Well, I got suckered in again. I splashed out and purchased one of the Cisco 7961 VoIP phones. As always, it’s very nice gear - that is when it works. Cisco have been very smart with this. They say that their SIP firmware is RFC compliant and should work with any VoIP server - however, sadly, there are that many bugs that stop it from working properly, I don’t even know where to start listing them here.

It’s a really sad day when I can say that my $150 Sipura phone that is 3 years old is more reliable than a $500 Cisco phone. While it does take calls (if you look at it right), the message waiting indicator (MWI) doesn’t work, the phone randomly crashes, the configuration files are not documented at all, the phone randomly drops calls, it randomly unregisters lines, and becomes very unstable after about 12 hours of being powered on - meaning you need to reboot it around twice a day.

To add insult to injury, I have been trying for 3 weeks to purchase a smartnet contract to allow me access to newer software for these phones, however 1) Cisco won’t sell them direct, and 2) none of their resellers are interested in selling me a smartnet contract.

At least the phones look nice - because it still looks like an impressive paperweight.

Ok, this deal is just too good to not let everyone know…. My ISP is currently offering 6 months FREE ADSL2+ if you sign up with a 24 month contract, or 3 months FREE ADSL2+ if you sign up with a 12 month contract.

The details are available on my ISPs website. If you do sign up, put netwiz@comcen.com.au as the referrer to help offset hosting costs for this site, and Melbourne Wireless’ site.

I’ve spent a little more time updating the procedures for Essendon Airport (YMEN). If anyone can correct me on this or suggest addons for this guide, it’d be helpful :)

The procedures can be found here.

Well, I was very lucky this year to score a free trade pass from the ATSB and as always, the event didn’t disappoint. Jim LeRoy in the ‘BULLDOG’ was spectacular. His aircraft control skills are just superb. If you are heading to the airshow and only see one flying event, make sure you see this guy.

I’ve thrown some picture together of the day here for people to enjoy. Make sure you take special notice of the pics of Jim throwing the bulldog around!

The were a couple of things that did annoy me. The way the defense forces were using the event as a recruiting event. I lost count of the number of times I was asked to join the army/navy/air force. It seems to be much worse this year than it has been at previous air shows. The other thing was that at every display that the USAF did, they made it obvious that they were pushing their agenda on “the war on terror” and “fighting terrorists” - thankfully, when it got a mention, most people in the crowds just laughed. It’s good to see that Australians haven’t lost touch with reality like our friends in the U.S.A have.

Well, I’ve always kinda been curious how these online tests work, and always found it strange that a maths formula based on seemingly unrelated questions could come up with a good insight into peoples personality. It was kinda strange when I did this particular test which I believe to be pretty accurate in some areas, however some seem to be way off. Maybe it’s a clever generalisation where people think it’s accurate because people pick out the things that they wish to see in themselves?

My Personality

I wouldn’t mind a few of you people to take this test and see how closely it matches your personality and make a post in the comments about it. While I think the basic description is a little lacking, click on the full report to get a more indepth reading….