TELECOM Digest     Wed, 31 Aug 2005 02:08:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 395

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Global Warming Probably the Reason for Katrina (AFP News Wire)
    Re: New Orleans Phones Are All Out, Also (Jim Burks)
    An iPod Cellphone Said to Be Imminent (Monty Solomon)
    Re: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy (Tim@Backhome.org)
    Re: Internet Phone Companies May Cut Off Customers (Tony P.)
    Re: Star Trek Phone Set to Thrill (Tony P.)
    Re: Telecom Scam (Michael D. Sullivan)
    Re: Is Verizon Wireless Sabotaging Older Cell Phones? (Steve Sobol)
    Re: Overseas Phone Calls Get Cheaper (Joseph)

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

From: Agence France Presse <afp@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: Global Warming Probably the Reason for Katrina
Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 14:58:28 -0500


Brace for more Katrinas, say experts
Tue Aug 30,10:55 AM ET

For all its numbing ferocity, Hurricane Katrina will not be a unique
event, say scientists, who say that global warming appears to be
pumping up the power of big Atlantic storms.

2005 is on track to be the worst-ever year for hurricanes, according
to experts measuring ocean temperatures and trade winds -- the two big
factors that breed these storms in the Caribbean and tropical North
Atlantic.

Earlier this month, Tropical Storm Risk, a London-based consortium of
experts, predicted that the region would see 22 tropical storms during
the six-month June-November season, the most ever recorded and more
than twice the average annual tally since records began in 1851.

Seven of these storms would strike the United States, of which three
would be hurricanes, it said.

Already, 2004 and 2003 were exceptional years: they marked the highest
two-year totals ever recorded for overall hurricane activity in the
North Atlantic.

This increase has also coincided with a big rise in Earth's surface
temperature in recent years, driven by greenhouse gases that cause the
Sun's heat to be stored in the sea, land and air rather than radiate
back out to space.

But experts are cautious, also noting that hurricane numbers seem to
undergo swings, over decades.

About 90 tropical storms -- a term that includes hurricanes and their
Asian counterparts, typhoons -- occur each year.

The global total seems to be stable, although regional tallies vary a
lot, and in particular seem to be influenced by the El Nino weather
pattern in the Western Pacific.

"(Atlantic) cyclones have been increasing in numbers since 1995, but
one can't say with certainty that there is a link to global warming,"
says Patrick Galois with the French weather service Meteo-France.

"There have been other high-frequency periods for storms, such as in
the 1950s and 60s, and it could be that what we are seeing now is
simply part of a cycle, with highs and lows."

On the other hand, more and more scientists estimate that global
warming, while not necessarily making hurricanes more frequent or
likelier to make landfall, is making them more vicious.

Hurricanes derive from clusters of thunderstorms over tropical waters
that are warmer than 27.2 C (81 C).

A key factor in ferocity is the temperature differential between the
sea surface and the air above the storm. The warmer the sea, the
bigger the differential and the bigger the potential to "pump up" the
storm.

Just a tiny increase in surface temperature can have an extraordinary
effect, says researcher Kerry Emanuel of the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT).

In a study published in Nature in July, Emanuel found that the
destructive power of North Atlantic storms had doubled over the past
30 years, during which the sea-surface temperature rose by only 0.5 C
(0.9 F).

Emanuel's yardstick is storm duration and windpower: hurricanes lasted
longer and packed higher windspeeds than before.

Another factor in destructiveness is flooding. Kevin Trenberth of the
US National Center for Atmospheric Research suggests that hurricanes
are dumping more rainfall as warmer seas suck more moisture into the
air, swelling the stormclouds.

The indirect evidence for this is that water vapour over oceans
worldwide has increased by about two percent since 1988. But data is
sketchy for precipitation dropped by recent hurricanes.

"The intensity of and rainfalls from hurricanes are probably
increasing, even if this increase cannot yet be proven with a formal
statistical test," Trenberth wrote in the US journal Science in
June. He said computer models "suggest a shift" toward the extreme in
in hurricane intensities.

Copyright 2005 Agence France Presse.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
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------------------------------

From: Jim Burks <jbburks@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: New Orleans Phones Are All Out, Also
Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2005 01:13:42 GMT
Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com


Jim Burks <jbburks@hotmail.com> wrote in message 
news:telecom24.392.2@telecom-digest.org:

> AT&T has lost multiple DS-3s (probably the whole fiber) between New
> Orleans and Jackson, MS, and between New Orleans and Gulfport, MS. No
> ability to reroute at this point.

> 37 AT&T offices have lost power and are on battery or generator. BellSouth
> has 64 offices down.

> Has anybody heard from Mark Cuccia? Hopefully, he either got out of
> town, or is keeping his head above water.

AT&T (and BellSouth) did an excellent job of restoral. Most of our sites in 
the Gulf Coast area were down less than 24 hours. We don't have anything in 
the city of New Orleans.

Jim Burks 

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

Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2005 00:56:11 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: An iPod Cellphone Said to Be Imminent


By MATT RICHTEL

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 29 - Apple Computer and Motorola plan to unveil a
long-awaited mobile phone and music player next week that will
incorporate Apple's iTunes software, a telecommunications industry
analyst who has been briefed on the announcement said on Monday.

The development marks a melding of two of the digital era's most
popular devices, the cellphone and the iPod, which has become largely
synonymous with the concept of downloading songs from the Internet or
transferring them from compact discs.

Roger Entner, a telecommunications analyst with Ovum, a market
research firm, said he had been told by an industry executive that the
new phone, to be made by Motorola, would be marketed by Cingular
Wireless. Mr. Entner said it would include iTunes software, which
helps power the iPod.

The software will allow people to transfer songs from a personal
computer to the mobile phone, then listen to the songs, presumably
through headphones. "It's a deluxe music player now on your
cellphone," he said of the device.

Apple, Motorola and Cingular declined to confirm or deny the report. 
But Apple did announce on Monday that it would hold a major news 
event on Sept. 7 in San Francisco that it indicated was 
music-related. Apple is routinely tight-lipped about pending product 
announcements, preferring to make a splash on the day of the event.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/30/technology/30apple.html?ex=1283054400&en=be40e4a92a196f2f&ei=5090

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

From: Tim@Backhome.org
Subject: Re: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy
Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:01:57 -0700
Organization: Cox Communications


hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

> letting it properly return.  The man then made another call, this time
> dialing only three digits.  "Long Distance?  Get me Walt Disney in
> Hollywood!".

Actually, that part was accurate around the LA area (or at least the
suburban independents) in the 1950s.  You dialed "0" for the local
operator and "211" for the long distance operator.

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

From: Tony P. <kd1s@nospamplease.cox.reallynospam.net>
Subject: Re: Internet Phone Companies May Cut Off Customers
Organization: ATCC
Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 19:18:28 -0400


In article <telecom24.390.16@telecom-digest.org>, sjsobol@JustThe.net 
says:

> Paul Coxwell wrote:

>> Despite the 999 system, there was, however, still a widely adopted
>> convention that the regular number for the police should use 2222.

> Sounds much like the convention that many US cities used where the
> local police departments' phone numbers all ended in 1234 and the fire
> departments ended in 1212. This was true of Cleveland and most of its
> suburbs.

> Steve Sobol, Professional Geek   888-480-4638   PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
> Company website: http://JustThe.net/
> Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
> E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A 'standard' set by AT&T for the
> operating companies was to use '2121' or '2131' as well. The last four
> digits were to preferably end in '1' and be repetitive.   PAT]n

Providence Police Department was and still is on 272-1111, while fire is 
on 272-3344. 

Interesting the back line at PPD for the longest time was 272-3121. 

Now everything is DID on the 401-243 exchange. 

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

From: Tony P. <kd1s@nospamplease.cox.reallynospam.net>
Subject: Re: Star Trek Phone Set to Thrill
Organization: ATCC
Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 19:17:07 -0400


In article <telecom24.390.20@telecom-digest.org>, sjsobol@JustThe.net 
says:

> Tom Betz wrote:

>> I'm surprised I haven't seen this here yet!

>> From http://wired.com/news/print/0,1294,68577,00.html :

>> Get ready for your phone to go where no phone has gone before. 

> Yawn. I had a Motorola StarTAC, a few years back, that everyone
> claimed look like one of the communicators from the USS Enterprise,
> and my current Motorola V188 makes a sound exactly like the doorbell
> on the door of the captain's quarters. :) I wonder how many Trekkies
> are designing phones for Moto ...

My little v60 has a tone called TaDa which sounds more like a morse code 
A -- dit dah. Being my first initial this is the perfect ring tone. Of 
course I want it to ring like an old phone so one of these days I'll pay 
for the damned polyphonic ringtone. 

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

From: Michael D. Sullivan <userid@camsul.example.invalid>
Subject: Re: Telecom Scam
Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2005 00:22:31 GMT


Eric Shoaf wrote:

> I just received this today. I called to see what the deal was. They
> required that I made over 50k, I bring my spouse to an office at 1250
> 22nd Street NW, DC with two forms of ID. No Children. I would have to
> set through a 90 minute presentation. I felt this might be a scam, so
> I did a search on the phone number that I called on the internet and
> found Telecom Digest.

The address they gave you is for an Embassy Suites hotel (it's across
the street from my office, in fact), not an office building.  Total
scam.


Michael D. Sullivan
Bethesda, MD (USA)
(Replace "example.invalid" with "com" in my address.)

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

From: Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net>
Subject: Re: Is Verizon Wireless Sabotaging Older Cell Phones?
Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 18:37:54 -0700
Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com


Joseph wrote:

> On Mon, 29 Aug 2005 23:42:00 -0400, Shalom Septimus
> <sacrificial_trap@hotmail.com> wrote:

>> Hypothesis 2, the more paranoid one: Some people have been suggesting
>> that Verizon have been deliberately breaking these phones. The reason
>> given is that they aren't E911 compliant, and if they were still
>> functional, Verizon would have to *give* you another one in order to
>> be in compliance with the minimum 85% that the FCC wants. Now that
>> it's "broken", they can *sell* you another one, or lock you in to a
>> new 2-year contract. (Note that this doesn't necessarily contradict
>> the first theory.)

> You may have some validity in wondering about the second. 

OTOH, the Nokia CDMA phones traditionally had issues. My GTE Wireless
2180 (activated 1996, CDMA 800MHz and AMPS 800MHz) was a solid
performer, but many of the 5180, 5185 and 6185 models just sucked.

Verizon (and Sprint, the other big US CDMA carrier) stopped selling Nokia 
for a while.

Nokia finally wised up and started licensing Qualcomm's CDMA chipset
instead of trying to do their own, and as a result, their products
have returned to Sprint and VZW stores over the past few years.

> It's not the first time a cellular company has used underhanded
> practices to force people to buy new equipment and not re-emburse them
> for doing so.

> Cingular has done that with their acquired AT&T Wireless subscribers
> in many cases.

I'd not be surprised if VZW did intentionally do *something* to the
phone, but I'm not sure how they would have done it, except perhaps by
pushing a bum PRL to the phone. The phones in question can't do
over-the-air firmware updates.

Steve Sobol, Professional Geek   888-480-4638   PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

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

From: Joseph <JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Overseas Phone Calls Get Cheaper
Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 19:56:07 -0700
Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com


On Tue, 30 Aug 2005 09:16:03 -0400, Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
wrote:

> International Wireless Rates Are Finally Starting to Fall; Six Cents a
> Minute to the U.K.

In the article it states:

> Most landline and cellular carriers provide two types of overseas
> calling plans: a standard plan where users don't pay extra monthly
> fees, but the calls are usually pricey; and discount plans where
> customers pay an average of $4 a month for access to less-expensive
> per-minute rates on the calls. In general, even if you only make a
> few international calls every month, the monthly fee option quickly
> pays for itself.

Just like monthly "service" charges for land lines monthly charges for
"discount" rates for international calling is no bargain.  A closer in
example is what T-Mobile is doing for calling to Canada and Mexico.
For a "privilege" fee of $5/month you can call Mexico for 5
cents/minute or $5/month to call Canad at 9 cents/minute.  When you
think about this setup it's a bit strange since calling to Mexico
T-Mobile's regular rate is 32 cents/minute (which is high) or 20
cents/minute to call Canada (which is high as well since it's easy to
get per minute rates to Canada very commonly for 5 cents or *less* per
minute.)

> Under a new plan from Verizon Wireless, which is owned by Verizon
> Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC, customers who pay an
> extra $3.99 a month get access to cheaper per-minute rates to more
> than 100 countries. A call to London using the plan, which was
> launched in April, costs 20 cents a minute, compared with $1.49 a
>  minute without it.

And this is supposed to be a bargain?  Getting a long distance plan
that give you a rate to call the UK for 4 cents/minute or less are
common!  Even to call Australia is 5 cents or so from several
carriers.

And to get these "bargain" rates you have to pay a monthly fee.  And
something people often don't take into account that when they pay
those fees of 4 or 5 dollars it means that your per minute rate is
*not* 20 cents/minute when you factor in what you're paying for a
monthly service fee.

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


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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #395
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