TELECOM Digest     Sun, 12 Jun 2005 16:30:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 264

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Hubble Telescope to View Comet Collision (Lisa Minter)
    Not Ready for Their Close-Up (Monty Solomon)
    Companies Subvert Search Results to Squelch Criticism (Monty Solomon)
    Latest Bluetooth Attack Makes Short Work of Weak Passwords (M Solomon)
    Internet Satellite Service in Africa (Tom Rossi)
    Bidfraud Website "Grand Opening" -- Read About Capabilities (Stop Fraud)
    Re: Cellphone Curiosity (Tim@Backhome.org)
    Re: Cellphone Curiosity (Joseph)
    Re: Cell Phone Rental in Europe (Joseph)
    Re: Cell Phone Rental in Europe (John Levine)
    Re: Schools Prohibit Personal E-mail Sites (Robert Bonomi)
    Re: Bellsouth Caller ID (Choreboy)
    Re: Mac iBook and Bluetooth Cordless Headphones? (Joseph)

Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
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and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest.  

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: Hubble Telescope to View Comet Collision
Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2005 21:45:19 -0500


By ALEX DOMINGUEZ, Associated Press Writer

The Hubble Space Telescope will be watching when the University of
Maryland's Deep Impact space probe crashes into a comet July 4,
setting off a cosmic firework that may be visible on Earth.

The best view is expected to be had by the Deep Impact probe itself,
but officials at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which
coordinates Hubble's use, say they are ready for anything.

"We will be here and we'll be working," said Cheryl Gundy, a
spokeswoman for the Space Telescope Science Institute.

Hubble was also trained on the collision of comet Shoemaker Levy and
Jupiter in 1994 and "had those great results. We're hoping well see
something similar," Gundy said.

While the Shoemaker Levy collision was the first collision of two
solar system bodies ever observed, if all goes well, the Deep Impact
mission will mark the first time a spacecraft has struck a comet.

As Deep Impact nears the end of its six-month journey, the Hubble is
also observing the comet to help guide mission officials, Gundy said.

Observations by Hubble and the Spitzer space telescopes in 2004 helped
paint a clearer picture of the comet, showing it to be about 8.7 miles
by 2.5 miles, or half the size of the island of Manhattan, with a
matte black color.

Mission officials said Thursday that the probe is on course and they
have a method to deal with one camera that is not focusing properly.

Deep Impact, launched Jan. 12, has two parts, an "impactor" that will
be released to collide with Tempel 1, possibly creating a stadium-size
gouge, and a fly-by craft with instruments to observe the
collision. NASA announced in March that the High Resolution Instrument
on the fly-by craft was not focusing properly, and mission officials
said Thursday they will use a mathematical process called
deconvolution to reverse the distortion.

The High Resolution Instrument is designed to deliver light
simultaneously to a multispectral camera and to an infrared
spectrometer. The fly-by spacecraft also carries a Medium Resolution
Instrument, which is a smaller telescope, and the impactor also has a
camera.

Comets are believe to contain raw materials from the birth of our
solar system and scientists hope the collision will reveal secrets
contained since the comet was created billions of years ago.

In addition to instruments on board the spacecraft, the impact will
also be observed by NASA's Hubble, Spitzer and Chandra space
telescopes, and by big telescopes on Earth.

With all of those eyes on the sky, no one is really sure what they
will see, said the mission's principal investigator, University of
Maryland professor of astronomy Michael A'Hearn.

"The important point everyone has to realize is the uncertainty is so
large we don't know what to expect," A'Hearn said at a preview
briefing Thursday at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

The University of Maryland provides overall mission management while
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the project for NASA's Science
Mission Directorate. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder,
Colo., built the spacecraft for NASA.

"It is possible that the change will be so small you can't see it with
anything less than a four-meter telescope. It could be much more than
that, it could be that you could see the change with binoculars,"
A'Hearn said.  "You just have to be aware of the uncertainty."


On the Net:
http://www.nasa.gov/deepimpact

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 08:00:14 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Not Ready for Their Close-Up


By CLIVE THOMPSON

Cap Lesesne, a New York plastic surgeon, hears from a lot of women
worried about aging. Late last year, he says, he had one visitor, a
female newscaster, whose inquiries puzzled him. She was only in her
30's, he says, and still looked terrific. (Lesesne, citing
doctor-patient confidentiality, wouldn't identify the woman.) When he
asked her why she wanted surgery, she explained that her show was
about to begin broadcasting in 'high-definition,' the hot new
digital technology that makes TV images look as crisp and sharp as
IMAX films. On normal TV, she said, you can't see her few tiny
wrinkles; in high-def, they stand out like folds of origami. "When
she walked in here," Lesesne says, " 'high-def' was the first thing
that came out of her mouth."

Celebrities are considered attractive at least in part because they're
suited to the technology of the age. The transition from silent movies
to talkies destroyed many actors' careers, as did the shift from
black-and-white to color. While almost all prime-time TV on the major
broadcast networks is shot in high-def, there are only 18 million of
the pricey, wide-screen sets in use. But that number is expected to
more than triple by next year, and the new scrutiny that comes with
high-def is already making some on-camera talent nervous.  "There are
a lot of people who are going to be affected by this," says Deborah
Paulmann, a makeup artist for "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/12/magazine/12PHENOM.html?ex=1276228800&en=d395cd722b894f27&ei=5090

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

Read New York Times on line here each day with _no_ registration nor
login requirements. Just click headlines and read the stories at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html .   

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 14:49:15 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Companies Subvert Search Results to Squelch Criticism


It's not illegal, but it's SEO gone bad. Companies such as Quixtar are
using Google-bombing, link farms and Web spam pages to place positive
sites in the top search results -- which pushes the negative ones
down.

By Mark Glaser

Someone tells you they have the opportunity of a lifetime for you. A
way to make money by becoming an independent business owner through
Quixtar. You're not sure about Quixtar and want to learn more, so you
consult your favorite Internet search engine -- Google, Yahoo, MSN,
Ask Jeeves -- and type in the word "Quixtar."

What you see next are search results, and most likely you'll just
check out the first page or two of links. But the first result you see
in Google is a Weblog called Quixtar Blog, and in fact, the official
Quixtar site, Quixtar.com, doesn't even appear on the first page of
results. What's going on here? How could Google rank an independent
blog that is not even affiliated with Quixtar as the top result?

The answer isn't a simple one and can't be answered directly as Google
and other search engines will not spell out exactly how their top
secret algorithms work. But after reading through Quixtar Blog, the
picture becomes clearer: The company, a revamped online version of
Amway, has had trouble with critics online and decided to fight them
by unloading an arsenal of search engine optimization (SEO) techniques
that go against accepted marketing techniques and into the muddy world
of Web page spam, also known as link farms and Google bombing.

To put it simply, Quixtar enlisted various people to help create
dozens of Weblogs that linked to each other and were filled with
positive stories and key words. The idea is to help put these newer
blogs at the top of search results for phrases such as "Quixtar
success" and "Quixtar opportunity," while more critical sites such as
Quixtar Blog and Amquix.info would drop down.

But Quixtar is not alone. Every major company, non-profit and
religious group now has to worry about their Web reputation and has to
pay very close attention to that first page of search results.

http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/050601glaser/

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 15:00:33 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Latest Bluetooth Attack Makes Short Work of Weak Passwords


Robert Lemos, SecurityFocus

Phones, PCs and mobile devices that use the wireless Bluetooth
standard for short-range communications are open to eavesdropping
attacks if their users do not set long passwords, researchers said
this week.

The two-step attack can cause two devices to reestablish the link
between them, a process known as "pairing," and then use the data
exchanged during pairing to guess the password that secures the
connection in well under a second. A successful attack could allow an
attacker to eavesdrop and potentially issue commands to the other
device, said Avishai Wool, assistant professor of electrical
engineering at Tel Aviv University in Israel and a co-author of the
paper.

"At a minimum, it allows the attacker to eavesdrop on all the
subsequent encrypted communication between two Bluetooth devices,"
Wool said in an e-mail interview. "If the attacker can also fake his
own Bluetooth device address, he can potentially pretend to be one
device and pair with the other, which may allow him to issue
commands."

The attacker could conceivable mimic any other supported Bluetooth
device, such as a headset for a phone, he said. If the one device
could extract personal data from or issue commands to the other, then
so could the attacker.

The paper, which was presented at the MobiSys 2005 conference on
Monday, caused a stir among security experts because the technique is
the first general purpose attack to threaten Bluetooth devices. Past
attacks only worked against devices that improperly implemented
Bluetooth or under special circumstances.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the organization that sets
the specifications for the standard, placed the latest attack in the
latter category, because devices that have longer, alphanumeric PINs
are effectively protected against the technique.

http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11202
http://www.eng.tau.ac.il/~yash/Bluetooth/

------------------------------

From: TomRossi7 <tomrossi7@gmail.com>
Subject: Internet Satellite Service in Africa
Date: 12 Jun 2005 12:10:55 -0700


Does anyone have any experience with the IPSky2e or any other Internet
Satellite providers in Africa?  I need to pick one and there seems to
be HUGE differences between the prices, equipment, etc.

Thanks,

Tom

------------------------------

From: Stop Fraud <thankyou@x.com>
Subject: Bidfraud Website "Grand Opening" -- Read Inside for capabilities
Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 16:08:19 GMT
Organization: Road Runner


Bidfraud Website "Grand Opening" -- Read Inside for capabilities

After 1000 plus hours in development - Bidfraud.com is "breathing."

http://www.bidfraud.com

Features:

Capable of archiving ebay auction transactions locally on our server.
This is important, as ebay deletes transactions every few months.  It
is as simple as entering an ebay item number when creating a report.

Example of archived ebay page:

   http://www.bidfraud.com/cachedpages/6113839605/alouette-amusement/6113839605.html

The above archived page, while it still exists at bidfraud.com, no
longer exists at ebay.com

Report templates contain an area to write a narrative as well as an
interface to upload as many as 10 images/files (word & excel, etc.)
The use of pictures as well as other supporting documents will help to
substantiate and validate a claim.

Example of report with pictures:

http://www.bidfraud.com/example.php

Easy search interface capable of finding a suspect by user name, email
or item number at various sites.

Simple private messaging, including a chat system are provided.

Registration is Free.

Easy to use interface.

If you wish to advertise on the site, it is free, but space is
limited.  Please use contact page on http://www.bidfraud.com to make a
request.

Example of ad layout/dimensions:

http://www.bidfraud.com/ads.htm

Next time you leave negative feedback at ebay or any other site,
please reference them to bidfraud.

Thank you. 

------------------------------

From: Tim@Backhome.org
Subject: Re: Cellphone Curiosity
Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 07:02:24 -0700
Organization: Cox Communications


Thomas A. Horsley wrote:

> Now that my silly gadget for making my phone's ring loud enough works:

>    http://home.att.net/~Tom.Horsley/markII/markII.html

> I have come to wonder about I thing I see all the time: People in cars
> talking on cellphones while the stero is cranked up lound enough to
> rattle windows a block away.

> How do they hear? How does the person on the other end hear? How did
> they hear it ring to know to answer it (or maybe they only make
> outgoing calls to let their friends know how lound their sound system
> is? :-).

How do they drive?  (Answer: Terribly)

------------------------------

From: Joseph <JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Cellphone Curiosity
Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 07:49:40 -0700
Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com


On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 21:51:39 GMT, tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A.
Horsley) wrote:

> I have come to wonder about I thing I see all the time: People in cars
> talking on cellphones while the stero is cranked up lound enough to
> rattle windows a block away.

They have to turn it up so loud because they have lost most of their
hearing from turning it up so loud that the windows in the
neighborhood rattle.

------------------------------

From: Joseph <JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Cell Phone Rental in Europe
Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 07:44:57 -0700
Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com


On 11 Jun 2005 09:39:40 -0700, marty@ceflorida.com wrote:

> Traveling to Greece and Turkey (Istanbul)and am seeking a reliable and
> competitively priced company to rent a cell phone from. Would also
> like a recommendation as to which phone I should select.

You do not state how long you will be in Greece and Turkey, but in any
event if it is at least a couple weeks you would be advised to *not*
rent a cell phone.  Rental rates for cell phones are exhorbitant.
With what you spend on rentals you could buy your own equipment and
buy local prepaid SIMs (internal phone cards) for the phone during
your time in Greece and Turkey.  

A used dual band handset which you would need in Greece and Turkey can
likely be found on eBay for $50 or less if you're willing to settle
for used equipment.  Personally I'd recommend a Nokia unit such as the
Nokia 3310/3410 or 3510.  Prepaid in Turkey can be had for as little
as an initial outlay of 13 Euros.  In Greece you can get a prepaid SIM
for anywhere between 9 and 19 Euros and topups for 5 Euros or so.
It's likely that you'll pay around $20/day for the privilege of
renting a cell phone.  It's much smarter to buy a second-hand phone
and either save it for future trips or sell it when you get home.

Check out http://prepaidgsm.net

------------------------------

Date: 12 Jun 2005 15:47:25 -0000
From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com>
Subject: Re: Cell Phone Rental in Europe
Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA


> Traveling to Greece and Turkey (Istanbul)and am seeking a reliable
> and competitively priced company to rent a cell phone from. Would
> also like a recommendation as to which phone I should select.

Unless you're only going to be there for a couple of days, you'll be
much better off if you buy a phone and get prepaid SIMs once you get
there.  It costs as much to rent a phone for a week or two as to buy
one.

You can get a euro 900/1800 or triband 900/1800/1900 phone on ebay for
under $50.  Be sure to get one that has been unlocked to work on any
GSM carrier.  (Not "can be" unlocked, any phone can be unlocked, in
theory.)  When you get to Greece and to Turkey, buy local prepaid
SIMs, or if you want, you can buy them online ahead of time which
costs more but you know in advance what your numbers will be.

If your goal is primarily so that people in the US can reach you, and
you have a Cingular, AT&T, or T-Mobile GSM phone here, you can use
your current SIM in a euro phone.  The per-minute rates are quite
high, but you keep your own US phone number.  Call them before you go
to get international roaming enabled, and ask if they have an addon
plan with lower roaming rates.

Another possibility is a "universal" SIM with a Liechtenstein or
Monaco phone number.  Their rates are not as cheap as a local SIM, but
you can get one SIM and use it all over Europe and Turkey at the same
not too awful rate.

------------------------------

From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi)
Subject: Re: Schools Prohibit Personal E-mail Sites
Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 05:47:11 -0000
Organization: Widgets, Inc.


In article <telecom24.262.10@telecom-digest.org>,
<nospam4me@mytrashmail.com> wrote:

> Robert Bonomi <bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com> wrote:

>> I've sat in a federal courtroom, and witnessed sentencing for an 18
>> USC 641 violation.  It wasn't a single egregious act, but an ongoing
>> series of really 'little' things. After having been reminded by
>> management "not to".  The idjit had a side-line personal business, and
>> was doing stuff for it at the office, after hours -- writing
>> correspondence, and printing it out, doing estimates in a
>> spread-sheet, a little bit of photo-copying, etc.

> So what kind of sentence did the above malfeasant Federal employee get
> for doing the above?

"Merely" 6 months in prison (max. term is 1 year).  No fine, as I
recall.

------------------------------

From: Choreboy <choreboyREMOVE@localnet.com>
Subject: Re: Bellsouth Caller ID
Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 04:12:48 -0400
Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com


Robert Bonomi wrote:

> In article <telecom24.261.2@telecom-digest.org>,
> Choreboy  <choreboyREMOVE@localnet.com> wrote:

> [[..  munch  ..]]

>> So Bellsouth won't tell me what cellphone carriers provide names for
>> their Caller ID.  Is this information available anywhere?

> Not suprising.  Bellsouth *doesn't*know* who provides names, and who
> doesn't.

> All they can do is pass along what is supplied.

> Probably just knowing the cell carrier is not sufficient.

> It probably depends on the type of servicecontract as well.  e.g., I
> doubt names are even available to the carrier for 'pre-paid' phones.

I wonder what carriers would supply names?  With a land line, if you
pay for an unpublished number, your name won't show up on a Caller ID
display, will it?  It seems to me that a cellphone customer is paying
for an unpublished number.  Unwanted calls to a cellphone can be
terribly inconvenient as well as costing the customer minutes.

Suppose in a traffic jam, you call the dentist to say you'll be ten
minutes late.  Six months later your cell phone rings as you drive to
work.  You have told nobody your number except your wife and daughter,
and they know you don't want to be called while driving.  Thinking it
must be an emergency, you reach for the phone and wreck your car.

The next day your phone begins chirping during a funeral.  Because
your wife and daughter are with you, you never expected this.  By the
time you turn it off you are getting dirty looks.

The day after that, it rings while you are in the checkout line at a
supermarket.  It's the dentist's receptionist reminding you to
schedule a checkup.  You are in no position to check your schedule.

If you start getting calls like that because a receptionist's computer
got your cellphone number from Caller ID, won't you be likely to
change carriers?

------------------------------

From: Joseph <JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Mac iBook and Bluetooth Cordless Headphones?
Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 07:47:51 -0700
Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com


On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 10:19:57 -0700, AES <siegman@stanford.edu> wrote:

> Is there an audio or Bluetooth group that would be a better place to
> ask about this?

On Usenet: alt.cellular.bluetooth

It's not a terribly active group, but it's likely that if you ask a
question there someone may have any answer.

You might ask a question in the mac applications group on usenet as
well.

------------------------------


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