When the pre-alpha of Chrome OS was released a few weeks ago, it took about 24 hours before a compiled version that would work on a virtual machine appeared on the net.
As it is my duty to use any Google product, I immediately downloaded it and booted it up from within Sun's VirtualBox on my Toshiba N205 Netbook (Atom N280 Chip with two gb RAM, one of which was dedicated to the virtual machine),
Perhaps, not surprisingly, it was sluggish and unimpressive. Developed to run primarily on netbooks with solid state drives, this version of Chrome is obviously far from being complete. Yet, it would be unfair to judge considering that it isn't scheduled to be in its final form for another year and I wasn't running it on approved hardware. I can no longer find the links that I used to run this version. It may have been on Mashable. Regardless, Lifehacker has instructions on how to do this, as well as running Chrome directly from a usb drive, as I did this morning.
By downloading Chrome Cherry OS and putting it on a 1 gb usb drive, I was able to test Google's new operating system in an environment somewhat closer to how it's meant to be deployed. I loaded the image onto the usb and restarted my computer.
(One trick, after following the link and downloading the OS from the torrent, I was left with a tar.gz file. Something that's easily extracted in Linux but that I had never seen in Windows, especially on my netbook, which was running XP. But, after a little Googling, I was able to find an unzipper that extracted the disk image.)
At first, it proved a little difficult at first to get my 64 digit WPA-2 key into the OS after logging on with the neutral login "facepunch," but luckily, the drivers for the other usb ports were working so I could name a file with the key and then copy and paste it into the wireless access window.
Once I was on, it was relatively simple to maneuver. A little slower than my netbook normally is, but much faster and more responsive than Chrome OS was in VirtualBox.
I was able to access most of the options, I didn't try printing, and doubt that would work - the purpose of releasing the OS now is for drivers and other support to be written. The interface for the applications is clean and simple. Otherwise, it's a browser - just as you would expect.
Shutdown was a little confusing, and had to be done via the terminal and linux commands. I think that for the next few years, like the netbook that Chrome OS is written for, this will remain a second computer/operating system. Simple, sturdy and with everything I need for most applications I access on a daily basis.
In our last episode, our hero was bravely ending his relationship with Vonage after a long courtship...
As I discovered, while Vonage was a good dancer while we were together, she started acting like a bitter, spurned lover once I wanted to cancel service.
The cancellation process with Vonage apparently has been the source of many complaints and has been improved. I'm glad to say that they do let you cancel, but they do not make it pleasant, they seem to act like they are doing you a favor in granting you permission to cancel your service.
So, after charging me a cancellation fee of $40(!), and nearly charging me $80 for a $40 router, they realized, in the end, that the router had been with me for a number of years and they would let me keep it.
Truthfully, they were letting me keep it because the model, a Linksys RT31P2, is discontinued, out of date, and they have no use for it. Sending a box and postage to retrieve it wouldn't be worth it for them.
This analog telephony adapter (ATA) also functions as a router, which is why Vonage said it would be so valuable to me. Of course, I already have a router, so having another isn't all that useful.
Since Vonage provided this ATA/router with their service, the ATA is locked to Vonage - meaning it can only be used with them, not with any other VOIP provider. However, here comes the wondrous hacking tools available on the internet.
Luckily, this is one of a few Vonage routers which is hackable and can be unlocked and then used on any service.
With my brother's help, I unlocked the router and was able to access the Voice Administration tabs.
From there, I was able to set-up two VOIP lines. One with a Gizmo5/GoogleVoice combo, the other using SipgateOne.
Gizmo5 is the SIP provider that also offers software similar to Skype. They were purchased by Google a few months back. Used in conjunction with GoogleVoice, I can have a low cost, local phone number with no monthly cost. Incoming calls are free. Outgoing calls are currently being billed at one cent per minute (there have been frequent changes in the charges of outgoing calls, but this was the most recent rate).
After Gizmo was acquired by Google, however, new users could no longer sign up. Luckily, I had been using the service a few months prior.
Sipgate is a full service SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) provider which also offers free DID numbers - mostly in California.
I'm not as familiar with Sipgate. When you sign up, you get 60 minutes of talk time. Problem is, I don't have a phone to connect to that line. I've got to go to the Goodwill and buy a phone.
As the Count would say: Eight...eight phone numbers...HA! HA! HA!
I hate phones, but I love having them around. Especially when they're cheap.
I remember being young and having the short, curlicue cord on the phone in the kitchen wall, having to be limited to a ten or fifteen minute phone call because there was no call waiting, or dialing on a rotary phone and hating it because I had to dial nines and zeros (it took so long!).
I was a hold out on cell phones as much as possible. It's the cost I object to.
So when VOIP came to the masses and the promise of avoiding the phone company I hopped on that bandwagon faster than Sarah Palin went rogue.
I dumped our local phone service for Vonage. Despite the bad press and many negative reviews, I was very happy with Vonage. The calls were good quality (I admit, at the beginning, it may have been a little rough at times, but that could have been our DSL). The features were fantastic even though we never used most of them. Call forwarding was the best. Also, the ability to pick up the router, move 850 miles away, plug the router back in and continue to make calls was pretty cool.
Of course the best feature for someone who makes frequent calls to and from Mexico was the ability to have a Mexico City phone number. That way, friends and family from D.F. could make local calls and talk to us.
This agreement worked great until cell phone costs became an expensive necessity and I began looking at ways to cut expenses.
With the Mexico City number, taxes and various other calls, we were paying between $35-40 per month to Vonage. We were locked into a contract with T-mobile for about $110 per month with all services and taxes (three lines, 700 minutes, "My Faves," Unlimited texting). It was time to dump the (internet) land line.
But we needed to replace those calls to Mexico with something cost effective. Obviously, we couldn't do it at the exorbitant rates that T-mobile would charge.
Skype-out offered an obvious solution, but it's not always ideal to make a phone call, sitting at a computer. But Skype did offer a solution in tandem with "My Faves" from T-mobile.
First step: Buy a Skype country subscription for unlimited calls to Mexico (major cities) for six dollars a month. Second: Activate a Skype-to-Go number. This is an access number by which you can call and access your Skype account. Third step: Make that Skype-to-Go number one of the "Faves" for the cell phone.
The rest is simple. We just dial the Skype-to-Go number from our cell phone (unlimited because it's a 'fave'), and then call out to our Mexican friends and family through the voice menu (unlimited because it's part of the Skype monthly subscription).
For good measure, we then purchased a Mexico City phone number through Skype to receive messages. With the subscription, it's $34.50 per year with taxes.
So currently, with Skype, we pay about $10 per month instead of $35/month with Vonage.
I'm King of the World.
- There has been some testing of new cable modem firmware in the northwest
- An incorrect configuration file can cause modem speed problems
One day in the near future, there will be an alternative to Comcast. And I will jump ship the first chance I get.
So yesterday morning at about 10:30, my Comcast Motorola cable modem decides to stop communicating with my trusty Linksys wrt54g router. Things had been iffy now for a few months. Their relationship had been on the rocks. Service would be spotty at times - usually in the middle of Glee. Perhaps they needed a trial separation? There problems never lasted long enough for me to assign blame, though.
So Sunday morning I checked the internet connection at the modem and it was fine. So, I thought it must be the router. The wireless network seemed to be up and working, just something between the router and the cable modem.
I took my other Linksys router and tried that in tandem with the cable modem. That didn't work either.
It seemed like the chances of both my routers crapping out on me at the exact same time on a Sunday morning were pretty remote, but, for good measure, I grabbed the original Linksys wrt54g and headed to my folks' house, who live a block away and also have Comcast. I connected it to their Motorola (different model) cable modem and got the same result - no connectivity. Then, I decided to connect my router to their router (cable modem-->their netgear router-->my Linksys router-->my computer). BAM. Everything worked in perfect harmony.
OK. Sounds like Comcast's problem right? I'll give them a call and straighten it out.
No, they told me. "I can give you Linksys' phone number. We don't do home networking." But this isn't a home networking problem, I said, this is some change in my cable modem. Maybe a firmware upgrade? "No, we haven't changed the firmware in a year."
After getting no satisfaction, I decided to cancel Comcast, which only lead to a maddening search for alternatives. DSL? Basically Qwest only offers 1.5 Mbps in my area. Verizon? I had to wade through four and a half minutes of phone menu hell (does fonolo have Verizon?) only to find out there'd be a seven minute wait. I called back today and was told Verizon doesn't offer service in my area. So, I can't cancel Comcast just yet.
So, I gave up on googling solutions. Seven hours later I began to think that if this were a new problem, then surely this would be on twitter. It didn't seem like this was a massive problem, but I did find this post which totally fixed the problem in about two minutes. Basically, all I had to do was clone the MAC address of the router to that of my computer - making the cable modem think it was talking to my computer when it was really talking to the router. That was it. Everything was back up and running.
Seven and a half hours. Pure Sunday computer joy.