Alec Saunders SquawkBox

A few days ago I wrote about Voxalot's new VoxCall application for Facebook. Since then, a number of people have contacted me using VoxCall.  Invariably, the quality has been superb.  For example:

• Yesterday, Andy Abramson called me.  He called from the Nokia N810 via WiFi.  WiFi SIP to VoxCall SIP to Truphone SIP and then onto the cellular network.
• The day after I wrote my original piece, Dan York called.  He called from a Polycom IP Phone to Asterisk to VoxCall SIP to Truphone SIP and then onto the cellular network. 

Despite the convoluted routing, the calls were of excellent quality. 

The real value in VoxCall, however, may be something more subtle.  None of us actually knew where the others were.  SIP registration took care of attaching each of us to the network, and then IP took care of the rest.  For all the fuss that gets made about find-me / follow-me services, it's nothing special in the IP world.  In IP, identity is separated from the address space, which makes find-me / follow-me a happy incidental rather than a service that a telco can charge big dollars for.

Last Wednesday morning, as guests of Waterloo entrepreneur Randall Howard, Howard and myself had the opportunity to meet Max Dean, the creator of the Robotic Chair.  Dean's Robotic Chair is on display at the Kitchener-Waterloo Children's Museum. 

Performance art or sculpture, the Robotic Chair really defies categorization.  At first glance, it appears to be an ordinary chair sitting in the middle of a room. Then, suddenly, it simply falls apart.  All the pieces come crashing to the floor with a deafening clatter.  A short while later, the seat wakes up and begins looking for the rest of the pieces of the chair in an attempt to reassemble itself.

It's fascinating and fun to watch.  Enjoy the video.

Shot on the Nokia N81, and edited with Windows Movie Maker in Windows Vista.