At home last night, I spent most of my waking time (and some of my sleeping time) configuring my Asterisk PBX server. The stuff is addictive! Major geek points for having a home PBX.

I now have six or seven “extensions” at home, ringing my Zaurus, two Windows desktops running X-Ten lite, and a cordless analog phone, among others.

I can also dial out from my PC. I even configured it to automatically dial our calling-card number for long-distance calls. (Eventually, I’ll replace that with one of the many VoIP services for free calling). It’s truly amazing what can be done now with SIP-based telephony.

With a little more work, I’ll have the ability to place calls through my home phone from anywhere on the Internet. THAT’S the reason why I’m canceling my Packet 8 account, only a few months into having it. Why pay $20 a month for service you don’t need?

This should make for a killer presentation to the local Linux group. It could also turn into a great consulting offering, with any luck.

I would’ve made a good cop.

On the way to work this morning, I noticed something out of the ordinary. A convoy of tractor-trailers with Arkansas plates headed west down I-40. They stayed bunched up together as they drove, but really didn’t seem out of the ordinary.

When I got to my turn, though, I saw them do something funny. Two or three trucks got caught in the wrong lane and had to quickly merge back on to I-40 to keep up with the pack. Seasoned truckers would never make such a dumb move. They know the highways like the back of their hand. These guys drove like rookies.

All this would’ve been just another instance of dumb drivers if it weren’t for a helicopter which flew parallel to them, staying slightly in front. My paranoid mind put the two together and suggested something was up.

I wonder if they might have been hauling radioactive waste to the Shearon-Harris disposal site? Or if I’m being way too paranoid? At any rate, it was not a scene I typically see on the morning commute.

Woot.

The latest version of Wine, the Windows (not-an-) Emulator, runs Office 97. I can edit Word documents using Linux, no Windows needed!

Dr. Ivan Getting, a physicist and electrical engineer who invented the global positioning system, has died at the age of 91. He also contributed to the development of fire control radar.

Every time I wardrive, I thank Dr. Getting for his wonderful invention. 🙂

I got one of the new twenty dollar bills yesterday at the local hardware store.

“Wow, its a work of art,” I said sarcastically to the cashier.

She laughed. “Yeah, and already there is some kid sitting at his computer, trying to copy it.”

So true.

I spent some of yesterday rewiring our house’s telephone wiring. I have a cool setup which allows me a “virtual” phone line, using the phone company’s Distinctive Ring feature. When my home office number rings, it hits a computerized box first, which decides based on the ring whether to ring the home phone or the office phone.

To cut to the chase, now I’m all set up for heavy voice-over-IP use at the home. I may even add extensions in the house as time goes on.

If you call the house and unusual things happen, chances are I’m building a Frankenstien of a phone system. 🙂

I took an earlier flight home and arrived last night after 10 PM. Hallie still had fever last night and wound up needing attention almost all the night. She did seem better today, however.

We managed to get up enough strength to head over to the N.C. State Fair for a few hours. It was a mob scene. Absolutely crazy with the number of people there. Kelly and I had only set foot inside the gates when we had the urge to turn around and head back home.

Luckily, things got better. We found our way to the “folk festival” tent, near the Scott Building, and stepped inside to listen and watch the entertainment. It was an oasis of calm in the midst of a sea of pushing and shoving. Had we not had Hallie so off-schedule already, we would have stuck around longer.

Weekends are NOT the time for locals to see the fair. If we go again, we will be certain to go on a weeknight.