jump to navigation

The Top 30 VoIP blogs August 29, 2006

Posted by mark in : Telecoms, VoIP , add a comment

A personal list of the top 30 ‘Voice over IP’ blogs from Smith on VoIP …[via Ken Camp's Realtime VoIP]

I have tried to rank these blogs based on their importance in providing thought provoking innovative work on the Voice Over IP industry. There is plenty of room for debate

2006 Stupid Security Competition August 29, 2006

Posted by mark in : General, Privacy , add a comment

Privacy International announces the 2006 Stupid Security Competition …[Found via Dave Farber's IP list]

“Privacy International’s director, Simon Davies, said his group had taken the initiative because of ‘innumerable’ security initiatives around the world that had absolutely no genuine security benefit”

“The competition closes on October 31st 2006…(and) will be judged by an international panel of well-known security experts, public policy specialists, privacy advocates and journalists”

Flickr adds geotagging August 28, 2006

Posted by mark in : Geo , add a comment

Flickr has added geotagging capability to photos, by drag&drop onto a Yahoo! Map …[Found via TechCrunch]

“If you already have geotagged photos on Flickr (from using a 3rd party tool), you can import them into the new system…We’ll also be releasing new API methods for developers soon”

Will MK be the first UK city with WiMax? August 27, 2006

Posted by mark in : Telecoms, Wireless , add a comment

Reuters [via Andy Abramson] reports that Milton Keynes will be the first UK city to deploy WiMax

Doesn’t Brighton already have it? Am I missing something?

Personal versus Private August 26, 2006

Posted by mark in : Privacy , add a comment

Molly Holzschlag makes a good point about how the many sources of personal information on the web can be easily aggregated to give a picture we don’t feel comfortable sharing with everyone

I’m not in quite the same situation, but future ‘improvements’ in search and aggregation technologies do give me pause when deciding what details and ‘voice’ to share

“The Transparent Society” by David Brin isn’t really about the same thing, but I hope that reading it will help me to make a more informed decision

VirtualGlobes.org August 25, 2006

Posted by mark in : Geo , add a comment

The Virtual Globes Directory is a “central depository for virtual globe related links” (such as Google Earth and NASA’s World Wind). It excludes 2D maps, such as Google Maps

…[Found via http://del.icio.us/inbox/starhill_blend/, which is part of Hack #9 in "Google Maps Hacks"]

“TechCrunch UK” launches August 24, 2006

Posted by mark in : General , add a comment

A UK version of the popular ‘tech’ blog, TechCrunch (“95,713 readers”), launched today, and references Tom Coates at the start of the very first article

TechCrunch describes itself as “obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies”, and the UK site will be “all about UK based and/or focused startups”

[Email Sam Sethi at sam dot sethi at vecosys dot com, or Skype him at samksethi, with any tips or bugs]

Wireless – my thoughts from 2003 August 23, 2006

Posted by mark in : Telecoms, Wireless , add a comment

(Some stuff that interests me at the moment.) The Internet has been a sandbox for innovative applications. Will mobile communications have the same opportunity, or will commercial self-interest (‘walled gardens’, spectrum limits, DRM, etc) prevent it? :

Open spectrum, and the wireless commons : After reading David Weinberger’s FAQ, the best site to visit for original resources is Dave Reed’s. The manifesto is at wirelesscommons.org. [Books : I recommend "Smart Mobs" by Howard Rheingold, which covers several themes on this page. And "The Future of Ideas" by Lawrence Lessig]

“Stupid” networks and the end-to-end argument : The network should not choose how it is used. Control (or intelligence) is placed at the “end” (with the user), rather than in the centre, and this enables more innovation. The Internet was designed this way, before “Quality of Service” (QoS)

First described by Dave Reed et al, there are some interesting Papers and Thoughts on his site, including “The end of end-to-end?“. The famous “Rise of the Stupid Network” article was written by David Isenberg, and the proposed impact on telco business is laid out in netparadox.com

Software Defined Radio [SDR] : is an example of an intelligent end user device. [SDR Forum, and Vanu Inc]

Wireless Networking : “Disruptive” wireless technologies got a lot of press in 2003 (v’s cellular radio) because of price, performance and flexibility; but the first “Next Big Thing” article for Wi-Fi was back in Mar-01

[NEWS : "Wi-Fi Networking News"; "802.11 Planet"; wireless.com. RESOURCES : Wi-Fi Alliance; IEEE 802; Radiocommunications Agency]. FAQ for setting up a network at consume.net and some tools at landmap.co.uk]

Wi-Fi networks in Bristol, UK : Node locations at Intel, Wi-FiHotSpotList.com and WiFinder.com. Also bristolwireless.net and Node DB for local projects

Review – “Out of Control” August 23, 2006

Posted by mark in : General, Review , add a comment

Interesting for me, this : A very positive review of Kevin Kelly’s 1994 book by Chris Anderson (author of “The Long Tail“, which I’ve just finished)

Out of Control” has sat part-read on my shelf since shortly after it came out, despite being referenced more recently in books I’ve enjoyed a lot (including “Smart Mobs” and “Emergence“)

I probably ordered the book because I was interested in General Magic and intelligent agents, but didn’t find it directly helpful. Time to try again, anyway

“Sharing Places” August 22, 2006

Posted by mark in : Geo , add a comment

Recently I’ve done some work with Mista in Bristol, to help define the future value proposition and user ‘experience’ of its Sharing Places mapping site

For me, it was a chance to combine recent interests (including AJAX, mapping, and Jane Jacobs‘ work) together with ideas about website usability and social networks that have interested me for a decade

We’ll have to see whether that relationship goes any further, but do try out the preview, and give them some feedback