Asterisk Applications Unexpected Hurdles

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Asterisk ApplicationsUnexpected Hurdles

• Fred Posner fred_at_qxork.com
• TEAMFORREST

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Asterisk ApplicationsUnexpected Hurdles

• Case study of a real-time parking space
  availability application using Asterisk, Perl,
  Cepstral, a little SQL, and the unexpected.

SOMETIMES... BUILDING THE APPLICATION ...IS THE
EASY PART.
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Background

• Welcome to Ann Arbor, MI
• January 2009
• Average temperature 14º F
• Perfect coding weather
• A2B3
• Weekly lunch of various technical professionals
• Projects discussed, people brainstorm, code,
  develop...

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Wouldnt it be neat...

• Discussion of Ann Arbor Parking
• A2DDA.org lists parking spaces on website (pure
  HTML tables)
• Wouldnt it be nice if you could get this when
  youre not at the computer?
• Enter Asterisk
• Asterisk AGI allows creation of phone
  applications
• Asterisk, when called, will check availability
  and deliver information verbally

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Basic Components

• Tools Used
• Asterisk
• MySQL
• Perl
• Cepstral(not open source)

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Basic Flow
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Hows it work?

• Call Received by Asterisk
• Dial Plan Answers
• Cepstral Text to Speech
• Read() gets the garage
• AGI Launched
• Perl Script checks a2dda.org
• Sets variable for spaces available

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Hows it work?

• Return to Dial Plan
• Cepstral/Dialplan TTS Results
• Read() if call back wanted
• AGI Launched
• Perl script checks weather
• Perl script adds number to MySQL Database

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Hows it work?

• Return to Dial Plan
• gives weather
• Thank you. Come again.
• If call back needed...
• Check every minute
• Call file created with update

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Asterisk Apps Fly Quickly

• Development Time 1 night
• Later that night
• Blogged to VoIPTechChat.com
• Posted Dial Plan
• Posted Script code

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first Result

• Fantastic discussions...
• Dug Song, Entrepreneur
• Check out Twilio, a startup with Ann Arbor
  roots...
• Evan Cook, Twilio
• ...Twilio Asterisk together. They make
  excellent companions.
• Made Demo in Twilio and posted source code
• Jason Goecke, Adhearsion
• In the spirit of comparing and contrasting the
  various approaches and adding another language to
  the mix, I have created an Adhearsion
  component...
• Made demo in Adhearsion and posted source code

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Still Riding High

• Interviews
• Ann Arbor Chronicle
• Ann Arbor News
• Michigan Today
• Radio, Web, and other news...
• Presentations
• Michigan Users Group
• A2 Cloud Camp
• Local Number Added
• 734-ARB-0909 (272-0909)
• Supports more than 20 calls

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Innovation

• iPhone
• a2-park.appspot.com
• SMS
• mbusreloaded.com/aapark
• Adhearsion
• jsgoecke.github.com/annarbor_parking/
• Twilio
• monkey.org/phy/a2parking/
• Other Projects
• Historical Data Tracking(via Google APPS)
• All within a week!

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Hurdle 1- Ignorance

• January 16, 2009
• A2DDA.org blocks google apps (and unknowingly, a
  large part of google) from their website.
• January 21, 2009
• a2dda.org blocks the Asterisk application
• Email Received from Susan Pollay, Director of
  A2DDA
• There is a concern about how unsecure/secure the
  DDA website is made when sharing this data.   And
  finally, a concern that if the project had value
  to parking patrons, that the DDA itself should
  consider providing this service as an extension
  of what it is already doing on-line.

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And we wait...

• Three main people
• Fred Posner (me)
• Ed Vielmetti
• Tyler EricKson
• Tyler used a different proxy and continued to log
  data
• We researched the DDA
• Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority
• Public funded through tax
• We offer to assist/Explain/Train
• We attend meetings
• Not recognized to speak

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Hurdle 2 - Blocked Access

• March 12, 2009 - DDA resolution
• ...to provide information by phone to interested
  members of the public using real human beings
  answering phones at the Republic Parking office.
• Access to data is blocked
• 4 points
• no permission from the DDA
• project hopes to make a profit
• DDA has no control
• Toll Call

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Hurdle 3 - ourselves

• Fred writes a lengthy response to the DDA
• Sarcastic
• Blogged on VoIPTechChat.com
• Response is HUGE
• Reddit, DIGG, Slashdot, etc.
• A2DDA receives many calls and emails complaining
  about their action
• Blog traffic exceeds several thousand readers/day
• Nerd Wars
• Godwins Law (comment 42)
• Raw DATA NOW!

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Raw Data Now

• February 4, 2009
• Sir Tim Berners-Lee presents "The next Web of
  open linked data" at TED 2009 audience chants
  RAW DATA NOW
• Inventor of WWW
• Becomes Battle Cry
• New approach is to not stop until Raw Data is
  received

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FOIA Freedom of Information

• Feds, most states have FOIA laws and Processes
• Time consuming
• Formal
• Effective
• Formal FOIA request made to DDA for the data
• Previous interview quoted discussing DDA data
• ...I imagine, are going to want to embed
  this--and we encourage them to--in their own
  webpages...

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DDA Launches Phone App

• Citing security concerns, the DDA took issue
  with their method and now says it will provide a
  similar service itself.
• Callers dialing 734-761-9477 will reach an
  employee at Republic Parking, which manages the
  structures. The post is staffed 24 hours a day,
  Monday through Saturday. The cost to provide the
  service is minimal, the DDA says.
• Ann Arbor NEws

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Ann Arbor Smackdown

• Geeks vs. Suits
• We are labeled as hackers.
• A2DDA begins receiving numerous calls, FOIA
  requests, and pressure from other Ann Arbor
  agencies.
• Google of A2DDA and Ann Arbor Parking
• Top 5 results were complaints
• VoIP Tech Chat was 1 (now is 3)
• Selected comments
• ...trying to achieve change via sarcasm makes
  sure that reasonable discussion won't fix
  problems
• His points are laid out clearly, and his
  arguments are well-thought out. If the officials
  have valid responses, they can respond in the
  same tone. It makes the exchange much more
  interesting and entertaining for the spectators.
• The sarcastic tone is just a lazy way to move a
  thought from the writer's head to the reader,
  without having to form a coherent argument. They
  should not have done that, but instead redrafted
  the letter a couple of times.
• Collecting and using public information is not
  hacking.

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Resolving Hurdles 1 - 3

• Ignorance
• Education
• Must be willing participant
• Ourselves
• Therapy?
• Popeye
• Blockage
• Public Outcry worked
• Dug Song Better Example
• A2 Skate park

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Hurdles... all bad?

• Additional press coverage reflects A2DDA
  negatively
• Attendance at Meetings Skyrockets
• Tyler Erickson gets recognized to speak at the
  April 1st meeting
• six out of the first 10 search results on a
  Google query for a2dda were about blocking
  access to data. This was a negative association
• Theres a lot of minds who would like to work on
  the data. If Ann Arbor wants to encourage
  students, and convince them that they can have a
  great IT  career here, instead of leaving and
  going to Boulder and Portland, then the DDA
  needed to stop blocking access to data and be
  aware of the community interested in it.
• Conditional Access is restored within 7 days
• We do not accept conditions, and respond Raw
  Data Now

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HURDLES ARE...

• An opportunity to improve

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Opportunities for change

• Every hurdle is an opportunity to do better.
• What started as access to parking spaces by
  phone...
• turned into public access to government data
• Elderly
• Blind
• Anyone without access to web

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do or do not. there is no try.

• You either overcome THE hurdle or you fail.
• learn better approaches for the future
• Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will
  learn in no other.
• Provides examples for non fools

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Hurdles Can Be Rewarding

• Great exposure
• Better access to Data (still improving)
• New clients
• FOIA Fridays
• Bus Routes
• And, Everyday Has new Surprises!

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SURPRISE! Hurdle 4 - Patents

• ParkingCarmA
• Methods for relaying information regarding
  parking space availability to cell phones
• Method and apparatus for detection and remote
  notification of vehicle parking space
  availability data

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Thank You. Come Again.

• And I know what I have to do now. I have to keep
  breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise.
  Who knows what the tide could bring?

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Asterisk ApplicationsUnexpected Hurdles

• Questions?
• Fred Posnerfred_at_qxork.com
• TEAMFORREST