Blackburn's Bombast

Circumventing Flash Video on Linux

2006-03-14T10:03:00.000-06:00

It is quite irritating when trying to view a piece of video, only to find that if you run Linux it is not supported. Read on for how get around this problem.

I am a Saturday Night Live fan and someone sent me a link to the Natalie Portman Raps skit at NBC (http://www.nbc.com/Video/videos/snl_1439_natalieraps.shtml). So after clicking on the link, the site tells me that it requires me to get a newer version of the Macromedia Flash player in order to play the video. Hmmm, this makes me wonder because I have recently upgraded to the latest version (7.0.61).

After digging through the Javascript on the page I find that if the browser is IE it simply plays the video without further delay. However, if your browser is not IE, it checks for the version of Flash player you have installed. If the version is less than 8.0 you cannot play the video. This is odd because I cannot find a version higher than 7.0.61.

After further examination we find the following code:


var pathToASX='/nbc/Video/asx/';
var isIE = (navigator.appName.indexOf('Microsoft')+1);
var content='Saturday_Night_Live/snl_1439_natalieraps';
var trafficPlay=true;
function init()
{
 if(isIE)
 {
  playClip(content);
 } else {
  MM_CheckFlashVersion('8,0,0,0','Content on this page requires a newer version of Macromedia Flash Player. Do you want to download it now?');
 }
}
function playClip(clip)
{
 document.contentObj.URL=pathToASX+clip+'.asx';
}

In order to get around the problem we have to first get a URL to the real video. Here's how we do it. Following the above code, if your browser is Internet Explorer (heaven forbid) the code simply calls playClip() passing the 'content' variable which is:


'Saturday_Night_Live/snl_1439_natalieraps'.

Jump down to the playClip() function to see that the 'content' variable (now called 'clip') gets appended to the 'pathToASX' variable:


'/nbc/Video/asx/'

... which works out to:


'/nbc/Video/asx/Saturday_Night_Live/snl_1439_natalieraps'

Lastly the 'asx' suffix is added to form the complete path to the asx file:


'/nbc/Video/asx/Saturday_Night_Live/snl_1439_natalieraps.asx'

Right, now we prepend 'http://www.nbc.com/' and get that file:


wget http://www.nbc.com/nbc/Video/asx/Saturday_Night_Live/snl_1439_natalieraps.asx

...which looks like this:


<ASX version="3.0">
<ENTRY>
  <REF href="http://g.msn.com/0VD0/02/26?m=snl_1439_natalieraps.wmv&csid=3&sd=mbr"/>
  <REF href="http://g.msn.com/0VD0/02/26?m=snl_1439_natalieraps.wmv&csid=3&sd=mbr"/>
  <REF href="http://g.msn.com/0VD0/02/26?m=snl_1439_natalieraps.wmv&csid=3&sd=mbr"/>
  <TITLE>SNL - Natalie Raps</TITLE>
  <ABSTRACT>A day in the life of Natalie Portman.</ABSTRACT>
  <COPYRIGHT>Copyright (c)2005, NBC Universal</COPYRIGHT>
</ENTRY>
</ASX>

Ok, this file is simply more indirection so we get the embedded URL as follows:


wget 'http://g.msn.com/0VD0/02/26?m=snl_1439_natalieraps.wmv&csid=3&sd=mbr'

... which gives us another file containing the actual link to the mms stream. It looks like this:


<asx version="3.0"><entry><ref href="mms://od-msn.msn.com/3/MBR/snl_1439_natalieraps.wmv" /></entry></asx>

So now we have the mms URL:


mms://od-msn.msn.com/3/MBR/snl_1439_natalieraps.wmv

To get this onto our box we need the mmsclient program. I won't go into how to download and compile this but it is very straightforward for a Linux user.

Use the mmsclient program as follows:


mmsclient mms://od-msn.msn.com/3/MBR/snl_1439_natalieraps.wmv

... and that is it. After that completes you will have your very own copy of Natalie Raps. I must say that it wasn't really worth the extra work to download it but I figured someone may benefit by learning how to do it.

Questions can be sent to me via email on the link to the right.

Someone who has the time should write a script or something to automate this process. I just don't have the time right now.

Technorati Tags: linux, flash, video, drm, wmv, hacking

Irritating Artsmessage

2006-03-04T13:08:00.000-06:00

Have you seen this irritating little message popup when you login to your KDE session?

I have dealt with it for a month now because I had more pressing matters to deal with (mainly work), but have now become so sick of seeing this and missing the ability to use amarok that I have had to deal with it.

For those of you, like me, who have scoured google and found nothing to help, try removing the file at:


~/.kde/share/config/kcmartsrc

I had inadvertently messed up my Arts settings which resulted in the Artsmessage dialog above containing "Error while initializing the sound driver: device: default can't be opened for capture (Invalid argument)". This fixed it, so I figured someone else may benefit from my experience.

Technorati Tags: alsa, arts, kde, error, sound, linux

Click Forensics

2006-03-01T10:56:00.000-06:00

Click Forensics, of San Antionio, TX, has released their Click Fraud Network this week. Of course, as a senior engineer at Litmus Media, I am biased. But I don't understand the value of this offering.

Taken from clickfraudnetwork.com:

"Network members receive free access to CF Analytics?, a page tag based click fraud reporting system."

Ok, so what is CF Analytics?

"CF Analytics provides campaign reports detailing click fraud threat level by term and search provider. Additionally CFN will publish aggregate data to the Click Fraud Index site. This information will help members identify trends and communicate with each other about this growing issue."

Right. So CF Analytics "provides campaign reports". I guess this means that, if I am a PPC advertiser, I get a report emailed to me after-the-fact telling me how much money I have wasted using a PPC network full of click fraud.

Wait, that is not all! I get to spend some of my valuable time looking at trends on the Click Fraud Index site, and opine about how I think it stinks that the PPC networks cannot push clean traffic to my site.

I don't get it. We already know click fraud is a problem. How does guessing about which clicks are not valid and posting a report to that effect help anything?

If you can tell, or hypothosize about which clicks are valid and which are fraudulent, why not just send bogus clicks to yahoo.com or some other indifferent page? In other words, why not use ValidClick? It is like I am spending money for advertising on television to reach 1,000,000 people with my message, but I find out the TV network lied to me, because my spot reached half of the viewers. Why do I want a report telling me that the actual number that I reached was 520,242? My money is still wasted.

With ValidClick, the bogus traffic simply doesn't get through. Ergo, I don't pay for bogus clicks. Even if the cost was 10% higher, which it likely is not, wouldn't you want to use a network like that? And if it costs the same amount to advertise on the ValidClick network, which it likely does, it would just be a bad mistake to do otherwise.

Disclaimer: I am not an official spokesperson for Litmus Media Inc, ValidClick Inc., Think Partnership Inc. , Second Bite Inc, or any other related organization.

Technorati Tags: click-fraud, fraud, ppc, advertising, marketing, validclick

Phatterns

2006-02-19T00:17:00.000-06:00

Phatterns (a combination of the word PHP and Patterns) is a web design-pattern framework written for PHP5, making use of Smarty templates and ADODB. The patterns loosely follow the J2EE pattern catalog and facilitate proper MVC architecture.

I started this project back in September of 2004 but am now able to use it and work on it for use at Litmus Media. Look for a new release at the end of February.

Technorati Tags: php, phatterns, sourceforge, mvc, smarty, j2ee, web, development, framework

Muslim Reaction

2006-02-04T00:39:00.000-06:00

Another example of how inflamatory the Muslim religion can be is demonstrated by the reaction to the Islamic cartoon published in a Danish newspaper.

...gunmen briefly kidnapped a 21-year-old German on Thursday from a hotel in Nablus. Palestinian gunmen threw a pipebomb into a French cultural centre in Gaza City in the early hours of yesterday. Later, 300 demonstrators rampaged through the lobby of a building housing the Danish embassy in Jakarta.

Anjem Choudhary, one of the leaders of the demonstration, refused to condemn the threat of another suicide attack in London on the scale of the July 7 bombings as a result of the perceived insult to Islam. "I am not in the business of condoning or condemning," he said. "The fact is that 7/7 was brought upon the people of London and Britain by the foreign policy of Tony Blair. There is no reason why there should not be more suicide bombings in London."

Now isn't it interesting that in 1987 when Andres Serrano created his "art" depicting a crucifix of Jesus Christ submerged in a class of his own urine, nobody was kidnapped, and no news was heard of Christians throwing pipe bombs. I have to wonder what would happen if George Carlin did a piece of stand-up, capping on Muslims.

I do think publishing the cartoon was probably in bad taste if the artists knew the stigma attached to a drawn image of Mohammed. But however insensitive and bad form the cartoon may be, is it really worth the backlash that it has caused?

Technorati Tags: islam, muslim, religion, intolerance, deepthought

ValidClick

2006-01-29T11:20:00.000-06:00

Obviously outsiders (non-employees) are not allowed to look at technology like ValidClick at Litmus Media. The same policy is employed at all companies, like Google and Clicklab. The best you can do is to read about their approach.

After joining Litmus Media, I have had access to look at ValidClick technology, and can say without a doubt that this is an implementation of the most advanced, and comprehensive approach to click fraud detection available today. Let me qualify this by saying that this is without seeing the details of some of the other technologies available. However, being a white-hat hacker myself and in the software engineering and development arena for over 15 years, I feel qualified to make the statement.

Can it be broken? Any hacker who knows his art will tell you that nothing is 100% crack-proof. Any software or hardware can be broken at some level. However, in order to break ValidClick you would not only have to know what you are doing but employ some very advanced and unlikely approaches (yes that is more than one approach) to even come close to bypassing the ValidClick fraud protection.

I have to put my seal on this technology as virtually unbreakable. Out of 100,000 people, one person may have the skillset to approach breaking ValidClick. Then out of 100,000 of those individuals having the skillset, maybe 10 would have the saavy to figure out how to actually break it. So that is 99.99999999%. Then¸ I cannot help but wonder out of those 10 individuals who actually could break ValidClick, who would pay these exceptionally talented individuals enough money to make it worth their while to actually do it.

Summary: Since Litmus Media has a team of 10 individuals that fall into the exceptional category mentioned above you can count on the fact that ValidClick is solid! For another company to have figured out a fraud detection approach this comprehensive is highly doubtful. I would trust ValidClick, period.

Technorati Tags: click fraud, fraud detection, validclick, search

Senior Developer at Litmus Media

2006-01-25T11:03:00.001-06:00

As of today (January 25, 2006) I have taken a position as a Senior Developer at Litmus Media, Inc. My job will be to shore-up the already successful product, Second Bite.

Second Bite is the global leader in shopping cart conversion technologies. Second Bite patent pending technology was developed to confront the shopping cart abandonment epidemic that plagues online retailers. Integration of our abandonment response-based marketing technologies give online retailers up to a 60% increase in revenue without any additional out-of-pocket expense, thereby leveraging their current online presence.

I am excited to join the team at Litmus and look forward to continued success with Second Bite and other products. Thanks to all who offered positions and helped with my search for the right opportunity.

Technorati Tags: employment, shoppingcart, litmus

Brainbench is Ridiculous

2006-01-11T10:56:00.000-06:00

Ok, I hadn't taken a Brainbench test in years, until today. I just have to write about the experience.

The tests that I took are ridiculous. For the PHP test you get questions concerning the parameter placement and syntax for esoteric functions like 'ocilogon' or 'ldap_compare'. Or you get stupid questions that have nothing to do with measuring your ability to write effective PHP code. For instance, what does it really have to do with my PHP ability whether I know that the standard finger port is 79 instead of 80?

The Javascript test was much better but still quite annoying having little to do with measuring my ability to write solutions using Javascript.

Although I passed both tests, my advice to anyone faced with taking Brainbench tests is to either refuse with a statement about rather nailing your tongue to the floor or find a different company to work for. Better yet, tell them to let you take a normal technical interview and head on over to the TechInterviewWiki at: http://interview.cbciweb.com/. And if your section isn't included there help to build it by writing down the questions and answers during, or before, your interview and posting them.

Summary: Brainbench is a waste of time for anyone involved and cannot possibly hope to accurately measure one's effective programming skills.

Technorati tags: brainbench, rant, interview, jobsearch

Another Christmas

2005-12-25T22:38:00.000-06:00

Well, another Christmas has come and gone. Another startup company has come and gone as well. By now I know better than ever about the importance of non-technical aspects of a startup company. It seems too often we make the technical pieces come together but nobody comes to the party because the marketing just doesn't happen. I have finally learned this year that; if you build it, they don't always come, at least not without marketing and sales.

I can build the greatest software the world has ever seen, but without marketing it is the greatest software the world will never see. So, as a reminder to myself, for your next startup company -- get the marketing and sales plan setup properly and early on.

For now I'll continue consulting. If you know of a company that needs a well-experienced software engineer, drop me a line. My skills are wide-ranging, however I focus lately on:

Web and Internet development

LAMP - (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP/Perl)

FLOSS - Free/Libre and Open Source Software

Web 2.0 - (AJAX, Javascript)

Engineering, Analysis and Integration

Resume, references and full contact info is available upon request.

I hope you are having a good holiday and best wishes for the new year...

Preserved Mural Unearthed in Guatemala

2005-12-14T14:51:00.000-06:00

The University of New Hampshire and Harvard's Peabody Museum have finally discovered and proven what the Book of Mormon has testified of for almost 200 years. Namely that there was an ancient civilization in Central America around the time of Jesus Christ's ministry on earth. What the world terms "Mayan" civilization were actually Jewish descendants of a man named Lehi who left Jerusalem around 600BC.

Preserved Mural Unearthed in Guatemala:

"This verifies what we had long suspected -- that Mayan civilization had crystallized by the time" the San Bartolo site arose, said University of Pennsylvania archaeologist Robert J. Sharer, author of "The Ancient Maya." "The institution of divine kingship is in place -- the imagery is consistent with later times. It's a terrific find."

For more information see "The Book of Mormon".

Technorati tags: lds, mormon, ancient, archaeology

Public Domain Movie Torrents with PDA versions

2005-12-07T13:43:00.000-06:00

Public Domain Movie Torrents with PDA versions: "Classic Movies and B-Movies Movies For FREE!"

Steve Hovey at www.publicdomaintorrents.com has free classic and B-movie torrents! As of this writing there are 531 movies available for download using bittorrent. There are versions available for iPod and PDA as well.

Ok, if you haven't seen Metropolis or Nosferatu yet, you need to get on over there and check those out. You are in for a treat! Also available is Night of the Living Dead, a great cult-classic.

Steve has done a lot of work getting these movies together and seeding them online. All he is asking is a bit of help seeding the movies. However, if you really like what he is doing, as I do, visit his site and support his advertisers. He isn't allowed to ask for support by visiting his sponsor sites but I can :-D. Also, if you find a movie you like, please keep the torrent online and seeding, at least for the movies you download.

Nice job Steve!

Technorati tags: bittorent, video, movies, ipod

Podcast Hijacked, Held for Ransom

2005-12-02T00:28:00.000-06:00

Apparently Erik Marcus had his podcast feed hijacked but I don't quite understand how it happened. I suppose, the way it was described, it could happen only if one wasn't paying attention to their referrals, logs, or stat-tracking data. Otherwise you would easily see that 1000 hits on your feed, and your actual podcasts themselves, were all from the same IP address/referrer.

Podcast Hijacked, Held for Ransom: "Rather, it merely involves finding a target Podcast and creating a unique URL for it on a Web site that the hijacker can control. The hijacker then points his URL to the RSS feed of the target Podcast.

Next, the hijacker does whatever it takes to ensure that, as new Podcast engines come to market, the page each engine creates for the target Podcast points to the hijacker's URL instead of to the Podcast creator's official URL."

I think the mod_clicktrack module for Apache will be able to help this by allowing podcasters to complete visibility into exactly who (what ip addresses) are downloading their feeds. It makes me wonder if we should put in a feature to automatically watch for this kind of trend and notify the feed owner by email when too many requests are coming from the same IP address.

Let me know what you think. Would this be a useful feature?

Technorati tags: apache, php, opensource, sourcecode, module, podcasting, tools, tracking

mod_clicktrack: Podcast Feed Tracker for Apache

2005-12-01T00:13:00.000-06:00

Ok, first release is ready. It will track your feeds based on a file matching pattern (*.mp3|*.ogg|*.wma), etc. I have successfully done some limited load testing, pounding through 200 hits at once, but it still needs testing I'm sure. However, it is extremely simple. If this is all feedburner is doing it is no big deal. I'm not sure it will compete with feedburner but Todd wanted this alternative, so here it is:

Need to do four things to use it:

1) install the module - This is simply a matter of copying the shared library
file libmod_clicktrack.so into the, typically, /usr/lib/apache/modules
direction and then reloading apache 'apache2ctl -k restart'.

2) drop a .htaccess text file into the directory with your mp3 files
containing the following substituting your own database login info:

ModuleTrackPattern "*.mp3|*.ogg"
ModuleDSNString "username:passw0rd@localhost/clicktrack:3306"

3) run the following sql on your MySQL database:


CREATE TABLE `log` (
`id` int(11) NOT NULL auto_increment,
`uri` varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
`date` timestamp NULL default CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
`ip` varchar(15) NOT NULL default '',
`data` varchar(255) NOT NULL default '',
PRIMARY KEY  (`id`),
KEY `ua` (`ip`),
KEY `uri` (`uri`)
);

4) Write some PHP or other scripting code to retrieve the data. For example:


$sql = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM log WHERE uri LIKE '%.mp3'";
$rs = $db->Execute($sql);
print("Total MP3s Served: ". $rs->fields[0]);

I ~~will be starting~~ have started yet another sourceforge project to house the code and package downloads. In addition I plan to write an install script to help with the setup and configuration.

It is setup as an Eclipse, 'managed GNU C make' project. You can certainly write your own makefile or use apxs2 to install it.

Get the package ~~here containing source and binaries optimized for Pentium 4 and dynamically linked to mysqlclient library.~~ at sourceforge.

~~http://www.cbciweb.com/mod_clicktrack.tar.gz~~

Technorati tags: apache, php, opensource, sourcecode, module, podcasting, tools, tracking

Podcast Feed Tracker for Apache

2005-11-30T13:21:00.000-06:00

I exchanged some emails with Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central this week. Todd is interested in a way to track statistics for his excellent Geek News Central podcast. The current requirements:

Primary URL should not need to change
Easy enough to implement that a regular website user can use it
Counts each request/pull for a podcast
Tracks user-agent information like podcast reader, ip address, etc.

Decidedly, this would be a useful tool so I have been hacking together an Apache module called mod_clicktrack. I have added a few requirements:

Stores tracking data in MySQL database for easy retrieval using PHP or other scripting tool.
Configurable using a .htaccess file
Track pattern-based URL requests (*.mp3, *.ogg, etc.)

I currently have the module spitting out tracking data into the error_log but plan to have these requirements implemented by the end of this week (2005.12.02).

Once this module is installed by the sysadmin, you could enable and configure it by editing a .htaccess file. Then access to the tracking data would require some PHP, Ruby or other scripting code.

Send me an email or comment if you would also be interested in this project and any additional requirements or features that would be useful. I am interested to know what information podcasters would like to track and who else may be interested in using this. Of course, this will be released under the GPL.

Technorati tags: podcasting, tracking, opensource, sourcecode, web2.0, apache

Happy Thanksgiving

2005-11-26T10:18:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving to you and all of your family. In the holiday spirit I'd like to share some interesting ideas for things to do around the holiday season. My family and I like to do the following:

Give a hug to a random, unkown person.
Give a plate of cookies to an elderly neighbor.
Give gloves to a beggar.
Invite someone, who would be alone, to dinner at your home.

These are just a few of our traditions, but it can be surprising, heart-warming, and eye-opening to watch people's reaction to these acts of kindness; especially the hug. That one often takes people off-guard and it is fun to see how they react to it. Frequently, the hug generates a smile or a thank you. Occassionally you will see a tear and sometimes you get a puzzled look or a sideways "what is wrong with you" look. It is great fun to observe, just nod and say "I felt like you needed that."

Have fun and be kind.

Technorati tags: kindness, social, love, holiday, tradition

phajax - PHP class to do Ajax without the XmlHttpRequest object.

2005-11-23T12:51:00.000-06:00

Inspired by the article by Dennis Pallett. I threw together a static PHP class to help with Ajax - PHP development. All you have to do is write your PHP 'view' script to display the HTML, and your PHP 'model' script to process and retrieve dynamic HTML from the server. Make the Ajax calls using this class and you are ready to go.

The flow goes somewhat like this:

browser sends request

html loads into browser

user clicks a button or performs an action

javascript event fires

javascript calls ajax_get passing a php script and DOM element(s) for dynamic control

php script performs server-side work and dynamically manipulates the passed DOM element(s) using javascript which gets dynamically loaded into the browse

Source code is released under the GPL at SF. The release package is here or follow the directions at the CVS page to get it that way. Please add enhancments and make it better, just send me a patch so I can update it and the rest of us can enjoy your awesome changes.

Technorati tags: ajax, php, opensource, sourcecode

Techworld.com - Microsoft offers 'open' Office formats

2005-11-22T21:23:00.000-06:00

Techworld.com - Microsoft offers 'open' Office formats:
Finally Microsoft gets the message about its proprietary office document formats. Nobody wants to have their documents locked inside the secret MS format, just to have them stop supporting the version that you own, forcing you to upgrade for another $400.00.

The software giant will submit its Office Open XML format to the International Standards Organization (ISO) to be adopted as an international standard in time for the launch of the next version of its Office software suite, it said today.

The decision comes as a group of technology rivals led by IBM and Sun are pushing the OASIS format for office applications called OpenDocument as a global standard format.

It also comes in the wake of a highly publicised decision by the state of Massachusettsto require compliance with OpenDocument for government documents - which effectively forces the phasing out of Microsoft Office and its proprietary format.

I tend to believe it is too little, too late for the Massachusettes state government.

Technorati tags: microsoft, office, opensource, opendocument

Asterisk 1.0.9 Module Template

2005-11-17T21:07:00.000-06:00

Mark Spencer has done a great job with the Linux-based PBX software Asterisk. It is so easily extensible, I want to share an example module application in hopes that more people will find how easy it is and write more modules for Asterisk. Granted Asterisk 1.2 has now been released, most companies will be using version 1.0.9 for quite some time to come.

The following source code, written using C, has been stripped down from an Asterisk module that I developed for VozCafe International, my company's VoIP telephony service for internet cafes. It is meant only as an example. Although it compiles and links properly, with a proper Makefile, it will need some more work to make it completely functional. I'll try to post a Makefile later. Feel free to use the code under the GPL.

Questions can be sent to my gmail account (look to the right of this blog for the link). If you find it useful please let me know.

Click to download app_timedcall.c

Technorati tags: asterisk, voip, open source, telecom, c

Digium Announces the Launch of Asterisk 1.2

2005-11-17T11:59:00.000-06:00

Asterisk 1.2 has over 3,000 improvements, upgrades, fixes and additions

Download Asterisk 1.2

Digium Inc., the creator of Asterisk? and pioneer of open source telephony, announced Asterisk 1.2 yesterday at the IP.4.IT conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Asterisk 1.2 is the first major revision to Asterisk since the release of Asterisk 1.0 in September 2004, and includes over 3,000 feature additions and improvements to the overall performance and efficiency of memory usage. Asterisk, the world's first open source PBX, offers a strategic, highly cost-effective approach to voice and data transport over TDM, IP and other architectures.

"We have been working very hard with the support of the Asterisk community to release version 1.2 of Asterisk," said Mark Spencer, president of Digium and creator of Asterisk. "As Asterisk plays an ever expanding role in the telecommunications industry, it's important to support the rapid development model of open source software - quickly moving features from concept to product while retaining software quality and architectural integrity."

A significant number of changes have been made to the core of Asterisk including code formatting, simplification and documentation. The Asterisk developer community extends all over the world, and the new changes incorporated in Asterisk 1.2 make it easier for new developers to get involved. New features include:

* Improved voicemail features
* Addition of the DUNDi (Distributed Universal Number Discovery) protocol
* Easier Asterisk configuration
* Creation of a Realtime Database Configuration Storage Engine
* More power added to the Asterisk Dialplan
* Introduction of Asterisk Extension Logic, a new, flexible method for configuring the dialplan
* New interface for dynamic IVR flow control
* Configurable access to general call features
* Improved SIP protocol support
* New features for the IAX (Inter-Asterisk eXchange) protocol
* Use of sound files for native music-on-hold
* Customized CDR Support
* PRI support improvements

For more information about any of the above improvements, please visit.

Availability
Asterisk 1.2 is currently available for download from the Asterisk website, FTP, and CVS servers.

About Asterisk
Code for Asterisk, originally written by Mark Spencer of Digium Inc., has been contributed from open source software engineers around the world. It supports a wide range of TDM protocols for the handling and transmission of voice over traditional telephony interfaces. It also supports US and European standard signaling types used in standard business phone systems, allowing it to bridge between next-generation voice-data integrated networks and existing infrastructure. Using the IAX Voice over IP protocol, Asterisk merges voice and data traffic seamlessly across disparate networks. Asterisk is available as open source under the GPL, and from Digium in the professional Asterisk Business Edition package, or under commercial license terms.

About Digium
Digium is the creator and primary developer of Asterisk, the industry's first Open Source PBX and Asterisk Business Edition, the professional-grade version of Asterisk. Used in combination with Digium's PCI telephony interface cards, Asterisk offers a strategic, highly cost-effective approach to voice and data transport over IP, TDM, switched and Ethernet architectures.

Digium solutions reduce the costs of traditional TDM and VoIP implementations through open source, standards-based software and innovative hardware solutions, including legacy PBX, IVR, auto attendant, and next generation gateways, media servers, and application servers. Digium hardware supports traditional voice and data protocols, and packet protocols such as IAX? (Inter-Asterisk eXchange), and SIP VoIP.

Digium provides a highly refined selection of quality hardware and software products, developed and implemented using innovative engineering techniques (primarily open source development). A full range of professional services complement these product lines, including consulting, technical support, and customer software development services. The open source communications revolution is here, and Digium is leading the way.

The Digium logo, Digium, Asterisk, and the Asterisk logo are trademarks of Digium Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respected owners.

Technorati tags: asterisk, voip, open source, telecom

Sony Should Have Asked Me First...

2005-11-17T04:11:00.000-06:00

...I could have told them what a mountainous blunder they were headed for with thier DRM rootkit. After a huge backlash against Sony BMG for releasing some of their latest CDs with a software trojan , Sony gets the message...

USATODAY.com - Sony to pull controversial CDs, offer swap: “Sony BMG Music Entertainment said Monday it will pull some of its most popular CDs from stores in response to backlash over copy-protection software on the discs.”

Sony had managed to irritate the Foo Fighers, Dave Matthews and Switchfoot who were among the EFF and thousands of consumers and other groups.

Technorati tags: sony, drm, music

The Amelioration of the Voice Conversation

2005-11-17T02:02:00.000-06:00

VoIP, Voice over Internet Protocol, is relatively new. Even so, the buzz is everywhere. VoIP delivers on cheap phone calls today, but the innovators are starting to take notice. With Skype delivering free calls from computer-to-computer, the Vonage $24.99 unlimited, domestic calling plan and the open source Asterisk software, VoIP is in just about everyone's immediate reach.

Now enter the FlashPhone from MPLAT...

The FlashPhone is an USB personal communicator for internet VoIP software, the FlashPhone have embedded the audio device and flash driver in small size. You can download and install softphone in flash driver, make/receive the free internet call at FlashPhone, save your chat history and transfer file to your flash driver.

The FlashPhone will focus on mobile user who working at different place. Travel and drop in any internet bar, keep your important file and chat record, plug and talk, unplug and leave.

This is such a cool device, though I have not personally tested it yet, it will be mine... oh yes... it will be mine. Stay tuned for a linux driver...

Technorati tags: devices, internet, technology, voip

I'm an Old-Timer

2005-11-16T22:23:00.000-06:00

I have been around for 40 years and was working on the world-wide-web before it was called "The Web" and before most people even knew it existed. It is interesting and exciting to see how people are using the web and the internet in general today.

Being relatively new to blogging -- I joined and tested "Blogger" long before Google purchased it, got the sweatshirt, but never really got into it -- this will be an experiment for me.

So, about me... as stated, I'm 40 years old, happily married with children, President of my own consulting company and Chief Engineer for VozCafe International. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, love God and our Savior, my family, my music and most everyone else.

Feel free to post comments to correct me, criticize me, or otherwise comment on things I say here.

Hope to see you around.