Stardust Global Ventures

Forgive me while I digress with some personal thoughts for a moment.

Have you ever been in love? I don’t just mean loved someone. I mean been so totally in love that nothing else in the world mattered? If you haven’t, you can’t imagine the feeling. It’s the most powerful feeling there is.

I’m in love with Sheryl. Our relationship is very public, and anyone who reads here can see much of our life together. I love her beyond anything I will ever be able to express. She’s my universe. my sun rises and sets in her. Without her there would be no stars, no music, no sunshine. Without her, the universe would simply be a black hole.

We came together as adults, with a lot of history prior to each other. My history isn’t all good. I’ve not always been a good, honest and loving man. Now that past is dead to me. The things I did before are gone. I can never be that man again. Yet, the past haunts us forever, doesn’t it. Sometimes I don’t respect that the way I should.

Sheryl has spoiled me for all other women because there can never be another for me. I know that sounds like a bold statement, but it’s true. If she were not my partner, my mate, my love, I would simply stop breathing. My heart would stop. And I wouldn’t care. There is no other who could ever take her place. Ever.

To me, Sheryl is a goddess beyond words. I adore and worship her. She is the only woman on earth. She is my everything. I would do anything to make her happy and please her. I want her to be delighted every day in our life together.

Yet I fail. Often. I fail because I can’t find enough ways to express my love. She knows I love her. But I always want to show more. I need to show more.

I just needed to say that.

Great to see our good friend Jeff “I Travel for Breakfast” Pulver making some news on NBC5. LeeAnn Trotter from NBC5 in Chicago recently attended one of Jeff’s breakfasts. You can see the video output here – http://video.nbc5.com/player/?id=268426

And its’t true, Facebook is not just for kids any more.Technorati Tags: Jeff Pulver, breakfast, NBC5, Facebook. social media

We’ve been ongoing Qwest customers for a while. Naturally, when you’re the incumbent serving a geographic area. there isn’t much competition. And while we do a lot of work with VoIP solutions, Sheryl and I have also been Qwest DSL customers. When we moved, it made sense to move all our service intact.

Qwest said there was a problem with the computer system and that the phone line would come live on the 23rd. It did. They said the DSL would come live on the 24th. That’s today.

Given that it hasn’t been working at all so far, I called them at lunch time. In their helpful way they told me I have to cancel the order because they don’t provide DSL at our address. Their service stops 4 houses away. Excuse me?!?!?! I have to cancel the order because you’re boneheaded idiots. I don’t think so. That order can sit live in the Qwest system in perpetuity. A black mark against customer service. And since when does a service provider, offer the service of customers taking all the flack. Cluetards are at the helm over at Qwest.

In the meantime, Comcast will install high-speed Internet on Thursday. Not my first choice of ISP given their checkered history, but it’ll do for now.

In the meantime, we’re constrained to Blackberry only for connectivity still.

Technorati Tags: Qwest, Comcast, Internet access, cluetards

We’re almost always in touch through our various social networks – Twitter, Brightkite, Facebook and Jaiku. We’re almost always online to our friends on Blackberry Messenger. We’re hyperconnected like always. But that doesn’t mean life is free and easy and that we’re sitting around doing nothing.

For those who haven’t been reading closely, we have mastered the art of moving in a demented way We moved from the first home we shared in Olympia to a new place across town. We absolutely loved the new house. We had visions of staying there for a very long time. It was perfect for us in so many ways.

But I recently parted ways with the State of WA and my role there. It was time to move on and get back into the private sector. Public service work is rewarding in some ways, but filled with headaches in many others. We’ve also been working hard to turn Stardust into something more. We know our vision is sustainable and viable, but we can’t just do that and nothing else. Not yet.

In my explorations, it worked out that I got an offer we couldn’t refuse at a time we really wanted something new. But that meant moving. Three weeks after moving into our house that we loved, we moved again – into a corporate apartment for an interim period until we found a place.

Three weeks later, we found a place. Again. And here we go again. This weekend we’re meeting the movers at the house in Olympia. They’ll pack and load everything and truck it over to our new place near Spokane. They’ll deliver on Monday and we’ll start the unpacking process again.

It’s not as if that isnt’ enough. We still have so many things to do and keeping us busy on our horizon. Last week we drove in to Seattle and then to Vancouver to spend some time with Jeff Pulver. It was a fabulous time, with some fantastic business ideas and plans coming out along the way. But we’ve got a conversation that we want to podcast. And we’ve got pictures, video and audio with Jeff to assemble and publish for GeekSpeakTV – A Day in the Life of Jeff Pulver. I have to tell you, Jeff has some crazy days!

But that’s not enough. We’ve got to get our GeekSpeakTV schedule back on track. Moving has disrupted that. And ahead, we have a road trip from Spokane to Kitimat, BC and back. We had thought we’d fly up and drive back, but as things have worked out, it’s a roud trip road trip instead. So we’re leaving the July 3rd to drive up, and it’s over 1000 miles each way. That’s right, while all you folks in the states are BBQing and enjoying fireworks, my darling Sheryl and I will be on the road covering lots of miles.

We’ll be only in Kitimat a day or two. We’re picking up some of her things that still haven’t joined her since she’s moved to Washington. And we’re picking up David. he’s riding home with us and he for some time with us and to visit with his Dad in Walla Walla.

As soon as we get back from that, there’s an overnight to Olympia and back to take care of some personal business.

Then, we’re hoping, life can begin to find a way to something we can start thinking of as a normal rhythm and routine. That’s something we neither one think we’ve ever really had together. We’re looking forward to it.

If it seems like we’re behind on posting or writing about something you expected, all we can say is stand by. We really do have some amazing ideas in the works, but they’re hard to implement when you’re in the car or running all day and night with other details. But you’re going to see and hear more from us real soon.

Technorati Tags: Sheryl, Ken, GeekSpeakTV, road trip, life, insanity

I know today the buzz has been all about the new Skype that’s coming and bringing a bigger slant on video. That’s interesting, but I can’t afford the early adopter madness that I’ve been reading about today. It’s clearly not ready for prime time.

This news release hit my mailbox yesterday, and I like this a lot. And it’s ready to roll. What a great use of a technology like Skype to mashup the pleasure of social networking with learning a new language.

Social network for language learners launches Video and Skype

VoxSwap.com, the social network for language learners, adds a video service and integrates Skype so users can see and hear as they chat and learn

VoxSwap the innovative social network for people learning and practising languages has added a video service and integrated Skype so budding linguists can now hear and see as well as type text.

It means users (who sign up for free!) can now watch education and entertainment videos in a wide selection of languages so they can see and hear the words and phrases they are seeking to learn and pronounce properly. VoxSwap users can add videos to the service at the press of a button to help one another learn and practise each other’s languages.

Also VoxSwap users can now hear and see one another when they are chatting. Until now, chatting had been limited to text but with the integration of Skype users can talk to one another, and even video conference, for free.

Co-founder Sean Hargrave believes this is a major step forward for the site.

“Our users have responded really well to being able to chat to one another through text but now we’re taking it a step further with video,”
he commented.

“The video section is great for listening to and watching native speakers pass on language tips and Skype is phenomenal. It really helps to be able to hear the other person and, if both parties agree, see one another in a video conference. With the latest upgrades to the site we’ve added sight and sound to the written word, it’s a very exciting time for the development of language exchange on the Internet.”

Sean set up the site with his wife, Nicole, at the start of 2008 to give social networking a purpose. Rather than compile lists of friends and have virtual snowball fights, VoxSwap allows people to talk in multiple languages so users can help one another progress – hence the site’s motto of ‘make friends, learn a language’.

The new features of video and Skype will sit alongside a virtual keyboard, which offers characters and accents users may not have on their keyboards, as well as a built-in Google Translator for understanding phrases and words.

Included with the upgraded to the site are new features to improve the internal email system and allow people to take more control over their contact with one another. These additions include the ability to delete emails and comments people no longer want on their profile or mail box, as well as the ability to block a user.

After a whirlwind of travel and meetings with Jeff Pulver et al, Ken and I decided to take a day for ourselves yesterday. Just a day of exploring our new community and enjoying each other’s company. Being typical of most newcomers we decided to see what sort of activities were happening at Riverfront Park, Riverpark Square.

We got in the car and drove downtown arriving with the Nikon and our ever present Blackberry’s for capturing the sights and memories. The first sight we were greeted with was a Giant Wagon and in the background some giant children’s blocks.

There were actually a number of interesting sculptures. One is the steel runners. I have no idea how that was done. It must have taken forever to achieve!

Another was the water sculpture.

As we wandered there was a touching veterans statue tribute. I guess there are many similar statues around the world honoring those who died in service to their governments.

What many don’t know or have forgotten, is that Spokane Wa. was the home of the 1974 World Exposition. One of the most obvious reminders is the structure left behind that covers the arcade/amusement park area. I should share with you all that I remember the 1974 World Fair. I attended it. So I actually remember going to this pavillion and I also remember that my very first concert took place at this Expo. Neil Diamond sang Sweet Caroline. I’ll save that story for another time.

Another reminder of that time is something called the skyride. I can tell you that the skyride of today is not much like the skyride of ‘74. That skyride was something like a ski lift. Today it’s enclosed and plexi-glassed in for safety. Still, it’s exciting to travel over Spokane Falls and see the rushing water. During the return ride, we had the windows open and were able to feel the spray from the falls. It was a day of remembering, and a day of making new memories.

As the day wore on we decided on lunch. We walked across the street to a place called the Sawtooth Grill. While we walked we noticed some interesting sights. There was someone, clearly a man, dressed very nicely in womens clothes with a long wig and makeup. Ken and I neither one would have been overly interested except it’s Spokane and something you just don’t see that often. Being dressed in drag isn’t common. We also started wondering why there was so much activity at the park. In the end we chalked it up to the start of summer vacation.

After lunch we wandered around a bit more and headed back to the park where there was a bandstand set up. It was then we realized just what was going on for the day. All the signs in the world hadn’t been enough until then.

(Yes this should have been a clue)

On stage, wearing a black floor length robe, was a man performing a ceremony. We stopped and listened. So intent we didn’t take pictures of what was happening, and in retrospect we wished we had. What we were witnessing was a first for us as an engaged couple. A wedding was taking place. Ok, maybe not a true wedding but a commitment ceremony for the gay couples in the area! What a huge surprise and one we felt blessed to witness. We have neither one witnessed anything like it and it was such a special memory.

One of the neat things was the entertainment. A performer named Auntie Bijou, a ‘woman of a certain age in flats’, did some cabaret music, literally performing Cabaret. She was AWESOME!

Not to be outdone was, “The Giant Ass Drum Corp” performing ‘Tranny- Tude’. It was fabulous!

That is the end of a day that was absolutely fabulous. It was a calm, if fun, day after a week of flurry. Now we have to get ready for another week of flurry. Next weekend we move. That we’ll write about at another time.

Technorati Tags: sheryl breuker, spokane riverfront park, 1974 world expo, zoltar, carousel, gay pride, giant ass drum corp, auntie bijou,

One of Jeff’s favorie places for dinner.

Microsoft is a very confusing place. We had a devil of a time getting here, but we made it. Thank goodness for Blackberry GPS.

Jeff mugging it up outside at Real Networks Ken Camp, Speaker – Author – Analyst ken@ipadventures.com – www.ipadventures.com (360) 545-4050

Amit Shafrir, our new friend via Jeff Pulver. Fascinating man. Ken Camp, Speaker – Author – Analyst ken@ipadventures.com – www.ipadventures.com (360) 545-4050

A quiet moment over coffee befoeere diving back into the frenzy of today. Ken Camp, Speaker – Author – Analyst ken@ipadventures.com – www.ipadventures.com (360) 545-4050

Ken Camp, Speaker – Author – Analyst ken@ipadventures.com – www.ipadventures.com (360) 545-4050

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Trying to make sure we can post pictures here from our road trip and breakfasts with Jeff Pulver.
If there’s no pic, it didn’t work. In either case pictures will go to Flickr, Brightkite and Twitpic then more here when we get back. Plus video and audio.
Stay tuned!