TELECOM Digest     Tue, 21 Jun 2005 20:45:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 283

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Book Review: Guide to Telecommunications - Annabel Dodd (P. Townson)
    NFL in Talks With Sprint, Others For Wireless Video (Telecom dailyLead)
    Re: New Virus: Was He Actually Guilty? (hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com)
    Re: Power Strips for Home Networks (Dan Lanciani)
    Re: Power Strips for Home Networks (Scott Dorsey)
    Re: Power Strips for Home Networks (Dale Farmer)
    Re: Bell Divestiture (Wesrock@aol.com)
    Re: Bell Divestiture (John Levine)
    Re: Bell Divestiture (hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com)
    Re: Bell Divestiture (Tony P.)
    Re: XO Communications (Scott Dorsey)
    Re: Which Video Plug-in For Skype? Video4Skype.com/vSkype.com? (Dean M.)
    Re: Ping Between PC Through PABX (T. Sean Weintz)
    Re: Ping Between PC Through PABX (Dave Garland)
    Re: Monitor/Recorder for Residential Power Line Outages? (Lisa Hancock)
    Re: Companies Want _US_ to Pay For Their Mistakes (mc)
    Re: '80' Country Code (Mark Crispin)
    Re: Worst Phishing Fraud Attack Ever! 40 Million Cards Affected (mc)
    Re: Is it Possible to Buy a Cell Phone With no Plan? (Joseph)

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-
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               ===========================

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: TELECOM Digest Editor <ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu>
Subject: Book Review: Essential Guide to Telecommunications - Dodd
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 16:02:28 EDT


A new reference book for all of you I highly recommend:

Annabel Z. Dodd's 
The Essential Guide to Telecommunications, Fourth Edition

It is described in detail at http://telecom-digest.org/doddbook.html
and it can also be ordered direct from the publisher, Prentice Hall.

http://www.phptr.com/title/0131487256 is a detailed description of the
book, and chapter 1 has been placed on line here in .pdf format. 

Ms. Dodd is a professor of telecommunications in the Boston area, and
she has been on the Digest mailing list for a long time, and I under-
stand will be contributing to our discussions here from time to time. 
Please check out her credentials at
http://telecom-digest.org/doddbook.html then also check out her 
web site and welcome her to our discussions.    

PAT
 
------------------------------

Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 12:37:30 EDT
From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA <usta@dailylead.com>
Subject: NFL in Talks With Sprint, Others for Wireless Video


Telecom dailyLead from USTA
June 21, 2005
http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=22505&l=2017006

		TODAY'S HEADLINES
	
NEWS OF THE DAY
* NFL in talks with Sprint, others for wireless video deals
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH
* More Web surfers switch to broadband
* BSkyB offers broadband TV service
* Cable companies eye privatization to ease phone entry
* Worldwide Wi-Fi hotspots surpass 65,000
USTA SPOTLIGHT 
* In the Telecom Bookstore: Broadband Facts
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
* Cisco unveils AON
REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE
* High Court rejects property rights case
* Adelphia's Rigases get stiff sentences

Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others.
http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=22505&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


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What exactly is supposed to be
'wireless video'?  Isn't that just a wireless cam (such as I 
have a couple of) one for the back yard birds and one for my
weather station http://weatherforecast.us.tf or is it something
a bit more elegant and fancy?  My cameras and the associated base
stations only cost about a hundred dollars each, with a range of
a couple hundred feet or so. PAT]

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: New Virus: Was He Actually Guilty?
Date: 21 Jun 2005 10:32:31 -0700


Patrick Townson wrote:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Poor Michael Jackson. For a couple
> weeks, viruses were being circulated via a bogus press release
> which claimed he 'committed suicide'. Now a new virus is making
> the rounds purporting to be a questionairre on his guilt or
> innocence, and offering prizes to the people who venture their
> opinions on same. PAT]

How much money did they spend to investigate and prosecute Jackson?

How much money are they spending to investigate and prosecute virus
producers?

Likewise, what are they doing to investigate and prosecute the black
market vendors in stolen credit cards (see today's NYT at
http://telecom-digest.org/nytimes.html )?

P.S.  FWIW, Lifetime Channel is running a movie about a teen boy who
gets hooked on Internet porn.  IMHO their stuff is not accurate and is
just overwrought melodramas.  To put it another way, are kids really
committing suicide as a result of "Internet bullying"?


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am told the prosecution of Michael
Jackson took _BIG $$_. So big, the county had to borrow money from
other accounts to be able to do any other prosecutions at all this
year. Poor prosecutor ... for a dozen years now he has had his heart
set on winning that case. It looks like he struck out again; but I
am certain with some meditation and effort and the cheering squad at
Fox News behind him, he will try again in another year or so. 

Regards virus producers, I don't think they are doing anything. ICANN
would not approve of it, and anyway, as the hotshot netters would say,
we cannot dictate how other users run their sites, and the term 
'obnoxious' is undefined in their minds. Interesting you should
comment on Lifetime Channel; IMO they are tied for last place with
Fox News.  PAT]

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

Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 14:03:55 -0400 (EDT)
From: Dan Lanciani <ddl@danlan.com>
Subject: Re: Power Strips for Home Networks


fatkinson@mishmash.com (Fred Atkinson) wrote:

> I suspect that some of you are experiencing this or have already
> solved it.  So, maybe one of you can tell me where I can find
> something to solve this problem.

> I've accumulated so many devices on my home network (and some devices
> that are not network related as well) that power strips are an issue.
> Most of these devices have the big 'calculator charger' type of power
> supply that plugs directly into the AC outlet.

> I've been looking for some type of power strip that has eight or more
> outlets that are spaced far enough apart that you can plug all of
> these things into them without overlapping each other.

> Searching the Internet, I've not found anything like this.  The best
> is one of those long power strips that you usually install on the wall
> as a permanent part of the house electrical system.  I think there
> might be something much better.  Or maybe someone has a better
> suggestion.

> Any ideas?  

Others have already mentioned the mini extension cords and power
strips specially designed for wall warts.  (I just picked up two
8-outlet Power Sentry strips at Walmart for less than $8 each.  These
have three outlets on one side with extra space and five on the other
with more normal space.  They are cheaply constructed and are not
surge suppressors, the latter being a feature. :)

Before the market developed those targeted solutions I became rather
creative with ordinary 3-way taps.  These can be used both to elevate
one wall wart enough to clear another in the next outlet space and to
move one or more wall warts off to the side.  This all works best when
the outlet strip is in an outlet-up orientation.

Cheap ungrounded 3-way taps come in three basic styles: ones which do
not rotate the top tap outlet relative to the plug, ones that rotate
it 90 degrees clockwise, and ones that rotate it 90 degrees
counter-clockwise.  (The distinction between the last two is important
when you are dealing with polarized plugs.)  It helps to have an
assortment of styles on hand.  Heavier grounded T-style taps are also
useful when (obviously) you have a (less common) grounded wall wart
and when you want a slightly more robust mounting and/or side-hanging
arrangement.

Dan Lanciani
ddl@danlan.*com

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

From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)
Subject: Re: Power Strips for Home Networks
Date: 21 Jun 2005 14:39:57 -0400
Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000)


Fred Atkinson  <fatkinson@mishmash.com> wrote:

> I've accumulated so many devices on my home network (and some devices
> that are not network related as well) that power strips are an issue.
> Most of these devices have the big 'calculator charger' type of power
> supply that plugs directly into the AC outlet.

These are called "Wall Warts."

> I've been looking for some type of power strip that has eight or more
> outlets that are spaced far enough apart that you can plug all of
> these things into them without overlapping each other.

One thing you can do is run several devices off of one power supply,
if you have enough of them with the same voltage demands.

But I think what you want is "Dr. Ferd's Wart Remover."

--scott

"C'est un Nagra.  C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

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

From: Dale Farmer <dale@cybercom.net>
Organization: The  fuzz in the back of the fridge. 
Subject: Re: Power Strips for Home Networks
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 20:17:43 GMT


Fred Atkinson wrote:

> I suspect that some of you are experiencing this or have already
> solved it.  So, maybe one of you can tell me where I can find
> something to solve this problem.

> I've accumulated so many devices on my home network (and some devices
> that are not network related as well) that power strips are an issue.
> Most of these devices have the big 'calculator charger' type of power
> supply that plugs directly into the AC outlet.

> I've been looking for some type of power strip that has eight or more
> outlets that are spaced far enough apart that you can plug all of
> these things into them without overlapping each other.

> Searching the Internet, I've not found anything like this.  The best
> is one of those long power strips that you usually install on the wall
> as a permanent part of the house electrical system.  I think there
> might be something much better.  Or maybe someone has a better
> suggestion.

> Any ideas?

For two pin wall warts, I use these oddball extension cords they sell
for Christmas tree lights. One plug connected to the wall, and then
over the next 15 or so feet of cable, there are three separate plug
blocks with three sets of plugs.  This easily accepts six wall warts,
and if I have wall warts that are not polarized, three more can
usually be added.  You can also buy more expensive power strips that
have outlets spaced further apart.

Dale


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Don't you have any trouble with those
blinking off and on every couple seconds?  I used those one time
specifically to make an automatic 'intercom buzzer'. I wired a couple
telephone sets in series with a battery-eliminator in the middle to
do the intercom talking path, then I wired part of the network in 
the phone itself to make a connection when either phone went off hook
(so as to activate the 'buzzer' in the phone on the other end. So that
it sounded 'realistic' and the buzzer did not make constant noise
until the other phone was also taken off hook (to answer) I wired that
part of it through a 'christmas tree' socket; the effect was to make
the desired phone go 'buzz ...  buzz, buzz ... buzz' until it got
answered.  PAT]

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

From: Wesrock@aol.com
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 16:32:40 EDT
Subject: Re: Bell Divestiture


In a message dated Tue, 21 Jun 2005 01:07:05 -0000, 
bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) writes:

> Repeating for the illiterate:

>    'native' touch-tone operation was substantially cheaper for the telco
>    than was 'native' pulse dialing.

>    They retrofitted dial-to-pulse conversion on SxS switches so that they
>    could 'pre-convert' customers to touch-tone before the switch was 
>    converted to native touch-tone dialing.

> This was a "short-term" expenditure of money now, to maximize
> "long-term" benefits.  By having a significant "installed base" of
> touch-tone users *already*in*place* when the C.O. was converted to
> _native_touch-tone_ handling, they could get by with far fewer sets of
> digit decoders (dial or pulse).  With 'pulse' tieing up the decoders
> for average more than five times as long as touch-tone, there _was_
> significant benefit to be obtained.  getting even 20% of the calls on
> touch-tone, meant a _halving_ of the number of decoder elements
> required.

What was the cost of the touch-tone oscillator for a telephone set,
vs.  the cost of a rotary dial?  There were millions of telephone sets
out there, and at the time that was introduced the phones were
installed, owned and maintained by the telco.  The cost of the
oscillators (key pads) would be considerable expense, particularly if
the cost was significantly higher than a rotary dial.

Wes Leatherock
wesrock@aol.com
wleathus@yahoo.com

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

Date: 21 Jun 2005 20:49:09 -0000
From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com>
Subject: Re: Bell Divestiture
Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA


> You apparently know more about DTSS than _Dartmouth_ does.  I checked
> the Dartmouth history before posting that. Yes, Dartmouth invented
> time-sharing, I acknowledged that.

Actually, an early version of CTSS was running at MIT in November
1961.  By 1963 they had dialup terminal users connecting via 103A
modems through the MIT PBX.  SDC's Q-32 time-sharing system was also
running in 1963.

DTSS was a technical marvel, but they were quite aware of CTSS which
was only a few hours away by car or train.  I'd say that the two big
advances in DTSS were Basic, which was designed to make computing
accessible to non-technical students, and the clever internal design
of DTSS as mostly a transaction monitor so they could run 100 users on
a GE 635 that was no faster than a PDP-10 that could only handle 20.

R's,

John

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: Bell Divestiture
Date: 21 Jun 2005 14:03:51 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com


Robert Bonomi wrote:

> You apparently know more about DTSS than _Dartmouth_ does.  I checked
> the Dartmouth history before posting that. Yes, Dartmouth invented
> time-sharing, I acknowledged that.  Development _started_ in 1963, but
> it wasn't operational until May of 1964. (It supported an entire *TWO*
> terminals in its original form.)

Thank you for being ever so precise.  We'll come back to this later.

> Your opinion does not agree with the official rulings of the Illinois
> regulatory authorities.  Thus, it is safe to say that in the
> jurisdiction where the events occurred, you are quite wrong.

What were the rulings of all the other states?  How was it handled
in Canada?

> Putting a bigger engine in a Corvette will let it "go faster"; it is
> utterly irrelevant, however, to increasing the number of passengers
> that that car can carry.

Yes, it does.  For one, the car could make multiple trips.  The
passengers might spend the same amount of time doing their shopping or
whatever, but a faster car will cut down the travel down.

Further, if roads are blocked, a fast car can make more choices to get
around the blockade, perhaps go way out of its way to get through.

> You've never seen tracks for two competing railroads running
> side-by-side?  Tell me, in 1950, say, who had the 'monopoly' for
> passenger service between New York City, and Chicago?  Or for freight
> between those locations, for that matter?

There are certainly tracks running side by side, but NOT for the
entire distance from origin and destination points or the route via
intermediate points.  For your example, there were multiple railroads
between NYC and Chicago, but all took their own routing and began and
ended in different places.  (Some railroads used tracks or terminals
of another).

> This was a "short-term" expenditure of money now, to maximize
> "long-term" benefits.

That's very.  But earlier you made it sound as if that practice was
somehow 'bad' i.e., "the Bell System never did anything unless it was
forced to".  Well, I don't see anyone forcing Bell to go Touch Tone,
but I see a business becoming more efficient.  What's wrong with that?
How is that different from any other business?

>> In 1970 I guess, I do not remember for sure, they brought around
>> terminals, sat them on the desks and told people 'Do not Touch These'
>> until we explain what to do, which was about a month later. We were
>> told these would be replacing some of the job functions that had been
>> done manually before. PAT]

> Probably '71 or '72.  After upgrade to a S/370 gave them the
> horsepower to run 'online' CICS.  The 360 didn't have the speed/power
> to do all the records work that SO threw at it, _and_ handle the
> overhead of on-line processing.

Some corrections: Do you know _exactly_ when Standard Oil upgraded
their mainframe and operations units?  Otherwise you are making some
incorrect assumptions:

1) CICS was not IBM's only online terminal processing system.  There
were and remain others*, too.  CICS evolved to be the most common.
[*for extra large and extra small online processing.]

2) A System/360 could and did handle online transactions.  It wasn't
as fancy as the S/370 CICS 3270 system, but it did so.  The high end
S/360s units were quite powerful.  We had a low-end S/360 that handled
both online and batch processing.  It's possible SO may have had
multiple computers for different tasks.

3) It would seem strange to post the credit card transaction clips
Pat mentioned via CICS data entry when the slips were already
machine readable.

> That would be generally considered "late" in the decade.  Typically,
> x0-x3 was 'early', x4-x6 was 'mid', and 'x7-x9' was 'late.  Sometimes
> people would blur things, and do things like call x6-x7 'late mid".

> The data-line growth at that time was the proverbial 'drop in the bucket'
> compared to a decade later.

"Typically"?  "Drop in the bucket"?

That doesn't sound very precise.  Are you referring to some
_standard_?

What is a "drop"?  What is a "bucket"?

Yes, I'm intentionally being snarky here because you're constantly
citing some obscure standard for this or for that.  To be consistent,
you should be quoting _exactly_ how many total lines the Bell System
had from 1967 through 1983 and exactly how many of those lines were
used for _any_ kind of dial-up data transmission, Teletype, or BBS
service, so we could see the growth of both.

I don't know the specific numbers.  However I do know back in those
days (late 60s, whatever you want to define that as) that lots of
businesses and schools were getting Teletypes and getting hooked in.
Into the early 1970s other faster terminals (300 speed) made their
appearance as well.  These hookups were getting widespread publicity.
At the same time, many computers were getting dialup to connect remote
data centers to a central one.

The point is that this was a clearly growing business and the Bell
System was gearing up for it.  Early on it added the # and * to TT
keypads.  Teletype itself was developing faster terminals.

> Is Judge Greene, or the FCC, enough of an authority?

What exactly did he say?  What exactly did the FCC say and when did
they say it?  Was this a long established intentionally established
policy or did it sort of evolve?

As to Judge Greene, not everbody agreed with him.  The history of
Mountain Bell clearly demonstrates the incredible waste of splitting
up a tightly integrated infrastructure and I'm sure that went on in
other Bell units as well.  Oslin, the author of the Western Union
history, noted many deficiencies of Greene's decisions from a
telecommunications point of view.

For us everyday consumers (who no one obviously cares about), we saw
our short-distance toll charges GO UP.  We found ourselves paying 25c
a minute for a cross LATA phone call that AT&T previously charged us
5c a minute.  We found ourselves paying $25 a minute unsuspectingly at
pay phones.  The few people who called cross country often came out
ahead.  Of course our local rates went up, too.

Then there were the scams of cheap rates but under a $5 monthly "fee".
Well, if you weren't even making $5 worth a toll calls, they the new
plan would cost you MORE money.



[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They used CICS data entry because they
did not have equipment to read them directly in the early years, and
some of the cards were readable by a human eye (using some imagination
and thought) but were not readable by a machine eye with any degree
of accuracy. You know, like make your digit '2' just like so, and only
in the little box allocated for it, and use a certain kind of pencil
or marking pen. It was hard to train the dealers properly.   PAT]

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

From: Tony P. <kd1s@nospamplease.cox.reallynospam.net>
Subject: Re: Bell Divestiture
Organization: ATCC
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 17:57:08 -0400


In article <telecom24.281.5@telecom-digest.org>,  TELECOM Digest
Editor noted in response: 

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In Chicago, PicturePhone service was
> made available to businesses for a couple years, and at the Illinois
> Bell Headquarters building downtown, they had a 'shopping mall' sort
> of arrangement for the general public to use. You could go in these
> little booths and use a picture phone with a speed dialer which had
> all the stores around town who subscribed to picture phone service
> in its repretoire. You could go into the little stall entitled 
> 'flowers' and press the button on the phone for the various florists
> in town with picture phone. In a couple seconds, the screen would 
> light up and the clerk in the store would be seen with all the flowers
> for sale.  You could place your order via PicturePhone after you had
> seen the various arrangement they had. You would then be asked by
> the merchant to punch in your credit card number and hold the card
> clearly in front of the camera (on your end) so the clerk could see
> it as she rang up the sale. Or, go to the PicturePhone set up for the
> 'housewares department' or the 'clothing department' and do the same
> thing. But it only lasted a few months (the 'shopping mall' at the
> phone company offices) and then was closed. PAT]

The problem with PicturePhone was that Bell would have had to build an 
entirely separate network to switch those video circuits. 

But now when you look at a 5ESS or a DMS-100 they have the capability
to do voice, data, video, etc.

People just didn't want to see the person they were talking to back 
then. Now we're overrun with web cams. 


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And sometimes people think it is not
very prudent to allow others to see them while they are doing 
whatever. PAT]

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

From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)
Subject: Re: XO Communications
Date: 21 Jun 2005 14:43:03 -0400
Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000)


Tony P.  <kd1s@nospamplease.cox.reallynospam.net> wrote:

> In article <telecom24.278.15@telecom-digest.org>, alg@aracnet.com 
> says:

>> Well Steven, an outage involving three DS-3s would likely be related
>> to an OC-3 failure (an OC-3 at ~155 megabits/second will carry three
>> DS-3s or just over 2,000 voice channels).  I'd guess one of two
>> failure types caused your emotional trauma: Traditional "back hoe
>> fade" or an OC-3 to DS-3 mux went on "time out" for a while.

> A backhoe undoubtedly being operated by Backhoe Bob. Apparently at a
> recent gathering of IT folks involved with the Help America Vote Act
> this was a common refrain.

We call this "BIPL" or "Backhoe-Induced Packet Loss."


scott

"C'est un Nagra.  C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

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

Subject: Re: Which Video Plug-in For Skype? Video4Skype.com or vSkype.com?
From: Dean M. <cjmebox-telecomdigest@yahoo.com>
Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 19:12:54 GMT


On Tue, 21 Jun 2005 04:38:35 -0700, totojepast <totojepast@atlas.cz>
wrote:

> Would you recommend me Video4Skype.com or vSkype.com for Skype video
> calls?

I've tried both and found vSkype.com is *very* Beta still. Video4Skype
works ok for me, but experiences can vary.

> Is it possible to use these plug-ins when only one of the participants
> uses a webcam?

Yes (usually).

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

From: T. Sean Weintz <strap@hanh-ct.org>
Subject: Re: Ping Between PC Through PABX
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 15:19:20 -0400
Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com


Barry Margolin wrote:

> One of them has to run PPP server software, i.e. it has to act like
> the terminal server that an ISP has connected to its dialup modems.

> Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu
> Arlington, MA
> *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me ***

Exactly. In this case, assuming both are windows boxes, one of them 
needs to be running RAS.

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

From: Dave Garland <dave.garland@wizinfo.com>
Subject: Re: Ping Between PC Through PABX
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 16:00:49 -0500
Organization: Wizard Information


It was a dark and stormy night when Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu>
wrote:

> One of them has to run PPP server software, i.e. it has to act like
> the terminal server that an ISP has connected to its dialup modems.

Why not just modem to modem serial?  I used to run a BBS and we didn't
need no steenkin PPP.

Of course, I suppose it all depends on what exactly OP is trying to
do, which he hasn't told us, other than he wants them to
"communicate".  If he insists on TCP/IP, you may well be right.

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: Monitor/Recorder for Residential Power Line Outages?
Date: 21 Jun 2005 14:17:32 -0700


AES wrote:

> Any have pointers to a gadget that will monitor and log power outages
> or glitches on 110V or 220V residential electrical service?

Many years ago the electric company put a test unit on our line in
response to our complaints.  The unit drew a big graph of the power
supply.  The test confirmed our complaint was valid and the improved
the service.

As others mentioned, you could find such a device commercially.

A secondary question is what will you do with the information?

Since power deregulation (another stupid idea), power companies are
not as responsive to service quality.  Many have cut back.  Having a
log of repeated power outages may be meaningless.  I strongly doubt
temporary transient outages -- enough to cause clocks to go blink --
will be of any concern.

As others mentioned, if you are running critical electronic equipment
of any kind, you must have UPS as well as good surge protection.
[Hmm, I sound like a high school gym teacher telling the guys to
always wear their ...] but the principle is true -- be protected.

I think every household should have one of those flashlights that plug
into an outlet and go on in a power failure.  Candles cause fires.

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

From: mc <mc_no_spam@uga.edu>
Subject: Re: Companies Want _US_ to Pay For Their Mistakes
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 16:40:35 -0400
Organization: Speed Factory (http://www.speedfactory.net)


Agreed.  The "blame the victim" mentality is running rampant, and the
credit card issuers are behind it.

The very term "identity theft" is designed to blame the victim.  When
someone "steals my identity" it sounds as if they have pried loose
something I was supposed to be guarding.  But the reality is that they
haven't stolen anything of *mine* at all.  They are impersonating me
in order to steal from the bank.

We don't refer to rape as "chastity theft."

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

From: Mark Crispin <MRC@CAC.Washington.EDU>
Subject: Re: '80' Country Code
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 13:44:11 -0700
Organization: Networks & Distributed Computing


For what it's worth, I've received international calls in which the
*last* two digits were truncated in caller ID.

For example, my Japanese cell phone (dual W-CDMA/GSM, roaming on US
GSM networks) has received a few calls where the caller ID was
0118190402016.  Breaking that down, we get 011-81-90-4020-16xx.  011
is the North American IDD prefix, 81 is Japan, 90 is mobile, and
402x-xxxx means that it's assigned to NTT DoCoMo.

That number does not belong to any of my friends in Japan who would
have my Japanese mobile number; plus they'd all know to send me email
rather than trying to call since I'm currently in the USA.  No message
has been left on my voicemail, and its greeting is bilingual
Japanese/English, so I don't think that it's a wrong number.

So, it's most likely a "wangiri".

"Wangiri" is a common form of spamming mobile phones used in Japan.
The word is a contraction meaning "one ring, hang up"; the spammer
calls your phone, lets it ring once, then hangs up.  The idea is to
leave the spammer's phone number in your call history to trick you
into calling back.

Japan is a country in which the caller pays both to call a mobile
phone and to place a call from a mobile phone.  Thus, if you are
foolish enough to call a wangiri back, you pay not only your mobile
phone charges to make the call, but also the spammer's mobile phone
charges!

In sending me a wangiri, the spammer just wasted the resources of NTT
DoCoMo (his mobile company), Vodafone Japan (my mobile phone company),
the international carrier(s) to the US, and T-Mobile in the USA to
deliver a truncated (and hence useless) wangiri to someone who knows
quite well not to call unknown numbers.

Vodafone Japan's instructions quaintly state the following about
wangiri calls: "simply ignore it, never call back, and erase the
record from call history.  Answering or returning such calls may lead
to you receiving threats or to become involved in an incident."

I wonder if Europe has similar problems, since they also practice
caller pays.


-- Mark --

http://staff.washington.edu/mrc
Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.

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

From: mc <mc_no_spam@uga.edu>
Subject: Re: Worst Phishing Fraud Attack Ever! 40 Million Cards Affected
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 16:45:26 -0400
Organization: Speed Factory (http://www.speedfactory.net)


> One credit card company reacted to this yesterday afternoon by
> cancelling my credit card (with no prior notice) while my wife was in
> the middle of a shopping trip.  No fraudulent charges had been
> attempted; they just felt it had been "compromised."

> This could be jolly inconvenient for travelers!  Are credit cards
> liable to be yanked at any time because of security breaches?  Is that
> how the industry is going to start reacting?

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Not: They are, and yes it is. Customer incon-
> venience is not a big issue with them when they are threatened with the
> possible loss of a few dollars in fraud. PAT]

Ah, the noose around their own necks!  Between loan-shark practices of
raising interest rates sharply on little notice, and this new practice
of cancelling cards at the drop of a hat, they're quickly losing our
confidence.  Maybe we *will* learn to live without credit cards.

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

From: Joseph <JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Is it Possible to Buy a Cell Phone With no Plan?
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 15:53:55 -0700
Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com


On Tue, 21 Jun 2005 07:55:23 -0400, Paul <paule-nospam@mindspring.com>
wrote:

>> I'm trying to buy a cell phone WITHOUT A PLAN. I am sending it to a
>> relative in another country where they will activate it.

> I saw this $49 GSM phone recently advertised in a magazine:
> http://www.mobalrental.com/gsm/

Yes, that is a pretty good price.  *However* as it applies to this
thread it won't work seeing as the Nokia 1100 which is the $49 phone
will only work on 900 and 1800 Mhz which are European and Asian GSM
frequencies.  For $99 they offer a GSM phone that will work in North
America as well as in Europe and Asia. (But only of course on GSM
operators.)

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


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