Dovid's Blog – Page 5 – A blog by a geek that has a love for all technology focusing on telecom and security.

April 7, 2008Dovid Bender No Comments

False Advertising: Enough !!!

A coworker was online today and came across an Israeli add that offered “unlimited” calling for 39 NIS (Aprox. $10.00). Once clicking on the advertisement it says unlimited is 500 minutes. It amazes me how people can lie straight out. True they tell you once you click on the advertisement that it is only 500 minutes but I think companies should not be allowed to use such advertising tactics. The funny thing is that companies offer “unlimited” which they say is 5,000 minutes have a hard time from their clients.

April 6, 2008Dovid Bender No Comments

Another “Great” web site

Today I cam across a web site www.dialaway4free.com. They seem to allow you to make free calls if you listen to advertisements. I don’t know about everyone else but I would rather pay the few cents that it cost to make the call. Why would I want to sit on the phone before every call and listen to an ad ? Even if you will find people that would listen how effective would it be ? Say I listen to a 15 minute ad and then call my aunt Shirley for twenty minutes. I see it as another company that is trying to make it big in telecom “over night”. Would I remember that ad ? Would you listen to ad’s for free phone service ?

March 26, 2008Dovid Bender No Comments

Terrestrial Radio: Time to wake up

EnGadget had an article on a show host who got “bleeped out” for mentioning satellite radio. It seems they realize that there is competition and they are trying to hide it all. Here is a thought “there is a reason why people are moving over” !!! Look in to why people are doing it and offer them what they want. By hiding things you are only showing that you have a lot to loose. Why not give your listeners what they want ???

March 26, 2008Dovid Bender No Comments

People still want things for free !!

I am part of several user lists. Today I received this email:

” Hi,

I’m looking for a free service that will allow me to send approximately
2 faxes a week from Israel to Israel. Can someone advise me where I can
find such a service?

Thanks very much everyone. All the best,

XXXXX”

I have to agree with Moshe Maeir that a lot of”fly by night” telecom companies have ruined it for us as a whole. They offer free services in hopes of building up a big customer base. Where they think they will go from there is beyond me ? I very much believe in “you get what you pay for”. I have a question for all those that ask such questions. Would you like to work for me for free ?

December 18, 2007Dovid Bender No Comments

My Trip to Ireland

I am waiting in Turkey now for my connecting flight back to Tel Aviv. It was wonderful meeting the guys over at Regional Broadband. I think my trip was too short. There was not enough time to make my way around. This was my second time visiting there and I defiantly have to go back there. The part that amazed me the most was the friendly environment of the Irish. They seem to be all happy and smiles. I defiantly need to go back and visit some time soon.

December 18, 2007Dovid Bender No Comments

Free WiFi: Turkey Gets It !!!

There are many places that offer Wifi. Some offer it for free. To those companies I say Thank You. In almost all cases where there is free WiFi you still need to log in to a page and acknowledge that the WiFi is free and is being provided by a certain company. While beggars can’t be choosers and I understand why companies that offer free Wifi do this this does pose a problem for WiFi devices that do not have a web browser. You have no way of “authenticating” your session and the device will not work. As I was waiting for the second leg of my flight in the Airport I turned on my laptop and noticed a wireless AP called “FREE_INTERNET”. I connected it and I was surfing right away. There was no authentication page. I then turned on my Wifi phone and walla I was registered with my SIP server. I was able to make calls in no time. This beats the roaming rates from my mobile carrier. So to whom ever is providing this easy free no hassle Wifi, Thank You !!

December 18, 2007Dovid Bender No Comments

Some people don’t get it

As I was in the smoking lounge at Tel Aviv airport the other day I started talking with another traveler. He seemed to be pretty business savvy and new a bit. He asked me what I do for a living and I explained him that I consult for an ITSP (Internet Telephone Service Provider). His response was “I thought Skype had that covered”. It amazes me that some people do not even know what is out there. People here VOIP and they think Skype or Vonage. It is a shame that people do not know what else is out there. Just Google VOIP reseller or VOIP provider and the list is endless. Some people just need to learn…..

December 15, 2007Dovid Bender No Comments

Great Line

Every once in a while some one posts a good line on the Asterisk Users List. Here is one that just made me laugh real hard.

“Windows is a half-baked, dying OS that in essence is a 32 bit extension and graphical shell, for a 16 bit patch to an 8 bit operating system, originally coded for a 4 bit microprocessor, written by a 2 bit company, that can’t stand 1 bit of competition.”

December 11, 2007Dovid Bender No Comments

Want to set up a Gray Route ?

According to THIS blog setting up a gray route seems to be pretty easy. What surprises me more is all the large telco’s in the US that use gray routes. For instance I know of a major player in the US who was using gray route to Israel mobile. They were getting a great rate so in turn they gave great rates to their customers. That “provider” started making problems for them and they are finally having to go with a white route. This means an increase for them of 2-3 cents a minute. They now have to explain to their clients that their rates will go up and the reason for the low rates until now were the gray routes. Bottom line if you are going to use a gray route, have a backup plan.

November 8, 2007Dovid Bender No Comments

O.J.’s Lawyer has an iPhone

I always wondered who had iPhone’s and it appears that hi priced criminal attorneys like gadgets to. During testimony today O.J.’s lawyer loaded a web page on his phone for a witness to give testimony on. A funny thing is that when it was on display some one called him blocked. I guess it doesn’t matter who you are, we all like toys.