When you try to compile chan_sccp_b on a machine with Asterisk 1.6.0+ installed you receive the following error:
sccp_pbx.c:588: error: ‘AST_CONTROL_T38’ undeclared (first use in this function)
Compile Problem with Chan_SCCP_B on Asterisk 1.6
December 3, 2009 By 3 Comments
Adding MySQL Privileges to a Subnet…
November 26, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I spent to day adding new web servers to my employers co-located cabinet, our older ones just weren’t cutting it any more – mainly because they did not have enough memory. Most of the stuff that we run is back-ended by an MySQL database running on a nice fat machine with lots of disks all setup in a RAID-10 configuration, behind our firewall. The web servers are hosted on their own DMZ and connect to the MySQL server via IP through the firewall.
So, for the 100th time, I was writing SQL of the sort:
grant all privileges on wp_mainsite to 'wbusr_mainsite'@'10.0.%' identified by 'Secret';
This works fine, but what if you want to use CIDR to specify a smaller sub-net. I found numerous references to the fact that you can simply use the / notation, as in /12 for the number of network bits. The MySQL documentation, comprehensive as it is, simply does not seem to say how you can do this, other than that you can. After tinkering for a bit, I realized that the only way to achieve this is to use the full sub-net mask in dotted decimal format. So lets say you have a /30 sub-net, starting at 10.1.1.0. To grant this access to the MySQL database you need to specify the grant statement as follows:
grant all privileges on wp_mainsite to 'wbusr_mainsite'@'10.1.1.0/255.255.252' identified by 'Secret';
This achieves what you would like and any machine (or person) using those credentials from an IP on your 10.1.1.0/30 network will have access to the wp_mainsite database.
Don’t just blindly copy this code, you probably don’t want to give a typical web application all privileges on a database, so figure out what your specific needs are and work with that. For more information see the MySQL handbook for the syntax of the grant statement.
Leaked Bold 9000 OS 5.0.0.348 Torrent Found
November 15, 2009 By 3 Comments
A few days back crackberry.com announced that a leaked version of OS 5.0.0.348 for the Blackberry Bold 9000 had been found. Here is a torrent for the firmware file, and it seems to work, so if folks seed you should be able to get a descent copy.
9000M_PBr5.0.0_rel546_PL5.2.0.23_A5.0.0.348.exe.torrent
Disclaimer: remember, this is an untested and unsupported version of the firmware for the BlackBerry Bold 9000. If you have problems with this firmware, you are on your own. Not your wireless operator, RIM or I will be able to help you, so you are flashing your device entirely at your own risk. Also, if you have a company BlackBerry, you may be violating your IT Policy by installing this firmware, and this could get you fired!
Update: This version (5.0.0.348) has been reported by AT&T users to cause a reboot-loop. Check this post BlackBerry Bold 9000 OS 5.0.0.348 Does Not Work with AT&T. Either way, you probably want to take care using this if you are using AT&T in the USA on a Bold 9000
Bell selling the Blackberry® Bold™ 9700 for less than Rogers
November 4, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I am excited, having just speculated that Telus and Bell will soon also be selling the Bold™ 9700 on their shiny new HSPA networks, I discovered that Bell already are, and for about $70 less than Rogers ($229.95 vs $299.00) subject to 3–Year term.
Unlike Rogers – who incorrectly listed the Bold™ 9700 as the Curve™ 9700 on the detail page of their website – Bell have managed to get all the details correct.
Could this be the first sign of competition on the horizon in the Canadian market?
Rogers Selling Curve Bold 9700 online…
November 4, 2009 By 1 Comment
Rogers have listed the Blackberry® Bold™ 9700 for sale online on their website.
The sharp eyed will notice that their advert (don’t know how long this link will work – as they seem to change their site linking regularly) says “Curve” and not “Bold”, but this is clearly a typo. Have to wonder why they would not take more care, particularly with such a much anticipated phone here in Canada, and with potentially killer competition from Bell and Telus, who both have new HSPA networks, and will no doubt be selling this same device within a couple of days here in Canada.
Other interesting things to note is that you have to enslave yourself to a full 3 years to qualify for the $299.99 subsidized price, and of course, this price is only available on a new service activation, and not on an upgrade. I am not much of a businessman, but I do know that it is much cheaper to retain a customer than to acquire a new one, so this strategy (which Telus and Bell both seem to use as well) has always amazed me.
The un-encumbered price is $599.99, which is interesting as the no-contract price for a Bold 9000 is $649.99 while the subsidized price with a new activation is only $99. This makes me think that Rogers seem to think that they will be selling more of these on the no-contract price than on the subsidized price. They may well be right, since I think a lot of Bold 9000 users with phones that are in fairly good shape will be listing them on eBay in the hopes of buying this one for around $300 extra.
A check on eBay reveals that 9000′s in good condition are selling for around $300 unlocked (and unlock will cost you about $30) so that means for the $300 subsidized price offered by Rogers and the $300 you sold your old phone for, gives you access to a brand new one, without a contract. Definitely a better deal, considering you are then free (presumably) to port to either Telus or Bell in the not too distant future if you can find a more friendly plan from them.
Update: Bell have already listed the 9700 for sale in their website and at $70 less than Rogers on a 3–year term
Take Wikipedia with you?
October 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I guess there are enough people who use Wikipedia with sufficient frequency to settle bets and arguments that it has become necessary to make a portable WikiReader device so that you can have access to WikiPedia at all times.
The WikiReader
The WikiReader is not a pretty device as you can see, and speaking for myself, I am not sure I would be willing to drop $130 dollars to get one, but then I also don’t have a burning desire to settle bets and arguments on the spot. The WikiReader definitly is one gadget with a lot of geek apeal.
This device will set you back $99 and a further $29 subscription to WikiPedia (although, if you are lucky enough to have a decent Internet connection, you can download the update for free, and copy it to the WikiReader’s SD card – I am tending to think that paying the $29 and having a new MicroSD card magically show up at your front door is the way to go) to keep it up to date – the device does not use an Internet connection thus would need to be updated in similar way to loading new maps on a GPS Navigation device. The WikiReader uses regular AA batteries and is supposedly good for 12 months of use on these.
Checkout the WikiReader web-page at http://www.thewikireader.com/about.html for more info.
More than 512kbps Upload from Shaw would be nice…
October 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I have been uploading a lot of video to our non-profit YouTube channel at work, and it has been excruciatingly slow going, primarily because my Shaw cable, high-speed Internet service (which gives me 12Mbps down according to most speed tests), only yields around 512kbps upload…
Why does Shaw restrict the upload channel to such a paltry size, with such relatively large download speed?
Recently I had a new Comcast service installed in Bellingham WA, also for my employer, and what a pleasure to discover on the same speed-test that it’s upload was restricted to 5Mbps. With the prevalence of services such as YouTube (who have just increased their file-size limit to 2GB, surely many Shaw customers are demanding a larger upload limit? Now doubt Shaw will offer some variation of the old story that some folks will abuse the greater upload limit. This is nonsense, as they have equipment to identify abusers and can just shut them down, as presumably to be labelled an abuser, you would be considered in violated of their acceptable terms of use (this is after all what the word means).
Having said all this, I have no idea what Telus and the like limit their upload channels to, so 512kbps may be common.
iPhone 3G and 3GS comes to Telus (and BCE).
October 6, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Good news in my inbox this morning from one of my friends: iPhone 3G/S will be launched on Telus in November! Seems these rumours have been flying around for a while, but I found a press-release confirming that Telus had indeed signed an agreement with Apple to supply the iPhone. This is pretty significant news, as the iPhone is only available in a GSM/HSPA version and not a CDMA version, thus Telus are using it as a launch device on their brand new HSPA network, and therefore not only will this be a competitive source for the iPhone in Canada, but it will also mark the beginning of an alternate choice as for a GSM/UMTS network in Canada.
The iPhone 3GS: Available on Telus in November!
Seems that Telus (and BCE) have indeed silently been deploying an HSPA network, and the launch device will be the new iPhone 3GS! Finally, competition to Rogers in the market, some choice will be great for the Canadian mobile consumer (and I am sure Telus will find their bottom line boosted through a slice of those roaming charges that Rogers have been getting from European operators – in fact, I would not be surprised if the slice is big enough to pay for their investment in the HSPA/LTE network).
Now is an ideal time to be rolling out access to this network, as having it available in time for the Vancouver Olympics in 2010 when thousands of international travellers will decend on Canada and Vancouver, will prove highly lucrative to Telus in terms of roaming fees that they will be getting.
Ultimately, this is really good news for us Canadians, as finally we will have real competition in the market, and at the same time we will start to get access to decent devices (this iPhone is just the first).
You can register your interest in the iPhone with Telus at http://telusmobility.com/iphone (just pick your province and you will be taken to a registration form).
I am pretty sure that this is the face of things to come, and that soon we will be getting more and more HSPA devices on the Telus network. I would love to know what Telus’ plans are with their Qualcom CDMA network?
At last, BlackBerry Desktop for OSX is around the corner
September 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Today, on the BlackBerry blog, I noticed that V1.0 of the BlackBerry Desktop for OSX is now just around the corner. Since I am both a Mac enthusiast, and someone who thinks that BlackBerry is something without which human life will cease (thus solving global warming instantly), I have been eagerly keeping watch for news on this piece of software since I first read about it on RIM’s blog back in July, with it’s enviable list of features, including the ability to Sync your iTunes® playlists, calendars, contacts, notes and tasks — features that had ’till now only been available in the Windows version of Desktop Manager.
Today (September 23rd), I noticed that RIM have written another update about their new OSX version of BlackBerry Desktop, this time using the phrase “around the corner”, which I take to mean imminent as the expected release date, however this new post gives a glimpse to this version of the software, and it looks awesome.
A feature that I will find useful, is the ability to sync with multiple computers, which although slower is something I would use all the time, given that I have computers both at home and work. I am also pleased by the way it will allow me to select to sync with either my Bold’s internal storage or with the flash-card that I have in the device. Then, something RIM have included that struck me as such an obvious feature, yet not even Itunes® has it, is the ability to delete all music that you have synchronized with BlackBerry Desktop Manager to the device. For a flash-based device, this allows you to quickly cycle through parts of your music collection. A feature that would be very useful in Itunes to those who own iPod Nanos.
Let’s hope that we will soon be able to get this great application and make our favourite handheld work with our favourite operating system.
Rogers charge $2 a minute to Roam in Europe
September 20, 2009 By 2 Comments
I have blogged about Rogers’ super high US roaming rates as well as the value offered by their new roaming bundles a few weeks back, today as we were taxiing to our gate at London’s Heathrow Airport, I received this text from Rogers.
Rogers welcomes you abroad! $2/min voice roaming rate applies. To save up to 46%, get a Travel Pack @ http://www.rogers.com/wm/euro (data fees apply)
Again, I was pretty stunned, as I have always found my European roaming to be around $1.45 a minute (what they now charge for US roaming), however not quite as surprised as I was at the $1.45/min for US roaming. Rogers pricing strategy here is becoming clear, they are trying to get a higher average revenue per user by encouraging people to sign up for a monthly roaming bundle, which would yield lower roaming rates, but only if you pick a bundle that exactly matches your roaming usage.
Roaming minutes do not roll over to be used later, thus you lose them at the end of a billing cycle, so if you use only 10 of your 30 roaming minutes in a month, you may actually pay more for your roaming bundle per minute than had you just roamed without the bundle. These dreadful pricing strategies have been designed to maximize individual customer revenue yield.
I cannot imagine we would be seeing this if their was proper competition in the GSM telephone space in Canada.