Perhaps the comment spam deluge that hit Blogware last week may have a silver lining. I noticed today an authentication box to make a comment. On another positive note, I actually had a Blogware tech guy ask for suggestions on how to improve the service. Light at the end of the blog rainbow?

Looks like Palm CEO Ed Colligan may have inadvertently given away Bill Gates cell number while showing off the new Windows-powered Treo 700w earlier this week. While demonstrating the ease in finding contact information, Colligan used Gates as an example. A quick off the mark colleague noticed Gates' number and jotted it down. To see if it actually was the real number, he sent Gates a short text-message. Within minutes, a P.R. person from Microsoft Canada called back. I wonder how long it's going to take Gates to change his number?

After raising more than $400-million in private equity, Vonage's IPO (is its still much-anticipated??) is on the way after Light Reading reported yesterday the lead underwriters have been selected - Citibank, UBS AG, and Deutsche Bank AG. The big question is how much Vonage is worth. The figure $1.5-billion has been frequently cited (the methodology, however, has never been spelled out), while Charlie Lax, managing general partner with GrandBanks Captial, was bubbling about a $10-billion valuation at Fall VON last week. If anything, the Vonage IPO should set a pretty good valuation benchmarket for the VOIP industry. If the IPO is well-received, the rising tide could lift all ships and make it easeier for other VOIP companies to follow in Vonage's wake. If, for whatever reason, investors are less than enthusiastic about the offering, it could put a dark cloud over the industry while making Skype's  investors look like geniuses for getting out while the going was good.

Hat tip to Rick Segal for passing along a Gizmodo post on how Tivo will finally be made available to Canadians. The only problem is Canadians have to buy/import Tivo units in the U.S. and then follow special instructions to set it up.If your Tivo breaks, warranty replacement units will only be shipped to the U.S. You can buy a box for as low as $49.99, while monthly service is $12.99 or $299 for a life-time deal. So what is Tivo? In simple terms, it's a really smart set-top box much like what Rogers is selling now only better. Among Tivo's issues is its growth is being challenged by cablecos who would rather the develop their own in-house PVR than enter into a partnership with Tivo. As of the end of the second-quarter, Tivo had 3.6 million subscribers uet only generated $240,000 in profits on $40.7-million of sales.