Packet Switching

When cars came on the market, more people began driving to further destinations which meant that there needed to be more roads built. At a certain point, it became useless to keep expanding the roads and there was a need for more efficient transportation. In telephony, this is where packet-switching comes into the picture. With the advent of IP-based networks, Internet adoption grew rapidly; not just because the medium was new and exciting, but also because the cost to route data over these networks was almost nil. This is a very different model from telephony, where the greater the distance between callers, the higher the price you pay. Not only that, but price was also determined by when your calls were made. With all of these barriers, VoIP pioneers realized there was a great opportunity if they could figure out how to route voice calls over these networks. Whereas voice travels over the PSTN as a continuous flow of electrical signals between connection points, data travels over an IP network via a series of discrete packets. Each packet is a payload of sorts, carrying digital information, consisting of both the content being transmitted along with instructions for routing the packets.Packet-switched traffic is highly automated, and routing decisions are based on sophisticated algorithms that determine the most efficient path between two IP addresses. Instead of my PSTN call between New York and Los Angeles taking a direct path from end-to-end, a VoIP call may be routed halfway around the globe and may well traverse six different IP networks to make the same connection.

Music: One of Life's Necessities

When you are creating content management systems or creating websites, do you listen to music? Music has been around for as long as people have. It is something that society cannot live withoutand quite frankly life would be so drab and grey without it. There are two kind of emotions related to music: perceived emotions and felt emotions. This means that sometimes we can understand the emotions of a piece of music without actually feeling them, which explains why some of us find listening to sad music enjoyable, rather than depressing. Research on the effects of music during exercise has been done for years. In 1911, an American researcher, Leonard Ayres, found that cyclists pedaled faster while listening to music than they did in silence. This happens because listening to music can drown out our brain's cries of fatigue. As our body realizes we're tired and wants to stop exercising, it sends signals to the brain to stop for a break. Listening to music competes for our brain's attention, and can help us to override those signals of fatigue, though this is mostly beneficial for low- and moderate-intensity exercise. During high-intensity exercise, music isn't as powerful at pulling our brain's attention away from the pain of the workout.

Human and Machine Intelligence

The year after his defeat by Deep Blue, Kasparov set out to see what would happen if he paired a machine and a human chess player in a collaboration. Like a centaur, the hybrid would have the strength of each of its components: the processing power of a large logic circuit and the intuition of a human brain’s wetware. The result: human-machine teams, even when they didn’t include the best grandmasters or most powerful computer systems, consistently beat teams composed solely of human grandmasters or superfast machines. Humans will find themselves working in partnership with the progeny of these supercomputers to diagnose diseases, solve crimes, write poetry and become (as the clever double meaning of the book’s title puts it) smarter than we think. The use of digital devices and social networks helps to facilitate collaborative creativity and an ambient awareness of what’s happening in the world, while reducing the need to perform simple memory tasks.What are your thoughts?

VoIP Starts

If you are looking into starting an VoIP system in your business, there are a couple of things that you need to consider first. Firstly, there should a 911 emergency services location reporting. It could wreck your voice deployment budget if you don't properly plan, but because there could be legal implications if you don’t have accurate location reporting with emergency calls. With VoIP, phones usually talk to centralized servers in the network and calls are often routed out of gateways not local to the site. This wreaks havoc on accurate 911 location reporting, so you must plan accordingly.It also has to be compatible with current infrastructure. To avoid surprises, thoroughly examine your current phone system dial plan and follow up on unknown extensions or patterns. Walk through offices and MDF closets to examine current cabling and punch-down blocks. Finally, parse the various business workflows, and look for tie-ins to phone numbers and phone system applications.

Pulver is widely recognized as a pioneer of VoIP technology and was the chief writer of the FCC’s first VoIP ruling.
His current company is a Twilio-based iOS and Android app called Zula, created to enable better communication among teams.
“It was amateur radio that unlocked by connection to voice over IP,” he said. Talking about being a lonely Long Island kid, Pulver spoke about a cable-company tour with his uncle. Using a ham radio, his uncle communicated with a queue of people all around the world. “He had discovered the cure for loneliness: It was this box.”
Licensing, however, was a three-and-a-half year process for Pulver. But since he obtained that license at the age of 12, he said, “I haven’t shut up since.”
As a teen, he started building software to track his ham radio logs. In college, he started a spreadsheet company and ended up doing financial analytics on Wall Street.

Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2013/09/18/vonage-co-founder-voip-came-from-ham-radio-big-bad-telecoms-and-getting-fired/#1tU2APDt6bUefD0W.99

Pulver is widely recognized as a pioneer of VoIP technology and was the chief writer of the FCC’s first VoIP ruling.
His current company is a Twilio-based iOS and Android app called Zula, created to enable better communication among teams.
“It was amateur radio that unlocked by connection to voice over IP,” he said. Talking about being a lonely Long Island kid, Pulver spoke about a cable-company tour with his uncle. Using a ham radio, his uncle communicated with a queue of people all around the world. “He had discovered the cure for loneliness: It was this box.”
Licensing, however, was a three-and-a-half year process for Pulver. But since he obtained that license at the age of 12, he said, “I haven’t shut up since.”
As a teen, he started building software to track his ham radio logs. In college, he started a spreadsheet company and ended up doing financial analytics on Wall Street.

Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2013/09/18/vonage-co-founder-voip-came-from-ham-radio-big-bad-telecoms-and-getting-fired/#kpZuUy7eBvjABlWo.99

Pulver is widely recognized as a pioneer of VoIP technology and was the chief writer of the FCC’s first VoIP ruling.
His current company is a Twilio-based iOS and Android app called Zula, created to enable better communication among teams.
“It was amateur radio that unlocked by connection to voice over IP,” he said. Talking about being a lonely Long Island kid, Pulver spoke about a cable-company tour with his uncle. Using a ham radio, his uncle communicated with a queue of people all around the world. “He had discovered the cure for loneliness: It was this box.”
Licensing, however, was a three-and-a-half year process for Pulver. But since he obtained that license at the age of 12, he said, “I haven’t shut up since.”
As a teen, he started building software to track his ham radio logs. In college, he started a spreadsheet company and ended up doing financial analytics on Wall Street.

Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2013/09/18/vonage-co-founder-voip-came-from-ham-radio-big-bad-telecoms-and-getting-fired/#kpZuUy7eBvjABlWo.99

Pulver is widely recognized as a pioneer of VoIP technology and was the chief writer of the FCC’s first VoIP ruling.
His current company is a Twilio-based iOS and Android app called Zula, created to enable better communication among teams.
“It was amateur radio that unlocked by connection to voice over IP,” he said. Talking about being a lonely Long Island kid, Pulver spoke about a cable-company tour with his uncle. Using a ham radio, his uncle communicated with a queue of people all around the world. “He had discovered the cure for loneliness: It was this box.”
Licensing, however, was a three-and-a-half year process for Pulver. But since he obtained that license at the age of 12, he said, “I haven’t shut up since.”
As a teen, he started building software to track his ham radio logs. In college, he started a spreadsheet company and ended up doing financial analytics on Wall Street.

Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2013/09/18/vonage-co-founder-voip-came-from-ham-radio-big-bad-telecoms-and-getting-fired/#kpZuUy7eBvjABlWo.99

A Texting Liar

You know you have done it and it does not take a sophisticated mobile application to figure out if someone else is lying over a text. Researchers from Brigham Young University (BYU) asked more than 100 college students to respond to 30 questions each that were generated by a computer and texted to the participants. In half of their responses, the students were asked to lie. They found that when the students were lying, it took them 10% longer to send the text message, and they made more edits than usual. it’s incredibly difficult to identify when someone is doing so online or over the phone. During texting conversations, you can’t hear the other person’s voice or see their facial expressions — which makes it easier to get away with an untruthful response. Another way to make sure that the other person does not lie over the text is not to ask complicated and hard questions using phones. If something is important, it should be important enough to warrant a face to face conversation.

Productive People

Does it ever seem like you cannot get through your to-do list and it keep growing instead of shrinking? The emails and internet fax documents just never seem to decrease. There is a lot at stake if a farmer is unable to get through his or her daily tasks. So what can you do to improve your success rate? Act like a farmer. There's a saying: "What gets written down, gets done." Make sure that you make lists of what you need to do and then prioritize it. Structure and regimen can sometimes be difficult for people who crave spontaneity and creativity. If you know you tend to avoid committing to specific goals or blocking time off for a single activity, staying on track will be more difficult. It has been said that it takes more than 20 days to establish a new habit. Begin building your productivity habit today. This can be hard work.

Downsides to Being a Doctor

On paper it looks good, being a doctor or a surgeon. In reality, it can be an utter nightmare. First of all, did you know that the suicide rate for doctors is about twice the national average. This is one of the issues that is never addressed in med school. This may or may not lead to abuse of alcohol. In a recent study of the College of Surgeons, about a third admitted to abusing alcohol. This probably means that there are more. Another scary part about doctors is that they all seem to go on vacation around July and August. That means interns become residents and residents pretend to be the real doctors. This is where even internet phone services and video chats will not cut it. Deaths from surgery and malpractice skyrocket in July, so as long as you can avoid getting sick or injured in the summertime, you should be fine. Or better yet, make sure you only get sick in areas where doctors might be vacationing. Hawaii is a great place to get the plague in July.

Sleep Texting?

I think I have officially heard it all. Using mobile applications or texting in the middle of the night is really pushing it though. Are we that connected and attached to our devices that there is even a chance that we will use them in the middle of the night? Sleep-disorder specialists are reporting that sleep-texting, which a person may perform several times over the course of a single night, is an alarming trend. Apparently this happens more than I thought. And it can definitely be more embarrassing than anyone can imagine. Modern technologies like smartphones have a pervasive influence on modern life, especially among younger users, who may be particularly susceptible to "smartphone addiction." And use of smartphones, computers, video games and other technologies has been linked to pervasive sleep disorders, including insomnia. To ward off sleep-texting, experts recommend shutting devices down completely before going to bed or, in extreme cases, moving the cellphone out of the bedroom entirely. But you might say that we live in a 24/7 world and that is just not a reality. Would you be able to completely turn your phone off?

Video Conferencing

Experts say the video “transition is presenting huge opportunities for businesses to interact with customers, partners and employees in rich new ways.” Video conferencing can really change customer service and even help the agent and customer literally see eye-to-eye faster. There are definitely some drawbacks to making the transition from voice to video calling. If not deployed correctly, video technologies can be much more complicated than voice. If not in perfect synchronization, video and audio can prove to be a terrific distraction instead of adding collaborative value. Just as the native client version of Outlook offers more robust features than its lighter Web version, a thick video client can deliver more functionality than a lighter Web-based client. The Web-based client has advantages that might minimize some customer access issues. These are the problems that a business can run into if you plan on investing in video calling. There are other question that need addressing. In the voice world call recording is pretty standard, but do the same privacy laws across all the global legal regimes apply to video? Broadcasting and recording an image, with live audio/video streaming, across country boundaries can lead to jurisdictional issues.

The EBook Revolution and Bookstores

With ebooks taking charge of the reading market, it might be hard for a bookstore to stay in the business. And even before e-books came along, local bookstores were plenty challenged by competition from Amazon, whose deep discounts on printed books are impossible to match. Headquarted in Toronto and owned by Japanese e-commerce behemoth Rakuten, Kobo doesn’t rival the high profile of Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook in the U.S. But as a major e-book power that isn’t controlled by a giant book seller — with devices, apps and e-books to compete with the Kindle and Nook — it’s a logical ally for a local bookstore, which is why the American Bookseller Association partnered with it to help independent stores such as Green Apple in San Francisco delve into e-books. So one of the best ways for bookstore to stay in business is to be able to also offer ebooks and readers. Personally, I still purchase books in print form. There are certain things that all that application development and technology cannot replace.

More Amber Alerts

Have you ever gotten that Amber Alert that is usually accompanied by a loud squelching sound? Cell phones have been receiving Amber Alerts since 2005 under a partnership between the wireless industry, the U.S. Justice Department and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. But people had to sign up to receive the alerts -- only about 700,000 did -- and then designate the areas they wanted to get alerts for. In 2012, that system was replaced by one that send free messages to all the cell phones in the proximity of the emergency and people have to opt out if they do not want to receive them. Although, I do not understand why anyone would want to opt out of the phone service that is bound to save lives. I just wish the messages were not so cryptic.

Samsung's New Phablet

It's becoming an annual tradition: Samsung will unveil the next generation of its Galaxy Note smartphone in advance of the IFA technology conference in Berlin. Like previous device unveilings, Samsung is calling the event "Samsung Unpacked 2013." The event will be live streamed via the web, and Samsung will host a press event at the same time in New York City's Times Square for people to watch and get hands-on time with the devices. Application development has had to keep up with the different sizes of the tablets, phones, and the so called phablets. Another spec to watch for is the wireless charging feature. Though Verizon didn't allow the wireless charging system. What do you think Samsung has in store at the unveiling event?

Wearable Tech

With mostly everything being touched by the digital revolution, it is no surprise that it has got into the fashion industry. There is a sweater that takes the expression wearing your heart on your sleeve to a new level. It is called the GER Mood Sweater. Based on the technology of a classic lie detector test, it interprets emotions and displays mood instantly as an interactive light display. Blue means relaxed and red is nervous or angry. If you are into cycling but find the helmets not to be to your tastes, the inflatable helmet might by for you. A Swedish creation, the Hövding is an "airbag for cyclists". It's worn as a collar and only expands into a full helmet if you have an accident. And of course, there is the Google Glass which has the display as well as the internet phone services.

VoIP vs Telephone

The increasing popularity of mobile VoIP is certainly having an impact on telco revenue. According to an August 2012 study by research firm Analysys Mason, 20 percent of smartphone owners used a VoIP application at least once during a two-month observation period for the study. In fact, some smartphone users are beginning to use VoIP apps as their primary voice service. The study found that 4 percent of smartphone users spent more time using VoIP apps than they did making ‘traditional’ voice calls. Changing expectations among consumers and businesses are also eating away at telcos’ profits. It’s worth bearing in mind that there are still a billion people in the world who have never made a telephone call so telephony is still growing. I don’t think we’ll see the death of the telephone but I think telephony will take a reduced role in overall communication. What are your thoughts about the direction that the telephone companies are going?

Voice Menus

It seems like no matter where you call, you will get a machine which lets you talk through the menus, never a real person. This is especially true for huge companies that get a massive volume of calls that want to make it more efficient. To some degree the call forwarding might be a great thing and extremely efficient but there have to still be people on the other end of the line to make it worthwhile. I am sure that we have all dealt with the these types of machines and answering services. They breed frustration if all you ever end up getting is voicemail. Do you ever wonder what that says about cooperation and humanity in general? Sometimes it seems like we are going overboard by thinking that automated things solve our issues and problems. What happened to the human element?

Phone from CAT

Have you even considered having a phone that was protected from dropping, water, dust, and tempers? That sounds like a great deal and of course we all considered it but the phone would be too embarrassing to carry around. Apple and Samsung better watch out because the B15 Cat Phone is ready to provide both the durability and style. The B15 is available for $349 without a contract. Caterpillar hasn't yet partnered with any carriers, but the phone is compatible with the AT&T.
The market for ruggedized devices isn't enormous -- just 21 million were sold last year, according to Caterpillar. But the company wants to own that niche, and become the top durable phone maker by 2015. The phone has most of the standard smartphone features and phone services but not quite yet able to compete with the top smartphone companies. What are your thoughts on this tough cookie?

Home Phone

Internet phones and smart phones are more or less for the individual, and they are pushing people apart, not including conference calls but those are for businesses. At the opening of the CES, there was a new version of a phone that was debuted. The sleek device could easily be mistaken for a modern vase, but the base hides a familiar touchpad for dialing calls and a 360-degree speaker. It can be used with any landline. The Home Phone works like a cordless phone, but instead of requiring users to push a button to activate a speaker, the Home Phone automatically switches to full-circle speaker mode when placed on a hard surface. The sound is unusually clear and natural — and loud enough to be heard over the din of the crowds at the CES event.

EReaders

With the further advancements of the tablets and smartphones, the questions arises if the ereader is seeing its last days and will go in the bin with the outdated technology. The reasoning: Full-featured tablets can read e-books and do a whole lot more, and the price gap between e-readers and cheap tablets has narrowed, so it’s harder to justify buying a single-purpose reader like the Kindle Paperwhite or Nook Simple Touch. While it is easy to just chalk it up and say it is done, the fact remains that they are still cheap, easy to read in sunlight, and the battery lasts forever. Since they are still going to be around, web and app developers are still working with the ereaders. For e-readers, the future probably looks a lot like it does for the dedicated MP3 player, and that’s far from catastrophic.

History of Mobile Apps

Most people do not realize it, but they treat their cell phones as more or less an extensions of themselves. In the earlier days of the cell phone, all it did was call and text. Now it is a powerful computer the size of a wallet thanks to mobile application development. Manufacturers tried to make their products more attractive for customers by introducing more and more applications. But quality matters as well. Cell phone development needs to be easy and intuitive. Every company tries to facilitate the process of development so that users are able to customize their devices. The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X was the first commercially available cell phone. First marketed in 1983, it was 13 x 1.75 x 3.5 inches in dimension, weighed about 2.5 pounds, and allowed you to talk for a little more than half an hour. It retailed for $3,995, plus hefty monthly service fees and per-minute charges. Now, The mobile developer community has become as fragmented as the market. Mobile software developers work with different programming environments, different tools, and different programming languages.

Best Apps for Your Resolutions of the New Year

So here we are on day two of the new year. How is that resolution holding up? How many of you are hanging by your teeth to make it to day three? Well, with a little help from the mobile application development people and some will power from you, we can safely make it to day four or even five. RunKeeper is an Android and iOS app is one of the strongest in the category of those that look to turn your smartphone into a personal trainer. RunKeeper is part motivator, part tracker and (long-term) part health graph. The app allows you to track your walks, runs, bike rides, hikes, etc. by using the GPS in your phone, keeping stats on each activity, comparing those stats, setting short-term and long-term goals, offers customizable training plans, and voice coaching. The startup also aims to be a health and fitness data aggregator (or graph) and appeal to Quantified Self enthusiasts by connecting to Bluetooth and leveraging its API to integrates with Fitbit, WeightTraining, Fitocracy, Lose It!, Gympact and GAIN Fitness, among others.