jules.ca

telecom, technology and the occasional floobergeist

I’ve got an abundance of bits and pieces of canadian telecom and internet experience, and I am thrilled to be in a place in time when all is changing, technology is developing, and the status quo is being disrupted. 

Floobergeist is a word that is beginning to defy definition.  The more I roll that smooth pebble around, the more it becomes to mean. Floobergeist started out as the magic dust that turns dreams into ideas.  And then it began to encompass the zing that happens when you have conversations about those ideas. And now, it’s the whole evolution from dream to conversation, with each step improving the later and the former along the way.

Everyone aspires to good conversations. They can lead you to adventures you’ve never imagined, and to people you can twig with.

Let’s have a good conversation…

welcome.

Soothing Repetition...

July 10, 2006  /  jules kivell

... 5 days in the city, 2 days on the lake.  Rinse laundry and repeat.
:-)

There's something to be said about the comfort of repetition in the summer... knowing where you will likely be every 5 days, and planning accordingly.  It certainly makes the summer go by quickly. I'm thrilled that we are are now only 800 odd hours away from moving... almost to the country. Now we can kick things into high gear, finances, lawyerly things, and actuall shopping.




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Interesting local celebrity gossip....

July 09, 2006  /  jules kivell

Ok - mebbe not so local, and on a different branch of the celebrity tree... but still...

The Shreveport Times
Scott Muscutt still arrives at the office before the sun peeks over the eastern sky. Two months after the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs' 2005-06 season ended, and more than three months until the next one begins, the head coach is as busy as ever.


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Discussing the Future of Wireless Handhelds...

July 06, 2006  /  jules kivell

I spent an interesting afternoon yesterday meeting with a fellow who designs wireless handheld devices. Nick Fothergill from Huveur, is in Canada for a brief stint to gather research on what Canadians are thinking about when it comes to what they want in a wireless device. Huveur is a design shop in Taiwan that makes interesting prototypes that other interesting tech company's pick up when the R&D is high.

We had an outstanding conversation about the melding of entertainment and business applications, and the woefully unentertaining aspects of the Blackberry… how handhelds should be able to jump across different types of networks, and how a battery has to live for a LONG time ;-)

I think ideally, the wireless handheld would be a tricked out PSP-like device, but with all the bells and whistles that a blackberry has. Of course, don't forget the camera. And Bluetooth for the phone feature… And the last must have - it needs to work as a touch screen, and have a windows-y OS so that you can actually work on it. I want a tablet, shrunk a bit, on steroids. Holy.

We also talked about the challenges of wifi meshes, especially when Canada is just starting to come up to speed, and what IMS is going to do to the wireless world we live in now. I'm looking forward to seeing what sorts of interesting new devices can be attributed to the smarties at Huveur in the future….

It was quite an amazing lunch. Thank Nick!! And good luck with your tour!!


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Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town

July 04, 2006  /  jules kivell

Sweet Goodness.. If you are looking for something novel to read this summer, and you like reading about Toronto, and you like a bit of technology in your reads, andyou don't mind a wee bit of strangeness, this could be your book. Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town...

And then, when you've read it, read this - it parallels the technical aspects of the novel.
Free, Collaborative Wifi Network Meshes. Not just fiction any more.

So there.


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Not Just Fiction...

July 04, 2006  /  jules kivell

If you are looking for something to pique your interest, you HAVE to check out "A Rain of Frogs".
It's a welcome diversion from telco.

A Rain of Frogs: The butterfly and the lamp
Near sunset, a butterfly was happily flitting in the last rays of the sun before retiring for the evening when he spotted a pretty young butterfly behaving in a most peculiar matter. He watched as she would fly about a bright lantern until the candle inside would eventually dim, then frantically make a dash for the next brightest lantern. About this lantern she would loop and swoop till it in turn dimmed. She would repeat her unusual flight over and over. Intent on discovering the nature of her strange actions, he approached her.


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The Dog Gets All My Good Stuff...

June 29, 2006  /  jules kivell

... last week I decided i was going to make a few changes.  Lifestyle changes, healthy eating changes... mind you, I didn't really let the Wiz in on this... it just happened.....

I'm off the 1/2& 1/2, cutting back on dinner portions... you know the routine.

It wasn't till this morning, and the Wiz was looking for cream for his coffee...

Me: Oh - sorry, we are off the 1/2 and 1/2 - i gave the last of it to the dog the other day so I wouldn't be tempted.  Juice of the Devil.

Him: Oh - all the good stuff goes to the dog. Everything i want gets handed to the dog.. what happened to the left over chicken....?

Me: Oh. Sorry.



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Accountability on the Internet

June 28, 2006  /  jules kivell

An interesting, yet bizarre article on what happens when a girl meets a boy on the internet....

What's more surprising is the lawsuit (of course, it's not surprising).

Is this all simply a symptom of the greater parental problem with the current generation, or is this finally the realization that the internet is a magnifying glass for all the potential badness that is in children's lives - badness has not changed, or grown in the past 50 years, but now, with the internet, we can see it clearly? My gut is on on option 1. Option 2 seems like such a knee jerk reaction.

Despite the repetition of warnings of knowing what your kids are doing on line, the internet is akin to a car. If you aren't paying attention, if you aren't trained, if you aren't being aware and cautious, you can easily come to a painful end. Just like a car, the internet provides freedom, learning, adventures, entertainment, a social link to the rest of your peer group. Just like a car, if you are are foolish and showing off, or being irresponsible, you are going to be in trouble. If you are 14, you wouldn't be in a car on your own, and the same goes for the internet. Parents need to pay attention.


A Lesson for Parents on 'MySpace Madness' - New York Times

AFTER more than a year of hand-wringing, parental concern and political posturing over the safety of children from predators at MySpace.com, a 14-year-old girl and her mother are seeking $30 million in damages because they say that a 19-year-old man who met the teenager on the site assaulted her.


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Blogging Negligence...

June 28, 2006  /  jules kivell

... you read that fast and thought it was "Blogging Negligee", didn't you?
Alas, no negligee for me, just negligence. I find that when i have time to do things, I never do them, and when i am uber-busy, that's when i want to write the most.  I am the free-time procrastinator.  Or perhaps it's just that more ideas come to me when i'm busy, than when i'm not?

I should be busy, what with 1113 hours left until the move to the country, and with knowing the ropes in the new gig.  I'm more organized, I'll admit. Better structured, time available for planning and being proactive, rather than running in straight reactive mode.  It's refreshing, but at the same time, feels like i am living in the Old South, where things are slower, and people are relaxed.

Feelings like i should have a Mint Julip and sit by the bayou.


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Home Office 2.0

June 24, 2006  /  jules kivell


57sittingareawithwalk-out
Originally uploaded by julebule.
As we approach the last 1200 hours before we move into a new home, I am stunned that we haven't spent much time thinking and dreaming and planning about the new *home office*....

Sure, we've made a few desultory calls around, to see what sorts of services are available, in terms of broadband and cable and phones, but nothing terribly concrete. These are the sorts of services that are going to make or break our ability to be effective and productive remote workers, you would think we would be all over the options, and squealing with joy over the ability to design the space and all the accoutrements from the berber up!

Alas, aside from sitting in a few "star treck-esque" chairs, we really haven't done anything.

If you had the ability to design your office from the ground up - how would you do it?

Things that are must-haves:

1. Wireless connectivity inside the house
2. A reasonable sized desk for a laptop and *maybe* a monitor
3. Room for a printer
4. Room for interesting USB appliances and speakers
5. Phones: do we want VoIP again, or something else? There needs to be the ability for a spearate number for work, not necessarily a separate phone line. This number has to have a different ring to it. Plus, this number has to have the ability to change the caller id on it....or atleast have the ability to have a different caller ID than our main number. I bet I can find a VoIP solution for this,,,,
6. A comfy chair for curling up in during endless conference calls. (the wiz and I are at odds on this)
7. An uber-comfy work chair.
8. Bookshelves
9. Art
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Turning the Art of Blogging 90 Degrees Right...

June 23, 2006  /  jules kivell



The Homeless Guy


I didn't mean to.  I hadn't planned on reading it.  But I did.  Wow. A homeles guy, blogging.  What will they think of next?  Although, I am quietly thrilled that technology isn't just for the average joe. I'm quite tickled that web 2.0 is winding it's way through all facets of the population.  And whatever happens, the Homeless Guy is going to see something positive out of his blogging experience.  Kudos.


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