Colibri, Quicksilver for Windows February 5, 2006
Posted by James Webster in : software, windows , 2 commentsAny Mac user worth their smug air of superiority (and hey, that includes me!) will be familiar with Blacktree’s Quicksilver; a highly extensible, keyboard driven app launcher and ‘command-line interface for the GUI’. It is one of THE apps that makes working with a Mac so much fun, especially for all the GTD and productivity acolytes. But many of us also need to get things done in the World of Windows. Unfortunately there hasn’t really been a worthwhile Quicksilver substitute on the Windows platform. Yes, I’m aware of AppRocket, but it isn’t free and it hasn’t been updated for ages. It was great then to come across Colibri, which is promising to be all that Quicksilver is on the Windows platform.
So give it a go and start to see what all the Mac/Quicksilver users have been harping on about for so long. Its also the cure-for-what-ails-ya if your wrists are about to fall off. An ergonomics expert told me, around the same time I happened to be suffering from bad RSI, that the key to working safely with a computer is avoiding the mouse if at all possible. The advice was heeded and I have seen the results. Any app that enables more keyboard-focused operation or has good keyboard support itself gets a big thumbs up from me!
Build IVR and VoiceXML apps for free! February 1, 2006
Posted by James Webster in : software, telephony , 1 comment so farAll that and more looks possible thanks to Voxeo’s Prophecy platform, currently available in a preview edition.
Prophecy includes ‘high-quality’ speech synthesis AND recognition, out of the box compatibility with most SIP providers,100% compliant VoiceXML and plenty of other bullet points worth checking out. The greatest part about Prophecy is that it is an all-in-one download, prepackaged and ready to be tinkered with.
Voxeo have already proven themselves to be a developer-savvy organisation with the introduction of a Skype partnership for the Evolution Skype Developer Program. Now you can easily build SIP-compatible voice apps, and once finished Voxeo will happily host them for you. 2006 is definitely shaping up to be the year of disruptive voice applications (or was that 2005 already???)
Check out the press release. Also, additional discussion at VOIP Magazine and at the spkydog koop. The rest of the blogosphere seems to be remarkably quiet about this at the moment, c’mon people let’s build some voice apps!
VIRTUALIZE NOW! January 17, 2006
Posted by James Webster in : software, virtualization , add a commentI am becoming ever more convinced that the truly agile enterprise will wholeheartedly embrace virtualization within its IT function. Perhaps this elicits a head-slapping “duh!” from some of you?
Some recent challenges at the day job caused me to consider how virtualization might have saved the day.
Whilst investigating various causes for the problem at hand, one possibility was upgrading the service pack of the application server. However, given the downtime that this would present and the possibility that it might make things worse contributed to our inability to make such a change. Fair enough, its a production environment. But as a developer, I get quickly frustrated by not being able to make changes to see if they have a positive effect. However, were we able to build up a new virtual server with the additional service packs and put it into production we would have minimal downtime (without needing a separate physical box to set up the software on) and should things become FUBAR, we could have easily replaced the previous VM.
Some of the features of VMware’s server products, such as VMotion are truly amazing! Imagine being able to migrate your VM from one physical server to another WHILST IT IS STILL RUNNING. Transparent, of course, to the end users. With the right hardware it is possible using VMware ESX Server. Anyway, this is starting to sound too much like a blatant sales pitch!
BTW, if you haven’t played around with the free VMware Player, do it now!!!! Check out the community-provided VM images; fancy playing around with a virtual install of Asterisk within your host Windows XP machine? VMware can do it.
Also, a great blog about virtualization trends is Alessandro Perilli’s virtualization.info.
Right, that’s all from me!