In need of an internal IM server? Try Wildfire

Wed, 21 Dec 2005 00:09:16 GMT

At work, we use an IM server from Microsoft that uses the Windows Messenger app as a client, and only works for internal communications. Since last week and for reasons unknown, the server is not responding (the person in charge didn't reply to my emails). As a group of developers separated by geography, IM tools are a must-have. That got me thinkning, isn't there an easy alternative that we can use? what about a XMPP (Jabber) server installed on a linux development environment, and some jabber-compatible client?

Well, after a quick search I found a very good XMPP Server, which by chance is made in Java (OK, not by chance. I chose it precisely because of this reason). Wildfire IM Server (Formerly Jive Messenger) is an ideal solution for us, since its small, free, and most of all, has support for LDAP-based accounts, which means we can use it with our LDAP-enabled development server (I'll post later how I set up the server to use LDAP for things like unix shell, svn access, etc.).

In less than 15 minutes I got Wildfire set up to use MySQL as the Database for storing data, and LDAP for authentication. Instantly every developer that has access to the development environment is now able to connect to the IM server, and it even shows the LDAP groups for the different projects.

I just saw how Wildfire was profiled to improve performance, and I'm sure it will get faster (not to mention better) as they move forward. Now I only need to pitch it to upper management in hopes of replacing the old IM server.

Can laptop speakers become a microphone?

Wed, 05 Oct 2005 15:27:47 GMT

I got a Dell Latitude D600 laptop from work, and when I travel I usually use Skype to call home, since it is way cheaper than using the hotel's long distance service. I usually carry a headset with me for the microphone, but I found out that my headset's mic isn't working anymore. I was frustrated.

I tested my laptop with Skype's echo service anyway, and sure enough, I didn't get any sound sent, so I was sure my laptop didn't have an integrated mic. However, yesterday a co-worker told me that he used Yahoo! messenger to chat with his wife, and that he had no troubles using the laptop's mic. I said 'what mic? there's no mic on the laptop', but he swears he didn't connect any mic (and we have the same laptop models). Was he lucky and got a laptop configuration that included a mic?

So, last night I ran Yahoo! messenger and guess what? Now my laptop suddenly has a mic included! I even got to use Skype after the test and now I can talk! no mic attached! I've checked everywhere on the dell site about my laptop model, and they don't mention anything about an integrated mic (although there's a weird hole just above the power button). I've read the service manuals, the user's guide, and short of opening my laptop to check what's inside, I'm almost sure it doesn't have a mic.

So what's going on? is Yahoo! messenger doing some weird software emulation of a microphone using the speakers? I knew that some speaker types (piezoelectric, I think) can be used as microphones, but I didn't know you could accomplish that through software. Nowhere on Yahoo's site mentions this functionality, but I'm almost sure that they're doing it. Also, whenever I speak, I can hear a delay of about a second from the time I speak to the time I listen to my voice, so there's definitely some processing going on.

Has anyone else encountered this feature? Can anyone else confirm/deny this? Am I going crazy?

JavaGeek.org - messenger tag

In need of an internal IM server? Try Wildfire

Can laptop speakers become a microphone?