G.729 Codec (Free development version)

I've been toying with the idea of implementing the G.729 codec on asterisk. I tried to purchase it from 2 different sources and it was a true pain in the butt. Fortunately I found a development version, with a variety of Linux Binaries here. Installed into /var/lib/asterisk/modules and then added the appropriate include in /etc/asterisk/modules.conf and then set the priority for each phone and it worked like a champ! I have polycom phones which have that codec built-in. We have limited bandwidth on the island, so this should hopefully improve the situation for VOIP.

Nashville.Net Hotel Reservations

Just updated the Nashville.Net hotel listings site. IHS has built in a number of features to improve the reservation system. Hopefully this will improve the number of reservations we receive through the site.

Automatic Projector Calibration with Embedded Light Sensors

Very slick way to project video onto arbitrary surfaces.

Oracle running under Railo

I have successfully installed Railo with the free version of Oracle XE. I have also gotten both the Oracle Thin Client and OCI drivers working. I'll let you know what I did to get each working, although, I think that the thin client is sufficient for most needs.

If you installed Oracle XE, the ojdbc5.jar driver is at:
/usr/lib/oracle/xe/product/11.1.0/client_1/ojdbc5.jar

Just copy that file to:
/opt/railo/lib/ojdbc5.jar

Your driver should work now (from the server administrator).

If you prefer to use the OCI driver, I had to get the 11g client from the Oracle website. Installing it was a bear because it required X11 and I am using Amazon EC2. Then you have to copy 3 different files into /opt/railo/libexec/

/usr/lib/oracle/11.1/client/lib/libclntsh.so.11.1
/usr/lib/oracle/11.1/client/lib/libnnz11.so
/usr/lib/oracle/11.1/client/lib/libocijdbc11.so

Hope this helps someone...

Rewarding Failure?

So Obama fires a CEO who is a failure. Sounds like Melva Fried is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Another protester, 38-year-old Melva Fried, said the forced ouster of General Motors Corp. CEO Rick Wagoner was the last straw for her -- a symbol the federal government was moving toward socialism.

"When a president can fire the head of a company, that's too much," she said, holding a sign that read "Stop Rewarding Failure."

This is getting awfully real

Phoenix - If I Ever Feel Better