the news

So I’ve been an Asterisk fan for a long time, but mostly because of the functionality it spearhead providing. As a first-of-its-kind to a community of telephony enthusiasts in flexibility, features and simplicity, it really took the cake for being a wonderful open-source product.

However, I’ve felt for some time that the Asterisk endeavor has sort of stalled. While support for the product is mounting, people’s attempts to capitalize on it (www.trixbox.com, www.digium.com, etc.) may have actually stalled it’s growth in terms of features and flexibility.

Then I found FreeSwitch.

FreeSwitch’s goal was to take the things Asterisk couldn’t or wouldn’t do and expand on them. I truly believe this is the next Asterisk 2.0. From stability to a better core threading model, this is a great start to a new phenomenon.

One of my core concerns with FreeSwitch is that it is so flexible that I think some people get scared away from it because, out of the box, it actually doesn’t do very much. You’re left to program a bunch of dialplan and SIP provider information on your own. No GUI, little documentation, etc.

I can’t blame the developers for this – they clearly packed quite a punch in the feature list, and development is quite active – but I believe it’s stalling adoption.

So while I know PHP isn’t anyone’s favorite language these days, I decided to throw something new into the mix.

Welcome to the FreeSwitch GUI project. Today I began building a UI for FreeSwitch that allows it to work like a full-featured PBX. Been done before, I know, but it’s really just a start. I’m hoping to get feature requests to expand it to work as more then just a PBX. Maybe an advanced Call Center, or maybe an advanced IVR system? Who knows – but I’m open to requests.

I’ll be starting with the basics – look & feel, basic programming, and generating dialplans automatically. After that, we’ll try to make it flexible when configuring SIP providers. Then we’ll start adding more heavy duty features.

If you’re a PHP coder and interested in joining in this endeavor, feel free to hit me up.

Screenshots coming soon…

Posted in: Daily Dose, FreeSWITCH, Tech Stuff by Darren /
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Probably not… but what the heck:

This is starting to look exactly like Bonnaroo 2002…

In 2002, Bonnaroo added almost all the members of Phish (doing individual acts) to their bill, during a time when Phish was on hiatus. Then a bunch of rumors started about Phish getting back together. Tickets sold out practically immediately.

With Rothbury, again almost all members of Phish are doing individual acts. There are now also quotes in the press from well-known Phish comrades (Tom Marshall?) hinting at interest in a re-union. Trey also throws out leading comments…

“When Phish broke up,” he recently told Rolling Stone, “I made some comment about how I’m not gonna go around playing ‘You Enjoy Myself’ for the rest of my life. And it’s so funny because Fish and Mike and Page have been talking to each other a lot lately and now — it’s not that I can’t believe that I said that, but its symbolic of how much I lost my mind or how much I lost my bearings or something. Because at this point in time I would give my left nut to play that song five times in a row every day until I die. I certainly thought about that while I was in jail.”

This will get interesting. The big logistical difference for a reunion at Rothbury is, in my opinion, that Page isn’t booked somewhere else (in Bonnaroo 2002, not all members were free)… So even if he’s not on the bill today, he could be.

Phish could reunite at Rothbury music fest
(This article was likely a P.R. tactic by Rothbury fest organizers. Smart move on their part)

Trey Anastasio Hints at Phish Reunion

Trey Anastasio hoping to reunite Phish
(Interview with Tom Marshall)
Other noise:
JamBase Article – Trey Talks Phish
All About Jazz commentary article
TicketNews – Is Phish contemplating a reunion tour?
Live Music Blog – Phish Reunion Rumors
A Phish Reunion – Trey, so soon?
Philly Daily News – A Phish Reunion Could Be In The Works

Whether or not Phish plays, ticket sales will likely be up. And Bonnaroo 2002 was an awesome first year fest.

Posted in: Daily Dose, Music by Darren /
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Check out this article from the Consumer Electronics Show posted by ComCast about their Tru2Way technology. If you’re like me, you’ll have to read it twice to believe it.

Cable companies have been notorious about “protecting their investment” by locking consumers out of just about everything on those cute little set-top boxes most people have at home. Yes, your cable box is actually capable of much, much more then it currently does today. A quick peak around the average set-top cable box will reveal USB, serial and other computer-related ports, but most come disabled by default from the cable company. This has always struck me as a bit funny, as the boxes themselves could be a real selling point for the cable companies.

This latest announcement from Comcast seems to imply that they’ve finally figured out the value of both the boxes themselves and the fact that one exists in most of the homes they service. They also seem to want to leverage the open-source community (wahoo). Let’s see if this is just a bunch of hype or if this actually lives up to it’s promise.

Read more at:

Tru2Way CES Announcement

CNET’s Article

Posted in: Daily Dose by Darren /
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So it looks like Sprint and BART think using your phone as your wallet could be a pretty cool idea. So much so that they’re paying people to try out their new technology.

I’m game.

Check out http://labs.sprint.com/intro/mobiletransit/

The trial benefits, if you qualify, include:
1. You will be paid for participation.

• $75 – after you pick up your new phone
• $75 – when completing the mid trial survey, post trial survey, and returning the phone
• $15 – for tapping on 5 of the 10 service discovery posters (more information will be provided when you pick up your new phone)
• Free Power Vision (data service) during the trial
• $20 – prepaid Jack-In-the Box card in Mobile Wallet

2. You will have the convenience of your leather wallet in your Sprint mobile phone in a secure fashion. You won’t have to fumble for cash, a ticket or card when riding BART or paying at Jack in the Box. Simply hold your phone up to the reader and you’re done!
3. You will pass through the lines at a faster pace.
4. You will use cutting edge technology for everyday purchases.

Note the item stating that if you tap 5 of the 10 service discovery posters you will win money. Interesting concept, huh? How’s that for getting people to check out your marketing materials and report back on them?

I’m fascinated with this idea. Your phone as your wallet. I also wonder if it’s hackable. The phones are most likely programmable. Mystery awaits!

And what about my friends who lose their phone constantly? Now they lose their wallet, too? Scary…

Posted in: Daily Dose, Tech Stuff by Darren /
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Some interesting stats and an interesting round-up of the year’s climate fluctuations can be read about here:

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/20071213_climateupdate.html

Posted in: Daily Dose by Darren /
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In case you’re bored…

http://menwholooklikeoldlesbians.blogspot.com/ - Men Who Look Like Old Lesbians. Seriously.

http://www.chargeyourglasses.com/ - Wedding speech generator

and of course, my own toys… http://www.d-man.org/fun/

Posted in: Daily Dose by Darren /
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Ticketmaster, as if it wasn’t greedy enough yet with it’s fees, now wants you to buy insurance for those concert tickets you purchased. Looks like the fees are about $5-$20 depending on what you paid for your tickets.

The idea is simple – if you miss or can’t make a show for a “covered reason” you get a full refund, including fees (wow! Even cancelled shows don’t refund fees).

Some interesting text from the FAQ on Ticketmaster’s site: “Required to Work – if your employer requires you to work during the event” is listed as one of the covered events. In the actual writeup of the insurance it states that prior contractual obligations for work aren’t covered, but this seems like a pretty grey area. Does this mean you can just call in and say your boss had you work late and get a note from him saying so, and then get a full refund? Seems like that would take all the risk out of attending a show…

Interestingly you can also buy the insurance up until the day before the show.

Also interesting… This “insurance” does not cover cancellations by the promoter or venue! REALLY? That’s sort-of crazy, isn’t it? It’s really only if you, the attendee, can’t make it – not the venue. That’s certainly some limited coverage.

The insurance, btw, isn’t provided by Ticketmaster themselves – it’s through Access America. Read the fine print here.

Posted in: Daily Dose, Music by Darren /
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As you may have noticed, my life often revolves around music. I rely heavily on a site named Jambase to feed me show calendar information for upcoming gigs.

I noticed that Jambase updated their look and feel about a month or two ago. Rather then be the first to review something, I like to play with it for a while to see if it’s really as good as my first impressions indicate.

Well, in this case, it’s proven better! The new Jambase is kick-ass. There’s simply nothing bad I can say about it. Aside from a much, much cleaner look and feel that strikes me as being more intuitive with a color-scheme that’s more user-friendly, it’s feature-rich in a way that I really like.

Here are some specific adds I really appreciate:

1. Search bar at the top is greatly improved. Typing in acronyms or venues works just fine (WSP instead of Widespread Panic, for example).
2. My JamBase is now, in my opinion, the heart of the site/application. I can very, very easily add shows to my personal calendar and then see if any of my friends are also going to the show, if they also use JamBase
3. DOWNLOAD TO OUTLOOK! Quite possibly my favorite feature (though not as accessible as I’d like! sometimes can be hard to find). For those of us who are not organized, if you actually view the page for an event, at the bottom is a download to Outlook link
4. Quick links to show info, venue info and buying tickets. Always in the right spot.
5. The frames in the middle displaying your shows w/ scroll bar are handy. They keep the rest of the buttons on the page accessible.
6. Being able to share my profile/show calendar with others has been helpful already, while not expected.
7. The “quicklist” of shows in your area on the left when you visit Jambase.com is key for a quick look at what’s going on in your area today/this weekend.

Well, overall, it’s just better. I think Jambase hit the spot on this. I’d be OK with better use of some of the whitespace or smaller fonts, though – I like all my info to fit on one screen – but that’s a pretty minor complaint compared to the old site, which was just hard to navigate in general.

Very impressed. Thanks Jambase folks!

Posted in: Daily Dose, Music by Darren /
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Last night I went to my first Phish Phry. For those of you who don’t know what that is (I didn’t), the Phish Phry is an event that happens every couple of months at a bar here in San Francisco where they play Phish all night on a kickin sound system. To nobody’s surprise, the now-30-somethings who toured with Phish while growing up flocked to the bar to enjoy hanging out and, at times, jamming out, to Phish with friendly heads.

This was absolutely one of the most down-to-earth, friendly gatherings I’ve been to in this city. I had a blast. I only hope to bring Jeff, Nat, Baxter, TJ, Jacob and others who’ve visited me in the past to come visit again for this event. Almost as good as being at a show…. (Almost)

Posted in: Daily Dose, Music by Darren /
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RingCentral,  a company I wrote about previously, has finally released their VoIP product. This thing still ranks as uber-cool in my book. I wish they’d support DIDs and SIP trunk handoffs, but outside of that, this is really a wonderful solution for home and small businesses that want a VoIP line with a bunch of features without paying much for them.

 If you’re a VoIP junky, I suggest you check this out. Most notable is their softphone which also supports faxing, and the fact that you can have multiple lines going at once on a single account.

Posted in: Daily Dose, Tech Stuff by Darren /
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