Mar 042010
 

I read a good post the other day from Caroline McCarthy of CNET. The post was about market consolidation in the social aggregator space: Social-network feed aggregators–FriendFeed, Socialthing, Plaxo’s Pulse–have been part of the dizzying array of Web apps ever since it became evident that the average Internet user was using more than one of […]

Feb 242010
 

My job as a communications professional often means I counsel clients on all types of marketing efforts. This is especially true because for some clients PR lives within a broader marketing P&L. So I was interested when a representative from the Technology Marketing Corporation (TMCnet) contacted me and offered to meet today. I’ve been aware […]

Feb 162010
 
Winter Wine Finds

With the days short, the nights long and with holiday bills to pay it’s easy to rely on old favorite wines during the winter. Gabriele and I can be guilty of that, but we try and make sure we’re trying new juice as well. Here are some winners we’ve found recently, enjoyed between digging out […]

Feb 102010
 
E36 Circuit Switch DIY -- The M3 Strikes Back

If there is one thing that working on your car instills in you, it’s a little humility. You never know when a task will be tougher and more frustrating than advertised. Such was the case earlier this month when the brake light circuit error started flashing across the display screen of my 1999 M3. The […]

Feb 052010
 
Hey Google, Let's Improve the DNS

It’s pretty cool when a client of yours designs a way for the Internet to work better. Last week Neustar hooked up with Google to design an improvement to the Domain Name System (DNS), a fundamental protocol that makes the Internet work. Neustar is the leading provider of managed DNS services for companies and sovereign […]

Jan 312010
 
Columbia Firehouse -- Another NRG Success Story

Last Saturday Gabriele and I enjoyed a nice dinner at Columbia Firehouse in Alexandria, on the site of the long-time Portners and the very short-lived Bookbinders. It was our second meal there, and it’s obvious that the Firehouse is another success in the expanding Neighborhood Restaurant Group (NRG). A lot of the links on their […]

Jan 202010
 

The debate around Network Neutrality is sometimes simplified as carriers against content providers, the owners of networks against the businesses that have grown due to Internet connectivity. So it was interesting to read that Google and Verizon filed a joint submission to the FCC last week, laying out in detail how the two companies agreed […]

Jan 172010
 
La Strada Delivers a Quality Italian Evening

Gabriele and I don’t go out for Italian that often, like some of you I’ll bet. Gabriele cooks it well at home, and a lot of so-called Italian food in restaurants just isn’t that good. When we go out, we usually are after something different. I can report that La Strada in Del Ray is […]

Jan 142010
 

Last Friday I was busily knocking things off my to-do list when I got an urgent email from a client. There was a blog post with very erroneous info about the client climbing rapidly up the results page in Google News. This was a poorly reported re-hash of news of an attack that happened over […]

Jan 072010
 
Genachowski Lays Out the Plan -- and the Problems

Yesterday self-professed “broadband nerd” Om Malik and Stacey Higginbotham of GigaOm hosted a revealing interview with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. It was a great opportunity to hear the Chairman in real time talk through some of the issues facing the commission as it races to prepare its national broadband plan by February. Genachowski was impressive […]

Dec 292009
 

Well the holidays are in full swing through New Year’s Day and that means a lot of wine drinking. Gabriele and I brought some wine up to visit family and also bought some while up there. Here is the report on winners and losers. First off, a real holiday crowd pleaser that even had my […]