Bowling for Asterisk

In the world of mashups this has to be the most unique, allbeit, odd one to date.



If you find yourself in Barcelona Nov. 7th or Dec. 6th, be sure to drop by and bowl a few lanes and talk open source telephony @ Bowlsterisk. I hope this takes off, I will starting looking into starting a Toronto Bowlsterisk event with the help of the guys at Iotum and the TAUG.

"Mark it zero, Smokey"

Vonage charges you 42% more if you're Canadian.

This has been bugging me for a while, The Vonage Premium Unlimited Plan is 24.99$ USD, or using XE for a quick conversion; approximately $28.18 CDN.

The exact same plan if you are unlucky enough to be in Canada is $39.99 CDN !!!! That is an increase (or penalty) for Canadian customers of 42% !!!!!

I understand why I see so many Vonage commercials in Canada, this division might be the only profitable division of the entire company.

Can anyone explain this to me? or is it as blatant as it appears?


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Hawaiian Shirt Tuesday - Jeff Pulver's Birthday

Andy has started off VON Boston, with a request to all - to say thanks to Jeff Pulver and Happy Birthday - by wearing a Hawaiian Shirt. I don't own one, but how hard can they be to find? Can I borrow one of yours Andy?


Hawaiian Shirt Day.. Office Space.

Iotum just gave me a reason to use AIM Phoneline

For reference, I am a consummate VoIP geek - I test everything, develop, tinker, sell, innovate all kinds of things. What I think is also important to mention; I have never used AIM in my life. Even with their announcement of free incoming lines (although not in Canada yet grr) it wasn't enough to make me want to try it.

With today's announcement of AOL's AIM Phoneline choosing to work with Iotum on developing and integrating the Relevance engine into AOL's Voice 2.0 offering, they not only did AOL get a new user and developer, they are going to generate revenue. AIM Phoneline offering is dirt cheap, 10$ month unlimited NA with a DID. Why wouldn't I buy this? I will gladly pay for advanced VM and relevance functions that Iotum is offering as well. Plain vanilla VM isn't enough, I need VM in my inbox, on the road, and to be able to give my clients and customers options to reach me. This partnership gives SMB's a real level playing field in the world of Voice communications. The big UM switches the proprietary vendors offer, are great - but the millions of SOHO's can now have the same functions for a fraction of the cost.

The Iotum Integration is just the tip of the Iceberg, AOL really seems to get it - platforms bring customers....

Let the development of Long Tail Voice Apps. commence.