Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Holy Geese!

There is a thin sheet of ice on geese lake today. There are also geese there (unusually warm weather is confusing the birds). The ice is so thin it is almost invisible. Some of the skinny geese can walk on it, while others break through and swim. I grabbed this video of their antics.


Walking on water

If you watch closely at the end, you'll see one of the geese go for a nice skate. Slapstick, bird style.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Construction revisited

My friend Andy and his folks finished the construction job profiled here a few weeks ago. From what appeared to be a rough shell at Thanksgiving turned into a beautiful space by their annual Christmas party.

Enter the Lufbar

It turned into a beautiful space, complete with a professional-grade bar, and a comfy guest suite. An amazing two week transformation.

Friday, December 08, 2006

The Sweater Vest, A Professorial Standard

It was 14 degrees this morning, so I grabbed my sweater vest. It makes me look like a more like a professor, and less like an Entrepreneur In Residence.

I always get comments when I wear it. All I need now is a pipe and a jacket with patches on the sleeve.

Oh, and I am playing with the new SightSpeed "easy blog post" feature. Pretty cool.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Here comes the snow

The first snow is always the best snow. And today, after an usually long time without serious snow, it has started to get snowy in Ithaca.

White Blanket Descends

I went out to grab this video of on the goose lake. To get the real effect, turn on your speakers and listen to that distinct "blowing snow" sound. I love that sound. Snow wind sounds different from normal wind, and it's romantic and exciting. Let it snow!

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

The Marcel Project

Video blogger Marcel van Bulck is hilarious.

I think they are out there

Instead of doing his homework, he decided to post some videos. Marc's video blog of the hand is the best of the bunch.

Thanks for the laugh Marc!

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Thanks for giving construction

I spent Thanksgiving with my sister in Frederick, Maryland. Then I went up to Havre De Grace to hang out with my friend Andy and work on website stuff. While I toiled on Dreamweaver, he helped his folks with light construction duties as they hurried to finish their basement in time for the Christmas party.

I came, I saw

There's something tangible and gratifying about construction. Unlike building websites and software, when you are done you have something solid for your labor. When I was in college, I used to do work on historic properties in North Carolina. They called it historic restoration, I called it construction, but it was gratifying work nonetheless.

That being said, I didn't really do any construction this weekend; I just worked on websites and business plans. I did make this video of the basement construction, and that is almost construction work. Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

The Latest High Tech Startup? Fish!

The Cornell MBA Entrepreneurship Club and I recently visited Finger Lakes Aquaculture. They grow fish. Believe it or not, this is an extremely high-tech operation.

I'm going in!

CEO Andrew Scirri gave us the deluxe tour, and explained how they are able to grow large, delicious tilapia while recycling almost all of the water. The secret to this operation is in the unique and patented way in which they clean and reuse the water. The process is so refined that their next facility will be able to operate using over 99% recycled water. With that sort of success, you could grow these fish anywhere.

Funny, I don't feel high tech

The best thing about this high tech business is that it's profitable - and it scales! (insert rimshot sound here)

Friday, November 17, 2006

Sean Neville Rockstar

Fellow alumnus and entrepreneur Sean Neville recently visited Ithaca as the keynote speaker for the recent Cornell High Tech Symposium.


Yeah, but is it a great idea?


Here's a breakdown of his visit:

  • Attend opening keynote by Chet Fuller of GE Aviation
  • Dinner in the Statler with other guest speakers
  • Drinks at Pixel
  • Panelist for "Technopreneur: The Technology Entrepreneur Panel"
  • Keynote speech "The Genesis of a Great Idea"
  • Dinner with Cornell Johnson School Entrepreneurship Club
  • Hockey game: Cornell beats Harvard. Go Big Red!
  • Brunch with MBA 2008 entrepreneurship students

The student entrepreneurs and I truly appreciated hearing your stories first hand. Thanks for coming to Ithaca!

Friday, November 03, 2006

It's Your Russian Birthday Somewhere

By popular demand, Russian poetress Vera is back for another demonstration of Russian language culture. This time she brought along her friend Alexandra.

Go ahead, sing along with us

Once again, I don't understand a word of this video of Vera and Alexandra singing in Russian. I am told it is a birthday song. They could be singing "It's 5 O'clock Somewhere". I wouldn't know. But it looks and sounds great.

Thanks ladies!

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

The Cornell High Tech Symposium is Open to Everyone

Coming November 10, 2006 is the Cornell MBA High Tech symposium. Don't let the descriptor send you away - it is open and to everyone. You don't need to be Cornell. You don't need to be an MBA. You don't even need to be High Tech. Just plan to come and hear some great speakers.

One of the speaker's is Canada's own award winning speaker Sean Neville, founder of Simply Audiobooks and the Ernst & Young Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year for 2005. Sean is an interesting and dynamic personality and a must-see speaker.

Click here to register. I look forward to seeing you there!

Monday, October 30, 2006

Sage Tree

The autumn colors are fading in lovely Ithaca too. This is a tree that stands outside of my occasional office.
Bright and Blowing

It was an extremely windy day, but if you listen carefully you can hear the bells of the Cornell clock tower.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Aron Rosenberg Superstar

SightSpeed co-founder Aron Rosenberg returned to Cornell this week to share his experiences with students. He had a busy schedule.
In the Sage Light

Here's a breakdown of his visit:

The student entrepreneurs and I truly appreciated hearing your stories first hand. Thanks for coming to Ithaca!

Friday, October 27, 2006

lookin sumo crazy right now

Peter the SightSpeed Guy has really outdone himself with his video tip of the month for October.

Oh, you know I'm H-O-T hot!

This is the funniest video I have seen in quite some time. It's Bubb Rubb funny. If you only watch one video on my blog, this is the video to watch.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

яussiaй verse

I recently received this fun video of my friend Vera reading a Russian poem.

моя поэзия красивейша


I don't know what she is saying, but it sounds great! I am so glad the Cold War is over.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

An Autumn Sunset in Maryland

One of our favorite activities when in Maryland is "a little porch action". This includes a fresh stogie and two fingers of bourbon.

Goodbye to the last colors

The real draw is the conversation. Be it the latest business ideas or the social goings on, porch action is a popular event. As the days get shorter and the temperatures drop, porch action may be on hiatus until springtime. This video from of the porch in the waning light will be the visual record until next year.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

The Aron Rosenberg Speaker Series

On October 26, 2006, I have the honor of hosting SightSpeed co-founder Aron Rosenberg at Cornell. Aron was a 20 year-old junior when we started the company. Now he is the CTO of a global communications company.

Oh yeah, even my wife wants to attend

Aron and I are going to have a friendly interview style presentation-chat. No technology or fancy slides; just two entrepreneurs talking and answering questions from the audience. The event is at 3:30pm on Thursday, October 26th in the Ramin Parlor in Sage Hall. The event is being sponsored by the Cornell Nanotechnology Club. The fine folks from the Nanotech Club also made up a cool flyer for Aron Rosenberg's talk at Cornell.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

The Red River Shootout. With puppets. In Japanese.

I came across this vlog posting using SightSpeed in Japan. I don't know what he is saying or signing, so I just watched it and made up my own story line.

Hook'Em Horns!

In a stunning display of my cultural ignorance, I am going to assume he is conducting a re-enactment of the annual University of Texas vs. University of Oklahoma football game.

See, the Texas mascot is the Longhorn, as demonstrated by the "Hook'em Horns" hand sign. The little block guy represents the Oklahoma mascot, crazy Pistol Pete. In this video, he shows how the Oklahoma football team put up a valiant fight, but in the end the Texas Longhorns prevailed for the second year in a row. At the end, Pistol Pete vows revenge next year.

Or that's how I interpreted it.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Polly Wants to Dance

Adam has the cutest dog. You would normally think: small dog = small brain. Not true! Polly knows lots of tricks.
Ready for Action

We grabbed this video of Polly doing her best doggy dance, and a few other tricks. What is equally funny is when we played the video back, she saw herself on the computer screen and went nuts barking. Hilarious!

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Small Pocono

As my battery was waning, I decided to capture a panoramic video from the top of Big Pocono mountain.

Micro Camelback

Since SightSpeed sensed my battery was dangerously low, it powered down (go SightSpeed, go!). As such, this video from the top of Camelback mountain ski resort is 1/4 size. But without the power-down, there'd be no video at all. Enjoy it, micro sized!

Friday, October 06, 2006

What's this videospeed thing all about?

I had visitors at my microcubicalofficebooth today. I took the opportunity to show Susan and Aaliyah video messaging and vlogging.

Vlog? What in the world is a vlog

It's been awhile since I showed someone SightSpeed who had absolutely no idea what it does. It is fun to see their expressions and get a "Wow! That's so cool!" reaction. This time I was able to catch their reaction on video.

Thanks for making my day ladies!

Monday, October 02, 2006

Hot, Hot, Hot For Teachers!

As many of you know, my favorite not-for-profit is DonorsChoose.org. This Tuesday they are holding their biggest event, Hot For Teacher. This is going to be an amazing event, and you should go.


Van Halen wants you to Van Help

Helping teachers has never been so much fun. Tickets are still available, so click here get yours today.

Just scroll down and take a look at the list of people involved. At last year's event, US Gold Medal skier Jonny Moseley told me about what goes into building a ski jump in the middle of San Francisco. Not only did I get to help the teachers, I got to meet one of the most creative and accomplished athletes in modern sports.

Have a little fun this week. Break out your blue jeans jacket with the smoking cerub patch and get Hot For Teachers!

That's the most ridiculous thing I ever saw

Dan sent me this silly video. It's worth watching the whole thing.

Silly? You bet your life it is

Dan is messing around with some new software he got with his new Logitech Ultra Vision webcam.

Dan, you make a great unicorn.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

#1 with a Vbullet

The web's #1 VOIP blogger Andy Abramson recently ditched his keyboard in exchange for his webcam to deliver his initial reactions from the recent VON (Voice On the Net) conference in video form.

The V also stands for Video

The great thing about a guy like Andy is that by doing something as simple as creating a video mail and posting it to his blog, he created a new stir about vlogging - video blogging. Welcome to the vlogging club Andy!

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Woodall You Could Ask For

About a year ago my college roommate Jeff Woodall contacted me out of the blue - the power of the internet at work. In college, our little house was far enough from NC State to not be a frat, but close enough to act like one. We had a great college time!

Treat, I'm talking now. This will be profound.

Jeff and I lost touch for ten years, but reconnecting with him has been one of the great personal rewards of founding SightSpeed. Were it not for all the media attention, Jeff and I might have never reconnected. Thanks media!

I visited him recently at his home in Princeton, New Jersey. After I was done extolling the virtues of SightSpeed's software, he felt compelled to create the Jeff Woodall introduction video mail. It was like Night Owl all over again.

For those of you who don't know about Night Owl at NC State (i.e. everyone) it was the nickname for the late night dining option on campus at the time. In 1991, that meant you listened to Nelson as you scarfed down the evening's chili/pizza/frutti pebbles/potato option well after normal dinner hours. Somehow the memories of the experience are more endearing than they seemed at the time. The years have that impact, which allows Jeff and I to reminisce and laugh our heads off about those days. Go 'Pack! Go N'Owl!

Friday, September 08, 2006

900 Eyes and 2 Lenses

On Monday I had the honor of speaking at Cornell as part of the Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise Speaker Series.

We are, We are, the youth of Cornell

I mainly talked about the origins of SightSpeed, a subject I have talked about many times before. Regardless, 450 undergraduate students and a professional film crew made for an intimidating scenario. I think it went well, but we'll know for sure when they post the video later this month. For now, here's a video mail I shot of 450 Cornell undergrads.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Big Red adVenturers

BR Ventures is the student run venture capital fund run by MBA students at Cornell. They are also investors in SightSpeed.

Video Mail is funny

During a recent meeting with them, I took a quick video mail of the current BRV managers. They were a little caught off guard, but it made for an authentic moment.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

The apple doesn't climb far from the Treat

My brother has a beautiful new bouncing boy. In true Treat tradition, he has exposed the kid to the great outdoors. Taking a cue from his loving uncle and instigating father, young Parker has embarked early on that adventure we call life.

I don't need a hand - I'm not done climbin' !

Young Parker (he was t-h-i-s close from being named Brad) is showing his stripes and moxie. Don't come to the rock if you aren't ready to climb. That's his philosophy.

Friday, August 18, 2006

Wall of Webcams

When I show people SightSpeed's quality control lab, I like to show them the huge collections of webcams we have. For you dear reader, I offer the tour highlight by in this video mail of the SightSpeed Wall of Webcams.


Jumping Webcams!

We started the collection to test against as many different webcams we could get our hands on. It is amazing what can be turned into a webcam. From Mickey Mouse to Kenny from Southpark to teddy bears - someone decided it would make a good webcam.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Ah, that South Carolina Sun

Gotta' love the South Carolina coast. It's quiet, peaceful, and beautiful. I grabbed this video of the South Carolina sunset from my father's back porch. Retired guys have all the great views.

View the Sound of Crickets

If you listen carefully, you can hear the distinct sound of crickets. They don't sound so loud on my computer, but rest assured, they are there. Their sound is soothing and maddening at the same time. It sounds like The South. If you watch it a few times, I swear you'll smell the surf, sand, and humidity. All accompanied by the cricket symphony.

Friday, August 11, 2006

Deputy Isabelle

I stopped in today at Iron Creative in San Francisco to visit my friend Baxter. Now patrolling the office with him is Izzie (that's Isabelle's patrol codename).

We must protect this couch!

Now that Baxter has a posse, he has placed different areas under the watchful eye of his deputies. Izzie has been assigned to cover the couch area. Izzie takes these duties seriously, as demonstrated in this video of Izzie protecting the lounge. Well done Deputy Isabelle!

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

ROC Rocks

Today I am in Rochester airport, preparing to travel on my favorite airline, JetBlue. Flying out of Rochester is like the old days of flying. I pulled right up to the terminal and parked for a reasonable fee (unlike getting robbed in Oakland for $14/day). Then, I breezed through check-in and security in no more than 10 minutes. That's right - I went from car to gate in about 15 minutes total.

From the fuselage, for three!

I took a quick video of my JetBlue plane, just for kicks. In the process, I noticed that there is a basketball goalpost on the tarmac! Ah, the good old days when airports were laid back and flying was fun...

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Phoning In to my blog

SightSpeed Version 5.0 has the ability to receive calls from a plain old telephone. SightSpeed Voice In comes with voice mail. The voice mail is recorded as a digital file and emailed to me. This means I can post it to my blog!


Me calling me

I just took the URL, and made it a link. Click to hear my first SightSpeed Phone In voice mail. Now I can create voice blogs from anywhere.

Stay tuned for more fun with SightSpeed Phone In voice mail.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

My Double Life as a Secret Agent

You may have noticed from the various origins of the videos on this blog that I have been moving about. Part of the reason is that I was offered and have accepted an outstanding new opportunity to serve as Cornell University's first Entrepreneur In Residence.


Pick a card, pick any card!

With the experienced and capable Mr. Csathy at the helm of SightSpeed, I had a unique opportunity to return to my alma mater to teach, mentor, and be part of starting something unique. The EIR program is a start-up in its own right, but it is also an opportunity to foster entrepreneurship at a great university.

While I am splitting my time between Ithaca and California, I'll be carrying two business cards with me. So don't think I am a secret agent hiding my true identity; I just have two cards.

Monday, July 24, 2006

I see geese

In my seemingly constant quest to have as many office workspaces as humanely possible, I am today working at the Cornell Center for Technology, Enterprise, and Commercialization in Ithaca, New York. I have a lovely office with a great view of a pond and I have been watching the geese frolic all day. Since it is 75 and sunny, I decided to go for a visit.


Everyone into the pond

While I thought they might defend their turf, you can see in this video mail, the geese just head for the water. On a nice day like today, I would too.

Friday, July 14, 2006

Phulla luv phor Phoneboy

Tech guru,VOIP phan, and creative speller Phoneboy has been giving SightSpeed a lot of love in his personal tech blog "Phoneboy: VoIP and a smathering of other stuph".

Phun Stuph phrom Phoneboy

In one recent posting entitled "Drooling over SightSpeed", Phoneboy (aka Dameon Welch-Abernathy) declares SightSpeed as "by far, the best video quality I ever seen".

In another blog posting about SightSpeed, Phoneboy creates a SightSpeed video mail in which he describes all the cool SightSpeed features. I couldn't have said it better myself!

Thanks phor pheaturing us Phoneboy!

Thursday, July 13, 2006

See Jack run. Run Jack, run!

My friend Jack wanted to get back into shape, and help other people at the same time. On October 22, 2006 Jack will be running in the Nike Women's Marathon to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in San Francisco. In a way, he is getting into shape both physically and spiritually.

To meet Jack, click here to see a fun SightSpeed video mail he created.

I see a cure, and I am going to run after it

You too can help Jack raise money for Leukemia research and treatment. Click here to help Jack help find a cure by making donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. You can also follow Jack's progress on his own personal blog here.

Go Jack! Go!

Friday, June 23, 2006

Entering Round 2

I have been spending part of my time for the past few months working at the Emerging Technology Center in Baltimore. Most of this time, I have been borrowing office space from our good friends at Round 2 Communications.

Right Round Baby Round Round

We have known Round 2 almost since our inception. They created the current SightSpeed logo and the first professionally designed SightSpeed website. This is a great office environment to be both creative and technical. If you ever need top quality design and website work, the team at Round 2 can hook you up. If you are young tech company looking for great, affordable office space, check out ETC Baltimore. For a video tour of ETC Baltimore and Round 2 Communications, click here.

Have a Mac? ZDNet suggests checking out a certain video chat software

The new Apple computers are now shipping with built-in webcams. They also have the ability to boot either Mac OSX or Windows. As such, the next question I would ask is "What's the best video calling software to use on this computer for all operating systems?". Any guess which software I am going to recommend? Well, don't take my word for it. The fine folks over at ZDNet have done all the bragging for me:

OSX or Windows. Hmmm, let me think....


ZDNet's Jason D. O'Grady writes in "SightSpeed - an alternative to iChat" the following nice quotes:
  • "the video and audio quality are phenomenal"
  • "a viable option for business users and people that need to have high quality video chats with people in far away places"
  • "seems to get around Firewalls and NAT much better than iChat"

Click here for Jason's full article about SightSpeed.

Thanks for the test run Jason!

Thursday, June 22, 2006

So easy, So smart

Website OhSoEZ.com has cleverly used SightSpeed video mail to add content to their website.



Twice as Bright

OhSoEZ.com is a website dedicated to providing useful links and items of interest to the deaf community. They use SightSpeed video mail links to post signed news items to their website. For example, here is an video mail of OhSoEZ signing about deaf golfer Kevin Hall.

Well done OhSoEZ!

Monday, June 12, 2006

Baxter has a new friend

Back at Iron Creative, ferocious watchdog Baxter has made a new friend. Meet Niko.

Do you have the cheese?

Baxter was alert at first, thinking Niko may be a nar-do-well. However, with such a cute face and happy tail wag, he figured Niko was alright. You too can watch Niko's video intro, with a cameo by Baxter.

Friday, June 09, 2006

Java Java Gets You Wired

I had the good fortune of hanging out on Seabrook Island this week. The local coffee shop Java Java not only serves a mean double espresso, but they also have free internet!


Wired On!

Check out my fun video taken from Java Java on Seabrook Island, South Carolina.

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

One Great Review and Two Jamoches

Ever wonder who those people are in the pictures when professionals do reviews of video and photo products? I am sure you were thinking they were professional models. Well, not in SightSpeed's case.

Oh Man, I'm a Model!

In the recent PC World review of SightSpeed by Laura Blackwell, she grabbed a screenshot during a video call with Scott Lomond and Jeff Wilson from SightSpeed. The screen-grab software makes their pictures look a little odd, and doesn't do the picture quality justice. That said, it does make Jeff and Scott look funny. I laughed my head off when I saw these two in the article. I love these guys, but they look like jamoches in the freeze frame. HA!

Laura, thanks for the great review and great laugh!

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Baxter Loves Cheese

By popular demand, Baxter is back. I am again working at the offices of Iron Creative in San Francisco. Baxter never forgets a face, or a source of bacon. I didn't have bacon today, but did have cheese.


Cheese Please!

I gave him a little piece of cheddar, but Baxter needs to watch his figure so his daddy cut off the supply of cheese. With that proclamation, I took a video of a cheese-less Baxter walking off into the sunset. Not to be rebuffed, he would later return to see if the embargo on cheese had been lifted. It had not, but Baxter does make a strong case for ending the prohibition on cheese for guard dogs.


PS. Click here to see Iron Creative's award winning e-card for Blueprint Ventures. It is a funny holiday tale about the origins of the Snoman.

Monday, May 15, 2006

Baxter Loves Bacon

Guard dog and fellow bacon lover Baxter came over to visit me today. Baxter protects the offices of Iron Creative Communications in San Francisco with a ferocious, criminals-be-warned tail wag.


Do you have bacon?

Baxter is always happy to meet you at the door with puppy-dog eyes and a wet nose. If you are having writer's block, scratching Baxter's head is a sure-fire remedy. When you need an emergency cure to a loss of inspiration, Baxter suggests that you bring bacon. With bacon, Baxter will not only be a friend for life, but he will do tricks. They aren't great tricks mind you, but for a hard working guard dog, they are pretty good. Click here to see a video of Baxter the guard dog doing tricks.

Friday, May 05, 2006

Introducing VRS Interpreter 113F

I have received a lot of positive response about the use of SightSpeed for video relay services. Thanks everyone!

One of the key things that people notice about LifeLinks' use of SightSpeed is that you can pick your own interpreter. This is a brand new concept for the industry, and a feature that members of the deaf community really like.


Hi, I'm Lifelinks interpreter #113

Click here to watch a video introduction from interpreter 113F. To contact her directly for your VRS needs, simply add 113FLLVRS@lifelinks.net to your SightSpeed contact list and she would be happy to relay your calls.

VRS is a free service provided to deaf individuals who use American Sign Language as their primary means of communication. To learn more about deaf relay services, check out this article by Ryan Singel about vrs services.

Monday, May 01, 2006

Thank a Teacher

My favorite non-profit is DonorsChoose.org. With a generous gift from Bank of America, they launched their San Francisco Challenge campaign. They have selected the most innovative school projects and have funded 50% of them. When you fund the other half, the project will be brought to life!

All you need to do is click the button below and see the projects that Bank of America has already half-funded. B of A has already committed their money to the projects. All you have to do is fund the other half. What a great way to thank a teacher!



San Francisco Chronicle is also featuring the DonorsChoose SF Challenge launch in Christopher Caen's popular weekly column. With such a great way to help teachers, what's not to love?

Press Coverage about the Deaf using SightSpeed for Video Relay

As I reported earlier in this blog, members of the deaf community are using SightSpeed to communicate with each other, and to reach the hearing via video relay. Now Ryan Singel has written an article about it; "Deaf, Perhaps, But Not Mute".

Ryan writes about the "VRS service from LifeLinks, which provides the deaf with a broadband connection, a webcam and video-phone software from SightSpeed. LifeLinks provides VRS translators, but the deaf can also use the software for free calls to other deaf people."

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Stars on Thars

My good friend Scott Lomond earned his MBA from that bastion of southern intelligencia, Vanderbilt. Business school is all about case studies that are used to teach students to learn from others' mistakes. Despite his fancy schooling, he recently cited Dr. Suess’s “The Sneetches” as the relevant case study for an interesting and very real business dilemma.


The Sneetches!


The wisdom of Dr. Seuss is timeless, and goes well beyond the realm of children. So, if you don't know the story, read it here. If you do, ring me up sometime and I'll tell you the story about a real-world case of the Sneetches.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

SightSpeed is a life line to the deaf community

Many people in the deaf community use SightSpeed to connect with each other. They also use SightSpeed to reach to the hearing using relay services. Deaf-to-voice used to mean clumsy text messaging systems. But now, the deaf are using SightSpeed to reach video relay service LifeLinks interpreters to provide sign language interpreting services.


I'm Your Connection


The concept is pretty simple. The deaf call an interpreter using SightSpeed. The interpreter calls a hearing person on the telephone. The interpreter uses ASL – American Sign Language – to communicate with the deaf person, while using their voice to communicate using sound over a traditional telephone.

This service is provided free of charge to both parties. The government pays for it. If you are deaf, you too can call LifeLinks video relay service free of charge. Simply highlight and copy & paste any or all of these addresses to your SightSpeed contact list, and you can ring them on SightSpeed:

3fsignlanguage@lifelinks.net, 213msignlanguage@lifelinks.net, 121msignlanguage@lifelinks.net, 104FLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 105FLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 106FLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 107FLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 108MLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 109FLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 110FLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 111FLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 112FLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 113FLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 114FLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 115FLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 116FLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 117MLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 118MLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 119MLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 120FLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 121MLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 122FLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 123MLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 198LLVRS@lifelinks.net, 199LLVRS@lifelinks.net, 201FLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 202FLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 303MLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 301MLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 302MLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 303FLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 304MLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 401MLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 402FLLVRS@lifelinks.net, 500fllvrs@lifelinks.net

Here is a video of LifeLinks interpreter Diana explaining how it works.

The Last Train to Baltimore

Well, not really, but Last Train to Georgia is one of my favorite songs. So as I headed out of New York City today back to Baltimore, I shot this video mail from Amtrak 137 to Baltimore.


Keep on Rolling, Roll on, Roll on

It's not really the last train, but it is the last daylight train at this time of year. That's good enough for me. Big wheels, keep rolling. Roll on, roll on.

Video Bloggers Unite!

Eventually, there is a convention for everything. Video blogging has now joined the ranks.

I am not sure if I will be in attendance yet, but the upcoming video blogging convention in San Francisco looks like a fun event.