Interop Oddballs

10:10 AM -- There were some strange goings on at last weeks Interop

show in New York, ranging from a bizarre row in the press center to the company that clad all its booth staff in lab coats.

The row appeared to involve a couple of volunteers recruited to write blogs about the show. Sadly (or perhaps fortunately) I could not work out exactly what led one of the bloggers to shout, “Don’t tell me to shut up!” at his buddy, before storming out of the press room. Strange stuff -- although it did liven up an otherwise low-key event.

The lab coats, in case you are interested, belonged to network analysis startup Netcordia Inc., which was in the Big Apple to tout its NetMRI product. It takes a brave man to don medical garb (complete with stethoscope, no less) and wander the halls of the Javits Convention Center. I, for one, still shudder at the memory of high school chemistry classes spent looking (and feeling) like the unwanted progeny of the Muppets’ Bunsen and Beaker.

Netcordia -- I salute you. Now, about that rash...

— Dr. Bunsen Honeydew Esq., Senior Editor, Byte and Switch