Noah's Blog

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Adding Music on Hold Via The Logitech Media Server

Adding Music on Hold Via The Logitech Media Server (aka Squeezebox Server)

I had an AHA moment this morning when I thought about my abismal music on hold situation on my asterisk server. I checked my logs for the first time in awhile and found out that people waiting on hold hadn't been receiving music while on hold for quite some time because I migrated to a different mount point for a new raid array.

I did a little research and found out this article (Using Slimserver for Music on Hold )that I could already use the Logitech Media Server's mp3 stream to loop thru a playlist of selected songs.

Here's how it works.

mkdir /var/lib/asterisk/mohmp3-dummy
touch /var/lib/asterisk/mohmp3-dummy/dummy.mp3

Install mpg123 if you don't have it already
Edit your musiconhold.conf. and note the location of mpg123.

[default]
mode=custom
dir=/var/lib/asterisk/mohmp3-dummy {COMMENT}daab{/COMMENT}
application=/usr/bin/mpg123 -q -r 8000 -f 8192 -s --mono http://localhost:9000/stream.mp3

Reload asterisk
asterisk -rx 'reload'

Go to your Logitech Media Server/Squeezebox server's website. Usually http://ip:9000. Click on the player pulldown and you should see an entry for mpg123 from ipaddress.

From there start creating a playlist and don't forget to save it and set it on repeat.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Get Rid of Tonsil Stones (Tonsilloliths)

I was plagued with tonsil stones from my teens thru early twenties. They are the stinky white/yellow deposits that form on the tonsils. Occasionally, they dislodge and make their way to the tongue and into the mouth. I was able to get rid of them with few simple techniques.

Step 1:
Sterilize your toothbrush.

I now have one of those Ultraviolet Sanitizers for my toothbrush after I finish brushing so this takes care of killing any microbes. It kills the dna that prevents them from reproducing.

I'd highly recommend purchasing one of these for manual or electronic toothbrushes.

If you don't have one or can't afford it; you can do is boil water and place the toothbrush in the boiling water or immerse the head of the toothbrush in a teacup/coffee cup with boiling water.

Before I brush I squirt a little peroxide on the brush head and let it bubble. While this is going on I gargle.

Step 2:
Gargle and swish for One Minute

I use peroxide to gargle with for one minute because I'm hard core. I then swish for another thirty seconds.

If you don't like peroxide you can try any of these mixed with water in the concentration that you like:

Baking soda
Peppermint Oil
Lemon Juice
Salt

Step 3:
Brush Your Entire Mouth

Brushing your entire mouth.

That means:
Teeth
Gums
Palate/Roof of mouth
Cheeks
Back of lips
Tongue

I'd recommend that you also brush your tongue with baking soda as well.

Step 4:
Floss

It's simple. Floss!

Step 5:
Additional Cleaning of Your Tongue

Use a tongue cleaner to scrape gunk from your tongue. I've used most kinds but what works best for me is a Stainless Steel Tongue Scraper

Step 6:
Rinse

Rinse your mouth out with water first and then with any of the options below diluted in water:

Peroxide
Baking soda
Peppermint Oil
Lemon Juice
Salt

It took about a month of doing this that I didn't see any additional tonsil stones. This also is great oral hygiene and will reduce your dental bills.

Friday, March 30, 2012

I'm bringing back the 80's! http://ping.fm/UkAXv

Friday, January 20, 2012

If car A accelerating from 0-55 mph in 13s 1500 ft in front of car B driving at a constant 55 mph. How long before car B strikes car A?

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Mean trick Apple! http://ping.fm/wZJFA

Saturday, January 07, 2012

Mitsubishi 73" 1080p 120Hz 3D DLP HDTV Review

I did not think that my viewing experience could get much better but it did. First of all my first test was viewing Avatar. I unknowingly inserted the SD version of the movie in my blu-ray player. The quality even from the SD movie was so astonishing I didn't notice until I took the movie out and was shocked that I didn't have the blu-ray inserted.

The quality, brightness, contrast, black levels are amazing. There's no LCD light bleed. No motion blur whatsoever. Even games on my 480p Wii look great.

I'm impressed with the nearly in existent bezel on this thing.

The iOS remote app works well. I can turn off the tv from another room if I forgot to turn it off.

The included Wifi Dongle connects to 5ghz wireless networks.

I have 2 problems There are only 3 hdmi ports, 4 should be standard.
Streamtv is only limited to Vudu and it's apps. Other manufactureres have a much better variety of online streaming apps.

Other than the brief list of cons. Im blown away by this thing. I thought that I would be an LG tv purchaser for life. I was wrong.