The TelePresence is strong with this one

(Image from Bernard Leong)

I’ve experienced Cisco’s TelePresence technology and I must say, it’s pretty amazing.

I met up with bloggers Daniel Cerventus and James Yeang to test the TelePresence 3000, recently. It was all pretty informal, which is good; no major PR fuss, no jostling for front row seats or fighting over swag. They showed us to a room, sat us down and bang, we were looking across a table at people in Singapore just like they were sitting right in front of us.

The folks in Singapore were, in fact, sitting in a room much like ours. It was tastefully lit, had three 65-inch screens and chairs and a table.

But as we introduced ourselves and got to know a little about them, it felt more like our two rooms were magically linked together, rather than just a bunch of people talking to each other like they weren’t thousands of miles apart.

If you’re used to Skype or MSN video calls, just imagine what it would be like to be talking to someone far away yet be completely free of lags, audio clipping or just about any other annoyance that comes with modern video-conferencing. It’s not that I’m being paid to say this, but TelePresence is just that good. I’d love to have a look at their usability case studies because it’s wonderful how they made it so easy to use.

Of course, we ended up chatting long past our time limit, but hey, it’s not every day you get to experience a bit of science fiction come to life, right?

While the cost and practical use may deter private ownership, I’d definitely recommend this sort of tech to companies as a way of improving communication between offices and cutting down travel costs. You’d probably end up saving a hell of a lot more with one of these babies in your HQ, where you can dial in and ‘meet up’ with your counterparts practically every day, instead of wasting money flying people all over the place for short business trips, all year round.

You can find out more about what Cisco does on their blog.

Poverty

(Image from utopiacere’s Flickr)

It’s Blog Action Day and the subject that I’m posting about this year is Poverty.

So, how can information architects help fight poverty?

Honestly, I have no fucking idea.

But how can you help the fight against poverty, as a person?

Make it personal.

You don’t always have to donate cash to big organizations where you have no idea where your money is going. You can do better than drop 10 cent coins at fast-food outlet or beggars on the street.

You can stop keeping your distance.

If you want to truly make a difference, do it yourself instead of letting other people decide what happens. It’s more personal and a hell of a lot more meaningful to give directly to the people who are in need. There’s tons of homeless and poor people walking around your city. There’s volunteer organizations. And there’s always your local church/mosque/temple/shrine/synagogue.

So, if you’re serious about helping the poor, stop the car, get out and go talk to them. Ask them what you can do. Give something other than your loose change.

Why does MindManager Pro rock?

Seriously, it rocks.

Lately, I’ve been using it to sketch out site maps the size of Wisconsin. OK, well, maybe not the size of Wisconsin, which is 65,498 square miles, by the way. But hey, you get the idea.

You don’t even have to be an IA to love this stuff; if you spend hours every day drawing flowcharts or mapping out processes or even if you’re just looking for a brainstorming tool, this is it. I’ve ranted about stuff like Freemind and WriteMaps before, but this stuff is just so much more incredibly on point. Just try it out.