2007 is Here - Back to Work - Almost

This is my first post of 2007, and I haven't blogged since December 22. That's a few years in blog time, but I'm not that kinda guy. I do try to post daily, but as mentioned on my last post, I'm more or less off duty until January 8, when everyone goes back to school. Am just half-working this week, and when I took a look at my blog page today - for the first time since Dec. 22, I realized I should get something up there.

Being the beginning of a new month and a new year, the opening page of my blog is a total blank white space, since I haven't done any posting yet in 2007. Never thought about that before - in terms of how that would look - and it sure looks weird. So - I haven't fallen off the earth - I'll be back running hard next week, but felt I should get some signals out there that I'm still here!

When I say I'm off duty, I mean it, so I'm really out of the loop with what's gone on in the past week or so - so apologies if I've missed commenting on any big stories. I know there are loads of people out there who just don't stop blogging, but I'm not one of them. So, if you're still with me, thanks for bearing with me.

I just wanted to comment quickly on two things since my last post.

1. On Dec. 21, I picked up on a post by Mark Goldberg about how Skype isn't always the cheapest way to make a phone call. I thought that was an interesting - and valid observation - and BusinessWeek seemed to think so too. Olga Kharif added her take there on The Tech Beat column, which was really nice to see.

2. Without doing a lot of digging, I noticed that a number of my posts have been getting picked up and cited by other bloggers. I know this happens all the time to all of us - as it should - but it seems to be happening more than usual, which I think is a sign of how broadly blogs are proliferating. Also interesting that many of these bloggers and blogs are not familiar to me, and from places I don't know all that well. Anyone else noticing this lately?

If you're interested, examples are here, here, here, here, and here.

Oh - did I mention? There's another Jon Arnold out there writing about this stuff. Interesting, huh?














Technorati tags: Skype, Jon Arnold

Holiday Video Greetings - Does 2 Make for a Trend?

Earlier this week, I posted a short, video Season's Greetings message on my blog. I gave up on sending out cards years ago, which I miss doing, actually. I'm old fashioned that way, but have reverted to the path of least resistance - email greetings. Very efficient, esp for last minute sending, but not very personal.

Well, I think a video greeting is the next best thing, and I don't know how I could have done it without SightSpeed. It's a great application, and you don't have to look far to find my posting about it. They're poised for bigger and better things in 2007, and I'm just glad to be a user in the early going.

I don't follow a ton of blogs, but it was nice to see colleague Ken Camp picking up this vibe. He posted his video greeting earlier today, also using SightSpeed. Nicely done, Ken! We think alike, and try to use all the media tools at our disposal.

So, that makes two of us doing this. Does 2 make for a trend? In this case, I hope so. It's so easy to do, and adds a personal touch that email cards can't really match. Some smart person out there will see a business opportunity in this - Ken - maybe we should put our heads together on this one. We could develop some simple plug-ins to customize the look, maybe some special effects, and touch-ups to overcome bad lighting and glare. And then we can add music in the background to set the mood. I tried doing this on mine, actually, with a CD playing in the background, but it didn't work out. Lots of room to experiment here.

And finally - there's the end user experience. I realize it takes a long time for the video clip to load, which isn't great. My first take ran longer, and took way too long to load, so I shortened mine to around 30 seconds. Ken's runs over a minute, and I experienced some buffering problems in a few spots, so the longer clips can be a bit tougher to watch. On that note, I spoke to SightSpeed's CEO, Peter Csathy about this yesterday, and he's aware of the problem. So, hopefully the fix will be in soon.

On that note, I'll pass on Season's Greetings again. Signing off for now - not sure when I'll be back, but I won't be doing much blogging until Jan. 8. Gotta recharge...


Technorati tags: SightSpeed, Jon Arnold, Ken Camp

PSTN Cheaper Than Skype? Sometimes

Colleague Mark Goldberg had a nice post today that had me nodding in agreement all the way. With all the buzz around Skype's cheap, flat rate North America SkypeOut program, you'd think the race to zero with voice calls was pretty much over.

Well, not everybody uses Skype and not everybody wants to download software or connect to the Internet to make a phone call. Dial-around plans have been around for ages, and from the user's point of view they're pretty much the same as a regular PSTN call with a few extra digits on the front end of the call. The calls may well traverse IP networks along the way, but this is not VoIP.

Mark notes on his blog that dial-around rates from Canadian operators are considerably less than Skype for countries like Israel and the Phillipines. No doubt that closer to home, Skype is a great deal, but it doesn't hold across the board. I'm sure Skype's international rates will get better as their volumes grow, and they strike better termination deals, but in some cases, the plain old PSTN is still the best way to go. I use dial-around myself from time to time, and it's especially beneficial for mobile calls. Call me old fashioned, but I've never had a problem with it.



Technorati tags: Mark Goldberg, Jon Arnold

Andy Abramson's Working Anywhere Blog Getting Validation

Back in June, Andy Abramson launched a new blog, titled "Working Anywhere", with a focus on the digital lifestyle and working in an untethered world, where constant travel is the norm.

He's continued posting there, and the blog serves as a bit of a primer or guide to living like a "nomad" as Andy would say. Recently, Andy got some nice attention about this lifestyle from a New York Times article, and has since led to a flurry of blog-based commentary and support.

If this describes you, and you want to know the best ways to stay productive and utilize the right tools to get your work done - like SightSpeed for video messaging, Unyte for web conferencing or GrandCentral for VoIP and messaging - you should be following Working Anywhere regularly.

And on a higher level, Andy's initiative - or "project" as he calls it - is a great window on how our notion of work is evolving in the Internet age. It's a new frontier, and Andy is at the vanguard of this as much as anybody.


Technorati tags: Andy Abramson, Jon Arnold, blogs, Working Anywhere

Canadian IP Thought Leaders Series - Dan York and VoIP Security

On this week's podcast, I spoke with Mitel's Dan York, who is well known in IP and blogging circles. We didn't talk about Ottawa-based Mitel though - we focused on Dan's other claim to fame - VoIP security. He's been quite active in that area for some time, and talked about the current issues and state of the nation for VoIP security, especially in regard to VOIPSA, the VoIP Security Alliance. Through VOIPSA, Dan gets a good insight into how vendors approach VoIP security and how carriers view it. Sometimes they see eye to eye, but there is still a lot of work to be done.

In addition, Dan is active in this space through the Blue Box initiative, and maintains a couple of blogs not yet mentioned in this post - his new blog focused just on VOIP Disruptive Telephony, and the Voice of VOIPSA blog companion to the VOIPSA website.

You can download the podcast here, as well as read up more on Dan and the various websites and blogs he's connected to.

Dan - have I missed anything? You're a busy guy.


NOTE - this will be my last podcast for 2007. It's been a busy year, and I hope you've enjoyed these weekly posts. There are many more good Canadian stories to tell, and I've got a number of podcasts in the pipeline for next year.


NOTE #2 - I see from my Moveable Type home page that this is my 500th blog posting. For me, that's a big number, and I'll note it with a smile. I'm not an uber blogger, and many bloggers have done thousands of posts, but that's not my thing. I intend to keep up what I've been doing in 2007, and hope to post daily through the week as best I can.

For those of you who follow me regularly, I'll just use this small milestone to say THANK YOU. There are millions of voices out there in the blogosphere, and it's practically impossible to manage tracking it all. So I really appreciate each and every one of you who reads me - it means a lot. I still have very little sense of who's out there, so please feel free to drop me a line and tell me about yourself, and what else you'd like to see from me. Thanks!



Technorati tags: Dan York, Jon Arnold, VoIP podcasts, VoIP Security

My Season's Greetings Video Message

Enjoy, courtesy of SightSpeed....

The Human Side of Blogging - Philip Stern

I've known Philip Stern for many years here in Toronto, and was pleasantly surprised to see him in a great human interest story in today's Globe & Mail. Like me, Philip is a consultant in the tech space, and is pretty web savvy. He also has a big heart, and as the story explains, he's struck up a friendship with a homeless man who frequents his local cafe.

Aside from the goodness of this outreach, there's a wonderful tech angle here that should be of interest to anyone reading my blog. Ever the fair-trade entrepreneur, Philip recognized that Tony, his coffee companion, has a lot to say, but lacks a voice to connect with world at large.

So, Philip has recently set up a blog solely for this purpose - HomelessManSpeaks.com. They chat, share stories, and Philip puts it up on the blog, allowing Tony to get his thoughts out there. It's a fascinating window on street life, and what it means to be homeless.

Aside from reading about what it's like to be Tony - along with photos from Philip for a visual perspective - the links on the blog page indicate there's a web-based ecosystem out there around the homeless world. There are links there to both support groups dedicated to the needs of the homeless, as well as other homeless people/groups who have found a way to get on the Net.

This really struck me, and from a blogger's perspective, it's a great example of how the Web works in weird and wonderful ways. It's not just about tech or commerce, that's for sure, and this story says a lot of about how blogs can serve a higher purpose, and is a truly democratic medium that gives a voice to those who usually don't have one. And of course, it's all the more profound in the week leading up to XMas.

Well done, Philip - you're setting the bar high here, and hopefully this will inspire others to find similar ways to use technology for the public good.


Technorati tags: Philip Stern, Jon Arnold, blogs, Toronto