Apr 26: SIP continued
Last night's posting was pretty useless in terms of hardcore advice and setup information. I just wanted to get something blogged before I went to bed. Here are the services I recommend. Combining them allows for reliable and free communication within the net, with UK local rate (0844) Direct Dialing In with optional forwarding to a fixed line or voicemail. It also leaves expansion for ?0.18/min calls out to the PSTN in the UK and very good rates for the rest of the world.
The core aspects for cheap, expandable phone services over the net are: a SIP softphone, a service plan, a PSTN access number, so that people with ordinary phones can call you. Read More
The core aspects for cheap, expandable phone services over the net are: a SIP softphone, a service plan, a PSTN access number, so that people with ordinary phones can call you. Read More
Apr 26: SIP: telephone the flexible, open way
I've been getting into VoIP, as you may be aware. I used to recommend Skype, but they aren't as friendly as their PR gurus try and make you believe. Just Google to find some dissent amongst users. A little about Skype.
Skype is proprietary, does not come with source, uses a gratuitously incompatible and undocumented protocol, and comes from the makers of Kazaa. There is a Linux client (binary only), [which I haven't tried], and it apparently easy to use, but Skype are trying to monopolise the market with their own protocol, and obtain vendor lock-in: bad idea! Furthermore, one must use Skype's servers, and the EULA requires you to share your bandwidth, which means that some closed networks (like academic ones) ban it, as it uses bandwidth for unauthorised users not covered by the academic agreement that universities have with country-wide providers like SWERN and JANET.
So, SIP seems to be the way forward.
Here are my SIP details. Sorry to cut to the chase, but I really need to go to bed. I'll flesh this out another time, I promise!! All the following accounts and numbers work, to the best of my knowledge, although the higher up the list they are, the more sure I am of them.
sip:535836@fwd.pulver.com
sip:siennalizard@sip.like2fone.com
sip:17476022051@proxy01.sipphone.com
08444 847207
08704 902403
So there you have it! Give it a try.
08449 866779
Skype is proprietary, does not come with source, uses a gratuitously incompatible and undocumented protocol, and comes from the makers of Kazaa. There is a Linux client (binary only), [which I haven't tried], and it apparently easy to use, but Skype are trying to monopolise the market with their own protocol, and obtain vendor lock-in: bad idea! Furthermore, one must use Skype's servers, and the EULA requires you to share your bandwidth, which means that some closed networks (like academic ones) ban it, as it uses bandwidth for unauthorised users not covered by the academic agreement that universities have with country-wide providers like SWERN and JANET.
So, SIP seems to be the way forward.
Here are my SIP details. Sorry to cut to the chase, but I really need to go to bed. I'll flesh this out another time, I promise!! All the following accounts and numbers work, to the best of my knowledge, although the higher up the list they are, the more sure I am of them.
sip:535836@fwd.pulver.com
sip:siennalizard@sip.like2fone.com
sip:17476022051@proxy01.sipphone.com
08444 847207
08704 902403
So there you have it! Give it a try.
08449 866779
Apr 19: Holding down the F5 key - DoS for everyone?
I run an Apache2 webserver on my laptop for development purposes. It includes php as a module and I use it for testing dynamic website work that I do. In a moment of frustration with Microsoft Internet Explorer (a web browser that adds hours to my working time because of it's poor implementation of CSS and the box model.) whilst noticing that the browser's renderer was so slow I could see the content I wanted being obscured from the top-down by some errant <div> or other, I held down the [F5 ] key, repeatedly reloading the page (or "Refreshing" as M$ curiously (and erroneously) refers to this comon computing action). Read More
Apr 7: Code 3 of 9 barcodes generated on demand in HTML
Anyone thought of that?! If you have, you haven't published, because Google hasn't heard of the idea. I've been in correspondance with a nice bloke called Kris Bailey, a webworking Christian in America. He's done it, and it should be handy for people who want to print barcoded invoices, boarding passes, etc. without expecting the client system to have pdf capability. Read More