jump to navigation


The Virtual Global Office Using Skype/ VoIP July 16, 2006

It occurred to me earlier today, while nibbling on a snack, that my entire freelancing business exists primarily in cyberspace. I do everything here. Well, almost. I’m reminded of a pseudo-documentary film shot in Vancouver, B.C., Canada (possibly called Downtown). It documents a collection of office workers who make a bet about who can stay “inside” downtown Vancouver’s interconnected office buildings without stepping foot outside into fresh air. That’s kind of what’s happened to me, except in cyberspace. And that’s because it’s become that easy to run a business entirely online.

Sure, I still I outside to get groceries and sometimes …

Who Are You? Whose Baby Is That? Didn’t I Write That? March 30, 2006

About a decade ago, just after the public Internet made its debut, cyberpunk author Neal Stephenson claimed in one of his novels that copyright violations would run rampant on the Internet, and there’d be nothing we could do about it.

Stephenson’s prophetic words have come true, especially in the blogosphere, where people lift content in its entirety from one website and post it onto their own. These lifters come in two categories, however: those that give credit and those that don’t. By credit, I mean either including the copyright notice and/or at least a link back to the original article.

Since links …

You’re… Hired - Job Seeking In The Global Village March 28, 2006

The Associated Press reports today that technology firms in the United States are waiting for word from Congress in Washington regarding importing engineers and computer programmers on visa arrangements. They’d like immigration laws to change. This is no doubt due to the tech bubble that is once again forming, creating a void in the labour pool, even though there actually are skilled, out-of-work people available, but invisible.

Now, I don’t know what the unemployment figures are these days in North America. I gave up looking for full time programming work 2 years ago, after 2 unfruitful years of searching, up …

Dealing With Your Cellular Provider’s Downtimes March 21, 2006

I just got off a tech assistance call to my cellular provider, which I initiated when I couldn’t access my email or the web from my new, beloved PalmOne Treo 650. After over a half hour of very pleasant assistance, we got nowhwere. Except that the tech rep admitted to the network being down out in the western provinces in Canada. I said that this must be the problem for me, somehow, as well. She was unwilling to agree and instead pleasantly sent me through configuring, trying, and reconfiguring my Treo’s network settings for a half hour or so.

Now despite …

Managing Your Life With Rich Internet Applications March 18, 2006

According to Jep’s Rich User Interfaces blog, the KIKO online calendar application is ranked number one amongst Ajax (Asynchronous Javascript and XML) RIA (Rich Internet Application) apps. (The ranking is actually from Dan Grossman’s Ajax apps list.) I’ve been reviewing online calendaring systems lately and have come across a few nice apps (30 Boxes and RSS Calendar).

While I settled on 30 Boxes a few weeks ago, I’m liking KIKO’s features. I haven’t signed up yet,  but KIKO has some incredibly appealing features, good for the global traveller. For example, I’m on the go enough that I …




  

Pages (1): [1]