Google save the Queen

Google UK, had a regal visit from H.R.M. Queen Elizabeth. In honour of the visit, the Google UK home page paid a little homage to her Majesty.

Tip top!

Canada's Do Not Call - Do Not Work !

Well today Sept. 30th the NDNCL - National Do Not Call List is to go live, and allow people to start entering phone numbers so they stop receiving telemarketing calls.

I won't weigh in on how flawed this legislation is from the start - there is no shortage of information and opinion on that. I will however point out that the site simply is not finished, nor' updated.

So, all that great taxpayer money we have spent to get it up and running is for not, as the CRTC seems to have dropped the ball on even launching it. You can't enter a number and none of the navigation links work, other than those to .gc.ca sites..

Great Job CRTC, great job.....

UPDATE = the site is up and running now - the CRTC underestimated the demand and the servers crashed.. if we had politicians with any guts at all, it should have been an opt-in to calling.

Apple Developers need to Chill - it will get fixed

I have been watching the fervor over Apples less than ideal NDA and vetting process for the iPhone app. store. All I have to say is CHILL out people.

I am not defending Apple's mismanagement of this issue, but everyone needs to relax. Apple will fix this, what they have accomplished in wireless space in just over a year is astounding. They built an ecosystem, market and handset, redefined carrier handset relationships - while their competition collectively stares in awe with soiled pants trying to figure out how to catch up.

As big as they appear on the outside, the iPhone is just one division of Apple, and it competes for resources internally with the other highly profitable areas of the company. When the cycles are available the app. store will get a face lift and the issues will be addressed. I know for a fact the team is going a million miles an hour in hundreds of directions.

It isn't perfect, but compared to the other options - it is really the only game in town.

iPhone and Talk like a Pirate Day

Whilst searching for me buried treasure, I found a talk like a shipmate application fer th' iphone.

Happy talk like a shipmate tide everyone.

http://www.dejoware.com/

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=290033763&mt=8

Blackberry: How to get Push IMAP Gmail if you are on BIS.

Today RIM quietly released a fantastic feature - IMAP email for those of us Blackberry addicts whom are NOT on an Enterprise Server. Basically if you don't connect to a work Exchange server chances are you are on BIS (Blackberry Internet Server).

This new feature essentially means that if you use Gmail (or any other email service that supports IMAP) you can now get true IMAP push email to your Blackberry. Previous to today you had to use POP3 which meant delays; sometimes up to 15 minutes before you would get a gmail message to your handheld.

The set up procedure isn't the most intuitive, so I have put together a step by step to get it working. Thanks to Scott and TESZ9 (commenters @ RIMarkable for the help)

~ Click on any of the images to make them bigger.

Step 1 - Enable IMAP support in your Gmail account. You do this by going to Settings, then Forwarding and POP/IMAP.



Step 2 - Log into your Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) account to configure your mailbox. Delete your previous Gmail account and add a new service.

Step 3 - Add a new account BUT don't put the passwords for you gmail account in the utility boxes or it will default to POP3 and you will have to start again. Then just click next and



Step 3b - Additional Information Required -> Click next



Step 3c - Click Personal Account (if configuring for Gmail) then click next.




Step 3d - We were Unable to configure error.. Click I will provide the setting



Step 3E - Internet Service Provider Email (POP/IMAP) Click I will provide the settings then next.



Step 3F - Set Up Exisiting email account - Enter your Gmail information here - along with imap.google.com as your email server. RIM (someone was thinking :) ) will recognize it is a gmail account and autoconfigure your IMAP ports to 993 for you after you click next and save!.





Thats IT! you will now get true push GMail to your Blackberry! This will also work for all IMAP supported mailboxes, you just have to enter your port information manually as I don't think that RIM's BIS web service will recognize all but the big providers.

I have had this working now for a few hours and my Gmail comes to my Blackberry immediately, it used to be about a 15 minute delay.

Congrats to RIM on adding an awesome feature, I just can't understand why it took years to do.

Asterisk' Glass Ceiling

I have been following the Adhearsion project for some time, under the advice of a colleague - and its tech guru Jay Phillips has crafted a masterful essay on the limitations and technological glass ceiling Asterisk it currently has. It is a must read.

I concur 110% with all of Jay's conclusions, and having worked with several IP/PBX vendors and start ups over the past few years, the underlying theme of my suggestions have been as follows. MAKE it easy, and I mean drop dead simple - to develop an ecosystem of applications.

Time and time again - I am met with the same answer - Yes, we have to do that - and then they never do.

Hopefully Adhearsion makes it a reality.

Dr. Randy Pausch - RIP

It is with great sadness I learned today that Dr. Randy Pausch, the CMU professor whose famous "Last Lecture" motivated and inspired millions has lost his battle with Pancreatic cancer.

If you haven't seen this lecture I urge you to spend the time and watch it. It is one of the most inspiring things I have ever had the pleasure of watching. Dr. Pausch had appearances on Oprah, and countless other TV shows over the past 6 months to present his most inspirational words.

The world is a better place having had Dr. Pausch as part of it.

Donations in memoriam at the request of his family can be sent to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, 2141 Rosecrans Ave., Suite 7000, El Segundo, Calif. 90245, or to Carnegie Mellon's Randy Pausch Memorial Fund