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Society RSS FeedsSunRocket Lives? - A friend of mine forwarded me an email over the weekend that come from the recently deceased SunRocket. Are they back from the dead? This is just too funny. Apparently, the automated survey system for SunRocket is still sending out e-mails and accepting survey responses. I'm thinking SunRocket isn't going to score too highly in their customer satisfaction survey. Check out the email below: -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Tell us ...Feed Source: feeds.feedburner.com Top 10 Reasons Why I love Asterisk - In November 2001 I wrote an article for Communications Solutions Magazine (precuror to the #1 VoIP magazine, Internet Telephony Magazine) titled "In Search Of A Linux-Based PBX" . In that article I espoused the benefits of Linux and open source and pondered why there wasn't an open source Linux-based PBX. It was then that I discovered and wrote about Asterisk which virtually no one knew about and which was still up-and-coming.
Who knew... Internet Telephony Expo Buzz Heats Up -
Ken Camp's post, Internet Telephony Expo - Only 5 weeks away, reminded me just how close ITEXPO is. It's happening September 11-12, 2007 in Los Angeles at the well-known LA Convention Center. Where did the Summer go? I can't believe in another month we'll be in the Fall, school will be back in session, etc. Fall of course means ITEXPO West and Rich Tehrani informs me this will be the best ITEXPO yet.
Ken Camp concurs when h... SunRocket warns "All hands abandon ship! Repeat, all hands abandon..." - Until now, SunRocket has exclusively relied on using email to tell SunRocket customers that their service will be discontinued on August 5th. Relying on email notification isn't good since people often switch email addresses or give out a dummy email address to avoid spam. I was telling a friend who uses SunRocket that I bet unless they call each SunRocket customer there could be a lot of surprised customers caught off guard come August 5th. I al... Simicomm a covert Asterisk player? - Ok, just got this press release emailed to me about Simicomm releasing their beta 15 minute VoIP system which automatically installs via a bootable CD. Sounds familiar? It should. Both AsteriskNOW and trixbox offer bootable plug-and-play easy-to-use Asterisk-based solutions. The release itself doesn't really mention Asterisk by name, however it mentions Digium hardware in passing. This says to me it is indeed a forked Asterisk distribution. My gu... Asterisk + Talking Plants, Say what? - From the wild and wacky files, Botanicalls.com has developed an interesting application that leverages Asterisk to have plants call their plant caretakers if they are thirsty or hot or cold. For instance, when a plant gets thirsty it initiates a call over the Asterisk system and plays a message.
In the demonstration video the ivy plant calls the "scientist" and says, "Hi this is the ivy, I'm desperately in need of a drink. Do you ... Levitating Objects for your Desk -
Harry Potter would be proud to witness you levitating objects on your desk. Potter calls it magic, I call it a strong magnetic field producing equal magnetic forces in opposite directions causing metallic objects to be perfectly suspended in the center. Of course Harry would counter he uses magic to generate magnetic fields (ala Magneto from X-Men) to move objects.
But whether you believe in magic, supernatural forces, magnetism, or all o... Outlook 2007 Sucks - Microsoft Outlook 2007 sucks. Or at least it sucks in how it handles its Junk E-mail functionality. Microsoft's brilliant decision is to prevent users from Replying to any email that lands in your "special" Junk E-mail folder. Microsoft Outlook 2007, part of the Office 2007 suite, displays the following dialog box popup when I click Reply to an email in the Junk E-mail folder:
"To help protect your personal information, this mess... SunRocket 10 Day Countdown - I received word that SunRocket will be completely disconnected 10 days from now. Some SunRocket customers are still unaware of SunRocket going under since their phone service still works via SunRocket's temporary saviour - Teleblend. However, Teleblend is only temporarily keeping SunRocket customers connectiions alive (at cost to them) while customers switch to another phone service provider. I wonder how many SunRocket customers will be in shock... Packet8 Outage Sunday - Looks like Packet8 has scheduled maintenance which may cause intermittent outages this Sunday. Funny how the regular phone company doesn't tell you they might be offline for a few hours. Probably because regular phone companies rarely are offline. They invented that whole 5 9's (99.999%) of reliability thing. VoIP service providers got the cheap calling down pat, but their still working on 4 9's of reliability. Ummm, make that 3 9's of reliabilit... Rich Tehrani's take on Microsoft in Communications, VoIP, etc. - Microsoft has targeted voice communications for quite some time. Rich Tehrani visited with Microsoft recently and has an excellent rundown of the history Microsoft has had in communications, as well as Microsoft's present and future direction in communications. It's an excellent read worth checking out.
Rich's article is actually a sneak peek of his August 2007 Internet Telephony Magazine publisher's outlook. SnapVoIP noticed Rich's article as w... bOK, a Mobile VoIP Company, offers Free U.S. Calls - bOX is a fairly new mobile VoIP company that is offering free U.S. and Canada calling. It's similar to Jajah in that it doesn't require a software download to your mobile device. In fact, you simply text a message to bOK containing the number of the person you want to call.
Here's a rundown of the precise calling steps:
1) compose a text message containing your friend's phone number.
2) send this text message to bOK: 613.614.0285
3) pick up the... SunRocket Saviors - A college friend of mine, Robert Traphan, was caught up in the SunRocket going down fiasco, so he was asking my advice as to a good replacement for SunRocket. He just received an email from SunRocket which explains different options available to SunRocket customers and which he forwarded to me. Interestingly enough, they negotiated with two providers and are recommending Packet8 and TeleBlend but not the big boy - Vonage. I'm surprised Vonage did... Ooma Goes Booma? -
The buzz around Ooma is deafening and I certainly jumped in as well. I mean what's not to love about Ooma? It's using P2P, it gives you free domestic calling, and it even has some Hollywood glitz with Ashton Kutcher behind it. But now that I've had some time to think about it, I have some reservations I'd like to share.
First, I should point out that Ooma works by sharing your PSTN analog phone line with other Ooma users. So for example, if I ... Ooma Free Phone Calls - Ooma, a new VoIP provider, hopes to bring voice calling everywhere closer to "free". In fact, Ooma offers 100% free domestic U.S. calling using your standard analog/cordless phone to any domestic destination. (They charge for international) I'm sure Vonage, Packet8, and other broadband VoIP players aren't too thrilled with this.
With Ooma you shell out mad money - $399 - which gets you a sleek Ooma Hub with lifetime free local and long... Follow Me on the iPhone using Bluetooth and trixbox - Nerd Vittles has a cool recipe for making your Apple iPhone have follow me functionality using a pinch of Bluetooth, a dash of trixbox (an Asterisk-based system), a smidgen of the Linux Bluetooth software toolkit , a dash of a dLink DBT120 Bluetooth Adapter, and oh just pinch me now, this is just so friggin' cool!
The idea is that if you have a business PBX (trixbox), the trixbox system will automatically "sense" when you are in the o... SunRocket ceases, Vonage fights for the scraps - To no one's surprise, SunRocket has ceased operations. Vonage certainly didn't waste any time in putting on their vulture cap to pick at the carcass of SunRocket. While I think it is smart marketing for Vonage to go after SunRocket's customers, I can't help but have this "icky" feeling. It's like going to a funeral and a family member starts telling you about this great business opportunity he wants you to join. Give the dead a day of p... Truphone wins court injunction against T-Mobile blocking tactics - You recall T-Mobile blocking Truphone, right? T-Mobile is notorious for not only blocking Truephone, but also blocking VoIP and third-party text messaging as well. Well, today a judge has instructed T-Mobile (UK) to stop blocking calls to Truphone. The judge granted a mandatory injunction forcing T-Mobile (UK) Ltd to interconnect with Truphone, which provides a low-cost internet telephony service on mobile phones.
James Tagg, Truphone's ch... Jajah on iPhone = Free phone calls - As I previously mentioned, Jajah works on the Apple iPhone. As you know, Jajah allows for free worldwide calling. Frederik over at Jajah emailed me his video clip demonstrating a Jajah call on the iPhone. Pretty simple to call someone using the iPhone which gets you free worldwide calls. It isn't as easy as directly dialing someone, but it's pretty darn close. You will of course use your bucket of voice minutes in your AT&T plan, but hey, it'... Online Web Conferencing via iPhone - Today, Genesys will announce the first web conferencing and online meeting application for the Apple iPhone combining conferencing, the ability to view online presentations, application sharing and sending chat messages. It has a slick interface and so far, Genesys is the only compatible conferencing provider to run on the iPhone due to its standards-based AJAX platform. If my mentioning AJAX on the iPhone sounds familiar, it should, since last w... DigitalLife Is the Life - The DigitalLife press preview last night in NYC was filled with gadgets of all shapes and sizes! Everything from A to Z -- and I mean it! AirDrives to Zazzle. The show in Sept. (27-30) at the Javits Center in NYC should be "the ultimate consumer technology and entertainment event."
For more information and tickets, head to www.digitallife.com.
Sponsored Channels: Call Center Outsourcing Conference Phones Telephone SystemsAdvertisement: Lookin... Michigan VoIP - I was demonstrating Overture's keyword suggestion tool to some coworkers, used the keyword "voip", and was surprised by one of the suggested results ("michigan voip"). Check out the screenshot to the right of the Top 20 results listing the rankings of the top VoIP-related keywords
(by traffic) according to Overture. #20 is "michigan voip". Why the heck is "michigan voip" ranked 20th? Even more surprising is that Mic... AT&T Delaying Deployment of Competitors' fiber lines? - Connecticut's Public Utiltiy Control could impose rewards or penalties that level the playing field for telecom and cable providers of voice and broadband service who say the owners of utility poles have been unfairly delaying utility pole connections for fiber-optic cable. One of those targetted by this is AT&T. According to TheDay.com, "Several companies, including Thames Valley Communications in Groton and Fiber Technology Networ... iSoftPhone VoIP App for the iPhone? - Ah yes, the hype surrounding the Apple iPhone continues unabated, including my posting about Skype on the iPhone, which was picked up by both Engadget and Gizmodo, topping my referral traffic charts yesterday.
Now it seems XNet wishes to leverage the iPhone hy... Digium Acquires Astricon - Rich has the skinny on Digium acquiring Sokol & Associates. Sokol & Associates runs the popular Astricon tradeshow and Asterisk IP-PBX training programs. Interesting how Digium, an open-source hardware and software company is now technically a tradeshow company and an Asterisk training company.
Rich's analysis is, "By purchasing a well-known training company in the Asterisk space, Digium should be able to grow revenue nicely. This m... Body Hacks: Improve your vision with your fist - I knew about this vision trick from high school science class and have used it on occasion. Except I find it easier to pinch my thumb and forefinger of both hands and then put the four fingers together to form a tiny hole in the middle. I recall the tiny hole forces your eye muscles to tighten more and improve your eye focus.
Try it with some small text on paper about 5 feet away and you should see a difference even if you have 20/20 vision.
Quo... Search text in multiple files using Windows Grep - Windows Grep searches user-defined files and folders with for text or regular expressions, giving you powerful and fast search results. I use Linux all the time and the "grep" command is one of the most powerful Linux commands, so I was excited to hear about Windows Grep.According to LifeHacker, "Windows Grep's search is quick and far more powerful than a simple Google Desktop or Windows Explorer folder search, with lightning fast results and an... TiVo's new Buy on TV for Amazon Unbox - A litle while ago, TiVo introduced Amazon Unbox movie downloads. but you still had to log on to Amazon.com to order your moves for playback on your trusty TiVo.. Fortunately, some coders came up with a home-grown solution that allowed you to order directly from the TiVo interface - though it does requires a Windows PC and is a bit of a kludge. Well, TiVo and Amazon got together and are now offering Buy on TV which lets you buy movies directly fro... Talkety on iPhone - Since I just blogged about Skype on the iPhone using SoonR Talk in my previous post, I would be remiss if I didn't mention another VoIP solution for the Apple iPhone - namely Talkety.
With Talkety, you can have conference calls with up to 50 people, make long distance calls and sync your iPhone’s address book with your Talkety account. Technically, it isn't VoIP to the iPhone. Rather, just like the SoonR Skype workaround, it forwards calls... Skype on iPhone - I recently wrote Skype on the iPhone was not possible. Well, there is a workaround that will enable you to use Skype on the Apple iPhone. Technically, the Skype client still is NOT running on the iPhone, but instead uses a workatround to enable many of the Skype features on the iPhone.
Essentially, the workaround is to install SoonR T... Narconon to meet with new potential neighbors - Consumer Alert: Narconon -- a Scientology front group that applies L. Ron Hubbard's quackery to drug addicts -- is trying to wurm its way into a Nortwest Florida neighborhood.... Preaching transformation, U.S. sect goes global - Pentecostalism, a lively evangelical Christian movement that took off a century ago in Los Angeles, is one of the world's fastest-growing sects, with dedicated followings in places as far-flung as Brazil, Kenya and South Korea.... Polygamist Green wants a private, quiet life after Tuesday parole - Polygamist Tom Green will walk out of the Utah State Prison on Tuesday a changed man, he says, if not an entirely free one.... Swaminarayan sect celebrates centenary in US - Festive air mixed with spiritual solemnity as the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, a leading Hindu sect, held a regional round of its centennial celebration in East Rutherford, New Jersey.... Jamaica?s Anglican church to modernize hymnals with reggae songs - Songs by late reggae legends Bob Marley and Peter Tosh ? both devout Rastafarians ? will be included in a new collection of Anglican church hymnals in Jamaica.... Muslims improving place in U.S.: cleric - Muslims are steadily improving their position in U.S. society, contrary to the media image of a community besieged by suspicions of links to militants, a leading U.S. Muslim cleric said on Sunday.... Hare Krishna monk meets all walks of life on pilgrimage - The Hare Krishna monk is in the middle of his third trek across Canada, a distance that totals about 7,800 kilometres.... Romney Defends His Religion - In remarks he didn't know were being recorded by a DV camera, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney heatedly defended his religion during commercial breaks of an interview with conservative talk radio host Jan Mickelson at WHO 1040 in Iowa.... Kate Ceberano joins stars at Scientology gala - Australian singer Kate Ceberano has been accepted into the ranks of Hollywood's biggest star sect - as proved by her presence at a celebrity-heavy Scientology party in Los Angeles.... Child freed, cult members arrested - A 12-year-old boy was released overnight on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion as police arrested a suspected cult guru and his followers over the abduction.... Copyright © 2010, D.C.P. Services. All Rights Reserved. |