Computer Network

Skype Me!

Chris Jefferies — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 18:22:00 GMT

OK, I've been using Skype for a while now and I see only one downside (mentioned later) to using it as a telephone replacement. I'm eager for all my friends to get on board so I can talk for free.

If you have a computer and an Internet connection, you can upload Skype onto your computer and we can talk for free. You may need to hook up speakers or a microphone, if you haven't already, but that's pretty easy to do.

I went to Radio Shack and bought a really inexpensive headset with a microphone for less than $3. I see that there is an online version for about $15, but look for the $3 version.

I have set up the SkypeOut service which allows me to call out from my computer to people who don't yet have Skype so I can talk to them on their regular phones. It costs me 2.3 cents a minute to use this service to anywhere in the continental US (land lines and mobile phones) and I have to pay in advance (in chunks of 10 Euros, or 25 Euros). I think that's still a better deal than most folks get on their home phone service. Overseas calls cost more. For example, calls to our friend, Zsuzsa, in Hungary, cost about 4.6 cents a minute. Still a good deal. Click here to look at the rates.

Downside: Outgoing (SkypeOut) long distance international calls to cell phones cost substantially more. A call to Pace's cell phone in Italy cost 33.5 cents a minute. Not such a good deal.

I have also set up a SkypeIn account. My number is: 415.578.3309

Notice I now have a 415 area code . The SkypeIn account allows my friends to call me at my computer. And as I AM very often at my computer, you'll be likely to catch me there. It includes an answering service as well so you can leave me a message that I can hear on my computer. The SkypeIn service costs me 30 Euros per year or 10 Euros for 3 months (including the voice mail service). It will cost my friends the same amount they would pay to call my house phone.

I may eventually disconnect my home service and settle on a mobile phone and Skype. If most of my friends get Skype, then most of my calls will be free.

I recommend that you check it out: www.skype.com

Talk to me at my computer for free; Skype to Skype: chrisjefferies
Talk to me at my computer via telephone: 415.578.3309

New computer systems

Chris Jefferies — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 14:20:00 GMT

So I've been very bad about blogging lately. I apologize for that and I promise I'll do better.

The main thing I've been dealing with lately is learning some new computer technologies; well, new to me. I have been primarily a Microsoft Windows person as a software designer of business applications developed with Microsoft technologies (Visual FoxPro database applications and lately ASP.NET/C# web applications) that run on Microsoft operating systems.

This new study is in the area of an alternative operating system known as Linux. Linux comes in many flavors but I am using one called Fedora; and the version is known as Fedora Core 3.

I have 2 older computers thast I have installed with Linux, one is a minimal installation of Linux and is operating as a firewall and the other has the full graphical user interface (GUI) that looks and feels much like the Microsoft Windows operating system.

The results of this can be seen on the new web server I installed on the Fedora based computer at: http://www.sparticles.net. It explains a little about the setup I'm working with.

What's interesting, I think, is that this setup is running on older computers, PII and earlier, that were headed for the garage (or worse) and they are running on totally free software. I've installed a blog, a wiki, and a database to store all the content and all are open source.

There's no magic about this stuff, it has a pretty large large learning curve and the development environments don't seem to be as sophisticated as those available on Windows. But it has come a long way and deserves some of my attention to keep up with this new appraoch to software development known as 'Open Source'.

Presidential Markets - not looking good for Democrats

Chris Jefferies — Mon, 27 Sep 2004 22:05:00 GMT

I've been reading about the idea of “emergence” where ideas or events emerge out of unrelated and unexpected events. One of books describing emergence comes from the book (which I haven't read):

The Wisdom Of Crowds: Why The Many Are Smarter Than The Few And How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations by James Surowiecki

An extension of this line of thought is that we can apply market trading on the presidential election. Here are a couple of sites that show how the presidetial election is shaping up based on the “greed” of self interested investors (in other words, individuals who probably do not care about the outcome of the election but who are interested in making money no matter the outcome).

Presidential Markets 2004 - Presidential Market 2004 is an online game -- a simulated futures market, but not using real money -- in which players buy and sell "shares" of the major 2004 presidential candidates. Finish on Election Day with the highest valued portfolio and win a trip to the inauguration in Washington, D.C.

The Iowa Electronic Markets - are real-money futures markets in which contract payoffs depend on economic and political events such as elections. These markets are operated by faculty at the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business as part of our research and teaching mission.

Network-Centric Advocacy - Wisdom of Crowds

Wisdom of the Crowd - interview with Surowiecki

Jumano Forums

Chris Jefferies — Fri, 16 Jul 2004 14:30:00 GMT

I've set up a web forum for discussion threads at: http://www.jumano.com/Forums

Please visit the forums and start up or join a discussion.

Laptop is fixed

Chris Jefferies — Mon, 19 Apr 2004 14:29:00 GMT

I'm too sexy for my hat - what do you think about that

Follow-up from prior post about broken computer: The new hinge parts (part # 5D904 hinge kit) arrived today from Dell (ordered on Friday), and so for a total of $17.36 I'm back in business...

A9 Search

Chris Jefferies — Fri, 16 Apr 2004 13:00:00 GMT

http://a9.com

Looks like a combination of Amazon.com and Google search engine. It has a neat interface with collapsible columns on the right and a site info popup (probably based on javascript).

My computer broke...

Chris Jefferies — Fri, 16 Apr 2004 01:02:00 GMT

This morning I went to close the top of my Laptop and the left hinge got stuck and broke. ARGHHHH!

I think I can get another and fix it, but I'm freaking out...

This poor old (in computer years) Inspiron 7500 (P4-700Mhz w/ 512Mb RAM and a 20 mb HD) has served me very well for almost 4 years now and is starting to show it's age.

SETI@Home

Chris Jefferies — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 17:52:00 GMT

SETI@home is a scientific experiment that uses Internet-connected computers in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). You can participate by running a free program that downloads and analyzes radio telescope data. The program dials up a computer at UC Berkeley and collects a single packet of data at a time for analysis. The data comes from radio signals collected at the Arecibo Radio Observatory. The program runs while your computer is idle (usually whenever your screensaver kicks in). The project has over 4 million participants all dedicating their unused/idle computer time to the analysis of radio signals from outer space that might indicate a source of extraterrestrial intelligence.

I have been a member of SETI@home since September of 1999 and although I barely participated in the first year and a half, I have racked up over 50,000 hours of cumputing time to the project. As of today, I have processed almost 4200 packets of data at an average of 12.5 hrs per packet. I have completed more work units than 98.887% of the others in the project but that still leaves me with 15 others who have a rank of 54,518th place.

My current stats:

My results as XML:

I encourage you to participate also at: http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu

Your IP Address

Chris Jefferies — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 13:35:00 GMT

Ever wonder what your internet protocol (IP) address is?

Check it out.

Back-up computer is back up

Chris Jefferies — Sat, 28 Feb 2004 11:40:00 GMT

I have an old 1992 Pentium Pro 180 Mhz computer that I use for all my backup storage. It has 2 120 Gb hard disks and each of my other computers run backups to these hard disks twice a week. On Thursday morning, I noticed that it had failed to be available for some backups. The 2 backup hard disks had failed to be recognized by the boot up process. I unplugged the disk drive cables and and reseated the cables and re-booted. The 2 drives were again recognized by the boot process, but then the boot up hard disk failed to boot up.

Finally, last night, distraught about the possible demise of my old '92, I unplugged all the cables and noticed that I hadn't plugged all of them all the way in.

Success. Back-ups are back up.