Month: October 2009

Posted on

TISM are still around

Well well well, just got an email from an old favourite Aussie band TISM.

Quote….
“Hello. It’s been a while. Consider yourselves informed that TISM’s
entire back catalogue is, as of now, available via iTunes for your
digital purchasing pleasure.

That’s EVERY album.
EVERY single.
EVERY B-SIDE.
EVERY Compilation track, bonus edition and remix.
EVERY-F*CKING-THING.

PLUS, more than 100 minutes in previously unheard iTunes exclusive bonus
tracks: private rehearsals, live takes, alternate versions and rejected
songs from throughout TISM’s 23 year history. For the first time
anywhere, hear the complete “NO PENIS-NO GOD” sessions – the gospel
album recorded by TISM in a desparate final gasp for salvation,
following gargantuan sins like the 1996 UK Machiavelli tour.

All downloads include digital reproductions of TISM’s ridiculous cover
art. Choose whole albums or purchase track-by-track for $1.69. Ain’t no
record companies involved, so your money goes straight to the band – for
once.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. iTunes is a free download. Check the google machine. install it.
2. type in ’tism’
3. buy the lot

PLEASE NOTE:
at this time, the TISM catalogue is only avaialable via the AUSTRALIAN
iTunes store. We have already received sad words from those in Europe
and America needing an online TISM fix. If this situation changes, you
people will be the first to know.

If you don’t want to be on this TISM mailing list, reply with ‘remove’
in the subject.

we love you.
TISM HQ”

Posted on

OpenID

I’ve long been a subscriber to the openID idea – I just think its a gracefull way of being able to prove who you are without the site owner actually having to do anything or actually being involved in the process.

This blog now supports comments being left by using your openID credentials – should make it quicker fro comments to be left.

Posted on

Sipdroid and trixbox – it works

Thanks to a few helpfull soles on the sipdroid site I have been succesful in getting sipdroid to register with my Asterisk server AND be able to make calls.

The trick is (thansk to Adrian)
In your sip.conf, comment out “secret = …”. Instead use the following: auth=username@password@host

I also made a change to the extension sipdroid runs on in asterisk and changed: qualify=no

Sipdroid registers to my asterisk box fine and is able to make and receive calls fine. As for the call quality – well that is another thing – keep in mind my testing to date is over Optus 3G.

The first issue I am having is that if I call someone’s mobile I loose the first say 10 seconds of the conversation, ie, I miss them saying “Hello” which starts the conversation off on a failry bad footing, the person I called is usually first heard by me saying” Hellllloooooo, any body there” or something to that effect – not great. Secondly there is still some lag. This is odd becasue I thought the lag I experienced using pbxes.org would reduce given the server I am regsitering to now is local and not in Japan.

Lastly, you need a very stable and good internet connection. I believe now that my data usage has doubled for calls I make as effectivley my asterisk box uploads and downloads from sipdroid AND it uploads and downloads to my VSP. Given the codec used in sipdroid is G711 data usage is high so keep that in mind – 80kbps up and down times two = 160kbps up and 160kbps down for a phone call.

Anyway, best of luck for anyone deploying sipdroid on their asterisk server. Let me know how you go.

Posted on

A lesson learnt, don’t mess about with stuff on your mail server.

Today I got interested in mucking about with emacs, it always facinated me and I thought I would mess about.

I logged into my web/mail server from work and prceeded to install emacs. I noticed that it had the ability to read my email which I thought would be very cool so I ran RMAIL. Before doing so I thought – eh, she’ll be right, I was wrong. It dragged all my email in my INBOX (I use IMAP thask to Dovecote) and dumped it into a file called RMAIL. In effect, it hossed my INBOX!!!!. Chnaging permisision, ownership and file name of this new RMAIL file didn’t help.

A few heart punding minutes later I realised my nightly backups will save me and I replaced the hosed INBOX with a backedup one.

Thank god for nightly back ups and scp.

I’m still interested in emacs.

Posted on

Arch linux and open box

The other day my laptop borked. I think it was a combination of a file system error and a dodgy stick of RAM. In any event, my arch linux installation didn’t work so I thought it a good oportunity to installa fresh one and completely change the way I use it.

To this end I have decided to go very light weight

Openbox WM (this thing is just great, bare minimum, customisable greatness)
Mutt (with side bar patch!);
Firefox (not light weight I know but elinks just doesn’t do what a browser I use needs to do);
Mktorrent;
Screen;
Urxvt (cos I want to be l33t);
No dock or pager or login manager bloat just unclutered goodness;
Moc;
Feh.

I think that’s it. It is now practically unuable by anyone but me which is in a way fun.

I’m at uni studying and am bored.

Posted on

A post for the sake of it

Had to try out wptogo. I plan to use it heavily in next years Milan to Taranto race.

My dad is currently riding across australia with someone who is raising money for st vincents hospital in sydney. Read all about it here

Enjoy the view from my desk at work…..

image