So I got a MagicJack awhile back.It worked as advertised…until it broke. Fortunately I had grabbed the login etc. information from the MagicJack software before this happened, so I could plug it into a softphone (MagicJack uses the industry-standard SIP system for their network). Which I’ve done.

If you want to grab your MagicJack login info, assuming you have the device, this site had more info.

Once you have that info, there are a few softphones that you can try. I would have loved to get the thing working on mycell phone (hey, it’s Windows Mobile, it should be able to handle it) but the SJPhone software didn’t work for long, and I don’t want to use the speakerphone to make and receive calls. Probably just a configuration issue but anyhow…

The first client I tried was Telephone. It’s ultra-minimalist and Mac-only but it works well. To set up the MagicJack account, I used ProxyUserName@talk4free.com (E720213456001@talk4free.com in my case) for the SIP address, proxy1.denver.talk4free.com as the proxy server (denver can be replaced with any number of US cities…more on this in a minute). User Name is the same as ProxyUserName and Password is ProxyUserPassword. On the advanced tab, check the Connect using proxy box and put your proxy server in there. The port is 5070.

The other client I tried, which is “heavier” and more cross-platform (Linux, Windows, Mac) was QuteCom. There, the login/username is the ProxyUserName, the Password is ProxyUserPassword, the SIP Domain/Realm is talk4free.com, the Server and Proxy are respectively the IP and the name of the proxy you’re using, and the port for the Proxy is 5070.

So about the proxy deal, choose yours carefully. Check out this list, then traceroute to all of ‘em. The one in your city, or near it, may not have the lowest latency. For example, Denver’s proxy rings up at around 70ms, whereas the one in LA, where Comcast traffic hops off to XO, is a mere 40. If you’re wondering who XO is, it’s a second-rate internet backbone that MagicJack for whatever reason is connected to for their servers. On the other hand, Qwest gets the lowest latency to Dallas, weighing in at about 65ms. Decent considering that 45ms of that is between me and the Qwest DSLAM. Moral of the story: if you’re on Comcast and are in the western half of the US, use LA as your proxy. If you’re on Qwest, try Dallas.

If you have any more questions about MagicJack, I might be able to answer them. You never know unless you comment…

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http://www.glassgiant.com/ascii/ rocks!

A compatriot at The Oredigger, Andrew Ferguson, summed up the situation on his blog, so I won’t reiterate. Though I will post my comment on that post here, as well as a proposed addition to the school fight song, The Mining Engineer. I’ll also note that I didn’t really have any classes after noon anyway…

I had class until about 12:07, when the prof decided we really weren’t supposed to be in Meyer a full fifteen minutes after quittin’ time; the class normally extends to 12:15, perhaps a little later.

The way back to my apartment, across from the CTLM (yep, that close), was rather arduous; blowing snow and closed buildings, yuck. Had a friend over because his house is a few miles away and no RTD buses came for an hour or so when he was there.

Later a roommate and I delivered him home…the driving experience could be summed up as “The Fast and the Furious: Golden Drift”. Thence to King Sooper’s. Sonic was for all intents and purposes closed (I really wanted some ice cream in that snowstorm, go figure). Then another interesting ride back home.

I seriously thought about breaking into a chorus of the school fight song, upon hearing that EVERY other institution had been closed down due to the snow…except Mines, which deigned to wait until lunch. It just goe to show how hardcore this place is. I’d say it’s the Chuck Norris of schools but then I’d get roundhouse kicked in the face.

And now for the addition to the fight song Mines attendees know and love so well:

They closed the schools, the city and they closed Colorado State,
The students of the School of Mines wondered “what’s next”, but wait!
The classes didn’t close down until noon of that day.
’cause the School of Mines’s reputation would have it no other way.

So, whaddya think? I’m no metallurgist but steel is tried, stressed and strengthened when force-cooled, right? Guess Mines students are supposed to be men (and the token women) of steel? That’s what it feels like, and the only thing we can do about it is be insanely proud.