Author: Clickford, Steven M.

Are VOIP Phones other than SIP Worth It on Asterisk Systems?

Clickford, Steven M.

I’ve played with Asterisk over the years, and it’s somewhat to write home about (you know the phone system-like snapin to any Unix or Linux operating systems?)

One of the things that caught my attention from almost the early days was it’s “support” for some proprietary IP phone drivers and protocols. Particularly Cisco’s SCCP and Nortel’s UniSTIM. Session Initiation Protocol or SIP is an “open” standard, meaning that the way the phone communicates to the phone system (that’s now a server) is supposed to use a uniform specifications outlined in Request for Comment in the Holy Grail of Internet Standards. That RFC is rather interesting, because while these phones could work on any system that supports SIP, basically, it’s almost like having a house phone with an IP stack instead.

I have focused on SIP in other posts, and I don’t really support this idea on phones, because it’s almost like having a landline just that it communicates over the Internet. I personally feel that SIP is way too religious in the way a vendor must follow. In fact, there is a movement to obsolete that with WebRTC. With that aside, SIP is going to be withheld for the rest of this story.

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Vocal Minority Against Kari’s Law: Editorial

Clickford, Steven M.

Freelanced for Techicenter where the FCC is regulating in businesses they wouldn’t touched before. Published in April 2018. The last post, that happened to be on the subject of Kari’s Law, has had some unusual activity in the last couple of weeks with no way to capture where that audience from.

A MONTH INTO KARI’S LAW – GOVERNMENT OVERREACH OR KILLING PHONE SYSTEM VENDORS?

A phone system killed a mother, not the actual man behind it or bad admin who misconfigured it. Or says the media.

In 2013, a Texas mother named Kari Hunt died from being murdered by her estranged husband in a motel. The daughter tried to call “9-1-1” but the number didn’t work because it was tied to a Multi Line Telephone System, where one has to dial a trunk access code to get to the outside world. MLTS can be a private branch exchange or a key telephone system (PBX and KTS respectively.) The mainstream media immediately jumped on the bandwagon that the PBX killed the mother, not some grossly incompetent PBX administrator, and not the murderer.

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The Vocal Minority of Opposition Kari’s Law

Clickford, Steven M.

Your same Federal Communications Commission that decided to do a Friday news dump around Thanksgiving to eliminate franchise fees to communities to mostly fund First Amendment access content by municipalities for local cable TV subscribers is the start of a new F.C.C. that for an American should be extremely concerned. Not just a lack of democracy; or an agency  that isn’t worried about use of s-Bombs at midday TV programming; or even concerned about potential “white noise” of wireless devices as they continue to deregulate.

From 2014 to 2017, in various platforms, mostly at The Museum of Telephony, I wrote strong opposition against Kari’s Law, a law mandating at gunpoint to private businesses of how their private branch exchange can be used to call emergency services (e.g. 9-1-1.) Kari’s Law became a name in Texas by a then 29 year old woman who was slayed by an apparent creep and the daughter desperately “9-1-1” as she was taught against a hotel phone system, that often requires a trunk access code or TAC to get out.

Because Kari’s father, Hank Hunt was so bothered, and couldn’t learn that life sucks and some people perish in the most perverted way, he and an Avaya VP (vis a vis the Nortel Enterprise Unit) decided  to fantasy that the PBX was the murderer and as a result as of 2018, Kari’s Law is now enforced by the F.C.C.

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A Facebook Update

Clickford, Steven M.

Over the last 3 days, I’ve taken time off to “disconnect” from online from other-people’s-issues to divisive political postings, and other people’s successes I will never have. I know that I may had put an emotional burden to others especially in the last month or even before Christmas. Some have not accepted my befriend request perhaps because of my demeanor that I never had full awareness of lacking self controls on emotions until 2016. I am also disconnecting from technology because I am tired of feeling like others are entitled for immediate response of me, feeling a bit exploited and will not tolerate that in the go-forward basis.

My life is going on a severe change to a new definition. As a result I will not be using Facebook the way I have. Given the really dicey corporate in-governance of the company, and how they lock you in as always signed on, I am getting creeped out. I also don’t feel it’s best that I am on and depress others while I am in a heightened stress. Also I feel it’s highly unhealthy to have Facebook-friends and empty promises.

AS A RESULT. I AM NOT CLOSING DOWN MY FACEBOOK. I am not falling onto a bandwagon of pissing on social media and looking all good by saying “I deactivated my Facebook and never looked back” attitude. I will not be as active on the social platform. This also means, that Messenger conversations may not be answered immediately. 

The Primary and Official Facebook profile is steven-dot-clickford-dot-7 (replace “dot” with periods) will be the official place to find me online. Like I said, I will not be as active as I used to. Over time Instagram and other platforms will slowly be less active.

I still believe in the concept of social networking and social media in the long run, it’s the platforms that owns the entire industry that is the concern.

I am also on the awareness that I may not have meaningful relationships – at all. I have to radically accept that and move on. I may have to settle with Facebook-friends as a poor man’s “friendship”.

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Video: Running on Empty: The Brain Drain in Local TV News

Clickford, Steven M.

Produced by two professors at Quinnipiac University in C.T. in 2011, just after the recovery of The Great Recession, this documentary focuses on slow but shallow nature of local news that went to viral video and same day “flash and trash” journalism.  While in 2019, people obsess about D.C. government closures, and other things that aren’t in their back yards, local journalism is on their last legs, and it’s worse than when this was rolled 8 years ago.

You don’t have to study journalism to understand, you could be an observer and understand the stuff. I am on the camp of Brett Shipp, from WFAA where some flashy stories is part of a “media diet”, which he said in this documentary in the end.

Sadly some of the people featured in this documentary had their careers totaled by mismanagement by larger media conglomerates, or their iTeam units cut. And the Belo building in Dallas was sold in 2012 as they sold the TV group to Gannett (later branded as Tegna the following year.) Belo was really big on local journalism, being based in Texas where every damn thing is “big” and yes Belo defined “big journalism”. WFAA had set the national standard in my judgement.

I watched this documentary a few years ago and watched it like a Disney movie, because watching it over and over makes me feel very nostalgic of the days before we got so polarized and were active in our own community’s issues rather than obsessing about the Federal governance.

“Trigger Warning” – it may make you tear up.

No Politics Here!

Clickford, Steven M.

I don’t like to discuss politics. My family have certain views, and some of my other extended family members have apparent views as well. From my subjective view, I see them lean to the right, but often repeating what their media they are consuming are telling them,

Not only that, we don’t talk about issues anymore. The “big picture” stuff. Stuff that politicians don’t control and bureaucrats can manipulate policy.

NOT ONE Member in my family puts their own politics in their own words. It’s often rip-and-read from whatever talking-head on cable news tells them.

This is what I also see on social media, people “sharing” content and remark with what they are instructed to do. It’s really sad.

We as Americans for over a decade are picking and choosing a side and then mock the other one, and what has been forgotten for the last decade is issues! We as Americans who were interested in politics, had a high level intelligence (meaning they were thinking on diplomatic and implicit tone). Now today it has stooped down to low level, emotional and sensational and explicitly telling people how to think, and not use original thinking.

I will not chant #MAGA like some person being directed by  dictator. I think for myself and therefore I believe in a democratic society.

Put Roger Ailes’ manipulation with Joel Cheatwood’s If it bleeds it leads mantra of 7 News and politics in the last decade evolved from the National Review type of conversations to the National Inquirer, of tabloid trash of political chatter, mixed with name-calling, and flashy political news that doesn’t have substance. I also can’t stand the current rendition of HuffPo, where they really rip the right on frivolous stuff.

I have been registered as an Independent since I was eighteen, and I have voted both parties in various offices. Also I can brag that I have voted in Town Meetings around my birthday in New Hampshire because municipal elections enable citizens to have more control on their government than voting for a congressperson and outsourcing democracy and citizenry to a D.C. Office. I noticed that the people who obsess about D.C. Politics in my family are the ones who grew up when my old town was more “rural” where rural governments were non existent and focus on the next largest government body – the Federal system.

Not only that, we don’t talk about issues anymore. The “big picture” stuff. Stuff that politicians don’t control and bureaucrats can manipulate policy.  But low calorie, same day news, mixed with the “happy moment caught on camera” is the norm. And as a result, we as Americans, both left, right and centrists have subjected to ourselves to lower class in less than a generation!

If you believe in holding ALL PEOPLE IN POWER accountable, you also have have investigative journalism. No not “consumer investigative journalism” like how an iPhone protector doesn’t work the way they claim. Go onto YouTube and search for some old News 8 Investigates from WFAA in Dallas, the station that pioneered enterprise journalism for TV, and was once a sister entity the prestigious Dallas Morning News.

I am afraid at times to share my issue- driven policy because I fear I would be painted by my loved ones as a liberal. I am sick and tired of fitting into a political cookie cutter anymore. I am sick and tired of “Liberal Democrat” to have same dirty tone as calling someone a c–t or a Republican that is cold hearted, or whatever stereotype.

Issues, Municipal Affairs, White collared crime… whatever happened to ball busting reporting? It’s been long gone and you can thank the demented POTUS Ronnie Regan who allowed deregulation of the media so you can entertain yourself to death with cable news copying the late Casey Kasem’s AT40 of Liberal Hipocracy instead of serious news.

I watch, FNC barely today, FBN is a joke, because it’s FNC2, and watch CNBC with my fingers to my nose, I barely stand the lefist Bloomberg TV, and I don’t watch the 6:30 news anymore, so after that, where do I turn? On Friday nights, since 1998 (with a few on and off years), I’ve tuned to my journalistic idol, Emily (the daughter of the late Andy) Rooney to geek out on the news media’s coverage of week events, Beat The Press the local WGBH show. Because BTP focuses on issues in the media when the other Sunday Morning shows, Reliable Sources and Media Buzz on CNN and FNC are so flipping polarized.

I will not chant #MAGA like some person being directed by  dictator. I think for myself and therefore I believe in a democratic society.

Is “AKA” a Professional Phrase? NO IT IS NOT!

Clickford, Steven M.1 Comment

I am getting really tired of this startup, bro culture of scruffy guys who can’t tie a goddamned tie anymore.  Screw the hoodies, and the peer-language and nerdy words in the mainstream.

So how in the hell can “aka”, “a/k/a”, “AKA” that means “Also Known As” be unprofessional?

Because it’s slang! It’s as if you talk to your friend! AKA is synonymous with an “alias” in case you didn’t know. But I don’t like hearing it because it often comes from a nerd who is trying to be cool but he’s trying too hard. Also it comes off condescending, often pushy and aggressive and trying to win a debate. It’s quite often the male culture  to push, and convert, and if you don’t like his views, he’ll keep on pushing. Like how he want’s to get a girl to have sex, and he just rapes her…

I find this AKA even on install screens to Linux. Do these coders NOT know to use parenthesis? Oh I get it, these nerds are hyper focused on coding, that if you use parenthesis, it will mess up their workflow from coding vs graphic design! Perhaps that’s why they have to speak in flat tone because if you use a “question mark” in writing, they’ll do the same in coding which would screw up a program!

I am on a trend to gut guys balls and hold these bros accountable. I hate frat boys, I hate coders, I hate guys who are lazy, I HATE MEN!!! WRITE MORE LIKE A PROFESSIONAL AND PERHAPS I WILL TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY!

Linux Hasn’t, Isn’t and WILL NEVER be an Enterprise Operating System

Clickford, Steven M.

“It’s Free and it’s Open Source”

The six word tagline that has no meaning, other than for nerds who don’t have a social life or rape women or mess around with little ones it seems like.  It means nothing!

There is no such thing as a free lunch. In fact more recently, more open source projects are requesting for you to give away your contact information to sell you products. In the UC world, remember how so many were gushing over the free “Asterisk PBX“? This is the product I am talking about, specifically the fork known as Free PBX.

Linux is a broken system unlike the commercial world

  • There are no “standards”
  • There are 1,000 different flavors of “distros”
  • The arrogance such as “Real men build their own drivers” and other derogatory culture of the open source world.
  • The software’s lifecycle is just as similar as the commercial world
  • There are more security holes, while it’s lesser with Windows, it is only second to the Mac
  • The super obsessed “minimal” approach, does not work well with non engineers.

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Security Watch: BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU SIGN ONTO GOOGLE!

Clickford, Steven M.

So for about a few months or a month, I am not sure, but my Google account for personal stuff had been logged in only because I logged into the Gmail app.

What happens in recent versions is a pop up Safari instance (similarly used for the “Captive portals” used for WiFi hotspots) requesting for your Google login. Because this shares the same Safari instance to your app, you may not realize that other Google Apps installed (such as Maps, and others) have already logged you in. Because you logged into an indirect session on Safari, this also means that your Google searches or other Google services you use on Safari will remained logged in until you log off.

Unfortunately my searches and using YouTube had also created another Clickford account without my knowledge.

If you want to do user-blaming (“Well you should look at the TOS instead of whining”), go ahead and I will call you a wife beating rapist and child molester because you think it’s OK to take advantage of vulnerable people for your own self interest on spying users.

WBW: “Big Data” – Where’s the Beef?

Clickford, Steven M.

In 2017, when I went to my first spring NAB, I met the rep of Viz who was well known at WMUR-TV as their weekend meterologist. As he touts Viz to do so much, the irony is that a vast a majority of Boston TV stations (including WMUR-TV) use Viz for some form of graphics engines. Viz is a platform where art and SQL knowledge is required for one person to understand. And you wonder why graphics are ether too CGI or too bland? On the other hand, you don’t have to worry about “rendering” said graphics, or in laymans terms “exporting” or “baking”. Yet this “big data” that Viz touts does not seem to result in confirming if the 2010s climate in New England is real or has been previously concurrent.

The data sucks because the content is non existent and as a result, using flashy graphics as a way to get the viewers to come back is not winning the station’s already bruised reputation. All across the Nielsen measured DMAs, local news has been falling like an avalanche. What should be creeping the managers at the Boston TV stations, is their carrers are on the line as a figurative avalanche from Mount Washington is set to make its way across the 128 beltway taking out the last amount of cash revenue and viewers these stations are producing.

I’d rather be ignorant and dead and be informed and be scared. ~ Steven Clickford.

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(Sidenote, I am not bitter at these people personally. I understand their job. Their job is to report to the news directors and do what they are tasked to do, create drama and fear for ratings, even if they don’t feel like it. I have nothing personal against said person or company, I personally do not agree with their approach as too much data can overwhelm the viewer. Viz does not support standards by the creative community, that was done when Photoshop ’88 was on the market in 1991, when a famous broadcast graphics designer set some guidelines on what to put on the screen at a single time.

Due to the use of personal computers and the ability to superimpose them on TV, the 8 point Arial font that was a no-no 20 years ago is now acceptable because the industry  doesn’t care if you put a paragraph as a “lower third” because they feel you want to have “stats” be shown at you. Hence why I was so skeptical throughout the 10 minute duration for the Zone. )