Sometime last year there was an article pointing to The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect. I couldn't find the Slashdot article in the archives, but here is the story: http://www.kuro5hin.org/prime-intellect/
To sum up the point of my reference, they made full processors with only 3 pins for power, and the chips used the "Correlation Effect" to communicate with each other. I immediately thought of this story when I read this article.
A good store nonetheless. Just goes to show that sometimes Science Fiction isn't too far stretched from Science, given enough time.
Jeremy
Re:What a crock of...
on
VoIP Questioned
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· Score: 2, Interesting
But to take your comment a little farther, the telephone network wasn't designed to send digital data. POTS "should remain a system for transmitting voice, and any devices that want to send digital data should send it across" digital lines.
Data over analog POTS is just a hack anyway. So why not emulate that same hack? Here is how it can work. Make your ATA and provider end point "speak modem." When you need a data connection for your PVR, modem, Analog IP Toaster Oven, etc..., your device picks up the line and dials as normal. When the remote end detects the modem answer tone, the remote end connects to that modem, and informs your ATA to provide a local modem connection to your analog device. Your ATA then sends its own modem answer tones and establishes a connection to your PVR. The ATA and endpoint establich a TCP connection in place of the voice UDP connection so no data is lost, and they exchange the data between themselves and emulate the modem connection on each end. There would be a slight delay on the data, but that would be no worse than a slow (noisy) POTS connection.
That same scenario would resolve the fax problem too. Have the ATA "recieve" the fax and send the data stream to the provider. Their system then dials the remote fax and transmits the stream.
The thing is, VoIP is a great replacement for POTS. 2 months ago I switched to straight VoIP (using Broadvoice) as I don't have anything that needs POTS, other than my Dish PVR. I don't order PPV, so that doesn't matter either. My wife and I both have cell phones to call 911 if needed. By using VoIP, I am saving 25-30 every month. Quality is just as good, if not better, especially when calling other people using VoIP (vonage, packet8, FWD, etc.) For that savings, I am willing to put up with some quality and reliability glitches, which so far have not been much more than I got with my POTS lines.
For most people to switch however, it needs to be a drop-in replacement, meaning the basic digital communications people are used to (alarms, PVRs, faxes, and even modems) need to work. A reduced speed is fine, but they still need to work.
The ATAs currently being used have the processing power to support this, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal to implement. Memory for buffer space may be the speedbump, I'm not sure.
Nope, it isn't possible anywhere, US or otherwise. The reason is, that your CID box is showing exactly what is sent to it. The correct information is blocked at the switch level, before your line even rings.
Now if you want to get as many numbers as is possible, like this article is stating, get yourself a toll-free number and use it instead of your local number. Anyone calling it (that has CID information available) will have it show up, regardless as to whether or not they try to block it.
That article was very misleading, making it seem as though this is a flaw that the information was displayed when it was blocked. In reality, it is just how the network operates. Nufone provides a toll-free number, since the person being called is the one paying, they have a right to know the number. This is how it has always worked.
I'd tell you to RTFA, but then, unfortunately you did. The problem here, is that the reporter didn't put in all of the information, imagine that.
I personally use Nufone (the company that "doesn't have things configured correctly" according to the article.) Things are in fact configured correctly. The "hacker" in the article is no different than someone exploiting some other feature for the wrong reasons.
The reason the person could "magically" read the "hidden" nubers is because Nufone mostly provides toll-free numbers. As a holder of such a toll-free number, I have a right to know who is calling me, as I am paying for it. To my knowledge, it is a right that all toll-free numbers allow. The article failed to point out this information.
As for being able to spoof numbers, the article also failed to mention that most any business-class connection with a digital line can do this. It is set up this way so a company with 1000 extensions can have direct inbound dialing for each extension with only a few physical lines. This is not a flaw in the system. Nufone markets itself toward the business-class users, not the everyday joe.
Call your local phone company and ask them if they can give you a toll-free number. When they say yes, ask them if you will get Caller-ID info even if it is blocked when someone calls that line. Guess what the answer will be?
Now ask them if you can get 2 digital ISDN lines. Explain that you are going to have 10 phones, and you want each one to have its own number associated with it. Tell them your PBX will set the correct number when it sets up the outbound call. They will tell you "No problem."
These things are available, even though you may have to change over to a business customer instead of a home customer. Nothing is new here, only that the financial bar has been lowered to get these features. This is great for small and home office based businesses.
I for one will be writing a feedback to both the reporter and his editor explaining the mis-information the article is giving. I just hope the wrong people don't complain about this being available, and cause those of us who this is truely useful to, to lose it.
Forget Vonage. They are too expensive, and are very restrictive.
I have been using Broadvoice http://www.broadvoice.com for a couple of weeks now and it works great. $9.95 per month for unlimited in-state calling, or $19.95 per month for unlimited nation wide.
I took the ATA they provided, a Sipura SPA-1000, and plugged it into my network without touching my firewall rules. About 30 seconds later I had a dialtone, incomming and outgoing calls work fine.
The added bonus is they will give you thie SIP configuration, so you can use other SIP devices to connect to their service. I have my Asterisk server connect via SIP to them. I did a factory-reset on the Sipura (with their blessings and help in fact) and it connects to my Asterisk server. Now I have full control over my calls and use several different VoIP connections through the same ATA.
They gave me instructions to re-sync the device back to their service directly (one option in the setup screen makes it download its provider image again from their servers.) That way if my Asterisk server has a hardware failure I can connect directly to them and still have phone service while I correct the issue.
Their support people are very knowledgable, and while they have never directly answered their phone number, they have always called me back within 15 minutes of leaving a message.
Disclaimer: I do not work for, or with Broadvoice, I am simply a happy customer. They do not have any kind of a referral program to my knowledge, I only want to share the good experience I have had with them in order to help others.
I have Asterisk implemented at home. Asterisk is an open source PBX as a previous poster mentioned.
It can also act as a client to another network, such as FWD. While you can use a headset attached to the Asterisk system to talk as a client, it is primarily used to route calls to another client, such as a softphone/hardware phone or ATA.
In my implementation, I have 2 PSTN providers, one for local calls, and one for long distance. They both use VoIP to connect. I also have a FWD (Free World Dialup) account, and an IAXTel account. All 4 of my connections ring through to my analog phones in the house via an ATA (analog Telephone Adapter.) I also use a softphone here at work, so I can see who calls, and even answer my calls from here.
So with it being possible to use Asterisk simply as a client, it is overkill beyond normal boundries. If you just want a client, check out http://www.voip-info.org and do a search.
I fully agree people shouldn't be driving through residential areas and school zones at high rates of speed. I was mainly talking about highway driving. Most of the driving around my area is highway driving, so that is what I am used to, and should have specified.
My biggest problem with those radar cameras, and officers holding radar in their hands, is that I have a case where it has been proven inaccurate. If that happened to me once, how many more times will it start to happen as usage increases? There are other, more accurate methods of measuring speed, but they involve some thinking and some time.
The judge mentioned in my previous post obviously would disagree with radar being inaccurate, but even the state prosecuter came up to me and apologized afterwards. As he said, he was just doing his job, even though it became clear to him that it wasn't the "right" thing to do.
So to answer that question, I don't mind law being applied to my life, but how they are enforced unevenly and with less and less human intervention to ensure the system is fair. Everything is turning into the "guilty until proven innocent" which was not the intent of the founding fathers of the USA. Have you seen Minority Report? People prosecuted and sentanced for crimes they only thought of doing. We are headed that direction at a very fast pace.
I fully agree with you. Speed alone causes 0 accidents. Speed combined with other faults do. Such as:
Speed too fast for the road conditions. Speed too fast for the driver's abilities and experience. Speed too fast for the car's maintainance conditions. Speed combined with alcohol or sleep deprivation. Speed combined with inattentive driving. Speed combined with breaking other rules, such as weaving, cutting off other drivers, etc.
I have seen too many accidents caused by running red lights or stopsigns, people not using turn signals, following too close, weaving lanes, turning around to yell at kids in the back seat, the list goes on.
Yet what is the most common traffic violation I see people pulled over for? That's right, speed. Why? It is the easiest for the officers to combat. They set up in the median of the freeway with a radar gun, and they have you nailed before you can see them and slow down. It is much harder for them to be watch the other infractions as people see them and adjust their driving habits accordingly.
Personally, I feel police radar/laser speed devices should be banned. I'd much rather have the officers out patroling around making the presence known, and curbing more dangerous crimes. Someone traveling at 65 in a 55 zone is far less dangerous than someone running a stop sign guarding a train track on a blind corner. Having a problem with speed related accidents (see above) in an area? Mark the road in 2 places, and time the cars going through via an airplane.
As for my driving record? I had 2 speeding tickets when I was in high school. First one, I'll readily admit, was true. I was driving too fast. I wrote a check for the fine and mailed it in the next day. The second one was 100% bogus. I was doing 65 according to my speedometer, 64.5 according to my GPS in a 65 zone. Got pulled over for doing 73. Went to court to fight it, and being 16 at the time... You know what the judge did. To paraphrase the quote as best as I can remember: "Despite having GPS, which is not to be considered accurate, I have to enter a guilty verdict. The officer is trained and certified with radar and has 8 years experience. "
Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing wrong with police officers, and have considered becoming one myself on a fairly frequent basis. But there are better ways, and more important infractions to deal with than people speeding. But on the other hand, maybe I am just bitter.
Just the opposite, actually (at least here in the US.)
Off-road or "Farm" diesel has a red dye in it. Road taxed diesel does not. That way if you get pulled over, and the cop decides to check your fuel (never personally had one check) he can tell based on the concentration of dye in your tank. No dye == good. Dye in your tank above the allowed concentration (which is very low) == huge fines.
It has been quite a while since I have dealt with farm fuel (I no longer live on a farm) so they could be adding a different dye to taxed fuel now. I don't know. But I do know that the farm fuel contains the red dye.
Rather than a powered access point, have you considered passive repeater? Here is how you would go about it.
1. Go to your relay point, set up a directional antenna to one of your locations. Tune and aim both your first location's antenna and your relay point antenna for optimal signal.
2. Set up a second antenna (as close as possible to the first one) to link with your second site. Tune and aim both your second location and second relay antenna for optimal signal.
3. Connect both relay point antennas together with some low-loss coax. The better quality and lower loss the better.
4. Enjoy.
This will not work in all situations, and won't be as powerful as having a full powered AP repeater setup, but for a short run with an object in the middle, it should work fine. A lot less maintainance than a solar or remotely powered AP, and the owner of the relay point is going to be a lot less resistant than he would with another device using power.
Off topic? Not in the correct context. I'm not afraid, who cares about an incorrect negative moderation once in a while if most all moderations are good.
1) It is your responsibility to select a phone that has a vibrate feature that works as you need it too.
Ok.. and just how the HELL do I do that? Walk up to the sales clerk, "Hello, I know this is just a hollow plastic shell of a cellphone I'm looking but, but can I have the real thing, and can you hook it up to a number, so I can call it, put it in my pocket, and see how well it vibrates?" Even from the same manufacturer you will get varying quality of vibrate (see my original post). There's really no way to tell how "good" the vibrate feature is other then to try it.. which you can only really do if you know someone who has the phone and they're willing to let you try it out.
Any good cell phone dealer will have one of each of their available models already programmed to a number, and will let you test the features out. I personally have experience with AT&T Wireless, Verizon, Nextel, and T-Mobile. Go into any one of their stores, and you will find that to be the case. I can't speak to any of the other US carriers as they do not service my local area (yet.)
Now if you are talking about going to one of the fly-by-night cell phone/satellite TV/vacuum cleaner stores, then you are correct. They do not have working models. At best, the commissioned sales employee working behind the counter generally has one of the latest models as his personal phone, and will gladly let you see it in order to make the sale. These stores would need to pay for each and every account used for all of the demo phones, so it would simply cost too much.
The true stores that are owned by the wireless carriers use demo accounts that do not cost them money. What is 20 or so minutes per month per phone when each of those 20 minutes gained them a new 2 year contract? The true stores also generally have better deals than the fly-by-nights as well, unless you care about the free faceplate they throw in that voids the phone warranty anyway.
The bottom line is, as was said in another post in this thread, that it is your responsibility as the responsible consumer to do your best to shop for the features you need in order to be responsible. If the dealer won't let you demo the phone (or doesn't have a demo phone available) don't support him! He makes his money by cutting corners. Go to a dealer that will answer your questions, and let you see for yourself.
Would you go buy from a car dealer that only has the chasis and body, but no seats, no motor, no dash, just a lead weight and stickers over the windows to make it appear as a real car? Now apply that same question to a cell phone dealer. See how silly that now seems?
Yep. Periodic handshakes going on between your phone and the cell network.
Cell1: Hey, Bob's phone, are you still there. Phone: Yeppers. Read you loud and clear. Cell2: Can you hear me? Phone: Yes, I hear you too. Cell2: OK, just wanted to make sure. Phone: Just send me a call if it comes in. Cell1: Roger. Cell2: Ditto.
Obviously that is not the technical terms for what is going on, but it seemed a little more humerous.
The importance of this is when you call someone whose phone is turned off, a lot of times it will say "Please wait while the (insert carrier name here) subscriber you have dialed is located." If the phone just went through the handshake, then the network thinks it is still there. It will try several times to find it if not. After 10 seconds or so it will go to voice mail. If the phone has been off during several handshakes, the network knows it can't complete the call and it goes right to voicemail. If you are traveling at a high speed through an area with high cell density, you can actually move between several towers between the handshakes, and that will cause the delays as well before being connected.
This is also the reason paranoid people don't keep their phones on. The network knows the general location of every cell phone user at most any given time.
I know for a fact that TDMA and GSM with AT&T, as well as iDen with Nextel, and CDMA with Verizon all exhibit the periodic handshake with the associated interference. Since T-Mobile and AT&T use the same GSM network band, there is no difference between the two. Now if only they would establish a roaming agreement with each other...
" there are no curent phones in the us that have this functionality."
That is not a correct statement. Most of the newer Nextel phone models, and some of the older ones, have built in GPS recievers. That would give you more accuracy than needed for this application. This data is available to the applications inside the phone, as you can get mapping software and fleet tracking software for them.
Now if you rule out Nextel as they don't follow the GSM standard or even TDMA/CDMA "standards," then I believe you are correct. I know of no non-iDEN (Nextel's network) phone that has this capability. Obvious exceptions being a PDA smart phone that has a GPS attachment with it.
The way it has been explained to me, is that when you download, your upstream is required for acknowledgement packets. If your upload is taking up all of the upstream bandwidth, you will start to see packet repeats on your download, because the sending server isn't getting its acknowledgements. While technically you may not actually be losing packets, since the server is re-sending them, they are translated as such.
That is not a very technical explanation, but that is my understanding. I could be wrong, and if I am, I would definitely like to learn the correct information.
Why pay another $20 per month or more for a few MB of web space when you don't need five 9s reliability? For my personal web page for my family members and a few friends, cable modem reliability is enough. And I have gigs of available space.
Point is, I am paying for the bandwidth and connection, I should be able to do what I want with it, as long as it is legal. My provider should not be able to say I can do this and this, but not this. If they think I will be causing bad service to other users because of too much upload/download, etc... Then fine, put a speed limit on the contract and use QoS to enforce it on everybody. That is what QoS was designed for. Put a high priority on e-mail, gaming, and web browsing, put FTP and file sharing, newsgroups, etc. on a lower priority. As high priority traffic increases, lower priority speed decreases. I'm sure most everyone would be happy with this solution, as long as it was stated up front.
Cable providers are simply using these letters as a way to cop out of their committment to maintain and expand their networks. Why upgrade the network to give everybody better service when they can kick a user or two off and provide marginal service for the remainder? They can do that all they want until they get competition.
Unfortunately when I moved a few months, I was forced to give up DSL. Right now, Dialup is the only option I have. Cable finally gave me an install date and time about 2 hours ago when I called. I still get to wait until 1/6 for the install. But I can promise, that if my cable provider tries anything like this, off to another option I go. If DSL isn't yet available, there is a wireless provider in my area. They are slightly more expensive, but if ther service is better, it will be worth it.
And how is this much worse than the Star Trek series? Look at Klingons in the original series, and Klingons in TNG. That is a LOT of evolution in a very short (relatively speaking) time period.
One has to take a step back and realize they are just making TV shows and/or movies here. When they turn a book into a movie, make an addition to the series, or re-make an old one, etc, there will always be differences. Otherwise, what is the point in re-making it?
Yes I did read that part, and it just drives my point home. They have an obligation to remove the potentially (or accused) infringing materials in order to avoid harsh penalties if they are in the wrong.
The same with any other law. If you have property that you are given notice is potentially stolen, you have an obligation to turn it in. If it is determined to not be stolen, then you get it back. If it is, you can in good faith defend yourself because you did turn it in at the moment you became aware of its suspicious origins. You can also just hang onto it and hope for the best because you aren't "obligated" (using your definition of the word) to turn it in, but at that point you no longer have the argument of good faith on your side.
One of my elementary teachers years ago said "I can't make you do anything, but I can make you wish you had." That is the way the law works. Actions (or inactions) and consequences. I still stand behind FatWallet, as they did what is in their best interest, and are fighting this the correct and legal way. Not flipping the bird at the law and hoping for the best. Remember, if FatWallet goes down because they made a stupid legal action (or inaction) then everyone suffers. Not only the users of the site, but it sets a precidence for any future instances.
Would you leave the content up if it potentially caused you to be liable for contributory infringement of thousands of dollars, or more without consulting your attorneys? I suggest you think about the answer to that question before you start calling people a "clueless pussweed [covering] up his pants-pissing." And remember, they have been here before, so calling them "uninformed" seems to be an uninformed comment in itself.
If you had read the article (or forum thread rather) linked to in the story, you would have immediately seen this in big, bold, red lettering:
At approximately 11PM CST on 11/14/03, We became aware of a D.M.C.A. notification and subpoena from what appears to be the legal firm representing Best Buy Enterprise Services, Inc. (The email appears to have been sent at 5:20PM)
Due to the late hour and legal counsel not being immediately available, we are taking the action to remove the content we believe the notification is referring to. We ask that FatWallet members do not post further information regarding this matter or links to third party sites containing the information. Under the terms of the D.M.C.A., we will have an obligation to remove such information as we become aware of it.
We will follow up with legal counsel and take further action as appropriate.
What this says, is that the employee who recieved the e-mail immediately pulled the article in order to check with their attorneys. This is a simple CYOA move which is highly intelligent on their part. It says they got the notice, and immediately pulled the information in question. It says they understand the information in question may be legally questionable, and that they are waiting until their attorneys are available to review whether the claim is valid. This way if it goes to court, and it is determined they were in the wrong for displaying it, they went *above and beyond* the necessary requirements since they pulled them after normal business hours.
What does this all mean? It means when their attorneys review it and give the employee the green light to post the information due to the happenings last year with Walley-world, they have a leg to stand on. When they go to court, if it goes that far, they can stand up and say "We immediately complied, faster than can be considered reasonable, and determined the claim is false. We then re-posted the information, and wish to counter-claim that Best Buy caused our business harm by falsely claiming we were in violation."
As long as the judge residing on the case has his head more than a few inches from the inside of his rectum, he would award damages to FatWallet for lost business over the weekend.
If I remember correctly from last year (no, I didn't re-read that article) they followed the same process. If Fat Wallet were in the wrong, they would stand to lose a lot more than the lost business if they didn't comply with the original notice.
Give FatWallet some credit, they know what they are doing (from experience) and will come out on top in the end.
For a while I had a pre-paid cell phone for my wife with AT&T. The minutes did expire, but only after 3 months. It worked out well when she hardly used it, we would buy a $25 card and it would last the full 3 months. When she started needing it more, we went ahead and got on a regular post-paid plan. Now if they would extend the time out to a year, that is almost as good as non-expiring minutes. Well, close enough for most people anyway.
Gfxguy, would you mind sending me an e-mail? I tried to find your address and was unable to find one. I would like to chat with you about some of the recipies you use.
I agree. Two people have already thrown up the "watch your own damn kids" flag, and yes, they are right. Except in the fact that you can't watch your kids when they are in school. I for one know when I was in school, the things that would go on without the "authorities" knowing it was scarry. When I send my daughter to school in a few years, I have no problem letting technology make up for the difference in non-motivated and apathetic school employees.
We trust our kids will be safe when we send them to school. Allowing technology to help will be great. I imagine that the system they use is no different than the RFID badges that many tech companies use, including the one I work at. You scan as you enter and/or leave an area, so your general location can be located at any time. In fact, since the readers (according to the article) require a touch in addition to the proximity, it is actually less of a passive act.
As my daughter gets older and starts to drive, she may not have a cell phone. I would love to recieve an e-mail or call from the school saying that class has started and she has not yet scanned into the building. Tha way I can go see if she had car trouble on the way. Or the staff can do a quick search if she did not return from lunch but still shows in the building. Maybe she is sick in the bathroom or something else is wrong. Or worse yet, a fire is in the building, they can tell if students are trapped in an area, even if it isn't their normal classroom, so the fire department can concentrate on getting them out ASAP.
To reiterate my original point the RFID tags are doing nothing more than the staff could (and should) track without them, but they are either too busy, or in the case of my old school, too lazy, to do the functions themselves.
Slashdot Mirror
Sometime last year there was an article pointing to The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect. I couldn't find the Slashdot article in the archives, but here is the story: http://www.kuro5hin.org/prime-intellect/
To sum up the point of my reference, they made full processors with only 3 pins for power, and the chips used the "Correlation Effect" to communicate with each other. I immediately thought of this story when I read this article.
A good store nonetheless. Just goes to show that sometimes Science Fiction isn't too far stretched from Science, given enough time.
Jeremy
But to take your comment a little farther, the telephone network wasn't designed to send digital data. POTS "should remain a system for transmitting voice, and any devices that want to send digital data should send it across" digital lines.
Data over analog POTS is just a hack anyway. So why not emulate that same hack? Here is how it can work. Make your ATA and provider end point "speak modem." When you need a data connection for your PVR, modem, Analog IP Toaster Oven, etc..., your device picks up the line and dials as normal. When the remote end detects the modem answer tone, the remote end connects to that modem, and informs your ATA to provide a local modem connection to your analog device. Your ATA then sends its own modem answer tones and establishes a connection to your PVR. The ATA and endpoint establich a TCP connection in place of the voice UDP connection so no data is lost, and they exchange the data between themselves and emulate the modem connection on each end. There would be a slight delay on the data, but that would be no worse than a slow (noisy) POTS connection.
That same scenario would resolve the fax problem too. Have the ATA "recieve" the fax and send the data stream to the provider. Their system then dials the remote fax and transmits the stream.
The thing is, VoIP is a great replacement for POTS. 2 months ago I switched to straight VoIP (using Broadvoice) as I don't have anything that needs POTS, other than my Dish PVR. I don't order PPV, so that doesn't matter either. My wife and I both have cell phones to call 911 if needed. By using VoIP, I am saving 25-30 every month. Quality is just as good, if not better, especially when calling other people using VoIP (vonage, packet8, FWD, etc.) For that savings, I am willing to put up with some quality and reliability glitches, which so far have not been much more than I got with my POTS lines.
For most people to switch however, it needs to be a drop-in replacement, meaning the basic digital communications people are used to (alarms, PVRs, faxes, and even modems) need to work. A reduced speed is fine, but they still need to work.
The ATAs currently being used have the processing power to support this, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal to implement. Memory for buffer space may be the speedbump, I'm not sure.
Jeremy
Nope, it isn't possible anywhere, US or otherwise. The reason is, that your CID box is showing exactly what is sent to it. The correct information is blocked at the switch level, before your line even rings.
Now if you want to get as many numbers as is possible, like this article is stating, get yourself a toll-free number and use it instead of your local number. Anyone calling it (that has CID information available) will have it show up, regardless as to whether or not they try to block it.
That article was very misleading, making it seem as though this is a flaw that the information was displayed when it was blocked. In reality, it is just how the network operates. Nufone provides a toll-free number, since the person being called is the one paying, they have a right to know the number. This is how it has always worked.
Jeremy
I'd tell you to RTFA, but then, unfortunately you did. The problem here, is that the reporter didn't put in all of the information, imagine that.
I personally use Nufone (the company that "doesn't have things configured correctly" according to the article.) Things are in fact configured correctly. The "hacker" in the article is no different than someone exploiting some other feature for the wrong reasons.
The reason the person could "magically" read the "hidden" nubers is because Nufone mostly provides toll-free numbers. As a holder of such a toll-free number, I have a right to know who is calling me, as I am paying for it. To my knowledge, it is a right that all toll-free numbers allow. The article failed to point out this information.
As for being able to spoof numbers, the article also failed to mention that most any business-class connection with a digital line can do this. It is set up this way so a company with 1000 extensions can have direct inbound dialing for each extension with only a few physical lines. This is not a flaw in the system. Nufone markets itself toward the business-class users, not the everyday joe.
Call your local phone company and ask them if they can give you a toll-free number. When they say yes, ask them if you will get Caller-ID info even if it is blocked when someone calls that line. Guess what the answer will be?
Now ask them if you can get 2 digital ISDN lines. Explain that you are going to have 10 phones, and you want each one to have its own number associated with it. Tell them your PBX will set the correct number when it sets up the outbound call. They will tell you "No problem."
These things are available, even though you may have to change over to a business customer instead of a home customer. Nothing is new here, only that the financial bar has been lowered to get these features. This is great for small and home office based businesses.
I for one will be writing a feedback to both the reporter and his editor explaining the mis-information the article is giving. I just hope the wrong people don't complain about this being available, and cause those of us who this is truely useful to, to lose it.
Jeremy
I beg to differ.... I am using MirandaIM and the change works fine.
Jeremy
Forget Vonage. They are too expensive, and are very restrictive.
I have been using Broadvoice http://www.broadvoice.com for a couple of weeks now and it works great. $9.95 per month for unlimited in-state calling, or $19.95 per month for unlimited nation wide.
I took the ATA they provided, a Sipura SPA-1000, and plugged it into my network without touching my firewall rules. About 30 seconds later I had a dialtone, incomming and outgoing calls work fine.
The added bonus is they will give you thie SIP configuration, so you can use other SIP devices to connect to their service. I have my Asterisk server connect via SIP to them. I did a factory-reset on the Sipura (with their blessings and help in fact) and it connects to my Asterisk server. Now I have full control over my calls and use several different VoIP connections through the same ATA.
They gave me instructions to re-sync the device back to their service directly (one option in the setup screen makes it download its provider image again from their servers.) That way if my Asterisk server has a hardware failure I can connect directly to them and still have phone service while I correct the issue.
Their support people are very knowledgable, and while they have never directly answered their phone number, they have always called me back within 15 minutes of leaving a message.
Disclaimer: I do not work for, or with Broadvoice, I am simply a happy customer. They do not have any kind of a referral program to my knowledge, I only want to share the good experience I have had with them in order to help others.
I have Asterisk implemented at home. Asterisk is an open source PBX as a previous poster mentioned.
It can also act as a client to another network, such as FWD. While you can use a headset attached to the Asterisk system to talk as a client, it is primarily used to route calls to another client, such as a softphone/hardware phone or ATA.
In my implementation, I have 2 PSTN providers, one for local calls, and one for long distance. They both use VoIP to connect. I also have a FWD (Free World Dialup) account, and an IAXTel account. All 4 of my connections ring through to my analog phones in the house via an ATA (analog Telephone Adapter.) I also use a softphone here at work, so I can see who calls, and even answer my calls from here.
So with it being possible to use Asterisk simply as a client, it is overkill beyond normal boundries. If you just want a client, check out http://www.voip-info.org and do a search.
Jeremy
I fully agree people shouldn't be driving through residential areas and school zones at high rates of speed. I was mainly talking about highway driving. Most of the driving around my area is highway driving, so that is what I am used to, and should have specified.
My biggest problem with those radar cameras, and officers holding radar in their hands, is that I have a case where it has been proven inaccurate. If that happened to me once, how many more times will it start to happen as usage increases? There are other, more accurate methods of measuring speed, but they involve some thinking and some time.
The judge mentioned in my previous post obviously would disagree with radar being inaccurate, but even the state prosecuter came up to me and apologized afterwards. As he said, he was just doing his job, even though it became clear to him that it wasn't the "right" thing to do.
So to answer that question, I don't mind law being applied to my life, but how they are enforced unevenly and with less and less human intervention to ensure the system is fair. Everything is turning into the "guilty until proven innocent" which was not the intent of the founding fathers of the USA. Have you seen Minority Report? People prosecuted and sentanced for crimes they only thought of doing. We are headed that direction at a very fast pace.
Jeremy
I fully agree with you. Speed alone causes 0 accidents. Speed combined with other faults do. Such as:
Speed too fast for the road conditions.
Speed too fast for the driver's abilities and experience.
Speed too fast for the car's maintainance conditions.
Speed combined with alcohol or sleep deprivation.
Speed combined with inattentive driving.
Speed combined with breaking other rules, such as weaving, cutting off other drivers, etc.
I have seen too many accidents caused by running red lights or stopsigns, people not using turn signals, following too close, weaving lanes, turning around to yell at kids in the back seat, the list goes on.
Yet what is the most common traffic violation I see people pulled over for? That's right, speed. Why? It is the easiest for the officers to combat. They set up in the median of the freeway with a radar gun, and they have you nailed before you can see them and slow down. It is much harder for them to be watch the other infractions as people see them and adjust their driving habits accordingly.
Personally, I feel police radar/laser speed devices should be banned. I'd much rather have the officers out patroling around making the presence known, and curbing more dangerous crimes. Someone traveling at 65 in a 55 zone is far less dangerous than someone running a stop sign guarding a train track on a blind corner. Having a problem with speed related accidents (see above) in an area? Mark the road in 2 places, and time the cars going through via an airplane.
As for my driving record? I had 2 speeding tickets when I was in high school. First one, I'll readily admit, was true. I was driving too fast. I wrote a check for the fine and mailed it in the next day. The second one was 100% bogus. I was doing 65 according to my speedometer, 64.5 according to my GPS in a 65 zone. Got pulled over for doing 73. Went to court to fight it, and being 16 at the time... You know what the judge did. To paraphrase the quote as best as I can remember: "Despite having GPS, which is not to be considered accurate, I have to enter a guilty verdict. The officer is trained and certified with radar and has 8 years experience. "
Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing wrong with police officers, and have considered becoming one myself on a fairly frequent basis. But there are better ways, and more important infractions to deal with than people speeding. But on the other hand, maybe I am just bitter.
Jeremy
Just the opposite, actually (at least here in the US.)
Off-road or "Farm" diesel has a red dye in it. Road taxed diesel does not. That way if you get pulled over, and the cop decides to check your fuel (never personally had one check) he can tell based on the concentration of dye in your tank. No dye == good. Dye in your tank above the allowed concentration (which is very low) == huge fines.
It has been quite a while since I have dealt with farm fuel (I no longer live on a farm) so they could be adding a different dye to taxed fuel now. I don't know. But I do know that the farm fuel contains the red dye.
Rather than a powered access point, have you considered passive repeater? Here is how you would go about it.
1. Go to your relay point, set up a directional antenna to one of your locations. Tune and aim both your first location's antenna and your relay point antenna for optimal signal.
2. Set up a second antenna (as close as possible to the first one) to link with your second site. Tune and aim both your second location and second relay antenna for optimal signal.
3. Connect both relay point antennas together with some low-loss coax. The better quality and lower loss the better.
4. Enjoy.
This will not work in all situations, and won't be as powerful as having a full powered AP repeater setup, but for a short run with an object in the middle, it should work fine. A lot less maintainance than a solar or remotely powered AP, and the owner of the relay point is going to be a lot less resistant than he would with another device using power.
Not to mention it is quite a bit cheaper as well.
Good luck,
Jeremy
Off topic? Not in the correct context. I'm not afraid, who cares about an incorrect negative moderation once in a while if most all moderations are good.
1) It is your responsibility to select a phone that has a vibrate feature that works as you need it too.
Ok.. and just how the HELL do I do that? Walk up to the sales clerk, "Hello, I know this is just a hollow plastic shell of a cellphone I'm looking but, but can I have the real thing, and can you hook it up to a number, so I can call it, put it in my pocket, and see how well it vibrates?" Even from the same manufacturer you will get varying quality of vibrate (see my original post). There's really no way to tell how "good" the vibrate feature is other then to try it.. which you can only really do if you know someone who has the phone and they're willing to let you try it out.
Any good cell phone dealer will have one of each of their available models already programmed to a number, and will let you test the features out. I personally have experience with AT&T Wireless, Verizon, Nextel, and T-Mobile. Go into any one of their stores, and you will find that to be the case. I can't speak to any of the other US carriers as they do not service my local area (yet.)
Now if you are talking about going to one of the fly-by-night cell phone/satellite TV/vacuum cleaner stores, then you are correct. They do not have working models. At best, the commissioned sales employee working behind the counter generally has one of the latest models as his personal phone, and will gladly let you see it in order to make the sale. These stores would need to pay for each and every account used for all of the demo phones, so it would simply cost too much.
The true stores that are owned by the wireless carriers use demo accounts that do not cost them money. What is 20 or so minutes per month per phone when each of those 20 minutes gained them a new 2 year contract? The true stores also generally have better deals than the fly-by-nights as well, unless you care about the free faceplate they throw in that voids the phone warranty anyway.
The bottom line is, as was said in another post in this thread, that it is your responsibility as the responsible consumer to do your best to shop for the features you need in order to be responsible. If the dealer won't let you demo the phone (or doesn't have a demo phone available) don't support him! He makes his money by cutting corners. Go to a dealer that will answer your questions, and let you see for yourself.
Would you go buy from a car dealer that only has the chasis and body, but no seats, no motor, no dash, just a lead weight and stickers over the windows to make it appear as a real car? Now apply that same question to a cell phone dealer. See how silly that now seems?
Yep. Periodic handshakes going on between your phone and the cell network.
Cell1: Hey, Bob's phone, are you still there.
Phone: Yeppers. Read you loud and clear.
Cell2: Can you hear me?
Phone: Yes, I hear you too.
Cell2: OK, just wanted to make sure.
Phone: Just send me a call if it comes in.
Cell1: Roger.
Cell2: Ditto.
Obviously that is not the technical terms for what is going on, but it seemed a little more humerous.
The importance of this is when you call someone whose phone is turned off, a lot of times it will say "Please wait while the (insert carrier name here) subscriber you have dialed is located." If the phone just went through the handshake, then the network thinks it is still there. It will try several times to find it if not. After 10 seconds or so it will go to voice mail. If the phone has been off during several handshakes, the network knows it can't complete the call and it goes right to voicemail. If you are traveling at a high speed through an area with high cell density, you can actually move between several towers between the handshakes, and that will cause the delays as well before being connected.
This is also the reason paranoid people don't keep their phones on. The network knows the general location of every cell phone user at most any given time.
I know for a fact that TDMA and GSM with AT&T, as well as iDen with Nextel, and CDMA with Verizon all exhibit the periodic handshake with the associated interference. Since T-Mobile and AT&T use the same GSM network band, there is no difference between the two. Now if only they would establish a roaming agreement with each other...
Jeremy
" there are no curent phones in the us that have this functionality."
That is not a correct statement. Most of the newer Nextel phone models, and some of the older ones, have built in GPS recievers. That would give you more accuracy than needed for this application. This data is available to the applications inside the phone, as you can get mapping software and fleet tracking software for them.
Now if you rule out Nextel as they don't follow the GSM standard or even TDMA/CDMA "standards," then I believe you are correct. I know of no non-iDEN (Nextel's network) phone that has this capability. Obvious exceptions being a PDA smart phone that has a GPS attachment with it.
Thanks for the confirmation. But don't you mean "if you eat the upload, you can't send"?
The way it has been explained to me, is that when you download, your upstream is required for acknowledgement packets. If your upload is taking up all of the upstream bandwidth, you will start to see packet repeats on your download, because the sending server isn't getting its acknowledgements. While technically you may not actually be losing packets, since the server is re-sending them, they are translated as such.
That is not a very technical explanation, but that is my understanding. I could be wrong, and if I am, I would definitely like to learn the correct information.
Jeremy
Why pay another $20 per month or more for a few MB of web space when you don't need five 9s reliability? For my personal web page for my family members and a few friends, cable modem reliability is enough. And I have gigs of available space.
Point is, I am paying for the bandwidth and connection, I should be able to do what I want with it, as long as it is legal. My provider should not be able to say I can do this and this, but not this. If they think I will be causing bad service to other users because of too much upload/download, etc... Then fine, put a speed limit on the contract and use QoS to enforce it on everybody. That is what QoS was designed for. Put a high priority on e-mail, gaming, and web browsing, put FTP and file sharing, newsgroups, etc. on a lower priority. As high priority traffic increases, lower priority speed decreases. I'm sure most everyone would be happy with this solution, as long as it was stated up front.
Cable providers are simply using these letters as a way to cop out of their committment to maintain and expand their networks. Why upgrade the network to give everybody better service when they can kick a user or two off and provide marginal service for the remainder? They can do that all they want until they get competition.
Unfortunately when I moved a few months, I was forced to give up DSL. Right now, Dialup is the only option I have. Cable finally gave me an install date and time about 2 hours ago when I called. I still get to wait until 1/6 for the install. But I can promise, that if my cable provider tries anything like this, off to another option I go. If DSL isn't yet available, there is a wireless provider in my area. They are slightly more expensive, but if ther service is better, it will be worth it.
Jeremy
And how is this much worse than the Star Trek series? Look at Klingons in the original series, and Klingons in TNG. That is a LOT of evolution in a very short (relatively speaking) time period.
One has to take a step back and realize they are just making TV shows and/or movies here. When they turn a book into a movie, make an addition to the series, or re-make an old one, etc, there will always be differences. Otherwise, what is the point in re-making it?
Yes I did read that part, and it just drives my point home. They have an obligation to remove the potentially (or accused) infringing materials in order to avoid harsh penalties if they are in the wrong.
The same with any other law. If you have property that you are given notice is potentially stolen, you have an obligation to turn it in. If it is determined to not be stolen, then you get it back. If it is, you can in good faith defend yourself because you did turn it in at the moment you became aware of its suspicious origins. You can also just hang onto it and hope for the best because you aren't "obligated" (using your definition of the word) to turn it in, but at that point you no longer have the argument of good faith on your side.
One of my elementary teachers years ago said "I can't make you do anything, but I can make you wish you had." That is the way the law works. Actions (or inactions) and consequences. I still stand behind FatWallet, as they did what is in their best interest, and are fighting this the correct and legal way. Not flipping the bird at the law and hoping for the best. Remember, if FatWallet goes down because they made a stupid legal action (or inaction) then everyone suffers. Not only the users of the site, but it sets a precidence for any future instances.
Would you leave the content up if it potentially caused you to be liable for contributory infringement of thousands of dollars, or more without consulting your attorneys? I suggest you think about the answer to that question before you start calling people a "clueless pussweed [covering] up his pants-pissing." And remember, they have been here before, so calling them "uninformed" seems to be an uninformed comment in itself.
If you had read the article (or forum thread rather) linked to in the story, you would have immediately seen this in big, bold, red lettering:
At approximately 11PM CST on 11/14/03, We became aware of a D.M.C.A. notification and subpoena from what appears to be the legal firm representing Best Buy Enterprise Services, Inc. (The email appears to have been sent at 5:20PM)
Due to the late hour and legal counsel not being immediately available, we are taking the action to remove the content we believe the notification is referring to. We ask that FatWallet members do not post further information regarding this matter or links to third party sites containing the information. Under the terms of the D.M.C.A., we will have an obligation to remove such information as we become aware of it.
We will follow up with legal counsel and take further action as appropriate.
What this says, is that the employee who recieved the e-mail immediately pulled the article in order to check with their attorneys. This is a simple CYOA move which is highly intelligent on their part. It says they got the notice, and immediately pulled the information in question. It says they understand the information in question may be legally questionable, and that they are waiting until their attorneys are available to review whether the claim is valid. This way if it goes to court, and it is determined they were in the wrong for displaying it, they went *above and beyond* the necessary requirements since they pulled them after normal business hours.
What does this all mean? It means when their attorneys review it and give the employee the green light to post the information due to the happenings last year with Walley-world, they have a leg to stand on. When they go to court, if it goes that far, they can stand up and say "We immediately complied, faster than can be considered reasonable, and determined the claim is false. We then re-posted the information, and wish to counter-claim that Best Buy caused our business harm by falsely claiming we were in violation."
As long as the judge residing on the case has his head more than a few inches from the inside of his rectum, he would award damages to FatWallet for lost business over the weekend. If I remember correctly from last year (no, I didn't re-read that article) they followed the same process. If Fat Wallet were in the wrong, they would stand to lose a lot more than the lost business if they didn't comply with the original notice.
Give FatWallet some credit, they know what they are doing (from experience) and will come out on top in the end.
Jeremy
For a while I had a pre-paid cell phone for my wife with AT&T. The minutes did expire, but only after 3 months. It worked out well when she hardly used it, we would buy a $25 card and it would last the full 3 months. When she started needing it more, we went ahead and got on a regular post-paid plan. Now if they would extend the time out to a year, that is almost as good as non-expiring minutes. Well, close enough for most people anyway.
That would be tons more spam than I'd care to have rights to...
General plotline of a bad movie, if memory serves me correctly.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113481/
Gfxguy, would you mind sending me an e-mail? I tried to find your address and was unable to find one. I would like to chat with you about some of the recipies you use.
Thanks!
Jeremy
I agree. Two people have already thrown up the "watch your own damn kids" flag, and yes, they are right. Except in the fact that you can't watch your kids when they are in school. I for one know when I was in school, the things that would go on without the "authorities" knowing it was scarry. When I send my daughter to school in a few years, I have no problem letting technology make up for the difference in non-motivated and apathetic school employees.
We trust our kids will be safe when we send them to school. Allowing technology to help will be great. I imagine that the system they use is no different than the RFID badges that many tech companies use, including the one I work at. You scan as you enter and/or leave an area, so your general location can be located at any time. In fact, since the readers (according to the article) require a touch in addition to the proximity, it is actually less of a passive act.
As my daughter gets older and starts to drive, she may not have a cell phone. I would love to recieve an e-mail or call from the school saying that class has started and she has not yet scanned into the building. Tha way I can go see if she had car trouble on the way. Or the staff can do a quick search if she did not return from lunch but still shows in the building. Maybe she is sick in the bathroom or something else is wrong. Or worse yet, a fire is in the building, they can tell if students are trapped in an area, even if it isn't their normal classroom, so the fire department can concentrate on getting them out ASAP.
To reiterate my original point the RFID tags are doing nothing more than the staff could (and should) track without them, but they are either too busy, or in the case of my old school, too lazy, to do the functions themselves.