http://www.redherring.com/SlingGetsFunding
Wow, interesting offer considering Sling Media is still a relatively unknown, great technology mind you, but with just over 150,000 in the field and a once off retail price tag (no recurring on going revenue streams) http://www.slingmedia.com/slingbox/
I think it may be a lot of money being thrown at a cool piece of technology because it’s cool not necessarily because it’s a good investment. (kind of like the investment dollars being thrown at Sirius and XM radio yet ignoring terrestrial radio).
Everything that Slingbox is offering can already be delivered via Myth TV (and more) makes you wonder how much MythTV as a user base is worth. www.mythtv.org
Or even better how much my now defunct Cablecard3 product would have been worth if we continued with the project. www.cognation.net/cablecard3/
Regards,
Dean Collins
Cognation Pty Ltd
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Happy New Year
I've been planning on writing something extremely profound and wise for the last few weeks to signify the start of the New Year, it's almost the end of January and it's becoming a problem so .........
.........Well that should be enough space for you to make something up :)
What I really want to write about today however is the coolest time wasting applications on the internet.
Now well all know that the internet was created by Al Gore to deliver porn to the masses (ref here if you don't know the story about how Al Gore invented the internet http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue5_10/wiggins/ )
Now some of you close to me might think www.globalcombat.com is the biggest time waster on the internet (I've dropped to 18 :( I musn't be playing enough), well apparently it doesn't even rank.
Here are the top 10 time wasters of the internet
http://freebies.about.com/od/710/tp/timewasting.htm
Without a doubt however my absolute favorite is this one http://www.lunchtimers.com/index.cfm "Someone keeps stealing my letters"
This is a great example of flash programming that is simple to implement, host and is extremely addictive. I'm not sure that there is any revenue involved apart from advertising that would certainly cover costs based on the number of people I see on the site all the time.
Someone said to me at a recent event that the gaming industry is so far behind the movie industry and the reason for that is that no one in the gaming industry is able to produce a "Blair Witch Project" video game (eg The return of investment is an amazing 354,614.29%, as the film had a production budget of $35,000 and grossed $248 million worldwide).
My comment was that there are no other Blair Witch Project films either so it was an unfair comparison BUT...that there are a lot of online games out there that are paying their way and that revenue models are possible just that the cost of building the average MMOG is so out of kilter with the return that they are almost always only earning in the 20-40% range.
So if anyone has a cool application they want to build...go for it, you never know you may be able to give up your day job.
Cheers,
Dean
p.s. if you are a cat lover this may be your favourite
http://www.stuffonmycat.com
.........Well that should be enough space for you to make something up :)
What I really want to write about today however is the coolest time wasting applications on the internet.
Now well all know that the internet was created by Al Gore to deliver porn to the masses (ref here if you don't know the story about how Al Gore invented the internet http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue5_10/wiggins/ )
Now some of you close to me might think www.globalcombat.com is the biggest time waster on the internet (I've dropped to 18 :( I musn't be playing enough), well apparently it doesn't even rank.
Here are the top 10 time wasters of the internet
http://freebies.about.com/od/710/tp/timewasting.htm
Without a doubt however my absolute favorite is this one http://www.lunchtimers.com/index.cfm "Someone keeps stealing my letters"
This is a great example of flash programming that is simple to implement, host and is extremely addictive. I'm not sure that there is any revenue involved apart from advertising that would certainly cover costs based on the number of people I see on the site all the time.
Someone said to me at a recent event that the gaming industry is so far behind the movie industry and the reason for that is that no one in the gaming industry is able to produce a "Blair Witch Project" video game (eg The return of investment is an amazing 354,614.29%, as the film had a production budget of $35,000 and grossed $248 million worldwide).
My comment was that there are no other Blair Witch Project films either so it was an unfair comparison BUT...that there are a lot of online games out there that are paying their way and that revenue models are possible just that the cost of building the average MMOG is so out of kilter with the return that they are almost always only earning in the 20-40% range.
So if anyone has a cool application they want to build...go for it, you never know you may be able to give up your day job.
Cheers,
Dean
p.s. if you are a cat lover this may be your favourite
http://www.stuffonmycat.com
Saturday, December 03, 2005
A9 Maps...what is it good for who knows but it's great fun
A9 Maps...what is it good for who knows but it's great fun (you need to sing that line in the tune of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "WAR...What is it good for").
Ah the bubble of the 90's what were we thinking, dot coms that were going to all let us retire at 40, giving us an endless supply of wealth and prosperity (not quite sure who was going to be left to take out the garbage but what did we care we were on the investment rollercoaster).
So here we are in 2005 all the smarter and the wiser, we only leverage ourselves with mortgages to 90% instead of 110%, and technology is there to earn substantial ROI's....not to deliver the cheapest pet food possible.
Well i don't know about you but I've seen enough "interesting ideas" over the past few months to make me think that the boom times are here again.
Welcome to A9 Maps, http://maps.a9.com/ (A9 is the privately owned search engine from Amazon), now I know you have seen quite a few new mapping engines over the past few months, and some of them were more usable http://www.housingmaps.com/ (a craigslist/google api) than others http://moon.google.com/ (an internal google staff members project).
So what is so unique about A9 Maps...well it's the guys driving around the entire USA in 4 wheel drives and a high speed camera, yep you read that right, they are taking photographs of every city, town and street of America.
What's it good for? well I'm not sure, I've certainly found it enjoyable checking out different streetscapes across the USA, we looked at a suburb in SF that we were thinking of moving to at one stage, I've been able to look at places in Boston that I wanted to go, it's not perfect, there are some sections that the photos obviously haven't worked and are blank but it's great to take a virtual tour around our block http://maps.a9.com/ourstreet (and as much of the rest of New York that you have time for).
Can I explain the business model for this, no not really, who really knows but until then it's a nifty tool, i for one would be lost without my google mobile on my Treo (it's google mapping on a mobile via gprs) would I pay a monthly fee for it? sure maybe - I'd like to see some additional functionality and I also think that you would need to deliver a highly level of service and funtionality in order to charge for it but it's a great first generation application.
Have fun with it.
Cheers,
Dean
Ah the bubble of the 90's what were we thinking, dot coms that were going to all let us retire at 40, giving us an endless supply of wealth and prosperity (not quite sure who was going to be left to take out the garbage but what did we care we were on the investment rollercoaster).
So here we are in 2005 all the smarter and the wiser, we only leverage ourselves with mortgages to 90% instead of 110%, and technology is there to earn substantial ROI's....not to deliver the cheapest pet food possible.
Well i don't know about you but I've seen enough "interesting ideas" over the past few months to make me think that the boom times are here again.
Welcome to A9 Maps, http://maps.a9.com/ (A9 is the privately owned search engine from Amazon), now I know you have seen quite a few new mapping engines over the past few months, and some of them were more usable http://www.housingmaps.com/ (a craigslist/google api) than others http://moon.google.com/ (an internal google staff members project).
So what is so unique about A9 Maps...well it's the guys driving around the entire USA in 4 wheel drives and a high speed camera, yep you read that right, they are taking photographs of every city, town and street of America.
What's it good for? well I'm not sure, I've certainly found it enjoyable checking out different streetscapes across the USA, we looked at a suburb in SF that we were thinking of moving to at one stage, I've been able to look at places in Boston that I wanted to go, it's not perfect, there are some sections that the photos obviously haven't worked and are blank but it's great to take a virtual tour around our block http://maps.a9.com/ourstreet (and as much of the rest of New York that you have time for).
Can I explain the business model for this, no not really, who really knows but until then it's a nifty tool, i for one would be lost without my google mobile on my Treo (it's google mapping on a mobile via gprs) would I pay a monthly fee for it? sure maybe - I'd like to see some additional functionality and I also think that you would need to deliver a highly level of service and funtionality in order to charge for it but it's a great first generation application.
Have fun with it.
Cheers,
Dean
Friday, November 25, 2005
You have to love Sir Isaac Newton and US Cable TV
Who would have thought that these two items belonged together in a sentence.
Lets start with US Cable TV, without a doubt it is the one thing that I already know I will miss when I leave the USA - 600 channels with on demand movies (and dual tuner pvr even though I know these are already being rolled out around the world).
The coolest part of having 600 channels is that you get super specialized channels (there are at least 4 dedicated cooking channels and 4-6 other home design/renovation etc) One is a channel just on the Military (24 x 7 army seals, world war 2 tactics, famous commanders etc).
One of my favorite shows is on the Science Channel, it's basically a series about scientists and their impact on the world today.
Last week was Sir Isaac Newton, what can I say, this guy was nothing short of a legend - everyone knows the story sitting under a tree, apple falls on his head = gravity.
What I didn't know was how amazing this guy really was, I also had no idea how prolific this guy really was, he totally redesigned the telescope from lens based to mirror concentrator (the same design is still used today), he re-evaluated how we understand light waves to work and for a 30 year period he didn't bother to tell anyone he designed a new maths that today is the basis of calculus he only 'revealed' this to a fellow scientist who was trying to understand what shape of orbit a body under the effect of gravity would result (ellipse).
Gravity whilst his best known result, was only one of at least 6 to 9 other discoveries of at least equal value. I have a new respect for Sir Isaac Newton and a new respect for the ability of multiple channels to deliver truly specialized content, this more than anything might be molding what I work on next.
Cheers,
Dean
Lets start with US Cable TV, without a doubt it is the one thing that I already know I will miss when I leave the USA - 600 channels with on demand movies (and dual tuner pvr even though I know these are already being rolled out around the world).
The coolest part of having 600 channels is that you get super specialized channels (there are at least 4 dedicated cooking channels and 4-6 other home design/renovation etc) One is a channel just on the Military (24 x 7 army seals, world war 2 tactics, famous commanders etc).
One of my favorite shows is on the Science Channel, it's basically a series about scientists and their impact on the world today.
Last week was Sir Isaac Newton, what can I say, this guy was nothing short of a legend - everyone knows the story sitting under a tree, apple falls on his head = gravity.
What I didn't know was how amazing this guy really was, I also had no idea how prolific this guy really was, he totally redesigned the telescope from lens based to mirror concentrator (the same design is still used today), he re-evaluated how we understand light waves to work and for a 30 year period he didn't bother to tell anyone he designed a new maths that today is the basis of calculus he only 'revealed' this to a fellow scientist who was trying to understand what shape of orbit a body under the effect of gravity would result (ellipse).
Gravity whilst his best known result, was only one of at least 6 to 9 other discoveries of at least equal value. I have a new respect for Sir Isaac Newton and a new respect for the ability of multiple channels to deliver truly specialized content, this more than anything might be molding what I work on next.
Cheers,
Dean
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Walking Under Ladders Cause Terrorism
Crikey.com.au included something sensible in today's issue as lawyer Julian Burnside points out, the response should be proportionate to the threat - and the likelihood of a Westerner dying from jihadist violence is around 0.0001%.
By contrast, the annual probability of an Australian dying of smoking-related causes is 0.1%.
Or as economics commentator Ross Gittins notes, Americans are almost nine times more likely to die falling off a ladder than in a terrorist attack.
If the government and media response to Australia's biggest problemswas based on reality, probability and relativity, the SMH's top fiveheadlines might read something like this:
"Govt's new laws to reduce road toll"
"Moves to double price of cigarettes"
"Suicide research grants quadrupled"
"Push to increase cancer funding"
"Death: as easy as falling off a ladder"
well it made me smile :)
By contrast, the annual probability of an Australian dying of smoking-related causes is 0.1%.
Or as economics commentator Ross Gittins notes, Americans are almost nine times more likely to die falling off a ladder than in a terrorist attack.
If the government and media response to Australia's biggest problemswas based on reality, probability and relativity, the SMH's top fiveheadlines might read something like this:
"Govt's new laws to reduce road toll"
"Moves to double price of cigarettes"
"Suicide research grants quadrupled"
"Push to increase cancer funding"
"Death: as easy as falling off a ladder"
well it made me smile :)
Friday, November 11, 2005
Sony's new Root Kit = "Welcome to Sony's World"
Bought a Sony CD lately? played it on your pc?.....then you no longer own the rights to prevent Sony modifying any and all of your pc's files from root.
http://www.theregister.com/2005/11/11/secfocus_sony_analysis/
Yep Sony installs a Root Kit (a software program that you cant see or delete, have no idea of what it's doing without looking at the binary code, runs in the background even after you stop playing the CD) from the first time you play one of their new cd's in your pc. It also phones home via the internet with your details each and ever time you play the CD again...thought you owned the rights to use the CD anyway you see fit? nope not with these new 'content enhanced cds' and also Sony have the rights to brick (prevent from working ever again) your computers CD player should they feel you are using a pirated version of the CD.
Oh by the way, dont mind having Sony access these files ..... well it also lets anyone else hack into your pc and modify these files using a $SYS$DRV prefix, the first trojan has already been reported by Sophos.
http://www.theregister.com/2005/11/10/sony_drm_trojan/
You didn't realise that this CD was anything other than a music CD .... sorry yes you can remove the software, however Sony dont tell you how to do it without adding your name to their email marketing list and there is a fair chance you will need to reinstall windows when you finish
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/11/sony_secretly_i_1.html
Ahh what happened to the good old days when you liked a band...you bought their CD, you listened to it...you like it so much you bought another one of their cd's..... etc etc
It's a fairly technical read but if you want this is one of the best articles written on this issue (and also one of the first discoverers of the root kit)
http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights.html
Disapointingly,
Dean
(Sony free and going to stay that way until they change their ways)
UPDATE;
Sony have suspended production of these cd's, at this moment they have refused a recall of the existing cd's but I suspect ...watch this space.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/12/sony_suspends_rootkit_drm/
http://www.theregister.com/2005/11/11/secfocus_sony_analysis/
Yep Sony installs a Root Kit (a software program that you cant see or delete, have no idea of what it's doing without looking at the binary code, runs in the background even after you stop playing the CD) from the first time you play one of their new cd's in your pc. It also phones home via the internet with your details each and ever time you play the CD again...thought you owned the rights to use the CD anyway you see fit? nope not with these new 'content enhanced cds' and also Sony have the rights to brick (prevent from working ever again) your computers CD player should they feel you are using a pirated version of the CD.
Oh by the way, dont mind having Sony access these files ..... well it also lets anyone else hack into your pc and modify these files using a $SYS$DRV prefix, the first trojan has already been reported by Sophos.
http://www.theregister.com/2005/11/10/sony_drm_trojan/
You didn't realise that this CD was anything other than a music CD .... sorry yes you can remove the software, however Sony dont tell you how to do it without adding your name to their email marketing list and there is a fair chance you will need to reinstall windows when you finish
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/11/sony_secretly_i_1.html
Ahh what happened to the good old days when you liked a band...you bought their CD, you listened to it...you like it so much you bought another one of their cd's..... etc etc
It's a fairly technical read but if you want this is one of the best articles written on this issue (and also one of the first discoverers of the root kit)
http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights.html
Disapointingly,
Dean
(Sony free and going to stay that way until they change their ways)
UPDATE;
Sony have suspended production of these cd's, at this moment they have refused a recall of the existing cd's but I suspect ...watch this space.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/12/sony_suspends_rootkit_drm/
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Asterisk
You know I was just looking over the first 2 weeks worth of posts and I realised that I hadn't posted at all about Asterisk.
Considering how cool I think this software application is I'm surprised it's taken me this long. I know Asterisk may seem like a geek toy or something only companies can use but considering you can run Asterisk on a $100 P3 - 1Ghz pc it's something that everyone should look at for even the smallest of home offices.
Asterisk is an open source Linux based ip-pabx. That means you can download for free one of the smartest and most flexible IP PABX solutions available today.
To start check these links out;
www.asterisk.org
www.digium.com
There is a growing wealth of information on the wiki
http://www.voip-info.org/tiki-index.php?page=Asterisk
(although a little unorganized)
Asterisk includes features out of the box such as
· Voicemail to email
· Fax to email
· Conference rooms with secured passwords
· Gui web control for conference rooms
· Agent and call centre stats
· Web displayed operators console including drop and drag transfers
· Dial from outlook/dial from html command.
· Text to speech – when I dial extension *61 my asterisk box downloads a text file of the New York weather report from the bureau of meteorology and then reads it aloud to me – (to get it to do this took only 40 lines of code)
· Remote agents – you could answer your office extension from your home pc.
· Auto/manual recording of calls (auto archive or email of calls to conversation participants)
Asterisk also gives you the ability to intuitively customize your solution as much or as little as you want, allowing this project to be open sources means you have 1,000+ developers out there working for you on customizations you can implement when/if you choose and as this technology is gpl’d you never need to worry about increasing costs or license fees.
For the non technical there is now asterisk@home http://asteriskathome.sourceforge.net (don’t be put off by the name – people run entire companies on this version)
Here is a link to the latest Beta version of Asterisk@home 2.0 http://www.voip-info.org/tiki-index.php?page=Asterisk+at++Home
The asterisk@home solution the easiest way to get started. It is an .iso cd that you burn, load into a suitable PC (I run mine on a P3-700) and this super smart scripting code automatically installs the following software;
- Asterisk (the open source switching software)
- AMP (an open source release of a gui configurator) they have their own separate sourceforge website https://sourceforge.net/projects/amportal
- FOP (a graphical web page for transferring calls, monitoring who is online etc) http://www.asternic.org
- Web meetme (a graphical web page for monitoring and controlling conference calls)
Asterisk gives you today for free what the very best Cisco, Nortel or Avaya can offer you for $40k+ and allows small companies (or the largest) the latest in technology.
Examples of this include my Sydney phone number which for $A9.50 a month is actually just an extension of my Asterisk PABX in New York.
I can make local calls across Australia for 10c unlimited, or I can receive calls from people in Sydney which only costs them a local call (and doesn't cost me anything at all apart from the $A9.50 per month).
Who doesn't have friends, families or customers overseas that they could take advantage of with something like this. Plus the ability to answer your home phone from your laptop in the office is always a cool feature.
Feel free to ask me any question you might have as I love this software and want to see it widely supported.
Cheers,
Dean
Considering how cool I think this software application is I'm surprised it's taken me this long. I know Asterisk may seem like a geek toy or something only companies can use but considering you can run Asterisk on a $100 P3 - 1Ghz pc it's something that everyone should look at for even the smallest of home offices.
Asterisk is an open source Linux based ip-pabx. That means you can download for free one of the smartest and most flexible IP PABX solutions available today.
To start check these links out;
www.asterisk.org
www.digium.com
There is a growing wealth of information on the wiki
http://www.voip-info.org/tiki-index.php?page=Asterisk
(although a little unorganized)
Asterisk includes features out of the box such as
· Voicemail to email
· Fax to email
· Conference rooms with secured passwords
· Gui web control for conference rooms
· Agent and call centre stats
· Web displayed operators console including drop and drag transfers
· Dial from outlook/dial from html command.
· Text to speech – when I dial extension *61 my asterisk box downloads a text file of the New York weather report from the bureau of meteorology and then reads it aloud to me – (to get it to do this took only 40 lines of code)
· Remote agents – you could answer your office extension from your home pc.
· Auto/manual recording of calls (auto archive or email of calls to conversation participants)
Asterisk also gives you the ability to intuitively customize your solution as much or as little as you want, allowing this project to be open sources means you have 1,000+ developers out there working for you on customizations you can implement when/if you choose and as this technology is gpl’d you never need to worry about increasing costs or license fees.
For the non technical there is now asterisk@home http://asteriskathome.sourceforge.net (don’t be put off by the name – people run entire companies on this version)
Here is a link to the latest Beta version of Asterisk@home 2.0 http://www.voip-info.org/tiki-index.php?page=Asterisk+at++Home
The asterisk@home solution the easiest way to get started. It is an .iso cd that you burn, load into a suitable PC (I run mine on a P3-700) and this super smart scripting code automatically installs the following software;
- Asterisk (the open source switching software)
- AMP (an open source release of a gui configurator) they have their own separate sourceforge website https://sourceforge.net/projects/amportal
- FOP (a graphical web page for transferring calls, monitoring who is online etc) http://www.asternic.org
- Web meetme (a graphical web page for monitoring and controlling conference calls)
Asterisk gives you today for free what the very best Cisco, Nortel or Avaya can offer you for $40k+ and allows small companies (or the largest) the latest in technology.
Examples of this include my Sydney phone number which for $A9.50 a month is actually just an extension of my Asterisk PABX in New York.
I can make local calls across Australia for 10c unlimited, or I can receive calls from people in Sydney which only costs them a local call (and doesn't cost me anything at all apart from the $A9.50 per month).
Who doesn't have friends, families or customers overseas that they could take advantage of with something like this. Plus the ability to answer your home phone from your laptop in the office is always a cool feature.
Feel free to ask me any question you might have as I love this software and want to see it widely supported.
Cheers,
Dean
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
www.globalcombat.com
lol - wasn't what I was thinking of posting today but.....
1. Player Name dean.collins, General Rating 10339
I finally made it to Number 1 on www.globalcombat.com - it's a web based version of the Risk board game.
I found out about global combat over a year ago and probably play a game at least once a day...... dont even try to calculate how much time I've spent playing this game but being number 1 out of 64,586 players feels pretty good.
Ok now back to work
Dean
1. Player Name dean.collins, General Rating 10339
I finally made it to Number 1 on www.globalcombat.com - it's a web based version of the Risk board game.
I found out about global combat over a year ago and probably play a game at least once a day...... dont even try to calculate how much time I've spent playing this game but being number 1 out of 64,586 players feels pretty good.
Ok now back to work
Dean
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Patriotism
A group of us went for a hike at Cold Springs yesterday with some of the www.aussienymeetup.net friends (man am I out of shape after spending a year living in NY city).
It's about 60 miles north in upstate New York on the Hudson river opposite the West Point Academy.
Spectacular scenery, changing of the leaves and sweet as pie small town America with a flag in front of every second home.
I know Americans are renown for being Patriotic, in war more than ever, but it it got me thinking.........How Come Australians Aren't More Patriotic?
A straw poll with some of my Australian hiking buddies drew responses such as "Australians are modest, we keep our patriotism on the inside" and "Australians never fought in a war for independence".
Are we less patriotic or do we just show it in a different way?
Is Americas patriotism seen in a different light from the Arab world?
When i watch shows like "Off To War" (an insiders 'fly on the wall' view of 10 soldiers all from the same small town in middle America - actually pretty well balanced in it's reporting) I cant help as an outsider but draw similarities between this and the imagery we see on CNN about Arab women crying over their dead 'terrorist' sons or the religious chanting of a large group of Arab men.
Are we really all that different? Is what we are proud about so dissimilar that we need to blow each other up? Is the middle view of both America and the Arab world being distorted out by a few fanatics, distracting us from reality?
Is there a way to get a better mutual understanding?
Dean
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Sensiva
You need to check out Sensiva software www.sensiva.com and what it can do (seriously one of the coolest pieces of software out there-the first coolest is of course www.asterisk.org)
Sensiva is a windows app that enables you to create various actions by clicking and holding the right mouse key and then drawing a shape.
Those actions may be anything from opening a specific web page (eg I draw a G and google opens up in a new explorer page and if you highlight the text before hand automatically cuts and pastes it into the search box)
To close an application (for example when I draw a L it closes the window I'm looking at (or if I draw a line left to right-down like an italic I it minimizes the page - makes it easy to jump from one app to another).
My favorite action however is a reverse upper case L (right to left), I have set this up as delete so when browsing through email I can delete an email quickly and easily without needing to move the mouse and click the delete key each time.
It's a little expensive for such a simple application but to be honest if you are on a pc all day like I am this thing will be indispensable within a week of trialing it. I've been using it for over a year and this is one of the first apps i reinstall onto any new pc.
Cheers,
Dean
PS Update...found out that the app is no longer being sold...and the website got sold to a female products company. lol i figured the cheque must have been huge. Anyway not sure if it is being sold/branded under a new product name but they have some patents and as gestures are a huge business....i imagine David Dupouy (or his investors) are doing just fine. Patent number: 6057845
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