From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jun 4 17:23:38 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i54LNbw24241; Fri, 4 Jun 2004 17:23:38 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 17:23:38 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406042123.i54LNbw24241@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V23 #276 TELECOM Digest Fri, 4 Jun 2004 17:23:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 276 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Comedy Show Clears Man of Murder (TELECOM Digest Editor) When Software Fails to Stop Spam, It's Time to Bring In (Monty Solomon) Re: Just Like High-Definition TV, With Higher Definition (Phil Earnhardt) Can I Tell If Incoming Call Is From A Pay Phone? (Jim Evans) Re: Hi All (Bruce Burke) E-911 Issues (gsteers@conversent.com) Re: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times (Lisa Hancock) Re: WW II Britain-U.S. Telephone Links? (Lisa Hancock) Re: Claims to be Cellular Phone Dealer in Nigeria (Carl Moore) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 01:01:53 EDT From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Comedy Show Clears Man of Murder In an earlier issue of the Digest, we touched briefly on a man cleared of a murder charge based on evidence from an unlikely source. Here is a follow up on that story. (forwarding over from alt.obituaries) > In "The Kentucky Wizard" writes: >>http://www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?S=1913152&nav=5D7lNbVh LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Juan Catalan spent 5 1/2 months in jail for a murder of a teenage girl he says he didn't commit. And, the most unlikely of allies helped him produce a seemingly airtight alibi. HBO filmed scenes for "Curb Your Enthusiasm" on May 12, 2003, at Dodger Stadium and captured Catalan in the background watching the game with his 6-year-old daughter. That night about 20 miles north in the San Fernando Valley, Martha Puebla, 16, was gunned down in front of her home as she talked with friends. Police arrested Catalan in August, alleging he killed Puebla because she testified against his brother in another case. Catalan maintained he was at the Dodgers game, watching them lose to the Atlanta Braves, 11-4. Thanks to a resourceful attorney and some timely filming, Catalan was released in January because a judge ruled there was no evidence to try him in the slaying. "To hear the words from the judge's mouth, I just broke down in tears," Catalan said Tuesday, a day after celebrating his 26th birthday. "It was the happiest moment in my life." Catalan has gone from utter despair to exhilaration over the past year. Once faced with being convicted and possibly sent to Death Row, Catalan has returned to some sense of normalcy -- raising his family and working with his father as a machinist. He had ticket stubs from the Dodgers game and testimony from his family as to his whereabouts on the night of the murder, Catalan said. But police still believed he was responsible for Puebla's murder. He asked for a lie detector test, but said he was refused. Police claimed to have an eyewitness who placed Catalan -- who lives only blocks away from Puebla's home -- at the murder scene. Defense attorney Todd Melnik went to work. He subpoenaed the Los Angeles Dodgers and Fox Networks, which owned the team then, to scan videotape of the televised game and footage from its "Dodger Vision" cameras. Some of the videotapes showed where Catalan was sitting but Melnik couldn't make him out. Melnik later learned that HBO was at the stadium taping an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," a self-depreciating comedy starring "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David. The show was hardly about the crowd at the ballpark that night. It focused on David hiring a prostitute, not for sex but to be a passenger in his car so he could travel in the carpool lane and escape traffic on his way to the stadium. An HBO spokeswoman said it was the first time the show had been taped at Dodger Stadium and the footage of Catalan that Melnik was looking for had not made the final cut. "I got to one of the scenes, and there is my client sitting in a corner of the frame eating a hot dog with his daughter," Melnik said. "I nearly jumped out of my chair and said, 'There he is!"' The tapes had time codes that allowed Melnik to find out exactly when Catalan was at the ballpark. Melnik also obtained cell phone records that placed his client near the stadium about 20 minutes before the murder. The attorney said it would be impossible for Catalan to get out of the parking lot, change vehicles and clothing and play with his daughter as well as kill Puebla during that span. Melnik said there was plenty of evidence, especially the videotape, for dismissing the case against Catalan. "The videotape made for an incredible presentation in court," Melnik said. "No question it had extreme dramatic effect. It was a piece of the puzzle that helped me, visually, complete the picture for the judge." Puebla's murder remains unsolved and the case against Catalan's brother, who is accused of being the driver in a drive-by shooting, is still pending. Catalan has submitted a claim -- the first step before a lawsuit can be filed-- against the city of Los Angeles, alleging false imprisonment, misconduct and defamation of character. He said he feels compassion for Puebla's family but insists that he wasn't responsible for her death. Catalan said he has nightmares about being chased and his heart races when he sees a police squad car. But he knows without that little snippet of film, he may still be in jail. "Even though I had nothing to do with it, it made me look at life in completely different way," he said. "I went from the worst thing in my life to the best thing in my life." *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 04:25:59 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: When Software Fails to Stop Spam, It's Time to Bring In Detectives By SAUL HANSELL REDMOND, Wash. - Sterling McBride spends a lot of time waiting for spammers to make a mistake. They usually do. When he hunted down escaped prisoners for the United States Marshals Service, Mr. McBride learned the value of lying low until fugitives trip up, leaving small clues on their whereabouts. Now, as an investigator for Microsoft, Mr. McBride watches carefully for tidbits of data that link some of the two billion pieces of junk e-mail that Microsoft's Hotmail service receives each day with the people who send them. Once he finds an electronic key to the spammer's identity -- a real name, address or phone number - Mr. McBride uses all the tools of a regular detective: trailing suspects, subpoenaing their bank records and looking for disgruntled former associates to become informers. But first he must lift the cloak of anonymity provided by the Internet. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/31/technology/31spam.html ------------------------------ From: Phil Earnhardt Subject: Re: Just Like High-Definition TV, but With Higher Definition Date: Fri, 04 Jun 2004 05:05:21 -0600 Organization: http://newsguy.com On Thu, 3 Jun 2004 19:43:05 -0400, Monty Solomon wrote: > At a picture size of 7,680 by 4,320 pixels -- that works out to 32 > million pixels -- UHDV's resolution trounces even high-end digital > still cameras. HDTV, by comparison, has about two million pixels, and > normal TV about 200,000 (and only 480 lines of horizontal resolution > versus 4,000 with UHDV). One comparison the reporter missed is to the Texas Instruments DLP system for cinemas ( www.dlp.com ). This is the digital projection system that George Lucas has been hyping and critics like Roger Ebert have been panning. Movies like "Star Wars Episode 1", "Star Wars Episode 2", and "Ice Age" were released on the DLP format. I was thoroughly unimpressed with this projection technique; there were lots of jaggies on the screen. AFAICT, the DLP system has a horizontal resolution of 2K, which would give it about 3.5 million pixels/frame. This is only marginally higher resolution than HDTV. The other comparison would be to the IMAX DMR technology. This system takes a 35mm film and does a computation-intensive frame-by-frame processing of the images to master a high-resolution release of the movie onto IMAX film. The third "Harry Potter" film is being released with this technology in about 50 IMAX theaters today. The DMR processing can produce stunning results. One of the first films to be re-released with this technology was "Apollo 13". If you recall, there are several scenes prominently featuring a black-and-white television in the middle of that film. The DMR image of that television cabinet was absolutely stunning. Scenes with a small depth-of-field have an amazing 3-D effect; they are sometimes so dramatic that I'm guessing that the DMR processing allows the technicians/artists doing to conversion to de-tune the effect. I have never heard estimates about the resolution of the DMR IMAX films. In general, I think it's a vastly superior technology to the TI DLP system. > Add to that UHDV's beefed-up refresh rate of 60 frames per second > (twice that of conventional video), projected onto a 450-inch diagonal > screen with more than 20 channels of audio, and you've got an > impressive home theater on your hands. > Of course, UHDV's current dimensions make it impractical for most > homes. The NHK researchers are investigating how to squeeze all those > pixels onto smaller screens. The numbers are way overkill for a home system. OTOH, this system could hold promise for commercial cinemas. Hollywood should embrace systems that deliver stunningly higher performance in theaters than people can see at home. At this point in time (and IMHO), the DLP system has failed to deliver on its promise. > http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/03/technology/circuits/03next.html --phil ------------------------------ From: jim evans Subject: Can I Tell If Incoming Call Is From A Pay Phone? Date: Fri, 04 Jun 2004 09:58:39 -0500 Organization: http://newsguy.com On my cell phone the only information I get about the caller is their phone number. Is there a way to tell which numbers are pay phone numbers. That is, callers who are calling from pay phones. jim [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Most cell phones are a lot like one of my older caller-ID units, with just enough space or memory or what have you to allow a single line with a number, nothing more. On one of my newer units (a cordless phone fron Uniden with caller ID built into the handset) I get the whole story; the number and some attempt at the name, or 'wireless caller', etc. I think all you can do is attempt to correlate the data you recieve with a cross reference directory from the net or elsewhere. Any other ideas, anyone? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Bruce Burke Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 08:36:41 -0600 Subject: Re: Hi, all Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com I am also new to VoIP but have many years of background in telecommunications. I am in the midst of developing a site / company to resell everyone's products and services. Currently I am seeking a variety of plans and products to resell through this portal. I am currently employed at a prepaid facilities based carrier. We develop prepaid phone cards for every domestic and international destination. I am also working with a new provider which is developing a marketing plan for VoIP Phones worldwide. Stay in touch www.telcomportal.com is soon to be a destination for all individuals and companies seeking services and opportunities concerning telecom. Bruce Burke John Vo [mailto:wither_27@yahoo.com] wrote on Thursday, June 03, 2004 to: voipnews@yahoogroups.com Subject: Hi all > I am new to VOIP and new to this group. Hope to learn from you guys. > Take care. > John ------------------------------ From: gsteers@conversent.com Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 11:19:42 -0400 Subject: E-911 Issues Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com Good morning, Are there any known issues with E-911 and VoIP? If so, are we moving towards a resolution? Any information anyone might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, George Steers [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, there is an 'issue', or perhaps a pseudo-issue is more like it. The various flavors of 911 depend on a physical wire connection from the subscriber to the public safety place so that telco can identify the physical location of the subscriber for the benefit of the police. Cellular phones of course are lacking that physical wire connection, although by some wizardry of the cell phone carriers they are at least able to provide a phone number of the caller to police. In recent years, they have experimented rather successfully (using geo-locating equipment I think?) to provide police with the 'next best thing' to a physical wire pair which can be followed along, and police can locate the person to within a few feet of their actual location; as close mathematically as anyone cares to work it out. With VOIP, however, up until now, the carriers have been content to ask the cooperation of subscribers to fill in a template with their exact address and usually one other line the subscriber can use for identification or special advice to the public safety people, such as my own VOIP 911 entry: first my street address, Independence, KS, 67301, then an 'advice line' saying (in my case) 'older, handicapped person'. And the carrier (in my case Vonage) wisely informed me *do not use 911 until you recieve confirmation that it has been installed in the public safety database, and upon confirmation, do not test the status of 911 with unneccessary calls, and if you must test it, always announce to the answering person FIRST THING 'this is a test only' and vacate the line immediatly after getting confirmation.* Two days after I submitted my template to Vonage, they responded saying I had been put in the database. The same day, or the next day, I also received a letter in snail mail from the Independence Police Department, responding for the Montgomery County (KS) Sheriff's Department confirming I had been installed. Since I am a brain diseased imbicile, anyway, that was quite a chore for me, but somehow I did it and got installed. I suppose guys who wanted to be listed in the public safety base could do that as well, although not everyone wants such a listing. Some people would probably forego whatever 'benefits' came from a 911 trail to their doorstep in exchange for the privacy of not having one. But what about the miniscule percentage of users who take their Vonage or other TA box with them wheh they travel about the country AND want to be listed on a public safety database? Well, this can be resolved also, in an easy way, by the 'authorities' who seem to be in charge of all these things. They can require Vonage and other VOIP carriers to install in each new TA box from this time forward, the same kind of geo-locating equipment found in the little handheld units for same. And to avoid undue financial burden on the carriers or the customers, they might 'grandfather' existing TA boxes for one or two years from that point until a person might otherwise change carriers or change their service and have to get a new box anyway. Let's suggest a cutover date of 2006 and expect the holdout cellular carriers to be ready also by that time. What the geo-locating stuff would do is kick in when the VOIP detected a call out to 911; it would send a little data stream to the PSAP saying where you were located and your phone number, etc, then at the same time patch you in so you could give the details. Since we are only supposed to use 911 in *dire emergencies* (in other words, need police intervention here and now) then I assume the person would not mind geo-locating to notify authorities, etc. I imagine some guys would tamper with the geo-locating stuff from the beginning, to insure it was not reporting on them at other times, etc. That's the major issue I see with VOIP and E-911. Should, or should not police know the whereabouts of everyone? VOIP sort of restored a bit of our privacy to us, but certain spoilsports want to ruin that as well. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Memories of Illinois Bell in Better Times Date: 4 Jun 2004 09:48:19 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) wrote > Eventually I saw a statement in the business press by an official of a > cafeteria chain, to the effect that in the South the cafeteria is > viewed as a nice place to take the family after church on Sunday, but > in the North it is viewed as a gathering place for derelicts. -- A telecom angle on this discussion ... One of the factors to convert to dial was the cost of providing facilities for employees (the switchboard operators) in the building. In those days, that meant a cafeteria and retiring rooms. The phone company then had "matrons" who were a combination social worker and personnel officer to assist new hires, who were often young women (age 18 or even younger) away from home and in the "big city" for the first time. The space and expense for a cafeteria was significant and would be eliminated by going to dial. Bell System tableware from those places shows up for sale sometimes. I suspect in those days the phone company operated the cafeteria itself; though nowadays companies contract out employee cafeterias (if they still even have them) to a food service company. (One former Phila restaurant chain, Linton's, survives in that capacity). I suspect big Western Electric plants like Hawthorne and Kearny had huge food service operations. It should be noted that in the 1920s going to dial was not necessarily an economically preferable choice. Dial meant a huge capital outlay. Enough equipment had to be installed to accomodate peak periods, but that expensive equipment would be idle the rest of the day, whereas operators needed to be on duty only when needed. Many calls still needed operators even with dial. As to cafeterias ... Cafeterias were once popular as low-cost family restaurants in the north, but unfortunately the derelict problem, especially in large cities, helped kill them. Management indifference didn't help either, though it's tough to say which came first ("chicken or egg" kind of thing). As one who liked eating in cafeterias, I was disappointed at their closure and saw first hand how the derelict nuisance. When one is eating, it is quite unappetizing to see a filthy unkempt person mumbling in the corner; and sometimes the behavior was disruptive. Originally, one got their food and then paid the cashier. Derelicts would steal food or condiments. They would also foul restrooms. By the 1970s, equal access civil rights laws were passed and it was more difficult for managers to eject someone without facing a protest march or litigation, and harried managers didn't bother. The unpleasant atmosphere was definitely a factor in losing patronage (many people ceased patronizing cafeterias solely because of the delerict problem). There are some modern chains of cafeterias. We have one called "Old Country Buffet". The difference is that it's strictly pay in advance, not cheap, and all-you-can-eat. They're not bad. I miss the ability to select whatever I'm in the mood for, be it a single side vegatable or a big dinner. Cafeterias allowed completely free choice and I liked that. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We had two cafeteria/buffet places here in town for many years, a local place called 'Down Home' and another place called 'Sirloin Stockade' which is now gone. Sirloin Stockade also has a place in Bartlesville, OK I think, down the road about 30-40 miles. I loved that place; pay a flat fee when you go in the door then help yourself to whatever. Down Home is the same way, but you pay on the way out. I also love Eggberts, which is our local version of a pancake house type place, with various omlets and eggs and pancakes, waffles, etc. Sort of like Denny's if you know those places. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: WW II Britain-U.S. Telephone Links? Date: 4 Jun 2004 10:01:54 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock): > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: During World War Two, the United States > government nationalized the Western Electric Company; all of their > output during those years went to the government as part of the war I'm not sure if "nationalized" is the right word for this. While the government told the Bell System what it's service and sales priorities were to be, as it did most industries, it did not actually take over management or ownership. The government took over railroads in WW I and realized that was a mistake, it left business in private hands during WW II, under strict (and very complex and confusing) regulations. I'm sure exceptions were made for residential customers; that is, if a new war plant and town was built, key executives would get home telephone service. Back then, doctors had respect and would get telephone service and gasoline/tires. Things got sticky AFTER the war. People would grugingly accept sacrifice during the war, but after V-J day they wanted things NOW. It took several years for consumer goods to catch up with demand, including telephone service. Levittown PA was built with temporary street corner payphone kiosks since they couldn't provide homes with service. Telephone service requires not only the telephone sets themselves, but wire for the house, wire between the house and central office, and central office distributing, battery, and switching gear. ALL things had to be available to provide service and were in short supply for many years after the war ended, esp during the postwar home building boom. Some CO's were just physically too small to accomodate more gear and a new building was needed. Also, after the war people had more money and many people who previously couldn't afford a phone now could and wanted one, plus party line users wanted private lines. Further, new homes were built in the suburbs requiring more wire and possibly toll or message unit counters. All of this added to demand. > Telephone instruments were rationed. Bell asked subscribers to > 'consider' giving up extra extensions in their homes and offices in > order that new subscribers without instruments at all could be served. During the war, advertisements for the Bell System (as other companies) were to NOT use their service. "Keep the lines free for servicemen" "Limit your calls to 5 minutes". Many companies, including Bell, ran ads describing their contributions to the war effort. There'd be a painting of a battle, with a telephone or weapon featured, with the capture describing how it helped. Other ads talked about the future, when the servicemen would come home and how the company had wonderful new products coming out for the postwar world. (Cartoonist Bill Mauldin said servicemen didn't care for such ads). [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Have you noticed how in previous wars (First and Second) Americans were asked to make sacrifices in things such as tires, gasoline, certain foods, etc for the war effort? But this time around, in the 'War on Terrorism' or the other all time favorite 'War on Crime' we are not being asked (or told perhaps) to sacrifice anything, except perhaps our basic liberties and freedom. If you are interested in reading a most informative article on where things are going under our present regime, I would refer you to the Village Voice Newspaper for two or three weeks ago and the feature article 'Landing Pad for Jesus' which discusses some highly confidential meetings President Bush had a few months ago with some Pentacostal ministers. Quite interesting. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 16:29:27 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: (Claims to Be) Cellular-Phone Dealer in Nigeria Three months ago, I forwarded a message which claimed to be from a cellular phone dealer in Nigeria. I have been notified of the name "BB Mobilez" (noticing the French-looking name and I noted 3 months ago that the message was from a French domain). That "BB Mobilez" name was not in my posting of 3 months ago. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #276 ******************************