FiberGeneration

Are The Web Leaders Deaf ?

Earlier this week, YouTube added Close Caption to its features set. As lots of people around the planet, I've been waiting for it since months- not that I'm deaf myself (at least not according to my last check-up last June), but I like to think from the end-user side.

According to TechCrunch, "[this] will not only allow videos to appeal more directly to foreign audiences, but will give YouTube excellent data for searching videos and targeting ads to them."

Go to the YouTube to read the whole announcement :

Here at YouTube, we're always trying to find new ways to enrich your viewing experience and to help video creators reach a wider audience. As part of this goal, we've added a new captioning feature which allows you to give viewers a deeper understanding of your video. Captions can help people who would not otherwise understand the audio track to follow along, especially those who speak other languages or who are deaf and hard of hearing.

You can add captions to one of your videos by uploading a closed caption file using the "Captions and Subtitles" menu on the editing page. To add several captions to a video, simply upload multiple files. If you want to include foreign subtitles in multiple languages, upload a separate file for each language. There are over 120 languages to choose from and you can add any title you want for each caption. If a video includes captions, you can activate them by clicking the menu button located on the bottom right of the video player. Clicking this button will also allow viewers to choose which captions they want to see.

Some of our partners have already started using captions to offer you a better understanding of their videos (even with the audio turned off):

- BBC Worldwide: captions are provided in five different languages on this clip from Top Gear.
- CNET: tech product reviews from CNET's Crave blog.
- UC Berkeley: footage from the Opencast Project Open House.
- MIT: full lectures on subjects like Physics.
- Gonzodoga: English subtitles on this awesome Japanese animation.

We hope captions will serve to tighten the YouTube community by bringing together international users from different cultures.
We're excited to see what kinds of fun and creative uses for captions you'll be coming up with for your videos!

I read the TechCrunch article and the YouTube post twice : I haven't seen any mention of hearing impairment, whilst this Close Captioning system is the perfect tool to give access to videos to the deaf people, right ?

Then I googled "YouTube closed caption" (btw : I used Ubiquity for this : fast & easy): only three out of the ten sites on the first page are citing disabled people as the target users of this new feature. That's Media Bullseyes, CNet' Webware, and - no surprise, provided the name of the site : 4HearingLoss.

IMHO, that's really not much. Lucky Web 2.0 key players : they suffer no disease...

Call For Editors : The History Of Fiber Optics

Thanks to Dipity, I've created the Fiber Optics History Timeline.
Based on Science & Technology author Jeff Hecht' s "The City Of Light", this is the Web 2.0 version of Jeff' s own chronological page.

The beauty of Dipity is that you can display any type of content in a chronological order (Timeline view), on a carousel (Flipbook view), or on a map (Map view, surprisingly ;-). For teachers and instructors of all kind, what a nice tool to keep your audience up and running.

As any true Web 2.0 app, Dipity is UGC : User Generated Content. In this case, it means that  teachers and instructors can call for help to create a better content - think Wikipedia.

Well, Dear FiberGeneration Readers, I'm therefore calling on you ! I'll continue to edit the current timeline, for instance adding the missing locations, photos, URLs, etc. What I'm asking you is to add relevant content. For instance, as you can see the timeline ends in 1996. As some of you may have notice, quite a few interesting events occured between then and now in the Optical Communications arena. Those are typically the things you can contribute to, shall you have the relevant experience, knowledge, or insight ;-) Major milestones, breakthrough technologies, interesting field trials : please feel free to add !

Just drop me a line at : marc[dot]duchesne[at]mac[dot]com, and i'll set you as editor for this History of Fiber Optics. Thank you.

 

post-scriptum : for those of you who are not familiar with Fiber Optics, Jeff is publishing the "Understanding Fiber Optics" series since almost two decades now. The fifth edition was released in 2005. It's available here at Amazon.com. Enjoy the ride !

Language II

Noted, many people speaks Russian here and children as well.
But often, cafe and restaurant waiters do not understand Russian. In this cases English help me.
And I know some Lithuanian words and phrases of politeness already. :-)

For example: - спасибо - acui - thank you; - привет - labas - hi; - школа - mokykla - school; - вода - vanduo - water; - пиво - alus - beer; - хватит - viskas - enough. When I hear "viskas" I think abour cats food. :-)

Lithuanian is very nice language, to my opinion.

The Ubiquitous Firefox

Since Day One, I'm a fervent user of Firefox 3.0. Fast, simple, flexible : to me, FX3 is more powerful than Safari 3, and easier to use than Opera 9.5.

Firefox is therefore my default browser on my Macs and the PC. Each of them with the same setup, thanks to the Web 2.0. My favorites extensions : Feedly for reading my RSS feeds, Yoono for sharing stuff for myself between my computers, and to share things with the World too, and Piclens for pics & vids browsing and viewing.

Yesterday, the Mozilla Labs introduced a new add-on : Ubiquity. Read the description, watch the video, and install the first release. You'll discover a brand new way to deal with the Web. Absolutely stunning. Ubiquity might be the Web 3.0 (no typo ;-) for the rest of us.

We Mac users recently became used to hit the Space bar quite often - not to create a space between two words, but to read a document w/o opening the corresponding app. With Ubiquity, we're going to hit this Space bar even more often.

Ah, I forgot : for those of you who are still on IE, Mozilla Firefox is there.

The Green Fiber Evangelist Dilemna

On the fourth week of September, I'm going to attend three different events in three days. ECOC'08 to start with, then Odebit'08, and finally the Cisco's CUD conference. That is Monday in Brussels, Tuesday in Paris, and Wednesday in Amsterdam.

Provided that I'll be either an exhibitor (ECOC), or a pro-active participant (Odebit), I have to be there for the opening - means way before the doors open. Also, I expect to leave the places not before 7:00PM each. So the question is : which travel mode is the best, for me to be on time in the morning in Brussels, then in Paris, then in Amsterdam ?

View Larger Map

As I do my very best to be an honest Global Warming fighter, the first choice that comes to mind is the Thalys high-speed-train, obviously. At least for the first segment : home - Brussels - Paris, the Thalys seems to be the right solution.

Problem : I must travel low-cost to ECOC. Hence for me driving is cheaper and simplier. Just because I'm "only" 3-hours drive away from Brussels, all on motorways, whilst going by train would force me to 1) drive to the Disneyland Paris high-speed-train station 60 minutes away from home, 2) leave my car at the parking lot there, and pay for it, 3) jump in the train to Lille-Europe, and switch for the next one to Brussels-Midi, 4) grab a taxi to the hotel, and pay for it, 5) on the morning next day, pay the hotel room - a one-night stay in Brussels is not cheap, even in a 2-stars hotel - and 6) grab a taxi to the Exhibition center, and pay the guy. And the reverse in the evening on the way back to home : call a cab, catch the train, switch in Lille-Europe, drive home.

The train option : a 2-days trip, approximatively 350 euros all included but the meals. The car option : a 1-day trip, approx. 100 euros, gasoline & toll included. Therefore, the choice is easy. Car wins, unfortunately for the planet.

Now the trip to Amsterdam. Driving is not an option, so the question is : train or airplane ? Train : the last Thalys to Amsterdam departs from Paris at 6:25PM, meaning that I would have to leave the Broadband Summit at Odebit at something like 5:00PM. No way, since the wrap-up session will be held by a key member of the French Government. Therefore, option B wins : I'll fly from Paris to Amsterdam. I am so sorry, again, Mother Earth.

The conclusion is, you may be the most proactive proponent of the fight against climate changes (which I'm not. This guy is, for sure ;-), your agenda sometimes forces you to break the rules.

The lesson for me : it's time to compensate my carbon emissions. See my total CO2 footprint to date here on Dopplr. How much is yours ?

We Feel Fine : Emotional Rescue For The Back To Business Days

Flying back home recently, I watched Jonathan Harris' talk at TED2007 : "The Web's Secret Stories".

A New Yorker artist and scientist, Harris is leading an outstanding project : "We Feel Fine".

It's all about people' s feelings. Amazingly captivating. Just this little warning : it's so captivating that you may end up spending the whole day exploring the Web through Harris and his team' s eyes. Quite a nice way to forget the rude reality of the daily life at the office ;-)

The We Feel Fine website is here. The core stuff is there. Peace Out, Buddies.

Easy banking... heh.

Little by little I become familiar with banking.
Internet banking, first of all. It is available to make all payments from home PC!
There are a huge number of ATM's around. Though, sometimes these machines adds me a couple of gray hairs! "Windows"? :-))

Back To The Future Of Fiber Optics

As I am preparing the Back To The (Fiber) School season, which is going to start quite strongly in a couple of weeks, I am digging into my personal archives to put together some fancy tutorials on Technology and Markets trends.

Among a couple of interesting things that I've re-discovered, I found this slide - part of a 140-slides training binder that I've created back in 1992. It shows the theorical minimum attenuation of so-called "infra-red optical fibers. Take Fluoride fiber for instance : 0.001 dB/km kind of order of magnitude. A 100 times less (means : 100 times better) than the best of the best optical fibers currently manufactured for submarine systems (the Formula One of Optical Communications, that is).

This slide is 16-years old. Those magical fibers are still under the hood of some secret labs somewhere on the Planet (Corning might be one of those). Why ? My take is that this technology is such a fantastic leap frog (remember : attenuation 100 times better than the best fiber today) that its introduction will induce a complete revamp of the actual network design and construction methods. New cables, new splice boxes, new splicing process, new connectors, new test instruments. Plus, on top, new transmission systems. The whole supply chain to be changed.

For an industry which is just recovering from a quite heavy downturn period, such a paradigm shift is not yet welcome. Let's wait for the (almost) whole world to be Fiber-To-The-Home cabled, and then you'll see the first field trials popping up here and there (my take : US first ;-) to test those new fibers in some long-haul links.

Because when the World (almost) will be Fiber-To-The-Home cabled, the Optical Communications industry will need to create a new market to sustain its development. Considering that the actual long-haul/core networks infrastructures won't be able to carry the Internet traffic as it will be in 10 years - or even less - from now, new fibers are mandatory. If I had some money to spend on the Stock Market, I definitely would rate Corning as a "Buy"...

Using parking

Now I know how to use parking in the Vilnius airport. :-)
You approach to the barrier, press button, get ticket, the barrier is opened, go inside parking space and leave the car. Under way out you have to pay to automat by coins or bank notes, get marked ticket and go to the exit barrier, insert ticket to automat and you are free! :-)

Language

Sometimes I watch TV for Lithuanian news on russian.
Today, on the news headline I hear ..."Lithuanian government will make easy to get a Lithuanian residence permit"... wow... well... And I am waiting this news details. Yes, really. Lithuanian government will make easy to get a Lithuanian residence permit to whom, who are 65 years old and more! They will not take an examination for language... Heh.

I'm a guide

Little by little I become to study a city and suburb. Couple of weeks ago I decided to visit near Vilnius dropzone for skydiving. I tryed to find it during 2 hours by car! And the back way took 20 minutes only! :-)
My family came for vacation through Vilnius. I was a like a guide for them in city and Lithuanian kitchencooking.
Lithuanian kitchen cooking is a separate theme. ;-)

Bill for 1 cent

I have got a bill from Vilnius electricity supplier for 1 (one) cent! Suppose, flat owner still owes it.
I've imaged: paper, printing, envelop, postal fee... a hundred time more than 1 cent to inform me, that I owe 1 cent! :-)

Starting Up In Belarus : OptixSoft

Whilst my friend Andrew decided to go to FOD Fiber Optics Devices Ltd, some of his colleagues at the IIT Institute of information Technologies of Minsk, Belarus, decided to create their own firm : OptixSoft.

A unique start-up of its kind, OptixSoft provides outsourced R&D services to the Fiber Optics Test & Measurement industry :

OptixSoft offers a full range of specialized software development services, from GUI and custom utilities for equipment to embedded software development for Windows CE and Linux, to firmware and device driver development. Our main specialty is software development for telecommunication industry, including embedded and low-level software development for fiber optic transmission lines and fiber optic test and measurement equipment.

In addition to specialized system/low-level software development (firmware, embedded software, drivers), Optixsoft also offers custom application software development for desktop and pocket computers. Even the most robust and feature-rich test and measurement instrumentation often requires enhancements and customization, and additional application software needs to be developed to support that. Often such software allows users to work with files, display and organize data received from your test and measurement equipment, and integrate with 3rd party solutions.

Custom application software development that we build for our clients includes:

intuitive user interfaces to manage existing processes and files,

data processing and data storing for 3rd party databases,

data analyzers and report generators,

distributed systems and packages.

To give you an idea of OptixSoft' s capabilities, CEO Mike Ziuzin developed a few years ago a project of his own : a *pocket-OTDR*, based on a micro test probe (the "OTDR" per se) and a Pocket-PC. WiFi, BlueTooth, and miniaturization : the right package for an FTTH Fiber-To-The-Home tester...

You can contact OptixSoft by email at : [email protected].

Alex Che, software expert, waits for your twitts here on Twitter

I visited IIT a few years ago. It was like if I were playing "Back To The Future" : those folks were using pretty aged equipments, things that we Frenchies got at the university back in the early 80's. And those guys were doing absolute jewels. Out of almost nothing, at least for someone like myself who has been working with the big T&M vendors such as HP/Agilent and NetTest for years.

Since this visit, I'm convinced that this team is capable of miracles. May The Force of the T&M be with them ;-)

Vilnius time

Just 200 km from my Minsk home, but all around moves faster. But, at the same time, it all comes right and do not gives a trouble. And I feel a comfort.
I've pointed, if Wednesday comes - it like an end of week! Time goes faster for me here. I'm trying to explain it, but all reasons I see are not completed.

iPhone, Therefore I Am A Presenter Of The Web 2.0 Type

I just received my iPhone 3G this morning. Setting up the whole thing was a matter of minutes, thanks to iTunes and... MobileMe, which worked quite well for once. 

Now, the question is : what am I going to do with the "old" one ? Simple : I will use my 1st gen. iPhone as a portable device, for presentation and training events. Actually, it turns out that an iPhone without its SIM card is... an iPod Touch (with a camera ;-).

You can then use this 1st gen. iPhone to display photos and videos, listen to podcasts, etc. Connect it to a TV or a video projector, and boom, you get the ultimate presentation gear. Which you can even leave to your customer after the show *. Bonus : if you come close enough to a WiFi hotspot, you gain access to the Internet and all your favorite Web 2.0 apps...

That is the beauty with everything Infinite Loop : you never throw an Apple-branded device away. You can always recycle it for a different usage. I mean, not as Michael Arrington does with his Mac Mini...

* This is a wonderful sales trick I've learned at Agilent Technologies. Each time we were demoing our flagship product - the Mini-OTDR - to a new prospect, we were offering a free loan right on the spot : "we can leave it to you right now, so you can test it by yourself", and that was it. We knew this "try & buy" proposal was a killer.

I'm a Belarus Man in Vilnius

It occured 8 months ago. I make call to Lithuania company director.
Standard situation for the western man - phone call, resume posting and interview.
I've heard «yes»! Wow, it is a new life is coming.
Then: 4 month awaiting of work permission, preparing necessary documents for embassy, some stay in line and I had a workig visa.
I have been in Vilnius much times before, but now I looked around in other eyes.

Please Welcome Andrew !

Dear FiberGeneration Readers : I have the very pleasure to introduce my friend Andrew Luzgin to you.

A Belarus native, Andrew recently moved to Lithuania for a new job. A 200-km-only trip, but a giant quantum leap for someone who lived in a typical former USSR type of country until his 40's.

Since a couple of months, Andrew is discovering a brand new world, both on the business and the private sides. That's why I've asked him to share his once-in-a-lifetime experience with you.

Today is Andrew' s first day as author on this blog. Please forgive his not-so-Oxford english, and enjoy his vision of life. I am convinced that you will learn a lot from Andrew, as I do since three years we are in touch almost every day.

That's Why I Need A 24/7 Up-And-Runing iPhone

See here.

Hey, Apple : Could You Please Mobile Me ?

Using a Mac since 24 years, living the all-Apple digital lifestyle at home, and the as-much-Apple-as-I-can at work, I consider myself as a pretty loyal customer to the Cupertino' s folks - to be honest, I'm a so-called "Mac-maniac", which is sometimes annoying for my co-workers and customers.

I'm also a very loyal admirer of Steve Jobs - some would say, I'm a "fan" of Master Steve. For instance, I moved to the NeXT Cube as soon as the black jewel was available here in France, just because it was "made by Steve".

I bought the iPhone the (second) day of its release in France, and I will get the iPhone 3G on Monday (thanks to Orange).

3 Macs at home, 3 iPods, and 2 iPhones soon : that's quite a nice package, I think.

Of course, I'm was a .Mac subscriber since Day One, and I moved to MobileMe (and iPhone 2.0) as millions of others last June.

That's the problem. Since the switch from the old .Mac services to the modern/state-of-the-art/Web2.0-style MobileMe, and the upgrade to the iPhone 2.0 platform that includes the AppStore, the whole setup sucks. My 6-months old MacBook often goes as slow as my 5-years old PowerBook, thanks to the Sync mechanism. Sending an email from the iPhone takes hours, due to a mismatch between the MobileMe stuff and the Orange network. Sending a photo from the iPhone to MobileMe ? forget it : the system don't find any shared album, although I've setup and used a couple of them on .Mac months ago. Since the very first app that I've downloaded on the iPhone, I get to reboot it at least three times a week.

Dear Apple, that is not fair. I never asked for all those troubles. I never wanted to think that you start doing wrong things.I don't want to think someday that you look like the guys in Redmond.

When I had to reboot my Duo once a day back in the mid 90's, that was no problem. It was even worst with a PC. When I had to reboot my iMac once a month in the late 90's, it was no problem neither : I was still a "paper" guy. Today, mid 2008, when I have to reboot my iPhone, it makes me crazy. Because I'm an All-Digital guy now, doing Web 2.0 and Cloud Computing all day long, thanks to the Googles and to... you.

So, Cupertino People : when are you going to make my life as simple as it was two months ago ?

The Chinese Watch Out Call

The 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremonies have been the most stunning/impressive/jaw dropping I and probably billions of other people in the Galaxy today ever saw. The final fireworks said it all : China is ready.

With this absolutely unique event, China just has demonstrated its power to the entire planet. They master the Technology, they know the true means of Innovation, and they know how to execute a Life or Death strategic plan.

Maybe a few (thousands) people outside of Asia knew it already - have you ever dealt with a Chinese businessman ? Good luck, Dude ! Now, starting today 08/08/08, the whole World is aware.

One could not expect something else from the nation who counts Sun Tzu among her children.

Just This [11-08]

geo:tool=blockrocker.com geotagged geo:lat=45.76362 geo:lon=4.857682 See this post's geographical context.

Say Hello World

Customer Service At The Web 2.0 Age

David Fisher of What Is Noise has a must-read article on Customer Service via Social Media : "How NOT to handle Customer Service via Social Media". Shall you use Twitter or any other Web 2.0 tool to keep in touch with your customers, or shall you be still running an Enterprise 1.0 type of company, the 12 points listed are the very key requirements for any efficient/successful/committed Customer Care/Support/Service center.

Thanks to my own experience with building a such a service within the Optical Network Test division at Agilent Technologies *** years ago (hey, 1999-2000, that was even before the SMS became mainstream ;-), I would add a 13th one : Apologize even when that's your customer who's faulty. Because you're the one who brought the product to the customer.

thanks to Jean-Luc Raymond for the heads-up.

*** personal note : my warmest greetings to my fellow El Nino Juan-Luis, and to my lovely twitter Sandra. Good to see you're doing well in the T&M business.

OMG, Mr. Barack Obama is following me !

On Twitter. Not a joke. See by yourself here. Now I've got to stand out of the crowd if I want to get my green card ready ;-)