Hi, I am a Mac (switcher)

I can't really say I switched to Mac, since I used Mac for the first time in 1987, and even since I replaced my last Mac (a PowerBook 520) with a Sony Vaio in 1999, I still used public Macs at school (and at work I regularly use iMac and Xserve). But since 1999 my main machine has always been a Windows machine, so let's just consider I just switched (back) to Mac, which is a MacBook Pro.
So first, my complaints:

1. The screen could not be tilted away deeper.
This is quite annoying, since when I put a notebook computer on my lap, the screen needs to be tilted low for clear viewing.
2. The power adaptor is bulky
It's not just bulky but also heavier. And oh, it hasn't changed since the 90s, the cable is thick! I am not sure if there is benefit of making power cable this thick, but it really is a nuisance.
3. Apple Mail can't use vertical orientation
I can't believe Jobs really thought users would be happy with horizontal orientation while current Apple notebook's screen is wide. Fotunately, macnoto shared me this link that would just solve this problem.
UPDATE 2007/11/11: Letterbox has not been updated to Leopard yet, but there is an alternative here.
4. MagSafe power connector keeps disconnected
Am I too obsessed with using a lap-top PC (i.e., putting it on my lap)? The MagSafe power connector on the left side keeps getting knocked out by my lap.
5. Mac can't hibernate
You may say there is "deep sleep" on Mac, yeah but it's not deep enough. I like to preserve my workspace so I rarely shutdown my notebook computer. On Windows, putting it to hibernate cut power totally (thus saving battery power) and the notebook will never wake up on its own. But Mac only has sleep, no hibernation, and I have experienced twice already putting Mac to sleep and then put it into my bag, only to find it became very hot when I pulled it out since it woke up inside my bag!
UPDATE: Yes there is hibernate on newer Macs including this MBP, but still I can't put the Mac to hibernate immediately using supported method. There is utilities like "Deep Sleep" but this is not using officially supported feature and not always worked in my situation.

Well, there are more, but that's it for now. I am waiting for the Leopard disk to come to try the "300 new features" :P
(BTW, though I am new switcher, I have been a Tiger user;) )

SunFire’s jet turbine

It's been quite a while since I naturally stopped dealing with Sun servers. Back in college I dealt with Sun SPARC servers, and in Fujitsu I used Fujitsu's SPARC compatible with Solaris. After that, after a few months of using Solaris x86, I had no more direct interaction with Sun servers/operating systems for years. Until recently when I actually saw the details of Sun x64 servers (i.e., IA servers) whose pricing are not as expensive as I tought. I just set up a SunFire X4200 M2 and the first impression is it looks much closer to an Xserve now, but much noisier. When main power is on, it sounds like a jet turbine. I thought Dell's rack mount server is the noisiest, but now I forgot the existence of Xserve and Dell servers when this X4200 M2 is on.
Nevertheless, current Sun servers look cool and powerful. I couldn't wait to actually try the power of dual-core AMD Opteron 2220 2.8GHz.

Replacing SCCP to SIP on Cisco IP 7960

I got time (and enough motivation) to finally got rid of the SCCP firmware inside this Cisco IP 7960 that has been idle for years.


1. Setup a TFTP server
2. Put these files on the TFTP server
OS79XX.TXT
*.bin
(E.g., for v6.3, the file is P0S3-06-3-00.bin)
3. Set 7960 for firmware update
Press **# at the main window of 7960 to unlock the phone, then set DHCP to yes, and alternate to TFTP to yes. Then, press "*","6",Setting buttons at the same time to reboot. The 7960 will then boot with SIP firmware
4. Put these files on the TFTP server
OS79XX.TXT
SIPDefault.cnf
dialplan.xml
RINGLIST.DAT
5. Set the 7960 for SIP setting
Press "*","6",Setting buttons at the same time to reboot again. The 7960 will then booth with SIP settings according to the contents of SIPDefault.cnf and SIP<MAC addresss>.cnf (for example, SIP000B46CABF9F.cnf if the MAC address of the 7960 is 000B46CABF9F)




References:
Configuring Cisco 79xx phones with Asterisk
Cisco 7960 IP Phone - SIP firmware version
Using Cisco IP Phones with Asterisk
Cisco IP Phone 7960 Administrator Guide for SIP, Version 1.0
Cisco IP Phone 7960 Administrator Guide for SIP, Version 2.0
SIP IP Telephone 7940/7960 Software

Asterisk + VP-1000 + Cisco IP 7960

I got Windows server, Fletsphones and Cisco phones, and I got account on Voipbuster with free calls to Japan and other countries. Why can't I make free calls from these phones? So here is my try at Asterisk.

1. Install Trixbox (formerly Asterisk@Home)
Since Trixbox is CentOS based, and I don't have a free machine, I took a VMware image found here, (See "Introducing A Plug-And-Play Asterisk PBX for Windows") and run it on top of a Windows server via VWware Player. Note: set the VMware player to use NAT and DHCP.

2. Setup Asterisk to use Voipbuster account as outgoing trunk
Open freePBX interface of Trixbox, then click on "Trunks" menu. Make a little tweak to "SIP/voipdiscount" trunk just for quick test as follows:

PEER details:
allow=ulaw&alaw
authuser=asiboro
disallow=all
fromdomain=voipbuster.com
fromuser=<username>
host=sip.voipbuster.com
insecure=very
nat=yes
qualify=yes
secret=<password>
type=peer
username=<username>

Register string
<username>:<password>@sip.voipbuster.com

Adjust dialplan strings on both "Trunk" and "Outbound Routes".

3. Setup VP-1000
Setup VP-1000 to use Asterisk as SIP proxy/registrar. For example, use the pre-set number 500 (password 1234). Then VP-1000 can dial to whatever number allowed by dialplan via Voipbuster.

4. Setup Cisco IP Phone 7960
This is a bit not straightforward, since 7960 is shipped with SCCP ("Skinny" protocol) firmware by default, and this one is no exception. Though some people say that Asterisk can support Skinny protocol, it's a lot easier if the firmware is replaced with SIP firmware. So I replaced SCCP to SIP and the rest is like setting any SIP user agent.