Sunday, March 19, 2006
Where to begin
So, it's been a while since I've updated this blog, but such is life. I had hoped to do weekly (at a minimum) posts, but things like work and a wife get in the way :D So, tonight I thought I would start some threads that I intend to follow up on this week, as time permits. I'm travelling to Boston on the back half of this week, so maybe some time in a hotel room will allow me to do some posting, if I don't get to it before then.
Voice Over IP and Asterisk
I think computer telephony is one of the most interesting fields to be in. Especially now that Voice Over IP (VoIP) has taken off the way it has, specifically with SIP. My company recently relocated our headquarters to downtown Oklahoma City. As part of this move, I pushed over a switch to a VoIP phone system. I've been checking out Asterisk since early fall of '05, and really liked what I saw. It has an awesome community behind it, tons of really nice features, and because it's open source, is completely extensible. This week I hope to write more about experience deploying it. However, it has held up well enough that the first week went by extremely smooth, to the point I was able to take a day off!
Switch to an Apple
So three guys I work with have now switched over to using Mac's. I found this interesting, since two of the guys were pretty hard core Linux fans, and a constant source of reference in my Linux dealings. Their switch peaked my curiousity, and I started checking out OS X. As it turns out, I think it's really a great looking OS. As luck has it, I've managed to get my hands on a brand new Mac Mini. It's a dual core Intel model, with 2GB of RAM and a 100GB hard drive. I just got it this weekend, but so far, I like everything I've seen on it. I've needed a couple of external apps along the way to get it just the way I like, but that's been true of Windows and Linux as well. I'll definately say that my experience getting familiar with Linux has certainly paid off on my Mac. But, more about that this week.
I think those are the main points I want to go off for now. Hopefully my next couple of postings will be informative to someone going through the same things. So long for now.
Voice Over IP and Asterisk
I think computer telephony is one of the most interesting fields to be in. Especially now that Voice Over IP (VoIP) has taken off the way it has, specifically with SIP. My company recently relocated our headquarters to downtown Oklahoma City. As part of this move, I pushed over a switch to a VoIP phone system. I've been checking out Asterisk since early fall of '05, and really liked what I saw. It has an awesome community behind it, tons of really nice features, and because it's open source, is completely extensible. This week I hope to write more about experience deploying it. However, it has held up well enough that the first week went by extremely smooth, to the point I was able to take a day off!
Switch to an Apple
So three guys I work with have now switched over to using Mac's. I found this interesting, since two of the guys were pretty hard core Linux fans, and a constant source of reference in my Linux dealings. Their switch peaked my curiousity, and I started checking out OS X. As it turns out, I think it's really a great looking OS. As luck has it, I've managed to get my hands on a brand new Mac Mini. It's a dual core Intel model, with 2GB of RAM and a 100GB hard drive. I just got it this weekend, but so far, I like everything I've seen on it. I've needed a couple of external apps along the way to get it just the way I like, but that's been true of Windows and Linux as well. I'll definately say that my experience getting familiar with Linux has certainly paid off on my Mac. But, more about that this week.
I think those are the main points I want to go off for now. Hopefully my next couple of postings will be informative to someone going through the same things. So long for now.
