Somehow I’m not the ‘tag’ type, though I could possibly become one, if somebody were to go and tag all my bookmarks properly for me. With thousands of bookmarks, that is too much of a chore! So I still work with categories, which can be highly irritating when trying to find a well-nested favorite. Since I use Firefox, I sync my bookmarks with Foxmarks (a GREAT little add-on).
But last week, I was having a bit of an overheating problem on my laptop, and I blamed it on Firefox, which eats up so much CPU & memory that it can cause my Ubuntu Feisty to heat up and shut down. (never had the problem with Dapper, nor with other browsers). Another guy here is having similar problems, related to Firefox, and here is a post touching upon stability issues in Feisty. So I actively searched for other browsers and, of course, bookmarking systems.
I tried Epiphany, the “gnome browser”, again, and LOVED LOVED LOVED how it used almost no CPU or memory. In that respect, Epiphany is a real cool winner. However, the way in which it handles tabs, focus, new tabs, etc, with no real way of tweaking anything with plugins or addons/extensions, really really irked me.
I searched online and saw that many people recommend Iceweasel. I had never heard of the thing before that. I tried it, and really, it’s just a knockoff of Firefox made for Debian. It loaded up all my Firefox settings, tabs, and toolbars, and heated up my laptop just the same.
I almost tried Opera on Feisty, but decided to leave that alone, since I already had it on my Windows partition as a backup (it replaced IE), and though it’s very promising, it didn’t always work as I wanted or expected. (wow, now I see how Firefox has molded me into a different sort of browsing maniac.)
Anyways, back to the bookmarking issue. I truly believe that the ability to easily bookmark and open existing bookmarks is the most important aspect of a good internet browsing experience. The worst thing that could ever happen is I browse, find, and then can’t bookmark. (or go online and can’t find a previously bookmarked page). So, my choice of a browser clearly hinges on this issue, and I just did not have a good time setting up a new bookmarking process!
I exported, imported, uploaded, etc. I researched, then tried Furl & Blinklist. In the past I had attempted del.icio.us, but could never find anything in my “big blob ‘o bookmarks.” I thought other newer alternatives would be better, but none were able to tag my bookmarks according to the categories (notice the plural) they were in. For instance, I could have a page under “websites” –> “design” –> “html”, but these services would only use the “website” tag. Later, when I test-searched my bookmarks, I could never find anything. Plus, I hated having to go to a separate webpage to access my bookmarks. They should be accessible directly from the menu, just like regular bookmarks are!
So, what did I do, in the end? I came back to Firefox & my Foxmarks, which, by the way, has a new button to bookmark from all browsers…and of course I’m trying to keep my laptop as cool as possible…

Great list by Mashable has all the info you need to download videos embedded in websites such as Youtube, Google Video, etc. It’s really a “must-bookmark” webpage…
(I used KeepVid and it worked perfectly!)

Previously, I discussed how we are being monitored digitally in our bedrooms as much as on the world wide web, in order for companies to ‘better target ads’ to us, their customers. Since then, there have been a few events that add to my pessimism regarding internet services (i.e. search engines), directing me to believe that they are seriously invading our privacy, or are on route to do so.

• Yahoo allegedly hands over information to Chinese authorities about an author of some politically-charged internet writings. He was subsequently charged and jailed (and tortured, probably). The Chinese couple is currently suing Yahoo.
• Google rats out YouTube TV-show uploader, who brazenly offered never-before-aired episodes of a major television show. Now Google offers a new copyright-protection tool called “Claim Your Content” for companies to easily report piracy on YouTube.
• Google is trying to weezle its way into television ads & radio advertisements as well.
• Google will soon offer GDrive, to let people backup their entire hard drives, etc, for free. It’s not enough that they control millions of people’s email, internet searches, calendars, etc, but now all their personal files as well?
• WebOS is becoming more and more of a viable future way of working on the computer. With web applications popping up every day and the world wide web becoming increasingly accessible to all, it is only a matter of time before all our computer work will be actually executed online.

Now of course, there are good things and bad things which come out of these developments. One good thing is that we will be digitally and globally connected, able to access (and work on) all our files and documents from anywhere in the world. Of course, this comes at a price: privacy. Each and every single move we make in the digital world will be logged, somewhere. And internet companies will continue to cave in to big conglomerates for fear of lawsuits (ex/piracy case vs. Youtube) as well as governments for fear of being shut out of a huge market (ex/Chinese case). Other companies will be able to target ads to us (I personally don’t like this idea, some might think it’s good), and governments all over the world will be able to get any information they want about anybody. Does that really protect us? If it does, then that protection comes at another price: freedom of speech. Just look what happened to the Chinese writer.

I’m giggling at the title… If you’re persian, you know why. Picture in your head one of those persian commercials over-pronouncing the oaaaahhh in blooaaaag. And then “haaaaaa”. Funny. Almost as good as this guy’s article, “the Persian Blogestan.” You gotta love it. Plus he has some very detailed information about the phenomenon: persian bloggers taking over the world!!!!
Well, not quite. But they are a very active bunch - something that surprised me at first but then made total sense after I read a few theories as to why.
I know from my trip to Tehran how the people(especially the men) are. One guy caught a glimpse of my yahoo(yahoo is big over there since AOL is banned, of course) screenname while I was typing away in an internet cafe. I had a feeling somebody was watching over my shoulder, but I was still surprised when I got an instant message from the guy a week later. Let me just say, “verrrrry creeepy…” Of course my mother rejected that, contending that it’s the only way the poor guys have of meeting cute girls. Well…I guess that’s similar to the point they’re making now, as to why persians blog so much.
In any case, if you speak farsi, check out persianblog, and if not(English), check out blogsbyiranians.

     I just got my website hosting bill in the (e)mail yesterday, and it got me thinking about the good & bad between web hosting companies.
     Right now I am using two different web hosts for my sites: Lunarpages and 1&1. Both are good, but they are totally different. I see Lunarpages more as a niche website hosting company, which is growing and offering feature-filled services & packages for really decent prices. Right now they are offering a great basic plan deal - you get a free domain, 250gb hosting space, and 2500gb bandwidth per month, for $6.95 a month if you sign up for a 2-year contract. (otherwise it’s $7.95/month, which is what I have.)
     1&1, on the other hand, is the easiest place to start a website. Not only is it cheap (their ‘beginner’ plan is $2.99 per month with a free domain, 5gb space, & 250gb traffic), but everything is so easy once you sign up and log on. You just click from here to there, and if you have a problem, you can always just call the support staff who are all very friendly. I really like 1&1 a lot, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a new web hoster.
     As for Lunarpages, I still have my account, and so far I’ve had absolutely no problems with them. They are committed to customer support, making me feel that they’d take care of any need I had. I wish they could be a bit cheaper (now that I’m used to 1&1), but they do offer more space & bandwidth instead. It’s a trade-off: more features or lower price(which is already pretty low)? They have changed their website a bit so I’m not as used to getting around on it, but I’m happy to see they have again updated their cpanel, which is truly the best. A whopping 35 icons full of useful information is located there, including free website tracking statistics.
     If you are in the market for a web host, then between Lunarpages & 1&1, you really have nothing to lose.
     If you already have your own favorite website host, please tell, in the comments below!

Using SIP (the most standard open-source protocol), this guide will show you how to get FREE incoming(with your own call-in number!) & outgoing calls through your softphone with multiple voip providers, along with setting up your sip address.

As you can saw in my previous post about softphones, I did a lot of research and playing around with different software to get the best setup for me. I wanted something non-proprietary (and so, way more accessible) but feature-filled (as much as possible). I also preferred a method that could work cross-platform, as I do have both Windows & Linux on my computer. Unfortunately I did not find much on Macs (though I do have one recommendation below), so I have little to recommend to Mac-users, which includes my sister who has been waiting for a good answer as well.

After some downloading & tinkering, I’ve finally found the best way (for me) to communicate through my computer. I believe that using the SIP protocol is the best, as its the most standard of the open networks to date, and there are many different softphones to choose from. However, it seems that only a small percentage of those actually allow you to choose your own provider (and so, let you know your sip address)! Many of the sip programs out there actually are just trying to suck you into their group with grand displays of “free!” all over their sites, only to pile on fees later (like Skype did).

Well, I have found a way to get FREE calls, IN & OUT of my softphone to landlines(most countries) & mobile phones (the U.S.) alike. Yes, yes, it’s true. This method requires a few tricks, and a couple different services. I didn’t spend a penny, and I’m actually pretty surprised myself. I’m sure this won’t last forever though, so hop on this bandwagon while you still can!
Summary:

1. Get a customizable/configurable sip softphone (for instance Ekiga for Linux (or Windows now!) and X-lite for Windows/Mac).
2. Find a voip provider that offers free outgoing calls (such as Voipbuster, which I use).
3. Find a voip provider that offers a free incoming number (such as IpKall or SipNumber or Stanaphone) or (better for people–from different places–calling you to get cheaper rates) just access your sip account through SipBroker’s access numbers.
4. Set up a mother account (for instance at Voxalot) to manage & direct your calls
5. Configure your softphone to register with your mother account.
6. Set up a sip alias account at sip411.com
7. Give out your “regular” number(for people calling you from regular phones) and your sip address(for calls through the computer) for people to contact you. [Note: you can also map your “regular” number to your ip address with other services if you want to have just one number for finding you]
• establish your “presence” on your website, blog, or myspace? account with clickable icons to contact you

#1 - Softphone

I used Ekiga (on my Ubuntu) with Voipbuster’s free calling as the default account, then sign up(optional, actually) for SIP Broker’s alias & PSTN-SIP service. If you have both Linux & Windows, like me, you will be able to follow pretty easily, as you will soon see. If you have just Windows, you will have to hope that the beta Ekiga will work well on your computer or use another softphone like X-lite, and if you have just Linux, you will need to borrow somebody’s Windows to download Voipbuster once in order to sign up for their account (Note: you won’t need it after that though).

For those of you with Ubuntu Dapper, you probably already have Ekiga installed. For the rest of you (Linux & Windows), please follow the links on my previous post to download Ekiga. Go ahead and sign up for their sip address if you don’t have one already (though you don’t NEED to, since you will be setting up other providers later/below). Also, you can log in at ekiga.net and find out your alias number. Write this down, as this will be handy later.

For those of you with Mac or Windows, I would suggest X-Lite (which also works on Linux, if you want it). It is customizable, easy to set-up, and has a pretty slick interface. It looks like it could be skinnable too (but it’s not!). It also seems to read your network and automatically configure itself to work (a real time (and hair) saver). Mac users could also try Xmeeting, which also has some good reviews.
#2 - Free Outgoing Voip

Next, you will need to get a free account at Voipbuster’s. You will have to download their softphone program (Windows only) & from there you can sign up automatically for your account. Remember your username & password, and that’s it. Voipbuster’s will be your outgoing voip provider, since it’s typically free (for many countries). Check here, though, for other options, if Voipbuster doesn’t work for you.
#3 - Free Incoming Number

After that, it’s time to get your free incoming number. At ipKall, you can get a free number only from Washington State, while at SipNumber, the number is randomized but will most likely never be the local number you want. (you’ll have to pay for a local number) I set up SipNumber for myself and ended up with an Iowa area code - not really that appealing to me. So I found Stanaphone, where I got a local NYC number (212, 718, & 646 are already being billed about $15, so I got a free “347″ area code instead). If you are looking for a more stable non-free but still cheap solution, take a look at Les.net, which offers numbers to people for a low monthly payment. Voip-info.org lists more bargain voip providers.

#4 - Mother Voip Account

If your softphone allows multiple sip providers, you do not need this (you could register your multiple voip providers through the option menu), though I would still suggest it.[Correction: After I found out that Voxalot does not transmit instant messages (at least for me, it did NOT work), I’d like to revise this. Although Voxalot’s great for having multiple CALLING plans, your *best* bet is to use a softphone with multiple providers, period. This way you can still have your instant messages, etc, too…I also had issues with caller ID & sip presence] You have one spot for all your accounts, you get free voicemail, and you can set up calling plans. If you switch partitions, change softphone programs, hop to a new provider, etc, you only have to make the change once, in your mother account. Go to Voxalot and set up your mother account there. It seems complicated, but it’s not. Login, click on “Providers” in the right-hand sidebar, and just add your voip providers, one by one, with your account names/numbers, passwords, & provider host addresses. For instance, check out my Voipbuster setup, below: (make sure to add your username & password)

After you save, make sure each one is ‘registered’, and then you should be ready to go. Mine looks like this:

What’s great about Voxalot is that it routes your calls in & out, taking your voicemail if you are out or your computer’s off, and can be a provider itself as well. What’s really great, is that you can use the “Dial Plans” page to tell Voxalot exactly which provider to use for which kind of call. Here is where you input your free outgoing call provider (such as Voipbuster), so that Voxalot knows to use that provider when you need it. I used these parameters:

This tells voxalot to use Voipbuster(for free outgoing calls) when I dial “1″ - whenever I dial ANY U.S. number, basically. (I can also do the same thing for “0″ which would tell make it use Voipbuster for international calls as well).

#5 - Configure Softphone

The first thing you need to do is register your softphone to your mother account. (if you are just using multiple accounts, then you need to register each one on your softphone). Go to your options, edit Accounts, or preferences menu, and there should be a button to “ADD” a new client. (This is just like adding providers in Voxalot in #4 above. ) There you will need to input your voip provider’s information, such as your username or #, your password, and it’s voip server, which is typically just —–.com or sip.—-.com. If those don’t work, then try pinging the provider to get its exact ip address to input there instead. “Authorized User” is the same as your username or #. You will know if you set up that part correctly, because your softphone will try to register with the provider/s and will tell you if it connected or not. [Note: if you set up a Voxalot account, and it is working correctly with your providers properly ‘registered’, then you just need to configure your softphone to register with Voxalot only]
Next you should try some calls to see test your setup (softphone & providers). Try calling yourself (with your free incoming number), and try calling out through your softphone. If you have any problems actually connecting, either way, then you need to check your settings.
For instance, I noticed that I need to open extra ports for Ekiga to work properly. You can see my write-up on port forwarding here. Alternatively, you may just need to make sure your firewall is allowing your softphone program overall access, &/or check to see that your port 5060 (typically used for these programs) is open.
Other issues with audio, etc, can be more complicated (i.e. I probably won’t know the answer for your problem).

#6 - Alias Sip Address

Although it seems they haven’t updated their website in a while and I’m not sure how many people actually use it, sip411.com seems like a great place to set up an alias for your sip address. Say you have signed up with voxalot.com, freeworld dialup, sipPhone or ekiga.net. Now you have some username which usually is just a number (in the case of ekiga, I got a name with a number). With sip411, you can pick any username you choose, and use it as an alias for your other sip accounts. This way you will always have one easy permanent sip address to give out, especially if you have multiple sip addresses or you change your voip provider/s.

Another option could be to use SipBroker as a place not only to get an alias for your sip address (though it has to be a number too), but also access codes for people to call you from almost worldwide. For instance, if your friend lived in Washington, DC, they would call 1-202-552-1297 and get an automated message telling them to input the provider code (for instance my voxalot code is *010) + user number (for instance your voxalot #). If you had set up an alias number through sipBroker, your number would be *011-1-alias#. You can look up your provider code # here. SipPhone & FWD have a similar, but smaller, service but even though I tried several times, I could not connect the call to my computer. [note: I’ve since read that those sipphone/fwd access numbers don’t work?]

#7 - Go Public!

Now that you’re setup to make & receive calls and give out a permanent sip address & telephone number, you are ready to let the world know! One way to do this is through online “presence”, indicating to others, usually with some icon, whether you are available or not. Many Some voip providers out there have code ready for you on your member/account page. You can paste it on the web, if you like. When people see that you are online, they can click on it and automatically connect to you (voice or im), of course, only if they are using compatible software. This is why it is crucial that people stay away from proprietary software (like Skype), and stick with open protocols which don’t limit interoperability or stop us from communication.

Tell us how you set up your internet calling below in the comments area…

     After posting my previous article on wifi phones, I decided that it’s time to finally do something about my computer’s voip softphone. I currently use Skype, whose temporary “free calling to any phone” is officially over. Having switched to Ubuntu, I realize that I really should ween myself off the proprietary Skype which even my sister’s job won’t let her use because of security risks. Ekiga is already installed on my Ubuntu dapper, so I decided to finally get a SIP account. But, now what? I don’t know anybody on SIP (just Skype), so I ended up on a furious internet search to check out my options. This (below) is a condensed outline of what I found, and boy was there A LOT on this subject out there, phew!

• Skype - PROS: I know people on it, video, text messages & file transfers are included, easy to set up and use. CONS: the Linux version is OLD OLD OLD, brings my system to a screeching halt everytime a text message is being sent, Skype forces your computer to act as a Supernode from time to time (did you know this?), and since it is closed proprietary software (why is this important?), you can’t contact anybody not on Skype (except if you pay to call a landline/cellphone).
• Ekiga - Formerly known as GnomeMeeting, Ekiga is already built into Ubuntu Dapper, has an easy to set up account, is compatible with SIP & H.323, and has a nice interface with audio/video, as well as chat; though I don’t see anything for transferring files, and it doesn’t look easy to find other users. I haven’t found any yet, and so cannot really comment on much other than how Ekiga looks. I now use Ekiga all the time, and its great! For a list of programs that work with Ekiga, check this out. For a beta Windows version, try here or here or HERE (updated).
• Twinkle - Some people love this softphone, and it does look promising. I like the simplistic interface. Twinkle is a SIP phone, and is only available for Linux.
• Gizmo - It’s like Skype but runs on the SIP protocol, so at least it’s compatible with other software. The problem is that it’s closed source, and like Matt says, it’s just the lesser of 2 evils.
• Wengophone - From France, a multi-platform based on the standard SIP telephony, but does not yet offer interoperability with other SIP providers (???-I find this very dumb, but they’re working on it). However, it does offer text messaging & file transfers with many of the major players, such as MSN, Yahoo, AOL, & Jabber, and even has a Firefox extension(only up to v1.5 though), so you don’t have to install a whole new program if you don’t want to. Wengophone really does look like a possible Skype-killer, especially if they enable service with other SIP phones, and if I can ever get it to work on my computer (I will try again…–>see #3 below).
• Linphone - An open-source SIP phone for Linux, with video and text messaging as well.
• GoogleTalk - Only available for Windows, & its on the Jabber protocol, so it doesn’t work with SIP phones.
• Tapioca - very promising compatibility tool, a framework for VOIP & IM. From their site:
  

  With Tapioca you can connect to SIP, Jabber, MSN, IRC and other connection managers that are compliant with the Telepathy specification. Integrate VoIP and IM in your application using your favorite programming language with just a few lines of code, and without having to concern about protocol implementations.

  Boy, do I wish I knew “a few lines of code!” For those of you who do, please tell me how to create an all-encompassing softphone for audio & video with chat & file transfer & interoperability with everybody…please?

• Jajah - I originally saw this as an extension for Firefox. What I gathered from the website is that you can use Jajah (online or *some* cellphones) to connect mobile phones & landlines. The idea is not to have to download any software and just use them as a cheaper way to connect. To other Jajah users, the call is free only if they meet all these conditions, and to non-Jajah people, low calling rates apply. I have added on the Firefox extension, since I heard that Jajah is compatible with other softphones (even Skype!), but I have not yet figured out how to actually look for and call those users (see note below). I also see no text messaging(only SMS to mobile phones) or file transfer options, which is to be expected, since they do not advertise calling through the computer. Note: the Jajah desktop application has likely been abondoned, as I cannot find it on their site (and Wikipedia explains this as well). Here or here it seems you can still download it for Windows, although I have not checked if it works yet or not. If it does, this may be the best bet for telephony with other softphone users such as Skype, etc.–> (see #1 below)
• Rebtel - Similar to the new Jajah, Rebtel connects regular phones with each other through the internet. For $1 per week, you can make all your international calls local, by connecting through the internet with Rebtel. You don’t pay for any weeks you don’t use the service, and it’s simple to set up. This is a great way to save money calling people abroad. It works like this: “You call your friend abroad, using your mobile, they hang up and call you back while you stay on the line, Rebtel connects your two local calls over the internet.”
• Barablu - a free calling community that I saw before but dismissed as too small to be worth it. The community still seems to be small, but their options are growing, and now are offering free video, mobile to mobile, etc, within Barablu.
• PhoneGaim - a SIP extension to the popular all-inclusive instant messenger, Gaim. Built more for Linspire users, and available for Windows, PhoneGaim looks like it could be an interesting contender, but it hasn’t taken off yet or has it been abandoned? Calls to PhoneGaim & SIPphone users are always free, and other promising details are posted in their FAQ.
• SIP Communicator - a JAVA VOIP & IM client able to work with protocols such as SIP, Jabber, AIM/ICQ, MSN and soon others like Yahoo and IRC. Open Source & free, SIP Communicator is still in its development stages, but it is already available for multiple platforms (Windows, Mac, & Linux) and sounds VERY promising.(see #2 below)
• Tesco - VOIP internet calling with a Tesco phone. Free calling to other Tesco phone users, and cheap rates to anybody else, pay as you go (a plus!), and free voicemail for when your internet connection is off. Seems simple & cheap, and many people swear by it.
• Voipbuster - Free phone calls to many countries for 120 days, after a 10 Euro fee. I think this promotion has changed from the earlier days (I saw people posting 1 Euro and without time limit before). Anyways, I found this on Ubuntu Tutorials, a great tip from a commenter:
  

  Gabriel Hurley wrote:

  Try Voipbuster (http://www.voipbuster.com/en/index.html) it uses the SIP protocol and can be set up to work with Ekiga. For a one-time payment of 10 Euro, you have free calling to many countries.

  To set up in Ekiga:
  1.- Edit -> Accounts -> Add.
  Name: VOIPBUSTER
  Protocol: SIP
  Registerer: sip1.voipbuster.com
  User: (your voipbuster user name)
  Password: (your voipbuster user password)
  More options-> Realm/ Domain: voipbuster.com

  2.- Edit -> preferences -> protocols
  Network configuration:
  –NAT pass type: IP translation or nothing. Not STUN
  –Stun server: stun.voipbuster.com
  SIP settings: Outgoing proxy: sip1.voipbuster.com

  Actually, I did try this exact setup, and found that I had to(on Windows) revert #2 back to the original setup of STUN with stun.ekiga.net. I haven’t paid yet so I have yet to see how this actually pans out found out that I don’t need to! What is important here, is that this shows how versatile Ekiga really is - you can add different accounts to use different sip providers very easily (unlike Wengophone, see #3 below).

• Phone Gnome - This sounded great to me, as a gnome user. With all their offers of great free services, I signed up immediately. Then I found out that most of the options I wanted required me to buy their hardware. This turned me off completely. But if you are looking for an all-around voip hardphone + softphone + lots more, then I’d recommend checking them out, and visiting their informative blog as well.

     As you can see, there are a gazzilion choices out there. You just have to decide what you need exactly. Do you need to lower your costs on your existing mobile phone or landline, and don’t want to chat through the computer? [try Jajah or Rebtel] Or do you want a new calling outlet, like a softphone, that allows you to contact people through your computer?[try any SIP phone] How about just regular cheap VOIP calling? [try Tesco] More complicated yet, are you trying to run a business on VOIP, with conference calling, multiple lines, etc? [this is a whole ‘nother story]

     As for me, I’m just looking for a Skype replacement, a softphone (non-proprietary) that can connect with people using other software on the internet, with text messaging, file transfers, option to call regular phones, etc. It looks like the old Jajah or the new (to come) Wengophone might do the trick, though I’m still working with Ekiga, and I really want to try SIP Communicator. I will get back to you with my final comments…

1. Tried the old Jajah, couldn’t get it to register online, then I found out it was trying to piggyback off my Skype too. I guess its compatibility with Skype was not what I thought it was.
2. Tried SIP Communicator - could not get it to connect to my ekiga.net sip account. Tried various times, opened an extra port, etc, but it never worked, so I scratched that idea for now (it is still not a stable build yet).
3. Tried Wengophone for Firefox, but it only works up to version 1.5…. I have 2.0. Then I tried the pre-alpha Wengophone NG, by following this link. It’s a big file, about 17MB. Actually, I didn’t. It said it was going to install taking up 98MB of space, and I balked. I think I’ll wait. Wengophone 2.0 on Windows turned out to be a better idea(but still humungous at 35mb), so I tried that instead. True to form, Wengophone had a slick interface and inherent ability to chat with those on Yahoo, MSN, AIM/ICQ, Jabber, or SIP. However, I still don’t know if I can talk to any of those people through Wengo’s interface? I can’t even call other sip addresses (hopefully they’ll change this in their next version). Also, I never did get it to work on Linux… And now I find out that I cannot, for the life of me, find a way to find what is my sip address? nor a way to change the sip provider. An earlier version had that ability (see here) but it was difficult then, and all but non-existent now. What does this mean? That we HAVE to use Wengo’s service and buy into their rates. Ughhhh.
4. So, where am I now? Right where I started, with Skype and Ekiga with no contacts. Will update when I have more info….

     In the meantime, check out these interesting sites: Wikipedia’s list of SIP software, tech-faq’s list, voip info’s list, and the appleblog’s wonderful SIP overview here and here.

     I’d love to know, what softphone do you use right now, and why? Also, is there a great softphone missing in this post? Please tell, in the comments below…

I’m the type of person who constantly seeks information, researching any question or idea that pops into my mind. In this eternal quest, I have found a few websites that have impressed me with their ability to bring sharp minds and cool ideas together into one (online) community.

• expert village - my new favorite site where I can workout with the pros! Here I have found great exercise tips in yoga, pilates, dance, etc, but this site is definitely not limited to that at all. You’ve gotta check it out.
• instructables - a very cool site, where people come & share their ideas, teaching you how to make really creative & different things. I found this searching for how to make my own bookshelves.
• 43 things - an inspirational place, where people state their goals and chart their progress in achieving them.
• diy network - a satellite tv channel (which I don’t have), but with a website to match. There, you can search for various projects or just browse around.

Have you ever wondered what this was? Or have you ever tried downloading something through a program, but no matter how you fiddled with your firewall, you couldn’t seem to get through? Sometimes your ISP or your own router can be stopping you, since they’re set up to shut out harmful ‘traffic.’

Well, through my use of Utorrent, the bittorrent client I use now, I have figured out how to work this magic, or just forward a port that I want open. PortForward.com is the one-stop shop to set up your router how you want it. They have step-by-step guides according to what software you are using, and what router you have. They teach you how to set up a static ISP for your computer, among other things.
Following their guides, I found a seemingly complex subject to be actually quite simple.

Now if you are feeling especially adventurous, you can even try lifehacker’s guide to basically pimp your router (for which they have a subsequent guide posted for further expansion), or their simple special on creating a wireless network. I personally have embarked on none of that yet (I don’t even own the routers I’ve had to manipulate), but I am glad to have the info on hand for when I need it.

Recently I decided to upgrade my computer’s RAM. I have a Dell Inspiron 600m. I decided to be cheap (a bad idea), and look on ebay. I found a couple sellers with RAM guaranteed to work on my laptop, so I picked the cheapest one: 2 1/2gig modules for under $80. Wow! I thought I got a deal, since Dell’s website lists the same price for only 1 module.

Anyways, I installed it with no problems at all. But within a month, my Windows started to crash over & over again. I had been downloading various new software, so I thought that one of those may be the culprit (especially since a couple blue screens mentioned similar stuff), but then when the blue screens continued even after uninstalling random programs,
I began to think the new RAM was the problem. I didn’t do anything about it (I didn’t want to go back to half the amount of memory), and windows continued to suffer. (see previous post on this)

Now, though, it is time to delve deeper into this issue.

I see I used to have 2 256mb DDR RAM with 333MHz, or PC2700. (by Promos Technologies)
The new RAM is 2 512mb DDR RAM with 266MHz, or PC2100, by Samsung. (interestingly, this RAM, plus its ebay posting, did not show the frequency in MHz. I calculated that now (divide it by 8x) to get that number)
You see the difference? The main issue is the frequency, which dictates the bus speed, or how FAST the RAM can transfer data to the processor. (got this definition from a kid’s site online!)
On further research online, I found out how important it is to know all the details. Here I found more information on what to look out for when upgrading RAM, and here is some excellent detailed info on RAM frequency & latency.

I still do not know how downgrading my frequency while upgrading the amount of RAM memory really affected my computer, or if it was a very bad mistake or not, but I’m still using the new RAM, and so far I’ve been fine with my new Linux & Windows(restored) partitions.