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Links of Note – November 12

November 12, 2006 By Leave a Comment

- New York TImes: Entrepreneurs see a Web guided by common sense – welcome to Web 3.0… (via CNET News.com)

- Four second cut-off: 75% of shoppers would not return to a website that took longer than four seconds to load according to research by Akamai (via BBC News). Once again it seems I am part of a minority. But my spirit is with the 75%. Don’t make sites fancy, make them fast and easy to use.

- The BOBs: The results of Deutsche Welle’s 2006 blog awards are in…and the winner is The Sunlight Foundation (via heise.de). The awards highlight many other interesting blogs this year. Wish I would speak Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish, too, so I could read them all.

Filed Under: English, Technology, Transatlantic

Chancellor 2.0 – Bonding with citizens on the Web

October 28, 2006 By 5 Comments

First German Chancellor Angela Merkel started her own video-podcast series. Then a bunch of smart students and university graduates turned the tables on her and launched Direkt zur Kanzlerin! (“Direct to Chancellor!”), a platform where citizens can post questions for Angela Merkel. Anybody can submit a text, audio or video message for her on the site. Then people can vote for their favourite questions by mouse click. 

After getting blog buzz and media coverage for their idea, the students got Angela Merkel’s attention. The Federal Press Office has now stepped up and agreed to answer the top three question each week on behalf of the Chancellor. 

It is a different kind of Web 2.0 success story - a great little example of the potential that the ongoing spread of new, user-friendly technologies holds. What a great example of a couple people getting together and trying to make a difference through tech-driven grassroots democracy!

Consultant and author Anthony D. Williams recently blogged about the question: “is government ready for the Web 2.0 era?” Looks like the German government is playing catch-up with its people.  But the Federal Press Office deserves credit, too. At least they are ready to participate in the project. It’s a start.

Note: The “Direct to Chancellor!” site is only available in German.

(via Welt.de)

Filed Under: Great stuff, Technology, Transatlantic

Canada has higher average growth than all other regions in Deloitte’s 2006 Technology Fast 500 Ranking

October 20, 2006 By Leave a Comment

Last year only one Canadian company made it into the top ten, this year there are five. In addition, Canada claims the top average growth of all North American regions. To download the full list and ranking, go here.

-The National Post – Canada’s tech firms outpacing U.S. ones: Half of the top ten companies in this year’s Deloitte Fast 500 are based in Canada

-ITbusiness.ca – Name, rank and number: Shane Schick puts it into perspective

Here are “Canada’s Top Five Fast 500“:

Filed Under: Canada, Technology

Voice 2.0 conference a success

October 17, 2006 By Leave a Comment

Alec Saunders posted a great summary of yesterday’s Voice 2.0 conference in Ottawa. The brainchild of a group of people who attended BarCamp Ottawa in April 2006, the organizers brought together leaders from the telecom community to discuss the future of the telephony and communications industry.

“My takeaway was that Voice 2.0 is healthy and whole and heading for a bright future.  With our focus on user-centric communications paradigms, it seems clear to me that the telecom model of the past 125 years, including IMS, might finally be headed for oblivion.”

Alec Saunders, saunderslog.com 

Disclosure: High Road’s Ottawa office supported the Voice 2.0 organizers and partner OCRI.

Filed Under: Canada, Events, Technology

Links of note – October 9

October 9, 2006 By Leave a Comment

Temple of Technology: Interview with Amiga CEO – Who knew? Amiga is (still) developing a new operating system. Ah, the good old Commodore days…

Business Week: First, blame the software – Good article about the “human factor” behind Airbus’ software issues that caused the company to delay delivery of the new A380. The Airbus CEO stepped down this weekend (after the BW article was published), further highlighting the management issues at the aircraft manufacturer.

The New PR: Five steps to starting a successful blog – Ryan Anderson provides great advice for anyone looking to create a blog.

Filed Under: Communications, English, Technology

iPod/mp3 vs. satellite radio

October 4, 2006 By 1 Comment

My interest in satellite radio is strong. I tired of listening to MP3 files downloaded from Kazaa long before the industry shut the system down; I concluded that having my own library was very nice, but I still needed some surprises, and satellite radio promised me a range of music that keeps introducing me to new artists as well as old ones I’d forgotten. I get much more satisfaction from satellite radio than from my MP3 collection. So a combination of radio and MP3 player sounds like a good idea…

Jack Kapica, Globeandmail.com: Satellite Radio Revisited, Oct 2, 2006

I agree with Jack. Mark Evans recently mused about the advantages of iPods over satellite radio in the car, and I’ve been exchanging comments with Rob Hyndman who thinks that iPod entertainment rules supreme. In my comments I argued along the same line as Jack in his article, although I’d say my satisfaction rate for satellite radio and mp3 is about the same. I love iPods/mp3 players but they are ultra-convenient storage devices, which is not the same as radio – even if you can download podcasts and music onto them. It’s not better or worse, it is different.

My prediction: in the car, the iPod will make the CD player (and DVD player) extinct. The CD did it to the tape which did it to the 8-track. Satellite radio has the potential to do the same to FM radio, which (almost) killed AM.

Today, many car manufacturers are installing iPod/mp3 connectors. But many are also installing satellite radio in new cars. I think there are enough people who are willing to pay for the convenience of being entertained without downloading content first. It may change in the future but I think this convenience factor still has a lot of mass market appeal.

Overall the iPod/mp3 vs. satellite radio debate reminds me a bit of the “bricks and mortar will die” discussions during the early e-commerce years. It isn’t always black and white; there is room for growth for both satellite radio and iPods/mp3 players. Like Jack, I think that a combination of satellite radio and mp3 player is a good idea.

[Full disclosure: No High Road client involved, I just personally like satellite radio (and iPods/mp3 players)]

Filed Under: Articles of Note, Technology

The fastest growing tech companies in Canada

September 22, 2006 By 1 Comment

The 2006 “Fast 50″

Deloitte published its annual list of Fast 50 winners a couple days ago (press release). The full list can be found in Simon Avery’s Globe and Mail article. Here are the top ten winners:

  1. Westport Innovations
  2. Redline Communications
  3. Airborne Entertainment
  4. RuggedCom
  5. DragonWave
  6. Imaging Dynamics
  7. Tira Wireless
  8. Rutter
  9. Digital Oilfield
  10. Elluminate

Under-funded nation

The article points out that the level of Canadian venture capital investment today is down to about $1.7 billion from $5 billion in “the boom days of 2000″. According to Deloitte, more than half of the Fast 50 are self-funded and receiving no venture capital support.

“As a nation, Canada is under-funded from a VC perspective, and it’s exacerbated by the tech downturn.”

David Ferguson, managing general partner of VenGrowth Private Equity Partners Inc.

Filed Under: Canada, Technology

From Wikipedia to Citizendium

September 16, 2006 By Leave a Comment

There will be no logged-out editing and no anonymous editing [in Citizendium].  Anyone may participate, but all must be logged in under their own real names (we will use the honor principle to begin with), and with a working e-mail address.  Where Wikipedia shares the culture of anonymity found in the broader Internet, the Citizendium will have a culture of real-world, personal responsibility.

Larry Sanger

Larry Sanger, one of the founders of Wikipedia, has started a new project called Citizendium, which initially is supposed to be a “progressive fork” of Wikipedia. One of the key differences is the inclusion of editors (vs. authors) who must state their credentials on a user profile page. With this system, Citizendium hopes to fight the “widespread anonymity that, according to Sanger, has led to a “troll problem” in Wikipedia. He also want to make Citizendium attractive to academics, “so that they can contribute in a way they feel comfortable with”. He explains his approach in detail in an essay called “Toward a New Compendium of Knowledge“.

Trying to get rid of anonymity and trolls is a good idea. It will bring who-edited-my-wiki-page feuds to an end and make it easier to call out people for editing an entry a certain way. The proposed editorial system could be a challenge, though. Larry Sanger suggests that Citizendium editors and “chief subject editors” act as “facilitators and organizers, not dictators”. I think it is a great idea in theory but in the end, when there are differences in opinion, somebody has to make a decision. But overall, I find the notion of taking personal responsibility for writing or editing entries very appealing.

Larry Sanders wants to have software and servers for Citizendium set up by September 30th.

Filed Under: Innovation, Technology

Boeing loses Connexion

August 18, 2006 By 3 Comments

Boeing announced that it will shut down its inflight Internet service Connexion, which allowed passengers on a number of airlines to surf the Web during flights (via CNN).

Boeing says the market for the service didn’t materialize. Scoble thinks that 30 bucks was too expensive for two hours of service. I think it probably failed for a different reason: space.

I tried Connexion during a Lufthansa flight to Germany last year. The connection worked perfectly and it was a fast surfing experience. The problem was that I was sitting in economy class and had absolutely no room to actually work on the computer. It is one thing to use a laptop on a plane to watch a DVD. But it is almost impossible to actually type on the keyboard and get stuff done even if the guy in front of you hasn’t yet lowered his seat dangerously close to your crotch. I basically had to put the laptop monitor on my legs and put the keyboard against my belly. It looked more like I was playing accordion than working on a computer.

A look at an overview of airline seat dimensions shows that there are very few airlines who offer a little bit of comfort for economy class passengers. As long as there is no room to actually properly use a computer for work, and make onboard Internet usage useful and fun, it doesn’t really matter how expensive the service is or how much trouble airlines have to go through to install a service like Connexion. To make a service like this work, it is not enough to win over the business class.

Filed Under: Technology

Evoke 2006 demoparty and computer festival in Cologne

August 11, 2006 By Leave a Comment

Great festival across the ocean: Evoke 2006 is starting today in Cologne, Germany.  Programmers, graphic artists and musicians are coming together to show off their skills in a number of categories. Demoscene.tv will be broadcasting live from the party.

(via heise.de)

Filed Under: Great stuff, Technology, Transatlantic
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