RasterWeb!

In Skype, SIP, and the VoIP we took our first steps towards VoIP, and now that it’s a few months later, we’re ready for an update.

I know, I’m the odd man out again, but I just don’t like Skype. I mean, yes, it “just works” and all, but “Skype the Company” aka “Skype Technologies S.A.” worries me. It’s a single entity, a single point of failure, a single vendor, what have you. Can I choose the “open” VoIP route and be not tied to one specific vendor for hardware, or services, or anything? Real VoIP should be built on open standards like SIP, that can be implemented by anyone. Skype ain’t that yet… And really, what incentive does Skype have to open things up to competition? Once they lock in the users, expect some changes… (See the Skype FAQ.)

Now, I am not normally a fan of closed-solutions (yes, I am a Mac user) but the majority of software I use is open-source, and I run Linux servers as well. Skype is propriety, and so is Vonage, with hardware locked to their service. What to do? I’m currently looking much harder at SIPphone.com, and in my use so far there isn’t really anything I don’t like about it. Most likely I’ll buy an analog telephone adapter (not locked to any specific service) and then buy some minutes (better than long term contracts or monthly fees.) In the end I should see tremendous savings in phone costs compared to the typical land line phone (as well as many nre features.) I don’t know if that would be true for every household (it might be) but in my situation, and considering my usage patterns, I think it’ll work out great.

I will give Skype this one, the software is (currently) easier to set up. So if you go the softphone route with VoIP, there may be a bit of configuration to do. Otherwise I hear most of the VoIP hardware setup is pretty painless.

I know Skype is what all the cool kids are using, and it “just works” and all that, but I just don’t trust them, and dangit, you shouldn’t do business with those you don’t trust.

Look, if you are a big fan of the “free” then go to SIPphone.com and get a free SIP number, and take a look at what they offer. Compare it to Skype, see which one looks better, and if you think Skype is the clear winner, let me know.

I was using IM to communicate with my brother. He uses a Windows machine, I use a Mac:

srp: OK. I need to re-boot (windows memory problem, go figure).
pete: uptime 6 days, 22:19, 7 users, load averages: 1.19 1.41 1.15
AIM: srp has logged off

Ah, if only I’d been logged into the old Linux box under my desk, I could have said: uptime 123 days, 21:44, 2 users, load average: 0.04, 0.04, 0.00 ;)

As someone who didn’t feel like they fit in while in college, I’ve enjoyed Aaron’s writing about his time at Stanford.

This has to be one of the strangest paragraphs I’ve seen yet though, on Day 67:

We meet outside the teacher’s office to discuss our project plan before we pitch it to the teacher. Sara, fidgety, sits on her skateboard. As we talk, she leans backwards while sitting on it, causing her tight, short shirt to rise up past her navel as her head hovers just above the ground. We agree on the idea of doing a poll about freedom of liberty, seeing what people think. We head upstairs. Sara bends down to place her skateboard on the floor. This time her pants ride down, revealing the top of her butt crack. We head inside. The teacher approves the idea. Now we just have to find a way to do it over Thanksgiving.

There’s such a contrast in subject matter, and how it’s juxtaposed, and it’s all delivered so matter-of-factly.

I tell ya, that boy is a genius at something, I’m just not sure what….

Happy Birthday Madeline!

Just 10 more years until you can drive! (ack!)

Just 12 more years until you can date! (heh…)

In using SCP to move files between machines, if the path or file has spaces in it, this will not work:

scp foo.com:/home/fubar/some\ folder/file.txt ./

And neither will this:

scp foo.com:"/home/fubar/some folder/file.txt" ./

But this will:

scp foo.com:"/home/fubar/some\ folder/file.txt" ./

So be sure to use double quotes to enclose the path and escape the spaces with a backslash.

orjustdontuseanyspacesatallever