wavLength: February 28, 2007 Archive

It can be quite difficult to find tech stories to tell on the radio that involve interesting sounds. That's why I couldn't resist talking with the Center for Biological Diversity, which is offering the cries of endangered animals for use as cell phone ring tones. Check it out on today's Future Tense (RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes).

Businessweek reports on a fascinating trend: the rise of "co-working" facilities for freelance and contract workers who otherwise ply their trades at home or at Internet cafes. Snippet:

Over the past few years, co-working facilities—both grassroots, co-op-like versions and for-profit models—have started popping up across the country and the world, from Seattle to Copenhagen. A co-working wiki hosts pages for dozens of other cities with co-working initiatives in progress. And while the concept of shared office space is nothing new to entrepreneurs, an increasing number of them are signing on and finding that the community-building and networking benefits outweigh even the virtues of a shared fax machine.

For an example of a co-working space, check out San Francisco's Hat Factory. The facility has about a dozen desk spaces, a meeting room, kitchen, wi-fi and ethernet, and lots of extras. Customers can pay by the day ($10) or by the month ($170).

A co-working situation would be interesting for me. I work at home, and while there are many advantages to a home office, it's too easy to get distracted by the dog, the refrigerator, and the Golf Channel. But alas, a radio reporter requires a little more than a seat next to some uber-hip Web 2.0 entrepreneur. I need a quiet space and lots of electronic equipment. I'll have to settle for hauling my iBook down to my neighborhood coffee shop for some early morning blogging.