For your convenience in reading: Subject lines are printed in RED and
Moderator replies when issued appear in BROWN.
Previous Issue (just one)
TD Extra News
For your convenience in reading: Subject lines are printed in RED and
Moderator replies when issued appear in BROWN.
Previous Issue (just one)
TD Extra News
TELECOM Digest Tue, 5 Apr 2005 14:15:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 145
Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson
Prison Cell Phone Scandal (Lisa Minter)
MIT Developing $100 Laptops for Children (Lisa Minter)
Free VOIP Resources - Learn VOIP (H.323, SIP, MGCP, RTP) (tek junkie)
Verizon FTTP in Mass (Monty Solomon)
Cingular Mobi-MLB.com Gameday Audio (Monty Solomon)
Update, was: NYS AG Spitzer Gets Verizon to Wake Up. (Danny Burstein)
Lingo - Stay Far, Far Away (radezeeuw@yahoo.com)
Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox Warns Consumers (Jack Decker)
Microsoft Targets RIM's BlackBerry With Software Update (Telecom daily)
Verizon Threatens to Walk Away From MCI Offer (Telecom dailyLead USTA)
Re: The Real Reason Why SBC Won't Work With Vonage on E-911 (S Sobol)
Re: The Real Reason Why SBC Won't Work With Vonage on E-911 (Justin Tim)
Re: USB to RJ-45 Console Cable? (nmclain@annsgarden.com)
Re: USB to RJ-45 Console Cable? (Scott Dorsey)
Re: USB to RJ-45 Console Cable? (James Carlson)
Re: Sprint PCS Vision Added to Open Relay DataBase (SELLCOM Tech)
Re: Sprint PCS Vision Added to Open Relay DataBase (Scott Dorsey)
Re: Some Concerned About Privacy Implications of E-ZPass (G Berkowitz)
Re: Some Concerned About Privacy Implications of E-ZPass (Justin Time)
Re: Every Ten Days (Hank Karl)
Re: Does Your Computer Look Like This? (Paul Vader)
Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
Internet. 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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: Prison Cell Phone Scandal
Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 19:48:01 -0400
Prisoners sometimes smuggle in cell phones to use in continuing their
criminal enterprises. Follow this link to view the
article: Prison Cell Phone Scandal
<http://www.syncmag.com/article2/0,1759,1763276,00.asp>
Copyright (c) 2005 Ziff Davis Media Inc.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 14:51:21 PDT
From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: MIT Developing $100 Laptops for Children
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/ptech/04/04/hundred.dollar.laptops.ap/index.html
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 10:05:16 PDT
From: tek junkie <tekjockey@yahoo.com>
Subject: Free VOIP Resources - Learn VOIP (H.323, SIP, MGCP, RTP)
==============================================================
>>>>>Free VOIP RESOURCES - Learn VOIP (H.323, SIP, MGCP, RTP)
==============================================================
All, Learn VOIP (H.323, SIP, MGCP, RTP) at: http://www.voip-start.com
Tutorials, news, resource links and pdf's on learning voip.
Great for:
businesses looking to implement VOIP in their companies
professionals seeking knowledge.
Fresh content - updated daily!
Vist the links and feed your appetite for knowledge!
http://www.voip-start.com
Check it out... :-)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 20:26:20 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Verizon FTTP in Mass.
Verizon Brings Fiber to Consumers and Small Businesses in 11
Additional Massachusetts Communities
Industry-Leading Verizon Fiber-to-the-Premises Network Means Blazing-Fast
Data, Crystal Clear Voice and Video Capability
Company's Transformational Technology to Benefit Residential and Business
Customers, Boost Economic Development
BOSTON, April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon is bringing to 11 additional
communities in Massachusetts one of the most significant advancements
in telecommunications technology in the past 100 years.
The company today announced it is rolling out a fiber-optic network -
known as fiber to the premises, or FTTP -- to many customers in the
communities of Georgetown, Hamilton, Littleton, Marlborough,
Middleboro, Needham, Stoneham, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Wakefield and
Wenham.
The all-fiber network will deliver faster data speeds and crystal
clear voice, and also has the capability to offer a full suite of
video services, a competitive choice to existing cable television
providers. The company will seek a franchise agreement before
offering cable TV service in a selected community.
Today's announcement brings to 39 the number of communities in eastern
Massachusetts identified by the company for deployment of its
all-fiber network. The others are Andover, Bedford, Belmont, Boxford,
Burlington, Canton, Dedham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Lakeville,
Lexington, Lincoln, Lynn, Lynnfield, North Reading, Nahant, Natick,
Newton, Reading, Sherborn, Swampscott, Topsfield, Wellesley,
Westborough, West Newbury, Westwood, Winchester and Woburn.
FTTP uses hair-thin strands of fiber and optical electronics to
directly link homes and businesses to Verizon's network. The
state-of-the-art network upgrade will unleash a range of advanced
communication services.
- http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48122799
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 20:59:37 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Cingular Mobi-MLB.com Gameday Audio
MobiTV and Cingular Pitch Live Major League Baseball Audio
Broadcast to Mobile Phones
Cingular Wireless Customers Can Now Access Live MLB Broadcasts Right from
Their Wireless Phones
ATLANTA and BERKELEY, Calif., April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Cingular
Wireless, the largest wireless carrier in the U.S., and MobiTV, the
world's first television network for mobile phones, today launched the
availability of Mobi- MLB.com Gameday Audio to Cingular Wireless
subscribers. Cingular's customers can now listen live to every Major
League Baseball game played from opening day to the World Series,
directly from their wireless phones.
Cingular's Mobi-MLB.com Gameday Audio service provides subscribers
with access to more than 2,500 MLB games with the same audio broadcast
available on radio. This agreement with MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM)
delivers unlimited access to subscribers who can choose up to 30 feeds
each day with the option to select their home team announcers.
- http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48122145
------------------------------
From: Danny Burstein <dannyb@panix.com>
Subject: Update, was: NYS AG Spitzer Gets Verizon to Wake Up. A Bit
Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 01:21:45 UTC
Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC
In <Pine.NEB.4.62.0504032223370.21084@panix5.panix.com> danny burstein
<dannyb@panix.com> writes:
> "Verizon to block 'cramming' of computer charges on phone bills
> By MICHAEL GORMLEY, AP Writer April 3, 2005, 12:16 PM EDT
> "Albany NY - Verizon Communications Inc. will fight the 'cramming '
> of unauthorized charges by companies such as Internet providers that
> appear on phone bills.
It's now up on Spitzer's site:
http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2005/apr/apr04a_05.html
Typical paragraph:
"Verizon must terminate contracts with third parties that
have persistent complaint levels. The Attorney GeneralÕs
investigation found that in some cases, Verizon did not promptly
take action against parties with high complaint levels, even after
lawsuits and regulatory actions had been commenced
Still no mention of anything back at the telco for facilitating these
charges, no recompense to the consumer who had to notice the fake bill
and take the time to complain, and no requirement for pro-activity
(i.e. if 50% of "Integra-sleaze" charges are disputed, Verizon can let
the other 50% of the payments made by the recipients go through).
But it's a decent start. Personally I believe anyone sending 10,000 fake
bills through a telco (and the telco that assists) should be treated to
the same criminal charges that anyone mailing out 10,000 fake invoices,
hoping that 1/4 of the recipients would send in a check, would get.
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
------------------------------
From: radezeeuw@yahoo.com <rdezeeuw@gmail.com>
Subject: Lingo - Stay Far, Far Away
Date: 4 Apr 2005 13:32:10 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com
I have had Lingo for a few months and continuously had bad connections
... after many calls to their tech department.
I cancelled it on March 9 and they told me that there was a
cancellation fee of $ 39.95 because I was beyond the trial period.
OK, fine, I can live with that.
Now I received a bill on our credit card statement for the normal
monthly fee, dated March 17 ... eight days after I cancelled.
I just called the billing department and they claim that the bill was
generated on March 5 and I should have been told that I might as well
wait to cancel until the end of March since the billing had already
occurred. But, I was not told that ... plus I was cancelling it
because it did not work.
So, in addition to the 39.95 cancellation fee, I get to pay for days
when I did not even use it.
Also -- I switched to AT&T Voice IP and it works GREAT!!!!
Stay far, far way from Lingo.
Rick DeZeeuw
------------------------------
From: Jack Decker <jack-yahoogroups@withheld at request>
Date: Mon, 04 Apr 2005 11:35:42 -0400
Subject: Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox Warns Consumers of Voice
Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/04-04-2005/0003329186&EDATE=
Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox Warns Consumers of Voice Over the
Internet Technology Limitations http://www.michigan.gov/ag
Cox Concerned About Lack of 9-1-1 Coverage
LANSING, Mich., April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney General Mike Cox
advised consumers today about possible limitations regarding "Voice
Over the Internet," or VoIP, technology. Advertised in Michigan, VoIP
technology may not offer access to 9-1-1 emergency services.
"While VoIP may offer less expensive telephone service, consumers
should be seriously concerned about the possible risks of not having
access to 9-1-1 emergency services," Cox said.
"I encourage every Michigan consumer to become informed about this new
technology and the important differences between it and traditional
telephone service, especially in regards to proper access to the 9-1-1
emergency system." VoIP technology allows consumers to make telephone
calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular
telephone line.
Some VoIP services do not provide access to emergency 9-1-1. A
Consumer Alert detailing Cox's concerns is available at the Attorney
General's Web site, http://www.michigan.gov/ag . "If the advertising,
brochure, or other marketing materials are silent on this issue, it is
likely that 9-1-1 is not being provided," Cox said. Even for those
companies that do provide 9-1-1 service, it may not be the full
service on which consumers rely.
For example, the landline telephone system automatically provides
9-1-1 operators with the caller's location, while the VoIP service may
not. Landline telephone systems also route 9-1-1 calls through
emergency phone lines while VoIP may route these calls to a general
call center. Even when the VoIP service includes traditional 9-1-1
access, it may not be automatically activated and consumers must take
proactive steps in order to place a 9-1-1 call.
If you are a VoIP subscriber:
* Verify that you can access 9-1-1 with your telephone by checking
your VoIP provider's Web site. DO NOT dial 9-1-1 to test your access
to the emergency response network.
* Be sure to activate the emergency calling feature of your
service plan, if applicable.
* If the power is out, your VoIP service may be out, too. Consider
purchasing a back up power supply.
* Inform children, babysitters, and visitors about your VoIP
service and relevant limitations.
* Consider keeping a landline telephone to access 9-1-1 emergency
services.
Consumers with a questions or a complaint about VoIP may contact
the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division toll-free at
1-877-765-8388, by writing to P.O. Box 30213, Lansing, MI 48909, or by
visiting http://www.michigan.gov/ag .
The Attorney General provides Consumer Alerts to inform the public
of unfair, misleading, or deceptive business practices, and to provide
information and guidance on other issues of concern.
SOURCE Michigan Attorney General Web Site: http://www.michigan.gov/ag
How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home:
http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html
If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/
------------------------------
ate: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 12:56:42 EDT
From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA <usta@dailylead.com>
Subject: Microsoft targets RIM's BlackBerry with software update
Telecom dailyLead from USTA
April 4, 2005
http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=20556&l=2017006
TODAY'S HEADLINES
NEWS OF THE DAY
* Microsoft targets RIM's BlackBerry with software update
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH
* Telecom Italia unloads TIM
* Alaska ILEC turns to softswitch technology
* SBC, Verizon set to begin long-awaited move into TV
USTA SPOTLIGHT
* Small Company Summit starts this Wednesday in Minneapolis
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
* Cable, high-tech industries draw closer in converged world
* Yahoo! seen pressuring Hollywood to produce for Internet
REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE
* AT&T appeals FCC decision on prepaid calling cards
Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others.
http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=20556&l=2017006
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 12:46:57 EDT
From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA <usta@dailylead.com>
Subject: Verizon Threatens to Walk Away From MCI Offer
Telecom dailyLead from USTA
April 5, 2005
http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=20591&l=2017006
TODAY'S HEADLINES
NEWS OF THE DAY
* Verizon threatens to walk away from MCI offer
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH
* Report: VoIP adoption poised to skyrocket
* Sprint lands cable deals
* Leap unveils flat-rate calling plan
USTA SPOTLIGHT
* Announcing Phone Facts Plus 2005
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
* Cable takes a shot at digital convergence
* The new broadband lifestyle
REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE
* Quebec's highest court outlaws satellite TV signal theft
Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others.
http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=20591&l=2017006
Legal and Privacy information at http://www.dailylead.com/about/privacy_legal.jsp
SmartBrief, Inc.
1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20005
------------------------------
From: Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net>
Subject: Re: The Real Reason Why SBC Won't Work With Vonage on E-911
Date: Mon, 04 Apr 2005 20:12:40 -0700
Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com
Justin Time wrote:
> The better rumor regarding Verizon and their plans is on the wireless
> front. They will let Sprint merge with Nextel and then take Sprint
> Wireless. Sprint PCS is the only other major CDMA carrier.
Wrong. Alltel just got a lot larger by buying CellularONE, and USCC is
not a bit player either (although they're significantly smaller than
the others).
Then, TELECOM Digest Editor questioned:
> My second question is, isn't the walkie-talkie feature of Nextel
> really just a fancy sort of speed dial which transmits over the
> speaker phone?
No.
> Nextel 'walkie talkie' style phone and my friend in Chicago used his
> Nextel walkie-talkie phone to call me, it surely would not go over
> some airwaves would it? PAT]
It would.
JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
"The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
--New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My next question, to Steven, is about
Alltel's purchase of Cellular One. _Which_ Cellular One? I had always
thought 'Cellular One' was a brand name for a consortium of various
cellular carriers which used the 'Cellular One' name. PAT]
------------------------------
From: Justin Time <a_user2000@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: The Real Reason Why SBC Won't Work With Vonage on E-911
Date: 5 Apr 2005 05:43:05 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com
TELECOM Digest Editor originally questioned, which is more of a
threat, SBC or Verizon:
As far as your first question, define threat. Is Verizon or SBC a
threat to what?
As far as Nextel, I am not the expert on Nextel and their technology,
but the analogy I use when discussing the differences between Nextel
and Cellular service and the attempts to recreate the "Direct Connect"
feature by carriers such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T was that Nextel
was a walkie-talkie with a phone feature, the others are a cell phone
with a walkie-talkie feature.
Nextel was built on the LMRS, or Land Mobile Radio Service frequencies
and services. This was the taxicab and business dispatch frequency
band. Nextel also incorporated a lot of the "Mom and Pop" paging
companies and their frequencies in order to obtain bandwidth. As far
as "Direct Connect" being a "fancy sort of speed dial", you could
probably argue that it is true just as my analogy is true. The Nextel
(actually Motorola) implementation is known for its connect speed,
normally in the range of just a couple of seconds vice the up to 10 or
more for the traditional cellular carriers. The conversation is
carried on in the same way as the walkie-talkies, most people scream
into their device and blast everyone in the area with the maximum
volume on the speaker.
Some have stated if the units are close enough they will transmit
between themselves directly without using a tower, otherwise they will
use a site and be carried just as if it were a cell-to-cell
conversation. We recently installed a Nextel base station in one of
our buildings and it is configured to carry a total of 19 concurrent
conversations on three frequencies. These include the "dispatch" or
two-way and regular cellular type calls. It is possible for a person
on the 6th floor to carry on a conversation to a unit in the basement
with their two-way. While it may not sound like much, the building is
almost 100 years old and has load-bearing walls on the top floor that
are almost two meters thick made out of red brick. There is a 28 dB
loss between the office on the outside of the wall and the inner part
of the building. In terms most can relate to, that's going from four
bars of signal to one.
But yes Pat, if you and your friend in Chicago wanted to hold a
walkie-talkie conversation it would be carried on both airwaves and
landlines.
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That sounds rather amazing to me, in
view of the fact that we are about 700 miles from Chicago, and I have
never yet seen any 'radio equipment' (with ease to carry around, and
battery operated and low radiation power) which could cover such a
distance. I could see a few miles in a city, or two such units in
a town like this where I am, but Citizen Band, 2-meter units, and
even the older style pocket pagers cannot 'make a trip' like that,
(700 miles from Chicago) but Nextel can?
Regards 'threat', I was referring to the 'threat' to consumers, in
making informed choices in telecom services. Which of them -- Verizon or
SBC -- is more likely to clamp the lid down on us sometime soon if
they are able to do so? PAT]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 21:13:35 -0600
From: nmclain@annsgarden.com
Subject: Re: USB to RJ-45 Console Cable?
JXM2119 <jxm2119_AT_rochester.rr.com@syrcnyrdrs-01.nyroc.rr.com> wrote:
> I would like to buy/make a cable that will have a USB
> connector on one end and an RJ-45 on the other.
If by "RJ-45" you mean an 8-position modular connector wired to carry
an Ethernet circuit, you'll need an adapter such as Planet Technology
Corp. Model PT9500. I have two of these devices in service,
connecting oldish PCs (W98) to a Linksys router. They work great.
L-Com sells the adapter, including the software driver (3.5" floppy), for
$29.00. See http://tinyurl.com/6ddc3 .
> I'm not sure if it is as easy as cutting off a connector
> on the usb and just terminating the RX/TX/GND like you
> can do with a serial cable (DB-9).
Ethernet uses balanced circuits, whereas EIA-232 (formerly RS-232) and
EIA-574 (same voltages as EIA-232, but implemented with a DB-9
connector) use unbalanced circuits. It takes more than just a
different connector to make the transition between balanced and
unbalanced.
Neal McLain
------------------------------
From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)
Subject: Re: USB to RJ-45 Console Cable?
Date: 4 Apr 2005 18:50:56 -0400
Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000)
JXM2119 <jxm2119_AT_rochester.rr.com@syrcnyrdrs-01.nyroc.rr.com>
wrote:
> I have already read and seen that there are cables/adapters that
> go from USB to DB-9. That would allow you to connect your standard
> serial console cable as you normally would. I am trying to find a way
> to eliminate this.
Those boxes have a lot of electronics inside them, basically one FPGA
that is programmed to do all the conversion.
> I would like to buy/make a cable that will have a USB connector on one
> end and an RJ-45 on the other. I'm not sure if it is as easy as
> cutting off a connector on the usb and just terminating the RX/TX/GND
> like you can do with a serial cable (DB-9).
No, it's not even close. This would be like transplanting a dog's
head on a human being. It takes a good bit of glue logic, and I
suppose you could build all the glue yourself with TTL but you'd wind
up with a big expensive box full of stuff.
What is wrong with the USB/RS-232C interface boxes that you don't like?
Can you just put a serial card in your machine?
--scott
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I'd feel very sorry for the dog, if
the animal lived through it all. PAT]
------------------------------
From: James Carlson <james.d.carlson@sun.com>
Subject: Re: USB to RJ-45 Console Cable?
Date: 05 Apr 2005 11:13:57 -0400
Organization: Sun Microsystems
JXM2119 <> writes:
> I have already read and seen that there are cables/adapters that
> go from USB to DB-9. That would allow you to connect your standard
> serial console cable as you normally would. I am trying to find a way
> to eliminate this.
> I would like to buy/make a cable that will have a USB connector on one
> end and an RJ-45 on the other. I'm not sure if it is as easy as
> cutting off a connector on the usb and just terminating the RX/TX/GND
> like you can do with a serial cable (DB-9).
Most of the ones I've seen have the electronics that "convert" USB
into RS-232 embedded in the DB-9 end of the cable, so lopping that off
would give you a useless wire.
> I know there may be some issues with going from USB to RS-232
> signaling and I could always build some kind of breakout box in the
> middle.
> Any thoughts?????
It's probably simpler to get a passive DB-9 to RJ45 adapter and plug
that on the end of a USB to DB-9 cable.
James Carlson, KISS Interop <james.d.carlson@sun.com>
Sun Microsystems / 1 Network Drive 71.234W Vox +1 781 442 2084
MS UBUR02-212 / Burlington MA 01803-2757 42.497N Fax +1 781 442 1677
------------------------------
From: SELLCOM Tech support <support@sellcom.com>
Subject: Re: Sprint PCS Vision Added to Open Relay DataBase
Organization: www.sellcom.com
Reply-To: support@sellcom.com
Date: Sun, 03 Apr 2005 18:25:49 GMT
jmeissen@aracnet.com posted on that vast internet thingie:
> In article <telecom24.138.7@telecom-digest.org>,
> Eric Friedebach <friedebach@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> It seems that Sprint has been added to the Open Relay DataBase
>> <www.ordb.org> by mistake somehow. Sprint has no idea how this
>> happened, and they can't tell me when this will be resolved.
If you trace route to many of the spam / porn sites being spamvertised
you will find that their websites are provided US connectivity by the
scum at sprintlink.net. I have had some that I have received spam for
weeks and sprintlink.net continues to enable the foreign spam websites
in spite of repeated notice.
Steve
http://www.sellcom.com
Discount multihandset cordless phones by Panasonic
5.8Ghz 2line; TMC ET4300 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Brickmail voicemail
Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Firewood splitters www.splitlogs.com
If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz. New www.electrictrains.biz
------------------------------
From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)
Subject: Re: Sprint PCS Vision Added to Open Relay DataBase
Date: 4 Apr 2005 18:59:05 -0400
Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000)
Eric Friedebach <friedebach@yahoo.com> wrote:
> It seems that Sprint has been added to the Open Relay DataBase
> <www.ordb.org> by mistake somehow. Sprint has no idea how this
> happened, and they can't tell me when this will be resolved.
In my basic experience, ORDB is pretty good about removing sites
within a day or so of a problem being resolved. This, however,
requires sysadmins who understand how the mail system works and who
have the skill to fix it. This is almost certainly absent at Sprint
if my experiences with them are any judge.
These days the most common way of getting an open relay is to have a
Windows machine that is infected with any one of a number of viruses
that install them. But, with a machine that is intended to relay
messages to an external network, there are a large number of ways that
an incompetent admin can hose things up. I would not be surprised if
nobody at Sprint DOES understand the problem. --scott
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
------------------------------
From: Gene S. Berkowitz <first.last@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: Some Concerned About Privacy Implications of E-ZPass System
Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 23:26:10 -0400
In article <telecom24.1 43.12@telecom-digest.org>, dave@compata.com
says:
> Stuart Barkley <stuartb@4gh.net> writes:
>> The article and discussion here both miss what I consider a more
>> important issue with the EZ-pass system:
> And another issue, maybe not so important, but serious for some:
> portability. If you travel on business and rent a car, you are usually
> stuck using the cash lanes on local toll roads. Even if you have a
> working transponder at home which is compatible with the local system,
> you aren't supposed to try using it. The transponder is only valid for
> use in a registered vehicle, which your rental car isn't.
> Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA "Politics is the business of getting
> dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359 power and privilege without
> dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu possessing merit." - P. J. O'Rourke
I've been wondering about this. Why can't the rental cars include an
EZ-pass, then simply bill you for tolls accrued during the rental
period?
The only thing worse than a clueless tourist is a clueless tourist
blocking the EZ-pass lane.
--Gene
------------------------------
From: Justin Time <a_user2000@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Some Concerned About Privacy Implications of E-ZPass System
Date: 4 Apr 2005 12:35:06 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Uhmm "Registered Vehicle"????
> The transponder is only valid for use in a registered vehicle, which
> your rental car isn't.
Since when aren't rental cars registered? Every one I've ever driven,
and even those in the state of California had a vehicle registration in
the car -- or else it wouldn't have had plates.
------------------------------
From: Hank Karl <notgiven@nothere.com>
Subject: Re: Every Ten Days
Date: Mon, 04 Apr 2005 17:00:37 -0400
Organization: NETPLEX Internet Services - http://www.ntplx.net/
On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 18:08:04 -0500, Choreboy
<choreboyREMOVE@localnet.com> wrote:
> I hesitate to call the toll-free number, but I don't want to keep
> running to answer the phone for a company that intends to hang up on
> me. What should I do?
Report them to the FCC. The TSR (which includes the national "do not
call" list) requires Telemarketers to have a low call abandonment
rate, and to play a message stating who called if no agent is
available. They also must allow the phone to ring for either (IIRC)
four rings or fifteen seconds.
> Choreboy
> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That telephone number 1-877-467-3277
> belongs to 'Sears Home Improvement Products'. PAT]
------------------------------
From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader)
Subject: Re: Does Your Computer Look Like This?
Date: Mon, 04 Apr 2005 21:29:52 -0000
Organization: Inline Software Creations
Patrick Townson <ptownson@cableone.net> writes:
> with the Rand Corporation put together an artist's conception of what
> computers would look like in fifty years, in 2004. Look at it here.
> http://www.mountainwings.com/past/5082.htm
> This is _not_ an April Fool's joke.
Perhaps not, but it is a made up picture:
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/computer.asp *
* PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something
like corkscrews.
------------------------------
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