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TELECOM Digest     Sat, 16 Jul 2005 14:56:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 326

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Menino Maps Cellphone Gaps (Monty Solomon)
    Curbing Cellphones (Monty Solomon)
    Net-Based Technology Would Allow Limitless TV (Monty Solomon)
    Muzzling the Muppets/Bush Wants PBS to Toe Republican Line (M Solomon)
    Nigeria Jails Woman in $242 Million Fraud Case (Tume Ahemba)
    News Corp Forms Internet News Division (Fox News)(News Wire)
    866 383 0986 (Lisa Metcalf)
    Re: Don't Let Data Theft Happen to You (Jim Rusling)
    Re: Camelot on the Moon - From Our Archives (Justa Lurker)
    Re: Meaning of ABCD Bits in T-1 (Justa Lurker)
    Re: Prepaid GSM With Roaming Allowed Available in the US? (Joseph)

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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, 15 Jul 2005 22:53:03 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Menino Maps Cellphone Gaps


Cruising to Learn if Dead Zones Tied to Minority Areas

By Andrea Estes, Globe Staff

It is an aggravation of the age, the conversation-stopper that seems
always to include the phrase, "You're breaking up." Cellphone dead
zones have irritated many, but recently they have really annoyed Mayor
Thomas M. Menino, who says his cellphone conversations get cut off day
after day as he traverses the city's neighborhoods.

The low-tech, urban mechanic mayor is fed up, he says, and there's no
acceptable explanation why a city like Boston should have so many
pockets of fog.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/07/15/menino_maps_cellphone_gaps/

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/07/15/menino_cellservice/

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

Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2005 22:52:16 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Curbing Cellphones


GLOBE EDITORIAL

Curbing cellphones
The Boston Globe

July 15, 2005

CELLPHONES PROVIDE people with an addictive freedom, to talk for
business or pleasure, anywhere and any time, but a study released this
week shows, finally, that they should not be used behind the wheel of
a car. The Massachusetts Legislature needs to act quickly to prohibit
the use of cellphones while driving.

Under present state law, motorists can use cellphones on the road so
long as they keep one hand on the steering wheel and operate the
vehicle safely. A study released this week by the Insurance Institute
for Highway Safety suggests that this use is inherently unsafe.

The study was done in western Australia because US phone companies
would not provide access to records so researchers could determine
whether motorists hospitalized for accidents had used a cellphone at
the time of the crash. In Perth, Australia, the researchers found that
those who were using the phones were four times more likely to be
involved in an accident than those who weren't.

This result confirms the conclusions of another, less comprehensive,
survey and the intuitive feelings of many people. It is inherently
distracting to talk on the phone while driving. The intensity of
conversation drags the mind away from concentration on the road.

The Legislature's Joint Committee on Transportation will need to take
this study into account this fall when it considers three bill to
regulate cellphone use.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2005/07/15/curbing_cellphones/

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

Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2005 23:36:15 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Net-Based Technology Would Allow Limitless TV


By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff

The next big thing in television could be a technology borrowed from
the Internet. IPTV (the 'IP' stands for Internet protocol) will let
users choose from a vast variety of video entertainment, available on
demand through a simple piece of wire. Telephone wire, to be exact,
because phone companies -- not cable TV firms -- are leading the way.

SBC Communications Inc., which offers phone service in 13 US states,
is spending $5 billion to build the first IPTV network in the United
States, set for launch late this year or in early 2006. Verizon
Communications Inc., which is spending $3 billion to bring TV service
to its customers, will use IPTV to deliver on-demand movies.

Cable companies could adopt IPTV technology as well. But for telephone
companies the technology offers the first chance to sell TV
services. It's also an opportunity for Microsoft Corp., which is
providing much of the underlying technology, to become as powerful in
entertainment technology as it is in software. IPTV could shake up the
cable industry in the same way that voice-over-Internet phone systems
have roiled SBC's own voice telephone business

Already, about a million people use IPTV systems, mostly in Hong Kong
and Italy. Last month, British Telecom said it would work with
Microsoft to deploy IPTV in Britain. On this side of the Atlantic, SBC
spokesman Michael Coe said his company expects to make IPTV available
to 18 million homes over the next three years.

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/07/14/net_based_technology_would_allow_limitless_tv/

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

Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2005 14:29:46 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Muzzling the Muppets/Bush Wants PBS to Toe Republican Line


By TIM DICKINSON

Ken Tomlinson may be America's most accomplished propagandist. He got
his start as an intern for Fulton Lewis Jr., who ruled right-wing
radio when Rush Limbaugh was still in diapers. In the early 1980s,
Tomlinson ran Voice of America, promoting the policies of Ronald
Reagan to the rest of the world. As editor in chief of Reader's Digest
in the early 1990s, he published the most reliably reactionary
magazine in the country. Now, as President Bush's handpicked chairman
of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Tomlinson is in a position
to spread the Republican message to Sesame Street.

As head of the board that doles out $400 million in federal funds for
public broadcasting, Tomlinson is actually required by law to provide
PBS and NPR with "maximum protection from extraneous influence and
control" by meddling politicians. But in recent months, Tomlinson
himself has been the one trying to alter PBS programming. A close
friend of Karl Rove since they worked together overseeing Voice of
America, he hired a right-wing consultant to secretly monitor Bill
Moyers for signs of "liberal bias." He collaborated with the White
House to hire two "ombudsmen" to keep an eye on Frontline and All
Things Considered. And after President Bush was re-elected in
November, Tomlinson warned a gathering of PBS executives that the
country had moved to the right -- and that their programming should
reflect that.

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7483528

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

From: Tume Ahemba <ahemba@telecom-digest.org> 
Subject: Nigeria Jails Woman in $242 Million Fraud
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2005 12:25:57 -0500


By Tume Ahemba

A Nigerian court has sentenced a woman to two and half years in jail
after she pleaded guilty to fraud charges in the country's biggest
e-mail scam case, the anti-fraud agency said on Saturday.

Amaka Anajemba, one of three suspects in a $242 million fraud
involving a Brazilian bank, would return $48.5 million to the bank,
hand over $5 million to the government and pay a fine of 2 million
naira ($15,000), the agency said.

Scams have become so successful in Nigeria that anti-sleaze
campaigners say swindling is one of the country's main foreign
exchange earners after oil, natural gas and cocoa.

Anajemba's sentencing by a Lagos High Court on Friday is the first
major conviction since the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) was established in 2003 to crack down on Nigeria's thriving
networks of email fraudsters.

The agency said in a statement that the judgment was "a landmark
achievement by EFCC in the fight against advance fee fraud, corruption
and other related crimes."

Typically fraudsters send out junk e-mails around the world promising
recipients a share in a fortune in return for an advance fee. Those
who pay never receive the promised windfall.

Anajemba, whose late husband masterminded the swindling of the Sao
Paolo-based Banco Noroeste S.A. between 1995 and 1998, was charged
along with Emmanuel Nwude and Nzeribe Okoli.

The prosecution said the three accused obtained the $242 million by
promising a member of the bank staff a commission for funding a
non-existent contract to build an airport in Nigeria's capital Abuja.

All three accused pleaded not guilty, but Anajemba later changed her
mind to enter a guilty plea in order to receive a shorter sentence.

Her prison term was backdated to start in January 2004 when she was
first taken in custody. The trial of the two others who maintained
their not guilty pleas was adjourned to September.

Ranked the world's second most corrupt country after Bangladesh by
sleaze watchdog Transparency International, Nigeria has given new
powers to the EFCC which is prosecuting about 200 fraud and corruption
cases.

The anti-fraud agency has arrested over 200 junk mail scam suspects
since 2003. It says it has also confiscated property worth $200
million and secured 10 other convictions. ($1=132.70 Naira)


Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.

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.

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

From: News Wire <reuters@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: News Corp. Forms Internet Division
Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2005 21:17:12 -0500


Media conglomerate News Corp. Ltd. on Friday said it has formed a new
Internet division to create an online hub for its Fox news, sports and
entertainment programing.

The debut of Fox Interactive Media comes just three months after Chief
Executive Rupert Murdoch's impassioned plea to the newspaper industry
to explore new distribution technologies or risk losing the news
franchise.

Fox Interactive Media will house News Corp.'s existing sports, news
and entertainment Web sites. The company also plans to make "strategic
investments" to bolster existing properties.

Ross Levinsohn, senior vice president of Fox Sports Interactive Media,
was named president of the new Los Angeles-based division.

Bert Solivan, vice president of news information at Foxnews.com, was
named executive vice president of Fox Interactive Media.

News Corp., like much of the media industry, has struggled to find new
ways to reach the next generation of news and entertainment consumers,
who are more likely to switch on their PCs or cellphones rather than
stay glued to the living room television.

Media observers have noted that many viewers preferred live online
broadcasts by Time Warner Inc.'s America Online of the recent Live8
music concerts in early July to raise awareness of poverty in Africa
over the ad-cluttered MTV cable television and ABC network TV
broadcasts of the event.


Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.

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.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As far as I am concerned, Fox News is
the most biased, one-sided news outfit around anywhere. Very extremely
conservative, and mostly liars at that. A web site I recommend to
everyone is http://www.newshounds.us  where their slogan is
"We watch FOX so you don't have to". You'll find their RSS feed among
other RSS feeds of interest in our td-extra area also. PAT]

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

From: Lisa Metcalf <lisammetcalf@hotmail.com>
Subject: 866 383 0986
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2005 14:50:27 +0100


http://massis.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/TELECOM_Digest_Online2005-1/0596.html

I have visited the above site as I have just received a hangup
call from 866 383 0986.  I find this quite strange as it's a toll free
US site, yet we live in England. There are few hits on Google related
to this. I of course tried to dial it and got the same "enter the
number you wish to monitor" as I'm originally from the states and
thought perhaps someone was trying to get ahold of me.  I do use
ecommerce.  Is it possible our phone number was sold on?  I have no
idea why we would get this call.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Neither would I ...  PAT]

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

From: Jim Rusling <usenet@rusling.org>
Subject: Re: Don't Let Data Theft Happen to You
Organization: Retired
Reply-To: usenet@rusling.org
Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2005 19:13:43 -0500


John Smith <user@example.net> wrote:

> Jim Rusling wrote:

>> I would worry about the security of the wireless connection.

> Well, I wouldn't worry about it.  I would recognize the obvious
> necessity of high-grade encryption for any and all financial
> transactions, but I don't think "worrying" would be the right word to
> use.

> If you're determined to worry, consider this: In Paris, at least, you
> have a substantially greater risk of having your card number
> compromised by pickpockets than by packet sniffers.

Instead of worry, how about concerned?  Without doing some research,
how do I know that the site is secure?  I recently ran into a
completely open wireless network at a business with sensitive records.
The owner thought that it was secured.  He immediately called the
company that installed it and had them come out to secure it.  Things
bad do happen.

Jim Rusling More or Less Retired Mustang, OK

http://www.rusling.org

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

From: Justa Lurker <JustaLurker@att.net>
Subject: Re: Camelot on the Moon - From Our Archives
Organization: AT&T Worldnet
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2005 00:47:46 GMT


Patrick Townson wrote:

> Eleven years ago in the Digest, we paid homage to an event which
> happened a quarter-century before that: American astronauts walking
> on the moon. Now it has been 36 years since that event which 
> occupied our attention during the hot summer of July, 1969. The
> principal contributor to the Digest with a report on _his_ part
> in that historic event was Don Kimberlin ...

There are 2 anomalies with Kimberlin's story, as I read it.

(1) > Problem: Fragile Telecom Link

 >         What many people don't know is that it came very close being a
 > failure.  And at the very last moment, the last possible launch window
 > for a lunar mission in the 1960's was almost missed.

If the July, 1969 flight of Apollo 11 was the "last possible launch
window for a lunar mission in the 1960's", then how did Apollo 12 take
place between 11/14/1969 and 11/24/1969 ?


(2) ... as well as numerous mentions of "NASA color video and sound
we were all observing from the moon".  While there was indeed
capability for color video from the Command Module [at that point, in
orbit around the moon tens of miles overhead], the transmissions from
the Apollo 11 Lunar Module on the surface of the moon were monochrome.



[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As I recall, what we saw on television
that night was entirely black and white. However, in the NASA archives
(reached via this report in our telecom archives) there are many color
photos of the same event; also you can see the certificate NASA awarded
Don Kimberlin for his part in the project.  PAT]
 
------------------------------

From: Justa Lurker <JustaLurker@att.net>
Subject: Re: Meaning of ABCD bits in T-1
Organization: AT&T Worldnet
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2005 00:58:34 GMT


Andrew Chalk wrote:

> Can anyone give me the "table" (or a URL to) of ABCD bit values in T1
> signalling. Everywhere I Googled refers to these but none give the
> meaning of each of the bit combinations. I'm particularly interested
> in "off-hook/onhook" states.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk652/tk653/technologies_tech_note09186a00801123bb.shtml
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk652/tk653/technologies_tech_note09186a00800e2560.shtml
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk652/tk653/technologies_tech_note09186a00800a6210.shtml

May be instructive and useful ...

P.S. ---- I know you said "T1", but just as FYI

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk652/tk653/technologies_tech_note09186a00800943c2.shtml

has some good info on various flavors [or should I say, flavours :-)] of 
E1 R2 signalling, and the accompanying signalling bits if anyone is 
interested.

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

From: Joseph <JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Prepaid GSM With Roaming Allowed Available in the US?
Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2005 19:12:35 -0700
Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com


On Fri, 15 Jul 2005 14:20:20 +0200, Marc Haber
<mh+usenetspam0339@zugschl.us> wrote:

> Hi,

> A friend of mine lives in the States, has two kids and bad credit
> records. She wants (alone) to come visit Europe this fall, and wants
> her kids to be able to call her in Europe by dialing a local US
> number.

She's got a problem.  If she has bad US credit and she wants to be
able to be reached by dialing a local US number (assuming that it's a
US GSM carrier's number.)  To be able to call a US number and be
reached in Europe requires international roaming.  International
roaming in western Europe is 99=A2 per minute or more (depending on
whether a major operator such as T-Mobile or cingular is used.)  The
carriers won't even allow you to have international roaming unless you
have really good credit since the ability is there to rack up really
big international roaming bills.

> If the issue were the other way round, I'd come to the States with a
> prepaid GSM SIM that has roaming enabled, and put that SIM into a
> borrowed GSM phone over there.

You'd still pay a huge amount of money with roaming rates as high if
not higher than the other way around.

> She now tells me that prepaid GSM is almost a non-market in the US,
> and that no prepaid GSM SIMs are available that allow international
> roaming.

International roaming does not exist on prepaid in the US.  Even not
all prepaids in Europe offer international roaming and the ones that
do it's quite expensive.

> A GSM phone useable in the European GSM networks is available here, I
> have a spare Nokia 6310. The issue is the prepaid SIM that allows a
> phone located in Europe to be reachable with an American number.

It does not exist.  Roaming in another country is expensive no matter
what you do.

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


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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #326
******************************

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