The first is a router. This is what directs traffic to and from the Internet and across the office network. It’s also the device that adds wireless functionality.

The second is a switch. This will allow us to split the Internet connection in to multiple wired connections and get the wall jacks working.

There are wireless printer adapters, but I have read of incompatibility issues and since the printer there is such a complex one, I think it best for it to be connected to the network in a traditional, fool-proof manner.

To purchase the items, first click the “add router to shopping cart” link below. When you do that, you will be brought to Amazon’s web page. Use your browser’s back button to return to this page. Next, click the “Buy from Amazon” button in the Netgear switch box under the link you previously clicked.

You should now have two items in your shopping cart. Proceed with the checkout as usual.

Here are the product links:

Click to add router to shopping cart

You can learn more about Net Neutrality and what you can do to protect your rights as consumers, small business owners, and as the users and creators of the things that make the Internet such a wonderful thing at http://www.itsournet.org/.

****

Republished from The Cambridge Chronicle

Letter: Save the Internet
Thursday, July 6, 2006

Since the Internet began, all Web sites people visit have been given equal access to the Internet, a principle known as Net Neutrality. Now giant conglomerates like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast are lobbying Congress to try to get greater control over what we Americans see and do online, including the ability to make some sites open more slowly (ones that refuse to pay them extra money for it) and some more quickly (ones that decide to pay them).

Our Sen. John Kerry sits on the key committee that is going to vote on whether to preserve Internet freedom, and it is key that he vote for the bipartisan Internet Freedom Preservation Act (S. 2917), which would preserve Net Neutrality.

The Internet has been created from the efforts and shared trust of millions of people, and is a huge national resource for our country. Getting rid of Net Neutrality would, in effect, turn it into a mess of some sites that open quickly and some that open more slowly, depending on who your Internet provider is.

Consumers are used to being able to open all sites with the same level of speed. So just to choose whether you use Verizon or Comcast, Americans would have to spend hours researching if the sites they visit most often are given preferential treatment or not. For example, if Comcast doesn’t give preferential treatment to Google and you use Google for searching or e-mail, you would either have to put up with slowed-down Web searching and e-mail usage or try to find another provider that gives preferential access to Google.

In addition, where preferential access is given, consumers would end up paying the extra fees because if a company has to pay more to have their site open properly, they, of course, will pass the costs on to consumers in the long run.

It also means that nonprofit organizations, small business owners and regular individual Americans who cannot afford to or don’t want to pay extra will have their sites run slower and, as a result, will get less traffic.

It is important on numerous fronts that Net Neutrality is preserved and that Sen. Kerry do his part to make sure it happens.
PETER DUNN
Former Cambridge business owner
Watertown

Inspired by the challenges faced by their own friends and family members in recovery, Darrel Farris and Frank Schaffarczyk, owners of FND Enterprises and creators of the site, seek to provide an open space where addicts can write about and support one another through their recovery process.

“Therapeutic writing and peer support are the key angles of the site.  We hope the anonymity of the Internet helps to strip the shame from sharing one’s emotions and experiences they might feel initially at meetings or in other face-to-face scenarios,” said Farris.

Schaffarczyk adds, “The flip side is that non-addicts or people who have relationships with addicts can read through the site and hopefully gain some insight on what their loved ones might be going through.”

Sobering Thought is located at http://www.soberingthought.com.

FND Enterprises, based in Oakland, California, offers blog and community web site creation, hosting, and management services.  Their web site is located at http://www.fndent.com.

This article will show you how to create compatible ringer files using an open-source utility called SoX. Mac OSX users can download a version of SoX here. You’ll also need this Perl script:

#!/usr/bin/perl
#——————————————————————————
# Create ringtone file for Grandstream BT100 phone, using uLaw input.
#
# Author: Tony Mountifield
# Date: 28 May 2004
# File: makering.pl
# History:
# 28/05/2004 Initial version.
# 29/05/2004 Added checks for input file size being even and not too large.
# 30/05/2004 Phone will not accept files larger than 65536 bytes.
# 06/06/2004 Modified for the 1.05.00 firmware, probably doesn’t support
# older firmware any longer
#——————————————————————————
#
# Usage:
# Use sox to convert any audio input file to uLaw and pipe to this prog, e.g.
#
# sox inputfile -r 8000 -c 1 -t ul - rate | makering.pl ring1.bin
#
# (try using /usr/share/sounds/phone.wav for the inputfile)
#
# Check the output file by using the following command:
#
# tail +513c ring1.bin | play -t ul -
#
# Finally, put the ring file in /tftpboot on the phone’s TFTP server,
# and reboot the phone.
#
#——————————————————————————
#
# Credits:
# Based on analysis by Stephen R. Besch
#
# Copyright: placed into the public domain by the author
#
# Warranty: none!
#
#——————————————————————————

$filename = shift or die “need output filename\n”;

undef $/; # slurp whole file at once…

$audio = <>; # … like this

$filesize = 512 + length $audio;

if ($filesize & 1) {
# length odd, add a zero byte (should never happen)
$audio .= chr(0);
}

if ($filesize >= (2 * 65536)) {
print STDERR “Warning: $filesize is bigger than 2 bytes, trouble may be ahead.”
}

# this is the format for the header
$headerfmt = “N n C4 n C C C C a16 C C x4 n n x214 n n N x72 a176″;

# get the current date and time
($min, $hour, $day, $month, $year) = (localtime)[1..5];
$year += 1900;
$month += 1;

# create the header, with zero for the checksum
$header = pack $headerfmt,
$filesize/2, # 00 - filesize/2
# FIXME: I’m guessing that the 0000 we
# always see at the beginning of
# the files are an extended file size
0, # 04 - put checksum in later
1,0,0,1, # 06 - version
$year, # 0a - year
$month, # 0c - month
$day, # 0d - day
$hour, # 0e - hour
$min, # 0f - min
“ring.bin”, # 10 - name, seems to always be ring.bin
# FIXME: Assumption 1: always ring.bin
# FIXME: Assumption 2: name field is 16 chars
0, # 20 - ?
0, # 21 - ? 0 (ring1.bin) or 9 (ring2.bin) - Codec?
# 22 - 4 NULL bytes, unknown
0xc8, # 26 - ? 00C8 (0 sometimes seen before)
0, # 28 - 0000 (ring2.bin) or 0001 (ring1.bin) - why?
# 2a - 214 null bytes
0, # 100 - ? 0
256, # 102 - ? 0×0100
$filesize/2, # 104 -
# Next comes an array of positions, which seems
# to be a sort of ‘play until’ set of instructions
# 150 - Description
“Grandstream standard music ring”;

# sanity check
$headerlen = length $header;
die “header length wrong ($headerlen)\n” unless $headerlen == 512;

# add the audio
$header .= $audio;

# compute the checksum
$checksum = unpack “%16n*”, $header;
printf “checksum before = %04x\n”, $checksum;

# insert it in the correct place
substr($header,4,2) = pack “n”,-$checksum;

# ensure the new checksum is zero
$checksum = unpack “%16n*”, $header;
printf “checksum after = %04x\n”, $checksum;
die “checksum failed\n” unless $checksum == 0;

# write the file
open F, “>$filename” or die “can’t open output file $filename: $!\n”;
print F $header;
close F;

# end

Just like the script instructions say, you execute the following command:

sox inputfile -r 8000 -c 1 -t ul - rate | makering.pl outputfile

Depending on your system configuration, you might have to use this:

sox inputfile -r 8000 -c 1 -t ul - rate | perl makering.pl outputfile

That’s all! SoX converts your file to the proper format and the Perl script modifies the file header information to be acceptable to the Grandstream phone. Your output files must be named ring1.bin, ring2.bin, or ring3.bin. The file name will replace that particular custom ring tone in the telephone when uploaded.

To upload the files to your phone, simply place them in the HTTP or TFTP directory your phone updates and proceed with a normal firmware update process.

Here are some sample ringers that I converted for you to try out:

Horse - the sound of a horse neighing

Owl - the hooting of an owl. I wonder hoo could be calling?

Bell Ringer 1 - an old style telephone ringer

Bell Ringer 2 - another old style bell ringer

The idea of a web site for communicating to a membership base isn’t a new idea. While most sites do contain useful information about the organization, which can attract new members, the communication is generally one-way — online newsletters, event announcements, etc. In the past, web sites generally have been aimed towards presentation but nowadays, things are much more interactive.

Imagine a web site for your members. What kinds of things would be on it? How would it help your members become more involved? An area for the officers to convey any messages or updates about their responsibilities, places for other members to interact and discuss topics, events planning and promotion, a chat room to host online meetings or just talk with other members and foster community…

While it may sound like a dream and out of reach for your group, I’m writing this article to tell you it’s not. I’d like to introduce you to a piece of software called Drupal. Drupal provides a framework to build web sites with. It’s free, very easy to use, and very flexible. New features are easily added on an a la carte basis by installing modules. In less than a day, you can have a new web site that will enable your members to interact in new ways and help strengthen your organization.

With Drupal, it’s easy to setup message forums, blogs, polls, events listings, and a host of other features. Each officer could communicate to members via a blog. Message forums could be created for members to discuss topics, plan events, brainstorm, or just interact and have a good time. Polls are easily designed to gauge opinions by allowing your members to vote on issues. Additionally, members can send private messages to each other and photo albums can be stored. These and many other features will keep your members coming back and growing closer together.

Men Who Knit is a Drupal-based web site created and managed by my company, FND Enterprises. It boasts over 300 members from various parts of the world, all united in the spirit of knitting. The site hosts many blogs in which members share their experiences, completed projects, and funny stories. The message forums are active with questions about certain techniques, book suggestions, and cultural topics. We also host an image gallery of projects created by our users, a chat room, events listings, and provide inks to outside resources that might interest our members.

This site is a great example of how Drupal encourages the interaction of people across the various communication mediums it supports. I encourage you to browse the site and reflect on it could be customized to suit your organization. Men Who Knit started with no members. If you already have a membership base, you’re well on your way to having a successful site.

People love to be part of something. Even your inactive members do, otherwise they wouldn’t have joined. Offering them a medium where they can offer input and interact with other members keeps people working together away from meetings. Even though you may only have one or two meetings a month, our lives happen on a daily basis. With a web site of this nature, your members can contribute at their convenience rather than having to choose between meeting attendance or other responsibilities.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss how a Drupal-based site could benefit your group or organization, please contact the author at darrel@fndent.com. FND can get you a domain name, setup email and create a web site customized for your group. For more information about Drupal, visit their web site at http://www.drupal.org.

The blogs most of us are familiar with involve celebrity gossip, self-obsessed internet junkies, or alternative news sources. Let’s take a step back from what is written and focus on how blogs handle what’s written.

When a new blog post is created, it is displayed on the front page with other recent posts. Readers can then comment on that post. Those comments can be threaded to help visually clarify when comments are being commented upon rather than the original message. This is much like the interaction that happens when an e-mail is sent and others send replies. The difference is that all those emails are now in one place, replies are organized, and are easily searchable.

The front page of a blog displays recent posts. If you want to see the discussion on that post, click the title and you’ll be brought to a page containing only that entry and any replies made to it. You can also choose to view posts only from a particular category or sub-category.

Blogs are great for project-related communications because they facilitate and organize discussions in an easier-to-follow format than email does. Categories that posts are assigned to can be tailored to create a hierarchical structure that correlates with different areas of a project, teams, or anything else that suits your organizational fancy.  The transparency of communication that bloge allow make it easy for managers and team members to stay in the loop and because all content is archived in a central location and easily searchable and retrievable, it can help make project post-mortems easier to prepare for and more productive.
Blogs are an excellent way for teams to brainstorm and share ideas effectively. It’s easy to maintain discussions on multiple topics because of the way content on blogs is organized. It’s much easier to get a clear picture of what’s going on without having to wade through a sea of emails. Mind you, no one is suggesting you abandon email, but rather divide the labor where it makes sense.

My business partner and I use a blog to communicate our ideas and plans on nearly 10 projects. We live just over 1,000 miles from one another and have found our blog to be a very effective tool. It’s improved our communication and productivity and we feel like our actions are being documented in a more useful way than clogging up our inboxes.

Each category in our blog equates to a project and we have sub-categories under each to separate things like technical and marketing issues. Posts can be assigned multiple categories, of course. On our main page, we’ve also added an area that displays the most recently commented upon posts to help us see which need attention. Since it’s all web based, you can easily cross-reference another discussion by linking to it. If that sounds scary, there are WYSIWYG blog editors (Wordpress includes one) available that make creating complexly formatted posts effortless. You can also attach or link to files easily.

Most blogging software support multiple authors and roles. Roles allow you to grant or deny users access to particular functions of the software. Using roles, you could make sure people can’t alter the site configuration or add new users by limiting their . You can also control whether a particular user must have his post reviewed prior to publishing and being viewed on the site.

While all the hype surrounding blogs might be hard to break through, it’s definitely worth a shot. They are flexible, easy to implement tools that can easily be customized to suit a myriad of applications. They are advantageous for certain types of communications, but overkill for others. The trick is finding the best implemetation to realize the benefits.

If you’d like to discuss how blogs might help your organization, please contact Darrel Farris at darrel@fndent.com.

The buzz surrounding Voice over IP (VoIP) technology has been growing for quite some time, but only recently has the notion of ditching standard telephone service grown so compelling that companies like Skype can claim over 215 million downloads of its product. In this article, we’ll explore the current offerings and help you make wise choices while embarking on the VoIP path.

Let’s start with vocabulary. The most important and oft-repeated acronym you must learn and understand in regards to Voice over IP is “SIP.” SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol, a well-established, open-standard protocol that is the glue to the VoIP world. It allows a vast array of services, software, and hardware to work together to create flexible, feature-rich calling solutions with many attractive benefits. If it doesn’t support SIP, you shouldn’t support them.

WHAT DO I NEED

At minimum, you need a high-speed Internet connection, a SIP phone number, and a softphone. A softphone is a software version of an IP phone that lets you make calls using your computer.

Some services, like Stanaphone and Gizmo, will provide you with a softphone to use with their system. Most of these will only let you configure SIP numbers that belong to their network. If you want to utilize multiple SIPs across different networks, your best option is to use X-Lite, a free softphone from Counterpath (formerly known as Xten Networks). With X-Lite, it appears you can configure up to 9 different SIP numbers. Like Gizmo, X-Lite comes in Mac, Windows, and PC versions.

If you want to use your existing phone, rather than a headset or microphone and speakers, you’ll need an analog phone adapter. Dedicated, SIP-compatible IP phones are also available. Wi-Fi IP phones can be carried with you and used wherever there’s a wireless Internet signal. There are also WiFi mobile phones available.

You should also receive a SIP URL which looks similar to an email address and is a simple way to share your new contact information. You can easily dial a SIP URL in your softphone application or link to it from a web page. If you’re using a hardware phone, SIP Broker has a free service that can maps the SIP server names to short numeric codes, allowing you to easily dial users on over 200 different services.

WHAT CAN I DO WITH IT

You can make free calls to other IP phone users worldwide. You can make calls to traditional phone numbers or attach a local phone number that routes to your SIP number, allowing regular phone users to call you. If you travel, you can carry that same phone number with you wherever there’s an Internet connection, and the folks back home won’t incur long-distance charges when they call you. Free voice mail, too, and messages are delivered to your e-mail.

In a business situation, you could slash or eliminate your long-distance charges by setting up free calling between remote or international offices. Videoconferencing also becomes possible without dedicated line charges. For the more adventurous, you could also setup a PBX. Asterisk is a powerful, open-source PBX system with a feature list that can give any sized business the advantages of a full-fledged digital phone system.

If you work in a scenario where 2-way radios are utilized, DingoTel offers a product which can turn these in to VoIP walkie-talkies while making use of the radios full reception range, sometimes up to 12 miles depending on the model.

For the budget-conscious, with some services like Gizmo and SIPphone, standard phone users in major cities can dial a free access number, enter your SIP number and speak to you via your IP phone. SIP Broker also maintains a few access numbers which allow callers to dial SIP numbers on any of their 220+ supported networks.

It may seem tedious, but programming the entire of sequence of numbers in to a phone’s contacts directory is quite straightforward. Just remember to insert pauses to allow for the phone system’s menu options to respond. If your friends have free long-distance calling plans, they could reach you via any of the available access numbers mentioned above at no cost to either of you.

IPKall and Stanaphone will give you a free local number as long as you don’t mind it being in Washington State or New York City. IPKall will forward your number to any SIP URL, but Stanaphone’s will only work with the SIP number provided through them.

Free World Dialup and SIPphone have peering agreements allowing you to SIP dial users on a number of different VoIP networks using a short prefix. SP Broker can also help you reach anyone on a service that allows incoming SIP calls, which Vonage and CallVantage do not.

There are also SIP-compatible softphones available for the Pocket PC, Palm OS, Symbian, and Linux handheld market that can turn your handheld in to a cordless Internet phone.

SERVICE PROVIDERS

You have to pay when you want make calls to regular telephone numbers. If you want a local number that links to your SIP number, that’ll usually cost you, too. The good news is that the prices are very reasonable. There are many service providers, plans, and packages out there to suit home and business users. Here are some important questions to ask:

1) Does the plan include hardware, i.e. an analog phone adapter?
2) Will I own the hardware being provided by the service?
3) If I am buying the hardware, is it locked to your service or can I use it with other SIP service providers?
4) Do you offer a “Bring Your Own Device” calling plan?
5) Does the plan include a virtual phone number so anyone can call me?
6) Are all incoming calls free?
7) Can I receive incoming SIP calls by number and/or URLs?

Make sure you understand any contracts, fees, calling rates or restrictions before agreeing to service. There are numerous service providers offering free and paid services. With a little bit of research, you’ll find something ideal for your intended purpose.

OPTIONS

If you’re looking to stay on your computer while having some room to grow, check out Gizmo. Gizmo is an excellent, cross-platform SIP softphone that works with network services from SIPphone. In this setup, you could add incoming virtual phone numbers for $12/3 months or $35/year that will allow folks to call you. All incoming calls are free to you and to the person dialing (as long as it isn’t a long-distance call, of course). SIPphone also maintains free access numbers in major cities that users can dial, enter your SIP number, and then be connected to you free of charge. They also have decent outgoing rates for non-IP calls and sell phone adapters making this a solution that scales well for the average user. There’s even an Adium plugin for you Mac users out there.

Stanaphone is a free service from hosting giant Intermedia that also provides you with a free virtual phone number in the New York City area. You can also receive faxes sent to your virtual number in your email. Voice mail is also included. You can also utilize a SIP phone adapter with the service, but you’ll have to pay to make outgoing calls to standard phone numbers. At 2.6 cents a minute for calls in the US, they’re a bit more expensive than Gizmo/SIPphone but the free virtual number and fax receiving are nice bonuses although their service lacks in other features. Stanaphone has a softphone client for Windows and PocketPC, but Mac users can also use CounterPath’s X-Lite with the service. The web site also says only Stanaphone to Stanaphone calls are free, so you might be better off sticking with Gizmo and their flexible peering agreements.

Free World Dialup offers SIP network services, but also has their own combination Video IP Phone / instant messaging program. Within one program, you can make SIP-based voice and video calls and chat with your friends whether they’re on Yahoo, MSN, AOL, or ICQ. Their traditional inbound and outbound calling service is still in Beta and a bit more expensive than Gizmo. Their Communicator application is also available for PC only, although many hardware devices will work with the FWD SIP network.

A number of service providers offer packages targeted towards specific kinds of users. Broadvoice, for example, has unlimited worldwide plans starting at $19.95, while also offering a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) plan at just $5.95 a month. TelePacket has plans that start at just $0.95 a month while Packet 8 has plans that target videoconferencing users at $19.95 a month.

SUGGESTIONS

If you want to test the waters, I’d start with trying out Gizmo. It’s a lightweight, feature-rich softphone that also gets you service through SIPphone. They provide local access numbers for non-VoIP users to call SIP numbers from traditional phones, have many peering agreements with other networks to keep you connected, and support options like virtual phone numbers and offer low-cost rates on calls made to standard phones to give you a more robust VoIP phone package when you’re ready.

If you want to take the plunge, check out Broadvoice or Packet 8, who offers E911 service. They both offer robust feature sets, unlimited calling plans, inexpensive virtual phone numbers, and have a good track record of reliability and service.

As for speaking and listening on any of these services, you have three basic options: use a quality headset, purchase a phone adapter, or purchase an IP phone. A headset, of course, is the most economical option. Buying a phone adapter is a good choice if you love your phone and/or want to continue using your standard phone service. Most, if not all, phone adapters also plug in to your phone line to utilize the attached phone for both VoIP and regular phone calls. If you like the idea of an IP phone and have a wireless network, we strongly suggest getting a WiFi phone. It offers the most flexibility because it allows you to not only talk wirelessly at home, but wherever there is a wireless Internet connection.

CONCLUSION

Whether you just want a new toy or are looking for a replacement phone system for your home or office, the current crop of VoIP offerings present a wide array of services and options. Review each company’s web site, read the fine print, and search the web for service reviews and user experiences. You’re sure to find a suitable solution with the ideal combination of cost, features, and quality that you’re looking for.