Asterisk Music on Hold improvement

live mp3 decoding is CPU intensive, and can be a major factor in asterisk server performance when there is a music on hold component to the scripting. I came across a great solution to the problem: change the music to the native sound format. The transcoding is done one time rather than every time. (Link). It totally solved a music quality issue we were having at SSG. I used the batch script to convert all their music files (which were royalty free mp3 files from signate) at once.

MythTV howto

Here is another pretty concise Ubuntu/MythTV guide. I'm reloading mine for practice and since I've messed with it too much.

Citrix client install for Ubuntu

I’ve had to install Citrix on Linux several times, and there were too many things to remember. Here’s a concise list for Ubuntu:

Adapted from:

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-85398.html

sudo apt-get install libxaw6 libmotif3

sudo ln -s /usr/X11R6/lib/libXm.so.3 /usr/lib/libXm.so.3

sudo apt-get install alien

from a browser, download rpm version at:

http://www.citrix.com/site/SS/downloads/details.asp?dID=2755&downloadID=3323#top

(choose Save to disk)

cd to the download location:

cd Desktop

sudo alien ICAClient-9.0-1.i386.rpm

sudo dpkg -i icaclient_9.0-2_i386.deb

sudo ln -s /usr/lib/ICAClient/npica.so /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/npica.so

sudo ln -s /usr/lib/ICAClient/npica.so /usr/lib/mozilla-firefox/plugins/npica.so

Advanced QOS for IPCop

I have replaced my Sonicwall firewall with IPCop on a recycled Dell Optiplex GX1 with an extra NIC. It works better for VOIP, but VOIP would still get choppy if I abused my connection too much (3.0 down/624 up dsl)

I downloaded QOS v.2.5.9 addon from mhaddons from sourceforge

The only tricky part was using port 222 instead of 22 for ssh/scp. I used Fugu on my Mac to get the software over to the box. Otherwise I followed the instructions here, and it was pretty straightforward.

Fix Firefox and Thunderbird icons in Ubuntu

This worked very quickly and slickly to make the icons look how I like them to.

Ubuntu enhancement – Automatix

Automatix is a script that fills in some gaps in Ubuntu Breezy. MP3, DVD, multimedia players and plugins, newer versions of Firefox and Thunderbird, Wine, lots of handy stuff. The link moved recently and is hard to find.
Here it is

MythTV & Ubuntu Breezy

I recently got MythTV working on my Ubuntu Breezy box. Installing MythTV was a bit of a battle, but it is really cool. I've been spending more and more time on that Ubuntu machine. more and more it is getting to be as useful as my Mac is, though there are still a few missing critical pieces for me. My main XP machine hosed up, and I decided to turn it into a firewall instead and put a second head on my Mac. My other XP machine is now used almost exclusively for the kids to play games on, and to extract recordings from my Dish Network DVR. I do spend a lot of time on my 2003 terminal server, but I can do that from any of my other machines.

ThinStation

I came up with a pretty nice low cost thin client solution for the First United Methodist Church in Iowa City. It is based on ThinStation, an open source solution. Those are diskless, fanless (pretty much) computers booting from TFTP and running terminal sessions on a Windows 2003 server. We have deployed one CompactFlash HD based system at SUI, and are in the process of deploying 5 more for testing different types of setups, probably including the TFTP boot option. Those should replace the WYSE terminals they’ve been using. It will be cheaper, faster, and more flexible.

Nvu

I’ve been using Nvu for a while as my main web editor. Its interface is consistent across platforms, like Thunderbird and Firefox, and does what I need to do elegantly.

link

DIY Projector screen

I made a low budget high quality 68×48 screen for my projector for under $50. It’s mounted flush to the wall with hard drive magnets!

link