TELECOM Digest     Sun, 18 Sep 2005 16:50:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 426

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Technolodgy That Took on a Hurricane (Franklin Paul)
    Google to Put Copyright Laws to the Test (Anick Jesdanun)
    Record Labels Sue Baidu Over Copyright Infringement (Reuters NewsWire)
    Use of Bell Logo: Qwest, SBC? (Allen Newman) 
    Re: Alternatives to LEC Voicemail (Tony P.)
    Re: Alternatives to LEC Voicemail (Dave Garland)
    Re: Alternatives to LEC Voicemail (William Warren)
    Re: When it Rains, it Pours .... (David L)
    Re: When it Rains, it Pours .... (Ed Clarke)
    You Need a New Computer (Fritz Messere)

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: Franklin Paul <pluggedin@telecom-digest.org> 
Subject: Technology That Took on a Hurricane
Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 13:23:35 -0500


By Franklin Paul

While big media covered the mass destruction brought by Hurricane
Katrina with helicopter images and satellite weather maps, blogs have
been telling stories with similar force, but on a much more personal
level.

Linking to the Internet's global computer network with a combination
of old-school and newfangled technologies -- namely backyard diesel
generators, mobile phones and stubborn will -- several web sites
related often graphic first-hand accounts and snapshots.

"Trees down everywhere. Neighbor (has) three trees on house. Southern
yacht club burning to the ground," said the Gulfsails blog
http://gulfsails.blogspot.com, launched by Troy Gilbert as a local sailing
and boat racing resource that turned into a blow-by-blow of Katrina's
effect on a New Orleans neighborhood.

More and more, bloggers, who frequently post short messages on
Internet Web Sites, are becoming an information source, particularly
for fast developing stories in remote areas. Blogs gained prominence
during the 2004 U.S.  Presidential election, when conservative and
liberal writers became regulars on the campaign trail.

The audience for the narratives is growing. According to comScore
Media Metrix, more than 1.7 million online searches were conducted on
August 29 containing the words "Hurricane" and/or "Katrina," a
more-than-tenfold increase over the daily average during the five days
ending August 26.

"Bloggers outside the area are doing their best to amplify the
first-hand accounts," said Mark Crispin Miller, professor of media
studies at New York University.

Richard Lucic, a Duke University Computer Science professor, said the
reports from the U.S. Gulf Coast region may have helped propel the
acceptance of blogs, as well as podcasts, or audio files than can be
recorded and listened to on a computer or digital music player, like
Apple Computer Inc.'s popular iPod.

"It adds immediacy and on-site appeal," he said. "What it does is
brings it down to the human level since anybody can do it with a very
small investment and no training."

BLOGGING FROM A CITY UNDERWATER

 From a room crammed with dozens of racks of computer servers, cooling units,
and wires, Michael Barnett, remained holed up in a downtown New Orleans high
rise, posting to his "Survival of New Orleans" blog
http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor while running a domain name
registration and Web hosting service. He and his partners stayed connected
when 80 percent of the city was underwater.

"I can leave (but) I won't leave. My city is drowning and burning at
the same time. We are the only Internet connection still alive in the
city and we're going to stay here because our customers are counting
on us," Barnett told Reuters via instant messenger from his post not
far from the New Orleans Superdome.

Key to his service's survival was a stockpile of food and water that the
company kept on hand for weekly lunches, and most importantly, a massive
generator installed for backup power.

Local media also hosted blogs including WWL-TV
http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html and The New
Orleans Times-Picayune's breaking news feed
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/ which featured items about
rising insurance rates, bodies found at a nearby hospital and free textbook
given to displaced college students.

At the blog Slimbolala, http://Slimbolala.blogspot.com/ a husband and
father of two details the family's travels to Memphis -- away from the
storm -- and decision to head back to the Gulf Coast. On Monday, He
posted: "We just found out that the first floor of our house is chest
deep in water."

Later in the week, hoping to raise the spirits of those around him, he
asked for blog readers to send in good -- or even bad -- jokes. More
than a dozen did, including one from a Washington D.C.-based
journalist about pirates who wear, ahem, "ARRRRgyle" socks.

In Katrina's aftermath, the flood waters have begun to recede in New
Orleans, but local blogs late this week continued to giving tidbits of
information to those who had evacuated and detailing other unforseen
health issues.

"With everyone's swimming pools turning stagnant and fetid, the
mosquitoes are becoming a major issue," the Gulfsails blogger
wrote. "We need, in the least, to have ... pesticide spraying planes
and/or chlorine. I really don't think it'd be such a good idea to have
New Orleans turn into a malarial swamp again."

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.

Also see headlines at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html

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

From: Anick Jesdanun <ap@telecom-digest.org> 
Subject: Google to Put Copyright Laws to the Test 
Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 13:28:30 -0500


By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer

Tony Sanfilippo is of two minds when it comes to Google Inc.'s
ambitious program to scan millions of books and make their text fully
searchable on the Internet.

On the one hand, Sanfilippo credits the program for boosting sales of
obscure titles at Penn State University Press, where he works. On the
other, he's worried that Google's plans to create digital copies of
books obtained directly from libraries could hurt his industry's
long-term revenues.

With Google's book-scanning program set to resume in earnest this
fall, copyright laws that long preceded the Internet look to be headed
for a digital-age test.

The outcome could determine how easy it will be for people with
Internet access to benefit from knowledge that's now mostly locked up
- in books sitting on dusty library shelves, many of them out of
print.

"More and more people are expecting access, and they are making do
with what they can get easy access to," said Brewster Kahle,
co-founder of the Internet Archive, which runs smaller book-scanning
projects, mostly for out-of-copyright works. "Let's make it so that
they find great works rather than whatever just happens to be on the
Net."

To prevent the wholesale file-sharing that is plaguing the
entertainment industry, Google has set some limits in its library
project: Users won't be able to easily print materials or read more
than small portions of copyright works online.

Google also says it will send readers hungry for more directly to
booksellers and libraries.

But many publishers' remain wary.

To endorse Google's library initiative is to say "it's OK to break
into my house because you're going to clean my kitchen," said Sally
Morris, chief executive of the U.K.-based Association of Learned and
Professional Society Publishers. "Just because you do something that's
not harmful or (is) beneficial doesn't make it legal."

Morris and other publishers believe Google must get their permission
first, as it has under the Print Publisher Program it launched in
October 2004, two months before announcing the library initiative.

Under the publishers' program, Google has deals with most major
U.S. and U.K. publishers. It scans titles they submit, displays
digital images of selected pages triggered by search queries and gives
publishers a cut of revenues from accompanying ad displays.

But publishers aren't submitting all their titles under that program,
and many of the titles Google wants to scan are out of print and
belong to no publisher at all.

Jim Gerber, Google's director of content partnerships, says the
company would get no more than 15 percent of all books ever published
if it relied solely on publisher submissions.

That's why it has turned to libraries.

Under the Print Library Project, Google is scanning millions of
copyright books from libraries at Harvard, Michigan and Stanford along
with out-of-copyright materials there and at two other libraries.

Google has unilaterally set this rule: Publishers can tell it which
books not to scan at all, similar to how Web site owners can request
to be left out of search engine indexes. In August, the company halted
the scanning of copyright books until Nov. 1, saying it wanted to give
publishers time to compile their lists.

Richard Hull, executive director of the Text and Academic Authors
Association, called Google's approach backwards. Publishers shouldn't
have to bear the burden of record-keeping, agreed Sanfilippo, the Penn
State press's marketing and sales director.

"We're not aware of everything we've published," Sanfilippo
said. "Back in the 50s, 60s and 70s, there were no electronic files
for those books."

Google, which wouldn't say how many books it has scanned so far, says
it believes its initiative is protected under the "fair use"
provisions of copyright law.

Gerber argues that the initiative will "stimulate more people to
contribute to the arts and the sciences by making these books more
findable."

Washington lawyer Jonathan Band says Google's case is strong given the
limits on display -- a few sentences at a time for works scanned from
libraries, with technology making it difficult to recreate even a
single page.

"I don't see how making a few snippets of a work available to a user
could have any negative impact on the market," said Band, who has
advised library groups and Internet companies on copyright issues.

Under Google's strictures, readers can see just five pages at a time
of publisher-submitted titles -- and no more than 20 percent of an
entire book through multiple searches. For books in the public domain,
they can read the entire book online.

Not all publishers are opposed.

"For a typical author, obscurity is a far greater threat than piracy,"
said Tim O'Reilly, chief executive of O'Reilly Media and an adviser to
Google's project. "Google is offering publishers an amazing
opportunity for people to discover their content."

James Hilton, associate provost and interim librarian at the
University of Michigan, said his school is contributing 7 million
volumes over six years because one day, materials that aren't
searchable online simply won't get read.

"That doesn't mean it's going to be read online, but it's not going to
be found if it's not online," he said.

Hal Hallstein, a 2003 Colby College graduate, said Google's project
would have been useful for his studies in Buddhism. He typed the word
"shunyata" -- Sanskrit for emptiness -- and found several books he
didn't know existed.

"The card catalog in my experience is rather limited in terms of the
amount it really describes," he said.

Nonetheless, as e-media coordinator at Wisdom Publications, he
believes each publisher should be able to decide whether to join, as
his company has.

Much of the objections appear to stem from fears of setting a
precedent that could do future harm to publishing.

"If Google is seen as being permitted to do this without any response,
then probably others will do it," said Allan Adler, a vice president
at the Association of American Publishers. "You would have a
proliferation of databases of complete copies of these copyrighted
works."

Publishers won't rule out a lawsuit against Google.

The technology juggernaut, whose name is synonymous with online
search, isn't just shaking up book publishing.

Google has a separate project to archive television programs but has
so far received limited permissions. The company also faces lawsuits
over facilitating access to news resources and porn images online.

Jonathan Zittrain, an Internet legal scholar affiliated with Oxford
and Harvard universities, says the book-scanning dispute comes down
balancing commercial and social benefits.

"From the point of view of the publishers, you can't blame them for
playing their role, which is to maximize sales," he said. "But if fair
use wasn't found, (Google) would never be able to do the mass
importation of books required to make a database that is socially
useful."


On the Net:
http:print.google.com

Anick Jesdanun can be reached at netwriter(at)ap.org

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.

Also see news at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/othernews.html

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

From: Reuters News Wire <reuters@telecom-digest.org> 
Subject: Record Labels Sue Baidu for Copyright Infringement
Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 13:25:52 -0500


The four largest record companies have sued Baidu.com Inc. for
copyright infringement, alleging the Chinese Internet search engine
has been illegally providing links to free digital music downloads,
according to a trade group the represents the music industry.

Universal Music Group, EMI Group Plc and Warner Music Group
Corp. filed their suits in July in Beijing to stop Baidu from
providing those links, a spokesman for the International Federation of
the Phonographic Industry said. Sony BMG Music Entertainment filed its
suit earlier this month.

The music industry has been cracking down on piracy, one of its
largest costs. It recently won a landmark decision against Grokster, a
peer-to-peer network that allowed users to download music from one
another without permission from the artists.

The Baidu case is believed to be different, since the search engine is
providing links to sites that offer illegal downloads.

Baidu, known as the Chinese Google, lost nearly a third of its market
value earlier this week after two of the investment banks that managed
the company's initial public offering said the stock price was
overblown.

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: Allen Newman <anewmanagn@excite.com>
Subject: Use of Bell Logo: Qwest? SBC?
Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 15:15:38 -0500


Trademarks must remain in use to remain legally protected, so I'm
curious where and how Qwest ("my" Baby Bell) uses the Bell logo, if at
all.  In most cases Qwest has eliminated it since merging with US
West.  You can still make out the shadow of a Bell logo removed from
the wall of a Qwest building in Ankeny, Iowa, for example.

Last night on the way to a wedding reception I saw a Bell logo that
Qwest hasn't gotten rid of: a wooden pay phone kiosk inside the south
entrance of the Sioux Falls VFW Lounge still has a Bell sign on top,
with the blue Bell logo to the left of the word "phone".  Except for
Qwest signs tacked to the sides of the kiosk it looked a couple
decades old.  Does Qwest affixing new signs without taking down the
Bell sign count as current use for trademark purposes?  It seems
better than the example Qwest filed with the USPTO in 2003, which was
a couple photos of a US West payphone kiosk, which didn't even have
the Qwest identity.

Even without the logo, Qwest does try to connect less obviously to the
Bell identity.  Its Dex phone book is still blue and gold, the Qwest
logotype is in the Gill Sans font which has also been the corporate
font of AT&T (although the Bell System used Helvetica), and their
current slogan is "Spirit of Service", a long-time Bell System motto.
Arguably, Qwest's blue swoosh logo echos the circular blue Bell logo
 -- or would, at least, clash with it if the Bell logo were also
present.

Has anyone ever seen an example of Qwest intentionally adding the Bell
logo to anything anywhere?  I wonder what they'll come up with when
their next trademark filing is due.

The other RBOCs have filed their own claims of Bell logo usage:

In 2002, SBC submitted a photo of a white service truck with blue and
gold stripes and Southwestern Bell Telephone markings.  Do their
trucks still look like that?  It's about as convincing as Qwest's US
West phone booth.  It'll be interesting to learn what SBC does with
branding after their purchase of AT&T.

Also in 2002, Verizon submitted photos of new Verizon service trucks
and pay phones featuring the Bell logo.  IMO Verizon has cleverly
dealt with the Bell logo "problem", that is, keeping it alive and
meaningful but not letting it compete with their own created identity.

Finally, both of the Baby Bells that don't use the Bell logo
themselves license Bell names and logos to equipment manufacturers.
Qwest licenses Northwestern Bell to Unical and SBC licenses
Southwestern Bell to Conair.  This despite Northwestern Bell and
Southwestern Bell no longer being names Qwest or SBC use themselves,
and the fact that while Qwest and SBC sell phone equipment on their
websites, it's not their licensed Bell-branded equipment.

Bell logo trademark registrations can be found by searching for design
code 220324 260101 at the USPTO.

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

From: Tony P. <kd1s@nospamplease.cox.reallynospam.net>
Subject: Re: Alternatives to LEC Voicemail
Organization: ATCC
Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 11:20:07 -0400


In article <telecom24.425.4@telecom-digest.org>, richgr@panix.com 
says:

> In article <telecom24.424.5@telecom-digest.org>,
> <ed.gehringer@gmail.com> wrote:

>> My LEC has hiked their rates again for voicemail, bringing the total
>> to $10.50/mo. + tax.  I'm fed up with paying 50% more for this service
>> than I did a few years ago.  So I want to investigate alternatives.

> Why not a $10-20 answering machine?  Many have remote accessing.  The
> only thing it can't do is answer if you are on the phone, but thats
> what call waiting is for.

> Rich Greenberg Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com    + 1 770 321 6507
> Eastern time.  N6LRT  I speak for myself & my dogs only.   VM'er since CP-67
> Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, husky                   Owner:Chinook-L
> Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/  Asst Owner:Sibernet-L

There is one thing that voice mail can do that answering machines
can't.  They can take a message while you're on a call.

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

From: Dave Garland <dave.garland@wizinfo.com>
Subject: Re: Alternatives to LEC Voicemail
Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 10:34:54 -0500
Organization: Wizard Information


It was a dark and stormy night when ed.gehringer@gmail.com wrote:

> Or, I could use software like AnswerMyPhone or EZVoice.  If I do so, I
> will need a voice modem in my computer.  Am I correct in assuming that
> most modems that come with PCs are not voice modems?

These days, most internal modems are voice modems.  Consumer-grade
computers often come with voicemail software.  And if yours isn't a
voice modem, you can probably replace it for as little as US$20.

Of course, you will need to leave your computer running, and *possibly*
turn off powersaver sleep/suspend/hibernate functions (or fiddle with
BIOS settings to make sure the modem can wake up the computer).

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

Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 12:31:45 -0400
From: William Warren <william_warren_nonoise@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: Alternatives to LEC Voicemail


Rich Greenberg wrote:

> In article <telecom24.424.5@telecom-digest.org>,
> <ed.gehringer@gmail.com> wrote:

>> My LEC has hiked their rates again for voicemail, bringing the total
>> to $10.50/mo. + tax.  I'm fed up with paying 50% more for this service
>> than I did a few years ago.  So I want to investigate alternatives.

> Why not a $10-20 answering machine?  Many have remote accessing.  The
> only thing it can't do is answer if you are on the phone, but thats
> what call waiting is for.

Why not simply turn it off? Unless you're using it for a business, the 
chances are you can simply do without.

If someone _wants_ to talk to you, they'll call back. If they're
offended by the thought of having to do so, well, that's a kind of
signal, isn't it?

Really, I may be a luddite, but I can't help but wonder where and when
we all got the notion that we are entitled to demand that our
relatives and friends keep track of our calendar, or where and when we
agreed to keep track of theirs. Think about it: if talking to you is
important to _me_, why should I be entitled to put _you_ in charge of
making it happen? Isn't it _my_ job to make it happen?

Answering machines, and Voice Mail services, are agressively marketed
and promoted by the phone companies because they're a win-win-win -
not for you, but for your telephone company:

 - They_ get to charge for a call that wouldn't have been
   answered otherwise

 - They_ get to use fewer trunks and smaller exchanges
   because there are fewer unsuccessful call attempts

 - They_ get to collect money from you for buying machines
   or renting services.

What, I wonder, do _you_ get? Another task on _your_ schedule? Another
intrusion into _your_ life? Another obligation that _you_ didn't agree
to accept?

We've all gotten too good at wasting each others' time; at "external-
izing" the responsibility for what used to be common civility.

What's wrong with a busy signal? Since when did people forget that a
busy signal or an unanswered call _is_ a message?

William

P.S. Call waiting isn't the answer: it only works when _you_ are on
the phone, and when an answering machine is on the line, all it does
is interrupt the message being recorded with beep tones that tell you
someone else tried to ring you.

(Filter noise from my address for direct replies)


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Generally you do not order call-waiting
on a line in a multiple line hunt group; nor on a line equipped with
'forward on busy', as call-waiting requires that a line be -truly busy-
in order to work. In my instance, if the line is in use, calls are 
automatically forwarded to my cell phone (which if no answer after a 
few rings or otherwise it is busy goes to voicemail. If the line does
not get answered after 3-4 rings, calls go the same route, to cell
phone and then as needed to voicemail. PAT]

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

From: David L <davlindi@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: When it Rains, it Pours ....
Date: 18 Sep 2005 01:25:54 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com


If you let us know how to find a Paypal account for "new computer"
perhaps a few donations would help you get closer to the goal of a new
laptop. I'd ship in a little.

We have not been in contact before, but I read and post to your
newsgroup on occaision. Cheaper and more fun than a subscription to
Telco/wireless news!

Anyway, read about your computer problems and it was funny ... I'm on
my very first computer (used Webtv before) and no matter how
experienced one is, there always seems to be problems just beyond
one's abilities.  I think it's time to get a new computer ... then all
your problems will go away:) Well, the old one's anyway.

I'd chip in a little. Think you should post a little note to the group,
for a small donation for a computer fund. Or big ... big donations are
good too:)

Paypal would be easy for me. What's your account name?

Regards,

Dave Lind
greenjeensus@yahoo.com

TELECOM Digest Editor wrote:

> All my equipment here is rapidly disintegrating ... both working laptps are
> now gone.  I cannot get either of them up and running. The hard drive
> totally went out on one, and the other one as of Saturday night started
> giving this message:

>              Native  Audio Initialization Error
>              The Wave Task Manager (nspmm.dll) is not available.
>              Wave Services Will be Disabled.

>    Then a click box with the single option OK.

> I click 'OK' then a second error message comes up immediatly following

>              EXPLORER: This program has performed an illegal
>              operation and will be shut down. If the problem
>              persists, contact the program vendor.

> There is a choice of OK or 'Details'  and 'details' gives me a hex dump.
> 'OK' on the other hand is accepted but the desktop never comes up, and none
> of the keyboard works any further at that point ... ever ...

> This is a very old IBM Think Pad model 770-ED, probably from 1994-95.

> I have tried to re-install Win 98 SE but have been unable to figure
> out how to get the BIOS to look at and accept the CD drive rather than
> the hard drive. I do start up with F1 and get the BIOS screen, and
> attempt to put the CD as the first choice, but it does not accept
> that; and continues to attempt to load from the hard drive.

> I was able to google 'nspmm.dll' and have found out _how_ to get rid
> of the Intel thing which came built in this old Think Pad, but since
> no Win 98 desktop ever comes up, I cannot get to the Device Manager to
> get rid of the Intel thing.

> Any help or advice gratefully accepted, and if _anyone_ has a slightly
> older, used laptop they would be willing to donate to the Digest (or
> sell me at a reasonable price, please let me know.

> PAT


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks for the offer of help, Dave. The
PayPal account is 'editor@telecom-digest.org' for you or anyone who
wishes to contribute to the 'computer fund'.   PAT] 

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

From: Ed Clarke <clarke@cilia.org>
Subject: Re: When it Rains, it Pours  ....
Reply-To: clarke@cilia.org
Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 09:08:45 -0400


In comp.dcom.telecom, you wrote:

> I have tried to re-install Win 98 SE but have been unable to figure
> out how to get the BIOS to look at and accept the CD drive rather than
> the hard drive. I do start up with F1 and get the BIOS screen, and
> attempt to put the CD as the first choice, but it does not accept
> that; and continues to attempt to load from the hard drive. 

Patrick,

My new Thinkpad requires me to hit F12 before boot. This brings up a
secondary menu that permits selection of the boot device.  One of the
options is CD-ROM.

I see several references to "Press and hold F12..." to get that menu
up.  Search google for

	thinkpad 770 "boot menu" F12

Good luck!

Ed


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: On the older Think Pads (models 770 or 770x
at least) F1 at time of booting brings up a BIOS menu and a choice of
options i.e. boot from CD, from hard drive, from floppy (and other
choices I do not understand, such as from 'network', from 'PCMCIA card'
and other places. Exactly how one boots from 'network' or from 'PCMCIA
card' when those devices do not come to life until Windows turns them
on confuses me. But I will google your suggestion above for myself and
see what it has to say.   PAT]

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

From: Fritz Messere <messere@oswego.edu>
Subject: You Need a New Computer
Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 12:41:05 -0400


Pat:

The explorer thing has been going on for some time.

Time to look at a MAC ... better operating system and more fun too.


Fritz Messere
Communication Studies Department
Chair and Professor of Broadcasting and Telecommunications
State University of New York at Oswego
(office) 315.312.2357        (fax) 315.312.5658
http://www.oswego.edu/~messere


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If anyone has an older Apple MACintosh,
I'd not mind giving that a try and see where I could get with it. The
other thing I have considered -- but have not yet been brave enough to
try is to go with Linux on the laptop. You see, on my larger desktop
computer I have Red Hat Linux (version 7 something) on a partition;
when I boot the larger machine, it defaults to Linux _unless_ I tell
it to go to Win 2000 instead. I'd not mind going entirely with Linux
if I were assured I could get some of my software working correctly. I
do NOT need chat windows and all that; but I do need to have X-Windows
working correctly. Ditto with any MAC, which would also be a new
experience for me. I'd like to be able to get a couple cameras working
with no hassles, something similar to to XWindows, and the network
configurations correct, etc. And I have seen a couple commercials on
television for Dell, with desktop prices of around $499, but I know
those would most likely be Win XP, which is okay, I suppose. But with
Dell, the new laptops seem to cost more.  Good ideas, in any case.  If
anyone wants to contribute to a 'computer fund' please remember the
PayPal account:   editor@telecom-digest.org , or if you have some
older machine you no longer want donations will also be gratefully 
accepted.   PAT] 

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


TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm-
unications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in
addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as
Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums.  It is
also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup
'comp.dcom.telecom'.

TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational
service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents
of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in
some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work
and that of the original author.

Contact information:    Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest
                        Post Office Box 50
                        Independence, KS 67301
                        Phone: 620-402-0134
                        Fax 1: 775-255-9970
                        Fax 2: 530-309-7234
                        Fax 3: 208-692-5145         
                        Email: editor@telecom-digest.org

Subscribe:  telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org
Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org

This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm-
unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and
published continuously since then.  Our archives are available for
your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list
on the internet in any category!

URL information:        http://telecom-digest.org

Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/
  (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives)

RSS Syndication of TELECOM Digest: http://telecom-digest.org/rss.html
  For syndication examples see http://www.feedrollpro.com/syndicate.php?id=308
    and also http://feeds.feedburner.com/TelecomDigest

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from                  *
*   Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate  *
*   800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting.         *
*   http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com                    *
*   Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing      *
*   views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc.                             *
*************************************************************************

ICB Toll Free News.  Contact information is not sold, rented or leased.

One click a day feeds a person a meal.  Go to http://www.thehungersite.com

Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved.
Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA.

              ************************

DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO
YOUR CREDIT CARD!  REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST
AND EASY411.COM   SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest !

              ************************

Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your
career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management
(MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35
credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the
skills necessary to manage telecommunications networks, including
data, video, and voice networks.

The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College
of Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; and the
College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has
state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus
offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum.  Classes
are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning.

Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at
405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at
http://www.mstm.okstate.edu

              ************************

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

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.
Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing
your name to the mailing list. 

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the
author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only
and messages should not be considered any official expression by the
organization.

End of TELECOM Digest V24 #426
******************************