NAB – Graves On SOHO Technology

A Ramble In Search Of A Topic: Podcasts, NAB, Convergence of Broadcast & IP Comms

April 5, 2011
Michael Graves
VoIP

three-podcasts At this very moment I face a bit of a problem. What to write about? I have a lengthy list of ideas, notes and incomplete drafts. Oddly enough, none have any appeal at this very moment. Yet here I sit, on board a Jet Blue flight from Houston to New York…which is typically prime time for wordsmithing without distraction.

When I travel I tend to listen to podcasts. Often I’ll catch up on VUC calls that I’ve missed. Today I have a couple of episodes of Escape Pod and CBC Radio’s Spark on my phone. All three are favorites and well worth your time to give them a listen.

Like it not, my work is somewhat seasonal. This time of year we are consumed by the reality of the National Association of Broadcasters Annual Convention & Exposition, aka NAB 2011. NAB opens a week from today. Much of the coming weekend I will spend helping to get our booth ready for the show.

One Week Using Clear 4G In Las Vegas

April 19, 2010
Michael Graves
VoIP

I spent last week in Las Vegas working through the annual convention of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) annual convention. This was my 18th NAB convention. It’s my one annual trek to the desert.

This time I took advantage of the time in Las Vegas to try Clear‘s newly launched 4G network. Fellow VoIP blogger Andy Abramson connected me with people at Cheetah Wireless, a Clear reseller, who offered a special price on the short term rental of a 3G/4G USB dongle. Since recently launched 4G service in Houston I was especially interested to see how it differed from the 3G service that I’ve had via the Sprint Mifi these past months.

NAB Keeping Me Busy & VOIP On The Show Floor

April 11, 2008
Michael Graves
Asterisk, VoIP

Next week is the annual convention of the National Association of Broadcasters. So this week marks my annual trek to Las Vegas to help with the setup of our exhibit. It’s a huge amount of work. My focus on various preparations has kept me from blogging the past week.

VOIP angle 1: Asterisk on the trade show floor

We pay a company called Smart City for internet connectivity on the trade show floor. They drop us a shared ethernet link. The speed is carefully controlled. Our link is typically around 768k x 256k and costs around $1400 for the week. It’s reliable, but very expensive.