http://www.ampersand.com/blog Links and observations about VoIP, Presence, messaging, open source, blogs, and associated impact on society. Thu, 29 May 2008 00:14:39 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Did you know you can do math and conversions in the google search bar? I needed to convert 82 7/16 inches to mm, so I can program my cycle computer for the new wheel size (changed by about 2%, so I didn't really ride 104 miles in last ... http://www.ampersand.com/blog/2008/05/27/193/ Thanks to Kellan, I've clued in about this weeks IgniteBoston at Harvard Sqaure on Thursday night.  Who can resist topics like: Telepresence robots on a budget Interface design tenants for beautiful design Stage magic in virtual worlds and ... The environmental impact of a website Plus Microsoft is sponsoring and offering a free beer (free as ... http://www.ampersand.com/blog/2008/05/27/igniteboston-this-week/ Clay Shirky's book Here Comes Everybody is making the rounds, and is must reading for those interested in how the internet is transforming our society. It's the latest in a great series of books on the impact of the internet, starting with David Weinberger's Cluetrain Manifesto. I had the chance ... http://www.ampersand.com/blog/2008/05/19/190/ The NY Times wrote this morning about a new French law that would fine and/or imprison web site operators who have sites advocating achieving "thinness" via extreme means such as eating disorders, anorexia, and bulimia. This is the dark side of the long tail.  We talk about how the long tail ... http://www.ampersand.com/blog/2008/04/16/french-prohibit-anorexia-websites/ If you're interested in VoIP and you're not reading Ike Elliot's Telecosm, you should be. Ike is a former Level(3) exec turned industry consultant and blogger, and he's doing a great job. I was catching up on Telecosm today and came across this post where he comments on ... http://www.ampersand.com/blog/2008/03/26/telecom-speed-eating-contest/