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July 31, 2005
July 2005: The Month pulver.com took back the Virtual Streets
July 2005 was the month that the pulver.com IT Department fought back on our increasing (some would have said “out of control”) email spam problem that we had at pulver.com.
After a month with a solution in place, I for one can say that I don’t miss having to allocate what was at least 60-90 minutes each morning and again each evening to review all of the accumulated spam emails of the day, while hoping not to delete an important email along the way. While I still get some spam emails, it is generally under a hundred a day, which is a dramatic improvement from a time when I used to receive over a hundred spam messages an hour.
While I may have had the worst of the spam in my office, I have to believe that by fighting the spam issue, we gained at least 15-30 minutes a day of productivity per employee at pulver.com, which over the course of the year adds up to a significant amount of time.
Posted by jeff at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
Mets win game but lose chase for Manny Ramirez:
The Mets managed to win a game and get 17 hits in the process in beating the Houston Astros today. But the Mets came up short in their quest for Manny Ramirez.
Looks like the Mets will have to play out the rest of their season with the team they already have.
Posted by jeff at 05:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
The Dylan and Jake's Yu-Gi-Oh! Blog Returns again...
Back in December 2003, my sons Dylan and Jake started publishing their own blog about Yu-Gi-Oh!, from the perspective of 9 year olds.
The novelty of blogging seemed to wear off by March, 2004 but just A few days ago, my kids, now 11, decided to start posting to their blog once again.
As a result, the Dylan and Jake Yu-Gi-Oh! blog is back. :-)
Posted by jeff at 08:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (25)
PulverPoker: Directory of Poker on the Net
The alpha version of our Directory of Poker Resources on the Net is now available at: http://pulver.com/pulverpoker.
While we are still working on the layout and the design, this is a preview of what we expect will grow into a fairly comprehensive directory of Poker on the Net.
Special thanks to all of the members of the pulver.com team who contributed their favorite poker bookmarks to help get this project started, and especially to Ben Wells for pulling this together.
If you know of a Poker related site that should be added to the list, please drop me a line.
Tags: poker
Posted by jeff at 06:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (24)
Still waiting for the arrival of our Robot Dog:
A couple of weeks ago I ordered a Sony ERS-7MS "Aibo" robot dog.
It seems that the Aibo is pretty popular as I found out a few days ago that the Aibo is on back-order and now would not be arriving until mid-August.
pulver.com is looking forward to the arrival of a new member of our team. :)
Posted by jeff at 06:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (36)
Manny Ramirez is still not joining the Mets:
While I read the rumors about Manny joining the Mets as a result of a 3-way deal, I'm not surprised that as of this morning, Manny Ramirez is still playing for the Red Sox.
While the Mets had made watching Summer baseball in New York fun again during the past few weeks, their play during the past week where they have lost 5 out of 6 games puts the Mets once again in a position of fading away from both their division race and the wild card race.
It will be interesting to see what moves the Mets make prior to the trading deadline today.
At least the Mets are rumored to still be trying to do something.
Posted by jeff at 05:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
July 30, 2005
Sometimes A Google results in a trip to "The Twilight Zone:"
With Huey Lewis and The News playing at Fall 2005 VON in September, every once in a while I Google the band to see if there are any references back to us.
What I found was that Huey Lewis and the News already performed at an event hosted by a Jeff Pulver back in October, 2003.
Background: While Jeff Pulver isn't a very common name, there is a Jeff Pulver who today is Vice president of Marketing for Rearden Commerce and used to be Vice President of Worldwide Marketing at Siebel.
According to this source, Huey Lewis and the News performed for Jeff Pulver and everyone else who was a part of Siebel User Week 2003.
Not sure how to account for this other than this being yet another strange coincidence.
Posted by jeff at 04:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (34)
July 29, 2005
The Paul Kapustka Blog: VoIP Industry Should Innovate Past Regulation:
I agree with Paul. The VoIP Industry Should Innovate Past Regulation.
It's about time.
Posted by jeff at 07:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Richard Russell and Deborah Taylor Tate may be heading to the FCC:
President Bush may imminently nominate White House aide Richard Russell and Tennessee state regulator Deborah Taylor Tate to fill two Republican seats at the FCC. Without delving into the effect that these two nominees might have on the course of communications policy, I can say that I have met both Richard Russell and Deborah Taylor Tate, and they are both seem very likeable, open, and intelligent. Mr. Russell was quite cordial to us when I was trying to ensure that Free World Dialup and other peer-to-peer communications applications would not be subject to onerous telecom regulation. Ms. Tate was a wonderful and engaging host when some of the pulver.com crew visited Tennessee last year. I recall that Director Tate submitted her own comments to the FCC in the IP-enabled services NPRM last year, which I believe demonstrated a strong knowledge of the issues and a commitment to developing a relatively light regulatory approach to VoIP.
Posted by jeff at 05:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)
Another Karaoke Friday @ pulver.com:
Today marks the end of a stretch where I’ve been able to be at our Melville, NY office for ten consecutive, very productive, business days.
While I’ve been in the office, I worked on the “Road Ahead” for pulvermedia in 2006 and 2007, and was able to take the first steps in morphing some of the pulver.com office space into something that I will be blogging about in the future.
...and I was also able to practice my Karaoke when nobody else was around. :)
Posted by jeff at 07:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Phil Zimmermann's zFone: A Secure SIP User Agent
While Phil continues to get some well deserved press coverage:
One of the things not mentioned in the business/trade press to date is the fact that zFone is a SIP client.
Earlier this year, Phil gave me a preview of the demonstration he gave this week at the Black Hat security conference where the zFone client was used on the Free World Dialup network.
Posted by jeff at 06:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
July 28, 2005
Summer of 2005: FM Radio DXing
One of the things which I have always enjoyed about the summer is the tropospheric ducting that can be observed especially during the summer months on Long Island. These conditions offer a unique opportunity to tune-in FM radio stations from up and down the East Coast.
This week I’ve once again enjoyed listening to WHOM on 94.9 FM from Portland, ME, which is about 200 nautical miles from where I am.
Posted by jeff at 11:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)
Looking for “Early Stage” VCs interested in IP Communications:
Amongst my other on-going activities inside the world of pulvermedia and pulver.com, this summer another one of the start-ups that I helped incubate is ready to leave the nest and has entered their initial fund raising stage.
While I have already started to approach some of my friends who focus on “early stage” companies, I would appreciate the opportunity to be introduced via email to partners at other venture firms who are also interested in this space.
Posted by jeff at 07:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
"Strategic Dynamics: Concepts and Cases" has been published
Philip Meza from Stanford University just gave me the heads up that "Strategic Dynamics: Concepts and Cases", a book by Andy Grove, Robert Burgelman and Philip which includes a case study where I'm the lead protagonist is finally out. The book was published by McGraw-Hill and is available from their website.
Philip writes: "In addition, there are links to the book at the Intel Website (a rotating link on the company's homepage and a fixed link on the "About Intel" page). The book is (or will soon be) available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. Please tell your friends."
Posted by jeff at 12:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
July 27, 2005
Senator Ensign Introduces Sweeping Communications Bill - Statutorily Capturing Our Ongoing Communications Policy Debate:
Weighing in at 72 pages, Senator Ensign (joined by Senator McCain) is first out of the box in Congress with an omnibus rewrite of the Communications Act - The Broadband Investment and Consumer Choice Act." We expect a few more members of Congress to weigh in before the Fall with their own conceptions of how to best pave the way for our communications future.
Obviously, it will take us, collectively, some time to digest the nuances of the Ensign Bill, to figure out all the ramifications, potential confusions, conflicting provisions, and inevitable unintended consequences. Here is my first blush on the Bill.
Clearly, the Ensign Bill is an effort to account for the technological advances primarily afforded by IP technology and Moore's Law. The Bill is also an effort to create a very deregulatory landscape. In the process, however, the Bill, per force, imposes some regulation on the previously unregulated information and application providers who happen to be able to deliver quality voice applications that could compete with traditional telecom services. In particular, the Ensign Bill allows for some imposition of emergency response, lawful intercept, and even disabilities access obligations on voice application providers. On the bright side, the Bill also explicitly prohibits port-blocking ... or does it? I can't quite reconcile several potentially conflicting and litigation-inducing provisions. Let's take a look at the relevant provisions:
Section 7(a)(1)(c) reads: "A consumer may not be denied access to any content provided over facilities used to provide broadband communications service and a broadband service provider shall not willfully and knowingly block access to such content by a subscriber, ..."
This seems good. But then Section 7(a)(1)(c) continues: "... unless ...such access is inconsistent with the terms of the service plan of such consumer including applicable bandwidth capacity or quality of service constraints."
Hmm, does this provision open the door to allow some discriminatory treatment depending on whether the end-user is using the carrier-provided application or an unaffiliated application provider's application?
Section 7(a)(2) sheds some light: "Customized Content. A broadband communications service provider may offer to a consumer a customized plan ... to differentiate (A) access to content; (B) the availability of applications; and (C) the character of service components available." This certainly supports the proposition some degree of discrimination between applications is lawful.
But then, Section 7(a)(3) seems to counter that conclusion: "Non-Customized Content. Nothing in subsection (a) shall adversely affect the performance of non-customized consumer access to content, services, and applications offered by the competitors of a broadband service provider."
Perhaps the Enforcement provision will make things a little clearer:
Section 7(b) "Enforcement of Access Violations.
(1) The [Federal Communications] Commission may take such enforcement action as it may prescribe by rule, if the Commission determines that a broadband communications service provider intentionally restricted access to any content described in subsection (a)(1)."
This sounds very promising. But let's review the exceptions:
(2) Exception. A broadband communications service provider may not be in violation of subsection (a), if such service provider does not interrupt or block access to any content described in subsection (a)(1) when (A) performing network (i) optimization or management; (ii) security; or (iii) prioritization; ..."
Again, some degree of discrimination might be lawful.
7(d) "Connectivity of Devices. Except as provided in this section, a broadband service provider shall not prevent any person from utilizing equipment and devices in connection with lawful content or applications."
This sounds very much like the core net freedom and consumer empowerment principles. And certainly, this next provision is an outright statutory memorialization of net freedom:
7(e) "Access to VoIP Applications. Nothing in subsection (a) shall permit a broadband service provider to prevent a customer from using voice over Internet Protocol applications offered by a competitor."
All in all, I would say these provisions weigh heavily in support of net freedom and consumer empowerment and generally allow consumers to control their own communications experience and reach the content and applications of their own choosing. It is obviously a difficult balance, and the provisions clearly reflect the debate we have been waging for the past couple of years over what net freedom means and when may a carrier differentiate between its own services and potentially competing Internet applications. What security and quality of service issues open the door for some degree of discrimination? I, for one, am glad that this Bill positions this debate front and center. For me, it has been the most relevant issue that we need to resolve in order to create the best possible communications future and regulatory structure that allows for the best balance between fostering broadband deployment, application innovation and competition.
As an aside, here is another provision I found potentially problematic (although similar State commission delegations in the '96 Act do not seem to have posed any Constitutional challenges):
8(c): Enforcement.
(1): "... a State commission shall have authority to enforce the rules established by the Commission pursuant to this section.
(2) Each State commission shall designate a local point of contact, which residents of that State may contact to alert the State of any potential violations of the rules and regulations set forth under subsection (a)."
Now, I'm not a Constitutional scholar, but I believe that State commissions are creatures of their states and not of the Federal government. I think this delegation by Congress directly to State commissions might be a violation of the 10th Amendment and a usurpation of the authority delegated to the States. Frankly, I think the '96 Telecom Act might have imposed obligations on State Commissions (such as arbitration procedures between carriers, interconnection, collocation, UNE, pricing and some number administration tasks), but I don't think that is clear evidence that this provision would not be a 10th Amendment violation, simply that no one bothered to challenged the Constitutionality of such prior provisions. I was confused as to why no States successfully challenged such direct delegation to State commissions after the '96 Act. Maybe they did, I just missed it or forgot about it. In any event, I am still confused. Any Constitutional insight on this point would be appreciated.
Finally, I suspect the CLECs will be quite concerned about Sec. 9's providing for "commercial arrangements regarding the ability of such facilities-based providers to interconnect with other facilities-based providers." I'm not sure what the incentive really is for a provider with market power to negotiate fairly with smaller competitors, but that is not necessarily my battle. Maybe I should count my blessings -- getting strong statutory language in support of net freedom and consumer empowerment might be good enough.
* * *
I must, however, renew my concerns, that once the big boys start playing with the language of even the friendliest of bills, it's anyone's guess how the final Bill ends up. Frankly, I do not know who will speak up for the would-be innovators. We do not have the deep pockets or lobbying muscle of the entrenched players in DC and we might end up as collateral damage, ripped up scraps of noble intentions strewn across the Committee Floor. I think we, at least, have an eloquent champion in Senator Sununu, and a few of his colleagues appear to understand the needs of the Internet and communications innovators and entrepreneurs. But without the vocal and financial support of the Internet community - the innovators and entrepreneurs trying to transform the ways in which we communicate -- there may simply be too many forces weighing against those advocating for the Internet, for innovation and for advanced communications.
I would have simply liked to have seen Senator Sununu's Bill or Rep. Pickering's Bill pass during Congress' last term. Alas, that term has expired, that ship has sailed. We are in a world where Congress seems committed to a more omnibus rewrite of the Communications laws. Regardless of what legislation ultimately moves through Congress, I have deep concerns that any expansive rewrite ends up with too many conflicting provisions subject to radically divergent interpretations. And, in the end, I suspect we end up in a new regulatory and judicial interpretative quagmire.
* * *
On a lighter note, whenever I hear the phrase "Senator Ensign", I can't help think of the character "Major Major", formerly "Captain Major" from Catch 22. If Senator Ensign were promoted would he become "President Ensign" or "Senator Lieutenant"?
Posted by jeff at 06:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)
Just Upgraded to a VizuFon Video Phone for FWD# 10000:
While I have been around the office this past week, I look the liberty of exchanging my desktop Cisco 7960 phone that I was using for FWD, for a VizuFon Video Phone.
During the past couple of days, I've experienced that the 2-way video from the VizFon works quite well with both pulver.Communicator as well as other VizuFons.
If there any FWDers around this week that would like to schedule a video call, please feel free to drop me a line.
Posted by jeff at 08:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (37)
Phil Zimmermann in the News (Again)
There is a reason why I invited my friend, Phil Zimmermann back in March to give an “Industry Perspective” at the Fall 2005 VON Conference.
Phil, who is known to many as the creator of the Pretty Good Privacy is once again looking at the VoIP space and how he can contribute to it. I first met Phil at the CFP 2004 conference back in April, 2004 and I learned of his renewed interest in VoIP and security.
A few months ago I was given a private demonstration by Phil of a prototype of his “secure” VoIP client and to say that I was just impressed would be an understatement. While Phil will be making more news when he gives his demonstration tomorrow at the Black Hat Briefings security industry conference in Las Vegas, he will also be with us in Boston at Fall VON and looks forward to becoming better well known within the VoIP industry.
Posted by jeff at 06:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
July 26, 2005
FCC Public Notice on VoIP Subscriber Notification Deadlines:
As anticipated, the FCC's Enforcement Bureau released a Public Notice providing some guidance to Interconnected VoIP Providers concerning the July 29, 2005 Subscriber Notification Deadlines requiring affirmative responses from consumers of the E911 limitations of the VoIP service provider. http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-05-2085A1.doc
In the Public Notice, the Bureau announced that it would not seek enforcement, for a 30-day period, of the requirement that providers obtain affirmative acknowledgements, by July 29, 2005, from 100% of their subscribers that they have read and understood an advisory concerning the limitations of their E911 service. To be eligible for this extension, providers must meet certain reporting requirements.
First off, I have to reiterate that the Interconnected VoIP Services Providers, through the mobilizing efforts of the VON Coalition, are working diligently to comply with the terms of the FCC's E911 for VoIP Order.
Second, the shut-off requirement of the E911 for VoIP Order does not have anything to do with whether the Interconnect VoIP Service Provider is providing basic 911 or E911 (a requirement that does not even kick in until November), but only to do with the fact that customers may not have responded within the FCC set time frame (an event over which VoIP Service Providers do not have any actual control).
With these thoughts in mind, a couple things strike me as quite a bit odd with regard to the notification and shut-off requirement:
First of all, telecom providers typically are legally obligated to provide consumers with sufficient notice before shutting off service. The FCC seems to have flipped this concept on its side head -- requiring VoIP providers to shut off service rather than the traditional default of continuing service. I think it would still be better for the consumer to have some service (even if it doesn't provide a cookie-cutter E911 solution) better than no service at all. I think this might be the first time that a regulator has actually ordered a VoIP service to be shut off, even when the service is providing a basic 911 capability.
It is especially interesting to put this Public Notice in context: there are roughly 1.5 million wireline users in the US who lack E911 and the vast majority of wireless providers may continue to provide service without E911. A VoIP provider who today offers full E911 but hasn't been able to gain an acknowledgement from its customers may have to shut off service -- again, isn't some service (even if it doesn't provide a cookie-cutter E911 solution) better than no service at all.
Finally, I've got to point to a few examples of customers who might have their service shut off because of an inability of the service provider to provide a traditional E911 offering. The most obvious example to me is the US Commerce Department, which has migrated its communications service to IP. I don't believe that a Commerce Department employee who takes her VoIP service home would have E911 capability on that phone. The space shuttle launch reminds me that NASA uses IP technology. Certainly, someone on a space station would never expect a localized E911 capability. Even if the station is in orbit above Kansas, I cannot imagine a Wichita ambulance making the emergency response call. Frankly, I would hope that IP technology would afford astronauts so much more. And what about the aircraft carriers in the US Fleet -- in order to comply with the E911 obligations, wouldn't these ships need to report their location? Uh, that might be a problem. ;-(
Posted by jeff at 09:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
pulver.com's Karaoke Fridays - A Secret No More:
BusinessWeek online: The CEO's Tech Toolbox
"A while back, Jeff Pulver decided to infuse a bit of fun into his busy summer by making Friday his company's pizza and karaoke day. Naturally, the CEO of Pulver.com, a company in Melville, N.Y. that organizes summits and provides perspectives for the IP communications industry, didn't let a little problem like not being able to carry a tune stop him from performing in front of dozens of his employees. Instead, Pulver bought the latest technology on the karaoke circuit, the so-called On-Key Pro Karaoke System from IVL Technologies in Victoria, British Columbia. IVL boasts that it can make a person's off-key warbling sound Celine Dion-perfect. "The microphone can make it seem as if I can actually sing," says Pulver, 42. "Now, Friday is my favorite day of the week."
Posted by jeff at 06:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)
Being Interviewed by the Wall Street Journal today:
This morning I will be making one of my few scheduled treks into Manhattan this summer – to be interviewed by the Wall Street Journal as a prelude for a future “profile” in the WSJ.
In the world of the internet and cell phones, it has become pretty rare for me to do actual face-to-face interviews when I’m not at one of our VON events, but this seemed like a pretty exciting opportunity and well worth the trip. :)
Posted by jeff at 06:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
July 25, 2005
VoIP News from NARUC:
The FCC just announced (at the National Association of Regulatory Commissioner's Meeting underway in Austin, TX, USA) the creation of a JOINT FEDERAL/STATE VOIP ENHANCED 911 ENFORCEMENT TASK FORCE to look at consumer protection issues for VoIP.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-260150A1.doc.
According to the FCC announcement:
Staff from both the FCC and State Public Utility Commissions will serve as members, working closely with representatives from the public safety community, including the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) and the National Emergency Number Association (NENA).
The Task Force was created to facilitate the timely and effective enforcement of the Commission's VoIP E911 rules. Working together, the federal and state Task Force members will look at developing educational materials to ensure that consumers understand their rights and the requirements of the FCC's VoIP E911 Order and rules and how best to expedite compliance and facilitate enforcement, where necessary. The Task Force will also compile data and share best practices.
FCC and NARUC Task Force members will be named shortly.
The FCC's VoIP E911 rules require interconnected VoIP providers to:
- Deliver all 911 calls to the customer's local emergency operator;
- Give emergency operators the call back number and location information of their customers where the emergency operator is capable of receiving it; and
- Inform their customers of their E911 capabilities and limitations of their service.
With regard to the last point, we understand that the FCC will likely issue a public notice tomorrow setting forth a process by which PSTN-connected VoIP providers in the US might obtain 30-day E-9-1-1 notice waivers from the July 29 deadline by which providers are expected to have notified their consumers (and received acknowledgement from their consumers) of any limitations of their E-9-1-1 offerings. Such waivers will apparently be allowed as long the company requesting it also files a compliance plan simultaneously.
Posted by jeff at 11:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
The Launch of MSN Virtual Earth Beta:
As Google Earth continues to generate buzz, Microsoft has just announced the launch of MSN Virtual Earth.
Unlike Google Earth, Virtual Earth is not run as a separate application.
With the advent of the wealth of information now highlighted by these new free services, I'm waiting for the first IP Communication service provider to build an application that ties their E911 service into a similar service and begins to demonstrate the kinds of enhanced E911 services that are now available thanks to the continued innovation which appear everyday on the Internet.
Posted by jeff at 07:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
July 24, 2005
“Fly” Around the World on Air Google…give Google Earth a Spin:
If you haven’t already discovered Google Earth, take a moment and download this new beta service from Google. This new service from Google may end up scaring some people about how visible we have all become from space, and may help open the minds of others, with regard to new applications for such technology. I was taken back by the clarity of this service and the fact that I was able to notice my car in the office parking lot when I entered the street address of my office on Long Island.
As I experimented with Google Earth, I couldn’t help but start thinking about the next-generation location based services which could evolve by connecting real-time GPS devices to this service and then I learned that Google already anticipated this with their subscription “Google Earth Plus” and “Google Earth Pro” services.
Google Earth has my vote as one of the more innovative free services launched in the Summer of 2005.
Posted by jeff at 03:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Images from The Hamptons - Summer 2005:
Yesterday I spent time rediscovering some of the more relaxing spots in and around the Hamptons. I took the following pictures using a Nikon D2X and a 28-200mm lense:
Posted by jeff at 01:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
July 23, 2005
Blogsphere feedback From Elise in Toronto:
"To answer your question, I read your blog every morning when I get into work (I also read the wedding announcements, obituaries and my other friends' blog who live in the UK)! To get to your blog, I just go to your website and click on the link to the blog. I don't know what RSS feed is (if that's what you called it). Thanks for giving me something to read everyday."
Humm...the blogsphere is an interesting place. :)
Posted by jeff at 09:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (27)
July 22, 2005
A "Record" Week for me...
For me, 2005 has been a year of being "on the road"...so much so that today marks the first time in 2005 that I ended up being in my office for a Monday to Friday in the same week...something that most other people take for granted. As far as I can remember, it has been almost a year since I actually was in the office for five days in a row (M-F).
Posted by jeff at 07:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Blogsphere Feedback: Connecting with some of the readers of my Blog
The Blogsphere continues to be an amazing place.
Just 7 minutes after I posted my request yesterday to meet some of the people who are reading my blog, I started to receiving emails from people from all over the world, some from people I actually knew and many from total strangers who took a moment to say hello. So far I've heard back from 31 people and I am trying to get back to all of the people who contacted me.
I highly recommend this technique to other bloggers: Every once in a while reach out and directly connect with your readership. Blogging can be an interactive experience and the feedback from those who read you can be real rewarding.
It turns out that a number of very interesting people with very diverse backgrounds read me. About a quarter of those who emailed me, mentioned that they rely on the RSS feed. I'm guessing just about everyone else just visits the blog website.
If there are other readers who would like to introduce themselves, don't be shy. Feel free to drop me a line…if not today, then in the future.
Posted by jeff at 08:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
And the Beat Goes On...
Today is another Karaoke Friday at pulver.com.
Yesterday, while being interviewed by Business Week Online on a story about CEOs' involvement with companies' IT decisions, I was asked what gadgets I had on my desk. When I told Olga Kharif that the gadgets I had were two different Karaoke microphones : (both the On Key from IVL Technologies and the LS3700 from Leadsinger), the story shifted from a discussion of IT decision making to a discussion of the culture of pulver.com and my passion for music and what exactly we do during lunch on Fridays in the Summer.
I’m looking forward to seeing how Olga works the pulver.com “Karaoke Fridays” experience into a future Business week Online story. :)
Posted by jeff at 08:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
July 21, 2005
A Few Steps forward for VoIP Policy?:
It was a full day for many VoIP advocates in DC today. ITAA and the VON Coalition hosted a successful Summit on VoIP Safety and Security Issues at the National Press Club. Among the highlights of the Summit, Sen. Sununu gave a particularly compelling talk in support of IP innovation, and Henning Schulzrinne shared his views on the power of IP technology to produce a superior IP-enabled next generation emergency response system.
The members of the Global IP Alliance met with representatives from the FCC, the US State Department, the US Commerce Department, and with regulators from some 30 other countries to discuss release of the Global IP Alliance's VoIP Policy Status Matrix and launch of the Global IP Alliance's VoIP Wiki. The Matrix and Wiki are Global IP Alliance efforts to allow regulators, industry, analysts, reporters and users to develop a better sense of the varying and evolving regulatory treatment of VoIP around the World.
Below is a copy the Global IP Alliance's Press Statement:
----
Global IP Alliance: www.ipall.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jonathan Askin
July 22, 2005
1-631-961-1049 jaskin@pulver.com
Global IP Alliance Releases Report and Establishes Wiki on Evolving State IP-Based Communications Around the Globe
Study Indicates Wide Disparity of Treatment Towards VoIP
Washington, DC, July 22, 2005 -- The Global IP Alliance ("Alliance") today released its initial report and established an ongoing process to allow government, industry and consumers to obtain current information on the state of global IP-based communications technology and regulation. Hosting government regulators from more than 25 countries in DC today, the Alliance officially launched public access to the Global IP Policy Matrix (available at http://www.ipall.org/matrix) and announced a new process whereby those following IP technology and regulation may share information on VoIP treatment around the world via the establishment of the Global IP Alliance's wiki (available at www.globalipalliance.net).
"The Matrix is the first in a series of evolving, updateable resources that will establish the Alliance as the 'go-to' resource for IP-based communications-related information around the world," noted Julie Hedlund, Strategic Advisor to the Global IP Alliance. "The Matrix is designed to allow industry, regulators and consumers to determine the state of regulatory oversight of emerging IP-based technologies, services and applications. By supplying information and support regarding regulatory activities, the Alliance will also serve to demonstrate that the emerging IP-based communications industry is capable of self-governance without the need for stringent regulatory interference or prescriptive oversight."
"The Global IP Alliance Wiki is designed to allow interested parties around the globe to share information and insights about the evolving state of IP-based communications around the world," said Jonathan Askin, Acting Executive Director of the Global IP Alliance and General Counsel to pulver.com. "No individual is in a position to describe the state of IP-based communications around the world, but, working together, we all may develop a clearer, more complete picture of the state of IP technology and the legal, regulatory and economic structures affecting it around the world."
Members of the Global IP Alliance were in Washington for a full day of VoIP related events, attending an earlier session sponsored by ITAA and the VON Coalition addressing safety and security for VoIP. "IP Communication is rapidly changing the world, and transforming human society," noted Steve Smith, member of the Global IP Alliance, and Chief Scientist for LavaLife. "As with any rapid transformation, such a shift poses challenges for governments around the globe."
"The Global IP Alliance believes that the future must be innovation and technology driven," noted Marilyn Cade, Strategy Consultant to the Alliance. Rules are being set right now that affect IP Enabled Services, especially VoIP. Lawmakers and regulators have both questions and concerns that need to be addressed if we are to avoid typical telecom regime, or international treaty approaches that can only stifle innovation and adoption by users around the world -- whether businesses or consumers. The Global IP Alliance is bringing industry and users together to address these issues and others, affecting the bright future of IP enabled communications."
"Regulations can speed access to technology, or impede it," said Julie Hedlund, Strategy Advisor to the Alliance. "During the time that we've been developing this Report, the level of interest, and the number of policy activities in VoIP regulations and in policy initiatives has grown exponentially. Countries that once banned VoIP for all purposes are beginning to understand its value to their citizens. It is our hope that the Report will also serve as a resource to countries looking for 'lessons learned' to help them develop the best policies to support the adoption of IP enabled services."
The Alliance will develop liaison activities for the disparate entities world-wide concerned with issues related to achieving widespread success of IP communications in a global environment," noted Jonathan Askin, the Acting Executive Director of the Global IP Alliance and the General Counsel to pulver.com. "We understand that there are many entities throughout the world attempting to address the social issues and other challenges confronting the IP-based community. Through joining with other members of the Global IP Alliance, companies and organizations will help to speed the development of awareness, resources, and approaches to foster the rapid deployment and ubiquity of IP communications."
"We acknowledge that technology can solve many problems, when policy doesn't unnecessarily get in the way," said Jeff Pulver, Acting Chairman of the Alliance. "The Global IP Alliance will help to create a world where technology can truly support the individual's communications needs. Imagine a world in which a person using an IP-enabled communications device simply presses a button and coordinated emergency response teams and other entities obtain immediate access to the person's location, medical history and other relevant data that might require particularized treatment. That is the world that we hope to contribute to over the next few years. That is the type of future we hope that the Global IP Alliance will motivate and propel."
* * *
The Global IP Alliance (www.ipall.org) is an international consortium of IP-based communications services and applications providers committed to realizing the promise of IP communications and of interconnecting IP-based communications providers. The Alliance supports the need for addressing how IP-based services and applications are affected by existing local, national and international laws and promotes social objectives such as lawful intercept, emergency response, and access by persons with disabilities. The Global IP Alliance also supports IP-based services and applications interconnection with other IP-based services and applications without regard to customer location. Members of the Global IP Alliance include companies drawn from the platform, applications and service providers currently developing, deploying and interconnecting IP-based networks, services and applications throughout the world.
# # #
Posted by jeff at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
So…Who is Reading This Blog?
July 5th completed a second year of what has turned has into a commitment from myself to contribute daily postings in this blog.
Based on the feedback I received last year when I asked this same question, from what I was able to tell, this blog is pretty well read around the world...but I'd like to learn about who is reading this in 2005.
When you have a moment, please feel free to drop me a line and let me know a little about yourself and whether you subscribe to the RSS feed or actually visit the blog when you read it. I’d like to get to know some more of the people who read me. Please send your email to: jeffp at pulver.com.
Posted by jeff at 08:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
Guest Blogger: Jay Batson, Chairman, Managing Director, SIP Forum
One of the strengths of SIP is its flexibility and adaptability to a wide variety of possible applications.
One of the challenges of SIP is its flexibility and adaptability to a wide variety of possible applications.
This has created a few problems. But if the VoIP industry is good at anything, it is that when a real problem arises, sure enough somebody will step in to fill the gap.
The Solid Ground
The authors of SIP wisely followed a long-standing IETF principle: don't specify features or services when designing a protocol. Instead, specify "primitives" that can be used to build a wide variety of known features and services as well as be useful for creating yet-unknown new stuff, too. This is an excellent touchstone for creating adaptable, long-lived protocols, and has worked well for the IETF – and the rest of us users – for a long time.
But this means that the IETF (for legitimate reasons) sometimes elects NOT to create official standards documents (RFCs) that specify how to use IETF protocols to create actual specific application features or services.
The Gap
This creates a gap between what the IETF wants to focus on, and what the VoIP industry needs in order to maximize seamless interoperability among SIP products. Vendors of real products and services based on SIP frequently provide many of the same features in their respective products. In order to deliver an industry full of products that operate seamlessly for users and customers, vendors must all agree to use SIP primitives in the same way to supply these common features.
For instance, transferring a (SIP-based) phone call from one person to another in a SIP-based IP PBX requires the both phones, and the network elements (IP PBX / proxy) to engage in a 3-way dance using the REFER primitive. If an installation uses phones from both Vendor A and Vendor B, and A and B don't choose the same sequence of SIP REFER messages to do the transfer, the call can't be transferred between these two phones.
Bridging the Gap
The mission of the SIP Forum has been, since its founding in 2000, "...to advance the adoption of products and services based on SIP." Among our most successful activities has been the semi-annual SIPit interoperability test events. These events have been good places to help iron out these differences between products. But they have also revealed that the industry needs an official place to fill these "gap" areas (between the IETF and the SIP VoIP industry). Especially since, as innovative new SIP-based products are introduced, more such areas are showing up.
The SIP Forum is the natural place to host the activities to bridge these technical gaps. So the SIP Forum has shifted a significant amount of its attention, resources, and effort towards making the Form become the place to fill these gaps. The Forum can draw on a strong set of assets that it either already had, or has recently created in order to act effectively in this role:
- Credible, technically-capable membership. The vast majority of the 3,000+ SIP Forum members are technically-oriented. The management list for the Forum reads like the who's-who of SIP specification authors and implementers. The SIP Forum's Technical Working Group chair is also the co-chair of the IETF SIP and SIPPING Working Groups, ensuring consistency, effective communication with, and the avoidance of conflict between the SIP Forum and the IETF;
- Neutral ground. Our Full, paying members don't have inappropriate influence on the outcome of the Forum's technical work; the vote of a smart, pragmatic engineer on how to resolve a technical issue is worth the same thing as the vote of an engineer from a dues-paying Full Member;
- Technical infrastructure. We have websites, wikis, mailing lists, methods for certifying working groups, and a set of policies defining the rights of submitters and users of documents we create;
- Formal document production procedures. Formalized "Recommendations" produced by the SIP Forum will be created in open collaboration from any and all interested parties, with procedures that draw from the best practices of organizations like the IETF, W3C, and other successful Internet-oriented organizations. We have an explicit mandate to NOT pre-empt the IETF; will cannot begin on items until the IETF indicates it will not be making the item into an RFC;
- SIPit and SIMPLEit events. Before Recommendations become final, the SIPit / SIMPLEit events become a natural place to vett how good -- or not-so-good -- a Recommendation really is;
- Focus on SIP – only. The SIP Forum does not have extraneous interests. The focus of the Forum is on promoting the use of SIP to address problems, and does not need to be influenced by other, alternative agendas, protocols, or interests. Solutions to problems will be uncompromisingly based on the most natural way to do things in SIP;
- Support — no... an outright push from the industry. This initiative isn't something "we" have made up ourselves. "We" is the SIP Forum membership itself. And our members are the ones who have turned this this initiative into a reality.
Activities underway
Our members are already hard at work on our first two important subject areas. The first Task Group to be certified by the SIP Forum has started articulating how private IP PBXs should be directly connected to public SIP service providers to obtain PSTN connectivity (and eliminate premises-resident IP/PSTN gateways). This effort draws on the efforts of the Task Group's founding team, who had previously drafted a document called "SIP Connect" for this purpose, but selected the SIP Forum as the best organization to use to get wider industry involvement and buy-in to the specification. The importance of this Task Group is very high, and its first meeting drew widespread participation from IP PBX vendors, SIP service providers, and many others with an interest in insuring a quality outcome.
The next Task Group in the making is the SIP Phone Capabilities Task Group. Enterprises and service providers alike want to have high confidence that SIP phones (and IADs) all implement a core set of features the same way. While some guidance exists from the IETF for this, the IETF document for this is not, and will not be on the "standards track." And the existing IETF draft also needs updating based on many SIPit's worth of experience, and it needs expansion to handle some features initially omitted from the draft. This SIP Forum Task Group, too, is driven by many in industry members, and fire is clearly lit here to product a high quality Recommendation quickly.
If your company is involved in building SIP-based products and services, you owe it to your company to become active in the emerging activities of the SIP Forum. Real, important things are underway. I encourage you to come help these important things produce great results.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
SIP Forum website: http://www.sipforum.org
See also:
SIP Forum Technical Working Groups overview
Mailing list signups
Information on becoming a SIP Forum member
SIP Forum Wiki
Email Jay Batson, or call
at +1-978-824-0111
Posted by jeff at 01:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
July 20, 2005
Vodafone Germany -- Foreshadowing of Wireless Operator Plans to Block VoIP Applications?
I understand that Vodafone might be planning to block VoIP from its wireless network, at least in Germany come 2007. I think this should be of great concern to consumers, IP innovators and policymakers, particularly if other wireless carriers decide to follow suit, in a misguided effort to control the consumer experience and extract all the potential consumer revenue.
The great benefit of IP technology is that it 'disintermediates' the service from the telecom transmission medium. IP technology allows the consumer to control her own communications experience by allowing her to access a virtually infinite supply of voice, video and data Internet applications. I, for one, wish that the wireline and wireless carriers would finally recognize that the application providers, experimenting with IP technology, could dramatically increase the value of their wireline and wireless networks. I have seen efforts by wireless carriers to limit use of wi-fi and Bluetooth on mobile devices because such technologies seem to cut into existing revenue streams.
The network operators have to get beyond the thought that the only revenue model is based on accumulated voice minutes, and start thinking about enabling consumers to maximize the value of carrier-delivered broadband pipes. There is great value in delivering robust, application-rich, broadband pipes to consumers, even if the network operator cannot continue to rely on the historic voice minute revenue model.
Posted by jeff at 12:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (57)
July 19, 2005
Just like a Seinfeld Episode: Truth in Eating in Great Neck
While "Reality TV" is still pretty popular these days, there are times it seems when the life can follow the reality of an episode from a sitcom. In my home town of Great Neck on Long Island, there is a place that for years always reminded me of the Seinfeld episode where the characters are all gaining weight eating what is supposed to be low-calorie frozen yogurt. In Great Neck, Country Cafe's claims on the calories of some of the food sold in their store always seemed out of sync with reality, including the calorie claims of the "low-calorie" frozen yogurt they were selling. It seemed that the New York CBS TV station agreed when they aired a recent "Shame on you" episode featuring Country Cafe.
Ever since I was on the Atkin's diet a couple of years ago, I've tried to intentionally stay away from food that is high in carbs. A local bagel store in Great Neck about 18 months ago started selling "low carb" bagels - bagels they claimed had only 15 carbs and I was amazed if/how it was possible, but I had the bagels because I wanted to believe it was possible. Well, sometimes when something sounds too good to be true, it just is. Amazingly, my local bagel store, in the same town was also just highlighted on a recent episode of "Shame on You" where it was proven that Bagel Hut's 15 carb "low carb" bagel really contained 55 carbs. And it seems they also have trouble with math. Their "low calorie" bagel which they were selling as only having 80 calories in fact had 270 calories.
Who needs reality TV when life can be just like an episode of a sitcom?
Posted by jeff at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (38)
Save the Date: Our Next Peripheral Visionaries' Summit - November 10th
The next iteration of our Peripheral Visionaries' Summit will be taking place in Washington, D.C. on November 10th.
The Summit participants will include leading thinkers from inside and outside the Beltway, including technologists, entrepreneurs, advocates, policy makers and policy wonks. We suspect there is much that legislators, regulators, lobbyists, and policy wonks might learn from the technologists, entrepreneurs, innovators and futurists experimenting with the limits of their imaginations and the power of IP. We also suspect that the technologists have a lot to learn from the policy makers and thinkers formulating the rules that will govern the future of communications and drive technological innovation.
IP-technology twists the logic of everything we've come to think about communications, its regulation and its possibilities. The Peripheral Visionaries' Summit is designed to get beyond the rhetoric, to try to see the issues from contrary points of view, to learn from our respective histories, and to look ahead to figure out how we usher in the best possible collective future.
On November 10th, the leading trade associations and advocates on all sides of the IP-based communications debates will come together for a unified Policy Summit.
If you have a stake in our IP-future, you should consider spending the day with us at the Washington Plaza Hotel on November 10th.
Posted by jeff at 07:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
July 18, 2005
VoIP Safety and Security Event this Thursday, July 21 at the National Press Club:
I wanted to let folks know that ITAA and the VON Coalition are hosting an Event on July 21 at the National Press Club.
The two Congressional sponsors of last year's VoIP Regulatory Freedom Act -- Senator John Sununu and Cong. Chip Pickering -- will keynote the event as Congress begins undertaking a sweeping Telecom Act rewrite.
Many believe VoIP is poised to deliver a host of breakthrough new safety, security, and emergency advances that are impossible to deliver in today's 100 year old telephone network. But some detractors have suggested it is better to stick with today's outdated and sometimes security plagued telephone network, rather then embrace the vast benefits of future technologies because of the mere possibility that future VoIP technology might be exploited. This event, with some of the nation's leading experts, will explore these issues and some of the inherent advantages of VoIP for delivering safety, security, investment, innovation, and opportunity.
Already the federal government and others are taking advantage of VoIP, not just because of cost savings, but to take advantage of some of the mobility, features and functionality that can prove critical in an emergency. In fact, it may turn out to be more important to accelerate the transition to VoIP and IP communications in order to maximize the safety and security functionality that it enables. In the wake of the FCC's E911 order, this event couldn't be more timely.
More Information and Registration is available at: http://www.itaa.org/eweb/upload/voipevent721.htm
Posted by jeff at 04:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
Fall 2005 VON Conference Schedule Update:
Fall 2005 VON will be taking place in Boston September 19th-22nd. Our conference schedule breakout sessions continue to get updated on a regular basis.
We now have a RSS feed for those who wish to track updates to our Fall 2005 VON schedule.
"Industry Perspectives" at the Fall 2005 VON Conference include:
"Early bird" VON conference registration ends on August 5th.
Our Sold-Out exhibit floor at Fall 2005 VON will be our largest in our history, with more than 300 exhibitors.
Visitors to our exhibit floor (and the Fall 2005 VON Conference delegates) will be invited attend to the following VON Expo Keynotes:
By the way, now would be a great time to make your Fall 2005 VON hotel reservation.
Posted by jeff at 12:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
July 17, 2005
Just ordered my first Robot Dog: The Sony AIBO ERS-7M2
I recently spent time with a Sony AIBO ERS-7M2 and decided to place an order for my first robot.
The AIBO is scheduled to arrive sometime this week.
I'm looking forward to welcoming the AIBO into the pulver.com family. :)
Posted by jeff at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (37)
July 16, 2005
Thinking about the Fall in the middle of the Summer…
While Fall 2005 VON is still nine weeks away, (“early bird” registration ends August 5th) now that I’m back from Las Vegas, and my own entry in the 2005 World Series of Poker is history, I’ve started taking another hard look at the state of the worldwide VoIP industry and where things may be headed in the near future, from a business, policy and technology perspective.
On the tech policy front, I stand by my recent: Call to Arms to Protect the Internet that I blogged about on July 6th. Now is not the time to be passive about these issues. Those of you who care about the future should take the time and join the Global IP Alliance, and consider joining us at our next Peripheral Visionaries’ summit.
On the business front, I continue to hear about private companies working on their Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. As far as I can tell, this is just another sign that a number of the private companies, which will be at Fall 2005 VON are working on the steps necessary to file their S-1s and follow the road to going public. I’m also pretty confident that we will continue to hear news the rest of 2005 of other private companies getting acquired…and they will not all be Session Boarder Controller (SBC) companies.
Our VON events continue to grow, and Fall 2005 VON will have our largest exhibit hall in our history, with more than 300 companies represented on our show floor. I still think it was pretty cool that a recent Infonetics Survey of Carriers named VON the Leading Event for Next Generation Voice Equipment and Trends. Other than SUPERCOMM which came in second in the survey (with 52% of the vote), no other event was mentioned by more than 7% of respondents. :-)
The summer of 2005 has been a tipping point of sorts, both in terms of when the Internet becoming a channel for live broadcasts as well as the time ordinary people become reporters when they were the first to share video and photos from their camera phones in London on July 7th. Which reminds me...we still need A Better Emergency Response. As far as I can tell, the impact of these technology trends will be felt in the months and years ahead.
Posted by jeff at 08:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)
Joe Hachem wins the 2005 World series of Poker Main Event!
Joe Hachem came from behind and just won the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event.
Tex Barch came in third place and won $2,000.000.
Steve Dannemann came in second place and won $4,500,000.
As the winner of the 2005 WSOP Main Event, Joe Hachem won $7,500,000 and the Bracelet from the 2005 WSOP Main Event.
Tags: wsop
Posted by jeff at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Word Series of Poker Final Table now down to three players:
While I was sleeping, four more people were busted from the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event:
- Daniel Bergsdorf won $1,300,00 for 7th place.
- Scott Lazur won $1,500,00 for 6th place.
- Andy Black won $1,750,000 for 5th place.
- Aaron Kanter won $2,000,000 for 4th place.
At the final table of the World Series of Poker's Main event, there are no losers, just winners. Everyone worked real hard during the past week to be there and will earn their share of the record WSOP payout.
The three remaining players are:
- Joe Hachem
- Tex Barch
- Steve Dannemann
The next person to be busted will earn: $2,000,000. The second place winner will be taking home $4,250,000 and the winner will be taking home $7,500,000 and the 2005 WSOP Bracelet.
Tags: wsop
Posted by jeff at 08:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (20)
July 15, 2005
And then there were eight...
Brad Kondracki was just eliminated from the 2005 World Series of Poker and ended up in 8th place. He took home $1,150,00.
Tags: wsop
Posted by jeff at 11:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)
Mike Matusow just got busted from 2005 WSOP Final Table
Mike Matusow was on a roll today but he just lost an an all-in bet to Steven Danneman. Hard to call Mike a "loser." Coming in 9th place, Mike will be taking home one million dollars. :)
Tags: wsop
Posted by jeff at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
2005 WSOP “Main Event” Final Table / Chip count:
When play resumes later today at Binion's, the following nine people will be playing for the 2005 WSOP Championship:
1. Aaron Kanter: $10,700,000
2. Tex Barch: $9,330,000
3. Andrew Black: $8,140,000
4. Mike Matusow: $7,410,000
5. Steve Dannenmann: $5,460,000
6. Joseph Hachem: $5,420,000
7. Daniel Bergsdorf: $5,270,000
8. Scott Lazar: $3,370,000
9. Brad Kondracki: $1,180,000
The first person to bust out will earn one million dollars and the person who earns all of the chips (all 56+ million) will be going home with a WSOP record US$ 7.5 million dollars.
“Shuffle up and Deal!”
Tags: wsop
Posted by jeff at 08:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
Greg "Fossil Man" Raymer Busted from 2005 WSOP:
While I was personally hoping to see Fossil Man repeat his 2004 success at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) this year, Greg was busted from the 2005 WSOP yesterday and ended up in 25th place overall.
Greg's run in the Main event of the WSOP during the past two years has been nothing short of amazing. Last year he bested: 2576 people and this year he outplayed: 5594 people.
During Day 6 of the 2005 World Series of Poker Main event, the following people have been busted:
27th place: Pre Hildebrand, Amount earned: US$ 304,680
26th place: Tom Sartori, Amount earned: US$ 304,680
25th place: Greg Raymer, Amount earned: US$ 304,680
24th place: Tim Phan, Amount earned: US$ 304,680
23th place: Joe Connor, Amount earned: US$ 304,680
22th place: Timmy Vu, Amount earned: US$ 304,680
21th place: Bryant King, Amount earned: US$ 304,680
20th place: Phil Ivey, Amount earned: US$ 304,680
19th place: Minh Ly, Amount earned: US$ 304,680
18th place: John McCrane, Amount earned: US$ 350,000
17th place: Michael Kessler, Amount earned: US$ 350,000
16th place: Johnny Howard, Amount earned: US$ 350,000
15th place: Tiffany Williamsen, Amount earned: US$ 400,000
14th place: Oskar Silow, Amount earned: US$ 400,000
13th place: Bernard Lee, Amount earned: US$ 400,000
12th place: Conner Tate, Amount earned: US$ 600,000
11th place: Shawn Sheikhan, Amount earned: US$ 600,000
10th place: Ayhan Alsancak, Amount earned: US$ 600,000
Tags: wsop
Posted by jeff at 06:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
July 14, 2005
Infonetics Survey of Carriers Names VON the Leading Event for Next Generation Voice Equipment and Trends:
While I was away in Las Vegas for the 2005 World Series of Poker, I received an email from Kevin Mitchell, directing analyst at Infonetics Research, informing me that VON was declared in effect “Best In Class” in a recent Infonetics survey amongst carriers attending trade shows. I wasn’t aware of the new Infonetics survey prior to receiving the email.
The Infonetics Research survey, entitled "Service Provider Plans for Next Gen Voice 2005", carriers declared that our VON (Voice on the Net)Conference and Expo as the most useful tradeshow for next generation voice equipment and trends.
Senior analysts at Infonetics conducted extensive interviews with decision-makers at 44 North American, European, and Asia Pacific service providers. In the open-ended survey, 59% of respondents named VON as the most useful tradeshow. This puts VON ahead of SUPERCOMM, which finished second in the survey, having been named by 52%. No other event was mentioned by more than 7% of respondents.
According to Kevin Mitchell who was the lead author of the study: "Our study shows that VON is a substantial educational forum for the fast-paced VoIP industry. As an impartial industry observer and a regular VON attendee and speaker, I've experienced first-hand the great content offered at VON shows. The increase in diversity and breadth of carrier attendees has also been quite noticeable over the past two years."
Personally I think it is pretty cool when we see third parties substantiate the industry-wide recognition that VON has received over the years. VON has always been the VoIP industry trade show, and we are no longer just about voice. In fact, VON is quickly becoming the industry event for the communications industry as a whole.
By the way, “Early Bird” registration for the Fall 2005 VON Conference ends on August 5th.
posted using Verizon EvDO while waiting for jetBlue flight 198 in Las Vegas.
Posted by jeff at 03:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
2005 WSOP "Main Event" now down to 27 players:
The "Main Event" of the 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is now down to 27 players, and the game resumes at 3pm (PST) today at Binion's Horseshoe, having moved from the Rio. The 27 players will be playing down to the 9 players who will be in tomorrow's Final Table. Yesterday was a huge day for Greg "Fossil Man" Raymer as he recovered and grew his chip stack from 766k and being in 31st place to starting play today in 5th place with 3.84 million in chips.
Of the 27 players still in the hunt, there are still 5 countries represented:
- Australia:(1)
- England: (2)
- Ireland: (2)
- Sweden: (4)
- USA: (18)
Should Greg Raymer repeat as the 2005 WSOP champion, it would be an amazing feat, considering that last year he surfaced to the top from a starting field of: 2,576 and this year the starting field was: 5,619.
Current Chip Count:
1. Mike Matusow (USA) $5.14M
2. Phil Ivey (USA) $4.635M
3. Steven Dannenmann (USA) $4.3M
4. Tex Barch (USA) $3.9M
5. Greg "Fossil Man" Raymer (USA) $3.84M
6. Brad Koudrachi (USA) $3.16M
7. Joseph Hachem (Australia) $3.125M
8. Scott Lazar (USA) $3.025M
9. Michael Kessler (USA) $2.7M
10. Daniel Bergsdorf (Sweden) $2.55M
11. Andrew Black (Ireland) $2.09M
12. Minh Ly (USA) $2.050M
13. Aaron Kanter (USA) $1.925M
14. Tuan Vu (USA) $1.87M
15. Tim Phan (USA) $1.575M
16. Oskar Silow (Sweden) $1.44M
17. Bryant King (USA) $1.44M
18. Conor Tate (Ireland) $1.265M
19. Tiffany Williamsen (England) $1.125M
20. Joe Connor (USA) $1.065M
21. Tom Sartorv (USA) $805K
22. Johnny Howard (USA) $730K
23. Bernard Lee (USA) $710K
24. Per Hildebrand (Sweden) $645K
25. John McGrane (England) $575K
26. Shahram Shublem (USA) $310K
27. Ayhan Alsancak (Sweden) $225K
The players who lose today will be taking home:
27-19: US$ 304,680
18-16: US$ 350,000
15-13: US$ 400,000
12-10: US$ 600,000
Tomorrow at the Final table of the Main event, the players will be taking home:
9th: US$ 1,000,000
8th: US$ 1,150,000
7th: US$ 1,300,000
6th: US$ 1,500,000
5th: US$ 1,750,000
4th: US$ $2,000,000
3rd: US$ $2,000,000
2nd: US$ $4,250,000
1st: US$ $7,500,000
Greg "Fossil Man" Raymer (from Day 1a)
Tags: wsop
Posted by jeff at 09:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
Still trying to leave Las Vegas...
Yesterday as I tried to leave for New York, the jetBlue flight I was scheduled to be on was experiencing extreme flight delays. This was mostly due to the 120 degrees midday heat on the runway in Las Vegas. Rather than spending the day/night trying to get home for what should only be a 4 1/2 hour flight, I opted to get off the flight and leave for home in the morning.
Posted by jeff at 09:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
July 13, 2005
Leaving Las Vegas…
Later today I will be leaving Las Vegas and will heading back home to New York for another jetBlue afternoon.
Looking back at the week that I spent at the 2005 World Series of Poker, I’m pretty proud of what I was able to accompolish in my first entry in the “Main Event” of the World Series of Poker. While I was here, I started to gain an insider’s perspective on the “business of poker” which I have just started to explore. I am leaving Las Vegas with a lot more knowledge of the game of “No-Limit Hold’em”, something that one can only get by being at the WSOP in person and playing in face-to-face (non-internet) tournaments.
While I was at the WSOP, I enjoyed the opportunity of meeting and seeing many of the people who are part of the professional poker tour as well as meeting people who came out the 2005 WSOP with the dream of winning it all and dealing with the consequences afterwards.
Congratulations again to Scott Kargman for making into “the money” in WSOP event #43.
I’m looking forward to being back in Las Vegas next year to be a part of the 2006 World Series of Poker, and hopefully have the time over the next twelve months to participate in some of the other poker events on the professional poker circuit.
.
Tags: wsop
Posted by jeff at 02:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)
Reminder: Time to Nominate Companies for the 2005 pulver100
Now in it's fourth year, the pulver100 includes only PRIVATE companies in the communications sector that have substantial real-world deployments and enjoy significant growth rates.
The list seeks to include the companies that represent the future of the communications ecosystem. The value chain characterized by the companies listed in the pulver100 differs substantially from the vertically integrated telecom model of the last century. The companies prospering in the new environment have followed the computer and networking industry model with open interfaces, connectivity decoupled from services, and software decoupled from hardware.
The pulver100 nominations are reviewed June-August each year. The deadline for nominations this year is: July 22, 2005.
Please send nominations for consideration to: pulver100@pulver.com.
The 2005 pulver100 will be announced in September and awards will be given out at Fall 2005 VON.
Posted by jeff at 09:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
More Images from the 2005 World Series of Poker:
Yesterday was Day 4 of the 2005 World Series of Poker "Main Event" as well as the second day of WSOP event #43 and the first day of WSOP event #44.
Below are images from the various 2005 WSOP events that took place at the Rio on July 12th:
photos taken by: Scott Kargman and Jeff Pulver
Tags: wsop
Posted by jeff at 04:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)
July 12, 2005
Congratulations to Scott Kargman for placing “In the Money” in WSOP Event # 43
Yesterday was both day 3 of the World Series of Poker “Main Event”, as well as the day WSOP event #43, the “$1500 No-Limit Texas Hold’em” event took place. While much of the media attention was focused on the “Main Event”, Scott Kargman, Jonathan Askin and I all took part in WSOP event #43, a game which had a starting field of about 860 people.
Amongst the three of us, I was the first to leave the game when my J-J went up against A-K and I lost. Jonathan exited the game a few hours later. Scott, however managed to build up his chip count and he ended up playing for 12 hours. For his efforts, Scott ended up coming in 61st place and as a result placed “In the Money” and took home a portion of the prize pool from WSOP event # 43.
Congratulations to Scott making it “In the Money” in his first World Series of Poker event!
Scott Kargman
Tags: wsop
Posted by jeff at 09:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (66)
July 11, 2005
Our Second Annual Charity "No Limit Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament" - September 18th in Boston:
Our second Annual "Best Bet for the Cure" Charity Poker Tournament will be taking place on Sunday, September 18th in Boston.
The Best Bet for the Cure: Charity Poker No Limit Texas Hold'em Tournament has been underwritten by pulver.com in association with Fall 2005 VON. The proceeds from this event will benefit The Barton Center for Diabetes Education, Inc. The Barton Center will donate a portion of its proceeds to the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation.
DRI is an international center dedicated exclusively to the cure and treatment of diabetes. The result of parents of children with diabetes who banded together more than twenty-five years ago to focus scientific attention on this disease, the DRI today stands as a world leader in innovative cure-related research.
The Barton Center for Diabetes Education is the largest, independent camping and educational program in the country dedicated to children who live with diabetes and the people who care for them. Some 1,500 children and their families participate in our programs annually, including the Clara Barton resident camp, Adventure Programs, Family Programs, and Day Camps in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
The tournament will be limited to the first 200 people who register. This year there is a $100 buy-in with unlimited re-buys for the first 90 minutes. The tournament will start promptly at 5:00pm on September 18th.
Companies interested in sponsoring this event should contact: Nancy Largay.
Tags: poker, charitypoker, wsop
Posted by jeff at 08:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (43)
New York Times Story on the 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event:
New York Times: July 11 2005 - In Poker World Series, a Novice Flirts With Glory
Tags: wsop
Posted by jeff at 06:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Reminder: Fall 2005 VON Conference "Early Bird" Promotion ends on August 5th
The "early bird" pricing promotion for Fall 2005 VON ends in less than a month.
If you are planning on attending the Fall 2005 VON Conference, please remember to register by August 5th if you would like to take advantage of our special "early bird" conference prices.
Readers who register for the "VON Package" or "Full Conference" by using the special priority code: JPBL2 during the month of July will benefit by taking advantage of the "early bird" pricing and will also receive an iPod Mini when they pick up their badge in Boston.
Posted by jeff at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
"Busted Out" of the Main Event of the 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP)
Earlier today, I joined the long list of people, including many of Poker's Top Players who are now out of the "Main Event" of the 2005 World Series of Poker.
For me, the day started out great, since after just two hands, I managed to double my chip stack to: 32,000 which at least took me out of being the person at the table with the shortest chip stack. What I didn’t realize at that time was that move also had temporarily moved me up from 1300th place to around 650th place in chip count. But about 90 minutes later I was amongst the group of people who survived the grueling first day of play only to leave on the second day.
While it feels great to know that I was lucky enough to last in the Main Event longer than many poker professionals, having tasted what it feels like playing in the Main event of the World Series of Poker, I know that I will do what I can to play in the main event in 2006.
In the meanwhile, while I'm in Las Vegas, I will be playing in two more of the WSOP events, games #43 and #44 which are one-day events that take place on Monday and Tuesday.
Tags: wsop
Posted by jeff at 01:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (22)
July 10, 2005
Day 2 of the 2005 WSOP “No-limit Texas Hold’em” World Championship Event Awaits:
At 2:35 AM (PST) I was amongst the group of approximate 600 people who made it to another day in the 2005 WSOP “No-limit Texas Hold’em” World Championship Event. The initial starting field of 5,500+ is now 1867.
Playing in the WSOP main event is an experience which I won’t forget. During the course of the day and night there were a couple of times when I was on the edge with a very low chip count but I managed to end the day with 16,150 chips. While I’m on the low side of the chip count, I’m still in the game. I was amazed to learn about the fairly large number of professional poker players who didn’t make it through day 1.
Day 2 of the event starts in just a few hours. For Day 2 I’m taking a “Nothing is Impossible”, + “The Future is Unwritten” + “Being Lucky is O.K.” approach to playing. My goal for the day is to build up my chip count so that I have enough chips to be still playing in this game on Monday.
Below are some images from Day 1(c) of the 2005 WSOP. The photos were taken on a Nokia 9500 by WSOP Photographer Johnny A:
Posted by jeff at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (100)
Still standing after 13 hours
Just finished round 6. Two more rounds to go tonight.
Posted by jeff at 03:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
July 09, 2005
Table 17 Awaits...
My 2005 WSOP journey begins.
Posted by jeff at 01:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Experimenting with Photo Blogging during WSOP Game #42
I've just configured my Nokia 6600 with the ability to post photos directly to my blog.
While I did not feel comfortable bringing the Nikon camera with me to the poker table this morning, I now have the ability to blog and post pictures from my camera phone, should the opportunity present itself. :)
Posted by jeff at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
World Series of Poker Game #42 (1c): Table# 17, Seat# 9 – It all starts Here:
In a few hours I will be at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, playing my part in the biggest poker tournament the world has ever seen. I will see my first hands of the event, sitting at Table #17, Seat #9. My initial goal is to make it through today so that I will be one of the approximately 1,900 people playing tomorrow out of the original starting field of: 5,661. To survive the day means playing for somewhere between 14-16 hours and being lucky enough to win the hands where I’m the odd-on favorite to win, and to catch enough breaks on some of the hands where I wasn’t the favorite from the start. Knowing how to play the game is important, but so is being lucky…and as far as I’m concerned: “Being Lucky is O.K.”
Tags: wsop
Posted by jeff at 09:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)
Images from 2005 World Series of Poker - Game #42 (Day 1b)
Tags: wsop
Posted by jeff at 01:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
July 08, 2005
Support in the Blogsphere for "A Better Emergency Response:"
During the past day, I've received a number of emails in support of the blog posting yesterday - A Better Emergency Response.
I also noticed a couple of related blog postings:
Posted by jeff at 03:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
July 07, 2005
Images from the 2005 World Series of Poker - Game #42 (Day 1a)
This afternoon I dropped by the 2005 World Series of Poker for the first session (1a) of Game #42. There were somewhere between 1,800 to 2,000 people at the tables when the game started at 11am. I was told they would be playing until there were 666 people left which was estimated to take until around 2:30 - 3:00 AM. Session (1b) takes place tomorrow and I will be playing in game (1c) on Saturday.
I searched the crowded tables looking for a few familiar faces and with the help of the ESPN camera crews, I found a few of the tables where some of the better well known poker players were working on building up their chip stacks.
I used this occasion to try out my new Nikon D2X, but with the restriction of "no flash photography", I did my best to capture the images below:
Tags: wsop
Posted by jeff at 08:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (49)
A Better Emergency Response:
With London in disarray today, it is crucial that we look to see how we might develop advanced emergency response capabilities. Our condolences go out to the victims and their families.
I have heard from a friend that she has been using Skype, Instant Messaging, and email to check in with her friends, because none of them can get through on their mobile phones (because the networks are overloaded and most people are not near land lines as they were en route to work).
It is essential for us to educate government to the possibilities of IP technology -- IP-based communications providers (along with Wi-Fi and other wireless technology providers) can improve the public welfare through by deploying cutting-edge IP-based applications and more ubiquitous wireless access). VoIP, by its very nature, should dramatically improve the emergency response capabilities of communications devices, and social policy should not serve to cut off the advanced capabilities that IP technology would afford. IP technology empowers a user to take her service anywhere without having to check with the application provider to verify that the application provider has an arrangement to reach the specific local emergency response center.
The added nomadic capability and other valuable features of a VoIP and Wi-Fi-enabled PDA will improve emergency response. Such a PDA could be an invaluable aid during a crisis, particularly where no other wireline devices are within reach to contact emergency responders.
During the tragedy at the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001, emergency response lines were overrun with incoming calls. What if citizens had PDAs with alternative features, functionalities and capabilities that could have allowed them another means to reach emergency responders, or simply friends or family, via text, SMS, IM, IP voice, or even IP video. Shouldn't these functions be encouraged even if the PDA with inbound and outbound voice-enabled software applications cannot offer the user the ability to reach the every local PSAP in the country?
I understand that Open Park is attempting (but beset by bureaucratic intransigence) to install Wi-Fi hotspots across the Mall in Washington, DC. Imagine how dramatically we could enhance our ability to handle an emergency situation if we could avail ourselves of such public broadband access points. Last month, Congress and many other Federal offices were evacuated because a small plane strayed off course and into DC airspace. Tens of thousands of government employees fled for the Mall. In a real crisis, 911 lines would again be overrun, as would mobile connections. If, God forbid, this were a real emergency (like we see in London today), wouldn't it be great if we had another option - a broadband, IP-enabled public hotspot on the Mall that would allow citizens to avail themselves of the IP technology and the public Internet to obtain and transmit essential information? Frankly, wouldn't it have been great for panicked citizens to have been able to use such a public hotspot to verify that this was or was not a real emergency?
The Global IP Alliance is trying to promote such advanced, next-generation, IP-enabled emergency response solutions. We seek cooperation with providers, vendors, engineers, emergency responders and government to realize this vision.
Posted by jeff at 09:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (80)
2005 World Series of Poker - July 6th:
On Wednesday I attended the 2005 World Series of Poker Press Conference and took part in game #41 which was a $10,000 dollar Charity Freeroll.
At the press conference I was amazed to learn that 35,000 people are expected to participate in the 2005 World Series of Poker and that 100 million dollars will be given away in prize money. During the press conference both Crandell Addington and Jack Binion were inducted into the World Series of Poker Hall of Fame. I enjoyed listening to the Q&A session with the press that followed, and especially enjoyed both Doyle Bronson's and Greg Raymer's comments.
Images from the World Series of Poker - July 6th:
Doyle Bronson
Greg "Fossil Man" Raymer
Phil Gordon
Crandell Addington
Doyle Bronson
Jack Binion
James Wood
Brad Garrett
Tags: wsop
Posted by jeff at 02:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
July 06, 2005
A Call to Arms to Protect the Internet:
I am growing increasingly concerned that end-users are losing the battle over control of the Internet. What is it that Internet innovators, entrepreneurs and users need? It’s pretty simple: we need robust, IP-capable broadband pipes, the freedom to access the content and applications of our choice and the right to attach equipment of our choice to our end of the broadband pipe. A few legal and policy conclusions have emerged that are dramatically affecting consumer control over the Internet and communications experience.
(1) With the whittling away of unbundled wholesale access to broadband pipes, consumers have lost some choice among alternate providers of broadband access. On the flip side, some would argue that that was a necessary prerequisite to encourage last mile access providers to deploy more robust broadband pipes to end users. I don’t want to delve into that debate here. Suffice it to say, that both positions have some merit.
(2) With the Supreme Court’s Brand X decision, consumers will likely have fewer choices among Internet service providers, as both cable and wireline broadband access providers are less compelled to provide unaffiliated ISPs access to end users. So one side of the argument goes, this too will encourage last mile access providers more financial incentive to deploy more robust broadband pipes. On the flip side, it does seem like it would have been a positive, competitive check, to ensure that consumers had a choice among a multitude of Internet service providers.
(3) Regulators, in an effort to ensure the public good, have begun to impose some social obligations on information service providers (at least those offering voice application that interconnect to the public switched telephone network). We have seen this move in the US and Canada with regard to emergency response obligations. We are likely to see similar government compelled obligations with regard to lawful intercept and, perhaps, disabilities access. I suspect the lawful intercept obligations will go even further than the emergency response rules and impose obligations even upon purer, peer-to-peer communications networks.
Thus, the previously regulated telecom carriers are becoming less subject to regulatory checks and oversight (with regard to both access and pricing obligations). There is less of an affirmative duty to ensure that end user might obtain service from competing telecom carriers and unaffiliated ISPs. Conversely, there is movement on the other side to impose some social obligations (akin to those traditionally imposed upon common carriers), upon information service and application providers. As a result, unaffiliated application service providers are getting slammed from both sides: the prospect of social obligations on the one hand, and less access to alternative broadband access providers on the other hand.
There is a way to minimize the potential harm to end-user control and guaranteed end-user access by unaffiliated Internet application and content providers, without the market power and bargaining leverage to ensure just and reasonable access to end users. Call it what you will – Net Freedom, Net Neutrality, Connectivity Principles, a layered regulatory model, expedited, administratively-enforced, antitrust-like rules, consumer empowerment – but there does need to be some affirmative rule in place that will ensure that the END-USER and no one else, controls the user experience.
We do not yet have any long-term guarantee that consumers will have a choice among alternative application service providers. We saw the FCC, in its Madison River Consent Decree, declare that a telecom carrier may not block ports to deny the user access to unaffiliated VoIP providers. That decision becomes somewhat suspect in a post Brand X America. Furthermore, I am not aware of any other country that has taken affirmative steps to prohibit port blocking or other anticompetitive practices that would preclude the consumer from controlling her own bitstream.
We must not become complacent and assume that government understands our concerns while they write the rules that will shape the future of communications and the Internet. Certainly those with the money and lobbying muscle are not standing by. We have to engage. We don’t need to ask for much – just for a few certain consumer empowerment rules -- but we do need to ask.
It is essential that governments around the world understand the power and value of IP technology and the Internet to radically enhance the ways in which we communicate. They all must adopt meaningful rules ensuring and enforcing consumer empowerment and net freedom.
Without the ability for consumers to rely on alternate Internet service providers, unaffiliated with the access provider, there is an immediate, compelling need for government to adopt enforceable consumer empowerment rules. End users, innovators and entrepreneurs need an assurance that government will not tolerate any effort by any entity to unreasonably affect a consumer’s access to the Internet content and applications of her choice, and the right to attach the devices of her choice to her end of her communications pipe. The real power of the Internet rests in the ability of the consumer to reach it and control her own experience. The one rule that must apply is that last-mile network owners must not be permitted to harm consumer control and freedom.
I have tried at various times to build coalition and incite the movement. Over the years I held a couple of “Internet Freedom Rallies” on the Steps of the US Capitol. I have tried to unite the IP-based communications industry through such coalitions as the VON Coalition and the Global IP Alliance. I have tried to make the VON Conferences and my other conferences (such as my newly emerging Peripheral Visionaries’ Summits) places to hammer out the issues, build the community and consensus. I don’t care much what vehicles we use to communicate these messages, but we, as a community of Internet users, innovators and entrepreneurs, cannot afford to sit silently on the sidelines while governments write the rules that will shape our future.
I encourage you all to look to our efforts with the Global IP Alliance and consider becoming a member. If your schedules permit, I encourage you to join us at the Fall 2005 VON Conference in Boston, September 19-22, or at our Peripheral Visionaries' Policy Summit in DC on Nov. 10th, or at any of our other international conferences. We intend to use the Peripheral Visionaries Conference, in particular, as a vehicle to communicate these essential themes to US legislators and policymakers.
If you are interested in joining with us, but do not currently have the financial resources to commit to the fight to protect end user control of the Internet, please send an email to my General Counsel, Jonathan Askin, jaskin at pulver.com, and we will keep you in the loop as the battle proceeds.
Posted by jeff at 03:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Reminder: Fall 2005 VON Conference "Early Bird" Promotion ends on August 5th
If you are planning on attending Fall 2005 VON Conference, please remember to register by August 5th if you would like to take advantage of our special "early bird" prices.
Readers of my blog who register for the "VON Package" or "Full Conference" by using the special priority code: JPBL2 during the month of July will benefit by taking advantage of the "early bird" pricing and will also receive an iPod Mini when they pick up their badge at Fall 2005 VON.
Posted by jeff at 08:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
In Las Vegas for the 2005 World Series of Poker
I arrived in Las Vegas yesterday afternoon to play in the 2005 World Series of Poker.
With the help of a couple of friends, I received media credentials which provides full access to all of the WSOP events, including game #41, the WSOP "Media/Celebrity Charity Event" which takes place on Wednesday, July 6th starting at 5:00 pm.
I'm looking forward to taking full advantage of my media credentials tomorrow afternoon while I'm at the Rio Hotel.
Tags: wsop
Posted by jeff at 12:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
July 05, 2005
Fall 2005 VON Bloggers Panel
The VoIP Bloggers Roundtable returns with an "All Star" lineup at Fall 2005 VON.
Andy Abramson is once again moderating the panel which includes: Mark Evans, Om Malik, Aswath Rao, Martin Geddes, Stuart Henshell and myself.
This should prove to be a very interesting gathering of bloggers and one of the more interesting breakout sessions at Fall 2005 VON. I expect that Andy will be picking up on the discussion we started with Om and Aswath at Spring 2005 VON. This time around, I don't expect anyone to be shy and the audience should feel free to start asking us questions from the start. Hopefully Andy won't feel compelled to wear a referee shirt again this time in Boston.
Posted by jeff at 06:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Another jetBlue Morning…
Later this morning I will be flying out to Las Vegas on jetBlue to be a part of the "No-limit Texas Hold’em World Championship Event" at the 2005 World Series of Poker.
Tags: wsop
Posted by jeff at 06:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
First Look at "Project Gizmo:" It's the End User Experience, Not the Protocol that Matters
With a name like "Project Gizmo" one could get the impression that this was an open source project. As far as I can tell, while Gizmo may be a project of SIPphone, it is not a "project" in the open source sense, at least not right now.
pulver.com's CTO, Henry Sinnreich, recently published an RFI for a New SIP Application. Henry has started to receive some very interesting responses to his RFI. Gizmo could be another example of such a new SIP application, assuming that it meets all of Henry's technical requirements. In any case, Gizmo is an example of what someone has been able to develop using SIP, with a user interface influenced by the work of Skype. While I'm more of a fan of innovation rather than replication, I'm keeping an open mind that Gizmo will introduce new features and services that are not currently available from others.
Gizmo looks to be the work of a collaboration effort between SIPphone and Xten Software. One give away is the map feature of Gizmo (see the screen shot) and compare this to the XTen Map of the FWD World (from last June). What I see are two maps that look to be very similar in design...in fact too similar not to notice.
At this point in the lifecycle of PC based communication products (and services), if someone is looking to build a community of users from the bottom-up, what I believe really matters is an understanding who the target customers are going to be, and then to deliver the best possible end user experience possible. What matters the least, is what the underlying communication protocol is/was. If the product is easy to use, just works, evolves with the user population and continues to deliver the highest quality user experience, that product/service is the one that people will gravitate to and end up using.
while I know there are some people would like to believe it is: "SIP against the world", in real life as communication technologies evolve, if we do our job right, the protocols that are used end up getting embedded into the infrastructure and under the hood. It is up to everyone else in the food chain to take advantage of this. One should not assume that the customer will really care about the technology platform that empowered their ability to communicate.
One thing that I also find ironic is that for all the noise Gizmo makes about supporting open standards, Gizmo is at the moment a closed system and only available to be used on the SIPphone network.
All-in, Gizmo looks like an interesting first cut at a new kind of SIP application.
Posted by jeff at 01:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (71)
July 04, 2005
Getting ready to leave for the 2005 World Series of Poker:
Tomorrow morning I'm leaving New York for Las Vegas to play in the 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
While I'm in Las Vegas, I hope to find some time to both blog the experience and take a few pictures.
This will be a pretty exciting trip, and I have to hope that I get a little lucky at times while playing.
I for one, am looking forward to hearing the famous words: "Shuffle up and deal" in person for the first time during a World Series of Poker game that I'm playing in. :)
Posted by jeff at 08:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Welcome to the Blogsphere: James Rafferty
James Rafferty, a long time friend from the world of our VON events recently started his own blog.
Hey James, welcome to the Blogsphere!
Posted by jeff at 08:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Happy 4th of July!
Happy and Safe 4th of July to all those who are celebrating today. :)
Posted by jeff at 07:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
AOL "Rocks the Web" with Live 8
Lost Remote: AOL 'rocks the web' with Live 8
Nice recap of AOL's coverage of Live 8.
I liked the way they re-wrote the headline from my recent blog entry:
- Jeff Pulver: Just wait until TV takes the cue and does this
Posted by jeff at 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
July 03, 2005
Watching the Live 8 rebroadcast(s) on AOL Music - The Internet IS a new "TV Channel:"
So far this morning, I've been able to catch up with some of the moments I missed yesterday by watching some of the parallel re-broadcasts by AOL Music of Live 8. This really is a great demonstration of the technology available today for anyone who wishes to use the Internet as an alternative broadcast delivery channel. As a consumer of AOL Music's broadcast and re-broadcast, the quality of the sound, picture and overall experience was good enough.
In fact, AOL Music’s broadcast of Live 8 was a great example of what a “free rider” can do for a great cause, given the opportunity. And yesterday, just about all of the broadband service providers subscribed to the Net Freedoms as I’m not aware (yet) of anyone whose access to the content was blocked by the actions of a local broadband service provider.
In the world of the internet, “free riders” are not just limited to those offering voice communication services...the term could easily cover those who rely on unrelated third parties for their content to become viewable.
Thanks to the continued effects of both Moore's Law and the "Law of Unintentional Consequences", broadcasts similar to the one done with Live 8 with the help of AOL Music will just get better with time. This in turn, I hope, will encourage both traditional broadcasters and new broadcasters to take a chance and use the Internet as their worldwide distribution channel.
Focusing on the Internet as an alternative channel for TV broadcasts, I believe that we are about to enter another period of time, at least in the US where the ILECs who are focused on their fiber to the home (FTTH) strategy and launching TV/IP services will fail with their TV strategy because the broadband internet offers “good enough” watching availability today.
Just like those PSTN zealots who still demand to use MPLS (and other technologies) at a time when the broadband internet is “good enough” to deliver reliable, high quality, voice services, I see a similar disruption happen between those people who are so caught up with their strategy to fight cable operators that they are not able to see their forest from their trees in their multi-billion dollar technology rollouts.
What happens when the individual broadcast networks and content providers start to offer their own content, some for free and some on a subscription basis directly to consumers worldwide over the broadband internet? Major League Baseball is already offering sporting content over the internet and this market niche is just going to continue to grow.
Just wait until a company like NBC Universal starts to offer their cable content – Bravo, USA Networks, CNBC and MSNBC – on a regular basis, just like the way AOL Music broadcast the Live 8 events. Once this happens, the business models for just offering TV/IP by the RBOCs will be gone forever. Others may make the point that there maybe never was a market for them to begin with. While I can appreciate that some of the RBOCs are very focused on delivering "high quality" TV/IP over private networks, when similar content is available for free over the public internet, how could the RBOCs really be expecting consumers to pay for this special privilege?
And if it seems that NBC Universal won’t be the catalyst, someone else will come forward and take the lead. It is just a matter of time. I’m also waiting for the day when some of the independent TV stations start to use the internet to fill the gaps of their local coverage and provide a means for ex-pats from a given city/region to now catch up with "what is going on at home?" While certain kinks will need to be worked out between the copyright owners, for some, the Internet already has become the new medium for the broadcast of TV content. And if you don’t want to wait for a local broadcaster to wake up to offer this, our friends at Sling Media already offer a solution for individual consumers to take charge of their personal viewing of TV content remotely over the internet.
TV over IP (TV/IP) has happened...and thanks to AOL Music's broadcast of Live 8 on the Internet, people are using it and taking advantage of it. The only thing they may not realize (or care about) is what the underlying technology was that gave them the ability to do what they did - and why should they? If the technology "just works" it will become embedded in the underlying infrastructure. It is up to everyone else in the food chain to recognize this and focus on delivering quality products rather than harping on what it was that made a certain broadcast happen.
After 10 years, streaming media has become as mainstream as voice over IP, and it takes events like Live 8 for some of these technologies to be showcased to consumers.
Posted by jeff at 09:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (36)
July 02, 2005
Watching the Who live from London on Live 8
As far as I'm concerned, TV/IP has already happened...but not everyone has noticed.
I've been enjoying watching AOL's Internet broadcast of Live 8. I enjoyed watching the Who's performance, live from London, viewed on my PC live on Long Island.
After 10 years, streaming media has become as mainstream as voice over IP, and it takes events like Live 8 for some of these technologies to be showcased to consumers.
So...twenty years after watching Live Aid on MTV, the effects of the internet have been felt. It has been cool reading some of the blogs from the people attending Live 8 around the world, and I have especially enjoyed viewing some of the pictures from the various shows.
I've also enjoyed having the freedom of choice to choose which of the Live 8 concerts I wanted to watch at any given moment. I believe this was a great showcase by AOL of what is possible and perhaps a foreshadowing of how they and other broadcasters will apply internet technologies to future live worldwide events in the future.
Posted by jeff at 05:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Live 8 - Live on AOL Music
So far, I've been pretty impressed with the live coverage of Live8.
20 years later, it is pretty cool that anyone with broadband access can view the various concerts taking place at the same time and choose the artists they want to listen to at any given moment.
I've enjoyed watching parts of the show live in: Paris, Rome, London, Berlin and Toronto.
Posted by jeff at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
Waiting for Live 8 Coverage to start in the USA:
So far, the best I've been able to experience Live 8 has been to read some of the Technorati tagged Live8 blog postings and scan some of the Live 8 photos tagged to Flickr.
Live 8 Insider looks like it will have some good Live 8 coverage.
Vh1 will start their "live" coverage around 12:00pm EST.
Posted by jeff at 08:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
July 01, 2005
LIVE 8 available on AOL Music Starting at 8AM EST July 2nd
I still remember watching Live Aid on MTV all day and into the night twenty years ago during the Summer of 1985.
Watching Phil Collins play at Wembley Stadium, take the Concord to New York, then a helicopter to Phili and play JFK Stadium was pretty amazing. Twenty years later, I'm looking forward to spending time listening to LIVE 8 on AOL Music and watching MTV's coverage of the concerts taking place around the world. This is one time I wish I had access to live satellite feeds from around the world so that I could try to catch some of the coverage from the various Live 8 venues that MTV doesn't find interesting.
During the week I tried to get "Blogging access" to blog the Phili Live 8 tomorrow but that didn't work out...so I will be watching the event from the friendly confines of my living room.
It will be interesting to see how the advent of the commercial internet will add to the overall experience of the event tomorrow. For starters, I will be looking to the Live8 page on Technorati.
Posted by jeff at 09:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Skype-In; FCC-Out
Skype has just hired Christopher Libertelli, former Senior Legal Advisor to former FCC Chairman Michael Powell, to handle government and regulatory affairs for North America. It's great to see that Skype is stepping up its role in the global policy arena.
Chris,
I'm conflicted. We certainly could use your continued wisdom within the halls of government, but I'm glad you have decided to join our side of the battle. We need your talents and expertise during this crucial moment in our battle to promote IP-based communications, particularly as governments around the world begin to take notice and cast a critical eye on VoIP with a mind to regulate the nascent industry.
I would have suggested that you add at least one exotic locale outside of North America to your portfolio. Winters jetting between DC, London, and Estonia could be rough without at least one sanctuary in the Southern Hemisphere. Good luck at Skype and welcome to the light side of the force. :)
Posted by jeff at 06:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Another Karaoke Friday @ pulver.com
There was a time when I used to think about taking Friday's off during the summer so that I would get a head start to the weekend.
For the Summer of 2005, it is Fridays that I look forward to the most, and the one day that I've made it a point to be in the office, whenever possible.
Today, I'm looking forward to another edition of Karaoke Fridays and sharing our experience with a few special guests. :)
Posted by jeff at 08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
The Fall 2005 VON Conference July iPod Mini Promotion:
Now that Apple has added Podcasting support to iTunes and their line of iPods, I thought it would be cool to put together a promotion to offer readers of my blog who register to attend Fall 2005 VON Conference to be offered an iPod Mini when they register for our Fall VON Conference during the month of July.
Readers of my blog, who register for either "VON Package" or "Full Conference" during the month of July, 2005 using the priority code: JPBL2, which takes advantage of the posted "early bird" conference prices will be given an iPod Mini when they pick up their badge on-site at Fall 2005 VON.
If you are planning on attending Fall 2005 VON and would like to have an iPod Mini to call your own, remember to register for the VON Conference before the end of July.
Note: iPods will only be given to people who remember to use the JPBL2 priority code. It is not possible to combine this offer with any other Fall 2005 VON promotion.
Posted by jeff at 07:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)