Anyone Remember PhoneBlogger?

Phillip @ MAKE:Blog linked to PhoneBlogger, which reminded me that there was a bit of activity in the getting voice on your blog a couple of year’s back (the PhoneBlogger code is almost 2 years old). Well to all of that you can add Classcaster. I think that CLasscaster may be among the few tightly integrated telephony/blogging/podcasting systems out there. Now if I could just get some folks to come and play…

MAKE: Blog: Post to your blog with PhoneBlogger and VoiceXML…
PhoneBlogger is a tool for publishing to a blog via a phone call. PhoneBlogger is an automated voice application that first asks you for info about which pre-configured blog you wish to post to. After collecting the necessary information, PhoneBlogger records your audio message. Finally, it posts a blog entry that links to the recorded audio.

MSFT Bags Sept Patch Day Update Due to Quality Issues

Microsoft Cancels September Patch Day Update
Microsoft Corp. late Friday cancelled plans to roll out a solitary bulletin with patches for a Windows flaw, citing an unknown “quality issue.”

The software giant announced on Thursday that a single “critical” bulletin would cover a wormable vulnerability.

During last-minute testing, however, researchers at Redmond flagged some problems with the update.

“Late in the testing process, Microsoft encountered a quality issue that necessitated … additional testing and development [of the update] before it is released,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Ziff Davis Internet News.

eBay Buys Skype 4 2 Much Money

When I heard these rumors last week I assumed that it was just somebody’s idea of a bad joke. What does eBay get for its money? A non-standard geek infested VOIP phone system? Why? I getthat eBay could build all sorts of nifty VOIP apps to helps its business, but come on $2.6 billion? Just download Asterisk and go to town. I hope thgere is more to this story.

Slashdot | eBay To Buy Skype For $2.6 Billion
It’s not a rumour anymore. BBC News online reports that eBay will pay ‘half the amount in cash and the other half in stocks to create an unparalleled e-commerce and communications engine’.” The $2.6 billion purchase would give eBay access to the VoIP market, of which Skype claims it has 2 million users online at any given time. BBC speculates that eBay will use Skype to allow sellers and bidders to communicate via voice; I have also heard that live auctions a la Sothebys might also be a possibility. Also reported at Wall Street Journal (registration), New York Times.

Classcaster Launched

Well, I got this out the door today. We went from concept to product in right around 6 months. I suppose I should say I not we since I did the actual development myself.
In a nutshell, Classcaster is a turn-key blogging, podcasting, audio-blogging, telephony solution aimed at education (that is CALI’s mission after all). Yep, on this one system you get a blog, podcast ready, the capalbilty to call in posts, RSS2 feeds with enclosures, an embedded Flash player, automatic generation of posts once a call is complete. Pretty cool. Next is an ISO version so you play along at home:)

www.cali.org – CALI Spotlight
CALI is excited to announce the immeadiate availability of Classcaster. Classcaster is a course blogging and podcasting system that provides faculty, librarians, and staff of CALI member schools with a new way to interact with students and communities. A Classcaster blog provides authors with tools for posting not only traditional blog articles but also tools for podcasting and sharing any documents and/or files with students and communities. Members of the CALI community interested in using Classcaster should first visit the Classcaster FAQ for instructions on using the system.

New Virtual Desktop Platform Bows

Virtual desktop platform runs multiple OSes, including legacies
Parallels Inc. Wednesday released a beta version of its first product, a virtual machine platform that runs multiple operating systems concurrently. Parallels Workstation runs the Red Hat, Novell/SUSE, Mandriva, Debian, and Fedora Core Linux distributions, FreeBSD, and all versions of Windows — even “legacy” systems such as OS/2 and MS-DOS, the company said.

Each “guest” OS (operating system) can be launched and utilized in networked, portable, independent virtual environments, according to the company. Virtual machine properties, computing priorities, and file structures are managed using an “intuitive” control console, the company said. The “host” OS can be various Linux distributions or Windows.

Duke Schedules a Podcasting Symposium

Looks like Duke is getting into this big time. Thanks to Patty for posting this to teknoids.

Duke Podcasting Symposium :: September 27 – 28, 2005
Duke University is pleased to announce that we will be hosting the first-ever academic symposium on podcasting from September 27-28 of this year. The two-day event will feature a hands-on podcasting workshop, as well as panel discussions of the economic/business, legal, political, journalistic, and cultural impacts of podcasting by bringing together prominent members of the podcasting community with policymakers, scholars, and media experts.

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