How many conference calls have you been on where the discussion is so off topic the most productive use of your time is playing solitaire?

Having done conference calls for 20 years and webinars the last 4 or 5, I can say that the visual prompting of the webinar improves attention.

The last couple of years we’ve done a number of conference calls using Netspoke, which allowed the call leader to share his desktop with everyone via the web (still using standard conference calling for audio).

Shop ‘till you drop—the motto of most wives.

Before you buy that latest tech toy, check out some of the deal websites.

If you are going to buy right now, try these:

So you need to have a meeting or conference call with 10 people.

The emails start. Who is available when? Is this option or the other better for most people? If everyone is hitting reply all, then hundreds of emails could be generated.

What a pain!

There are web based alternatives (http://www.setameeting.com or http://whenisgood.net/).

Ok your network administrator freaked and won’t let you use Aavenu.

Ask for a virtual private network (VPN) connection to your network.

A VPN connection works like a network wire using the Internet as the wire. To keep anything going through the VPN connection secure, it is encrypted on both sides before being sent through the Internet.

There’s a VPN built into Windows XP and Vista, you just have to enable it. But I figure any program like a VPN that is pre-installed on billions of computers has been hacked.

The keynote today was George Wright, VP Marketing of Blendtec, the Will it Blend people.

Here is the video of them blending an iPhone:

The Will It Blend videos are probably one of the most successful application of brand awareness through viral marketing on the Internet.

Blendtec is a small Utah manufacturer of blenders, mostly commercial products, but they also have a line of home products.