Conrey.org

It’s done. I’ve migrated my services over to Internet Solver. Everything is working as it should be, my asterisk server is online and I’m happy with my Linksys PAP2T, and Polycom 330. I’m routing local and toll free calls out internet solver, and my long distance traffic is going out Vitelity. The internet is working great, and the speeds are fantastic. Now that everything is up and running, I’m ready to find something else to break tinker on. Undertaking an asterisk project is a lot of fun, and with my home phone number ported over, getting additional traffic will be interesting.

I’ve ordered a couple of new phone devices for my home Asterisk project. My wife really wants to keep all of the phones that we have up and running, so I’ve got a Linksys PAP2T NA Analog VoIP Adapter ready to install once we get the port complete. In the meantime however I’ve installed a new Polycom IP 330 SoundPoint IP Phone. As this phone has two extensions I’m going to be putting one of them in a ring group with the PAP2T, and the other will be an extension for Vitelity DIDs.
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My home asterisk server is up and running, and I’m and the only things left to do are some polishing on an IVR and getting some ringgroups established. I have a few DIDs that I use for testing and work, and I’ve been happy with the service and customer support I’ve gotten from Vitelity.net. Their service is fantastic. However, the drawback to this setup is the lack of local DIDs. I’ve been wanting to port over my home number and have it tied into my server, and until recently there wasn’t a company in town that provided that service.
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It was getting close to Christmas and although I dislike being away from my family, it’s always nice to see to city. It was really great to see my brother-in-law as well. This time was doubly interesting, I got a chance to meet his girlfriend. After a warm welcome, she proceeded to scold me about not getting my kids eyes checked often enough. Awesome. I like her already. Here’s a recap from my trip:

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First, I’d like to say that I really enjoyed this class. I learned tons about general storage concepts that I had never got around to asking about, and all things considered, was pleased with the content and delivery of the course.

Class was taught by Unitek, a training partner of Netapp. Unitek was using Vmware Workstation 5 in their classroom, an older version, but still a solid product. This is a really good idea for classrooms, especially with the Netapp Simulator, creating an ONTAP environment for students locally on their workstations. This allows students, (and admins in their own environments) to practice what needs to be done away from their expensive and often times mission critical storage systems.

What wasn’t a good idea was to have a “keygen” for VMware products on all of their workstations. Continue Reading

I was out last week in San Francisco getting some Netapp training. This was interesting for a couple of reasons. First, my wife came along and we got some time together in San Francisco. I’d been out here a couple of times already this year, and she was becoming increasingly distraught that she wasn’t going to be able to come along. Having grown up in the area, it was nice that she came this time, and we spent alot of time out enjoying the city together. The weather was nice, and although there was some rain, it was a fantastic time to be in San Francisco. Secondly, I went to some places that I wouldn’t have gone, had she not come. One of the more interesting stops this trip was the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. or SFMOMA. My wife got alot of time spent with her family, and I’m looking forward to getting the kids back there soon. More specifically on the training and it’s issues to follow.

I ended up leaving a day earlier than I expected, having completed my work ahead of schedule. I’m glad that I had some free time to look around though. On Monday (the 22nd) I got a chance to get together with my Uncle. We walked down to the east river and walked around the neighborhood where he’s living now, it’s close to the New York Presbyterian Hospital east of Central Park. For dinner we went to an Italian restaurant near the corner of 70th and 2nd Ave called Patsy’s Pizziaria. Don’t let the name fool you, they’ve got a full Italian menu. Since we weren’t really hungry we split a spinach and cheese ravioli dish with a pistachio white sauce. Fantastic.

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Whenever I’ve traveled to a larger city, I’m always on the lookout for a good Irish pub. When I was in Budapest, I found Becketts. When I was in San Francisco, I found Johnny Foley’s Irish House. And there’s been a few in between. It’s always nice if I find one close to wherever I’m staying as well. New York City has no shortage of Irish pubs. I stumbled across O’Reilly’s Pub a few nights ago by chance, and it has a warm inviting atmosphere that can’t help but put a smile on your face. There are a couple of other pubs that I’d like to visit while I’m here, we’ll see if I can get to them before I go. A comprehensive list can be found here.

Working on a weekend while in NYC is rough, but it was good to get everything finished Saturday night to have Sunday free to wander around. I started later in the morning than I had anticipated, but made it down to Chinatown for Dim Sum at Oriental Garden down on Elizabeth street. There was a short line out of the restaurant, and a short while later I was seated watching the carts rolling by. The food was nothing spectacular, but it was good. After leaving I swung by Chinatown Ice Cream Factory for some pandan ice cream, and headed by foot to walk around the lower east side. Of all the areas of New York, I feel most comfortable walking around there. The area just south of Delancy has changed considerably. It used to be made up of individual neighborhoods, each with their own feel. It’s seems that the money has been moving steadily south and this area has it’s influx of nice new shops and resturaunts. I just hope that the neighborhood charm doesn’t disappear completely.

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I ate at a couple of new places yesterday. One I’ll recommend to other folks coming out here from work, the other, not so much. For lunch yesterday we went to a place called blockheads. It’s a burrito joint that has sockpuppet mascots. I didn’t ask. The food was good and their salsa was fantastic. The grilled chicken in the burrito was really good, better than you usually find wrapped in a tortilla. The other guy I’m out here with wanted to try Todai for dinner. The price was steep for a buffet ($25.99) and I wasn’t that impressed. They did have green tea ice cream however. Any ice cream in NYC just makes me think about the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory.
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