tamoxifen, for the next five years. There are some various medical history issues…
Aug 26
Can You Help With Data Collection For Hurricane Irene Crisis Response?
With Hurricane Irene bearing down on the East Coast of the US and expected to make landfall within the next 24-48 hours, many volunteer efforts are underway to be in position to help the regions that may be effected… including…
Aug 26
Video: How to Communicate at Burning Man using OpenBTS and Tropo
Heading to Burning Man this coming week? Would you like to use your mobile phone to connect up with others on the playa in Black Rock City? If so, check out this video from Chris Pirillo about the work being…
Aug 25
Running Over 400 Miles And Counting…
Last week I passed a milestone in this little running adventure of mine. Per the "Nike+ GPS" app I’ve been using on my iPhone I crossed over 400 miles total that I’ve run outdoors and tracked with this app. Not bad considering that my first full run was about a year ago, September 7, 2010, for a whopping total of 1.6 miles. Prior to that I’d mixed running and walking. And I’m still incredibly amused by it all given that as I’ve mentioned before, I NEVER expected to be a "runner"! Not in a million years. Yet here I am….
Aug 25
Adhearsion (and AdhearsionConf) On Tomorrow’s VUC Call – Telephony Via Ruby
Want to learn more about the Adhearsion framework that lets you easily create telephony and other communication apps using the Ruby language? On tomorrow’s VoIP Users Conference (VUC) call at 12 noon US Eastern, Ben Klang from the Adhearsion project…
Aug 25
Thank you, Steve Jobs.
Right now, at the moment I write this post, Techmeme stands as a monument to the end of the Steve Jobs era. Go on, check it out… scroll down the Techmeme page… I’ve not honestly seen another day quite like…
Aug 23
oXygen’s Excellent Example of a Release Timeline / ChangeLog Page
As I was recently downloading a new version of the excellent oXygen XML editor (which I used to write my “Migrating Apps to IPv6” book for O’Reilly), I was struck by how great their “Release Timeline” page is. It’s truly a thing of beauty. You can easily see release dates for every …
Aug 22
Canada’s Jack Layton Succumbs To Cancer – And Leaves An Awesome "Final Letter" to Canadians
Today is a sad day for our friends up north in Canada – Jack Layton, leader of the National Democratic Party (NDP), passed away this morning at the age of 61 after multiple battles with cancer. The Globe and Mail has a nice tribute to Layton and pretty much every Canadian media outlet is currently writing about his death. For those with no clue who he is, his Wikipedia entry provides a detailed background on his life and work. I never had the privilege of meeting Jack Layton, but certainly knew of him and read about him / saw him…
