So, it's been a week or so since I've had a chance to write, but it's been a busy few days. Upon returning from the sunny confines of Lost Wages (106 degrees F) I've been catching up on new stuff back at IX headquarters.

I don't know about you folks, but it seems like with the more tools that get rolled out - IM, web conferencing, new Office versions, RSS feeds, web site tools, adobe tools, IP phones, Blackberrys, Facebook, Talkcasts, MP3 players, cell phones, bluetooth earphones, webcams, IR ports, digital cameras, etc... - there are a couple of things that I now have bigs needs for:

1. Something to haul all the cables around in. Whatever happened to the notion of having one USB cable that connects with everything? Yeah, right. Between laptop power bricks, mobile sync cables, picture transfer cables and verything else, I almost need a sepeate carry bag just for the cables.

2. USB 2.0 ports. Just can't get enough it seems. My new laptop (Gateway 17 inch widescreen tablet) has three 2.0 ports on the side and another 2 in the docking station when I'm plugged in. And they're all full. Everything wants those USB ports it seems.

I just got delivered a 4-port USB hub (Belkin). I guess I'll try that tomorrow for all of my permanently connected devices such as mice, external backup hard drives, keyboards, webcams, etc...

The InfoComm show was good. We met a lot of interesting people that will hopefully lead to some additional business. That's the whole idea, right?

Speaking of trade shows/exhibitions, has anyone out there heard from the VON folks at all. We were regular exhibitors at VON Fall and VON Spring, but that company seems to have disappeared. I'd heard rumors before VON Spring that the company was in serious financial difficulties, but I guess I didn't know how bad. Nothing has change on their website since Spring VON, and at this point I have to assume that Fall VON is off the table.

I just heard a rumor the other day that VON neglected to let exhibitors know that VON Amsterdam was cancelled and that exhibitors showed up - in country - only to find out that there was no event. Boy, talk about ticked-off.

In any case, if you know of any concrete news, please let me know.

Compunetix business is brisk. Many of our new developments are taking root. CONTEX Report is finally released. This tool enables CONTEX owners to easily collect all events from the system in a SQL off-board database and thenuse crystal reports to schedule and generate standard and customized reports from the data. Pretty good stuff.

In our extensive work with CSPs, we found that no two provider customers have the same requirements with regard to what they want to report on. CONTEX Report allows them to dig as deep as they want into the raw data and create very sohiticated reports in a variety of formats. The reports can be scheduled to run regularly or just once, and can be automatically delivered to a seperate system for further processing or via e-mail to a collection of recipients.

It's the reliable, scalable reporting solution that we've been looking to develop.

OK, gotta run. I am going to try and blog later from my borrowed Blackberry. I am NOT a berry addict. In fact, I'd not used one before this week. I am using a friend's 8703e until my new Samsung SCH-i760 Windows Mobile smartphone arrives.

I can't say that I hate the Blackberry, but it's not what I would have chosen for a converged device. I DO really like the whole e-mail at your fingertips. I was always a little afraid of having an e-mail mobile client. I figured it would be too addicting. To some extent I was right, but the benefits clearly outweigh any downside. My wife might disagree.

But this specific device has no audio and no photo capability, so it's not the one for me. I also don't really care for the keyboard, although I understand that's a bit heretical. These boards are supposed to be the bees knees. Frankly I'd take my original LG EnV keyboard over this one. Everyone has caustioned me to just wait, that it'll take time to get used to. Well, maybe, but I've been using a keyboard phone for years. I just don't like feel or layout of this one.

But i'll try it out for a couple of weeks and then report back.

Take it easy!