inCommunicado - eric eggertson

My favourite geek is coming to a screen near you.
 Starting June 1, Tod Maffin is hosting a live video show on blogtv.ca.
According to the Todster, it’s about personal technology, and will feature 45 minutes of live call-in (via computer) every Friday night.
Tod says he has funding from Alliance Atlantis for the web TV show, […]

[Read more →]

Dave Traynor wants to know what the technology present is, mentioned in my last three posts.  For Christmas this year, I got a Nokia E61 smart phone, but as I alluded in the last three blog posts, the phone is somewhere between Toronto and here.  ETA is today, the first business day since the package […]

[Read more →]

The bad news - the present that was supposed to be here for Christmas was shipped to the greater Toronto area, where it’s been languishing for two days.

The good news - it’s very close to my great-grandmother’s birthplace of Stouffville, Ontario.
Minnie March grew up in the Whitchurch-Stouffville area, and ended up moving to Saskatchewan with […]

[Read more →]

Whenever I lose something, I kick myself for not doing a better job of labelling it, so the finder can return it, if they’re so inclined.

So an offer by Trackitback to sell me five of their lost-and-found return stickers for a total of $20 was too good to resist.  (No one in the family […]

[Read more →]

After spending 30 minutes pulling together a blog post, my hand slips and hits a key combination.  My web-based publishing software doesn’t ask me if I’m insane for not saving my work.  It doesn’t ask if I want to reconsider.  It dutifully creates a new page, thus wiping out everything I’ve written.  Time to start […]

[Read more →]

In the tradition of unconferences, there will be a BarCamp in Saskatoon at the end of the month.

I don’t even know if I’m going, but I’ll spend tomorrow thinking about what I might present if I do go.
BarCamps are a great chance for people interested in technology and new media to talk to each other, […]

[Read more →]

Anyone who’s been to more than a couple of conferences can tell you the most valuable sessions are in the hallway, or in the bar, chatting and arguing with other participants.
Yet most conference promotions maintain the myth that the keynote speakers and the panel discussions are the reason to pay vast sums of money to […]

[Read more →]

The first time I started our Xbox I couldn’t believe the incredibly noisy start-up sound that emanated from the TV speakers.
Obviously, the design team never tried to catch a quick video game at 2 a.m., while everyone else is asleep.
It’s designed to draw attention to the fact that you’re about to play games instead of:

> […]

[Read more →]

As Gnomedex organizer (with Ponzi Indharasophang) Chris Pirillo notes, there are times when a conference is priced low enough for media to afford the full fee, and organizers don’t need to give them a free or reduced pass.
But anyone who doesn’t have built-in buzz from bloggers (see gnomedex on Technorati), or some other method of […]

[Read more →]

There’s nothing wrong with suggesting themes or story ideas to journalists. They feed off of that sort of input, even if they don’t use your specific suggestions.
However, telling them what not to write just gets their backs up. I’ve followed up with journalists to propose that revealing too many how-to details of a robbery victim’s […]

[Read more →]

Darren Barefoot raises an interesting question. The Vancouver technology PR consultant mentions a technology conference that allowed journalists to not disclose their contact information to the companies paying to exhibit at the site.
Barefoot calls the 80% of journalists who blocked their information "sorry ass journalists," and suggests they’re not doing their jobs.
Says Barefoot:

"This is reflective […]

[Read more →]