Archive for May, 2006
« Previous EntriesVonage: More IPO Pain
Wednesday, May 31st, 2006The after-math of Vonage's IPO has taken a new and strange twist amid a report in the New York Times that Vonage is willing to reimburse underwriters who take a financial hit if Vonage customers refuse to pay for shares allocated to them. While a deal is supposed to be a deal, some of the [...]
Blogosphere Navel-Gazing
Wednesday, May 31st, 2006There's enough comment about Tim O'Reilly's decision to trademark "Web 2.0" (his response to the controversial issue is here) but the hailstorm of criticism it generated demonstrates how the blogosphere loves to chatter about itself among itself - something one could describe as cyber-navelgazing. The amount of time and energy devoted to whether O'Reilly has [...]
Online Ads: Up, Up and Away
Wednesday, May 31st, 2006It looks like the advertising community has not only embraced the Internet but giving it a great, big bear-hug as online advertising in the first-quarter jumped 38% to $3.9-billion from a year-earlier, and 6% from the fourth-quarter, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PWC. In a classic case of understatement, PWC's Peter Petrusky said [...]
The "Q" is Cool
Tuesday, May 30th, 2006Kevin Restivo, my editor, Ian Karleff, and I just got a sneak-peek at the Motorola "Q", which will be available in the U.S. this week through Verizon, and, hopefully, for sale in Canada within the next few weeks. In a word, it's extremely cool. Okay, that's two words but the "Q" is the closest thing [...]
Our Weekly Podcast: Vonage, HUM, eBay-Microsoft
Tuesday, May 30th, 2006We're a bit late with this week's podcast after experiencing some technical issues. We tried to do it using Skype and Pamela but the sound quality was terrible, which might have had to do with the fact I was on a wireless network. This week, Kevin and I took a look at Vonage, whose IPO [...]
Mac Woes
Monday, May 29th, 2006I'm trying out a beautiful, new MacBook (black) - thin, lightweight, nice screen. It's frustrating, however, that I can't use many of my favourites applications such as FeedDemon, Google Talk and Roboform.
How 'Bout BeerCamp?
Monday, May 29th, 2006If you think it's just all fun, games and venture capital in Silicon Valley, you're probably right. Check out Winecamp, an "ad hoc, un-conference" (wonder if Tara Hunt or Riya, which sponsored the event, will trademark that fancy-dancy description!), where participants spend a weekend in Stockton, Ca. to "share and learn in an open environment" [...]
Who's a Journalist?
Sunday, May 28th, 2006As a newspaper journalist and a blogger, I'm fascinated by the decision made on Friday by a U.S. Appeals court (Apple vs. bloggers who allegedly disclosed the company's secrets) that online and offline journalists are equally protected under the First Amendment and there is “no workable test or principle that would distinguish 'legitimate' and 'illegitimate' [...]
Why the Fascination with the Blackberry-killer?
Saturday, May 27th, 2006My column in the National Post this week is about Motorola's "Q", and the strange obsession people have with the hyping the next Blackberry-killer. The Inquirer has an odd story about a new Blackberry-killer to be unveiled soon that will be sold through ISPs. Blackrimglasses. has some comment on this mysterious device, while Om Malik [...]
Early Morning Thoughts 'bout Web 2.0, Vonage, MySpace
Saturday, May 27th, 2006After much thought and a lot of reading, I'm even more convinced Tim O'Reilly is dead wrong in his efforts to trademark “Web 2.0″, and the people who are supporting him (particularly the Silicon Valley crowd) are nothing more than apologists who can't see the forest through the trees. Maybe O'Reilly invented the phrase “Web [...]
« Previous Entries