Check out ScottsRoms.com for instructions.

I’ve been working on getting the opensource Openfire XMPP server and it’s clustering component up and running in a testing environment. I quickly found out that enabling the clustering plugin from the “Available plugins” section of the admin interface simply does not work at all. In trying to get this configured and working, I’ve had to scour the web for bits and pieces of this puzzle. To help out those who are attempting to do the same, I’m going to detail the basic steps that I took to get this working for my environment. I’ll be skipping over the basics and assume that you currently have two existing Openfire servers running, each using an external MySQL database. I’m also going to assume that your two servers are on the same physical network. The clustering plugin uses multicast for communication by default. It’s possible to specify the IP addresses of each server in the cluster, but I have not yet been able to get that working myself. What you’ll need to download: ...

So, I recently picked up a Linksys SPA-3102 PTSN Gateway with one FXO and FXS port. I wanted to use this to connect our home phone line to an Asterisk server. Asterisk is a software based PBX system that runs on just about any linux distro. Anyway, I quickly discovered that configuring the SPA-3102 was not as straight forward as I had hoped. So I’m going to post some step by step instructions to help out anyone else who may be having trouble with this device. My instructions are very similar to those provided by 3CX. I had to tweak their instructions to get my set-up working properly. ...

I haven’t posted anything new in a while… obviously. I’m currently working on setting up a home PBX using Asterisk and it’s giving me a little trouble. I hope to have it up and running by the end of the month. When I do, I’ll be sure to post something about it.

[caption id=“attachment_99” align=“alignleft” width=“300” caption=“Garmin eTrex Summit HC”][/caption] I recently went geocaching with my sister, who I gave my eTrex Legend to, and was able to finally use my new eTrex Summit GPS unit. It was a great opportunity to compare the two GPS units. I quickly noticed that the Summit seemed to be a lot quicker at acquiring a GPS signal than the Legend. Although, I can’t really state that as fact since I had turned on the Summit in the car, on the way to Chickies Rock, and didn’t pay attention to it. Anyway, it sure felt longer! (…That’s what she said!) The accuracy of the two devices is nearly identical; they were always within 20ft of each other. The main differentiating physical feature between the two is the Summits’ color screen, although I can’t say that it’ll help you to navigate any better. If anything, it may make it harder, since you’ll have to find just the right angle to hold it in relation to the sun. That may make it seem like a real pain, but it really isn’t bad. It has a day and night color scheme to make it all but a non-issue. My point here, is that this notion of tilting the screen to see it clearly never crossed my mind with the Legend. One major advantage that the Summit has over the Legend is its’ electronic compass. I seriously underestimated its’ usefulness. When using the Legend, you’d have to be moving in order for the device to calculate which direction you were heading and for it to give bearing information. Sometimes you’d have to walk 15 to 20 ft before it would be able to give you a new reading once you changed direction. This, royal pain in the ass, is has been made painfully obvious by the electronic compass and is completely non-existant with when using the Summit. In my opinion, this feature alone is enough to warrant buying yourself and upgraded unit. The difference in battery life between the two unit isn’t much. The Legend will get about 8-10 hours, while the Summit HC will get roughly 14 hours. Both of them use two AA batteries and have a setting for alkaline or NiMH. I’m not exactly sure why you would need to change that setting though. My guess is that its there so that it can give the a more accurate battery life reading. [caption id=“attachment_98” align=“alignright” width=“300” caption=“Garmin eTrex Legend”][/caption] All in all, the two devices are very similar and can share many of the same accessories, such as the belt clip and bike mount. My recommendation would be to go with the Summit HC or HCx. The HCx is the same as the HC, but includes a mico SD card slot. All of Garmin’s GPS units come with PC/Mac software that allows you to add maps and upload your track information from the device as well as download waypoints and other info from it. I was able to get my Summit HC for $129 on amazon.com, which is a steal compared to the list price on Garmin’s site.

I recently bought a Garmin eTrex Summit HC to replace my eTrex Legend. I didn’t go all-out and buy myself a top end GPS device, mainly because I’m not a hardcore hiker. I just needed to get something that has more memory for maps, has a barometer and altimeter. I’ll be using it to do some geocaching, hiking and biking. After I get more comfortable using it, I’ll write up my opinion and compare it to the eTrex Legend. For now all that I can do is list some specs. - Receiver: WAAS/EGNOS enabled, high-sensitivity - Compass - Altimeter - 14 Hour Battery Life - 24MB Storage - 176 x 220 pixel 256 color display

HP announced three new WebOS devices last week, the Veer, Pre3, and the TouchPad. All three devices are stunningly sleek and enlegant while maintaining all of the features that WebOS users have grown to love. The HP Veer appears to be positioned as the replacement for the Pixi. It’s basically a Pre that has been shrunk to the size of a credit card at 3.25" tall. It retains the vertical slide-out keyboard and is compatible with the touchstone dock. Instead of the standard headphone jack, it has an apple-esque magnetic dock connector and comes with an attachment headphone jack and usb cable. Some of the other notable features are the inclusion of a 5 megapixel camera, Qualcomm 800mhz CPU, and 8GB of internal storage. The Pre3 is the sucessor to the Pre2 and has been significantly upgraded. It has a 5 megapixel camera with an LED flash, Qualcomm 1.4Ghz CPU, dual microphone noise cancellation for the speakerphone, 480x800 WVGA Display which is 3.58". It also retains the vertical slide-out keyboard but is larger than that on the Pre2. Now, on to the TouchPad. This is the device that I’ve been waiting for. I think that the table form factor is what WebOS was designed for and it’s what will make it shine. WebOS pulls off multi-tasking in an elegant, intuitive way by letting you use touch gestures to switch and close applications. It was the first mobile OS to do so and has been copied many times since. Anyhow, I digress… The TouchPad will have a 9.7" display and a dual core Qualcomm snapdragon 1.2Ghz processor. Some other features include a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, upt to 32GB of storage, touchstone compatible, WiFi and 3G, as well as all of the usual sensors you’d find on a high-end smartphone. All-in-all it could shape up to be an exiting year for WebOS fans out there. Though I would also have to say that HP only has one shot to get these products in the lime-light. I’ll hold off final judgement until I can get one of these devices in my hands.

Hp has an announcement scheduled for February 9th in which they are expected to announce a few new products that will be using WebOS. One of which may be the elusive PalmPad. That’s the one to get excited about as it may shape up to be a serious contender in the tablet market. I’m also hoping that this announcement will stir up some buzz around WebOS and bring it into the limelight. For in depth coverage of the event, be sure to check out PreCentral’s page at http://www.precentral.net/countdown_thinkbeyond

Switching back to the Palm Pre hasn’t been as painful as I thought it might be. With that said, there are definitely a few things that need to be changed about the phone. First, it’s too slow. Scrolling through my contact list is stop and go at best. Secondly, where are my apps?! The App Catalog just doesn’t have the same breadth and scope of apps as the Android Market. If my memory serves me correctly, Pre has approx 5,000 compared to Android’s 200,000 apps available. Granted the “core” apps, Facebook, Foursquare, Angry Birds, Twitter, Google Maps, Yelp, etc. are there, but the more obscure apps such as Square, Winamp, Wordpress, and Beem are no where to be found. This may all change when HP launches their WebOS tablets… I hope. Back to task at hand. I plan on fixing some of the annoyances that I have been dealing with on the Pre by doing a comm board swap with a Verizon Pre Plus. By doing so I’ll essentially have a Pre Plus on Sprint’s network. The Pre Plus has a faster processor, double the storage space, double the RAM, and the hardware build quality has been improved overall. So long as I can pull it off, it’ll be all win for me. I have already gone through all of the steps to get the software ready for my Frankenstein hybrid of a phone. All that’s left is to do the hardware swap. The Pre Plus should be arriving tomorrow. If all goes well, I’ll post links to the guide I’ll be using and my feedback on the process. ...

I purchased the LG Optimus S back in November and eagerly rooted the phone the week after I got it. For those of you who aren’t familiar with “rooting” a phone, you’re probably wondering what the point of it is. Well, rooting a phone removed all of the barriers, locks, and restrictions the manufacturer and/or the mobile carrier impose on the phone’s software. After a phone is rooted, you have complete control of the device, there are no more locked doors. Anyway, my phone has been working flawlessly for weeks up until today. I’m not sure what caused it to happen, but it randomly decided to reboot and never came back. Displaying the LG logo for a mere one or two seconds is all it can muster before it shuts off and tries again. If only I could get it to boot into recovery mode, I might then be able to work some magic. I guess it wasn’t meant to be. Feel free to post any suggestions that you may have.