A couple of articles of note from The Press regarding Wigram in the last couple of days.
The petition which I blogged about a couple of weeks back is in:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/thepress/4664487a6530.html
I spoke with Denis and about 3500 signatures were collected over just 10 days and with quite limited distribution, that has to tell you something, imagine the response we'd get over a longer period and with wider distribution. Denis also mentioned he conducted a bit of a survey and the large majority of respondants were in favour of the airfield staying operational.
He has delivered the petition and other information to the council to be heard at the AUgust 28th meeting and is trying to get an audience with a council member sometime before the meeting to further explain the situation.
I think it's quite clear that the people of Christchurch, when actually consulted, are quite against closing Wigram as an operational airfield. Which is why the petition is asking for the Christchurch City Council to simply hold-fire on the plan change which would see a valuable city facility (past, present and future!) destroyed until it consults with the people who elected it.
The second item of interest is that the Air Force Museum has indicated that it will prepare a grass runway on the remaining Air Force land so that the Red Checkers (and helicopters of course) team can perform at airshows, at least until the flight path becomes too crowded with housing.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/thepress/4665771a6530.html
If we want to keep Wigram alive, we need to keep up the pressure, please feel free to write (civil) letters to your council members to let them know that you are against the plan change.
Aside: Still no reply from the council members, or Jim Anderton (sitting MP for Wigram) on the letters I wrote to them. I find that to be somewhat unacceptable, especially from the council members. If the Minister of Transport for the entire country can afford to take the time to write a personal reply, you'd think the councillor for an area of a single city could at least say "thanks for the letter".
Microsoft may have 2,000 developers working on Windows 7
Windows 7 teams work on anything from external features to under-the-hood areas, says engineering VP
Microsoft invests US$100 million more in Novell
The investment is on top of the US$240 million Microsoft agreed in 2006 to spend on certificates
Using the mind to control games and computers shown at Intel Developer Forum 2008
Another interesting demo here at the Intel Developer Forum 2008 is a research into using the mind to interact with computers.
Using a special headset the researcher was able to interact with a game - scaring "spirits" away by making an ugly face, or lifting an obstacle on the bridge:
This "headset" will be available sometime soon we are told.
Judge dissolves gag order against MIT students
Legal director frames the dispute as a First Amendment issue
Clippy for VI: What we all have been waiting for
Here is what we command-line users have always wanted. Microsoft's assistant - Clippy - for VI. I found this animated GIF via reddit on a site called houghi.org. But I have no idea who originally produced this image.Good stuf... (more in the full post)
2talk Around the World
Hello folks,
Following on from my previous review of 2talk here I thought I would follow up with my experiences from using it via softphones and via the callback service in Canada and the UK.
All in all it's been an extremely great service. I used it mainly with the X-lite softphone and have never had any major issues. I found that using the G721 codecs gave the best quality when I was on a stable connection and didnt care about bandwidth usage. Using free softphones meant I wasnt able to use the G729 codec but apparently it is supposed to be quite good. I have also used Ekiga and SIP Communicator which both work very well.
The call quality from both Canada and here in the UK have been excellent. The latency is pretty much unnoticable so long as I'm on a semi decent connection (not too hard in North America/UK!) and I havent had any dropped calls or interuptions (bar those caused on my end by useless laptop batteries or accidental cable pulls!).
I did have some small issues with billing - their system wasnt recognising some Canadian caller IDs properly and billing them as Mobile calls, but a quick email to their support team had it sorted out quick smart with a credit to cover the issues.
On that note, their support team seems to be quite proactive and responsive, although I imagine they have the advantage of being a fairly small outfit at the moment.
The callback feature is extremly useful. Basically saves having to use calling cards etc. All I do is call my 028 number, wait for it to ring, and then it calls me back (so long as they received a caller ID which can sometimes be a bit dodgy internationally), I enter a PIN and then I get a dial tone and make a call as if I was in NZ. Its great for avoiding horrendous Telecom/VF roaming charges and to avoid making toll calls from friends' phone lines etc. I have it set up on my 028 number to call back all numbers and ask for a PIN seeing as I also have an 04 number which people call me on, but you can also set it up to only call back certain numbers with/without a PIN. The call quality using the callback seems to generally be much better than using calling cards and sometimes even better than just direct dialing on a landline from here.
The other great thing is the LocateMe & OneNumber feature where up to 3 external numbers + up to 5 VoIP phones can be rung simultaneously and you pick up which ever one you are closest to and the call connects to you. Works a treat while travelling or not at a computer. I have it set up to call my NZ cell and my temp Canada/UK cell and I give out my 2talk number instead of my 027 number so that when people call me the most I pay is 30c per min by answering on my UK cell instead of 1.50/min thru Telecom roaming!
One group of people I would definately recommend it to are either businesses or families who have staff/family members spread around the country. You can have multiple lines in different regions set up on one account, and calls are free between those numbers so effectively you can set yourself up a world wide PBX that isnt tied to particular desks or offices. There are also flexible options for redirecting calls to a head office or other staff member on no answer or busy. They also have support for 0800 numbers now.
Things I would like to see from them:
- A desktop interface/director that works with hardware VoIP phones that integrates with outlook etc to control calls (particularly useful for businesses if it could integrate with CRM type software for call tracking etc)
- Have Slingshot drop iTalk and migrate users to 2talk and offer it as part of the NDSL package
- Development or support of cell/smartphone apps that can automate dialing etc.
- Support for IP Phones to have centralised XML directories stored on 2talk servers with outlook integration and web based interface.
- Push for national (and international) SIP peering with other VoIP providers to bypass the PSTN as much as possible
- Push for IP Peering with other ISPs to make VoIP traffic free/cheaper
- Develop the faxing side a bit more with software to allow seamless faxing from desktop apps rather than via email
- Offer ADSL/Cable routers preconfigured with QoS settings to maximise VoIP experience
Vodem stick officially appears online on Vodafone
You can finally find it - the Vodafone Vodem Stick is here.
With 7.2mbps HSDPA (where available) and 900MHz 3G coverage support included, it's a miniature device but more advanced than the Vodem.
Pricing for it seems to vary across pages though:
- $199/$99 for 1GB/3GB plan (respectively) on 24mths
- $99/FREE for 1GB/3GB plan (respectively) on 24mths
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