From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jan 23 20:46:57 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0O1kvX19530; Thu, 23 Jan 2003 20:46:57 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 20:46:57 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301240146.h0O1kvX19530@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #251 TELECOM Digest Thu, 23 Jan 2003 20:47:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 251 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Public Interest Registry to Recap Events of .Org Cutover (Anne Shroeder) Sprint DSL's Gaping Security Hole (Monty Solomon) More Checks on U.S. Travelers (Monty Solomon) Site Protests Telco Patent Claim (Monty Solomon) TRACE Used to Increase the Dangers of XSS (Monty Solomon) QUALCOMM Announces Record 1st Quarter Fiscal 2003 Results (Monty Solomon) Phone Wiring Question (No) Re: DMCA: Ma Bell Would Be Proud (Louis Collins) 11-Digit Dialing (John Waters) Re: Westchester DA (NYC Suburb) vs. Nigerian Scammers (Jim Thompson) Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! (Tom Betz) Re: Looking for Satellite TV, Internet, Phone Provider (S Falke) Re: 666 (Russell Blau) Re: 666 (Brandon Turok) More 666 Fun - or Truth in Advertising? (John Waters) Re: Last Laugh! I Made $60,000 in Two Months!!! (Jim Thompson) Last Laugh! A Full Monty! (Fred Goldstein) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Anne Shroeder Subject: Public Interest Registry to Recap Events of .ORG Registry Cutover Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 11:14:13 -0500 WHAT: During this press conference the Public Interest Registry and its back-end provider, Afilias Limited, will recap the events of the technical cutover of the .ORG registry from VeriSign Global Registry Service to Afilias system which will occur on January 25, 2003. WHO: David Maher, Chairman of the Board of Public Interest Registry Bruce Beckwith, Vice President of Operations of Public Interest Registry Ram Mohan, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Afilias WHEN: Monday, January 27, 2003 12:00 p.m. EST/9:00 a.m. PST/ 17:00 GMT DURATION: Approximately 30 minutes (including Q&A) WHY: Attending this workshop will provide you the following benefits: - Detailed synopsis of the events and results of the technical cutover of the .ORG registry to a new provider - Access to key executives at PIR and Afilias involved in the transition - The opportunity to ask any questions you have regarding the cutover to PIR and the completion of the transition to a full thick, EPP registry. DIAL-IN: Please use the following dial-in information to attend the press conference call: Domestic Dial-in: 800.268.8047 International Dial-in: 312.461.0644 Ask to attend the '.ORG Transition Recap' press conference call. REPLAY: A digital replay of the press conference will be available for one (1) week until February 3, 2003. To access the replay please use the following dial-in information: Domestic Dial-in: 800.839.6713 International Dial-in: 402.222.2306 Pin code: 5445970 PIR CONTACT: Julie Williams Tel: +1.703.464.7005 x111 Cell: +1.703.402.6715 jwilliams@pir.org AFILIAS CONTACT: Heather Carle Tel: +1.215.706.5777 Cell: +1.732.277.8125 hcarle@afilias.info ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 17:32:44 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Sprint DSL's Gaping Security Hole By Brian McWilliams 02:00 AM Jan. 23, 2003 PT Sprint DSL customers are at risk of having their e-mail addresses and passwords stolen -- even when their computers are powered off -- due to weak security controls on their DSL modems. Experts warned this week that the security problem could enable Internet vandals to wreak havoc from afar with the ZyXel Communications DSL modems issued by Sprint to tens of thousands of its FastConnect broadband customers. Sprint officials acknowledged that remote access to the administrative software embedded in the ZyXel Prestige 642 and 645 modems is by default protected with a password of "1234." But the company said users are responsible for securing the equipment, which stores login data, including the user's e-mail address and password. http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,57342,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 17:41:52 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: More Checks on U.S. Travelers By Ryan Singel Connecting the dots is usually child's play. But privacy advocates say that a government plan to apply sophisticated computer algorithms and "fuzzy logic" to unconnected databases to sniff out terrorists violates the privacy of American travelers. Transportation Department officials counter that it's just another way they're using technology to rout terrorism. Last week, the Transportation Security Agency announced its intent to create a new passenger-screening database that will be the centerpiece of a system to scan for potential terrorists by instantly checking every domestic traveler's credit history, arrest record and property tax data. Unlike the controversial Total Information Awareness research project, the central database of the Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening Program II, or CAPPS II will contain permanent financial records, intelligence reports and law enforcement records only on those suspected of posing a national security risk, according to the Jan. 15 Privacy Act notice. While data about nonthreatening passengers will be purged when a trip is completed, all travelers will be checked before departure against other public databases as well as private data sources like Axciom and ChoicePoint, which keep a database of 18 billion records. ChoicePoint, used by financial services groups and every government law enforcement agency, aggregates information from publicly available records -- including telephone directories, bankruptcy filings, business license registrations and court filings -- to create comprehensive reports on individuals. http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,57354,00.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have to wonder why the airlines are permitting this to go on? I wonder why more travelers don't do like myself and travel by bus or train? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 17:48:21 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Site Protests Telco Patent Claim By Joanna Glasner 02:00 AM Jan. 23, 2003 PT Although she's always been fond of her website, Marilynne Eichinger never thought there was anything particularly unusual about its layout. "We like to think that our graphics are nice, but in terms of the format and in terms of using different frames and links, it's a common type of design," said Eichinger, who has been running Museum Tour, which sells educational toys, for the past seven years. To her thinking, the homepage, which features colorful photos of sample products flanked by navigation buttons on top and down the left margin, resembles dozens of other e-commerce websites. That's why Eichinger was caught off guard last week when she received a letter from the intellectual property division of telecommunications giant SBC alleging that the Museum Tour site violates two of its patents. The letter, signed by Harlie Frost, president of SBC Intellectual Property, alleges that the Museum Tour site infringes on related patents filed in 1996 covering what the company calls a "structured document browser." http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,57344,00.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Let's all of us who maintain web sites go to Eichinger's web site and copy her source code and put up sites identical to hers in design. Then SBC can sue all of us, or maybe throw their weight around and find a friendly judge somewhere to ban all of us. PAT] ------------------------------ Reply-To: Monty Solomon From: Monty Solomon Subject: TRACE Used to Increase the Dangers of XSS Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 17:23:12 -0500 http://online.securityfocus.com/archive/1/307624 From: Jeremiah Grossman Date: 22 Jan 2003 12:32:58 -0800 Subject: TRACE used to increase the dangerous of XSS. WhiteHat Security has released a new white paper discussing a new class of web-app-sec attack (XST) which potentially affects all web servers supporting TRACE. The white paper explains all the detailed technical results we have found so far. We are fairly certain this particular issue will spark much debate and encourage those interested to read and comment. White Paper Mirrors: http://www.betanews.com/whitehat/WH-WhitePaper_XST_ebook.pdf http://www.cgisecurity.com/whitehat-mirror/WhitePaper_screen.pdf http://www.boarder.org/WH-WhitePaper_XST_ebook.pdf http://www.forumgalaxy.com/whmirror/WhitePaper_screen.pdf Press Release http://www.whitehatsec.com/press_releases/WH-PR-20030120.txt ------------------------------ Reply-To: Monty Solomon From: Monty Solomon Subject: QUALCOMM Announces Record First Quarter Fiscal 2003 Results Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 18:59:45 -0500 GAAP Reported Revenues $1.1 Billion and $0.30 EPS Revenues $1.1 Billion and $0.42 EPS Excluding QSI Segment QUALCOMM's first quarter fiscal 2003 earnings conference call will be broadcast live on January 22, 2003 beginning at 2:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on the Company's web site at: www.qualcomm.com. This conference call may contain forward-looking financial information. The taped audio replay will be available for five business days. To listen to the replay, U.S. callers may dial (800) 633-8284 and international callers may dial (402) 977-9140. Both U.S. and international callers should use reservation number 21095067. SAN DIEGO, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) today announced its first quarter fiscal 2003 results ended December 29, 2002. GAAP reported revenues were $1.1 billion in the first fiscal quarter, up 26 percent sequentially and 57 percent year-over-year. Revenues increased primarily due to record demand for CDMA products across global markets. GAAP reported net income was $241 million or $0.30 per share in the first fiscal quarter, up 30 percent sequentially and 76 percent year-over-year. Revenues excluding the QUALCOMM Strategic Initiatives (QSI) segment were $1.1 billion in the first fiscal quarter, up 27 percent sequentially and 54 percent year-over-year. Net income excluding the QSI segment was $345 million or $0.42 per share in the first fiscal quarter, up 35 percent sequentially and 83 percent year-over-year. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31062871 ------------------------------ From: No Subject: Phone Wiring Question Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 18:28:21 -0600 I'm going to rewire my house and I know just enough about telecom to get myself in trouble. I purchased the following products: Bridged telephone expansion board 4 lines with 9 locations; voice grade jack 6 position, 6 conductor category 5e jack 8 position, 8 conductor I have three lines coming into my house; I ran the main lines to the bridge and then to the locations. The part I do not quite understand is this: I have a 4 line telephone in my office which has 2 lines that go from the phone to the wall plate, those lines split the phone lines. one line has lines 1&2 the other has 3&4. My question is on the voice grade jack, I'm assuming that a 6 position, 6 conductor jack can handle 3 lines if needed. The way I plan to hook then up is, main lines 1&2 on one 6 position, 6 conductor main line 3 on another 6 position, 6 conductor Jack for future use: category 5e jack 8 position, 8 conductor I am running category 5e wire for all of these jacks. Am I doing this correctly? I would like different views on this so feel free to reply. Thanks in advance. ------------------------------ From: Louis Collins Subject: Re: DMCA: Ma Bell Would Be Proud Date: 23 Jan 2003 23:42:04 GMT Organization: Concentric Internet Services Monty Solomon wrote: > http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,57268,00.html Sounds like a good article, but alas, when I click it I get this: WebWasher is configured to block the requested page: 'http://a1112.g.akamai.net/7/1112/492/2002091423/www.wired.com/news/v/20020914/css/cs4/wnScreen.css'. Is my browser messed up or what? lc ------------------------------ From: John Waters Subject: 11-Digit Dialing Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 18:55:45 -0500 > 11-digit dialing is coming to NYC on February 1, 2003. NYC had > managed to hang onto 7 digit dialing even with its overlays for a few > years, thanks to the NYS PSC who fought the FCC and lost over this > issue. > Besides the general stupidity of having to dial an area code when > calling within the same area code, this new scheme makes even less > sense, since dialing a 1 will now be required for *all* calls, except > things like 911, 411, and 0." It's a heck of a lot easier than trying to figure out a dialing plan like Toronto has. 10 *or* 11 digit dial, depending on where you are calling. From the point of view of someone who has to program dialing rules into equipment, all-11 digit dial is FAR easier to work with. Ameritech did something right (IMHO) a few years back when they allowed the greater Detroit area to be dialed with either 10 or 11 digits. Made equipment setup a breeze compaired to Toronto. John W. Waters Northern Digital Conversions (Happy in 7 digit dial land again) ------------------------------ From: Jim Thompson Subject: Re: Westchester DA (NYC Suburb) vs. Nigerian Scammers Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 00:18:39 GMT Organization: Cox Communications On Thu, 23 Jan 2003 18:13:21 -0500, Danny Burstein , in , wrote the following: > TWO INDICTED IN NIGERIAN BUSINESS SCAM > Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro and Ardsley Police > Chief Emil Califano announced the indictment of Chuks Nwogu (DOB > 9/12/70) of 63 West 7th Street, Mt. Vernon, New York and his wife, > Svitlana Nwogu (DOB 2/18/77) of 3039 Kingsland Ave. Bronx, New York > for Grand Larceny in the Second and Third Degree. It is alleged that > over the course of the past year, the two defendants and others > solicited more than $200,000 in cash payments from a Wisconsin > businessman on the pretext that the money would be used to ship > $50,000,000 into the United States from Nigeria, at which time the > victim would receive one third of the money. > [ snippety snip, rest at: > http://www.da.westchester.ny.us/detailp.cfm?page=793 ] > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have to wonder what sort of > 'businessman' the guy in Wisconsin would be to give away two hundred > thousand in cash on a Nigerian promise to send him fifty million > dollars. I've seen those scams forever and did not realize there are > some people who fall for them. PAT] Must be my long-lost daddy ;-) | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | Jim-T@analog_innovations.com Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | For proper E-mail replies SWAP "-" and "_" I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food. ------------------------------ From: Tom Betz Subject: Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 18:51:09 UTC Organization: Anything > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: May I ask, of curiosity, *who told you* > this was spam, and more specifically, 'bad' (that is, mostly useless) > spam? I had never seen it prior to getting in the mail > yesterday. Most 'bad' spam I get frequently, like everyone else. PAT] Oh, by the way, Pat, for the scoop on the Evidence Eliminator software that was being advertised in that spam, see . ------------------------------ From: s falke Subject: Re: Looking for Satellite TV, Internet, Phone Provider Organization: Prodigy Internet http://www.prodigy.com Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 21:22:18 GMT Long Shot: Starband/Gilat {if in US} --s falke > I'm looking for companies that would be able to provide phone, tv and > internet from a satellite dish. Would appreciate any info. ------------------------------ From: Russell Blau Subject: Re: 666 Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 15:47:03 -0500 Neal McLain wrote in message news:telecom22.248.15@telecom-digest.org: > Speaking of area codes, I should note that the 801/385 split (Utah) has > been postponed again. The latest target date is 2005. > The local high school students are probably disappointed by this delay. > They've already figured out what 385 spells, and (at least according to > rumor) some of them are anxious to start using it. Utah, huh? They must be thinking "DUL". ------------------------------ From: Brandon Turok Subject: Re: 666 Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 20:07:28 -0800 Organization: Astound Broadband Neal McLain wrote in message news:telecom22.248.15@telecom-digest.org: > PAT Wrote: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why do you suppose it is there >> is not (and is unlikely to ever be) an area code '666'? Same >> reason. Americans are very superstitious people.... 510-666 is a Pacbell prefix in Berkeley, CA. I plan to get all my numbers assigned in that prefix when I move to Berkeley :) Brandon Turok http://www.loonquawl.com/ Dial-A-Machine (925) 288-9825 Free when you call from work ------------------------------ From: John Waters Subject: More 666 Fun - or Truth in Advertising? Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 18:50:26 -0500 Joey Lindstrom submitted: > VANCLEVE, Kentucky (AP) -- A small > Appalachian Bible college is fighting to change its telephone number > because the 666 prefix is disturbing to Christians who recognize it as > the biblical mark of the beast. I lived in Whitby, ON, where one of the local exchanges there is 666. There is a neon sign in an office window in the old downtown of Whitby. It says "Lawyers 666-2666" John W. Waters Northern Digital Conversions ------------------------------ From: Jim Thompson Subject: Re: Last Laugh! I Made $60,000 in Two Months!!! Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 23:37:18 GMT Organization: Cox Communications On Thu, 23 Jan 2003 00:09:45 -0100, , in article: , wrote the following: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It seems to be not enough that we each > get tons of spam every day; now there is a netizen who wishes to sell > us material on how to create new, additional spam. I thought this > thing which I found in my spam bucket yesterday was really very > interesting. PAT] > I'm a college dropout. I work about two hours a day. I'm ambitious, > but extremely lazy, and I make over $30,000 a month. Are you curious > yet? > In a minute I'm going to tell you my secret, it's the dirty little > secret of the Internet ... [snip] > To order the Spambook right > now for only $29.99 with any major credit card or Paypal, please click > on the link below. This will take you to a secure server where > you may place your order. >

Product: "The Spambook" Price: $29.99

> HOW TO ORDER BY MAIL: Print out this order form and send cash, > personal check, money order or cashier's check to the address listed > below: [snip] > IMPORTANT LEGAL NOTE: There are no criminal laws against the > non-fraudulent sending of unsolicited commercial email in the United > States. However, other countries have passed laws against this form > of marketing, so non-US residents should check local regulations > before ordering. To view US State and Federal guidelines concerning > bulk email, and to check foreign regulations, please visit > http://www.spamlaws.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well Blair, maybe there are no laws > against Spam in Canada or the USA right now, but there certainly > should be. To other readers: Did you ever see a spammmer this brassy > before? Not only sending it, but teaching the other guys how to send > it also. Geeze! PAT] I think you are reading the wrong thing into this kind of ad. If the poster were truly doing as well as claimed why would he stoop to distributing "educational" materials? Certainly if I had a truly-working get-rich-scheme I'd keep it to myself ;-) | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | Jim-T@analog_innovations.com Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | For proper E-mail replies SWAP "-" and "_" I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: *No one* is earning thirty thousand dollars per month on the Internet. It just isn't happening. If you deduct the overhead involved, the postage in mailing out his book (or does he send it entirely in email?) the labor and payroll costs which are involved, its impossible. Even the 'established' and more reputable internet businesses (after deducting overhead, etc) are not making that much profit for their owners. I don't think so, at least. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Fred Goldstein Subject: Last Laugh! The Full Monty Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 18:47:23 -0500 Oh no! This issue was THE FULL MONTY! [Well, I'll ignore the "last laugh" article for the sake of a pun.] On Thursday 23 January 2003 06:07 pm, editor@telecom-digest.org wrote: > TELECOM Digest Thu, 23 Jan 2003 18:07:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 249 > Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson > Two From Europe Make Brazil Phone Deal (Monty Solomon) > DMCA: Ma Bell Would Be Proud (Monty Solomon) > Article | Telecom Undone - A Cautionary Tale (Monty Solomon) > Johansen Verdict Appealed by Norwegian Prosecutors (Monty Solomon) > EchoStar in Talks With Murdoch, Liberty Media - WSJ (Monty Solomon) > Verizon Must Reveal Internet Song-Swapper - Judge (Monty Solomon) > Verizon Must Comply With RIAA's DMCA Subpoena, Judge Sez (Monty Solomon) > How to Destroy Data, From Software to Sledgehammer (Monty Solomon) > Lucent Technologies Reports Results for 1st Quarter (Monty Solomon) > AT&T Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results (Monty Solomon) > Motorola Unveils Location-Based Services Software For Wireless (Solomon) > Zingy Powers Polyphonic Ringtones for Nextel Wireless Phones (M Solomon) > Master-Keyed Lock Vulnerability (Monty Solomon) > Illegal Snooping Costs Allstate Access to Online DMV (Monty Solomon) > Motorola Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Financial (Monty Solomon) > TiVo Announces Resignation of Morgan Guenther, President (Monty Solomon) > In Re: Verizon Internet Services, Inc. (Monty Solomon) Fred Goldstein fgoldstein@ionary.com ionary Consulting http://www.ionary.com/ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That is correct, and it is as I predicted when we had that long discussion here in the Digest a few months ago, when I had been running all his news in a single Digest article each day. Some readers asked me to split them out for the benefit of indexing, etc. I did that with the caveat and 'some issues the entire thing will be Monty' ... :( PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #251 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jan 23 23:56:41 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0O4uff21512; Thu, 23 Jan 2003 23:56:41 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 23:56:41 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301240456.h0O4uff21512@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #252 TELECOM Digest Thu, 23 Jan 2003 23:56:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 252 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Area Codes, C.O.Codes, etc., re: 666 (Mark J Cuccia) 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity (Mark J Cuccia) Re: 11-Digit Dialing Comes to NYC (John R. Levine) Re: 11-Digit Dialing Comes to NYC (John Higdon) Re: DSL vs Cable (David Clayton) Re: DSL vs Cable (Dave Phelps) Talk With Less Radiation (Eric Friedebach) Re: Rat Shack and Future Slop (tonypo1@cox.net) Re: Rat Shack and Future Slop (Brandon Turok) Re: Mobile Operators' Regulatory Time Bomb (John R. Levine) E1 (foo) Who's Calling Whom? TeleGeography Points the Way (Heather Tinsley) Prepaid Local Phone Companies (Phone Jack) Exchange Problem (David Esan) Verizon Must Reveal Internet Song Swapper (Joey Lindstrom) Supafly: Be Your Best Worst Self (Monty Solomon) Re: Modernizing the "555" Exchange (John Higdon) Re: Modernizing the "555" Exchange (Tony Pelliccio) Re: Remember Locksmith for the Apple ][ and //e (tonypo1@cox.net) Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! (John R. Levine) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 19:15:10 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Area Codes, C.O.Codes, etc., re: 666 Pat wrote: > TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why do you suppose it is there is not > (and is unlikely to ever be) an area code '666'? Same reason. Americans > are very superstitious people.... Neal McLain replied: > Not the mention the fact that all "YYY" combination (all three digits > the same) are reserved for some unspecified future use. Or, as our > friends at put it, YYY combos are "Unassigned > easy-to-recognize." For that matter, so are all NYY combinations. (snip) > And this raises a question I've been wondering about: what *is* that > "unspecified future use"? Anybody know? Well, *all* 'Nyy' area code (NPA) combinations, where the second and third digits are identical (and -22, -33, -44, ..., -88, but NOT -99, but *does* include -00) are classified by the NANP industry (Neustar-NANPA, SAIC-Telcordia-TRA, and the service providers) as "Easy to Recognize" codes for "special" or "SAC" purposes, whether they are presently *IN USE* or 'reserved' for a future 'expansion' purposes of an already existing function, OR for ... just what it is ... a *presently* "unspecified and future" use or function. The SAC "area" codes of the 'Nyy' format presently in use are: 800, 888, 877, 866 for toll-free 900 for PAY-per-call 700 for LD-carrier services (this is very non-specific) 600 for "Canadian services" (also very non-specific) 500 for "personal numbering" although this isn't well defined neither. (and current uses of 500 don't necessarily fall into the 'personal' or 'follow-me' numbering functions as well). 855, 844, 833, 822 are reserved for future toll-free. 522, 533, 544, (NOT 555), 566, 577, 588 are reserved for future "personal numbering". 622, 633, 644, 655, 666, 677, 688 are reserved for future use by SAIC-Canadian Numbering Administration's purposes... There is NOTHING assigned nor specifically reserved functions in the '2yy', '3yy', '4yy' ranges, not even for 200, 300, 400. But they are all reserved for future "easy-to-recognize" SAC functions, as *AREA* codes. There are also some SAC codes presently *in use*, or for 'future' use that are NOT of the 'Nyy' area code format. These include 456 for "International Inbound" (whatever that means, if even really utilized), and... 710 for US Federal Government purposes (again this is quite vague-- 710-NCS-GETS is the only known 'published' use, but I understand that the 710 SAC area code is also used for other 'non-published' government purposes). And 'breaking' the 'Nyy' format is future toll-free if ever they need to use 822 (after 833 after 844 after 855) and then 822 fills up... the 88x format codes (880, 881, 882, ... , 887, 889) area 'supposedly' now reserved for future toll-free. 888 is already in use as such. The previous use of 881, 882, 883, 885 for billing-identification purposes on calls to rural non-dial ring-down points in Mexico as well as 886, 887, 889 for billing-identification purposes on calls to rural non-dial ring-down points in the US/Canada/Caribbean (NANP) has become 'obsolete'. Apparantly there finally are no more non-dial rural ring-down points in the NANP or Mexico. The ranges of 37x and 96x as *AREA* codes (NPAs) are 'reserved' for some "future" UN-specified purpose/fuction, where such a function might require a BLOCK of ten CONSECUTIVE codes -- 370 thru 379, 960 thru 969... could be used for such. The N9X blocks are still reserved for future (if ever needed) expansion of the NANP ten-digit format to a longer-than-ten-digit format. But *any* of this could change per industry consensus process. Doug Krause added: > But there are 666 exchanges. At least 714 (Houston, et al) has it. YES, Doug, there *ARE* and could CONTINUE to be (even NEW) *CENTRAL OFFICE* (Exchange) codes 666. Neal (and at one point, even Pat) was referring to *AREA* codes, not c.o./exchange codes. Pat replied: > TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But many of the '666 exchanges' are > quite old and were around as names (such as MONroe in Chicago) prior > to going to numbers. I wonder what 666 exchanges are newer (in the > last ten or twenty years) and began life merely as '666' rather than > as a name combination? Well, check the NANPA website http://www.nanpa.com and then under c.o.code assignments. You can download .txt or .xls or MS-Access files of Central Office Code assignments in area codes of US jurisdictions. I know that the toll-free "area" codes all have '666' as potential exchange or c.o.codes ... For the use of '666' as a c.o.code within Canada's area codes, see the c.o.code assignment charts (by area code) within the CNAC website, http://www.cnac.ca I have *NEVER* seen any telco industry documentation that specifically allows telco or NANPA to flag '666' as 'not' assignable as a central office (so-called exchange) code. But also I haven't checked to see if there are "new" uses of c.o.code 666 within any specific area code (other than the fact that there are possible assignable toll-free nubmers as 800-666, 888-666, 877-666, 866-666, all relatively 'new'). Mark J. Cuccia ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 19:41:51 -0600 (CST) From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity The reason that there will be a 1+ before mandatory ten-digits for calls within your own area code in New York City is that there are several *CODE/NUMERIC CONFLICTS* where a c.o.code's digits are also in use as an adjacent or overlaying area code. Presently in such places like that (New York City, Chicago, etc), if you are dialing a ten-digit call, you have to dial a '1+' before the ten-digits, while if you are dialing a seven-digit call within the same area code, you just dial 'straight' seven-digits. Of course, in the 847 area code in the northern Chicago suburbs, since there is the new 224 area code overlaying, all calls even to numbers with the same area code MUST be dialed as '1+' before ten-digits. BTW, 0+ type dialing is supposed to be dialed now as 0+ten-digits everywhere within the NANP, regardless of where you area calling from or calling to if within the NANP. I don't have the specific code conflicts handy right now, but they have been documented in the past in previous posts. New York City and Chicago (and other places) have never used '1+' as a requirement for toll calls. AND they have that cumbersome and outdated required measured rate/unit local system, so in effect EVERY call you make costs something. *I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA* if after a year or two, the 1+ will become "optional" in Chicago's 847/224 overlay region or if it will become "optional" in New York City's 212/646 and 718/347 overlay (also all five boroughs collectively overlaid with 917)... But because ten-digit calls have required a 1+, BECAUSE of code-conflicts, it (the mandatory 1+) is being extended to calls within one's area code. This is mainly for a smooth transition period. BTW, PERMISSIVE dialing within one's own area code in NYCity (and most likely Chicago, and throughout most/all of California, etc) as 1+ten-digits has existed for a number of years now! So, it isn't really anything "new", only now to become MANDATORY in New York City. It has been hashed and re-hashed over and over here (and elsewhere), but IMO, it WOULD be nice to ULTIMATELY have dialing procedures universal ... - where local/free calls (including to 800/888/877/866/etc. toll free "area" codes) would be the ONLY calls dialable as "straight" ten-digits (without the 1+) as well as (at the customer's whim) as 1+ten-digits, and regardless of area code, it would be (at least) ten-digits required. - and where *Toll* calls (whether in the same "area" code or to adjacent area codes) would *REQUIRE* a 1+ before the ten-digits. I know that there are those out there who think that "toll alerting" or "toll indication" insults their ... "intelligence" ... however, this whole situation of 1+ vs. lack-of-1+, local vs. toll, 7-vs-10, etc. is all a CONSUMER issue. Those who oppose the use of 1+ as a "toll indication" prefix MUST realize that the Telcos would just LOVE for you to start dialing away without thinking or knowing, and rack up quite a bill. BTW, according to industry documentation (although I don't know if it really works this way in actual practice, and with cellulars, PBX/Centrex systems, cocots, CLECs, etc. not all being 'standardized' these days it's even more questionable), if someone were to dial 1+911 or 0+911, the call is SUPPOSED to go thru and for FREE. However, it isn't to be 'publicly promoted' that one 'could' dial 1+/0+ 911 and such. Only that it is 'supposed' to work just like 'straight' 911 works. Also, during this transition period, telco COULD have allowed "straight" ten-digit dialing even with code conflicts, but all (or many) seven-digit calls within the same area code might require a post-dial delay since if the intended c.o.code numerics was also in use as a local/nearby area code numerics, the switch wouldn't 'instantly' know at the seventh dialed digit whether you intended to dial further digits. If you stopped dialing, the switch has to WAIT three-to-five seconds (post-dial-delay), just in case you were going to dial an eighth/ninth/tenth digit of a ten-digit string. Such "delays-to-timeouts" on seven-digit calls can be cancelled with the use of the optional trailing POUND '#' button, but the general public really isn't aware of this, regardless of any promotions by telco. Thus, post-dial-delays-to-timeouts are undesirable and should be avoided where possible. Of course, there are still instances of their use, such as in IDDD calling (variable length worldwide numbers), single-0-(minus) vs. double '0' (00 for the LD Operator) vs. 0+ vs 01(1)+ IDDD ... When I start off by dialing '0', the switch doesn't 'yet' know if I'm dialing JUST a SINGLE '0' for the local telco Operator, or if I'm going to continue dialing the above mentioned 0-type dialstrings. SO, there is a three-to-five second delay after JUST a '0', 'just-in-case' I might follow with more digits. I can cancel this delay-to-timeout when calling the local telco operator by dialing '0+#' (zero-pound) and cut-thru to TOPS much faster. Also, there are 'custom calling' and 'CLASS' features which might use dialing a single 'N' digit or a two-digits 'NX', such as "Speed Calling". Telco does try to inform the public to use the (optional) trailing '#' (POUND) button in these cases. But these above uses of post-dial-delay-to-timeout as well as the optional trailing '#' pound button are 'specialty' cases, and should not be required in calling regular numbers in the case of code-conflicts. Thus, the use of a mandatory 1+ for ten-digit (local) calls in code-conflict places like New York City, California, Chicago, etc. during any transition and for an unspecific period of time following the cut-to-mandatory. Mark J. Cuccia ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: 11-Digit Dialing Comes to NYC Date: 23 Jan 2003 20:41:25 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That dialing '1' in front of everything >> is a dumb move. > It's a revenue enhancer. Used to be that 1 was the toll indicator ... Oh, please, not this tired old disinformation again. New York never had toll alerting. In most of upstate NY, calls within your area code are dialed with seven digits, calls outside of your area code are dialed with 11 digits. This has no relation to toll vs. local; where I am some seven digit numbers are local, some are intra-LATA toll, and some are inter-LATA toll. It happens that all 11 digits numbers I can call are toll, but on the other side of the lake there are local calls into an adjacent area code dialed with 11 digits. Despite frequent predictions of doom, people do not go bankrupt due to unexpected toll call bills. So drop it, OK? John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: 11-Digit Dialing Comes to NYC Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 17:52:58 -0800 In article , Tony Pelliccio wrote: > It's a revenue enhancer. Used to be that 1 was the toll indicator , now > people will just blindly dial away and get hit with the toll when the > bill comes in. > Typical predatory tactics. The '1' was never a "toll indicator" in California, only a 7/10 digit signal to the switch. Besides, what is "toll" anymore? In many areas, "local" calls charge by the minute, and long distance is so cheap it isn't even worth worrying about. If the number in question is a frequently called number, then I suspect it would be worth the caller's while to do a bit of homework. Otherwise, it is a non-issue. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: David Clayton Subject: Re: DSL vs Cable Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 19:54:28 +1100 Organization: Customer of Connect.com.au Pty. Ltd. Reply-To: dcstar@acslink.net.au Jack Adams contributed the following: Has anyone out there got any info or experience with DSL degradation when multiple DSL services are provisioned in the same cable? I would imagine that "early adopter" DSL users would get good data rates initially, but as more people take up DSL the crosstalk from these would cause a gradual reduction in maximum (reliable) throughput as the individual copper cables carry more of these services. Regards, David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@acslink.net.au Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience. ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: DSL vs Cable Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2003 22:45:16 -0600 In article , jackadams@lucent.com says: > Christopher Wolf wrote in message their > >> computers get a lot of spies reading their files, etc. True? PAT] >> Depends on the cable system. My understanding is that the most common >> DSL tops out below 1.5Mb/sec and drops off quickly as you move away >> from the CO. Meanwhile, Time Warner cable modem service in Houston >> gives 1.5Mb/sec everywhere, and I often see my residential service >> peak at 2Mb/sec. > Actually cable modem service also depends on the topology of how the > vendor provisions it's segments. Cable is a "shared media" transport > whereas DSL is not. Sharing of the bandwidth on cable is fine as long > as there aren't too many other active subscribers hogging it. Sharing the bandwidth is fine as long as there aren't too many active subscribers *on the same segment*. I can't speak for other companies, but I've never seen a problem in my area with segment oversubscription. > DOCSIS standards still don't provide for individual dynamic bandwidth > mediation (AFAIK?) and thus your neighbor who is uploading (narrowest > bandwidth) his or her entire electronic photo collection is going > bring cable modem transport for other users to a grinding halt. It Normally upstream and downstream bandwidth are rate-limited. It would take a significant number of subscribers all uploading at the same time to saturate the upload bandwidth of a particular segment. > can also occur in the downstream side, but there it is generally less > of a problem due to a much larger spectrum allocation. See for > yourself if your cable modem has an "activity LED" on it. It is quite > similar to the NIC active LEDs in that it indicates packets moving > somewhere on the segment that you are attached to. Dave Phelps Phone Masters Ltd. deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 09:37:26 PST From: Eric Friedebach Reply-To: friedebach@yahoo.com Subject: Talk With Less Radiation Arik Hesseldahl, 01.22.03, Forbes.com NEW YORK - When it comes down to it, there are two big reasons why people buy hands-free headsets for their mobile phones. The first was legislative. Many municipal governments and state legislatures around the country have laid down the law that whenever you're at the steering wheel, thou shalt not use a mobile phone without a hands-free headset. It's the result of a media blitz focused on the dubious claim that a driver using a mobile phone without a headset is too distracted to drive safely. All these laws were enacted before scientists had a chance to weigh in on the matter in a definitive way. The other main reason for buying a headset has to do with another dubious scientific claim -- that the electromagnetic radiation coming from mobile phones might be a cause of brain cancer. Again, science has yet to come to a final judgment on this matter, but the very question was enough to fuel the first round of headset buyers. Not terribly long ago, it was unusual to see mobile-phone users seemingly having in-depth conversations with the air in front of them. Now it's a fairly routine occurrence. Yet we were still interested to come upon a brand of headset known as RadFree, created by an Israeli startup called Sygnet Technologies. The headsets have recently come to the U.S. wireless market and work with several models of phones. The Radfree line of headsets is aimed at those wireless users who still harbor nagging doubts about their exposure to electromagnetic emanations from their phone. Chief Executive Sean Elidan argues that most headsets on the market act like antennae and can actually function as a conduit for radiation from the phone, thereby canceling the very reason you may have bought it. http://www.forbes.com/2003/01/22/cx_ah_0122tentech.html ------------------------------ From: tonypo1@cox.net Subject: Re: Rat Shack and Future Slop Organization: The Ace Tomatoe and Cement Company Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 03:58:04 GMT In article , PaulCoxwell@aol.com says: >>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Let's hope the new policy is national >>> in scope and applies to dealers and agency stores alike. At our local >>> Radio Shack agency store here in Independence it was not much of an >>> issue since the two guys who manage and own the store know almost >>> everyone in town, and everyone knows them. But in the Chicago area for >>> many years, this was quite a bone of contention. To buy a set of >>> batteries for cash, they wanted to know names, addresses, etc. PAT] >> My experience with Rat Shack here in Calgary isn't quite as bad, but >> still annoying. Generally, buying some batteries for cash is an >> in-the-door, out-the-door proposition. Buying anything more than that >> -- for example, I recently bought a laser pointer (as a toy for my >> cats -- they *LOVE* chasing that red dot!) -- and you get the request >> for all that personal info. > The Radio Shack stores in the U.K. go by the name of Tandy, but the > same principle applies. It's very seldom I use them (too expensive > for most items), but they go through the same routine of asking for > name, address, phone number, what you had for breakfast etc. on every > little purchase. The Radio Shack stores here in Providence, RI do not ask for name, address etc. I buy little crap there - an a/v switch, nimh batteries, etc. It's close and reasonable. But oh how I miss the Radio Shack of old. You used to be able to get all sorts of parts and such. Now it's a little 4'x4' drawer system for parts. Tony [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Since about 1975, all most people know about is Radio Shack as it exists today. During the early to middle 1970's, the stores in Chicago at least where known as 'Allied-Radio Shack' while they attempted to phase out the ham radio operator's grief over losing 'Allied Radio' which the Tandy Corporation had bought. From whenever until 1965 'Allied Radio' was *the* place in Chicago for every kind of electronic gizmo there was in those days. And right across the street from Allied Radio at Randolph/Western Ave. was 'Olson Electronics' another warehouse of radio gizmos. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Brandon Turok Subject: Re: Rat Shack and Future Slop Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 20:09:31 -0800 Organization: Astound Broadband wrote in message news:telecom22.248.6@telecom-digest.org: >>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Let's hope the new policy is national >>> in scope and applies to dealers and agency stores alike. At our local >>> Radio Shack agency store here in Independence it was not much of an >>> issue since the two guys who manage and own the store know almost >>> everyone in town, and everyone knows them. But in the Chicago area for >>> many years, this was quite a bone of contention. To buy a set of >>> batteries for cash, they wanted to know names, addresses, etc. PAT] >> My experience with Rat Shack here in Calgary isn't quite as bad, but >> still annoying. Generally, buying some batteries for cash is an >> in-the-door, out-the-door proposition. Buying anything more than that >> -- for example, I recently bought a laser pointer (as a toy for my >> cats -- they *LOVE* chasing that red dot!) -- and you get the request >> for all that personal info. > The Radio Shack stores in the U.K. go by the name of Tandy, but the > same principle applies. It's very seldom I use them (too expensive > for most items), but they go through the same routine of asking for > name, address, phone number, what you had for breakfast etc. on every > little purchase. > Paul Coxwell > Norfolk, U.K. Having worked for Radio Shack in the past (shudder), you were always allowed to decline to give your name and address. Or you could just give a fake one. Brandon Turok http://www.loonquawl.com/ Dial-A-Machine (925) 288-9825 Free when you call from work [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: How well that declination worked depended on the District Managers and the Regional Managers and how realistic they were. In the Chicago north suburban district, (where I was located when I worked for the Radio Shack in Skokie, IL) at the 8:00 AM Saturday morning monthly meetings (which you were only excused from attending if you *had* to be in the store on that work shift that day) the District Manager was to cheap to even supply coffee and donuts. Talking to him about changing corporate rules on name/address collecting was a useless, futile gesture. He had some sort of formula worked out for 'his stores' on the acceptable ratio of names/addresses to sales. It was so bad that once a month or so everyone sat down and scribbled out some bogus names/addresses on sales tickets to catch up. And once you got a 'real name/address' on a large ticket item, you kept that name on the register-computer and used it over and over again as needed. Ditto on the 'extended warranty' sales. You *had* to get a certain number of them to stay even on the expected ratio. A horrible working environment. PAT] ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Mobile Operators' Regulatory Time Bomb Date: 22 Jan 2003 00:50:10 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA Mike Hartley wrote: > Old threads never die, they just go to sleep for a while ;+) Note I > don't want to stir up a 'my system's better than yours ya boo sucks' > exchange here. Oh, we agree. Technically our system sucks, but subscriber pays means that we have a lot more future flexibility. >> experience in the U.S. with that of Canada <..> and the effect of >> U.S. fragmentation is clear. > Don't forget that there are also two new standards, CDMA and GSM - I'm > sure this doesn't help much either, even if you have a dual mode > handset. There are actually three different systems in use in the 1900 MHz bands, CDMA, GSM, and Nextel's IDEN. They're all different, and I don't know of any handsets that handles more than one of them. >> The worldwide success of GSM is easily attributable to the >> fact that GSM was designed later than and is technically >> superior to AMPS. > Don't forget roaming, and frequency standardisation. The AMPS frequencies are perfectly well standardized, and an AMPS phone will work anywhere in the world there's still an analog AMPS system, whereas GSM is 1900 MHz here because the 1800 MHz used in other places was busy. But TDMA vs. CDMA is a pain. > [ re caller pays premium ] > To be fair, one of the main reasons for the premium is the termination > cost charged by the mobile operators. This is about to take a beating > from the UK telecoms regulator OFTEL ... which won't help my annual bonus > one little bit, let me tell you. :+(( We have reciprocal compensation here, too, where the calling network pays the terminating network to complete the call. Many mobile networks used to charge an extra 3 cents/min nuisance fee, but that's now all gone since the advent of bundled minutes. >> The combination of subscriber pays and our >> integrated phone numbering means that cellular and landline >> compete head-to-head, both in price and service. > Not sure what you mean by service in this context, here in the UK > mobile nets certainly offer more fautures, and you don't usually have > to pay extra for them; for example my mobiel subscripion has > incluisive voicemail, call waiting and CLID which would all attract an > additional charge if I wanted them on my PSTN line. There are various bundles for landline service, here, too. By service I meant that they can compete on features if they want to. >> As a result we're now seeing mobile service replace landline >> service, particularly for students and others who move >> frequently. > Fair point, but is number portability really that important in the US > market? From what I've seen, it is. Mobile portability isn't all that important since people tend not to give their mobile numbers to a lot of other people, but there's a lot of resistance to changing the landline number that's been published in the phone book for 10 years. We don't have portability between landline and mobile yet, but there's no technical barrier to implementing it, just foot dragging by the mobile carriers. > See my point on OFTELs investigation of mobile termination costs above. > You can probably always use a low cost calling card operator though. Not for calls from here -- no matter how you call, you end up paying an extra 35 cents/min or so if you call a UK mobile number. > In the end I don't think there's a 'winning' solution- both methods of > charging have their advantages and disavantages, and advocates of > either method are influenced to a large degree by what you're used > to. The one thing you can be certain of is that there is serious > downward pressure on call costs -- both regulatory and market driven. The point I was trying to make was that caller pays provides an incentive to push the charges onto inbound callers who don't have a chance to negotiate the price of the call, so those charges don't go away without regulartory meddling. With subscriber pays, we've now gotten to the point where for many if not most mobile customers, even though our carriers could charge us for inbound calls, in practice they don't do so, either with "first inbound minute free", or bundles that make the per-minute charges go away. Although I didn't want to get into it in the letter I wrote, there's no way we could have implemented caller pays here even had the regulators wanted to do so. North America has fixed length phone numbers, and there weren't enough unused area codes to overlay the whole country with a set of separate cellular codes so callers would know when they were calling a mobile. Nobody would have put up with caller pays codes intermixed with regular numbers. Most telcos have a few prefixes like 976 for surcharged services, and they're widely blocked by PBX managers since they're so subject to abuse. The same would have happened to caller pays cellular. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: di00enad@ing.hj.se (foo) Subject: E1 Date: 22 Jan 2003 06:37:17 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ If you use E1, then timeslot 16 is used for signaling. The signaling packets are a sort of HDLC packets. With HDLC you use a flag 01111110 to mark the beginning and end of a packet. If the same bitpattern as the flag comes in the data, you insert an extra 0 after the 5:th bit (bitstuffing). Then you must transmit 9 bits instead of 8. The timeslot in E1 is only 8 bit, so how is this problem solved? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 10:23:45 -0500 From: Heather Tinsley Subject: Who's Calling Whom? TeleGeography Points the Way Washington, DC - January 22, 2003 -- In 2001, Americans made 37 billion minutes of international telephone calls, just under a quarter of the 154 billion minutes of international calls made worldwide. Mexico was the country dialed most frequently by Americans, with 5.2 billion minutes, followed by Canada, with 5.1 billion minutes. The fastest growing major destination, however, has been India. In the past decade, U.S. phone calls to India surged from 59 million minutes to more than 1.4 billion minutes in 2001. "Whom we call says a lot about who we are," commented TeleGeography Research Director Stephan Beckert. "Canada received almost twice as much U.S.-originated traffic as Mexico 10 years ago -- but calls to Mexico have grown more than twice as fast." These findings are presented in a new report, _TeleGeography 2003_, which details international calling patterns for over 120 countries. In 1991, Americans made just over half an hour of international calls per person. By 2001, they made more than two hours of international calls per capita, representing growth of more than 15 percent per year -- impressive growth for an industry that's more than 125 years old. While the United States is by far the largest single source of international telephone calls, Americans make fewer international calls per person than many smaller countries. Luxembourg tops the list, with almost 900 minutes -- just under 15 hours -- of international calls per person, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and Switzerland, which each boast approximately 450 minutes of international calls per person. India lies at the opposite end of the spectrum. While India is a huge destination for incoming phone calls, Indians on average make less than 30 seconds of international telephone calls per person, suggesting that the industry's best years may yet lie ahead. The source of these statistics, _TeleGeography 2003_, is the 13th annual survey of international telecommunications from TeleGeography, Inc., the Washington, DC-based research group. The report provides route-by-route call volumes for over 120 countries, plus carrier market shares, Voice-over-IP route rankings, mobile traffic statistics, and detailed analyses of international call costs, prices, and revenues. U.S. International Traffic by Destination (million minutes) Destination Country Change 1991 2001 91 - 01 Mexico 1,037.5 5,193.1 401% Canada 1,929.0 5,105.9 165% United Kingdom 659.8 2,066.3 213% Philippines 182.5 1,627.3 792% India 59.0 1,444.7 2,349% Germany 559.9 1,214.0 117% Japan 338.0 1,003.5 197% Dominican Republic 195.6 994.3 408% Brazil 122.3 849.6 595% France 210.2 816.7 289% U.S. Total Outgoing 8,814.3 37,272.0 323% Note: Growth figures include PSTN traffic only; VoIP is excluded. Source: TeleGeography research For more information, please contact: Heather Tinsley Press Relations Tel: +1 202 741 0066 htinsley@telegeography.com Stephan Beckert Research Director Tel: +1 202 741 0042 sbeckert@telegeography.com http://www.telegeography.com About TeleGeography: Washington, D.C.-based TeleGeography, Inc. is the authoritative source for international telecom statistics and analysis. An independent subsidiary of Band-X Ltd., TeleGeography publishes reports, databases, and maps used by thousands of leading communication companies, consultancies, and financial institutions in over 100 countries. TeleGeography's flagship report -- the self-titled TeleGeography series -- has been published annually since 1989. ------------------------------ From: lawson.key@centurytel.com (Phone Jack) Subject: Prepaid Local Phone Companies Date: 22 Jan 2003 07:41:22 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I am looking to assemble a list of companies that sell prepaid local service. I am talking about companies that companies that have interconnection agreements with the local phone company and market their service to disconnected and credit-challenged customers. I am not talking about prepaid wireless or prepaid calling cards. Those are different. If you know a company that is not listed below, please post a reply or email to me. I would also be interested in any additional info about your experience from these companies. Now Communications 1-800-Reconnex Smoke Signals Communications CommSouth NewSouth Communications TeleConex EZ Talk Communications ------------------------------ From: david_esan@hotmail.com (David Esan) Subject: Exchange Problem Date: 22 Jan 2003 08:45:14 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Ky. Bible College Shuns 666 Phone Number By ROGER ALFORD, Associated Press Writer VANCLEVE, Ky. - A small Appalachian Bible college is fighting to change its telephone number because the 666 prefix is disturbing to Christians who recognize it as the biblical mark of the beast. The rest of the story is at: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=519&ncid=519&e=68&u=/ap/20030118/ap_on_re_us/mark_of_the_beast_1 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We did summarize this item earlier this week, but above is another place where you can read the entire story if interested. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 11:05:10 -0700 From: Joey Lindstrom Subject: Verizon Must Reveal Internet Song Swapper Reply-To: joey@garynuman.info WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Recording companies won a victory in their fight against online piracy on Tuesday when a U.S. court ordered Verizon Communications VZ.N to turn over the name of a customer suspected of downloading more than 600 songs in one day over the Internet. U.S. District Judge John Bates said Verizon must cooperate with recording industry efforts to track down online song swappers, rejecting the telecommunications giant's assertion that such a move would violate customer privacy and turn it into an online copyright cop. Verizon said it would appeal the decision. http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2084541 ------------------------------ Reply-To: Monty Solomon From: Monty Solomon Subject: Supafly: Be Your Best Worst Self Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 13:53:45 -0500 By Michael Stroud Had an urge lately to slap your boyfriend, send flowers to your best friend's girlfriend or send a hoot after a babe in the street? Want to see your nastiness chronicled in the tabloids? European and Asian cell-phone subscribers can do exactly that this spring, albeit as part of the first game to mix virtual characters, wireless phones and the Internet. Supafly -- named for the famous 1970s blaxploitation film -- sets up a world where players either rise or fall in standings based on how they zap each other with short messages from their cell phones. The juiciest trysts and tangles are automatically tabulated and published as a gossipy Internet news rag. http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,57303,00.html ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Modernizing the "555" Exchange Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2003 17:47:54 -0800 In article , Gordon S. Hlavenka wrote: > It had to happen sooner or later. > On last week's episode of "John Doe" a murder suspect communicates > mostly by emailed voice files. He's got a girlfriend (remember, > this is fiction :-). John asks him for her IP address (!) and he > replies, "127.21.01.43". John says, "Hmmm ... local web sex site." > Yeah, VERY local. Hmm ... maybe some day the folks in that show will learn about DNS, rather than trying to remember those dotted quads. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: Tony Pelliccio Subject: Re: Modernizing the "555" Exchange Organization: The Ace Tomatoe and Cement Company Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 03:54:33 GMT In article , nospam@crashelex.com says: > It had to happen sooner or later. > On last week's episode of "John Doe" a murder suspect communicates > mostly by emailed voice files. He's got a girlfriend (remember, > this is fiction :-). John asks him for her IP address (!) and he > replies, "127.21.01.43". John says, "Hmmm ... local web sex site." > Yeah, VERY local. That's ok -- when I left my prior job I told the network engineer the address of a Cisco router is n.n.2.200, he forgot and told the new I.T. director it was n.n.2.300 and the new director was wondering why he couldn't telnet to it. The new director also managed to completely screw up the entire dialup functionality of the router, even though I'd printed four copies of the configuration and left them with the threee other people in the unit and one if the filing cabinet. It's what happens when you make a former cop your I.T. director. I'll tell you this much, I'll never take another government job again where my employment is contigent upon an election. Tony ------------------------------ From: tonypo1@cox.net Subject: Re: Remember Locksmith for the Apple ][ and //e Organization: The Ace Tomatoe and Cement Company Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 04:00:36 GMT In article , RGilbert@dval.com says: > This article, and the general copy protection for DVD/CD discussions, > put me in mind of the old Locksmith program for the Apple ][ and //e > computers. This was a great program for copying disks that could not > normally be copied. It handle such advanced (for the time) techniques > to prevent copying like half tracking, 1/4 tracking, etc. It seemed > like everyone playing with Apple computers those days had a copy of > Locksmith, and the was always a mad rush when a new version came out. > Now, with DMCA, I don't expect to see such comprehensive tools like > Locksmith available. Any one else have fond memories of this program? You won't see them through normal commercial channels, but there are still plenty of hack utilities on the net and that won't ever go away. What does the U.S. gov't do when the site that distributes that software is in a country that doesn't have a friendly compact with the U.S. courts? Nothing, that's what. I see such abuses of the DMCA that it's pitiful. Our congress critters really put the shaft to all of us when they passed that bill. Tony ------------------------------ Date: 23 Jan 2003 20:50:57 -0500 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA Yeah, it was spam. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What about the writer's allegation of > three hundred thousand 'suspects' and 'hundreds of arrests already > made'. Was there any truth to any of that? PAT] There was a big child porn roundup a month or so ago. I think the 300K number was the number of lines in a site's web log, but they did make a lot of arrests. Someone pointed out that the "teen lolita" spam abruptly stopped about that time. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #252 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jan 24 00:34:54 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0O5Ysj22231; Fri, 24 Jan 2003 00:34:54 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 00:34:54 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301240534.h0O5Ysj22231@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #253 TELECOM Digest Fri, 24 Jan 2003 00:35:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 253 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: 11-Digit Dialing Comes to NYC (Ernie Klein) Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! (William Warren) Re: Rat Shack and Future Slop (Gerry Belanger) Re: Rat Shack and Future Slop (Al Gillis) Re: Looking for Satellite TV, Internet, Phone Provider (John R. Levine) Re: Westchester DA (NYC Suburb) vs. Nigerian Scammers (William Warren) Now, XM Satellite Radio Has Gear to Match Programming (Monty Solomon) U.S. Opens Online Portal to Rulemaking (Monty Solomon) Network Solutions Spills E-mail Addresses (Monty Solomon) BellSouth Reports Fourth Quarter Earnings (Monty Solomon) Cingular loses customers for second straight qtr (Monty Solomon) High-Definition Broadcast Of Super Bowl XXXVII (Monty Solomon) Nortel Networks Reports Results for 4th Quarter and Year 2002 (M Solomon) Because It's There: Putting Everest Online (Monty Solomon) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ernie Klein Subject: Re: 11-Digit Dialing Comes to NYC Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 18:11:53 -0800 Organization: Not very organized In article , Lisa Miller wrote: > Allston Parking Refugee wrote: >> 11-digit dialing is coming to NYC on February 1, 2003. NYC had >> managed to hang onto 7 digit dialing even with its overlays for a few >> years, thanks to the NYS PSC who fought the FCC and lost over this >> issue. > I can understand why the area code has to be dialed, but why is Verizon > (or the NY PUC?) mandating the 1+ too? Verizon has already implemented > 10 digit dialing up and down its territory, as have many other places > too. In these areas, Verizon has repeated over and over that the 1+ is > not necessary, and to just dial 10 digits, not 11. > But in New York City, 11 (1+ 10digits) apparently will be mandated. I > suspect it is the PUC that is requiring this strangeness, but who knows. > Verizon obviously has the technology to do just 10 digits. It would make > a lot more sense to keep things consistent across the land where the area > code must be used for all calls. > Reference: http://tinyurl.com/4qbq (Verizon Web Page) Once upon a time, long, long, ago -- before CLEC's, before cellphones, when the communications world was a simpler place, there were more than enough area codes and prefixes to go around. There were rules to make it simple; all area codes had to have either a '0' or a '1' as the second digit (215, 213, 408, etc). Prefixes could not use a '0' or '1' as the second digit (334, 543, 344. etc). As soon as the second digit was dialed the switch would know if this was going to be a 10 digit call or a 7 digit call. As more and more demand came for prefixes, and area codes had to be split, the finite number of area codes (and prefix coded) ran out. We now have area code '217' and prefix '217' for example. The switch can no longer know if you are going to dial 217-6041 (a local call), or 217-604-1234 (a long distance call). There are two ways to resolve this dilemma: 1) Wait after the 7th digit to see if the customer has finished dialing, or is still trying to dial the rest of the number. Normal interdigital timing is usually 3-5 seconds to allow customers who are slow to dial (my 102 year old aunt for example). 2) Dial a '1' at the start of a 10 digit call to let the switch know that 10 more digits are coming. Either option could be used, however the first usually is not because most calls in a given central office are 7 digit, local calls, and to stop and wait after the 7th digit for 3-5 seconds to see if more digits are going to come, would delay the majority of calls from completing. This wait not only annoys customers, it can tie up central office equipment for an additional 3-5 seconds per call, requiring more equipment for the same number of calls. Thus, dial '1' before a 10 digit call. -Ernie- [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But there can also be the use of the 'carriage return' or # symbol at the end of the number to indicate the dialing is completed, but that isn't used very often. PAT] ------------------------------ From: William Warren Subject: Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! Organization: Church of the Swimming Bullfrog Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 02:19:26 GMT > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What about the writer's allegation of > three hundred thousand 'suspects' and 'hundreds of arrests already > made'. Was there any truth to any of that? PAT] Pat, Pu-leeze. Surely the media would have covered such a massive dragnet? Bill [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, you would think so; but as John Levine noted in the previous issue of the Digest Thursday night, there was a kiddie porn raid somewhere; numerous arrests were made from that; but I don't remember reading about in the papers or seeing it noted on the net news, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: glb1202@cognitronics.com (Gerry Belanger) Subject: Re: Rat Shack and Future Slop Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 03:09:41 GMT In article , PaulCoxwell@aol.com wrote: > The Radio Shack stores in the U.K. go by the name of Tandy, but the > same principle applies. It's very seldom I use them (too expensive > for most items), but they go through the same routine of asking for > name, address, phone number, what you had for breakfast etc. on every > little purchase. Last week I purchased something at my local dealer owned RS. Surprised me when the clerk did not ask for the name or phone number. Gerry Belanger Address valid til the spam drowns it. ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Subject: Re: Rat Shack and Future Slop Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 19:58:17 -0800 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com At my local Radio Shack they follow the company line, asking for my name, telephone number and such on each purchase. Several years ago I told the clerk "Just put me down as cash." He asked "Would that be Johnny Cash?" I said "sure!". Since then that's the way it's been! I'm sure he has this little joke with many of his customers -- for me it removed the edge from the questions he's expected to ask and I didn't have to submit to their interrogation! One thing that surprises me is that this same guy has lasted several years at this store -- he doesn't seem like the owner, either! wrote in message news:telecom22.248.6@telecom-digest.org: >>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Let's hope the new policy is national >>> in scope and applies to dealers and agency stores alike. At our local >>> Radio Shack agency store here in Independence it was not much of an >>> issue since the two guys who manage and own the store know almost >>> everyone in town, and everyone knows them. But in the Chicago area for >>> many years, this was quite a bone of contention. To buy a set of >>> batteries for cash, they wanted to know names, addresses, etc. PAT] >> My experience with Rat Shack here in Calgary isn't quite as bad, but >> still annoying. Generally, buying some batteries for cash is an >> in-the-door, out-the-door proposition. Buying anything more than that >> -- for example, I recently bought a laser pointer (as a toy for my >> cats -- they *LOVE* chasing that red dot!) -- and you get the request >> for all that personal info. > The Radio Shack stores in the U.K. go by the name of Tandy, but the > same principle applies. It's very seldom I use them (too expensive > for most items), but they go through the same routine of asking for > name, address, phone number, what you had for breakfast etc. on every > little purchase. > Paul Coxwell > Norfolk, U.K. ------------------------------ Date: 23 Jan 2003 22:21:12 -0500 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Looking for Satellite TV, Internet, Phone Provider Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA >> I'm looking for companies that would be able to provide phone, tv and >> internet from a satellite dish. Would appreciate any info. > Would you REALLY want to talk on a phone served by a satellite in > synchronous orbit? I've done it, it's not that bad. About 20 years ago, in the dawn of the competitive long distance era was Satellite Business Systems, funded by IBM, Sears, and (I think) Aetna insurance. After they found that the VSAT data market wasn't all they'd hoped for, they got into the long distance telephone biz. They had geosync satellites with very sophisticated ground systems that did time division multiplexing of slots that were maybe a millisecond wide. They offered what was at the time very low cost long distance, 10 cents anywhere in your state or an adjacent one, 25 cents anywhere in the country. Since they used 950 access and this predated the pay phone surcharge, you could use them from a payphone without putting in a dime, unlike anyone else other than Ma, and their rates were way better than Ma's. The satellite delay was certainly noticable, about a quarter of a second round trip. Some people found it really annoying, but it didn't bother me much, particularly since the call quality, other than the delay, was very good and the price was unbeatable. (They were among the first to use the FG B 950-xxxx access, which is technically much better than the FG A POTS access that MCI and others were using.) SBS was later sold to MCI and lives on only as the 1010888 PIC code for long distance. To return to the original question, there are plenty of sources of satellite TV and Internet (Echostar and DirectTV being the best known.) For satellite phones, you can get an Iridium phone for about $600 used, service is $20/mo and calls are $1.45/minute using their LEO satellites. Inmarsat phones are about $2000 (and are now only the size of a laptop computer), rates are from $2 to $10/minute depending on where you are and your call volume, using more reliable geosync satellites, with data also available. Or Globalstar uses a combination of cellular where available and satellite where not with more reasonable rates, phone is $300, service plans include one at $50/mo including 120 minutes. No matter how badly your phone company stinks, it's unlikely that sat phones would be the alternative you want. I'd consider fixed cellular with an antenna on the roof pointing at the nearest cell tower. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: William Warren Subject: Re: Westchester DA (NYC Suburb) vs. Nigerian Scammers Organization: Church of the Swimming Bullfrog Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 03:30:50 GMT Danny Burstein wrote in message news:telecom22.250.6@telecom-digest.org: > TWO INDICTED IN NIGERIAN BUSINESS SCAM [snip] > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have to wonder what sort of 'businessman' > the guy in Wisconsin would be to give away two hundred thousand in > cash on a Nigerian promise to send him fifty million dollars. I've > seen those scams forever and did not realize there are some people > who fall for them. PAT] Pat, If nobody fell for them, they would have vanished from the net years ago. "There's a sucker born every minute, and five more born to take him" Bill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 22:22:43 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Now, XM Satellite Radio Has Gear to Match Programming By WALTER S. MOSSBERG One of the great things about the fast-moving technology field is that companies can improve their products in major ways fairly quickly. Today's example is XM Satellite Radio, the leader in the nascent business of beaming numerous channels of music and talk to subscribers with special radios. When I reviewed XM last year, I gave high marks to its 100 channels of programming (now 101), which feature dedicated stations for everything from classic country, folk, comedy and oldies to multiple flavors of rock, rap, jazz and blues. With each song, XM displays the singer and song title. The service is a fabulous alternative to the increasingly stultified choices on the FM dial. But I panned the actual radios that were being sold to receive all this stuff. I found them cramped, hard to use and a poor fit for the service. They were mainly based on existing FM radios that were never designed to navigate 100 channels quickly or to display XM's song information properly. I also noted that they were expensive -- $400 to $600, including installation. Today, however, I am pleased to say that the hardware has caught up to the content. XM's rich programming is now available through a new, very well-designed radio that works in a car or a home and is much less expensive -- around $200. And that makes XM Radio a service I can wholeheartedly recommend. http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20030123.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 22:26:41 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: U.S. Opens Online Portal to Rulemaking Web Site Invites Wider Participation in the Regulatory Process By Cindy Skrzycki Washington Post Staff Writer It may not be as entertaining as browsing for bargains on eBay, but Americans increasingly are using the Internet to participate in the federal regulatory process. Mariners at sea and truckers on the road, for instance, have voiced their opinions on rules at the Department of Transportation, helping increase the number of public comments twentyfold in three years. With the introduction today of www.regulations.gov, the Bush administration is taking the first step to expand this budding interest in electronic rulemaking to the entire government and populace. The goal is to enable anyone with a computer and Internet access to find every federal regulation that is open for comment, read it and submit their views. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30469-2003Jan22.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 22:29:14 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Network Solutions Spills E-mail Addresses Company to Apologize; Customers Fear 'Spam' By David McGuire washingtonpost.com Friday, January 24, 2003; Page E05 Herndon-based Internet address seller Network Solutions Inc. said it will apologize to tens of thousands of customers whose e-mail addresses the company inadvertently released yesterday. "A few thousand" Network Solutions customers received e-mail messages that contained more than 85,000 e-mail addresses of other Network Solutions customers, said spokesman Patrick Burns of VeriSign Inc., the parent company of Network Solutions. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35318-2003Jan23.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 22:31:05 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: BellSouth Reports Fourth Quarter Earnings DSL High-Speed Internet Customers Surpass 1 Million; Long Distance Approval In All Markets; Company to Expense Stock Options Granted After January 1, 2003 ATLANTA, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BellSouth Corporation (NYSE:BLS) reported earnings per share (EPS) of 32 cents in the fourth quarter of 2002, compared to EPS of 42 cents in the same quarter of 2001. Normalized for special items, detailed below, EPS in the fourth quarter of 2002 was 50 cents, compared to normalized EPS of 63 cents in the same quarter a year ago. Capital expenditures for 2002 were $3.8 billion, a reduction of 36.9 percent compared to $6.0 billion in 2001. Operating free cash flow (defined as cash flow from operations less capital expenditures) was $791 million in the fourth quarter of 2002, and totaled $4.5 billion for the year as a whole. Including asset sales and note repayments to BellSouth during the year, the company generated free cash flow of $6.8 billion in 2002. The company reduced net debt to $14.9 billion in 2002 from $19.5 billion in 2001, or 23.6 percent, and increased its quarterly per share cash dividend 5.3 percent. Consolidated revenues, which do not include BellSouth's 40 percent share of Cingular Wireless, were $5.69 billion, compared to $6.21 billion in the fourth quarter of 2001. Normalized total operating revenues, which include Cingular, were $7.12 billion, a decline of 6.8 percent versus the fourth quarter of 2001. BellSouth reduced consolidated total operating expenses, which exclude Cingular, by 4.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2002, compared to the same three months a year ago. Net income in the quarter was $597 million, compared to $792 million in the fourth quarter of the previous year. Normalized net income was $936 million, compared to $1.19 billion in the final quarter of 2001. For the year, EPS was 76 cents in 2002, compared to $1.36 in 2001. Normalized EPS was $2.09 in the latest year, compared to $2.34 in 2001. Foreign currency losses in 2002 totaled 32 cents per share, compared to 12 cents per share in the previous year. Including Cingular, revenues were $28.4 billion in 2002, a decline of 3.9 percent for the year. Net income was $1.42 billion in 2002, compared to $2.57 billion a year earlier. Normalized net income in 2002 was $3.92 billion, compared to $4.42 billion in 2001. BellSouth's operating results continued to reflect weak demand for communications services, both in the United States and Latin America. Bankruptcies continued to affect both retail and wholesale demand, as well as bad debt expense. Retail access line market share loss in the U.S., as well as currency devaluations in Argentina and Venezuela, also continued to impact results. http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31081053 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 22:38:25 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular Loses Customers For Second Straight Quarter By Yukari Iwatani CHICAGO, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Telecommunications company BellSouth Corp. (NYSE:BLS) on Thursday said its Cingular Wireless joint venture with SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) posted slightly higher revenue but lost customers for the second straight quarter. The No. 2 wireless telephone company, behind Verizon Wireless, said it lost 121,000 customers in the fourth quarter, ending the period with a total of 21.9 million customers. The results were a big disappointment for analysts who had been expecting the Atlanta-based company to add between 100,000 and 200,000 customers. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31089657 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 22:48:04 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: High-Definition Broadcast Of Super Bowl XXXVII ABC Sports Teams with Motorola for High-Definition Broadcast Of Super Bowl XXXVII ABC Sports Selects Motorola's DigiCipher(R) II Transmission System to Encode The Critical Back Haul High-Definition Feed From San Diego's QUALCOMM Stadium SAN DIEGO, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) Broadband Communications Sector today announced that it will provide ABC Sports with its DigiCipher(R) II High-Definition (HD) digital transmission equipment to broadcast Super Bowl XXXVII live from San Diego's QUALCOMM Stadium on January 26, 2003. Motorola's DigiCipher II HD Encoders are a critical link in the broadcast chain for Super Bowl XXXVII. The Motorola equipment will perform the original back haul digital compression from the field-based high-definition cameras, so the quality of all subsequent feeds will depend upon the efficiency and transparency of Motorola's first stage compression. Extensive testing of the Motorola HD encoder determined that it will ensure the best possible transmission of the game. The source feeds from QUALCOMM Stadium will be produced in the ATSC 720P high-definition format. The Motorola encoder will then compress the source feeds to the backhaul rate of 41 megabits/second for transmission over satellite to ABC production studios in New York. There, HD decoders will translate the feed back to a baseband HD signal for the addition of graphics and commercials. The finished, production-quality signal will then be recompressed for the distribution feed to ABC affiliates. Finally, the signal will go through one more decode/encode cycle at the affiliates for the final 19.39 Mbps ATSC broadcast to consumers. With a total of three compression cycles, the quality of the original compression stage is critical to the quality of the final on-air program. http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31094851 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 22:52:33 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Nortel Networks Reports Results for Fourth Quarter and Year 2002 TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 23, 2003--Nortel Networks Corporation (NYSE:NT)(TSX:NT): -- Q4 2002 revenues: US$2.52 billion, up sequentially approximately 7 percent -- Q4 2002: net loss per common share of US$0.06; pro forma net loss(a) per common share of US$0.01 -- Strong cash performance in Q4, 2002; "net cash positive" at the end of Q4 2002 -- Expensing stock options, effective January 1, 2003 Nortel Networks Corporation (NYSE:NT)(TSX:NT) today reported results for the fourth quarter and the year 2002 prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles, except as noted with respect to pro forma results(a). Fourth Quarter 2002 Results Revenues from continuing operations were US$2.52 billion for the fourth quarter of 2002 compared to US$3.46 billion in the same period in 2001. Nortel Networks reported a net loss in the fourth quarter of 2002 of US$248 million, or US$0.06 per common share, compared to a net loss of US$1.83 billion, or US$0.57 per common share, in the fourth quarter of 2001(b). Pro forma net loss from continuing operations(a) for the fourth quarter of 2002 was US$62 million, or US$0.01 per common share, compared to pro forma net loss from continuing operations(a) of US$506 million, or US$0.16 per common share, in the fourth quarter of 2001. Pro forma net loss from continuing operations(a) for the fourth quarter of 2002 excluded US$186 million, comprised of: special charges related to restructuring of US$214 million; gain on repurchases of outstanding debt securities of US$60 million; certain costs related to acquisitions of US$58 million; and gain on sale of business of US$26 million. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31097504 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 23:01:06 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Because It's There: Putting Everest Online By NANCY GOHRING IF the 25-below-zero temperature, howling wind and grim effects of altitude sickness do not make most of those trying to scale Mount Everest feel a world away from home, the near-complete lack of communications on and around Everest surely does. This year, just in time for the 50th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary's first ascent of Everest, climbers on the mountain will have the chance to connect with the world below by e-mail. That is because Tsering Gyaltsen, the grandson of the only surviving Sherpa to have accompanied Hillary on that famed climb, is planning to build the world's highest Internet cafe at base camp. It is fitting that the added comfort comes courtesy of a Sherpa, one of the clan of Nepalese who take charge of getting most everything up the mountain for the usually wealthy adventurers seeking the thrill of topping the world's highest peak. But in contrast to many climber services, this one does not stand to benefit foreign-run outfitters primarily. Although it is an obvious perk for the climbers, the residents of a nearby town may get Internet access because of it, and the mountain may get a bit cleaner. The technical challenge is significant. Wireless radios will be positioned on moving glaciers, and gear must be insulated against temperatures far colder than they were designed to withstand. And at the helm of the project is Mr. Gyaltsen, who is not wealthy and has no formal technical training. But tenacious he is. From halfway around the world, Mr. Gyaltsen has attracted an all-star cast of technologists in the United States dedicated to furthering his goal. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/23/technology/circuits/23sher.html ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! 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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #253 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jan 25 18:14:05 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0PNE5C11677; Sat, 25 Jan 2003 18:14:05 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 18:14:05 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301252314.h0PNE5C11677@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #254 TELECOM Digest Sat, 25 Jan 2003 18:14:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 254 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: DMCA: Ma Bell Would Be Proud (Monty Solomon) Re: DMCA: Ma Bell Would Be Proud (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: E1 (Richard H. E. Smith) Re: E1 (Michael Will) Re: E1 (Tom) Re: Looking for Satellite TV, Internet, Phone Provider (John Higdon) Radio Wishlist, was Re: Now, XM Satellite Radio Has Gear (Danny Burstein) Submarine Fiber Optic Cabling and Equipment (W. Joseph Ritchotte II) Re: Verizon Must Reveal Internet Song Swapper (John Higdon) Re: Rat Shack and Future Slop (Dave Garland) Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! (Monty Solomon) Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! (Tom Betz) Internet Calls Stir Up Static in Phone Fight (Monty Solomon) Re: Prison Call Overcharging (Linc Madison) Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! (Gail M. Hall) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 00:36:24 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Re: DMCA: Ma Bell Would Be Proud WebWasher shouldn't block that URI by default. Does that URI match one of the regular expressions in your WebWasher URL filter? That URI is for one of the cached (by Akamai) CSS (cascading style sheets) files used by Wired. Take a look at the following for more info ... Wired News Celebrates 6th Anniversary with Cutting-Edge Redesign Using The Latest Web Standards http://www.terralycos.com/press/pr_10_10e_02.html Wired News: A Site for Your Eyes http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,55675,00.html Behind the Wired News Design http://wired.com/news/explanation.html An Interview With Douglas Bowman of Wired News http://devedge.netscape.com/viewsource/2002/wired-interview/ Zeldman on the Wired News redesign http://www.zeldman.com/daily/1002a.html#wired Louis Collins wrote: > From: Louis Collins > Subject: Re: DMCA: Ma Bell Would Be Proud > Date: 23 Jan 2003 23:42:04 GMT > Organization: Concentric Internet Services > Monty Solomon wrote: >> http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,57268,00.html > Sounds like a good article, but alas, when I click it I get this: > WebWasher is configured to block the requested page: > 'http://a1112.g.akamai.net/7/1112/492/2002091423/www.wired.com/news/v/20020914/css/cs4/wnScreen.css'. > Is my browser messed up or what? ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: DMCA: Ma Bell Would Be Proud Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 07:16:01 GMT On 23 Jan 2003 23:42:04 GMT, Louis Collins posted the following to comp.dcom.telecom: > Monty Solomon wrote: >> http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,57268,00.html > Sounds like a good article, but alas, when I click it I get this: > WebWasher is configured to block the requested page: > 'http://a1112.g.akamai.net/7/1112/492/2002091423/www.wired.com/news/v/20020914/css/cs4/wnScreen.css'. > Is my browser messed up or what? Sounds like your ad-blocker, WebWasher, is blocking content. Check to see if it's blocking akamai.net, which is often used to host ads, but also hosts wired.com, Supreme Court opinions, and lots of other stuff. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA (delete NOSPAM from address to mail me) ------------------------------ From: Richard H. E. Smith Subject: Re: E1 Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 23:56:25 -0600 Organization: The Smiths foo wrote: > If you use E1, then timeslot 16 is used for signaling. The signaling > packets are a sort of HDLC packets. With HDLC you use a flag 01111110 > to mark the beginning and end of a packet. If the same bitpattern as > the flag comes in the data, you insert an extra 0 after the 5:th bit > (bitstuffing). Then you must transmit 9 bits instead of 8. The > timeslot in E1 is only 8 bit, so how is this problem solved? The "bytes" of the messages aren't necessarily alligned with the 8 bit slot in each frame... if you need to send nine bits, then it stretches into the next frame, and then the eight bits follow that. You have to think of timeslot 16 (or whichever) as a continuous stream of bits, and ignore that it's delivered eight bits at a time. Hope that makes sense. Dick Smith rhes@enteract.com Software Consultant ------------------------------ From: Michael Will Subject: Re: E1 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 07:44:32 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Tampa Bay foo wrote: > If you use E1, then timeslot 16 is used for signaling. The signaling > packets are a sort of HDLC packets. With HDLC you use a flag 01111110 > to mark the beginning and end of a packet. If the same bitpattern as > the flag comes in the data, you insert an extra 0 after the 5:th bit > (bitstuffing). Then you must transmit 9 bits instead of 8. The > timeslot in E1 is only 8 bit, so how is this problem solved? There is no problem :) One just needs to see that in a data context the timeslot itself a just a bitstream, meaning not every symbol in the delivery stream has to align with the actual transport frame. Just because audio data is traditionally (and nearly exclusively) sent one octet per frame doesn't mean that's the only way to interpret the data being transmitted. Consider the same condition in an X.25 HDLC circuit - the link speed may be static, but that doesn't mean the data stream doesn't run slower from time to time to accommodate the same symbol transmission issues. Look at the E1 as what it is - a multiplexed set of streams, and in the D-channel case (or any generic Data-Channel interpretation, including multi-timeslot video, etc.) one just has to strip out the appropriate bitsream and *then* interpret it by its particular rules. At that point, alignment within the multiplexed transmission of 31 other channels doesn't matter a whole lot :) - Michael ------------------------------ From: Tom Subject: Re: E1 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 11:43:20 -0000 Organization: ntlworld News Service foo wrote in message news:telecom22.252.11@telecom-digest.org... > If you use E1, then timeslot 16 is used for signaling. The signaling > packets are a sort of HDLC packets. With HDLC you use a flag 01111110 > to mark the beginning and end of a packet. If the same bitpattern as > the flag comes in the data, you insert an extra 0 after the 5:th bit > (bitstuffing). Then you must transmit 9 bits instead of 8. The > timeslot in E1 is only 8 bit, so how is this problem solved? It's not really a problem. HDLC is bit-oriented. The 8 bits transmitted in each E1 frame don't necessarily correspond with an HDLC field. ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Looking for Satellite TV, Internet, Phone Provider Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 21:39:28 -0800 In article , johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) wrote: > I've done it, it's not that bad. About 20 years ago, in the dawn of > the competitive long distance era was Satellite Business Systems, > funded by IBM, Sears, and (I think) Aetna insurance. Back when I owned a real company, we got SBS to save money on long distance. We even hid the onerous Feature Group B access behind our PBX (which was capable of transparently dialing all the necessary access numbers and codes). The workers hated it. One CS representative said that it lowered apparent IQs about thirty points with all the delay and the resultant tripping over words of the other party. One wise guy started saying "over" when making long distance calls. We got rid of it within a year. > No matter how badly your phone company stinks, it's unlikely that sat > phones would be the alternative you want. I'd consider fixed cellular > with an antenna on the roof pointing at the nearest cell tower. At my house, the signal is good enough to use any old handheld like a cordless phone. If it were not for the fact that I have so much other wired communications, I would seriously consider dumping my wireline service. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Radio Wishlist, was Re: Now, XM Satellite Radio Has Gear .. Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 05:57:06 +0000 (UTC) Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Monty Solomon writes: > By WALTER S. MOSSBERG > One of the great things about the fast-moving technology field is > that companies can improve their products in major ways fairly > quickly. Today's example is XM Satellite Radio, the leader in the > nascent business of beaming numerous channels of music and talk to > subscribers with special radios. [ rest snipped ] While not a directly telecom related item, high on my wish list is a tivo/replay-tv like radio. When, oh when, will we have a radio that can be set to record as easily as a vcr? (well, let's hope it's easier...) Current choices include either kludging radio output to a vcr (which doesn't give you channel setting) or using an expensive, limited edition product like: http://www.radioprogramrecorder.com/ (url included for info. no connection to them. not an endorsement, etc.) And more immediately, why hasn't someone, anyone, put out a line of car radios with a back-buffer? How many times do you hear something on the radio where you'd really, really, like to listen to it again? Even for something as mundane as the weather, or traffic. And, of course, all the EBS broadcasts ... Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: bjr@thedigitaldeli.net (W. Joseph Ritchotte II) Subject: Submarine Fiber Optic Cabling and Equipment Organization: Toltec Business Systems and Holdings Inc. Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 05:14:18 GMT Dear Telecom: I am with the commercial house of B. Joseph Gordon and Company. My firm has been retained to sell a consigned lot for Lifecycle Business Partners of approximately 100 million in submarine fiber optic cabling equipment. Lifecycle's orders are to try and recoup 20% of the retail value of the lot. As we are approaching the large companies that specialize in this type of construction, we intend to leave no stone unturned. That is why we are publishing the website where the materials are listed and you can check off items you are interested in and have that list shipped to our agents for further discussion. In no way are you obligated to purchase. All items are new in the OEM packaging and were designed for undersea use but the extra strength and highly reduced prices would not prohibit some of the equipment and cable from being used in a land project. The link is: http://65.96.189.204:8880/SubmarineTelecomEquipList.asp Thank you for your time. Regards, William Ritchotte - CEO Like radio shows? Jack Benny, Abbott and Costello, Zero Hour, CBS Radio Theatre? Remember who you spent your Sunday nights with listening to the radio? Would you like to relive those memories? Come to http://www.digitaldeliftp.com ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Verizon Must Reveal Internet Song Swapper Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 21:29:34 -0800 In article , Joey Lindstrom wrote: > U.S. District Judge John Bates said Verizon must cooperate with > recording industry efforts to track down online song swappers, > rejecting the telecommunications giant's assertion that such a move > would violate customer privacy and turn it into an online copyright cop. > Verizon said it would appeal the decision. And well it should. The key issue is probable cause. The RIAA is simply making an accusation, backed up with no credible evidence. If this decision stands and becomes precedent, anyone could get anyone else's private information from a provider by simply claiming "copyright violation". John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Rat Shack and Future Slop Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 23:35:22 -0600 Organization: Wizard Information > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: ... From whenever until 1965 'Allied > Radio' was *the* place in Chicago for every kind of electronic gizmo > there was in those days.] In Chicago? In the USA. Well, along with Lafayette (NY) and Radio Shack (before Tandy got involved). And Olson, too. And Meshna and Fair Radio for the surplus hounds. Curiously, the small surplus outfits are the only ones still around. Fair Radio doesn't seem to have changed much, not even the praying hands. And (ObTelecom) will ya look at that, their front page (http://www.fairradio.com) features a surplus ringing generator. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 01:07:01 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, you would think so; but as John > Levine noted in the previous issue of the Digest Thursday night, there > was a kiddie porn raid somewhere; numerous arrests were made from > that; but I don't remember reading about in the papers or seeing it > noted on the net news, etc. PAT] Some old and recent news stories ... Police arrest 25 members of child porn ring By Drew Cullen Posted: 23/04/2002 at 12:34 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/24986.html UK police swoop in child porn raids By Tim Richardson Posted: 25/04/2002 at 10:45 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/25023.html Paedophile net raids across UK Care workers, teachers and a teenage boy are among those arrested in dawn raids as part of the UK's biggest internet paedophile crackdown yet. Wednesday, 24 April, 2002, 15:34 GMT 16:34 UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1947000/1947778.stm Q&A: Paedophile net raids The BBC's home affairs correspondent, Jon Silverman, answers key questions about Wednesday's internet paedophile crackdown. Wednesday, 24 April, 2002, 15:33 GMT 16:33 UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1949000/1949092.stm Operation Ore: Can the UK cope? Monday, 13 January, 2003, 10:33 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2652465.stm British Child-Pornography Investigation Is Broadening By SARAH LYALL January 14, 2003 http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/14/international/14CND_PORN.html Britain's Hunt for Child Pornography Users Nets Hundreds Besides Pete Townshend By SARAH LYALL January 15, 2003 http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/15/international/europe/15PORN.html 'I cannot admit what I am to myself' Thursday January 23, 2003 The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,880237,00.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So I guess the spam posting at least made a good point or two, even if apparently it was spam. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tom Betz Subject: Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 06:12:58 UTC Organization: XOme Quoth Pat in news:telecom22.250.9@telecom-digest.org: > Do you know, Tom, if there was any truth at all to his allegations > regards the number of 'suspects', inquistioned persons, etc? Or was > that all just a lot of crap as well? See for the FBI's press release about Operation Candyman. An excerpt: "Through the issuance of a court order to Yahoo!, FBI Houston concentrating on the Candyman Egroup, identified 7,000 unique E-mail addresses with 2,400 of the addresses outside of United States and 4,600 located domestically." ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 01:27:05 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Internet Calls Stir Up Static in Phone Fight By DENNIS K. BERMAN Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL A battle is heating up in the phone industry over the growing number of voice calls sent over the Internet, pitting local phone companies against long-distance providers. At issue: whether long-distance companies must pay local phone systems the full fare for sending these Internet-based calls to and from houses and offices. Currently, most long-distance companies do pay such "access fees" since the carriers generally don't own the lines that go into homes and businesses. But long-distance companies say they shouldn't have to pay as much to transmit Internet calls to customers as they pay for calls sent over traditional long-distance networks. http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB1043372661755750904,00.html ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: Prison Call Overcharging Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 23:39:08 -0800 Organization: LincMad.com Consulting Reply-To: Telecom@LincMad.com In article , Gail M. Hall wrote: > I'll be interested to hear if this "Save a buck or two" company > really does save people money for collect call charges. I must say > they have some cute commercials! Read the fine print: "Savings vs. dialing '0' with AT&T for interstate calls." Not compared to dialing 0-NPA-NXX-XXXX, not compared to dialing 1-800-CALL-ATT, but compared to dialing just 0. The recipient pays a substantial surcharge if the operator has to punch the number in for you, but 1-800-COLLECT gives you that service for free. Woo-hoo. (Never mind that you don't get an AT&T operator if you just dial 0. You have to dial 1010288-0 or 00 if the phone is pre-subscribed to AT&T, but AT&T recommends dialing 1-800-CALL-ATT instead.) Only an ABSOLUTE IDIOT would dial just '0' to place a collect call. There's no excuse, at least for those of us whose age has made it into double-digits. A very useful clue as to what 1-800-COLLECT will charge can be gleaned from the simple fact that they don't list any rates on their web site. Their contact form offers several options for the subject of your inquiry, but "rates" is not one of them. Of course, I'm sure the reason they don't tell you the rates is that they're so low you don't need to even think about them.... Also, many of the commercials feature situations in which only an absolute idiot would call collect to begin with; for instance, the kids at the mall calling Mom to come pick them up. How many kids get dropped off at a mall that's so far away from home that it's a toll call? Give the kid 50 cents to call home from the payphone! The continued business success of companies like 1-800-COLLECT and 10-10-220 (pay extra on every call!) only proves the gullibility of the American consumer. To borrow a phrase for which 1-800-COLLECT's spokesman is famous, "I pity the fool" who ever uses 1-800-COLLECT. www dot LincMad dot com / Telecom at LincMad dot com Linc Madison * San Francisco, California ------------------------------ From: Gail M. Hall Subject: Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 04:07:34 -0500 Reply-To: gmhall@apk.net On Thu, 23 Jan 2003 01:33:40 UTC, in comp.dcom.telecom message , overworked Pat wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You know, it may get to the point real > soon here on this list that I start accepting incoming mail *only* > from a trusted whitelist of readers/contributors, with all other mail > going into the bit bucket. There simply is not enough time in the day > for *me* to go around the web looking for hiding places for spam. All > trusted whitelist contributors will have a list giving the correct > email addresses of others on the list. Then all email addresses > printed here will vanish also. That seems to me like a horrible way to > be part of the net, and extremely arrogant. Do you knoww, Tom, if > there was any truth at all to his allegations regards the number of > 'suspects', inquistioned persons, etc? Or was that all just a lot of > crap as well? PAT] Is it possible that you will have better luck by closing off the usenet gateway and having everyone subscribe to the mailing list instead? I would hate to see that because the ISPs I have used preferred us to use the news service instead of e-mail if there was a choice. However, that would be one way to limit the number of people who can harvest addresses from the group. I am aware that this group's addresses are harvested by spammers. Some spammers actually spam the list and members privately, too. So they are easy to detect. One of the worst spammers I get messages from is something called "iAgentNetwork E-Blast". They spam a lot of telecom "services" and CLAIM that I subscribed to their list. They LIE! I filtered them out by the name iAgent and by their IP number. I recently found out that my ISP uses a certain software to process mail and there is a way that we can munge our addresses in a way that we would still get the mail but we could identify where the sender using that edited address got our address because of what we did in the "munge". I don't want to give details because you are likely to post this to the group, and I don't want spammers to catch on to what this "trick" is if they don't already know it. If I just posted under this "new" address, you would probably consider me "unknown" and reject the address. Some lists do allow for subscribers to post from "alternate" e-mail addresses so a person could give YOU the real address but post with another address, even a munged address that you would recognize as being from the real subscriber. If you do decide to continue the usenet newsgroup gateway, you might require people who read from there to "register" with you before being allowed to post. This might include giving some personal information such as real name and city of residence but nothing too personal. Please don't require credit card numbers or anything like that. This information would be kept by the moderator and not be available to anyone else. Some list servers do allow members to get a list of all subscribers' e-mail addresses by sending a special command, but subscribers can send a command to opt out of that feature -- thanks be!! I would go along with your idea of accepting posts from known subscribers. Anyone wanting to join would fill out some kind of form that you would devise. If they are approved, then they would be accepted like now. I also think the moderator should maintain an "admin" address for people to write about stuff doing with subscribing, changing addresses, etc., and a "list" address for posting messages to the group. That way we could write to you, Pat, about details of our addresses, etc., without having to worry about our remarks going out to the whole world. You know, I could tell you more about the mail software quirk. I hope some of these ideas can cut down on your work. Gail in Ohio USA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You raise so many issues I won't even take the time here and now to respond to all of them. I am NOT interested in collecting names and email addresses for 'approval' purposes here in the Digest. It is simply easier to continue as I do now, and use a large scoop shovel to get rid of large amounts of spam each day. Gail, there is an 'administrative' address for list changes. It is: Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org (quoting above from the closing message in each issue of the Digest as seen by Digest [not Usenet] readers). I do *not* handle subscriptions to the Digest personally. You have to use the majordomo at the addresses shown above. I check the things at the above address every few days. I suggest if you wish to change from one email address to another that you subscribe the new one first, wait a few days until things start coming there, *then* go back and unsubscribe the old address. That's because new subscribes only take effect after I 'approve' them to keep spammers/hucksters out. Unsubscribes take effect when you write the above address. To avoid missing an issue, do not unsubscribe the old address until you see the new one has been installed. Regards other matters, if you say 'do not publish' as your subject line then either I will not or at the very least I will remove your name/email address if I decide to use it. And I do give the spam bucket at least a cursory glance prior to deleting it each day. Maybe that will help a little. To avoid absolutely all spam in the Usenet version, I suggest you read *my* Usenet version which is on the web site as http://telecom-digest.org/TELECOM_Digest_Online and maybe you do or do not need the final trailing slash. That is message by message Usenet style, put out by myself. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #254 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jan 25 19:45:53 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0Q0jrq13399; Sat, 25 Jan 2003 19:45:53 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 19:45:53 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301260045.h0Q0jrq13399@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #255 TELECOM Digest Sat, 25 Jan 2003 19:46:51 EST Volume 22 : Issue 255 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Second Avenue Story: The NY Tel Fire, 1975 (TELECOM Digest Editor) Finally Got My Cellphone to Roam (Linc Madison) Re: 11-Digit Dialing Comes to NYC (Scott D Fybush) Re: 11-Digit Dialing Comes to NYC (John Stahl) Re: 11-Digit Dialing Comes to NYC (Joey Lindstrom) Re: 11-Digit Dialing Comes to NYC (Lisa Miller) Re: Rat Shack and Future Slop (John Hines) Multiple DSL Services on Same Cable (Joey Lindstrom) Re: Master-Keyed Lock Vulnerability (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: Calling Party Pays to Cellular (Michael D. Sullivan) BellSouth Completes Year With More Than 1 Million DSL Customers (Solomon) Trouble With Prime Numbers: DeCSS, DVD and Protection (Monty Solomon) Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! (Hank Fung) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 18:52:35 EST From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Second Avenue Story: The NY Tel Fire, 1975 We now have the *complete* story (as told by AT&T and NY Telephone) of the 1975 disasterous file in the telephone building in New York City in February, 1975. This is in our archives, in the history section as follows: http://telecom-digest.org/history/fire-in-newyork-1975 This fifty-page booklet, published by NY Telephone in the summer of 1975 was totally scanned into .jpg files by Kevin Bluml of Eden Prairie Minnesota, then emailed to me a page at a time (all two million bytes of *each* page). I then in turn used FTP to get the individual pages (about two million bytes per page) over to massis, and sat them up in a directory. Kevin and I worked on this project over several nights with him emailing me one .jpg file at a time. To keep them from choking the mail system, I had to retrieve them as each page was sent. You are welcome to make copies for yourself, and I hope you will. This twenty-eight year old book is no longer in print as far as I know, and I am very grateful to Kevin for the work he did getting it all scanned in and emailed to me. You can attempt to read it all on line but that might be dreadfully hard to do. You can go to the index of that directory (/fire-in-newyork-1975) and click the pages out one at a time if you have a browser capable of handling several million bytes but that will take a long time. A better solution is to FTP the entire directory back to your site, then use some kind of viewer to set the page magnification properly and click-click-click through the pages with ease, at your leisure. Acrobat is a good choice of readers to use; so is Pagis. There are many millions of bytes involved, so the FTP transfer (at high, DSL speed) will take about an hour or more of your time. If you are on dialup then you might as well forget it. The FTP address to MGET the files is: ftp massis.lcs.mit.edu login your name, password set binary mget telecom-archives/archives/history/fire-in-newyork/"ny tel fire"* MGET with the wild card at the end (and you will need to quote the file names) will allow all the pages one after another to get downloaded to you. It goes on and on and on and on (and on!) ... like I said above, it took me over an hour to MPUT it all there. Lots of pictures, lots of text in this interesting book from the fire, 28 years ago in February. I'll be interested in hearing reactions, rememberances, etc, and I hope you all will enjoy reading it. And you might wish to drop a note to Kevin Bluml saying thanks for his work on it. Patrick Townosn ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Finally Got My Cellphone to Roam Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 13:38:18 -0800 Organization: LincMad.com Consulting Reply-To: Telecom@LincMad.com I posted here earlier about my struggles trying to get my cellphone (a Samsung SCH-3500 on SprintPCS) to roam. Back in September, I was in Susanville, CA, and tried to roam. The nearest Sprint service is at least 60 miles as the crow flies, so I knew I would be roaming. I switched the roaming mode from "Sprint only" to "analog only." I acquired signal from an analog network, with a full measure of signal strength (4 of 4 bars), but my call would not complete. The little icon for "trying to get a circuit" just blinked at me endlessly. About a month later, I was near Woodbury, TN, when a friend had a tire blow out. Worse yet, the spare tire that the used tire dealer had put in the car, didn't fit the wheel! We needed AAA. We were probably only about 25 miles outside the Sprint network, but to the same effect as in Susanville. I also tried some experiments here in San Francisco. Again, I was able to get a signal on the analog network, but I couldn't complete a call. John Levine pointed out the differences with the third choice in the roaming mode menu, "Automatic." It will look for Sprint first, then any other digital service, then analog. Frank H., a local Sprint user with a 3500 who lives right here in San Francisco, helped me check some other handset-specific issues. The alt.cellular.sprintpcs newsgroup helped with some discussion about PRLs (Preferred Roaming Lists, what the phone uses to determine which networks to try in what order). My PRL 10009 was three years out of date, but the update to the brand new (issued less than two weeks ago) PRL 10018 didn't cure my problem. I took the phone down to the SprintPCS retail store at the foot of Market Street. They were a bit clueless at first, giving me some genuinely wrong information. I had the phone in analog roam mode, and the rep asked what number I wanted to try dialing. I said, "Just press 1-TALK and it will dial my home number." (That's true, using the abbreviated dialing feature of the phonebook in the SCH-3500.) She told me that I had to dial the entire 10-digit number when roaming (true, but not relevant -- accessing entry #1 in my phone book would dial 415-xxx-xxxx). I finally demonstrated to her that I could dial the full 10-digit number, and the call would never complete. The tech took the phone off to the back room and said it would be about 15 minutes. I read all the comics and did all the puzzles, and they brought my phone back. The tech said that he had upgraded the software; he wasn't sure if that would fix it, but that was all he could do with it there. The good news is, it did fix it! I now have software version VK05. I don't know what the previous version was, but either it was outdated or my copy was somehow subtly corrupted. Anyway, thanks to "the awesome power of the Internet," not least Telecom Digest, for helping me get my phone to work! www dot LincMad dot com / Telecom at LincMad dot com Linc Madison * San Francisco, California ------------------------------ From: fybush@world.std.com (Scott D Fybush) Subject: Re: 11-Digit Dialing Comes to NYC Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 20:32:59 GMT johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) writes: > Oh, please, not this tired old disinformation again. New York never > had toll alerting. Careful with those generalizations! :-) This may have been true of NYTel/NYNEX/BA/Verizon territory, but Rochester Tel/Frontierland *did* use the leading "1+" for toll alerting until the mid-nineties. Rochester to Buffalo (an inter-LATA toll call, within the 716 area code) was dialed "1-856-1414" back then. Rochester to Dansville (an intra-LATA toll call, within the 716 area code) was dialed "1-335-1111." With the coming of NXX-style NPAs, this had to change to avoid ambiguity, so the "1+seven digits" went away and was replaced by just seven digits - "856-1414" for Buffalo, "335-1111" for Dansville. RochTel/Frontier allowed full eleven-digit dialing as well - "1-716-856-1414" to call Buffalo - and those of us who knew what was coming started dialing our Buffalo calls that way in anticipation of last year's 716 split, which left Rochester on the "wrong" side. But I'm off my target here, which is to point out that at least SOME of New York State did have toll alerting, which was probably a good thing in the days when a 1-minute daytime call to Buffalo cost a quarter and a quarter was worth something. With 4.9-cent long distance, it really doesn't matter anymore ... s ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 06:05:53 -0500 From: John Stahl Subject: Re: 11-Digit Dialing Comes to NYC John R. Levine, said: > Oh, please, not this tired old disinformation again. New York never > had toll alerting. The best way I found to make sure that I don't get charged for a LD call: I have no LD carrier assigned to one of my telephone lines which I use for outgoing on those occasions where I'm not sure of a phone number. If it is a LD call, the intercept message indicates that the call can't be completed as there is no LD carrier assigned. No worries then about being charged for LD! John Stahl Aljon Enterprises Telecommunications and Data Consultant ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 10:29:48 -0700 Subject: Re: 11-Digit Dialing Comes to NYC Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Fri, 24 Jan 2003 00:34:54 -0500 (EST), Ernie Klein wrote: > Once upon a time, long, long, ago -- before CLEC's, before cellphones, > when the communications world was a simpler place, there were more than > enough area codes and prefixes to go around. There were rules to make > it simple; all area codes had to have either a '0' or a '1' as the > second digit (215, 213, 408, etc). Prefixes could not use a '0' or '1' > as the second digit (334, 543, 344. etc). As soon as the second digit > was dialed the switch would know if this was going to be a 10 digit call > or a 7 digit call. As more and more demand came for prefixes, and area > codes had to be split, the finite number of area codes (and prefix > coded) ran out. We now have area code '217' and prefix '217' for > example. The switch can no longer know if you are going to dial > 217-6041 (a local call), or 217-604-1234 (a long distance call). > There are two ways to resolve this dilemma: 1) Wait after the 7th > digit to see if the customer has finished dialing, or is still trying > to dial the rest of the number. Normal interdigital timing is usually > 3-5 seconds to allow customers who are slow to dial (my 102 year old > aunt for example). 2) Dial a '1' at the start of a 10 digit call to > let the switch know that 10 more digits are coming. Or 3) Mandate 10-digit dialing on all (local) calls (instead of 11). Program the switches not to expect 7-digit calls at all - the first three digits dialed will always be the area code. Here in Alberta (and I think most of Canada and much of the USA), prior to about 1993 you dialed toll calls within your area code as 1-nxx-xxxx. Thus, the leading "1" told the switch to expect *EITHER* 7 or 10 digits. The number of digits to expect would be determined by the second digit dialed after the "1": if 0 or 1, then 10 digits. If 2 through 9, then 7 digits. In Alberta, this changed in 1993 (or maybe 1992) to pave the way for expansion of the NANP to use area codes with middle digits 2 through 9. At this point, all long-distance calls had to be dialed with the area code, even within your own code. A call to Edmonton that used to be dialed 1-444-4444 was now 1-403-444-4444. (And then of course in 1999, 403 was split with Edmonton moving to 780. Recently, the "403-444" prefix mentioned has been reassigned to a CLEC here in Calgary, so now I just dial 444-4444 :-) ) -- Joey Lindstrom -- Telus Sucks http://www.telussucks.info ------------------------------ From: Lisa Miller Organization: TELECOM Subject: Re: 11-Digit Dialing Comes to NYC Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 19:36:45 -0500 Ernie Klein wrote: > In article , Lisa Miller > wrote: >> Allston Parking Refugee wrote: >>> 11-digit dialing is coming to NYC on February 1, 2003. NYC had >>> managed to hang onto 7 digit dialing even with its overlays for a few >>> years, thanks to the NYS PSC who fought the FCC and lost over this >>> issue. >> I can understand why the area code has to be dialed, but why is Verizon >> (or the NY PUC?) mandating the 1+ too? Verizon has already implemented >> 10 digit dialing up and down its territory, as have many other places >> too. In these areas, Verizon has repeated over and over that the 1+ is >> not necessary, and to just dial 10 digits, not 11. >> But in New York City, 11 (1+ 10digits) apparently will be mandated. I >> suspect it is the PUC that is requiring this strangeness, but who knows. >> Verizon obviously has the technology to do just 10 digits. It would make >> a lot more sense to keep things consistent across the land where the area >> code must be used for all calls. >> Reference: http://tinyurl.com/4qbq (Verizon Web Page) > Once upon a time, long, long, ago -- before CLEC's, before cellphones, > when the communications world was a simpler place, there were more than > enough area codes and prefixes to go around. There were rules to make > it simple; all area codes had to have either a '0' or a '1' as the > second digit (215, 213, 408, etc). Prefixes could not use a '0' or '1' > as the second digit (334, 543, 344. etc). As soon as the second digit > was dialed the switch would know if this was going to be a 10 digit call > or a 7 digit call. As more and more demand came for prefixes, and area > codes had to be split, the finite number of area codes (and prefix > coded) ran out. We now have area code '217' and prefix '217' for > example. The switch can no longer know if you are going to dial > 217-6041 (a local call), or 217-604-1234 (a long distance call). > There are two ways to resolve this dilemma: 1) Wait after the 7th > digit to see if the customer has finished dialing, or is still trying > to dial the rest of the number. Normal interdigital timing is usually > 3-5 seconds to allow customers who are slow to dial (my 102 year old > aunt for example). 2) Dial a '1' at the start of a 10 digit call to > let the switch know that 10 more digits are coming. > Either option could be used, however the first usually is not because > most calls in a given central office are 7 digit, local calls, and to > stop and wait after the 7th digit for 3-5 seconds to see if more digits > are going to come, would delay the majority of calls from completing. > This wait not only annoys customers, it can tie up central office > equipment for an additional 3-5 seconds per call, requiring more > equipment for the same number of calls. > Thus, dial '1' before a 10 digit call. I don't buy that, because 10 digit dialing (no 1+) works just fine just about everywhere else in Verizon land where there are overlays and area codes must always be dialed. ------------------------------ From: John Hines Subject: Re: Rat Shack and Future Slop Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 08:12:10 -0600 Organization: www.jhines.org Reply-To: john@jhines.org glb1202@cognitronics.com (Gerry Belanger) wrote: > In article , PaulCoxwell@aol.com > wrote: >> The Radio Shack stores in the U.K. go by the name of Tandy, but the >> same principle applies. It's very seldom I use them (too expensive >> for most items), but they go through the same routine of asking for >> name, address, phone number, what you had for breakfast etc. on every >> little purchase. > Last week I purchased something at my local dealer owned RS. > Surprised me when the clerk did not ask for the name or phone number. There was a news story a few months ago that RS has stopped the practice. Sorry I don't have a copy. ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 10:03:38 -0700 Subject: Multiple DSL services on same cable Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Thu, 23 Jan 2003 23:56:41 -0500 (EST), David Clayton wrote: > From: David Clayton > Subject: Re: DSL vs Cable > Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 19:54:28 +1100 > Organization: Customer of Connect.com.au Pty. Ltd. > Reply-To: dcstar@acslink.net.au > Jack Adams contributed the following: > Has anyone out there got any info or experience with DSL degradation > when multiple DSL services are provisioned in the same cable? > I would imagine that "early adopter" DSL users would get good data rates > initially, but as more people take up DSL the crosstalk from these would > cause a gradual reduction in maximum (reliable) throughput as the > individual copper cables carry more of these services. I can offer my own personal experience. When I moved into my current home, which was my late grandparents' home, the house had a single pair of phone wires coming in. That cable was not underground, but overhead and connected to a telephone pole out in the alleyway. I had DSL installed and it worked fine, although my distance to the switch means that I can't quite reach the maximum of 640k (upstream, which is what I care about -- I'm running web and FTP servers). At that time, I was achiving maybe 350k. I later needed to add a second DSL line. This meant a trip out to my place by telco. The fellow had a big spool of four-pair wire (two lines) and was going to replace my two-pair wire. I suggested to him that it might be a good idea to install cable with more capacity, as I may need to add additional DSL lines down the road. He had some 12-pair (6 line) cable in the truck but it wasn't spooled, so I hadda help the guy string it up (through trees and stuff). While he was installing it, he upgraded my old (circa 1953) lightning protector on my first line. After that, my speed increased on the first line from 350 to 390. Speed on the second line was about 450. As time went on, I added a third, then fourth, then fifth line. At *NO* stage along the way did I ever suffer a decrease in performance on existing lines when a new line went in. Indeed, over the course of time, I've gradually seen better upstream rates. A few months ago, I returned all of my 3COM rental DSL modems to my ISP and replaced them with DLink modems that I purchased (subsidized by my telco -- usual price $300CAD, I got 'em for $70CAD -- and they'd be pissed to find out I'm using 'em with a different ISP!). The result was an immediate bump up in speed. The first line is now cruising at 450 to 480, while the other lines vary from 490 to 560 (depending on weather conditions, which DEFINITELY affect my situation). I don't know if the wire pairs in telcos pole-to-pole wiring are adjacent, but this 12-pair cable running from the pole to my house is carrying six phone circuits, five of which also have DSL on 'em. It's all working just great. -- Joey Lindstrom -- Telus Sucks http://www.telussucks.info ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Master-Keyed Lock Vulnerability Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 08:05:27 GMT On Thu, 23 Jan 2003 10:08:10 -0500, Monty Solomon posted the following to comp.dcom.telecom: > In a recent research paper, we describe weaknesses in most > master-keyed lock systems, such as those used by offices, schools, and > businesses as well as by some residential facilities (particularly > apartment complexes, dormitories, and condominiums). These weaknesses > allow anyone with access to the key to a single lock to create easily > the "master" key that opens every lock in the entire system. Creating > such a key requires no special skill, leaves behind no evidence, and > does not require engaging in recognizably suspicious behavior. The > only materials required are a metal file and a small number of blank > keys, which are often easy to obtain. All of these vulnerabilities were well known in the 1970s, when I attended college. An additional vulnerability not discussed is that many institutions use removable-core locks, which allow adminstrations to rapidly change the individual keying of a given lock by using a "core key" to remove the guts of the lock and replace it. This makes the "core key" an additional master key, which operates on a separate ring. In college in the 1970s, I had a friend who had cracked not only the master key combo, but the "core key" combo. He could remove the core from any lock and replace it with the one from his dorm room, and then open the lock with his room key. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA (delete NOSPAM from address to mail me) ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Calling Party Pays to Cellular Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 06:40:48 GMT On Thu, 23 Jan 2003 12:15:20 -0600, Randal Hayes posted the following to comp.dcom.telecom: > In December 2001, the FCC lifted its ban on technology-specific area > codes. > However, the FCC's policy change does not automatically assure > approval of a request for such an area code. It requires state > regulatory agencies to request such area codes on an individual basis, > and each will be approved/disapproved based on the merits of the > request. I'm not sure what this has to do with calling-party-pays (CPP), other than that a wireless-only area code is now theoretically possible, which would appear to facilitate CPP billing. I say "appear to" because the FCC has also required the wireless industry to implement number portability by November 24, 2003, which would result in wireless numbers from any wireless-only area code being ported to wireline phones and vice versa. As a result, one could not rely on the area code of either a wireless or wireline number for determining whether the calling party would pay a surcharge. Also, the FCC's decision to lift the ban on specialized overlays (such as a wireless area code) has been appealed (I represent Sprint in the appeal). Two wireless overlays have been proposed by states (California and Connecticut), but neither has been addressed by the FCC yet. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA (delete NOSPAM from address to mail me) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 10:11:47 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: BellSouth Completes Year with More Than 1,000,000 DSL Customers ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 24, 2003--BellSouth Corp. (NYSE:BLS) today announced that it has increased its DSL customer base to 1,021,000 DSL subscribers, including both retail and wholesale customers. BellSouth added 97,000 DSL customers in the fourth quarter. During 2002, BellSouth added approximately 400,000 total customers, representing a growth rate of 64 percent. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31111905 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 13:39:23 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Trouble with Prime Numbers: DeCSS, DVD and the Protection of Andres Guadamuz Gonzolez Law Lecturer University of Edinburgh a.guadamuz@ed.ac.uk Abstract The DVD video format has become one of the most important developments in the home entertainment market since the popularisation of the magnetic video recording. The film industry delivered this format with a built in security system which was supposed to avoid illegal copying of the discs, much as what is taking place with the music CD and the almost indiscriminate copying of music into MP3 format over the Internet. This was achieved by means of encryption technology. This essay deals with the cracking of DVD encryption and its further diffusion as a computer programme named DeCSS, which has been made available over the Internet in various formats, including t-shirts and a numerical representation of the code. There are three court cases based on the online posting of this programme, two in the United States and one in Norway. The article starts by describing the technology involved, as it is felt by the author that some of these technical issues are of importance to the legal implications of the case and should be understood properly. The article then deals with the developments in all of the three cases up to this date. The essay then finishes with a look at the legal issues involved, including hyper-linking, trade secrets, freedom of speech and the translation of DeCSS into numerical format. Keywords: Encryption, Prime Numbers, DVD, Hyper-linking, DeCSS This is a Refereed article published on 6 December 2002. Citation: Guadamuz A,'Trouble with Prime Numbers: DeCSS, DVD and the Protection of Proprietary Encryption Tools', The Journal of Information, Law and Technology (JILT) 2002 (3) . http://elj.warwick.ac.uk/jilt/02-3/guadamuz.html ------------------------------ From: fungus@OCF.Berkeley.EDU (Hank Fung) Subject: Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 21:33:21 UTC Organization: Univ. of California Berkeley Open Computing Facility In article , Tom Betz wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You know, it may get to the point real > soon here on this list that I start accepting incoming mail *only* > from a trusted whitelist of readers/contributors, with all other mail > going into the bit bucket. There simply is not enough time in the day > for *me* to go around the web looking for hiding places for spam. All > trusted whitelist contributors will have a list giving the correct > email addresses of others on the list. Then all email addresses > printed here will vanish also. That seems to me like a horrible way to > be part of the net, and extremely arrogant. Do you know, Tom, if > there was any truth at all to his allegations regards the number of > 'suspects', inquistioned persons, etc? Or was that all just a lot of > crap as well? PAT] Please don't. I don't mind the occasional spam, and I think you do a good job at filtering it out. What would be more of a loss would be if the average user couldn't ask a question or comment on something. The variety of opinions is why I read the digest. Hank Fung fungus@ocf.berkeley.edu Go Bears! http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~fungus [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That is one reason, Hank, why I have decided not to implement a 'white list' sort of structure here, no matter how often I get stung with spam. Like yourself, I really want to have questions/comments/rude gestures handed off to the readers here from time to time. Of course what that means (manual editing and processing the Digest) is that I will continue to spend six or eight hours daily working on the Digest. Heck, I would still be doing the mailing list by hand also (instead of majordomo) if it had not been for John Levine setting it up. But, I can see the handwriting on the wall: one of these days, maybe not for a few years yet, this Digest will have to be totally automated, or else go out of business totally like so much of the 'old' Usenet has these days. Don't forget to look in the history section of the Archives and get your copy of 'Second Avenue Story; the NY Tel fire in 1975'. Messages like yours and Linc's (in this issue) and the work done by Kevin Bluml on the fire story is what *still* makes this Digest worth working on each day for me. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #255 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jan 25 23:49:51 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0Q4npv17704; Sat, 25 Jan 2003 23:49:51 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 23:49:51 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301260449.h0Q4npv17704@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #256 TELECOM Digest Sat, 25 Jan 2003 23:49:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 256 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Changing the Social Meaning of Privacy in Cyberspace (Monty Solomon) Federal Charges Filed in Conference Call Eavesdropping Case (M. Solomon) Ethics Questions Hounnd Telecom Advisor (Monty Solomon) FCC Telephone Changes Worry Lawmakers (Monty Solomon) N.M. Preps ID Management System (Monty Solomon) Instant Insecurity: Security Issues of Instant Messaging (Monty Solomon) Spammer Exposes Customer Data (Monty Solomon) AT&T Spam Filter Loses Valid E-Mail (Monty Solomon) Cell Industry Balks at FCC Rules (Monty Solomon) Office Surfers May Face Wipeout (Monty Solomon) Unlimited Service Ends for Palm.net (Monty Solomon) The Most Annoying Spam of 2002 (Monty Solomon) Re: Looking for Satellite TV, Internet, Phone Provider (Scott Dorsey) Re: AT&T Broadband Raises Prices For Cablemodem Service (Herb Stein) Re: Site Protests Telco Patent Claim (Herb Stein) Re: 666 (Paul Coxwell) Last Laugh! Will Someone Explain Why This Actually Works? (J. Neal) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 13:56:43 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Changing the Social Meaning of Privacy in Cyberspace Steven Hetcher Harvard Journal of Law & Technology Volume 15, No. 1: Fall, 2001 http://jolt.law.harvard.edu/articles/pdf/15HarvJLTech149.pdf ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 14:16:25 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Federal Charges Filed in Party Conference Call Eavesdropping Case By THE NEW YORK TIMES RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 23 - The former executive director of the Republican Party of Virginia was indicted today on five federal charges accusing him of eavesdropping on a Democratic conference call last year. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Paul McNulty, United States attorney for the Fourth District, announced the indictment of the former Republican official, Edmund A. Matricardi III, at a news conference at the federal courthouse here. Mr. Matricardi, 34, who resigned from his leadership post last year after being indicted on state charges in the matter, is charged with two counts of unlawful interception of a wire communication, two counts of unlawful disclosure of the communications and one count of aiding and abetting the interception of a wire communication. After resigning in Virginia, Mr. Matricardi became executive director of the Republican Party of South Carolina; he resigned that post this afternoon. Mr. Matricardi was accused last March of using a telephone number and access codes to listen in on a teleconference of the Joint Democratic Caucus, which included Gov. Mark Warner. The topic of the teleconference was redistricting, after a Circuit Court judge in Roanoke County ruled that the districts were racially gerrymandered. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/24/national/24VIRG.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 22:19:26 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Ethics Questions Hound Telecom Advisor A second telephone lobbyist disclosed Friday that his company paid for part of a $3,000 reception for 80 guests honoring President Bush's top telecommunications adviser, contrary to federal ethics rules. Rich Barth of Motorola Inc. said his employer reimbursed him in 2001 for the $487 personal check he wrote to organizers of the party for Nancy Victory, an assistant secretary at the Commerce Department. Earlier this week, SBC Communications Inc. disclosed that it sent a corporate check directly to the event's organizers on behalf of its lobbyist, Priscilla Hill-Ardoin, who was a co-host for the party. Federal ethics rules prohibit officials from accepting gifts from corporations that may be affected by the officials' decisions. Victory heads the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which oversees communications-spectrum matters. http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31127327 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 22:24:16 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Telephone Changes Worry Lawmakers Twenty members on Congress told the Federal Communications Commission Friday that changes involving telephone companies the agency is considering could harm consumers and small businesses. "These proposals may delay our economic recovery by forcing consumers to pay more for their local telephone service and raising the costs of many small businesses," the group of 15 Democrats and five Republicans wrote in a letter to FCC Chairman Michael Powell and the agency's other four commissioners. The letter was a response to testimony that Powell and the commissioners gave before the Senate Commerce Committee on Jan. 14. Powell sought then to assure lawmakers that the agency's upcoming decisions on local phone competition and media ownership would not harm consumers. The most contentious issue at the hearing involved an FCC review of rules involving the leasing of telephone networks. The regional Bell companies _ BellSouth Corp., SBC Communications, Verizon Communications and Qwest Communications _ have been required to provide parts of their local networks to competitors like AT&T Corp. and WorldCom Inc. at discount rates. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31128067 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 23:10:41 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: N.M. Preps ID Management System BY Dibya Sarkar Jan. 16, 2003 New Mexico soon will implement a centralized, enterprise identity management platform so that citizens and employees can access Web applications more securely. http://www.fcw.com/geb/articles/2003/0113/web-nm-01-16-03.asp ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 23:16:48 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Instant Insecurity: Security Issues of Instant Messaging by Neal Hindocha Instant messaging is an increasingly popular method for communicating over the Internet. Instant messaging (IM) is a real-time supplement to and, in some regards, a replacement for e-mailing. Unlike e-mail, instant messaging allows users to see whether a chosen friend or co-worker is connected to the Internet. Typically, the instant messaging service will alert a user if somebody on the user's list of correspondents is on-line. Instant messaging also differs from e-mail in that messages are exchanged directly almost instantly, allowing for a two-way communication in real-time. Because of the almost immediate two-way nature of communication, many users feel that the use of instant messaging in the workplace leads to more effective and efficient workplace communications and, therefore, to higher productivity. As a result, IM is increasing in popularity in both professional and personal applications. However, as with most things Internet based, the increasing use of instant messaging has led to an associated increase in the number of security risks. This paper will describe instant messaging and offer a brief overview of some of the security threats associated with the service. This article is based on a previously published Symantec white paper called Threats to Instant Messaging. http://online.securityfocus.com/infocus/1657 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 23:19:39 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Spammer Exposes Customer Data By Beth Cox A notorious spammer who pitches pirated software from Symantec's Norton product line over the Internet has left vast amounts of customer data exposed for the world to see. And apparently, that is not at all uncommon. One of the Web sites operated by this particular spammer is called salesscape.com, and links related to the site showed hundreds of customer orders in .txt files. The exposed data includes what item was purchased, customer names, street addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses, but apparently not credit card numbers. http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/1569901 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 23:27:09 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Spam Filter Loses Valid E-Mail By Stefanie Olsen Staff Writer, CNET News.com AT&T WorldNet this week activated a risky spam-filtering technique that it shortly had to defuse after subscribers discovered they were losing legitimate e-mail. Late Wednesday night, the Web access provider instituted a new junk e-mail filtering rule in an attempt to stanch an ever-rising tide of unsolicited commercial messages to its subscribers, which number in the millions. But because of the unreliable nature of the technique, some messages from friends and colleagues to AT&T subscribers were never delivered, without either sender or recipient being notified of the missed message. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-982118.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 23:39:51 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cell Industry Balks at FCC Rules By Elisa Batista Disgruntled over Federal Communications Commission rules meant to protect cell-phone customers, deaf Americans and historical sites near cell towers, a major cell-phone industry lobbying group has decided to take its grievances to Capitol Hill. In a move one government watchdog group called "unusual," the lobbying group -- Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association -- vented its frustration over some FCC rules in a 339-page document (PDF) submitted to Congress last week. While it isn't unusual for lawmakers to hear from lobbyists, it is rare for the president's executive Office of Management and Budget to relay public opinion to Congress on the policies of an independent regulatory agency like the FCC, said Shan Ferguson, a writer and programmer for OMB Watch. http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,57343,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 23:41:12 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Office Surfers May Face Wipeout By Stefanie Olsen and Lisa M. Bowman Staff Writer, CNET News.com January 24, 2003, 4:00 AM PT Employee Internet privileges took a beating when cable giant Liberty Media revamped its post-production businesses last year. Before the consolidation, some units had allowed 9-to-5 access to the Web's most popular diversions. Shortly after the company unveiled its new Ascent Media division, however, many staffers faced a new era of austerity: no more eBay, no more "Sims Online," no more Match.com. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-981877.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 23:43:06 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Unlimited Service Ends for Palm.net By Richard Shim Staff Writer, CNET News.com Subscribers to Palm's wireless service are going on a data diet as an all-you-can-eat plan comes to an end. The Milpitas, Calif.-based handheld maker has announced changes to pricing plans for its Palm.net wireless data service. Starting Monday, new customers or those who are renewing the $39.99 plan will see the service change from unlimited monthly access to 1MB of data transfer per month and 10 cents for each additional kilobyte. Subscribers can also get 1MB of data for $34.99 and 8 cents for each additional kilobyte if they agree to a one-year commitment. Subscribers who are already locked into a one-year contract will continue to get unlimited access at $39.99 until their contract ends. The service allows Palm's VII series and i705 devices to wirelessly access e-mail and the Web. http://news.com.com/2100-1033-981897.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 23:48:12 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Most Annoying Spam of 2002 Every person on the net has one thing in common. They all hate spam. Anyone who has an e-mail account will have received these unsolicited commercial messages that offer you things you do not want, at prices you will not pay, from companies you will never call. 2002 was a bumper year for these messages and now 30% of all mail flying around the net is thought to be spam. Filtering firm Surf Control has compiled a list of the top 10 most annoying spam messages sent across the net in the last 12 months. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2688619.stm ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Looking for Satellite TV, Internet, Phone Provider Date: 24 Jan 2003 18:42:09 -0500 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) John Higdon wrote: > In article , *selah* > wrote: >> I'm looking for companies that would be able to provide phone, tv and >> internet from a satellite dish. Would appreciate any info. > Would you REALLY want to talk on a phone served by a satellite in > synchronous orbit? If the alternative is talking on a phone served by troposcatter, absolutely. scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: Herb Stein Subject: Re: AT&T Broadband Raises Prices For Cablemodem Service Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 20:19:03 -0600 Dave Phelps wrote in message news:telecom22.250.11@telecom-digest.org: > In article , herb@herbstein.com > says: >> Not to defend SBC, even though I retired from there, but I've actually >> had very good service on the DSL side. I just spent 2 hours on the >> phone with them after my wife f**ked up her DSL install and they were >> pleasant the entire time. I'm in St. Louis BTW. I prefer to think that >> an old retired fart gets no better service that the general public, > AccessUS, from my limited experience, is a shambles. From what I've > seen, I can't believe they're still around. Like everyone else out there, they have crapped on me and also given good service. > I just installed another SBC ADSL connection today. SLA=128/384. Actual, > about 110/150-170. We'll see how it goes. > When I called them, they fed me a line about leaving the DSL modem on > for ten days for "optimization". Anyone know what SBC does during the > ten day "optimization" period? Firmware upgrade? I just got a CD from Access with a bunch of instructions about installing. But if I don't have a MS machine, I'm messed up. I'd think that a real customer with an SDSL line (real money) could easily NOT have Windows installed on anything. Oh well. > Dave Phelps > Phone Masters Ltd. > deadspam=tippenring Dave, if you are a St. Louis area customer, I'd be glad to have the opportunity to talk to you. Email me off-line and I'll call you. Herb Stein The Herb Stein Group www.herbstein.com herb@herbstein.com 314 952-4601 ------------------------------ From: Herb Stein Subject: Re: Site Protests Telco Patent Claim Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 20:41:04 -0600 Monty Solomon wrote in message news:telecom22.251.4@telecom-digest.org: > By Joanna Glasner > 02:00 AM Jan. 23, 2003 PT > Although she's always been fond of her website, Marilynne Eichinger > never thought there was anything particularly unusual about its > layout. > "We like to think that our graphics are nice, but in terms of the > format and in terms of using different frames and links, it's a common > type of design," said Eichinger, who has been running Museum Tour, > which sells educational toys, for the past seven years. > To her thinking, the homepage, which features colorful photos of > sample products flanked by navigation buttons on top and down the > left margin, resembles dozens of other e-commerce websites. > That's why Eichinger was caught off guard last week when she received > a letter from the intellectual property division of telecommunications > giant SBC alleging that the Museum Tour site violates two of its > patents. > The letter, signed by Harlie Frost, president of SBC Intellectual > Property, alleges that the Museum Tour site infringes on related > patents filed in 1996 covering what the company calls a "structured > document browser." > http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,57344,00.html > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Let's all of us who maintain web sites > go to Eichinger's web site and copy her source code and put up sites > identical to hers in design. Then SBC can sue all of us, or maybe > throw their weight around and find a friendly judge somewhere to ban > all of us. PAT] Were I to have the financial resources of Microsoft, I'd give it some thought. I have enough problems without SBC on my ass. Herb Stein The Herb Stein Group www.herbstein.com herb@herbstein.com 314 952-4601 ------------------------------ From: PaulCoxwell@aol.com Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 15:22:49 EST Subject: Re: 666 > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But many of the '666 exchanges' are > quite old and were around as names (such as MONroe in Chicago) prior > to going to numbers. I wonder what 666 exchanges are newer (in the > last ten or twenty years) and began life merely as '666' rather than > as a name combination? PAT] In the U.K. it's the other way around. In director (7 digit areas) the 666 c.o. code wasn't generally used back in the pre-all-figure days, because numbering was 3L-4N and on British dials the letter O was on the zero. With only M and N on the 6, it would have been quite difficult to find a suitable exchange name for 666! After letters were dropped in the 1960s, some director areas adopted 666 as a c.o. code. 666 has been used in London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool, and Manchester, but not apparently in Glasgow. It's rather more difficult to assess in the smaller places, because of the variable-length numbering schemes used. In my area, for example, most exchanges are determined by the first 2 digits of the 6-digit number, but some smaller offices can only be determined on the third digit. Area code 0666 (now 01666) was allocated though. Paul Coxwell Norfolk, U.K. ------------------------------ From: misterjorneal@yahoo.com (J. Neal) Subject: Last Laugh! Will Someone Explain Why This Actually Works? Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 00:48:31 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online -- Northeast Ohio Normally, I don't get involved with this crap, but this one really works. I sent the money, put my name on the list and posted it to a few message boards hoping for results but expecting none. In all honesty, I was extremely surprised the day that I got my first five dollars - it didn't end there. Sure the message below sounds like most of the others (I often wonder: 'who writes this crap, does this person actually speak this way?'), but, strangely enough, it actually works. This makes me wonder about some of the other 'get rich quick schemes' that I have dismissed. You don't have to read the propaganda below if you don't want to - here's basically what you do: send $1 to each of the individuals on the list of names/addresses below. Delete the top name and address from the list and put your name/address at the bottom of the list, post it everywhere that you can (newsgroups, message boards, etc.) It won't make you rich, but it does bring in some extra money. I don't know If my situation is typical, but I started posting about a month and a half ago and for the past three weeks, I have not had a day where I have not recieved at least seven dollars; one day I got $84. I average around $40. Here are some statistics based on my earnings over a three week period (21 days): Mean daily income: $42.7 (USD) Median daily income: $44.2 Mode: $35 (2 days) Min: $7 Max: $84 As you can see from the mean and the median, there is a relatively symmetrical distribution of daily income over the three week period in question. The fact that I sometimes recieve foreign currency explains the fact that the median (of a 21 day spread) is not a whole number. I will admit that I have given you all of this information because I am trying to convince you that this works. I will also admit that I am not doing this for you, but because I want my dollar (I am trying to see if I can improve my earnings). You can use this information to benefit yourself or not. ********** MAKE ALOT OF MONEY, FAST AND RISK FREE!!! READ THIS!!! > Turn Six Dollars Into Thousands!!! HOW TO TURN SIX DOLLARS INTO > THOUSANDS OR MORE IN LESS THAN A MONTH. READING THIS COULD CHANGE > YOUR LIFE! IT DOES WORK! JUST GIVE IT A CHANCE!! I found this on > a bulletin board and decided to try it. A little while back, I was > browsing through newsgroups, just like you are now, and came across > an article similar to this that said you could make thousands of > dollars within weeks with only an initial investment of $6.00! > So I thought, "Yeah right, this must be a scam", but like most of > us, I was curious, so I kept reading. Anyway, it said that you send > $1.00 to each of the 6 names and address stated in the article. You > then place your own name and address in the bottom of the list at > #6, and that was it. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The other 15 K bytes of text in the original screed have been mercifully eliminated. We have all seen it time and time again. The *reason* it works is because most people are mathematically challenged; nothing more, nothing less. They fail to realize, apparently, that no matter how many people get into this scheme, the only ones who make anything at all are the ones who thought of it -- about a hundred years ago. Long before Al Gore invented the internet -- even before computers were invented -- this same scheme was making the rounds in paper mail. The postal inspectors declared it to be a scam fifty or sixty years ago; you have to have *something of value* to make it 'legal' and marginally ethical. To accomplish that legality, some smart person printed up a series of one-page 'business reports' which you 'purchased' from him for the dollar or six dollars or whatever, which you were then free to reprint and resell to other suckers. You have to have something 'of value' in exchange for the consideration (money) given to you. That seems to satisfy the postal inspectors. Yes, Mr. Neal, the scam will work *in small numbers* because just as there are always people around who are smarter than you, there are a considerable number who are dumber than you also. But eventually you are going to run out of people to use. If you made $84 in 21 days (a far cry from the 'thousands per month' I have seen advertised some places) I would say you are already starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel. More important, is the $84 you made last month on this scam worth the anger and frustrations you have caused many netters who see those messages all the time? PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #256 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Jan 26 00:31:41 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0Q5VfC18760; Sun, 26 Jan 2003 00:31:41 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 00:31:41 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301260531.h0Q5VfC18760@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #257 TELECOM Digest Sun, 26 Jan 2003 00:32:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 257 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Vonage (PaulCoxwell@aol.com) Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity (Dave Mausner) Re: Who's Calling Whom? TeleGeography Points the Way (Steve Fleckenstein) Wireless Gaming: Finally No Fantasy (Monty Solomon) Virus Overwhelms Global Internet Systems (Monty Solomon) Computer Worm Slows Net, Grounds S. Korean Surfers (Monty Solomon) False Alarm: Suspected Car Bomb Turns Out to Be Tracking Device (Solomon) Unbleeped Bleep Words Spread on Network TV (Monty Solomon) Brain Cancer Patient in WA Sues Over Arrest at Walgreen's (Monty Solomon) Court Record System to Go Online Next Year (Monty Solomon) Bank of America ATMs Disrupted by Virus (Monty Solomon) Re: Looking for Satellite TV, Internet, Phone Provider (jbl) Re: AT&T Broadband Users See 3rd E-Mail Shift (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! (Robert Woolley) Telecom Digest Spamming - Possible Solution? (3yeadqp02@sneakemail.com) Re: Instant Insecurity: Security Issues With Instant Msgs. (John Higdon) Re: Last Laugh! Will Someone Explain How This Works? (John Higdon) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: PaulCoxwell@aol.com Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 15:22:54 EST Subject: Re: Vonage Thanks for the replies. I'm actually looking into the possibility of using the service from France, where rates to/from the U.S.A. aren't quite so favorable as between the NANP and the U.K. Being able to be called directly from the States at normal DDD rates would be a bonus, along with a few other benefits such as being able to dial direct into U.S. directory assistance without having to go via a local operator (outgoing U.S. calls to 555-1212 are automatically barred by many networks in Europe). I'd probably not need the unlimited option though; the lower-rate plan with 500 minutes of calling included would be sufficient. The possibility of a long-ish transmission delay and the actual quality of audio is one of my main concerns. Paul Coxwell, Norfolk, U.K. ------------------------------ Reply-To: Dave Mausner From: Dave Mausner Subject: Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity Organization: Prodigy Internet http://www.prodigy.com Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 22:01:26 GMT Is it technologically feasible to promote a standard of dialing such that if the # is used, then the digits entered are suplemented to the left by your own NPA and CO? For example if I am 708-848-2775, and i dial 5432#, the call would go to 708-848-5432. If I dial 369-9999#, the call would go to 708-369-9999. In overlay regions, this might preserve the ability to dial 7 digits in your own NPA, and add the feature of being able to dial 4 within your own CO. Dave Mausner / v.+1-708-848-2775 / f.+1-708-848-2569 / c.+1-312-wake-my-i Mark J Cuccia wrote: > "delays-to-timeouts" on seven-digit calls can be cancelled with the > use of the optional trailing POUND '#' button, but the general public > really isn't aware of this, regardless of any promotions by telco. ------------------------------ From: Steve Fleckenstein Subject: Re: Who's Calling Whom? TeleGeography Points the Way Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 16:57:14 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: Steve Fleckenstein Heather Tinsley wrote in message news:telecom22.252.12@telecom-digest.org: > Washington, DC - January 22, 2003 -- In 2001, Americans made 37 > billion minutes of international telephone calls, just under a quarter > of the 154 billion minutes of international calls made worldwide. > Mexico was the country dialed most frequently by Americans, with 5.2 > billion minutes, followed by Canada, with 5.1 billion minutes. The > fastest growing major destination, however, has been India. In the > past decade, U.S. phone calls to India surged from 59 million minutes > to more than 1.4 billion minutes in 2001. I wonder if the increase in India calls has something to do with all the help desk out sourcing? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 00:01:09 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Wireless Gaming: Finally No Fantasy As handset hardware and networks improve, carriers see cell-phone fun as the Next Big Thing for firing up subscribers' spending. Ever since the idea occurred to some programming whiz, wireless online gaming has looked like one of those goofy Internet fantasies that was just too far ahead of its time. For years, cell-phone owners had to satisfy themselves with Snake, an amoebic version of the two decade-old Pac-Man electronic game, in which a line devours tiny dots on a phone's screen. In fact, Snake remained state-of-the-art even after Nextel (NXTL ), which now has 10 million subscribers, introduced the first Java-based phones nearly two years ago. Suddenly, however, the technology of wireless gaming is catching up with the concept, and carriers, phone makers, and game developers are jumping onto the bandwagon. Phones with large color screens more suitable for gaming began selling in the U.S. last year. Since then, carriers have also developed back-end systems flexible enough to bill for individual games. And starting last fall, most cell-phone networks became fast enough for games to function well. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2003/tc20030122_7509.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 12:25:48 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Virus Overwhelms Global Internet Systems http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31132434 Traffic on the Internet slowed dramatically for hours early Saturday, the effects of a fast-spreading, virus-like infection that overwhelmed the world's digital pipelines and broadly interfered with Web browsing and delivery of e-mail. Sites monitoring the health of the Internet reported significant slowdowns globally, although recovery efforts appeared to be succeeding. Millions of Internet users in South Korea were stranded when computers at Korea Telecom Freetel and SK Telecom failed. Service was restored but remained slow, officials said. In Japan, NHK television reported heavy data traffic swamped some of the country's Internet connections, and Finnish phone operator TeliaSonera reported some problems. On the Net: Technical details: http://www.eeye.com/html/Research/Flash/AL20030125.html More details: http://www.iss.net/security_center/static/10031.php Microsoft fix: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS02-039.asp ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 12:27:33 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Computer Worm Slows Net; Grounds S.Korean Surfers By Jane Macartney and Bernhard Warner SEOUL/LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - A rapidly spreading computer worm infested networks and bogged down Internet traffic across the globe on Saturday, crippling online services in one of the world's most wired countries, South Korea. Called "Sapphire" or "SQL Slammer," the worm carries a self-regenerating mechanism that enables it to multiply quickly across the web, said Mikko Hypponen, manager of anti-virus research at F-Secure, a Helsinki-based computer security firm. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31132872 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 14:30:19 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: False Alarm: Suspected Car Bomb Turns Out to Be Tracking Device By BRADEN BUNCH Item Staff Writer A device that appeared to be a bomb on a vehicle parked outside Simpson's Hardware and Sports on Wesmark Boulevard kept local and state authorities busy for nearly four hours Friday before the object was found to be a tracking system placed on the car by the driver's wife. ... Described as a "very professional-looking device," the object was thought to be several sticks of dynamite with a remote detonation transmitter attached. The entire device, authorities said, was attached to the vehicle with duct tape. http://www.theitem.com/CityDesk/030118a_news.cfm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 16:04:09 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Unbleeped Bleep Words Spread on Network TV By JIM RUTENBERG Last Sunday was a banner day for obscenity on network television. Bono barked out the four-letter word par excellence when he accepted the award for best song at the Golden Globe ceremony, and it was delivered live to East Coast viewers of NBC. A few hours earlier, a CBS microphone caught a man using the same word during the American Football Conference championship game between the Oakland Raiders and the Tennessee Titans. About the same time, back on NBC, the actor Colin Farrell made a scatological reference, traditionally verboten on network TV, during a preceremony Golden Globes show. The telephones hardly rang at the Federal Communications Commission, which tends to act only in response to formal consumer complaints of indecency and avoids moving too aggressively. Broadcast television, under intensifying attack by saltier cable competitors, is pushing the limits of decorum further by the year, and hardly anyone is pushing back. Though the changing standards of prime time have evolved gradually, the pace has accelerated in recent years. But the falloff in protests over those changes has been sudden. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/25/arts/television/25TUBE.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 17:14:45 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Brain Cancer Patient in Washington Sues Over Arrest at Walgreen's TACOMA, Wash. (AP) A woman with a brain tumor filed a lawsuit against Walgreens Advance Care Inc., saying when she arrived to pick up her painkiller prescription one day, a pharmacist had her arrested. In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Pierce County Superior Court, Shannon O'Brien, 35, said she went to the drive-up window at a Walgreen Drug Store two blocks from her home last July 7. The pharmacist on duty thought she had faked her Percocet prescription and called police, the lawsuit stated. http://www.boston.com/dailynews/024/nation/Brain_cancer_patient_in_Washin:.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 17:20:14 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Court Record System to go Online Next Year By Ralph Ranalli, Globe Staff, 1/24/2003 As the drumbeat of dire warnings about state finances continues, court officials announced some rare good news yesterday: An often- criticized and long-awaited computerization project will be completed within budget and ahead of schedule thanks in large part to the weak economy. Court officials told a meeting of the Massachusetts Bar Association's board of delegates that their ambitious MassCourts project - a system that will electronically tie together records from the Berkshires to Boston in all seven state court departments - will be completed early next year, almost a year ahead of the 2005 deadline set by the Legislature. In a hotel ballroom just a stone's throw from shoppers grabbing up deeply discounted fashions and merchandise in the Prudential Center mall, the grinning chief of the project, Superior Court Judge Timothy Hillman, announced that court leaders had snagged an after-Christmas bargain of their own. Under a contract signed yesterday, Hillman said the state will pay one of the country's leading legal technology companies $13 million for a computer system complete with ''all the bells and whistles'' the courts wanted. The contract, he said, will allow completion of the project within the $75 million bond authorization approved by the Legislature in 1994 - a financial feat deemed virtually impossible by a legislative watchdog committee in a scathing report two years ago. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/024/metro/Court_record_system_to_go_online_next_year+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 23:26:16 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Bank of America ATMs Disrupted by Virus SEATTLE (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp. said on Saturday that customers at a majority of its 13,000 automatic teller machines were unable to process customer transactions after a malicious computer worm nearly froze Internet traffic worldwide. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43267-2003Jan25.html ------------------------------ From: jbl Subject: Re: Looking for Satellite TV, Internet, Phone Provider Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 17:45:45 -0700 Organization: On the desert Reply-To: jbl@spamblocked.com In , John Higdon wrote: > In article , > johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) wrote: >> I've done it, it's not that bad. About 20 years ago, in the dawn of >> the competitive long distance era was Satellite Business Systems, > funded by IBM, Sears, and (I think) Aetna insurance. > Back when I owned a real company, we got SBS to save money on long > distance. We even hid the onerous Feature Group B access behind our > PBX (which was capable of transparently dialing all the necessary > access numbers and codes). The workers hated it. One CS > representative said that it lowered apparent IQs about thirty points > with all the delay and the resultant tripping over words of the > other party. One wise guy started saying "over" when making long > distance calls. We got rid of it within a year. A long time ago (around '83) I was doing some WAN installations that involved dedicated 9600 KB lines across the country. (We were making do prior to installation with two way dial-up and some fancy, for the time, modems.) We had to "work with" the phone company (AT&T long lines) to be sure no satellite links were involved in either direction, because our application (packet switching) was sensitive to that kind of delay. It turned out at the time, and perhaps it is still the case, that when a long haul call was routed, one direction was frequently via satellite. A call that went both ways by satellite was noticeably bad (those who frequently called overseas were well aware of this), but if one direction was on land-lines, the performance was adequate for the casual caller not to be bothered by the delay one way. /JBL ------------------------------ Subject: Re: AT&T Broadband Users See 3rd E-Mail Shift Organization: Excelsior Computer Services From: joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 01:24:41 GMT > AT&T spokeswoman Jennifer L. Khoury said the company expects to begin > making the switch from e-mail addresses ending in attbi.com to > comcast.net starting in March. It will affect more than 2 million I don't understand why, as part of the buy-out, comcast.net can't buy attbi.com as well. Is this really so hard? Joel ------------------------------ From: Robert Woolley Subject: Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 00:20:58 +0000 On Fri, 24 Jan 2003 06:12:58 UTC, Tom Betz wrote: > Quoth Pat in news:telecom22.250.9@telecom-digest.org: >> Do you know, Tom, if there was any truth at all to his allegations >> regards the number of 'suspects', inquistioned persons, etc? Or was >> that all just a lot of crap as well? > See for the FBI's > press release about Operation Candyman. The UK equivalent is Operation Ore. Rob rob at robertwoolley dot co dot uk ------------------------------ From: 3yeadqp02@sneakemail.com Subject: Telecom Digest Spamming Problems Possible Solution? Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 04:10:57 +0200 To reply by e-mail, reply to the address in the headers, but ensure that the phrase "Telecom Digest" appears in the subject line: Pat, regarding the spamming problem, and the way they pull addresses from this NG .... well, I came across something tonight that I like, and *might* be at least a partial solution for regulars. (By the way, I posted here a couple days back as january20003 - that address was swamped with porno-spam almost within hours of appearing here -- and I only ever used it here -- it died a very premature death!!) Anyway ... I came across http:/www.sneakemail.com tonight; they essentially exist as a mail anonymiser, but you have full control over the what/when/how it handles things for you, and can drop/change the alias at whatever whim takes your fancy ... it's also possible to have several variants and use them in different places with different rules for the different variants ... Amongst other things, you can set a given alias (as I will have this one set up) to default to BOUNCE all mail, EXCEPT for something with "Telecom Digest" in the Subject line, which will be forwarded to a "real address" that I have given (actually a "throw away" address for now, until I see how well they operate !) There's a lot of permutations possible, and it does take a bit of exploring to figure it all out, but it shouldn't be too difficult for the regulars here ... anyway, their links are freely scattered about where ever they might be needed ... There's a free version that would probably help many regulars out, and the paid version at a whole $2.00 per month is a bit more powerful, and gives a bit more bandwidth ... If I might add my 2c worth on another subject: Those "Monty Solomon" posts -- I find them frequently interesting, but I wish they weren't here ... I also find them frustrating, as I usually read off-line, so I can't simply follow the story link without dialing in again. Regards, Frank R.P. ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Instant Insecurity: Security Issues of Instant Messaging Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 21:12:32 -0800 In article , Monty Solomon wrote: > by Neal Hindocha > Because of the almost immediate two-way nature of communication, many > users feel that the use of instant messaging in the workplace leads to > more effective and efficient workplace communications and, therefore, > to higher productivity. Actually, I have always felt just the opposite. What makes email such a powerful messaging tool is its "queuing functionality". The messages are dealt with at the recipient's convenience, when he is prepared to follow up with replies or action, or can schedule such action. The messages are easily saved or printed out for reference. Email communication is folded into both the sender's and recipient's own schedule of tasks. IM, on the other hand, is an interruption, demanding immediate response. It has all the annoyance value of the telephone without any of the capability of communicating the subtleties of an immediate conversation. Rather than being a balanced communication as is email, IM is at the convenience and insistence of the sender. An involved conversation takes far more time than a phone conversation, and it provides no easy, default record. I don't use it. If I have an immediate communication that must be delivered, I use the phone. Otherwise, email works just fine. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Will Someone Explain Why This Actually Works? Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 21:01:37 -0800 In article , misterjorneal@yahoo.com (J. Neal) wrote: > If you made $84 in 21 days (a far cry from the 'thousands per month' > I have seen advertised some places) I would say you are already > starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel. More important, is the > $84 you made last month on this scam worth the anger and frustrations > you have caused many netters who see those messages all the time? PAT] One can probably pull in more cash by making up a tear-jerking story in which you plead for a dollar to help you out of the crisis, sending out that story by spamming millions of people, and then waiting for the envelopes to arrive. Simply change the story and your identity every month, and you are guaranteed to at least pull in bus fare. At the very least, cyber-begging can probably pay for your Internet connection (which you may have to change regularly as you are booted off ISPs). John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #257 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Jan 26 20:19:57 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0R1JvK07613; Sun, 26 Jan 2003 20:19:57 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 20:19:57 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301270119.h0R1JvK07613@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #258 TELECOM Digest Sun, 26 Jan 2003 20:20:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 258 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Actually Just To Be a Devil ... (TELECOM Digest Editor) Re: Calling Party Pays to Cellular (Randal Hayes) Re: 11-Digit Dialing (Walter Dnes) Re: Court Record System to go Online Next Year (tonypo1@cox.net) Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity (Danny Burstein) Re: Submarine Fiber Optic Cabling and Equipment (Dave Phelps) Re: Instant Insecurity: Security Issues Instant Messaging (Dave Phelps) Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! (3yeadqp02@sneakemail.com) FCC Chief's Plan Would Ease Line-Sharing Rules (Monty Solomon) Tri-State Identity Theft a Ring That Included Store Workers (M. Solomon) Re: Last Laugh! Will Someone Explain Why This Actually Works? (jbl) Re: No Laugh! Please Explain Why This Actually Doesn't Work? (LincMad) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 00:51:17 EST From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Actually Just To Be a Devil ... ... I gave you a *slightly* wrong URL on the Second Avenue fire story in New York. I think it should have been '-1-75' on the end as in 'fire in newyork-1-75' . Anyway, just look at the /history area in the archives. It should be obvious. The stats for the archives says there have been many people there today. I hope you enjoy the book NY Telephone published in the summer of 1975. PAT ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 15:02:54 -0600 From: Randal Hayes Subject: RE: Calling Party Pays to Cellular > I'm not sure what this has to do with calling-party-pays (CPP), other > than that a wireless-only area code is now theoretically possible, > which would appear to facilitate CPP billing. Although I've researched CPP, primarily in Europe, I've also researched the issue in the U.S. for a national organization. The CPP issue gained momentum (momentarily) in the U.S. when past FCC Chair William Kennard took a trip to Europe, thought CPP was the greatest thing in the world, and came back to the U.S., announcing it should be implemented here. His staff was probably too embarrassed to point-out to their boss the major differences in the telecom environments that would make CPP less attractive and accepted in the U.S. In any event, although there have been a few CPP trials in the U.S., it has failed to catch-on to any great degree. The issue of "facilitating CPP billing," is much more important than the passing comment inference gives it. In comments to the FCC regarding CPP, it was mentioned that large, multiline systems or campus environments could have much difficulty in billing-back CPP-type calls within their companies, institutions, university campuses, etc., depending on the processes and procedures involving in their call accounting. For entities who have established cost-per-minute pricing in their call accounting systems, and don't necessarily match-up their vendor billing, it would be very difficult to properly bill-back such calls, as the proposals called for wireless vendors to be able to charge differing amounts, etc., so an accurate fixed per-minute cost could not just be programmed into a call accounting system. With technology-specific area codes, however, it would at least provide an opportunity to place a ballpark surcharge into the call accounting system, so departments in businesses, faculty/staff/students on higher ed campuses, etc., could be properly billed-back for such calls. I mentioned technology-specific area codes because it was mentioned in the thread, and it is related to the overall issue of CPP. The aspect of technology-specific area codes, modified city codes, exchanges, etc., has virtually everything to do with the surcharges assessed against calls to wireless devices, as they can provide the simple identifier for billing purposes. Please note that prior to these types of identifiers being implemented in other areas of the world, the long distance carriers in the U.S. were not assessing such surcharges, but were in fact being assessed them from any number of providers in other areas of the world. AT&T, WorldCom, and Sprint all have information on this on their websites, as do a number of others, such as the ITU web site, the European Commission web site, the former Telecom Policy Online website (which included a number of articles on fixed-mobile interconnection, including an article by Ewan Sutherland, of INTUG). DUNDEE Investment Research also issued a very extensive report in late 2000 on the changing economics of the global wireless industry, which included good information on fixed-wireless interconnection. Many sites with articles pertaining to European telecommunications explain the surcharge issue very well, including the aspect of tromboning. In addition, I wrote an article explaining the aspects of fixed-to-wireless surcharges for the national organization I mentioned above. Thanks, Randy Hayes University of Northern Iowa ------------------------------ From: Walter Dnes Subject: Re: 11-Digit Dialing Date: 26 Jan 2003 21:22:52 GMT Reply-To: waltdnes@waltdnes.org On Thu, 23 Jan 2003 18:55:45 -0500, John Waters, wrote: > It's a heck of a lot easier than trying to figure out a dialing plan > like Toronto has. 10 *or* 11 digit dial, depending on where you are > calling. From the point of view of someone who has to program dialing > rules into equipment, all-11 digit dial is FAR easier to work with. That's the toll signal. From Toronto, calling either of the two local (overlay) area codes 416 or 647 is a local call, so 10 digits are used. The sprawling 905/289 (overlay) area codes are adjacent to 416/647, surrounding Toronto almost entirely, except on the Lake Ontario waterfront. Nearby parts of 905/289 are local calls from Toronto, so 10 digits work. More distant portions of 905/289 are toll calls, and the leading '1' is required. What's so difficult. > Ameritech did something right (IMHO) a few years back when they > allowed the greater Detroit area to be dialed with either 10 or 11 > digits. Made equipment setup a breeze compaired to Toronto. Tradeoff time. So 10/11 digits makes things difficult for *YOU*. What about employers who don't mind employees making local calls during lunch? Under the current setup, blocking leading 0 and 1 allows local toll-free calls to 905/289, but blocks toll calls to that code. How do they handle that with all calls being an identical number of digits? Walter Dnes I'm not repeating myself; I'm an X Window user, I'm an ex-Windows user Palladium ain't done till linux won't run ------------------------------ From: tonypo1@cox.net Subject: Re: Court Record System to go Online Next Year Organization: The Ace Tomatoe and Cement Company Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 06:14:37 GMT In article , monty@roscom.com says: > By Ralph Ranalli, Globe Staff, 1/24/2003 > As the drumbeat of dire warnings about state finances continues, > court officials announced some rare good news yesterday: An often- > criticized and long-awaited computerization project will be completed > within budget and ahead of schedule thanks in large part to the weak > economy. > Court officials told a meeting of the Massachusetts Bar Association's > board of delegates that their ambitious MassCourts project - a system > that will electronically tie together records from the Berkshires to > Boston in all seven state court departments - will be completed early > next year, almost a year ahead of the 2005 deadline set by the > Legislature. Rhode Island has had their court records online for more than a year now. It's a very nice system but causes no end of headache because there isn't synchronization between charge and disposition data. Tony ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 06:58:42 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Dave Mausner writes: > Is it technologically feasible to promote a standard of dialing such > that if the # is used, then the digits entered are suplemented to the > left by your own NPA and CO? > For example if I am 708-848-2775, and i dial 5432#, the call would go > to 708-848-5432. If I dial 369-9999#, the call would go to > 708-369-9999. Yes, but let's NOT go there. Thank you. There's no good reason to do this sort of silliness, and many, many, to not do so. Thank you. Oh, as an aside: Our Esteemed Moderator asked whether 1-911 would work. I had the opportunity to request NYC's Finest a couple of days ago and used it. Sure enough, 1-911 got me NYC's dispatch center. (I made the call from a cellphone so I can't say anything definitve about landline, PBX, or public payphones. Or, for that matter, cellphones from the other companies). Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The suggestion he made, of four or seven digits followed by '#' *was* used in Chicago (although quite by accident; telco did not seem to know or approve of it) for a few years, but only for customers with the 'home centrex' (I forgot the actual name of the service). The way telco sold the service, if you had, let's say, three outside lines in your house, or two lines, from either of the actual outside lines you could call the other line(s) by dialing just 2# or 3#. The service also offered off-premises transfer of incoming calls, call pickup from one of the lines by another extension, etc. What did Illinois Bell call that service? Anyway, a friend clued me in to a small 'bug' in the system which was you could dial just the last four digits of any number on the same exchange (whether one of your lines or not) and the '#' symbol and the call would go through. And it worked. I was on the 312-743 exchange at that time, and called any number I wished (from one of my phones on that hybrid centrex service to a 743 phone) just with four digits and the '#' sign. You got all the centrex features Bell had to offer, even if you only had two or three phone lines. Someone please remind me what the service was called ... anyway it had that 'bug' in how it could be operated. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: Submarine Fiber Optic Cabling and Equipment Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 01:05:53 -0600 In article , bjr@thedigitaldeli.net says: > I am with the commercial house of B. Joseph Gordon and Company. > My firm has been retained to sell a consigned lot for Lifecycle > Business Partners of approximately 100 million in submarine fiber > optic cabling equipment. Dear Mr Itch-Crotch - CEO Do I have to pull it up from the bottom of the ocean, or will you do that? Dave Phelps Phone Masters Ltd. deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: Instant Insecurity: Security Issues of Instant Messaging Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 01:23:16 -0600 In article , no- spam@amadeus.kome.com says: > Actually, I have always felt just the opposite. What makes email such > a powerful messaging tool is its "queuing functionality". The messages [snip] > IM, on the other hand, is an interruption, demanding immediate > response. [snip] I don't agree. I use IM extensively. I have about 60 people in my IM list. IM is certainly not a disruption to me. When I receive an IM, I ignore the taskbar icon until I'm ready to read and respond to it. It is much easier than the phone to pass quick msgs back and forth, and you can have several conversations going at once if need be. Another nice thing about IM is that you can log everything. I can go back and review what was discussed if it's ever an issue. Yes, I know the log is easily tampered with, but it's adequate for me. Another benefit is the pros of the written word, in addition to instant transfer to the recipient. I'm certainly not saying IM will replace the phone, but I believe it can increase productivity -- enough that it seems easily justified in many cases ... as long as recreational IM is kept to a minimum. Dave Phelps Phone Masters Ltd. deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ From: 3yeadqp02@sneakemail.com Subject: Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 13:59:07 +0200 ++++++++++ To reply by e-mail, reply to the address in the headers, but ensure that the phrase "Telecom Digest" appears in the subject line: ++++++++++ > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You know, it may get to the point real > soon here on this list that I start accepting incoming mail *only* > from a trusted whitelist of readers/contributors, with all other mail > going into the bit bucket. There simply is not enough time in the day Pat, as I remember it, something like that was instituted here while you were on your "extended absence" where an initial "confirmatory exchange" had to take place before mail from a would-be poster could be accepted .... It seemed to work well enough then, so why can't we have something like it now ?? As far as I recall, it was setup as a 'bot, so it wouldn't really to make much demand on your time once it was up-and-running, and might even free up some of the time you waste now sorting through the spam ... I'm not suggesting that a 'bot replace you (It couldn't anyway - I especially missed your pithy comments during that "period of absence") but rather that it just weed out oddities before passing the "verified poster's stuff" to you for you to do your usual thing with ... On a related point - I'll report back in a day or two if any spam gets past sneakemail ... Cheers, Frank R.P. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A good point; let me run it past John Levine who functioned here while I was away. John, can that robo thing you were running here be implemented so the *first* message from a new person requires them to confirm it, but then you pass subseqent messages through to me rather than building a Digest at your end? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 00:19:29 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Chief's Plan Would Ease Line-Sharing Rules By Jonathan Krim Washington Post Staff Writer The nation's big regional telephone companies would be able to provide ultra-fast Internet and video services over new fiber-optic lines without having to lease those lines to competitors, under a draft plan circulated by the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Sources familiar with the proposals by Michael K. Powell said that in "new-build" areas, where copper phone lines aren't in place and where the phone companies run fiber cables directly to homes or businesses, requirements to share those lines would be eliminated. If approved by the five-member commission, the change would be a victory for the regional telephone companies. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40257-2003Jan24.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 00:49:19 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Tri-State Identity Theft Tied to Ring That Included Store Workers By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM Cashiers and clerks at pharmacies, shoe stores and other retail businesses in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut stole credit card numbers from thousands of shoppers as part of a mob-connected identity-theft ring, the authorities said yesterday. Detectives from Queens on Thursday arrested the ring's leader and four others on forgery and identity-theft charges and were seeking the store clerks, whom they said were paid $50 for each credit card number they stole. The ring used the numbers to make phony cards, which they sold for $1,000 apiece. They also bought expensive merchandise with the fake cards and resold it at heavy discounts, making a profit of millions of dollars, officials said. The cashiers and clerks, using small, battery-powered, cellphone-sized devices called skimmers, captured the credit card information by swiping customers' cards through the device beneath a counter, inside a bag or while the customer wasn't looking, said Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly. The credit card numbers were then downloaded into laptop computers and the ring members used a combination of sophisticated scanners, magnetic strip encoders and holograph machines along with a basic embossing tool to manufacture credit card clones, Mr. Kelly said. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/25/nyregion/25IDEN.html ------------------------------ From: jbl Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Will Someone Explain Why This Actually Works? Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 00:23:31 -0700 Organization: On the desert Reply-To: jbl@spamblocked.com In , misterjorneal@yahoo.com (J. Neal) wrote: > Mean daily income: $42.7 (USD) > Median daily income: $44.2 > Mode: $35 (2 days) > Min: $7 > Max: $84 PAT adds: > I have seen advertised some places) I would say you are already > starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel. More important, is the > $84 you made last month on this scam worth the anger and frustrations > you have caused many netters who see those messages all the time? PAT] He claims he made about $897 over three weeks -- the $84 was the most for a single day. It means the suckers haven't all been clean off the network, or that new ones are coming on faster than they can be scammed, I guess. JBL (that is, of course, if you believe this guy's numbers) ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: No Laugh! Will Someone Explain Why This Actually Doesn't Work? Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 02:15:40 -0800 Organization: LincMad.com Consulting Reply-To: Telecom@LincMad.com In article , J. Neal wrote: > [send one dollar to six names, etc.] Pat, you left out a very important point. This "money-making scheme," whether or not it actually makes any money at all, is a federal felony under US and Canadian laws, and illegal in most other countries. In the US, it is punishable by up to 2 to 5 years in federal prison on a first offense (18 USC 1302 and 1341). Prosecution is, to say the least, unlikely, but the fact remains that it *IS* illegal. Besides that, it's also an excellent way to lose your Internet access. Give me your real name and address, and I'll be happy to turn it over to the Postal Inspectors for criminal investigation. www dot LincMad dot com / Telecom at LincMad dot com Linc Madison * San Francisco, California [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I could be mistaken, and will stand corrected if so. I *think* as long as 'something' of value is traded for the one dollar bill (i.e. a 'business report') you satisfy the legal requirements to stay out of the slammer. Its when you offer nothing except a chain letter that you get in trouble. You do not have to publish a one page bogus, useless 'business report' to send along on reciept of the money (they were usually saying they wanted five dollars from each of six names on the list; a dollar just would not cut it, after you paid postage and copy costs). Just copy the ones you got from someone else. I even once got a gospel tract from a fellow who said for 'a donation of at least five dollars' he would send me more gospel tracts to 'give to my family and friends.' That sort of thing apparently makes it all quite 'legitimate'. Am I right or wrong? I wrote back to the gospel tract fellow saying 'god bless you for the work you are doing; I have considered what you sent me to be a love offering'. Then I pitched them in the trash can. What he sent me were those little very homophobic comic book/gospel tracts from Chick Publications in Chico, CA. I told him in my return letter I could buy those damn things direct from Chick in lots of a thousand for a couple dollars if I wanted to go stick them on neighbor's doors, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #258 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jan 27 10:20:56 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0PNE5C11677; Sat, 25 Jan 2003 18:14:05 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 18:14:05 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301252314.h0PNE5C11677@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #254 TELECOM Digest Sat, 25 Jan 2003 18:14:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 254 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: DMCA: Ma Bell Would Be Proud (Monty Solomon) Re: DMCA: Ma Bell Would Be Proud (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: E1 (Richard H. E. Smith) Re: E1 (Michael Will) Re: E1 (Tom) Re: Looking for Satellite TV, Internet, Phone Provider (John Higdon) Radio Wishlist, was Re: Now, XM Satellite Radio Has Gear (Danny Burstein) Submarine Fiber Optic Cabling and Equipment (W. Joseph Ritchotte II) Re: Verizon Must Reveal Internet Song Swapper (John Higdon) Re: Rat Shack and Future Slop (Dave Garland) Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! (Monty Solomon) Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! (Tom Betz) Internet Calls Stir Up Static in Phone Fight (Monty Solomon) Re: Prison Call Overcharging (Linc Madison) Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! (Gail M. Hall) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 00:36:24 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Re: DMCA: Ma Bell Would Be Proud WebWasher shouldn't block that URI by default. Does that URI match one of the regular expressions in your WebWasher URL filter? That URI is for one of the cached (by Akamai) CSS (cascading style sheets) files used by Wired. Take a look at the following for more info ... Wired News Celebrates 6th Anniversary with Cutting-Edge Redesign Using The Latest Web Standards http://www.terralycos.com/press/pr_10_10e_02.html Wired News: A Site for Your Eyes http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,55675,00.html Behind the Wired News Design http://wired.com/news/explanation.html An Interview With Douglas Bowman of Wired News http://devedge.netscape.com/viewsource/2002/wired-interview/ Zeldman on the Wired News redesign http://www.zeldman.com/daily/1002a.html#wired Louis Collins wrote: > From: Louis Collins > Subject: Re: DMCA: Ma Bell Would Be Proud > Date: 23 Jan 2003 23:42:04 GMT > Organization: Concentric Internet Services > Monty Solomon wrote: >> http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,57268,00.html > Sounds like a good article, but alas, when I click it I get this: > WebWasher is configured to block the requested page: > 'http://a1112.g.akamai.net/7/1112/492/2002091423/www.wired.com/news/v/20020914/css/cs4/wnScreen.css'. > Is my browser messed up or what? ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: DMCA: Ma Bell Would Be Proud Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 07:16:01 GMT On 23 Jan 2003 23:42:04 GMT, Louis Collins posted the following to comp.dcom.telecom: > Monty Solomon wrote: >> http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,57268,00.html > Sounds like a good article, but alas, when I click it I get this: > WebWasher is configured to block the requested page: > 'http://a1112.g.akamai.net/7/1112/492/2002091423/www.wired.com/news/v/20020914/css/cs4/wnScreen.css'. > Is my browser messed up or what? Sounds like your ad-blocker, WebWasher, is blocking content. Check to see if it's blocking akamai.net, which is often used to host ads, but also hosts wired.com, Supreme Court opinions, and lots of other stuff. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA (delete NOSPAM from address to mail me) ------------------------------ From: Richard H. E. Smith Subject: Re: E1 Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 23:56:25 -0600 Organization: The Smiths foo wrote: > If you use E1, then timeslot 16 is used for signaling. The signaling > packets are a sort of HDLC packets. With HDLC you use a flag 01111110 > to mark the beginning and end of a packet. If the same bitpattern as > the flag comes in the data, you insert an extra 0 after the 5:th bit > (bitstuffing). Then you must transmit 9 bits instead of 8. The > timeslot in E1 is only 8 bit, so how is this problem solved? The "bytes" of the messages aren't necessarily alligned with the 8 bit slot in each frame... if you need to send nine bits, then it stretches into the next frame, and then the eight bits follow that. You have to think of timeslot 16 (or whichever) as a continuous stream of bits, and ignore that it's delivered eight bits at a time. Hope that makes sense. Dick Smith rhes@enteract.com Software Consultant ------------------------------ From: Michael Will Subject: Re: E1 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 07:44:32 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Tampa Bay foo wrote: > If you use E1, then timeslot 16 is used for signaling. The signaling > packets are a sort of HDLC packets. With HDLC you use a flag 01111110 > to mark the beginning and end of a packet. If the same bitpattern as > the flag comes in the data, you insert an extra 0 after the 5:th bit > (bitstuffing). Then you must transmit 9 bits instead of 8. The > timeslot in E1 is only 8 bit, so how is this problem solved? There is no problem :) One just needs to see that in a data context the timeslot itself a just a bitstream, meaning not every symbol in the delivery stream has to align with the actual transport frame. Just because audio data is traditionally (and nearly exclusively) sent one octet per frame doesn't mean that's the only way to interpret the data being transmitted. Consider the same condition in an X.25 HDLC circuit - the link speed may be static, but that doesn't mean the data stream doesn't run slower from time to time to accommodate the same symbol transmission issues. Look at the E1 as what it is - a multiplexed set of streams, and in the D-channel case (or any generic Data-Channel interpretation, including multi-timeslot video, etc.) one just has to strip out the appropriate bitsream and *then* interpret it by its particular rules. At that point, alignment within the multiplexed transmission of 31 other channels doesn't matter a whole lot :) - Michael ------------------------------ From: Tom Subject: Re: E1 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 11:43:20 -0000 Organization: ntlworld News Service foo wrote in message news:telecom22.252.11@telecom-digest.org... > If you use E1, then timeslot 16 is used for signaling. The signaling > packets are a sort of HDLC packets. With HDLC you use a flag 01111110 > to mark the beginning and end of a packet. If the same bitpattern as > the flag comes in the data, you insert an extra 0 after the 5:th bit > (bitstuffing). Then you must transmit 9 bits instead of 8. The > timeslot in E1 is only 8 bit, so how is this problem solved? It's not really a problem. HDLC is bit-oriented. The 8 bits transmitted in each E1 frame don't necessarily correspond with an HDLC field. ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Looking for Satellite TV, Internet, Phone Provider Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 21:39:28 -0800 In article , johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) wrote: > I've done it, it's not that bad. About 20 years ago, in the dawn of > the competitive long distance era was Satellite Business Systems, > funded by IBM, Sears, and (I think) Aetna insurance. Back when I owned a real company, we got SBS to save money on long distance. We even hid the onerous Feature Group B access behind our PBX (which was capable of transparently dialing all the necessary access numbers and codes). The workers hated it. One CS representative said that it lowered apparent IQs about thirty points with all the delay and the resultant tripping over words of the other party. One wise guy started saying "over" when making long distance calls. We got rid of it within a year. > No matter how badly your phone company stinks, it's unlikely that sat > phones would be the alternative you want. I'd consider fixed cellular > with an antenna on the roof pointing at the nearest cell tower. At my house, the signal is good enough to use any old handheld like a cordless phone. If it were not for the fact that I have so much other wired communications, I would seriously consider dumping my wireline service. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Radio Wishlist, was Re: Now, XM Satellite Radio Has Gear .. Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 05:57:06 +0000 (UTC) Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Monty Solomon writes: > By WALTER S. MOSSBERG > One of the great things about the fast-moving technology field is > that companies can improve their products in major ways fairly > quickly. Today's example is XM Satellite Radio, the leader in the > nascent business of beaming numerous channels of music and talk to > subscribers with special radios. [ rest snipped ] While not a directly telecom related item, high on my wish list is a tivo/replay-tv like radio. When, oh when, will we have a radio that can be set to record as easily as a vcr? (well, let's hope it's easier...) Current choices include either kludging radio output to a vcr (which doesn't give you channel setting) or using an expensive, limited edition product like: http://www.radioprogramrecorder.com/ (url included for info. no connection to them. not an endorsement, etc.) And more immediately, why hasn't someone, anyone, put out a line of car radios with a back-buffer? How many times do you hear something on the radio where you'd really, really, like to listen to it again? Even for something as mundane as the weather, or traffic. And, of course, all the EBS broadcasts ... Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: bjr@thedigitaldeli.net (W. Joseph Ritchotte II) Subject: Submarine Fiber Optic Cabling and Equipment Organization: Toltec Business Systems and Holdings Inc. Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 05:14:18 GMT Dear Telecom: I am with the commercial house of B. Joseph Gordon and Company. My firm has been retained to sell a consigned lot for Lifecycle Business Partners of approximately 100 million in submarine fiber optic cabling equipment. Lifecycle's orders are to try and recoup 20% of the retail value of the lot. As we are approaching the large companies that specialize in this type of construction, we intend to leave no stone unturned. That is why we are publishing the website where the materials are listed and you can check off items you are interested in and have that list shipped to our agents for further discussion. In no way are you obligated to purchase. All items are new in the OEM packaging and were designed for undersea use but the extra strength and highly reduced prices would not prohibit some of the equipment and cable from being used in a land project. The link is: http://65.96.189.204:8880/SubmarineTelecomEquipList.asp Thank you for your time. Regards, William Ritchotte - CEO Like radio shows? Jack Benny, Abbott and Costello, Zero Hour, CBS Radio Theatre? Remember who you spent your Sunday nights with listening to the radio? Would you like to relive those memories? Come to http://www.digitaldeliftp.com ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Verizon Must Reveal Internet Song Swapper Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 21:29:34 -0800 In article , Joey Lindstrom wrote: > U.S. District Judge John Bates said Verizon must cooperate with > recording industry efforts to track down online song swappers, > rejecting the telecommunications giant's assertion that such a move > would violate customer privacy and turn it into an online copyright cop. > Verizon said it would appeal the decision. And well it should. The key issue is probable cause. The RIAA is simply making an accusation, backed up with no credible evidence. If this decision stands and becomes precedent, anyone could get anyone else's private information from a provider by simply claiming "copyright violation". John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Rat Shack and Future Slop Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 23:35:22 -0600 Organization: Wizard Information > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: ... From whenever until 1965 'Allied > Radio' was *the* place in Chicago for every kind of electronic gizmo > there was in those days.] In Chicago? In the USA. Well, along with Lafayette (NY) and Radio Shack (before Tandy got involved). And Olson, too. And Meshna and Fair Radio for the surplus hounds. Curiously, the small surplus outfits are the only ones still around. Fair Radio doesn't seem to have changed much, not even the praying hands. And (ObTelecom) will ya look at that, their front page (http://www.fairradio.com) features a surplus ringing generator. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 01:07:01 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, you would think so; but as John > Levine noted in the previous issue of the Digest Thursday night, there > was a kiddie porn raid somewhere; numerous arrests were made from > that; but I don't remember reading about in the papers or seeing it > noted on the net news, etc. PAT] Some old and recent news stories ... Police arrest 25 members of child porn ring By Drew Cullen Posted: 23/04/2002 at 12:34 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/24986.html UK police swoop in child porn raids By Tim Richardson Posted: 25/04/2002 at 10:45 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/25023.html Paedophile net raids across UK Care workers, teachers and a teenage boy are among those arrested in dawn raids as part of the UK's biggest internet paedophile crackdown yet. Wednesday, 24 April, 2002, 15:34 GMT 16:34 UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1947000/1947778.stm Q&A: Paedophile net raids The BBC's home affairs correspondent, Jon Silverman, answers key questions about Wednesday's internet paedophile crackdown. Wednesday, 24 April, 2002, 15:33 GMT 16:33 UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1949000/1949092.stm Operation Ore: Can the UK cope? Monday, 13 January, 2003, 10:33 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2652465.stm British Child-Pornography Investigation Is Broadening By SARAH LYALL January 14, 2003 http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/14/international/14CND_PORN.html Britain's Hunt for Child Pornography Users Nets Hundreds Besides Pete Townshend By SARAH LYALL January 15, 2003 http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/15/international/europe/15PORN.html 'I cannot admit what I am to myself' Thursday January 23, 2003 The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,880237,00.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So I guess the spam posting at least made a good point or two, even if apparently it was spam. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tom Betz Subject: Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 06:12:58 UTC Organization: XOme Quoth Pat in news:telecom22.250.9@telecom-digest.org: > Do you know, Tom, if there was any truth at all to his allegations > regards the number of 'suspects', inquistioned persons, etc? Or was > that all just a lot of crap as well? See for the FBI's press release about Operation Candyman. An excerpt: "Through the issuance of a court order to Yahoo!, FBI Houston concentrating on the Candyman Egroup, identified 7,000 unique E-mail addresses with 2,400 of the addresses outside of United States and 4,600 located domestically." ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 01:27:05 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Internet Calls Stir Up Static in Phone Fight By DENNIS K. BERMAN Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL A battle is heating up in the phone industry over the growing number of voice calls sent over the Internet, pitting local phone companies against long-distance providers. At issue: whether long-distance companies must pay local phone systems the full fare for sending these Internet-based calls to and from houses and offices. Currently, most long-distance companies do pay such "access fees" since the carriers generally don't own the lines that go into homes and businesses. But long-distance companies say they shouldn't have to pay as much to transmit Internet calls to customers as they pay for calls sent over traditional long-distance networks. http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB1043372661755750904,00.html ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: Prison Call Overcharging Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 23:39:08 -0800 Organization: LincMad.com Consulting Reply-To: Telecom@LincMad.com In article , Gail M. Hall wrote: > I'll be interested to hear if this "Save a buck or two" company > really does save people money for collect call charges. I must say > they have some cute commercials! Read the fine print: "Savings vs. dialing '0' with AT&T for interstate calls." Not compared to dialing 0-NPA-NXX-XXXX, not compared to dialing 1-800-CALL-ATT, but compared to dialing just 0. The recipient pays a substantial surcharge if the operator has to punch the number in for you, but 1-800-COLLECT gives you that service for free. Woo-hoo. (Never mind that you don't get an AT&T operator if you just dial 0. You have to dial 1010288-0 or 00 if the phone is pre-subscribed to AT&T, but AT&T recommends dialing 1-800-CALL-ATT instead.) Only an ABSOLUTE IDIOT would dial just '0' to place a collect call. There's no excuse, at least for those of us whose age has made it into double-digits. A very useful clue as to what 1-800-COLLECT will charge can be gleaned from the simple fact that they don't list any rates on their web site. Their contact form offers several options for the subject of your inquiry, but "rates" is not one of them. Of course, I'm sure the reason they don't tell you the rates is that they're so low you don't need to even think about them.... Also, many of the commercials feature situations in which only an absolute idiot would call collect to begin with; for instance, the kids at the mall calling Mom to come pick them up. How many kids get dropped off at a mall that's so far away from home that it's a toll call? Give the kid 50 cents to call home from the payphone! The continued business success of companies like 1-800-COLLECT and 10-10-220 (pay extra on every call!) only proves the gullibility of the American consumer. To borrow a phrase for which 1-800-COLLECT's spokesman is famous, "I pity the fool" who ever uses 1-800-COLLECT. www dot LincMad dot com / Telecom at LincMad dot com Linc Madison * San Francisco, California ------------------------------ From: Gail M. Hall Subject: Re: The Digest Was Spammed Again! Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 04:07:34 -0500 Reply-To: gmhall@apk.net On Thu, 23 Jan 2003 01:33:40 UTC, in comp.dcom.telecom message , overworked Pat wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You know, it may get to the point real > soon here on this list that I start accepting incoming mail *only* > from a trusted whitelist of readers/contributors, with all other mail > going into the bit bucket. There simply is not enough time in the day > for *me* to go around the web looking for hiding places for spam. All > trusted whitelist contributors will have a list giving the correct > email addresses of others on the list. Then all email addresses > printed here will vanish also. That seems to me like a horrible way to > be part of the net, and extremely arrogant. Do you knoww, Tom, if > there was any truth at all to his allegations regards the number of > 'suspects', inquistioned persons, etc? Or was that all just a lot of > crap as well? PAT] Is it possible that you will have better luck by closing off the usenet gateway and having everyone subscribe to the mailing list instead? I would hate to see that because the ISPs I have used preferred us to use the news service instead of e-mail if there was a choice. However, that would be one way to limit the number of people who can harvest addresses from the group. I am aware that this group's addresses are harvested by spammers. Some spammers actually spam the list and members privately, too. So they are easy to detect. One of the worst spammers I get messages from is something called "iAgentNetwork E-Blast". They spam a lot of telecom "services" and CLAIM that I subscribed to their list. They LIE! I filtered them out by the name iAgent and by their IP number. I recently found out that my ISP uses a certain software to process mail and there is a way that we can munge our addresses in a way that we would still get the mail but we could identify where the sender using that edited address got our address because of what we did in the "munge". I don't want to give details because you are likely to post this to the group, and I don't want spammers to catch on to what this "trick" is if they don't already know it. If I just posted under this "new" address, you would probably consider me "unknown" and reject the address. Some lists do allow for subscribers to post from "alternate" e-mail addresses so a person could give YOU the real address but post with another address, even a munged address that you would recognize as being from the real subscriber. If you do decide to continue the usenet newsgroup gateway, you might require people who read from there to "register" with you before being allowed to post. This might include giving some personal information such as real name and city of residence but nothing too personal. Please don't require credit card numbers or anything like that. This information would be kept by the moderator and not be available to anyone else. Some list servers do allow members to get a list of all subscribers' e-mail addresses by sending a special command, but subscribers can send a command to opt out of that feature -- thanks be!! I would go along with your idea of accepting posts from known subscribers. Anyone wanting to join would fill out some kind of form that you would devise. If they are approved, then they would be accepted like now. I also think the moderator should maintain an "admin" address for people to write about stuff doing with subscribing, changing addresses, etc., and a "list" address for posting messages to the group. That way we could write to you, Pat, about details of our addresses, etc., without having to worry about our remarks going out to the whole world. You know, I could tell you more about the mail software quirk. I hope some of these ideas can cut down on your work. Gail in Ohio USA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You raise so many issues I won't even take the time here and now to respond to all of them. I am NOT interested in collecting names and email addresses for 'approval' purposes here in the Digest. It is simply easier to continue as I do now, and use a large scoop shovel to get rid of large amounts of spam each day. Gail, there is an 'administrative' address for list changes. It is: Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org (quoting above from the closing message in each issue of the Digest as seen by Digest [not Usenet] readers). I do *not* handle subscriptions to the Digest personally. You have to use the majordomo at the addresses shown above. I check the things at the above address every few days. I suggest if you wish to change from one email address to another that you subscribe the new one first, wait a few days until things start coming there, *then* go back and unsubscribe the old address. That's because new subscribes only take effect after I 'approve' them to keep spammers/hucksters out. Unsubscribes take effect when you write the above address. To avoid missing an issue, do not unsubscribe the old address until you see the new one has been installed. Regards other matters, if you say 'do not publish' as your subject line then either I will not or at the very least I will remove your name/email address if I decide to use it. And I do give the spam bucket at least a cursory glance prior to deleting it each day. Maybe that will help a little. To avoid absolutely all spam in the Usenet version, I suggest you read *my* Usenet version which is on the web site as http://telecom-digest.org/TELECOM_Digest_Online and maybe you do or do not need the final trailing slash. That is message by message Usenet style, put out by myself. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #254 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jan 27 13:15:59 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0RIFx401768; Mon, 27 Jan 2003 13:15:59 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 13:15:59 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301271815.h0RIFx401768@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #259 TELECOM Digest Mon, 27 Jan 2003 13:16:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 259 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #367, January 27, 2003 (Angus TeleManagement) Re: No Laugh! Someone Explain Why This Actually Doesn't Work? (J. Levine) Re: No Laugh! Someone Explain Why This Actually Doesn't Work? (D Johnson) Re: No Laugh! Someone Explain Why This Actually Doesn't Work? (J Minks) Re: No Laugh! Someone Explain Why This Actually Doesn't Work? (Earnhardt) Home Centrex, was Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity (Danny Burstein) More on Phone Use and Driving (David Clayton) Assistance Needed Teaching People (Brian) Brain Fart (Joey Lindstrom) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 11:40:17 -0500 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #367, January 27, 2003 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 367: January 27, 2003 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** BELL CANADA: http://www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: http://www.cisco.com/ca/letstalk ** CYGCOM INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES: http://www.cygcom.com ** ERICSSON CANADA: http://www.ericsson.ca ** JUNIPER NETWORKS: http://www.juniper.net ** PRIMUS CANADA: http://www.primustel.ca ** Q9 NETWORKS: http://www.Q9.com ** TELUS: http://www.telus.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Telecom Update Upgrades E-Mail Delivery ** AT&T Canada Unveils Restructuring Plan ** Aliant Plans to Sell Xwave, Stratos ** Government Initiates Spam Discussion ** Nortel Sales Up, Losses Continue ** AT&T Corp Sees Ongoing Sales Decline ** Cross-Border Messaging Begins ** JDS Ottawa Staff Down to 1,300 ** Telus Files Cabinet Appeal ** Call-Net Challenges Telco DSL Policy ** 89 Groups Get Federal Broadband Funding ** Ontario Helps Fund Rural Broadband Project ** High-Speed Internet Comes to Eckville ** Top Court Hears Pay-Equity Case ** Small Telco Confronts Hydro Giant ** TeraGo Raises $3 Million ** Wi-LAN Executive Changes ** Financial Results Avaya Lucent ** Your Telecom Bills Are Too High! ============================================================ TELECOM UPDATE UPGRADES E-MAIL DELIVERY: To improve delivery of Telecom Update, next week we will begin using a new e-mail service. We expect the transition to be transparent, but if you experience any difficulty, please let us know at admin@angustel.ca. AT&T CANADA UNVEILS RESTRUCTURING PLAN: If it is approved at a special meeting on February 20, AT&T Canada's restructuring plan will give the company's bondholders and other creditors just over 17 cents, in cash and shares, for every dollar they are owed. Current shareholders will receive nothing. ** Non-Canadian creditors will receive one-third of the voting shares and will appoint four of the company's nine directors. ALIANT PLANS TO SELL XWAVE, STRATOS: Aliant CEO Jay Forbes said January 24 that his company plans to sell its IT subsidiary, Xwave, and its stake in Stratos Global, a satellite communications company. ** Aliant had revenues of $660.5 million, 0.5% less than a year ago. Writedowns of about $60 million related to Xwave and its ISP subsidiaries resulted in a net loss of $6.9 million. GOVERNMENT INITIATES SPAM DISCUSSION: Industry Canada has posted a discussion paper on possible measures to stop junk e-mail, including placing responsibility on ISPs, improving filtering techniques, and introducing new anti-spam laws. Public comments may be sent to: spam_paper@ic.gc.ca. http://e-com.ic.gc.ca/english/strat/email_marketing.html NORTEL SALES UP, LOSSES CONTINUE: Nortel Networks fourth quarter sales of US$2.52 billion were 7% higher than the previous quarter; Canadian sales rose 28%. Nortel's end-of- March employment target is now 36,000, 1,000 higher than previously announced. ** Fourth-quarter losses were $248 million. Nortel predicts a shrinking global equipment market in 2003 and reduced first-quarter sales. AT&T CORP SEES ONGOING SALES DECLINE: AT&T Corp expects a continuing decline in 2003 in both its own revenues and those of the U.S. telecom industry as a whole. The company's fourth quarter sales of US$9.3 billion were down 8.6% from last year (business sales down 3%; consumer sales down 20%). Operating loss: $280 million. CROSS-BORDER MESSAGING BEGINS: Customers of the major cellular carriers in Canada and the U.S. can now send SMS text messages to each other across the border. The carriers involved are the Bell Alliance companies, Telus, Rogers AT&T, and Microcell in Canada, and AT&T Wireless, Cingular, Nextel, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon in the U.S. (See Telecom Update #327) JDS OTTAWA STAFF DOWN TO 1,300: JDS Uniphase, which had 11,000 employees in Ottawa two years ago, now has only 1,300. The company has eliminated 300 Ottawa-area jobs in the past three months, and expects to cut 600-700 more this year. ** JDS fourth quarter revenues of US$157 million were down 19% on the quarter and 45% on the year. The net loss was $215 million, compared to $521 million the previous quarter. TELUS FILES CABINET APPEAL: On January 22, Telus appealed to Cabinet to change CRTC cost rulings in decisions 2000-745 and 2001-238. Telus wants company-specific costs -- not national costs -- to be used in calculating the subsidy it receives for high-cost serving areas and the prices it can charge competitors for unbundled local loops. CALL-NET CHALLENGES TELCO DSL POLICY: Call-Net Enterprises (parent of Sprint Canada) has asked the CRTC to order the four large incumbent telcos to end their policy of refusing to provide high-speed Internet to customers who obtain their local telephone service from a competitor. Call-Net calls the practice anti-competitive and discriminatory, and says it violates the CRTC's bundling rules. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2003/8622/c25_200300666.htm 89 GROUPS GET FEDERAL BROADBAND FUNDING: Ottawa has announced the first recipients of funding to develop business plans for extending high-speed Internet to First Nations, rural, and remote communities. Eighty-nine applicants, representing over 1,100 communities, will receive up to $30,000 each. (See Telecom Update #363, 348) http://broadband.gc.ca/news/newsroom_e.asp ONTARIO HELPS FUND RURAL BROADBAND PROJECT: The Ontario Government is providing $2.7 million for a fixed-wireless broadband network to serve small towns and rural communities in the Leeds-Grenville area in southeastern Ontario. Additional funding will be provided by lead partner Ripnet Ltd (an ISP headquartered in Brockville) and the Thousand Islands Community Development Corporation. http://www.newswire.ca/government/ontario/english/releases/January2003/14/c9659.html HIGH-SPEED INTERNET COMES TO ECKVILLE: Calgary-based ISP Platinum Communications and Persona, a Newfoundland-based cableco, have combined to offer high-speed Internet service in the rural community of Eckville, Alberta. This is the first commercial service based on the Alberta government's SuperNet. TOP COURT HEARS PAY-EQUITY CASE: On January 23, the Supreme Court of Canada heard Bell Canada's argument that the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal does not have jurisdiction to hear the pay equity dispute between the telco and operators represented by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union. SMALL TELCO CONFRONTS HYDRO GIANT: The independent telco in Kincardine, Ontario, says that the British-owned Bruce nuclear power plant is illegally providing local telephone service to Ontario Power Generation, an unaffiliated company. After two years of unsuccessful negotiation, Bruce Municipal Telephone System has asked the CRTC to order OPG to establish service directly with BMTS and to compensate the telco for lost revenue. ** Local competition is not permitted in the territories served by independent telephone companies. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2003/8622/b7_200300294.htm TERAGO RAISES $3 MILLION: TeraGo Networks, which provides wireless broadband to business customers in suburban areas of nine Canadian cities, has raised $3 million in new equity financing, for a total of $14 million raised in 2002. WI-LAN EXECUTIVE CHANGES: CFO Steve Bellamy has left Wi-LAN; his acting replacement is Keith Bittner. COO Sayed-Amr El-Hamamsy is now also Wi-LAN's President. FINANCIAL RESULTS: In the fourth quarter: ** Avaya sales were US$1.07 billion, 7.4% less than the previous quarter. Avaya's cash balance increased by $54 million; its net operating loss was $33.4 million. ** Lucent revenues of US$2.08 billion were 9% less than the previous quarter and 42% less than the previous year. Net loss: $264 million. Lucent expects a 20% sales recovery in the coming quarter. YOUR TELECOM BILLS ARE TOO HIGH! Coming issues of Telemanagement will feature exclusive reports on the latest, most effective techniques for reducing the cost of voice and data communications without sacrificing quality or efficiency. They will be published only in Telemanagement, and sent only to subscribers. ** For a limited time, save $50 on a new subscription -- and get an extra issue as a free bonus. Download full details at http://www.angustel.ca/SubscriptionOffer.pdf. (PDF: 349 KB) ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at http://www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: TelecomUpdate@add.postmastergeneral.com To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: TelecomUpdate@remove.postmastergeneral.com Sending e-mail to these addresses will automatically add or remove the sender's e-mail address from the list. Leave subject line and message area blank. We do not give Telecom Update subscribers' e-mail addresses to any third party. For more information, see http://www.angustel.ca/update/privacy.html. =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2002 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ------------------------------ Date: 26 Jan 2003 20:48:07 -0500 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: No Laugh! Will Someone Explain Why This Actually Doesn't Work? Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I could be mistaken, and will stand > corrected if so. I *think* as long as 'something' of value is traded > for the one dollar bill (i.e. a 'business report') you satisfy the > legal requirements to stay out of the slammer. Nope. See http://www.usps.com/websites/depart/inspect/chainlet.htm Do not be fooled if the chain letter is used to sell inexpensive reports on credit, mail order sales, mailing lists, or other topics. The primary purpose is to take your money, not to sell information. "Selling" a product does not ensure legality. ... John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 23:08:32 -0500 From: Daniel W. Johnson Subject: No Laugh! Will Someone Explain Why This Actually Doesn't Work? The postal inspectors are not fooled by the "sale" of a report. They have a page about it here: http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/chainlet.htm Key paragraph: Do not be fooled if the chain letter is used to sell inexpensive reports on credit, mail order sales, mailing lists, or other topics. The primary purpose is to take your money, not to sell information. "Selling" a product does not ensure legality. Be doubly suspicious if there's a claim that the U.S. Postal Service or U.S. Postal Inspection Service has declared the letter legal. This is said only to mislead you. Neither the Postal Service nor Postal Inspectors give prior approval to any chain letter. Daniel W. Johnson panoptes@iquest.net http://members.iquest.net/~panoptes/ 039 53 36 N / 086 11 55 W ------------------------------ From: Jeff Minks Subject: Re: No Laugh! Will Someone Explain Why This Actually Doesn't Work? Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 00:34:33 -0500 > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I could be mistaken, and will stand > corrected if so. I *think* as long as 'something' of value is traded > for the one dollar bill (i.e. a 'business report') you satisfy the > legal requirements to stay out of the slammer. Its when you offer > nothing except a chain letter that you get in trouble. If the scheme is substantially a ponzi, chain letter, or pyramid scheme, the presence of "something of value" does not make it legal, despite what scammers may claim. The feds have gone after such schemes. ------------------------------ From: Phil Earnhardt Subject: Re: No Laugh! Will Someone Explain Why This Actually Doesn't Work? Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 22:54:41 -0700 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com On Sun, 26 Jan 2003 02:15:40 -0800, TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Linc Madison : > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I could be mistaken, and will stand > corrected if so. I *think* as long as 'something' of value is traded > for the one dollar bill (i.e. a 'business report') you satisfy the > legal requirements to stay out of the slammer [...] Perhaps true at some point, but no more. See the text of the 2002 FTC crackdown at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2002/02/eileenspam1.htm What astonishes me is why, AFAICT, the FTC doesn't have a clear page with a short URL explaining the rules and how to complain. To a large extent, the FTC seems to not understand the Internet. Chain e-mail letters are a specific case of Spam. The regulars on the USENET newsgroup news.admin.net-abuse.email have created a set of rules about Spam and Spammers. In short: Rule #0: Spam is theft. Rule #1: Spammers lie. Rule #2: If a spammer seems to be telling the truth, see Rule #1. Rule #3: Spammers are stupid. Rule #4: The natural course of a spamming business is to go bankrupt. One spectactular example of an individual/enterprise who went through all of these rules was Jason Heckel of Oregon. Somewhere around 1997, Heckel was using e-mail Spam to hawk his $39.95 kit for making money from the Internet. The Spam contained amazing claims of people making vast sums of money a month from the schemes outlined in the text. When Heckel was charged and tried under the state of Washington's Spam laws in 1998, his mother asked for leniency. She claimed that Jason was barely able to make a living from his e-mail activities. And this wasn't from a person who read the book; this was from someone who wrote the book! One concludes that the book wasn't worth the paper it was printed on. Anyone who is curious can search in www.deja.com (a Google database) with the keywords of "Jason Heckel" and mother. These rules about spammers are also accompanied by a set of Corollaries, Commentaries, Admonitions, Contradictions, etc. They're interesting reading for anyone who wants to understand the true nature of Spam. Apparently, the list is changing a bit right now; there's a discussion going on in news.admin.net-abuse.email about it right now. Anyone curious can reference the thread at: http://groups.google.com/groups?q=the+rules+of+spam&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=j_WcnSU2NaQo5zCgXTWcpw%40News.GigaNews.Com&rnum=2 If the long URL doesn't work, just go to www.deja.com and enter the words: rules spam proposals the thread entitled "The Rules of Spam: Currently Awaiting Action" is the one you want. --phil ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Home Centrex, was Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 01:19:50 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The suggestion he made, of four or > seven digits followed by '#' *was* used in Chicago (although quite by > accident; telco did not seem to know or approve of it) for a few > years, but only for customers with the 'home centrex' (I forgot the > actual name of the service). In New York Telephone/NY area, it was called "Intellidial". I dropped it because they refused to give me CNID on it claiming it wasn't in the tariff. Sigh. A couple of years later I believe they ended it. _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There it is! Thanks very much, Danny. Illinois Bell called it 'Intellidial' also, and it has not been offered for many years now. I dunno about Caller-ID; Intellidial was available in the late seventies/early eighties in Chicago and I do not think Caller-ID was very common then, although Caller-ID (or whatever name it went by) was available at telco operator positions about that time, as was ANI for 911. PAT] ------------------------------ From: David Clayton Subject: More on Phone Use and Driving Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 14:30:26 +1100 Organization: Customer of Connect.com.au Pty. Ltd. Reply-To: dcstar@acslink.net.au http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,5890070%255E2862,00.html Car Chat Rings up Big Fines By SUE HEWITT, Transport reporter 26jan03 ABOUT 580 people a week are caught using mobile phones while driving on Victorian roads -- and the number is increasing. In 2001, police caught about 18,000 motorists, who were each fined $135. The figure last year was 30,000 -- an increase of 60 per cent. A woman this week was ordered to stand trial after she allegedly struck and killed a cyclist while using a mobile phone and driving. Silvia Ciach, 22, of Avila Rd, Geelong, allegedly was sending a text message on her phone and witnesses told the court her car had zigzagged on the road. They said her car had moved and in and out of the bicycle lane at least three times before the collision. The body of Anthony Marsh, 36, of Ocean Grove, was thrown 28.7m in the crash on the Geelong-Portarlington Rd, Moolap, on December 20, 2001. Outside court, Acting Superintendent Geoff Alway, of the traffic support division, said the use a hand-held mobile phones was becoming an increasing cause of crashes. "Credible research has concluded that using a hand-held mobile phone while driving has the equivalent effect on driving ability as having exceeded a blood alcohol level of .08," he said. "We see it every day -- the person driving slowly and crossing lines, not paying attention. "I have booked motorists who didn't even see a police car behind them with its lights flashing because they were so engrossed in a conversation. "It affects the concentration of drivers so that they do not pay attention to what is ahead, behind or beside because they are using all their energy on the phone." Supt Alway said research from New York showed the use and presence of mobile phones in cars increased the risk of a fatal crash. He said a study found there was a nine-fold increased risk of a fatality when drivers used mobile phones and a two-fold increase if a phone was present in the vehicle. There was a 10-fold increased risk of crashing travelling at 70km/h in a 60km/h zone, he said. Supt Alway said the "jury's still out" on whether hands-free mobile phones also affect driver attention. He said that while there had been a significant increase in the number of offenders over the year, the impact of tough new penalties was not clear. He said no figures were available since the introduction of a three-demerit point penalty on December 15. A Sunday Herald Sun photographer found four drivers flouting the mobile phone laws on the corner of Flinders and Swanston streets in less than an hour this week. In 2001, a teenager in Brisbane ran down and killed a man while answering a mobile phone. The 17-year-old was found guilty of manslaughter and received a suspended sentence. Regards, David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@acslink.net.au Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 09:04:08 PST From: PSCDC (Brian) Subject: Assistance Needed to Help Teach People I am trying to locate a club or individuals in Imperial County, CA, that would be interested in providing training and guidance to three affordable housing projects, we operate. We have been committed to bring training and eduction to the low income families at these sites. We do computer training, job training, teach English classes, etc. However, our folks would like to be trained in the use of HAM radio operation and theory. Can you put me in contact with someone or organization there, that could assist? Thank you. Brian Biber PSCDC 858-847-0280 ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 10:04:14 -0700 Subject: Brain Fart Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Sat, 25 Jan 2003 19:45:53 -0500 (EST), an overworked Joey wrote: > I later needed to add a second DSL line. This meant a trip out to my > place by telco. The fellow had a big spool of four-pair wire (two > lines) and was going to replace my two-pair wire. I suggested to him > that it might be a good idea to install cable with more capacity, as I > may need to add additional DSL lines down the road. He had some > 12-pair (6 line) cable in the truck but it wasn't spooled, so I hadda > help the guy string it up (through trees and stuff). Of course, in all of the above, whenever I said "-pair" I really meant "-wire". Man, Friday was a long day ... :-) -- Joey Lindstrom -- Telus Sucks http://www.telussucks.info ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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. 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Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty 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 V22 #259 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jan 27 14:49:20 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0RJnKB02942; Mon, 27 Jan 2003 14:49:20 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 14:49:20 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301271949.h0RJnKB02942@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #260 TELECOM Digest Mon, 27 Jan 2003 14:50:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 260 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: DMCA: Ma Bell Would Be Proud (Monty Solomon) Six Retailers Plan Venture to Sell Music on the Web (Monty Solomon) Satellite System Seen as a Key Life Saver (Monty Solomon) Change in E-Mail Riles Users (Monty Solomon) So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue (Monty Solomon) Other Microsoft Programs Said at Risk For Web Worm (Monty Solomon) More Than a Trend, Cellphones Are a Way of Life (Monty Solomon) Re: Talk With Less Radiation (Ross Oliver) 12 UM Students Accused of High-Tech Cheating (Monty Solomon) T-1 Private Line to Home Network (KJ) Re: 11-Digit Dialing (Joseph) Re: 11-Digit Dialing (John R. Levine) Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity (Roy Smith) Re: Calling Party Pays to Cellular (John R. Levine) Creativity Workshops in Europe and New York (Creativity Course) Last Laugh! Free Info to Turn Your Computer in a Moneymachine! (Till) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 07:55:55 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Re: DMCA: Ma Bell Would Be Proud WebWasher shouldn't block that URI by default. Does that URI match one of the regular expressions in your WebWasher URL filter? That URI is for one of the cached (by Akamai) CSS (cascading style sheets) files used by Wired. Take a look at the following for more info ... Wired News Celebrates 6th Anniversary with Cutting-Edge Redesign Using The Latest Web Standards http://www.terralycos.com/press/pr_10_10e_02.html Wired News: A Site for Your Eyes http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,55675,00.html Behind the Wired News Design http://wired.com/news/explanation.html An Interview With Douglas Bowman of Wired News http://devedge.netscape.com/viewsource/2002/wired-interview/ Zeldman on the Wired News redesign http://www.zeldman.com/daily/1002a.html#wired Louis Collins wrote: > From: Louis Collins > Subject: Re: DMCA: Ma Bell Would Be Proud > Date: 23 Jan 2003 23:42:04 GMT > Organization: Concentric Internet Services > Monty Solomon wrote: >> http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,57268,00.html > Sounds like a good article, but alas, when I click it I get this: > WebWasher is configured to block the requested page: > 'http://a1112.g.akamai.net/7/1112/492/2002091423/www.wired.com/news/v/20020914/css/cs4/wnScreen.css'. > Is my browser messed up or what? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 07:59:29 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Six Retailers Plan Venture to Sell Music on the Web By LAURA M. HOLSON LOS ANGELES, Jan. 26 - Six of the largest music retailers plan to announce on Monday that they are joining forces to sell music that can be downloaded from the Web. The retailing group, called Echo, consists of Best Buy, the nation's No. 1 electronics retailer; Tower Records; the Virgin Entertainment Group; Wherehouse Entertainment; Hastings Entertainment; and Trans World Entertainment, which operates the FYE store chain. The six retail companies will each own an equity stake in Echo that together will make them majority owners. The new effort is motivated in part by the two-year decline in compact disc sales that has forced recording companies to cut costs and lay off employees and has damaged music retailers, too. Wherehouse Entertainment, for one, announced last week that it was filing for bankruptcy protection from its creditors, in part because of lackluster CD sales. And earlier this month, Best Buy announced that it would close 107 stores. Like the recording companies, music retailers are searching for new sources of revenue. Vinyl albums and cassette tapes have nearly disappeared in recent years, leaving retailers with the CD as their main option for selling music. But a proliferation of free music-swapping services on the Internet has led to a decline in CD sales. According to Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks album sales, 681 million were sold in 2002, down from 785 million in 2000. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/27/business/media/27TUNE.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 08:30:51 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Satellite System Seen as a Key Life Saver Tracking device crucial in rescues By Jim Geraghty, States News Service, 1/26/2003 WASHINGTON - Environmental satellites with search-and-rescue tracking capability helped save 171 sailors, hikers, downed pilots, and others across the country last year, including 15 people in five incidents off the New England coast. ... The Coast Guard requires all commercial fishing vessels and merchant ships to carry an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, which sends out a distress signal that NOAA satellites pick up and relay to the appropriate emergency response agency. Since it was launched in 1982, the satellite system is estimated to have saved 4,500 lives in the United States, said NOAA administrator Conrad C. Lautenbacher. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/026/nation/Satellite_system_seen_as_a_key_life_saver+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 08:55:40 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Change in E-Mail Riles Users By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff, 1/27/2003 Plans by Comcast Corp., the new owner of AT&T Broadband, to shift more than 200,000 New England e-mail customers to a new comcast.net e-mail address have touched a deep nerve with Internet users furious that they have to get their third e-mail address in barely a year. As the furor demonstrates, e-mail has become a lifeline for millions since the mid-1990s, when it became a mass-market phenomenon instead of just the domain of technology gurus and academics. Many current attbi.com e-mail subscribers complain the move will be at least as disruptive as getting a new phone number or street address. AT&T's move will affect more than 1.9 million customers nationally, including large numbers in Chicago, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, and other parts of the United States. Besides the disruption, many local subscribers have complained that they learned about the change from a story in the Globe earlier this month rather than from Comcast. Several say Comcast's plans to phase out attbi.com addresses in as little as 60 days is woefully inadequate notice. Many are still upset they had to switch from mediaone.net to attbi.com last year after AT&T converted the former MediaOne Internet service to its brand. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/027/business/Change_in_e_mail_riles_users+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 22:53:36 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue By NORM ALSTER STATE officials across the country have been keeping their eyes on two sets of numbers, and it is sometimes difficult to tell which is growing faster. One is their projected budget shortfalls. The other is online retail sales, which they would like to tax to help fill the gaps. Forecasters say the states may come up short next year by as much as $80 billion, which would create the biggest state budget crisis since World War II. A merry holiday season in cyberspace, meanwhile, has pumped up the receipts of online retailers - to $78 billion last year, according to Forrester Research, an increase of more than 50 percent over 2001. That does not count the larger categories of business-to-business online sales and catalog sales, for which sales tax is generally not collected. A study by the University of Tennessee estimates that sales tax is not collected on $234 billion in online business-to-business commerce. And tax on most of what the Direct Marketing Association estimates at $125 billion in annual catalog sales is not collected, either. The states cannot currently impose the tax because the Supreme Court has ruled that their multiple tax systems would impose an unfair collection burden on retailers that do not have a physical presence in their buyers' various states. Online buyers are actually required to pay sales taxes directly to their states, but they rarely do. If the states can simplify and coordinate their sales tax systems, they may be able to convince Congress or the courts that collecting the levy will not be an unfair burden. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/26/business/yourmoney/26TAXX.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For your privacy in reviewing/reading articles in nytimes.com you are welcome to use our group ID and password for access. Username: telecomdigest Password:telecomdigest. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 22:04:56 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Other Microsoft Programs Said at Risk For Web Worm SEATTLE, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) said on Saturday that a virus-like attack against its key database software, which slowed Internet traffic around the globe, could spread to its other less frequently used programs unless users protected themselves with key software updates. Although the spread of the computer worm had passed its peak and was coming under control, Microsoft Chief Security Strategist Scott Charney urged companies, the main buyers of Microsoft's SQL (pronounced 'sequel') Server 2000 and other related programs, to download security patches from the world's largest software maker's Web site. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31135244 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 23:54:06 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: More Than a Trend, Cellphones Are a Way of Life BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE By D.C. Denison, 1/26/2003 What happens when an electronic device, the cellphone, becomes so popular it's ubiquitous? It becomes a lifestyle. That was the premise of a recent study by a group of anthropologists who observed cellphone users in seven cities around the world. Context Research, based in Baltimore, uses a network of 3,500 anthropologists to study consumer behavior for major clients like Microsoft and Kodak. Last summer, it focused its anthropologically based analytic tools on cellphone users. The resulting report, just published, appears to support the group's initial assumption. "It's obvious that changes are coming that are much bigger than most businesses expect," said Sean Carton, the chief experience officer at Carton Donofrio Partners Inc., the parent company of Context. "Cellphones and mobile communications in general are much more than just a technological trend." The 36-page report, illustrated with stark documentary photographs of the study's subjects using their cellphones in a wide variety of locations, details a surprising number of lifestyle changes that are emerging from the increasing use and integration of mobile technology. For example, the study found that physical proximity is rapidly decreasing as a barrier to forming communities among individuals. Since wireless technology makes it easier to stay in touch, regardless of location, cellphone users are able to maintain a network of friends and colleagues that doesn't depend on face-to-face communication. ... http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/026/business/More_than_a_trend_cellphones_are_a_way_of_life+.shtml ------------------------------ From: reo@roscoe.airaffair.com (Ross Oliver) Subject: Re: Talk With Less Radiation Date: 27 Jan 2003 01:55:31 GMT Organization: Concentric Internet Services Eric Friedebach wrote: > Arik Hesseldahl, 01.22.03, Forbes.com > NEW YORK - When it comes down to it, there are two big reasons why > people buy hands-free headsets for their mobile phones. I have a third reason for using a headset with a cell phone. I make use of the large number of off-hours minutes offered by carriers to call home in the evenings while travelling, and for long-distance calls relatives on weekends. For conversations longer than 20 minutes or so, the phone starts to get very warm, and becomes uncomfortable to hold against my ear, or even hold in my hand. I became addicted to headsets many years ago while doing telephone tech support. Now all the phones in my home and office have headsets permanently attached. Ross Oliver ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 21:24:58 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: 12 UM Students Accused of High-Tech Cheating 6 admit using Web devices to link to site during exam By Stephanie Hanes Sun Staff Twelve University of Maryland undergraduates have been accused of using Web-equipped cell phones or handheld organizers to cheat on a business school final exam last month, according to the school's student-run Honor Council. Six of them have admitted to misconduct during that same test, the council said. The allegations prompted Provost William W. Destler to issue a warning to faculty members about the potential misuse of cell phones and other common handheld electronics, said J. Andrew Cantor, a 20-year-old senior and chairman of the Honor Council. http://www.sunspot.net/news/education/bal-md.cheating26jan26,0,3792093.story ------------------------------ From: KJ Subject: T-1 Private Line to Home Network Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 12:17:10 -0600 I am replacing my DSL VPN connection to my brokerage firm with a T-1 point to point private line. How does this change the hardware I need at home to network my three computers? I currently use an SMC wireless Access Point for a wireless network. Is a wireless netwrok still possible with the T1? Will I be able to connect to the T-1 and the internet through another DSL line at the same time? Thanks, Eric ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: 11-Digit Dialing Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 06:35:04 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: joeofseattle@yahoo.com On 26 Jan 2003 21:22:52 GMT, Walter Dnes wrote: > That's the toll signal. From Toronto, calling either of the two local > (overlay) area codes 416 or 647 is a local call, so 10 digits are > used. The sprawling 905/289 (overlay) area codes are adjacent to > 416/647, surrounding Toronto almost entirely, except on the Lake > Ontario waterfront. Nearby parts of 905/289 are local calls from > Toronto, so 10 digits work. More distant portions of 905/289 are toll > calls, and the leading '1' is required. What's so difficult. >> Ameritech did something right (IMHO) a few years back when they >> allowed the greater Detroit area to be dialed with either 10 or 11 >> digits. Made equipment setup a breeze compaired to Toronto. > Tradeoff time. So 10/11 digits makes things difficult for *YOU*. > What about employers who don't mind employees making local calls during > lunch? Under the current setup, blocking leading 0 and 1 allows local This is the same argument that has raged in the digest and elsewhere for years regarding "toll alerting." Neither side really wants to adopt what the other side thinks is "right." As for how do companies restrict when there's always 11 digits the only way to restrict is to restrict *each* CO prefix that is considered long distance/toll. You can't use the simple deny 1+ calls if 1+ does not always mean a toll call. The places where this is mainly a concern or is used is larger cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. In those cities the meaning of "local" is different as calls are either charged a message units or toll depending on how far away the destination number might be found. Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group. ------------------------------ Date: 26 Jan 2003 20:59:08 -0500 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: 11-Digit Dialing Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > ... Nearby parts of 905/289 are local calls from Toronto, so 10 > digits work. More distant portions of 905/289 are toll calls, and > the leading '1' is required. What's so difficult. This must be, what, about the 400th time we've gone around with the toll alerting argument. Personally, I hate toll alerting. I do not care whether a call to Mississauga will cost 0 cents or 3.5 cents, I just want to make the bleeping call. Across the lake here in New York we have never ever had toll alerting, and we get along just fine without it. If regulators insist on putting in toll alerting, they should at least make it permissive so that 1+10D always works. It wasn't clear from the previous discussion whether Toronto has permissive 1+10D, or they have the incredibly stupid Texas plan where you have to memorize every prefix in nearby area codes in order to use your phone, since 1+10D won't work if a prefix happens to be a local call, and 10D won't work if it's a 5 cent toll call. > Tradeoff time. So 10/11 digits makes things difficult for *YOU*. > What about employers who don't mind employees making local calls > during lunch? Under the current setup, blocking leading 0 and 1 > allows local toll-free calls to 905/289, but blocks toll calls to > that code. How do they handle that with all calls being an > identical number of digits? PBXes are much better at remembering lists of prefixes than people are. Every PBX of which I'm aware can easily be programmed to look at the leading digits of dialed calls and to route or block the call depending on what those digits are. Ask any PBX tech for details. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: Roy Smith Subject: Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 21:05:29 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC Danny Burstein wrote: >> For example if I am 708-848-2775, and i dial 5432#, the call would go >> to 708-848-5432. If I dial 369-9999#, the call would go to >> 708-369-9999. > Yes, but let's NOT go there. Thank you. There's no good reason to do this > sort of silliness, and many, many, to not do so. Thank you. I live on City Island, which has a single exchange (718-885) covering the entire island. Ask somebody local what their phone number is, and they'll tell you just the last 4 digits. Of course, it doesn't work to dial it that way (probably hasn't in 50 years), but it's interesting that people still think and talk about phone numbers like that. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ditto for here in Independence, Kansas. People always just give the last four digits of their number *unless they are one of the few rare exceptions* to 620-331, such as 620-332 (city government and the main numbers of a couple 'large' businesses located in the Arco Building [Independence Corporate Center] at 9th and Main Streets) or 620-330 (Montgomery County government and a few cellular phones otherwise.) But for 'regular' phones in houses and places of business around town, people just say four digits when asked for their number. And you know, I sort of like it that way. Coffeyville is likewise all on 620-251 and people there also identify their phones with four digits, but with a caveat when speaking to people in Independence: 'remember, we also have a few special cases of 620-252' as though most of us did not know that. 620-336 is entirely unique to Cherryvale, 620-924 is Liberty, Kansas, and 620-289 is for 'rural Independence/Coffeyville' with the following digit identifying Tyro (4xxx), Blake (5xxx), Dearing, others (3xxx). The entire county is in a hundred page small-size phone book about 4 inches wide by 5 or 6 inches long divided by 'regions' (Independence gets about 20 pages; Coffeyville about 20 pages, the other towns about 10 pages between them. The single part for Yellow Pages (the back part of the book) gets about 50 pages. A few maps and 'special guides' are in the middle section. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 26 Jan 2003 21:13:29 -0500 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Calling Party Pays to Cellular Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > With technology-specific area codes, however, it would at least > provide an opportunity to place a ballpark surcharge into the call > accounting system, so departments in businesses, > faculty/staff/students on higher ed campuses, etc., could be > properly billed-back for such calls. We don't need technology-specific area codes to do that. We already have a perfectly good area code for calls that cost extra because of some wonderful telecom service they provide: 500. The fact that every PBX and pay phone in the country blocks 500 calls, and noting that the code is pretty much abandoned should give us a hint how popular caller-pays cellular would be. > The aspect of technology-specific area codes, modified city codes, > exchanges, etc., has virtually everything to do with the surcharges > assessed against calls to wireless devices, as they can provide the > simple identifier for billing purposes. Please note that prior to > these types of identifiers being implemented in other areas of the > world, the long distance carriers in the U.S. were not assessing > such surcharges, but were in fact being assessed them from any > number of providers in other areas of the world. Even now the assessments are frequently screwed up. For example, in the UK there are a whole bunch of different kinds of surcharged numbers, 3XX for mobile (I think), 870 for "national rate" same charge from everywhere, 7XX 90X for higher per-minute surcharges. My dial-1 carrier charges extra for 8XX, but my dial-around calling card carrier doesn't. Call up three US telcos and ask what their charges are for these calls and get at least three different answers. Call them and look at the bill and get three more. Bundling surcharges above the cost of delivering the call into phone rates is a bad idea that just won't go away. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2003 22:43:08 -0500 From: Creativity Course Subject: Creativity Workshops in Europe and New York Winter / Spring / Summer Creativity Workshops: Creative Writing, Personal Memoir, Drawing, Journaling, and Storytelling in New York and Europe: http://www.creativitycourse.net We are all born imaginative, curious, creative, but these qualities can fade with the passage of time. The Creativity Workshop's aim is to help people get their imaginations back. Below you will find a calendar of our workshops and some information on their methods and goals for participants. Hello, My name is Karen Bell, administrative associate of the Creativity Workshop and I want to give you our latest news. Whether you are a writer, a business person, a teacher, or an artist, the Workshop can help you discover and nurture your particular way of expression and break through the fears and blocks that inhibit creativity. Working with more than 2,000 individuals, businesses, and institutions since 1993, the Creativity Workshop helps people believe in and develop their creative process through using a unique series of exercises in memoir, creative writing, visual arts, sense perception, brainstorming, and storytelling. See our website for 2003's calendar of 2, 4, and 7 day workshops in New York City. You will also find links to our 7 and 9 day Creativity Workshops in Prague, Crete, London, Paris, Florence and Barcelona. You can also go directly to our extensive informational site: http://www.creativitycourse.net or contact us at: Tel: (212) 922-1555 info@createcourse.com Regards, Karen Bell Administrative Associate info@createcourse.com The Creativity Workshop has been taught at educational and government institutions and for corporations. The teachers Shelley Berc is a writer and teacher. She was a professor of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa from 1985-2000. Her novels, plays, and essays which include 'The Shape of Wilderness', 'A Girl's Guide to the Divine Comedy' and 'Theatre of the Mind' have been published by Coffee House Press, Johns Hopkins Press, Heinemann Books, Performing Arts Journal and Theatre Communications Group Press. Her plays have been produced by theatres such as the American Repertory Theatre, the Yale Rep, and the Edinburgh Festival. Alejandro Fogel is a visual artist and teacher working in painting, site installations, video and digital art. He has exhibited his works in galleries and museums in Argentina, Bulgaria, Cuba, France, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, United States and Germany. His ongoing project 'Root to Route' chronicles his father's journey through the Holocaust years. His work is in private collections and museums around the world. Berc and Fogel explain in theory and demonstrate in practice the concepts of originality, 'appropriation', memory and imagination. Under their guidance, participants explore their own creative processes through different writing and drawing exercises. They emphasize the intimate link between personal and public spheres, individual and social practices, history and myth, dream and reality. The focus of the workshop is on process not product and to help participants find life-long tools of creative expression. Shelley Berc and Alejandro Fogel have taught their Creativity Workshop internationally. They have lectured on creativity and their own work at universities and cultural centers throughout the world. ===================================== Contact us through our web site: http://www.creativitycourse.net Tel: (212) 922-1555 ===================================== ------------------------------ From: Till Geissinger Organization: Report all abuse to abuse@myaffiliatefinder.com Subject: Last Laugh! Free Info to turn Your Computer in a Moneymachine! Date: 26 Jan 2003 21:15:33 -0600 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, here is one of those .biz sites that John Higdon warned us about! Note how the chain letter spammers have gotten a bit wiser; they keep their messages short, allow you to opt-in (as if you did not get enough spam without opting-in to get still more of it), and note the anti-spam serial number like thing at the very bottom. This did NOT trigger spam-assassin, probably because it was short, no yelling, no $$, none of the things which spam-assassin looks for. PAT] ------------------------------ Hi friends, I found some information that is really unbelievable, concerning the problem how to earn money on the net. If you need help just answer this message and type 'money' in the subject line and it will be a pleasure for me to help you immediatly and of course for FREE! --- MAF Anti-Spam ID: 20030126145250X2f9UfQ7 -------------------------------- The above was the entire message. I guess he figures your curiosity will lead you to respond and opt-in. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 End of TELECOM Digest V22 #260 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jan 28 22:04:10 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0T34Aq18854; Tue, 28 Jan 2003 22:04:10 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 22:04:10 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301290304.h0T34Aq18854@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #261 TELECOM Digest Tue, 28 Jan 2003 22:05:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 261 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: T-1 Private Line to Home Network (Daniel J McDonald) Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity (Joey Lindstrom) 'Slammer' Feared to Strike Again (Monty Solomon) Reebok's "Official Linebacker" Gets Larger Audience Than Action (Solomon) Microsoft Was Vulnerable to Worm Virus (Monty Solomon) States' Role Still a Question in US Telecom Reform (Monty Solomon) Internet Worm Still Infecting Some (Monty Solomon) Cell-Phone Couture (Monty Solomon) A $55,000 Net Scam Warning (Monty Solomon) Can Your Cell Phone Impair Your Vision? (Monty Solomon) Plug (the Product) and Play / Advertisers Use Online Games (M Solomon) Kazaa Fires Back at Hollywood, Labels (Monty Solomon) Baseball Test May Show if Web Video's Time Has Come (Monty Solomon) AT&T Wireless to Provide Wi-Fi in Hotels, Airports (Monty Solomon) AT&T Wireless Results & 2003 Actions (Monty Solomon) SBC Reports Fourth-Quarter Earnings (Monty Solomon) AT&T Wireless to Offer Wi-Fi Service at Airports, Hotels (Monty Solomon) Re: Last Laugh! Free Info to turn Your Computer to Moneymachine! (Higdon) Re: Last Laugh! Free Info to turn Your Computer to Moneymachine! (Spyros) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: T-1 Private Line to Home Network Organization: io.com From: djmcdona@io.com (Daniel J McDonald) Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 14:19:04 -0600 In article , KJ wrote: > I am replacing my DSL VPN connection to my brokerage firm with a T-1 > point to point private line. > How does this change the hardware I need at home to network my three > computers? Yes, you will need a router - I mean, a real router. This router will need a T1 interface. > I currently use an SMC wireless Access Point for a > wireless network. Is a wireless netwrok still possible with the T1? Yes, you could plug a wireless Access point into the router, but that would open up your company to attack from any war drivers who happen to come by your house and can figure out your SSID and your WEP key (you are running WEP and have changed your SSID, haven't you?) > Will I be able to connect to the T-1 and the internet through another > DSL line at the same time? Yes, but that opens up your corporate network to be as vulnerable as your home firewall -- something the corporate IT guys would probably have a cow about (and rightly so). If your company is giving you a private line, I would recommend that you maintain a work PC and a private PC, and save your IT staff a few headaches. Not to mention you - you would hate to be found to be the root cause of a worm like the Saphire worm that wrecked so much havock this weekend entering your corporate network. Daniel J McDonald CCIE # 2495, CNX Visit my website: http://www.austinnetworkdesign.com ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 13:16:28 -0700 Subject: Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Sun, 26 Jan 2003 00:31:41 -0500 (EST), Dave Mausner wrote: > Is it technologically feasible to promote a standard of dialing such > that if the # is used, then the digits entered are suplemented to the > left by your own NPA and CO? > For example if I am 708-848-2775, and i dial 5432#, the call would go > to 708-848-5432. If I dial 369-9999#, the call would go to > 708-369-9999. > In overlay regions, this might preserve the ability to dial 7 digits > in your own NPA, and add the feature of being able to dial 4 within > your own CO. In overlay regions, so long as the two (or more) area codes are protected (not used as CO codes within any of these area codes), you don't even have to do that. You could easily allow 7-digit dialing with no special codes. HOWEVER, the FCC (I think) said "no way" to this idea long ago. Rationale: it would be anti-competitive. The ILEC's owned most of the CO's within the "old" area code, and thus CLEC's would get a disproportionate amount of CO's within the "new" area code - and THEIR customers would have to be dialed with 10 digits (by people in the old code). Dunno if there was any such similar ruling for Canada. -- Joey Lindstrom -- Telus Sucks http://www.telussucks.info ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 14:23:10 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: 'Slammer' Feared to Strike Again By Michelle Delio The global worming attack that fried much of the Internet this weekend may return on Monday as unpatched systems and applications boot up at the start of the workweek. The worm can attack a multitude of Microsoft applications as well as applications distributed by other companies including administration, helpdesk, corporate antivirus and assorted security applications. Network administrators may not even be aware that their systems harbor programs that need to be patched. http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,57409,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 18:50:53 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Reebok's "Official Linebacker" Gets Larger Audience Than Action January 27, 2003 - SAN JOSE, CA - JANUARY 27, 2003 - A Super Bowl commercial featuring a fictional linebacker got better ratings than any of the real football action, a symbolic reflection that most viewers tune into the annual event to watch the commercials and not the game, according to an analysis by TiVo. Reebok's commercial featuring fictional "Office Linebacker Terry Tate" was the most watched commercial in TiVo households that tuned into Super Bowl. Four commercials, all from Anheuser-Busch, complete the list of the Top 5 commercials viewed on TiVo. Overall, commercial breaks during the game got more viewers than action on the field. http://www.tivo.com/5.3.1.1.asp?article=168 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 22:34:18 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Microsoft Was Vulnerable to Worm Virus Microsoft Corp. itself was exposed to the virus-like attack that crippled global Internet activity last weekend because it failed to install crucial fixes to its own software on many Microsoft computer servers. Although Microsoft contends its failure to keep up with its own updates did not cause major problems, security experts said it points to a larger issue: Microsoft's process for keeping customers' software secure is hugely flawed. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31168037 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 22:45:01 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: States' Role Still a Question in US Telecom Reform By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators considering a sweeping reform of telephone competition rules could be stymied by state efforts to preserve a role overseeing their local markets, several sources close to the negotiations said on Monday. Under court order, the Federal Communications Commission is considering whether to scale back rules that require local-phone giants to lease their equipment to rivals at discounted rates. But commissioners are closely divided over whether state regulators should be allowed a strong oversight role, a question that could determine the ultimate impact of any FCC decision. Independent telephone companies say they need to use the networks of incumbent "Baby Bells" like Qwest Communications International Inc.(NYSE:Q) to reach customers, while the Bells say they are losing money on the arrangement. In a 400-page plan sent to commissioners last week, FCC Chairman Michael Powell proposed lifting the network-sharing requirements once certain benchmarks had been reached, sources said. Those benchmarks could be the competitors' share of the market, or the number of network switches they use in a given area. Independent companies would be able to use the telephone lines running from customers' homes or businesses to network offices, but would be required to buy their own equipment to complete the calls. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31168262 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 22:48:14 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Internet Worm Still Infecting Some The weekend attack on the Internet crippled some sensitive corporate and government systems, including banking operations and 911 centers, far more seriously than many experts believed possible. The nation's largest residential mortgage firm, Countrywide Financial Corp., told customers who called Monday it was still suffering from the attack. Its Web site, where customers usually can make payments and check their loans, was closed with a note about "emergency maintenance." Police and fire dispatchers outside Seattle resorted to paper and pencil for hours Saturday after the virus-like attack disrupted operations for the 911 center that serves two suburban police departments and at least 14 fire departments. American Express Co. confirmed that customers couldn't reach its Web site to check credit statements and account balances during parts of the weekend. Perhaps most surprising, the attack prevented many customers of Bank of America Corp., one of the largest U.S. banks, and some large Canadian banks from withdrawing money from automatic teller machines Saturday. President Bush's No. 2 cyber-security adviser, Howard Schmidt, acknowledged Monday that what he called "collateral damage" stunned even experts who have warned about uncertain effects on the nation's most important electronic systems from mass-scale Internet disruptions. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31164320 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 22:59:24 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cell-Phone Couture Arik Hesseldahl, 01.27.03, 6:29 PM ET NEW YORK - Time was that the best way to sell a mobile phone was to brag about its features, the clarity of its sound and how long its battery would last. One of four models of Xelibri mobile phones announced by Siemens.Now handset vendors, still looking for the magic formula that will jolt consumers back into a phone-buying mood, are going after the fashion-conscious. That the mobile phone is widely considered a 21st-century fashion accessory is nothing new, and the latest phone maker to try the fashion angle, German's Siemens (nyse: SI - news - people ), is traveling a path already well-worn by others. Finland's Nokia (nyse: NOK - news - people ) used colored plastic to single-handedly turn the wireless phone into a must-have image accessory and has had its head industrial designer profiled in The New Yorker. More recently, U.S.-based Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ) has gone the same route with its relentless "Hello Moto" advertising campaign and attention to eye-catching designs that heated up its constant battle to erode some of Nokia's commanding global market share. http://www.forbes.com/2003/01/27/cx_ah_0127siemens.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 00:22:29 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A $55,000 Net Scam Warning Think you're too smart to be fooled? So did this veteran Internet user By Bob Sullivan MSNBC Jan. 23 - He's a veteran Internet user, and an accomplished dentist. He has a friend in the FBI, and they have discussed Internet crime. Bruce Lachot is not your typical Net scam victim. But in November, just after the birth of his third child, Lachot decided his family needed a larger car. He was tempted by a great deal on a new BMW M5, and optimistically wired money to the German seller. Now, Lachot finds himself out $55,000, with no new sedan, and no chance to recover the money, a victim of one of the most successful and widespread Internet scams to date. http://www.msnbc.com/news/854552.asp ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 00:35:07 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Can Your Cell Phone Impair Your Vision? By Ben Charny Staff Writer, CNET News.com New research from the University of Utah has revealed a potentially lethal "tunnel vision" that drivers get while talking on a cell phone. Researchers found that drivers using cell phones, even hands-free devices, aren't processing peripheral vision well. The scientists studied twenty volunteers who used a driving simulator to experience all sorts of distractions, from cars suddenly swerving to a stoplight changing. In one test, a driver on a phone and one focused solely on the road were shown the same series of billboards. The driver not yakking remembered seeing 50 percent more billboards than the driver on the phone, the study found. Associate professor David Strayer said this is "inattention blindness," an impairment that slows reaction time by 20 percent and made some drive-and-dial practitioners miss half the red lights they were suddenly presented with in some simulations. http://news.com.com/2100-1033-982325.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 00:39:30 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Plug (the Product) and Play / Advertisers Use Online Games By Ellen Edwards Washington Post Staff Writer Nickelodeon, the popular kids cable network, wanted to draw more attention to the launch of its "Jimmy Neutron" series last year. So during the summer it partnered with Quaker Oats, among others, to create the "Jimmy Neutron Gotta Blast" online racing game. To play, kids needed a code from inside a cereal box to access Nick's Web site and build their own rocket. To sweeten the offer, Nick promised that some of the rockets would be chosen at random to race on-air. Kids called it fun. In marketing, it's called an advergame, the marriage of advertising to computer games. In Nickelodeon's summer-long promotion, more than a half-million people played its game, and the series launch was the highest-rated in the network's history. That's not a bad payoff for a modest investment. Advergames can reinforce a brand image, build a database of information about its users, directly target the market they want to hit -- all very inexpensively when compared to what it costs to advertise in other media. That's one of the reasons they've taken off since being introduced in the late 1990s. In creating advergames, marketers have jumped on a hot consumer trend: electronic gaming. Last year revenue from the electronic gaming industry ($10.3 billion, according to the NPD Group) was bigger than movie ticket revenue ($9.37 billion, reports Exhibitor Relations). Forrester Research, which studies the use of new technologies, projects that advergaming alone will be a billion-dollar-a-year industry by 2005. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43992-2003Jan25.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 01:04:17 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Kazaa Fires Back at Hollywood, Labels By John Borland Staff Writer, CNET News.com Sharman Networks, owner of the popular Kazaa file-swapping software, has launched a legal counterstrike against the major record labels and Hollywood studios, asserting they have "obscenely" abused their copyright powers. In a lawsuit filed late Monday in federal court in Los Angeles, Sharman claims that major entertainment companies have colluded to drive potential online rivals out of business. The conduct should preclude the industry from being able to defend its copyrights in court, at least until the behavior is corrected, Sharman contends. The lawsuit is a counterstrike by Sharman, which has been sued for allegedly contributing to massive online copyright infringement. Last week, a federal judge ruled that record companies and movie studios can proceed with their lawsuit against Sharman. The entertainment industry considers Sharman to be as much an outlaw as Napster and Aimster, two file-sharing services that have been shuttered. But Sharman executives say their business is fundamentally different because the company was created to take advantage of legal online distribution. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-982344.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 01:09:14 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Baseball Test May Show if Web Video's Time Has Come By SAUL HANSELL The discussion about the Super Bowl has hardly died down, and baseball's spring training is still a month away. But Major League Baseball and RealNetworks are already preparing to use this year's baseball season to test whether Internet broadcasting is more than just a minor league sport. Last year, 200,000 people paid $14.95 to listen to online radio broadcasts of every baseball game and watch video of game highlights, making baseball the most popular paid Webcasting service. This year, baseball will become the first major league sport to broadcast live video feeds online for a major portion of its games. Baseball officials say the time is right for a video service that will cost $6 to $10 a month because nearly 20 percent of American homes have high-speed, or broadband, Internet connections, which can handle high-quality video Webcasts. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/27/technology/27STRE.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 08:33:44 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Wireless to Provide Wi-Fi in Hotels, Airports NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Reuters) - AT&T Wireless Services Inc. (NYSE:AWE) has signed an agreement with Wayport Inc. to give subscribers high-speed, wireless Web access at more than 475 hotels and several airports with a technology called Wi-Fi, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. AT&T Wireless customers will have to pay for Wayport's Wi-Fi access, a technology for accessing the Internet without a fixed line, even if they already subscribe to the carrier's data service, the newspaper said. The Wi-Fi service, called GoPort, will range in price from $9.99 for unlimited use over a 24-hour period to $69.99 for unlimited use over 30 days. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31171901 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 09:17:08 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Wireless Results & 2003 Actions AT&T Wireless Reports Solid Fourth Quarter Results With 15.3 Percent Growth in Services Revenue - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31174332 AT&T Wireless Outlines Actions It Will Take to Meet 2003 Goals - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31177877 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 09:18:45 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: SBC Reports Fourth-Quarter Earnings SBC Reports Fourth-Quarter Earnings Per Diluted Share of $0.71, $0.62 Before Special Items and Expensing Stock Options - Jan 28, 2003 07:11 AM (BusinessWire) Broadcast live via the Internet at 10 a.m. Eastern time, Jan. 28, 2003, at www.sbc.com/investor_relations. SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 28, 2003--SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) today announced that concurrent with its fourth-quarter earnings it now recognizes the fair value of stock options as an expense. This expense is included in reported results for both current and prior-year periods. For the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2002, SBC's reported earnings totaled $2.4 billion, or $0.71 per diluted share, compared with $1.2 billion, or $0.35 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2001. Before special items and the impacts of expensed stock options, SBC's fourth-quarter 2002 earnings were $0.62 per diluted share compared with $0.64 in the year-ago period. (Special items and accounting changes in both quarters are described in detail below.) Fourth-quarter reported revenues totaled $11.2 billion, down 5.8 percent from $11.9 billion in the year-ago period. Together with proportionate revenues from Cingular Wireless, the nationwide wireless company 60 percent owned by SBC, revenues totaled $13.3 billion, down 5.3 percent from $14.0 billion in the year-ago period. Total operating expenses declined 7.2 percent to $9.0 billion on a reported basis and 5.7 percent to $10.2 billion before special items and including proportionate results from Cingular. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31174005 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 09:21:50 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Wireless to Offer Wi-Fi Service at Airports and Hotels REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 28, 2003-- Company continues aggressive introduction of high-speed wireless data services in North America AT&T Wireless (NYSE:AWE) announced today that it has entered the Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b) market with the introduction of GoPort(SM), a high-speed wireless data service designed to keep mobile professionals connected to their corporate information while away from the office. The company also said it has reached an agreement with Wayport, a leading Wi-Fi service provider, to allow roaming on that company's Wi-Fi networks in airports and hundreds of hotels across the United States. Customers can currently sign-up for AT&T Wireless GoPort service directly at Denver International Airport and, in the near future, at Philadelphia International Airport. In addition, starting in mid-February, customers will be able to register for GoPort at www.attws.com/goport and access Wi-Fi service at airports in Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Jose, and Seattle as well as more than 475 major hotels across the United States. Several pricing options are available to meet customers' varied data needs: -- Single connect - $9.99 (good for unlimited connections in one location for 24-hours) -- 5 Connect Multi-Pak - $29.99 ($5.99 per connect/180 day expiration) -- 10 Connect Multi-Pak - $49.99 ($4.99 per connect/30 day expiration) -- Monthly Unlimited - $69.99 (30 day expiration) - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31177970 ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Free Info to turn Your Computer in a Moneymachine! Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 12:25:34 -0800 In article , [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: > Well, here is one of those .biz sites > that John Higdon warned us about! Note how the chain letter spammers > have gotten a bit wiser; they keep their messages short, allow you to > opt-in (as if you did not get enough spam without opting-in to get > still more of it), and note the anti-spam serial number like thing at > the very bottom. This did NOT trigger spam-assassin, probably because > it was short, no yelling, no $$, none of the things which spam-assassin > looks for. PAT] Yes, this is the new wave of marketing in email spam and junk phone calls. The technique is simple: a short tease, absolutely no indication as to who the advertiser might be, and a rigorous avoidance of detector-triggering verbage or formatting. What does this do? Many things. First and foremost, it hides the responsible party. The only way a spam victim can find the party to take action against is to respond. At that point, he can claim (and he has proof) that the complainant actually opted-in. Second, it drastically cuts down on the response-filtering that must be done to follow up on successful mark hits. Third, by taking all the marketing meat out of the message, the likelihood of triggering things such as SpamAssassin is kept to a minimum. The telephonic equivalent goes like this: A call (with valid, typically local Caller ID) comes in with a recorded announcement. "Hello! Would you be interested in lowering or eliminating your debt without having to resort to consolidation or bankruptcy? If the answer is 'yes', then press 'one' now. Otherwise, simply hang up." When you press "one": "Thank you. At the tone, say your name and a telephone number where you can be reached and a convenient time for us to call." Press "one" and you have implicitly given approval to the entire process. All the scammer has to do is clean out the messages, which can be given as a bona fide "permission to call" list to a standard telemarketer. Same elements at work here as the spam: The advertiser is fully hidden; a live person only has to deal with the pre-recorded permissions to call; and it slides right pass any telemarketing protection by using as standard residential phone line with un-blocked Caller ID. Expect a LOT more of this sort of spam and junk call in the future. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: Spyros Bartsocas Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 22:53:23 +0200 Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Free Info to turn Your Computer in a Moneymachine! > If you need help just answer this message and type 'money' > in the subject line and it will be a pleasure for me to > help you immediatly and of course for FREE! What I find amusing is that he uses the keyword in the subject trick (described in the digest recently) in order to filter out unwanted messages. Spyros ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #261 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jan 28 22:53:04 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0T3r4E20065; Tue, 28 Jan 2003 22:53:04 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 22:53:04 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301290353.h0T3r4E20065@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #262 TELECOM Digest Tue, 28 Jan 2003 22:53:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 262 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson PIR Successfully Completes Largest Domain Name Transfer (Julie Williams) A Question About Bellsouth (Mike Khecka) New Virus Warning, Don't Open Attachments (Dave@trekcos.com) Re: T-1 Private Line to Home Network (William Warren) Re: T-1 Private Line to Home Network (Ronald Barron Yokubaitis) Re: T-1 Private Line to Home Network (John R. Levine) Re: T-1 Private Line to Home Network (Dave Phelps) Re: 11-Digit Dialing (Rich Greenberg) Re: 11-Digit Dialing (Joey Lindstrom) Re: Calling Party Pays to Cellular (Randal Hayes) Dialup While Overseas (Austin Dayton Buck) Re: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue (Thomas A. Horsley) Help With Voice Logic VOICE PRO! (Dave Hauss) Looking for T-Metrics P-phone Test Equipment (Steve Swamp) Starting up a CLEC (Unity Corp) Re: Last Laugh! Turn Your Computer To Moneymachine! (William Warren) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Julie Williams Subject: PIR Successfully Completes Largest Domain Name Transfer in History Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 12:29:31 -0500 PUBLIC INTEREST REGISTRY MEDIA ALERT Date: January 27, 2003 Contact: Julie Williams Phone: (703) 464-7005, x111 Cell: 703-402-6715 E-mail: JWilliams@pir.org PUBLIC INTEREST REGISTRY SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES LARGEST DOMAIN NAME TRANSFER IN HISTORY OF INTERNET .ORG technical systems transitioned from VeriSign Registry Reston, VA - January 27, 2003 - The Public Interest Registry (PIR) today announced in a conference call with reporters that it has successfully transitioned the technical systems for the .ORG registry from former back-end provider VeriSign Global Registry Services to PIR's back-end service provider Afilias Limited. This historic transition marks the largest transfer of data from one registry to another in the history of the Internet, and it was accomplished with no interruption of service to users of .ORG sites and email addresses. PIR officially assumed control of .ORG registry operations on January 1, and the technical services for the registry were cutover this past weekend. "This is an exciting and truly historic moment," said David Maher, chairman of the PIR board. "We have a solid technical team at Afilias and they've done an excellent job making sure that the transition was as smooth as possible. I must also say that the registrars, those who sell domain names directly to the public, have been extremely cooperative. Without their help, this would not have been possible. Now, we can look forward to fulfilling our vision of making improvements to the .ORG domain to better serve noncommercial organizations worldwide." The .ORG domain, which has come to be associated with non-commercial activities, is the Internet's third largest "generic" or non-country specific top-level domain (behind .COM and .NET), housing over 2.6 million domain names worldwide. PIR was created to manage the .ORG registry by the Internet Society, and is committed to setting a new standard for registry services in its management of .ORG that will meet the unique needs and interests of noncommercial organizations around the world. PIR was able to complete the cutover well within the 48 hour window included in the original plan. The zone file - the authoritative source for all .ORG names, published to servers and routers around the world - shifted seamlessly from VeriSign Registry to Afilias. Within the first 30 minutes of reopening the registry after the data was transferred, PIR completed over 18,000 transactions and supported over 170 concurrent connections. The registry began registering domain names at a rate of 1 domain name every 6 seconds. By 10:00 am on the 27th, close to 1800 new domain names had been registered. While new names may be registered, updates and changes to .ORG domain names will not be allowed until January 28, 2003 at 6:00 p.m. EST (23:00 UTC) while the registry continues testing to ensure the stability of the system. Late last year, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Board of Directors selected ISOC's proposal from among 11 organizations bidding to operate the .ORG top-level domain. VeriSign Global Registry Services' contract as registry operator for .ORG expired on December 31, 2002. As such, it is relinquishing .ORG to comply with an agreement they entered into with the ICANN and the U.S. Department of Commerce in May 2001. ABOUT PIR Public Interest Registry (www.pir.org) is a not-for-profit corporation created to manage the .ORG registry. PIR's mission is to manage the .ORG domain in a way that supports the continuing evolution of the Internet as a research, education and communications infrastructure, and educates and empowers the noncommercial community to most effectively utilize the Internet. PIR is based in Reston, Virginia. PIR was created by the Internet Society (www.ISOC.org). ISOC a not-for-profit, open membership organization founded in 1991 and is dedicated to ensuring the open evolution, development and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people. It provides leadership in addressing issues that confront the future of the Internet, and is the organizational home for the groups responsible for Internet infrastructure standards. For additional information on PIR and the .ORG registry please visit www.pir.org. ------------------------------ From: Mike Khecka Subject: A Question About Bellsouth Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 04:29:03 -0600 I remember reading your article BellSouth's Own New "COCOTs" and you seemed to know your stuff. I'm currently in the 504 area and I was wondering if you knew of a backdoor to a op center so I can opdivert since I don't have LD. I can't dial 0 either. I would assume it would be in the 504-557-xxxx but instead of scanning the whole prefix I thought I would ask you any for help on this or pointers about Bellsouth and the 557 exchange would be very appreciated. Thanks, khecka http:\\www.ppchq.org [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why can't you dial zero for an operator? That seems rather strange. If you have no long distance carrier assigned to your line that would explain why you cannot dial 'double zero' (00) since that defaults to 'your' long distance carrier (and you do not have one of those). But a single zero (0) should get the local operator serving your community (who could be anywhere in the USA it appears). Are you certain you cannot do that? A single zero may have to time out before it goes to the operator and you can rush that along by doing 0# (pound sign following the zero) since the pound sign serves as a carriage return or an "I am finished dialing" signal. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Dave@trekcos.com Subject: New Virus Warning, Don't Open Attachments Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 12:57:49 GMT Organization: Cox Communications W32.SQLExp.Worm The worm sends 376 bytes to UDP port 1434, the SQL Server Resolution Service Port. For more info: http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.sqlexp.worm.html Take care, Dave G. www.trekcs.com www.trekcos.com ------------------------------ From: William Warren Subject: Re: T-1 Private Line to Home Network Organization: Church of the Swimming Bullfrog Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 21:26:19 GMT KJ wrote in message news:telecom22.260.10@telecom-digest.org. > I am replacing my DSL VPN connection to my brokerage firm with a T-1 > point to point private line. > How does this change the hardware I need at home to network my three > computers? I currently use an SMC wireless Access Point for a > wireless network. Is a wireless netwrok still possible with the T1? It doesn't change the network *between* your computers, but you'll need new equipment to interface your home network to the T1 line, and you may need a new ADSL modem. If you have a wireless network setup now with a SEPARATE DSL modem it will still work the same way(1), but if your WAP is ALSO your DSL modem, then it must be replaced. As for the T1: you will need a router and a way to interface with the T1 circuit: if you buy a router with a built in T1 port, that's all you need, but that feature isn't usually available until you get into the Cisco 7200 series, and you might do better with a separate CSU/DSU combination, which will change the T1 line to a V.35 connection that will work with routers in the Cisco 2500 series. > Will I be able to connect to the T-1 and the internet through another > DSL line at the same time? Yes, but be careful what you ask for: BOTH connections must be handled by the same router, and it has to have "traffic shaping" software to balance the loads according to their respective speeds. Since T1 is between two and ten times as fast as ADSL, this is an essential feature. Don't forget that many DSL plans have traffic limits, and huge payments for overage, while a T1 line is 1,544,000 bps all the time. Unless you're planning on using the DSL circuit as a "hot spare", I recommend against it. Bill (1) This assumes that your DSL modem is using an Ethernet connection to get to the WAP. If it's USB, it will probably have to be replaced as well, since routers don't usually support USB connections. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 21:41:16 -0600 From: Ronald Barron Yokubaitis Subject: Re: T-1 Private Line to Home Network On Mon, 27 Jan 2003, KJ wrote: > I am replacing my DSL VPN connection to my brokerage firm with a T-1 > point to point private line. Good move. > How does this change the hardware I need at home to network my three > computers? I currently use an SMC wireless Access Point for a > wireless network. Is a wireless netwrok still possible with the T1? Wireless network connects to the ethernet port on the T1 router just the same as connecting to the ethernet port on the router connected to your old dsl circuit. > Will I be able to connect to the T-1 and the internet through another > DSL line at the same time? ??? RonY Ronald Barron Yokubaitis | AB5LJ | rony@texas.net | www.Texas.net | www.GigaNews.com _.. . ._ _... ..... ._.. ._ _ _ ._ _... ..... ._.. ._ _ _ _._ ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: T-1 Private Line to Home Network Date: 28 Jan 2003 00:35:53 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > I am replacing my DSL VPN connection to my brokerage firm with a T-1 > point to point private line. Sounds like a reasonable upgrade. > How does this change the hardware I need at home to network my three > computers? I currently use an SMC wireless Access Point for a > wireless network. Is a wireless netwrok still possible with the T1? Sure, I have one. But you need some extra hardware. Your DSL line comes in through a DSL modem which connects to your LAN like an Ethernet. A T-1 comes in through a modem-like thing called a CSU/DSU which needs to connect to a router. The largest vendor of routers is Cisco, but there are many others. Configuring a router with a T-1 is a minor pain because there are a whole lot of different ways the T-1 could be set up and the router has to match: full T-1 or fractional for lower speed, direct PPP or Cisco protocol if the ISP is close to you, or frame relay if it's farther away. If your ISP is only giving you a single IP address on your T1, your router also has to provide the DHCP and NAT services the other computers on your network need, and should also provide packet filters (often wrongly called a firewall) as well. Once you have the router set up and plugged into a network hub (or maybe you can find a router that includes a hub), you can plug your access point into your hub for the wireless part of your LAN. > Will I be able to connect to the T-1 and the internet through another > DSL line at the same time? Depends on your router. Is this for backup if the T-1 fails, or something else? John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: T-1 Private Line to Home Network Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 00:18:06 -0600 Organization: www.tippenring.com In article , nospam@bigfoot.com says: > I am replacing my DSL VPN connection to my brokerage firm with a T-1 > point to point private line. > How does this change the hardware I need at home to network my three > computers? I currently use an SMC wireless Access Point for a > wireless network. Is a wireless network still possible with the T1? > Will I be able to connect to the T-1 and the internet through another > DSL line at the same time? > Thanks, > Eric Yes, you can do all of the above. You will need to get a router that has a serial interface, to which you can connect a T1 CSU/DSU, or, my preference, a router that has a CSU/DSU built in. If you want everything in one box, I'd look at a Cisco 1721, with a T1 CSU/DSU WIC, and an ethernet WIC. It will be able to handle all of your routing. You might want to consult your IT security staff before finalizing your plan though. Dave Phelps Phone Masters Ltd. deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: 11-Digit Dialing Date: 28 Jan 2003 09:23:12 -0500 Organization: Organized? Me? In article , Joseph wrote: > This is the same argument that has raged in the digest and elsewhere > for years regarding "toll alerting." Neither side really wants to > adopt what the other side thinks is "right." Correct and let's not start it again. I do have one question on a closely related item. Is there anyone on either side of the toll alerting issue who has a strong objection to allowing 11 digit dialing when it is not required? i.e. you can dial 1-npa-nxx-xxxx on any call, from next door to cross country? The advantage of permitting this is that you can program 11 digit numbers into your cell phone or your laptop's fax addressbook and won't have to change them depending on where you are calling from. Bellsouth doesn't permit this here in GA. Rich Greenberg Work: Rich.Greenberg atsign worldspan.com +1 770-563-6656 N6LRT Marietta, GA, USA Play: richgr atsign panix.com +1 770-321-6507 Eastern time zone. I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val(Chinook,CGC,TT), Red & Shasta(Husky,(RIP)) Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 14:49:00 -0700 Subject: Re: 11-Digit Dialing Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Mon, 27 Jan 2003 14:49:20 -0500 (EST), John R. Levine wrote: >> ... Nearby parts of 905/289 are local calls from Toronto, so 10 >> digits work. More distant portions of 905/289 are toll calls, and >> the leading '1' is required. What's so difficult. > This must be, what, about the 400th time we've gone around with the > toll alerting argument. Personally, I hate toll alerting. I do not > care whether a call to Mississauga will cost 0 cents or 3.5 cents, I > just want to make the bleeping call. Across the lake here in New York > we have never ever had toll alerting, and we get along just fine > without it. > If regulators insist on putting in toll alerting, they should at least > make it permissive so that 1+10D always works. It wasn't clear from > the previous discussion whether Toronto has permissive 1+10D, or they > have the incredibly stupid Texas plan where you have to memorize every > prefix in nearby area codes in order to use your phone, since 1+10D > won't work if a prefix happens to be a local call, and 10D won't work > if it's a 5 cent toll call. But can we at least agree that a toll-alerting system that allowed 1+10D permissively would be something that folks on your (non-toll-alerting) side of the fence could live with comfortably? It would certainly satisfy those of us on the toll-alerting side, and in fact does so: Toronto, and most areas in Canada (if not all), do allow 1+10D permissively, and also implement toll-alerting. At least, the ILEC's do. Sprint Canada, on the other hand, doesn't allow 1+10D permissively (at least here in Calgary). When dialing (from a line provisioned with Sprint Canada local service) 1-403-localnumber, I get "We're sorry, it is not necessary to dial a 1 or 0 when calling this number. Please hang up and try your call again." Dialing 0+10D from the same line nets me a fast busy. Dialing either 1+10D or 0+10D from the one Telus line in this office gets me a brief recording: "Your local call is proceeding. There is no need to dial long distance. Thank you from Telus." and then the call completes. Being a Sprint Canada fan, and a Telus hater, I'm rather chagrined at this situation. :-) -- Joey Lindstrom -- Telus Sucks http://www.telussucks.info ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 16:21:18 -0600 From: Randal Hayes Subject: Re: Calling Party Pays to Cellular > We don't need technology-specific area codes to do that. We already > have a perfectly good area code for calls that cost extra because of > some wonderful telecom service they provide: 500. The fact that every > PBX and pay phone in the country blocks 500 calls, and noting that the > code is pretty much abandoned should give us a hint how popular > caller-pays cellular would be. I believe I already inferred that CPP would not be popular, with my comment regarding Chairman Kennard's "brilliant" idea. I was explaining how these area codes would provide some assistance for billback if CPP was forced upon us. > Even now the assessments are frequently screwed up. For example, in > the UK there are a whole bunch of different >kinds of surcharged > numbers, 3XX for mobile (I think), 870 for "national rate" same charge > from everywhere, 7XX 90X for higher per-minute surcharges. My dial-1 > carrier charges extra for 8XX, but my dial-around calling card carrier > doesn't. Call up three US telcos and ask what their charges are for > these calls and get at least three different answers. Call them and > look at the bill and get three more. Although I totally agree that not only bundled surcharging but unnecessary and essentially "bogus" surcharging is a bad idea and one that totally screws-over the customer, I researched rate and interconnect structures enough to understand the rationale (twisted rationale, but still rationale) of it all, rather than just noticing on the surface that the rates could be different. One example: just as here in the U.S. years ago when some carriers sent intrastate calls to an out-of-state switch and then back in-state to try to justify offering the lower interstate LD rates for intrastate calls (tromboning) -- most carriers got their hands slapped for this, the same rationale has been used in Europe and elsewhere to terminate in-country fixed-to-wireless LD calls by sending them outside the country, and then routed back to either lower their LD rates (getting a lower international settlement rate than having to pay a higher, in-country access charge) or to increase their rates/revenue (a company owning both a landline and wireless service in the country sends the call out of country and then back in to be able to assess what may be a higher international settlement rate or terminating access charge -- artificially inflating the revenue stream of the landline part of the business to shore it up). Actually, it's quite fascinating. I do presume that we in the U.S. are experiencing one of the goals of technology-specific codes in Europe and elsewhere, which is for carriers that are being assessed such surcharges to identify, assess, and billback/pass-through the wireless surcharges to the end user for those specific wireless devices we call, which the carriers previously passed-through as a component of the rates for all international LD calls placed to both wireless or wireline devices, because now these specific surcharges are passed-through only when one calls a wireless device in that country -- not when one calls a wireline device. It places the component cost of the calls (whether you agree with the "right" of anyone to assess this surcharge or not) more directly on the calls which have as their makeup, that component, ie., wireless. Thanks, Randy Hayes University of Northern Iowa ------------------------------ From: a_d_buck@hotmail.com (Austin Dayton Buck) Subject: Dialup While Overseas Date: 27 Jan 2003 14:59:39 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I travel to Japan and use my laptop to dialup a local Earthlink number which I then use to surf the Internet and retrieve my email. I use Internet Explorer and Outlook Express 6 as my client software. I have run into a situation that I've not experienced before and need some assistance. At some hotels, when I dial the local access number (including the number, usually an 8 or 9, to get an outside line) I can hear a dial tone and the modem dialing all the numbers but get no connection. I can connect by manually dialing the number by lifting the receiver of the phone off the cradle, dialing the number, listening for the carrier tone, then launching Internet Explorer, then hanging up the phone by putting the receiver back in the cradle. The last hotel I stayed at in Tokyo (a very nice new Marriott) knew of the issue/problem and said I need a "PBX box" between my modem and their phone system. They provided me with a little box about the size of a deck of cards which I plugged in between my modem and the data jack in the telephone and, sure enough, I was able to dialup the connection with no problem. So I asked them about this magic little box and where could I get one so I could bring it with me whenever I came to Japan. That they couldn't tell me. I asked several folks in the hotel and no one could seem to tell me what it was and where to get one. There were no identifyng marks on th box either. I don't have this problem at the Tokyo airport (Narita) so I am thinking it must be unique to the hotels. I've experienced the problem at a couple of modern hotels in Japan (Marriott, Hyatt, etc.) So, can anyone tell me what the heck it is that I need and, if possible, where (e.g. a web site) to get one? Thanks in advance. Best, ADBuck ------------------------------ Subject: Re: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue From: tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 23:00:52 GMT > The states cannot currently impose the tax because the Supreme Court > has ruled that their multiple tax systems would impose an unfair > collection burden on retailers that do not have a physical presence in > their buyers' various states. The really fascinating thing about this is that the online sites that put up such strong opposition to this include places like amazon.com who can keep track of your preferences and make recommendations, point you to movie theaters in your neighborhood showing films of books you once bought, etc. Yet somehow, despite all this compute power and detailed databases on customer activity, keeping track of sales tax would be a fantastic burden that would drive them out of business :-). It would be so refreshing if they'd just tell the truth: No sales tax means a competitive advantage over brick & mortar. There is no way it would be remotely difficult for them to actually implement (at least compared to the effort of implementing the databases they already have). >>==>> The *Best* political site >>==+ email: Tom.Horsley@worldnet.att.net icbm: Delray Beach, FL | Free Software and Politics <<==+ ------------------------------ From: dahauss@unlimitedsounds.com (Dave Hauss) Subject: Help With Voice Logic VOICE PRO! Date: 27 Jan 2003 19:12:15 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I hope someone can help. I have a Voice Logic Voice Pro system with software version 2.021 and tonight it decided not to answer any more. it will pick a random number of rings, and then disconnect the caller and never play the main greeting. I can however, access all functions from the phones connected to it. Any help would be appreciated. ------------------------------ From: Steve Swamp Subject: Looking For T-Metrics P-Phone Test Equipment Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 22:37:47 -0500 Organization: MindSpring Enterprises Anyone out there have any Nortel P-phone (also known as the Electronic Business Set - EBS) test equipment? In particular, T-Metrics put out two boxes a bunch of years ago - TM-500 and TM-950. I'm doing some work with p-phones right now, and I'd like to try and get a couple of these boxes. Thanks in advance. Steve Swamp swamp@mindspring.com ------------------------------ From: Unity Corp Subject: Starting up a CLEC Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 23:02:08 -0500 In the process of forming a new LLC company and going to create a UNE-P CLEC in Indiana. Is the process easy? Does anyone have any horror stories about a CLEC UNE-P going sour? Any help that you could give us would be great. Ben Plikerd Benson Communications, Inc. ------------------------------ From: William Warren Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Free Info to turn Your Computer in a Moneymachine! Organization: Church of the Swimming Bullfrog Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 21:01:42 GMT TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Till Geissinger by writing in message news:telecom22.260.16@telecom-digest.org: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, here is one of those .biz sites > that John Higdon warned us about! Note how the chain letter spammers > have gotten a bit wiser; they keep their messages short, allow you to > opt-in (as if you did not get enough spam without opting-in to get > still more of it), and note the anti-spam serial number like thing at > the very bottom. This did NOT trigger spam-assassin, probably because > it was short, no yelling, no $$, none of the things which spam-assassin > looks for. PAT] > ------------------------------ > Hi friends, > I found some information that is really unbelievable, > concerning the problem how to earn money on the net. > If you need help just answer this message and type 'money' > in the subject line and it will be a pleasure for me to > help you immediatly and of course for FREE! > MAF Anti-Spam ID: 20030126145250X2f9UfQ7 > -------------------------------- > The above was the entire message. I guess he figures your curiosity > will lead you to respond and opt-in. PAT] Pat, The "anti-spam serial number like thing" is actually a standard anti-spamkiller random sequence, designed to prevent spam detection by content hashing. Rule #1: Spammers lie. Bill ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #262 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jan 29 20:41:03 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0U1f3R02299; Wed, 29 Jan 2003 20:41:03 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 20:41:03 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301300141.h0U1f3R02299@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #263 TELECOM Digest Wed, 29 Jan 2003 20:41:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 263 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson A Bunch of Lost Messages Today (TELECOM Digest Editor) Legally Kill All Adult Porn in the United States; Here is How (P Townson) Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity (John Higdon) NT Speaker Phone Help (Robert Johnson) You Know You Are Having a Bad Telecom Day When (Jeffrey JB Carpenter) Re: Can Your Cell Phone Impair Your Vision? (Linc Madison) Re: Starting up a CLEC (Justin Time) Re: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue (Dave Garland) .name gTLD Registry is Starting Their Own Registrar (Domain-dude) TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying (Phil Earnhardt) Spam Filtering Your Telephone (was Re: Last Laugh!) (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Great Site (David Mitchell) Re: Cell-Phone Couture (Joseph) Underground Phone Cable (Tim) Re: 11-Digit Dialing (Paul A Lee) Re: Looking For T-Metrics P-Phone Test Equipment (Don't Email Me) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 19:21:46 EST From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: A Bunch of Lost Messages Today Several ... about a dozen ... messages from readers prematurely hit the bit bucket today in the process of being set up for publication in the Digest. *If* you sent in a message, got an autoreply, and your message does not appear in this issue or the next issue following later tonight then I respectfully ask you to resubmit it. Thanks, and sorry for the screwup. PAT ------------------------------ From: Patrick Townson Subject: Legally Kill All Adult Porn in the United States; Here is How Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 17:53:47 -0600 After a sort of bad day for me, in which I shoveled out more than the usual amount of porn spam, I found the following message posted in the Unitarian-Universalist newsgroup on Usenet. Please do not misunderstand my position here; I beleieve firmly in freedom of speech and use it quite a lot myself. I've nothing especially against porn, at least the more creative and original varieties of it, but the constant flow of it on the net begins to get boring, to say the least, and a great many netizens are offended by it. This person 'Quill' who sent the message to the UUA newsgroup suggests just killing it all once and for all. I wonder how well the US government would (or does) respond? Any thoughts? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Quill" Newsgroups: alt.religion.unitarian-univ Sent: Monday, January 27, 2003 10:15 PM Subject: (7253) - Legally kill all adult porn in the United States, and here is how to do it - (4483) > Federal laws (18 USC 1462 and 1465) prohibit use of the Internet to > distribute obscene material. File an online report about internet > adult obscenity or porn spam. File a report on Sexual Intercourse, > Sadomasochism, Anal Sex, Masturbation Sexual Bestiality, Excretory > Functions, Oral Sex, and Lewd Exhibition of the Genitals. > http://www.obscenitycrimes.org/complaint/default.cfm?action=FOCFormIntro I would suggest a good 'back door' approach to killing spam (since so much of it is pornographic in nature) is to consider the suggestion mentioned above. Thoughts, anyone? PAT ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 19:14:06 -0800 In article , Joey Lindstrom wrote: > In overlay regions, so long as the two (or more) area codes are > protected (not used as CO codes within any of these area codes), you > don't even have to do that. You could easily allow 7-digit dialing > with no special codes. HOWEVER, the FCC (I think) said "no way" to > this idea long ago. Rationale: it would be anti-competitive. It would also be confusing. A person does not necessarily know the number of the phone he is using at someone else's home, office, public place. If he doesn't know the number of the phone, he also doesn't know its area code and would have no idea whether to dial seven or ten digits. If 10/11 digits are always required, then all calls from all telephones are dialed the same; there is no worry about the number of the phone being used. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: Robert Johnson Subject: NT Speaker Phone Help Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 06:45:02 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - West I have a NT1L07AA Speaker phone I would like to find a Install sheet for it or something showing a pinout of the RJ45 jack on the bottom ... and help would this would be apreceated Robert Johnson NT1L07AA First line ot Tag RLS-D3 Second Line of Tag 4-88 Third Line of Tag ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 04:42:12 -0000 From: Jeffrey James Bryan Carpenter Subject: You Know You Are Having a Bad Telecom Day When ... You know you are having a bad telecom day when... - You pull of the side of the highway to clear the ice off your windshield wipers and drop your personal mobile phone in the snow. You do not realise this happened until you get to the airport ticket counter. - You call your office to tell them you lost your mobile, and they think you lost your office mobile, and cancel that. - You pull out your personal backup mobile, and the battery is dead, you have no spare and no charger. - You did not bring your 2nd backup, a new AT&T GSM phone you are testing because it was only a day trip, and you would not need it. - You did not bring any of the info you need to change the forwarding for your toll-free number and several local numbers across the country you have that forward to your mobile, and that everyone use to reach you. - You get to the site of your meeting, ask to use a phone because you have no working phone. When you try to make your 5th long distance call, you get the message, "I'm sorry, you call can not be completed because long distance service on this line has been suspended due to potential fraud." - You call your wireless company and they say you will get the replacement phone in 4-6 weeks. You say, how about overnight. They say they can expedite it to 3-5 days. You say how about overnight. They say 3-5 days. (It actually arrived overnight.) - You get home and try to use the remote access to call forwarding for your main local number, to find out that the access number for that service has been disconnected. (Did get the correct number after pressing the telephone company's answering service to call someone.) - Your toll-free service provider says they cannot do an emergency redirection because when they call the number it is not giving a message which indicates service is down. It was saying, "the cellular customer you are calling is out of the service area, blah, blah, blah." (Yes, the wireless provider cut voice mail off when they suspended the phone. I was finally able to convince the toll-free service provider to make the emergency redirection.) I would mention that you rip a hole in the sleeve of your suit jacket on a sharp edge of the hand rail at the site you visited, but that is not telecom related. Moral of the story: no matter how many services you set up to provide redundancy, inadequate testing, lack of preparation, miscommunications, or not taking backup equipment (or all of these together) will foil your backup plans. Completely out of voice communication: 15 long hours. Not a good Monday. jeff ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: Can Your Cell Phone Impair Your Vision? Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 00:01:43 -0800 Organization: LincMad.com Consulting Reply-To: Telecom@LincMad.com In article , Monty Solomon wrote: > In one test, a driver on a phone and one focused solely on the road > were shown the same series of billboards. The driver not yakking > remembered seeing 50 percent more billboards than the driver on the > phone, the study found. That's a mostly irrelevant point. I can quite safely ignore billboards while talking on the cellphone, without necessarily ignoring traffic conditions, stop lights, etc. I'm sure that the cellphone-using drivers also remembered less about the trees and flowers along the roadway; so what?? To the extent that the study showed drivers being less attentive to their driving, that's a real problem. However, drivers paying less attention to billboards is nothing to be concerned about. I have a hands-free kit for my cellphone, and I have made sure that it does not impair my ability to turn my head. I have also on several occasions told the person on the other end of a call to hold on because I needed to give my full attention to traffic conditions. www dot LincMad dot com / Telecom at LincMad dot com Linc Madison * San Francisco, California ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Starting up a CLEC Date: 29 Jan 2003 06:01:03 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Unity Corp wrote in message news:: > In the process of forming a new LLC company and going to create a > UNE-P CLEC in Indiana. Is the process easy? Does anyone have any > horror stories about a CLEC UNE-P going sour? Any help that you could > give us would be great. > Ben Plikerd > Benson Communications, Inc. The landscape is littered with the detrius of hundreds of CLECs that have gone under the past 3 years. Some of the biggest include Winstar that had a very good business model and lived off the deep pockets of AT&T/Lucent/Avaya for several years. ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 03:21:16 -0600 Organization: Wizard Information > No sales tax means a competitive advantage over brick & mortar. True. And shipping costs mean a competitive advantage to brick & mortar. > There is no way it would be remotely difficult for them to actually > implement (at least compared to the effort of implementing the > databases they already have). Amazon probably could. But I couldn't, as a small business owner. If all states and jurisdictions charged the same amount of tax on the same products, and I could just send a check with the total tax, accompanied by a printout (or handwritten list.. some small businesses like artists and craftspeople may not be computerized) of sales amounts and associated zipcodes, to a single place, I could deal with that. But products taxed vary from place to place and time to time (in Minnesota food and clothing are not taxed ... but carbonated water is taxed; Minneapolis has a 0.5% sales tax that St. Paul does not). If we could bill each of the states for the time and expense it takes to figure it all out, we could make a comfortable living without selling anything at all. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am reminded of an interesting story on differences in tax rates. In the Chicago area, where the landscape is littered with McDonald restaurants (literally every few blocks), the landscape is also littered with *different suburbs and different tax rates in each*. McDonald's gets their preprogammed cash registers through a central source for each district. If a register goes out of order (god forbid the youngster working at the counter had to calculate the order, the cost for same and the taxes in his head!) the store managers swap the registers around at random as needed. One of Skokie's registers goes out of order; they get a spare register from Chicago or Niles, or Evanston for example. Rather than reprogram the tax rates in the cash register, they just go with whatever it says. So a purchase that costs 89 cents one day with tax included may cost 93 cents the next day, same store, with a different register in use. If you complain, they just give you a blank look, no comprehension at all. If you press the issue, with a call to their corporate customer service office, reminding the CS person that there *are* laws against *claiming* that a tax is due when in fact there is no such tax (or not in that amount) due and that in any event the store is going to only pay the bottom line due on sales tax in that community; then the CS person will send you a refund of the two or three pennies *in the form of a paper check* which you have to deposit in the bank, along with a voucher for a free soft drink (small size) the next time you go to the store. I did that once, and got a phone call three or four days later from a person in the Chicagoland Black McDonald's Operator's Associ- ation giving me hell for making trouble for one of 'his' stores. Chicago has the ONE McDonald's Restaurant in history which filed bank- ruptcy and closed; it was located in a housing project area. Ever notice how McD never actually owns anything, except an occassional 'corporate store'? PAT] ------------------------------ From: londonuk@email.com (Domain-dude) Subject: .name gTLD Registry is Starting Their Own Registrar Date: 29 Jan 2003 03:03:59 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I read on ICANN blog that the Registry for .name is planning to launch their own Registrar http://www.personalnames.com. What will the rest industry say about this move? They are putting themselves in the same position as Verisign and Network Solutions. ------------------------------ From: Phil Earnhardt Subject: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 00:19:16 -0700 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com The following appeared in www.showbizdata.com on Tuesday; I couldn't find any articles at the LA Times website. I wasn't impressed with the fact that TiVo subscribers were replaying the commercials; I was shocked to hear that TiVo could and would gather and report information on what users were doing with their boxes. Does anyone have any more technical details of this tracking? Or is there some non-technical means (i.e., anecdotes) that TiVo actually gatherd this information? --phil > Owners of the TiVo digital video recorder, who are able to use the > device to run 'instant replays' anytime they choose, used it more > often during the Super Bowl for rerunning commercials than they did > for reviewing plays on the field, the Los Angeles Times reported today > (Tuesday). TiVo Senior V.P. Brodie Keast told the newspaper, 'Viewers > watch the content that they find most compelling, even when the most > compelling content is the commercials.' In the past, network execs > have criticized TiVo for touting a feature that allows viewers to skip > commercials. [...]" ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 01:51:25 -0600 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelex.com Organization: Crash Electronics, Inc. Subject: Spam Filtering Your Telephone (was Re: Last Laugh! Free Info...) John Higdon wrote: > The telephonic equivalent goes like this: > A call (with valid, typically local Caller ID) comes in... I started getting messages on my answering machine, pretty close to this: "This is Verizon calling for Gordon, it's important that you call us by 4:57pm tomorrow at [888-number]." It's obviously some marketing drone; if they _say_ they're selling something they know you won't call back. Then they throw in a phony deadline to make it sound Important. The deadline is obviously phony, because on every call it's "4:57pm tomorrow". No way I'm calling this goof -- plonk! I got this message every day for about a week. Coincidentally, my cellphone quit working about this time. So I call Verizon ('cause they're my cell provider du jour) and it turns out they've been trying to reach me about an unpaid bill -- since I never called back they just shut the phone off. They're not allowed to say why they're calling "for privacy reasons" in case someone else listens to my messages, I guess. Why they can't call on my CELL PHONE (which was still active while they were calling) I don't know. Anyway, now we have to worry about false positives on telephone "spam filters" too. 'Course it would help if people leaving non-spam messages would include actual information :-) Gordon S. Hlavenka www.crashelex.com nospam@crashelex.com Grammar and spelling flames welcome. Yes, that's really my email address. Don't change it. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 20:54:36 -0800 From: David Mitchell Subject: Great Site Thanks for putting together a very comprehensive portal- WOW! I'm from Canada and wondering if you know of any list of emails for North American Telco executives -- I'm looking mostly to source international routes. Any help or suggestions you may have would be tremendously appreciated. Thanks! David Mitchell Carrier Director Next Generation Telecom Direct: 604-732-5079 Fax: 604-692-0555 ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Cell-Phone Couture Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 08:57:58 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: joeofseattle@yahoo.com On Mon, 27 Jan 2003 22:59:24 -0500, Monty Solomon wrote: > One of four models of Xelibri mobile phones announced by Siemens.Now > handset vendors, still looking for the magic formula that will jolt > consumers back into a phone-buying mood, are going after the > fashion-conscious. Many of these "fashion" phones are more about being unique looking rather than practical. This new "Faberge" looking phone from Siemens while it may look "cool" has limited use as far as practicality. When people are used to phones that have their keypads laid out in the common style we've been used to for 30 years i.e. in rows with 123, 456, 789, and *0# in 4 rows and they make weird designs so that you cannot make a call without studying the phone to make a correctly dialed call something's wrong with the design. The Siemens phone is just their example of poor design. Nokia is guilty of the same thing with several of their new designs. As far as what "gimmicks" sell phones Nokia was first with the interchangeable covers, customizeable ringers and screen graphics so the other manufacturers followed suit. Immitation is the "sincerest" form of flattery. You have to wonder if designers for these phones (and for regular phones for that matter) give any thought to the real practical application of use of their products. When Dreyfus designed the touch tone series phones he designed keys with concave surfaces for a reason: It makes for much more secure dialing. Other designers for other phones came along and decided that convex keys look "cool" never mind that your fingers could easily roll off the keys. You can design consumer products that are fashionable, but making them so odd as just to be different doesn't make sense to me. Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group. ------------------------------ From: tim_kuntz@cnt.com (Tim) Subject: Underground Phone Cable Date: 29 Jan 2003 09:13:29 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ For Sale: 900' of 75 pair underground phone cable. Make offer. Thanks Tim ------------------------------ From: Paul A Lee Subject: RE: 11-Digit Dialing Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 12:34:35 -0500 In TELECOM Digest V22 #262, richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) wrote (in part): > Is there anyone on either side of the toll alerting issue who has a > strong objection to allowing 11 digit dialing when it is not required? > i.e. you can dial 1-npa-nxx-xxxx on any call, from next door to cross > country? > The advantage of permitting this is that you can program 11 digit > numbers into your cell phone or your laptop's fax addressbook and won't > have to change them depending on where you are calling from. > Bellsouth doesn't permit this here in GA. Also in TELECOM Digest V22 #262, Joey Lindstrom wrote (in part): > But can we at least agree that a toll-alerting system that allowed > 1+10D permissively would be something that folks on your > (non-toll-alerting) side of the fence could live with comfortably? It > would certainly satisfy those of us on the toll-alerting side... Permissive '1'+10D dialing is exactly what I have been advocating for several years. I've encountered the nonsense of blocking '1'+10D in several parts of the country, but it seems to be practiced primarily in the south and in less populous states. I've heard some pretty incredible stories about why '1'+10D is blocked, including: Permitting '1'+10D would cause local calls to be routed and billed as long distance calls (somebody get that telco a trained switch programmer!) ... It's required by the FCC (just in your state??) ... It's required by the state regulatory commission (how can you argue with that one?) ... It's required by county ordinance (exactly where such decisions should be made!) ... Blocking '1'+10D dialing is an inconvenience for travelers, but it is a major headache for deploying customer notification dialer equipment to stores. Imagine the prospect of having to program local dial plan rules into several hundred remote systems in locales where calls must be dialed as 7D, 10D, or '1'+10D, depending on where the call is originated and what number is being dialed. Come to think of it, isn't blocking '1'+10D dialing an impediment to interstate trade ...? Paul A Lee Voice: +1 717 730-8355 Sr Telecom Engineer [Voice & Transmission] Fax: +1 717 975-3789 Rite Aid Corporation, Telecomm, 30 Hunter Lane, Camp Hill, PA 17011-2410 ------------------------------ From: nomailp@netscape.net (Don't email me) Subject: Re: Looking For T-Metrics P-Phone Test Equipment Date: 29 Jan 2003 10:08:37 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ There also used to be a company called Dees (http://www.dees.com). They made loop extenders, buttsets, and message monitoring equipment for those type of phones. If you have access to a DMS (which is what they connect to), there are monitoring tools in the switch which do the same thing. Hope this helps ... questions@telcosupport.net http://www.telcosupport.net Steve Swamp wrote in message news:: > Anyone out there have any Nortel P-phone (also known as the Electronic > Business Set - EBS) test equipment? In particular, T-Metrics put out > two boxes a bunch of years ago - TM-500 and TM-950. I'm doing some > work with p-phones right now, and I'd like to try and get a couple of > these boxes. Thanks in advance. > Steve Swamp > swamp@mindspring.com ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #263 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jan 29 21:33:35 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0U2XZB03361; Wed, 29 Jan 2003 21:33:35 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 21:33:35 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301300233.h0U2XZB03361@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #264 TELECOM Digest Wed, 29 Jan 2003 21:23:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 264 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Introducing Song: The World's Most Innovative Low-Fare Airline (Solomon) EarthLink Reports 2002 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results (M Solomon) Verizon Communications Reports Strong Yearly Operational Growth (Solomon) Premier High-Tech Community in Atlanta (Monty Solomon) Nine-Digit 'Social' Overused as ID (Monty Solomon) AOL Time Warner Reports Results for 2002 Full Year and 4th Qrtr (Solomon) QUALCOMM Qsec-800 Secure CDMA Phone (Monty Solomon) Symantec's 'Submit a Deal' Flawed (Monty Solomon) Re: 11-Digit Dialing (Herb Stein) Telephony Odds and Ends (Eric De Mund) Re: Legally Kill All Adult Porn in the USA; Here is How (John Higdon) More Tax Money for "Rural Communications" (Danny Burstein) Consumer Products: When Software Bugs Bite (Monty Solomon) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 08:51:13 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Introducing Song: The World's Most Innovative Low-Fare Airline NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 29, 2003--Song Unique Amenities Such as Video on Demand, Live Satellite TV to Greatly Enhance Travel Experience Fleet to Expand to 36 Boeing 757s Providing 144 Daily Flights Primarily between Northeast and Key Florida Leisure Destinations Song(TM), a new airline service developed to change customer expectations for high-quality, low-fare air travel, was introduced today at a company event in New York City. Song, which will initially service Northeast to Florida routes, will fly its maiden voyage from New York City's JFK to West Palm Beach on Tuesday, April 15, 2003. By October 2003, Song plans to provide 144 daily flights utilizing a fleet of 36 Boeing 757 aircraft. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL), Song will meet air travelers' individual and ever-changing needs through a variety of innovations, several of which are industry firsts. These include: - The most advanced in-flight entertainment technology available (October 2003). Song is partnering with Matsushita Avionics Systems and EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:DISH) and its DISH Network(TM) satellite TV service to provide a complement of on-board amenities, which will include: - Personal video monitors at every seat with "touch screen" technology and credit card "swipe" capability. - Live, all-digital satellite television programming from DISH Network. - Digitally-streamed MP3 audio programming, which will allow passengers to create a personal play list from an extensive library of audio files. - Pay-per-view programming available on demand, which will feature a wide-range of current offerings for all ages. - Multi-player interactive games that allow play between passengers. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31202248 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 08:53:06 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EarthLink Reports 2002 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results Broadband subscribers grew by 98,000 Ends the year with 5.0 million subscribers ATLANTA, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- EarthLink, Inc. (NASDAQ:ELNK) today announced its financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ending December 31, 2002. EarthLink reported revenue for the fourth quarter grew to $347.9 million, an increase of 6.3 percent from the same period a year ago. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were $18.0 million for the quarter, improving from $9.1 million in the prior year quarter. Excluding cash facility exit costs incurred in the quarter, EBITDA was $20.2 million. Net loss was $32.9 million, including $3.5 million of total cash and non-cash facility exit costs. http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31202856 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 08:57:20 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Communications Reports Strong Yearly Operational Growth FOURTH-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS * 964,000 Verizon Wireless net customer additions, excluding acquisitions; 32.5 million total customers * 566,000 long-distance net customer additions, for a total of 10.4 million -- making Verizon the U.S.'s third largest long-distance carrier for consumers * 148,000 new net digital subscriber lines (DSL), for a total of 1.8 million lines 2002 HIGHLIGHTS * Met or exceeded year-end targets for revenue growth, diluted EPS (earnings per share), capital expenditures, debt management, and long-distance and DSL customers * Total debt reduced by $10.2 billion, to $54.1 billion from $64.3 billion, a 15.9 percent decrease * Net debt (total debt less cash and cash equivalents) reduced by $10.7 billion, to $52.6 billion from $63.3 billion, a 16.9 percent decrease; commercial paper reduced 83.6 percent, to $2.1 billion from $12.8 billion * $4.8 billion in free cash flow (cash from operating activities less capital expenditures of $12.0 billion, capitalized non-network software and dividends) 2003 GUIDANCE * EPS of $2.70 to $2.80, after offsets from reduced pension income, reduced income from 2002 access line sales, and expensing stock options * Comparable revenue growth of 0 to 2 percent * Capital expenditures (including capitalized non-network software) of $12.5 to $13.5 billion * Net debt of $49 to $51 billion http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31203329 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 08:55:49 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Premier High-Tech Community in Atlanta BellSouth Assembles Team to Provide Capabilities Enabling Premier High-Tech Community in Atlanta - Governors Towne Club to Integrate Latest Home-Control Technologies and Home Networking Solutions - ATLANTA and TOPEKA, Kan., Jan. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BellSouth(R) Residential Solutions today announced that BellSouth, Protection One (NYSE:POI) and Kenneth G. Horton Development Corporation have teamed to create one of the most comprehensive digitally wired residential communities in the country, just outside Atlanta. The project, named Governors Towne Club, will integrate high-tech solutions, including BellSouth(R) FastAccess DSL, BellSouth(R) Security Systems from Protection One, community-based Intranet services and home automation technologies, allowing residents to control in-home amenities from remote locations. Governors Towne Club, located in Acworth, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, will consist of more than 500 high-tech, digitally wired homes. The homes will feature networking solutions that allow homeowners to have integrated services such as a single Internet connection that can be shared by the entire family using multiple computers and Web-enabled devices. Additionally, residents will be able to choose from a variety of home automation packages that will allow control of amenities such as alarm systems, air conditioning units, sprinkler systems, video signals -- all from inside the home, the back yard or a remote location. Residents of Governors Towne Club will be able to choose from one of three digital home packages. Options within the packages include: * Security systems -- Provides electronic monitoring of every point of entry into a home and other critical safety devices, such as fire protection systems. * Home networking -- Offers advanced communications wiring throughout the home, maximizing high-speed, BellSouth FastAccess connectivity between computers and other peripheral devices. * Closed circuit television -- Enables community surveillance systems that can monitor homes, entry gates and children at the pool, for example. * Digital video distribution -- Helps deliver the highest quality TV picture. * Automated lighting -- Integrates lighting with security and environmental systems allowing residents to automatically adjust brightness within the home, optimizing safety, comfort and efficiency. * Environmental controls -- Allows complete control over heating and air conditioning systems from anywhere anytime. * Irrigation controls -- Adds intelligence to electronic sprinkler systems, enhances features and allows remote access to controls. * Automated appliances -- Leverages state-of-the-art structured wiring throughout the home, enabling the integration of the newest in home automated appliances and Web-enabled devices. * Premium home theater systems -- Maximizes home entertainment by offering customers a full size cinema screen, technologically advanced surround sound and wireless touch screen remote control. http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31202879 ------------------------------ Reply-To: Monty Solomon From: Monty Solomon Subject: 9-Digit 'Social' Overused as ID Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 13:30:46 -0500 By Joanna Glasner The Social Security number has come a long way in the nearly 70 years since its inception as an identifier for a government retirement program. These days, Social Security participants may be called upon to display the nine-digit numbers for tasks as routine as punching a timecard, checking out library books, looking up a test score or eating at the company cafeteria. Faced with growing pressure from constituents concerned about the risks of identity theft, lawmakers are contemplating ways to curtail use of Social Security numbers for purposes other than taxpayer identification. http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,57395,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 17:41:12 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AOL Time Warner Reports Results for 2002 Full Year and 4th Qrtr. Unless otherwise specified, AOL Time Warner's results discussed below have been adjusted to normalize out the effect of certain merger and restructuring costs, as well as certain unusual or nonrecurring items that are discussed in detail in the accompanying footnotes. By presenting normalized results, the Company's management intends to provide a better understanding of the core results and underlying trends from which to consider not only past performance, but also the prospects for the future. Supplemental financial information is attached that provides the Company's reported results and reconciles those results to these normalized results. Users of this financial information should consider the types of events and transactions for which adjustments have been made. In addition, 2001 results have been prepared on a pro forma basis assuming that the acquisitions of AOL Europe and IPC Media, the consolidation of Road Runner, and the adoption of the new accounting standard on Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets ("FAS 142") had occurred on January 1, 2001. These results also reflect the deconsolidation of certain cable systems pursuant to the restructuring of the cable partnership between Time Warner Entertainment Company, L.P. and Advance/Newhouse. NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 29, 2003--AOL Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:AOL): Full-Year Normalized EBITDA Climbs 5%, Revenues Increase 7% and 2002 Normalized Free Cash Flow Improves 153% to $4.2 Billion Fourth-Quarter Normalized EBITDA Grows 16% and Revenues Rise 8% Company Announces Debt Reduction Plan AOL Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:AOL) today reported financial results for its full year and fourth quarter ended December 31, 2002. For the full year, revenues climbed 7% to $41.1 billion, up from $38.5 billion in 2001. Subscription revenues increased 13% to $19.0 billion, led by growth at the America Online, Cable and Networks divisions. Content and Other revenues rose 9% to $14.4 billion, due primarily to strong growth at Filmed Entertainment. Advertising and Commerce revenues decreased 9% to $7.7 billion, as a result of declines at America Online. Full-year EBITDA rose 5% to $9.1 billion, up from $8.6 billion in 2001, driven by double-digit growth at each of the Company's reporting divisions, except for America Online. The Company generated $4.2 billion in Free Cash Flow in 2002, a significant 153% increase over last year's $1.7 billion, due principally to higher EBITDA, lower working capital requirements and lower capital spending. Free Cash Flow represented 47% of EBITDA during the year. For the fourth quarter, revenues climbed 8% year over year to $11.4 billion. Subscription revenues grew 10% to $4.9 billion, as a result of growth in the Company's America Online, Cable and Networks businesses. Content and Other revenues improved 10% to $4.3 billion, led by the Filmed Entertainment business's home video and theatrical successes. Advertising and Commerce revenues declined 1% to $2.2 billion, stemming from declines at America Online, offset in part by solid gains in advertising at the Networks and Publishing businesses. The quarter's EBITDA rose 16% to $2.8 billion, reflecting strong 46% growth at Networks, as well as double-digit growth at all of the Company's other divisions, except for America Online, where EBITDA declined. The EBITDA margin increased to 24%, compared to 22% in the fourth quarter of 2001. Free Cash Flow totaled $241 million, versus $84 million for the same period last year, due principally to higher EBITDA, and lower working capital requirements. http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?bw.012903/230292513 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 17:57:00 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: QUALCOMM Qsec-800 Secure CDMA Phone QUALCOMM's CDMA Technology Enhances Security Measures at Super Bowl XXXVII - Regional Homeland Security Agencies and Technology Partners Teamed Up To Provide Security Assistance for the Super Bowl - SAN DIEGO, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM), pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology, joined forces with regional homeland security agencies and technology partners to augment existing security measures for Super Bowl XXXVII. QUALCOMM, in partnership with the San Diego Regional Network on Homeland Security (RNHS) and other technology companies, assisted the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) with security preparations for Super Bowl XXXVII by providing technology and products based on CDMA technology. QUALCOMM provided wireless phones capable of carrying government- classified information over commercial cellular networks to federal law enforcement agencies and federal task force entities. These phones, referred to as the Qsec-800(R), are National Security Agency certified cellular phones developed through a U.S. Government contract with QUALCOMM. The phones represent a first step in securing the nation's cellular communications using the extensive CDMA network that is commercially available. In addition to the secure wireless handsets, QUALCOMM had worked out an architecture that allowed the SDPD to access data, such as real time video as supplied by cameras, using digital technology from cVideo, at QUALCOMM Stadium, over commercial CDMA2000 1X networks. QUALCOMM's expertise in security ensured these data capabilities met the high standards set by the United States Department of Justice and local law enforcement. http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31220472 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 19:15:51 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Symantec's 'Submit a Deal' Flawed By Brian McWilliams A security glitch at Symantec's corporate website revealed to casual Web surfers hundreds of proposals from companies seeking to be bought out by the security firm. The hole at Symantec's Submit a Deal site has some would-be buyout targets fuming over the billion-dollar company's careless handling of their sensitive data. http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,57438,00.html ------------------------------ From: Herb Stein Subject: Re: 11-Digit Dialing Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 16:20:03 -0600 John R. Levine wrote in message news:telecom22.260.12@telecom-digest.org: >> ... Nearby parts of 905/289 are local calls from Toronto, so 10 >> digits work. More distant portions of 905/289 are toll calls, and >> the leading '1' is required. What's so difficult. > This must be, what, about the 400th time we've gone around with the > toll alerting argument. Personally, I hate toll alerting. I do not > care whether a call to Mississauga will cost 0 cents or 3.5 cents, I > just want to make the bleeping call. Across the lake here in New York > we have never ever had toll alerting, and we get along just fine > without it. > If regulators insist on putting in toll alerting, they should at least > make it permissive so that 1+10D always works. It wasn't clear from > the previous discussion whether Toronto has permissive 1+10D, or they > have the incredibly stupid Texas plan where you have to memorize every > prefix in nearby area codes in order to use your phone, since 1+10D > won't work if a prefix happens to be a local call, and 10D won't work > if it's a 5 cent toll call. >> Tradeoff time. So 10/11 digits makes things difficult for *YOU*. >> What about employers who don't mind employees making local calls >> during lunch? Under the current setup, blocking leading 0 and 1 >> allows local toll-free calls to 905/289, but blocks toll calls to >> that code. How do they handle that with all calls being an >> identical number of digits? > PBXes are much better at remembering lists of prefixes than people > are. Every PBX of which I'm aware can easily be programmed to look at > the leading digits of dialed calls and to route or block the call > depending on what those digits are. Ask any PBX tech for details. > John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 > johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl > Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail The bottom line you can't keep stupid people from make stupid decisions. Rich Greenberg wrote in message news:telecom22.262.8@telecom-digest.org: > In article , Joseph > wrote: >> This is the same argument that has raged in the digest and elsewhere >> for years regarding "toll alerting." Neither side really wants to >> adopt what the other side thinks is "right." > Correct and let's not start it again. > I do have one question on a closely related item. Is there anyone on > either side of the toll alerting issue who has a strong objection to > allowing 11 digit dialing when it is not required? I don't want toll alerting and I want 10-digit dialing in NAPA to always work. Dialing 1 should also work also. > i.e. you can dial 1-npa-nxx-xxxx on any call, from next door to cross > country? > The advantage of permitting this is that you can program 11 digit > numbers into your cell phone or your laptop's fax addressbook and won't > have to change them depending on where you are calling from. > Bellsouth doesn't permit this here in GA. > Rich Greenberg Work: Rich.Greenberg atsign worldspan.com +1 > 770-563-6656 N6LRT Marietta, GA, USA Play: richgr atsign panix.com > +1 770-321-6507 Eastern time zone. I speak for myself & my dogs > only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val(Chinook,CGC,TT), Red & > Shasta(Husky,(RIP)) Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky > Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L Herb Stein The Herb Stein Group www.herbstein.com herb@herbstein.com 314 952-4601 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 00:16:06 -0800 From: Eric De Mund Subject: Telephony Odds and Ends Reply-To: Eric De Mund Organization: Ixian Systems, Inc. People, From my accumulated notes. Forwarded FYI. o Cellphones: Expect a Call While Rafting? A Way to Keep Your Phone Dry http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/22/technology/circuits/22GEE3.html o PhoneDeck (freeware; store and easily access addresses and phone numbers; includes phone dialer; compare to the big "Time and Chaos") http://www.lodz.pdi.net/~eristic/free/phonedeck.html o Dialtones (A Telesymphony) - Mobile Phone Concert http://www.telesymphony.com/ Slashdot | Dialtones - A Telesymphony http://slashdot.org/articles/02/10/02/1246204.shtml?tid=141 Regards, Eric De Mund | Ixian Systems, Inc. | 53 49 B2 23 AF 6C 20 81 http://www.ixian.com/ead/ | Mountain View, CA | ED DD 4C 81 AA C9 D1 A5 ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Legally Kill All Adult Porn in the United States; Here is How Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 17:57:10 -0800 In article , Patrick Townson wrote: > I would suggest a good 'back door' approach to killing spam (since so > much of it is pornographic in nature) is to consider the suggestion > mentioned above. Thoughts, anyone? Two things. First, most of the spam I receive is non-pornographic in nature (cures, refinancing, chain letters, Viagra, organ enlarging, and every variety of trinkets). Around twenty percent or less is porn. Filing porn complaints with the Feds, even if the tactic ultimately worked, would only eliminate an incremental amount of spam in the long run. Second, most folks who are being honest with themselves understand that port is what drove the Internet to its current ubiquity. Truly eliminate porn on the net (if that's even possible) and you will deal a severe blow to the viability of the net as a commercial enterprise. Actually, that sounds pretty good to me ... but we do live in a real world. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: More Tax Money For "Rural Telecommunications" Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 20:57:20 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In the finest tradition of the goretaxes, which, somehow or other, wind up in the pockets of entrenched telcos: WASHINGTON, January 29, 2003, Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman today announced that USDA will expand efforts to bring farmers, rural residents and businesses greater access to improved telecommunication technology through the financing of more than $1.4 billion in loans and loan guarantees to rural telecommunications providers. In addition, Veneman announced that President Bush will propose spending $196 million for the program in its FY2004 budget. http://www.usda.gov/news/releases/2003/01/0028.htm Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 20:45:15 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Consumer Products: When Software Bugs Bite By Debbie Gage Dishwashers, automobiles and other products are increasingly driven by software. But digits don't always do a better job. Where do you turn when your appliance's software goes south? http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,3959,833424,00.asp http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/01/17/2126211&mode=thread ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #264 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Jan 29 22:05:27 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0U35RN03964; Wed, 29 Jan 2003 22:05:27 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 22:05:27 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301300305.h0U35RN03964@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #265 TELECOM Digest Wed, 29 Jan 2003 22:04:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 265 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Starting up a CLEC (Harbor Diver) Re: Calling Party Pays to Cellular (John R. Levine) Re: 1+ten-digit dialing (Mark J Cuccia) Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity (John Higdon) Re: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue (John R. Levine) Re: Thanks For Your Help, Guys! (KJ) Re: PIR Successfully Completes Largest Domain Name Transfer (SELLCOM) NT Speaker Phone Help (Robert Johnson) VoIP Billing Software at Low Price! (Ree) Re: 11-Digit Dialing (John Higdon) Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying (John Higdon) Re: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue (tonypo1@cox.net) I *Think* I Recovered Them All (TELECOM Digest Editor) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Harbor Diver Subject: Re: Starting up a CLEC Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 23:17:28 -0500 Organization: Fugawi Divers Today, Mon, 27 Jan 2003 23:02:08 -0500, Two Buddha read a post from Unity Corp , and determined his interest in BURP. Where's my beer? Oh and: > In the process of forming a new LLC company and going to create a > UNE-P CLEC in Indiana. Is the process easy? Does anyone have any > horror stories about a CLEC UNE-P going sour? Any help that you could > give us would be great. > Ben Plikerd > Benson Communications, Inc. This is a joke, right? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't think it was intended as a joke. There are still people out there getting into the business. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 28 Jan 2003 23:18:28 -0500 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Calling Party Pays to Cellular Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA [ snip interesting discussion of rate arbitrage ] > ... now these specific surcharges are passed-through only when one > calls a wireless device in that country -- not when one calls a > wireline device. It's not just wireless. The carriers I use (sometimes) surcharge calls to British 07xx, 08xx, and 09xx numbers, which aren't wireless. They're various flavors of location-independent and premium numbers. > It places the component cost of the calls (whether you agree with > the "right" of anyone to assess this surcharge or not) more directly > on the calls which have as their makeup, that component, ie., > wireless. Personally, I'd prefer the approach that long distance carriers take when you call 976 and other surcharged numbers in the U.S. If the terminating carrier will accept the call at the usual wireline rate, the call completes. Otherwise, forget it. As I commented in another message: "if you want me to call you, give me a real phone number." Now that long distance carriers can charge different amounts for subranges of different countries, I can hardly wait for some enterprising Caribbean island in the NANP to set up a "cellular" range for telesleaze so that calls to, say, 1-345-NXX-XXXX normally costs about 25 cents, but calls to 1-345-999-XXXX cost two bucks. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 22:23:10 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Re: 1+Ten-Digit Dialing Rich Greenberg wrote: > I do have one question on a closely related item. Is there anyone on > either side of the toll alerting issue who has a strong objection to > allowing 11 digit dialing when it is not required? > i.e. you can dial 1-npa-nxx-xxxx on any call, from next door to cross > country? > The advantage of permitting this is that you can program 11-digit > numbers into your cell phone or your laptop's fax addressbook and won't > have to change them depending on where you are calling from. Programing into a laptop's fax (or modem-dialup) addressbook ??? Are you going to connect via your Cellular phone with a 'patch'? Or are you going to connect when "on the road", such as from a motel, and maybe various PBX jacks at company offices while travelling? Is the motel or other PBX going to allow you to simply dial 1+ten-digits for reaching any NANP destination? And if so, and if toll, are you really wanting to PAY the charge-billed-back-to-the-room? I am most certainly *NOT* opposed to permissive 1+ten-digit dialing for local/free calls. And I am one who WANTS "toll alerting" (or as I like to call it, "toll-indication-prefix-required") with a mandatory 1+ before (ten-digits) NANP toll. Which would mean that "straight" ten-digits (or seven but I would prefer to see seven-digits evolve to mandatory ten) dialed would only complete if a LOCAL or FREE type (NANP) call. And the idea of being able to put 1+ten-digits as a "universal" method of dialing is appealing and the excuse of how easy it would be for travellers is frequently mentioned (just like many outside of the NANP want to force the NANP to adopt 00+ for IDDD calling). But when you are travelling, and if you aren't using your own cellular phone roaming, THESE days, if you are calling from payphones, motel/PBX phones, even non-PBX 'POTS' lines of 'hosts' ... I tend to think that you would be billing the toll charges to a card of some kind, whether a "credit" card, a telco/LD calling card (post-pay), or a pre-paid card, and these days (with the damned COCOTs and hotel/motel PBXes with their 0+/0- A-O-Scum/Slime/Sleaze) you would be using 1-800/888/etc- type "dialup" numbers to access the card/Operator platform of YOUR choice -- i.e., the one you have an account/card with. So, programing such access to a laptop/etc. when plugging into a hotel/motel PBX regular telephone jack, or accessing via the office PBX (if there are toll restrictions or account codes to key), you might need to either manually "dial-up" or key the card/account codes, or else you might need additional software instructions as to what to dial/key. I think that AT&T has dialing instruction software that you can download from their website, for loading into a laptop/etc. modem, so that it will dial-out to 1-800-CALL-ATT if you do want to use them (billed to your AT&T issued card OR most US/Canada LEC issued cards) for (toll-billed) modem access (or faxing). > Bellsouth doesn't permit this here in GA. Neither does BellSouth permit 1+ten-d for local/free in Louisiana! :( although there are a few exceptions, such as calling to (Louisiana) "Area Plus" points/ratecenters which are outside of the "LOS" region ... for those "Area Plus" subscribers, those points are free/untimed/ unlimited, but these *MUST* be dialed 1+ten-digits from such subscribed Area-Plus lines -- these calls can *NOT* be dialed as "straight" seven/ten digits! :( Yes, 1+ten-digits, IMO *SHOULD* be required to work for any/all NANP calls from 'unrestricted' lines, where 'local/free' calls would complete and still *BE* local/free! But I still want to retain and standardize the true meaning of "toll alerting" or "toll indication prefix required", where "straight" ten-digit dialed calls complete *ONLY* if the destination NPA-NXX/ratecenter is local/free w.r.t. the calling NPA-NXX/ratecenter. And when travelling, if I *know* that the call is toll, or if I'm at a payphone/etc., I'll just use 1-800-CALL-ATT or whatever 800- dialup I choose to use for that call, billed to the carrier/card/account of my choice. (And if I choose to use a cellular phone, that is also my choice, where ten or 1+ten digits usually seem to work, regardless of "local vs. toll". mjc ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 19:14:06 -0800 In article , Joey Lindstrom wrote: > In overlay regions, so long as the two (or more) area codes are > protected (not used as CO codes within any of these area codes), you > don't even have to do that. You could easily allow 7-digit dialing > with no special codes. HOWEVER, the FCC (I think) said "no way" to > this idea long ago. Rationale: it would be anti-competitive. It would also be confusing. A person does not necessarily know the number of the phone he is using at someone else's home, office, public place. If he doesn't know the number of the phone, he also doesn't know its area code and would have no idea whether to dial seven or ten digits. If 10/11 digits are always required, then all calls from all telephones are dialed the same; there is no worry about the number of the phone being used. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ Date: 28 Jan 2003 23:27:54 -0500 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Yet somehow, despite all this compute power and detailed databases > on customer activity, keeping track of sales tax would be a > fantastic burden that would drive them out of business :-). They're not entirely blowing smoke. Figuring out the correct tax rate is extremely complicated, and remitting the tax is a nightmare. I'm in New York so I only have to collect tax on sales to New York addresses, but I've ended up looking at a state street atlas to figure out what the rate for an order is, since every county in the state has its own rate, and several dozen cities have tax rates separate from the surrounding counties. Then at the end of the year I have to fill out the sales tax form and tell the state that $1.43 goes to this county and 47 cents goes to that city. And that's just for one state. Multply that by the 45 states that have sales taxes and it's a phenomenal bookkeeping nightmare. The You can buy software packages and databases that translate zip+4 to tax rate and locality and that help you fill out the tax forms, but they cost $100,000. No doubt Amazon could afford it, but I can't. > It would be so refreshing if they'd just tell the truth: No sales > tax means a competitive advantage over brick & mortar. Well, yeah, that, too. But if there were a reasonable way to collect and remit sales tax to the other states, it wouldn't bother me much. The whole "internet sales" issue is a red herring, by the way. The real issue is catalog mail order which avoids tax just as effectively and is much bigger. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: KJ Subject: Re: Thanks For Your Help, Guys! Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 22:34:01 -0600 Dave Phelps wrote in message news:telecom22.262.7@telecom-digest.org: > In article , nospam@bigfoot.com > says: >> I am replacing my DSL VPN connection to my brokerage firm with a T-1 >> point to point private line. >> How does this change the hardware I need at home to network my three >> computers? I currently use an SMC wireless Access Point for a >> wireless network. Is a wireless network still possible with the T1? >> Will I be able to connect to the T-1 and the internet through another >> DSL line at the same time? >> Thanks, >> Eric > Yes, you can do all of the above. You will need to get a router that > has a serial interface, to which you can connect a T1 CSU/DSU, or, my > preference, a router that has a CSU/DSU built in. If you want > everything in one box, I'd look at a Cisco 1721, with a T1 CSU/DSU > WIC, and an ethernet WIC. It will be able to handle all of your > routing. You might want to consult your IT security staff before > finalizing your plan though. > Dave Phelps > Phone Masters Ltd. > deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: PIR Successfully Completes Largest Domain Name Transfer Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 01:18:18 -0500 Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Julie Williams posted on that vast internet thingie: > PUBLIC INTEREST REGISTRY SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES LARGEST DOMAIN NAME > TRANSFER IN HISTORY OF INTERNET > .ORG technical systems transitioned from VeriSign Registry > Reston, VA - January 27, 2003 - The Public Interest Registry (PIR) > today announced in a conference call with reporters that it has > successfully I would hardly say "successfully" since the "whois" is trashed. Steve at SELLCOM (who also has a few "org"s) http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, Vtech 5.8Ghz EnGenius NEW EP436 4line (the longest range), Panasonic, Twinhead notebooks, WatchGuard firewall, Okidata, Polycom! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ From: Robert Johnson Subject: NT Speaker Phone Help Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 06:45:02 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - West I have a NT1L07AA Speaker phone I would like to find a Install sheet for it or something showing a pinout of the RJ45 jack on the bottom ... and help would this would be apreceated Robert Johnson NT1L07AA First line ot Tag RLS-D3 Second Line of Tag 4-88 Third Line of Tag ------------------------------ From: capricorn75@softhome.net (Ree) Subject: VoIP Billing Software at Low Price Date: 29 Jan 2003 07:54:39 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hi, I have a VoIP billing Software at low price. It offers: · Call Accounting, · Post-paid Billing, · Prepaid Billing · Prepaid Calling Card Operation · Inter-gateway Settlement · Internet access, web design, web hosting, e-commerce services · Web interface for Customers, Sales Agents, and Customer Service Representatives And much more; Feel free to mail me: capricorn75@softhome.net ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: 11-Digit Dialing Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 18:15:55 -0800 In article , Paul A Lee wrote: > Blocking '1'+10D dialing is an inconvenience for travelers, but it is > a major headache for deploying customer notification dialer equipment > to stores. Imagine the prospect of having to program local dial plan > rules into several hundred remote systems in locales where calls must > be dialed as 7D, 10D, or '1'+10D, depending on where the call is > originated and what number is being dialed. Amen. At least that is one thing SBC does right in my neck of the woods. Any and every call to any telephone located anywhere in the NANP can be dialed with '1'+10D from my telephone. That is the way God intended it. When programming any sort of automatic dialer to be installed anywhere in this SBC service area, you slap in eleven digits regardless of where the dialer will live and what number it is trying to reach. What would be the point of having it any other way? John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 18:20:17 -0800 In article , Phil Earnhardt wrote: > The following appeared in www.showbizdata.com on Tuesday; I couldn't > find any articles at the LA Times website. I wasn't impressed with the > fact that TiVo subscribers were replaying the commercials; I was > shocked to hear that TiVo could and would gather and report > information on what users were doing with their boxes. > Does anyone have any more technical details of this tracking? Or is > there some non-technical means (i.e., anecdotes) that TiVo actually > gatherd this information? It is absolutely true: TiVo does gather information, as do the rival services. But then, so do the satellite companies, as well as many cable companies. What's new? John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: tonypo1@cox.net Subject: Re: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue Organization: The Ace Tomatoe and Cement Company Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 02:34:15 GMT In article , TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to dave.garland@wizinfo.com: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am reminded of an interesting story > on differences in tax rates. In the Chicago area, where the landscape > is littered with McDonald restaurants (literally every few blocks), > the landscape is also littered with *different suburbs and different > tax rates in each*. McDonald's gets their preprogammed cash registers > through a central source for each district. If a register goes out of > order (god forbid the youngster working at the counter had to calculate > the order, the cost for same and the taxes in his head!) the store > managers swap the registers around at random as needed. One of > Skokie's registers goes out of order; they get a spare register from > Chicago or Niles, or Evanston for example. Rather than reprogram the > tax rates in the cash register, they just go with whatever it says. > So a purchase that costs 89 cents one day with tax included may cost > 93 cents the next day, same store, with a different register in use. If > you complain, they just give you a blank look, no comprehension at > all. In a previous job I built servers and POS systems for various companies. We operated over a five state area and it was a major pain in the ass getting the tax codes set up. > If you press the issue, with a call to their corporate customer > service office, reminding the CS person that there *are* laws against > *claiming* that a tax is due when in fact there is no such tax (or not > in that amount) due and that in any event the store is going to only > pay the bottom line due on sales tax in that community; then the CS > person will send you a refund of the two or three pennies *in the form > of a paper check* which you have to deposit in the bank, along with a > voucher for a free soft drink (small size) the next time you go to the > store. I did that once, and got a phone call three or four days later > from a person in the Chicagoland Black McDonald's Operator's Associ- > ation giving me hell for making trouble for one of 'his' stores. Oh, -- I would have had fun with that one. I would have given him hell for even having the nerve to call me, and then called the BBB and reported it. I'm sure he'd love having them crawl up his butt. > Chicago has the ONE McDonald's Restaurant in history which filed bank- > ruptcy and closed; it was located in a housing project area. Ever notice > how McD never actually owns anything, except an occassional 'corporate > store'? PAT] The only two McDonald's in downtown Providence are not shuttered. From what I've heard their $1 promotion cost them dearly, and that coupled with the downturn in the economy meant those stores were operating at a loss for well over six months. It's a crash and burn economy everyone! That means that everything is going to be available for pennies on the dollar very shortly. :) Tony ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 21:42:54 EST From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: I *Think* I Recovered Them All I said a couple issues ago that several messages intended to be used in the Digest today got lost ... I think they were all recovered, but the invitation is still open: If you sent in any messages Tuesday night or Wednesday and the messages have not yet appeared you are welcome and encouraged to resubmit them. Also, so that we are all on the same page, tomorrow and Friday will be the share days for this month. PAT ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #265 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jan 30 20:00:43 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0V10hW17132; Thu, 30 Jan 2003 20:00:43 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 20:00:43 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301310100.h0V10hW17132@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #266 TELECOM Digest Thu, 30 Jan 2003 20:01:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 266 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson FCC Allows Exclusive Contracts Between Apartment Owners/Telecom (Editor) Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying (Barry Margolin) Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying (joe@obilivan.net) Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying (Steve K) Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying (Clark W Griswold, Jr.) Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying (Monty Solomon) Re: Legally Kill All Adult Porn in the United States (Robert Bonomi) Re: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue (Hudson Leighton) Re: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue (Daryl R Gibson) Re: Calling Party Pays to Cellular (Randal Hayes) Re: Calling Party Pays to Cellular (Mike Hartley) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 14:54:14 PST From: Patrick Townson Subject: FCC Allows Exclusive Contracts Between Apartment Owners/Telecom In many cities, there are ordinances governing the relationship between condo associations and individual tenants regards the type of and seller of telecom services. It appears some of that is being changed by FCC fiat, in the link given here: FCC Allows Exclusive Contracts Between Apartment Owners and Telecom Providers http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030130/dcth028_1.html Patrick Townson ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying Organization: Genuity, Woburn, MA Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 15:16:28 GMT In article , Phil Earnhardt wrote: > The following appeared in www.showbizdata.com on Tuesday; I couldn't > find any articles at the LA Times website. I wasn't impressed with the > fact that TiVo subscribers were replaying the commercials; I was > shocked to hear that TiVo could and would gather and report > information on what users were doing with their boxes. > Does anyone have any more technical details of this tracking? Or is > there some non-technical means (i.e., anecdotes) that TiVo actually > gatherd this information? Every night, TiVo dials into a server to download an updated program schedule. At the same time, it uploads information about how the device was used that day, including the times of every remote control button press. Barry Margolin, barmar@genuity.net Genuity, Woburn, MA *** DON'T SEND TECHNICAL QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO ME, post them to newsgroups. Please DON'T copy followups to me -- I'll assume it wasn't posted to the group. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wonder what would happen if the Tivo owner did not have his unit plugged into the phone line? My DISH unit is much like that; it has a place where it is to be plugged into the phone line, so they can refresh my card, decide how much to bill me for movies, etc. I have *never*, in the year I have had the unit ever plugged it into the phone line. Of course I mostly leave it tuned into the Sky Angel channels (at 61.5 degrees southeast) and rarely watch 'on demand' movies on it anyway. You think they will ever say anything about it to me? PAT] ------------------------------ From: joe@obilivan.net Subject: Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 17:36:58 GMT Organization: Cox Communications John Higdon wrote: > It is absolutely true: TiVo does gather information, as do the rival > services. But then, so do the satellite companies, as well as many cable > companies. What's new? Not to mention, LECs, IXCx, credit card companies, banks, etc., etc. etc. So TiVo gathers stats? Yawn ------------------------------ From: stevekl@panix.com (Steve Kl.) Subject: Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying Date: 30 Jan 2003 15:13:05 -0500 Organization: PANIX -- Public Access Networks Corp. In article , John Higdon wrote: > It is absolutely true: TiVo does gather information, as do the rival > services. But then, so do the satellite companies, as well as many cable > companies. What's new? They tell you this up front. I've known it ever since we've had a TiVo, and frankly, I could care less. Let them try to mine the data however they want, they're not really going to come up with anything earthshattering anyway. Steve Kl. ------------------------------ From: Clark Wilhelm Griswold, Jr. <73115.1041@compuserve.com> Subject: Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 22:03:59 -0700 John Higdon wrote: >> Does anyone have any more technical details of this tracking? Or is >> there some non-technical means (i.e., anecdotes) that TiVo actually >> gatherd this information? > It is absolutely true: TiVo does gather information, as do the rival > services. But then, so do the satellite companies, as well as many cable > companies. What's new? Tivo collects individual viewer data because of a lawsuit recently filed by our friends in Hollywood. As a part of the discovery process, Tivo was ordered to modify their software to collect data on programs viewed and commercials skipped so that the studio lawyers could assess any potential damages from commercial skipping. DirecTV has a deal with Tivo to provide an integrated PVR/sat receiver, so the same applies to them. Dish Network PVRs pass no viewer habits back to Dish. AFAIK, SonicBlue PVRs do not pass viewer data back to Replay. Very few cable companies have integrated PVR tuners, but I'm sure they are getting channel tuning data from their new digital tuners. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think DISH certainly does study their viewer's habits. If I were 'playing by the rules' I would be leaving my Echostar unit hooked to the phone line at all times so that DISH could download the little card in there which keeps it working. Of course I do not 'really' have DISH services; I do have Sky Angel which uses DISH equipment to operate on. But the installation book which was left here by the installer when he put in the Echostar unit for me was very explicit: keep it plugged in the phone line all the time; you never know when we might be calling. Maybe that accounts for the ring/no one speaks up I get on the phone sometimes. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 01:18:12 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying At 12:40 AM -0500 1/30/03, Monty Solomon wrote: > fact that TiVo subscribers were replaying the commercials; I was > shocked to hear that TiVo could and would gather and report > information on what users were doing with their boxes. > Does anyone have any more technical details of this tracking? Or is > there some non-technical means (i.e., anecdotes) that TiVo actually > gatherd this information? Digital Big Brother Poses Threat to Consumer Privacy Monday, July 26, 1999 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/07/26/BU56448.DTL When Big Brother knows you watch "Big Brother" Sep. 11, 2000 http://salon.com/tech/view/2000/09/11/tivo/ The Privacy Wars March 7th, 2001 http://archives.theconnection.org/archive/2001/03/0307a.shtml TiVo's Data Collection and Privacy Practices 3/26/01 http://www.privacyfoundation.org/privacywatch/report.asp?id=62&action=0 TiVo: Watching You Watch TV 3/26/01 http://www.privacyfoundation.org/commentary/tipsheet.asp?id=38&action=0 Response to SpyTV, interactive television, and free software 22 Mar 2001 http://www.politechbot.com/p-01843.html TiVo accused of privacy violations; more on "SpyTV" debate 26 Mar 2001 http://www.politechbot.com/p-01850.html More on TiVo and privacy concerns, by Dana Hawkins 26 Mar 2001 http://www.politechbot.com/p-01853.html Video monitoring order blasted by privacy groups May. 03, 2002 http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/3194142.htm ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Legally Kill All Adult Porn in the United States; Here is How From: bonomi@c-ns (Robert Bonomi) Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 09:27:18 GMT In article , Patrick Townson wrote: > After a sort of bad day for me, in which I shoveled out more than the > usual amount of porn spam, I found the following message posted in > the Unitarian-Universalist newsgroup on Usenet. Please do not > misunderstand my position here; I beleieve firmly in freedom of speech > and use it quite a lot myself. I've nothing especially against porn, > at least the more creative and original varieties of it, but the constant > flow of it on the net begins to get boring, to say the least, and a > great many netizens are offended by it. This person 'Quill' who sent > the message to the UUA newsgroup suggests just killing it all once and > for all. I wonder how well the US government would (or does) respond? > Any thoughts? > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Quill" > Newsgroups: alt.religion.unitarian-univ > Sent: Monday, January 27, 2003 10:15 PM > Subject: (7253) - Legally kill all adult porn in the United States, > and here is how to do it - (4483) >> Federal laws (18 USC 1462 and 1465) prohibit use of the Internet to >> distribute obscene material. File an online report about internet >> adult obscenity or porn spam. File a report on Sexual Intercourse, >> Sadomasochism, Anal Sex, Masturbation Sexual Bestiality, Excretory >> Functions, Oral Sex, and Lewd Exhibition of the Genitals. >> http://www.obscenitycrimes.org/complaint/default.cfm?action=FOCFormIntro > I would suggest a good 'back door' approach to killing spam (since so > much of it is pornographic in nature) is to consider the suggestion > mentioned above. Thoughts, anyone? *Read* the statutes in question. You discover that the language applies to _print_ material as well. Then consider what is available in _any_ "adult" book store. That virtually _all_ of those publications *have* been through _real_ court cases, holding their content to be _legal_. Anything from the Post Office (itself) refusing a mailing permit for Playboy (over-ruled by the courts), to the prosecution of Larry Flynt and Hustler magazine. Consider what runs on the adult "Pay-per-view" Cable TV channels. *legally*. The cited statutes cover _those_ services, too. Which _are_ running within the law. Executive summary: With the exception of _actual_ 'kiddie porn' (and just "offering" it -- i.e. words talking about it, if there aren't any actual images) _is_ legal. It is, _somewhat_ unfortunately, all within the limits of "legal". There are _numerous_ other *viable* legal theories that _could_ be used to go after any kind of spammers. Unfortunately, the government prosecutorial authorities seem "uninterested", unless there are *BIG*DOLLAR* losses involved. With criminal prosecution effectively eliminated from the picture, the only thing left is privat _civil_ suit. There *are* numerous grounds for that, already vetted in the Courts. Starting with "trespass to chattel", and/or "theft by conversion". The downside to this approach is two-fold (at least *sigh*) 1) the victim must track down the actual sender, in order to sue, 2) the victim has to front _all_ the legal costs for pursuing the action, and *hope* that (a) they prevail at trial, and (b) the spammer has enough assets to be siezed to pay for the efforts. I hate to say it, but a good *FEDERAL* law is needed. Something similar to the junk fax law. One that provides relatively _large_ penalties for each and *every* infraction, *WITH* a 'right of private action'. The 'spam' situation is rapidly approaching the unmanageable. The viability of the e-mail medium as a whole _is_ at risk. ------------------------------ From: hudsonl@skypoint.com (Hudson Leighton) Subject: Re: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 22:17:32 -0600 Organization: MRRP > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: snip > Ever notice > how McD never actually owns anything, except an occassional 'corporate > store'? PAT] Acually McD owns alot of land underneath McD stores, not the stores but just the land, this is a big piece of their income, they lease the land to the franchise, the lease is written so the franchise pays all expences includings taxes, etc. Can you say cash cow? -Hudson http://www.skypoint.com/~hudsonl ------------------------------ From: Daryl R Gibson Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 11:04:37 -0700 Subject: Re: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue On 29 Jan 2003 at 20:41, editor@telecom-digest.org wrote: > Chicago has the ONE McDonald's Restaurant in history which filed bank- > ruptcy and closed; it was located in a housing project area. Ever notice > how McD never actually owns anything, except an occassional 'corporate > store'? PAT] Not totally accurate. . Ray Kroc, who made McDonald's into a worldwide brand (the original McDonald's was started by two McDonald brothers in San Bernadino) would tell anyone who asked that he wasn't in the restaurant business -- he was in the real estate business. McDonald's Corporation owns much of the real estate (and surrounding developments) beneath their stores. McDonald's does own some corporate stores, but ordinarily, those stores do not do as well as franchised operations. Many times, the way the corporate stores come about is when a franchisee is unable to make a go of the operation, and McD will take over the store rather than close it, and then find a new franchisee. Sometimes, they will pay a local franchisee to run the store for them while it's being fixed up and sold. They have found over the years that it's better to have the owner watching over the store, than to have it under corporate control; it makes more money for the company, and gives a better experience to the customer. As a matter of fact, over the years, the McDs where I have gotten the worst service were corporate stores. A fascinating (for people who like business biographies) book about this is "McDonalds: Behind the arches" which I read some years ago. Of course, now I eat at Wendys ... Daryl "As you ramble through life, brother, no matter what your goal, keep your eye upon the doughnut, and not upon the hole" --Dr. Murray Banks, quoting a menu http://www.drgibson.com http://www.salesstar.com Personal Motivation and Positive Attitude [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, Wendy's is no different in their ownership routine are they? I think in general they have better hamburgers and salad bars, etc, but aren't they run under the same 'business principles' as the Golden Arches? The McD in Skokie has been there over forty years. As close as Skokie is to Des Plaines (where McD has their famous store number one (the very first franchise, dating from back about fifty years), I think Skokie was number two or number three in their history. I know it has been remodled and refurbished two or three times in its history. And I know Skokie changed from a corporate location to a franchise a few years ago. Now and then I read the legal notices in the newspapers, and I remember seeing one day a few years ago that the McDonald's Real Estate Corporation sold Skokie to a new entity called the '4900 Dempster Boulevard Corporation' which was the shell corporation for the new owners, another corporation. I dunno why none of the owners of McD places ever want to give their names and actual addresses. The one here in Independence is the same way. It is owned by some guy who is represented by a corporate attorney out of Tulsa. He has five or six stores, including Coffeyville. I don't think anyone in town has ever met him. Isn't Pizza Hut operated the same way, store by store? I know the Pizza Hut here in Independence *was* 'owned by' the one in Coffey- ville for many years. Six months ago the corporation built a new Pizza Hut right next door to the old one, then the old one closed totally and new owners took over the new one, no connection to C-ville. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 09:00:12 -0600 From: Randal Hayes Subject: Re: Calling Party Pays to Cellular Fixed-to-wireless surcharging may become less of an issue for callers from the U.S. to other countries in the future, as the FCC will soon be reviewing their international settlements policies, including the fixed-to-wireless surcharge issue. The FCC believes the settlement caps they implemented some time ago may have become benchmarks, which could slow-down or halt international call pricing from dropping still further. As such, they may tweak that aspect of international call pricing, but they also mentioned concern over the surcharge issue, and appeared they intend to do something about it. While they do have some influence on the policies of foreign carriers, they do not have regulatory authority over them. However, they can regulate what U.S. carriers can pay in settlements and surcharges, so their leverage comes in telling U.S. carriers that they cannot do business with any foreign carrier that exceeds x-amount of settlement or surcharge. Hopefully, the FCC will act soon, as policies such as theirs and the WTO helped to greatly reduce the price for international calling. Randy Hayes ------------------------------ From: Mike Hartley Subject: Re: Calling Party Pays to Cellular Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 20:14:00 -0000 > It's not just wireless. The carriers I use (sometimes) > surcharge calls to British 07xx, 08xx, and 09xx numbers, > which aren't wireless. They're various flavors of > location-independent and premium numbers. Nope, UK mobile live in the 07XXX range; Here's the full UK numberspace allocation, from the UK telecom regulator OFTTEL's site: www.oftel.gov.uk/ind_info/numbering/view.htm Geographic Number Ranges - issued in blocks of 10,000 numbers (geographic codes beginning 01 and 02) Code and number blocks - from 1130 00 to 1599 99 Code and number blocks - from 1600 00 to 1997 99 Code and number blocks - from 2000 00 to 2920 99 Geographic Number Ranges - issued in blocks of 1000 numbers ie. Type A Conservation Areas Corporate Numbering (numbers beginning 05) (9-digit numbers starting with 0500 are also contained in this range, but are not available for allocation) Personal Numbering, Paging & Mobile Ranges (numbers beginning 07) Personal Numbering (070 numbers) Paging numbers (076 numbers) Mobile numbers (077 to 079) Special Services Ranges - issued in blocks of 10,000 numbers (numbers beginning 08) Freephone (0808 1X and 0808 2X ranges, and details on allocated 0800 10k ranges) Local Rate (0845 XXX ranges) National Rate (0870 XXX ranges) Up to 5p - non internet (ranges 0844 2XX to 0844 9XX) Up to 10p - non-internet (ranges 0871 2XX to 0871 9XX) Internet for Schools (0820 XXX ranges) Special Services Ranges - issued in blocks of 1000 numbers (numbers beginning 08) Freephone - (0800 XXXX ranges) Internet - FRIACO (Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination) - 0808 99XX ranges Internet - Free to caller (0808 90XX ranges) Internet - incorporating un-metered access up to 5p (0844 04XX ranges) Internet - metered access up to 5ppm (0844 09XX ranges) Internet - incorporating un-metered access up to 10p (0871 04XX ranges) Internet - metered access up to 10ppm (0871 09XX ranges) Premium Rate Services (numbers beginning 09) 'Content' services (090X XXX ranges) 'Non-Content' services (091X XXX ranges) > message: "if you want me to call you, give me a real phone number." Your choice, based on US experience, as we've discussed before, I think. Fixed line replacement looms large -- in the UK market at least- so effectively you're applying 'telecom apartheid' ;+) Cheers, Mike ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #266 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Jan 30 21:14:48 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0V2EmK18266; Thu, 30 Jan 2003 21:14:48 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 21:14:48 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301310214.h0V2EmK18266@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #267 TELECOM Digest Thu, 30 Jan 2003 21:13:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 267 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity (Joey Lindstrom) Re: T-1 Private Line to Home Network (KJ) Re: Starting up a CLEC (Nitoy) International SMS Starting to Work (Chris Kantarjiev) Re: Dialup While Overseas (Patrick t.) McDonald's Doesn't Own Anything (Ron Chapman) Queries on Tones (Swami) Researcher Reconsiders Flaw Disclosures (Monty Solomon) Broadband Briefings: Stop SBC Action Alert (Monty Solomon) Perspective: The New Jailbird Jingle (Monty Solomon) In Net Attacks, Defining the Right to Know (Monty Solomon) Re: E1 (foo) Re: You Know You Are Having a Bad Telecom Day When ... (Barry Margolin) AT&T Branding (sincak@optonline.net) Re: Cell-Phone Couture (Chuk Gleason) Re: Can Your Cell Phone Impair Your Vision? (David Clayton) Share Day for January (TELECOM Digest Editor) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 09:46:05 -0700 Subject: Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Wed, 29 Jan 2003 20:41:03 -0500 (EST), John Higdon wrote: >> In overlay regions, so long as the two (or more) area codes are >> protected (not used as CO codes within any of these area codes), you >> don't even have to do that. You could easily allow 7-digit dialing >> with no special codes. HOWEVER, the FCC (I think) said "no way" to >> this idea long ago. Rationale: it would be anti-competitive. > It would also be confusing. A person does not necessarily know the > number of the phone he is using at someone else's home, office, > public place. If he doesn't know the number of the phone, he also > doesn't know its area code and would have no idea whether to dial > seven or ten digits. If 10/11 digits are always required, then all > calls from all telephones are dialed the same; there is no worry > about the number of the phone being used. The point becomes moot if the area: 1) Allows 7-digit same-NPA calling, and 2) Also allows that same call to be dialed 10D (and 11D) Your person in the above scenario doesn't know the number of the phone he's using. Fine - no problem. Dial 10D (or 11D). Call goes through. The point of this verbal exercise is to come up with a system that, on the one hand, allows people who ARE moving around from phone to phone (as you note above) to be able to dial out without having to ask someone what the dialing rules are, and on the other, to allow those who own those same phones to know for sure if a call is toll or not (toll-alerting). I think we could, most of us, agree that if such a balance could be achieved, it would be A Good Thing. Certainly some couldn't give a rat's ass if toll alerting were available (the argument was made recently that "we've gotten along fine without it"), but if it can be put into place in areas that did not formerly have it, WITHOUT having a negative impact, then why resist it? Toll-alerting isn't an issue in non-toll-alerting areas because most people in those areas don't know any differently, and if toll-alerting suddenly became available, I think you'd see public support for it rise quite a bit. Anyways, point is, I think such a system is well within our reach, and more importantly, if EVERY telco implemented it, we could finally have some uniform dialing rules EVERYWHERE throughout the NANPA. Wouldn't that be nice? :-) In areas that currently still allow 7D: 1) Allow 7D for home NPA non-toll calls. 2) Allow (permissively) both 10D and 11D on home NPA non-toll calls. 3) Require 11D on all calls, to any NPA, that are toll. In areas where 10D is required: 1) Allow 7D for home NPA non-toll calls. 2) Allow (permissively) both 10D and 11D on home NPA non-toll calls. 3) Require 11D on all calls, to any NPA, that are toll. Hey, whaddaya know? The rules are the same in each case! :-) For the purposes of this argument, I define "toll" as a call that's going to incur per-minute charges. Flat-rate message-unit calls don't count here. Those who travel a lot can simply remember "dial 11D all the time". We can program all numbers in our cellphone as 11D (my current provider already allows this). If someone comes and visits me, and wants to call someone (whether across the street, across town, or across the country), he just dials 11D and doesn't need to ask me how to dial. But when I'm using my own phone, I dial 7D (or 10D if applicable) for most calls, and if I'm about to dial an unfamiliar number, I simply dial it as 7D/10D and see if the call goes through. If I get a message telling me this is a toll call that must be dialed with a "1", then I know the call is going to cost me money and then it's up to me to decide whether or not to redial the call as 11D. Another possible wrinkle: when a 7D or 10D call is intercepted due to it being toll and 11D is required, telco could play a recorded announcement along the lines of "the number you have dialed is a toll call. If you do not wish to incur toll charges, please hang up now. Your call will proceed in 10 seconds." 10 seconds later, the call proceeds as if dialed as 1+10D. This recording would be bypassed if the number was dialed as 11D in the first place. Would something like this not satisfy all the arguments? -- Joey Lindstrom -- Telus Sucks http://www.telussucks.info ------------------------------ From: KJ Subject: Re: T-1 Private Line to Home Network Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 17:52:35 -0600 Thanks alot! Dave Phelps wrote in message news:telecom22.262.7@telecom-digest.org: > In article , nospam@bigfoot.com > says: >> I am replacing my DSL VPN connection to my brokerage firm with a T-1 >> point to point private line. >> How does this change the hardware I need at home to network my three >> computers? I currently use an SMC wireless Access Point for a >> wireless network. Is a wireless network still possible with the T1? >> Will I be able to connect to the T-1 and the internet through another >> DSL line at the same time? >> Thanks, >> Eric > Yes, you can do all of the above. You will need to get a router that > has a serial interface, to which you can connect a T1 CSU/DSU, or, my > preference, a router that has a CSU/DSU built in. If you want > everything in one box, I'd look at a Cisco 1721, with a T1 CSU/DSU > WIC, and an ethernet WIC. It will be able to handle all of your > routing. You might want to consult your IT security staff before > finalizing your plan though. > Dave Phelps > Phone Masters Ltd. > deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ From: nitoy69@hotmail.com (Nitoy) Subject: Re: Starting up a CLEC Date: 30 Jan 2003 17:19:38 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ >> In the process of forming a new LLC company and going to create a >> UNE-P CLEC in Indiana. Is the process easy? Does anyone have any >> horror stories about a CLEC UNE-P going sour? Any help that you >> could give us would be great. Ben Plikerd Benson Communications, >> Inc. > This is a joke, right? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't think it was intended as a > joke. There are still people out there getting into the business. > PAT] Pat- That very well may be, but my *GOD* they must be uninformed. A simple search through your extensive archives would be more than enough to address these questions (then again, maybe it's an SBC ploy in their drive for relief about to be decided on 2-20 by the Commission). ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 17:20:07 PST From: Chris Kantarjiev Subject: International SMS starting to work A friend in the UK and I did something yesterday that didn't used to be possible: we exchanged SMS messages. In particular, I sent an SMS from my Nokia TDMA phone (AT&T Wireless) to his T-mobile UK GSM phone's number, and he got it. That, alone, something bordering on a miracle. Then, he was able to correctly extract the number via the normal mechanism on his phone and reply to it ... and I got it. I got his message in the form of an email-formatted SMS, which means that it had an SMTP return address; when I replied to it as an email, he got the reply! (Replying as an SMS "as a message" on the phone doesn't work, because they're not faking the sender number - it's all zeroes). The domain used in the reply-to address is traceable to Inphomatch, probably the biggest inter-carrier messaging player right now. I know that some of you are yawning out there - you don't care about SMS. Indeed, in the US there is little reason to care about SMS, because the pricing is all wrong. But for international communication, I will gladly pay $0.10 to send an SMS instead of the $1 or so that AWE hits me for an international voice minute... This is admittedly an isolated case; full inter-carrier messaging isn't there yet. For example, I can't get to India wireless phones and they can't reach me. Now, if only AWE would let me trade unused voice minutes in my plan for SMS messages, I'd be quite pleased. (I wonder how much phone spam is being generated through the inphomatch addresses? Most UK phones don't otherwise have a valid SMTP address...) chris ------------------------------ From: Patrick t. Subject: Re: Dialup While Overseas Reply-To: same.as.above@attbi.com Organization: AT&T Broadband Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 04:36:54 GMT On 27 Jan 2003 14:59:39 -0800, a_d_buck@hotmail.com (Austin Dayton Buck) wrote: You actually were probably lucky. Not all pbx's are grounded the same way and you could fry your modem. You should be aware of two things in my experience. 1. A Road Warrior Modem Saver can check the polarity and you can use it to reverse it if you need to. It has lights to show you what is correct. They are cheap, but I don't remember how much mine cost. I don't even remember where I got it as a matter of fact. 2. Sometimes, in the dial instructions, you need to insert one or two commas after the outside line like, 9,,3506566 as an example. You should be able to hear it go through. > I can connect by manually dialing the number by lifting the receiver > of the phone off the cradle, dialing the number, listening for the > carrier tone, then launching Internet Explorer, then hanging up the > phone by putting the receiver back in the cradle. > The last hotel I stayed at in Tokyo (a very nice new Marriott) knew of > the issue/problem and said I need a "PBX box" between my modem and > their phone system. They provided me with a little box about the size > of a deck of cards which I plugged in between my modem and the data > jack in the telephone and, sure enough, I was able to dialup the > connection with no problem. > So I asked them about this magic little box and where could I get one > so I could bring it with me whenever I came to Japan. That they > couldn't tell me. I asked several folks in the hotel and no one could > seem to tell me what it was and where to get one. There were no > identifyng marks on the box either. > I don't have this problem at the Tokyo airport (Narita) so I am > thinking it must be unique to the hotels. I've experienced the problem > at a couple of modern hotels in Japan (Marriott, Hyatt, etc.) So, can > anyone tell me what the heck it is that I need and, if possible, where > (e.g. a web site) to get one? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 00:05:08 -0500 From: Ron Chapman Subject: McDonald's Doesn't Own Anything > Chicago has the ONE McDonald's Restaurant in history which filed bank- > ruptcy and closed; it was located in a housing project area. Ever notice > how McD never actually owns anything, except an occassional 'corporate > store'? PAT] Pat, The book "Fast Food Nation" points out very explicitly how McD's is NOT in the restaurant business; in fact, they're in the REAL ESTATE business. They buy the property and then lease it to the poor sap who sets up a McD's franchise. Those burgers are simply the gimmick required to get business that enables the franchise owner to pay his lease on the property. The book points out exactly what you did: McD's doesn't own anything. They try very hard not to. And yet, somehow they've been caught by surprise by a public that doesn't want to buy their hamburgers, denying them rent from the franchise owners. ------------------------------ From: swami18@lycos.com (Swami) Subject: Queries on Tones Date: 29 Jan 2003 23:34:02 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hi, I have some questions on the interpretation of the Tone tables given in ITU-T E Series Suppl. 2 (Various Tones used in National Networks). 1. For Fiji, the Ringing Tone is specified as 133 * 16 2/3 (16 2/3 Hz modulated by 133 Hz). If it is only possible to generate integer- valued tones, then is it acceptable to generate a 17 Hz tone modulated by 133 Hz? 2. For Australia Dial Tone (PABX), it is given in Footnote (1) "With harmonics applied every 30 ms". What does it mean? Thanks, Swami. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 01:35:22 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Researcher Reconsiders Flaw Disclosures The British computer expert whose research was linked to the weekend's damaging Internet attack pledged Wednesday to reconsider publishing blueprints for attack programs that exploit flaws he discovers in popular software. Internet Security Systems Inc. said it found 247,000 infected computers worldwide, far higher than initial estimates. Researchers found more than 130 software products _ including some protection programs from leading security vendors _ that contain the risky code. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31225245 Subject: Re: David Litchfield talks about the SQL Worm in the Washington Post Date: Jan 29 2003 5:57PM Author: David Litchfield http://online.securityfocus.com/archive/1/309097 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 02:10:10 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Broadband Briefings: Stop SBC Action Alert Published by NetAction Issue No. 26 January 30, 2003 Repost where appropriate. Copyright and subscription info at end of message. In This Issue: Action Alert: Stop SBC About Broadband Briefings Action Alert: Stop SBC Contents of this alert: 1. Stop SBC's licensing fee demand 2. Why SBC must be stopped 3. Talking points 4. Who to contact 5. More background http://www.netaction.org/briefings/brief26.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 02:26:24 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Perspective: The New Jailbird Jingle By Declan McCullagh WASHINGTON--If you've ever used a peer-to-peer network and swapped copyrighted files, chances are pretty good you're guilty of a federal felony. It doesn't matter if you've forsworn Napster, uninstalled Kazaa and now are eagerly padding the record industry's bottom line by snapping up $15.99 CDs by the cartload. Be warned -- you're what prosecutors like to think of as an unindicted federal felon. I'm not joking. A obscure law called the No Electronic Theft (NET) Act that former U.S. President Bill Clinton signed in 1997 makes peer-to-peer (P2P) pirates liable for $250,000 in fines and subject to prison terms of up to three years. (You may want to read it, since you'll likely be hearing more about it soon.) That's a long time to spend cooling your heels in Club Fed. Yet something strange is going on here. So far the Justice Department has made precisely zero prosecutions of peer-to-peer users under the NET Act. http://news.com.com/2010-1071-982121.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 02:13:51 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: In Net Attacks, Defining the Right to Know By KATIE HAFNER with JOHN BIGGS AS electronic sieges go, the so-called Slammer worm that attacked the Internet last weekend fell short of calamitous. Although the rogue program hit tens of thousands of computers and clogged parts of the network all over the world, Slammer paled in comparison with Code Red, the worm that attacked the White House Web site in 2001. By Monday, most of the patching of systems had been accomplished and few traces of Slammer remained. Yet some companies were hit worse than others, notably Bank of America, which discovered that thousands of its ATM's could not dispense cash. And when bank officials disclosed hours later on Saturday that Slammer had created the problem, it highlighted an old debate in the world of computer crime: to tell or not to tell. If your local ATM fails to dispense cash, is the computer simply down, or has a malicious bit of code been set loose on the computer network to which the cash machine is linked? Unless the reason is publicized as widely as Slammer's attack was last weekend, chances are you will never know. Bank of America, as it turned out, went public with the reason for its problems after receiving inquiries from news organizations. "We disclosed it when asked about it," said Juliet Don, a spokeswoman for the bank. "We explained as far as we knew everything that was happening." http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/30/technology/circuits/30secu.html ------------------------------ From: di00enad@ing.hj.se (foo) Subject: Re: E1 Date: 30 Jan 2003 06:47:21 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Thank you for your answers! I have still some questions about E1. If you send an E1 frame how do you know that the reciever of the frame got sync? So that it not only recieves the second half of one frame. In Ethernet or with HDLC you use a preamble and some flags, but how is it solved in E1? As far as I know is it only timeslot 16 that is transmitted using HDLC, the other timeslots are transmitted as they are. Is that correct? ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: You Know You Are Having a Bad Telecom Day When ... Organization: Genuity, Woburn, MA Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 15:14:33 GMT In article , Jeffrey James Bryan Carpenter wrote: > Moral of the story: no matter how many services you set up to provide > redundancy, inadequate testing, lack of preparation, miscommunications, > or not taking backup equipment (or all of these together) will foil > your backup plans. > Completely out of voice communication: 15 long hours. Not a good Monday. You know you're a phone-aholic when that's a disaster and you need triple-redundancy. Barry Margolin, barmar@genuity.net Genuity, Woburn, MA *** DON'T SEND TECHNICAL QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO ME, post them to newsgroups. Please DON'T copy followups to me -- I'll assume it wasn't posted to the group. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 20:07:37 -0500 From: sincak@optonline.net Subject: AT&T Branding Since almost none of the comapnies that use the AT&T name have anything to do with AT&T proper anymore, I'm trying to think of yet more products they can use to dilute their brand with. How about this: AT&T Brand Condoms. "Ladies, if your man is an AT&T sales rep your in luck! He'll never come!" ------------------------------ From: Chuk Gleason Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 20:07:46 -0500 Subject: Re: Cell-Phone Couture Ah, such overwhelming gusts of reality against the tide of hubris and hype!! Thank you!! IIRC, the design of the 'DTMF' keypad went thru a lot and I mean a _lot_ of testing, just for this very reason; reduction of errors, ease of use, etc. 'Cool' designs only last as long as their novelty supersedes their usefullness. Ergonomics usually wins out. Said another way, if you make it easy to do the wrong thing, and hard to do the right thing, no matter how unintentional, you'll get a lot of the wrong thing. And when was the last time you saw a double-injection molded DTMF keypad button, where the digit and lettering were molded out of one color plastic, and a contrasting color around them? (FWIW, the old Stromberg-Carlson plant in Charlottesville, VA had a great in-house plastic molding operation. Double-injection was one of their pride & joy strong points!)('Course, they had a plastics engineer who had worked his way up from making machinery in the tool and die shop. He always said that if you get three German toolmakers and a keg of beer around a toolbench, you will see _MAGIC!_) Most of my current residential phones, cute tho they may be, have keypads with the legends printed on them with some sort of silk-screen or stamping process, by the looks of it. How long is that gonna last, with two teenagers in the house? Bad design gives everything it touches a bad name. Bad 'fashion design' can give good engineering design a bad name; good engineering design cannot make up for bad aesthetics. Chuk Gleason Cary, NC just another guy in the communications trenches.... > From: Joseph > Subject: Re: Cell-Phone Couture > Many of these "fashion" phones are more about being unique looking > rather than practical. This new "Faberge" looking phone from Siemens > while it may look "cool" has limited use as far as practicality. When > people are used to phones that have their keypads laid out in the > common style we've been used to for 30 years i.e. in rows with 123, > 456, 789, and *0# in 4 rows and they make weird designs so that you > cannot make a call without studying the phone to make a correctly > dialed call something's wrong with the design. The Siemens phone is > just their example of poor design. Nokia is guilty of the same thing > with several of their new designs. > As far as what "gimmicks" sell phones Nokia was first with the > interchangeable covers, customizeable ringers and screen graphics so > the other manufacturers followed suit. Immitation is the "sincerest" > form of flattery. > You have to wonder if designers for these phones (and for regular > phones for that matter) give any thought to the real practical > application of use of their products. When Dreyfus designed the touch > tone series phones he designed keys with concave surfaces for a > reason: It makes for much more secure dialing. Other designers for > other phones came along and decided that convex keys look "cool" never > mind that your fingers could easily roll off the keys. You can design > consumer products that are fashionable, but making them so odd as just > to be different doesn't make sense to me. ------------------------------ From: David Clayton Subject: Re: Can Your Cell Phone Impair Your Vision? Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 12:30:51 +1100 Organization: Customer of Connect.com.au Pty. Ltd. Reply-To: dcstar@acslink.net.au Linc Madison contributed the following: > In article , Monty Solomon > wrote: >> In one test, a driver on a phone and one focused solely on the road >> were shown the same series of billboards. The driver not yakking >> remembered seeing 50 percent more billboards than the driver on the >> phone, the study found. > That's a mostly irrelevant point. I can quite safely ignore billboards > while talking on the cellphone, without necessarily ignoring traffic > conditions, stop lights, etc. I'm sure that the cellphone-using > drivers also remembered less about the trees and flowers along the > roadway; so what?? It is probably a good indication of a lessening of peripheral vision, and therefore the driver is probably not allocating as many "CPU cycles" to the task of driving as without the phone. If a cell phone using driver is "x"% less aware of what is happening on the road around him/her, then surely if that "x" is big enough to be a danger then I reckon it is very relevant. > To the extent that the study showed drivers being less attentive to > their driving, that's a real problem. However, drivers paying less > attention to billboards is nothing to be concerned about. ...... Only if you ignore the particular measurement as an example of a potentially bigger problem. Regards, David. David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@acslink.net.au Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As long as you are talking about 'CPU cycles' being used when driving, I would like to tell you about my experiences when *walking* down the sidewalk. Since my brain aneurysm, I cannot even continue walking when I want to use my cellular phone or have a cigarette. I have to stop walking, look in my pocket for the phone (or my cigarettes or whatever), connect the phone with my head dial my number, get an answer, *then* continue walking. Since I walk with sort of a gait, with my cane and all, it simply overtaxes my brain to try and do two or three things at once. If I continued to walk while getting my phone out and dialing, etc I would surely walk off the curb and possibly fall down, tripping on my feet, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 20:19:10 EST From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Share Day for January We are around to the end of the month once again, so I approach all of you, my hat in hand, to ask your indulgence and generosity in meeting the expenses for another month of TELECOM Digest. This Digest is shareware, *not* freeware. If you want freeware, then I suggest you hang around in several or most of the unmoderated newsgroups on Usenet. If you prefer shareware, you also can use our archives and get more than twenty years of telecom-related messages and a variety of technical help related to telephone stuff. Also, if you do decide to help with a donation (you decide what is appropriate; I do very much appreciae hearing from all of you) then in return I will give you an up to date CD of our archives; all the messages from number 1 back in 1981 through a fairly recent issue of the Digest dated in 2003. That's 22 years worth, plus lots of tech reports and history of the industry, etc. We recently added a copy of 'Second Avenue Story', the printed booklet on the fire in New York from 1975, issued by NY Telephone in the summer of 1975. You are welcome to download the many .jpg files of the fire from the account in the Telecom Archives. It all comes on the CD you get in return for your donation. To make a donation by PayPal, go to http://telecom-digest.org and at the very bottom of the index page, look for the PayPal template. Or use any PayPal template: I am 'editor@telecom-digest.org' for the purpose of your donation. If you would rather send something via snail mail that is okay also: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301-0050 In addition to the Archives on the CD, you will also get several telecom-related 'old time radio shows' compliments of Joey Lindstrom who prepares the CD. (Telecom Archives remains a free open-to-all resource on the net for everyone: ftp massis.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives but you do not get the radio shows from this source.) My thanks! Patrick Townson ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #267 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jan 31 13:32:47 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0VIWlh28466; Fri, 31 Jan 2003 13:32:47 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 13:32:47 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301311832.h0VIWlh28466@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #268 TELECOM Digest Fri, 31 Jan 2003 13:33:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 268 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Rochelle Communications Has USB-Based Telephone Simulator (Eworldwire) Re: Legally Kill All Adult Porn in the United States (David B. Horvath) Re: Legally Kill All Adult Porn in the United States (John Hines) Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying (Joey Lindstrom) Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying (Paul A Lee) Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying (joe@obilivan.net) Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying (Stretch) More on Dish (Joey Lindstrom) Students Admit to Cell Phone Cheating (Monty Solomon) Canada's Biggest Identity Theft? (Monty Solomon) FCC Warns Consumers to Beware of "Call Splashing" (Monty Solomon) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 20:53:20 -0500 From: Eworldwire Subject: Rochelle Communications Announces USB-Based Telephone Line Simulator Rochelle Communications Announces USB-Based Telephone Line Simulator and Tester with Integrated Audio AUSTIN, Texas/EWORLDWIRE/January 30, 2003 --- Rochelle Communications, Inc. today announced its Model 3540, 2-Channel Telephone Network Emulator and Tester for USB. This analog telephony tester combines a dual-channel telephone line / terminal simulator with a PC Windows-compatible audio system and a Transmission Impairment Measurement System (TIMS). The Model 3540 represents Rochelle's third generation family of telecommunications testers combining the latest in PC technology USB operation and audio recording / playback and analysis. The result is a test platform that can evolve to meet growing test requirements.It is ideal for R&D applications, but is equally well-suited for production QA and field testing. The Model 3540 is an open tester and can be used for these and other functions: 1. Simulate US and International analog network services, such as Caller ID and Fixed-Line SMS; 2. Simulate network impairments on end-to-end connections with programmable transmit and receive attenuation, noise, near-end echo, crosstalk, and interference; 3. Test the effect of vocoders used in voice over packet applications on voice, DTMF, and Caller ID signals; 4. Test the performance of DTMF receivers used in terminal and enterprise equipment, including IVRs; 5. Measure electrical characteristics of FXS ports on IADs, PBXs, and gateways; 6. Perform end-to-end transmission quality of network equipment and networks. Tests include frequency response, DTMF, noise measurements, and audio quality; and, 7. Investigate equipment and network problems in the field, by recording audio and network signals for later analysis. The Model 3540 Telephone Network Emulator and Tester will be available in March, 2003 at a list price starting at $6,250. HTML: http://www.eworldwire.com/wr/013003/rochelle.htm ONLINE NEWSROOM: http://www.eworldwire.com/profile/rochelle.htm LOGO: http://www.eworldwire.com/profile/rochelle.htm CONTACT: Gilbert Amine President and CEO Rochelle Communications, Inc. 8906 Wall Street, Suite 205 Austin, TX 78754 PHONE: 512.339.8188 FAX: 512.339.1299 EMAIL: gamine@rochelle.com URL: http://www.rochelle.com Copyright 2003 Eworldwire, All rights reserved. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 23:07:26 EST From: dhorvath@cobs.com (David B. Horvath, CCP) Subject: Re: Legally Kill All Adult Porn in the United States; Here is How On Wed, 29 Jan 2003 17:53:47 -0600, PAT wrote: >> Federal laws (18 USC 1462 and 1465) prohibit use of the Internet to >> distribute obscene material. File an online report about internet >> adult obscenity or porn spam. File a report on Sexual Intercourse, >> Sadomasochism, Anal Sex, Masturbation Sexual Bestiality, Excretory >> Functions, Oral Sex, and Lewd Exhibition of the Genitals. >> http://www.obscenitycrimes.org/complaint/default.cfm?action=FOCFormIntro > I would suggest a good 'back door' approach to killing spam (since > so much of it is pornographic in nature) is to consider the > suggestion mentioned above. Thoughts, anyone? While I agree that SPAM is terrible and I hate getting it, unless the email contains obscene material, I don't think *it* would fall under the law. And if the web page is not based in the US (and .com does not equal US) the US government isn't going to do anything about it. Besides, the Feds are too busy going after suspected terrorists. Pennsylvania has a law making it illegal to send porn ads to anyone under 18. But how do they enforce it against some guy in Guam or Nevada or elsewhere? Especially with the deficit the state is running. David B. Horvath, CCP Consultant, Author, International Lecturer, Adjunct Professor Board Member: ICCP Educational Foundation, ICCP Test Council, and Philadelphia Association of Systems Administrators ------------------------------ From: John Hines Subject: Re: Legally Kill All Adult Porn in the United States; Here is How Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 10:43:08 -0600 Organization: www.jhines.org Reply-To: john@jhines.org bonomi@c-ns (Robert Bonomi) wrote: > I hate to say it, but a good *FEDERAL* law is needed. Something > similar to the junk fax law. One that provides relatively _large_ > penalties for each and *every* infraction, *WITH* a 'right of private > action'. IMHO the worth of a law is the amount of money put into enforcing it. Unless money is going to be spent persuing those that offend the law, it is pretty much worthless, since the average person doesn't have the resources to file legally. And the legal system is going to stay that way, to keep from being bogged down in the muck. Yes, there needs to be right of private action, but some well publicized prosecutions would go a long way. ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 09:00:44 -0700 Subject: Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Thu, 30 Jan 2003 20:00:43 -0500 (EST), Our Esteemed Editor wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wonder what would happen if the Tivo > owner did not have his unit plugged into the phone line? My DISH unit > is much like that; it has a place where it is to be plugged into the > phone line, so they can refresh my card, decide how much to bill me > for movies, etc. I have *never*, in the year I have had the unit ever > plugged it into the phone line. Of course I mostly leave it tuned into > the Sky Angel channels (at 61.5 degrees southeast) and rarely watch > 'on demand' movies on it anyway. You think they will ever say anything > about it to me? PAT] I have no experience with DISH, but I do have experience with DirecTV (a once-legal but now-illegal setup, since I'm in Canada) and Bell Expressvu, the latter of which, IIRC, uses the same setup and smartcards as DISH. This notion that you need the phone connection to "refresh my card" is something they certainly lead you to believe, but it's not true. Updates to the software on your smartcard (which is a fully functioning computer in its own right) come down from the satellite, not from the phone connection. If it were otherwise, it would make it much harder to defeat pirates, who could simply come up with a working piece of code for their smartcard, upload it onto the smartcard, install it into the receiver, and then DISCONNECT THE PHONE LINE. The satellite companies are continually sending new smartcard code down the satellite link, which REPROGRAMS the smartcard. If you've got a legit card, the reprogramming works fine, but if you're running a "script", the reprogramming will cause your card to fail (and in some cases, crash the computer into an infinite loop, which is known as "looping" your card). Ask DirecTV pirates (using the older "H" cards) what Black Sunday was all about. None of them were plugged into the phone line but not only were their cards knocked out of action, they were actually PHYSICALLY DAMAGED by an ECM (electronic counter measure) sent down the stream by "Dave". "Dave" is the name by which the entire DirecTV security staff is known. :-) Barry is correct: the telephone connection is so that the satellite provider can receive data about you and your viewing habits, notably the viewing of pay-per-view broadcasts, because data transfer on your dish system is one-way only. I don't know about other systems, but I understand that if you purchase and set up a Bell Expressvu system (in Canada) and DO NOT plug your phone line in, you can rack up a max of $300 in pay-per-view movie viewings before the card will prevent you from watching more (until it can "phone home" and report your viewing habits). Once you connect the phone line, and the system calls home, you can then disconnect and rack up another $300 before repeating (but in theory, if you were doing this, you'd chuck the receiver away and buy another one for $150). Note, however, that this is all a violation of Bell's user agreement. When you sign up, you agree to leave your system connected to your phone line 24/7 (they provide you with a nice *LONG* phone cord too). If you don't, it's grounds for immediate termination of your account. I set my system up in spring of last year and didn't hook up the phone line until late December, and the only reason I did it was cuz, due to a glitch, they screwed me out of some programming and offered me 3 pay-per-view movies free as compensation. I figured I better be plugged in, cuz this offer had a 60-day expiration on it. :-) Nobody ever said boo: I never got any phone calls from Bell asking why in hell my system isn't jacked into the phone line. (I have a second receiver in my bedroom - it is STILL not connected to the phone line and never has been). Unlike what Barry said about Tivo, you don't need to get program guide information from the phone line - this comes down over the satellite stream (up to 48 hours into the future). I suspect, though, that this phone connection *DOES* also track your viewing habits beyond pay-per-view, but I have no proof of this. Certainly they wouldn't want to admit it, because then they'd have to admit it would be a piece of cake to offer pricing based on ACTUAL VIEWING (ie: the more popular channels could receive a directly proportional piece of the revenue, instead of being lumped into a package or tier with other channels and splitting that revenue). They know what we're watching but have every reason not to admit it. :-) -- Joey Lindstrom -- Telus Sucks http://www.telussucks.info ------------------------------ From: Paul A Lee Subject: Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 11:42:27 -0500 In TELECOM Digest V22 #266, our esteemed Editor wrote (in part): > If I were 'playing by the rules' I would be leaving my Echostar unit > hooked to the phone line at all times so that DISH could download the > little card in there which keeps it working. > But the installation book which was left here by the installer when > he put in the Echostar unit for me was very explicit: keep it plugged > in the phone line all the time; you never know when we might be > calling. Maybe that accounts for the ring/no one speaks up I get on > the phone sometimes. I'm a DISH subscriber. Based on the explanations given on their web site and their support channels, the receiver only dials out, and only to update pay-per-view use and billing. That's plausible to me, because I have my two receivers behind a Panasonic key system, where they can't get incoming calls. They dial a trunk access code, so that the call will go out on the line that has ANI matching my phone number of record. That's how they validate the subscriber, along with the smart card number and receiver number. My understanding is that the receiver will allow you to order and watch up to a dollar amount of PPV programming that is recorded on the unit's smart card -- perhaps one or two movies -- without having to successfully call DISH. Leave the phone line unplugged after that, or when trying to order a big ticket PPV event, and you'll get some kind of message on the screen about the phone line being out of order. Otherwise, the receiver doesn't seem to care. All of the subscription programming authorizations come via the bird. I saw this in practice when I called up to subscribe to my local affiliates (hoping to get a cleaner signal than the cable company provides). The new channels got turned on in my receiver without it making any call. I then saw that DISH is relaying off the air signals, instead of direct satellite feeds, for the local stations, making them at least as bad as the cable signals, so I called back and cancelled. Again, the channels were disabled without the receiver making any call. Paul A Lee Voice: +1 717 730-8355 Sr Telecom Engineer [Voice & Transmission] Fax: +1 717 975-3789 Rite Aid Corporation, Telecomm, 30 Hunter Lane, Camp Hill, PA 17011-2410 ------------------------------ From: joe@obilivan.net Subject: Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 09:28:52 GMT Organization: Cox Communications Just *think* about what The Phone Company knows! They might even listen to people talking on the phone. Monty Solomon wrote: > At 12:40 AM -0500 1/30/03, Monty Solomon wrote: >> fact that TiVo subscribers were replaying the commercials; I was >> shocked to hear that TiVo could and would gather and report >> information on what users were doing with their boxes. >> Does anyone have any more technical details of this tracking? Or is >> there some non-technical means (i.e., anecdotes) that TiVo actually >> gatherd this information? > Digital Big Brother Poses Threat to Consumer Privacy > Monday, July 26, 1999 > http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/07/26/BU56448.DTL > When Big Brother knows you watch "Big Brother" > Sep. 11, 2000 > http://salon.com/tech/view/2000/09/11/tivo/ > The Privacy Wars > March 7th, 2001 > http://archives.theconnection.org/archive/2001/03/0307a.shtml > TiVo's Data Collection and Privacy Practices > 3/26/01 > http://www.privacyfoundation.org/privacywatch/report.asp?id=62&action=0 > TiVo: Watching You Watch TV > 3/26/01 > http://www.privacyfoundation.org/commentary/tipsheet.asp?id=38&action=0 > Response to SpyTV, interactive television, and free software > 22 Mar 2001 > http://www.politechbot.com/p-01843.html > TiVo accused of privacy violations; more on "SpyTV" debate > 26 Mar 2001 > http://www.politechbot.com/p-01850.html > More on TiVo and privacy concerns, by Dana Hawkins > 26 Mar 2001 > http://www.politechbot.com/p-01853.html > Video monitoring order blasted by privacy groups > May. 03, 2002 > http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/3194142.htm [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually Joe, telco *does* listen in. It is called 'service monitoring' and it is a rather touchy matter. They have to listen now and then to a small percentage of the traffic to be assured the system is working correctly, but the people who are authorized to do it are sworn to total and absolute secrecy at all times. Never talk about it; never reveal anything in any conversations overheard, etc. I guess because telephony is such an 'old technology' (as compared to 'newer' stuff like satellite recievers, etc) some people 'just assume' phones do not need any type of oversight like that. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Stretch Subject: Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 05:51:20 GMT Organization: Road Runner - Texas Steve Kl. wrote in message news:telecom22.266.4@telecom-digest.org: > In article , > John Higdon wrote: >> It is absolutely true: TiVo does gather information, as do the rival >> services. But then, so do the satellite companies, as well as many cable >> companies. What's new? > They tell you this up front. I've known it ever since we've had a > TiVo, and frankly, I could care less. Let them try to mine the data > however they want, they're not really going to come up with anything > earthshattering anyway. Tivo also offers you the option to be removed from the data collection process; I asked them to do it while I was talking to them once, and the rep cheerfully complied without question. The WSJ had an interesting article about how tivo's guesses at what you'd like to watch (which are not driven by the usage data, only by what you thumbs-up and thumbs-down) can make somewhat amusing mis-assumptions. I've been impressed by how well mine guesses what I'd like. Unless my wife has screwed it up by giving a triple thumbs-up to some Martha Stewart show. Again. ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 09:04:36 -0700 Subject: More on Dish Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Thu, 30 Jan 2003 20:00:43 EST, editor@telecom-digest.org wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think DISH certainly does study their > viewer's habits. If I were 'playing by the rules' I would be leaving > my Echostar unit hooked to the phone line at all times so that DISH > could download the little card in there which keeps it working. Of > course I do not 'really' have DISH services; I do have Sky Angel which > uses DISH equipment to operate on. But the installation book which > was left here by the installer when he put in the Echostar unit for > me was very explicit: keep it plugged in the phone line all the time; > you never know when we might be calling. Maybe that accounts for the > ring/no one speaks up I get on the phone sometimes. PAT] Again, I have no experience with DISH, but with both DirecTV and Bell Expressvu (again, the latter is the same system as DISH), THEY DO NOT CALL YOU. Instead, your system phones home, via a toll-free number. -- Joey Lindstrom -- Telus Sucks http://www.telussucks.info ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 22:21:41 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Students Admit to Cell Phone Cheating Six University of Maryland students have admitted cheating on an accounting exam by using their cell phones to receive text messages with the answers, the school said Thursday. Another six students were implicated in the case. The scheme worked this way: Test-takers brought their cell phones into the exam with them. They used the phones to contact friends outside the classroom. The friends looked up the exam answer key that had been posted on the Internet by the professor once the test had started. Then the friends messaged the answers back to the test-takers. Officials with the university business school said they caught the students in a sting: A fake answer key with bogus answers was posted online after the exam began last month; then the exams were checked to see which test-takers put down the bogus answers. The use of cell phones is a new twist. Many phones allow text messages to be passed back and forth silently. The accounting exam was monitored by proctors walking the aisles who failed to notice the cheating. http://news.lycos.com/news/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=637915 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 22:38:57 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Canada's Biggest Identity Theft? By Drew Cullen Posted: 30/01/2003 at 14:47 GMT IBM has lost a hard drive containing the records of 180,000 clients of an insurance company. Details include "names, addresses, beneficiaries, social insurance numbers, pension values, pre-authorized checking information and mothers' maiden names", according to wire reports. Anything else? Oh yes, their bank account details. But is it carelessness, or is it theft? No-one knows yet, but the hard-drive was stored in a supposedly secure facility in Regina, SK, at ISM Canada, an IBM subsidiary. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/29117.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 22:00:41 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Warns Consumers to Beware of "Call Splashing" What Is "Call Splashing"? When you place a call from a public phone (a payphone, hotel, or airport phone, for example), your call may be routed to a distant call center before being "handed off" to your chosen long distance carrier. Your preferred long distance carrier might then, either unintentionally or intentionally, bill you as if your call originated from the distant call center, rather than from your actual location. As a result, you may be charged higher long distance rates for the call than what you expected. This is called "call splashing," and it may be in violation of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules. For more information on call splashing, including tips for avoiding it, go to: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/callsplashing.html ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #268 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jan 31 14:34:37 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h0VJYb729335; Fri, 31 Jan 2003 14:34:37 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 14:34:37 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200301311934.h0VJYb729335@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #269 TELECOM Digest Fri, 31 Jan 2003 14:35:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 269 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson State Department Will Open Visa Database to Police Officers (M Solomon) Operator, Get Me the Web Server (Monty Solomon) Re: International SMS Starting to Work (Joseph) Re: 10-digit Dialing Comes to New York (Neal McLain) Re: AT&T Branding (John Higdon) Re: International SMS Starting to Work (Burkitt-Gray Alan) Re: Queries on Tones (Gavin Rogers) Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity (John Higdon) Re: More McDonald's / Wendy's Thoughts (Daryl R Gibson) Re: Starting up a CLEC (Patrick t.) Re: Calling Party Pays to Cellular (John R. Levine) Re: FCC Allows Contracts Between Apartment Owners/Telecom (Stanley Cline) Denver Post: Group Sues to Block Federal 'No Call' Rules (Phil Earnhardt) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 23:26:06 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: State Department Link Will Open Visa Database to Police Officers By JENNIFER 8. LEE WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 - Law enforcement officials across the country will soon have access to a database of 50 million overseas applications for United States visas, including the photographs of 20 million applicants. The database, which will become one of the largest offering images to local law enforcement, is maintained by the State Department and typically provides personal information like the applicant's home address, date of birth and passport number, and the names of relatives. It is a central feature of a computer system linkup, scheduled within the next month, that will tie together the department, intelligence agencies, the F.B.I. and police departments. The new system will provide 100,000 investigators one source for what the government designates "sensitive but unclassified" information. Officials see it as a breakthrough for law enforcement, saying it will help dismantle the investigative stumbling blocks that were roundly criticized after the Sept. 11 attacks. At the same time, they acknowledge the legal and policy questions raised by information sharing between intelligence agencies and local law enforcement, and critics have cast a wary eye as well at the visa database. One other effect of the new system is that for the first time, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies linked by it will be able to send one another encrypted e-mail. Previously, security concerns about the open Internet often caused sensitive information to be faxed, mailed or sent by courier. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/31/national/31COMP.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 23:35:10 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Operator, Get Me the Web Server By SARAH MILSTEIN YOUR computer can be your stereo, your television, your video recorder and your fax machine. Not to snub word processing, but your computer can provide your phone service, too. Many companies offer cheap or even free local and long-distance service for calls made through your Internet connection rather than your phone lines. For calls within the United States, 1 or 2 cents a minute is common, and calls to Europe tend to be about 4 cents a minute. Look for per-minute rates of about 8 cents to Brazil and 29 cents to India. Some companies offer thousands of minutes or unlimited long-distance calls for a flat monthly fee. And some, once you have the right equipment, allow you to call anywhere on the planet at no charge. A portable number that allows you to be reached anywhere in the world, caller ID, call forwarding, Web-based voice mail and other features are often included in Internet calling plans. Many companies also sell calling cards with low per-minute rates that allow you to dial over the Internet from any phone with no special equipment. Most services allow you to track your usage online as well. It sounds great, but getting good sound is another story. While some services allow you to use a dial-up connection and minimal equipment, like your PC's speaker and a small microphone, it often sounds as if you are calling the moon while using a couple of bananas for headsets. There can be an amusing "Wow, so this is how the first phones sounded!" element to such calls. But the delays, echoes and static make them more frustrating than they're worth. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/30/technology/circuits/30basi.html ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: International SMS Starting to Work Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 21:08:39 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: joeofseattle@yahoo.com On Thu, 30 Jan 2003 17:20:07 PST, Chris Kantarjiev wrote: > A friend in the UK and I did something yesterday that didn't used to > be possible: we exchanged SMS messages. > In particular, I sent an SMS from my Nokia TDMA phone (AT&T Wireless) > to his T-mobile UK GSM phone's number, and he got it. That, alone, > something bordering on a miracle. Then, he was able to correctly > extract the number via the normal mechanism on his phone and reply to > it ... and I got it. > I got his message in the form of an email-formatted SMS, which means > that it had an SMTP return address; when I replied to it as an email, > he got the reply! (Replying as an SMS "as a message" on the phone > doesn't work, because they're not faking the sender number - it's all > zeroes). The domain used in the reply-to address is traceable to > Inphomatch, probably the biggest inter-carrier messaging player right > now. > I know that some of you are yawning out there - you don't care about > SMS. Indeed, in the US there is little reason to care about SMS, > because the pricing is all wrong. But for international communication, > I will gladly pay $0.10 to send an SMS instead of the $1 or so that > AWE hits me for an international voice minute. > This is admittedly an isolated case; full inter-carrier messaging > isn't there yet. For example, I can't get to India wireless phones and > they can't reach me. > Now, if only AWE would let me trade unused voice minutes in my plan > for SMS messages, I'd be quite pleased. > (I wonder how much phone spam is being generated through the inphomatch > addresses? Most UK phones don't otherwise have a valid SMTP address...) Part of the problem with intercarrier SMS at least as relates to SMS between countries is that for many countries in Europe, Asia and the middle east mobiles all have mobile specific area codes so the carrier's message center just needs to know which area codes are mobile specific. In North America all telephones whether POTS or otherwise are all homogenized into the numbering scheme. In order for the foreign carrier's message center to be able to send a message to a North American number they have to have the area code and prefix programmed into the center's database. Since there are litterally millions of area codes and prefixes that need to be entered into the database number to number SMS is a project. I used to not be able to receive SMS from Israel but now I can and I believe it's because the foreign carrier has my area code and prefix programmed into their database. The only other option is the conversion of the North American number into a "phone" email address. This is really a "kludge." Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I dunno about other folks, but I genuinly do not like typing with my thumb, and remembering to tap one, two or three times for each letter, or four times for PQRS. I do not like the 150 character limitation per message. I have a Nokia 5165 from Cingular Wireless. Some phones are a little better. Erickson (also sold by the Cingular Wireless dealer here) offers a *tiny* keyboard (called a 'chat board') which plugs into the bottom of the phone where the headset/power/car adapter goes. That eliminates the need to type (or rather tap) with your thumb -- you get to poke with a finger instead -- and since each character is represented there on the 'chat board' you no longer have to remember the proper number of taps to give. That's an improvement to say the least. Now, if the Nokia people would use a LARGER keyboard (for regular typing) and connect it with a small ribbon connector to the bottom of the phone and allow a buffer somewhat larger than 150 characters, it would be a good alternative to email. When I rarely get SMS things to the email version of my wireless phone ( 6203306774@mobile.cingular.com ) I usually just ignore it unless the message sender includes a phone number for a call back. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 22:19:28 -0600 From: Neal McLain Reply-To: nmclain@annsgarden.com Organization: Ann's Garden Subject: Re: 10-digit Dialing Comes to New York AllstonParkingRefugee@hotmail.com wrote: > 11-digit dialing is coming to NYC on February 1, 2003. NYC > had managed to hang onto 7 digit dialing even with its overlays > for a few years, thanks to the NYS PSC who fought the FCC and > lost over this issue. And believe it or not, even the 212-Centric The New Yorker magazine has finally given up and accepted it. For years, The New Yorker (which one would assume includes all five boroughs within its definition of "New York") has refused to print 212 in its "Goings on About Town" section, even though they included area codes with non-212 numbers. But the February 3 issue finally includes 212. Neal McLain nmclain@annsgarden.com ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: AT&T Branding Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 22:22:25 -0800 In article , sincak@optonline.net wrote: > Since almost none of the comapnies that use the AT&T name have > anything to do with AT&T proper anymore, I'm trying to think of yet > more products they can use to dilute their brand with. How about > this: AT&T Brand Condoms. "Ladies, if your man is an AT&T sales rep > your in luck! He'll never come!" Watch it! You're treading on a very sore topic in these parts! I almost got run out of the Digest for merely suggesting that brand names don't mean what they used to! John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: Alan Burkitt-Gray Subject: Re: International SMS starting to work Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 10:13:15 -0000 Chris Kantarjiev wrote: > A friend in the UK and I did something yesterday that didn't used to > be possible: we exchanged SMS messages. A North American miracle, no more than that. In the rest of the world it's standard and completely unexceptional to send and receive text messages internationally. Inter-carrier SMS messaging both within each country and across any number of borders has been common for five or six years. MMS (picture) messaging started up last year and interfaces between carriers are now going into operation (most UK operators now exchange MMS messages). For example, last week I texted ["text" is now a verb: to send an SMS message] a business contact in Malaysia thanking her for her assistance in a project and reporting on a meeting. I got a reply on my cellphone about five minutes later. Cost: almost zero. No messing about with SMPT gateways: just straight texting, phone to phone. I wouldn't expect anything else. About the only place in the world I can't reliably send and receive text messages is North America. Alan Burkitt-Gray Editor, Global Telecoms Business Euromoney Institutional Investor plc, Nestor House, Playhouse Yard, London EC4V 5EX, UK tel +44 20 7779 8518 fax +44 20 7779 8248 e-mail aburkitt@euromoneyplc.com www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com ------------------------------ From: Gavin Rogers Subject: Re: Queries on Tones Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 17:25:42 GMT Organization: Customer of Telstra Internet Direct Swami wrote: > 2. For Australia Dial Tone (PABX), it is given in Footnote (1) "With > harmonics applied every 30 ms". What does it mean? I am unfamiliar with the formal description of the dialing tones, but the 'harmonics applied every 30ms' might describe the 'warble' sound our dialtone has had ever since it was mechanically generated and has since been emulated with digital equipment. Sound snippet here: http://vk6hgr.echidna.id.au/sound/dialtone.wav Also, most PABXs I've used *also* use PSTN dialtone although one used the more US-like 'buzz'. In my case, the modem I was working with had no difficulty detecting any of the dial tones. Regards, Amateur radio station VK6HGR http://vk6hgr.ampr.org/ Email : grogers@vk6hgr.echidna.id.au Ampr : grogers@vk6hgr.ampr.org Packet: vk6hgr@vk6hgr.#per.#wa.aus.oc ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 18:33:11 -0800 In article , Joey Lindstrom wrote: > For the purposes of this argument, I define "toll" as a call that's > going to incur per-minute charges. Flat-rate message-unit calls don't > count here. What about timed message units? "Local" calls from all businesses in California are charged and timed. In other words, a call to next door is ticking away charges just like "long distance". "1" or no "1"? > Would something like this not satisfy all the arguments? Except for your definition of toll. All calls from a measured phone in California are charged by the minute. Does that make them all "toll"? John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: Daryl R Gibson Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 19:39:52 -0700 Subject: More McDonald's / Wendy's Thoughts >> Daryl Gibson wrote: > editor@telecom-digest.org wrote: >> Of course, now I eat at Wendys ... >> Daryl > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, Wendy's is no different in their > ownership routine are they? I think in general they have better > hamburgers and salad bars, etc, but aren't they run under the same > 'business principles' as the Golden Arches? They are certainly franchised like McDonald's, Pizza Hut, etc. Overall, though, I think their service is substantially better. It's not unusual for me to pull up to a Wendy's, pay the bill at one window, and the crew at the pickup window is already hanging out the window with my order -- which is usually a "special" order (no onions). > The McD in Skokie has been there over forty years. As close as > Skokie is to Des Plaines (where McD has their famous store number > one (the very first franchise, dating from back about fifty years), > I think Skokie was number two or number three in their history. I > know it has been remodled and refurbished two or three times in its > history. And I know Skokie changed from a corporate location to a > franchise a few years ago. An interesting history note here related to Chicago area McDonald's is that the first (or one of the first) Ronald McDonalds was Willard Scott, who later became everybody's favorite weatherman on NBC. He was in Chicago local TV at the time. > Now and then I read the legal notices in the newspapers, and I > remember seeing one day a few years ago that the McDonald's Real > Estate Corporation sold Skokie to a new entity called the '4900 > Dempster Boulevard Corporation' which was the shell corporation for > the new owners, another corporation. Possibly they just sold the real estate underneath it. Lots of times developers will incorporate a specific company for the mere purpose of acquiring a particular parcel. It offers some tax and liability advantages. Sometimes, it may be a corporation where the previous landowner may retain an interest; other times, it may be a liability issue, and the owner of the shell company is the original owner, but under a limited liability company. It's a method used to isolate the owner from possible lawsuit, as I understand it, similar to a real estate trust for a piece of personal property. That's similar, in one way, to the way AT&T actually controlled the Bell Operating Companies, which themselves traded stock. Mountain States Tel and Tel, for example, had their own shareholder meetings; but AT&T was the controlling shareholder. They kept the Bell companies separate for tax and regulatory, as well as historical purposes. > I dunno why none of the owners of McD places ever want to give their > names and actual addresses. The one here in Independence is the same > way. It is owned by some guy who is represented by a corporate > attorney out of Tulsa. He has five or six stores, including > Coffeyville. I don't think anyone in town has ever met him. I guess it varies from place to place. McD usually (or used to) requires franchise owners to maintain a significant involvement in the franchises they own. In this, they are different from many other franchising companies, who sell a franchise to an absent owner, who may only darken the door of the store once or twice a year. They have relaxed their ownership standards a bit, though, I guess. I notice, though, that McD just showed their first-ever quarterly operating loss. Perhaps I'm not the only one that changed to Wendy's. > Isn't Pizza Hut operated the same way, store by store? I know > the Pizza Hut here in Independence *was* 'owned by' the one in Coffey- > ville for many years. Six months ago the corporation built a new Pizza > Hut right next door to the old one, then the old one closed totally > and new owners took over the new one, no connection to C-ville. PAT] Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell are owned by the same company; they franchise out many stores, and keep ownership of quite a few. It's possible that the company wanted to change the Pizza Hut (most of the ones I've seen where such changes have been made have resulted in the Pizza Hut going to delivery only, or co-branded with KFC/Taco Bell), and the existing franchisees either didn't have the necessary capital, or were unwilling to go along. There was a Pizza Hut a few blocks from my home that was closed. A new store, delivery/pickup only, was built near to the local Wal-Mart. Most fast food operators are operating under franchise agreements; the company dictates a standard operating procedure, sells the brand, and collects a piece of each sale. As long as the franchisee sticks to the operating rules, both companies tend to make money. That means, of course, that you get both bad franchisees and good ones. The local McDonald's, as well as others that I see in my travels, always have posted who the owning franchisee is, Provo area McDonald's, owned by a couple named Hall) as does the local Jiffy Lubes (Color Country Lubes, but the company is out of Oregon), the local Krispy Kreme (Utah Doughnuts, Inc.), and the local Domino's (Beehive Pizza, if memory serves). Wendy's, Sonic, Burger King, Subway, Arby's are all franchised operations. The parent company may own some stores, but not all. The franchisees rarely make a big deal out of the franchisee names, just because they are selling the "Big" name on the sign out front. You buy Texaco, not knowing that the company behind the sign (at present) is Royal Dutch Shell or Saudi Aramco; my "normal" Texaco is owned by a bunch of dentists, who also own the Hampton Inn next door. They franchise the name from Shell. I guess when Shell loses the right to the name, they'll franchise it from Chevron/Texaco. Most people don't care that their Marriott hotel may be owned by an Arab sheik, or that the Las Vegas Hilton isn't owned by Hilton (even though it used to be). I don't care that my local Jiffy Lube is owned by a man in Oregon, (although like most things, it interests me), unless the store manager makes me mad. Nothing telecom-related in this, of course -- but it's interesting, nevertheless. Daryl ---------------------------------------------------------------- "As you ramble through life, brother, no matter what your goal, keep your eye upon the doughnut, and not upon the hole" --Dr. Murray Banks, quoting a menu ---------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.drgibson.com http://www.salesstar.com Personal Motivation and Positive Attitude [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I will provide the ob-telecom thing here. Radio Shack has (and McDonald's did for a few years and maybe still) a way to call from *any* of their stores to any other of their stores, via the '700' (or is it '500' ?) area code. In Radio Shack's case the clerk dials 1-700 plus 'RS' plus the five digit store number. I think McDonalds did the same thing with the 'prefix' MCD plus four digits for the store number. Just an interesting oddity to keep this thread sort of telecom-related. ------------------------------ From: Patrick t. Subject: Re: Starting up a CLEC Reply-To: same.as.above@attbi.com Organization: AT&T Broadband Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 03:18:02 GMT On Mon, 27 Jan 2003 23:02:08 -0500, Unity Corp wrote: > In the process of forming a new LLC company and going to create a > UNE-P CLEC in Indiana. Is the process easy? Does anyone have any > horror stories about a CLEC UNE-P going sour? Any help that you could > give us would be great. > Ben Plikerd > Benson Communications, Inc. Customers are easy to get, lots and lots. The problem that gets them every time is the time to get the customer up and running. Budget a lot longer than you think you need, and then add more and you should do all right. If you want more info, you can email me and I may be able to help you with some issues. ------------------------------ Date: 30 Jan 2003 22:53:38 -0500 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Calling Party Pays to Cellular Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA >> It's not just wireless. carriers ... surcharge calls to British >> 07xx, 08xx, and 09xx numbers, which aren't wireless. They're >> various flavors of location-independent and premium numbers. > Nope, UK mobile live in the 07XXX range; Hmmn, you're right. I know I've seen premium 070x numbers in the recent past but I can't find any now. >> message: "if you want me to call you, give me a real phone number." > Your choice, based on US experience, as we've discussed before, I think. > Fixed line replacement looms large -- in the UK market at least- so > effectively you're applying 'telecom apartheid' ;+) Au contraire, you have it backwards. We have growing fixed line replacement, too. The ill-considered UK system creates telecom apartheid where none should exist. On my desk sit a normal phone connected to my ILEC, a phone connected to a VoIP box plugged into my network router, and a cell phone. All three of them have numbers of the form +1 607 NXX-XXXX. It costs a caller the same to call any of them. Unless you're a telecom weenie, you can't tell which one is which. In most areas you can port your number between ILEC and VoIP, and if a recent petition from cell carriers is accepted, you'll be able to port phone numbers among all three. That's how a level playing field works. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: Stanley Cline Subject: Re: FCC Allows Exclusive Contracts Between Apartment Owners/Telecom Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 22:55:40 -0500 Organization: Roamer1 Communications - Dunwoody, GA, USA Reply-To: sc1-news@roamer1.org On Thu, 30 Jan 2003 14:54:14 PST, Patrick Townson wrote: > FCC Allows Exclusive Contracts Between Apartment Owners and Telecom > Providers http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030130/dcth028_1.html The actual FCC order, in pdf format, is at: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-9A1.pdf A couple of important things to note: 1) This order applies ONLY to video ("cable TV") providers, *not* to telephone companies. The issue of access rights of telcos is being addressed in another proceeding. 2) The FCC actually kept the status quo for the most part -- the only real change is some clarification of the rights "cable TV" providers and apartment owners/condo associations have when a "cable TV" provider leaves a particular building to be replaced by another provider. I'm a bit disappointed by the FCC keeping the status quo in regard to exclusive contracts and the like -- as I've posted here in the past, IMO, many "alternative" providers of "cable" service to apartments and condos provide poor service, and the FCC's (in)action only stands to protect "problem" providers from any competitive pressure to improve, especially in buildings/complexes where tenants/unit owners can't install satellite dishes because of a lack of an "exclusive use" area such as a patio. Stanley Cline -- sc1 at roamer1 dot org -- http://www.roamer1.org/ "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might be a law against it by that time." -/usr/games/fortune ------------------------------ From: Phil Earnhardt Subject: Denver Post: Group Sues to Block Federal 'No Call' Rules Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 21:29:37 -0700 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E33%257E1145012%257E,00.html Thursday, January 30, 2003 - Two Colorado telemarketers and a trade association have sued to block federal rules that would bar calls to consumers who register for a national 'no-call list.' The Federal Trade Commission approved the registry, similar to one in place in Colorado, last month. Congress must provide funding before it can go into effect, according to the FTC web- site. The FTC couldn't be reached for comment late Wednesday. Consumers already have a variety of ways to block unwanted calls, including call screening and electronic devices, the suit said. The rules would inflict irreparable harm on large segments of the telemarketing industry without providing a substantial benefit to consumers, the suit said. [...]" --phil [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Now, if they want to change that new law, and include a provision to make it a **very serious offense** for telemarketers to use tricks to avoid caller ID and other telco blocking techniques (such as privacy manager) then I could possibly understand the telemarketer's complaint. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! 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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #269 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Jan 31 20:36:42 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h111ag003353; Fri, 31 Jan 2003 20:36:42 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 20:36:42 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302010136.h111ag003353@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #270 TELECOM Digest Fri, 31 Jan 2003 20:37:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 270 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson ICB Heads-up Headlines (Judith Oppenheimer) Google-Opoly: The Game No One but Google Can Play (Monty Solomon) Transfer of Calls Without a PBX? (Ignacio Perez) To Toll or Not to Toll, That is the Toll (Joey Lindstrom) Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying (Rob Levandowski) Telecom Classifieds (Steve Christie) Re: Denver Post: Group Sues to Block Federal 'No Call' Rule (John Higdon) Re: More McDonald's / Wendy's Thoughts (Paul A Lee) Re: International SMS Starting to Work (Joseph) Re: International SMS Starting to Work (Robert Woolley) Re: Calling Party Pays to Cellular (Richard D G Cox) End of Another Month; Shareware Day Once Again (Patrick Townson) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Judith Oppenheimer Subject: ICB Heads-up Headlines Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 17:15:44 -0500 ICB HeadsUp Headlines for the period ending January 31, 2003 from http://ICBTollFreeNews.com - Covering the Political, Legal and Marketing Arenas of 800, ENUM and Dot Com. GEOGRAPHIC INTEGRITY TODAY - NONGEOGRAPHIC INTEGRITY TOMORROW? Is the VoIP issue, number exhaust? To regulate or not to regulate? Or number integrity? CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article_free.cfm?articleId=5832 RULING SAYS MAN CAN KEEP 1-800-MERCEDES A federal appeals court ruling issued Thursday allows a Bloomington man to keep the telephone number for his communications business. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article_free.cfm?articleId=5831 ITU LOBBYING FOR GLOBAL REGULATIONS "We're from the ITU and we're here to help you congregate to regulate yourself in an undemocratic manner"? ICANNWatch reports that this week ITU Secretary General Yoshio Utsumi repeated his call for a global cyberlaw agreement, suggesting topics could include Internet taxation, freedom of speech, IP rights, and privacy. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article_free.cfm?articleId=5829 NUMBER OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL We have a whole pot load of issues to deal with such as "What is the effect of putting billions of numbers into the existing DNS system? Security, authorization, number ownership and control." CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article_free.cfm?articleId=5826 NTIA TO HOST VOIP ROUNDTABLE The Department of Commerce will hold a demonstration of its new VoIP telephone system. Discussions of the VoIP marketplace, policy and regulatory implications will be moderated by Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Nancy J. Victory. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article_free.cfm?articleId=5825 THE DNS IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A BEST-GUESS SERVICE VeriSign should not be allowed, through its monopoly on the .com and .net gTLDs, to destroy the coherence of the DNS for its own short-term profit. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article_free.cfm?articleId=5824 ICANN AND NEULEVEL SETTLE Class action lawsuit makes its point: .biz launch was an illegal lottery. Claims must be postmarked by February 28, 2003. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article_free.cfm?articleId=5823 UDRPlaw.net SPECIAL REPORT 2002 Cases of the Year: UDRPlaw.net reviews some of the more interesting, controversial and relevant domain name decisions of the past year. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article_free.cfm?articleId=5822 THIRD LEVEL DOMAIN TUTORIAL .... by John Berryhill, by way of explanation to the DNSO's UDRP task force. This issue has come up in UDRP disputes, and will no doubt come up in other arenas as well. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article_free.cfm?articleId=5819 SHOULD TRADEMARKS RULE THE WEB? A counselor for the U.S. Small Business Administration and Florida Supreme Court certified mediator named Jeff Davies is asking a U.S. District Court judge to bar ICANN from giving trademark holders preemptive entitlement to domain names before the general public. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article_free.cfm?articleId=5817 CCTLD GOVERNANCE PROJECT University of Ottawa Law School Professor Michael A. Geist has launched a new website highlighting research into the relationship between national governments and ccTLDs. The site features information from 45 countries including relevant legislation, policy positions, and links to relevant organizations. It also features ccTLD governance news as well as a regular update service. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article_free.cfm?articleId=5816 WHOIS TASK FORCE REPORT RELEASED Constituency Impact Reviews and extensive comments have been submitted and are worth review relative not only to DNS whois but other databases in various arenas. These are valuable assets with long-term ramifications. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article_free.cfm?articleId=5815 ITU COURTS GOVERNMENTS AND CCTLD MANAGERS The ITU is hosting a Workshop on Member States' Experiences with ccTLDs in Geneva on March 3-4, 2003. "The purpose of this open workshop is to begin to work with Member States and Sector Members, recognizing the activities of other appropriate entities, to review Member States' ccTLD and other related experiences, in accordance with Resolution 102 as revised at the Plenipotentiary Conference in Marrakesh (2002)." Nary a word of ICANN has been heard. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article_free.cfm?articleId=5813 ICANN'S GOT ITS OWN PLANS - ENUM PLANS ICANN plans to hold a workshop on ENUM in connection with the March 2003 ICANN meeting in Rio de Janero. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article_free.cfm?articleId=5814 NEUSTAR TO MONITOR G-RATED .KIDS.US; IN EXCHANGE, CONGRESS AGREES TO DOUBLE IT'S LUCRATIVE CONTRACT James Casey, policy director for NeuStar, said the company is up to the task [of policing '.kids.us' content]. "We have to make sure we do it right for the children," Casey said. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article_free.cfm?articleId=5811 EVERY 3.6 SECONDS SOMEONE DIES FROM HUNGER http://www.hungersite.com/ Subscribe and unsubscribe to this MailList at http://ICBTollFreeNews.com. C 2003 ICB, Inc. All rights reserved. ------------------------------ Reply-To: Monty Solomon From: Monty Solomon Subject: Google-Opoly: The Game No One but Google Can Play Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 16:31:42 -0500 The strange Google lawsuit over its page-ranking monopoly. By Dahlia Lithwick Practically everybody who uses the Internet agrees that Google deserves its status as the top Web search engine. Practically everybody but the Oklahoma-based online advertising network SearchKing, which filed suit last fall decrying the way Google ranks the Web sites it searches. More than anything, the suit proves that when you pit the questionable virtue of an Internet parasite against the dubious integrity of an Internet monopolist, you're left with a case that makes everyone just a little bit nauseous. http://slate.msn.com/id/2077875/ ------------------------------ From: iperez@volcanomail.com (Ignacio Perez) Subject: Transfer of Calls Without a PBX? Date: 31 Jan 2003 13:39:54 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hi there, We need to re-route all calls coming to our PBX through a number of E1s to an alternate local number. The thing is that we are moving to an alternate location taking the PBX with us and definitely don't want to lose any calls to our old numbers. The LEC cannot provide a call transfer function in the switch at the E1 level (besides we are switching to a different CLEC), so I'd like to know if you guys know of an unexpensive box that can do this function and can be inserted after the d-mark point of the LEC. This would be a temporary fix (not more that one or two months). Best Regards. ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 12:49:48 -0700 Subject: To Toll or Not to Toll, That is the Toll Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Fri, 31 Jan 2003 14:34:37 -0500 (EST), John Higdon wrote: >> For the purposes of this argument, I define "toll" as a call that's >> going to incur per-minute charges. Flat-rate message-unit calls don't >> count here. > What about timed message units? "Local" calls from all businesses in > California are charged and timed. In other words, a call to next door is > ticking away charges just like "long distance". "1" or no "1"? >> Would something like this not satisfy all the arguments? > Except for your definition of toll. All calls from a measured phone in > California are charged by the minute. Does that make them all "toll"? Are those per minute charges less than, equal to, or higher than regular "toll" charges (ie: a call from California to Colorado, say)? If less than, then yes, dial 1. If either of the other two, then no - because the caller isn't being alerted to an unusual toll. By "unusual" I mean "more than you would pay to call the pizza parlor across the street", whether that pizza call is flat rate or timed. -- Joey Lindstrom -- Telus Sucks http://www.telussucks.info ------------------------------ From: Rob Levandowski Subject: Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 14:54:45 -0500 Organization: MacWhiz Technologies In article : > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wonder what would happen if the Tivo > owner did not have his unit plugged into the phone line? If it's a standalone TiVo unit, within two weeks it will lose most of its functionality as it runs out of television-guide data. It will start complaining at you, and your ability to use most of the features that make it a supremely useful device disappears. (I understand that it may now get some guide data from a paid program that airs late night on Discovery Channel, but that wouldn't include data for local channels, obscure channels, etc.) If it's a TiVo that's integrated with a DirecTV receiver, it gets guide data from the satellite, but the usual DirecTV caveats apply. Personally, I rather like that TiVo watches what I watch and takes note of it. Too often, good programs that I really enjoyed have been taken off the air due to "low ratings." The Nielsen ratings system is based on a very small sample, and I'm convinced that the sample population is selected for their inability to differentiate body parts without professional assistance. It makes me happy to think that my data is becoming part of an anonymous aggregate that reflects REAL data about how people watch TV. Maybe it'll mean that some good shows stay on TV, because they can tell that I not only watch it... I make a point to watch it every week. Heck, maybe they'll even put it on at a better time... How many people that bristle at the idea of TiVo monitoring their TV habits would readily sign up to become a Neilsen family ... especially if it didn't involve all the BS associated with the Neilsen box? :) Rob Levandowski robl@macwhiz.com ------------------------------ From: steven.christie1@ntlworld.com (Steve Christie) Subject: Telecom Classifieds Date: 31 Jan 2003 11:57:02 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I need your support in promoting this new telecom classifieds website. It only takes a couple of minutes to place a free ad. This site makes no profit and is intended solely as a free resource for the global telecom industry. In addition if you would like to join our preferred directory drop me a line with your company information. www.telecomclassifieds.net ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Denver Post: Group Sues to Block Federal 'No Call' Rules Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 12:41:00 -0800 In article , Phil Earnhardt wrote: > Consumers already have a variety of ways to block unwanted calls, > including call screening and electronic devices, the suit said. All of which require effort and expense on the part of the callee. If people want telemarketing calls, let THEM go to the trouble of signing up for them with telemarketers. > The rules would inflict irreparable harm on large segments of the > telemarketing industry without providing a substantial benefit to > consumers, the suit said. [...]" Not being bothered by telemarketers is the most substantial benefit to consumers imaginable. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Now, if they want to change that new > law, and include a provision to make it a **very serious offense** for > telemarketers to use tricks to avoid caller ID and other telco > blocking techniques (such as privacy manager) then I could possibly > understand the telemarketer's complaint. PAT] All considerations "for the telemarketer" are based upon the erroneous premise that some innate right to disturb strangers for the purpose of marketing exists. Turning on a radio or TV carries with it an acceptance that the listener or viewer will see and hear advertising as a part of the entertainment. However, the mere subscription to phone service does not (or at least should not) grant a condition of acceptance of advertising at random hours. I think that failure to observe Do Not Call lists should carry six-digit monetary forfeitures that increase geometrically with subsequent violations and numbers of people called. Attempts to circumvent consumers' attempts to block telemarketers should result in jail time. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: Paul A Lee Subject: Re: More McDonald's / Wendy's Thoughts Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 15:47:06 -0500 In TELECOM Digest V22 #269, our esteemed Editor wrote (in part): > Radio Shack has (and McDonald's did for a few years and maybe > still) a way to call from *any* of their stores to any other of > their stores, via the '700' (or is it '500' ?) area code. In Radio > Shack's case the clerk dials 1-700 plus 'RS' plus the five digit > store number. I think McDonalds did the same thing with the > 'prefix' MCD plus four digits for the store number. Probably many other chains use the '700' service code (reserved by NANPA for "Interexchange Carrier Services") in a similar way. A retail chain I used to work for had this kind of arrangement with MCI, who called it "Virtual Private Network" [VPN] before that term meant anything to the data world. That network included points on five continents. AT&T offers the equivalent arrangement as part of a "Software Defined Network" [SDN] or "OneNet". I have a couple thousand stores, other locations, and even wireless phones on a OneNet '700' network. Two major benefits are standardized numbering (i.e., if you know the store number, you know the phone number) and toll fraud prevention by blocking long distance calls, unless they are on the '700' network. Paul A Lee Voice: +1 717 730-8355 Sr Telecom Engineer [Voice & Transmission] Fax: +1 717 975-3789 Rite Aid Corporation, Telecomm, 30 Hunter Lane, Camp Hill, PA 17011-2410 ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: International SMS Starting to Work Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 14:01:40 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: joeofseattle@yahoo.com On Thu, 30 Jan 2003 21:08:39 -0800, Joseph wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I dunno about other folks, but I > genuinly do not like typing with my thumb, and remembering to tap one, > two or three times for each letter, or four times for PQRS. I do not > like the 150 character limitation per message. According to all the information I've seen about the Nokia 5165 it has T9 (Tegic) predictive text input. Maybe you don't have it turned on. With T9 for example to type the word notify you'd simply key 668439. With multi tap you'd have to key 66 (pause) 666 (pause) 8 (pause) 444 (pause) 333 (pause) 9 [66 666 8 444 333 9.] On all my Nokia phones since my 5190 I've had predictive text. Ericsson also has T9. Motorola has the Itap predictive text software. Yes, it's not as convenient as using a QWERTY keyboard, but with a compact mobile phone that's really not usually an option except for phones that will accept a 'chat board.' As for the 150 or 160 character limit several phones offer "concatenated" messaging which will effectively join messages on compatible phone or on non compatible phones will send multiple messages. With phones that are capable of concatenated messaging you can have a message as large as 450 or so characters. So the equipment you have sometimes limits what you can easily do. Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group. ------------------------------ From: Robert Woolley Subject: Re: International SMS Starting to Work Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 23:16:40 +0000 On Thu, 30 Jan 2003 21:08:39 -0800, Pat wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I dunno about other folks, but I > genuinly do not like typing with my thumb, and remembering to tap one, > two or three times for each letter, or four times for PQRS. Predictive messaging saves this; as you use the phone it adjusts to your style and builds up a dictionary. Texting is now very common indeed in Europe; despite the technical limitations its very popular, amongst all phone users. Rob. rob at robertwoolley dot co dot uk ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 22:03:53 GMT From: Richard D G Cox Subject: Re: Calling Party Pays to Cellular Reply-To: nospam@numbering.com Organization: Mandarin Technology Limited On Fri 31 Jan 2003 03:54 (UT), johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) wrote: >>> It's not just wireless. carriers ... surcharge calls to British >>> 07xx, 08xx, and 09xx numbers, which aren't wireless. They're >>> various flavors of location-independent and premium numbers. >> Nope, UK mobile live in the 07XXX range; > Hmmn, you're right. I know I've seen premium 070x numbers in the > recent past but I can't find any now. The UK 07x range is split -- only 077, 078 and 079 are mobiles, and 076 is for pagers -- very much a dying breed it seems nowadays! 070 is (well, was meant to be) a bit like +1 500, a form of personal or reroutable number. At the time the numbers were introduced, there was a lot of churn in the mobile industry due to dissatisfaction with service, and since mobile number portability was still some way off, the 070 numbers were seen by some users as a way to get a number that could be moved between networks as the user needed. To cover their costs, providers tariffed calls to (most) 070 services at rates that were either the same as, or slightly more than, the inflated rates for fixed-to-mobile which we then had to put up with over here. This meant there was a significant financial opportunity for people to sign up for the high-cost-to-call numbers and route them to wireline phones, and persuade the providers to cut them in on the huge profit. It was not long before 070 became a surrogate for 090 (the UK now uses 090 as the standard prefix for "premium" rated numbers). At the time, 070 calls were not regulated in the way 090 calls were: there was no requirement for the price of the call to be advertised, and customers could not ask their Telco to block calls to 070 numbers as they could with 090 numbers. The UK Regulator, Oftel, was initially deaf to all advice that allowing the 070 numbers to function in this way would be bound to lead to abuse, but the abuse became so serious that Oftel had to issue an order banning any form of revenue-share on 070 numbers. The order was defective in its drafting, leaving loopholes that would have made it impossible to take any action against people using 070 ranges to derive revenue from the calls: but since Oftel had become notorious for non-enforcement anyway, this wasn't seen as too much of a problem! One place you WILL see +44 70 numbers, is in the porno-dialers that are downloaded from websites under the pretext of being a "viewer" for the material the user wants to view -- it actually reroutes the DUN settings to a "foreign" number and where there is no friendly carrier to provide a suitable number that can be short-stopped, the dialler will use a +44 70 number for which carriers still pay out some money -- not as much as before -- to the terminating operator. Oftel's claim was that their "order" would result in the charges for domestic calls to 070 numbers being reduced -- as there was no longer any requirement to make payments to the renter of the number -- but this has yet to be fully effective. 070 numbers are now only really used as vanity numbers -- and as the UK doesn't "understand" the letter/number mapping as well as North America, that isn't very common either. People who want genuine reroutable numbers now use the 084 range which are tariffed at "local" rate, and a number of providers such as the Phone Coop now offer these free of charge to their customers (who route their outbound traffic through their dialaround) with web-based control of the call routing being available for a modest extra monthly fee. Details at http://www.thephone.coop/home_usr/free_num.html > On my desk sit a normal phone connected to my ILEC, a phone connected > to a VoIP box plugged into my network router, and a cell phone. All > three of them have numbers of the form +1 607 NXX-XXXX. It costs a > caller the same to call any of them. Unless you're a telecom weenie, > you can't tell which one is which. I agree with John that this is a GOOD thing -- and in particular avoids conflict between competitive pricing (where the customer pays) and non-competitive pricing (where the caller, who usually has no say in the choice of mobile carrier is hit with the bill for inbound calls). However the drawback -- highlighted in the Digest recently -- is that the US system makes it less easy to know whether the called number is a mobile, which complicates the setting up of SMS message services. In fact, that's just part of a wider issue of "called party capability set", or knowing what tele-services a particular number can accept. The other closer-to-home issue for the average phone user, is that if you call me at my office you can assume that I will either answer you there or you'll get voicemail, but if -- without your knowledge -- my number could be mobile rather than wireline, you won't realise that the handset might be in, say, Singapore, where due to the difference in Time Zone, your "reasonable time to call" may perhaps be 3am local. Richard Cox Mandarin Technology Limited, Penarth, UK ------------------------------ From: Patrick Townson Subject: End of the Month; Shareware Day Once Again Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 20:00:00 EST Tis the end of one month (January) and the start of a new month (February) so again I am asking for some help with my financial matters here at the Digest. I *must* ask this each month, since my ability to eat, pay my rent and other bills depends entirely on you readers. For a few months now, I have been offering something extra in return, in exchange for your gifts. If you make a donation to the Digest, in return I send you a CD of the entire archives; all 22 years of it. This year, included in the archives is the booklet issued by NY Telephone Company in the summer of 1975 which told about the fire in their Second Avenue building just a few months earlier. The book is sort of rare, but we have a copy of it now, scanned into .jpg files and on line. It will come as part of the archives CD. For the balance of the space on the CD, Joey Lindstrom is including several 'old time radio' shows with a telephone theme, including the now famous 'Sorry Wrong Number' performance with Agnes Morehead. To get your CD with old time radio shows, the entire archives of this Digest over 22 years, AND the .jpg files about the 1975 fire at the New York Telephone Company PLEASE make your donation today. You can use credit cards via PayPal or (money from your PayPal account) by going to the archives home page ( http://telecom-digest.org ) or if you prefer to snail mail a check, you can do that also: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301-0050 The amount of the donation is your choice. Thanks very much. Patrick Townson PS: Remember, the Telecom Archives remains a free open to the public resource on the Internet: ftp massis.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives. But you won't get the old time radio shows. (Joey sells those separately otherwise.) ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #270 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Feb 1 19:57:09 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h120v9r17015; Sat, 1 Feb 2003 19:57:09 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003 19:57:09 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302020057.h120v9r17015@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #271 TELECOM Digest Sat, 1 Feb 2003 19:56:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 271 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Verizon Warns of Scam Designed to Trick Consumers (Monty Solomon) Calif. Consumers Sue ISPs Over Termination Fee (Monty Solomon) The Spread of the Sapphire/Slammer SQL Worm (Monty Solomon) Googled! / A Nation of Voyeurs (Monty Solomon) Google-Opoly: The Game No One but Google Can Play (Monty Solomon) Satellite Phone Firms Win Ruling / FCC Says Providers Can Use (M Solomon) Pentagon Reaches Deal on Wireless Internet (Monty Solomon) Interop Woes Smite 802.11g (Monty Solomon) Re: Dialup While Overseas (Linc Madison) Re: Students Admit to Cell Phone Cheating (Linc Madison) Re: Telecom Classifieds (Dana) Definity Vectoring and Hunt Groups (Andrew Dignan) Re: Calling Party Pays to Cellular (John R. Levine) Re: More McDonald's / Wendy's Thoughts (Clark Wilhelm Griswold, Jr.) Re: McDonalds (was: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax ) (Ron Bean) Re: More on Dish (J Kelly) Re: 1+Ten Digit Dialing (Dave Close) Re: International SMS Starting to Work (Jan Ceuleers) Re: Can Your Cell Phone Impair Your Vision? (Linc Madison) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003 12:51:48 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Warns of Scam Designed to Trick Consumers Con Artists in Italy Seek Calling Card or Credit Card Numbers PORTLAND, Maine, Jan. 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Verizon today warned Maine consumers about a scam designed to trick them into giving out personal information such as their credit card or telephone calling card numbers. In the scam, a con artist posing as an operator calls, usually between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., and tells the called party that there is "an emergency collect call" from a hospital or emergency room. If the customer accepts the call, the fraudster states that the call cannot be billed as a collect call, and asks the called party to provide a calling card or commercial credit card number to complete the call. http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31257119 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003 12:55:05 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Calif. Consumers Sue ISPs Over Termination Fee LOS ANGELES, Jan 31 (Reuters) - A California consumers rights group sued several Internet service providers for the return of fees the group claims millions of customers were illegally forced to pay, according to court papers released on Friday. The lawsuit, filed by Citizens Justice, in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, names Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Pacific Bell Internet Services, SNET Diversified Group Inc., Southwestern Bell Internet Services Inc., Prodigy Communications and Ameritech Interactive Media Services Inc. All the companies named other than Yahoo are subsidiaries of SBC Communications Inc (NYSE:SBC) . The lawsuit said the companies illegally added a $200 early termination fee into contracts with California retail customers purchasing Internet access for personal use, starting about four years ago. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31264839 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003 12:32:16 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Spread of the Sapphire/Slammer SQL Worm We have completed our preliminary analysis of the spread of the Sapphire/Slammer SQL worm. This worm required roughly 10 minutes to spread worldwide making it by far the fastest worm to date. In the early stages the worm was doubling in size every 8.5 seconds. At its peak, achieved approximately 3 minutes after it was released, Sapphire scanned the net at over 55 million IP addresses per second. It infected at least 75,000 victims and probably considerably more. This remarkable speed, nearly two orders of magnitude faster than Code Red, was the result of a bandwidth-limited scanner. Since Sapphire didn't need to wait for responses, each copy could scan at the maximum rate that the processor and network bandwidth could support. There were also two noteworthy bugs in the pseudo-random number generator which complicated our analysis and limited our ability to estimate the total infection but did not slow the spread of the worm. The full analysis is available at http://www.caida.org/analysis/security/sapphire/ http://www.silicondefense.com/sapphire/ http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~nweaver/sapphire/ David Moore, CAIDA & UCSD CSE Vern Paxson, ICIR & LBNL Stefan Savage, UCSD CSE Colleen Shannon, CAIDA Stuart Staniford, Silicon Defense Nicholas Weaver, Silicon Defense and UC Berkeley EECS ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003 15:09:28 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Googled! / A Nation of Voyeurs How the Internet search engine Google is changing what we can find out about one another - and raising questions about whether we should. By Neil Swidey, Globe Staff, 2/2/2003 http://www.boston.com/globe/magazine/2003/0202/coverstory.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003 15:11:48 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Google-Opoly: The Game No One but Google Can Play The strange Google lawsuit over its page-ranking monopoly. By Dahlia Lithwick Practically everybody who uses the Internet agrees that Google deserves its status as the top Web search engine. Practically everybody but the Oklahoma-based online advertising network SearchKing, which filed suit last fall decrying the way Google ranks the Web sites it searches. More than anything, the suit proves that when you pit the questionable virtue of an Internet parasite against the dubious integrity of an Internet monopolist, you're left with a case that makes everyone just a little bit nauseous. http://slate.msn.com/id/2077875/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003 15:34:00 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Satellite Phone Firms Win Ruling / FCC Says Providers Can Use FCC Says Providers Can Use Ground Spectrum By Yuki Noguchi Washington Post Staff Writer Some satellite phone operators got a big break from federal regulators yesterday and will now be able to transmit calls in urban areas where their signals had been too weak to penetrate the walls of buildings. The Federal Communications Commission said it will permit those companies to reuse spectrum on the ground that was originally intended to beam information to and from space, so satellite phone users will be able to get cell-phone-like service in metropolitan areas. Satellite phones are easy to use in deserts or on the ocean, where there is a clear line of sight to the sky. But they encounter problems when a building or roof gets in the way. The new ruling allows satellite firms to solve the problem by retransmitting the signal on the ground. Satellite firms such as Reston-based Mobile Satellite Ventures LP and Arlington-based Iridium Satellite LLC, as well as Ico Global Communications of London and Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd. of San Jose -- all of which lobbied for the change -- will now be able to install network equipment on the ground. The FCC's ruling allows any mobile satellite service provider to reuse its spectrum on the ground, as long as it has the technical capability and gains FCC approval to offer that service. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3671-2003Jan30.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003 16:19:16 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Pentagon Reaches Deal on Wireless Internet The Defense Department and technology companies struck a compromise Friday to prevent interference with military radars from a new generation of wireless Internet devices. The agreement effectively avoids traffic collisions in the invisible radio spectrum between high-speed Internet surfers and America's soldiers. Under the compromise, manufacturers agreed to build into future devices technology to detect and actively avoid interfering with military radars that operate on similar frequencies. The deal also specifies how sensitive that detection technology must be. In exchange, defense officials will endorse U.S. proposals to nearly double the amount of lucrative wireless frequencies, which will permit more Internet traffic. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31271196 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003 18:08:42 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Interop Woes Smite 802.11g Like any standard, the 802.11g wireless LAN standard is supposed to deliver on the promise of seamless interoperabilty by ensuring that compliant equipment from different manufacturers will work together. Now, in an ironic twist, some vendors are claiming it could actually cause those interoperability problems [ed.note: well ain't that a kick in the dentition?]. It's an issue that could have serious ramifications for the development of the nascent 802.11g market. And it's also one that has caused a war of words to break out among vendors, who can't even agree on whether a problem exists -- let alone how serious it is. Fueling industry anxiety is the fact that the results of the first interoperability trials, sponsored by the University of New Hampshire Interoperability Lab, won't be made public -- causing some to cry "vendor whitewash." In the meantime, at least one major 802.11 player is holding off shipments of 802.11g until the problems are resolved. "There have definitely been some issues and until these issues are resolved and 'g' is ready for prime time, we're not going to ship it," says Brice Clark, worldwide director, strategy and business planning for Hewlett-Packard Co.'s (NYSE: HPQ - message board) ProCurve networking business. There are actually two concerns about 802.11g. Concern No. 1 is whether the technology will work with legacy 802.11b clients; the big fear is that legacy 802.11b clients could be knocked off the air in favor of 802.11g kit in crowded networks. Concern No. 2: whether all 802.11g products will be able to interoperate, particularly with the number of pre-standard products being announced. http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=27440 ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: Dialup While Overseas Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 17:00:19 -0800 Organization: LincMad.com Consulting Reply-To: Telecom@LincMad.com In article , Patrick t. wrote: > 2. Sometimes, in the dial instructions, you need to insert one or two > commas after the outside line like, 9,,3506566 as an example. You > should be able to hear it go through. If your second dialtone is a real dialtone that the modem can recognize as such, you should use the letter W instead of commas. The letter W means "wait for dialtone." For example, 9-W-350-6566 (the modem ignores dashes; they are added only for the benefit of human readers). The same technique works for dialing a modem number prefixed with *70 (cancel call waiting); use *70-W-555-0123 instead of *70,,555-0123. www dot LincMad dot com / Telecom at LincMad dot com Linc Madison * San Francisco, California ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: Students Admit to Cell Phone Cheating Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 17:17:14 -0800 Organization: LincMad.com Consulting Reply-To: Telecom@LincMad.com In article , Monty Solomon wrote: > Officials with the university business school said they caught the > students in a sting: A fake answer key with bogus answers was posted > online after the exam began last month; then the exams were checked > to see which test-takers put down the bogus answers. While I don't condone the act of cheating, the fact remains that it was beyond stupid to put the answer key to a test on the Internet while the test was still in progress. It was certainly an "attractive nuisance." Whoever came up with that idea should be enrolled forthwith in the school of unemployment. You can put the answers up just as soon as the test period is over. What's the rush to have them available during the test? www dot LincMad dot com / Telecom at LincMad dot com Linc Madison * San Francisco, California ------------------------------ From: Dana Subject: Re: Telecom Classifieds Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 17:15:45 -0900 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Steve Christie wrote in message news:telecom22.270.6@telecom-digest.org... > I need your support in promoting this new telecom classifieds website. > It only takes a couple of minutes to place a free ad. This site makes > no profit and is intended solely as a free resource for the global > telecom industry. In addition if you would like to join our preferred > directory drop me a line with your company information. > www.telecomclassifieds.net How do you reply. Could not find or see the reply to ad button. ------------------------------ From: Andrew Dignan Subject: Definity Vectoring and Hunt Groups Organization: Prodigy Internet http://www.prodigy.com Date: Sat, 01 Feb 2003 05:02:35 GMT Could anyone give me a brief description of Vectoring vs. Hunt Groups on a Definity G3? It is I a pretty stupid question I am sure but I am a sales guy trying to get an exact answer for a customer. As much detail as possible would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. ------------------------------ Date: 31 Jan 2003 23:34:33 -0500 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Calling Party Pays to Cellular Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > However the drawback -- highlighted in the Digest recently -- is > that the US system makes it less easy to know whether the called > number is a mobile, which complicates the setting up of SMS message > services. Interesting point. On the other hand, if we do get full portability, the question of SMS to and from landline phones will have to be addressed. > ... if -- without your knowledge -- my number could be mobile rather > than wireline, you won't realise that the handset might be in, say, > Singapore, where due to the difference in Time Zone, your > "reasonable time to call" may perhaps be 3am local. In the U.S. people already forward their office phones to cellular, or use their cell numbers as their office numbers, so it can be an issue now. Apparently most cell phones have a feature to deal with it, a button you can push that will keep the phone from ringing, and send calls to voicemail. As an extra bonus, it usually extends the battery life, as well. On my phone, it's labelled "OFF". John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: Clark Wilhelm Griswold, Jr. <73115.1041@compuserve.com> Subject: Re: More McDonald's / Wendy's Thoughts Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 21:48:15 -0700 Paul A Lee wrote: > Probably many other chains use the '700' service code (reserved by > NANPA for "Interexchange Carrier Services") in a similar way. You need to understand that 700 service and other similar systems use non-unique numbers that are dependent on any number of factors. For example: 700-555-9876 could reach one destination when dialed on AT&T, and a completely different destination when dialed on MCI. Furthermore, the origination number, or the card used to place the call, or the access number used to reach the network, can all influence where the call is routed to. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003 13:12:45 -0600 From: Ron Bean Subject: Re: McDonalds (was: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue) Daryl R Gibson writes: > Ray Kroc, who made McDonald's into a worldwide brand (the original > McDonald's was started by two McDonald brothers in San Bernadino) > would tell anyone who asked that he wasn't in the restaurant business -- > he was in the real estate business. McDonald's Corporation owns much > of the real estate (and surrounding developments) beneath their stores. I've read that this was due to a mistake he made in the early years -- he was being too generous to the franchisees! They were getting rich, but the parent company was going broke. The solution was to get into the real estate business, and require the stores to lease the land from them. The lease had a sliding scale based on sales, which served to supplement the normal franchise fees. The suburbs were growing quickly at that time, and they could get the land cheap. The conventional wisdom at the time was that a resaurant needed a corner location, but McD was willing to take mid-block lots. They had a hard-nosed negotiator who would walk away from any deal he didn't like. I don't think the other fast food companies work that way, though. > A fascinating (for people who like business biographies) book about > this is "McDonalds: Behind the arches" which I read some years ago. That may be the one I read, I don't remember. > Of course, now I eat at Wendys ... I sample all of them. Ray Kroc is probably turning over in his grave ... ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: More on Dish Date: Sat, 01 Feb 2003 16:19:14 -0600 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Reply-To: jkelly@_Your.Pants_newsguy.com On Fri, 31 Jan 2003 09:04:36 -0700, Joey Lindstrom wrote: > On Thu, 30 Jan 2003 20:00:43 EST, editor@telecom-digest.org > wrote: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think DISH certainly does study their >> viewer's habits. If I were 'playing by the rules' I would be leaving >> my Echostar unit hooked to the phone line at all times so that DISH >> could download the little card in there which keeps it working. Of >> course I do not 'really' have DISH services; I do have Sky Angel which >> uses DISH equipment to operate on. But the installation book which >> was left here by the installer when he put in the Echostar unit for >> me was very explicit: keep it plugged in the phone line all the time; >> you never know when we might be calling. Maybe that accounts for the >> ring/no one speaks up I get on the phone sometimes. PAT] > Again, I have no experience with DISH, but with both DirecTV and Bell > Expressvu (again, the latter is the same system as DISH), THEY DO NOT > CALL YOU. Instead, your system phones home, via a toll-free number. > -- Joey Lindstrom > -- Telus Sucks http://www.telussucks.info Dish requires the phone line in order to verify that the reciever is where you claim it is (using ANI when it phones home on the 800#). They really don't care if you plug it in or not when you only have one reciever, but with two or more they require it so you don't put your second reciever at someone else's house allowing them to get service without paying the full subscription fee. I did have two recievers and never plugged in the second one, it would complain at times about the line not being connected but I just ignored it. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That being the case, how does DISH get paid on the premium 'on demand' movie stuff? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 22:49:51 -0800 From: Dave Close Subject: Re: 1+Ten-Digit Dialing Date: 31 Jan 2003 22:48:26 -0800 Organization: Compata, Costa Mesa, California Mark J Cuccia writes: > I am most certainly *NOT* opposed to permissive 1+ten-digit dialing > for local/free calls. And I am one who WANTS "toll alerting" (or as I > like to call it, "toll-indication-prefix-required") with a mandatory > 1+ before (ten-digits) NANP toll. Mark, the biggest problem with toll-alerting is that it is a static, zero-sum solution to a problem of dynamic competition. Thus, it is anti-competitive. The definition of a toll call now varies so widely, and the trend is toward even more divergence, that such a system can't keep up. We already have several options for calling plans where all calls to any point in the NANP are included in the plan's flat rate. Under those plans, there are no toll calls. So, by your reasoning, phones subject to those plans should never require a 1+ for toll alerting. Maybe you want the toll alerting always to apply to certain numbers regardless of which toll plan a customer has. That is, if a number would be a toll call for the standard rate plan of the ILEC, customers of all other carriers and ILEC customers on different rate plans would still have to dial the 1+. That would be anti-competitive as well as misleading. The only acceptable solution is that toll alerting should be a feature offered by some carriers as a competitive advantage. Of course, if they don't find it to be an advantage, they won't offer it. Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA "Politics is the business of getting dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359 power and privilege without dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu possessing merit." - P. J. O'Rourke ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 01 Feb 2003 12:18:45 +0100 From: Jan Ceuleers Subject: Re: International SMS Starting to Work Organization: -= Skynet Usenet Service =- TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > Now, if the Nokia people would use a LARGER keyboard (for regular > typing) and connect it with a small ribbon connector to the bottom > of the phone and allow a buffer somewhat larger than 150 characters, > it would be a good alternative to email. It is not up to Nokia or any other phone manufacturer to allow a larger buffer. The limit to message size (which is actually 160 characters, not 150) is hard-coded into the SMS standard. Jan [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I'd even settle for the 160 character standard if they would come up wih a ribbon connector and a somewhat larger keyboard with unique keys for each character, i.e. a QWERTY type keyboard. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: Can Your Cell Phone Impair Your Vision? Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 16:56:00 -0800 Organization: LincMad.com Consulting Reply-To: Telecom@LincMad.com In article , David Clayton wrote: > Linc Madison contributed the following: >> In article , Monty Solomon >> wrote: >>> In one test, ... the driver not yakking remembered seeing 50 >>> percent more billboards than the driver on the phone. >> That's a mostly irrelevant point. I can quite safely ignore >> billboards while talking on the cellphone, without necessarily >> ignoring traffic conditions, stop lights, etc. I'm sure that the >> cellphone-using drivers also remembered less about the trees and >> flowers along the roadway; so what?? > It is probably a good indication of a lessening of peripheral vision, > and therefore the driver is probably not allocating as many "CPU > cycles" to the task of driving as without the phone. Nonsense. Utterly unsubstantiated nonsense. It is not an indication of reduced peripheral VISION, it is an indication of paying less ATTENTION to the IRRELEVANT details in the peripheral view. It is quite likely that, on an entirely automatic subconscious level, the talking drivers saw the billboards and dismissed them as background noise -- something we all do every waking moment, and even every sleeping moment. The only relevant question is whether the driver is less aware of IMPORTANT details. Decreased attention to IRRELEVANT details is irrelevant. In terms of CPU cycles, the driver who is focused solely on the road has spare CPU cycles to waste on looking at billboards. The driver who is talking on the phone does not. It is quite plausible to assert that a driver can do any two of the three: drive safely, notice billboards, and talk on the phone. I personally find it *heartening* that the drivers chose to jettison their attention to the billboards, as that leaves them more CPU cycles to devote to driving safely. >> To the extent that the study showed drivers being less attentive to >> their driving, that's a real problem. However, drivers paying less >> attention to billboards is nothing to be concerned about. > Only if you ignore the particular measurement as an example of a > potentially bigger problem. Which I do, and for good reason. As I said, the parts of the study that show that drivers on cellphones paid less attention to other cars, traffic signs and signals, or other RELEVANT information to the task of driving a car, are worrisome. The part of the study that showed that drivers on cellphones don't remember billboards adds nothing of value to that discussion. It is exactly analogous to my point about the talking drivers noticing less about the trees and flowers. If the measurement of attention to billboards were the closest thing you could get to measuring attention to the general task of driving, that would be one thing, but since you can measure the thing itself much more accurately, there is no reason to even bother with measuring a poor substitute. The ONLY people who have ANY reason to be alarmed that drivers on cellphones don't notice billboards, are the people paying for the ads on the billboards. Aside from that, it's nothing but empty shock value and sound bites. www dot LincMad dot com / Telecom at LincMad dot com Linc Madison * San Francisco, California ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #271 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Feb 2 21:51:42 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h132pg401894; Sun, 2 Feb 2003 21:51:42 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 21:51:42 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302030251.h132pg401894@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #272 TELECOM Digest Sun, 2 Feb 2003 21:52:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 272 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Alltel Dial-Up Performance or DSL Northern Ohio (Paul) Need a Little Advice ... (odb) Re: More McDonald's / Wendy's Thoughts (AES/newspost) Re: Legally Kill All Adult Porn in the United States (Gail M. Hall) NYTimes: More Digits to Dial (Potrzebie) Re: Can Your Cell Phone Impair Your Vision? (Bill Feidt) Re: E1 (Phil McKerracher) Solving the Cellphone Maze One Twist at a Time (Monty Solomon) Cell Shock: Those Never-Ending Taxes and Surcharges (Monty Solomon) Wireless Firms Jumping Gun on New Spec? (Monty Solomon) EFFector 16.3: ALERT: Don't Let INS Violate Your Privacy! (Monty Solomon) EPIC Alert 10.02 (Monty Solomon) GILC Alert v7i1 (Monty Solomon) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: turningleaves02@yahoo.com (Paul) Subject: Alltel Dial-Up Performance Date: 2 Feb 2003 09:33:59 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I live in Northern Ohio with Alltel service. Over the past 2 weeks I have experienced a noticable drop in the data throughput of my PC's modem. I know many things could account for this, but I was wondering if anyone else with Alltel in the Richfield, Akron, etc. Ohio area have experienced a drop in connection speed and throughput. I used to frequently get data rates of 42-44K, but now I typically get 28K. I know Alltel just installed a new local switch in my general area, but they claim this would not have affected performance. Alltel checked out the line and nothing unusual was found. Maybe this is just a ploy for people to upgrade and pay for DSL, now that it coincidentally has just become available in my area. I'm considering purchasing Alltel DSL for my home use in the Akron, Ohio area. Anyone have any comments good or bad about their quality of service? What about their technical support? Thanks. ------------------------------ From: odb Subject: Need a Little Advice Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 12:37:34 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com I hope that someone in this group can lead me down the path of enlightenment. I will need to test almost 100 modems from a cash register manufacturer I'm contracted to, and I need a method to test them without any phone lines. I am loath to commit over $200 for a used line simulator by teltone, etc., Funds are extremely tight (I'm just starting out), and I want the cheapest dirtiest solution possible. Here's what I need to do: With my PC, in DOS running the proprietary software, call out to the modem under test to see if the modem will answer, handshake and transfer a small binary file. The software allows for init strings, so I'm confident I don't need a dial tone on that line if I can set the S registers to not look for a dialtone before dialling. I can also insert a dummy phone number in the string, so I don't need that either. Hopefully the Skutch's ring generator will be recognised by the modem under test, then will handshake and transfer the file I've asked for. I can manually hang up. Just wonder if the Skutch will work for this? Thanks in Advance,. John Harriott harriott@NeOxSePcAuMlink.com remove NOSPAM from my email to contact me ------------------------------ From: AES/newspost Subject: Re: More McDonald's / Wendy's Thoughts Date: Sat, 01 Feb 2003 18:14:51 -0800 In article , Paul A Lee wrote: > Probably many other chains use the '700' service code (reserved by > NANPA for "Interexchange Carrier Services") in a similar way. I'm convinced that by far the best solution for the telemarketing problem -- much better than any kinds of "call lists" or other similar solutions -- would be to simply require (by legislation) that any kind of unsolicited telemarketing call must go out carrying a Caller ID tag saying it comes from some unique reserved area code (or service code, or whatever the appropriate technical term is). Let the telemarketers call anyone they want, using any kind of equipment they want -- just require that they identify clearly on their outgoing calls that they're telemarketing calls, so that callees can apply whatever filtering they desire on their incoming calls. Novice question related to this: Does "NANPA" (whatever that is) provide or reserve any other "service codes" that would or could be available or suitable for this telemarketing identification function? (Or is it an organization that only serves commercial needs, and has no concern for the consumer's end of things?) "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton (1834-1902) "Dependence on advertising tends to corrupt. Total dependence on advertising corrupts totally." (today's equivalent) ------------------------------ From: Gail M. Hall Subject: Re: Legally Kill All Adult Porn in the United States; Here is How Date: Sat, 01 Feb 2003 23:49:17 -0500 Reply-To: gmhall@apk.net On Thu, 30 Jan 2003 09:27:18 GMT, in comp.dcom.telecom message , you wrote: > *Read* the statutes in question. > > > You discover that the language applies to _print_ material as well. > Then consider what is available in _any_ "adult" book store. > That virtually _all_ of those publications *have* been through _real_ > court cases, holding their content to be _legal_. > Anything from the Post Office (itself) refusing a mailing permit for > Playboy (over-ruled by the courts), to the prosecution of Larry Flynt > and Hustler magazine. > Consider what runs on the adult "Pay-per-view" Cable TV channels. > *legally*. There is a BIG difference between going to an adult bookstore or movie house or punching in commands to get your kicks from Pay-Per-View TV and being indundated by unsolicited messages in my e-mail. If I wanted "adult" materials, I can look in the phone book or yellow pages for businesses that carry that stuff or ask around about where a good place is. Over the years I remember getting very few pieces of junk mail offering porn. The closest to it was some kind of dating service. > The cited statutes cover _those_ services, too. Which _are_ running > within the law. Again, there is a difference between them putting up a store and inviting people in and barging into your home (whether via computer or telephone) and forcing it on you. > Executive summary: > With the exception of _actual_ 'kiddie porn' (and just "offering" it > -- i.e. words talking about it, if there aren't any actual images) > _is_ legal. It is, _somewhat_ unfortunately, all within the limits of > "legal". > There are _numerous_ other *viable* legal theories that _could_ be > used to go after any kind of spammers. Unfortunately, the government > prosecutorial authorities seem "uninterested", unless there are > *BIG*DOLLAR* losses involved. With criminal prosecution effectively > eliminated from the picture, the only thing left is privat _civil_ > suit. There *are* numerous grounds for that, already vetted in the > Courts. Starting with "trespass to chattel", and/or "theft by > conversion". The downside to this approach is two-fold (at least > *sigh*) 1) the victim must track down the actual sender, in order to > sue, 2) the victim has to front _all_ the legal costs for pursuing the > action, and *hope* that (a) they prevail at trial, and (b) the spammer > has enough assets to be siezed to pay for the efforts. The reality of the situation is simply the budget and number of people available to follow up on these things. I would rather that authorities catch thieves and murders and actual rapists first and only if they have time left over to attend to matters that simply upset our delicate sensibilities. > I hate to say it, but a good *FEDERAL* law is needed. Something > similar to the junk fax law. One that provides relatively _large_ > penalties for each and *every* infraction, *WITH* a 'right of private > action'. Until they make a law REQUIRING all Internet and email providers to provide accurate originator information or the ability to track it down, many of these laws cannot be enforced effectively. Telemarketers must be required to provide *accurate* information about who is originating their calls, not necessarily the specific phone the caller is calling from (those are often temporary phone banks), but the contact number for the company or the company owner. > The 'spam' situation is rapidly approaching the unmanageable. The > viability of the e-mail medium as a whole _is_ at risk. True. Some ISPs are beginning to ban certain domains if they prove to harbor too many spammers. Good ISPs provide software to allow users to pick their own blacklists and whitelists of messages they do not want and do want. Our Internet connection rates may have to go up if our ISPs have to install more and more filtering programs to help keep out excess spam and viruses and worms. Many of us want that extra service and don't mind paying a *little* more for it. Gail in Ohio USA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Did you ever notice, Gail, how the porn spam as seen in Outlook Express (or similar mail receiving programs) never has just one page to look at: If you try to zap it but in error (or on purpose) look at one page of it, you trigger something in it that keeps popping up more and more windows; I have sat and clicked it away a dozen or more times just to get rid of the one 'single' piece of email. I mean, enough is enough. After a time, it gets very boring and is a waste of my time. At least when using Unix (for example doing this Digest from MIT [where I also have tons of it show up daily]) I can just click and it goes away. Not so with Outlook Express (as per my home Windows XP computer). PAT] ------------------------------ From: Potrzebie Subject: NYTimes: More Digits to Dial Date: Sun, 02 Feb 2003 08:31:56 +0000 New York Times February 1, 2003 Remember when making a long-distance call was an event? You'd self-importantly insist on a little quiet around you, dial an operator and prepare abridged versions of what you were going to say. Nowadays the very concept of long distance, at least domestically, is fast becoming an anachronism. Consider the news that starting today all New Yorkers will have to dial (shouldn't we be saying "press" by now?) 11 digits (1 + area code + number) each time they make a phone call, even if they are calling someone in their own area code. It's further evidence of how much the old local/long-distance distinction has been eroded by the telecommunications revolution. (rest at http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/01/opinion/01SAT3.html ) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Can Your Cell Phone Impair Your Vision? From: Bill Feidt Date: 2 Feb 2003 12:30:27 -0500 Organization: Heller Information Services Monty Solomon wrote in news:telecom22.261.10@telecom- digest.org: > New research from the University of Utah has revealed a potentially > lethal "tunnel vision" that drivers get while talking on a cell phone. I've been thinking about this problem a lot and I'd posit the following theory: If I take/make a land-line telephone call in my home or office and the external environment happens to be noisy or otherwise distracting, I am able to pretty easily filter-out the extraneous inputs so that I am better able to concentrate on what the caller is saying. There is normally no particular danger or risk in doing this. Over time, it seems to me that this could become a learned response. And when you receive/make a telephone call in a car, the brain might just readily enter a "filter extraneous inputs" state, just as it does at home. Obviously the danger of being in such a state when you're driving is potentially a lot greater though. And, ultimately, I would think that this behaviour could be unlearned. ------------------------------ From: Phil McKerracher Subject: Re: E1 Date: Sun, 02 Feb 2003 21:10:17 GMT Organization: blueyonder (post doesn't reflect views of blueyonder) foo wrote in message news:telecom22.267.12@telecom-digest.org: > Thank you for your answers! > I have still some questions about E1. If you send an E1 frame how do > you know that the reciever of the frame got sync? So that it not only > recieves the second half of one frame. In Ethernet or with HDLC you > use a preamble and some flags, but how is it solved in E1? As far as I > know is it only timeslot 16 that is transmitted using HDLC, the other > timeslots are transmitted as they are. Is that correct? That's correct. Timeslot 0 transmits a frame synchronisaton pattern that the receiver locks onto. The receiver then sets a particular bit in this timeslot in the return direction, so the sender knows synchronisation has been achieved. This all happens at first connection -- frames are transmitted continuously after that. On most (but not all) E1 connections a cyclic redundancy check pattern is also transmitted in timeslot 0 to guard against false detection of a synchronisation pattern in one of the other timeslots. The specifications are available for free from www.itu.int (links from my ISDN tutorial at www.mckerracher.org/isdn). Phil McKerracher www.mckerracher.org ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 21:14:19 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Solving the Cellphone Maze One Twist at a Time By KAREN ALEXANDER WHEN Ilissa Best, a mother of two young children from San Carlos, Calif., signed up for cellphone service two years ago, she received 300 minutes of talk time for $40 a month, plus 200 bonus minutes. She figures she uses all those minutes each month talking with friends during the day as she shuttles her children around town. So when the bonus period ended recently because her contract had expired, her monthly bill nearly tripled. She knew she had to quickly find another plan to keep pace with her use, but which one? Mobile phone carriers are competing aggressively these days for customers. Almost everywhere you look there seems to be an advertisement for cellular plans, with an unwieldy number of options available, along with fees. Finding the best plan -- with the right number of minutes at the right time of day, coverage that holds up where you need it most and a phone that does what you want it to do without being too complicated -- can be overwhelming. Because there are so many variables in service and equipment those shopping for a wireless plan must first decide what they actually need before signing up, telecommunications experts say. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/02/business/yourmoney/02CELL.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 21:15:29 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cell Shock: Those Never-Ending Taxes and Surcharges By KAREN ALEXANDER SO you've found the perfect cellphone plan at the right price, and that should be it, right? Well, at least until you open the bill. Tack on those federal, state and sometimes local taxes, plus the various fees and surcharges levied by the carriers, and your final bill could increase as much as 25 percent. And should you happen to need directory assistance while you're out on the town, it will cost you more than a dollar every time you call information. In New York State, wireless customers last year paid 16.4 percent on their cellphone bill in state taxes alone. That includes $1.20 a month toward what is known as E911, or Enhanced 911 service. It is a technology that's supposed to be able to pinpoint the location of a person making an emergency call within 65 yards. The state has been collecting fees for E911 since 1991, for a total of more than $162 million, according to Kimberly Kuo, a spokeswoman for the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association in Washington. And yet there is still no E911 system for cellphones in New York, and none in the works. New York had the fourth-highest wireless taxes in the country. California, though, is in the lead at 19.6 percent, followed by Florida at 17.8 percent and Virginia at 17.1 percent, according to the association. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/02/business/yourmoney/02SCEL.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 00:28:58 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Wireless Firms Jumping Gun on New Spec? By Richard Shim Staff Writer, CNET News.com The makers of wireless-networking gear aren't known for their patience. When 802.11b first burst on the scene, offering a quick and workable wireless home-networking platform, some manufacturers jumped into the market with components and products long before industry standards groups tested and approved the specification. The result was headaches for some as interoperability issues emerged. Now a repeat of that scenario is shaping up for wireless networking's latest specification, 802.11g. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is finalizing the 802.11g spec and is expected to have a standard set before the middle of the year. Interoperability tests by the Wi-Fi Alliance are expected to conclude several months later. Although that means official certification is still some way off, a handful of companies have already released products, and others are racing ahead with their own plans to take early advantage of 802.11g's bandwidth. The potential rewards include getting an early jump on a market that is expected to take off in both the home and the office. Potential downsides, however, could include a cascade of incompatible products, which could leave consumers with a bad taste in their mouths for the emerging specification. http://news.com.com/2100-1033-982861.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 02:57:25 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 16.3: ALERT: Don't Let the INS Violate Your Privacy! EFFector Vol. 16, No. 3 January 31, 2003 ren@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 242nd Issue of EFFector: * ALERT: Don't Let the INS Violate Your Privacy! (Feb. 3rd Deadline) * EFF Submits Comments to FCC Requesting More Open Spectrum * EFF Submits Comments on "German DMCA" * Transcript of Oral Argument Before FISA Appeals Court now Available * Skipping Commercials is not a Crime; Attention ReplayTV Owners * Who Controls Your Digital Media? Shouldn't it Be You? (19 Days Left!) * SXSW Giveaway for EFFector Subscribers * Thanks to Mailman Developers * Deep Links (10): President Bush Announces TIA-like Terrorist Threat Integration Center * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/HTML/effect16.03.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 02:58:39 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EPIC Alert 10.02 ======================================================================= E P I C A l e r t ======================================================================= Volume 10.02 January 31, 2003 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Published by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Washington, D.C. http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_10.02.html ======================================================================= Table of Contents ======================================================================= [1] European Commission Orders Microsoft to Modify Passport [2] Critical Hill Action Pending on "Total Information Awareness" [3] Opposition to Data Retention Grows in Europe [4] Public Voice Conference at OECD-APEC Forum on the Digital Economy [5] FTC, New York Attorney General Take Action to Protect Privacy [6] Privacy International Seeks Nominations for Big Brother Awards [7] EPIC Bookstore: The GigaLaw Guide to Internet Law [8] Upcoming Conferences and Events http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_10.02.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 02:59:58 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: GILC Alert v7i1 GILC Alert Volume 7, Issue 1 31 January 2002 Welcome to the Global Internet Liberty Campaign Newsletter. Welcome to GILC Alert, the newsletter of the Global Internet Liberty Campaign. We are an international organization of groups working for cyber-liberties, who are determined to preserve civil liberties and human rights on the Internet. We hope you find this newsletter interesting, and we very much hope that you will avail yourselves of the action items in future issues. If you are a part of an organization that would be interested in joining GILC, please contact us at . If you are aware of threats to cyber-liberties that we may not know about, please contact the GILC members in your country, or contact GILC as a whole. Please feel free to redistribute this newsletter to appropriate forums. =============================================== Free expression [1] Jailed Tunisian Net dissident on hunger strike [2] Norwegian teen faces DVD computer speech retrial [3] Chinese gov't targets weblogs, arrests Net activists [4] Malaysian web news agency raided [5] Vietnamese online dissident gets jail time [6] German Internet censor plan papers cause alarm [7] Pro-Net fair use bill resubmitted in US Congress [8] Court holds cybercafe chain liable for copyright violations [9] Music labels consider Net blocking, more crippleware [10] Several European nations sign online hate speech pact [11] Emails to British politicians censored Privacy [12] EU privacy concerns lead to Microsoft Passport changes [13] New bills target Total Informational Awareness spy program [14] Verizon appeals Net customer info subpoena decision [15] Panel rejects British gov't data retention plan [16] Transmeta microchips to include TCPA-type features [17] Studies indicate barriers to mass surveillance are eroding [18] Big Brother Awards ceremonies held in Bulgaria, France & Denmark [19] European privacy & civil rights newsletter launched http://www.gilc.org/alert/alert71.html ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #272 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Feb 3 22:41:52 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h143fqB16252; Mon, 3 Feb 2003 22:41:52 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2003 22:41:52 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302040341.h143fqB16252@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #273 TELECOM Digest Mon, 3 Feb 2003 22:42:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 273 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Mastering Network Security", Brenton/ Hunt (Rob Slade) Annual Report to Parliament 2001-2002 - Privacy Commissioner (M Solomon) As Broadband Gains, the Internet's Snails Fall Back (Monty Solomon) Dream Nears Reality: Ease Up at the F.C.C. (Monty Solomon) Embrace File-Sharing, or Die (Monty Solomon) Re: Starting up a CLEC (Fred Goldstein) Re: Dialup While Overseas (David Clayton) Re: Can Your Cell Phone Impair Your Vision? (David Clayton) Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying (William Warren) Columbia (Joey Lindstrom) Lucent Partner ACS Phone System for Notebook (H.A.A.) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Rob Slade Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2003 08:19:33 -0800 Subject: Book Review: "Mastering Network Security", Chris Brenton/Cameron Hunt BKMSNTSC.RVW 20021220 "Mastering Network Security", Chris Brenton/Cameron Hunt, 2003, 0-7821-4142-0, U$49.99/C$79.95/UK#37.99 %A Chris Brenton cbrenton@sover.net %A Cameron Hunt cam@cameronhunt.com %C 1151 Marina Village Parkway, Alameda, CA 94501 %D 2003 %G 0-7821-4142-0 %I Sybex Computer Books %O U$49.99/C$79.95/UK#37.99 800-227-2346 info@sybex.com %O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0782141420/robsladesinterne %P 490 p. %T "Mastering Network Security, Second Edition" The introduction states that this book is aimed at systems administrators who are not security experts, but have some responsibility for ensuring the integrity of their systems. That would seem to cover most sysadmins. However, whether the material in this work is at a suitable level for most sysadmins is open to question. Now, to be fair to the authors, it seems that this second edition is a reissue, only marginally revised, of a book that was originally published seven years ago. (Under most standard contracts, publishers have the right to do this, and authors can't do much about it.) At that point, the material might have been pretty reasonable. Currently, it isn't. Chapter one discusses systems theory. While the application of the text to network and security management is reasonably obvious in hypothetical terms, it is not at all clear in regard to direct operation in the real world. (This is particularly true for those who are not security professionals.) The systems development life cycle (SDLC) is covered in chapter two and, again, while it is an important topic, the relation to security is not made manifest. The introduction to networking itself covers the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model, routing, and bits of TCP/IP, in chapter three. One would have thought that this would have been old news to sysadmins. The same is true of the material on transmission and network topology, in chapter four. There is some mention of security issues, but the discussion is minimal. Chapter five has a reasonable overview of firewalls, although the terminology is not always standard. Chapter six is documentation for the Cisco PIX firewall. The information about intrusion detection systems, in chapter seven, provides good material on points often neglected by other works, and adds a guide to Snort. The coverage of cryptography, in chapter eight, has a confusing structure. Most of the material on virtual private networks consists of screen shots of Microsoft's RRAS (Routing and Remote Access Server), in chapter nine. Chapter ten relies on old concepts and technologies to discuss viruses and other malware. Disaster prevention and recovery, in chapter eleven, concentrates on building redundancy and the VERITAS server based backup system. A good deal of information about Windows, most of which may have some relevance to security, is in chapter twelve. Some introductory, and some network, data about UNIX is available in chapter thirteen. Chapter fourteen describes how information can be obtained about your system in order to mount an intrusion attack. Some resources for security are mentioned in chapter fifteen. Overall, the book does provide a fair amount of information that would likely be of help to most network administrators in securing their systems and networks. However, there is also a lot of detail that is not directly relevant to the task, some erroneous content, and not a few gaps. While the original authors may have mastered their topic, the volume currently on offer does not reflect that. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2002 BKMSNTSC.RVW 20021220 rslade@vcn.bc.ca rslade@sprint.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca p1@canada.com Find book info victoria.tc.ca/techrev/ or sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade/ Upcoming (ISC)^2 CISSP CBK review seminars (+1-888-333-4458): March 31, 2003 Indianapolis, IN ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 21:33:52 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Annual Report to Parliament 2001-2002 - Privacy Commissioner Commissioner's Overview George Radwanski Privacy Commissioner of Canada It is my duty, in this Annual Report, to present a solemn and urgent warning to every Member of Parliament and Senator, and indeed to every Canadian: The fundamental human right of privacy in Canada is under assault as never before. Unless the Government of Canada is quickly dissuaded from its present course by Parliamentary action and public insistence, we are on a path that may well lead to the permanent loss not only of privacy rights that we take for granted but also of important elements of freedom as we now know it. We face this risk because of the implications, both individual and cumulative, of a series of initiatives that the Government has mounted or is actively moving toward. These initiatives are set against the backdrop of September 11, and anti-terrorism is their purported rationale. But the aspects that present the greatest threat to privacy either have nothing at all to do with anti-terrorism, or they present no credible promise of effectively enhancing security. The Government is, quite simply, using September 11 as an excuse for new collections and uses of personal information about all of us Canadians that cannot be justified by the requirements of anti-terrorism and that, indeed, have no place in a free and democratic society. As of the date this Report went to press, January 17, the Government has shown no willingness to modify these initiatives in response to privacy concerns. Whether the Government's awareness of the imminence of this Report will have brought about any change by the time the Report is tabled, I cannot foresee. I wish to emphasize at the outset that I have never once raised privacy objections against a single actual anti-terrorist security measure. Indeed, I have stated repeatedly ever since September 11 that I would never seek as Privacy Commissioner to stand in the way of any measures that might be legitimately necessary to enhance security against terrorism, even if they involved some new intrusion or limitation on privacy. I have objected only to the extension of purported anti-terrorism measures to additional purposes completely unrelated to anti-terrorism, or to intrusions on privacy whose relevance or necessity with regard to anti-terrorism has not been in any way demonstrated. And still the Government is turning a resolutely deaf ear. Specifically, I am referring to: the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency's new "Big Brother" passenger database; the provisions of section 4.82 of Bill C-17; dramatically enhanced state powers to monitor our communications, as set out in the "Lawful Access" consultation paper; a national ID card with biometric identifiers, as advanced by Citizenship and Immigration Minister Denis Coderre; and the Government's support of precedent-setting video surveillance of public streets by the RCMP. These initiatives are all cause for deep concern because of the intrusions on privacy that they directly entail. But they are even more disturbing because of the thresholds they cross and the doors they open. Each of these measures establishes a devastatingly dangerous new principle of acceptable privacy invasion. The CCRA's database introduces the creation of personal information dossiers on all law-abiding citizens for a wide variety of investigative purposes. Section 4.82 of Bill C-17 requires, for the first time, de facto mandatory self-identification to the police for general law enforcement. The "Lawful Access" paper advocates the widespread monitoring of our communications activities and reading habits. A national ID card would remove our right to anonymity in our day-to-day lives. The RCMP's video surveillance constitutes systematic observation of citizens by the police as we go about our law-abiding business on public streets. http://www.privcom.gc.ca/information/ar/02_04_10_e.asp ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 21:19:56 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: As Broadband Gains, the Internet's Snails Fall Back By SAUL HANSELL America Online now has some company in the Internet doghouse. Last week, the company said the number of subscribers to its flagship Internet service, by far the nation's largest, had fallen in the fourth quarter, the first decline in its history, further contributing to the woes of its parent, AOL Time Warner. But executives at the America Online division can at least find solace that its plight is shared by the other leading dial-up Internet access providers, EarthLink and Microsoft's MSN, which also have shrinking numbers of dial-up subscribers. The problem is speed. Consumers have been dropping their slow dial-up services and switching to faster service, called broadband. AOL and the other dial-up leaders do offer broadband service, but the latest quarterly results show that consumers are shunning these offers, despite increased promotion. Rather, they are buying broadband services offered by cable and telephone companies. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/03/technology/03ONLI.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 21:24:24 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Dream Nears Reality: Ease Up at the F.C.C. By STEPHEN LABATON WASHINGTON MORE than five years after he began his career at the Federal Communications Commission as a lonely dissenter, Michael K. Powell is poised to fulfill a long-held vision by unshackling the nation's largest telephone companies and media giants from decades of regulation. Mr. Powell, 39, now the agency's chairman, is in the final stages of negotiations with the four other commissioners on a broad overhaul of the byzantine telephone rules. If, as most expect, the commission adopts a version of the latest draft of the revisions at its Feb. 13 meeting, the new rules will favor the regional Bell operating companies and will hurt the small start-up local carriers and the ailing long-distance giants like AT&T and WorldCom. By spring, Mr. Powell also intends to repeal or relax the ownership rules that have kept the biggest media conglomerates from growing larger. Mr. Powell and his supporters say the changes will encourage tremendous new investment and promote innovation and competition through a heavier reliance on market forces. But his detractors, including consumer groups and smaller companies, say the Powell agenda will simply make big companies bigger. By relaxing rules now, they assert, the government will stifle competition, reduce the diversity of media voices and play into the hands of the largest companies, which are trying to shut down their rivals. Mr. Powell views the changes as imperative to help industries that have moved slowly in making the transformation from analog to digital communications. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/02/business/yourmoney/02FCCC.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 23:31:06 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Embrace File-Sharing, or Die A record executive and his son make a formal case for freely downloading music. The gist: 50 million Americans can't be wrong. Editor's note: John Snyder is president of Artist House Records, a board member of the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), and a 32-time Grammy nominee. On Thursday night, he submitted the following paper to NARAS. ----------------------- By John Snyder and Ben Snyder Feb. 1, 2003 | The following was written in response to a discussion by the board of governors of the New York chapter of National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) regarding the position NARAS should take with respect to a new public relations campaign proposed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) condemning those who download music from the Internet. http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/02/01/file_trading_manifesto/ ------------------------------ From: Fred Goldstein Subject: Re: Starting up a CLEC Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2003 00:57:07 -0500 On Tue, 28 Jan 2003 23:17:28 -0500, Harbor Diver wrote, >> In the process of forming a new LLC company and going to create a >> UNE-P CLEC in Indiana. Is the process easy? Does anyone have any >> horror stories about a CLEC UNE-P going sour? Any help that you could >> give us would be great. >> Ben Plikerd > This is a joke, right? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't think it was intended as a > joke. There are still people out there getting into the business. PAT] Darn tootin' there are! While the ILECs and their backers have tried to spread the rumor that the CLECs are all broke or about to shut down (nice way to discourage investment and new customer signups), the reality is rather different. FCC stats show CLECs as having over 10% of the telephone market. About half of that is resale of the ILEC, either as UNE Platform (under fierce attack from ILECs, since it often breaks even) or Total Service Resale (in decline). Of the real facilities-based competition, some comes from cable companies. But some comes from stand-alone CLECs. Lots of CLECs have failed, and that makes the news; business as usual doesn't. The CLECs that have failed have included most of the big publicly traded ones. But that's typical for a new industry -- how many of the automobile marques of the 1910s are still around? But cars sure are. More telling, the ones that tanked so visibly were the ones that had *too much* money! While insufficient capital can wreck a business, too much can cause capital poisoning, a syndrome marked by foolish expenditures and a lack of common sense. In the 1997-1999 time frame, investors were looking for a quick score, and funded some CLECs to "get big quick". Trouble is, you can't just do that in the CLEC business and make any money! Too many CLECs went after the same small niches in the same places, dividing the pool between themselves and the ILEC. Heck, in 1999 we had at least six CLECs selling DSL to business in each of several dozen COs in Massachusetts. One could have done okay (and post-bankruptcy Covad seems to be picking up the pieces), but others were hell-bent on spending Other Peoples' Money. That's not business; such tomfoolery wouldn't work in dry cleaning, retailing or telecom. Today's surviving CLECs have learned from the failures before them. They tend to be privately owned (so Wall Street doesn't know them from Adam), often family businesses, often ISPs or local wireless providers. They spend money like it's their own, because it is. They tend to focus on one or two niches. Some sell T1s to business, mixing voice and data. Some sell DSL, sometimes combined with dial tone. Some focus on business, but a few go after residential as well (harder to do in many areas because of ILEC predatory pricing, but sometimes quite addressable). Marketing is usually low-key; splashy 1999-style media ad campaigns are out of the question. But they often have happy customers who appreciate the service that a small local operation can bring. I work with startup CLECs, and while the current FCC is rather hostile to CLECs in general, and the resulting regulatory uncertainty has stifled investment, I still see plenty of opportunity. (The UNE-P business is the most uncertain; we'll know a lot more in a month or so once the FCC has issued a pending decision. Of course the lawyers will keep it in court for years to come. The CLEC business is good for lawyers.) And I see a few agile business people willing to address it. The CLEC business isn't easy, and the returns aren't stratospheric, but that describes most businesses, doesn't it? The vulture capital/investment banker idea of CLEC is dead, but perhaps that's good for the industry. If the FCC just lets it happen, then CLECs will grow and a few will prosper. Fred Goldstein k1io fgoldstein@ionary.com ionary Consulting http://www.ionary.com/ ------------------------------ From: David Clayton Subject: Re: Dialup While Overseas Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2003 17:16:47 +1100 Organization: Customer of Connect.com.au Pty. Ltd. Reply-To: dcstar@acslink.net.au Patrick t. contributed the following: > On 27 Jan 2003 14:59:39 -0800, a_d_buck@hotmail.com (Austin Dayton > Buck) wrote: > You actually were probably lucky. Not all pbx's are grounded the same > way and you could fry your modem. You should be aware of two things in > my experience. > 1. A Road Warrior Modem Saver can check the polarity and you can use > it to reverse it if you need to. It has lights to show you what is > correct. They are cheap, but I don't remember how much mine cost. I > don't even remember where I got it as a matter of fact. > 2. Sometimes, in the dial instructions, you need to insert one or two > commas after the outside line like, 9,,3506566 as an example. You > should be able to hear it go through. >> I can connect by manually dialing the number by lifting the receiver >> of the phone off the cradle, dialing the number, listening for the >> carrier tone, then launching Internet Explorer, then hanging up the >> phone by putting the receiver back in the cradle. I have also encountered issues where the inter-digit delay can be an issue, too short a gap between the digits dialed by the modem can cause problems for some PBX's, (especially if the dialed number has a pair of the same digits in it, the PBX can't decide if two separate digits were dialed or just one long digit). It can drive you crazy by working ok sometimes and then refusing to work on others, (possibly because the PBX CPU is busier at times and misses the "borderline" inter-digit interval). Regards, David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@acslink.net.au Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience. ------------------------------ From: David Clayton Subject: Re: Can Your Cell Phone Impair Your Vision? Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2003 20:52:05 +1100 Organization: Customer of Connect.com.au Pty. Ltd. Reply-To: dcstar@acslink.net.au Linc Madison contributed the following: > In article , David Clayton > wrote: >> Linc Madison contributed the following: >>> In article , Monty Solomon >>> wrote: >>>> In one test, ... the driver not yakking remembered seeing 50 >>>> percent more billboards than the driver on the phone. >>> That's a mostly irrelevant point. I can quite safely ignore >>> billboards while talking on the cellphone, without necessarily >>> ignoring traffic conditions, stop lights, etc. I'm sure that the >>> cellphone-using drivers also remembered less about the trees and >>> flowers along the roadway; so what?? >> It is probably a good indication of a lessening of peripheral vision, >> and therefore the driver is probably not allocating as many "CPU >> cycles" to the task of driving as without the phone. > Nonsense. Utterly unsubstantiated nonsense. It is not an indication of > reduced peripheral VISION, it is an indication of paying less > ATTENTION to the IRRELEVANT details in the peripheral view. It is > quite likely that, on an entirely automatic subconscious level, the > talking drivers saw the billboards and dismissed them as background > noise -- something we all do every waking moment, and even every > sleeping moment. > The only relevant question is whether the driver is less aware of > IMPORTANT details. Decreased attention to IRRELEVANT details is > irrelevant. Agreed, but just because the details now not seen are "irrelevant" details, that doesn't mean that the point I made isn't valid. As far as "Utterly unsubstantiated nonsense" I now look forward to you quoting the references substantiating your *opinion* in respect to mine. :-) > In terms of CPU cycles, the driver who is focused solely on the road > has spare CPU cycles to waste on looking at billboards. The driver who > is talking on the phone does not. It is quite plausible to assert that > a driver can do any two of the three: drive safely, notice billboards, > and talk on the phone. I personally find it *heartening* that the > drivers chose to jettison their attention to the billboards, as that > leaves them more CPU cycles to devote to driving safely. As far as I can tell, the billboards are just used as an example of the driver paying less attention to what is happening around him on the road while using a phone. Humans, (in my experience), have a finite ability to process information and implement decisions based on that information. Whilst in control of a ton (or more) of metal that can be moving at a high velocity, I would prefer that if it is proven that using a phone can result in a possible lessening of the processing ability being devoted to this important task, people take it seriously enough not to do it. >>> To the extent that the study showed drivers being less attentive to >>> their driving, that's a real problem. However, drivers paying less >>> attention to billboards is nothing to be concerned about. >> Only if you ignore the particular measurement as an example of a >> potentially bigger problem. > Which I do, and for good reason. As I said, the parts of the study > that show that drivers on cellphones paid less attention to other > cars, traffic signs and signals, or other RELEVANT information to the > task of driving a car, are worrisome. The part of the study that > showed that drivers on cellphones don't remember billboards adds > nothing of value to that discussion. It is exactly analogous to my > point about the talking drivers noticing less about the trees and > flowers. If the measurement of attention to billboards were the > closest thing you could get to measuring attention to the general task > of driving, that would be one thing, but since you can measure the > thing itself much more accurately, there is no reason to even bother > with measuring a poor substitute. Well, if we are going to get technical then the billboard measurement can probably be a good indication of a lessening of the ability of the language centre of the brain to process written messages while the driver is listening or talking on the phone, (ever tried to read a book with an audible conversation happening at the same time?). They may have used billboards as an easier way to measure this rather than road signs etc., which are relevant to road safety. That is my point, the billboards are only an indication of a problem, the problem is not the irrelevant information on the billboards themselves, but what they may represent in the other road safety areas, and that does add "value to the discussion". > The ONLY people who have ANY reason to be alarmed that drivers on > cellphones don't notice billboards, are the people paying for the ads > on the billboards. Aside from that, it's nothing but empty shock value > and sound bites. They possibly did it to receive funding from the billboard companies, (and to shock them into designing billboards that will be remembered by phone using drivers?). ;-) Regards, David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@acslink.net.au Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience. ------------------------------ From: William Warren Subject: Re: TiVo Tracking: We Know What You're Replaying Organization: Church of the Swimming Bullfrog Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2003 15:16:22 GMT > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually Joe, telco *does* listen > in. It is called 'service monitoring' and it is a rather touchy > matter. They have to listen now and then to a small percentage of > the traffic to be assured the system is working correctly, but the > people who are authorized to do it are sworn to total and absolute > secrecy at all times. Never talk about it; never reveal anything in > any conversations overheard, etc. I guess because telephony is such > an 'old technology' (as compared to 'newer' stuff like satellite > recievers, etc) some people 'just assume' phones do not need any type > of oversight like that. PAT] Pat, Sworn to secrecy. Yep, secret all the time, yessirree, no question about that, we NEVER told the whores across the street or the detectives at the station or the politician who had the unlisted number or the insurance execs plotting to defraud people or the senator that we were listening in. Yep, secret, for sure: they NEVER knew. William "Sworn to Secrecy" Warren [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think the difference between a legally authorized 'tap' on the line, an illegal, or unlawful tap on the line and what telco euphemistically refers to as 'service monitoring' is that the latter is selected by the computer on a random basis and the employees doing the monitoring have no idea *who* they are listening to, or the order in which the numbers are presented to them. That's what I have always heard, unlike the whores, politicians (yes, there is a difference) and others who get deliberatly tapped, either with or without a lawful court order to do so. Even so, smart people can tell when there is a lawful tap order on their line. Although the *cost* of the wire pair used in the tap is supposed to be borne by the government agency which ordered the tap (and usually is) until very recently in Canada and a few years ago in the USA, the *taxes* on the total bill (that is, the 'legitimate' wire pair used to serve the subscriber and the 'secret' pair used for the legally authorized tap ) were handed to the subscriber. Smart subscribers look closely at their phone bill; if there are no known changes in their service from one month to the next, then just as the bill stays the same, the *tax* should stay the same also. What tipped tap victims off to the presence of a court ordered tap on their line was that the *tax on the 'total' bill would vary by a few cents upward when an order to install a tap was recieved by the telco plant. If people complained asking with no service changes why did the bill increase a few cents, telco service reps would write off the few cents difference, and the subscriber would usually forget about it. Now I understand, they have that little tip off taken care of. Just as the cost of a tap on a line is prorated off the bill and given to the government agency which authorized the tap, now the tax is likewise prorated. The subscriber pays the tax he expected to pay, the government pays the tax (of a few cents) on the wire pairs used in the tap. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2003 08:35:45 -0700 Subject: Columbia Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info I know the Columbia tragedy is on everyone's minds. Given that this is a telecom forum, I won't waste a lot of bandwidth on something that far off-topic. I will, however, invite you to check out this scan from the Sunday Calgary Sun, which pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter. Feel free to pass it along (either the link or the image itself). http://www.interocitor.net/columbia.bmp -- Joey Lindstrom -- Telus Sucks http://www.telussucks.info [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Just as the Columbia tragedy on Saturday morning took everyone by surprise and we were all shocked by this 'routine' flight turning out so ugly, merely two days before (on Thursday morning) we had a similar tragedy here in Independence with the same kind of shock. At about 11:30 PM Wednesday night, an explosion from a broken gas line burned a house to the ground just a block away from me over at First and Walnut Streets. The four occupants of the house, a young family and their two infant children all perished in the explosion and fire. The two young people were both lifelong residents here in Independence, had gone to school together (the husband was 22; his wife was 20; the children were about 2 years old and an newborn infant); he worked for a well-known business here in town, Lee's Heating and Air Conditioning; the wife worked at some company here. The police/fire public safety radio channel here brought every piece of equipment in town to the location including our three fire engines and two ambulances. That's where I heard it; I looked out of my front door when I heard the 'structure fire at 312 South First' announcement made on the scanner radio and could see an orange glow in the sky a block or so away, and smell the smoke, which was very thick all over the neighborhood. I've got a friend who lives right across the street from it. The Independence Reporter screamed the news later that day: 'Crain Family killed in house blaze.' It was a very bad, bad scene. Each of the young adults is survived by their parents and grandparents here in town also. (For the tiny ones it was their great grandparents of course.) Fire Department was on location until about 7 AM Thursday morning. The two ambulances kept making round trips back and forth between the house and Mercy Hospital. A bad, bad scene. PAT] ------------------------------ Reply-To: H.A.A. From: H.A.A. Subject: Lucent Partner ACS Phone System for Notebook Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2003 08:43:54 -0500 Hi all, The company I worked for closed last year and with that, I was handed their complete phone system. It's the Release 3.0 version of the Lucent Partner ACS System which comprises of the following: 1 x 103G7 Release 3.0 Module 1 x Remote Access PC Card (PCMCIA) 7 x 18D (Display) Phones I do not have any of the manuals with me, HOWEVER, suffice to say, I just recently purchased one on a cd-rom from E-Zmanuals.com, that includes installation and programming manuals for releases 3.0, 2.0 and 1.0 Everything is in very good working condition and we NEVER had any problems with the system in the year and a half that the company used it. I just tested them and everything is working perfectly. However, please note that 2 of the phones have slight damages to it. One has a dent in the display. Display still works fine. And on the other, one corner of the bottom plastic cover is broken. You can easily combine these 2 into a perfect 6th, leaving the 7th damaged but fully functional. I have photos available for all the above item. Email me if you're serious about this trade. You have five business days to inspect and test the system. If you're not satisfied, I'll be more than happy to take it back. In exchange for this, I'm looking for used (or if you have a spare new) PC notebook. I would leave it up to you to decide what you'll offer as trade. I assume you understand what the current cost of the above system would be, so I'm looking for a fair trade. Thanks in advance. Helm [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This fellow, Helm cross posted this message to a dozen or more newsgroups, including this one. That won't work, Helm. If any string of newsgroups has at least one moderated group in its midst, the message you post will get *that far* (to the moderated group) and stop there. If I had reposted or reissued it to the other groups then they would see it also. NEVER include a moderated group in a cross posting to several newsgroups for that reason. So Helm, you will need to issue the message again to the others. To the other readers here: There have been reports on the net in recent weeks about scams involving laptops and other computers. I am taking this opportunity to remind you all *to take special care in any trades made on the net.* This is NOT directed at Helm since I do not know and never met the man. If you decide to go with the deal, be certain to work out a satisfactory escrow plan. This is just mother Townson clucking at all her baby chicks once again, warning you of danger. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! 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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #273 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Feb 4 00:06:29 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h1456TT17223; Tue, 4 Feb 2003 00:06:29 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2003 00:06:29 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302040506.h1456TT17223@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #274 TELECOM Digest Tue, 4 Feb 2003 00:06:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 274 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson '700' Service Code [was "McDonald's / Wendy's Thoughts"] (Paul A Lee) Re: Definity Vectoring and Hunt Groups (Paul A Lee) Members of Congress Who are Genuinely Concerned About Telemarketing? (AES) Quiet termination? (Brandon Turok) Re: Alltel Dial-Up Performance (Rich Greenberg) Porn Spam (Joey Lindstrom) Pat's Porno Movies (Joey Lindstrom) Bad Day (Joey Lindstrom) Last Laugh! AT&T Admits There May be a Caller ID Problem (Patrick Townson) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Paul A Lee Subject: '700' Service Code [was "McDonald's / Wendy's Thoughts"] Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2003 12:55:46 -0500 In TELECOM Digest V22 #270, I wrote: > Probably many other chains use the '700' service code (reserved by > NANPA for "Interexchange Carrier Services") in a similar way. > A retail chain I used to work for had this kind of arrangement with > MCI, who called it "Virtual Private Network" [VPN] before that term > meant anything to the data world. That network included points on five > continents. > AT&T offers the equivalent arrangement as part of a "Software Defined > Network" [SDN] or "OneNet". I have a couple thousand stores, other > locations, and even wireless phones on a OneNet '700' network. Two > major benefits are standardized numbering (i.e., if you know the store > number, you know the phone number) and toll fraud prevention by > blocking long distance calls, unless they are on the '700' network. In TELECOM Digest V22 #271, Clark Wilhelm Griswold, Jr. <73115.1041@compuserve.com> responded: > You need to understand that 700 service and other similar systems use > non-unique numbers that are dependent on any number of factors. For > example: 700-555-9876 could reach one destination when dialed on AT&T, > and a completely different destination when dialed on MCI. > Furthermore, the origination number, or the card used to place the > call, or the access number used to reach the network, can all > influence where the call is routed to. Okay, perhaps I wasn't explicit enough. To me, those characteristics and variables are _implied_ by the terms "Interexchange Carrier Services", "Virtual Private Network", and "Software Defined Network". To state the concept explicitly, the '700' service code means that "the rest of this dial string is to be used by my PIC [presubscribed interexchange carrier] in the manner defined for the customer location identified by the accompanying ANI". Also, in TELECOM Digest V22 #272, responded: > I'm convinced that by far the best solution for the telemarketing > problem -- much better than any kinds of "call lists" or other similar > solutions -- would be to simply require (by legislation) that any kind > of unsolicited telemarketing call must go out carrying a Caller ID tag > saying it comes from some unique reserved area code (or service code, or > whatever the appropriate technical term is). A sidestep from the virtual private network numbering concept, but related to special services codes. I'd call this one a service code. The term "area code" is the clipped, popular form of "numbering plan area code", which may also be called an "NPA code" or just "NPA" ["numbering plan area"]. That implies reference to a geographic area. A service code (or "non-geographic area code") relates the number to a network processing arrangement. Examples include 700 (interexchange carrier services), 500 (personal communications services), 900 ("premium" information content services), and the familiar '8YY' (800, 888, 877, 866, 855) ("toll-free"/called party pays). > Let the telemarketers call anyone they want, using any kind of equipment > they want -- just require that they identify clearly on their outgoing > calls that they're telemarketing calls, so that callees can apply > whatever filtering they desire on their incoming calls. While I don't disagree with the objective, this strategy still requires the called party to purchase equipment and/or subscribe to a telco service. Consequently, it doesn't fully address consumer concerns that they should be able to decline the very attempt by a telemarketer to call them. > Novice question related to this: Does "NANPA" (whatever that is) > provide or reserve any other "service codes" that would or could be > available or suitable for this telemarketing identification function? "NANPA" is the North American Numbering Plan Administration . I think you can find answers beyond imagining about code assignments at their web site. > (Or is it an organization that only serves commercial needs, and has > no concern for the consumer's end of things?) I've never heard of any substantiated or authoritative claims of bias -- just differences of opinion commensurate with the task at hand. Paul A Lee Voice: +1 717 730-8355 Sr Telecom Engineer [Voice & Transmission] Fax: +1 717 975-3789 Rite Aid Corporation, Telecomm, 30 Hunter Lane, Camp Hill, PA 17011-2410 ------------------------------ From: Paul A Lee Subject: Re: Definity Vectoring and Hunt Groups Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2003 18:33:03 -0500 In TELECOM Digest V22 #271, Andrew Dignan wrote: > Could anyone give me a brief description of Vectoring vs. Hunt Groups > on a Definity G3? It is I a pretty stupid question I am sure but I am > a sales guy trying to get an exact answer for a customer. As much > detail as possible would be appreciated. Vectoring is to hunt groups what a restaurant is to a vending machine. You can read product descriptions and link to features through . Following are some excerpts: Call Vectoring Call vectoring facilitates the dynamic fine-tuning of call handling to balance call loads based on time of day, day of week, holidays, number of agents, number of waiting calls, time in queue, and more. Call prompting is a call vectoring option that lets callers use their telephone keypad to enter information 'such as account numbers, zip codes, or other digits' to direct their calls to the destinations they need. Repeat callers can self-route to a department or agent, quickly and easily. Or, you can give callers the option of directing their calls to voice mail or to your voice response application. Expected wait time can make call center routing decisions based on waiting time for calls in queue, using a patented algorithm that continuously estimates call waiting times. Announcements of expected wait time can make customers' time in queue more comfortable. Expert agent selection provides tools to manage agent resources by matching callers with special needs with the agent having the most appropriate skills to handle the call for example language fluency or specialized technical knowledge. Vitural routing helps you balance call loads among your locations by analyzing demand and directing each call to the location best able to handle it for example, based on call volume, waiting time in queue, or the time of day. Multiple music/audio sources lets you deliver music or customized announcements to callers while they are in queue, helping to make the waiting time more productive or entertaining. You can provide information about your products, services, other call center applications, offer public service information, or play music. Multiple split queuing lets you direct a call to several splits at the same time, so that the first available agent can take the call. It can help you handle your busiest periods with greater ease so you can provide faster service to your callers. Priority queuing allows special callers to be assigned priority status and routed ahead of other callers. Pamper your best customers with the fastest attention possible. Paul A Lee Voice: +1 717 730-8355 Sr Telecom Engineer [Voice & Transmission] Fax: +1 717 975-3789 Rite Aid Corporation, Telecomm, 30 Hunter Lane, Camp Hill, PA 17011-2410 ------------------------------ From: AES/newspost Subject: Members of Congress Who Are Genuinely Concerned About Telemarketing? Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2003 08:40:12 -0800 Can anyone identify any individual members of Congress (or any other Washington officials or staff members) who are, or appear to be, personally and genuinely concerned about telemarketing? If one were looking for allies, or at least a possibly sympathetic hearing, for possible controls on telemarketing, are there any people or offices in the government whom one might contact first? Email cc of any replies appreciated. "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton (1834-1902) "Dependence on advertising tends to corrupt. Total dependence on advertising corrupts totally." (today's equivalent) ------------------------------ From: Brandon Turok Subject: Quiet Termination? Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2003 10:33:06 -0800 Organization: Astound Broadband Ack, I've got a customer who is having trouble with line noise. Do any of you know a quiet termination number that happens to work on Pacific Bell COs in the bay area? On a related note, is there any way to register as a vendor with SBC and be able to get such numbers if I need them? Brandon Turok http://www.loonquawl.com/ Dial-A-Machine (925) 288-9825 Free when you call from work ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Alltel Dial-Up Performance Date: 3 Feb 2003 13:54:18 -0500 Organization: Organized? Me? In article , Paul wrote: > I live in Northern Ohio with Alltel service. Over the past 2 weeks I > have experienced a noticable drop in the data throughput of my PC's > modem. I know many things could account for this, but I was wondering > if anyone else with Alltel in the Richfield, Akron, etc. Ohio area > have experienced a drop in connection speed and throughput. I used to > frequently get data rates of 42-44K, but now I typically get 28K. The most likely way this happened is that Alltel changed the connection between you and the CO. There are 3 ways (at least) to connect you. 1) Direct copper from your house to the CO. 2) Via a concentrator (such as an SLC-96) with an integrated connection. i.e. Comes out of the switch on a T-1 and demuxed in the concentrator. 3) Via a concentrator (such as an SLC-96) with a non-integrated connection. i.e. Comes out of the switch as 24 voice pairs, gets multiplexed onto a T-1 and demuxed at the concentrator. 1 or 2 will get you a 40+k connection, 3 will do 26.4 or perhaps 28.8 top. Rich Greenberg Work: Rich.Greenberg atsign worldspan.com +1 770-563-6656 N6LRT Marietta, GA, USA Play: richgr atsign panix.com +1 770-321-6507 Eastern time zone. I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val(Chinook,CGC,TT), Red & Shasta(Husky,(RIP)) Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2003 09:55:42 -0700 Subject: Porn Spam Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Sun, 2 Feb 2003 21:51:42 -0500 (EST), editor@telecom-digest.org wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Did you ever notice, Gail, how the porn > spam as seen in Outlook Express (or similar mail receiving programs) > never has just one page to look at: If you try to zap it but in error > (or on purpose) look at one page of it, you trigger something in it > that keeps popping up more and more windows; I have sat and clicked it > away a dozen or more times just to get rid of the one 'single' piece > of email. I mean, enough is enough. After a time, it gets very boring > and is a waste of my time. At least when using Unix (for example doing > this Digest from MIT [where I also have tons of it show up daily]) I > can just click and it goes away. Not so with Outlook Express (as per > my home Windows XP computer). PAT] Then, Pat, I suggest either or both of the following two things: 1) Use a better email client. Outlook and it's various permutations still have security holes big enough to drive a truck through. I will personally recommend (as a satisfied customer, with no interest in the company) this client, which I have used for nearly a decade (on OS/2 originally, now on Windoze): http://www.pmmail2000.com You will *NOT* have these problems with PMMail. 2) Use Pop-Up Stopper. This will stop your web browser (and Outlook) from launching any new windows without your express consent (ie: you must hold down the SHIFT or CTRL key prior to clicking on a link that creates a new window). This stops all those "X-10" and "Orbitz" pop-under ads too. I too have stumbled into "the website that won't go away", where every time you close a window, three others open up. This stops 'em COLD. http://www.panicware.com/popupstopper.html (Again, I have no affiliation with these people other than as a satisfied customer.) -- Joey Lindstrom -- Telus Sucks http://www.telussucks.info ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2003 09:04:45 -0700 Subject: Pat's Porno Movies Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info (Just kidding Pat!) On Sat, 1 Feb 2003 19:57:09 -0500 (EST), editor@telecom-digest.org responded in a note: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That being the case, how does DISH get > paid on the premium 'on demand' movie stuff? PAT] 1) If your receiver is plugged in to a phone line, it will "phone home" (on a toll-free number) sometime after you've watched the show, and report on what you watched. It shows up on your next bill. Calls are, I understand, usually placed in the wee hours of the morning. The system is set up to detect dialtone, and if not (ie: if you're on the phone), it will abort the call attempt. 2) If it is NOT plugged into a phone line, then all attempts by the receiver to "phone home" will fail. Depending on which satellite system you're with, how your smartcard is programmed, etc., the receiver will allow you a certain dollar limit "grace". With Bell, I think it's $300 CAD. As you watch more and more pay-per-view shows, your billing total goes up, but the receiver is unable to report this to Bell. If you try to exceed $300, the receiver will PREVENT you from watching. Once you plug the unit into the phone line, and it can "call home", that clears your balance down to $0. You can then, if you like, unplug the phone line and keep watching pay-per-view stuff "free" until you reach that $300 limit again. -- Joey Lindstrom -- Telus Sucks http://www.telussucks.info ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2003 21:12:36 -0700 Subject: Bad Day Reply-To: joey@garynuman.info On Mon, 3 Feb 2003 22:41:52 EST, editor@telecom-digest.org wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Just as the Columbia tragedy on > Saturday morning took everyone by surprise and we were all shocked > by this 'routine' flight turning out so ugly, merely two days before > (on Thursday morning) we had a similar tragedy here in Independence > with the same kind of shock. At about 11:30 PM Wednesday night, an > explosion from a broken gas line burned a house to the ground just a > block away from me over at First and Walnut Streets. The four > occupants of the house, a young family and their two infant children > all perished in the explosion and fire. Same thing here in Calgary, except our local tragedy came on Sunday, the day after Columbia. A group of about 18 grade 10 students from a school just south of Calgary had gone up to Revelstoke for some cross-country skiing. An avalanche swept them away, killing seven of them. The people here are just devastated. And, it was the second avalanche in as many weeks in the area -- the first also killed seven, including several American tourists. A bad day, indeed. The shuttle accident hit me particularly hard. Back in 1986, I was working as a volunteer at the Calgary Aerospace Museum. On the day of the Challenger accident, we were set to open a new exhibit -- a full-scale mock-up of the Challenger. That was the centrepiece: it was ringed by several other exhibits (an Apollo module, a Canadarm, etc.) Many of my high-school classmates (my high-school had the only high-school level aeroscience course in the country) were also volunteering there. And so we all got to watch the shuttle explode on big-screen TV's, with local news crews on-hand covering the opening of our exhibit. Suddenly, they had a much bigger story. It was the first time I was ever on TV, and not the way I would have liked it to happen. We were absolutely devastated -- we all dreamed of following in these people's footsteps, they were our heroes. And they still are. God be with you, Columbia crew. PS - Calgary International Airport is on the list of possible emergency landing sites for the space shuttle. It's main north-south runway is 5 kilometers long, which is *JUST* long enough to accomodate a shuttle landing. PPS - several news stories I've seen have erroneously stated that Columbia was the first space shuttle built and/or the first one ever flown. This is incorrect. While Columbia was the first shuttle to ferry astronauts into space, the first space shuttle built and the first to fly was the Enterprise, which really was named after the famous Starship (members of the cast were invited to the christening). You may remember seeing TV news reports showing the shuttle strapped on top of a Boeing 747 during test flights, then being dropped to glide to a landing. That was Enterprise. And one last bit of trivia: the shuttle Discovery, too, was named after a fictional ship, this time the one that took Dave Bowman, Frank Poole, and HAL-9000 to Jupiter. / From the desk of Joey Lindstrom / / I don't like the sound of my phone ringing so I put my phone inside my / fish tank. I can't hear it, but every time I get a call I see the fish / go back and forth... I go down to the pet store -- "Gimme another ten / guppies, I got a lotta calls yesterday." / --Steven Wright [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The Revelstoke incident was in our local paper I think on Sunday morning also; it got a lot of the front page along with the Columbia disaster. I always read the Sunday Reporter for the comics and the news section. Then on page two of the Sunday paper they had a very lengthy obituary for the Crain family with sad pictures of mom and dad and the two precious little ones. They also had a short blurb by the Independence Fire Inspector, a guy named Dennis Rail who explained the cause of their deaths. It appears carbon monoxide had gotten in through a defective furnace part, and that, along with a broken gas line in the same furnace had caused the explosion which did in the house pretty badly. Mr. Rail was on location there for several hours early last Thursday morning doing his work. It appears also that two police officers on routine patrol got there first, attempted to enter the premises to rescue the family if possible, but were driven back by the flames and smoke. Since the four family members were all cremated later in the day on Thursday, Mr. Rail said he could not conclude whether they were dead from carbon monoxide poisoning or from the explosion. I know the husband and two kids were taken out dead by the firemen. The wife was alive when she was taken out by EMTs to Mercy Hospital, but she expired shortly after arrival at the hospital. Like you, Joey, I have tremendous admiration for astronauts, who have a very dangerous job. But so do firemen and most police officers, who just walk into a situation and do whatever they can. I would say most police officers are the same way; its just too damn bad in larger cities some police officers have to stain and tarnish their badges so badly and be an embarrasment to everyone. Yes Joey, it was a very bad week. I hope readers will go to see the files you put up from the Calgary newspaper. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2003 23:13:32 EST From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Last Laugh! AT&T Admits There May be a Caller ID Problem Around noon on Monday, I got an unsolicited telemarketing call which began with a prerecorded pitch. Knowing that those are illegal these days, I thought I would have some fun with the caller. Trouble was, the voice level on the pre-recorded pitch message was a little too soft to make much out of it except I heard the first part of the phone number I was supposed to call 'if I was interested in making a lot of money': 800-727-????. Not to be dismayed or disappointed in not hearing the entire number, I decided to look at my caller ID to see where it came from ... 201-330-5114. So I called 201-330-5114 and heard the most unusual intercept message which I invite you to listen to also. Basically I was told that I had reached a non-working number at AT&T and that 'someone' ( they knew not who) was giving that out on Caller-ID without their (AT&T) permission. 'Both AT&T and the local operating company, Verizon, are attempting to resolve this matter. We at AT&T wish to apologize to our customers who have been inconvenienced attempting to reach the calling party ...' You should really listen to it to get your laugh for the day. PAT ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #274 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Feb 5 00:19:43 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h155Jh800264; Wed, 5 Feb 2003 00:19:43 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 00:19:43 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302050519.h155Jh800264@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #275 TELECOM Digest Wed, 5 Feb 2003 00:19:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 275 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Active E-mail, was Re: Porn Spam (Danny Burstein) Bell Telephone Techline 2702s Speed Dial Help (Crash Manly) Re: Porn Spam (SELLCOM Tech Support) Nokia Bets That Gaming Phone Will Boost Growth (Monty Solomon) EarthLink Launches Enhanced, Higher Speed CDMA2000 1xRTT (Monty Solomon) Nokia Mobile Phone Includes Video Games (Monty Solomon) Cellular Data Port Modem Standards (Davidoff0707) Any Insights on Bridge Group Design? (William J King) Re: Transfer of Calls Without a PBX? (KevinM) Re: More on Dish (Heath Doane) Telemarketer Very Absuive to Employees (Worldgoawayplz@aol.com) Re: Can Your Cell Phone Impair Your Vision? (Linc Madison) Re: Members of Congress Who Are Concerned About Telemarketing? (J. Levine) Re: Alltel Dial-Up Performance (Gail M. Hall) Country Code 874 (was Re: Tokelau, ...) (Carl Moore) Re: Prison Call Overcharging (George Hand) Last Laugh! More Garbage From Spammers (Joey Lindstrom) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Danny Burstein Subject: Active E-Mail, was Re: Porn Spam Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2003 05:46:56 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Joey Lindstrom writes: > On Sun, 2 Feb 2003 21:51:42 EST, editor@telecom-digest.org > wrote: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Did you ever notice, Gail, how the porn >> spam as seen in Outlook Express (or similar mail receiving programs) >> never has just one page to look at: [ big tale of woe snipped ] Part of the problem is that e-mail can be sent with an included h-ref tag which tells the program, while you're reading the e-mail, to go back to the designated server and, right then and there, download the image. Yep. That feelthy peekture may not have been enclosed in the original e-mail, but was grabbed up when you opened the letter. This causes many horrendous problems, not least of which is that your browser is running without your knowing, pulling images from god knows where, possibly pulling viruses and javascript and other nasties. Oh, and wasting your connection bandwidth (triply so if you're on a dialup modem or other rate limit) and slowing everything else down. And, for good measure, this often doesn't work if, for some reason, your browser can't get that image. It might be a DNS failure, or bandwidth limits, or a firewall blocking web access, or the server may have (we wish...) been chopped off for spam. (That's why you'll often see broken image icons in your e-mail. It's also why you'll sometimes see a tagline saying something like "if you're not seeing our 12 y/o lolitot, please cut and paste the following") What's even worse in this picture is that far too many e-mail programs default to allowing this sort of automatic activity. There's no good reason for an e-mail program to do this, and many reasons not to. [a] Oh, and this is yet point in favor of using a clean text-based mail reader. They're far more sensible about this. [a] ok, they can, if pushed, come up with two rationales: 1) this evens out loads on all the systems. For example, if a bank sends out 50,000 statements each midnight, the actual mail is just a couple of lines and the full statements get pulled up on a staggered basis over the next 24 hours. 2) and, if you don't read your e-mail for the next three days, you'll view the most up-to-the-minute statement when you finally get around to it. Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: crashmanly@hotmail.com (Crash Manly) Subject: Bell Telephone Techline 2702s Speed Dial Help Date: 4 Feb 2003 06:41:40 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hi there; I just took my Techline 2702s out of mothballs to use the speakerphone capability. I would love to be able to use the speed dial feature but haven't been able to figure out how to program it and of course I don't have the manual anymore. On the right hand side of the set there is a row of buttons A-L as well as a button marked LOWER and up above three buttons for fire, police and a green cross. Also on the back of the set is a button marked STORE. I have tried a few things without success ... if anyone has any tips, I would appreciate it! Thanks, Crash ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech Support Subject: Re: Porn Spam Date: Tue, 04 Feb 2003 13:18:50 -0500 Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Joey Lindstrom posted on that vast internet thingie: > http://www.pmmail2000.com > You will *NOT* have these problems with PMMail. That is a superb product and they have Windoze versions. The OS/2 version is still superior ... to bad Bill won. The Windows version has a bug or two on the filtering and be careful when they release updates (on the Windows side). If it is working right don't update. You can download it for a 45 day free trial I believe and then order a key from bmtmicro.com . I would really hate to "not have it". Really. Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, Vtech 5.8Ghz EnGenius NEW EP436 4line (the longest range), Panasonic, Twinhead notebooks, WatchGuard firewall, Okidata, Polycom! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2003 22:49:09 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Nokia Bets that Gaming Phone Will Boost Growth - Feb 3, 2003 01:16 PM (Reuters) By Bernhard Warner and Lucas van Grinsven LONDON/AMSTERDAM, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Mobile phone maker Nokia (HELS:NOK1V) on Wednesday will set foot in unfamiliar territory, playing the underdog as it unveils a cellphone that doubles as a handheld gaming device, a market dominated by Japan's Nintendo. Unhappy with the slow growing mobile phone market, Nokia will take a stab at the multi-billion dollar handheld video games market. Total game software sales in North America alone grew 27 percent to $4 billion in the 11 months to November, according to market research firm NPD Funworld. Nokia's debut product, N-Gage, will look similar to Nintendo's (OSA:7974) Gameboy Advance, the dominant mobile gaming device on the market, but the question remains: will it sell like GameBoy Advance? As of September 30, Nintendo, best known for its Super Mario games, shipped 24 million Gameboy Advance units worldwide and shipped 71 million games since its launch in March 2001. Like Nintendo, Nokia said it would also become a publisher of games, which will be developed on wafer-sized memory cards. Japan's respected games publisher Sega (TOKYO:7964) will develop for N-Gage, bringing its familiar Sonic the Hedgehog character to gaming fans. Nokia itself has a strong brand among gadget enthusiasts, but there are doubts its cachet will be enough to dethrone Nintendo. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31297049 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2003 22:58:43 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EarthLink Launches Enhanced, Higher Speed CDMA2000 1xRTT EarthLink Becomes First Major ISP to Offer a Next-Generation Data Solution For On-The-Go Internet Users in Ten U.S. Cities ATLANTA, Feb. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Continuing its expansion into the wireless arena, EarthLink (NASDAQ:ELNK) today launched "EarthLink Wireless Enhanced Access for Your Laptop." The new EarthLink service utilizes the CDMA 1xRTT network of a major national wireless provider to enable on-the- go professionals to connect to the Internet at higher speeds than traditional wireless data networks. Available now in 10 markets and expanding to additional markets nationwide in 2003, the new service offers mobile Internet and email access utilizing a credit card-sized EarthLink configured, Sierra Wireless AirCard. "EarthLink Wireless Enhanced Access for Your Laptop" operates on a CDMA2000 1xRTT network, delivering average transmission speeds of 40-60kbps and bursting up to 144kbps, compared to traditional wireless data networks which average 8- 19kbps. The new service features Fourelle's Venturi optimization and acceleration capabilities, which allow end users to enjoy faster and therefore less expensive, data transmissions. http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31324213 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2003 23:07:27 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Nokia Mobile Phone Includes Video Games Nokia Corp., already the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, is pioneering a new market with its unveiling Wednesday of a hybrid that combines video gaming with wireless telephony. The N-Gage is a far cry from the Finnish company's traditional crop of phones. Most of its current models come standard with simple games like Snake or versions of the classic Tetris. Boasting a color screen and GSM technology that will make it usable in Nokia's major markets including the United States, the N-Gage is the company's first foray into handheld gaming. The N-Gage could even help usher in serious multiplayer mobile gaming, giving the battered wireless industry a needed revenue boost. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31330736 ------------------------------ From: davidoff0707@aol.com (Davidoff0707) Date: 04 Feb 2003 21:02:13 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Subject: Cellular Data Port Modem Standards I am designing a unit (modem) which will connect to the data port of a cellular telephone and establish a point to point data connection with another cellular telephone with the same device. I need to know where I can find some reading material for this type of a setup. Are there standards for this type of an external device, and where can I locate them? Is it a universal standard which applies to US networks as well as GSM networks/telephones? Will a regular modem with an RJ11 jack/RS232 port and a special adapter connecting to the data port of the cell phone be enough? Or is there special firmware that needs to be integrated into the device to be compatible with the cell phone data port? -David Davidoff ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 04 Feb 2003 23:07:52 EST From: bill@Hawaii.Edu (William J King) Subject: Any Insights on Bridge Group Design? Organization: University of Hawaii Anyone have a reference to monitoring and designing Bridge Groups for DSL to Cisco Router? For example, when do you split One BVI into 2 Bridge Groups? Does the order of ip addresses matter? Or should hightest use be Primary? Thanx, Wm ------------------------------ From: kmclinden@yahoo.com (KevinM) Subject: Re: Transfer of Calls Without a PBX? Date: 4 Feb 2003 18:25:03 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ iperez@volcanomail.com (Ignacio Perez) wrote in message news:: > Hi there, > We need to re-route all calls coming to our PBX through a number of > E1s to an alternate local number. The thing is that we are moving to > an alternate location taking the PBX with us and definitely don't want > to lose any calls to our old numbers. > The LEC cannot provide a call transfer function in the switch at the > E1 level (besides we are switching to a different CLEC), so I'd like > to know if you guys know of an unexpensive box that can do this > function and can be inserted after the d-mark point of the LEC. > This would be a temporary fix (not more that one or two months). > Best Regards. Check out http://www.mikesandman.com/autodial.html. They have an "Ultimate Call Handler" device that can do call forwarding - it can do digit insertion or deletion, and has variable ring delays. It is remotely programmable. It does require a loop-start line interface,however, and the CO or PBX 3 way calling feature, so it would not work directly with E1/T1. Maybe you can get your telco to redirect the numbers from the the E1 to some analog loop start lines in a hunt group. Then you could use such a call forwarding device. Best of luck in finding a solution! ------------------------------ From: Heath Doane Subject: Re: More on Dish Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2003 22:12:44 -0500 Organization: Bell Sympatico > Dish requires the phone line in order to verify that the reciever is > where you claim it is (using ANI when it phones home on the 800#). > They really don't care if you plug it in or not when you only have one > reciever, but with two or more they require it so you don't put your > second reciever at someone else's house allowing them to get service > without paying the full subscription fee. I did have two recievers > and never plugged in the second one, it would complain at times about > the line not being connected but I just ignored it. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That being the case, how does DISH get > paid on the premium 'on demand' movie stuff? PAT] Hi Pat, I can answer that one.. Most units have a limit set in them to allow so much in PPV charges before calling in... Until you hit that limit, the box doesn't get too upset about not being able to call home. It allows people to order movies when they're phone service is down, or disconnected; which is PR, but doesn't let them go TOO far into the hole, which is good business. Heath ------------------------------ From: Worldgoawayplz@aol.com Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2003 16:55:56 EST Subject: Telemarketer Very Abusive to Employees To whom this may concern, I have been looking up such things on the internet. People at my workplace on being subjected to the same degrading manner as those in Sprint; we work for Reeseteleservices, MCI is our client. Is there any additional information you can send me concerning not being able to go to the bathroom? And the so called "paper trail". What can we do? Thank you for your time. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I understand that Sprint finally got organized, even though management fought against it repeatedly, even getting more abusive (than usual) toward many employees. I do not know if that was across the board or not, or if it just involved plant workers but not sales people, or just sales people but not plant, etc. I know there is a union for telemarketer employees, but I do not know its name or where to find it. It does not surprise me that they are abusive to employees; they certainly are toward prospective customers. Can any of the readers here reply to this party with documented examples of abuse of telemarketing employees and what actions were taken by employees? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: Can Your Cell Phone Impair Your Vision? Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2003 23:36:24 -0800 Organization: LincMad.com Consulting Reply-To: Telecom@LincMad.com In article , David Clayton wrote: >>> [Not remembering billboards] is probably a good indication of a >>> lessening of peripheral vision, and therefore the driver is >>> probably not allocating as many "CPU cycles" to the task of >>> driving as without the phone. >> The only relevant question is whether the driver is less aware of >> IMPORTANT details. Decreased attention to IRRELEVANT details is >> irrelevant. > Agreed, but just because the details now not seen are "irrelevant" > details, that doesn't mean that the point I made isn't valid. As far > as "Utterly unsubstantiated nonsense" I now look forward to you > quoting the references substantiating your *opinion* in respect to > mine. :-) Yes, it does mean that the point you were making is invalid. Inattention to irrelevant details does not automatically correlate with inattention to relevant details. Neither you nor the study authors gave anything more than hand-waving to connect the two. As for references, I don't need any references. *YOU* were the one repeating the claim that failure to remember billboards is a valid indication of inattention to other aspects of driving. I said that the claim is unsubstantiated. My statement stands until and unless *YOU* prove otherwise. It is not a symmetrical point; the burden of proof is on your side, not mine. > As far as I can tell, the billboards are just used as an example of > the driver paying less attention to what is happening around him on > the road while using a phone. As far as I can tell, the attention paid by the driver to other vehicles entering the roadway, to traffic signals, and to traffic signs, were used as a valid measure of the driver's attention to the task at hand. The billboards were thrown in as extraneous noise. > Humans, (in my experience), have a finite ability to process > information and implement decisions based on that information. Whilst > in control of a ton (or more) of metal that can be moving at a high > velocity, I would prefer that if it is proven that using a phone can > result in a possible lessening of the processing ability being > devoted to this important task, people take it seriously enough not > to do it. Listening to the radio diminishes the attention that the driver pays to the road. Do we outlaw listening to the radio? Having passengers in the car diminishes the driver's attention; do we outlaw passengers? >>>> To the extent that the study showed drivers being less attentive >>>> to their driving, that's a real problem. However, drivers paying >>>> less attention to billboards is nothing to be concerned about. >>> Only if you ignore the particular measurement as an example of a >>> potentially bigger problem. >> Which I do, and for good reason. As I said, the parts of the study >> that show that drivers on cellphones paid less attention to other >> cars, traffic signs and signals, or other RELEVANT information to >> the task of driving a car, are worrisome. The part of the study >> that showed that drivers on cellphones don't remember billboards >> adds nothing of value to that discussion. It is exactly analogous >> to my point about the talking drivers noticing less about the trees >> and flowers. If the measurement of attention to billboards were the >> closest thing you could get to measuring attention to the general >> task of driving, that would be one thing, but since you can measure >> the thing itself much more accurately, there is no reason to even >> bother with measuring a poor substitute. > can probably be a good indication of a lessening of the ability of > the language centre of the brain to process written messages while > the driver is listening or talking on the phone, (ever tried to read > a book with an audible conversation happening at the same time?). No, it isn't a good indication at all. First of all, billboards vary widely in the degree of language processing involved in taking in their messages. Secondly, in order to process any writing on the billboard, you first have to look at the billboard closely enough to notice that it has writing on it. Language processing doesn't even enter the picture unless the billboard reaches a certain level of foreground in your attention. I'm looking at a bookshelf right now, but I don't engage the language center of my brain to read the titles unless I focus on the individual books. The titles of the individual books, like the irrelevant billboards, are the first thing my brain jettisons if it has other things to focus on. If you want a relevant measure of such things, put signs in your simulator that say things like "LEFT LANE CLOSED 1.5 MILES AHEAD" or "EXIT 37 CLOSED -- USE EXIT 42 TO HOGSMEADE AVENUE." Those will test the driver's ability to interpret written language in a relevant context. > They may have used billboards as an easier way to measure this rather > than road signs etc., which are relevant to road safety. No, because they also measured the more relevant factors. The billboards were thrown in because they made a better sound bite, nothing more. In short, if you want to convince me that people driving while talking on cellphones are more dangerous drivers, then show me that they are more dangerous drivers. Don't waste your time and mine by showing me extraneous information about billboards. You may as well tell me that the driver talking on a cellphone is 97% less likely to notice a ruby-throated hummingbird next to the road. www dot LincMad dot com / Telecom at LincMad dot com Linc Madison * San Francisco, California ------------------------------ Date: 4 Feb 2003 02:49:01 -0500 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Members of Congress Who Are Concerned About Telemarketing? Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > If one were looking for allies, or at least a possibly sympathetic > hearing, for possible controls on telemarketing, are there any > people or offices in the government whom one might contact first? Rep. Tauzin was surprisingly enthusiastic about the FTC's national opt-out database. He and Rep. Dingell co-sponsored HR 395 which appropriates money to run it for the first year (after that the telemarketers pay) and directs the FCC to make the industries they're responsible for use it, too. See http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/news/01292003_773.htm Tauzin is the chair of the Commerce Committee, Dingell is the ranking minority member, so together I'd think they have the muscle to move this through. Other than the DMA's predictable lawsuit, I haven't heard much opposition. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: Gail M. Hall Subject: Re: Alltel Dial-Up Performance Date: Tue, 04 Feb 2003 03:07:14 -0500 Reply-To: gmhall@apk.net On 2 Feb 2003 09:33:59 -0800, in comp.dcom.telecom message , turningleaves02@yahoo.com (Paul) wrote: > I live in Northern Ohio with Alltel service. Over the past 2 weeks I > have experienced a noticable drop in the data throughput of my PC's > modem. I know many things could account for this, but I was wondering > if anyone else with Alltel in the Richfield, Akron, etc. Ohio area > have experienced a drop in connection speed and throughput. I used to > frequently get data rates of 42-44K, but now I typically get 28K. Have you tried just connecting a regular phone to that line and picking up the handset to see if there is any static or sounds of faint voices on the line? If you hear any static or leakage, you can tell them you hear static or leakage and they should come out and fix that line. With the kind of weather we have had in Ohio this winter, it is easy to suspect that ice can build up on telephone wires and connections that are above ground or problems could develop on cables under the ground. The squirrels might be getting hungry, too. But you will definitely hear static or just not get a connection if they have chewed into the lines. > I know Alltel just installed a new local switch in my general area, > but they claim this would not have affected performance. Alltel > checked out the line and nothing unusual was found. Maybe this is just > a ploy for people to upgrade and pay for DSL, now that it > coincidentally has just become available in my area. Good question. I don't know if changing switches in a central location can affect the type of connections you get at various points on the way to your house. I hope you get an answer from the gurus around here. > I'm considering purchasing Alltel DSL for my home use in the Akron, > Ohio area. Anyone have any comments good or bad about their quality of > service? What about their technical support? I'm in SBC territory and don't know about Alltel. Gail in Ohio USA ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2003 10:14:13 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Country Code 874 (was Re: Tokelau, ...) You included reference to +874, so here's something I noticed this week: Among some "419" email I cleaned up, there was an email with two telephone numbers (one of them a fax) in +874. The sender claimed to be an official from Zimbabwe who had to go into exile in neighboring Botswana, and (supposedly) there was a large sum of money in secure vault in South Africa, another neighboring country. He went on to say that response should be to that fax and not by email. He said that if he used telephone number in +267 (Botswana), he'd be "smoked out" by the (hostile) Zimbabwe government. He said that the number in +874 was secure. ------------------------------ From: George Hand Subject: Re: Prison Call Overcharging Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2003 01:59:29 -0500 Organization: Mountain Cablevision Which reminds me of another scam which got my gander up ... A couple of years ago, whileI was staying in a hotel in Stirling, Scotland, I wanted to call home to Canada using Bell Canada's toll-free 0800 number. I dialled the number, and instead of getting the "welcome to Canada" auto attendant message, I got a real American operator in Dallas who wanted to charge me $3.50 to connect me and $1.50 a minute! I told her what to do with the charges ... When I spoke to the hotel manager about this, he told me that the hotel had contracted with an operator services company to connect international calls and all calls to Call AT7T and Bell Canada were being bounced to this (rip-off) company! I checked out the same day and told him I wouldn't be coming back ... George "Linc Madison" wrote in message news:telecom22.254.14@telecom-digest.org: > In article , Gail M. Hall > wrote: >> I'll be interested to hear if this "Save a buck or two" company >> really does save people money for collect call charges. I must say >> they have some cute commercials! > Read the fine print: "Savings vs. dialing '0' with AT&T for interstate > calls." > Not compared to dialing 0-NPA-NXX-XXXX, not compared to dialing > 1-800-CALL-ATT, but compared to dialing just 0. The recipient pays a > substantial surcharge if the operator has to punch the number in for > you, but 1-800-COLLECT gives you that service for free. Woo-hoo. > (Never mind that you don't get an AT&T operator if you just dial > 0. You have to dial 1010288-0 or 00 if the phone is pre-subscribed to > AT&T, but AT&T recommends dialing 1-800-CALL-ATT instead.) > Only an ABSOLUTE IDIOT would dial just '0' to place a collect call. > There's no excuse, at least for those of us whose age has made it into > double-digits. > A very useful clue as to what 1-800-COLLECT will charge can be gleaned > from the simple fact that they don't list any rates on their web site. > Their contact form offers several options for the subject of your > inquiry, but "rates" is not one of them. Of course, I'm sure > the reason they don't tell you the rates is that they're so low you > don't need to even think about them.... > Also, many of the commercials feature situations in which only an > absolute idiot would call collect to begin with; for instance, the kids > at the mall calling Mom to come pick them up. How many kids get dropped > off at a mall that's so far away from home that it's a toll call? Give > the kid 50 cents to call home from the payphone! > The continued business success of companies like 1-800-COLLECT and > 10-10-220 (pay extra on every call!) only proves the gullibility of the > American consumer. > To borrow a phrase for which 1-800-COLLECT's spokesman is famous, "I > pity the fool" who ever uses 1-800-COLLECT. > www dot LincMad dot com / Telecom at LincMad dot com > Linc Madison * San Francisco, California ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2003 21:18:02 -0700 Subject: Last Laugh! More Garbage From Spammers Reply-To: joey@garynuman.info And now to get back on topic, here's a piece of spam I just received: ==================BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE================== Hello, I represent an acquisition firm that purchases the e-mail subscribers of websites that go defunct. We have access to several databases full of individuals who are double opt-in subscribers of newsletters and online offers. we sell these assets exclusively to sites like yours. These are completely opt in users, not spam or other "targeted" leads. You will purchase the exclusive right to mail them offers etc., as an asset so no privacy policies are violated. If interested, please let me know what category of interest you would like, and i'll let you know what currently available assets we have. Thank You, Adam Weiss Independent Rep Market Share Group. 877-603-1400 ext. 606 ===================END FORWARDED MESSAGE=================== Note that they assure me that the email addresses I'm buying are: 1) Double-opt-in, and 2) Given only to me ("exclusive right") My word, such a deal! I just can't pass this one up! :-) Ironically, these masters of targeted leads managed to send this incredible offer to me in Canada. The toll-free number they've provided does not work from here. Aw, shucks. :-) / From the desk of Joey Lindstrom / / So I figured I'd leave the area, because I had no ties there anyway / except for this girl I was seeing. We had conflicting attitudes: I / really wasn't into meditating and she wasn't really into being alive. I / told her I knew when I was going to die because my birth certificate has / an expiration date. / --Steven Wright ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #275 ****************************** From nonews@100p100nature.ch Wed Feb 5 04:46:32 2003 Received: from mintaka.lcs.mit.edu (mintaka.lcs.mit.edu [18.26.0.36]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) with ESMTP id h159kTG03236 for ; Wed, 5 Feb 2003 04:46:31 -0500 (EST) Received: from 100p100nature.ch ([195.144.46.10]) by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu (8.12.6/8.12.6) with SMTP id h159kQxE056751 for ; Wed, 5 Feb 2003 04:46:26 -0500 (EST) (envelope-from nonews@100p100nature.ch) Message-Id: <200302050946.h159kQxE056751@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> From: "100 pour 100 nature" To: Subject: Pour vos voyages, sortez des sentiers battus ... 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--= Multipart Boundary 0205031044-- From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Feb 5 20:49:52 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h161nqk22560; Wed, 5 Feb 2003 20:49:52 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 20:49:52 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302060149.h161nqk22560@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #276 TELECOM Digest Wed, 5 Feb 2003 20:50:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 276 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Active E-Mail, was Re: Porn Spam (Thomas A. Horsley) Re: Active E-Mail, was Re: Porn Spam (Richard D G Cox) How to Prevent Display of Phone Number Using Prepaid LD Card? (Nothorius) Re: Lucent Partner ACS Phone System for Notebook (Tony De Luz) Re: International SMS Starting to Work (Ian) Voice Compression Algorithm on C54x DSP (Davidoff0707) Re: Country Code 874 (was Re: Tokelau, ...) (Don't email me) Re: '700' Service Code [was "McDonald's / Wendy's Thoughts"] (AES/newspost) Re: Quiet Termination? (Touch Tone Tommy) Get Rid of That Disgusting Spam (Charlie Root) Re: Porn Spam (Michael D. Sullivan) Tracing Local Calls (Steve Grabhorn) Sex.com Case Heralds End of Internet - NSI (Monty Solomon) Re: Last Laugh! AT&T Admits There May be a Caller ID Problem (Joe Mauk) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Active E-Mail, was Re: Porn Spam From: tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 23:04:12 GMT > What's even worse in this picture is that far too many e-mail programs > default to allowing this sort of automatic activity. At least in some versions of Outlook Express, you can (while inbox is open) goto View > Layout... and uncheck the checkbox that says "show preview pane". That way it never shows the preview and you have a chance to do things like examine the message properties and view the raw source of suspicious messages. (Or click on the "work offline" button before actually opening the mail). I don't know if any spammers have actually done it, but you can also use this to validate email addresses. By cleverly embedding a link to an image with a name like "poor_spam_victim_at_someplace_dot_com.jpg", then using your web server logfiles to see if anyone tried to download that file. If they did, then poor_spam_victim@someplace.com has just had his mail program's preview "feature" verify that he got the mail. What fun! >>==>> The *Best* political site >>==+ email: Tom.Horsley@worldnet.att.net icbm: Delray Beach, FL | Free Software and Politics ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 12:37:31 GMT From: Richard D G Cox Subject: Re: Active E-Mail, was Re: Porn Spam Reply-To: nospam@numbering.com Organization: Mandarin Technology Limited On Tue, 4 Feb 2003 05:46 UT, Danny Burstein wrote: > Part of the problem is that e-mail can be sent with an included > h-ref tag which tells the program, while you're reading the e-mail, > to go back to the designated server and, right then and there, > download the image. Which will of course in many cases also register the fact that the particular mail sent to YOUR address has been opened. There will be a reference or code in the H-REF tag which identifies that specific message. Spammers use this to identify which of the addresses they mail to really are live, and they then resell the resulting list of addresses at a premium as "confirmed active accounts". Sometimes the "image" will be a transparent single dot - known as a web bug or web beacon ... there doesn't need to be a visible graphic. > your browser is running without your knowing I thought in the later versions of Windows, the browser was in effect running all the time, and only the UI (User Interface) ran on demand; in fact wasn't the dependance of Windows on that feature, one of the central issues in the recent (US-Government) litigation? > pulling images from god knows where, possibly pulling viruses and > javascript and other nasties. Nasties including malware such as 900/"Foreign" number dialers to hijack your 'net connection and increase your phone bill; and also images which in some jurisdictions may be illegal to possess on a computer. In the UK, it has been held that since a computer puts together the constituent parts to "make" an image, anyone whose computer is found to have pedophilic image stored on it is automatically guilty of "making" that image, and for "making" the image there is NO defence in UK Law -- not even, apparently, the fact that it was put there by a third party without the knowledge or consent of the actual user. I have for some time imposed a strict rule that none of the computers for which I have technical responsibility are allowed to have Outlook (or Outlook Distress) configured to run as a mail client. When the new law came in, I felt my earlier decision had been well justified. > It's also why you'll sometimes see a tagline saying something like > "if you're not seeing our 12 y/o lolitot, please cut and paste the > following") Er, no. Pasting a link won't solve the issues you mentioned -- if your computer can't get to their server the ONLY way for them to get you the image would be to go to a different server; those cut-and-paste links are in most cases links to the SAME server. They're put in because servers and firewalls are often configured to munge any "H REF" URLs contained in mail messages for just the reasons I've been outlining. > What's even worse in this picture is that far too many e-mail > programs default to allowing this sort of automatic activity. > There's no good reason for an e-mail program to do this, and > many reasons not to. [a] From a user (and security) standpoint there are no valid reasons AT ALL for an email program to do this. However I have heard it suggested that Microsoft originally included that feature in the Outlook (and Outlook Distress) mail programs at the specific request of marketers who wanted to be able to know when and where their victims read the mail they send. > Oh, and this is yet point in favor of using a clean text-based > mail reader. They're far more sensible about this. Quite so; I use "Becky!" from www.rimarts.co.jp which is text-based but has the capability to retrieve HTML content if the actual user AUTHORISES it to on a per-instance basis. And not otherwise. > [a] ok, they can, if pushed, come up with two rationales: > 1) this evens out loads on all the systems. For example, if a bank > sends out 50,000 statements each midnight, the actual mail is > just a couple of lines and the full statements get pulled up > on a staggered basis over the next 24 hours. > 2) and, if you don't read your e-mail for the next three days, > you'll view the most up-to-the-minute statement when you finally > get around to it. That would certainly support sending out links instead of attachments, but hardly justifies "forcing" a download. The addressee may not want to receive, say, a private bank statement when logging in to read mail at a computer away from home (such as at work, or in a cybercafe). Richard Cox ------------------------------ From: nothorius Subject: How to Prevent Display of Phone Number Using Prepaid LD Card? Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 14:25:38 GMT Organization: Road Runner I use a Sprint prepaid phone card to make business long distance calls from several locations. Fairly recently, I started having people return my calls, not to the phone number I was leaving for them, but to whatever phone I'd used to call them. A little digging revealed that, although my phone company prevents the display of my telephone number when I call directly from my home line (for example), when I use the prepaid card, my information IS displayed on the receiver's line. Four calls to Sprint produced four completely different answers: 1. "Call this different 800 access number and your number won't display" (didn't work) 2. "Dial *67 before calling the 800 access number" (didn't work) 3. "Dial *67 immediately before dialing the number you wish to call" (Sprint's computers interrupted the minute I pressed the * key) 4. "We pass along whatever information your local phone company pases to us, so you'll need to talk to them, not us." I am positive that this card, which I've been using for two years, used to merely show "out of area" on caller ID boxes. How do I handle this? Clearly, Sprint customer service people are worthless at fixing the problem. ------------------------------ From: tdeluz@thetelecomvendor.com (Tony De Luz) Subject: Re: Lucent Partner ACS Phone System for Notebook Date: 5 Feb 2003 09:20:36 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Helm: That release of Partner ACS is 2 versions back with the 7 18d's being of the most value. The value of the system altogether is roughly about $800-$1000. You could increase the value of the system by simply including installation and cabling. 7 18d's could fetch an additional $1000-$1400 with new cable, programming and customer training. Otherwise, go to usedphones.com and get it off your hands. Good Luck, Tony De Luz www.TheTelecomVendor.com H.A.A. wrote in message news:: > The company I worked for closed last year and with that, I was handed their > complete phone system. It's the Release 3.0 version of the Lucent Partner > ACS System which comprises of the following: > 1 x 103G7 Release 3.0 Module > 1 x Remote Access PC Card (PCMCIA) > 7 x 18D (Display) Phones > I do not have any of the manuals with me, HOWEVER, suffice to say, I > just recently purchased one on a cd-rom from E-Zmanuals.com, that > includes installation and programming manuals for releases 3.0, 2.0 > and 1.0 > Everything is in very good working condition and we NEVER had any > problems with the system in the year and a half that the company used > it. I just tested them and everything is working perfectly. However, > please note that 2 of the phones have slight damages to it. One has a > dent in the display. Display still works fine. And on the other, one > corner of the bottom plastic cover is broken. You can easily combine > these 2 into a perfect 6th, leaving the 7th damaged but fully > functional. > I have photos available for all the above item. Email me if you're > serious about this trade. You have five business days to inspect and > test the system. If you're not satisfied, I'll be more than happy to > take it back. > In exchange for this, I'm looking for used (or if you have a spare > new) PC notebook. I would leave it up to you to decide what you'll > offer as trade. I assume you understand what the current cost of the > above system would be, so I'm looking for a fair trade. > Thanks in advance. > Helm > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This fellow, Helm cross posted this > message to a dozen or more newsgroups, including this one. That won't > work, Helm. If any string of newsgroups has at least one moderated > group in its midst, the message you post will get *that far* (to the > moderated group) and stop there. If I had reposted or reissued it to > the other groups then they would see it also. NEVER include a moderated > group in a cross posting to several newsgroups for that reason. So Helm, > you will need to issue the message again to the others. > To the other readers here: There have been reports on the net in > recent weeks about scams involving laptops and other computers. I am > taking this opportunity to remind you all *to take special care in any > trades made on the net.* This is NOT directed at Helm since I do not > know and never met the man. If you decide to go with the deal, be > certain to work out a satisfactory escrow plan. This is just mother Townson > clucking at all her baby chicks once again, warning you of danger. PAT] ------------------------------ From: ian@jardine.net (Ian) Subject: Re: International SMS Starting to Work Date: 5 Feb 2003 10:19:01 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I am curious. Why was it more convenient for you to type a message on your phone than send an email? I note you list your contact numbers fully, but not your cellphone number and indeed give your email. Is it because you feel text messsages are more personal? I agree it's a nuisance that text messaging in NA isn't always compatible with the GSM networks in the rest of the world. But I can check my emails on the fly via my phone or pda. I am looking forward more to using IM contact lists via my phone. It can be done in NA already but is a little slow. Our carriers are slowly recognizing that better text abilities is a key selling point just as prepaid cellphone services are becoming more popular. Presently I do send and receive text messages on my phone and I even have a sprintpcs email address. I agree though it's not as convenient as simply sending directly to a telephone number. I guess up till now carriers in NA did not feel that it was sufficient a selling point to allow PCS to text to ATTWS or TMobile etc. More's the pity. As 3G rollouts by PCS and Verizon (45% owned by Vodaphone) are gathering force we should get much more interesting services soon. Though I hope we don't get the UK proposal of sending "blue" material as a means of making the networks profitable;) > For example, last week I texted ["text" is now a verb: to send an SMS > message] a business contact in Malaysia thanking her for her > assistance in a project and reporting on a meeting. I got a reply on > my cellphone about five minutes later. Cost: almost zero. No messing > about with SMPT gateways: just straight texting, phone to phone. I > wouldn't expect anything else. > About the only place in the world I can't reliably send and receive text > messages is North America. > Alan Burkitt-Gray > Editor, Global Telecoms Business > Euromoney Institutional Investor plc, Nestor House, Playhouse Yard, London > EC4V 5EX, UK > tel +44 20 7779 8518 fax +44 20 7779 8248 > e-mail aburkitt@euromoneyplc.com > www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com ------------------------------ From: davidoff0707@aol.com (Davidoff0707) Date: 05 Feb 2003 19:00:49 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Subject: Voice Compression Algorithm on C54x DSP Hello, I need a real time voice compression algorithm that works at 8khz sampling rate and 8bits. The total kbps is 64 kbps going in. It must auto-select the outgoing compressed data from 6.3kbps/5.3kbps/4.8kbps/2.4kbps based on line conditions. I am looking at: G711 G723.1 G726 G729.1 However I am confused as to which one I should select. What algorithm can you recommend. It can be a paid algorithm or freeware. Also, where can I find the algorithm standards so that I Can write my own program, for example the guidelines for writing G723.1 applications. -David Davidoff ------------------------------ From: nomailp@netscape.net (Don't email me) Subject: Re: Country Code 874 (was Re: Tokelau, ...) Date: 5 Feb 2003 11:55:53 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I can see why he wants to use 874 ... country code 87 is maritime mobile services.(ship to shore) ... ask if he's on a boat in Zimbabwe??????? :) questions@telcosupport.net http://www.telcosupport.net Carl Moore wrote in message news:: > You included reference to +874, so here's something I > noticed this week: > Among some "419" email I cleaned up, there was an email with two > telephone numbers (one of them a fax) in +874. The sender claimed to > be an official from Zimbabwe who had to go into exile in neighboring > Botswana, and (supposedly) there was a large sum of money in secure > vault in South Africa, another neighboring country. He went on to say > that response should be to that fax and not by email. He said that if > he used telephone number in +267 (Botswana), he'd be "smoked out" by > the (hostile) Zimbabwe government. He said that the number in +874 > was secure. ------------------------------ From: AES/newspost Subject: Re: '700' Service Code [was "McDonald's / Wendy's Thoughts"] Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 12:03:03 -0800 In article , Paul A Lee wrote: >> Let the telemarketers call anyone they want, using any kind of equipment >> they want -- just require that they identify clearly on their outgoing >> calls that they're telemarketing calls, so that callees can apply >> whatever filtering they desire on their incoming calls. > While I don't disagree with the objective, this strategy still > requires the called party to purchase equipment and/or subscribe to a > telco service. Consequently, it doesn't fully address consumer > concerns that they should be able to decline the very attempt by a > telemarketer to call them. Thanks for the comments and the accompanying information. Let me just respond briefly -- well, not so briefly -- to your final comment above. Suppose my mandatory telemarketing CLID proposal (one single mandatory nationwide telemarketing service code) were adopted. Even if telcos resisted providing a low-cost telco service to block this service code -- and they probably would resist, because telemarketing is an income source for them -- building an electronic blocking mechanism for this one service code into desktop or cell phone electronics as an option would be trivially easy and trivially cheap, and probably popular with consumers; and I think phone manufacturers would do it. I also think Radio Shack, etc, would develop and sell a $10 or $15 box to do the same job (the electronics are certainly no more complex than say, a NOAA Weather Radio which you can buy at Radio Shack for about the same amount). On the other hand, with the Do Not Call List (DNCL) approach, someone has to permanently maintain and support these lists; there may be multiple such lists, at Federal and State levels; and every time you change or add a phone number, *you* still have to be sure you get yourself on the list(s). There's also the bizarre feature that the proposed lists will be maintained by the govt, but paid for by the telemarketing industry. In other words, they'll likely be operated with the well-known efficiency of the INS, or the typical state DMV. And so far as telemarketing industry participation is involved, it won't be just "the fox guarding the henhouse", it will be the fox being responsible for paying to design and build the fence around the henhouse. Good luck! There are still problems with either approach. How do you *define* "telemarketing"? The industry will obviously drive for the weakest possible definition, and they have the lobbying clout (aka "bribery"). This problem is the same with either approach, however. Scumball telemarketers (is there any other kind?) can still violate any set of rules with either approach. But if they do this with the DNCL approach, the onus is on you not only to document the specific violation and track down the offending telemarketer, but also to prove you really were on the DNC list. Finally, though my attitude toward telemarketing ought to be obvious, I also believe there is some element of a First Amendment question here: you've got a phone, someone wants to call it; maybe they should be able to at least try to call you (but you don't have to answer). I suspect the telemarketing industry may argue hard on this point, and get some support. My approach merely requires them to identify themselves at the start, while preserving their ability to call -- and at the same time precisely preserving the ability of the consumer to "be able to decline the very attempt by a telemarketer to call them". For myself in any case, I'd much prefer to have the opportunity to build what I think would be a simple, cheap, and effective telemarketing firewall around my own phone lines, rather than relying on a more complex and dubious approach that would require good behavior by someone else, along with continual maintenance by someone else and periodic upgrading by me. "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton (1834-1902) "Dependence on advertising tends to corrupt. Total dependence on advertising corrupts totally." (today's equivalent) ------------------------------ From: touch tone tommy Subject: Re: Quiet Termination? Date: Tue, 04 Feb 2003 21:40:06 -0800 Organization: Acme Telephone Works On Mon, 3 Feb 2003 10:33:06 -0800, Brandon Turok wrote: > Ack, I've got a customer who is having trouble with line noise. Do > any of you know a quiet termination number that happens to work on > Pacific Bell COs in the bay area? > On a related note, is there any way to register as a vendor with SBC > and be able to get such numbers if I need them? > Brandon Turok > http://www.loonquawl.com/ > Dial-A-Machine (925) 288-9825 > Free when you call from work Try the prefix and 0049. Not necessarily on all the prefixes in the exchange, so try them all. To find all the prefixes in the exchange, try http://www.melissadata.com/lookups/phonelocation.asp. Also, the 1004Hz tone is usually at prefix-0020 for Pac Bell. Tom Thiel - touch_tone_tommy@yahoo.com "Remember, it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that certain je ne sais quoi" - Peter Schickele (PDQ Bach) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 05:43:48 -0500 From: Charlie Root Subject: Get Rid of That Disgusting Spam You receive loads of disturbing junk mail advertisements day by day. Are you tired? Just say "Good bye, spam!" Fully integrated solutions available for: - Microsoft Outlook 2000/2002 - Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0/6.0 - America Online 7.0/8.0 Get the mail you want and nothing else. http://zlngnmaru.junkfighter.com/ ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Porn Spam Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 08:00:40 GMT On Tue, 04 Feb 2003 13:18:50 -0500, SELLCOM Tech Support posted the following to comp.dcom.telecom: > Joey Lindstrom posted on that vast internet > thingie: >> http://www.pmmail2000.com >> You will *NOT* have these problems with PMMail. > That is a superb product and they have Windoze versions. > The OS/2 version is still superior ... to bad Bill won. > The Windows version has a bug or two on the filtering and be careful > when they release updates (on the Windows side). If it is working > right don't update. You can download it for a 45 day free trial I > believe and then order a key from bmtmicro.com . Another vote for PMMail2000. Used it under OS/2, back when ... and have been using it under Win98 for years. It completely protects you from HTML viruses, because it is almost text-only. It does honor a few HTML directives, such as font size, but does not inline anything and does not open externally referenced URLs. You can set up IE as an external reader if you want to see what a legitimate HTML email looked like. Excellent filtering capability. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA (delete NOSPAM from address to mail me) ------------------------------ From: Steve Grabhorn Subject: Tracing Local Calls Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 00:55:45 -0800 Organization: Gator Productions Wow, I've been away from the telecom digest for many years, and after looking through the posts I'm seeing what I've been missing. It's great to see Pat still here, and I hope he's doing well. I've done some searching through the archives and the latest archives and I can't find an answer to my question, which I know has been brought up many times years ago when I used to be a regular. But now we have Caller ID. My question: A child has been kidnapped from a home. The local law enforcement group puts a tap on the family's phone, but that warrant runs out, within a week or two, without them noticing it. Supposedly the line is no longer being looked at. A suspicious call comes in three weeks later, from the date the child disappears. Law Enforcement puts another tap on the local line to trace any another phone calls coming in. We don't hear about any subsequent calls. Years ago, when I used to read this newsgroup religiously, I remember hearing that local calls were not logged by the central office. The amount of time spent calling was logged, for billing purposes, but the numbers were not logged. Or maybe they were not kept after a certain period of time. Now I'm assuming that this call (and, this really happened, it's not hypothetical,) if it was made from a cell phone would be traceable. Would it be traceable if made from a pay phone? If it was made from a local or pay phone within the local Zum 1 or Zum 2 or Zum 3 zones, do they keep that info anymore? I think it didn't used to be, but what about now with Caller ID? I'm sure this has been brought up many times; at least it used to be. And I'm sorry for ever leaving the TELECOM Digest! What the heck was I thinking???? Thanks in advance to anyone who can tell me what works now. steveo To reply remove the yadodiodo ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 00:10:56 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Sex.com Case Heralds End of Internet - NSI By Kieren McCarthy Network Solutions - the Internet's biggest domain name registrar and the owner of the .com domain - has heralded the end of the Internet in court filings to the Californian Supreme Court. It warns that if a forthcoming decision by the court goes the wrong way it "would cripple the Internet and jeopardize the national economic benefit for e-commerce". It would also "threaten all Internet registrars' survival". The astonishing revelations feature in a 14-page submission sent to the Supreme Court on 23 January and regard the on-going legal dispute with Gary Kremen, owner of the domain Sex.com. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/29152.html ------------------------------ From: jsmauk@aol.com (Joe Mauk) Subject: Re: Last Laugh! AT&T Admits There May be a Caller ID Problem Date: 5 Feb 2003 09:41:52 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ > So I called 201-330-5114 and heard the most unusual intercept message > which I invite you to listen to also. Basically I was told that I had > reached a non-working number at AT&T and that 'someone' ( they knew not > who) was giving that out on Caller-ID without their (AT&T) permission. It is possible to program many PBX's to give out ANY caller ID you would like them to. You cannot change the ANI. Interesting to see that telemarketers using fake caller ID's. I guess that's their way of getting around the so called privacy managers that have been marketed by the local telco folks. Clever little bastards. Don't you think? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I agree with one third of your three word description. I'll give you a guess at which of the three words I agree with. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #276 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Feb 6 01:19:27 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h166JRr25317; Thu, 6 Feb 2003 01:19:27 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2003 01:19:27 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302060619.h166JRr25317@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #277 TELECOM Digest Thu, 6 Feb 2003 01:18:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 277 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson 19 Charged in Identity Theft That Netted $7 Million Tax Refunds (M Solomon) Re: How to Prevent Display of Phone Number Using Prepaid LD Card (Burstein) Comcast Eases E-Mail Switch (Monty Solomon) Re: Country Code 874 (was Re: Tokelau, ...) (John R. Levine) Re: '700' Service Code [was McDonald's/Wendy's Thoughts] (John R. Levine) Cell Phones: Dial 'S' for Shock (Monty Solomon) Feds Pull Suspicious .gov Site (Monty Solomon) Re: How to Prevent Display of Phone Number Using Prepaid LD Card (J Higdon) Re: Prison Call Overcharging (John Higdon) Toner Company Fights DMCA Lawsuit (Monty Solomon) AOL Promos Still Popping Up (Monty Solomon) HP Raps Rival For Invoking DMCA (Monty Solomon) Online Child Porn Arrests Total 1,600 (Monty Solomon) Re: How to Prevent Display of Phone Number Using Prepaid LD Card (tonypo1) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 22:23:39 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: 19 Charged in Identity Theft That Netted $7 Million in Tax Refunds By BENJAMIN WEISER Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged 19 people with being part of an identity theft ring in the Bronx that obtained at least $7 million in federal tax refunds by filing thousands of fraudulent income tax returns. The scheme relied in part on a corrupt tax preparer in the Bronx who used stolen Social Security numbers to create the fake returns, the office of United States Attorney James B. Comey said yesterday. The tax preparer eventually agreed to cooperate with federal authorities, and continued to carry out the fraud while the government secretly recorded conversations and gathered other evidence, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in United States District Court in Manhattan. The tax preparer, who has not been identified, has pleaded guilty as part of a deal with the government, the complaint said. In some cases, the conspirators provided the preparer with names and identifying information for people to be listed as taxpayers or their dependents, many of whom were dead or who otherwise did not file tax returns, the complaint said. It also said the tax preparer was paid $70 to $150 for each tax return submitted with the fraudulently obtained Social Security numbers. Typically, the returns yielded refunds of about $2,500 each, the complaint said. The defendants even used the Internal Revenue Service's system for filing electronic tax returns. After making such filings, the defendants got loans in anticipation of their fraudulent refunds, according to the complaint, which was signed by Whitney V. Adams, an agent with the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/05/nyregion/05TAX.html ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Re: How to Prevent Display of Phone Number Using Prepaid LD Card? Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2003 02:19:37 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In nothorius writes: > I use a Sprint prepaid phone card to make business long distance calls > from several locations. Fairly recently, I started having people > return my calls, not to the phone number I was leaving for them, but > to whatever phone I'd used to call them. A little digging revealed > that, although my phone company prevents the display of my telephone > number when I call directly from my home line (for example), when I > use the prepaid card, my information IS displayed on the receiver's > line. [ additional history snipped ] When you (as a member of the general public) use a pre-paid calling card, various things can happen vis-a-vis caller ID displays at the recipient's phone. They can get: a) "out of area" with no further info b) a "real" looking number based on the trunk line the calling card company outdials from which may (or may not) change depending on where you're calling. For example, if you're in LA and dialing out to Buffalo, NY, the outgoing trunk may get identified as (617)-XXX-YYYY (replace x and y with normal numbers). But if you're calling Washington it may be (202)-xxx-yyyy. c) a pseudo number (fake...) inserted for the hell of it, such as 111-222-1111 d) the number you're actually calling from or even, e) the phone number your card is hooked up to. (in some areas you can get prepaid cards associated with your home phone service. The market niche here, I guess, is giving it to your kids. Or something) These results can, and DO, change based on the card type, the vendor, and what telcos your call is going through. My personal experience is that, in general, the Branded Cards from the better known carriers are more likely to send out the number you're calling from and the secondary market ones are fuzzier. And since these cards are available at just about every supermarket, bodega, newsstand, and gas station, you've got a wide choice. HOWEVER, this is most assuredly NOT an absolute. For best results you should periodically test the card you intend to use and see what comes up. Oh, and keep in mind that many people BLOCK incoming calls that don't have (at least what looks like) valid CNID, so many of your call attempts may not get through. A proposal I've suggested is that an employment related card, giving the office CNID, be available. Many people make work-type calls from the field and from home, and this would be much more civilized and (financially) safer than, for example using a relay through the office PBX. Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 21:30:37 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast Eases E-Mail Switch Firm will let Net customers keep old addresses for now By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff, 2/5/2003 Moving to soothe outraged customers, Comcast Corp. said yesterday it has reached a deal with AT&T to let millions of cable broadband Internet subscribers across the United States -- including more than 200,000 in Massachusetts and New Hampshire -- keep using their attbi.com e-mail addresses through at least December 2004. Comcast had earlier threatened to shut down attbi.com addresses as soon as May of this year. As part of its purchase of AT&T Broadband last November, Comcast is moving subscribers to comcast.net e-mail addresses. In New England and several other markets, hundreds of thousands of broadband Net users who had originally been on mediaone.net before AT&T bought MediaOne faced getting their third e-mail address in just over a year. Meeting with Boston Globe editors and reporters yesterday, Comcast Cable president Stephen B. Burke and Kevin Casey, Comcast's new chief executive for New England, said they concluded Comcast risked alienating thousands of subscribers with the move to shut down attbi.com. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/036/business/Comcast_eases_e_mail_switch+.shtml ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Country Code 874 (was Re: Tokelau, ...) Date: 5 Feb 2003 21:49:16 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA >> Among some "419" email I cleaned up, there was an email with two >> telephone numbers (one of them a fax) in +874. > I can see why he wants to use 874 ... country code 87 is maritime > mobile services.(ship to shore) ... It's an Inmarsat satellite phone, expensive and bulky (size of a laptop) but works just about anywhere you can see the sky. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: '700' Service Code [was "McDonald's / Wendy's Thoughts"] Date: 5 Feb 2003 21:56:26 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Suppose my mandatory telemarketing CLID proposal (one single mandatory > nationwide telemarketing service code) were adopted. > Even if telcos resisted providing a low-cost telco service to block > this service code -- Why should we or our telcos have to pay for or subsidize this? One of the many advantages of do-not-call lists is that they're paid for by the telemarketers, putting the cost where it belongs. > On the other hand, with the Do Not Call List (DNCL) approach, someone > has to permanently maintain and support these lists; there may be > multiple such lists, at Federal and State levels; and every time you > change or add a phone number, *you* still have to be sure you get > yourself on the list(s). The FTC's mandate is to subsume the state lists and to coordinate with the FCC so there's one big honking do-not-call list. Yes, when you get a new phone number you have to add it to the list, but I don't see why that's harder than having to set up your phone blocking box and subscribe to CLID and whatever setup your technical approach has. Putting yourself on the NY list takes about two minutes via their web site or their 800 number. > There's also the bizarre feature that the proposed lists will be > maintained by the govt, but paid for by the telemarketing industry. > In other words, they'll likely be operated with the well-known > efficiency of the INS, or the typical state DMV. You don't have to speculate, you can look at the experience with the existing state lists. They work fine. I'm on the New York no-call list, which is run by the state and paid for by telemarketers, and I get less than junk call per week. > Finally, though my attitude toward telemarketing ought to be obvious, > I also believe there is some element of a First Amendment question > here: you've got a phone, someone wants to call it; maybe they should > be able to at least try to call you (but you don't have to answer). I > suspect the telemarketing industry may argue hard on this point, and > get some support. They're currently suing the FTC, but the case law goes against them. Telemarketing is intrusive and ties up the phone you pay for. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 22:09:32 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cell Phones: Dial 'S' for Shock By Elisa Batista 02:00 AM Feb. 05, 2003 PT Moviegoers may laugh at the Cingular Wireless commercial about a man who talks on his cell phone and gets ejected from his seat while watching a film. But do they actually want to see this happen? Apparently, some people do. The New York City council has passed a bill that prohibits cell-phone use in public performance venues like museums, art galleries and theaters. The bill's introduction back in August followed two instances in which famous actors lashed out at cell-phone users during Broadway performances. In the middle of one of his performances, Kevin Spacey turned to a person who answered a cell phone and said, "Tell them you're busy." Laurence Fishburne wasn't as congenial. In the middle of his performance, he yelled to a member of the audience, "Turn your fucking phone off!" Mayor Michael Bloomberg vetoed the cell-phone legislation shortly after it passed, but the city council is expected to override the veto when it meets on Thursday, according to a spokeswoman for Bloomberg. That would make the bill law within 30 days. http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,57532,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 22:25:11 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Feds Pull Suspicious .gov Site By Declan McCullagh Staff Writer, CNET News.com WASHINGTON--In a move that raises questions about the security of governmental domains, the Bush administration has pulled the plug on a .gov Web site pending an investigation into the authenticity of the organization that controlled it. Until recently, visitors to the AONN.gov Web site were treated to a smorgasbord of information about an agency calling itself the Access One Network Northwest (AONN), a self-described cyberwarfare unit claiming to employ more than 2,000 people and had the support of the U.S. Department of Defense. No federal agency called AONN appears to exist, and no agency with that name is on the official list of organizations maintained by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. The General Services Administration (GSA), which runs the .gov registry, pulled the domain on Jan. 24, after a query from CNET News.com. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-983384.html ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: How to Prevent Display of Phone Number Using Prepaid LD Card? Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 19:40:10 -0800 In article , nothorius wrote: > I use a Sprint prepaid phone card to make business long distance calls > from several locations. Fairly recently, I started having people > return my calls, not to the phone number I was leaving for them, but > to whatever phone I'd used to call them. That's kind of a non-issue, isn't it? One time calling a number that doesn't reach you when you left a valid callback number in your message, and any average person would certainly get the message that calling back CID-displayed numbers is not a good idea. If you are trying to hide where you are calling from, then you probably should select another pre-paid company, and check it out before making clandestine calls. Otherwise, a simple "please call me back at this number ..." should suffice. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Prison Call Overcharging Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 19:43:59 -0800 In article , George Hand wrote: > A couple of years ago, whileI was staying in a hotel in Stirling, > Scotland, I wanted to call home to Canada using Bell Canada's > toll-free 0800 number. I dialed the number, and instead of getting > the "welcome to Canada" auto attendant message, I got a real > American operator in Dallas who wanted to charge me $3.50 to connect > me and $1.50 a minute! I told her what to do with the charges ... > When I spoke to the hotel manager about this, he told me that the > hotel had contracted with an operator services company to connect > international calls and all calls to Call AT7T and Bell Canada were > being bounced to this (rip-off) company! I checked out the same day > and told him I wouldn't be coming back ... Good for you. That's how the marketplace works. Over the years, more and more people have let hotels and other establishments what they think of the holel's policy of using the telephone as a profit center. As a result, you are now able to find hotels that have dumped the ripoff AOS slime balls. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 22:53:16 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Toner Company Fights DMCA Lawsuit By Declan McCullagh Staff Writer, CNET News.com February 5, 2003, 7:09 PM PT In a final round of skirmishing before a court hearing Friday, a North Carolina company argued that a controversial copyright law does not prevent it from selling computer chips that allow toner cartridges to be reused. Static Control Components said in a legal brief filed this week that Lexmark, the No. 2 printer maker in the United States, is trying to bilk customers and stifle competition by invoking the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). U.S. District Judge Karl Forester has set a hearing on Lexmark's request for a preliminary injunction for Friday in Lexington, Ky., in the case, which is the first to pit the long-established right to reverse engineer against copyright law. In December 2002, Lexmark sued Static Control, a family-owned business in Sanford, N.C., claiming that its Smartek chips sold to toner cartridge remanufacturers violate the DMCA. The Smartek chip "circumvents the technological measure" that the printer uses to verify the cartridge is original and not remanufacturered, Lexmark claims. On Jan. 10, Forester accepted Static Control's offer to temporarily cease manufacturing the Smartek chip until a hearing could be scheduled. In an interview with CNET News.com on Wednesday, a top Hewlett-Packard executive slammed the printer rival for wielding the DMCA against the remanufacturing industry. "We think it is stretching it," HP Senior Vice President Pradeep Jotwani said. "The DMCA was put in place (to protect) things like movies, music and software applications." http://news.com.com/2100-1023-983560.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 23:08:26 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AOL Promos Still Popping Up By Jim Hu Staff Writer, CNET News.com Last October, America Online declared it would phase out its longtime practice of serving third-party pop-up advertisements, a bid to win back the hearts of its members. What AOL didn't tell members was that it would increase the number of in-house pop-ups instead. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-983524.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 23:16:15 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: HP Raps Rival For Invoking DMCA By Ian Fried Staff Writer, CNET News.com A top Hewlett-Packard printer executive said that although intellectual property rights are vital in the printer industry, rival Lexmark is wrong to try to use a controversial copyright law to safeguard those rights. In an interview with CNET News.com, HP Senior Vice President Pradeep Jotwani said Lexmark is using the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act in ways it was not intended, in pursuing a lawsuit against a maker of remanufactured toner cartridges. http://news.com.com/2100-1040-983518.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 23:49:42 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Online Child Porn Arrests Total 1,600 More than 1,600 men have so far been arrested in Operation Ore, the huge UK police investigation into child porn on the internet. Of those, 46 were suspected of being directly involved in child abuse, the officer in charge of the inquiry has told BBC News. Another four have committed suicide, Assistant Chief Constable Jim Gamble of the National Crime Squad said. And direct action has been taken to protect 40 children. Operation Ore is the UK wing of an American inquiry into websites that supplied child porn in exchange for payment via credit card, through which the users were tracked down. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2727153.stm ------------------------------ From: tonypo1@cox.net Subject: Re: How to Prevent Display of Phone Number Using Prepaid LD Card? Organization: The Ace Tomatoe and Cement Company Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2003 04:49:31 GMT In article , ThisAddressIs@aFakeOne.com says: > Four calls to Sprint produced four completely different answers: > 1. "Call this different 800 access number and your number won't > display" (didn't work) > 2. "Dial *67 before calling the 800 access number" (didn't work) > 3. "Dial *67 immediately before dialing the number you wish to call" > (Sprint's computers interrupted the minute I pressed the * key) > 4. "We pass along whatever information your local phone company pases > to us, so you'll need to talk to them, not us." > I am positive that this card, which I've been using for two years, > used to merely show "out of area" on caller ID boxes. How do I handle > this? Clearly, Sprint customer service people are worthless at fixing > the problem. What's happening is that when you dial the 800 number it's passing realtime ANI information to Sprint, which then parses it and passes it as CLID information to the called party. No easy was to supress it I'm sorry to say. I used to have a Ureach account that behaved similarly. It was nice in that I could forward my Ureach 800 number to my home line and the realtime ANI always got delivered. I believe my USADataNet 800 number performs similarly. Tony [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have that same arrangement here in Independence. My 800 number is 'camped on' to my distinctive ring-ring line, which I only use mostly for my fax or my incoming toll-free calls. My caller-ID box of course responds to both my main (regular) number and my distinctive ring-ring line. Whenever I want to get someone's phone number, I 'generously' offer to pay for their call if they want to call me on the 800 number. I more often than not will answer the call and make a note of the number then make an excuse to call them back using my cell phone. Its a great way to get someone's 'private' number. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! 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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #277 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Feb 6 21:38:52 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h172cq915258; Thu, 6 Feb 2003 21:38:52 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2003 21:38:52 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302070238.h172cq915258@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #278 TELECOM Digest Thu, 6 Feb 2003 21:39:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 278 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Active E-Mail, was Re: Porn Spam (SELLCOM Tech support) Hotel Redirecting Canada Direct (was: Prison Call Overcharging) (Mark Brader) How to Determine Cell Phone Charge When Travelling Internationally? (Mike) Re: International SMS Starting to Work (Alan Burkitt-Gray) Telemarketers [was "'700' Service Code"] (Paul A Lee) Remote Sensing Security Technology (Caroline Tucker) Shelf-life For Bell Mobility Pagers? (Alex Beilby) Small Office Phone System Help (Langley) Re: Get Rid of That Disgusting Spam (Gail M. Hall) U.S. Cable TV News Networks Prepare For Battle (Monty Solomon) Getting Aquainted With Knoppix (TELECOM Digest Editor) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Active E-Mail, was Re: Porn Spam Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2003 06:26:24 -0500 Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Richard D G Cox posted on that vast internet thingie: > Which will of course in many cases also register the fact that the > particular mail sent to YOUR address has been opened. There will be > a reference or code in the H-REF tag which identifies that specific > message. Spammers use this to identify which of the addresses they > bail to really are live, and they then resell the resulting list of > addresses at a premium as "confirmed active accounts". Another good reason to look at PMmail. (not affiliated in any way other than using it for years in both OS/2 and Windoze) Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, Vtech 5.8Ghz EnGenius NEW EP436 4line (the longest range), Panasonic, Twinhead notebooks, WatchGuard firewall, Okidata, Polycom! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ Subject: Hotel Redirecting Canada Direct (was: Prison Call Overcharging) Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2003 01:37:51 -0500 (EST) From: msb@vex.net (Mark Brader) George Hand writes: > A couple of years ago, while I was staying in a hotel in Stirling, > Scotland, I wanted to call home to Canada using Bell Canada's > toll-free 0800 number. I dialled the number, and ... got [an] > American operator in Dallas who wanted to charge me $3.50 to > connect me and $1.50 a minute! ... > the hotel manager ... told me that the hotel had contracted with > an operator services company to connect international calls and > all calls to Call AT7T and Bell Canada were being bounced to this > (rip-off) company! I checked out the same day ... I would have contacted the telecom regulator. I have no knowledge of the laws pertaining to such things in Scotland, but this ripoff certainly *ought* to be illegal. When you call "Bell Canada's toll-free 0800 number" in Britain, you're making a domestic call as far as the British phone network is concerned, not an international one. Contracting to use a particular company for international long-distance calls is one thing, but how can it possibly be acceptable for a hotel phone system to recognize calls to a particular, legitimate domestic number and reroute them to a different number? And where is Almon Strowger when we need him? :-) Mark Brader | "Ooh, righteous indignation -- a bold choice! Toronto | I myself would start with dismay and *work my way up* msb@vex.net | to righteous indignation." --Murphy Brown My text in this article is in the public domain. ------------------------------ From: zimcomm@hotmail.com (Mike) Subject: How to Determine Cell Phone Charge to US When Travelling Internationally Date: 6 Feb 2003 05:39:24 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ In the US I am a Cingular customer. I have a GSM international phone and brought it with me to Ireland 2 years ago. I used it sparingly figuring that I would get charged the $0.69/minute roaming, PLUS international long distance charges ... so instead I used my AT&T calling card to call back to the States. When I got home I found that my AT&T card had charged me close to $2/min ... and get this ... my cell bill was only $0.42/minute! Cingular explained that they could only charge what Ireland let them charge (I do not remember what company I was roaming while there...) ... $0.42/minute was in line with what I saw as the international rates posted for Ireland->US, but what really suprised me was the part about NOT getting the $0.69 roaming charge (so it was cheaper for me to call home from Ireland than from New York). I'm heading to NZ in a month and plan to bring my phone. I'm wondering how I can figure out what the cost will be this time (rough approximation is fine). Calls to Cingular customer service have been unhelpful (I'm sure they have very few customers that ask this kind of question). If it makes any difference, the phone is SIM-unlocked, and I could buy a local SIM card, tho in Ireland I used my Cingular SIM and seemed to do just fine with that (the pre-paids don't look like that great of a bargain) Thanks for any pointers, Mike ------------------------------ From: Alan Burkitt-Gray Subject: Re: International SMS Starting to Work Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2003 16:13:57 -0000 Ian asked: 1: "I am curious. Why was it more convenient for you to type a message on your phone than send an email?" A: Simple. It was early afternoon London time, and therefore late evening in Kuala Lumpur. She wouldn't be at her desk and therefore likely wouldn't be picking up email. Nevertheless she wanted to know that the conversation had taken place successfully. Equally, she might have been at dinner, with her family, or whatever. A text message was therefore more discreet. 2: "I note you list your contact numbers fully, but not your cellphone number and indeed give your email. Is it because you feel text messsages are more personal?" A: It's my mobile phone, not the company's. So I don't list it on my business card or my email signature. But I use it for occasional company-related matters when the need arises. 3: I can check my emails on the fly via my phone or pda." A: So can I. Indeed, I am working from home now having spent the morning at the dentist. But I've just waded through 85 or so emails that have come into my in-box since I left the office at 6pm last night. I don't expect people at home or out for the the evening in Kuala Lumpur to have to look anxiously through endless emails when 10 seconds reading a text message will tell them all they want to know. It's called choosing your medium. 4: "I guess up till now carriers in NA did not feel that it was sufficient a selling point to allow PCS to text to ATTWS or TMobile etc. More's the pity. As 3G rollouts by PCS and Verizon (45% owned by Vodaphone) are gathering force we should get much more interesting services soon. Though I hope we don't get the UK proposal of sending "blue" material as a means of making the networks profitable;)" A: Most mobile operators around the world have realised that interconnecting text-messaging systems benefits all. Outgoing probably equals incoming but everyone sends more. On your second point, I've never received "blue" text messages in the UK. Daily I receive half a dozen or more pornographic or near-pornographic emails, mostly from the US. Alan Burkitt-Gray Editor, Global Telecoms Business Euromoney Institutional Investor plc, Nestor House, Playhouse Yard, London EC4V 5EX, UK tel +44 20 7779 8518 fax +44 20 7779 8248 e-mail aburkitt@euromoneyplc.com www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com ------------------------------ From: Paul A Lee Subject: Telemarketers [was "'700' Service Code"] Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2003 11:40:00 -0500 In TELECOM Digest V22 #276, wrote (in part): > In article , Paul A Lee > wrote: >>> Let the telemarketers call anyone they want, using any kind of >>> equipment they want -- just require that they identify clearly >>> on their outgoing calls that they're telemarketing calls, so >>> that callees can apply whatever filtering they desire on their >>> incoming calls. >> While I don't disagree with the objective, this strategy still >> requires the called party to purchase equipment and/or subscribe to a >> telco service. Consequently, it doesn't fully address consumer >> concerns that they should be able to decline the very attempt by a >> telemarketer to call them. > Suppose my mandatory telemarketing CLID proposal (one single mandatory > nationwide telemarketing service code) were adopted. [technology-based examples described] ... which I have no objection whatsoever to. > On the other hand, with the Do Not Call List (DNCL) approach, someone > has to permanently maintain and support these lists; there may be > multiple such lists, at Federal and State levels; and every time you > change or add a phone number, *you* still have to be sure you get > yourself on the list(s). > There's also the bizarre feature that the proposed lists will be > maintained by the govt, but paid for by the telemarketing industry. > In other words, they'll likely be operated with the well-known > efficiency of the INS, or the typical state DMV. And so far as > telemarketing industry participation is involved, it won't be just > "the fox guarding the henhouse", it will be the fox being responsible > for paying to design and build the fence around the henhouse. I don't dispute your concerns, skepticism, etc. I was trying to point out that, based on my observation of "consumer advocacy" approaches to problems, the government and "offending" businesses will be expected to bear the burden and the costs -- even if the net result is less effective. Personally, I would welcome the technology and the special service code arrangement to drive it. Even that, though, requires governmental mandates and coordination -- and industry cooperation -- to make it work. Someone has to determine who has to make what kind of calls using which special service code, and then those upon whom the rules are imposed have to adhere to those rules. > There are still problems with either approach. How do you *define* > "telemarketing"? The industry will obviously drive for the weakest > possible definition, and they have the lobbying clout (aka "bribery"). > This problem is the same with either approach, however. For sure. Try reading 16 CFR 310 to figure out just what "telemarketing" is. There's more information on what it _isn't_. > Scumball telemarketers (is there any other kind?) can still violate any > set of rules with either approach. But if they do this with the DNCL > approach, the onus is on you not only to document the specific violation > and track down the offending telemarketer, but also to prove you really > were on the DNC list. There's also the matter of having to document whether a particular call was a telemarketing call, according to the legal definition. There may even be disagreements over whether the blocking equipment or arrangement was correctly configured, etc. It's typically the victim who bears the burden of proof, whatever the offense. > Finally, though my attitude toward telemarketing ought to be obvious, > I also believe there is some element of a First Amendment question > here: you've got a phone, someone wants to call it; maybe they should > be able to at least try to call you (but you don't have to answer). I > suspect the telemarketing industry may argue hard on this point, and > get some support. My approach merely requires them to identify > themselves at the start, while preserving their ability to call -- and > at the same time precisely preserving the ability of the consumer to > "be able to decline the very attempt by a telemarketer to call them". I recognize the First Amendment concerns, but the First Amendment pertains to _government_ limiting speech. It does not supersede an individual's express desire not to listen. Also, the approach using subscriber equipment call rejection based on caller ID with a special service code does not entirely allow its user to decline the very attempt. While that attempt is in progress -- each and every time it is made -- it ties up the user's phone line (or sounds a call waiting tone). And there's still the matter of the equipment cost and recurrent service costs. > For myself in any case, I'd much prefer to have the opportunity to > build what I think would be a simple, cheap, and effective > telemarketing firewall around my own phone lines, rather than relying > on a more complex and dubious approach that would require good > behavior by someone else, along with continual maintenance by someone > else and periodic upgrading by me. And I would not oppose such an arrangement. But it probably wouldn't be "enough" for the most passionate consumer advocates. There may be hope, though. I heard something this morning that seems to signal a growing attitude against telemarketing more than any consumer advocacy activity could. A Quizno's Sub radio spot included a humorous depiction of a soporific telemarketer being swallowed by a 30-foot anaconda. The premise was that a competitor's sandwich would do no better against a Quizno's than the telemarketer did against the anaconda. It was good for a laugh, at least. Paul A Lee Voice: +1 717 730-8355 Sr Telecom Engineer [Voice & Transmission] Fax: +1 717 975-3789 Rite Aid Corporation, Telecomm, 30 Hunter Lane, Camp Hill, PA 17011-2410 ------------------------------ From: caroline@theschatzgroup.com (Caroline Tucker) Subject: Remote Sensing Security Technology Date: 6 Feb 2003 14:09:56 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ We have come across a technology which is a secure system which: 1. Is a programmable server system that monitors the condition and status of a remote system/vehicle/premise and can pre-limit or pre-restrict who has access to the vehicle or premises and what can be performed. The server is user programmable by an owner of the vehicle/premise in real time via any communication device. 2. Provides real time notification of any action by a third party to remotely access and / or control the vehicle or premise or to attempt any changes to system /vehicle / premise. Notification is to the owner/authorize individual via a wireless or wired communication device. User can in real-time stop the attempted accessing. 3. Upon highly restricted pre-authorization, can remotely take control of all systems/subsystems/components at remote vehicle or premise I am wondering if anyone knows organizations or companies which may be interested in such a technology. Applications range from aAny vehicle or premise monitoring; Remote monitoring and control of commercial aircraft, private aircraft; Automotive security anti-theft; Perimeter security; Structures; Marine vessels; much more. Please email me if you have any ideas on who could use such a technology or have any input. Thanks, Caroline Tucker President The Schatz Group ------------------------------ From: alex_beilby@contour.ca (Alex Beilby) Subject: Shelf-life for Bell Mobility Pagers? Date: 6 Feb 2003 14:23:15 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Speaking with a Bell Mobility sales rep in Toronto, Canada (not the most reliable of sources) he described how the Bell Mobility paging network is reliant on a third party to support and maintain the bridges in the paging frequency towers. This third party has apparently given notice that it is not renewing the leases on the towers after Sep 2004. In which case, the Bell Mobility/Telus Mobility/Sasktel alliance of paging will have to look elsewhere or try to sell you digital cells with text messaging. This, as you may have guessed, is unconfirmed, and I'm not going to trade my die hard dispatch paging equipment just yet, so I am looking for anyone in the telecom world who can confirm/categorically deny this. Alex Beilby ------------------------------ From: langley101@aol.com (Langley) Subject: Small Office Phone System Help Date: 6 Feb 2003 14:33:29 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hi, I do support for computer systems and I have a client who is opening a new office and has asked me to have the phone setup installed. I've never had a system installed from scratch before, so I'm trying to learn phone systems quickly. I've talked to their current vendor, as well as a couple of other vendors and the pricing seems high to me, ranging from $5000-$9000. I've listed what my client needs are below. Does anyone have a recommendation for a type of system? Do those prices seem fairly standard? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks. Here's what my client needs... eight extensions; one fax line; one number rings to all extensions; autoattendant picks up after 4-5 rings and allows access to individual voicemail boxes; ability to forward main number to an outside line (cell, etc); no need for expandability/upgradability. ------------------------------ From: Gail M. Hall Subject: Re: Get Rid of That Disgusting Spam Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2003 19:45:47 -0500 Reply-To: gmhall@apk.net On Wed, 05 Feb 2003 05:43:48 -0500, in comp.dcom.telecom message , you wrote: > You receive loads of disturbing junk mail advertisements day by > day. Are you tired? Just say "Good bye, spam!" > Fully integrated solutions available for: > - Microsoft Outlook 2000/2002 > - Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0/6.0 > - America Online 7.0/8.0 > Get the mail you want and nothing else. > http://zlngnmaru.junkfighter.com/ Maybe someone could do a whois on this. My first reaction to this message was, Yah, right! Rule #1: All spammers lie! If a company spams a group to tell about their anti-spam software/service, then my first reaction is that they are probably an address harvester, not a genuine antispam service provider. ObTelecom: I have seen some SBC television ads talking about AT&T and MCI trying to block SBC from offering Ohio long-distance service. I don't know the WHOLE story; there are always at least two sides to every situation. But no matter what, I would not do business with MCI since they called me with one of those pre-recorded messages -- which I just hang up on. This tells me they probably support telemarketers over and above the interests of use telephone subscribers who do not want to be disturbed at home or work by telemarketers. Some of us skeptics think the "don't-call" lists they are trying to come up with are just window dressing and won't give us really usable tools to enforce the no-call orders. As long as I have to *pay* for caller ID, even that service that will provide the number to the police department on a one-at-a-time basis, then they haven't given me any real tools to fight the telemarketers. They are just hoping to generate more money for the attorneys and the telephone companies and companies that make those mass dialer machines. Gail in Ohio USA ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2003 20:41:25 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: U.S. Cable TV News Networks Prepare For Battle By Reshma Kapadia NEW YORK, Feb 6 (Reuters) - As the United States prepares for a possible war with Iraq, a different sort of battle is about to be waged by the three 24-hour U.S. cable television news networks -- Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. CNN's rapid rise was built on the Persian Gulf War in 1991 and similar fast-moving stories. But in the last year, its dominance has been challenged by Fox News, which features a loud, brash, more opinionated style. With that formula, Fox News has unseated CNN from the top of the ratings race. But CNN showed its muscle over the weekend. Its coverage of the loss of the space shuttle Columbia garnered a larger audience than Fox News, according to Nielsen Media Research. CNN will have veteran reporters like Wolf Blitzer, Nic Robertson and Christiane Amanpour on the front lines of coverage of any war in Iraq. For MSNBC, which has struggled for some time to capture a prime-time audience from its distant No. 3 slot, a war could provide an opportunity to move up. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31385001 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2003 20:13:00 CST From: Patrick Townson FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #278 ****************************** From home@prince.com Fri Feb 7 20:49:52 2003 Received: from mintaka.lcs.mit.edu (mintaka.lcs.mit.edu [18.26.0.36]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) with ESMTP id h181nlV16286 for ; Fri, 7 Feb 2003 20:49:47 -0500 (EST) Received: from prince736.com (adsl125.dyn206.pacific.net.sg [210.24.206.125]) by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu (8.12.6/8.12.6) with SMTP id h180mExE099283 for ; Fri, 7 Feb 2003 19:48:22 -0500 (EST) (envelope-from home@prince.com) Message-Id: <200302080048.h180mExE099283@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> From: "Prince's Flower Shop Pte Ltd" To: telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu Reply-To: home@prince.com.sg Subject: Remember Feb 14 is Valentine's Day Date: Sat, 08 Feb 2003 08:48:44 +0800 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="ed11be11-9f74-406c-b732-35b0a1c337fa" This is a multi-part message in MIME format --ed11be11-9f74-406c-b732-35b0a1c337fa Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable To someone special
 


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--ed11be11-9f74-406c-b732-35b0a1c337fa-- From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Feb 7 21:09:39 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h1829dj18466; Fri, 7 Feb 2003 21:09:39 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 21:09:39 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302080209.h1829dj18466@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #279 TELECOM Digest Fri, 7 Feb 2003 21:10:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 279 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson U.S. Cable TV News Networks Prepare For Battle (Monty Solomon) DirecTV LaAm Says Fate Could be Resolved in Few Days (Monty Solomon) DISH Network Satellite Television Broadcasts 2003 NBA All-Star (M Solomon) `Lifetime' TiVo Cost to Increase (Monty Solomon) Ex-student Accused of Spying on Campus / Public-Computer Users (M Solomon) Sales of Wi-Fi Gear Jump, Prices Fall (Monty Solomon) Nothing But Air (Monty Solomon) Boeing's Sky-High Net Access Takes Off (Monty Solomon) Re: Small Office Phone System Help (Justin Time) Re: Small Office Phone System Help (Owain) Re: Small Office Phone System Help (Carl Navarro) Re: AOL Promos Still Popping Up (Phil Earnhardt) Re: Alltel Dial-Up Performance (David Clayton) Re: Can Your Cell Phone Impair Your Vision? (David Clayton) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2003 20:41:25 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: U.S. Cable TV News Networks Prepare For Battle By Reshma Kapadia NEW YORK, Feb 6 (Reuters) - As the United States prepares for a possible war with Iraq, a different sort of battle is about to be waged by the three 24-hour U.S. cable television news networks -- Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. CNN's rapid rise was built on the Persian Gulf War in 1991 and similar fast-moving stories. But in the last year, its dominance has been challenged by Fox News, which features a loud, brash, more opinionated style. With that formula, Fox News has unseated CNN from the top of the ratings race. But CNN showed its muscle over the weekend. Its coverage of the loss of the space shuttle Columbia garnered a larger audience than Fox News, according to Nielsen Media Research. CNN will have veteran reporters like Wolf Blitzer, Nic Robertson and Christiane Amanpour on the front lines of coverage of any war in Iraq. For MSNBC, which has struggled for some time to capture a prime-time audience from its distant No. 3 slot, a war could provide an opportunity to move up. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31385001 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2003 20:45:11 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DirecTV LaAm Says Fate Could be Resolved in Few Days NEW YORK, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Satellite television service DirecTV Latin America, the largest pay TV service in the region, said on Thursday its fate could be determined in the next few days as it enters "difficult negotiations" to cut costs with its biggest partners. The broadcaster, which is owned by Hughes Electronics Corp (NYSE:GMH),said last month that it would consider filing for bankruptcy by the end of January if it had not made progress in restructuring contracts with programmers and vendors. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31390025 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2003 20:47:36 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DISH Network Satellite Television Broadcasts 2003 NBA All-Star LITTLETON, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 6, 2003--EchoStar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:DISH) announced today it will offer DISH Network(TM) customers who subscribe to high-definition television (HDTV) programming this weekend's 2003 NBA All-Star Game and All-Star Saturday Night Activities on HDTV from DISH Network. Turner Network Television (TNT) will provide the 2003 NBA All-Star Weekend to HDTV DISH Network customers on channel 9428 for free. The 2003 NBA All-Star Weekend kicks off Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. EST featuring NBA players in a sports skills challenge. The NBA All-Star Game tips off at 8:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 9, live from Atlanta. DISH Network customers can receive high-definition channels using the DISH Network Model 6000/6000u receiver. A second dish may be required. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31395120 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2003 21:43:53 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: `Lifetime' TiVo Cost to Increase COMPANY TO EMPHASIZE PARTNERSHIP WITH DIRECTV By Sam Diaz Mercury News TiVo will increase the price for its ``lifetime'' service membership by $50, to $299, the San Jose company said on its Web site Friday. The change, which takes effect in March, comes on the heels of a fall price reduction for customers who use the TiVo digital video recording service in conjunction with the DirecTV satellite service. Those customers pay about $5 a month for the service, though subscribers of premium satellite packages receive the DVR service at no additional charge. Owners of stand-alone TiVo units -- used with cable-TV systems or rooftop antennas -- pay $12.95 monthly. San Jose-based TiVo wouldn't comment on the price increase Friday, but one television analyst said the fee structures clearly discourage consumers from wanting to buy stand-alone boxes or pay one-time fees and favors the ``bread and butter'' partnership that TiVo has with DirecTV. http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/5081936.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 00:02:34 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Ex-Student Accused of Spying on Campus / Public-Computer Users By Declan McCullagh Staff Writer, CNET News.com A former Boston College student was indicted on Thursday for allegedly installing keystroke-recording software on more than 100 campus computers and accessing databases containing personal information on other students, staff and faculty. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-983717.html Public-Computer Users Beware By Reuters 03:25 PM Feb. 06, 2003 PT BOSTON -- A college student was indicted on Thursday on charges he placed software on dozens of computers that allowed him to secretly monitor what people were typing, and then stole around $2,000 using information he gleaned. In what may serve as a cautionary tale for people who use computers in public areas, Douglas Boudreau allegedly installed keystroke-monitoring software on more than 100 computers at Boston College and then watched as thousands of people sent e-mail, downloaded files and banked online. http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,57587,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 00:10:33 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Sales of Wi-Fi Gear Jump, Prices Fall By Richard Shim Staff Writer, CNET News.com Sales of wireless networking products nearly quadrupled in 2002, as average selling prices dropped, according to retail tracker NPDTechworld. Overall annual sales of Wi-Fi related products hit $280 million in 2002, compared with $76 million in 2001. Meanwhile, average selling prices for access points and networking cards were down from $136 to $87. Most of the gear was based on 802.11b, the most popular standard with consumers. Products based on the 802.11a standard made up less than 1 percent of sales in 2002. The 802.11a standard has a bigger presence in large businesses, which are not included in NPDTechworld's data. NPDTechworld analyst Steve Baker attributed the trend partly to the growing popularity of wireless networking technology, which has attracted big names such as Microsoft and Sony. Higher volumes in products have led to a more competitive market for manufacturers, which have responded by lowering prices. Baker expects average selling prices for 802.11b-based products to continue to drop to around $75. Products using the 802.11g specification likely will take a premium position in the market because 802.11g allows for higher bandwidth networks, he said. http://news.com.com/2100-1033-983684.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 00:27:08 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Nothing But Air http://news.com.com/2009-1033-982099.html By Ben Charny, Sandeep Junnarkar, John Borland and Robert Lemos If there is one ray of hope amid the gloom that has cloaked the digital economy, it could be summed up with one word: wireless. Table of Contents Growth: Cities try to cash in Municipalities are supporting wireless networks in the hopes of reinvigorating downtown business--and, in some areas, create an opportunity to charge for access. Telecom: Is Wi-Fi the missing link? While not a panacea, wireless technology offers a temporary solution to the age-old "last mile" infrastructure problem caused by a scarcity of fiber in metropolitan areas. Safety: Open networks pose dilemma A lack of security has not stunted the wireless rush so far, but the industry knows it needs to increase protection for the technology to become universal. Hardware: Everyone joins the party. Today's wireless networks are usually associated with laptop computers, but companies are preparing to use Wi-Fi technology to link everything from TVs to cell phones. Standards: Truce pays off for rivals. Wireless technology has been able to proliferate quickly for one important reason: Companies have finally learned to avoid costly battles over industry specifications. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 00:29:13 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Boeing's Sky-High Net Access Takes Off By Michael Kanellos Staff Writer, CNET News.com Connect to the Internet or read the duty-free gift catalog? Aircraft manufacturer Boeing is gearing up to answer that question for business travelers. Connexion by Boeing, the company's wireless technology subsidiary, is in the midst of rolling out its in-flight Internet service, which could lead to billions of dollars in additional annual revenue for the Bethesda, Md.-based manufacturer. Lufthansa German Airlines began trials earlier this year on a Frankfurt-U.S. flight. British Airways will begin to offer the service starting Feb. 18 on a London-New York (JFK) flight. Japan Airlines and Scandinavian Airlines System will begin service in 2004. Eventually, Boeing hopes to retrofit 4,000 airplanes with servers, access points and antennas for in-flight Internet access, said Scott Carson, president of Connexion. In the future, planes will emerge from the factory with the necessary Internet-access equipment installed. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-983712.html ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Small Office Phone System Help Date: 7 Feb 2003 05:47:54 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ langley101@aol.com (Langley) wrote in message news:: > Hi, > I do support for computer systems and I have a client who is opening a > new office and has asked me to have the phone setup installed. I've > never had a system installed from scratch before, so I'm trying to > learn phone systems quickly. > I've talked to their current vendor, as well as a couple of other > vendors and the pricing seems high to me, ranging from $5000-$9000. > I've listed what my client needs are below. Does anyone have a > recommendation for a type of system? Do those prices seem fairly > standard? Any help is greatly appreciated. > Thanks. > Here's what my client needs... > eight extensions; > one fax line; > one number rings to all extensions; > autoattendant picks up after 4-5 rings and allows access to individual > voicemail boxes; > ability to forward main number to an outside line (cell, etc); > no need for expandability/upgradability. There are so many good business telephone systems available, I won't go into recommending any particular one. I would look at not only new but a used system. I would also plan on a minimum of three incoming lines or trunks. One inbound could be made to ring as the fax line, the main number and a second number in an inbound hunt group. The fax line and the second line programmed for first choice in outbound calling, the main listed number as a third choice. Your system will need voice mail in order to implement the Automated Attendant. If you buy a used central unit, you could buy new or at least fully refurbished handsets that look new. Refurbished sets are cheaper. This could save you a couple of thousand. Oh, don't believe the part about expandability/upgradability - it is always cheap--less expensive to upgrade and expand than to replace. Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: spuorgelgoog@gowanhill.com (Owain) Subject: Re: Small Office Phone System Help Date: 7 Feb 2003 06:51:18 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ (Langley) wrote: > I've talked to their current vendor, as well as a couple of other > vendors and the pricing seems high to me, ranging from $5000-$9000. > I've listed what my client needs are below. Does anyone have a > recommendation for a type of system? Do those prices seem fairly > standard? Any help is greatly appreciated. > eight extensions; > one fax line; > one number rings to all extensions; > autoattendant picks up after 4-5 rings and allows access to individual > voicemail boxes; > ability to forward main number to an outside line (cell, etc); > no need for expandability/upgradability. How many outside lines? Analogue or ISDN? Assuming analogue, Panasonic KXTA624 control unit = US$ 494 equipped for 3 lines 8 extensions add upgrade to 6 lines 16 extn if needed = US$ 324 add upgrade for DISA and fax detection if needed = US$ 214 You will need a minimum of 1 proprietary keyphone *with display* for programming. Panasonic KXT7335 display phone = US$ 189 The system cannot be programmed over the serial link, but it does provide SMDR (call logging). You can connect either Panasonic proprietary multi-line telephones or single-line devices such as standard telephones, fax machines or modems to any station port in the system without special hardware. http://www.ablecomm.info/KX-TA624.htm Panasonic KXTVS50 voicemail = US$ 549 2 hours storage, 32 mailboxes, handles 2 simultaneous calls http://www.ablepanasonic.com/kxminsys.html Just check that the analogue systems can do call forward to an external number in US. That lot will come to about US$ 1700 new assuming you use cheap POTS phones for all but one extension. The voicemail inflates the price. Could you use the simple autoattendant function of the Fax/DISA board and put answering machines on the extensions? You can download the installation/programming and user manuals as PDFs for the *UK* version of the KXTA624 from http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/Telecoms/PanasonicHome.htm use the KXT624 links. Owain ------------------------------ From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: Small Office Phone System Help Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2003 23:30:39 -0500 Organization: Airnews.net! at Internet America On 6 Feb 2003 14:33:29 -0800, langley101@aol.com (Langley) wrote: > Hi, > I do support for computer systems and I have a client who is opening a > new office and has asked me to have the phone setup installed. I've > never had a system installed from scratch before, so I'm trying to > learn phone systems quickly. > I've talked to their current vendor, as well as a couple of other > vendors and the pricing seems high to me, ranging from $5000-$9000. > I've listed what my client needs are below. Does anyone have a > recommendation for a type of system? Do those prices seem fairly > standard? Any help is greatly appreciated. > Thanks. > Here's what my client needs... > eight extensions; > one fax line; > one number rings to all extensions; > autoattendant picks up after 4-5 rings and allows access to individual > voicemail boxes; > ability to forward main number to an outside line (cell, etc); > no need for expandability/upgradability. Fast quote, using Panasonic Digital 1232 carded 8Lx16extensions, with VM (2 port 2hoours), $4860 retail with normal installation voice and data infrastructure. So, $5K is, maybe, reasonable. Carl Navarro ------------------------------ From: Phil Earnhardt Subject: Re: AOL Promos Still Popping Up Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2003 22:04:54 -0700 On Wed, 5 Feb 2003 23:08:26 -0500, Monty Solomon wrote: > Last October, America Online declared it would phase out its longtime > practice of serving third-party pop-up advertisements, a bid to win > back the hearts of its members. > What AOL didn't tell members was that it would increase the number of > in-house pop-ups instead. > http://news.com.com/2100-1023-983524.html AOL's addiction to pop-up advertisements was obvious to anyone who has worked with Mozilla and Netscape 7. AOL's Netscape 7 browser is based on the Mozilla codebase (www.mozilla.org). Besides tabbed panels, one of the wonderful features in this browser is the ability to categorically disable the Javascript feature which allows pop-up windows. In Mozilla, this is a check-box in the preferences GUI. Unfortunately, when creating Netscape 7, the GUI check-box to turn off pop-up windows was removed. This must have been done because AOL insisted that they be able to have pop-up advertisements. Fortunately, while Netscape doesn't have a GUI check-box to disable pop-ups, they did leave the feature in the actual browser engine. After installing Netscape 7, if you terminate the program, you can go in and add the line user_pref("dom.disable_open_during_load", true); to your preferences file (which is named either prefs.js or user.js). The next time you launch Netscape 7 he pop-ups will be gone. Turning off pop-ups and restricting animations to one cycle has dramatically altered my experience browsing the Internet. When I browse from somewhere that doesn't have that protected environment, I'm shocked to see what an ugly neon place the world-wide web has become. --phil ------------------------------ From: David Clayton Subject: Re: Alltel Dial-Up Performance Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2003 13:48:10 +1100 Organization: Customer of Connect.com.au Pty. Ltd. Reply-To: dcstar@acslink.net.au Gail M. Hall contributed the following: > Have you tried just connecting a regular phone to that line and > picking up the handset to see if there is any static or sounds of > faint voices on the line? If you hear any static or leakage, you can > tell them you hear static or leakage and they should come out and fix > that line. As an aside to this, in Australia the major, (virtual monopoly on copper lines) telco, Telstra, has a major problem with a sealant that they had been using over the last few years in cable joints that has been found to not keep the water out of them! They will have to spend hundreds of millions to replace the sealant, (which eventually lets in water, causing corrosion, line noise and eventually failure), all over the country. I myself experienced it last year with significant "static" on my PTSN line, and the tech had to redo the joint outside my apartments, (which he admitted was full of moisture), and the problem promptly went away. It was interesting, as before it was repaired I found that incoming ring current would clear up the noise for a short period. I assume the large ring current created enough good contact area in the cable joint before the moisture and electrolysis of a call eventually caused a bad connection. Regards, David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@acslink.net.au Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience. ------------------------------ From: David Clayton Subject: Re: Can Your Cell Phone Impair Your Vision? Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2003 13:48:08 +1100 Organization: Customer of Connect.com.au Pty. Ltd. Reply-To: dcstar@acslink.net.au Linc Madison contributed the following: > In article , David Clayton > wrote: >> Humans, (in my experience), have a finite ability to process >> information and implement decisions based on that information. Whilst >> in control of a ton (or more) of metal that can be moving at a high >> velocity, I would prefer that if it is proven that using a phone can >> result in a possible lessening of the processing ability being >> devoted to this important task, people take it seriously enough not >> to do it. > Listening to the radio diminishes the attention that the driver pays to > the road. Do we outlaw listening to the radio? Having passengers in the > car diminishes the driver's attention; do we outlaw passengers? Ok, lets address these in order, listening to the radio is usually a passive activity and (hopefully) doesn't tax or distract a driver too much. Passengers can certainly be a distraction, and no doubt many crashes are caused in this scenario, but hopefully *most* car passengers have the common sense to understand that their lives depend on them not distracting the driver too much. Both of these don't have anywhere near the same potential for distraction as engaging in a telephone conversation whilst driving where you don't have the advantage of the visual signals of communication or the understanding of the remote party on the call to the driver's situation. Given the propensity of people to give a telephone call, (almost any call), much higher attention than it really deserves, (ever been in a physical queue that has been "jumped" by an incoming phone call, or a face to face conversation that is interrupted because the person feels obliged to answer the phone?), I would say that this study, (and others), have made some valuable information available. > If you want a relevant measure of such things, put signs in your > simulator that say things like "LEFT LANE CLOSED 1.5 MILES AHEAD" or > "EXIT 37 CLOSED -- USE EXIT 42 TO HOGSMEADE AVENUE." Those will test > the driver's ability to interpret written language in a relevant > context. I agree, but perhaps there were existing methods of analysing the billboard recognition that were utilised in the study (I would imagine that measuring billboard recognition is a mature science because there is money to be made) so the data obtained could be used for comparison with the other measured items. >> They may have used billboards as an easier way to measure this rather >> than road signs etc., which are relevant to road safety. > No, because they also measured the more relevant factors. The > billboards were thrown in because they made a better sound bite, > nothing more. > In short, if you want to convince me that people driving while talking > on cellphones are more dangerous drivers, then show me that they are > more dangerous drivers. Don't waste your time and mine by showing me > extraneous information about billboards. You may as well tell me that > the driver talking on a cellphone is 97% less likely to notice a > ruby-throated hummingbird next to the road. Well, looking at the original post that started this thread other items were highlighted as well, the billboards reference doesn't seem to diminish or obscure them and provides some additional information which I still find relevant, you obviously don't but I still don't see a problem with it. Regards, David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@acslink.net.au Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #279 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Feb 7 22:05:45 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h1835jC21995; Fri, 7 Feb 2003 22:05:45 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 22:05:45 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302080305.h1835jC21995@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #280 TELECOM Digest Fri, 7 Feb 2003 22:06:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 280 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: International SMS Starting to Work (Ken Wheatley) Re: How to Determine Cell Phone Charge to US When Trave (Burkitt-Gray Alan) Re: Get Rid of That Disgusting Spam (Justin Time) Siemens Gigaset 8825 and Dual Lines (Fussmeister) Re: Tracing Local Calls (PSNI Seattle) Best Cellular Service for East Liverpool, Ohio (Scott Emick) Re: Last Laugh! AT&T Admits There May be a Caller ID Problem (joe@obiliva) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ken Wheatley Subject: Re: International SMS Starting to Work Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 08:59:52 -0000 Organization: Unisys - Roseville, MN Jan Ceuleers wrote in message news:telecom22.271.18@telecom-digest.org: > It is not up to Nokia or any other phone manufacturer to allow a larger > buffer. The limit to message size (which is actually 160 characters, not > 150) is hard-coded into the SMS standard. It's 140 octets, which makes 160 characters at 7 bits/character ------------------------------ From: Alan Burkitt-Gray Subject: Re: How to Determine Cell Phone Charge to US When Trave Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 09:58:49 -0000 Mike asked: "I'm heading to NZ in a month and plan to bring my phone. I'm wondering how I can figure out what the cost will be this time (rough approximation is fine). Calls to Cingular customer service have been unhelpful (I'm sure they have very few customers that ask this kind of question). Mike: Go to the GSM Association's international roaming page http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/index.shtml. This lists *all* countries where GSM networks operate, with links to coverage maps and to individual operators' websites. You should be able to identify NZ operators and -- from their websites -- get individual international rates. There should also be local (that is, New Zealand) numbers for assistance and information. Alan Burkitt-Gray Editor, Global Telecoms Business Euromoney Institutional Investor plc, Nestor House, Playhouse Yard, London EC4V 5EX, UK tel +44 20 7779 8518 fax +44 20 7779 8248 e-mail aburkitt@euromoneyplc.com www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Get Rid of That Disgusting Spam Date: 7 Feb 2003 05:40:36 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Gail M. Hall wrote in message news:: > On Wed, 05 Feb 2003 05:43:48 -0500, in comp.dcom.telecom message > , you wrote: >> You receive loads of disturbing junk mail advertisements day by >> day. Are you tired? Just say "Good bye, spam!" >> Fully integrated solutions available for: >> - Microsoft Outlook 2000/2002 >> - Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0/6.0 >> - America Online 7.0/8.0 >> Get the mail you want and nothing else. >> http://zlngnmaru.junkfighter.com/ > Maybe someone could do a whois on this. > My first reaction to this message was, Yah, right! > Rule #1: All spammers lie! > If a company spams a group to tell about their anti-spam software/service, > then my first reaction is that they are probably an address harvester, not > a genuine antispam service provider. > ObTelecom: I have seen some SBC television ads talking about AT&T and > MCI trying to block SBC from offering Ohio long-distance service. I > don't know the WHOLE story; there are always at least two sides to > every situation. > Gail in Ohio USA I always thought there were three sides to every story, yours, mine and the facts. Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: fussy@attbi.com (Fussmeister) Subject: Siemens Gigaset 8825 and dual lines Date: 7 Feb 2003 06:36:14 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I currently own a Siemens Gigaset 2420 which I have been mostly happy with. One frustration I have lived with is its clumsy implementation of dual line use. In particular, there is no way to choose the line from which to initiate a wireless handset call. It always uses line 1. The exception is that if line 1 is busy, the wireless handset then gives you the option of using line 2. Therefore, in order to initiate a call from line 2, I have to first remove the handset from the cradle of the base station, which ties up line 1, and only then can I initiate a wireless handset call using line 2. Really dumb. I was wondering if this has been corrected with the Gigaset 8825. I am considering replacing my 2400 system with an 8800 system but this would be a deal breaker if it hasn't been addressed. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: PSNI Seattle Subject: Re: Tracing Local Calls Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2003 17:14:21 GMT Organization: PSNI.NEWS Well Steve, you have a very interesting scenario and question. Well here is the best answers I can offer you: 1.) If the callers CO is not transmitting ANI information then there is no phone number for the receiving CO to log (ever see "Unknown Caller" on your caller ID?). This makes tracking a number very difficult. 2.) To my knowledge most CO's do not store a log of inbound call activity unless it has been requested to do so. This is in the case of Law Enforcement placing a "Tap" on your line to trace calls. Many Telcos provide a service called Call Trace (*54) to be dialed immediately after the call has happened. This service is limited to answer #1 above. 3.) Cell phones are a whole nother matter. If you have ever wondered about the push to upgrade to Digital PCS services there were two main reasons. The first was to allow greater call capacity on each cell. The second was to allow better tracking of each user's activity. Many of the older analog services primarily the handsets do not show caller info to the receiving party and thus are difficult to track. 4.) Pay phones are fully traceable since they are provided by the ILEC. 5.) At this time, not all CO's in the US comply with ANI requirements due to the age and model of equipment installed in the CO. This is typical of smaller, older rural CO's. 6.) Foreign Telcos usually do not comply with US standards nor do many have the same services installed in their switches thus many of those calls are untraceable. 7.) Caller ID unfortunately relies on the calling party to willing provide their information so can not be used to identify all callers. In addition, if the caller has the proper technology, they can possibly spoof the ID information that a person sees on their box (telemarketers where doing this for a time). Hope this helps. Steve Grabhorn wrote in message news:telecom22.276.12@telecom-digest.org: > Wow, I've been away from the telecom digest for many years, and after > looking through the posts I'm seeing what I've been missing. It's > great to see Pat still here, and I hope he's doing well. > I've done some searching through the archives and the latest archives > and I can't find an answer to my question, which I know has been > brought up many times years ago when I used to be a regular. But now > we have Caller ID. > My question: > A child has been kidnapped from a home. The local law enforcement > group puts a tap on the family's phone, but that warrant runs out, > within a week or two, without them noticing it. Supposedly the line is > no longer being looked at. > A suspicious call comes in three weeks later, from the date the child > disappears. Law Enforcement puts another tap on the local line to > trace any another phone calls coming in. We don't hear about any > subsequent calls. > Years ago, when I used to read this newsgroup religiously, I remember > hearing that local calls were not logged by the central office. The > amount of time spent calling was logged, for billing purposes, but the > numbers were not logged. Or maybe they were not kept after a certain > period of time. > Now I'm assuming that this call (and, this really happened, it's not > hypothetical,) if it was made from a cell phone would be traceable. > Would it be traceable if made from a pay phone? > If it was made from a local or pay phone within the local Zum 1 or Zum > 2 or Zum 3 zones, do they keep that info anymore? I think it didn't > used to be, but what about now with Caller ID? > I'm sure this has been brought up many times; at least it used to be. > And I'm sorry for ever leaving the TELECOM Digest! What the heck was I > thinking???? > Thanks in advance to anyone who can tell me what works now. > steveo > To reply remove the yadodiodo ------------------------------ From: semick@msn.com (Scott Emick) Subject: Best Cellular Service for East Liverpool, Ohio Date: 7 Feb 2003 11:20:28 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I would like to hear everyone's opinion on the best cellular provider for East Liverpool, Ohio. My girlfriend will be spending a lot of time down there at Kent State E. Liverpool and I currently have Sprint PCS, she currently has Cingular (which I believe that is their EXTEND area, which costs $.79 a min). Thanks, Scott Emick Austintown, Ohio ------------------------------ From: joe@obilivan.net Subject: Re: Last Laugh! AT&T Admits There May be a Caller ID Problem Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2003 23:22:27 GMT Organization: Cox Communications Well, they lie, because the line has answer supervision. A non-working number would not. TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > Around noon on Monday, I got an unsolicited telemarketing call which > began with a prerecorded pitch. Knowing that those are illegal these > days, I thought I would have some fun with the caller. > Trouble was, the voice level on the pre-recorded pitch message was a > little too soft to make much out of it except I heard the first part > of the phone number I was supposed to call 'if I was interested in > making a lot of money': 800-727-????. Not to be dismayed or disappointed > in not hearing the entire number, I decided to look at my caller ID > to see where it came from ... 201-330-5114. > So I called 201-330-5114 and heard the most unusual intercept message > which I invite you to listen to also. Basically I was told that I had > reached a non-working number at AT&T and that 'someone' ( they knew not > who) was giving that out on Caller-ID without their (AT&T) permission. > 'Both AT&T and the local operating company, Verizon, are attempting to > resolve this matter. We at AT&T wish to apologize to our customers who > have been inconvenienced attempting to reach the calling party ...' > You should really listen to it to get your laugh for the day. > PAT Joe Mauk wrote: Interesting to see that telemarketers using fake caller ID's. I guess. > that's their way of getting around the so called privacy managers that > have been marketed by the local telco folks. Well ... so they spook CPNI. I have Privacy Manager and all that does is get them to my answering machine, which still drives them nuts. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Then you must have a different generic or flavor of 'Privacy Manager' than I have here, from Southwestern Bell. I have been told on good authority (i.e. a lady who speaks for the chairman's office at SBC) that as long as *some* phone number is presented on caller-ID, Privacy Manager considers the job done and does not intercept the call for treatment. In other words, ten zeros is fine, any number a reasonable person would know was fake is still accepted. *Only* if the the sending telco is unable to provide any number at all, or when the caller deliberatly blocks presentation does Privacy Manager kick in and do its thing. People who 'spook' CPNI, as you phrased it, mean nothing where Privacy Manager is concerned. That's how the Privacy Manager of Southwestern Bell here in Independence, KS works. Which one do you have, which allows people with 'spooked ID' to be passed directly to voicemail or answering machine? Like you, I can allow calls to go to voice mail or answering machine by simply not answering them (after I have been disturbed by the ringing, gotten up to go look at the caller-ID unit, not recognized a 'reasonable looking' number and consciously decided to 'wait it out' (for the ringing to stop) then gone back to my work (in other words, waste a BUNCH of my time and have my privacy invaded because Privacy Manager cannot do its job correctly.) What kind do you have? I can use a half-assed interim step however. Call Blocking allows me to block the last caller (number shown or not) provided I get at least one call, and provided the call is from the limited area that Blocker (as set up here) can deal with. Then if blocking was successful, the caller does not even get to see my voice mail. Telco intercepts him with a message saying 'called party not accepting calls right now'. No ring, nothing. That's the way I like it best with telemarkers. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #280 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Feb 9 02:14:58 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h197Ewk06957; Sun, 9 Feb 2003 02:14:58 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 02:14:58 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302090714.h197Ewk06957@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #281 TELECOM Digest Sun, 9 Feb 2003 02:14:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 281 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Tangled Up in Spam (Monty Solomon) AT&T Wireless Sets New Plans, Reduces Free Minutes (Monty Solomon) SBC Negotiating to Buy DirecTV From General Motors (Monty Solomon) EchoStar, Asian Television Network - ATN - & Viewer Choice (Monty Solomon) DOJ Quietly Drafts USA Patriot II, Includes Anti-Crypto (Monty Solomon) Policy Post 9.04: Congress Considers Amendment to Rein in (Monty Solomon) EFFector 16.4:ALERT: EFF Urges Support for Wyden-Feinstein (Monty Solomon) Battle Over the Broadcast Flag: The IP Wars and the HDTV (Monty Solomon) Pmmail and Newsreaders (Ron Bean) Re: Get Rid of That Disgusting Spam (Richard D G Cox) Groups Speak Out About Proposed Enhanced Patriot Act (Gail M. Hall) Re: Best Cellular Service for East Liverpool, Ohio (John R. Levine) Re: Small Office Phone System Help (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: Siemens Gigaset 8825 and Dual Lines (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: Tracing Local Calls (John Higdon) Re: Tracing Local Calls (joe@obilivan.net) Re: Last Laugh! AT&T Admits There May be a Caller ID Problem (S Michelson) Cydoor Has Hacked 55 Million Computers! Has Yours? (Mark) Re: Hotel Redirecting Canada Direct (Richard D G Cox) Re: How to Determine Cell Phone Charge to US When Travelling (Rich D G Cox) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 01:13:58 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Tangled Up in Spam By JAMES GLEICK I know what your in-box looks like, and it isn't pretty. It looks like mine: a babble of come-ons and lies from hucksters and con artists. To find your real e-mail, you must wade through the torrent of fraud and obscenity known politely as ''unsolicited bulk e-mail'' and colloquially as spam. In a perverse tribute to the power of the online revolution, we are all suddenly getting the same mail. The spam epidemic has just a few themes and variations: phone cards, cable descramblers, vacation prizes. Easy credit, easy weight loss, free vacations, free Girlz. Inkjet cartridges and black-market Viagra, get-rich-quick schemes and every possible form of pornography. The crush of these messages on the world's networks is now numbered in billions per day. One anti-spam service measured more than five million unique spam attacks in December, almost three times as many as a year earlier. The well is poisoned. Spam is not just a nuisance. It absorbs bandwidth and overwhelms Internet service providers. Corporate tech staffs labor to deploy filtering technology to protect their networks. The cost is now widely estimated (though all such estimates are largely guesswork) at billions of dollars a year. The social costs are immeasurable: people fear participating in the collective life of the Internet, they withdraw or they learn to conceal their e-mail addresses, identifying themselves as user@domain.invalid or someone@nospam.com. The signal-to-noise ratio nears zero, and trust is destroyed. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/09/magazine/09SPAM.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 22:38:07 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Wireless Sets New Plans, Reduces Free Minutes CHICAGO, Feb 7 (Reuters) - AT&T Wireless Services Inc. (NYSE:AWE), the nation's third-largest wireless telephone company, on Friday said it would introduce new plans starting next week that effectively raise prices by cutting the number of minutes included. The move, which was widely expected, also cuts by half the number of plans offered by AT&T Wireless, simplifying choices for customers. AT&T Wireless is the latest company to increase prices, as the industry focuses on adding customers profitably. It also helps alleviate analysts' fears of a price war, which were prompted by cuts in the price of calling plans and aggressive discounts on cell phones late last year following signs of an industrywide slowdown in customer growth. In recent weeks, companies like T-Mobile USA and U.S. Cellular Corp. (AMEX:USM) have reduced the number of minutes they offer under some plans. The nation's largest wireless operator, Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) (ISEL:VOD), has also ended many of its cell phone promotions. AT&T Wireless, based in Redmond, Washington, said it was offering new local and national plans ranging from $19.99 to $299.99 a month. The $19.99 "mLife Local Plan", for example, will include 45 minutes a month compared with the 60 minutes offered now on its Web site. The $19.99 "mLife National Plan", which lets customers use their cell phones anywhere on AT&T Wireless' network nationwide, will include 30 minutes a month, compared with the 60 minutes offered now under its "National GSM Charter Plan." - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31415970 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 22:41:27 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: SBC Negotiating to Buy DirecTV From General Motors By SETH SCHIESEL with ANDREW ROSS SORKIN With its core local phone business in decline, SBC Communications has entered serious negotiations to acquire General Motors' DirecTV satellite-television operation in a deal that could be worth more than $10 billion, people close to the talks said today. SBC's interest in DirecTV, the nation's No. 2 pay-television provider after the Comcast cable giant, puts the company in direct competition with Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Mr. Murdoch has been pursuing DirecTV for at least three years as he tries to add the United States to his global satellite empire. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/07/business/07cnd-bird.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 22:43:29 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EchoStar, Asian Television Network -- ATN -- and Viewer's Choice EchoStar, Asian Television Network -- ATN -- and Viewer's Choice Canada to Broadcast ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 to Canada LITTLETON, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 7, 2003--EchoStar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:DISH) announced today that it has reached a joint sublicensing agreement with the Asian Television Network International Limited (ATN) and Viewer's Choice Canada for the broadcast of the 2003 Cricket World Cup through Canadian cable and satellite television providers. EchoStar is the exclusive distributor for the International Cricket Counsel's (ICC) Cricket World Cup 2003 via television, radio and the Internet to countries within North, Central and South America. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. ATN, a South Asian programmer in Canada, and Viewer's Choice Canada, a pay-per-view distributor for many cable and satellite operators across Canada, have together acquired rights to distribute 25 of the 54 matches of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 via Canadian cable and satellite television providers. All 25 matches will be shown live from South Africa. ATN will also broadcast a 30-minute daily highlight show of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 on a 24-hour delay. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31419498 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 22:48:24 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DOJ Quietly Drafts USA Patriot II, Includes Anti-Crypto Section http://www.politechbot.com/p-04428.html Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2003 21:53:58 -0500 From: Declan McCullagh Subject: FC: DOJ quietly drafts USA Patriot II, includes anti-crypto section Thanks to Joe for being the first one to submit this... Here's a duplicate URL if the original is too slow: http://www.privacy.org/patriot2draft.pdf Note the draft legislation creates a new federal felony of willfully using encryption in the commission of a felony. "No more than five years" in prison plus a hefty fine. This seems at first glance to be remarkably similar to what was in the SAFE bill years ago. Here's a Politech message from 1998, before the politechbot.com archives: http://www.inet-one.com/cypherpunks/dir.98.05.11-98.05.17/msg00046.html Question: When encryption is omnipresent in everything from wireless networks to hard drives to SSH clients, might the basic effect of such a law be to boost potential maximum prison terms by five years? Second question: Peer-to-peer piracy is arguably a federal felony under the NET Act. If a future peer-to-peer network uses encryption (as it should), does that mean that copyright-infringing users would be guilty of a double felony? That's just one section of a 120-page bill. The rest is worth reading. -Declan ----- Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 14:10:51 -0800 (PST) From: Joseph Lorenzo Hall To: Declan McCullagh Subject: Justice Department Drafts Sweeping Expansion of Anti-Terrorism Act (fwd) Did you see this? Joe ---------- Forwarded message ---------- New on The Public i: Justice Department Drafts Sweeping Expansion of Anti-Terrorism Act Center Publishes Secret Draft of 'Patriot II' Legislation The Bush Administration is preparing a bold, comprehensive sequel to the USA Patriot Act that will give the government broad, sweeping new powers to increase domestic intelligence-gathering, surveillance and law enforcement prerogatives, and simultaneously decrease judicial review and public access to information. The Center for Public Integrity has obtained a draft, dated January 9, 2003, of this previously undisclosed legislation and is making it available in full text. The bill, drafted by the staff of Attorney General John Ashcroft and entitled the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, has not been officially released by the Department of Justice, although rumors of its development have circulated around the Capitol. To read the full report and documents, visit http://www.public-i.org M. Asif Ismail Production Editor Center for Public Integrity http://www.publicintegrity.org (202) 466-1300, ext: 124 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ Recent CNET News.com articles: http://news.search.com/search?q=declan ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 8 Feb 2003 11:18:28 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Policy Post 9.04: Congress Considers Amendment to Rein in CDT POLICY POST Volume 9, Number 4, February 5, 2003 A Briefing On Public Policy Issues Affecting Civil Liberties Online from The Center For Democracy and Technology (1) Congress to Decide Fate of DoD Data-Mining Program (2) What is TIA and What Is Congress' Role? (3) Next Step - The House Senate Conference Now Under Way http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_9.04.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 00:29:17 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 16.4:ALERT: EFF Urges Support for Wyden-Feinstein EFFector Vol. 16, No. 4 February 7, 2003 ren@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 243rd Issue of EFFector: * ALERT: EFF Urges Support for Wyden-Feinstein Measure to Stop "Total Information Awareness" Program * Verizon Continues its Attempts to Protect Customer Privacy * Winning (DMCA) Exemptions, The Next Round * Deep Links (6): Son of Patriot * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/HTML/effect16.04.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 01:35:23 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Battle over the Broadcast Flag: The IP Wars and the HDTV http://www.cato.org/events/030205pf.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 8 Feb 2003 00:00:29 -0600 From: Ron Bean Subject: Pmmail and newsreaders This is off topic, but I appreciated the tip about pmmail. So what do you guys use for a newsreader? Anything worthwhile that runs under Windows? I'm currently reading news on a unix shell account at my ISP, which is nice but someday I may be assimilated ... ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 08 Feb 2003 15:57:19 GMT From: Richard D G Cox Subject: Re: Get Rid of That Disgusting Spam Reply-To: nospam@numbering.com Organization: Mandarin Technology Limited On Fri, 7 Feb 2003 00:45 UT, Gail Hall in Ohio wrote: >> You receive loads of disturbing junk mail advertisements >> day by day. Are you tired? Just say "Good bye, spam!" >> http://zlngnmaru.junkfighter.com/ > Maybe someone could do a whois on this. Sure thing, Gail -- only things aren't always as easy as they look ... whois -h whois.opensrs.net junkfighter.com ... Domain Name: JUNKFIGHTER.COM Registrant: y HAC B CTPAHE COBETOB CEKCA COBCEM HETy Ulitsa Kevina Mitnika dom #2600, Moscow, RU 111212, RU Administrative/Technical Contact: CEKC, nopHyxa nslookup@hostresolver.com Ulitsa Kevina Mitnika dom #2600, Moscow, RU 111212, RU Phone +7 095 100 1020 Ulitsa Kevina Mitnika? Kevin Mitnik? Sounds familiar ... So they want us to think they're in Moscow. Great, +7 095 is ONE of the area codes for Moscow, but I'm not sure whether local numbers can begin 100 - anyone know the Moscow local numbering ranges? (Calls to that number receive a recorded announcement which I can't translate!) Let's look up the technical contact's email: whois -h whois.opensrs.net hostresolver.com ... Domain Name: HOSTRESOLVER.COM Registrant: HOSTRESOLVER.COM 583 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA 02482, US Administrative/Technical Contact: Claude Turcotte, dnsadm@hostresolver.com 583 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA 02482, US +1 718 283 5780 Well all I can find at 583 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA is a restaurant called Blue Ginger ... with phone number +1 718 283 5790 which is just ONE digit different from "HostResolver.com" ^ So we have a US address for the mail domain, does the email verify? Verify nslookup@hostresolver.com, at mx.hostresolver.com Contacting 81.9.10.41 220 venera.host900.com ESMTP RCPT TO: 250 2.1.5 ... Recipient ok RCPT TO: 250 2.1.5 ... Recipient ok Hostresolver don't validate inbound mail on receipt: so to see if the address is valid, we'd have to send it some mail and see if that mail bounced (and even then I wouldn't like to trust the outcome TOO much) venera.host900.com does indeed resolve to 81.9.10.41? Who hosts that? inetnum: 81.9.10.32 - 81.9.10.63 netname: WorldTradeCenter descr: World Trade Center LTD. country: RU admin-c: JB2180-RIPE tech-c: JB2180-RIPE status: ASSIGNED PA mnt-by: ELTEL-RIPE-MNT Who's the contact here - "JB2180-RIPE"? person: Daniel Rocher address: Electronic Business Association Telecommunications, Inc. address: P.O. Box 1231 address: Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles phone: +7-095-6661313 e-mail: admin@venera.internet33.com nic-hdl: JB2180-RIPE Oh, they're in the Seychelles, now? With ANOTHER Moscow phone number this time beginning 666? and we're seriously expected to believe that? (The number seems to be a valid number but may be unrelated to Rocher) So hostresolver.com isn't in the US after all, but back in Russia ... (And the machine you originally mentioned, zlngnmaru.junkfighter.com has an address of 81.9.10.34 which is at the same address in Russia.) Who's this venera.host900.com? (Anything with 900 in it sounds scammy!) Domain Name: HOST900.COM Hosting900 Solutions, Ltd. 52 Bukharestskaya st., St. Petersburg, RU 193747, RU Administrative/Technical Contact: Stanislav Lazovsky admin@host900.com Hosting900 Solutions, Ltd. 52 Bukharestskaya st., St. Petersburg, RU 193747, RU Phone: +7 812 989 2918 Domain servers in listed order: NS1.INTERNET33.COM 217.170.70.99 NS2.INTERNET33.COM 217.170.70.100 INTERNET33.com? Who are they? Who hosts those nameserver addresses? Domain Name: INTERNET33.COM Internet Web A.S. P.O. Box 832-23, World Trade Center, D-85661, PA Administrative/Technical Contact: Adan Fernandez admin@internet33.com Internet Web AS, PO Box 832-23, World Trade Center, D-85661 PA Phone: (507) 269-3431 Odd Zipcode - I'd expect D-85661 to be just outside Munich, Germany, but I can't get any information on the Zipcode system in Panama! Traceroutes suggest that those name servers ARE in St Petersburg So they're registered in Panama -- like a lot of ships seem to be; but: inetnum: 217.170.70.96 - 217.170.70.223 netname: WorldTradeCenter descr: World Trade Center LTD. country: RU admin-c: AF1034-RIPE tech-c: AF1034-RIPE status: ASSIGNED PA mnt-by: ELTEL-RIPE-MNT changed: registry@eltel.net 20020813 source: RIPE So we're back in Russia again ... but THIS time with a new contact address "AF1034-RIPE" who turns out to be ... person: Adan Fernandez address: P.O. Box 832-23 address: World Trade Center address: Panama phone: +7 507 269 3431 e-mail: admin@internet33.com nic-hdl: AF1034-RIPE mnt-by: ELTEL-RIPE-MNT changed: alex@eltel.net 20021029 source: RIPE Bit of a freudian slip there ... +7 is the prefix for Russia (+7 507 seems to be unallocated; +7 507 269 3431 reports "number not in use") Panama should be +507; I'd suspect a typo were it not for the existing Russian connection that we were investigating in the first place! All the deceit that this spammer appears to be weaving gives a WHOLE NEW MEANING to the phrase "World Wide Web"! The only people who are likely to know what's going on here are ELTEL, the local Phone Company and Internet Registry in Saint-Petersburg, RU role: ELTEL REGISTRY address: JSC ELTEL address: 10N, 65-67, address: Chaykovskogo st. address: 191123 Saint-Petersburg address: Russia phone: +7 812 4381100 phone: +7 812 4381102 fax-no: +7 812 4381101 Contacts: olga@eltel.net, alex@eltel.net, angel@eltel.net and I'll bet they don't want to tell us. Better get over there, 007! Richard ------------------------------ From: Gail M. Hall Subject: Groups Speak Out About Proposed Enhanced Patriot Act Date: Sat, 08 Feb 2003 21:47:57 -0500 Reply-To: gmhall@apk.net I've just looked at my Yahoo page and found some stories on a topic of concern to many of us on this list. Check out to see a story about a proposed enhanced "patriot" act that some in the Justice department and Congress want to add. I heard about this last night on PBS's NOW program. So you can find links about this at the PBS.org site as well by clicking on the NOW link. The TELECOM connection is that the proposal is to let the authorities snoop on us even more than the current "Patriot" act lets them now. Will this protect our citizens against terrorists and gangsters? Or will WE need protection against overzealous government agencies? This is worth checking out. If the US is stepping up efforts to snoop on citizens more, you can bet that some other countries may want to do similar things. So it's not just a "US" thing. Gail in Ohio USA ------------------------------ Date: 7 Feb 2003 22:55:21 -0500 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Best Cellular Service for East Liverpool, Ohio Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > I would like to hear everyone's opinion on the best cellular provider > for East Liverpool, Ohio. My girlfriend will be spending a lot of time > down there at Kent State E. Liverpool and I currently have Sprint PCS, > she currently has Cingular (which I believe that is their EXTEND area, > which costs $.79 a min). The local cell carriers are Dobson Cellular One and Alltel. Cingular has no service there so she'll pay roaming rates unless she has a national rate plan. Dobson has some reasonable local pricing plans, 100 minutes for $20/mo, 500 minutes for $30/mo. Long distance not included, but priced at a surprisingly low 7 cents/min. An extra 500 night/weekend minutes is $3/mo. The local area runs from Columbiana county through western PA into western NY. Roaming in nearby OH and WV is 25 cents/min. The "Clear Across America" plan that covers all nearby areas starts at $35 for 360 minutes. See http://www.celloneusa.com/. Alltel's local plans start at $30 for 300 local minutes plus 5000 night/weekend, and they also have national plans. See http://www.alltel.com. Sprint says they have coverage there on their Cleveland system, but looking at the map, it looks pretty sparse so I wouldn't want to count on it until I'd tried it in the parts of town where I was planing to spend time. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner http://iecc.com/johnl Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Small Office Phone System Help Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2003 23:10:28 -0500 Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com langley101@aol.com (Langley) posted on that vast internet thingie: > eight extensions; > one fax line; > one number rings to all extensions; > autoattendant picks up after 4-5 rings and allows access to individual > voicemail boxes; > ability to forward main number to an outside line (cell, etc); > no need for expandability/upgradability. Might want to have a look at our KX-TG4000b system. It seems to have most of the features you want. Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, Vtech 5.8Ghz EnGenius NEW EP436 4line (the longest range), Panasonic, Twinhead notebooks, WatchGuard firewall, Okidata, Polycom! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Siemens Gigaset 8825 and dual lines Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2003 23:18:29 -0500 Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com fussy@attbi.com (Fussmeister) posted on that vast internet thingie: > I currently own a Siemens Gigaset 2420 which I have been mostly happy > with. One frustration I have lived with is its clumsy implementation > of dual line use. In particular, there is no way to choose the line > from which to initiate a wireless handset call. It always uses line 1. > The exception is that if line 1 is busy, the wireless handset then > gives you the option of using line 2. Therefore, in order to initiate > a call from line 2, I have to first remove the handset from the cradle > of the base station, which ties up line 1, and only then can I > initiate a wireless handset call using line 2. Really dumb. Its been a while but I'm pretty sure you can tell it which line to prefer. > I was wondering if this has been corrected with the Gigaset 8825. I am > considering replacing my 2400 system with an 8800 system but this > would be a deal breaker if it hasn't been addressed. Thanks. Lots of people dumping their 2420 for the 8825 and there is a $50 rebate going. Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, Vtech 5.8Ghz EnGenius NEW EP436 4line (the longest range), Panasonic, Twinhead notebooks, WatchGuard firewall, Okidata, Polycom! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Tracing Local Calls Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2003 21:15:10 -0800 In article , PSNI Seattle wrote: > 1.) If the callers CO is not transmitting ANI information then there > is no phone number for the receiving CO to log (ever see "Unknown > Caller" on your caller ID?). This makes tracking a number very > difficult. Caller ID does not come from ANI. It comes from the SS7 protocol used in much of the world. Unless both calling and called telephones are served from exchanges connected by SS7, no caller ID will be displayed. ANI (a trunk-side protocol, formerly used with FGD interexchange connectivity for billing purposes, has no function for Caller ID. > 2.) To my knowledge most CO's do not store a log of inbound call activity > unless it has been requested to do so. This is in the case of Law > Enforcement placing a "Tap" on your line to trace calls. Many Telcos provide > a service called Call Trace (*54) to be dialed immediately after the call has > happened. This service is limited to answer #1 above. Modern digital switches can and do store records of ALL activity. If and how long these records are retained are governed by telco policy. > 3.) Cell phones are a whole nother matter. If you have ever wondered > about the push to upgrade to Digital PCS services there were two main > reasons. The first was to allow greater call capacity on each > cell. The second was to allow better tracking of each user's > activity. Many of the older analog services primarily the handsets do > not show caller info to the receiving party and thus are difficult to > track. But all MTSOs recorded activity. They had to have it for billing. I don't recall any era of "free cellular". > 4.) Pay phones are fully traceable since they are provided by the ILEC. Except for the ones that aren't. Those (customer provided) phones operate on a special class of service that is similar to a hotel trunk. Whether telco stores local SMDR (other than merely a peg count) depends on the local telco policy. > 5.) At this time, not all CO's in the US comply with ANI requirements > due to the age and model of equipment installed in the CO. This is > typical of smaller, older rural CO's. You mean "SS7". > 6.) Foreign Telcos usually do not comply with US standards nor do many > have the same services installed in their switches thus many of those > calls are untraceable. Japan does. Many European countries do. > 7.) Caller ID unfortunately relies on the calling party to willing > provide their information so can not be used to identify all > callers. Actually, even "blocked" Caller ID is sent with the call, but with the privacy flag set. Even if the destination CO doesn't send the calling number to the called customer, the calling number is available to telco. > In addition, if the caller has the proper technology, they > can possibly spoof the ID information that a person sees on their box > (telemarketers where doing this for a time). There is still a trunk-side record of the originating PRI in the telco switch's SMDR. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: joe@obilivan.net Subject: Re: Tracing Local Calls Date: Sat, 08 Feb 2003 14:58:59 GMT Organization: Cox Communications PSNI Seattle wrote: > 1.) If the callers CO is not transmitting ANI information then there > is no phone number for the receiving CO to log (ever see "Unknown > Caller" on your caller ID?). This makes tracking a number very > difficult. Caller ID is provided by SS7 message CPNI, which is entirely different than ANI. > 2.) To my knowledge most CO's do not store a log of inbound call activity > unless it has been requested to do so. This is in the case of Law > Enforcement placing a "Tap" on your line to trace calls. Many Telcos provide > a service called Call Trace (*54) to be dialed immediately after the call has > happened. This service is limited to answer #1 above. A log of inbound trunks or intraswitch calls ordered by law enforcement is known as a "trap." A tap is where they listen to the conversations. The universal code for Call Trace is *57, not *54. That works only with CPNI, not ANI. The originating caller (assuming ordinary POTS line) cannot defeat Call Trace. > 3.) Cell phones are a whole nother matter. If you have ever wondered > about the push to upgrade to Digital PCS services there were two main > reasons. The first was to allow greater call capacity on each > cell. The second was to allow better tracking of each user's > activity. Many of the older analog services primarily the handsets do > not show caller info to the receiving party and thus are difficult to > track. > 5.) At this time, not all CO's in the US comply with ANI requirements > due to the age and model of equipment installed in the CO. This is > typical of smaller, older rural CO's. ANI has been around far longer than CPNI. ANI is for billing in any case, not for Caller ID. Also, most enhanced 911 systems use ANI, not CPNI (Caller ID). > 7.) Caller ID unfortunately relies on the calling party to willing > provide their information so can not be used to identify all > callers. In addition, if the caller has the proper technology, they > can possibly spoof the ID information that a person sees on their box > (telemarketers where doing this for a time). Only if they have a PBX and trunks that are conditioned for them to deliver CPNI into the system. That excludes virtually all residential lines. ------------------------------ From: Steve Michelson Subject: Re: Last Laugh! AT&T Admits There May be a Caller ID Problem Date: Sat, 8 Feb 2003 07:48:33 -0500 Organization: MindSpring Enterprises How do you know the line has answer supervision? The message is probably not coming from that line. It could be that the PBX does not have an active line associated with that number, but has been programmed to play that message when a call is made to the number. Perhaps it was somebody's real number beforehand, but they disconnected it. wrote in message news:telecom22.280.7@telecom-digest.org: > Well, they lie, because the line has answer supervision. A non-working > number would not. > TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: >> So I called 201-330-5114 and heard the most unusual intercept message >> which I invite you to listen to also. Basically I was told that I had >> reached a non-working number at AT&T and that 'someone' ( they knew not >> who) was giving that out on Caller-ID without their (AT&T) permission. >> 'Both AT&T and the local operating company, Verizon, are attempting to >> resolve this matter. We at AT&T wish to apologize to our customers who >> have been inconvenienced attempting to reach the calling party ...' ------------------------------ From: whitenight1969@hotmail.com (Mark) Subject: Cydoor Has Hacked 55 Million Computers! Has Yours? Date: 8 Feb 2003 05:10:25 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Cydoor has hacked 55 million computers! Has yours? If you use any freeware, adware or file sharing software the chances are you will have been hacked. If you use Kazaa - you are already hacked!!! Here you will be shown how to check for Cydoor Hackers. Cydoor collects data about you, where you go on the Internet, what you do, how you do it, and what time you do it - among many other things. They collect all this data to profit from you without you even knowing it. They don't care that your privacy has been invaded as long as it makes them a quick buck. And many a quick buck they have made. With 55 million computers that have been hacked - for free - is it any wonder how they have profited greatly from us? Have they even said thank you for invading your privacy for their wealth gain? If you disagree with having your privacy invaded you can complain to Cydoor - details below. The other annoying part about these people is that when you delete their hacker software it reinstalls itself sometimes immediately or on startup -- check for yourself you're sure to have been hacked by Cydoor. *********************************************** To complain about your privacy rights email to: privacy@cydoor.com To visit these data steelers/hackers visit: http://www.cydoor.com *********************************************** How to check if you've been hacked: Follow the steps as outlined below. Go to: 1. START MENU >>> RUN (the run dialog box comes up) 2. In the dialog box type >>> REGEDIT 3. Highlight MY COMPUTER by clicking on it once in Registry Editor (for search purposes) 4. Click >>> EDIT in the Registry Editor and click >>> FIND (brings up find dialog box) 5. Type >>> CYDOOR into the dialog box 6. Ensure that the following is checked: KEYS, VALUES, DATA (if available) 7. Ensure >>> MATCH WHOLE STRING ONLY is NOT checked (if available) 8. Click FIND or FIND NEXT If you haven't been hacked you are one of the lucky ones. Follow the steps above, but this time type in ALEXA - this is another company that profits from the exploitation of the unsuspecting. To get rid of these keys you can delete them, but I would not advise this if you do not now anything about editing the registry. Deleting the wrong keys can make your computer unusable and may require you to reinstall your operating system. There are a few programmes that will remove this for you such as Ad-aware. When deleting Cydoor hacker software ensure that you turn off System Restore for all drives. This is necessary, because the Cydoor hacker software gets saved to your System Restore folder and upon restart Cydoor hacker software is reinstalled - working very much like a virus. For your protection and privacy and rights as an individual ensure that Cydoor hacker software does not reside on your computer because they are collecting all kinds of data from you to profit from your exploitation. Hope this has helped you identify Cydoor hacker software. Best wishes, Mark Email this to a friend if you've found this help you identify Cydoor spyware software. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 08 Feb 2003 14:02:52 GMT From: Richard D G Cox Subject: Re: Hotel Redirecting Canada Direct Reply-To: nospam@numbering.com Organization: Mandarin Technology Limited On Thu, 6 Feb 2003 06:37 (UT), msb@vex.net (Mark Brader) wrote: >> the hotel manager ... told me that the hotel had contracted with >> an operator services company to connect international calls and >> all calls to Call AT7T and Bell Canada were being bounced to this >> (rip-off) company! I checked out the same day ... > I would have contacted the telecom regulator. I have no knowledge > of the laws pertaining to such things in Scotland, but this ripoff > certainly *ought* to be illegal. You would have wasted your time. Scotland is part of the UK and the UK telecomms "regulator" (known as Oftel) does NOT regulate on matters affecting consumers. If there was an issue with that payphone, the local "Trading Standards" office would be the place to go. But most Trading Standards officers do not have either the necessary training to be able to deal with telecomms-related offences, or the skills to prosecute such a case through the courts. So the consumer loses. In the case you cited, Oftel has specifically decreed that regulations do not apply to payphones which are installed and operated *privately*. See http://www.oftel.gov.uk/press/releases/2002/pr76_02.htm OFTEL is shortly to be abolished, and its responsibilities handed over to OFCOM. Whether anything will change is ... uncertain. > When you call "Bell Canada's toll-free 0800 number" in Britain, > you're making a domestic call as far as the British phone network > is concerned, not an international one. Contracting to use a > particular company for international long-distance calls is one > thing, but how can it possibly be acceptable for a hotel phone > system to recognize calls to a particular, legitimate domestic > number and reroute them to a different number? There are no rules about that which apply to (UK) private payphone providers. If a telco did it, there would be a more serious issue! As it was an 800 (free-to-caller) number, the caller had incurred no cost; the fact that the call was redirected was immediately obvious. The correct response to that situation was exactly that which WAS taken -- go to another payphone to make the call, check out of the hotel saying very clearly why, and never book in there again. Perhaps we should have been told the name of the hotel involved? Richard Cox ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 08 Feb 2003 14:19:30 GMT From: Richard D G Cox Subject: Re: How to Determine Cell Phone Charge to US When Travelling Reply-To: nospam@numbering.com Organization: Mandarin Technology Limited On 6 Feb 2003 13:39:24 (UT), zimcomm@hotmail.com (Mike) wrote: > In the US I am a Cingular customer. ... > I'm heading to NZ in a month and plan to bring my phone. ... > If it makes any difference, the phone is SIM-unlocked, and I could > buy a local SIM card, tho in Ireland I used my Cingular SIM and > seemed to do just fine with that (the pre-paids don't look like > that great of a bargain) GSM service in New Zealand is provided by Vodafone New Zealand. Vodafone New Zealand's service is also resold under other names such as Telstra Saturn, etc, but it is still the same Vodafone network! Due to the present exchange rates you should find it significantly cheaper to buy a local prepaid SIM. The other advantage is that people you meet/deal with in New Zealand will be able (and willing) to call you on your NZ Vodafone number whereas in some cases they would probably be UNABLE to call your US (+1) number as it would then be an international call. And you won't have to pay for inbound calling! You can contact Vodafone New Zealand on +64 9357 5198 Enjoy your visit! Richard Cox ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #281 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Feb 9 17:43:01 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h19Mh1J17570; Sun, 9 Feb 2003 17:43:01 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 17:43:01 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302092243.h19Mh1J17570@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #282 TELECOM Digest Sun, 9 Feb 2003 17:43:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 282 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson E-Commerce Battles 'Me'-Commerce/Lone Patent Holder Asserts (Monty Solomon) Instant Live CDs of a Concert? Testing to Begin in Boston (Monty Solomon) Britain Admits Much of Its Iraq Report Came From Magazines (Monty Solomon) Broadband Broadens Its Pitch/Firms Bundle Services, 'Tier' (Monty Solomon) Fighting Child Pornography (Monty Solomon) Issues With Moving PBX (Roger Tall) Supervision, was Re: Last Laugh! AT&T Admits CNID Problem (Danny Burstein) Re: Last Laugh! AT&T Admits There May be a Caller ID Problem (John Higdon) Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Seeking Advice For Small Business Phone System (Aaron) Re: Hotel Redirecting Canada Direct (Mark Brader) Re: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Ways to Connect Voice IDFs With Fiber? (Roger Tall) Volunteer Help Wanted (Patrick Townson) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 09:53:26 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: E-Commerce Battles 'Me'-Commerce/A Lone Patent Holder Asserts A lone patent holder asserts vast rights over shopping on the Web. Others call it extortion. By David Streitfeld LA Times Staff Writer It took seven years and tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, but Lawrence Lockwood was finally awarded U.S. Patent No. 6,289,319 in September 2001. The former San Diego travel agent believed that the patent, for an "automatic business and financial transaction processing system," gave him significant control over shopping on the Internet. He promptly sent letters to 100 e-commerce firms, saying they were violating his new patent as well as one from 1996. He politely suggested they buy a license from him for $10,000, although he hinted that the price was negotiable. Ten companies told him to get lost. The 90 others didn't bother to reply. "American businesses do not respond when you ask them nicely," Lockwood said. So he started suing them -- a New Jersey plumbing supply company, a New York ski shop, an Oregon fabric store. This has gotten their attention, and often their money too. Lockwood's targets complain that he is practicing "legalized extortion," an accusation he denies. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-patent8feb08001442,1,3711257.story ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 10:07:45 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Instant Live CDs of a Concert? Testing to Begin in Boston By Steve Morse, Globe Staff, 2/7/2003 Experiments are rife in the music business these days -- and Boston will be a test market for one of the most novel of them. Clear Channel Concerts, the nation's largest concert promoter, has ambitious plans to record live CDs of its shows and sell them to patrons within five minutes after those shows end. Clear Channel is targeting Boston as the first site for the new plan, according to sources within the organization. Multiple CD burners would be brought in, and the live CDs would probably sell for around $15 in the same way that T-shirts and other merchandise can be purchased after concerts. No one knows what the demand would be, but the project is expected to begin at club shows within a couple of months, then be refined and work its way up to the amphitheater level, though that may not happen until next year, sources say. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/038/living/Instant_live_CDs_of_a_concert_Testing_to_begin_in_Boston+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 10:33:20 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Britain Admits Much of Its Iraq Report Came From Magazines Britain Admits That Much of Its Report on Iraq Came From Magazines by SARAH LYALL LONDON, Feb. 7 - The British government admitted today that large sections of its most recent report on Iraq, praised by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell as "a fine paper" in his speech to the United Nations on Wednesday, had been lifted from magazines and academic journals. But while acknowledging that the 19-page report was indeed a "pull-together of a variety of sources," a spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair defended it as "solid" and "accurate." The document, "Iraq: Its Infrastructure of Concealment, Deception and Intimidation," was posted on No. 10 Downing Street's Web site on Monday. It was depicted as an up-to-date and unsettling assessment by the British intelligence services of Iraq's security apparatus and its efforts to hide its activities from weapons inspectors and to resist international efforts to force it to disarm. But much of the material actually came, sometimes verbatim, from several nonsecret published articles, according to critics of the government's policy who have studied the documents. These include an article published in the Middle East Review of International Affairs in September 2002, as well as three articles from Jane's Intelligence Review, two of them published in the summer of 1997 and one in November 2002. In some cases, the critics said, parts of the articles -- or of summaries posted on the Internet -- were paraphrased in the report. In other cases, they were plagiarized -- to the extent that even spelling and punctuation errors in the originals were reproduced. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/08/international/europe/08BRIT.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 12:56:11 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Broadband Broadens Its Pitch/Firms Bundle Services, 'Tier' Broadband Broadens Its Pitch Firms Bundle Services, 'Tier' Prices in Effort To Lure New Customers By Mike Musgrove Washington Post Staff Writer How goes the broadband revolution? It depends on how you read the numbers. By the research firm ARS Inc.'s figures, there are about 15 million broadband subscribers in the United States today, with 9.4 million using cable modems, which ride on the same wiring as cable TV, and 5.4 million on digital subscriber lines, which piggyback on telephone circuits. Not bad -- but of the 70 percent of American households that could get either cable-modem or DSL service, only 13 percent or so have signed up. Broadband isn't just for early adopters anymore, but it's not for everyone either. Erika Jolly, vice president of broadband marketing at EarthLink Inc., the nation's third-biggest Internet provider, classifies those who are signing up for broadband now as the "early majority" -- people who are interested in technology but who have a considerably lower pain threshold for price and installation issues than the first wave of subscribers. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9370-2003Feb1.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 13:02:19 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Fighting Child Pornography By JENNIFER 8. LEE WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 - The combination of digital photography and high-speed home Internet access has set off what the authorities say is an explosion of homemade child pornography in recent years, with growing numbers of victims. The authorities in this country have responded by compiling a federal catalog of all known child pornography photographs. Germany, Britain, Sweden, the Netherlands and Interpol already maintain similar databases, each with about a million photos and films depicting thousands of children worldwide. The national database, which began processing photos on Jan. 24, has two main goals: to help trace the children in the photos, and to aid in prosecution by establishing that the photos are of identified victims who were under 18 when the pictures were taken. The identification is in response to a Supreme Court ruling in April that overturned the Child Pornography Prevention Act. The court ruled that child pornography had to contain photos of actual children, not simply those that "appear to be children." http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/09/technology/09PORN.html ------------------------------ From: coretech007@yahoo.com (Roger Tall) Subject: Issues With Moving PBX Date: 9 Feb 2003 06:47:26 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Greetings, We need to move our PBX (Nortel) to another building across the street. There are 80 phones on the system now. The users will be moved to the other building over a period of 1-2 month and we are trying to move the PBX ahead of time. Should we outsource this or is this doable (our voice guy recently quit)? Can someone post a good resource where we can find best practices or sample project plans that deal with moving voice switches. Also, if possible, names of reliable companies that do this type of work in north Alabama area. Thank you, Roger Tall CCNA, MCSE ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Supervision, was Re: Last Laugh! AT&T Admits CNID problem Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 14:51:23 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Steve Michelson writes: > How do you know the line has answer supervision? If you make an outcall on an ISDN circuit, you get specific indication that supervision has been returned. And more normal folk can make the call on a cellular phone and (in many cases) see the "connected" display. > Perhaps it was somebody's real number beforehand, but they > disconnected it. I find curious the fact the 201-330 exchange in question is listed in NANPA as being a Verizon one, not an AT&T CLEC. (which may or may not actually mean anything since it's entirely possible AT&T doesn't "own" that exchange but simply gets service on it). Go figure. State NPA-NXX OCN Company RateCenter Switch NJ 201-330 9206 "VERIZON NEW JERSEY, INC. UNION CITY UNCYNJ02DS5 Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The impresssion I got was that Verizon 'owns' the exchange (as the telco of record there) and that AT&T has some facility in Union City and is a customer of Verizon. I think the 330 number is a 'centrex' arrangment for Verizon's 'customer' AT&T and the number in particular was an unassigned number on the centrex. PAT] ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Last Laugh! AT&T Admits There May be a Caller ID Problem Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Sun, 09 Feb 2003 07:44:04 -0800 In article , Steve Michelson wrote: > How do you know the line has answer supervision? The message is > probably not coming from that line. It could be that the PBX does not > have an active line associated with that number, but has been > programmed to play that message when a call is made to the number. > Perhaps it was somebody's real number beforehand, but they > disconnected it. I called it. It supervises (and yes, I can tell). It sounds like a very amateurish attempt to simulate an intercept recording. A PBX would not supervise on intercept if programmed correctly. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity Organization: Excelsior Computer Services From: joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Date: Sun, 09 Feb 2003 16:56:34 GMT > Is it technologically feasible to promote a standard of dialing such > that if the # is used, then the digits entered are suplemented to the > left by your own NPA and CO? > For example if I am 708-848-2775, and I dial 5432#, the call would go > to 708-848-5432. If I dial 369-9999#, the call would go to > 708-369-9999. What a great idea! And if you have two lines with adjacent numbers, you can call one from the other with only two key presses. -Joel ------------------------------ From: Aaron Subject: Seeking Advice For Small Business Phone System Date: Sun, 09 Feb 2003 17:15:00 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Tampa Bay Hello group, My wife and her family are forming a new business and they have the need for a small business phone system and I told her I would try to do some research. They have the need for 4 phone lines on a rotary system, i.e. a call comes in and 3 more can come in until the phone number rings busy. They also need an intercom system built into the phone so the secretary can answer it, and then let each of them know they have a call on hold. Expandability would also be a good feature, i.e. the ability to add more phone lines should the need arise. I'm trying to find some web sites that give an overview of small business phone systems with some reviews of some of the popular models. Anyone know where a good place to start is? Aaron [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do you want something in-house, or would a centrex solution work? Southwestern Bell refers to their small centrex arrangements as 'Plexar'. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Hotel Redirecting Canada Direct Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 13:02:04 EST From: msb@vex.net (Mark Brader) I (Mark Brader) wrote: >> I would have contacted the telecom regulator. I have no knowledge >> of the laws pertaining to such things in Scotland, but this ripoff >> certainly *ought* to be illegal. Richard Cox writes (text rearranged for convenience of response): > You would have wasted your time. Scotland is part of the UK and the > UK telecomms "regulator" (known as Oftel) does NOT regulate on matters > affecting consumers. If there was an issue with that payphone, the > local "Trading Standards" office would be the place to go. I wonder about that, but assumed that Oftel would direct me to them if applicable. > There are no rules about that which apply to (UK) private payphone > providers. If a telco did it, there would be a more serious issue! The original poster did not specify that this was a payphone, as Richard assumes. I assumed it was an in-room phone. Does *that* make a difference? > In the case you cited, Oftel has specifically decreed that regulations > do not apply to payphones which are installed and operated *privately*. > See http://www.oftel.gov.uk/press/releases/2002/pr76_02.htm Citing web pages that are irrelevant to one's point tends to give the impression that one doesn't know what one's talking about. That page is about the provision or non-provision of payphones; it says nothing about what numbers can be reached from them. > As it was an 800 (free-to-caller) number, the caller had incurred no > cost; the fact that the call was redirected was immediately obvious. The point is not cost to the caller; it's interference with the caller's choices and with someone else's legitimate business. In this case two other companies, the British telecom operator being paid for the 0800 call and the Canadian one receiving the call. > Perhaps we should have been told the name of the hotel involved? Well, we were told it was "years ago". They might have reformed. Mark Brader "I like to think of [this] as self-explanatory." Toronto "I hope *I* think of [it] that way." msb@vex.net -- Donald Westlake: "Trust Me On This" My text in this article is in the public domain. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue Organization: Excelsior Computer Services From: joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Date: Sun, 09 Feb 2003 19:08:05 GMT > The really fascinating thing about this is that the online sites that > put up such strong opposition to this include places like amazon.com > who can keep track of your preferences and make recommendations, point > you to movie theaters in your neighborhood showing films of books you > once bought, etc. Two points: 1. Currently, Amazon doens't have any LEGAL responsibility to do any of this, nor does Amazon face any fines, if, e.g., their site shows the wrong movies or the wrong preferences. 2. It seems to me that it would be an unfair burden to make Amazon keep up with the whims of every taxing authority. There are thousands of them! What would happen, for example, when a county declares a tax-free week. How would Amazon know? What if a tax code taxes shoelaces but not shoes? (This happens.) Amazon would have to categorize all of its products. What happens when I pay for an order via a Credit Card at one address and ship to another? Who gets the tax? The problem with all the tax codes is that they work on the "guilty until proven innocent" paradigm, which practically automatically creates a burden. If the states really want the tax revenue, let them set up a system that takes an amount and an address, and returns the tax due, and address to which it must be remitted. Once they do that, it's not an unfair burden to make e-commerce sites use it. -Joel [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Regards the 'thousands of taxing agencies' there are several thousand in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois alone! Every suburb, every school district, every park or forest preserve district, each of them have their hands in your purse all the time, looking for pennies, nickels, etc. The tax rates are extremely complex to try and figure out, and require much paperwork. To make things a 'bit easier' for the average taxpayer, most of the agencies go through a goverment entity called 'Cook County Collector', itself a government agency whose 'customers' are all the various districts, townships, villages, etc. Taxpayers (that's you and me) get a single sheet of paper showing *what* they are paying (a half-mil [part of a penny] per dollar to the village, the township, the park district, the schools, etc. Then the taxpayer writes a single check for the total amount to 'Cook County Collector' for the total. The collector employs a large staff of people to service it as a back-office function, who sit there patiently all day pushing papers to each other and reading computer print outs, etc. They collect paperwork from their 'customers', the agencies, and parse it out to the taxpayers as a total bill; they then take the incoming money from the taxpayers and funnel it back out to their 'customers'. Its sufficiently technical that several hundred persons work eight hours five days per week in the office, and taxes are due and payable in 'cycles' every quarter of the calendar year. PAT] ------------------------------ From: coretech007@yahoo.com (Roger Tall) Subject: Ways to Connect Voice IDFs With Fiber? Date: 9 Feb 2003 06:54:57 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Greetings, We are planning a new layout for our plant. Some stations will be terminated at an IDF too far from our MDF (close to the PBX). Any ways to connect our 110 IDF panel to MDF using some kinf of fiber run? Any vendors sell this type of extender? I assume this is done in very tall buildings. Sorry for silly questions, I'm more of a "data" guy. Thanks, Roger MCSE, CNNE ------------------------------ From: Patrick Townson Subject: Volunteer Help Wanted Date: 9 Feb 2003 17:00:00 EST I am looking for someone who is very good dealing with Windows 95, 98 and XP (maybe 2000 as well) who knows *all about* networking and other things in these systems. You need to be able to work through problems over the telephone with me from time to time. Sort of like my personal Microsoft certified help desk person. It helps if you are very patient and can help me do these jobs: 1) Get a Toshiba Satellite 220 laptop (from 1997) into my home Linksys network. It has Windows 95 on it, I have a 3-Com PCMCIA card and a modem card in sockets on the side of it. I have a 98 upgrade disc but it complains 'cannot upgrade this 95 without first doing 95 upgrade.' It also has a USB connector on it, but thus far I have fond nothing that it will recognize. I also have a SERIAL camera connected to it (that's how old it is!). I would like to 'upgrade' and moderize this laptop. 2) My desktop Windows XP (Microtech A-Open, 'custom PC') is a very sick puppy. *Something* inside it is stealing CPUs left and right. I think I need to load an entirely fresh copy of Windows (either XP or 2000, even 98) on it and start over. I'd like to ditch Outlook Express entirely for a better mailer. 3) My Winbook laptop is Windows 98 and it is on the Linksys router along with the XP. (I would like to get the 95 laptop on the same router.) 4) My HP Office Jet V40 printer works pretty well on the XP, but when I use the 98 laptop it prints only black/white. I must be missing a driver? 5) I have a copy of Knoppix here which works ok on the XP as it should but I do not know how to make a diskette to load with it so I do not have to load things I want to save. Knoppix works on the Windows 95 believe it or not *up to a point*. It recognizes that it is (presently) on a modem instead of on the network LAN and will deal with that (it claims) but the Toshiba is such an old machine, and so slow and tiny, Knoppix runs into trouble allocating swap space and won't handle 'large jobs' such as 'Open Office' at all. So you can see I have a lot of problems, some minor, some more involved than others. With all three of my computers I could sit here and grow a beard or cobwebs waiting for them to boot up or get a web page. You wanna help me? I'll give you an 800 number so you can call toll-free if you are *qualified* to handle these projects for me on a pro-bono, volunteer basis. You set the date and time. I assume we are talking about 30-45 minutes at a time, over a few days at first, then later on (as things fall into place here) regular consulting as needed. Thanks very much, guys! Patrick Townson ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #282 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Feb 10 02:07:36 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h1A77a523775; Mon, 10 Feb 2003 02:07:36 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 02:07:36 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302100707.h1A77a523775@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #283 TELECOM Digest Mon, 10 Feb 2003 02:07:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 283 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson PA Prepares to Sue First Telemarketer Under New Law (Tiffani Banks) Re: Hotel Redirecting Canada Direct (Richard D G Cox) Re: Hotel Redirecting Canada Direct (George Hand) Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity (John Higdon) Re: Siemens Gigaset 8825 and Dual Lines (Pete Helme) Re: Britain Admits Much of Its Iraq Report Came From Magazines (Griswold) Getting in on Wi-Fi Action Means Playing Defense (Monty Solomon) Boom Headset is Technologically Advanced, But Still a Bust (Monty Solomon) Murdoch's Prime Time (Monty Solomon) Why's my Cell Phone Melting? (Monty Solomon) WiFi Hotspot Directory is Available Now (A Nicholas) Dialogic Help (Niraj) Home Telephones Pick up a Radio Station (Gary Davis) Re: Last Laugh! AT&T Admits There May be a Caller ID Problem (Mike) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tiffani Banks Subject: Pennsylvania Prepares to Sue First Telemarketer Under New Law Date: Sun, 09 Feb 2003 18:26:11 -0500 State puts teeth into new law aimed at protecting consumers from unwanted telemarketing. Pennsylvania instituted a Do-Not-Call list for telemarketers last August. The attorney general is now preparing to take action against the first telemarketer for illegal solicitation practices under the law. Excerpt from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: ---------- HARRISBURG State Attorney General Mike Fisher is expected to announce this week the first prosecution of telemarketers for illegally contacting consumers who are on the state's do-not-call list. "There will be many more (prosecutions) to follow after this first action," said Barbara Petito, a deputy press secretary for Fisher. Fisher's office declined to reveal the name of the company or individual to be accused under the law. He is expected to seek fines and investigative costs as part of a civil prosecution. A company may be fined $1,000 per violation and $3,000 for each violation involving someone 60 or older. Repeat violators could lose the right to do business in Pennsylvania. The action comes as about 2.4 million Pennsylvanians have opted to block telemarketers' calls under the state law approved last April. The Attorney General's Office established the do-not-call list in August." Read the full story at http://tinyurl.com/5l0r ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 09 Feb 2003 23:33:30 GMT From: Richard D G Cox Subject: Re: Hotel Redirecting Canada Direct Reply-To: nospam@numbering.com Organization: Mandarin Technology Limited On Sun, 9 Feb 2003 18:02 UT, msb@vex.net (Mark Brader) wrote: >> There are no rules about that which apply to (UK) private payphone >> providers. If a telco did it, there would be a more serious issue! > The original poster did not specify that this was a payphone, as > Richard assumes. I assumed it was an in-room phone. Does *that* > make a difference? According to UK regulation, a "payphone" is regarded as a telephone available to casual users to pay for their calls on a per-use basis; whether they do so cash-up-front, by credit card, or by separate billing as on a hotel bill, does not affect the definition. Hence in terms of the "Telecomms Services" (Class) Licence the phone used would have been deemed to be a "payphone" in any event. >> Perhaps we should have been told the name of the hotel involved? > Well, we were told it was "years ago". They might have reformed. A "couple of years ago" ... but let's hope they have indeed reformed! Richard ------------------------------ From: George Hand Subject: Re: Hotel Redirecting Canada Direct Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 01:14:31 -0500 Organization: Mountain Cablevision Oh dear! I seem to have stirred things up! It was a room phone and I can't remember the name of the hotel but if anyone knows Stirling, it's the one right by the castle that used to be the High School ... I sent a letter to the Managing Director of the company and got no reply ... maybe they were embarrassed about the whole thing and decided to ignore it, hoping it would go away! I complained to Oftel, and they said that as this "function" was being provided by the hotel PBX, they couldn't do anything about it, but they did "frown upon this sort of practice"! This is the same hotel that also presented me with a bill for almost £250 at the end of the same week for calls to my ISP's 0800 number! Next time I visit Stirling, I'll take a tent and a cellphone ... Mark Brader wrote in message news:telecom22.282.11@telecom-digest.org: > I (Mark Brader) wrote: >>> I would have contacted the telecom regulator. I have no knowledge >>> of the laws pertaining to such things in Scotland, but this ripoff >>> certainly *ought* to be illegal. > Richard Cox writes (text rearranged for convenience of response): >> You would have wasted your time. Scotland is part of the UK and the >> UK telecomms "regulator" (known as Oftel) does NOT regulate on matters >> affecting consumers. If there was an issue with that payphone, the >> local "Trading Standards" office would be the place to go. > I wonder about that, but assumed that Oftel would direct me to them if > applicable. >> There are no rules about that which apply to (UK) private payphone >> providers. If a telco did it, there would be a more serious issue! > The original poster did not specify that this was a payphone, as > Richard assumes. I assumed it was an in-room phone. Does *that* make > a difference? >> In the case you cited, Oftel has specifically decreed that regulations >> do not apply to payphones which are installed and operated *privately*. >> See http://www.oftel.gov.uk/press/releases/2002/pr76_02.htm > Citing web pages that are irrelevant to one's point tends to give the > impression that one doesn't know what one's talking about. That page > is about the provision or non-provision of payphones; it says nothing > about what numbers can be reached from them. >> As it was an 800 (free-to-caller) number, the caller had incurred no >> cost; the fact that the call was redirected was immediately obvious. > The point is not cost to the caller; it's interference with the caller's > choices and with someone else's legitimate business. In this case two > other companies, the British telecom operator being paid for the 0800 > call and the Canadian one receiving the call. >> Perhaps we should have been told the name of the hotel involved? > Well, we were told it was "years ago". They might have reformed. > Mark Brader "I like to think of [this] as self-explanatory." > Toronto "I hope *I* think of [it] that way." > msb@vex.net -- Donald Westlake: "Trust Me On This" > My text in this article is in the public domain. ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: 1+Ten-Digits Mandatory in NYCity Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Sun, 09 Feb 2003 15:48:55 -0800 In article , joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) wrote: >> Is it technologically feasible to promote a standard of dialing such >> that if the # is used, then the digits entered are suplemented to the >> left by your own NPA and CO? >> For example if I am 708-848-2775, and I dial 5432#, the call would go >> to 708-848-5432. If I dial 369-9999#, the call would go to >> 708-369-9999. > What a great idea! And if you have two lines with adjacent numbers, > you can call one from the other with only two key presses. Voice recognition is better. When I was a kid, you just picked up the phone and spoke the number. But of course that was in Silicon Valley. But eventually they made us dial numbers and called it "progress". John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Siemens Gigaset 8825 and Dual Lines From: pete helme Organization: AT&T Broadband Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 00:11:43 GMT Has the 8825 improved at all from the original shipping units? I had one for a while when they first came out, but the 8825 made so many clicking and popping noises (interference handling I guess) that I ended up going back to my 2420. Now though I'm having a hard time keeping the batteries charged in some of the 2400 series handsets. I can't seem to find a battery they like anymore without the infamous "flutter" break up condition occurring after 10 minutes and the battery level registering near dead. The 2400 charger doesn't seem to like to charge anything over a Ni-Cad 600mah (I think that was the original size). I guess I'll try cycling them in a separate Ni-Cad charger to see if that helps. I've tried Ni-MH's in them but haven't had any luck there either. I'm not convinced that the older 2400 chargers are smart enough to recognize Ni-MH battery conditions. They get *really* warm in there and talk time doesn't seem to be any better than Ni-Cads. > Lots of people dumping their 2420 for the 8825 and there is a $50 > rebate going. ------------------------------ From: Clark Wilhelm Griswold, Jr. <73115.1041@compuserve.com> Subject: Re: Britain Admits Much of Its Iraq Report Came From Magazines Date: Sun, 09 Feb 2003 17:25:16 -0700 Monty Solomon wrote: > Britain Admits That Much of Its Report on Iraq And this has exactly what to do with Telecom? It's one thing for a thread to drift. It would seem to be entirely another for promoting a political position ... ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 21:03:09 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Getting in on Wi-Fi Action Means Playing Defense By D.C. Denison, Globe Staff Many of the publications that consulting groups spit out are, frankly, ignorable. The mind tends to wander when confronted with the latest variation on ''Leadership Is Important'' and ''Don't Forget the Bottom Line.'' But when the Boston Consulting Group issued a six-page ''opportunity for action'' report a few weeks ago on the topic of Wi-Fi, it's safe to assume that it received an eager, attentive reception from the telecommunications providers on BCG's e-mail list. That's because Wi-Fi, the high-speed technology that allows people to connect to the Internet wirelessly, is a technological wild card that is causing flashbacks to recent wrestling matches with uninvited guests like the Web and instant messaging. Wi-Fi is particularly challenging because, like those earlier technologies, it has arrived with no apparent business model. Yet as the BCG Wi-Fi report admits upfront: ''It's cheap. It works. And early adopters love it.'' One particularly vexing problem for the telecommunications companies is the proliferation of Wi-Fi in public locations like hotels, coffee shops, and airports. T-Mobile, for example, has turned on Wi-Fi in thousands of Starbucks coffee shops. There is also a free Wi-Fi movement; in Boston, Tech Superpowers is bringing free Wi-Fi to upper Newbury Street, one building at a time. And on the horizon, there's the recently announced Cometa Networks, a joint venture among AT&T, IBM, and Intel, that plans to offer Wi-Fi coverage in the country's top 50 metro markets. So how to tame this beast? This is where consulting firms earn their fees. And where the reading gets interesting. In the case of public Wi-Fi services, BCG is recommending the same strategy that many vocal fans have been urging on the Celtics: De-fense! http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/040/business/Getting_in_on_Wi_Fi_action_means_playing_defense+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 21:24:13 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Boom Headset is Technologically Advanced, But Still a Bust By Michael Prager, Globe Staff, 2/9/2003 The Boom, a pricey, hands-free headset for cellphones and some home telephones, is an example of how hard it is to be great. Its foundation is the fabulous noise-canceling voice-recognition technology developed for use in brokerage houses and proven on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, one of the noisiest places you'll ever want to call home from. The technology was adapted for consumers with help from Frog Design, which has designed everything from cruise ships and motorcycles to faucets and the first Apple computer. Sounds like a cinch for product of the year, no? And yet, after testing it for a couple of weeks in lieu of my run-of-the-mill headset, I don't think I'd want it for keeps, even if it weren't six times the price. The reason, primarily, is design. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/040/living/Boom_headset_is_technologically_advanced_but_still_a_bust+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 23:48:12 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Murdoch's Prime Time His big media rivals in disarray, the News Corp. CEO rules a profitable, hit-making, global empire. Now he wants to be America's satellite king. FORTUNE Monday, February 3, 2003 By Marc Gunther Seventy-one-year-old Rupert Murdoch permits himself a smile as he contemplates his future. The prize he has coveted for two decades, a satellite-TV platform in the U.S., finally appears to be within his grasp. His Fox TV network has emerged from a slump to rock the broadcasting industry with smash hits American Idol and Joe Millionaire. And his long-shot bets on the Fox News Channel and the Star TV pay-television platform in Asia have begun to pay off. Half a century ago Murdoch was an Oxford undergraduate who inherited an ailing, provincial newspaper in Australia from his father. Today, as the chairman and CEO of News Corp., he is worth about $7 billion, and he wields more power than any other media titan. He built his global empire of TV networks, newspapers, magazines, books, and movies by defying convention and taking risks. He gained a reputation as a gambler whose next move could never be anticipated, a pirate who played by his own rules, and an owner who cared little about short-term results. But now Murdoch says he is mellowing. "We're running a very conservative ship at the moment," he says. "We're keeping our heads down, managing the businesses." He takes pleasure in something no one expected a few years ago: News Corp. has become the most stable and predictable of the media giants, if not the most admired. http://www.fortune.com/fortune/ceo/articles/0,15114,418457,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 23:50:02 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Why's My Cell Phone Melting? By Ben Charny Staff Writer, CNET News.com Cell phone maker Nokia warned Friday that a growing number of its handsets are being damaged by badly made or counterfeit batteries from other companies. The number of phones destroyed by so-called third-party batteries, sold by street vendors or on the Web, have risen enough since December to prompt a warning from Nokia, said company spokesman Keith Nowak. The batteries usually don't have circuitry to shut down the power source once it begins overheating, Nowak said. Enough heat can be generated to melt a phone's plastic casing and the circuits inside, he said. http://news.com.com/2100-1033-983867.html ------------------------------ From: riverwlk@ntsource.com (A Nicholas) Subject: WiFi Hotspot Directory is Available Now Date: 9 Feb 2003 18:28:48 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ This directory runs on PCs, Palms and PocketPC. Better than websites because we help you find a spot when you are offline. Database included or use your existing database. www.makewireless.com ------------------------------ From: niraj@verizon.net (Niraj) Subject: Dialogic Help Date: 9 Feb 2003 19:15:09 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hello, I was wondering if anyone could assist me in installing a few dialogic boards I have for testing purposes. Unrfortunately, I don't have the manuals for the cards nor can I seem to find one on the internet. I am trying to install one D/121B and one LSI/120 card on a machine running w2k. The contents of c:\dialogic\config\dialogic.cfg are: [Genload - All Boards] SpringBoardInterrupt = 2 SpringBoardPorts = 340 SpringBoardAddress = D0000 IsaBusWidth = 8-BIT BusType=PEB [Genload - Port 340] /* D/8x or D/12x */ FrontEnd=ANALOG PEBBaseTimeSlot=1 FirmwareFile=c:\dialogic\data\d12x.fwl The jumpers and switches have been set accordingly but when i try to run genload.exe -M c:\dialogic\config\dialogic.cfg it gives me this error: ESB0010:ERROR No Board(s) found - check system configuration I have also disabled acpi and irq steering on the machine and am running release 4.2. Also, the only drivers I have on the machine are d40drv and mf40drv. Are these the right drivers? Any help would be seriously appreciated as I have spent a lot of time simply trying to get this thing installed with little success. Thanks in advance. ------------------------------ From: gdavis2002@hotmail.com (Gary Davis) Subject: Home Telephones Pick up a Radio Station Date: 9 Feb 2003 19:43:13 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ The noise is killing my internet connections. This only happens with my corded telephones. I disconnected each phone to see if a phone is causing it. I just moved in to this house and it has done this from day one. The phone company can not find the trouble outside my house. Please any suggestions: Gary Davis [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You did not say if this was happening everytime you try to use the modem or only occassionally, not if it was happening when you try to talk on the phone. A radio station is usually modulating 24 hours per day; for example WYCA in Hammond, IN causes trouble for people in the immediate vicinity of its transmitting equipment and tower in Burnham, IL (both towns sit across from each other on the state line. People a few blocks into north Hammond get plagued with WYCA, but you can hear them on the phone when you are talking. In the late 1980's, Illinois Bell did a lot of work putting RF filters on lines for people in the area. I assume they interfere with modem communications also. See TELECOM Digest from 1989.) If it is only an occassional thing, and you can hear voices when using the phone for voice communications then I suggest it might be a ham or CB type radio. If you cannot hear voices or static when talking on the phone, but still have hassles with the modem it might not be a radio station at all. The phone company may have you on a SLC (or 'slick') type device instead of a 'real' phone line. Those things are very difficult to use with modems. Tell more. PAT] ------------------------------ From: w4azj@yahoo.com (Mike) Subject: Re: Last Laugh! AT&T Admits There May be a Caller ID Problem Date: 9 Feb 2003 19:07:11 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ TELECOM Digest Editor wrote in message news:: > in not hearing the entire number, I decided to look at my caller ID > to see where it came from ... 201-330-5114. I'm getting calls from that same number... punched it into Google, and it came up with this thread in the Groups search. No answer whenever I pick up the phone, however. Zed [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have not tried it except that one day when I reported it; maybe AT&T has given up worrying about it! :( PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! 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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #283 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Feb 10 21:20:20 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h1B2KKP08110; Mon, 10 Feb 2003 21:20:20 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 21:20:20 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302110220.h1B2KKP08110@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #284 TELECOM Digest Mon, 10 Feb 2003 21:20:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 284 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #369, February 10, 2003 (Angus TeleManagement) Dialing 10 Digits Starts This Saturday for Northeast Texans (Monty Solomon) Gordon Moore Sees Another Decade For Moore's Law (Monty Solomon) Have Some TV With Your Phone Service (Monty Solomon) DirecTV to Open Books to Suitors -- Sources (Monty Solomon) Gambling On Mobile Devices? You Bet (Monty Solomon) Recording Restricted (Monty Solomon) Analysts Question SBC's DirecTV Interest (Monty Solomon) Sony Pictures Digital Transforms Hollywood Hits Into Hot Games (M Solomon) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 10:03:06 -0500 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #369, February 10, 2003 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 369: February 10, 2003 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** BELL CANADA: http://www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: http://www.cisco.com/ca/letstalk ** CYGCOM INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES: http://www.cygcom.com ** ERICSSON CANADA: http://www.ericsson.ca ** JUNIPER NETWORKS: http://www.juniper.net ** PRIMUS CANADA: http://www.primustel.ca ** Q9 NETWORKS: http://www.Q9.com ** TELUS: http://www.telus.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Bell Globemedia Reorganized ** AT&T Canada Trims Losses ** GT Emerges From Bankruptcy ** Alcatel to Buy iMagicTV ** Foreign Investment Review, Week Two ** Rogers, Microsoft in Wireless Pact ** Bell Globemedia to Buy Stake in Hockey Team? ** "Memorial U Tariff" Denied Again ** 519 Overlay Code Set ** NorthernTel Converts Last Party Line ** John Tory to Leave Rogers ** Ericsson Reports Losses, Switches CEOs ** Mitec Raises $6 Million ** Netgraphe Loses $10 Million ** Tropic Networks Wins Financing ** Financial Reports Alcatel Cisco ** Angus Telecom Forum Launched BELL GLOBEMEDIA REORGANIZED: Bell Globemedia (BGM) now has only two owners and it has moved decisively away from Jean Monty's "convergence" strategy. In moves announced Friday: ** The Thomson family's holding company, Woodbridge, bought Thomson Corp's 20% of BGM for US$279 million. ** BCE and Woodbridge agreed to invest an additional $50 million each, half in cash, in BGM. Woodbridge now owns 31.5% and BCE owns 68.5%. ** BCE took full ownership of the Sympatico.ca portal, and moved it out of BGM to Bell Canada. The deal apparently values Sympatico.ca at $40 million. ** BGM dissolved its Interactive division, transferring responsibility for its websites back to the Globe and Mail, CTV, and TSN. Bell Globemedia will continue to provide technical support. AT&T CANADA TRIMS LOSSES: AT&T Canada's fourth quarter revenues, $359.6 million, were level with the previous quarter though down 9% from the same quarter in 2001. Reduced operating costs resulted in a lower quarterly loss: $63.8 million compared to $170.7 million. GT EMERGES FROM BANKRUPTCY: 360networks announced February 4 that it has completed its purchase of Group Telecom. With the closing of this deal, GT emerged from bankruptcy protection. (See Telecom Update #361) ALCATEL TO BUY IMAGICTV: Alcatel has agreed to buy the 84% of the shares of iMagicTV that it does not already own for US$30 million in shares. Saint John-based iMagic, 36% owned by Aliant, makes software that delivers television over DSL. (See Telecom Update #357) FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW, WEEK TWO: Last week the parliamentary committee heard from Upper Canada Networks, AT&T Canada, Call-Net, XIT Telecom, Union des Consommateurs, Association des Compagnies de T=E9l=E9phone du Qu=E9bec, Telus, and University of Toronto law professor Hudson Janisch. Hearings resume on Wednesday. http://www.parl.gc.ca/InfoCom/CommitteeSchedule.asp? ROGERS, MICROSOFT IN WIRELESS PACT: Rogers AT&T Wireless and Microsoft Canada have agreed to jointly promote wireless products using Microsoft's Pocket PC Phone Edition and Smartphone 2002 operating systems. The first such device will be the Siemens SX56, which is expected to retail for about $900. BELL GLOBEMEDIA TO BUY STAKE IN HOCKEY TEAM? It is widely rumoured that Bell Globemedia will soon buy 13% of the Toronto Maple Leafs, as part of a deal that will give majority ownership of the team to the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board. "MEMORIAL U TARIFF" DENIED AGAIN: The CRTC has rejected Aliant's proposal to provide Centrex for $20.75/month to health and education customers with 2,800 lines or more in St. John's, Newfoundland. The Commission said Aliant had given no rationale for "rate de-averaging within a rate band." ** Aliant promised the $20.75 rate to Memorial University last spring, winning a competitive bid against Group Telecom. It has twice failed to get tariff approval (see Telecom Update #346). http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2003/o2003-69.htm 519 OVERLAY CODE SET: It's official. The new Area Code for southwestern Ontario, to be overlaid in the 519 area, will be 226. The new code is scheduled for implementation in February 2005, but that may change. NORTHERNTEL CONVERTS LAST PARTY LINE: NorthernTel has completed a $25 million program to deliver individual service to its 4,100 party-line customers in northeastern Ontario. JOHN TORY TO LEAVE ROGERS: John Tory, CEO of Rogers Cable, will soon leave the company in order to run for Mayor of Toronto. During the transition period, he will share the CEO post with Edward Rogers, son of company founder Ted Rogers. ERICSSON REPORTS LOSSES, SWITCHES CEOs: On February 3, Ericsson said it lost the equivalent of C$3.5 billion in 2002, on revenue 31% lower than the previous year. Three days later, CEO Kurt Hellstrom retired. His successor is Carl- Henric Svanberg, who previously headed a Swedish lock-making company. MITEC RAISES $6 MILLION: Montreal-based Mitec Telecom, which makes wireless networking equipment, has raised $6.1 million from a share offering. ** Mitec has made a claim for $11.9 million against Com Dev over an undisclosed issue. NETGRAPHE LOSES $10 MILLION: In 2002, Netgraphe, the Internet portal owned by Quebecor, lost $10 million on revenues of $26.8 million. TROPIC NETWORKS WINS FINANCING: Ottawa-based Tropic Networks has raised US$20 million in financing; the lead investor is Terry Matthews' Celtic House Venture Partners. Tropic is developing wavelength tracking technology for optical Metro Area Networks. FINANCIAL REPORTS: ** Alcatel fourth-quarter sales of E4,508 were up 29% on the quarter but down 33% from a year earlier. Net loss: E1,119. Alcatel predicts a further 15% decline in its markets this year. ** Cisco reports net sales of US$4.7 billion for the three months ended January 25, a drop of 2.1% from the previous quarter. Net income increased 50% to $991 million. Cisco predicts a further 2%-3% sales decline in the current quarter. ANGUS TELECOM FORUM LAUNCHED: Angus Telemanagement Group has announced creation of the Angus Telecom Forum, an e-mail discussion group for Telemanagement subscribers, devoted to the exchange of ideas and concerns of managers responsible for enterprise voice and data systems in Canada. ** Paid subscribers to Telemanagement can join the group by sending a blank e-mail to AngusForum-subscribe@yahoogroups.com ** If you aren't already a subscriber to the #1 information source for telecom and network decision makers in Canada, now is a good time to sign on. For a limited time, new subscribers save $50 on a one-year subscription -- AND get an extra issue as a free bonus. For full details see www.angustel.ca/teleman/SubscriptionOffer.pdf. HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at http://www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: TelecomUpdate@add.postmastergeneral.com To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: TelecomUpdate@remove.postmastergeneral.com Sending e-mail to these addresses will automatically add or remove the sender's e-mail address from the list. Leave subject line and message area blank. We do not give Telecom Update subscribers' e-mail addresses to any third party. For more information, see http://www.angustel.ca/update/privacy.html. COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2003 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 16:05:08 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Dialing 10 Digits Starts This Saturday for Northeast Texans Dialing 10 Digits Starts This Saturday for Northeast Texans New '430' Area Code Phased in This April, Current '903' Phone Numbers Remain the Same TYLER, Texas - Starting Saturday, Northeast Texas residents in the 1903 area code will need to dial 10 digits (the area code plus the seven-digit number) to make local phone calls. Beginning Feb. 15, callers who dial only seven digits will hear a recording telling them they must redial to complete the call. The new dialing pattern is needed as the result of a new 430 area code that will serve the same geographic area as the existing 903 area code. Creation of the new area code will not affect rates or local calling areas. Calls that are local today will continue to be local calls after 10-digit dialing goes into effect Feb. 15. Dialing of long-distance calls within the 903 area code region will not change. Callers will continue to dial "1" plus the area code, plus the seven-digit number. Dialing to reach 9-1-1 emergency services will remain the same, as will dialing 4-1-1 to reach directory assistance. http://newscenter.verizon.com/proactive/newsroom/release.vtml?id=78734 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 18:59:07 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Gordon Moore Sees Another Decade For Moore's Law By Elinor Mills Abreu SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Gordon Moore, the computer pioneer who four decades ago predicted the explosion in transistor power driving the electronics revolution, said on Monday he sees at least another decade of progress ahead. Moore, 74, the creator of "Moore's Law," told a meeting of many of the world's preeminent chip designers that engineers must concentrate on overcoming power leakage and reducing heat levels as more and more circuits are crammed closer together. "No physical quantity can continue to change exponentially forever," he cautioned. "Your job is delaying forever." - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31459073 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 13:32:07 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Have Some TV With Your Phone Service Mark Lewis, 02.10.03, 9:13 AM ET NEW YORK - Doesn't anyone want to play with Charlie Ergen anymore? First his bid to merge EchoStar with its satellite rival DirecTV was nixed by U.S. regulators on antitrust grounds. Now Ergen's ally, Edward Whitacre Jr. of SBC Communications, is thinking about making his own move on DirecTV -- which, if successful, would presumably invalidate SBC's alliance with EchoStar. Less than a year ago, SBC (nyse: SBC - news - people ) announced that it would team up with EchoStar (nasdaq: DISH - news - people ) in a marketing alliance that offered TV service from EchoStar and high-speed Internet access from SBC. The object was to better compete with the cable companies, which bundle broadband and TV service and are now adding telephone service to the mix. One can hardly blame Whitacre for trying to escape from the velvet-lined coffin that is landline telephone service. SBC and the other Baby Bells are losing lines every day as people shift to wireless service and other alternatives. SBC, BellSouth (nyse: BLS - news - people ) and Verizon Communications (nyse: VZ - news - people ) all have responded by making themselves major players in wireless--but that, at least, is a telecom business. DirecTV, a unit of Hughes Electronics (nyse: GMH - news - people ), is a media business. http://www.forbes.com/2003/02/10/cx_ml_0210topnews.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 13:24:16 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DirecTV to Open Books to Suitors -- Sources In Feb. 7 NEW YORK story headlined "UPDATE 2-DirecTV to open books to suitors -- sources," please read in the third paragraph "General Motors Corp., which has a 30 percent financial stake in Hughes," instead of "General Motors Corp., which owns 80 percent of Hughes." (Corrects size of stake). A corrected version follows. (Refiles to add reporter credits at end of story). (Recasts, adds quotes from sources, bankers, adds byline) By Tom Johnson NEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Satellite television operator Hughes Electronics Corp. (NYSE:GMH) is expected next week to open its financial records to suitors interested in its DirecTV arm or the entire company, sources familiar with the situation said on Friday. Local telephone company SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC), Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (AUS:NCP), and other bidders are expected to be among the companies that will sign confidentiality agreements to review the financial records, sources said. Reviewing proprietary financial records, a process known as due diligence, is typically the start of a formal auction process. General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM), which has a 30 percent financial stake in Hughes, has been trying to drum up interest in all or part of its Hughes unit since December, when EchoStar Communications Corp.'s (NASDAQ:DISH) proposed $18 billion acquisition of Hughes collapsed in the face of stiff opposition from regulators. General Motors declined to comment on the due diligence process, but reiterated that it is exploring all options for Hughes. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31449087 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 13:44:01 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Gambling On Mobile Devices? You Bet Chana R. Schoenberger, 02.10.03, 7:00 AM ET NEW YORK - Through the boom and bust of the Internet, there was one activity that managed to make money online: gambling. And just as Internet access has moved past the PC and into cell phones and wireless PDAs, gambling is going mobile as well. "Certainly wireless is the next generation of e-gaming that is looking to take hold," says Nancy Chan-Palmateer of CryptoLogic (nasdaq: CRYP - news - people ), a Toronto-based Internet gambling software company that is now shopping its first wireless gambling products. The idea is to take a small piece of the Internet gambling market, which is expected to bring in $5 billion this year for casinos and game operators. In 2004, the market for Internet gambling should reach $6.5 billion. Cell phones themselves are becoming better suited to gambling. The newest cell phones are essentially mini-PCs, with full operating systems, heavy-duty processor power and high-resolution color screens. Pricey phones, PDAs and phone-PDA combos now offer an expensive but accessible way to get online. http://www.forbes.com/2003/02/10/cz_cs_0210gaming.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 13:48:32 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Recording Restricted Pirates & Paranoids Recording Restricted Arik Hesseldahl, 02.10.03, 12:00 PM ET NEW YORK - Video recording is a convenience that consumers have grown accustomed to since the introduction of the first videocassette recorders in the 1970s. Many consider it an entitlement. To a point, it is. The U.S. Supreme Court, in fact, said so: In 1984, in the landmark Betamax case, which pitted Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people ) against Universal Studios and The Walt Disney Co. (nyse: DIS - news - people ), the court ruled that recording television programs for private viewing in homes does not infringe on copyright protections. However, the rights handed down by the court don't seem so clear now. When the videotape in the VCR is replaced by a hard drive so that the copy made is as good as the original and can be shared over the Internet with a multitude of people, the right to record looks more -- at least in the view of several media companies -- like a license to steal. The recording industry's legal victories over the music-sharing service Napster and some of its emulators has emboldened media companies eager to protect their TV programming from a Napster-like fate. For consumers, the basic convenience of recording television would start to erode, especially as they navigate the transition to digital and high-definition television (HDTV). http://www.forbes.com/2003/02/10/cx_ah_0203tv.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 13:55:03 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Analysts Question SBC's DirecTV Interest By Jessica Hall PHILADELPHIA, Feb 10 (Reuters) - SBC Communications Inc.'s (NYSE:SBC) potential purchase of DirecTV, the top U.S. satellite TV operator, would hurt the Baby Bell as it assumed too much financial risk for the promise of future revenue, analysts said on Monday. SBC Communications, the No. 2 U.S. local telephone company, is one of several companies expected to sign confidentiality agreements this week to review the books of Hughes Electronics Corp. (NYSE:GMH) and its DirecTV arm, sources familiar with the situation said. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31447125 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 09:36:15 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Sony Pictures Digital Transforms Hollywood Hits Into Hot Games - Content From Sony Pictures Entertainment Appearing Soon on BREW-Enabled Phones - SAN DIEGO and CULVER CITY, Calif., Feb. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM), pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology, and Sony Pictures Digital, today announced that Sony Pictures Digital will develop games and applications, based on content from the library of Sony Pictures Entertainment, for QUALCOMM's Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless(TM) (BREW) platform. Sony Pictures Digital plans to offer favorite arcade classics like Q*bert and several games and entertainment applications based on the studio's latest hit films including "XXX" and "Stuart Little 2." Other BREW applications currently available from Sony Pictures Digital include the popular game shows "Wheel of Fortune," "JEOPARDY!" and coming soon, "Pyramid." http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31436763 ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #284 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Feb 10 22:08:25 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h1B38Pa12360; Mon, 10 Feb 2003 22:08:25 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 22:08:25 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302110308.h1B38Pa12360@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #285 TELECOM Digest Mon, 10 Feb 2003 22:07:53 EST Volume 22 : Issue 285 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Honeypots: Tracking Hackers", Lance Spitzner (Rob Slade) U.S. ENUM Flaws - Security, and How We Buy (Judith Oppenheimer) Re: Issues With Moving PBX (Justin Time) Re: Issues With Moving PBX (touch tone tommy) Re: Pmmail and Newsreaders (Scott Dorsey) Re: Pmmail and Newsreaders (Bill Feidt) Belden 8723 Cable for Telephones? (F. Javorek) Re: Best Cellular Service for East Liverpool, Ohio (Scott Emick) Will Modifying Phone Service Break Third-Party DSL? (Dave Anderson) Short Dialing (Joey Lindstrom) Re: Ways to Connect Voice IDFs With Fiber? (Ron Wood) Re: How to Determine Cell Phone Charge to US When Travelling (John Covert) Ratings of Service Providers (Forrest Nelson) Last Laugh! Spam Harvesting From Telecom Digest (Gordon S. Hlavenka) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Rob Slade Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 08:04:30 -0800 Subject: Book Review: "Honeypots: Tracking Hackers", Lance Spitzner BKHNYPOT.RVW 20030126 "Honeypots: Tracking Hackers", Lance Spitzner, 2003, 0-321-10895-7, U$44.99/C$69.99 %A Lance Spitzner hostmaster@tracking-hackers.com %C P.O. Box 520, 26 Prince Andrew Place, Don Mills, Ontario M3C 2T8 %D 2003 %G 0-321-10895-7 %I Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. %O U$44.99/C$69.99 800-822-6339 fax 617-944-7273 bkexpress@aw.com %O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0321108957/robsladesinterne %P 452 p. + CD-ROM %T "Honeypots: Tracking Hackers" Chapter one is an introduction to the honeypot concepts, and the story of Spitzner's first attempt to run one. An overview of attackers and tools is given in chapter two. A history of honeypots is provided in chapter three, and a list of basic types. Chapter four looks at the benefits (and also the problems) of these types of programs. The types of honeypots are grouped into high, medium, and low intereactivity, in chapter five. The explanations given, in this first section, are good and simple. Tables and figures provided, however, often require interpretation. Chapters six to eleven are reviews and descriptions of honeypots and related programs. There is a tutorial on the setup and use of Back Officer Friendly in chapter six. Specter, in chapter seven, gets a detailed review and a discussion of the program's options. Chapter eight discusses how honeyd emulates a network. Port monitoring, with netcat, and jails, using chroot, are covered in chapter nine. Mantrap cages are discussed in chapter ten. Chapter eleven reviews two generations of honeynets, with lots of details. Chapter twelve examines choosing and camouflaging honeypots. Maintaining and using a honeypot is in chapter thirteen. Chapter fourteen presents a couple of "case studies," integrating material from previous chapters. There is a reasonable discussion of legal issues in chapter fifteen. Future directions for honeypots are examined in chapter sixteen. "Know Your Enemy" (cf BKKNYREN.RVW) presented a fascinating glimpse into both honeypots and the blackhat community, but only a glimpse. This book provides much more detail into the inner workings, setup, and technologies involved in sensors for detecting and dissecting network intrusions. copyright, Robert M. Slade, 2003 BKHNYPOT.RVW 20030126 rslade@vcn.bc.ca rslade@sprint.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca p1@canada.com Find book info victoria.tc.ca/techrev/ or sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade/ Upcoming (ISC)^2 CISSP CBK review seminars (+1-888-333-4458): March 31, 2003 Indianapolis, IN ------------------------------ From: Judith Oppenheimer Subject: U.S. ENUM Flaws - Security, and How We Buy Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 12:20:04 -0500 My concerns about ENUM are no secret. (Plug ENUM into the search engine at http://ICBTollFreeNews.com.) My best efforts as a founding member of the U.S. ENUM Forum notwithstanding, I think its a disaster. Here's my brief 1-800 explanation (read ICB, you'll see there are other causes for concern if not alarm, as well): Frost & Sullivan estimates that 90% of Americans use toll-free numbers. The U.S toll-free services market generated $17.28 billion in revenues in 2000. The growth rate from 1999 to 2000 was 11.6 percent, which shows strong customer demand for that period. Consumers' reliance on personal toll free numbers is growing. The business segment generates an estimated 95 percent of the revenues within the toll-free service market. Business sales have increased by $1.7 billion as compared to 1999. Despite these figures, the ENUM Forum (http://enum-forum.org) has passed and plans to release its Specifications for US Implementation of ENUM (http://enum-forum.org/documents/6000_0_9.doc) that purposefully rejects toll free numbers as outside its scope in the design specs for US Implementation of ENUM. These are all-encompassing soup-to-nuts design specs: architecture, policy and provisioning for Tier I, registry and registrar protocols, privacy, security, authorization, verification, authentication, and dispute resolution: the list goes on. Non-geographic numbers, toll free dominant among them, were deemed omitted because other North American Numbering Plan countries have to be consulted on certain questions.    There is a peculiar convenience to this, as ENUM Forum has steadfastly refused to include service integrity (see http://www.icbtollfree.com/article_free.cfm?articleId=5832) in the specifications. That NANP country consultations have not yet been asked and answered is not a reason or excuse to omit 1-800 from U.S. ENUM design specs. One profound result of the Forum's omission, among many, is that important Security Specifications completely ignore toll free NPAs. An ENUM/VoIP Industry so enamored of its own experimental features (see http://www.escapeartist.com/efam/42/Telephone_Science.html, and the press release below) that it dismisses Toll Free Numbers clearly expects the 800 market to meekly bend, fold and self-mutilate, to get in. But 800 is inextricably woven into the fabric of the U.S. marketplace. An ENUM design that ignores it is terribly flawed coming out the box. Copyright 2003 ICB. Inc. All rights reserved. That being my 2 cents, I'm curious to hear your comments on the press release below. Judith Oppenheimer http://JudithOppenheimer.com http://ICBTollFreeNews.com http://WhoSells800.com 212 684-7210, 1 800 The Expert -----Original Message----- From: enum-admin@ietf.org [mailto:enum-admin@ietf.org] On Behalf Of Kevin McCandless Sent: Monday, February 10, 2003 10:00 AM To: 'enum@ietf.org' Subject: [Enum] FW: VISIONng-Pulver Press Release ENUM News on ENUM trial ... -----Original Message----- From: Stastny Richard [mailto:Richard.Stastny@oefeg.at] Sent: Monday, February 10, 2003 2:59 AM To: enum-trials@ripe.net Cc: m.ermert@gmx.de Subject: FW: VISIONng-Pulver Press Release ENUM FYI Contact: Carl Ford pulver.com Phone: +1.631.547.0800 Fax: +1.631.293.3996 Cell:+1.631.839.2626115 Broadhollow Road Suite 225 Melville, NY 11747 carl@pulver.com www.pulver.com/fwdVISIONng Press Release VISIONng expands Worldwide ENUM service to the states and beyond: The deployment of the International country code 87810 will be offered to VoIP customers around the world by Internet Telephony Service Providers. US demonstrations planned at Spring VON in San Jose (April 1-3). Sophia Antipolis, France, February 10th, 2003: VISIONng (http://www.visionng.org) announced today that a US trial of ENUM, an Internet Standard which uses the Internet Domain Name System [DNS] to reconcile telephone numbers, will be deployed for use with the Global Country Code 87810. ENUM is a standard that can also be used for resolving requests to one universal phone number. Telephone numbers are based on ITU's E.164 country codes and therefore are considered national resources. National Regulatory Authorities must designate ENUM Tier 1 registries for their national phone numbers. ENUM is a IETF standard and this service will use the ITU/IETF agreed upon e164.arpa root as specified in RFC2916. The 87810 country code is administered as specified by ITU SG2. Essentially, ENUM allows phone numbers to be looked up the same way the web finds a domain name. Telesoft and pulver.com have announced their intention to offer ENUM capabilities to their users, expanding services beyond traditional service providers. Vincent Bergin Director of Telesoft, a service provider based in the UK stated that Telesoft will offer 87810 services to their International customers. At Telesoft we see the opportunity to offer customers new telephony services regardless of their existing telecom provider or country boundaries. This will enable enterprises and their customers to benefit from a cost effective and unified global service. In Austria we have conducted national and international trials in the last year, said Richard Stastny Chair of the Austrian ENUM trial platform (http://enum.nic.at), and we have seen the benefits of a universal telephone number with Telekom Austria as ENUM Registrar. Under this scenario the 87810 ENUM entry is used for directing the call to the proper medium. Faxes, e-mail, Instant Messaging, and all forms of telecommunication can be managed by this single powerful tool. An affiliated company to pulver.com's Free World Dial-up service will become an ENUM registrar enabling Free World Dialup (FWD) participants to maintain an ENUM entry that will enable a universal service. The use of the 87810 can also be used for vanity numbers, particularly for people who want to associate their Voice over IP (VoIP) gateways at home to their existing United States 1+ phone numbers. The test plan calls for pulver.com's Free World Dialup community to be the first one offered this experimental service in the US. FWD is an open invitation to anyone with broadband Internet access to experience the great quality available today worldwide using broadband Internet Telephony, said Jeff Pulver, recognized Guru of the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Industry. "By allowing FWD participants to take an "87810" country code assignment we are making a statement that the PSTN and the Internet are global assets. The backbone of the Internet has made it possible for me to communicate with people just about anywhere in the world, and people should be able to reach me regardless of my physical geographic location. On the Internet with Free World Dialup, you can call a person, not a location. Services like Vonage, enable subscribers to use numbers from the North American Numbering Plan with area codes from the different parts of the US regardless of their location. "87810" is a global numbering resource, so the concept of area code is no longer relevant. At the Spring 2003 VON conference ( http://www.von.com ) in San Jose April 1-3, Telekom Austria and Free World Dialup will show a global number that is not using "borrowed" numbers from existing number pool allocations, but with the use of ENUM, the ability for Internet Telephony finally to be a peer to the traditional telephone line. ENUM is much more than a single phone number; it makes it possible to truly marry Internet and PSTN signaling for the purpose of stating preferred communication media. According to Harald Hauser, Vice-Chair of VISIONng the value of ENUM is now being realized and it is getting considerable traction throughout the industry. Contrary to concerns about ENUM will be used to invade privacy, ENUM as delivered by the VISIONng members, allows the end user to have more control of the when where and how of communication.  For example, I can set in place my preferences for family to be able to see my presence on Instant Messaging, friends to leave messages on my private e-mail and coworkers to reach me on my cell. I can even give a method of override via SMS to people who need to reach me in emergencies, said Herwart Wermescher chairman of VISIONng, and Solution Leader for BearingPoint VoIP. Carl Ford/Jeff Pulver FWD 115 Broadhollow Road Suite 225 Melville, NY 11747 Phone +1.631.547.0800 Fax: +1.631.293.3996 Mobile: +1.631.839.2626 mailto:carl@pulver.com www.pulver.com Herwart Wermescher  Chairman VISIONng BearingPoint  Solution Leader INFONOVA Solutions Phone +43 316 8003 1101 Mobile +43 664 25 65 180  Fax +43 316 8003 1480 mailto:herwart.wermescher@infonova.com www.bearingpoint.com Harald Hauser Vicechair VISIONng Telcordia 444 Hoes Lane RRC-4D226, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854 mailto:hhauser@telcordia.com www.telcordia.com For Release 1 p.m. GMT, February 10, 2003 Richard STASTNY OeFEG/Telekom Austria Box 147, A-1103 Vienna, Austria tel:+43 664 420 4100 fax:+43 1 797 80 13 mailto:richard.stastny@oefeg.at ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Issues With Moving PBX Date: 10 Feb 2003 05:37:30 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ coretech007@yahoo.com (Roger Tall) wrote in message news:: > Greetings, > We need to move our PBX (Nortel) to another building across the > street. There are 80 phones on the system now. The users will be moved > to the other building over a period of 1-2 month and we are trying to > move the PBX ahead of time. Should we outsource this or is this doable > (our voice guy recently quit)? Can someone post a good resource where > we can find best practices or sample project plans that deal with > moving voice switches. Also, if possible, names of reliable companies > that do this type of work in north Alabama area. > Thank you, > Roger Tall > CCNA, MCSE My suggestion is to hire someone to do the move for you. While it can be done by someone with little experience, it would be better to have people with experience do the job. They should be able to assist with sizing the tie cable(s) that will be needed to provide phone service to the "old" building as well as having experience dealing with your local and long distance carriers in getting the incoming trunks moved and turned up. The move will put you out of service, totally, for at least 8 and probably 24 hours, so you will need some method of handling calls during that period. As there is a fair amount of prep work that should be done, and of course the needed cleanup and cross-connects that need to be done afterwards, it is best to have somebody familiar with the equipment do the job. This also affords you an excellent time to reorganize and clean up the switch database, update your trunking records and rid yourself of unneeded garbage in the telephone closets as well. Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: touch tone tommy Subject: Re: Issues With Moving PBX Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 18:07:01 -0800 Organization: Acme Telephone Works On 9 Feb 2003 06:47:26 -0800, coretech007@yahoo.com (Roger Tall) wrote: > Greetings, > We need to move our PBX (Nortel) to another building across the > street. There are 80 phones on the system now. The users will be moved > to the other building over a period of 1-2 month and we are trying to > move the PBX ahead of time. Should we outsource this or is this doable > (our voice guy recently quit)? Can someone post a good resource where > we can find best practices or sample project plans that deal with > moving voice switches. Also, if possible, names of reliable companies > that do this type of work in north Alabama area. > Thank you, > Roger Tall > CCNA, MCSE So if you move the PBX now, but users will filter in over a 2 month period, what will they do for phones in the meantime? Do you have copper between the buildings that you can backfeed to stations to the old building for that time period? If you do, coordinate moving the PBXand dial tone to the new building, and use the feed cable to pump the stations that need to stay up beack to the old one. How competent are you with the hardware? Is your new building wired? How is it terminated in the phone room? Can you make necessary program changes? If there is an emergency in the old building, but the dial tone has been moved to the new building, and a user dials 911, will the emergency services come to the right building? Tom Thiel - touch_tone_tommy@yahoo.com "Remember, it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that certain je ne sais quoi" - Peter Schickele (PDQ Bach) ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Pmmail and Newsreaders Date: 10 Feb 2003 15:41:23 -0500 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Ron Bean wrote: > This is off topic, but I appreciated the tip about pmmail. So what do > you guys use for a newsreader? Anything worthwhile that runs under > Windows? I like rn and tin. They have been ported to Windows. > I'm currently reading news on a unix shell account at my ISP, which is > nice but someday I may be assimilated ... Shell is good. If you get assimilated, come on over to Panix. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Pmmail and newsreaders From: Bill Feidt Date: 10 Feb 2003 16:23:06 -0500 Organization: Heller Information Services Ron Bean wrote in news:telecom22.281.9@telecom- digest.org: > This is off topic, but I appreciated the tip about pmmail. So what do > you guys use for a newsreader? Anything worthwhile that runs under > Windows? Like editors, word-processors, mail clients, and whatever other software you care to mention, it's largely a case of personal preference. That said, I really like Xnews (http://xnews.newsguy.com/). It's relative small, standards-compliant and full-featured. On top of that, it's free. HTH, but YMMV, Bill ------------------------------ Reply-To: F. Javorek From: F. Javorek Subject: Belden 8723 Cable For Telephones? Organization: AT&T Broadband Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 11:19:05 GMT I am remodeling the basement of my house and wish to add 6-8 new telephone jacks, each for two lines. This is a private residence and I do not expect to increase the number of telephone lines in the foreseeable future. I have about 800 feet of 4 conductor cable (Belden 8723) that I am considering using. The description from the box is: "Belden 8723. Special purpose audio communications & instrument cable - 4 conductor (2 pair) 22AWG (.32w 2) 7XK.30 (.05w2) Tin QL Polypropylene insulation Each pair Belfol Shield 100% coverage .019 (.48w) PVC jacket - ..165' 0.0. Surface printed." (note: some of the small letters in the description may be incorrectly transcribed. I had difficulty reading the label.) My questions are: 1) Is the Belden 8723 cable acceptable and effective for use as telephone wire? 2) Could using it cause any communications problems? 3) Will I have problems using this cable with keystone style wall jacks? 4) Are there any special installation requirements? Thank you in advance for your help. ------------------------------ From: semick@msn.com (Scott Emick) Subject: Re: Best Cellular Service for East Liverpool, Ohio Date: 10 Feb 2003 06:21:34 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Thanks for replying, Sprint did put two new towers in East Liverpool, but I am not sure if they are in service yet, I've not been down there for a few months. Up until a few months ago, the only tower which existed down there was: 485 CL33XC028 CALCUTTA COLUMBIANA OH 43920 195, which was calcutta. The new ones are: 556 CL54XC708 EAST LIVERPOOL COLUMBIANA OH 43920 170 557 CL54XC710 EAST LIVERPOOL COLUMBIANA OH 43920 198 Unfortunately, I think she is stuck with Cingular for a while due to contract, so we might have to switch to national plan. I have been looking into Dobson & Alltel for a while, but neither have strong GSM/GPRS/EDGE support ... Sprint has nice high-speed internet on my phone. And I am not even sure what technology Alltel has now, they are claiming some kind internet access, but don't even show any full-color phones,or tell you what kind of speeds to expect, or what technology they are using. Oh, and Verizon bought licenses in the Youngstown area also, we might be seeing them in the near future as well. Thanks for the info, Scott > I would like to hear everyone's opinion on the best cellular > provider for East Liverpool, Ohio. My girlfriend will be spending a > lot of time down there at Kent State E. Liverpool and I currently > have Sprint PCS, she currently has Cingular (which I believe that is > their EXTEND area, which costs $.79 a min). The local cell carriers are Dobson Cellular One and Alltel. Cingular has no service there so she'll pay roaming rates unless she has a national rate plan. Dobson has some reasonable local pricing plans, 100 minutes for $20/mo, 500 minutes for $30/mo. Long distance not included, but priced at a surprisingly low 7 cents/min. An extra 500 night/weekend minutes is $3/mo. The local area runs from Columbiana county through western PA into western NY. Roaming in nearby OH and WV is 25 cents/min. The "Clear Across America" plan that covers all nearby areas starts at $35 for 360 minutes. See http://www.celloneusa.com/. Alltel's local plans start at $30 for 300 local minutes plus 5000 night/weekend, and they also have national plans. See http://www.alltel.com. Sprint says they have coverage there on their Cleveland system, but looking at the map, it looks pretty sparse so I wouldn't want to count on it until I'd tried it in the parts of town where I was planing to spend time. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 11:50:58 EST From: Dave Anderson Subject: Will Modifying Phone Service Break Third-Party DSL? I have two phone lines, a primary one for voice and a secondary one originally for my computer. I've since added Covad ADSL on the primary line. Since it's no longer needed (except for incoming FAXes coming to the FAX modem on my computer) I want to eliminate the secondary line but keep its number as a 'distinctive ring' option on my primary line and change the class of service for the remaining line to a less-expensive one since calls will now be fewer and more local -- but I seem to recall hearing that making changes like this can result in third-party DSL service breaking. (A bit of searching hasn't turned up anything useful.) I'm in Verizon-land, near Boston, Mass. Any information about what, if any, problems I'm likely to have (and how to avoid and/or fix them) would be appreciated. Thanks, Dave Anderson ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 10:12:49 -0700 Subject: Short Dialing Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Sun, 9 Feb 2003 17:43:01 -0500 (EST), Dr. Joel M. Hoffman wrote: >> For example if I am 708-848-2775, and I dial 5432#, the call would go >> to 708-848-5432. If I dial 369-9999#, the call would go to >> 708-369-9999. > What a great idea! And if you have two lines with adjacent numbers, > you can call one from the other with only two key presses. What a bad idea. What if the two lines that you have are: 708-369-9911 and 708-369-9912 Calling from the second to the first under this plan would allow for a call to be dialed as "911#". That's ambiguous. When dialed as "911#", the call is going to go to home-npa, home-co, x911 where "x" matches your own line number. But if people get used to dialing with a # at the end, sooner or later (likely sooner) someone's going to dial "911#" when they really mean to dial 911. The call will go astray. And what about calls dialed just as "911" (ie: those meant to really go to 911)? The switch will have to implement a timeout, to see if you've stopped dialing or will follow it with either a # or more digits (ie: if you followed it with a "6" and then "#", you meant to dial 708-369-9116). This is all very, very bad. -- Joey Lindstrom -- Telus Sucks http://www.telussucks.info ------------------------------ From: unixzip@yahoo.com (Ron Wood) Subject: Re: Ways to Connect Voice IDFs With Fiber? Date: 10 Feb 2003 11:25:52 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Stoooopid question. No way. Use copper. bye. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 16:16:39 EST From: John R. Covert Subject: Re: How to Determine Cell Phone Charge to US When Travelling Alan Burkitt-Gray wrote: > Mike: Go to the GSM Association's international roaming page > You should be able to identify NZ operators and -- from their websites > -- get individual international rates. Bad advice Alan. The rates on a NZ carrier's site may or may not have any relationship at all to the rates that Mike will be charged by his U.S. GSM carrier. For example, T-Mobile charges its customers what they call "World Class Rates" which have nothing to do with which carrier you are using outside your country. Look at www.t-mobile.com/international/coverage.asp and you will see that rates are $0.99 for one group of countries, $1.49 for another group, all the way up to $4.99 for the most expensive countries. T-Mobile charges the same when you place or receive a call while roaming internationally, regardless of whether you're calling the restaurant down the street or back home to the U.S. or to any other country, and regardless of which carrier you're roaming on, and regardless of the time of day. I'm a T-Mobile customer (formerly Omnipoint), and I was furious when I discovered this new rate plan, but fortunately I'm grandfathered into the older rates, which are cheaper at most times, except for calls back to the U.S. during peak business hours. AT&T has a similar rate structure. I don't know what Cingular's structure is, and that's Mike's problem: he hasn't been able to find it. The original plan with GSM was that roaming would be very inexpensive, with the carrier you place the call on charging its "normal" rate, and then adding a small surcharge, but that is no longer the case. Your own carrier now determines what it will charge you, and has always been the case with wireless service, there is quite often no real way to know what a call will cost until the bill comes. /john ------------------------------ From: Forrest Nelson Subject: Ratings of Service Providers Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 14:38:40 -0800 Does anyone have some ideas of where I could find information on the performance of LEC/CLEC's and Internet Service Providers? i.e XO vs Time Warner vs Worldcom J. Forrest Nelson, RCDD mailto:jfnelson@aeieng.com * e-mail 206-256-0800 * phone 206-256-0423 * fax 206-972-6808 ~ cell ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 18:28:51 -0600 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelex.com Organization: Crash Electronics, Inc. Subject: Last Laugh! Spam Harvesting From Telecom Digest PAT - Here's a screen grab from a piece of spam I just got. Thought you'd enjoy it ... Gordon S. Hlavenka www.crashelex.com nospam@crashelex.com Grammar and spelling flames welcome. Yes, that's really my email address. Don't change it. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #285 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Feb 11 12:19:09 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h1BHJ9001404; Tue, 11 Feb 2003 12:19:09 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 12:19:09 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302111719.h1BHJ9001404@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #286 TELECOM Digest Tue, 11 Feb 2003 12:19:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 286 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson QUALCOMM Announces More Than 10 Million Subscribers Served (Monty Solomon) AOL's Jekyll and Hyde Act (Monty Solomon) New Wireless 11g "Standard" Ends in Tears (Monty Solomon) Cingular Wireless Deploys Technology for Wireless 9-1-1 Calls (M Solomon) To Guard 3 Students' Privacy, Georgetown U. Expunges Email (Monty Solomon) Re: Ways to Connect Voice IDFs With Fiber? (Rich Campbell) Re: Issues With Moving PBX (Rich Campbell) Re: Pennsylvania Prepares to Sue First Telemarketer Law (Phil Earnhardt) Re: Pmmail and Newsreaders (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: WiFi Hotspot Directory Now Available (Dave Close) Re: Ways to Connect Voice IDFs With Fiber? (Dave Phelps) Re: Seeking Advice For Small Business Phone System (Dave Phelps) Re: Connecting Two E1 PBX-es (Adam Iganowicz) Re: Belden 8723 Cable For Telephones? (Justin Time) Re: Short Dialing (joe@obilivan.net) Re: Allegiance VS. XO (Will Nichols) Re: Home Telephones Pick up a Radio Station (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Re: Fighting Child Pornography (Ron Bean) Re: So Many Online Sales, so Little in Tax Revenue (Ron Bean) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 08:14:27 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: QUALCOMM Announces More Than 10 Million Subscribers Served QUALCOMM Announces More Than 10 Million Subscribers Served by gpsOne-Enabled Devices - More Than 50 gpsOne Handset Models Bring GPS Location to the Mass Market - SAN DIEGO, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM), pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology, today announced that more than 10 million gpsOne(TM)-enabled devices are now in commercial use in Japan, South Korea and the United States. Sales of phones and devices with the gpsOne Assisted Global Positioning System (A-GPS) location feature now outstrip global sales of consumer GPS terminals from all manufacturers, making QUALCOMM's gpsOne technology the world's most widely deployed personal location system. http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31467649 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 08:38:07 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AOL's Jekyll and Hyde Act AOL's Jekyll and Hyde act The world's biggest Internet provider is also the world's biggest media company. As the entertainment industry prosecutes users who share music, will AOL take a stand? By Farhad Manjoo Feb. 10, 2003 | One day last summer, a person using Verizon to access the Internet logged on to Kazaa, a popular peer-to-peer music-swapping service, and started downloading MP3s. It was the sort of thing that millions of people do every day; the only difference this time was that an analyst at the Recording Industry Association of America was monitoring the action. The RIAA's efforts to obtain this single Verizon subscriber's identity has ballooned into a major courtroom battle over the scope of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the 1998 law that outlines protections for online content. The litigation has split the ranks of Internet service providers and content companies: ISPs, who say they worry about their subscribers' privacy, have generally sided with Verizon, while copyright holders have supported the RIAA. But stuck in the middle of this fight is a firm that is both a huge copyright holder as well as a huge Internet company -- in fact, it is the leading company in each industry. This is AOL Time Warner, a neither-fish-nor-fowl hybrid of copyright and consumer interests, a combination that has left the company pretty much speechless on a case that could determine the privacy rights of its more than 30 million subscribers, not to mention the rest of us. While other ISPs are running scared, AOL, the biggest ISP of all, is keeping mum. In January, after months of legal back-and-forth in the Verizon-RIAA case, U.S. District Judge John Bates ruled in the recording industry's favor, ordering Verizon to hand over the Kazaa user's name and address. Internet service providers, privacy advocates, and people critical of the growing influence of copyright owners were devastated by the Bates opinion. The ISPs are worried that they'll be flooded with requests for their subscribers' information, and that they'll have no way to determine the accuracy of these claims. http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/02/10/aol_file_sharing/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 08:45:36 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: New Wireless 11g "Standard" Ends in Tears By Guy Kewney It is nearly a year since NewsWireless Net warned of the disasters looming if American wireless manufacturers went ahead with 802.11g - the go-faster WiFi standard. Now, we hear of incompatibility problems between rival 11g products -- discovered in "secret" testing sessions. Are we really supposed to be surprised? You can, today, buy an 802.11g (pre-standard) device. This story was written on a PC connected over a Linksys WRT54G "Wireless-G" broadband router. It really is running at 54 megabits a second, giving a pretty good working approximation of 20 megabits per second throughput. And, the good news: it will work fine with my old WiFi cards on the 11b standard too, even though it slows down to 11 megabits (5 megabits throughput) to do so. So why is this bad news? The answer is that since it works, in a one-off situation like this, people will, quite naturally, buy it. And then, the fun will begin; because there's no guarantee of compatibility with other 11 "pre-g" standards. It was Nick Hunn, managing director of TDK Grey Cell, who first pointed out that there were serious problems with the idea of rolling out a 50 megabit version of the normal WiFi LAN technology, back in May last year. Now, the WiFi Alliance has been forced to act as rival 50 megabit wireless systems have been launched on the market - without even the benefit of a finally agreed IEEE standard to conform to, and with no compatibility testing between the rivals, either. As predicted, the result is a monumental cockup. http://www.newswireless.net/articles/030207-clash.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 10:44:33 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular Wireless Deploys Technology for Wireless 9-1-1 Calls Phase II Technology Provides More Location Information For Wireless 9-1-1 Calls HOUSTON, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Cingular Wireless, in conjunction with the Greater Harris County 9-1-1 Emergency Network, today announced it has launched the second and final phase of its enhanced 9-1-1 technology in Harris and Fort Bend Counties. This represents Cingular's initial deployment of "Phase II" E9-1-1 service for wireless calls in the United States. http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31472319 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 00:58:04 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: To Guard 3 Students' Privacy, Georgetown U. Expunges Email By SCOTT CARLSON Administrators at Georgetown University shut down the university's e-mail system and altered the accounts of thousands of students on Tuesday night to erase a mass e-mail message from the university that contained private student information. The message, which had been inadvertently sent out in a crime report by the university's public-safety department, detailed various incidents on campus and named three students. Juan C. Gonzalez, the university's vice president of student affairs, said that "failures at many levels" let the private information go out in the crime report around 3 p.m. on Tuesday. He says that the university's department of public safety did not edit the document or get approval before it sent the message out. He would not provide further details about the message. Once the error was discovered, around 5 p.m., administrators held an emergency meeting with legal counsel and technical staff, and resolved to immediately shut down the system and erase the message, account by account. The system was down for about 14 hours, as Georgetown's technical staff members worked overnight on the problem. "It was extraordinarily complicated," Mr. Gonzalez said. "This was not a decision made lightly." http://chronicle.com/free/2003/02/2003020701t.htm ------------------------------ From: Rich Campbell Subject: Re: Ways to Connect Voice IDFs With Fiber? Organization: AT&T Broadband Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 03:21:18 GMT No question is stupid. What kind of PBX and how far are the cable runs? Rich Roger Tall wrote in message news:telecom22.282.13@telecom-digest.org: > Greetings, > We are planning a new layout for our plant. Some stations will be > terminated at an IDF too far from our MDF (close to the PBX). Any ways > to connect our 110 IDF panel to MDF using some kinf of fiber run? Any > vendors sell this type of extender? I assume this is done in very tall > buildings. Sorry for silly questions, I'm more of a "data" guy. > Thanks, > Roger > MCSE, CNNE ------------------------------ From: Rich Campbell Subject: Re: Issues With Moving PBX Organization: AT&T Broadband Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 03:22:32 GMT Ever consider buying a new PBX for the new location? Rich Roger Tall wrote in message news:telecom22.282.6@telecom-digest.org: > Greetings, > We need to move our PBX (Nortel) to another building across the > street. There are 80 phones on the system now. The users will be moved > to the other building over a period of 1-2 month and we are trying to > move the PBX ahead of time. Should we outsource this or is this doable > (our voice guy recently quit)? Can someone post a good resource where > we can find best practices or sample project plans that deal with > moving voice switches. Also, if possible, names of reliable companies > that do this type of work in north Alabama area. > Thank you, > Roger Tall > CCNA, MCSE ------------------------------ From: Phil Earnhardt Subject: Re: Pennsylvania Prepares to Sue First Telemarketer Under New Law Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 22:08:29 -0700 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com On Sun, 09 Feb 2003 18:26:11 -0500, Tiffani Banks wrote: > HARRISBURG State Attorney General Mike Fisher is expected to announce > this week the first prosecution of telemarketers for illegally > contacting consumers who are on the state's do-not-call list. > "There will be many more (prosecutions) to follow after this first > action," said Barbara Petito, a deputy press secretary for Fisher. This all sounds a bit extravagant. Here in Colorado, we got a do-not-call bill last year. Details are at www.coloradonocall.com . It's a well-designed simple and effective website. All that the SAG's office had to do was research and send out a few cease-and-desist letters. The telemarketers got the message rapidly. I don't believe they've had to take anyone to court. They simply had to get the message out that telemarketers had darn well better honor the list. I missed the registration deadline for the first 3-month period of the law (blush!); I was on the list as of October 1, 2002. On that date, I suddenly stopped getting any telemarketing calls form businesses! Poof! Zero! AFAICT, the system is working dramatically well here. Having a well-written the law is one thing, and having the executives implement it is something else. Here in Colorado, we seem to have both. phil ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Pmmail and Newsreaders Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 06:41:01 GMT On 10 Feb 2003 15:41:23 -0500, Scott Dorsey posted the following to comp.dcom.telecom: > Ron Bean wrote: >> This is off topic, but I appreciated the tip about pmmail. So what do >> you guys use for a newsreader? Anything worthwhile that runs under >> Windows? Gravity is excellent. While the development of the program by microplanet has ended, one of the developers has continued it as Super Gravity, available at: >> I like rn and tin. They have been ported to Windows. >>> I'm currently reading news on a unix shell account at my ISP, which is >>> nice but someday I may be assimilated ... >> Shell is good. If you get assimilated, come on over to Panix. >> --scott Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA (delete NOSPAM from address to mail me) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 23:06:31 -0800 From: dave@compata.com (Dave Close) Subject: Re: WiFi Hotspot Directory is Available Now Date: 10 Feb 2003 22:48:20 -0800 Organization: Compata, Costa Mesa, California Lines: 8 riverwlk@ntsource.com (A Nicholas) writes: > www.makewireless.com That web site does not work. Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA "Politics is the business of getting dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359 power and privilege without dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu possessing merit." - P. J. O'Rourke ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: Ways to Connect Voice IDFs With Fiber? Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 01:14:20 -0600 Organization: www.tippenring.com In article , coretech007@yahoo.com says: > Greetings, > We are planning a new layout for our plant. Some stations will be > terminated at an IDF too far from our MDF (close to the PBX). Any ways > to connect our 110 IDF panel to MDF using some kinf of fiber run? Any > vendors sell this type of extender? I assume this is done in very tall > buildings. Sorry for silly questions, I'm more of a "data" guy. It depends on the switch you have. You can try mck.com. Dave Phelps Phone Masters Ltd. deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: Seeking Advice For Small Business Phone System Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 01:18:23 -0600 Organization: www.tippenring.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do you want something in-house, or > would a centrex solution work? Southwestern Bell refers to their > small centrex arrangements as 'Plexar'. PAT] Centrex is almost never a viable solution in place of a phone system. No real hold feature, you can transfer as long as you explain to each caller that you aren't really hanging up on them, no music on hold or other real features. Dave Phelps Phone Masters Ltd. deadspam=tippenring [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well then, Dave, what prevents people thinking you are 'hanging up' on them when you have them hold during your conclusion of another call when you have 'call waiting'? There is no 'real hold feature' there, either. The subscriber isn't the only person who can insert music into a call on hold, although telco rarely does it. I seem to remember about twenty years ago, Ameritech had a tariff which provided 'music on hold' to persons left in limbo. I think as a centrex or 'call waiting', or 'three-way' calling subscriber you could order that extra feature for fifty cents per month per line. It didn't last very long; I think I saw the published tariff once or twice years ago. If more telcos would offer it now, it might be a good seller for subscribers with advanced features on their lines. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Adam Iganowicz Subject: Connecting Two E1 PBX-es Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 10:46:49 +0100 Organization: Internet Partners Hallo, Does anybody know if when connecting two E1 PBX-es (one in Panasonic KXTD 500 and second is softwarePBX with Dialogi D/300PCI E1), the polarization of pinouts in RJ45 patchcord: 1- RCV_RING 2- RCV_TIP and 4- XMIT_RING 5- XMIT_TIP is important? Will it work?: 1-2 2-1 and 4-4 5-5 Or it should be always: 1-1 2-2 and 4-4 5-5 Greets, Adam Iganowicz ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Belden 8723 Cable For Telephones? Date: 11 Feb 2003 06:17:13 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ F. Javorek wrote in message news:: > I am remodeling the basement of my house and wish to add 6-8 new > telephone jacks, each for two lines. This is a private residence and > I do not expect to increase the number of telephone lines in the > foreseeable future. > I have about 800 feet of 4 conductor cable (Belden 8723) that I am > considering using. The description from the box is: > "Belden 8723. Special purpose audio communications & instrument cable > - 4 conductor (2 pair) 22AWG (.32w 2) 7XK.30 (.05w2) Tin QL > Polypropylene insulation Each pair Belfol Shield 100% coverage .019 > (.48w) PVC jacket - ..165' 0.0. Surface printed." (note: some of the > small letters in the description may be incorrectly transcribed. I > had difficulty reading the label.) > My questions are: > 1) Is the Belden 8723 cable acceptable and effective for use as telephone > wire? > 2) Could using it cause any communications problems? > 3) Will I have problems using this cable with keystone style wall jacks? > 4) Are there any special installation requirements? > Thank you in advance for your help. First off, this is stranded wire. Stranded wire can be used for telephones, but you will be limited to the screw type of jack. You will not be able to terminate this wire on any type of IDC (Insulation Displacement Jack) with any great success. Secondly, the cable should be paired and the pairs twisted together to minimize any cross-talk between the pairs. If the cable isn't twisted, it may give you problems in the future. You might be better off going to one of the big box home improvement stores and picking up a roll of Cat 3 cable for use as your telephone lines. If you are thinking of installing data at the same time (not a bad idea,) then get a bigger box of Cat 5 or 5(e) and drag two or three cables per location. You may also need to pick up a termination or punch-down tool to seat the wires in the jacks. Use two colors for your jacks, one color for phone and the other for data. Pick a wiring pattern, 568A or 568B, use it throughout and on each of the jacks. Since you are doing phone as well as data, I recommend the 568A pattern. This will wire all your jacks, voice and data, so pairs 1 and 2 are blue an orange, the first two pairs in the color code. (Makes phone men happy if they don't know with what pattern you wired your house.) ------------------------------ From: joe@obilivan.net Subject: Re: Short Dialing Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 14:30:11 GMT Organization: Cox Communications Joey Lindstrom wrote: >> What a great idea! And if you have two lines with adjacent numbers, >> you can call one from the other with only two key presses. > What a bad idea. Although most LECs probably never passed the information on to subscribers, the DMS-100 had (and perhaps still does) lots of bizzare dialing shortcuts for Centrex groups, well beyond "intercom" dialing. They sucked too. ;-) You're right, if someone wants to work around the standard dialing plan, let them get a repertory dialer or subscribe to switch-based abbreviated dialing. ------------------------------ From: william.r.nichols@xo.com (Will Nichols) Subject: Re: Allegiance VS. XO Date: 11 Feb 2003 07:40:07 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Paul Erickson wrote in message news:: >> I have some clients that use Allegiance and XO for integrated >> voice/data solutions. > Just curious if your Allegiance clients are happy clients? I have > heard nothing positive about them, and their salespeople lied to me in > an earlier encounter. > An XO rep stopped by the other day -- another bankrupt telecom -- > what's the word on these guys? > -- Paul Paul, FYI - XO officially emerged from Bankruptcy on January 16 - Will Nichols Sr. Technical Sales Consultant XO Communications San Antonio, T ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 09:55:53 -0600 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelex.com Organization: Crash Electronics, Inc. Subject: Re: Home Telephones Pick up a Radio Station Gary Davis wrote: > The noise is killing my internet connections. This only happens with > my corded telephones. I disconnected each phone to see if a phone is > causing it. I just moved in to this house and it has done this from > day one. The phone company can not find the trouble outside my house. The first thing to do is to get a known-good telephone, go outside, and plug it in to the "demarc" -- that gray box the telephone company runs their wires into. (If you don't have a demarc, your first task is to call telco and have one installed. I'm pretty sure they are required to do this at no charge.) The demarc has two doors; one of them you can open and one you (theoretically :-) can't. If you still have radio and/or hum when you plug into the demarc, it is, by definition, the telco's problem and don't let them tell you otherwise. In fact, when you call repairs, if you say, "I have noise (and/or hum) at the demarc" you will have used a code-phrase that tells the repair guy you're not a complete idiot. But let's say everything's fine at the demarc. If there's also hum with the radio, you have an "unbalanced pair". This means one of the two wires has a connection (probably not a clean one but leakage) to ground. This can be a pisser to find if your house wiring is of the "bird's nest" architecture. If there's no hum, but just radio then you probably have a corroded connection someplace -- see previous sentence about troubleshooting. Corroded wires will often act as a leaky diode and become an AM detector -- your telephone wiring turns into a crappy crystal radio. Even right next to a powerful AM station you should have clean telephone lines without needing filters. I lived for several years within a mile of WCFL, a 50KW AM station. No filters, no radio on the phone lines. If the problem isn't linked to a particular instrument, then you're going to have to disconnect all your internal wiring, then reconnect it one pair at a time until you find the one that is flaky. This is pretty labor-intensive and you'll appreciate why telco charges what they do for inside line service. And if the flaky part was one of the places you disconnected for troubleshooting, then just taking it apart and putting it together may solve the problem. Use Scotch-locks, the ones with goo. Gordon S. Hlavenka www.crashelex.com nospam@crashelex.com Grammar and spelling flames welcome. Yes, that's really my email address. Don't change it. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 09:58:41 -0600 From: Ron Bean Subject: Re: Fighting Child Pornography Monty Solomon writes: > By JENNIFER 8. LEE Her middle initial is "8"? Or is that some kind of typo? > http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/09/technology/09PORN.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is obviously some kind of typo, but that is how it arrive here from Monty Solomon. I didn't insert it here. It I had caught it I would have deleted the '8'. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 10:01:11 -0600 From: Ron Bean Subject: Re: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) writes: > What if a tax code taxes shoelaces but not shoes? (This happens.) > Amazon would have to categorize all of its products. The states are trying to standardize their definitions. For example, many states don't tax food, but have different definitions of "food". This means that new tax laws have to be passed in every state. They've been fairly successful so far, but it takes a long time. > If the states really want the tax revenue, let them set up a system > that takes an amount and an address, and returns the tax due, and > address to which it must be remitted. This is in fact what they are trying to do. The way I heard it, there doesn't seem to be any guarantee that the Supreme Court will accept whatever they set up, but I'm sure they'll address any objections the court comes up with. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #286 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Feb 12 00:33:28 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h1C5XS501325; Wed, 12 Feb 2003 00:33:28 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 00:33:28 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302120533.h1C5XS501325@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #287 TELECOM Digest Wed, 12 Feb 2003 00:34:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 287 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Pmmail and Newsreaders (Tony Pelliccio) Re: Pmmail and newsreaders (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: Fighting Child Pornography (Paul Wallich) Re: Fighting Child Pornography (Peter Dubuque) Re: Fighting Child Pornography (Al Gillis) Re: Home Telephones Pick up a Radio Station (Scott Dorsey) Re: Instant Live CDs of a Concert? Testing to Begin in Boston (B. Turok) Judge Suspends Wash. State Phone Privacy (Monty Solomon) reporter names, was: Re: Fighting Child Pornography (Danny Burstein) Re: Home Telephones Pick up a Radio Station (Richard D G Cox) How 4 Wires Work For Two Lines? (Al Franz) Definity Audix Message Lamp Issue (Randy Henson) Re: Ways to Connect Voice IDFs With Fiber? (Justin Time) Re: Seeking Advice For Small Business Phone System (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: Pennsylvania Prepares to Sue First Telemarketer Under New Law (G Hall) PluggedIn: Web Access in the Clouds (Monty Solomon) Forget Moore's Law (Monty Solomon) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tony Pelliccio Subject: Re: Pmmail and Newsreaders Organization: The Ace Tomatoe and Cement Company Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 20:48:50 GMT In article , zyxNOSPAM@camsul.com says: > On 10 Feb 2003 15:41:23 -0500, Scott Dorsey posted the following to > comp.dcom.telecom: >> Ron Bean wrote: >>> This is off topic, but I appreciated the tip about pmmail. So what do >>> you guys use for a newsreader? Anything worthwhile that runs under >>> Windows? > Gravity is excellent. While the development of the program by > microplanet has ended, one of the developers has continued it as Super > Gravity, available at: > Subject: Re: Pmmail and newsreaders Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 17:18:07 -0500 Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Ron Bean posted on that vast internet thingie: > This is off topic, but I appreciated the tip about pmmail. So what do > you guys use for a newsreader? Anything worthwhile that runs under > Windows? www.forteinc.com it is the best there is. Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, Vtech 5.8Ghz EnGenius NEW EP436 4line (the longest range), Panasonic, Twinhead notebooks, WatchGuard firewall, Okidata, Polycom! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ From: Paul Wallich Subject: Re: Fighting Child Pornography Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 14:53:16 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In article , Ron Bean wrote: > Monty Solomon writes: >> By JENNIFER 8. LEE > Her middle initial is "8"? > Or is that some kind of typo? >> http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/09/technology/09PORN.html > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is obviously some kind of typo, but > that is how it arrive here from Monty Solomon. I didn't insert it > here. It I had caught it I would have deleted the '8'. PAT] Well, if it's a typo she's been making it, and the Times has been printing it, for quite a while now. Paul ------------------------------ From: Peter Dubuque Subject: Re: Fighting Child Pornography Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 17:05:08 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC Ron Bean wrote: > Monty Solomon writes: >> By JENNIFER 8. LEE > Her middle initial is "8"? > Or is that some kind of typo? >> http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/09/technology/09PORN.html > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is obviously some kind of typo, but > that is how it arrive here from Monty Solomon. I didn't insert it > here. It I had caught it I would have deleted the '8'. PAT] Nope, that's her name, or at least the name she uses. (Google returns over 900 hits for it.) Peter F. Dubuque - peterd@panix.com - Enemy of Reason(TM) O- [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 900 hits on Google is nothign incredible or special. Try a Google search on 'Patrick Townson' and get several thousand hits. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: " 8 " Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 17:02:35 -0800 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com So what's wrong with numbers all of a sudden? Our present dog (which sometimes is a more important member of the family than I am!) is called "Number Four". She thinks it's a great name! Oh, and I love how Pat inserts his own typos into his responses, just to see if we're paying attention! (I saw two) But we love you just the same, Pat! Al Ron Bean wrote in message news:telecom22.286.18@telecom-digest.org: > Monty Solomon writes: >> By JENNIFER 8. LEE > Her middle initial is "8"? > Or is that some kind of typo? >> http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/09/technology/09PORN.html > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is obviously some kind of typo, but > that is how it arrive here from Monty Solomon. I didn't insert it > here. It I had caught it I would have deleted the '8'. PAT] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I see two typos in the original note which is printed above. The first 'It' in the final sentence should have been 'If', as in 'if I had caught it ...' In the line directly above it, 'arrive' should have been 'arrived' as in past tense. But, you know, I do this Digest on an assembly line basis, as fast as I can whip them out in order not to get a backlog of messages. Maybe I can ask your indulgence from time to time. Does anyone want to play a little game called 'My most embarassing typo in print' ? I had a part time job around 1963 (actually full time, but temporary) with a religious organization in Chicago called 'Friends of the English Liturgy'. This was a group in charge of converting the (formerly) Latin Mass into English. I made a colossal blooper which got into print regretably in the first edition before I or anyone else caught it. The first printing was finished and the materials in the process of distribution to various parish churches. One day a letter arrived in our offices: a Catholic nun in Iowa wrote a letter; in the letter she said "Dear Editors: I realize the church has gotten a lot more liberal in the past few years, [this was 1963, mind you] but did you really mean what you said on page 27 of the new hymnal books we received?" Everyone in the office, with a perfectly straight face, went to the bookshelf, or on their desks, and got their copy of the hymnal book and casually turned to page 27. Everyone looked at it for at least five minutes; someone muttered, 'that old biddy nun has no idea what she is talking about.' Then someone said, 'WAIT A MINUTE! Look at the second stanza the third line down ...' And there, in plain print, the line which everyone assumed read, 'Jesus, giver of life immortal' had a *slight* typo: the letter /t/ in 'immortal' had been neglected. They blamed me for that one also. :( It was one of the pages which was under my editorial supervision. Listen, Mr. Gillis, I don't just 'make typos'; I invented the concept! PAT] ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Home Telephones Pick up a Radio Station Date: 11 Feb 2003 12:14:58 -0500 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Gary Davis wrote: > The noise is killing my internet connections. This only happens with > my corded telephones. I disconnected each phone to see if a phone is > causing it. I just moved in to this house and it has done this from > day one. The phone company can not find the trouble outside my house. So, do you get the problem with an old 500 set? A lot of the modern telephones have very poor RF rejection. scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: Brandon Turok Subject: Re: Instant Live CDs of a Concert? Testing to Begin in Boston Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 09:22:39 -0800 Organization: Astound Broadband I remember seeing a hypnotist show in Las Vegas probably at least five or six years ago where video cameras recorded the whole show to multiple VCRs, and right at the end of the show one could purchase a videotape of the show (so that, presumably, you could watch in horror as the hypnotist made you do incredibly ridiculous things). Brandon Turok Freelance Phone Phreak (925) 685-7688 http://www.loonquawl.com/ Dial-A-Machine (925) 288-9825 Free when you call from work Monty Solomon wrote in message news:telecom22.282.2@telecom-digest.org: > By Steve Morse, Globe Staff, 2/7/2003 > Experiments are rife in the music business these days -- and Boston > will be a test market for one of the most novel of them. Clear Channel > Concerts, the nation's largest concert promoter, has ambitious plans > to record live CDs of its shows and sell them to patrons within five > minutes after those shows end. Clear Channel is targeting Boston as > the first site for the new plan, according to sources within the > organization. > Multiple CD burners would be brought in, and the live CDs would > probably sell for around $15 in the same way that T-shirts and other > merchandise can be purchased after concerts. No one knows what the > demand would be, but the project is expected to begin at club shows > within a couple of months, then be refined and work its way up to the > amphitheater level, though that may not happen until next year, > sources say. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/038/living/Instant_live_CDs_of_a_concert_T esting_to_begin_in_Boston+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 12:36:10 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Judge Suspends Wash. State Phone Privacy SEATTLE (AP) -- Washington state regulations to protect the privacy of telephone customer account information, some of the toughest in the country, have been suspended by a federal judge. State regulations that were adopted in November and took effect in January required phone companies to obtain customer approval before selling calling records or using them to market anything but telecommunications services. But Verizon Communications Inc. of New York, which has about 1 million customers in Washington, sued the state, saying its Utilities and Transportation Commission overstepped its authority and infringed on the company's ability to speak to and serve customers. U.S. District Judge Barbara J. Rothstein ruled Monday that Verizon had raised "serious questions" about the constitutionality of Washington's privacy rules, and granted a preliminary injunction blocking their enforcement while the case is pending. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31474529 ------------------------------ From: danny burstein Subject: Reporter Names, was Re: Fighting Child Pornography Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 17:35:58 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Ron Bean writes: > Monty Solomon writes: >> By JENNIFER 8. LEE > Her middle initial is "8"? Or is that some kind of typo? >> http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/09/technology/09PORN.html > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is obviously some kind of typo, but > that is how it arrive here from Monty Solomon. I didn't insert it > here. It I had caught it I would have deleted the '8'. PAT] Nope. That is, in fact, her name. Not everyone comes from Kansas, you know ... Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 17:59:13 GMT From: Richard D G Cox Subject: Re: Home Telephones Pick up a Radio Station Reply-To: nospam@numbering.com Organization: Mandarin Technology Limited On Tue, 11 Feb 2003 15:55:53 (UT), Gordon S. Hlavenka wrote: > If you still have radio and/or hum when you plug into the demarc, it > is, by definition, the telco's problem and don't let them tell you > otherwise. In fact, when you call repairs, if you say, "I have noise > (and/or hum) at the demarc" you will have used a code-phrase that > tells the repair guy you're not a complete idiot. The more accepted determination of whether a problem is the telco's responsibility is whether the (noise or hum) is present at the demarc *with ALL the customer-side wiring disconnected*. If you have bad insulation somewhere on the premises wiring, the impedance imbalance that may result can cause noise and hum to be audible not just at the actual demarc, but way back into the telco's local loop network. On some demarcs you have to -- physically -- disconnect the premises wiring in order to plug in a test handset, but on others you don't. If you can listen across the line as you plug in the premises wiring you should be able to tell whether it is contributing to the problem. Richard Cox ------------------------------ Reply-To: Al Franz From: Al Franz Subject: How Four Wires Work For Two Lines? Organization: Netmation Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 18:09:52 GMT Have two lines that come off of a single outlet. Want one phone to only serve one of these lines. Should I just purchase a phone wire that has the outer two wires or the inner two wires? What is the terminology to define phone wire that works for line one only, work for line two only, or handles both lines? Outer wires are for line one ????? Thanks for any help. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The two *inner* wires (2 & 3) are the red/green wires and usually are line one. The two *outer* wires (1 & 4) are the yellow/black wires and they are line two. In a very few cases you will have six wires, (3 & 4) (2 & 5) and (1 & 6) with 1 & 6 being blue/white. Those two (blue/white) will sometimes serve as line three; other times they will be for a mechanical-style hold circuit, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rhenson@cellxion.com (Randy Henson) Subject: Definity Audix Message Lamp Issue Date: 11 Feb 2003 12:16:18 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I have a definity G3 software v6, using audix V3.2, using 6408D+ sets. I've never seen this type of problem before, but there is one phone for which I cannot get the message lamp to go off. There are no messages waiting, I've even deleted the extension as an audix subscriber, but the lamp stays on. I tried to delete the station on the switch side, but it tells me there are messages waiting and to delete them first. I can't find where in the station setup that is shows anything about the message waiting lamp being on. Any help is appreciated. Randy ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Ways to Connect Voice IDFs With Fiber? Date: 11 Feb 2003 13:37:20 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ coretech007@yahoo.com (Roger Tall) wrote in message news:: > Greetings, > We are planning a new layout for our plant. Some stations will be > terminated at an IDF too far from our MDF (close to the PBX). Any ways > to connect our 110 IDF panel to MDF using some kinf of fiber run? Any > vendors sell this type of extender? I assume this is done in very tall > buildings. Sorry for silly questions, I'm more of a "data" guy. > Thanks, > Roger > MCSE, CNNE It depends on what you mean by too far. As you don't have any real voice experience -- its amazing how many computer geeks think there must be nothing to voice -- I would check with someone who knows your particular equipment. Your local dealer comes to mind. ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Seeking Advice For Small Business Phone System Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 17:19:59 -0500 Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Aaron posted on that vast internet thingie: > My wife and her family are forming a new business and they have the > need for a small business phone system and I told her I would try to > do some research. > They have the need for 4 phone lines on a rotary system, i.e. a call > comes in and 3 more can come in until the phone number rings busy. > They also need an intercom system built into the phone so the > secretary can answer it, and then let each of them know they have a > call on hold. Expandability would also be a good feature, i.e. the > ability to add more phone lines should the need arise. I'm trying to > find some web sites that give an overview of small business phone > systems with some reviews of some of the popular models. > Anyone know where a good place to start is? Check out the Panasonic KX-TG4000b but it only goes to 4 lines. Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, Vtech 5.8Ghz EnGenius NEW EP436 4line (the longest range), Panasonic, Twinhead notebooks, WatchGuard firewall, Okidata, Polycom! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ From: Gail M. Hall Subject: Re: Pennsylvania Prepares to Sue First Telemarketer Under New Law Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 18:43:53 -0500 Reply-To: gmhall@apk.net On Mon, 10 Feb 2003 22:08:29 -0700, in comp.dcom.telecom message , you wrote: > Here in Colorado, we got a do-not-call bill last year. Details are at > www.coloradonocall.com . It's a well-designed simple and effective > website. > All that the SAG's office had to do was research and send out a few > cease-and-desist letters. The telemarketers got the message rapidly. I > don't believe they've had to take anyone to court. They simply had to > get the message out that telemarketers had darn well better honor the > list. > I missed the registration deadline for the first 3-month period of the > law (blush!); I was on the list as of October 1, 2002. On that date, I > suddenly stopped getting any telemarketing calls form businesses! > Poof! Zero! AFAICT, the system is working dramatically well here. > Having a well-written the law is one thing, and having the executives > implement it is something else. Here in Colorado, we seem to have > both. I think this list idea could work IF the telecom services that the telemarketers subscribe to for *making* their calls are also held partically responsible. IOW, they must inform their customers about the laws and the lists and cancel the service if the customer continues to defy the law. Trouble is, the telephone companies are big businesses and would probably lobby hard against having to be held at least partly responsible for enabling the telemarketers to flood us with calls. We get a HUGE number of calls where there is nothing but silence when we answer. If we wait long enough, then a tape may play, but I never wait that long. If I say "hello" once and get no response, I hang up. My husband insists on saying "hello" over and over again. Sheesh! Now who are the companies that sell that equipment or service? I think they are crooks, too. They are designed to "dial" (for lack of a more appropriate word these days) for more calls than they can actually process and just end up bothering people. I'm glad the law in Colorado seems to be working. But don't hold your breath or breathe a sigh of total relief. They are probably hunkered down thinking up their next workaround. Gail in Ohio USA ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 15:53:10 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: PluggedIn: Web Access in the Clouds By Elinor Mills Abreu SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Coffee, tea or WiFi? Travelers will soon be able to surf the 'Net and send e-mail from thousands of feet in the air as Boeing Co.'s (NYSE:BA) Connexion business unit and a group of global airlines push to offer Web access in the ultimate wireless environment. WiFi wireless technology may be gaining acceptance in homes, offices and neighborhood cafes. But in the sky, it is hampered by glitches that would prove frustrating with no network administrator in sight. In a demonstration last week from 25,000 feet above the Golden Gate Bridge and the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains in Yosemite National Park, Internet access was available for less than half of our 90-minute flight. The specially equipped Boeing 737 had laptops with Internet access tucked into the seat pockets and a satellite antenna on the roof for sending and receiving data via Telsat service to a ground station in Littleton, Colorado. Half of the laptops used Ethernet high-speed office network connections plugged into jacks on the handrests. The rest were using Intel Corp.'s (NASDAQ:INTC) new Centrino wireless chip system that the company said will be available in new computer products starting on March 12. About 40 minutes into the flight, after several false starts, the Connexion by Boeing Internet service finally worked. Connexion executives said data transmission speeds for the demo should be about five megabits per second coming into the plane and 128 thousand bits per second when sending data off the plane. The speed, they said, was similar to digital subcriber line service people have at home, but some users complained it seemed slower. When commercial service starts next year, speeds should be greater -- about one megabit per second for out-bound data and 20 megabits per second for in-bound data, Connexion said. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31485466 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 15:52:52 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Forget Moore's Law Essay Forget Moore's Law Because it's unhealthy. Because it has become our obsession. Because it is dangerous -- a runaway train, roaring down a path to disaster. By Michael S. Malone February 10, 2003 Forget Moore's law, but not because it's merely a commitment by the semiconductor industry to drive silicon gate technology forward 67 percent a year. Forget Moore's law, but not because it isn't true. On the contrary, Moore's law may be the truest "truth" about human events over the last half-century. In fact, while our understanding of the cosmos, particle physics, and brain chemistry gets revised almost by the month, Moore's law -- so fragile, so on the razor's edge of knowledge, so at the mercy of human weakness -- clicks on with the precision of an atomic clock. Indeed, there are days when Moore's law seems the only thing we can still believe in. Forget Moore's law because it is unhealthy. Because it has become our obsession. Because high tech has become fixated on it at the expense of everything else -- especially business strategy. It is precisely this fixation, at the cost of other considerations like profit, product, and market, that led to the dot-com bubble and bust. Forget Moore's law because there are more important things to worry about -- like restoring the lost vitality of the electronics industry. The only people who ought to be obsessing about Moore's law are the folks working in the semiconductor industry, and Gordon Moore himself has suggested that even in the chip business his law hasn't always been a helpful fixation. Lately, some disturbing new trends support his case. But most of all, forget Moore's law because it has become dangerous. It is a runaway train, roaring down a path to disaster, picking up speed at every turn, and we are now going faster than human beings can endure. If we don't figure out how to get off this train soon, we may destroy an industry. ... http://www.redherring.com/insider/2003/02/moore021003.html ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #287 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Feb 12 20:24:16 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h1D1OG913884; Wed, 12 Feb 2003 20:24:16 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 20:24:16 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302130124.h1D1OG913884@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #288 TELECOM Digest Wed, 12 Feb 2003 20:24:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 288 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Feds Charge 17 With Stealing Satellite TV Signals (Monty Solomon) Court Sides With Consumers Over AT&T Dispute (Monty Solomon) Match.com, AT&T Wireless Offer Dating Service (Monty Solomon) Re: Fighting Child Pornography (Monty Solomon) A Rendezvous with Redmond? / Apple is Delivering on Immense (Monty Solomon) The Promise of Airline Passenger Profiling (Monty Solomon) AOL Losing Speed Race to Road Runner (Monty Solomon) Spam Offers: Some Legit, Most Not (Monty Solomon) Re: How Four Wires Work For Two Lines? (John R. Levine) Re: How Four Wires Work For Two Lines? (Carl Navarro) Re: How Four Wires Work For Two Lines? (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Re: Allegiance VS. XO (Al Gillis) Re: Broadband Broadens Its Pitch/Firms Bundle Services (joe@obilivan.net) Re: Home Telephones Pick up a Radio Station (Dave Phelps) Re: Home Telephones Pick up a Radio Station (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Re: Seeking Advice For Small Business Phone System (Dave Phelps) Re: Seeking Advice For Small Business Phone System (Carl Navarro) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 01:44:52 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Feds Charge 17 With Stealing Satellite TV Signals LOS ANGELES, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Seventeen people allegedly involved in the theft of satellite TV signals, causing millions of dollars in losses for satellite broadcasters, have been arrested after a year-long undercover FBI investigation, prosecutors said on Tuesday. Six of those nabbed as part of the FBI's nationwide "Operation Decrypt" were accused of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, marking only the second grand jury indictment under that statute, prosecutors said. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31494999 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 01:51:05 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Court Sides With Consumers Over AT&T Dispute PHILADELPHIA, Feb 11 (Reuters) - An appeals court on Tuesday sided with a consumer advocacy group, saying AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T) cannot force its California customers to settle billing disputes through binding arbitration, or prevent them from filing class action lawsuits. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco agreed with the Consumer Action group, which claimed AT&T's customer service agreements violated California consumer laws by requiring customers to resolve billing or contract disputes through arbitration, rather than before a jury. The 9th Circuit ruling upheld an ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, but it was at odds with an earlier appellate court decision. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago previously ruled that AT&T could require customers to settle disputes through private lawyers in arbitration. AT&T said it was disappointed with Tuesday's decision and would weigh its options. It could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Consumer Action could not be immediately reached for comment. Tuesday's ruling, available online at (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0215416p.pdf), will have no impact on AT&T's California customers since the company already changed its customer service agreements to comply with the lower court's ruling. The dispute centered on whether AT&T's customer service agreements were covered under federal law or California consumer protection laws. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31495634 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 01:52:18 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Match.com, AT&T Wireless Offer Dating Service By Sue Zeidler LOS ANGELES, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Just in time for Valentine's Day: a chance to find the date of your dreams, discreetly and via your cell phone. A new service to be launched on Wednesday by Match.com and AT&T Wireless (NYSE:AWE), Match Mobile, provides dating and matching for AT&T Wireless customers via their mobile phones. "Wireless will be a hugely important technology for the future for our industry, which is to connect people for the purpose of dating," said Tim Sullivan, president, Match.com, a unit of USA Interactive (NASDAQ:USAI) and the No. 1 online dating site in the United States. Sullivan said one of the benefits of going mobile for Match is that the new service will have the ability to match members based on location. Initially, matches will be made based on zip codes but in coming months, the service will be enhanced with technology so users can locate matches within an approximate geographical location by using their wireless phones. The search engine will never reveal actual physical locations, but simply allow users to chat only with matches within a specified radius. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31496382 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 02:05:56 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Re: Fighting Child Pornography Her byline appears that way in the stories. Here is another example: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/12/technology/12IDEN.html >> By JENNIFER 8. LEE > Her middle initial is "8"? > Or is that some kind of typo? >> http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/09/technology/09PORN.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 14:12:53 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A Rendezvous With Redmond? / Apple is Delivering on the Immense BYTE OF THE APPLE By Alex Salkever Apple is delivering on the immense potential of its no-fuss networking system. With luck, it could be a direct challenge to Microsoft When Apple first unveiled Rendezvous at Macworld last summer, the crowds went wild. And rightfully so. Steve Jobs and company yet again jumped ahead of the competition with the first mass-market implementation of zero-configuration networking technology -- a program aimed at allowing users to talk to other Rendezvous-enabled machines without manually changing any settings. True to the Apple (AAPL ) mantra, it just worked. Apple demonstrated this with iTunes at the January Macworld. With this new technology, you can walk into a room bearing a laptop running Jaguar (the latest version of the OS X operating system) with a wireless networking (Wi-Fi) card, and instantly see the iTunes music files of everyone else in the room with a similar setup. This application hasn't been released yet, but should be out soon. Still, at the time many Apple observers reacted cautiously. "Cool app, but show me something real and meaty," seemed to be the general feeling. INSTANT RECOGNITION. Well, the beef has arrived. Over the last few months the ways to use Rendezvous have multiplied impressively. For starters, Apple has enabled a few more of its home-grown applications to talk via Rendezvous. Want to change your printer configuration wirelessly? Apple's speedy new Safari browser will let you do that if your printer is Rendezvous-compatible -- without your having to hunt down a specific IP (Internet protocol) address. Likewise, iChat can instantly recognize the handles of all other Rendezvous-enabled iChat users active on a local area network. As promised last summer, most of the major printer makers have upgraded their machines to support Rendezvous. Now, if I'm in a meeting and need to print out a document, I can do it from any printer in my office within range of my Wi-Fi card. I don't need to be on the office local area network or logged into any directory software, such as those from Novell (NOVL ) or Microsoft (MSFT ). http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2003/tc2003025_0198_tc056.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 14:58:14 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Promise of Airline Passenger Profiling by Stephen Keating The airline industry and the federal government are about to embark on a massive effort to profile airline passengers, reportedly using data-mining and predictive software to identify potential threats. That profiling should be done. Here's why. http://www.privacyfoundation.org/commentary/tipsheet.asp?id=55&action=0 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 15:42:47 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AOL Losing Speed Race to Road Runner By David A. Vise Washington Post Staff Writer Just a short drive from America Online Inc. headquarters in Northern Virginia, a fast-growing competitor named Road Runner is blitzing ahead in the lucrative business of providing high-speed Internet access to computer users. While America Online recently recorded its first ever drop in subscribers, Herndon-based Road Runner LLC posted a double-digit percentage increase. Road Runner says it provides one-stop shopping for computer users who want maximum speed, compelling content and "always on" Internet access, making the service sound like a souped-up version of AOL. "Road Runner is easy to get, easy to use," and offers "lightning fast connections" and "unique content," its ads say. At $44.95 a month, the service is sometimes promoted by sales associates as a better value than America Online. This would all be business as usual, except there's a catch: America Online and Road Runner are both owned by media giant AOL Time Warner Inc. Nevertheless, the services compete rather than coordinating their business strategies, angering AOL founder Steve Case, whose vision of America Online benefiting from ties to Time Warner Cable is losing out to power struggles. Although America Online is the nation's biggest provider of Internet access, with 26.5 million subscribers, most of its customers use standard dial-up connections. Much of the growth these days is in high-speed, broadband connections. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59314-2003Feb11.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 15:42:49 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Spam Offers: Some Legit, Most Not By Michelle Delio The human gene pool should be incapable of producing enough idiots to financially support the vast number of spammers whose scat litters so many inboxes. So how do spammers make any money when no one with even half a clue admits to doing business with them? Are there legions of poverty-stricken spammers out there who are slowly starving to death? http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,57613,00.html ------------------------------ Date: 12 Feb 2003 01:12:56 -0500 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: How Four Wires Work For Two Lines? Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Have two lines that come off of a single outlet. Want one phone to > only serve one of these lines. Should I just purchase a phone wire > that has the outer two wires or the inner two wires? Assuming your jack is already wired for both lines, drop by your local Radio Shack and get a plug that splits out the two lines. It has a single plug on the back, and three jacks on the front for L1, L2, and both. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: How Four Wires Work For Two Lines? Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 05:47:00 -0500 Organization: Airnews.net! at Internet America On Tue, 11 Feb 2003 18:09:52 GMT, Al Franz wrote: > Have two lines that come off of a single outlet. Want one phone to > only serve one of these lines. Should I just purchase a phone wire > that has the outer two wires or the inner two wires? What is the > terminology to define phone wire that works for line one only, work > for line two only, or handles both lines? Outer wires are for line > one ????? Thanks for any help. In an RJ-14 (2 line) environment, they make a "T" adapter (267-A) which is pins 2345 of a 6 wire Jack connected to both jacks. The 267-B adapter has pins 3&4 on one side and pins 2&5 on the other. If you check out your local Rat Shack or big box store, you can probably find a 3 jack adapter that splits out L1&2 on one jack and Line 1 and Line 2 on the other two jacks. The Suttle part number is SE-173. Try www.suttleonline.com for pix. HTH Carl Navarro ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 09:22:37 -0600 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelex.com Organization: Crash Electronics, Inc. Subject: Re: How Four Wires Work For Two Lines? Al Franz wrote: > Have two lines that come off of a single outlet. Want one phone to > only serve one of these lines. GC Waldom makes an adapter (GC PN 30-9655) which plugs into a 2-line outlet and has two connections on it: One for a single-line instrument to connect to line 1, and one for a single-line instrument to connect to line 2. There's also PN 30-9658 which is the same thing plus a third connection for a two-line instrument (basically an extension of the jack you plugged it into). They should cost about $3.50. You can see them at . I'd imagine Radio Shack sells similar devices. If you have a single line instrument, and you want it to serve only line one of a two-line jack, you don't need to do anything special; just plug it in. It won't even know the second line exists. Gordon S. Hlavenka www.crashelex.com nospam@crashelex.com Grammar and spelling flames welcome. Yes, that's really my email address. Don't change it. ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Subject: Re: Allegiance VS. XO Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 16:54:01 -0800 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com We linked up with XO about this time last year and have been very happy. We pushed just over 500,000 minutes of traffic into their network last year and had only two problems, one of those with an access provider. In November we gave them our toll-free business. The cutover was a little rough for about four hours, but that straightened out and things have been fine, from a traffic perspective. The Toll-Free billing hasn't worked yet ... HEY! Maybe that's not so bad! The Branch manager and the sales team were very up front all the way along last year when they were struggling. And their Customer Care and their web site Business Center are pretty good. Knowing what I know, I'd give them a try -- give them one DS-1s worth of traffic and see how it works. If you can negotiate a good rate with them go fo it!! Al Will Nichols wrote in message news:telecom22.286.16@telecom-digest.org: > Paul Erickson wrote in message > news:: >>> I have some clients that use Allegiance and XO for integrated >>> voice/data solutions. >> Just curious if your Allegiance clients are happy clients? I have >> heard nothing positive about them, and their salespeople lied to me in >> an earlier encounter. >> An XO rep stopped by the other day -- another bankrupt telecom -- >> what's the word on these guys? >> -- Paul > Paul, FYI - XO officially emerged from Bankruptcy on January 16 - > Will Nichols > Sr. Technical Sales Consultant > XO Communications > San Antonio, TX ------------------------------ From: joe@obilivan.net Subject: Re: Broadband Broadens Its Pitch/Firms Bundle Services, 'Tier' Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 01:56:55 GMT Organization: Cox Communications DSL suffered from contract commitments. It is doing better in some markets where it is offered month-to-month. Monty Solomon wrote: > Broadband Broadens Its Pitch > Firms Bundle Services, 'Tier' Prices in Effort To Lure New Customers > By Mike Musgrove > Washington Post Staff Writer > How goes the broadband revolution? It depends on how you read the numbers. > By the research firm ARS Inc.'s figures, there are about 15 million > broadband subscribers in the United States today, with 9.4 million > using cable modems, which ride on the same wiring as cable TV, and 5.4 > million on digital subscriber lines, which piggyback on telephone > circuits. Not bad -- but of the 70 percent of American households that > could get either cable-modem or DSL service, only 13 percent or so > have signed up. > Broadband isn't just for early adopters anymore, but it's not for > everyone either. > Erika Jolly, vice president of broadband marketing at EarthLink Inc., > the nation's third-biggest Internet provider, classifies those who are > signing up for broadband now as the "early majority" -- people who are > interested in technology but who have a considerably lower pain > threshold for price and installation issues than the first wave of > subscribers. > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9370-2003Feb1.html ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: Home Telephones Pick up a Radio Station Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 00:18:26 -0600 Organization: www.tippenring.com In article , Richard@example.com says: > The more accepted determination of whether a problem is the telco's > responsibility is whether the (noise or hum) is present at the demarc > *with ALL the customer-side wiring disconnected*. > True. In most cases, unplugging the plug from the test jack disconnects > the inside wire. Dave Phelps Phone Masters Ltd. deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 09:06:31 -0600 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelex.com Organization: Crash Electronics, Inc. Subject: Re: Home Telephones Pick up a Radio Station Richard D G Cox wrote: > The more accepted determination of whether a problem is the telco's > responsibility is whether the (noise or hum) is present at the demarc > *with ALL the customer-side wiring disconnected*... > On some demarcs you have to -- physically -- disconnect the premises > wiring in order to plug in a test handset, but on others you don't. True, and I should have been more clear. Most residential demarcs are now the "must disconnect" type but if yours isn't, make sure you disconnect all your inside wiring before testing. And if the noise turns out to be a telco problem, see if you can get a proper demarc installed while you've got them out there :-) Gordon S. Hlavenka www.crashelex.com nospam@crashelex.com Grammar and spelling flames welcome. Yes, that's really my email address. Don't change it. ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: Seeking Advice For Small Business Phone System Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 00:15:23 -0600 Organization: www.tippenring.com In article , tippenring@deadspam.com says: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well then, Dave, what prevents people > thinking you are 'hanging up' on them when you have them hold during > your conclusion of another call when you have 'call waiting'? Because you tell them to hold on. On a residential line, most people are aware of call waiting, and you tell your current party to hold while you grab the other call. In a business, when you say you are going to transfer the call, it sounds amazingly like you hung up, with a few seconds silence afterward. Many people assume the call was dropped and hang up at that point. I have an ACD doing a centrex transfer, and we had to add a part to the recording explaining what the callers would hear, because a significant number were hanging up, thinking that their call was dropped. Dave Phelps Phone Masters Ltd. deadspam=tippenring [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So maybe, in a business environment, it would be good if the person originally answering the phone said in a polite way to the caller, 'please hold on; I will get someone on the line to help you' instead of, as is often the case, the person says nothing at all, or mutters, and flashes the hook. A call waiting hold comes off sounding a lot like a hangup also; the catch is telling the caller what YOU are going to do and what is expected of them (to wait). ------------------------------ From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: Seeking Advice For Small Business Phone System Reply-To: cnavarro@wcnet.org Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 16:14:17 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online -- Northeast Ohio On Sun, 09 Feb 2003 17:15:00 GMT, Aaron wrote: > My wife and her family are forming a new business and they have the > need for a small business phone system and I told her I would try to > do some research. > They have the need for 4 phone lines on a rotary system, i.e. a call > comes in and 3 more can come in until the phone number rings busy. > They also need an intercom system built into the phone so the > secretary can answer it, and then let each of them know they have a > call on hold. Expandability would also be a good feature, i.e. the > ability to add more phone lines should the need arise. I'm trying to > find some web sites that give an overview of small business phone > systems with some reviews of some of the popular models. > Anyone know where a good place to start is? Try www.panasonic.com/csd as a good starting place. If it were my business, I would look to get a Panasonic or Lucent/Avaya Partner. Both of these systems allow single line telephones as well as multi-line sets so that you don't have to spend a huge sum of money to get into the system. Retail of a Panasonic KXT-A624 carded as 6x16 with a couple of phones would be less than $1500. The 624 maxes out a 6 lines, but the phones can be used on all systems, including the 500 port digital system. Carl Navarro ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #288 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Feb 12 23:35:07 2003 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.3nb1/8.11.3) id h1D4Z7K16029; Wed, 12 Feb 2003 23:35:07 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 23:35:07 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302130435.h1D4Z7K16029@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #289 TELECOM Digest Wed, 12 Feb 2003 23:35:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 289 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson LATA Statistics (Albert Schulz) Re: Country Code 874 (was Re: Tokelau, ...) (John R Levine) Re: Country Code 874 (was Re: Tokelau, ...) (Carl Moore) Erasing Hard Drive (James Mcculluch) Re: Pennsylvania Prepares to Sue First Telemarketer Under New Law (Rob) Re: Judge Suspends Wash. State Phone Privacy (John Higdon) Re: Allegiance VS. XO (PSNI Seattle) Beauty, Bible Colleges Win '.edu' Domain Name (Joey Lindstrom) Re: Reporter Names (Ron Chapman) Re: " 8 " (Dave Garland) Amusing Typos (Steve Michelson) Thought We Could All Use a Smile! (Amin) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Albert Schulz Subject: LATA Statistics Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 16:17:02 -0500 Organization: None I am trying to compile some data about the telephone traffic volumes in U.S. LATAs. Every LATA is served by one or more local telephone companies. I would like to determine the two or three largest local companies within each LATA, based on the minutes of use. Is there any source containing these data? Any information will be appreciated. ------------------------------ Date: 12 Feb 2003 13:29:05 -0500 From: John R Levine Subject: Re: Country Code 874 (was Re: Tokelau, ...) >> mobile services.(ship to shore) ... ask if he's on a boat in >> Zimbabwe??????? :) > I take it the 2nd remark was a joke. Well, they do have lakes, I suppose. > So I take it +874 is useable even in those landlocked areas. Inmarsat has four satellites parked in geosynchonous orbit, which is why they need more power than the LEO satellites that Iridium uses. The footprints of the satellites overlap somewhat so they cover the whole world except for the poles where the satellites are too close to the horizon to use. I'm kind of surprised that someone in Africa would have a +874 number, since that's the western Atlantic satellite. I'd expect either +871 which is eastern Atlantic or +873 which is Indian Ocean. Maybe he had the wrong number, maybe he's really hiding out in Paraguay. > (That reminds me of an unrelated and non-joking reference to > the Austrian navy, which went away along with Austria's empire > at end of World War I, The urge to sing "Climb Every Mountain" at this point is nearly overwhelming. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies", Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://iecc.com/johnl, Sewer Commissioner "More Wiener schnitzel, please", said Tom, revealingly. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 12:45:26 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Country Code 874 (was Re: Tokelau, ...) johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) writes: > It's an Inmarsat satellite phone, expensive and bulky (size of a laptop) > but works just about anywhere you can see the sky. and nomailp@netscape.net (Don't email me) writes: > I can see why he wants to use 874 ... country code 87 is maritime > mobile services.(ship to shore) ... ask if he's on a boat in > Zimbabwe??????? :) I take it the 2nd remark was a joke. The countries I referred to are Zimbabwe and Botswana, and neither of them has a seacoast. So I take it +874 is useable even in those landlocked areas. (That reminds me of an unrelated and non-joking reference to the Austrian navy, which went away along with Austria's empire at end of World War I, because the Austria we know today has no seacoast.) ------------------------------ From: James Mcculluch Subject: Erasing a Hard Drive Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 11:54:25 -0000 Could you let me know what is the best software to wipe my hard drive = completly? Thanks. ------------------------------ From: rob51166@yahoo.com (Rob) Subject: Re: Pennsylvania Prepares to Sue First Telemarketer Under New Law Date: 12 Feb 2003 05:26:48 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Gail M. Hall wrote in message news:: > On Mon, 10 Feb 2003 22:08:29 -0700, in comp.dcom.telecom message > , you wrote: >> Here in Colorado, we got a do-not-call bill last year. Details are at >> www.coloradonocall.com . It's a well-designed simple and effective >> website. >> All that the SAG's office had to do was research and send out a few >> cease-and-desist letters. The telemarketers got the message rapidly. I >> don't believe they've had to take anyone to court. They simply had to >> get the message out that telemarketers had darn well better honor the >> list. >> I missed the registration deadline for the first 3-month period of the >> law (blush!); I was on the list as of October 1, 2002. On that date, I >> suddenly stopped getting any telemarketing calls form businesses! >> Poof! Zero! AFAICT, the system is working dramatically well here. >> Having a well-written the law is one thing, and having the executives >> implement it is something else. Here in Colorado, we seem to have >> both. > I think this list idea could work IF the telecom services that the > telemarketers subscribe to for *making* their calls are also held > partically responsible. IOW, they must inform their customers about > the laws and the lists and cancel the service if the customer > continues to defy the law. > Trouble is, the telephone companies are big businesses and would probably > lobby hard against having to be held at least partly responsible for > enabling the telemarketers to flood us with calls. > We get a HUGE number of calls where there is nothing but silence when > we answer. If we wait long enough, then a tape may play, but I never > wait that long. If I say "hello" once and get no response, I hang up. > My husband insists on saying "hello" over and over again. Sheesh! > Now who are the companies that sell that equipment or service? I > think they are crooks, too. They are designed to "dial" (for lack of > a more appropriate word these days) for more calls than they can > actually process and just end up bothering people. > I'm glad the law in Colorado seems to be working. But don't hold your > breath or breathe a sigh of total relief. They are probably hunkered > down thinking up their next workaround. > Gail in Ohio USA Here in the UK we've had what's called the Telephone Preference and Fax Preference Services for numerous years, and as all 3 of my lines are registered with them, the amount of cold-callers/telemarketers I can count on one had for the 3 lines, since I has the services installed. If an unscrupilous company phones you, and they are not on the TPS/FPS list, or hasn't bothered to registger with either then they can be face a fine of up GBP5000, or approx US$7500, for each unauthorised phone call that they make. It's definitely helped to being a lot of companies into line. The British point-of-view! ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Judge Suspends Wash. State Phone Privacy Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 08:34:30 -0800 In article , Monty Solomon wrote: > State regulations that were adopted in November and took effect in > January required phone companies to obtain customer approval before > selling calling records or using them to market anything but > telecommunications services. > But Verizon Communications Inc. of New York, which has about 1 million > customers in Washington, sued the state, saying its Utilities and > Transportation Commission overstepped its authority and infringed on > the company's ability to speak to and serve customers. Let me see if I got this right. Verizon goes to court to protect a customer by refusing to release account information to the RIAA but then turns around and goes to court again to obtain the right to sell that same customer information to whomever it pleases for marketing purposes? I agree that the RIAA scum should never be entitled to private customer information from any service provider, but the same concern should be applied to that information when it comes to marketing scum as well. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: PSNI Seattle Subject: Re: Allegiance VS. XO Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 17:20:39 GMT Organization: PSNI.NEWS Paul, I know many companies who use Allegiance and are very satisified with them. As for the negative things you have heard, just remember every telco is bound to have at least one bad sales person at one time or another (which explains the high turn over rate in the industry). Will Nichols wrote in message news:telecom22.286.16@telecom-digest.org... > Paul Erickson wrote in message > news:: >>> I have some clients that use Allegiance and XO for integrated >>> voice/data solutions. >> Just curious if your Allegiance clients are happy clients? I have >> heard nothing positive about them, and their salespeople lied to me in >> an earlier encounter. >> An XO rep stopped by the other day -- another bankrupt telecom -- >> what's the word on these guys? >> -- Paul > Paul, FYI - XO officially emerged from Bankruptcy on January 16 - > Will Nichols > Sr. Technical Sales Consultant > XO Communications > San Antonio, TX ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 11:22:02 -0700 From: Joey Lindstrom Subject: Beauty, Bible Colleges Win '.edu' Domain Name Reply-To: joey@garynuman.info NEW YORK (AP) -- Beauty, theological and distance-learning schools will be among the educational institutions that will soon share online real estate with the likes of Princeton and Harvard. The Commerce Department approved the expansion of the ".edu" domain name on Tuesday to allow usage by schools such as the Connecticut Institute of Hair Design and the American Film Institute. http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/02/12/domain.name.ap/index.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Neither of the two examples you cite above fall in the category of 'Bible College' or theological school. Likewise, both Princeton and Harvard have schools of theology. It is not a new thing regards the use of '.edu' however. The Moody Bible Institute in Chicago has long been 'moody.edu' on the net, for several years at least. The college here in Independence has also been an '.edu' for quite a long time. I read the CNN item, and honestly, I think in this case, they blew it. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 05:57:00 -0500 From: Ron Chapman Subject: Re: Reporter Names In article , TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to an article by Danny Burstein : >>> By JENNIFER 8. LEE >> Her middle initial is "8"? Or is that some kind of typo? >>> http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/09/technology/09PORN.html >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is obviously some kind of typo, but >> that is how it arrive here from Monty Solomon. I didn't insert it >> here. It I had caught it I would have deleted the '8'. PAT] > Nope. That is, in fact, her name. Personally, I thought she was a cannibal or something. I wonder who Lee was ... ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: " 8 " Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 15:06:18 -0600 Organization: Wizard Information On Tue, 11 Feb 2003 17:02:35 -0800, in comp.dcom.telecom Pat wrote: > Listen, Mr. Gillis, I don't just 'make typos'; I invented the concept! While I'll grant your priority, I have a friend who works for a major health agency. One of the standard phrases used in reports related to sexually transmitted diseases is "men who have sex with men". My friend wrote an agency-wide document that made use of the phrase, but left out the final "n". [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It sounds like your friend is very popular and quite active. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Steve Michelson Subject: Amusing Typos Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 19:38:50 -0500 Organization: MindSpring Enterprises > Does anyone want to play a little game called 'My most embarassing > typo in print' ? The spellchecker in Microsoft Word has a real knack for embellishment. I remember once being part of a technical document team, and someone had provided material with the mis-spelling "data wharehouse." The editor of the document did a spell check before sending the document out, and needless to say, the corrected spelling of this particular item got quite a reaction at our document review. ------------------------------ From: Amin Subject: Thought We Could All Use a Smile! Reply-To: amin@nospam.com Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 21:19:14 GMT Organization: Road Runner - Texas All Things Grow...With Love By Joan Bramsch I once taught in a small private school located within the charming confines of a three-story stone mansion. Each morning at nine o'clock all the students gathered in the Great Room for a metaphysical warm-up in preparation for the day. Fifty-three children, ranging in age from three to seven years, sat on child-sized colorful chairs or in sun-flooded patterns on the thick carpet. Each bright face was illuminated by positive thoughts and feelings as he or she eagerly anticipated the morning's songs, meditations and exploration into yet another metaphysical cranny of the mind. One morning the headmistress made an announcement to all the children gathered. "Today we begin a great experiment of the mind, of your mind." She held up two small ivy plants, each potted in an identical container. "Here we have two plants," she continued. "Do they look the same?" All the children nodded solemnly. So did I, for, in this way, I was also a child. "We will give the plants the same amount of light, the same amount of water, but not the same amount of attention," she said. "Together we are going to see what will happen when we put one plant out in the kitchen, on the counter, away from our attention, and the other plant right here in this room on the mantel." She placed one plant on the white wooden ledge, then led the children en masse to the kitchen where she sat the other plant on the white counter. Afterward she led the parade of wide-eyed youngsters back to their places in the Great Room. "Each day for the next month, we shall sing to our plant on the mantel," she said. "We will tell it with words how much we love it, how beautiful it is. We will use our good minds to think good thoughts about this plant." One of the smallest children jumped to her feet. "But, Ma'am, what about the plant out there?" She pointed a stubbby finger toward the kitchen. The headmistress smiled at all her charges. "We will use the kitchen plant as the 'control' in our great experiment. How do you think it will work?" "We won't speak to it?" "Not even a whisper." "We won't send it any good thoughts?" "That's right. And then we'll see what happens." Four weeks later my novice eyes were as wide and disbelieving as the children's. The kitchen plant was leggy and sick-looking, and it hadn't grown at all. But the Great Room plant, which had been sung to and swaddled in positive thoughts and words, had increased threefold in size with dark succulent leaves that fairly vibrated with energy when addressed with song, word or thought. In order to prove the experiment -- and also dry the tears of the tender-hearted among us who feared for the life of the other plant -- the kitchen ivy was rescued from its solitary confinement and brought to the Great Room to join the other ivy on the mantel, but at the opposite end. Within three weeks, the second plant had caught up with the first ivy. Within four weeks, they could not be recognized, one from the other. I took this lesson to heart and made it my own: All things grow ... with love. I thought we could all use a smile! Amin http://www.Islam.com http://JoeCartoon.com http://www.StevenCottinghamChess.com http://atomfilms.com http://www.GamePro.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you, Amin, for that interesting commentary. I am not entirely convinced however that plants have a high enough life form to respond to human voices and companionship. I know that some poeple would disagree with me, as you apparently do. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #289 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Feb 13 23:59:10 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6/8.11.3) id h1E4x9L19942; Thu, 13 Feb 2003 23:59:10 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 23:59:10 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302140459.h1E4x9L19942@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #290 TELECOM Digest Thu, 13 Feb 2003 23:58:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 290 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson EPIC Alert 10.03 (Monty Solomon) Motorola Introduces World's First Java + Linux Handset (Monty Solomon) Telefonica and Terra Lycos Sign Long-Term Strategic Alliance (M Solomon) Music Industry Targets Workplace Downloaders (Monty Solomon) Baby Phat Gives Birth To Revolutionary Designer Mobile Phone (M Solomon) AT&T Wireless Unveils Multimedia Messaging (Monty Solomon) Privacy Invasion Curtailed (Monty Solomon) U.S. Military Expands Radio-Wave Tracking (Monty Solomon) SpamArrest Spam (Monty Solomon) "Open Architecture and the Internet: What is After ICANN? (Ronda Hauben) P2P Authenticated and Private Internet Communications (Neil Nelson) [Ecommerce] New Spam Opportunity? NTIA Letter on ENUM (Judith Oppenheimer) Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (Mark Atwood) Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (Justin Time) Re: Thought We Could All Use a Smile! (Amin) (Richard D G Cox) Re: Reporter Name (John David Galt) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 08:30:37 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EPIC Alert 10.03 ======================================================================= E P I C A l e r t ======================================================================= Volume 10.03 February 12, 2003 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Published by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Washington, D.C. http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_10.03.html ======================================================================= Table of Contents ======================================================================= [1] ABA Urges Oversight for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [2] EPIC Files FOIA Brief; Appeals Court Rules for Internet Free Speech [3] Pentagon Spy Program Limited; PATRIOT II Draft Obtained [4] INS Proposed Rule on Monitoring Travelers Draws Criticism [5] Report on Public Access to Congressional Research Service Products [6] EPIC Bill-Track: New Bills in Congress [7] EPIC Bookstore: Information Privacy Law [8] Upcoming Conferences and Events http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_10.03.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 08:36:49 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Motorola Introduces World's First Java(TM) + Linux(R) Handset Feature Rich A760 Combines PDA Functionality with Phone-First Capabilities; Java(TM) Technology + Linux(R) OS Ecosystem Chosen for Maximum Customization And Scalability LIBERTYVILLE, Ill., Feb. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) announced today the Motorola A760, the world's first handset combining a Linux Operating System (OS) and Java(TM) Technology, with full multimedia PDA functionality. The Motorola A760 is designed to offer a rich end-user mobile experience based on the open source OS. Motorola's leadership in Java technology coupled with the Linux OS, arms mobile developers with an increased freedom to create new Java applications, from games to productivity tools, for smart devices like the A760. The A760 is Motorola's first handset demonstrating the company's commitment to making the Linux operating system a key pillar of its handset software strategy. The strategy fosters innovative applications, which helps lead to increased revenue and differentiation opportunities for operators around the globe. The Motorola A760 combines the ideal features of a mobile phone with the capabilities of a personal digital assistant (PDA), digital camera, video player, MP3 player, speakerphone, advanced messaging, instant Internet access and Bluetooth(TM) wireless technology. Packed into one compact device with a vivid color touch-screen, the Motorola A760 excels in information management as well as communication services to offer the voice, text and entertainment services to help meet the needs of today's multi-tasking mobile consumer. http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31536376 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 09:49:15 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Telefonica and Terra Lycos Sign Long-Term Strategic Alliance Telefonica and Terra Lycos Sign a Long-Term Strategic Alliance To Boost Their Leadership in the Internet Sector * The new alliance consolidates Terra Lycos' long-term business model, takes advantage of synergies and creates value for both companies * The alliance establishes a new relationship model between the companies that better exploits their respective capabilities in order to boost their internet growth * Terra Lycos becomes the Telefonica Group's portal and exclusive provider of value-added internet services * The relationships and commitments undertaken will generate a value of a minimum of 78.5 million euros per year for Terra Lycos * The alliance is for a period of 6 years and is expected to be renewed on an annual basis thereafter * This new alliance replaces the one signed by Telefonica SA, Bertelsmann and Terra Lycos in May 2000 http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31538340 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 16:29:31 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Music Industry Targets Workplace Downloaders By Bernhard Warner, European Internet Correspondent LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The recording industry directed its anti-piracy campaign at large companies in the United States, Europe and Asia on Thursday, warning them that employees are illegally downloading music on company time. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), a global trade group representing the major music labels, said it had begun issuing brochures to thousands of companies spelling out the legal and technological dangers of giving employees access to online file-sharing networks. "We were surprised to see that peer-to-peer services are being accessed by a lot of companies' computer networks," Allen Dixon, general counsel at IFPI in London told Reuters. The IFPI blames peer-to-peer networks for part of the decline in recorded music sales over the past two years. Online file-sharing networks such as Kazaa and Morpheus attract millions of consumers daily who swap all manner of music, film and software. Corporate computers tend to be connected to high-speed networks and have ample storage space, two essentials for downloading large files. IT experts warn that such connections can gently slow network speeds and leave a company's computer networks vulnerable to viruses and other digital intrusions. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31546682 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 16:37:50 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Baby Phat Gives Birth To Revolutionary Designer Mobile Phone Motorola and Kimora Lee Simmons Combine Forces to Create a New Accessory that Combines High Style and Technology NEW YORK, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) and Baby Phat, a leading woman's fashion label, today announced the launch of the Baby Phat by Kimora Lee Simmons Limited Edition Motorola i95cl phone. This pearlized pink handset will be unveiled Thursday, February 13th as part of Baby Phat's New York Fashion Week festivities. Combining the latest communication features, sleek looks and the color of the season, this flip phone fuses the best of technology and style to offer consumers a new way to stay connected. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31547269 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 16:52:47 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Wireless Unveils Multimedia Messaging AT&T Wireless Brings Messages to Life; Customers Can Combine Color Photos, Music, Sounds, Text, and Animation to Create and Receive Enhanced Photo Messages, Custom Alerts, and More - Feb 13, 2003 09:06 AM (BusinessWire) - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31546009 AT&T Wireless unveils multimedia messaging - Feb 13, 2003 02:30 PM (Reuters) - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31560024 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 17:09:49 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Privacy Invasion Curtailed By WILLIAM SAFIRE WASHINGTON - Readers with keen memories will recall a blast in this space three months ago at the proposed "Total Information Awareness" project, which the Pentagon proudly described as "a virtual, centralized grand database." In the name of combating terrorism, it would scoop up your lifetime paper trail -- bank records, medical files, credit card purchases, academic records, etc. -- and marry them to every nosy neighbor's gossip to the F.B.I. about you. The combination of intrusive commercial "data mining" and new law enforcement tapping into the private lives of innocent Americans was described here as "a supersnoop's dream." My even-tempered objection stirred the ire of uncivil anti-libertarians. "Blather, nonsense, piffle, and flapdoodle," argued the judicious Stuart Taylor in National Journal about my "hyperventilating." The Washington Post also thought my reaction a tad "fast-breathing." William Kristol's Weekly Standard sneered at "the ravings of privacy fanatics like the New York Times columnist William Safire, who triggered the anti-T.I.A. stampede." With the nation rightly worried about a new terrorist strike, and with Washington supermarkets stripped of duct tape and bottled water by residents dutifully following Homeland Security warnings, the privacy-be-damned crowd casting its electronic dragnet seemed invincible. "Strangling this new technology with a procedural noose is no answer to the threat of terrorism," intoned the Heritage Foundation. Then the strangest thing happened. Those of us on the flapdoodle fringe - from Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum on the right to People for the American Way on the left - found wide and deep bipartisan agreement in the usually contentious Congress. An amendment to the budget bill by Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, co-sponsored by Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, put a bit in the mouth of the Pentagon's runaway horse. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/13/opinion/13SAFI.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 18:43:46 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: U.S. Military Expands Radio-Wave Tracking By Alorie Gilbert Staff Writer, CNET News.com The U.S. Department of Defense is expanding its use of an emerging technology that combines radio waves and computer networks to track shipments of military supplies, in what some consider the largest project of its kind. The massive government agency, which runs the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force, has recently expanded a multimillion contract for so-called radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, according to one of the military's primary suppliers of RFID equipment. RFID systems have been touted during the past several years as a potentially major advance in the field of logistics, giving people the means to track the movement and location of supplies as well as identify particular shipments. The way they work is by attaching special "tags" containing microchips to an object, such as a container of ammunition. The tag emits radio waves, transmitting a unique identification code that can be read by radio frequency scanning devices in an object's vicinity. People can place scanning devices in storage facilities or air bases to monitor the coming and going of tagged supplies and relay the information to computers that trace the path of each object. Using a personal computer attached to such a network, a person could determine the location of their supplies. Commercial use of the technology has been fairly limited because of the high cost of the equipment required, particularly the "tags" attached to supplies being tracked. Broader adoption appears to be around the corner, however. Razor maker Gillette recently purchased 500 million RFID tags that it's testing at Wal-Mart and U.K.-based Tesco stores. It's using the technology to set up "smart shelves" that can sense when Gillette stock on store shelves are running low and send alerts via networked computers to store managers. http://news.com.com/2100-1017-984391.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 18:55:04 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: SpamArrest Spam Is Spam Arrest resorting to... spamming? Thu, 13 Feb 2003 08:46:23 -0500 (EST) http://www.politechbot.com/p-04454.html Spam Arrest does appear to be resorting to... spamming Thu, 13 Feb 2003 10:13:39 -0500 (EST) http://www.politechbot.com/p-04455.html SpamArrest replies to Politech, defends its right to spam Thu, 13 Feb 2003 14:19:10 -0500 (EST) http://www.politechbot.com/p-04457.html ------------------------------ From: Ronda Hauben Subject: Open Architecture and the Internet: What is After ICANN? Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 02:04:29 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC "Forms grow out of principles and operate to continue the principles they grow from" wrote Thomas Paine in "The Rights of Man". The Internet and ICANN have grown out of different principles and the forms they represent are incompatible. The article "The Internet and Open Architecture: Determining How to Replace ICANN" describes the principles of the "open architecture" of the Internet in contrast to the closed architecture of ICANN. It also describes the importance of the netizen in the development of a form to replace ICANN, rather than substituting "vested interests" or "stakeholder interests", as ICANN has tried to do. Also the article looks at a recent article in the November-December 2002 issue of Foreign Affairs where Zoe Baird describes the problem represented by ICANN, but puts forward but another proposal for a new form based on principles that are similarly incompatible with the "open architecture" of the Internet. See "The Internet and Open Architecture" http://www.circleid/articles/2567.asp/ Also see "Internet Governance" http://www.circleid.com/articles/2565.asp/ for a more detailed discussion of the Foreign Affairs article A summary of the Foreign Affairs article can be found at: http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20021101facomment9989/zoe-baird/ governing-the-internet-engaging-government-business-and-nonprofits.html Ronda ronda@panix.com "Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet" http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/netbook ------------------------------ From: Neil Nelson Subject: P2P Authenticated and Private Internet Communications Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 18:18:25 -0800 Organization: www.AIMetaSearch.com The ICI-ICSA Group has download software available for * P2P Authenticated and Private Internet Communications http://www.aimetasearch.com/ici/index.htm Primary Features: * Instant Messaging (Chat) * File Transfer * Picture Transfer (drag and drop: gif,jpg,bmp) All communications are shared-password authenticated, automatically compressed during communication, and may be weak or strong SSL encrypted. * ICSA1: password authentication only * ICSA2: plus SSL weak encryption (exportable) * ICSA3: plus SSL strong encryption (U.S. only) Each version will work with the others at the best encryption level both communicating versions have. The download procedure registers your ICI Name and the ICI Server manages the dynamic IP addresses so that you and others only need to use your ICI Name. The ICI Console allows you to select ICI Names from those you enter (with passwords) and automatically make a connection with the selected person when that ICI Name is logged onto the ICI System. In the works: * ICI Browser: Provides browser capability for HTML pages on a remote computer. * User Defined Broadcast Groups: Send messages to two or more people at the same time. A very simple interface (API) makes it easy to use any programming language or file writing method to utilize the ICI-ICSA system. You can write the following message using NotePad and transfer a file to another computer. ToName MyCorrespondent ToPath c:\downloads\myfile.any FromPath c:\docs\myfile.any fteAction Copy Save or copy this above to the ICSA communications folder and the file (myfile.any) will be sent. From this simple capability, interactive Internet applications can be assembled in any programming language. Use the RawAccess ICI language to manipulate the ICI modules and send messages. ------------------------------ From: Judith Oppenheimer Subject: [Ecommerce] New Spam Opportunity? NTIA Letter on ENUM Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 21:51:30 -0500 From another list -------- Judith Oppenheimer http://JudithOppenheimer.com http://ICBTollFreeNews.com http://WhoSells800.com 212 684-7210, 1 800 The Expert > -----Original Message----- > From: ecommerce-admin@lists.essential.org [mailto:ecommerce- > admin@lists.essential.org] On Behalf Of James Love > Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2003 7:50 PM > To: ecommerce > Subject: [Ecommerce] New spam opportunity? NTIA Letter on ENUM > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: Re: [CYBERTEL] NTIA Letter on ENUM > Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 17:21:24 -0700 > From: Marianne Granoff > Reply-To: Telecom Regulation & the Internet > > To: CYBERTELECOM-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM > From another list: >> The spammers will _love_ this. Now all they have to do is send emails >> sequentially to all 9,999,999,999 phone numbers and they will have >> everyone's email address covered. > Interesting thought. . . Has NTIA considered the implications??? > Marianne > At 12:51 PM 2/13/2003 -0800, you wrote: >> February 12, 2003 >> Contact: Clyde Ensslin or >> Ranjit de Silva, 202-482-7002 >> http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/2003/enumpr_02122003.htm >> Letter >> http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/ntiageneral/enum/enum_02122003.htm >> NTIA Backs New Linkage of Internet Addresses with >> Telephone Numbers >> NTIA today pledged active U.S. government participation in the >> global effort, known as "ENUM" and now under way, to match phone >> numbers with Internet addresses. ENUM would enable U.S. citizens to >> communicate both voice and text messages through one single >> identifier, either a telephone number or an e-mail address. >> In a letter from Assistant Secretary of Commerce Nancy J. Victory >> to Ambassador David A. Gross, U.S. Coordinator for International >> Communications and Information Policy, NTIA recommends that the >> U.S. take initial steps toward "opting in" to e164.arpa, the new >> global Internet domain set aside for the matching of Internet >> addresses and telephone numbers. >> The letter sets forth principles of security, competition, and >> individual privacy standards to guide domestic implementation of >> ENUM that will maximize competitive opportunities for industry >> while protecting the privacy and security of consumers in the >> United States. The text of the letter is available on the NTIA Web >> site at www.ntia.doc.gov. >> NTIA will work with the U.S. State Department and the Federal >> Communications Commission (FCC) to resolve domestic and >> international implementation issues, the letter said. If the >> U.S. opts in to ENUM through International Telecommunication Union >> (ITU) procedures, U.S. companies may then establish trials and >> begin to provide ENUM services to U.S. businesses and consumers. >> ### >> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= >> Washington Internet Project || Let's bomb Texas, >> www.cybertelecom.org || they have oil too. > James Love, Director, Consumer Project on Technology > http://www.cptech.org, mailto:james.love@cptech.org > tel. +1.202.387.8030, mobile +1.202.361.3040 > Ecommerce mailing list > Ecommerce@lists.essential.org > http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/ecommerce ------------------------------ From: Mark Atwood Subject: Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Date: 13 Feb 2003 10:04:35 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com James Mcculluch writes: > Could you let me know what is the best software to wipe my hard drive > completly? Either a rotary sander or a kiln. It can't be done "completely" with software. Mark Atwood | Well done is better than well said. mra@pobox.com | http://www.pobox.com/~mra ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Date: 13 Feb 2003 05:47:46 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ James Mcculluch wrote in message news:: > Could you let me know what is the best software to wipe my hard drive = > completly? > Thanks. A quick pass over the drive with D8 by Catepillar should do the trick! Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 11:13:09 GMT From: Richard D G Cox Subject: Re: Thought We Could All Use a Smile! (Amin) Reply-To: nospam@numbering.com Organization: Mandarin Technology Limited On 13 Feb 2003 04:35 (UT), editor@telecom-digest.org printed: | From: Amin | Subject: Thought We Could All Use a Smile! | Reply-To: amin@nospam.com | Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 21:19:14 GMT That message was spammed to every newsgroup I read. And it was just as much off topic there as it was here. Although one of the unique values of this Digest has, over the years, been Pat's ability to spot and highlight interesting issues that we might have missed, the recent trend to reprint spam as if it were of value, is rather disappointing. Richard Cox [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Duly noted. PAT] ------------------------------ From: John David Galt Subject: Last Laugh! was Re: Reporter Name Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 11:05:42 -0800 Organization: Diogenes the Cynic Hot-Tubbing Society >>> By JENNIFER 8. LEE >> Her middle initial is "8"? Or is that some kind of typo? >>> http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/09/technology/09PORN.html >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is obviously some kind of typo, but >> that is how it arrive here from Monty Solomon. I didn't insert it >> here. It I had caught it I would have deleted the '8'. PAT] > Nope. That is, in fact, her name. What is "8." short for? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 'Eight' is short for 'eighteen', her real name, although no one calls her that. Actually, the 'typo' in the original message was in putting a 'period' behind the 8, which is her 'full name'. The newspapers make that mistake now and then when writing about former president 'Harry S Truman'. His middle name, in fact, was merely the initial /S/ and there shouldn't be a period after a complete name. There were many conjectures over the years about what the 'S' stood for in his name. His wife Bess and his daughter Margaruite both confirmed it meant nothing at all. Just 'S'. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #290 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Feb 14 00:48:46 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6/8.11.3) id h1E5mkJ22277; Fri, 14 Feb 2003 00:48:46 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 00:48:46 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302140548.h1E5mkJ22277@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #291 TELECOM Digest Fri, 14 Feb 2003 00:49:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 291 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Questions Frequently Asked Re Rob Slade's Innumerable Reviews (Rob Slade) MobiSys '03, The First International Conference on Mobile Systems ( Walker) Minnesota Police Dept. Fields Many Calls Re Shuttle Debris (E. Friedebach) Putting The Squeeze On Phone Service (Eric Friedebach) The Competition For Joe Telecom (Eric Friedebach) Re: Ways to Connect Voice IDFs With Fiber? (David Clayton) Five Minute Long OGM on Brisbane Area Voicemail (John R. Covert) Re: LATA Statistics (Kelly Daniels) Re: Country Code 874 (was Re: Tokelau, ...) (Doug Faunt) Re: Pennsylvania Prepares to Sue Telemarketer Under New Law (P Earnhardt) Re: Pennsylvania Prepares to Sue Telemarketer Under New Law (Richard D Cox) Re: Judge Suspends Wash. State Phone Privacy (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue (John David Galt) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Rob Slade Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 16:38:22 -0800 Subject: Questions Frequently Asked About Rob Slade's Innumerable Book Reviews OK, since I am now getting not only questions about the reviews every day, but multiple copies of the *same* questions, I suppose it is time for: Questions Frequently Asked About Rob Slade's Innumerable Book Reviews -- Now With Answers! Questions and answers 1) How do you find time to read all those books? Darned if I know. I've always read a lot, and quickly. No, I don't do speed reading: I find that I can't use those techniques. I read while waiting, I read while traveling: sometimes I just read. I read and review as much as I can spare time for. Those who have followed the series of reviews will notice that sometimes I produce more than others: a lot depends on what else I have to do at the time. Yes, I do read all of the books: every page (although, I admit, sometimes not every word). 2) Do you have an archive of the reviews? Yes, two, in fact. The "base" URLs are http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev, courtesy of the Victoria, BC, Canada TelecommunityNet (aka VTN), and http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade, courtesy of Northern Illinois University (former home of the Computer Underground Digest and aka NIU). All the various pages and files are in those directories, so you can construct a full URL by simply appending the filename. Also, all files are mirrored at both sites. For example, a reference in one review, like "(cf.BKVR.RVW)," would mean that the filename (converted to lower case) could be appended to the base addresses, and you would find that both http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev/bkvr.rvw and http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade/bkvr.rvw point to actual reviews. (If you use only the base URLs, you will find an index file that points you at some of the major pages.) For those looking for the reviews, probably the most useful addresses will be http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev/mnbk.htm or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade/mnbk.htm; the top level of the topical menus of book reviews (security is not the only topic); and http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev/review.htm or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade/review.htm; the main index to all reviews. Due to increasing numbers of questions, I guess I will be maintaining this FAQ at http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev/revfaq.htm and http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade/revfaq.htm. 3) Where can I find the reviews? All kinds of places, apparently. There are, of course, the archives above, and the various topically related lists and groups to which I post messages. Others archive various subsets of the reviews to different sites, reprint the reviews in college or user group newsletters, and repost the reviews to other mailing lists. If you want to get on a mailing list for all the reviews, I have created a mailing list at Yahoo Groups. You can subscribe by sending an email message to techbooks- subscribe@yahoogroups.com, or visiting the Web site at http://groups.yahoo.com/list/techbooks/, where you can also find an archive of the more recent reviews. 4) Don't you like *any* books? OK, I'm a cruel reviewer. But fair! But, yes, I do like some. In the absence of a "Rob's Picks" page (which I may get around to some time) the closest alternative is probably the page of references by the CISSP domains, at http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev/mnbksccd.htm or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade/mnbksccd.htm. 5) Why don't you rate the books you review? Generally, the people who ask this question want me to assign a single numeric value, preferably on a scale of 1-5, to every book. Books are a little bit more complex than that. They are good or bad for different reasons for different groups. A book for a novice is useless to an expert. A book for an expert is useless to a novice. So I try to state who I would recommend the book to, and why. I think it's a bit more reasonable than just giving each book a number. If I'd wanted to do that, I could have skipped writing the reviews entirely. It'd sure save time. (See question 1 :-) However, a partial answer, for those who want a quick fix, is to look at the main review index. (See question 2 :-) I try to give a summary of my reaction to the book, in not more than one sentence. 6) Where can I find your reviews of all the CISSP guides? See http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev/mnbkscci.htm or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade/mnbkscci.htm. 7) What's all that stuff at the beginning? I was asked by the moderators of one newsgroup to use the standard UNIX addlib format for publication information. It seemed to be a good set of data, so I continued. The basic information is: %A Author's name (use a separate %A line for each) %C City (place of publication) %D Date of publication %E Editor (of book or series) %G Government order number (use this for ISBN) %I Issuer (publisher's name and imprint) %O Comments/etc. (use for format/price, ordering info) (also the links for purchase at online bookstores. Yes, I do get a commission: see question 8.) %P Page number(s) (use for page count) %T Title of article or book For more information, see the man page for the UNIX "refer" command. 8) How much money can you make reviewing books? I find it quite bizarre that almost everyone seems to assume that a) I buy all these books, or b) I get paid for doing these reviews. I get the books free from publishers. (See question 9.) I don't get paid for doing the reviews. Occasionally I use these reviews as the basis for review columns or "best of" articles for magazines, and get a few bucks. If people "click-through" the links on the reviews and buy books, I get a commission. (Eventually my account may build up to enough money that they'll actually send me a cheque.) I even get a bit of a tax break by getting a "gift in kind" tax receipt when all these dead trees go to the library. But this isn't exactly a business. Of course, if any large corporation was interested in sponsoring the reviews ... :-) 9) How can I get started reviewing books? In the immortal words of the advertising campaign, just do it. Grab some books, and review them. Post the reviews. Once you have built a body of work, you can start asking publishers for copies of books, especially if you have proven you are serious by sending them copies of the drafts of your reviews. (Before you post them on the net.) You don't even have to buy a ton of books to get started. Review the ones you've already got. If you use them, presumably you know why. If you want to review new ones, try the library. (If you live in Vancouver, the Vancouver Public Library has lots of recent technical books :-) Of course, why would you want to? (See question 8.) 10) Where can I find books on (topic)? Go to the main review index at http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev/review.htm or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade/review.htm. Use the search function on your browser (Ctrl-F for most Windows stuff, "/" for Lynx, etc). Search for terms you think would be in the title or the topic of the book. (For privacy you might want to search on "privacy," "private," or "confidential.") When you find a likely title, there will be a link to the review itself. ====================== rslade@sprint.ca rslade@vcn.bc.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca p1@canada.com "If you do buy a computer, don't turn it on." - Richards' 2nd Law ============= for back issues: [Victoria Freenet] site http://victoria.tc.ca/int-grps/books/techrev/ or http://www.victoria.tc.ca/techrev or http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev an alternate site has been provided by CuD and NIU at: http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade/ CISSP refs: [Victoria Freenet]mnbksccd.htm PC Security: [Victoria Freenet]mnvrrvsc.htm Security Dict.: [Victoria Freenet]secgloss.htm Security Educ.: [Victoria Freenet]comseced.htm Book reviews: [Victoria Freenet]mnbk.htm [Victoria Freenet]review.htm Partial/recent: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/techbooks/ Security Educ.: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/comseced/ Review mailing list: send mail to techbooks-subscribe@egroups.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 10:39:30 -0800 From: Alex Walker Reply-To: alex@usenix.org, alex@usenix.org Organization: USENIX Subject: MobiSys '03, The First International Conference on Mobile Systems, MobiSys 2003 May 5-8, 2003 - San Francisco, CA, USA http://www.usenix.org/mobisys03 http://www.sigmobile.org/mobisys/2003 The First International Conference on Mobile Systems, Applications, and Services (MobiSys 2003) is a new forum for presenting the best cutting-edge research on supporting, enabling, and coping with mobility in systems software, applications, and services. * Presentations, tutorials, demo & poster sessions, and BOFs will cover the latest innovations in many important areas, including: -security -location management -application support -mobile architectures -sensor networks -energy management -analysis of mobile networks -application mobility -systems techniques for solving mobility problems * Tutorials on: -An Intro to Wearable Computing -Mobile Networking -802.11 Wireless Network Security -Programming Wireless Sensor/Effector Networks of TinyOS Motes * Keynote: Bob Brodersen of the Berkeley Wireless Research Center and the University of California at Berkeley MobiSys 2003 is jointly sponsored by the USENIX Association and ACM SIGMOBILE in cooperation with ACM SIGOPS Alex Walker Production Editor USENIX Association 2560 Ninth Street, Suite 215 Berkeley, CA 94710 510/528-8649 x33 ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach Subject: Minnesota Police Department Field Many Calls About Shuttle Debris Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 13:30:06 -0600 Organization: My wife is disappointed with the size of my SPAM. Reply-To: Eric Friedebach HAWLEY, Minn. - Police in the northwestern Minnesota town of Hawley have taken on an unexpected role in the recovery of debris from the space shuttle Columbia because their phone number is almost the same as a NASA number. Since the Feb. 1 disaster, Hawley police have fielded hundreds of calls from southerners trying to report debris in their fields and across their back yards. It's all because NASA's number for reporting debris - (281) 483-3388 - is nearly identical to a second line at the Hawley police station - (218) 483-3388. "I've never seen anything like this," Sgt. Tom Taylor Jr. said Wednesday. "You always get weird calls after bad things happen on a national scale," he said. "But this takes the cake." http://www.startribune.com/stories/468/3651458.html Eric Friedebach begin 666 empty.gif K1TE&.#EA`0`!`(#_`,# P ```"'Y! $`````+ `````!``$```("1 $`.P`` ` end [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You know, Eric, in your Organization line I left it alone for good reason. FYI, there are many web sites where guys can go to learn about increasing the size of their spam. Some of them teach you exercises to use in increasing the size. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 08:31:11 PST From: Eric Friedebach Reply-To: friedebach@yahoo.com Subject: Putting The Squeeze On Phone Service Phyllis Berman, 02.13.03, Forbes.com NEW YORK - They were once more than 300 strong. Now the survivors of the consolidation in the competitive local exchange carrier business number perhaps 70. Ultimately, perhaps only four companies will live to battle the regional Bell operating companies for phone service in the U.S. How consolidation proceeds will be influenced, if not determined, by a decision due from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission sometime this month. The agency will rule on the methods regulators used to force the regional Bells to let rivals lease their networks at steep discounts under The Telecommunications Act of 1996. The idea, of course, was to let competitive carriers into the arena. Some local exchange carriers used the leasing option to enter a market, build a customer base, then build their own facilities. Others were simply players, reliant on the Bells' infrastructure. No one expects the FCC to give all to either side in the battle, either by eliminating the lease rule or letting it remain as it is. But to the extent it is modified, expect the players to hustle: Those that have relied on it must race to unload their only asset, their customer base. Those with their own facilities may become juicy targets. http://www.forbes.com/2003/02/13/cz_pb_0210phones.html Eric Friedebach ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach Subject: The Competition For Joe Telecom Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 13:02:14 -0600 Organization: My wife is disappointed with the size of my SPAM. Reply-To: Eric Friedebach Mark Lewis, 02.11.03, 9:35 AM ET , Forbes.com NEW YORK - As soap-opera courtships go, the Sprint vs. BellSouth battle over Gary Forsee is generating almost as much drama as the Zora Andrich vs. Sarah Kozer competition for Joe Millionaire. Despite many teasing Fox Network promos, Joe failed to announce his choice last night -- but a Georgia judge was less coy, ruling that BellSouth cannot hold Forsee to the noncompete clause in his contract. But Forsee is not yet free to walk away from his vice chairman job at BellSouth and join Sprint as chief executive. Forsee must remain an unwilling BellSouth employee for another 30 days while the two firms arbitrate the nondisclosure issue. BellSouth fears the prospect of a rival telco run by a man who is privy to all of BellSouth's corporate secrets. Fair enough -- although BellSouth was less concerned about that issue back in 1999 when it hired Forsee away from Sprint. Sprint wants him back, of course, because a little problem with dubious tax shelters has forced the firm to seek a replacement for Chief Executive William Esrey. The tax shelter for Esrey reportedly was set up in late 1999, after WorldCom outbid BellSouth to acquire Sprint, in what was billed as the biggest such acquisition deal in history. http://www.forbes.com/2003/02/11/cx_ml_0211topnews.html Eric Friedebach ------------------------------ From: David Clayton Subject: Re: Ways to Connect Voice IDFs With Fiber? Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 09:04:51 +1100 Organization: Customer of Connect.com.au Pty. Ltd. Reply-To: dcstar@acslink.net.au a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) contributed the following: > As you don't have any real voice experience -- its amazing how many > computer geeks think there must be nothing to voice -- I would check > with someone who knows your particular equipment. Your local dealer > comes to mind. And even with a "pure" IP voice system, "computer geeks" are fast learning that getting acceptable QOS on the local LAN, as well as engineering it to even get even close to the high availability of most voice systems, requires skills and understanding of the different nature of the service that the voice techs still have. I wonder how the "crossover" of voice techs obtaining sufficient skills in state of the art data networking versus data techs trying to learn how to provide ultra high reliability voice infrastructure is going? Regards, David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@acslink.net.au Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 21:45:42 EST From: John R. Covert Subject: Five Minute Long OGM on Brisbane Area Voicemail Friend who wants to start a story line for kids in the Brisbane area needs a voicemail system with a minimum of five minutes outgoing message (and if possible, no incoming message). His current voicemail in Brisbane from Telstra can only do 1.5 minutes. Please contact him directly at the following email address (obscured for anti-spam purposes) Whisky-Bravo-Zero-Romeo-Papa-Alpha at arrl.net. Deobscure by converting the phonetic alphabet to the appropriate six characters. (WB0 The Real Phone Artist). /john P.S.: his name is not Michael Jackson. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 21:02:29 -0800 From: Kelly Daniels Reply-To: telco@teleport.com Organization: Kelly Daniels Subject: Re: LATA Statistics Albert Schulz wrote asking about LATA Statistics on Wed, 12 Feb 2003 16:17:02 -0500: > I am trying to compile some data about the telephone traffic volumes > in U.S. LATAs. Every LATA is served by one or more local telephone > companies. I would like to determine the two or three largest local > companies within each LATA, based on the minutes of use. Is there any > source containing these data? Any information will be appreciated. Go to the www.fcc.gov web site and look at Indsutry Analysis Division Reports. You will find most if not all of the information there. ------------------------------ From: Doug Faunt Subject: Re: Country Code 874 (was Re: Tokelau, ...) Date: 12 Feb 2003 23:40:31 -0500 Organization: at home, in Oakland, California Carl Moore writes: > johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) writes: >> It's an Inmarsat satellite phone, expensive and bulky (size of a laptop) >> but works just about anywhere you can see the sky. > and nomailp@netscape.net (Don't email me) writes: >> I can see why he wants to use 874 ... country code 87 is maritime >> mobile services.(ship to shore) ... ask if he's on a boat in >> Zimbabwe??????? :) > I take it the 2nd remark was a joke. The countries I referred to are > Zimbabwe and Botswana, and neither of them has a seacoast. So I take > it +874 is useable even in those landlocked areas. (That reminds me > of an unrelated and non-joking reference to the Austrian navy, which > went away along with Austria's empire at end of World War I, because > the Austria we know today has no seacoast.) Just to diverge a bit: The Swiss are have won the right to challenge New Zealand for the America's Cup. They beat Larry Ellison's SF Bay based crew. The first of the Cup races is Saturday. 73, doug ------------------------------ From: Phil Earnhardt Subject: Re: Pennsylvania Prepares to Sue First Telemarketer Under New Law Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 21:54:53 -0700 On Tue, 11 Feb 2003 18:43:53 -0500, Gail M. Hall wrote: > I think this list idea could work IF the telecom services that the > telemarketers subscribe to for *making* their calls are also held > partically responsible. IOW, they must inform their customers about > the laws and the lists and cancel the service if the customer > continues to defy the law. My point is that, AFAICT, Colorado's law is indeed working quite well. Since the media rarely reports on what's working well -- no Monty Solomon articles about Colorado's success -- I wanted to let the community know about this. If some state's laws are not working, I think the most prudent course of action is to compare with what Colorado is doing. Look at both the statutes and the execution of those laws. Suggest to your officials to contact their Colorado peers. Find out what's missing in your system. > Trouble is, the telephone companies are big businesses and would probably > lobby hard against having to be held at least partly responsible for > enabling the telemarketers to flood us with calls. We have very similar market forces working here in Colorado. I know no reason why we can get a working DNC list here and you can't in your locale. > [SNIP] > I'm glad the law in Colorado seems to be working. But don't hold your > breath or breathe a sigh of total relief. They are probably hunkered > down thinking up their next workaround. Well, nothing has happened so far. I see no reason for pessimism. OTOH, if the phone starts ringing again with those unwanted calls, I'll be cure to tell the group about it. If you wish to take effective action on this matter, I suggest you find what's missing in your state's design or implementation of laws. It may not have occurred to your state's officials that they should use the experiences of other states -- especially the ones that have been effective in dealing with this problem. > Gail in Ohio USA phil ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 11:06:48 GMT From: Richard D G Cox Subject: Re: Pennsylvania Prepares to Sue First Telemarketer Under New Law Reply-To: nospam@numbering.com Organization: Mandarin Technology Limited On 12 Feb 2003 13:26 (UT), rob51166@yahoo.com (Rob) wrote: > If an unscrupulous company phones you, and they are not on the TPS/FPS > list, or hasn't bothered to register with either then they can be face > a fine of up GBP5000, or approx US$7500, for each unauthorised phone > call that they make. If the call has no caller-ID, there is nothing the victim can do. UK Telcos consistently refuse to trace such calls, and the rogue marketers are only too well aware of that fact. With the cost of international connectivity falling so low (I can now call any fixed-line phone in the USA, Australia and New Zealand for the same price as a UK local call) it would be trivial for telemarketers to relocate their call centres overseas (for the Americans reading, think of "outtastate" here) and there is no way a caller from the US can be prosecuted for making a call to the UK, whatever the UK laws may say about it. > It's definitely helped to being a lot of companies into line. More precisely. it has widened the separation between legitimate and rogue operations. It has done nothing to deter the latter. Richard Cox ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Judge Suspends Wash. State Phone Privacy Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 07:57:47 GMT On Wed, 12 Feb 2003 08:34:30 -0800, John Higdon posted the following to comp.dcom.telecom: > In article , Monty Solomon > wrote: >> State regulations that were adopted in November and took effect in >> January required phone companies to obtain customer approval before >> selling calling records or using them to market anything but >> telecommunications services. >> But Verizon Communications Inc. of New York, which has about 1 million >> customers in Washington, sued the state, saying its Utilities and >> Transportation Commission overstepped its authority and infringed on >> the company's ability to speak to and serve customers. > Let me see if I got this right. Verizon goes to court to protect a > customer by refusing to release account information to the RIAA but > then turns around and goes to court again to obtain the right to sell > that same customer information to whomever it pleases for marketing > purposes? No. In the Washington suit, Verizon is seeking to be able to market its own services to its own customers, not sell their data to others. I assume that the main focus of this is that Verizon wants to be able to use CPNI (customer proprietary network information, such as calling records) to determine which customers made lots of long-distance calls in order to target them for switching to Verizon long distance, or possibly to target DSL marketing calls to customers who call AOL a lot. They have package deals that may be of interest to such customers, and it would be much better for Verizon to be able to target such marketing to likely users, and better for subscribers if Verizon could target the calls based on calling patterns than to blanket-call all of their customers (which they can do, since customer lists aren't CPNI). > I agree that the RIAA scum should never be entitled to private > customer information from any service provider, but the same concern > should be applied to that information when it comes to marketing scum > as well. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA (delete NOSPAM from address to mail me) ------------------------------ From: John David Galt Subject: Re: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 10:57:50 -0800 Organization: Diogenes the Cynic Hot-Tubbing Society Monty Solomon wrote: > The states cannot currently impose the tax because the Supreme Court > has ruled that their multiple tax systems would impose an unfair > collection burden on retailers that do not have a physical presence in > their buyers' various states. Online buyers are actually required to > pay sales taxes directly to their states, but they rarely do. Doesn't the Constitution explicitly forbid any state from taxing imports from other states? ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #291 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Feb 14 14:30:37 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6/8.11.3) id h1EJUa127173; Fri, 14 Feb 2003 14:30:37 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 14:30:37 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302141930.h1EJUa127173@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #292 TELECOM Digest Fri, 14 Feb 2003 14:31:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 292 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (Al Dykes) Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (SELLCOM Tech support) Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (temp7@thewolfden.org) Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (Hudson Leighton) Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (John Higdon) Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (Carl Navarro) Re: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue (Mark Atwood) FTD.com Hole Leaks Personal Information (Monty Solomon) U.S. Backs Merging Net, Phone Numbers (Monty Solomon) NYTimes.com Gears Ads to Surfers' Habits (Monty Solomon) Mesh Less Cost of Wireless (Monty Solomon) Re: Pennsylvania Prepares to Sue First Telemarketer (Alan Burkitt-Gray) Re: SpamArrest Spam (Henry Cabot Henhouse III) Re: [Ecommerce] New Spam Opportunity? NTIA Letter on ENUM (Joseph) Re: Last Laugh! was Re: Reporter Name (David Esan) Re: Last Laugh! was Re: Reporter Name (Gail M. Hall) Last Laugh! was Re: Amusing Typos (SELLCOM Tech support) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: adykes@panix.com (Al Dykes) Subject: Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Date: 14 Feb 2003 02:31:40 -0500 Organization: PANIX -- Public Access Networks Corp. In article , Justin Time wrote: > James Mcculluch wrote in message > news:: >> Could you let me know what is the best software to wipe my hard drive = >> completly? >> Thanks. > A quick pass over the drive with D8 by Catepillar should do the trick! > Rodgers Platt What's wrong with three passes of full format (not quick format) in alternating file formats (FAT, NTFS, FAT32) ? Al Dykes adykes@panix.com ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 02:33:15 -0500 Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com James Mcculluch posted on that vast internet thingie: > Could you let me know what is the best software to wipe my hard drive = > completly? > Thanks. Nothing wrong with the Norton software. Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, Vtech 5.8Ghz EnGenius NEW EP436 4line (the longest range), Panasonic, Twinhead notebooks, WatchGuard firewall, Okidata, Polycom! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 23:49:32 -0600 From: temp7@thewolfden.org Subject: Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Mark Atwood responded on Re: Erasing a Hard Drive > James Mcculluch writes: >> Could you let me know what is the best software to wipe my hard drive >> completly? > Either a rotary sander or a kiln. > It can't be done "completely" with software. How about a DoD seven pass extended character rotation wiping (DoD 5200.28-STD) of the entire drive. Might take a while ... -W ------------------------------ From: hudsonl@skypoint.com (Hudson Leighton) Subject: Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 09:44:48 -0600 Organization: MRRP In article , a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) wrote: > James Mcculluch wrote in message > news:: >> Could you let me know what is the best software to wipe my hard drive = >> completly? >> Thanks. > A quick pass over the drive with D8 by Catepillar should do the trick! > Rodgers Platt Wouldn't work, the ground loading on a D8 is too low. Now if you drop the blade a few times that should work. -Hudson http://www.skypoint.com/~hudsonl ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 06:48:12 -0800 In article , James Mcculluch wrote: > Could you let me know what is the best software to wipe my hard drive = > completly? To what level? Simple low-level formatting should do the job for most purposes. If you are talking about hiding data from government agencies, nothing short of a sledgehammer will suffice regardless of the claims on the box. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: John, what about the NSA recommended seven passes through with erase/rewrite? On the Windows Wiper thing I use, it suggests 'three passes are good enough for most people, but using the [NSA recommended] seven passes is perfect.' PAT] ------------------------------ From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 08:59:15 -0500 Organization: Airnews.net! at Internet America On 13 Feb 2003 10:04:35 -0800, Mark Atwood wrote: > James Mcculluch writes: >> Could you let me know what is the best software to wipe my hard drive >> completly? > Either a rotary sander or a kiln. > It can't be done "completely" with software. Just a thought ... you can't erase a HD completely with software, but you could always erase it, fill it with garbage, erase it and do it again. One would think that 2 cycles ought to erase the links to your original data. Carl Navarro ------------------------------ From: Mark Atwood Subject: Re: So Many Online Sales, So Little in Tax Revenue Date: 14 Feb 2003 11:19:26 -0800 John David Galt writes: > Doesn't the Constitution explicitly forbid any state from taxing imports > from other states? It forbids them from imposing duties. A state can tax an "import" if and only if it imposes exactly the same tax on local production / sale of the that item. Mark Atwood | Well done is better than well said. mra@pobox.com | http://www.pobox.com/~mra ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 00:52:30 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FTD.com Hole Leaks Personal Information By Robert Lemos Staff Writer, CNET News.com A security flaw at FTD.com left private information open to harvesting this week, one of the busiest of the year for the online florist. The flaw allowed a person to use a modified "cookie" to easily access customer information from the company's servers, said Gerald Quakenbush, an information security analyst for Internet and e-business consulting service Fusion Alliance. Cookies are snippets of data that reside on a person's computer, linking that PC to information and personalized sites on the Web. http://news.com.com/2100-1017-984585.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 00:54:17 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: U.S. Backs Merging Net, Phone Numbers By Declan McCullagh Staff Writer, CNET News.com February 13, 2003, 6:15 PM PT WASHINGTON--The Bush administration is lending its support to an international proposal to map telephone numbers to Internet addresses. In a recent internal letter, the Commerce Department recommended that the United States participate in an emerging electronic numbering system, known as ENUM, that will allow people to use one identifier for many different purposes, including mobile phones, e-mail, instant messaging and faxes. ENUM is designed to accelerate the convergence of the telephone network and the Internet and is expected to offer a huge boost to online telephony services. http://news.com.com/2100-1033-984591.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 00:57:09 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: NYTimes.com Gears Ads to Surfers' Habits By Stefanie Olsen Staff Writer, CNET News.com New York Times Digital, in a new test, is letting advertisers reach visitors with demonstrated interests, in what could be a new dawn of personalized advertising on the Web. The company, the online arm of The New York Times, this month started selling advertisers on a new pitch: reach customers who show interest in health, entertainment, technology, sports or finance on any news page of the site. Called "Wide Angle Targeting," the program gives advertisers the inside track on people who've displayed desirable preferences that play into what they're selling. "Before, if you were a business advertiser, you were limited to the business section. But because of limited inventory, now an advertiser can reach the same people in a general section," said Craig Calder, NYTimes.com vice president of marketing. "You can target users that fit the profile in a particular category." Targeted advertising has long been held up as the promise of the Internet, but hasn't been fulfilled for myriad reasons including heated privacy concerns. The theory is that if marketers can match their products to already-interested parties with an online profile, then everybody wins. Advertisers get the most bang for their buck and consumers receive relevant pitches. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-984575.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 01:33:30 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Mesh Less Cost of Wireless By Elisa Batista A networking tool designed to let soldiers maintain constant communication on the battlefield is being redeployed for a non-military purpose: providing free broadband connections. The devices, known as MeshBoxes, allow for hundreds of Internet users to share a single broadband connection. With just five MeshBoxes, the tiny municipality of Kingsbridge, Devon, in western England, was able to provide broadband access to the citizens who live in the center of town. A group of enthusiasts eventually want to provide all 5,000 of the town's residents with wireless broadband. Frustrated with British Telecommunications slow progress in wiring the town with DSL, two members of the Kingsbridge Link project took charge. They purchased the MeshBoxes for around $2,400, and strategically placed them in the center of town. The boxes piggyback off a single broadband pipeline owned by one of the local businesses and distribute bandwidth to the residents who tap into the network. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,57617,00.html ------------------------------ From: Alan Burkitt-Gray Subject: Re: Pennsylvania Prepares to Sue First Telemarketer Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 09:52:33 -0000 Richard D G Cox wrote: > With the cost of international connectivity falling so low ... it > would be trivial for telemarketers to relocate their call centres > overseas ... and there is no way a caller from the US can be > prosecuted for making a call to the UK, whatever the UK laws may say > about it. Interesting point, but the whole point of telemarketing is to sell products, and from personal experience (before I signed up with the UK's no-call scheme) those products are mainly new kitchens, new bathrooms and double-glazed windows, mainly from local suppliers -- that is, within 10 miles or so of where I live in south-east London. They can't be delivered electronically or in the mail. There have also been a few callers promoting time-share holiday scams, but they always require personal attendance at a face-to-face sales pitch so they close a deal. So even if the caller/call-centre operator can't be prosecuted, there is almost always a real life local representative. I haven't time to check the small print of the rules, but I'd be surprised if this were a real escape route for international telemarketeers. Alan Burkitt-Gray Editor, Global Telecoms Business Euromoney Institutional Investor plc, Nestor House, Playhouse Yard, London EC4V 5EX, UK tel +44 20 7779 8518 fax +44 20 7779 8248 e-mail aburkitt@euromoneyplc.com www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com Global Telecoms Business is the official publication for the TeleManagement Forum's TM World conference and exhibition in Nice, France, May 19-22 2003 ------------------------------ From: Henry Cabot Henhouse III Subject: Re: SpamArrest Spam Organization: AT&T Broadband Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 11:29:02 GMT Monty Solomon wrote in message news:telecom22.290.9@telecom-digest.org: > Is Spam Arrest resorting to... spamming? > Thu, 13 Feb 2003 08:46:23 -0500 (EST) > http://www.politechbot.com/p-04454.html > Spam Arrest does appear to be resorting to... spamming > Thu, 13 Feb 2003 10:13:39 -0500 (EST) > http://www.politechbot.com/p-04455.html > SpamArrest replies to Politech, defends its right to spam > Thu, 13 Feb 2003 14:19:10 -0500 (EST) > http://www.politechbot.com/p-04457.html I received that annoying Spam from Spam Arrest ... their argument that they have a right because you visited their webpage is hogwash. I sent a letter to a friend. I received the Spam Arrest "click on this" letter and NEVER visited their website to complete the email. The friend I sent the email to is very ticked as Spam Arrest is Spamming everyone who every sent him email, whether they clicked thru or not. Dave ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: [Ecommerce] New Spam Opportunity? NTIA Letter on ENUM Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 06:01:24 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: joeofseattle@yahoo.com On Thu, 13 Feb 2003 21:51:30 -0500, Judith Oppenheimer wrote: >> -----Original Message----- >> From: ecommerce-admin@lists.essential.org [mailto:ecommerce- >> admin@lists.essential.org] On Behalf Of James Love >> Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2003 7:50 PM >> To: ecommerce >> Subject: [Ecommerce] New spam opportunity? NTIA Letter on ENUM >> -------- Original Message -------- >> Subject: Re: [CYBERTEL] NTIA Letter on ENUM >> Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 17:21:24 -0700 >> From: Marianne Granoff >> Reply-To: Telecom Regulation & the Internet >> >> To: CYBERTELECOM-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM > From another list: >>> The spammers will _love_ this. Now all they have to do is send emails >>> sequentially to all 9,999,999,999 phone numbers and they will have >>> everyone's email address covered. >> Interesting thought. . . Has NTIA considered the implications??? It's already partially possible to spam phones. If you have mobile service and know the phone's email address the phone could already be possibly be spammed. All the major US wireless services have assigned email addresses in the form NXXNXXXXXX@ provider's phone email address e.g. 20635499XX@tomomail.net would send email to a T-Mobile customer. As long as the spammer knows that 206354 is a T-Mobile exchange they can bombard 206354XXXX with spam. AT&T's is NXXNXXXXXX@messaging.att.com . Verizon, Sprint, Nextel, cingular and others have similar schemes with similar addresses. Also, many carriers charge you to receive text messages. Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This is true, but 'email' via cell phones is limited to 160 characters, at least in Nokia's case, like any SMS style thing. What spam do you get that's only 160 characters in length? What I get in regular email goes on for page after page. PAT] ------------------------------ From: david_esan@hotmail.com (David Esan) Subject: Re: Last Laugh! was Re: Reporter Name Date: 14 Feb 2003 07:22:41 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ John David Galt wrote in message news:: >>>> By JENNIFER 8. LEE > What is "8." short for? I just always thought she was 7 of 9's older sister. ------------------------------ From: Gail M. Hall Subject: Re: Last Laugh! was Re: Reporter Name Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 04:05:08 -0500 Reply-To: gmhall@apk.net On Thu, 13 Feb 2003 11:05:42 -0800, in comp.dcom.telecom message , you wrote: >>>> By JENNIFER 8. LEE >>> Her middle initial is "8"? Or is that some kind of typo? >>>> http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/09/technology/09PORN.html >>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is obviously some kind of typo, but >>> that is how it arrive here from Monty Solomon. I didn't insert it >>> here. It I had caught it I would have deleted the '8'. PAT] >> Nope. That is, in fact, her name. > What is "8." short for? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 'Eight' is short for 'eighteen', her > real name, although no one calls her that. Actually, the 'typo' in the > original message was in putting a 'period' behind the 8, which is her > 'full name'. I didn't see the tongue-in-cheek symbol. Well, I guess maybe I have a dirty mind or something. I took the "8" to mean "ate." Jennifer ate Lee. (Yuck!) I remember a case where a woman got really mad at a guy and bit "it" off. (Remembering that this is a "G-rated" list.) She didn't really eat it, though. She spit it out after she bit it off. He had to have several surgical procedures to repair the damage. Gail in Ohio USA ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Last Laugh! was Re: Amusing Typos Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 02:40:00 -0500 Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Steve Michelson posted on that vast internet thingie: >> Does anyone want to play a little game called 'My most embarassing >> typo in print' ? > The spellchecker in Microsoft Word has a real knack for > embellishment. I remember once being part of a technical document > team, and someone had provided material with the mis-spelling "data > wharehouse." The editor of the document did a spell check before > sending the document out, and needless to say, the corrected spelling > of this particular item got quite a reaction at our document review. One time I set up my beautiful FontFx "Bible Study" cool gold graphic for the top of a Bible study page on one of my websites. Glad I decided to preview it on someone elses browser on a more average screen size. It was displaying just fine except for the "y" which was not visible. Shall we say, "not appropriate." Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, Vtech 5.8Ghz EnGenius NEW EP436 4line (the longest range), Panasonic, Twinhead notebooks, WatchGuard firewall, Okidata, Polycom! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do you remember how a few years ago when browsers had no standards between them (they are getting better but still have a ways to go) web designers would say things on their web pages such as 'this page best viewed on Netscape (certain version or higher) or IE (certain version or higher)' and some would dump so much stuff on their pages the pages took forever to load and many people could not read them all anyway. If you complained to the page designer you were told 'get an X browser to see it right'. On pages I wrote/designed I always added a note saying "this web site is best viewed on the monitor in my office; if you cannot read it very well, call me and make an appointment to come over here to check it out." PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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. 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Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty 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 V22 #292 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Feb 15 02:58:08 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6/8.11.3) id h1F7w7728715; Sat, 15 Feb 2003 02:58:08 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 02:58:08 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302150758.h1F7w7728715@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #293 TELECOM Digest Sat, 15 Feb 2003 02:58:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 293 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Remember AT&T EasyLink; Now EasyLink Services NASDAQ:EASY (Commander Riker) Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (Richard D G Cox) Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (Paul Timmins) Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (Mark Atwood) Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (John Higdon) Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (Dave Phelps) Software Won't Do It, was Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (Danny Burstein) Iwatsu Adix System (Felix Vermette) Feedback Requested on Planned Product: 2.4 Ghz Headset (Ethan Rasiel) Re: [Ecommerce] New Spam Opportunity? NTIA Letter on ENUM (Joseph) Latest Wireless Networking Standard Nears (Monty Solomon) Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes (Commander Riker) Vonage Rerates Canada (John R. Covert) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: bbg@easylinkgroup.zzn.com (Commander Riker) Subject: Remember AT&T EasyLink; Now EasyLink Services NASDAQ:EASY Date: 14 Feb 2003 08:58:29 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ NASDAQ: EASY - Explaination of what EasyLink does. EasyLink Services Corporation NASDAQ: (EASY) EasyLink facilitates over 800,000 transactions every business day. Serving over 20,000 companies, including more than 365 of the Fortune 500 and 400 of the Global 500, EasyLink's networks facilitate transactions integral to the movement of money, materials, products and people in our global economy. EasyLink helps their customers become more competitive by providing them with today's most secure, efficient, reliable and flexible means of conducting business electronically. Did you understand EasyLink's profile above? Don't worry most people don't. Hopefully I can explain what the firm does. I agree that unless you are very familiar with the industry it can seem like gibberish at first glance. The overarching umbrella for all EasyLink services is called Transaction Processing. Specifically moving business data from one entity (the customer or originator) to another (the recipient). Transaction Processing can be further broken down into the following categories which EasyLink supports. EDI/E-Commerce: Electronic Data Interchange or EDI is a mechanism by which companies electronically communicate specific types of documents between each other. Common examples would include things like Purchase Orders, Shipping Notices, and Bills of Lading, etc. There are several hundred-document types defined within the EDI standards although there is some differences in how each company implements them. Companies utilize EDI in order to eliminate the expense of manually handling paper in favor of electronically processing these transactions automatically. Additionally it allows them to process transaction more expeditiously thereby enhancing and adding value to their customer and supplier relationships. Companies use Value Added Networks or VANs such as EasyLink for several reasons. Firstly, it allows them to interoperate with dissimilar EDI systems since EasyLink provides any necessary protocol and document conversions. For example a PO going to a small to medium supplier who has not implemented EDI might be converted and delivered as a fax message if need be. Secondly, EasyLink eliminates the need for companies to setup and maintain costly interconnect circuits with each company they want to exchange EDI transactions with. By utilizing the EasyLink network a company can greatly expand the number of customers and suppliers (called trading partners) whom they can use EDI with. This in turns improves the customers' bottom line and helps differentiate them from their competitors. Production Messaging: Companies also need to communicate other non-formatted (and non EDI) information to their customers and supplier such as RFP, Contracts, Bids, and other standard business correspondence. Typically the information is prepared on the companies' SAP/CRM systems, mainframes, or LAN systems using a variety of programs, formats and protocols. These companies establish one connection with EasyLink in order to deliver those transactions or messages through a wide variety of formats such as fax, email, telex, etc. EayLink provides the largest array of potential document conversions in the industry. For example a bisynch EBCIDIC message which is a Letter of Credit from a bank may be converted and delivered to a telex terminal in Korea. Another application would be where EasyLink takes inbound fax pages from thousands of originators and using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology, converts the documents into data and places it into the customers database. Desktop Messaging services: Many companies are moving to eliminate the high costs associated with buying and operating fax machines and/or fax servers. EasyLink provides the ability for companies to allow all of their employees to send and receive fax (and other type) messages while eliminating the terminals or servers. Boundary and Email Services: EasyLink also provides Basic Corporate Email Services, Content Filtering, Virus Protection, Anti-Spamming and DoS (denial of Service) protection to companies who wish to outsource those functions in order to either lower their costs or expand their capabilities. These are also complimented by a small EasyLink Professional Services practice. These services currently only represent a small portion of EasyLinks total revenues domestically. EasyLink's real advantages are their impressive client base, extensive network conversion capabilities and the tremendous knowledge base of their employees. In summary, EasyLink is in the business of helping their customers to more effectively communicate business transaction with their suppliers and clients. Think of EasyLink as an enabler of business transactions with anyone, anywhere in any format necessary. EasyLink clearly has a leadership position within their market and in my assessment, is well positioned to succeed. I hope this proves helpful and informative for you. If you make a visit to the EasyLink web site now for more details and information, it should all make sense now. Further DD Links......... http://www.easylink.com Corporate Web Page http://www.marketdd.com Multicast Interview with the Chairman of EASY http://www.twst.com/ceos/easy.html The Wall Street Transcript Interview with Chairman Gerrald Gorman http://groups.yahoo.com/group/easylink_club Yahoo! Group dedicated to EASY EasyLink formerly Mail.com changed its' name and business focus to pure B2B transaction delivery and services upon the completion of the purchase of AT&T EasyLink Services. RECENT PR - J.M. Dutton & Associates Announces Investment Opinion: EasyLink Speculative Buy Rating Maintained in Update Report by Dutton & Associates Tuesday February 11, 3:10 PM EST EL DORADO HILLS, Calif., Feb 11, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- J.M. Dutton & Associates continues coverage of EasyLink Services (EASY) with its update report maintaining a Speculative Buy rating. The 15-page report by J.M. Dutton senior analyst Robert Davis is available at www.jmdutton.com as well as from Bloomberg, Zacks, First Call, Multex, and other leading financial portals. EasyLink appears to be undervalued, both in purely economic terms and in comparison with its peer group. The Company is carrying a high level of debt and its revenues are on a plateau as the result of current economic conditions. However, the company is making significant strides to reduce its debt and operating costs. As a result, it has become operating cash flow positive and is now on the cusp of becoming profitable. Demand for sophisticated transaction delivery communications has been growing rapidly. It is introducing a series of sophisticated new products that will capitalize on the key industry trends that should impact over the next five years. Improvements in its debt circumstances and demonstrated revenue growth, coupled with further expenses reduction, could lead to a rating upgrade. Access JM Duttons' Report: http://http://www.jmdutton.com/Research/EASY/Index.html EasyLink Corporate Home: http://www.easylink.com Yahoo Group Dedicated to EasyLink: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/easylink_club EasyLink's Integrated Desktop Solution Facilitates High-Volume of Faxes into Workflow by Eliminating Manual Faxing EDISON, N.J., Feb 14, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- EasyLink Services Corporation, (Nasdaq:EASY), a leading global provider of services that power the exchange of information between enterprises, their trading communities and their customers, today announced that LocalInsurance (www.localinsurance.com), based in Fresno, CA, has implemented EasyLink's Integrated Desktop Messaging Solution in order to quickly and efficiently provide quotes for its customers. LocalInsurance, a free quoting service that allows individuals to compare quotes from insurance companies across the country, is specifically using EasyLink's E-mail to Fax Service. When requesting insurance quotes through LocalInsurance, the individual seeking the quotes completes an online questionnaire answering questions about his or her insurance needs. The quote request is shopped through hundreds of companies by LocalInsurance's vast network of local insurance professionals. EasyLink's service adds speed and increased efficiency to that process. The solution enables users to send or receive transactions as faxed documents directly from their desktop workstations. EasyLink's E-mail to Fax Service is an Internet fax solution that allows an unlimited number of users to send faxes directly from their e-mail, simply by addressing an e-mail message to the recipient's fax number. The solution automatically converts the e-mail message and its attachments into a fax, and instantly delivers it to the recipient via EasyLink's network. Adam Knott, Partner of LocalInsurance, commented, "Our priority in getting quotes to our customers as quickly as possible is facilitated by EasyLink's Integrated Desktop Messaging Solution. The service enables us to quickly transmit the completed questionnaires to the insurance agents, which then enables us to rapidly fulfill the customers' request for quotes. Having delivery confirmation sent via e-mail gives our employees peace of mind knowing that the transactions have been delivered." Bill Fallon, Vice President of Product Marketing of EasyLink, noted, "The insurance industry is a paper-intensive field that generally handles communications via fax. By using our Integrated Desktop service, companies such as LocalInsurance, which work with insurance agents, can communicate via fax, without taking the time to manually send a high volume of faxes or spending the money it takes to maintain the fax machines needed to handle that volume." More information on EasyLink's Integrated Desktop solution is available at: http://www.easylink.com/services_north_america/1_4_desktop.cfm About EasyLink Services Corporation EasyLink Services Corporation (Nasdaq:EASY), headquartered in Edison, New Jersey, is a leading global provider of services that power the exchange of information between enterprises, their trading communities, and their customers. EasyLink's networks facilitate transactions that are integral to the movement of money, materials, products, and people in the global economy, such as insurance claims, trade and travel confirmations, purchase orders, invoices, shipping notices and funds transfers, among many others. EasyLink helps more than 20,000 companies, including over 400 of the Global 500, become more competitive by providing the most secure, efficient, reliable, and flexible means of conducting business electronically. For more information, please visit www.EasyLink.com. This news release may contain statements of a forward-looking nature relating to the future events or the future financial results of EasyLink. Investors are cautioned that such statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. In evaluating such statements, investors should specifically consider the various factors which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those indicated from such forward-looking statements, including the matters set forth in the Company's reports and documents filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. CONTACT: EasyLink Services Corporation Investor Contact Debbie McClister, 732/516-2756 DMcClister@EasyLink.com or Keatingpr Media Contact Debbie Scicchitano, 973/376-9300 dscicchitano@keatingpr.com News provided by COMTEX. User agreement applies ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 19:51:05 GMT From: Richard D G Cox Subject: Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Reply-To: nospam@numbering.com Organization: Mandarin Technology Limited On Fri, 14 Feb 2003 19:30 (UT), John Higdon wrote: >> Could you let me know what is the best software to wipe my hard >> drive completly? > To what level? Simple low-level formatting should do the job for most > purposes. If you are talking about hiding data from government agencies, > nothing short of a sledgehammer will suffice regardless of the claims > on the box. John is absolutely right here. Before deciding on a response strategy you have to fully analyse the perceived threat you are responding to. And editor@telecom-digest.org replied: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: John, what about the NSA recommended > seven passes through with erase/rewrite? On the Windows Wiper thing > I use, it suggests 'three passes are good enough for most people, but > using the [NSA recommended] seven passes is perfect.' PAT] NSA recommended? Why exactly do you think the NSA are recommending it? ;-)) Richard Cox [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not believe they were recommending it to the public. I think it is something they were recommending their own employees do to protect their (NSAs) own status quo. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Erasing a Hard Drive From: Paul Timmins Date: 14 Feb 2003 15:07:37 -0500 > From: John Higdon > Subject: Re: Erasing a Hard Drive > Organization: Green Hills and Cows > Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 06:48:12 -0800 > In article , James Mcculluch > wrote: >> Could you let me know what is the best software to wipe my hard drive = >> completly? > To what level? Simple low-level formatting should do the job for most > purposes. If you are talking about hiding data from government > agencies, nothing short of a sledgehammer will suffice regardless of > the claims on the box. > John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS > +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: John, what about the NSA recommended > seven passes through with erase/rewrite? On the Windows Wiper thing > I use, it suggests 'three passes are good enough for most people, but > using the [NSA recommended] seven passes is perfect.' PAT] There's technically no such thing as the "NSA secure wipe". The NSA doesn't have standards for this. There's the DoD standard, but if the cost of the data being disclosed exceeds the cost of a new drive, why risk it? (I've heard the NSA simply physically destroys decommissioned drives that contained sensitive information). But realize, modern drives remap bad sectors on the fly. If there was critical data that was stored in a bad sector, it can still be retrieved, because these programs won't overwrite the remapped sectors. With the cost of storage these days, why risk it? -Paul Paul Timmins paul@timmins.net / http://www.timmins.net/ H: 313-586-9514 / C: 248-379-7826 / DC: 130*116*24495 AIM: noweb4u / Callsign: KC8QAY [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As part of a defragmentation procedure on a hard drive, can we trust charts drawn by the software telling us there are no 'bad blocks' or other bad or unusable sectors? Reason I ask is I see nothing bad or unusable of the drive, thus no reason for the software to re-route around it. Is that a good assumption or not? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Mark Atwood Subject: Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Date: 14 Feb 2003 12:37:36 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Carl Navarro writes: > On 13 Feb 2003 10:04:35 -0800, Mark Atwood wrote: >> James Mcculluch writes: >>> Could you let me know what is the best software to wipe my hard drive >>> completly? >> Either a rotary sander or a kiln. >> It can't be done "completely" with software. > Just a thought ... you can't erase a HD completely with software, > but you could always erase it, fill it with garbage, erase it and do > it again. One would think that 2 cycles ought to erase the links to > your original data. One might think so, but one would be wrong. Google for the paper "Secure Deletion of Data from Magnetic and Solid-State Memory" by Peter Gutmann. One can build a tool to do Magnetic Force Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) for under USD2000, or buy one "off the shelf" that already has the software and gear optimized for scanning hard disk platters. With a homemade STM, a novice can read back data that is a couple writes old, especially if the "interesting stuff" has been there for few days/weeks/months, and the overwrites were done over just a few minutes. An experienced lab, with a high end commerically available kit, can go back over half a dozen writes. National level LEO agencies are probably even better, and black budget intel agencies are undoubtedly better yet. If someone's life or freedom depends on the destruction of that data, either sand down the platters, or throw them into a yellow-hot pit of burning charcoal. (And ignore all the joking posts about running a bulldozer over them, broken platters can be pieced back together. The STM doesn't care.) Nothing else is sure. Mark Atwood | Well done is better than well said. mra@pobox.com | http://www.pobox.com/~mra ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 16:53:32 -0800 In article , John Higdon wrote: > In article , James Mcculluch > wrote: >> Could you let me know what is the best software to wipe my hard drive = >> completly? > To what level? Simple low-level formatting should do the job for most > purposes. If you are talking about hiding data from government > agencies, nothing short of a sledgehammer will suffice regardless of > the claims on the box. > John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS > +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: John, what about the NSA recommended > seven passes through with erase/rewrite? On the Windows Wiper thing > I use, it suggests 'three passes are good enough for most people, but > using the [NSA recommended] seven passes is perfect.' PAT] I'm only passing on what someone in the agency personally told me. Randomness in any drive eliminates the ability to depend on any fixed number of passes to eradicate data. The correct number of erase/rewrite passes is "the number necessary to render the drive unreadable by the NSA". Seven doesn't always do it. John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 23:31:01 -0600 Organization: www.tippenring.com In article , TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to no-spam@amadeus.kome.com: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: John, what about the NSA recommended > seven passes through with erase/rewrite? On the Windows Wiper thing > I use, it suggests 'three passes are good enough for most people, but > using the [NSA recommended] seven passes is perfect.' PAT] The NSA specs were a topic of discussion recently on the forensics list at bugtraq. Apparently NSA doesn't have a spec at all, and simply refers to the DoD spec of 7 reads/writes. The consensus seemed to be that people claiming anything about the NSA spec don't know what they're talking about. Dave Phelps Phone Masters Ltd. deadspam=tippenring [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: All I know is what I read on the software notes, which *CLAIMED* the 'NSA Standard' for seven read/writes was quite ample, but that most people would not need that many. I have never personally seen any 'NSA spec'. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Software Won't Do It, was Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 20:01:07 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC [ lots snipped ] >> Could you let me know what is the best software to wipe my hard drive >> completly? > To what level? Simple low-level formatting should do the job for most > purposes. If you are talking about hiding data from government > agencies, nothing short of a sledgehammer will suffice regardless of > the claims on the box. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: John, what about the NSA recommended > seven passes through with erase/rewrite? On the Windows Wiper thing > I use, it suggests 'three passes are good enough for most people, but > using the [NSA recommended] seven passes is perfect.' PAT] Well, first of all there's NO SUCH THING as an "NSA recommended" method. That, alas, is a bit of urban folklore. While the standard deletion tools that do a complete disk overwrite (as opposed to the default delete/move-to-trash command) will keep your material safe from your obnoxious kid brother, they cannot be relied upon for protection from high intensity searches. The main problem is that you (as a standard user) do NOT have complete access to your hard drive. So no matter what commands you give from the keyboard (or via a program) you can not be sure that they've been followed up as you intended. The key reason (there are many others...) is that your multi-gig hard drive is actually a bit larger. The drive controller (term used loosely and simplistically) keeps an eye out for any physically damaged or otherwise unusable sectors, and transparently moves data around to good areas. It then, also transparently, redirects your disk drive requests over there. So, for example, physical tracks #s 5,003-5,010 and 7,123-7,494 may be damaged, so the material has, unknown to you, been copied over to (previously unavilable) tracks 100,002-100,009 and 100,010-100,411. Any disk drive requests for the earlier tracks get redirected to the new ones. No standard program will be able to access the first set of tracks any longer, and thus won't be able to overwrite them. Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: See my earlier note in this issue. Is the chart which shows up on Windows defrag (which shows defrag's progress, bad blocks, etc) to be trusted? In other words, if it claims there are no bad blocks, can that be trusted? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Felix Vermette Subject: Iwatsu Adix System Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 20:14:40 GMT Organization: AT&T Worldnet I have a client who is currently paying $815 a year for a service contract for a five year old Iwatsu Adix system ... which seems outrageous given the replacement value of refurbished items I've been able to locate so far on the internet ... and the nose-dive in prices of such stuff over the last few years. I'm looking for rationale to suggest dropping the contract in favor of self-insuring. What I have not been able to locate yet are: * CPU memory card version 6.13 * 044 card * Omega 4 port Automated Attendant/Voice Mail Anyone have these avilable and their replacement/refurbished value? Please reply to group. Thanks, Flex ------------------------------ From: ethan.rasiel@edelman.com (Ethan Rasiel) Subject: Feedback Requested on Planned Product: 2.4 Ghz Headset Date: 14 Feb 2003 12:19:42 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I'm working with a company (that I cannot name yet) planning to release a 2.4 Ghz headset for corded phones. Essentially, it work similar to something like the Plantronics Vista. http://www.ahernstore.com/m12.html But instead of being tethered to your desk, you'd have 100+ feet of range. It also has a neat conference-call capability. Instead of huddling around a speakerphone and yelling into it, if each person in the room has one of these headsets, they can all connect to the same base station and join the call! Then, for example, during the call two people could mute their headsets and have a private side-discussion without interrupting the main call. The device also has a cool, small, modern design -- not industrial looking at all. Since its 2.4 Ghz, there is less interference than with 9600, making this usable in hospitals etc. What do you think? Would you buy this for your office, or home office? (assuming it was competitively priced, of course). Any features you think it should have that I haven't mentioned? Any detriments to a purchase? Your comments are much appreciated! THANKS! Ethan ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: [Ecommerce] New Spam Opportunity? NTIA Letter on ENUM Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 15:22:50 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: joeofseattle@yahoo.com On Fri, 14 Feb 2003 06:01:24 -0800, Joseph wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This is true, but 'email' via cell > phones is limited to 160 characters, at least in Nokia's case, like > any SMS style thing. What spam do you get that's only 160 characters > in length? What I get in regular email goes on for page after page. PAT] So, all this does is lets a spammer send you an "incomplete" spam that peters out after 160 characters. And of course when spam comes to your mobile phone there's no way to investigate headers and attempt to report them to their upnetwork connectivity. Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: True, but aren't most spammers in business to try and actually sell their bill of goods, whatever it is, or are they just out there to be a nuisance to everyone else in society? I always thought that even in their own warped way, they were trying to sell things, so why would they waste their time sending some kind of flaky half-message (of 160 characters) knowing full well their message was being wasted? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2003 18:59:28 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Latest Wireless Networking Standard Nears By Richard Shim Staff Writer, CNET News.com The latest wireless networking specification is one step closer to becoming a standard after an industry group announced Friday the approval of the specification's most recent version. Known as 802.11g, the specification increases the bandwidth of wireless networks from 11Mbps, under the 802.11b standard, to 54Mbps. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers said Friday that a consensus had been reached to establish the latest version of the 802.11g specification, version 6.1, as the standard to be used in the industry. The specification must go through two more hoops before it becomes a standard, which should happen in June. The standard is expected to be published in July. http://news.com.com/2100-1033-984680.html ------------------------------ From: bbg@easylinkgroup.zzn.com (Commander Riker) Subject: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes Date: 14 Feb 2003 20:14:26 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Do any of you know the code to dial when an exchange is busy? For example, if everyone were calling the 212 area code and the lines were 'jammed' there is a code to dial to put your call in front of the traffic. Do any of you know what that code is? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not think there is such a thing at least on a user level. If you are in a position to have your calls placed ahead of other calls, I think the telco has to be the one to decide it. The old 'A/B/C/D' buttons on military autovon phones had that capability. Press one of those keys and bump someone else of lesser rank off the line. When I have used one of those ABCD phones in regular use, the other tones work okay, but the insert of any letter causes a fast busy on the line. Maybe someone who has one of those phones could tell us what happens in their area, if anything. I do not think it will work at all. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 00:23:43 EST From: John R. Covert Subject: Vonage Rerates Canada Canada is now treated just like the 50 US States for outgoing calls on Vonage. Included in the 500 minutes on the local/regional plan (3.9/additional), and included in unlimited minutes on the $40 unlimited plan. /john ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #293 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Feb 15 21:45:41 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6/8.11.3) id h1G2jfp18753; Sat, 15 Feb 2003 21:45:41 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 21:45:41 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302160245.h1G2jfp18753@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #294 TELECOM Digest Sat, 15 Feb 2003 21:45:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 294 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson NYC Demonstration against War in Iraq on Feb. 15, 2003 (Ronda Hauben) Hark, Hark, That Tweet Is No Lark. It's Illegal. (Monty Solomon) Sprint, Verizon Race on 'Push to Talk' (Monty Solomon) Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes (joe@obilivan) Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes (John Higdon) Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes (Command Riker) Re: [Ecommerce] New Spam Opportunity? NTIA Letter on ENUM (Spyro Bartsocas) Re: [Ecommerce] New Spam Opportunity? NTIA Letter on ENUM (Gail M. Hall) Re: Can Your Cell Phone Impair Your Vision? (David Clayton) Re: Feedback Requested on Planned Product: 2.4 Ghz Headset (G. Wollman) Stupid Question: Name of Standard Telephone Number Format? (Mark Atwood) Re: Software Won't Do It, was Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (Mark Atwood) Re: Software Won't Do It, was Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Re: U.S. Backs Merging Net, Phone Numbers (Gail M. Hall) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ronda Hauben Subject: NYC Demonstration against War in Iraq on Feb. 15, 2003 Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 00:02:01 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC Report from the NYC anti war demonstration February 15, 2003 The NYC goverment wouldn't allow a march. Thus in New York City today there was a demonstration but not a march. There were alot of people, some said between 70,000 and one million. There many homemade signs and people all ages and sizes and shape. But the treatment of people in NYC shows that democracy is not something the US federal government or NYC government have any respect for. People lined First Avenue, from the around 51st to the mid 80s. There were people lining Second Avenue and Third Avenue and Lexington. But people were kept from seeing each other. And there were reports that police on horseback hurt demonstrators on Third Avenue and on Lexington Avenue. Most of the people who had come from all around New York City and other cities and states around the US were kept from getting to the demonstration on First Avenue. The march was a victory despite the police tactics in NYC and the federal and city officials who were allowed by the U.S. federal district court to prevent a march in New York City. But the treatment of the demonstrations in New York City on February 15, 2003 showed that the U.S. government and the New York City government have no interest in supporting democracy at home or abroad. Below is a leaflet given out at the march. "Communication Not Annihilation, No War on Iraq. Netizens Unite" Today's marches around the world demonstrate the power of the Netizens. There is a need for global communication to be utilized to solve the enormous problems in our modern world. More citizens and netizens around the world can now participate in helping each other to solve what otherwise would be impossible difficulties. What is a Netizen? The concept of Netizen grew out of research online in 1992-1993. This was before the commercialization of the Internet. Contrary to popular mythology the numbers of people connecting to the Internet was growing by large numbers each year. There began to be Free-Nets springing up to provide community people with access to the Internet. A student doing online research, Michael, writes: "The story of Netizens is an important one. In conducting research ... online to determine people's uses for the global computer communications network, I became aware that there was a new social institution, an electronic commons, developing. It was exciting to explore this new social institution. Others online shared this excitement. I discovered from those who wrote me that the people I was writing about were citizens of the Net, or Netizens." from Preface to "Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet" http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/netbook/ The Internet was making it possible for people who got access to communicate with others around the world. And there were people online who did what they could to connect others to the Internet and to make the Internet something valuable for people around the world. The student documented this development in his paper "The Net and Netizens: The Impact the Net has on People's Lives". The paper was posted online in 1993. The concept of Netizen spread round the world and has been adopted by many who continue to contribute to the development of the Internet as a global commons and to spread access to the global communication the Internet makes possible. We need the vision of the Internet and the Netizen, that both its early pioneers and the users that the student in 1992/3 found online, have embodied. This is as a network of networks linking people around the globe where online users act as netizens helping to solve the problems of the Internet and of the society. People online and people who aren't online, can help to make the vision of the Internet pioneers and users a reality. We don't want war in Iraq. We don't want war in North Korea or Iran. We don't want war against the Palestinians. We want to communicate with each other and collaborate together to have the wealth of society go to its people so that the better world that is now possible, becomes a reality. It's a hard and difficult struggle. But with lots of netizens around the world, we can forge a better world. Long live the Netizens; Long live the Iraqi People; Long live the American People; Long live the peace loving people everywhere Let us honor the memory of those who have perished in the struggle. NETIZENS UNITE AND SPREAD THE INTERNET SO EVERYONE HAS ACCESS. Let us continue to take up the challenge to make the Internet a global commons that all can contribute to and build. Dedicated to Michael (1973-2001). I have written this to honor his memory and to try to continue his contributions to make the world a better place. Ronda ronda@panix.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you, Ronda, for a report on the anti-war struggle in New York earlier today. I wish - just wish -- Dubya would listen to the people on this matter, but that is very unlikely as you noted on the streets today. Dubya is a very sick man (mentally) and his delusions of grandeur have gotten us to the brink of war. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 18:12:48 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Hark, Hark, That Tweet Is No Lark. It's Illegal. By JESSE McKINLEY and NICHOLE M. CHRISTIAN Stanley Tucci snapped. Brian Dennehy stopped the show. Al Pacino just stared. Such were the reactions of some of the city's stage stars to the unwelcome -- make that despised -- intrusion of a cellphone into their delicate world of make-believe. Yesterday, that constituency, the influential thespian voting block, was positively aglow with news that the City Council had voted to outlaw cellphones in, among other places, the theater. "I hate cellphones so much I don't even own a cellphone," said Mr. Dennehy, who is coming to Broadway in April in "Long Day's Journey into Night." "Wait and go to a phone booth. What's the problem?" The Council agrees with Mr. Dennehy's assessment, it would seem. Yesterday, it issued a collective "shush" to cellphone users and passed legislation banning cellphone use during public performances, including plays, movies and concerts, and in galleries and museums. The Council's vote of 38 to 5, with 2 abstentions, was the first in the nation restricting cellphone use in public performances. The vote overrode a veto by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who had argued that the law would be nearly impossible to enforce. The Council conceded that point, but council members said they believed moviegoers and patrons would use the new ban to police themselves and others. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/13/nyregion/13CELL.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 18:33:59 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Sprint, Verizon Race on 'Push to Talk' By Ben Charny Staff Writer, CNET News.com Verizon Wireless plans to offer a "push to talk" service for cell phones in the next few months, Verizon Chief Executive Officer Dennis Strigl said this week. Nextel Communications is, so far, the only U.S. carrier to offer the service, which lets subscribers reach others by pushing a button on the side of the phone, rather than dialing a telephone number. With his comments at this week's Legg Mason Telecom Conference 2003, Strigl has put Verizon Wireless and Sprint PCS in a horse race to be next to offer the service. Sprint PCS also intends to introduce a push-to-talk feature very soon, company President Len Lauer said recently. http://news.com.com/2100-1033-984780.html ------------------------------ From: joe@obilivan.net Subject: Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 11:09:48 GMT Organization: Cox Communications There is no such thing available to anyone in the public switched network, not even for operators. The command and control folks have dedicated circuits to communicate with each other, but those are no different than dedicated circuits that some businesses have between their offices. Those dedicated circuits are nailed up and remain immune to an overflow condition so long as the physical plant is intact. Commander Riker wrote: > Do any of you know the code to dial when an exchange is busy? For > example, if everyone were calling the 212 area code and the lines were > 'jammed' there is a code to dial to put your call in front of the > traffic. Do any of you know what that code is? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not think there is such a thing > at least on a user level. If you are in a position to have your calls > placed ahead of other calls, I think the telco has to be the one to > decide it. The old 'A/B/C/D' buttons on military autovon phones had > that capability. Press one of those keys and bump someone else of > lesser rank off the line. When I have used one of those ABCD phones in > regular use, the other tones work okay, but the insert of any letter > causes a fast busy on the line. Maybe someone who has one of those > phones could tell us what happens in their area, if anything. I do not > think it will work at all. PAT] ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 06:17:48 -0800 In article , bbg@easylinkgroup.zzn.com (Commander Riker) wrote: > Do any of you know the code to dial when an exchange is busy? For > example, if everyone were calling the 212 area code and the lines were > 'jammed' there is a code to dial to put your call in front of the > traffic. Do any of you know what that code is? Do you have access to an IXC's test boards? This is where the code (if any existed for that carrier) would have to be entered. Since there are many carriers, the procedures for rating and prioritizing traffic vary, but generally speaking it is programmed in advance and overrides would be a switch-maintenance function. Your own telephone has only the capability your local telco gives it, and that ain't much. There are very few "secret codes". John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: bbg@easylinkgroup.zzn.com (Commander Riker) Subject: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes Date: 15 Feb 2003 07:07:53 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Yes, I have seen a few of the 16 button AUTOVON phones for sale on ebay. Here is a clip about AUTOVON's hitory for the ones who don't know what we are talking about: A major development in long-haul communications in the early 1960s was the Automatic Voice Network, commonly called AUTOVON. Activated in December 1963, AUTOVON, derived from the Army's Switched Circuit Automatic Network, was designed to provide the Department of Defense with an internal telephone capability to replace toll and Wide Area Telephone Service (WATS) calls, while also allowing precedence preemption for high priority users. Development of the AUTOVON system represented one of the most significant and comprehensive telecommunications programs ever undertaken by the DOD. While the dedicated circuits used in earlier networks provided good response time, weaknesses in survivability and reliability were significant problems. The loss of a single circuit between two points disrupted communications between subscribers, and each termination placed on the dedicated circuit required a separate instrument. AUTOVON did much to correct these deficiencies. AUTOVON became the principal long-haul, nonsecure voice communications network within the Defense Communications System. The network served the entire Department of Defense and handled essential communications concerning command, operations, and administration. It was a global network comprised of interconnected automatic switching centers and thousands of subscriber terminals throughout the world. Over the next 25 years, the network would be continually modernized and expanded to provide more service and capabilities to the users. Finally, it became a part of the new Defense Switched Network (DSN), the replacement system activated in 1990 to provide long-distance telephone service to the military. Autovon legends: FO = Flash Override F = Flash I = Immediate P = Priority I am not sure if they would work on normal lines in my area, perhaps I will have to grab an AUTOVON off of Ebay the next time I see one or I supose I could make a tone generator and check it out my area first before purchasing a phone, but I think AUTOVON was designed specificly for the military lines. There is plenty of more information regarding the AUTOVON and all of the great Western Electric/Bell System phones at the following web site, http://www.telephonetribute.com/tribute/dials-touch_tone.html Regarding my earlier question, it is my understanding that there is a special code that could be dialed in the event that an exchange is busy. For example, during the terrorist attacks I was told that people were able to get a line into New York by using the priority code. I would like to have this in the event that anything ever happened again, that way I would know I could get a call in to my loved ones, etc. Any informtion would be appreciated. TIA bbg@easylinkgroup.zzn.com (Commander Riker) wrote in message news:: > Do any of you know the code to dial when an exchange is busy? For > example, if everyone were calling the 212 area code and the lines were > 'jammed' there is a code to dial to put your call in front of the > traffic. Do any of you know what that code is? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not think there is such a thing > at least on a user level. If you are in a position to have your calls > placed ahead of other calls, I think the telco has to be the one to > decide it. The old 'A/B/C/D' buttons on military autovon phones had > that capability. Press one of those keys and bump someone else of > lesser rank off the line. When I have used one of those ABCD phones in > regular use, the other tones work okay, but the insert of any letter > causes a fast busy on the line. Maybe someone who has one of those > phones could tell us what happens in their area, if anything. I do not > think it will work at all. PAT] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Stop and think about it Commander. If there was such a 'special code', then when everyone was using it, the network would still be jammed up and overflowing, wouldn't it? If there was such a code, don't you assume everyone would assume *their* call was the most important, and be using it all the time? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Spyros Bartsocas Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 19:23:21 +0200 Subject: Re: [Ecommerce] New Spam Opportunity? NTIA Letter on ENUM > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: True, but aren't most spammers in > business to try and actually sell their bill of goods, whatever it > is, or are they just out there to be a nuisance to everyone else in > society? I always thought that even in their own warped way, they > were trying to sell things, so why would they waste their time > sending some kind of flaky half-message (of 160 characters) knowing > full well their message was being wasted? PAT] Pat, I recently received an SMS (I live in Europe) from country code +677 telling me that this person was totally in love with me, and that I should call them back at the number provided (surprise: the number the message seemed to originate in). The message was a little bit more elaborate than what I typed above, but it did fit within the standard 160 character size. Spyros [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That sort of thing, I suppose -- random 'love notes' telling people to call a premium pay number is likely to be a winner. Do you remember that urban legend a few years ago where companies were warning their employees with pagers not to return calls to certain numbers in New York City which happened to show up on their pagers, since it meant extra phone charges for the company? The more modern version might be 130-140 characters of sexual innuendo followed by a premium cost phone number. The dumber guys (and there are a lot of them around) will see those messages; get all excited by the prospect of what is going to happen to them, and call those numbers. I just hope this time around the telecom managers, etc. don't worry about premium charges from out of their LATA. It didn't work when guys called up 415-976-GAYS; it didn't work when people called up 212-540 numbers, and it won't work now. All that happened before was the audiotext guys running those services got bummed out because all their trunk lines were busy with out of state calls, preventing local *and paying* customers from being able to get in; and telecom managers -- not the brightest bunch of people in the world either -- had their copy machines running full speed overtime sending out those goofy notices, (and spamming all the newsgroups with them also.) PAT] ------------------------------ From: Gail M. Hall Subject: Re: [Ecommerce] New Spam Opportunity? NTIA Letter on ENUM Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 17:46:02 -0500 Reply-To: gmhall@apk.net On Fri, 14 Feb 2003 15:22:50 -0800, in comp.dcom.telecom message , Joseph wrote: > On Fri, 14 Feb 2003 06:01:24 -0800, Joseph > wrote: [Actually Pat wrote this part] >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This is true, but 'email' via cell >> phones is limited to 160 characters, at least in Nokia's case, like >> any SMS style thing. What spam do you get that's only 160 characters >> in length? What I get in regular email goes on for page after page. PAT] > So, all this does is lets a spammer send you an "incomplete" spam that > peters out after 160 characters. And of course when spam comes to > your mobile phone there's no way to investigate headers and attempt to > report them to their upnetwork connectivity. >Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: True, but aren't most spammers in > business to try and actually sell their bill of goods, whatever it is, > or are they just out there to be a nuisance to everyone else in > society? I always thought that even in their own warped way, they were > trying to sell things, so why would they waste their time sending some > kind of flaky half-message (of 160 characters) knowing full well their > message was being wasted? PAT] My middle name must be "paranoid" because I can see at least two other reasons why spammers would spam us. One is to just annoy us. The closer this country gets to actually going to war against Iraq, you can bet we'll see ALL KINDS of annoying things happening, not just bombs. Already ISPs are fighting spam attacks, most of which come from other countries. Another reason might have to do with what the wireless phone companies charge for using their e-mail. I noticed that my wireless phone account gets debited at least one minute every time someone calls and is given the message about leaving a VM message whether they did or not. If someone decided to leave a long message, I would be charged for the minutes. It's true, I have a certain number of minutes, but if they could fix it so I would unknowingly get more minutes charged against me, then they get big money for minutes over my basic allowance. Now they are pushing text messages, but those cost EXTRA, 10 cents a message. If a company charges a person for even reading a message, then they would have a nice way of nickel-and-diming us to the poorhouse. You can bet I'm not interested in getting into text messages or using their web service for my email! With our current setup and pricing structuring for ordinary Internet service, we get e-mail and a big space allowance on their system. Spam is just an annoyance but doesn't cost us an OBVIOUS extra amount each month. But if they go back to the old CompuServe idea of charging by the minute and charging by the message the way they did back in the 1980s, spam would be considered actual attacks, and we wouldn't have a good way of stopping it if the phone company is in cahoots with the spammers. Paranoid in Ohio ------------------------------ From: David Clayton Subject: Re: Can Your Cell Phone Impair Your Vision? Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 10:42:23 +1100 Organization: Customer of Connect.com.au Pty. Ltd. Reply-To: dcstar@acslink.net.au Linc Madison contributed the following: > Listening to the radio diminishes the attention that the driver pays to > the road. Do we outlaw listening to the radio? Having passengers in the > car diminishes the driver's attention; do we outlaw passengers? ...... Just to keep this theme going a little longer, (and to add a little more context, there is an election campaign going on in this state at the moment): http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,5992687%255E1702,00.html Driver distractions to be studied: 15feb03 DISTRACTIONS like talking to passengers, eating and their role in car crashes will be examined in a NSW government funded study. The $107,000 study, to be conducted by the University of NSW and the University of Western Australia and funded by the Motor Accidents Authority, will examine the role of driver distraction in car accidents. "The effect of drink driving, speed and fatigue in road crashes is well documented," Special Minister of State John della Bosca said. "There is now a need for research into other causes of road crashes, particularly driver distraction. "Potential distractions include talking to passengers, eating, adjusting controls, music and mobile phone use." External factors such as other drivers would also be examined, he said. Researchers will study the causes of serious car crashes and will interview victims to see whether specific distractions played a role in their crash. Mr Della Bosca said a telephone survey of drivers aged between 18 and 65 would also be conducted in NSW and Western Australia to examine driver attitude and behaviour when distractions are present, and whether the distractions resulted in near misses or crashes. Regards, David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@acslink.net.au Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience. ------------------------------ From: wollman@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: Feedback Requested on Planned Product: 2.4 Ghz Headset Date: 15 Feb 2003 10:45:56 GMT Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science In article , Ethan Rasiel wrote: > Since its 2.4 Ghz, there is less interference than with 9600, making > this usable in hospitals etc. Many people won't touch 2.4-GHz telephony products now, because they interfere with IEEE 802.11b wireless networks (which use the same spectrum: the ISM band from 2450 to 2550 MHz). Bluetooth wireless networks also use that spectrum, although its proponents claim that it will not interfere with 802.11b networks. Garrett A. Wollman | [G]enes make enzymes, and enzymes control the rates of wollman@lcs.mit.edu | chemical processes. Genes do not make ``novelty- Opinions not those of| seeking'' or any other complex and overt behavior. MIT, LCS, CRS, or NSA| - Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002) ------------------------------ From: Mark Atwood Subject: Stupid Question: Name of Standard Telephone Number Format? Date: 15 Feb 2003 03:21:47 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com What is the name of the "standard" telephone number format. The plus sign, followed by the country code, followed by the in-nation full number with area code, with hyphens/spaces/dots for punctuation? Mark Atwood | Well done is better than well said. mra@pobox.com | http://www.pobox.com/~mra ------------------------------ From: Mark Atwood Subject: Re: Software Won't Do It, was Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Date: 15 Feb 2003 03:25:00 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Danny Burstein writes: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: See my earlier note in this issue. Is > the chart which shows up on Windows defrag (which shows defrag's > progress, bad blocks, etc) to be trusted? In other words, if it > claims there are no bad blocks, can that be trusted? PAT] No. It cant. There is no way to know that sectors have been remapped, or what they've been remapped to, without using drive manufacturer proprietary, poorly documented, unsupported by most OS drivers's SCSI/IDE/etc commands. Mark Atwood | Well done is better than well said. mra@pobox.com | http://www.pobox.com/~mra ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 20:16:17 -0600 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelex.com Organization: Crash Electronics, Inc. Subject: Re: Software Won't Do It, was Re: Erasing a Hard Drive > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: See my earlier note in this issue. Is > the chart which shows up on Windows defrag (which shows defrag's > progress, bad blocks, etc) to be trusted? In other words, if it > claims there are no bad blocks, can that be trusted? PAT] No. The hard drive lies to Windows (or whatever OS) and claims the platters are pristine. It (the drive) then performs the remapping transparently* so everything appears perfect. Platters can be removed from the drive and analyzed by a number of methods, some not even requiring rotation. Remapped areas can be detected, and old data read from them (possibly with errors, but probably accurately). Even if a drive platter is in pieces, it's possible to read most of the data on whatever pieces are available. You can also read the magnetic flux itself, at a ridiculously high resolution, and store it as a huge stream of numbers representing flux density/polarization. You can then run DSP software against this stream, and "mine" the original hard drive data from it. Having done so, you can mathematically subtract out the data (using a software "virtual" write head to write the data 180 degrees out of phase onto the flux density info), and "underneath" it there will be some lumps in the remaining noise which represent overwritten data. Run the DSP against the tallest lumps, and you just read yesterday's news, so to speak. Depending on the sensitivity and accuracy of the equipment used to record the flux patterns initially, you can repeat this some number of times and recover several "layers" of data. Most consumer drives do not remap bad sectors in real time; this is done during the factory low-level format process and never again. If parts of the platter develop read errors after the LLF, the operating system can find and remap (or in Windows' case, simply flag as bad) unreadable sectors, and these will be displayed on the defrag screen. But the stuff remapped by the drive is never reported to the OS, and so it won't appear on this map. In any case, if you want the data gone -- really gone -- then you have to make the platters themselves gone -- really gone. As the price of DRAM comes down, we may see 40GB DRAM arrays with battery backup being used as the main drive in a PC. Access times relative to rotating magnetic storage would be mind-bogglingly fast, and assured data destruction could be accomplished by simply pulling the battery. The jack-booted thugs would have only a few milliseconds to snarf your data. Of course, since most data travels over the internet (intentionally or otherwise) at some point nowadays, one has no idea who's archiving what in the cloud. Hence steganography and strong encryption are Good Ideas. Or, never digitize (by typing, scanning, or whatever) anything you don't mind being made public. ========== *Specialized software can perform access timing tests and determine whether something is remapped. Still, since the drive itself is doing the remapping the software cannot force access back to the original (allegedly damaged) location. I suppose some drives may have an unpublished command set which allows direct access to remapping, but your typical desktop user isn't going to have software with this capability. The above pertains to IDE drives -- SCSI drives (and I think ESDI) drives are sometimes more flexible. Gordon S. Hlavenka www.crashelex.com nospam@crashelex.com Grammar and spelling flames welcome. Yes, that's really my email address. Don't change it. ------------------------------ From: Gail M. Hall Subject: Re: U.S. Backs Merging Net, Phone Numbers Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 17:46:04 -0500 Reply-To: gmhall@apk.net On Fri, 14 Feb 2003 00:54:17 -0500, in comp.dcom.telecom message , Monty Solomon wrote: > By Declan McCullagh > Staff Writer, CNET News.com > February 13, 2003, 6:15 PM PT > WASHINGTON--The Bush administration is lending its support to an > international proposal to map telephone numbers to Internet addresses. > In a recent internal letter, the Commerce Department recommended that > the United States participate in an emerging electronic numbering > system, known as ENUM, that will allow people to use one identifier > for many different purposes, including mobile phones, e-mail, instant > messaging and faxes. ENUM is designed to accelerate the convergence of > the telephone network and the Internet and is expected to offer a huge > boost to online telephony services. > http://news.com.com/2100-1033-984591.html Come on!! The text in the article did NOT say anything about the "US" *backing* such a plan. It says that someone inside the Commerce Department participate in such a plan. That is not the same thing at all. Such a plan would need to be discussed among various companies and consumer groups. I think there may be times and situations where having a "portable" number for voice, wireless, fax, and email would be good. But lots of people want more than one number, and some want "throw-away" email addresses. Such a plan would definitely need to be voluntary. I resent it when people use misleading headlines as was done on this post and article. The Bush administration is not the same as the US. It is only part of the US government. Further, the article says the letter with this proposal was an "internal" letter in the department. This means they haven't really decided if this is something they want to propose fully. Any staffer can write such a letter, but that doesn't mean the proposal will be approved by the department head or go on to be approved by Congress or the Administration. Gail in Ohio USA ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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. 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Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty 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 V22 #294 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Feb 16 15:26:56 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6/8.11.3) id h1GKQth09340; Sun, 16 Feb 2003 15:26:56 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 15:26:56 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302162026.h1GKQth09340@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #295 TELECOM Digest Sun, 16 Feb 2003 15:26:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 295 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson WorldCom Discontinues MCI Mail (John C. Fowler) Traffic Engineering: Reducing Peakedness (Nekele) Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes (Sam Etler) Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes (Clark Griswold) Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes (joe@obilivan) Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes (Dave Phelps) Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (Robert Bonomi) Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (Dave Phelps) Re: Software Won't Do It, was Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (Mark Atwood) Re: Software Won't Do It, was Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (Ron Bean) Re: Stupid Question: Name of Standard Telephone Number Format? (leelam) Re: Stupid Question: Name of Standard Telephone Number Format? (Pete Weiss) E.164 and Telephone Number Display Formats (Mark J Cuccia) Re: Hark, Hark, That Tweet Is No Lark. It's Illegal (John Higdon) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 10:58:41 PST From: John C. Fowler Subject: WorldCom Discontinues MCI Mail Remember MCI Mail? If you're one of those people who joined the Internet back when World Wide Web browsers came into being, probably not. MCI Mail started as one of many closed E-Mail systems that you dialed directly using a modem and a terminal program. In addition to E-Mail, you could also tell it to send the message you typed by paper mail, FAXes, telexes, and 1-hour courier delivery. They later added the ability to send E-Mail to CompuServe members, and finally, the Internet. You could also dial into their system with an 800 number, with no connect-time charges. Well, it's finally going away. Actually, with all the problems WorldCom has been having, I'm surprised they let it run this long. Here's the "disconnect" message they sent me: - - - - - - - - - - - - Dear MCI Mail Customer: This letter is to inform you that WorldCom is decommissioning the MCI Mail service, effective June 30, 2003. WorldCom will no longer provide this service to you beginning on that date. We are providing you with notice at this time so that you can migrate your users and traffic prior to this date. Existing MCI Mail service contracts may not be renewed, but WorldCom will continue to provide you with the MCI Mail service at the current contractual rate until June 30, 2003, or until your contract expires if the expiration date occurs before June 30, 2003. Move/Add/Change orders regarding the MCI Mail service will not be accepted after April 1, 2003, or before April 1, 2003 if your contract expires before April 1, 2003. WorldCom does not have a replacement for this service. As many of the applications associated with the service are complex and support large numbers or remote end users, it is important that you begin migration planning immediately. We sincerely thank you for your business. Sincerely, WorldCom Customer Service - - - - - - - - - - - - I don't have a "contract" with them, so I don't know if that means my MCI Mail address is only good until the end of the month, or until June 30, or somewhere in between. I've had an MCI Mail address since 1988, and I still use it to get issues of Telecom Digest off the mailing list. I plan to continue using it for that until they cut me off, at which point the Telecom Digests will start bouncing, which Pat treats like a Remove request. I'll start reading off of Usenet after that. Actually, Pat may be happy to see MCI Mail go. I know he has no love for MCI, and MCI Mail was really irritating a few years ago, before they got their Internet connection fully compliant, because when one MCI Mail address in a list bounced, they all bounced. Then Pat had to manually go in, figure out which MCI Mail address was bad, remove it, and resend the issues to the remaining MCI Mail addresses, before the rest of us started complaining about missing issues! But MCI Mail was a great convenience to those of us who needed 800-number access to E-Mail without paying a fortune, and the MCI Mail staff were friendly and helpful at getting problems fixed. I will miss it. John C. Fowler (Note replies to johnfpublic@yahoo.com are seldom read.) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: MCI Mail was, by and large, a good service. It was one of my (personal) first email services. I will miss it also. I had almost forgotten about that Sunday afternoon several years ago when I worked for several hours manually addressing some missing issues of the Digest because of a bug in the way (at that time) MCI Mail had in handling multiple mailings of a mailing list to MCI Mail customers. But they did have *good* tech support and customer service and once that problem was cured I had no more problems with them. By that time (early 1990's) I had quit using them for personal email and moved on to (I think) CHINET and Randy Suess. Now days I no longer fiddle with the mailing list -- John Levine insisted majordomo could handle it better -- and I reluctantly agreed following my brain aneurysm. Now days, with no mailing list to worry about, I can spend my time on other projects, such as thinking up left-wing-radical like things to print in the Digest. More on that topic in the next issue of the Digest, a bit later today. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rlnpr@yahoo.com (Nekele) Subject: Traffic Engineering: Reducing Peakedness Date: 16 Feb 2003 10:41:20 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Hello, What are some techniques for reducing the day-to-day peakedness of traffic on Alternate Final routes, so that the usage of those trunks is increased? Background: Traffic overflowing onto Alternate Final routes is typically very peaked (ref: Neal-Wilkinson model, Peakedness factor ~=3). That results in a lower efficiency for those Alternate Final routes (typically 20-22 CCS per trunk). I'd like to drive the usage of those Alternate Final trunks up towards 30-32 CCS. 1. What are some techniques for doing so? 2. Would decreasing the size of the Intermediate High Usage trunk groups, thereby increasing the amount of traffic on the Alternate Final trunk group help? 3. Would consolidating numerous Alternate Final trunk groups (each with varying traffic patterns) into fewer larger Alternate Final trunk groups help? -> the question being, does mixing more traffic into the Alternate Final trunk groups (#2 & #3 above) create smoother, less peaked traffic, so that Z is lower? Thanks, Nekele ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 21:34:19 CST From: Sam Etler Subject: Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes > Regarding my earlier question, it is my understanding that there is a > special code that could be dialed in the event that an exchange is > busy. For example, during the terrorist attacks I was told that people > were able to get a line into New York by using the priority code. I > would like to have this in the event that anything ever happened > again, that way I would know I could get a call in to my loved ones, > etc. You might have heard people talking about the 710 area code. 710 is reserved for "Government Use". As far as I and anyone else that I've talked with knows, the only number is 710-NCS-GETS. NCS = National Communications System, GETS = Government Emergency Telecommunications Service. Don't bother calling. You need a PIN. I don't know one so don't ask. Anyone who knows one won't give one out. Why? Because they're issued to specific agencies within the US Gov't (like FEMA and Homeland Security) to be given out to people for use during emergencies. Rest assured that if you sit there trying to wardial one, someone will notice. Not something I'd be interested in doing these days with all the talk of enemy combatants. Anyway, what happens is, the NCS folks have agreements with the major carriers to handle these calls very specially. They do all sorts of things in their networks to give the calls high priority. Some examples of this would be: - Setting high priority bits in SS7 messages. - Using normally sub-optimal routes through the IXC's network such as multiple satellite hops. - Cranking the call back to an intermediate switch or the originating switch to try another route. - Trying these routes over and over until an open circuit is found. This sort of stuff does not happen for a normal call. Again, as much as you might wish to speak to your loved ones during an emergency, various federal and state agencies are also interested in coordinating relief efforts. So really, don't bother calling. URL: http://gets.ncs.gov/ sam ------------------------------ From: Clark Wilhelm Griswold, Jr. <73115.1041@compuserve.com> Subject: Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 22:35:15 -0700 joe@obilivan.net wrote: > There is no such thing available to anyone in the public switched > network, not even for operators. The command and control folks have > dedicated circuits to communicate with each other, but those are no > different than dedicated circuits that some businesses have between > their offices. Those dedicated circuits are nailed up and remain > immune to an overflow condition so long as the physical plant is > intact. Not entirely true. A systems discussed here in the past which used to be called GETS - Government Emergency Telecommunications System, operates over the same circuits that the unwashed masses use, but permits priority access to certain users. ------------------------------ From: joe@obilivan.net Subject: Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 13:31:28 GMT Organization: Cox Communications Commander Riker wrote: > I am not sure if they would work on normal lines in my area, perhaps I > will have to grab an AUTOVON off of Ebay the next time I see one or I > supose I could make a tone generator and check it out my area first > before purchasing a phone, but I think AUTOVON was designed specificly > for the military lines. Those AUTOVON tones would mean nothing to your local switching office. Keep in mind folks what John Higdon said: any call beyond the local "must carry" area of your local exchange carrier, goes over the interexchange carrier (IXC) that *you* designate, either through presubscription or my using a company access code. And, the IXC doesn't even "see" your "Touch Tone" (DTMF) origination tones. ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 11:36:03 -0600 Organization: www.tippenring.com In article , bbg@easylinkgroup.zzn.com says: > Regarding my earlier question, it is my understanding that there is a > special code that could be dialed in the event that an exchange is > busy. For example, during the terrorist attacks I was told that people > were able to get a line into New York by using the priority code. I > would like to have this in the event that anything ever happened > again, that way I would know I could get a call in to my loved ones, > etc. If that code truly existed, what do you think would happen? Everyone would have it, therefore it would be completely ineffective. The code obviously would not make more circuits available, so the circuits would still be congested -- just with people that knew the priority code. Dave Phelps Phone Masters Ltd. deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Organization: Not Much From: bonomi@c-ns (Robert Bonomi) Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 08:14:07 GMT In article , Dave Phelps wrote: > In article , TELECOM Digest Editor > noted in response to no-spam@amadeus.kome.com: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: John, what about the NSA recommended >> seven passes through with erase/rewrite? On the Windows Wiper thing >> I use, it suggests 'three passes are good enough for most people, but >> using the [NSA recommended] seven passes is perfect.' PAT] > The NSA specs were a topic of discussion recently on the forensics > list at bugtraq. Apparently NSA doesn't have a spec at all, and simply > refers to the DoD spec of 7 reads/writes. The consensus seemed to be > that people claiming anything about the NSA spec don't know what > they're talking about. The only publicly _published_ spec is the DOD standard. As noted it is 'seven writes'. Published NSA security specifications do *not* address the issue. (Note: Scared the h*ll out of my then employer, when that big fat manilla envelope came, addressed to me, at the company, with the NSA return-address on it. They _really_ wanted to know what I'd been "up to".) The DOD spec is for handling devices that contained "classified" data, *only*. 'Secret', or above, and the device -never- leaves the secure area. When it is 'beyond use', the drive is disassembled, the media is sandblasted off the platters, the platters are then subjected to 'excessive' heat (I forget the actual temperature, but it is such that magnetic media would 'lose' its orientation, if it were still present), then, after cooling, the platters are chopped into sub-1/4" square sections, stirred, 'folded in' to a much larger mass of similar metal from other sources, and the entire mass is melted into large 'slugs', and goes off for recycling. The sandblasted-off media powder goes throug several analogous steps, before being shipped out. The more 'generations' back you go, the harder it is to recover _all_ the content. For intelligence/espionage purposes (whether it be 'national' or 'commercial'), being able to recover even relatively small, disjoint, chunks of data can have immense value. In the mid 90's, _commercial_ grade technology could go back 5 generations, with near 100% "user" data recovery (after use of embedded ECC information, that is). It's safe to assume that 'national' resources could do considerably better, and that *both* commercial and 'national' capabilities have improved =considerably= in the intervening time. In article , > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As part of a defragmentation procedure > on a hard drive, can we trust charts drawn by the software telling us > there are no 'bad blocks' or other bad or unusable sectors? Reason I > ask is I see nothing bad or unusable of the drive, thus no reason for > the software to re-route around it. Is that a good assumption or not? PAT] *NO* you -cannot- trust the defrag map. The typical hard-drive today does bad-sector re-mapping at a level _below_ that which the operating system can see. Practically nothing short of manufacturer hardware diagnostics testing can tell what the actual bad-sector information is. The drive on-board "smarts" present an 'artificial' view of the disk to the host system, that appears to be 'perfect' media. What the host system sees is "lies, lies, and more lies". Practically enough to be called "statistics'. The reported 'drive geometry' is probably entirely fictious, the sectors/track is a guaranteed work of fiction, 'heads', and 'cylinders' _may_ be close to accurate, but it's not the way to bet. 'cylinder/head/sector' identification of a given piece of data is absolute fiction. When a block is detected as 'failing' -- *usually* well before it _actually_ fails -- the content (and the block *address*) is "moved" to an available 'spare'. Hopefully, on the same track, if not, "somewhere" on the same cylinder, again, subject to availability. If all the spares on the cylinder are already in use, then one on a 'nearby' cylinder is 'borrowed' for the purpose. ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 11:16:17 -0600 Organization: www.tippenring.com In article , TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to paul@timmins.net: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As part of a defragmentation procedure > on a hard drive, can we trust charts drawn by the software telling us > there are no 'bad blocks' or other bad or unusable sectors? Reason I > ask is I see nothing bad or unusable of the drive, thus no reason for > the software to re-route around it. Is that a good assumption or not? PAT] No. The sector remapping is completely handled by the IDE controller. It is transparent to the PC. If your defrag or disk scan is showing errors on an IDE drive, it's time to replace it -- something serious is wrong. Dave Phelps Phone Masters Ltd. deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ From: Mark Atwood Subject: Re: Software Won't Do It, was Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Date: 16 Feb 2003 01:51:17 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Gordon S. Hlavenka writes: > As the price of DRAM comes down, we may see 40GB DRAM arrays with > battery backup being used as the main drive in a PC. Access times > relative to rotating magnetic storage would be mind-bogglingly fast, and > assured data destruction could be accomplished by simply pulling the > battery. The jack-booted thugs would have only a few milliseconds to > snarf your data. Actually, that turns out to not be the case either. If you pull the power on a DRAM, the jack booted thugs have hours to snarf the data by peeling and scanning the chips, and if they use some of that time to pull out the DIMMs and drop them into liquid nitrogen, they now have a couple weeks of to do it at their leisure. Mark Atwood | Well done is better than well said. mra@pobox.com | http://www.pobox.com/~mra ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 22:47:57 -0600 From: Ron Bean Subject: Re: Software Won't Do It, was Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Gordon S. Hlavenka writes: > Platters can be removed from the drive and analyzed by a number of > methods, some not even requiring rotation. Remapped areas can be > detected, and old data read from them (possibly with errors, but > probably accurately). Even if a drive platter is in pieces, it's > possible to read most of the data on whatever pieces are available. Here's my question: Suppose you can read N levels deep. If the drive is fragmented, each sector of a given file will be on a different "level". How do they piece it back together? Trial and error? (Not that it couldn't be done, if they have sufficient motivation -- it's similar to re-assembling a bunch of shredded paper documents, all mixed together, and that's a solvable problem. But I've never seen this aspect mentioned.) ------------------------------ From: leelam Subject: Re: Stupid Question: Name of Standard Telephone Number Format? Date: 15 Feb 2003 23:28:06 -0600 Organization: leelam Mark Atwood writes: > What is the name of the "standard" telephone number format. The plus > sign, followed by the country code, followed by the in-nation full > number with area code, with hyphens/spaces/dots for punctuation? Google for "ITU" and "E.123". Later, Len ------------------------------ From: Pete Weiss Subject: Re: Stupid Question: Name of Standard Telephone Number Format? Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 08:06:53 -0500 Organization: Penn State University -- Administrative Information Services On 15 Feb 2003 03:21:47 -0800, Mark Atwood wrote: > What is the name of the "standard" telephone number format. The plus > sign, followed by the country code, followed by the in-nation full > number with area code, with hyphens/spaces/dots for punctuation? ITU E.123 see also http://www.numberingplans.com/index.php3?goto=guide&topic=E123 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 21:20:11 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: E.164 and Telephone Number Display Formats 15 Feb 2003 03:21:47 -0800, Mark Atwood wrote: > What is the name of the "standard" telephone number format. The plus > sign, followed by the country code, followed by the in-nation full > number with area code, with hyphens/spaces/dots for punctuation? I think you must mean the "ITU Recommendation E.164" document, which reports the standards for numbering (and dialing) for worldwide/ international telephone services, including telephone country code assignments and such. BTW, I think that the E.164 "recommendation" prefers that all parsing of blocks of digits be *SPACES*. I do *NOT* like to use spaces, because if I'm typing a full worldwide number and it appears near the right margin of a line in an email or word processor program, part of the telephone number will "wrap" to the next line. I use *DASHES* (hyphens) to parse blocks of digits, so as to preserve the *entire* number in a single "line". Let the *full/entire* number "wordwrap" to the next line in such cases. But, the ITU E.164 recommendation is to display as: +1 311 555 2368 I have also sometimes seen people (mostly Europeans) display the parsing with "dots" between blocks of numbers. Even many Americans (US and Canadians) are beginning to display numbers as 1.311.555.2368 rather than 1-311-555-2368. Using 'dots' to parse out the number makes it look more like an IP address. Even ENUM IP addresses of telephone numbers have to "reformat" the telephone number in "reverse" order, parsing it (with dots) *digit by digit*. But I am more likely to think of 1.311.555.2368 as being an IP address rather than a telephone number. Also, many in the NANP have displayed the NPA (area code) in parenthesis. With overlays and mandatory ten-digit (or 1+ten-digit) dialing in force in more and more places, the NPA (area code), IMO should *NOT* be placed separately in parenthesis, as it *IS* (and actually always *HAS* been) an *INTEGRAL* part of the NANP-based (ten-digit) telephone number! i.e., many people/ads/etc. would indicate a number as: (311) 555-2368 I know that in the 1960s/70s/80s era, AT&T and telcos frequently listed full ten-digit NANP numbers by a space between the NPA code and the c.o.code, and a dash/hyphen separating the office code and line-number, (but NO parenthesis surrounding the area code) as: 311 555-2368 Again, the *space* these days could cause a word-wrap to "break" the telephone number onto two lines. Again, IMO the "best" way to display a number would be with hyphens/dashes to parse-out 'defined' blocks. In the NANP, many don't indicate the +1 country code, but MIGHT indicate a leading 1+ as the 'ten-digit' _OR_ 'toll indicator' access digit (depending on which part of the NANP you are from, as to what does the '1+' really "mean")... 311-555-2368 (which would be understood *within* the NANP as NANP number) 1-311-555-2368 (includes the 1+ type access prefix, but it could be taken by others from outside of the NANP to be the COUNTRY code for the NANP) +1-311-555-2368 (THIS is the most NON-ambiguous way, IMO, to display a NANP-based telephone number, for use both within and from outside of the NANP! And it "shouldn't" word-wrap if close to the right margin!) mjc ------------------------------ From: John Higdon Subject: Re: Hark, Hark, That Tweet Is No Lark. It's Illegal. Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 22:46:54 -0800 In article , Monty Solomon wrote: > By JESSE McKINLEY and NICHOLE M. CHRISTIAN > "I hate cellphones so much I don't even own a cellphone," said Mr. > Dennehy, who is coming to Broadway in April in "Long Day's Journey > into Night." "Wait and go to a phone booth. What's the problem?" Well, for one thing, try to find a payphone, much less a phone booth anymore. > The vote overrode a veto by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who had argued > that the law would be nearly impossible to enforce. The Council > conceded that point, but council members said they believed moviegoers > and patrons would use the new ban to police themselves and others. I can see it now: cellphone vigilantes. The patrons will grab the hapless cellphone call recipient, drag him from his seat, and stone him in the parking lot. Bring back the Guardian Angels! John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #295 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Feb 16 17:20:30 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6/8.11.3) id h1GMKUT14960; Sun, 16 Feb 2003 17:20:30 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 17:20:30 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302162220.h1GMKUT14960@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #296 TELECOM Digest Sun, 16 Feb 2003 17:20:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 296 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson The Efficient Way to Not See Each Other (Monty Solomon) Level 3, Bankrupt Genuity Set to Pull Plug on 250 Firms (Monty Solomon) Putting The Squeeze On Phone Service (Monty Solomon) Comcast Squeezes Programmers (Monty Solomon) So Long Fat Cell-Phone Subsidies? (Monty Solomon) Employers Seek Lower Liability in Negligent Cellphone Use (Monty Solomon) Re: Last Laugh! was Re: Reporter Name (John C. Fowler) Re: Last Laugh! was Re: Reporter Name (Shalom Septimus) Re: NYC Demonstration Against War in Iraq on Feb. 15, 2003 (Danny Burstein) Re: NYC Demonstration Against War in Iraq on Feb. 15, 2003 (Dave Phelps) Re: NYC Demonstration Against War in Iraq on Feb. 15, 2003 (Brian Vita) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 02:23:11 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Efficient Way to Not See Each Other The Efficient Way to Not See Each Other By LISA BELKIN I just finished the upgrade of our cellphones, the time every two years when I re-enlist with my provider in exchange for more minutes for less money than my previous plan. As part of the deal, I also get a new phone, one that does tricks that were not yet invented the last time I got a phone, and which I won't learn how to use until it's time to replace this one. So I am learning to send text messages. Not just because there was a free one-month trial, which there was, or because it's cool, which I'm told it is, but for the most practical of reasons. It might actually help me keep in touch with my husband. We have a very modern marriage. In other words, we never seem to see each other. A recent 10-day stretch went something like this: Bruce had a committee meeting on Tuesday night and a work dinner on Wednesday night; on Thursday, we actually ate at the same table; then he was on call on Friday and Saturday, and I left for a three-day overseas work trip on Sunday. Hours after I returned, he was off overnight for a business trip of his own. On Friday, we reintroduced ourselves. But just because we weren't together doesn't mean we weren't in touch. We knew each other's travel schedules, and dinner plans and the status of the children's homework, and when to give medicine to the dog. On weeks as bad as this one, and on more typical weeks which are only half as busy, we talk all the time -- by phone, yes, and, increas- ingly often, by e-mail. My theory is that e-mail is replacing phone conversation for working couples. It is particularly helpful when time zones get in the way. Bruce Richardson, a senior vice president of research for AMR Research in Boston, travels 80 percent of the time. His wife, Ellen Slaby, director of strategic communications for Centra Software, rarely calls him on his cellphone for fear of interrupting a speech or a meeting. But she knows he'll check his e-mail any chance he gets. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/16/business/yourmoney/16WCOL.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 02:37:19 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Level 3, Bankrupt Genuity Set to Pull Plug on 250 Firms Netway, others deemed too small By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff Netway, a small North Andover provider of telecommunications services, and more than 250 other companies could lose Internet service from bankrupt Genuity as soon as today because Genuity and its new parent have deemed them too small to serve. Genuity and its parent, Level 3, have threatened to cut off NetWay, which has 2,800 dial-up Internet customers and 1,000 Web-hosting customers, along with the Boston Stock Exchange, iBasis Inc. of Burlington, Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut, and GenRad, in Westford. In a Bankruptcy Court filing last week, lawyers for Genuity said, ''The agreements are not a source of potential value for the debtors' estates ... '' Apparently, at some companies Genuity was not the sole provider of telecom services, so they may not all lose their Net connections. But Douglass Smith, president of NetWay, said he fears his customers could have no service as soon as this morning. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/043/business/Level_3_bankrupt_Genuity_set_to_pull_plug_on_250_firms+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 02:48:15 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Putting The Squeeze On Phone Service Phyllis Berman NEW YORK - They were once more than 300 strong. Now the survivors of the consolidation in the competitive local exchange carrier business number perhaps 70. Ultimately, perhaps only four companies will live to battle the regional Bell operating companies for phone service in the U.S. How consolidation proceeds will be influenced, if not determined, by a decision due from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission sometime this month. The agency will rule on the methods regulators used to force the regional Bells to let rivals lease their networks at steep discounts under The Telecommunications Act of 1996. The idea, of course, was to let competitive carriers into the arena. Some local exchange carriers used the leasing option to enter a market, build a customer base, then build their own facilities. Others were simply players, reliant on the Bells' infrastructure. No one expects the FCC to give all to either side in the battle, either by eliminating the lease rule or letting it remain as it is. But to the extent it is modified, expect the players to hustle: Those that have relied on it must race to unload their only asset, their customer base. Those with their own facilities may become juicy targets. http://www.forbes.com/technology/2003/02/13/cz_pb_0210phones.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 02:49:31 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast Squeezes Programmers Penelope Patsuris NEW YORK - Comcast is finally making good on one of the promises of its merger with AT&T Broadband by pressing cable networks such as CNN and MTV for lower programming fees. Cable operators such as Comcast (nasdaq: CMCSA - news - people ) and peers AOL Time Warner (nyse: AOL - news - people ) and Cox Communications (nyse: COX - news - people ) are always lobbying to cut the fees they pay content providers such as The Walt Disney Co. (nyse: DIS - news - people ) and Viacom (nyse: VIA.B - news - people ) in order to carry their networks. But executives at Comcast confirm that they are specifically addressing the lower rates it should be entitled to given that it doubled its size to 21.4 million customers from 8.5 million when the AT&T deal closed on Nov. 18, 2002. Comcast is now the country's biggest cable company, reaching 30% of U.S. cable customers and 20% of households with TVs. Comcast declined to specify which companies it is in talks with. "We have no choice but to resolve issues, since with our [new] scale comes benefits," an executive there said. "There is a sea change with regard to the deal. There is a considerable amount of discussion going on." When the deal with AT&T Broadband was announced Comcast promised programming cost savings of between $250 million and $450 million within the first three years. Programming is one of cable's biggest expenses, accounting for an average of 45% to 50% of total video operating costs, according to Salomon Smith Barney analyst Niraj Gupta. "At perennial increases of 11% to 13%, programming costs have put a major dent in industry video margins in recent years," he said in a recent report. http://www.forbes.com/2003/02/14/cx_pp_0214comcast.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 02:51:26 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: So Long Fat Cell-Phone Subsidies? So Long Fat Cell-Phone Subsidies? Pressured wireless-service providers may have no choice but to cut back drastically on these popular but costly promotions. In January, gadget-lover Ezra Goldman scored a great deal on a cell phone. The angel investor from Chicago no longer needs to drag his mobile along when he walks from his computer to, say, the printer or the coffee room. Goldman's new Nokia 6310i, equipped with Bluetooth technology, allows for wireless communications between his headset and the phone, which now remains by his computer. Better yet, Goldman got the cutting-edge device, which normally retails at AT&T Wireless for $139.99, for free. He half expected a good deal since the latest and greatest phones sell for little nowadays. Indeed, wireless carriers have been doubling for Santa Claus. During Christmas, the nation's sixth-largest wireless-service provider, T-Mobile, sold Sony-Ericsson's T300 phones, with a color screen and an embedded camera, for $99 -- probably at half its actual cost. And in December, the largest U.S. mobile-service provider, Verizon Wireless, sold Motorola's color-screen T720 flip phone for $149 with a two-year contract. It originally sold for $299, but consumers wound up paying just $49 after a $100 manufacturer's rebate. These bargains are turning into a costly headache for service providers, which subsidize the bulk of each phone's cost. From 2001 to 2002, wireless carriers' cell-phone subsidies in the U.S. rose 18%, from $3.8 billion to $4.5 billion, estimates Martin Dunsby, a vice-president at wireless consultancy InCode Telecom in La Jolla, Calif. Handset subsidies are actually the largest single cost -- about one-third of the $350 carriers spend on average -- to sign up each new subscriber. That expense will likely rise again this year because the newest phones, many of which had debuted last holiday season, have higher price tags, says Dunsby. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2003/tc20030213_5063_tc024.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 02:55:33 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Employers Seek Lower Liability in Negligent Cellphone Use By John P. Mello Jr., Globe Correspondent Driving while gabbing on a cellphone may not only be a road hazard but a business one, too. Several court cases have left employers edgy about their workers' use of cellphones while operating a motor vehicle and have induced some to adopt tougher policies regarding the use of the popular devices on the job. In 1999, Salomon Smith Barney paid $500,000 to the family of a motorcyclist who was struck and killed when one of its employees ran a red light while chatting on his personal cellphone on the way to a personal appointment after business hours. In 2001, Hawaii paid $1.5 million to a pedestrian who sustained a permanent brain injury after being struck by a car driven by a state employee talking on a cellphone on her way to work. In March 2000, a $30 million lawsuit was filed against a Virginia law firm when the car one of its associates was driving hit and killed a 15-year-old girl while the associate was on a business call. A trial has been scheduled for September. Although no cases similar to these have appeared in Massachusetts yet, legal specialists say some area companies are taking proactive measures to protect themselves from potential mishaps. http://bostonworks.boston.com/globe/articles/021603_cell.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 10:54:38 PST From: John C. Fowler Subject: Re: Last Laugh! was Re: Reporter Name John David Galt wrote in message news:: >>>> By JENNIFER 8. LEE > What is "8." short for? You know, we could solve yet another mystery if it turned out that "8." is short for "867-5309"! John C. Fowler (Note replies to johnfpublic@yahoo.com are seldom read.) ------------------------------ From: Shalom Septimus Subject: Re: Last Laugh! was Re: Reporter Name Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 01:13:08 -0500 Reply-To: druggist@pobox.com On Fri, 14 Feb 2003 04:05:08 -0500, Gail M. Hall wrote: > Well, I guess maybe I have a dirty mind or something. I took the "8" to > mean "ate." Jennifer ate Lee. The first thing I thought of, when I saw the original article, was of a recording I saw on Glen Sage's cylinder recordings page, www.tinfoil.com, sung by a gentleman named John Yorke AtLee. ObTelecom: http://stream.realimpact.net/?file=realimpact/soundportraits/yiddish/history/cohen_phone.rm&mode=compact This is a recording entitled "Cohen On The Telephone", recorded July 5th, 1913 by one Joe Hayman, and was the first comedy record to be awarded a gold record (retroactively) for one million units sold. I've always felt that this sound clip ought to be on the Telecom Digest home page, so people could get something of the experience of what it was like trying to talk on the phone before they came out with the new candlestick phones in 1921. (Unfortunately, they reproduced it at 78rpm, whereas the original Columbia "78s" were actually recorded at 80rpm, so it sounds a bit "draggy". I have an MP3 of this reproduced at the correct speed if you (Pat) want it; and before someone gets on my case about copyright violation, I also own a copy of the original 80rpm disc.) Shalom use Reply-To: From is a spam-trap ------------------------------ From: danny burstein Subject: Re: NYC Demonstration Against War in Iraq on Feb. 15, 2003 Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 03:58:47 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Ronda Hauben writes: > Report from the NYC anti war demonstration February 15, 2003 [ snip of political polemic] > Today's marches around the world demonstrate the power of the Netizens. > There is a need for global communication to be utilized to solve the > enormous problems in our modern world. > What is a Netizen? A Netizen, namely someone with free and unfettered access to worldwide communications and views, is something very rare and unique, maybe even non existent, in Iraq, North Korea, and many, many, other countries. (Including, to be sure, many the US is currently allied with, and many more the US was assisting). In far too much of the world if you disagree with the people in charge you are jailed. Or worse. And the same for your family. Many parts of the world are really quite ugly. And romanticizing them, while fun from a distance, doesn't change that fact. One of the great things about modern communications is that we in the (relatively, admittedly very far from perfect, and arguably getting worse) free parts of the world can, if we choose to look, see what's going on in these other places. It helps if you take off the rose colored glasses. Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Two comments ... you say > in much of the world if you disagree with the people in charge you > can be jailed. You don't think that happens in the United States? If that's the way you feel, then YOU need to take off the rose-colored glasses. The United States is notorious for locking up people they dislike. I mean, look at those boat people in Atlanta who have been in the federal prison for a couple years, and the Muslim people who are locked up in prisons all over the country since 9/11/01. The boat people broke no laws here in the USA, but they are still in prison. The Muslim people broke no laws, or very minor ones and are still being held in prison. The Attorney General is trying to convince the court (and rather successfully at that) that they should not even be allowed an attorney to represent them on some bogus claims of national security. Then you say, > we in the (relatively, admittedly far from perfect and argueably > getting worse) free parts of the world ... What is there to argue about on that point? Since 9/11/01 the whole world has become a much more difficult place to live. I *refuse* to fly anywhere anymore. I do not have the patience to stand in long lines at an airport and have my luggage dumped out all over the floor while they look to see if possibly I have a fingernail clipper hidden away. Nor do I feel like having my whole life history printed on demand by airport workers looking to find a 'terrorist'. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: NYC Demonstration against War in Iraq on Feb. 15, 2003 Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 12:01:55 -0600 Organization: www.tippenring.com In article , TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to ronda@panix.com: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you, Ronda, for a report on the > anti-war struggle in New York earlier today. I wish -- just wish -- > Dubya would listen to the people on this matter, but that is very unlikely > as you noted on the streets today. Dubya is a very sick man (mentally) > and his delusions of grandeur have gotten us to the brink of war. PAT] > lol. I can't even tell what Ronda is trying to promote. Is she complaining that the 3rd street people couldn't see the 1st street people? Those damn NYC politicians put the buildings in the way, just to block their view. Maybe she is complaining about people starting and propogating rumors about injured standers (since they weren't marching, they must have been standing) at 3rd and Lexington. Of course it's not newsworthy that the injured standers threatened or attacked the police officers involved is it? Obviously Ronda doesn't understand the precarious position between a stand/sit/march/whatever and an out of control mob -- and I would not want to be a cop trying to maintain that balance. The march was a victory? Ok, who won? The "...vision of the Internet pioneers and users..." is really that "We don't want war in Iraq. We don't want war in North Korea or Iran. We don't want war against the Palestinians."?!? Where do people come up with this stuff??? Or is she complaining about all the netizens that died during the internet revolution? How do you estimate "between 70,000 and one million [people]." And Pat, why do you think the anti-war group is in the majority anyway? Whatever gave you that idea? Are you qualified to declare Dubya a lunatic? You don't think Hussein is? We are on the brink of war because we are tired of this guy threatening his neighbors, whom we will have to defend anyway when he decides to attack them -- but at a greater loss of life than if we finish him off now. Dave Phelps Phone Masters Ltd. deadspam=tippenring [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I will let Ronda defend herself. I will only address your final paragraph. If the anti-war group is not in the majority, then is the pro-war group in the majority? Look what tragic mistake Vietnam was ... I knew some guys who were killed in that fiasco. Regards who is a lunatic and who is not one, yes, I agree that Mr. Sodomy Insane is nuts also. Dubya does not have a majority or some kind of mandate on lunacy. It really frightens me that mentally ill people like Dubya and/or Hussein are in power. But what gives you the right to 'finish off' someone like Mr. Hussein because you feel he is wrong? That's the whole trouble in the USA: *we* in our arrogance will decide who stands for freedom; *we* in our arrogance will decide who should have nuclear weapons in their defense; *we* in our arrogance will make all these choices for the rest of the world. Look at a month ago when Hussein asked (via a third party) of Dubya "why does North Korea get to have nuclear warheads but I don't?" Personally, Dave, I think it would be *so funny* (actually not a laughing matter) if the North Koreans snuck up on us and dropped a bomb on us while Dubya and his nemesis Sodomy Insane were continuing their petty quarrel. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Brian Vita Subject: Re: NYC Demonstration Against War in Iraq Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 09:40:29 -0500 Pat, I read Telcom Digest to keep up to date on Telcom related issues, not to read this left wing propaganda crap. As far as I knew, Telcom issues were somewhat apolitical and more engineering based. I really don't understand what the bug up this woman's ass about war or your dislike of our current president has to do with the stated function of this digest I had an intense dislike for our former president yet I somehow managed to keep my opinions out of technical related papers. On a side note, its interesting to watch how this demonstration was reported. CNN made it sound huge. Fox made it sound insignificant. I haven't had a chance to check out the other media. If we cannot stay on our stated subject, I don't have time to waste reading other peoples incoherant political ramblings. Brian T. Vita, President Cinema Service & Supply, Inc. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Left Wing Crap:] For someone who does not like to read 'left wing crap' would you mind sharing with me why you felt it necessary to quote her *entire message including all the headers* (and leave it up to me to edit out) in your reply? I had to lean on my 'delete' key for a couple minutes to zap a hundred plus lines out of the text. Regards your side note, let's discuss how crowd measurements are taken. Fox News, which is a very right wing source, could be expected to play it down. CNN, which is more liberal in its reporting, of course said the crowd was huge. It all depends on what is the topic of a rally/protest/march and who is reporting it what the crowd size will be. Let's face it, if people in this country wanted mostly accurate, truthful and honest reporting, instead of 'right wing radical' reporting or 'left wing crap' then the Christian Science Monitor would have a very large readership. I'll actually form *my opinion* on the anti-war march/demonstration/standstill on Lexington Avenue when my copy of the Monitor for Monday arrives in the Tuesday mail. Its not that the Monitor does not have a few axes to grind also at times. They do, but then everyone has 'blind spots' in some places. Overall, however, it is really a wonderful newspaper and highly accurate and honest in its reporting. To read it for free on line, with no privacy invading cookies, no registration requirements, etc then look at http://csmonitor.com every day. And I am not just saying that because in the past they bought things from me for publication, thus keeping me in beer and cigarette money. By the way, the Monitor in its kind way, has implied that with Dubya, things may not all be as they seem to his American supporters. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #296 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Feb 17 21:07:44 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6/8.11.3) id h1I27hf17101; Mon, 17 Feb 2003 21:07:44 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 21:07:44 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302180207.h1I27hf17101@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #297 TELECOM Digest Mon, 17 Feb 2003 21:07:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 297 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: NYC Demonstration against War in Iraq on Feb. 15, 2003 (Adam Miller) Re: NYC Demonstration against War in Iraq on Feb. 15, 2003 (Dave Phelps) Re: NYC Demonstration against War in Iraq on Feb. 15, 2003 (Rich Campbell) Re: E.164 and Telephone Number Display Formats (Gary Novosielski) Re: E.164 and Telephone Number Display Formats (Rich Greenberg) Re: E.164 and Telephone Number Display Formats (Joseph) Re: E.164 and Telephone Number Display Formats (Dave Close) Re: WorldCom Discontinues MCI Mail (Kenneth P. Stox) Re: WorldCom Discontinues MCI Mail (OneNetNut) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Adam Miller Subject: Re: NYC Demonstration Against War in Iraq Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 20:20:38 -0500 > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Left Wing Crap:] For someone who does not > like to read 'left wing crap' would you mind sharing with me why you > felt it necessary to quote her *entire message including all the > headers* (and leave it up to me to edit out) in your reply? I had to > lean on my 'delete' key for a couple minutes to zap a hundred plus > lines out of the text. > Regards your side note, let's discuss how crowd measurements are > taken. Fox News, which is a very right wing source, could be expected > to play it down. I'm sorry but you have to avoid watching Fox News altogether to claim that it is "a very right wing source." Fox News's Alan Colmes is very right wing? Greta van Susteren is very right wing? Geraldo Riviera? Liberals claim the O'Reilly is convervative, and conservatives attack him for being ultra-liberal. Fox News dares to allow both liberal AND conservative viewpoints on its network. Sure next to liberal CNN (although it has turned down its left wing side half a notch since Turner isn't in charge, but this is still pretty slight) Fox News might appear to be conservatiive, much like taking a shower with 80 degree water might feel like fire hot after jumping in the ocean in January. It's good to have a news channel that allows both views. It would be nice if we had a true conservative news channel to counter CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, and PBS. So fine a few thousand people marched and expressed their anti-war viewpoint which is exactly what Saddam wants. Good for them. In the US about 250 Million did not. "Dubya is a very sick man (mentally) and his delusions of grandeur have gotten us to the brink of war" -Pat It is also noted that you need to fall back to childish ad hominem personal attacks on the President. When you don't have an actual logical argument that can be supported, I suppose one needs to resort to something. You didn't say boo when former President initiated the Operation Desert Fox attacks on Iraq or when his war crimes were committed in former Yugoslavia. Now the UN made an agreement with Hussein in 1991, and Hussein has violated every point of this agreement. The ONLY reason why inspectors are in Iraq right now is because of Mr. Bush and the threat of force. And the UN passed resolution # 1441 last fall which lists specific obligations that Iraq has to meet and it is has not. The mistake that Mr. Bush is making is that Hussein should have been disarmed a while ago. Appeasement has *never* worked with tyrants for long throughout world history. When most of Europe ignored Hitler's Germany for not following its international agreeements and turned its nose the other way as it violated the Treaty of Versailles by building its military, world devastation was the result. "Those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Dave Phelps wrote: > Look at a month ago when Hussein asked (via a third party) of Dubya > "why does North Korea get to have nuclear warheads but I don't?" Only somebody who is not paying attention or expects his/her audience has not been paying attention can ask that question with a straight face. And here is why. Iraq has numerous resolutions with the UN, including the treaty that ended the Gulf War and the recent resolution # 1441. North Korea does not. We don't want to see Iraq become North Korea. History has shown what happens when countries are permitted to violate the treaties they sign at the end of a first war. North Korea really is only seeking to leverage bargaining power and obtain energy and food. Of course the food that U.S.A. has sent N Korea has been repackaged and diverted to the military army (labeled as being provided by Mr. Il) while the civilians starve. > Personally, Dave, I think it would be *so funny* (actually not a > laughing matter) if the North Koreans snuck up on us and dropped a > bomb on us while Dubya and his nemesis Sodomy Insane were continuing > their petty quarrel. PAT] 67% of Americans this weekend now favor military action on Iraq. So much for the protesters. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Left-Wing Crap: Since all True Wisdom and Knowledge is detirmined by majority rule, I guess we can't go wrong with your decision. But you know what they say about a million flys don't you. Well, a million flys can't be wrong either, and they all eat sh--. Have you tried it lately? By the way, I avoid all TV news like a plague. Most of my news comes from the Christian Science Monitor, the Independence Reporter and the computer. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: NYC Demonstration against War in Iraq on Feb. 15, 2003 Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 17:07:19 -0600 Organization: www.tippenring.com See inline... TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to an article by tippenring@deadspam.com: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I will let Ronda defend herself. I > will only address your final paragraph. If the anti-war group is not > in the majority, then is the pro-war group in the majority? Out of the people that have an opinion, I feel that the pro-war folks are in the majority. I will qualify that by saying that I haven't seen poll numbers either way. > Look what tragic mistake Vietnam was ... I knew some guys who were > killed in that fiasco. Yes indeed. Vietnam was a fiasco. I would certainly hope we learned our lesson (and a hard lesson it was) with Vietnam. From the looks of the Persian Gulf war, it would appear to me that we don't intend to make the same mistake again. Let me make a counterpoint to mentioning the Vietnam conflict. Look at what a mistake it was in the 1930's to not remove Hitler when we had the chance. There are many, many similarities between the 1930's Hitler and the 2000's Saddam Hussein. > Regards who is a lunatic and who is not one, yes, I agree > that Mr. Sodomy Insane is nuts also. Dubya does not have a majority or > some kind of mandate on lunacy. It really frightens me that mentally > ill people like Dubya and/or Hussein are in power. But what gives you > the right to 'finish off' someone like Mr. Hussein because you feel he > is wrong? That's the whole trouble in the USA: *we* in our arrogance > will decide who stands for freedom; *we* in our arrogance will decide > who should have nuclear weapons in their defense; *we* in our arrogance > will make all these choices for the rest of the world. The reason we are preparing for was is due to the fact that Hitler burned everyone in the 1930's, when he promised he wasn't making anything, but obviously he was. It was known that he was 'secretly' making weapons, but overlooked because it was politically expedient. We reasonably know what Hussein intends to do with chem/bio weapons. The question is this: Should we go in now and risk some lives, or should we go in later after he has attacked his neighbors, and risk a lot more lives? It isn't arrogance. All Hussein had to do was abide by the contracts he agreed to in 1991. That's it. No other strings attached. It isn't arrogance -- it is enforcement of a contract. > Look at a month ago when Hussein asked (via a third party) of Dubya > "why does North Korea get to have nuclear warheads but I don't?" North Korea hasn't had the benefit of 12 years of lying to the UN yet. I think our North Korea policy is screwed though, since their promise of not developing nuclear weapons in exchange for primarily oil from the US has obviously been breached. Yet we are still sending them oil and whatnot. That's BS. We need to cut off NK immediately. I'm sure the administration is thinking we can use it to our advantage to threaten them. My personal opinion is that we cut them off right away, and if they need something from us, they can come begging. > Personally, Dave, I think it would be *so funny* (actually not a > laughing matter) if the North Koreans snuck up on us and dropped a > bomb on us while Dubya and his nemesis Sodomy Insane were continuing > their petty quarrel. PAT] I do understand what you are saying. However, NK is *not* an immediate threat to us. We are reasonably comfortable with their government, and relations, although strained, are much more reasonable than that with Iraq. Dave Phelps Phone Masters Ltd. deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ From: Rich Campbell Subject: Re: NYC Demonstration against War in Iraq on Feb. 15, 2003 Organization: AT&T Broadband Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 21:44:18 GMT Dave Phelps wrote in message news:telecom22.296.10@telecom-digest.org: > In article , TELECOM Digest Editor > noted in response to ronda@panix.com: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you, Ronda, for a report on the >> anti-war struggle in New York earlier today. I wish -- just wish -- >> Dubya would listen to the people on this matter, but that is very unlikely >> as you noted on the streets today. Dubya is a very sick man (mentally) >> and his delusions of grandeur have gotten us to the brink of war. PAT] > lol. I can't even tell what Ronda is trying to promote. Is she > complaining that the 3rd street people couldn't see the 1st street > people? Those damn NYC politicians put the buildings in the way, just to > block their view. > Maybe she is complaining about people starting and propogating rumors > about injured standers (since they weren't marching, they must have been > standing) at 3rd and Lexington. Of course it's not newsworthy that the > injured standers threatened or attacked the police officers involved is > it? Obviously Ronda doesn't understand the precarious position between a > stand/sit/march/whatever and an out of control mob -- and I would not want > to be a cop trying to maintain that balance. > The march was a victory? Ok, who won? > The "...vision of the Internet pioneers and users..." is really that "We > don't want war in Iraq. We don't want war in North Korea or Iran. We > don't want war against the Palestinians."?!? Where do people come up > with this stuff??? > Or is she complaining about all the netizens that died during the > internet revolution? > How do you estimate "between 70,000 and one million [people]." > And Pat, why do you think the anti-war group is in the majority anyway? > Whatever gave you that idea? Are you qualified to declare Dubya a > lunatic? You don't think Hussein is? We are on the brink of war because > we are tired of this guy threatening his neighbors, whom we will have to > defend anyway when he decides to attack them -- but at a greater loss of > life than if we finish him off now. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I will let Ronda defend herself. I > will only address your final paragraph. If the anti-war group is not > in the majority, then is the pro-war group in the majority? Look what > tragic mistake Vietnam was ... I knew some guys who were killed in > that fiasco. Regards who is a lunatic and who is not one, yes, I agree > that Mr. Sodomy Insane is nuts also. Dubya does not have a majority or > some kind of mandate on lunacy. It really frightens me that mentally > ill people like Dubya and/or Hussein are in power. But what gives you > the right to 'finish off' someone like Mr. Hussein because you feel he > is wrong? That's the whole trouble in the USA: *we* in our arrogance > will decide who stands for freedom; *we* in our arrogance will decide > who should have nuclear weapons in their defense; *we* in our arrogance > will make all these choices for the rest of the world. Look at a month > ago when Hussein asked (via a third party) of Dubya "why does North > Korea get to have nuclear warheads but I don't?" Personally, Dave, I > think it would be *so funny* (actually not a laughing matter) if the > North Koreans snuck up on us and dropped a bomb on us while Dubya and > his nemesis Sodomy Insane were continuing their petty quarrel. PAT] Dave that require them to use logic and thinking. I didn't even see an anti-war movement. All I saw was a bunch of losers complaining about everything. If your going to be anti-war how can you be anti-this and that? I thought it was more about anti America than anything else. WTF does global warming have to do about war? Geesh ... get a clue. Rich ------------------------------ From: Gary Novosielski Subject: Re: E.164 and Telephone Number Display Formats Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 16:07:17 GMT Mark J Cuccia wrote in message news:telecom22.295.13@telecom-digest.org: > +1-311-555-2368 (THIS is the most NON-ambiguous way, IMO, to display a > NANP-based telephone number, for use both within and from outside of the > NANP! And it "shouldn't" word-wrap if close to the right margin!) I usually write my numbers in the form +1.311.555.2368, for exactly the reasons Mark specified. The leading + sign (which is a part of the ITU recommendations, and should come before the country code, which coincidentally happens to be 1 in the NANP area) helps to distinguish what might otherwise look like an IP address. It is true that almost everyone ignores the recommendation to use spaces to format the number, however. Most common alternatives are the hyphen (dash) or the decimal point (dot). I think that the reason many people use the dot in preference to the dash, to parse groups of numbers (apart from wanting to appear euro-trendy) is Mark's observation about word-wrapping of phone numbers near the right margin. However, unlike his, my experience has been that in most common word-processing programs, a number with dashes (hyphens) WILL be broken at the right margin and continued on the next line, unless you go to the trouble of designating the dash as a "non-breaking" hyphen, which usually involves a special keystroke combination that I can never remember. The telephone number formatted with dots is less likely to be "hyphenated" by the software, and more likely to be carried over to the next line as an intact whole. Gary ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: E.164 and Telephone Number Display Formats Date: 17 Feb 2003 13:10:45 -0500 Organization: Organized? Me? In article , Mark J Cuccia wrote: > BTW, I think that the E.164 "recommendation" prefers that all > parsing of blocks of digits be *SPACES*. I do *NOT* like to use > spaces, because if I'm typing a full worldwide number and it appears > near the right margin of a line in an email or word processor > program, part of the telephone number will "wrap" to the next > line. I use *DASHES* (hyphens) to parse blocks of digits, so as to > preserve the *entire* number in a single "line". Let the > >*full/entire* number "wordwrap" to the next line in such cases. Most word manglers have a character that prints as a space but acts as a non-space for line breaks. In Word Perfect, its called "Hard Space" and is entered as CNTRL+Space. In Word, its a nonbreaking space and is entered as CNTRL+Shift+Space. Rich Greenberg Work: Rich.Greenberg atsign worldspan.com +1 770-563-6656 N6LRT Marietta, GA, USA Play: richgr atsign panix.com +1 770-321-6507 Eastern time zone. I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val(Chinook,CGC,TT), Red & Shasta(Husky,(RIP)) Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: E.164 and Telephone Number Display Formats Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 17:42:21 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: joeofseattle@yahoo.com On Sat, 15 Feb 2003 21:20:11 CST, Mark J Cuccia wrote: > Also, many in the NANP have displayed the NPA (area code) in > parenthesis. With overlays and mandatory ten-digit (or 1+ten-digit) > dialing in force in more and more places, the NPA (area code), IMO > should *NOT* be placed separately in parenthesis, as it *IS* (and > actually always *HAS* been) an *INTEGRAL* part of the NANP-based > (ten-digit) telephone number! i.e., many people/ads/etc. would > indicate a number as: (311) 555-2368 You may not care for it, but it's pretty much standard that when you get a form and they want you to indicate your telephone number they usuall have the form ( ) - . It's become standard whether we care for the standard or not. As far as not using spaces and using a hyphen (-) that won't necessarily save you from line wrapping either. Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group ------------------------------ From: dave@compata.com (Dave Close) Subject: Re: E.164 and Telephone Number Display Formats Organization: Compata, Costa Mesa, California Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 21:08:05 -0800 Mark J Cuccia writes: > BTW, I think that the E.164 "recommendation" prefers that all parsing of > blocks of digits be *SPACES*. I do *NOT* like to use spaces, because if > I'm typing a full worldwide number and it appears near the right margin of > a line in an email or word processor program, part of the telephone number > will "wrap" to the next line. I use *DASHES* (hyphens) to parse blocks of > digits, so as to preserve the *entire* number in a single "line". Let the > *full/entire* number "wordwrap" to the next line in such cases. Most word processing programs will also break a line on a hyphen, just as if it were in the middle of a compound word. But in most WP programs, you can enter a mandatory or hard space instead of just hitting the space bar. A hard space looks the same but doesn't allow line breaks. Some WP programs also have a hard hyphen, but that is less common. All this means that line breaks should not be a reason to choose a separator. Any separator can either break a line or not, depending on how you use your programs. Contrary to Mark, I try to follow the ITU recommendation exactly, as in my signature below. I've not found the practice to be at all inconvenient. Mark correctly cites many of the strange permutations which have been and are used in North America. I think it would be great if, instead of promoting his own permutation and continuing the lack of standardization, Mark could stick with E.164. The usage which drives me crazy is when someone mixes styles. Many companies list their world-wide offices in an ad or Web page, but don't follow a single style for the numbers. For North American numbers, they typically omit the country code and put the NPA in parentheses; for many other countries, they put the country code in parentheses, but sometimes they omit it completely. Anyone reading such an ad in a non-North American country would think the NANP used many country codes. Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA dave@compata.com +1 714 434 7359 dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu "Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use." ------------------------------ From: Kenneth P. Stox Subject: Re: WorldCom Discontinues MCI Mail Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 20:12:37 -0600 Organization: Imaqginary Landscape, LLC. Reply-To: stox@imagescape.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: MCI Mail was, by and large, a good > service. It was one of my (personal) first email services. I will miss > it also. I had almost forgotten about that Sunday afternoon several > years ago when I worked for several hours manually addressing some > missing issues of the Digest because of a bug in the way (at that > time) MCI Mail had in handling multiple mailings of a mailing list to > MCI Mail customers. But they did have *good* tech support and customer > service and once that problem was cured I had no more problems with > them. By that time (early 1990's) I had quit using them for personal > email and moved on to (I think) CHINET and Randy Suess. Now days I no > longer fiddle with the mailing list -- John Levine insisted majordomo > could handle it better -- and I reluctantly agreed following my brain > aneurysm. Now days, with no mailing list to worry about, I can spend > my time on other projects, such as thinking up left-wing-radical like > things to print in the Digest. More on that topic in the next issue of > the Digest, a bit later today. PAT] Interesting that you mentioned CHINET. It is the 25th anniversary of the beginning of CBBS, the predecesor to CHINET. Amazing how time flies, isn't it? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes is is number 25 for CBBS. The first BBS's anywhere in the world as far as I know started mostly in Chicago. CBBS was 1978 as you noted; ABBS for Apple 2, and 2E started in 1979 and he had the phone number 312-973-ABBS. Tandy started their BBS product about the same time for Tandy Model 1 computers. That was 1979 also. Although Bill Blue lives in southern California, his BBS software (called PMS for 'People's Message System') had three BBS's running in Chicago about the same time. So although Randy Seuss was *first* with the concept of a BBS and started his first in 1978, there was a *big rush* immediatly following him, and Apple, Radio Shack, Commodore, OSI and a few others had their versions of the same concept on the market in 1979. Bill Blue's PMS was done on an Apple also, using 'Applesoft' which was the BASIC thing that Microsoft did specifically for Apple. I think all the early BBS's were done in BASIC. I was involved with three BBS's in those days: my own was on an OSI C-1-P and later (1982-86) on an Apple 2+. In 1980-81 I was the volunteer sysop (sysadmin) for the BBS maintained by the Chicago Public Library. It was also a People's Message System board, on an Apple 2+. So although Randy gets his 25th anniversary this year, the rest of us get ours next year. PAT] ------------------------------ From: OneNetNut Subject: Re: WorldCom Discontinues MCI Mail Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 23:51:35 -0600 Really not news, to be honest. And its not related to WorldCom's Chapter 11 filing. I worked there over 2 years ago and we were going to shut it down back in 2001. The reason it was left running was because a few (not many) large customers were using it for email service as opposed to using the Internet. (Low risk of viruses.) Simple law of supply and demand and product life cycle management. The demand started drying up on this service back in 1999. Should have been discontinued back in 2001 to be honest. Definitely had a good run as a product, but its time as come. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #297 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Feb 17 21:51:37 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6/8.11.3) id h1I2pb620184; Mon, 17 Feb 2003 21:51:37 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 21:51:37 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302180251.h1I2pb620184@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #298 TELECOM Digest Mon, 17 Feb 2003 21:51:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 298 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (Mark Atwood) Re: Software Won't Do It, was Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (temp7@thewolfden) Re: Software Won't Do It, was Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (dold@17.usenet.us) Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes (joe@obilivan) Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes (S. Septimus) Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes (Command Riker) Autovon Dialpad and Precedence Codes (was Re: Code to Dial (G Novosielski) Re: Software Won't Do It, was Re: Erasing a Hard Drive (tonypo1@cox.net) Re: Will Modifying Phone Service Break Third-Party DSL? (Steve Michelson) Re: Ways to Connect Voice IDFs With Fiber? (Roger Tall) Advice Needed - Cell Service in Beijing, China (usenetspamtrap+cdt@newsguy) Re: Last Laugh! was Re: Reporter Name (Gail M. Hall) Re: Last Laugh! was Re: Reporter Name (Gary Novosielski) Re: Amusing Typos (David O'Heare) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mark Atwood Subject: Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Date: 16 Feb 2003 18:14:14 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com bonomi@c-ns (Robert Bonomi) writes: > The DOD spec is for handling devices that contained "classified" data, > *only*. 'Secret', or above, and the device -never- leaves the secure > area. When it is 'beyond use', the drive is [snip description] Not quite entirely true, as that would require a drive destruction kit at every secure facility at every military contractor's site everywhere. Not practical, as it is my experience that it's not that unusual for the contractors to keep the classified computing confined to as few workstations as possible, in as small a room as possible. When it's time to decommission the drives, the more common thing to have happen is have a classified courier come pick them up and take them Someplace Else. As soon as the courier signed for them, it was no longer the contractor's problem, the gov't handled the the physical destruction, and the inventory updates. I always just assumed that the NSA/DIA/etc either had regional destruction facilities, or had a contractor running it under their supervision. Also, it's very common for the disk drives on such workstations to be in easily removable storage packs. That way you could power down the workstation, pull the drives and put them in the safe, and the workstation is now no longer classified. Also, it's not unusual for the contractor to arrange for the gov't to actually own the drives. This makes doing the accounting easier both for the gov't mandated classified inventory management, and also for arranging for and paying for their destruction. One of the at-long-last cost saving measures implemented in the US classified computing world in, if I recall correctly, the early 90s, was a change in the rules. When an S or above project was ended, or when some storage system was outgrown, the drives could be "recycled", i.e. run thru the classified-data multiple overwrite process, and then reused on another project that was classified at the same or higher level. This was not that big a deal for things like a thousand dollar 9 gig disk. It was a VERY big deal for things like ten million dollar supercomputer storage arrays. Mark Atwood | Well done is better than well said. mra@pobox.com | http://www.pobox.com/~mra ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 21:10:03 -0600 From: temp7@thewolfden.org Subject: Re: Software Won't Do It, was Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Ron Bean wrote: > Gordon S. Hlavenka writes: >> Platters can be removed from the drive and analyzed by a number of >> methods, some not even requiring rotation. Remapped areas can be >> detected, and old data read from them (possibly with errors, but >> probably accurately). Even if a drive platter is in pieces, it's >> possible to read most of the data on whatever pieces are available. > Here's my question: Suppose you can read N levels deep. If the drive is > fragmented, each sector of a given file will be on a different "level". Hmmm. How long before we see a commercial product that builds this into a drive so we can automatically store our "backup files" in the magnetic memory of the platters?? :) ------------------------------ From: dold@17.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: Software Won't Do It, was Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 05:53:46 UTC Organization: a2i network Mark Atwood wrote: > There is no way to know that sectors have been remapped, or what > they've been remapped to, without using drive manufacturer > proprietary, poorly documented, unsupported by most OS drivers's > SCSI/IDE/etc commands. I don't think they are poorly documented. I wrote a program many years ago that was only a few lines. It would read the defect list from a SCSI drive, with "factory" defects" and "grown" defect lists. Keeping an eye on the grown defect list would let you know if sectors were starting to fail, which would let you replace the drive before it failed altogether. But the original point is still true, that your data might be on one of those "bad" sectors, unreachable by normal OS methods. Clarence A Dold - dold@email.rahul.net - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA. ------------------------------ From: joe@obilivan.net Subject: Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 16:50:51 GMT Organization: Cox Communications Clark, Wilhelm, Griswold, "Jr." wrote: > joe@obilivan.net wrote: >> There is no such thing available to anyone in the public switched >> network, not even for operators. The command and control folks have >> dedicated circuits to communicate with each other, but those are no >> different than dedicated circuits that some businesses have between >> their offices. Those dedicated circuits are nailed up and remain >> immune to an overflow condition so long as the physical plant is >> intact. > Not entirely true. A systems discussed here in the past which used to > be called GETS - Government Emergency Telecommunications System, > operates over the same circuits that the unwashed masses use, but > permits priority access to certain users. Of course, with SS7, much is possible. Nonetheless, GETS is an exception that proves the rule, so to speak. It doesn't do a thing for calling Auntie Maude. ------------------------------ From: Shalom Septimus Subject: Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 02:07:05 -0500 Reply-To: druggist@pobox.com On 15 Feb 2003 07:07:53 -0800, bbg@easylinkgroup.zzn.com (Commander Riker) wrote: > I am not sure if they would work on normal lines in my area, perhaps I > will have to grab an AUTOVON off of Ebay the next time I see one or I > supose I could make a tone generator and check it out my area first > before purchasing a phone, My modem (some sort of old USR Sportster) can dial these tones, simply by placing the letters ABCD in the dial string: "A" corresponds to the button that would be next to the 3, and so forth. Your modem may do this as well, I'm not sure if they all do it. (Last time I tried it, the switch ignored the extra tones.) You can also do this with software called Cool Edit, which in addition can generate the old-fashioned MF tones that were once used for in-band signaling. -- Shalom use Reply-To; From is a spamtrap ------------------------------ From: bbg@easylinkgroup.zzn.com (Commander Riker) Subject: Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes Date: 16 Feb 2003 23:42:35 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ I think that GETS must be the priority system that I heard about. I took a vist to their web site that you provided and it fits exacly in to what I heard, without all the details. Paste from site: The Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) is a telecommunications service provided by the Office of the Manager, National Communications System (OMNCS) that supports federal, state, and local government, industry, and non-profit organization personnel in performing their National Security and Emergency Preparedness (NS/EP) missions. GETS provides emergency access and priority processing in the local and long distance segments of the Public Switched Network (PSN). It is intended to be used in an emergency or crisis situation during which the probability of completing a call over normal or other alternate telecommunication means has significantly decreased. GETS is accessed through a universal access number 1-710-NCS-GETS (1-710-627-4387) using common telephone equipment such as a standard desk set, STU-III, facsimile, modem, or wireless phone. A prompt will direct the entry of your PIN and the telephone number. Once you have been authenticated as a valid user, your call is identified as an NS/EP call and receives special treatment. Thanks for all the information and responses. I agree that phreaking the 710 number would not be a good idea with all the terrorist stuff but I must admit it would be tempting. Perahps I will just have to volunteer for the Civil Corps or something to get a pin! Seriously, I didn't realize that this was a government program, I just thought that it was a "backdoor" for say. Again, thanks for all the info guys, it is very informative and interesting! Sam Etler wrote in message news:: >> Regarding my earlier question, it is my understanding that there is a >> special code that could be dialed in the event that an exchange is >> busy. For example, during the terrorist attacks I was told that people >> were able to get a line into New York by using the priority code. I >> would like to have this in the event that anything ever happened >> again, that way I would know I could get a call in to my loved ones, >> etc. > You might have heard people talking about the 710 area code. 710 is > reserved for "Government Use". As far as I and anyone else that I've > talked with knows, the only number is 710-NCS-GETS. NCS = National > Communications System, GETS = Government Emergency Telecommunications > Service. > Don't bother calling. You need a PIN. I don't know one so don't ask. > Anyone who knows one won't give one out. Why? Because they're issued > to specific agencies within the US Gov't (like FEMA and Homeland > Security) to be given out to people for use during emergencies. Rest > assured that if you sit there trying to wardial one, someone will > notice. Not something I'd be interested in doing these days with all > the talk of enemy combatants. > Anyway, what happens is, the NCS folks have agreements with the major > carriers to handle these calls very specially. They do all sorts of > things in their networks to give the calls high priority. Some > examples of this would be: > - Setting high priority bits in SS7 messages. > - Using normally sub-optimal routes through the IXC's network such as > multiple satellite hops. > - Cranking the call back to an intermediate switch or the originating > switch to try another route. > - Trying these routes over and over until an open circuit is found. > This sort of stuff does not happen for a normal call. > Again, as much as you might wish to speak to your loved ones during an > emergency, various federal and state agencies are also interested in > coordinating relief efforts. So really, don't bother calling. > URL: http://gets.ncs.gov/ > sam ------------------------------ From: Gary Novosielski Subject: Autovon Dialpad and Precedence Codes (was: Code to Dial) Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 15:48:06 GMT Commander Riker wrote in message news:telecom22.294.6@telecom-digest.org: > Autovon legends: > FO = Flash Override > F = Flash > I = Immediate > P = Priority > I am not sure if they would work on normal lines in my area, perhaps I > will have to grab an AUTOVON off of Ebay the next time I see one or I > supose I could make a tone generator and check it out my area first > before purchasing a phone, but I think AUTOVON was designed specificly > for the military lines. Quite true. And those designations of precedence levels corresponded to those that were (and still may be) in use throughout the US, Allied, and NATO forces for all forms of message traffic. In teletype or morse code messages it was a one-letter code immediately before the date-time group of the message. The codes for US forces were: R = Routine (an Autovon call where nobody dialed a precedence code would be Routine by default). P = Priority; used for messages requiring precedence over routine, but not justifying a higher code. This would (i.e., should) typically be the highest code ever used for purely administrative (non-operational) messages. O = Immediate (called "Operational Immediate" by NATO forces); this was to be used only for urgent orders affecting current field operations. Z = Flash; reserved for initial enemy contact messages and combat orders of extreme urgency. Additonally, NATO signal operating orders defined two additional precedence levels that were not used by US-only units: M = Deferred (for messages that were time-insensitive enough to wait for even Routine traffic to be cleared) and Y = Emergency, which fell between an "O" and a "Z". There was no defined "Flash Override" code. It is my understanding that this was added to Autovon because it was assumed (correctly) that when you put precedence buttons on someone's phone they just naturally would push them, bumping everyone else's traffic down a notch, until some bird-colonel's call to his mistress (using Flash precedence) couldn't get through, and he needed something higher. Presumably this was because all the other phones were being used to report initial enemy contact at, say the East Podunk, Iowa, Air Force base. There were, however a whole host of other pre-defined override codes and special category messages that were often theatre-specific, and corresponded to pre-defined operational scenarios. For example, in Europe, there was a message type, (call it a "CHALLENGE DARK" message, not its real name) that meant only one thing: "Russian Tanks are rolling across the border into West Germany". Such special messages had defined standards for handling speed. For example, a DRILL CHALLENGE DARK message would have to make it from the border to NATO HQ in three minutes (not bad for a teletype message in pre-Internet days). But I digress. Regarding Autovon phones: In fact, there's no need to go out and buy an Autovon phone in order to play with those "fourth column" tones. I'll bet you ten cents that the chipset of your current modem (you know, that funny noismaker thing that's built into your computer that you forgot about as soon as you got DSL) is capable of doing the job right out of the box. Just try dialing a number with the "digits" A, B, C, or D in it. If those "digits" generate DTMF tones that sound higher than those in the third column (3, 6, 9, and #), then you're cooking. The A, B, C, and D tones correspond to the FO, F, I, and P buttons (respectively) that distinguish genuine Autovon dialpads. Expect your local PTSN to completely ignore those tones if you manage to generate them. On some CO switches, the fourth column tones won't even break the dial tone. On others they will always kick you an instant error (fast busy, usually). They only ever worked on the Autovon network itself and, of course, on private equipment. Many add-on "touch tone decoders" are capable of recognizing them. Additionally, I've seen (and disassembled) Autovon phones with two other variations besides the extra column of buttons. First, the # key was replaced by a key labeled "A". It was located below the 9 where the # key goes, and did generate a "#" DTMF tone. Only the label was different. The "A" was printed in a distinctive serif-style font, not unlike Times Roman, but it wouldn't have been confused with the "A"-tone key anyway, because that one was already labeled "FO". My guess is that this "A" key (i.e., the # tone) was used to gain access to the Autovon network in the first place. The desk phones of stateside (and most overseas) military bases were connected, by default, to the local telco in the area. If you wanted to place an Autovon call you had to dial some access code first. It was, however, entirely possible to place an Autovon call using a standard rotary-dial phone, so there must have been other access codes that did not require the # or other special "digits". My memory fails me on that point. The other dialpad variation was the "star" key. Instead of being the usual six-pointed asterisk shape, it was a five-pointed star, like you'd see on an American flag. Cute. Gary ------------------------------ From: tonypo1@cox.net Subject: Re: Software Won't Do It, was Re: Erasing a Hard Drive Organization: The Ace Tomatoe and Cement Company Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 01:00:54 GMT In article , mra@pobox.com says... > Gordon S. Hlavenka writes: >> As the price of DRAM comes down, we may see 40GB DRAM arrays with >> battery backup being used as the main drive in a PC. Access times >> relative to rotating magnetic storage would be mind-bogglingly fast, and >> assured data destruction could be accomplished by simply pulling the >> battery. The jack-booted thugs would have only a few milliseconds to >> snarf your data. > Actually, that turns out to not be the case either. > If you pull the power on a DRAM, the jack booted thugs have hours to > snarf the data by peeling and scanning the chips, and if they use some > of that time to pull out the DIMMs and drop them into liquid nitrogen, > they now have a couple weeks of to do it at their leisure. What about if you ran say, 220VAC through the chip. I'd imagine that would wreck anything on it. Once that magic smoke escapes there's not much chance of getting it back. Tony ------------------------------ From: Steve Michelson Subject: Re: Will Modifying Phone Service Break Third-Party DSL? Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 09:21:37 -0500 Organization: MindSpring Enterprises I believe you will be fine, as long as you are keeping the same local carrier. The type of change that typically disables third-party DSL is if you switch local carriers from the incumbent LEC to a competitive LEC, even if the CLEC is only doing UNE-P (unbundled network elements - platform) or TSR (total services resale). I believe it's more the "business" arrangements for offering local service via those mechanisms, not the "technical" capabilities that cause the problem. It seems too often, we (the consumer) is fooled into believing there is somehow a technical reason why we can't do something, when in fact it's a business decision by the company not to allow us to do it. Dave Anderson wrote in message news:telecom22.285.9@telecom-digest.org: > I have two phone lines, a primary one for voice and a secondary one > originally for my computer. I've since added Covad ADSL on the > primary line. Since it's no longer needed (except for incoming FAXes > coming to the FAX modem on my computer) I want to eliminate the > secondary line but keep its number as a 'distinctive ring' option on > my primary line and change the class of service for the remaining line > to a less-expensive one since calls will now be fewer and more local > -- but I seem to recall hearing that making changes like this can > result in third-party DSL service breaking. (A bit of searching > hasn't turned up anything useful.) I'm in Verizon-land, near Boston, > Mass. > Any information about what, if any, problems I'm likely to have (and > how to avoid and/or fix them) would be appreciated. > Thanks, > Dave Anderson > ------------------------------ From: coretech007@yahoo.com (Roger Tall) Subject: Re: Ways to Connect Voice IDFs With Fiber? Date: 17 Feb 2003 16:57:28 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ > I wonder how the "crossover" of voice techs obtaining sufficient > skills in state of the art data networking versus data techs trying to > learn how to provide ultra high reliability voice infrastructure is > going? Data guys get paid a lot more than voice guys. A good MS/Sun/Cisco architect can get 100-150/hour. Voice guys are lucky to get 60K/year. Not that hard punching down 110 blocks and selecting music on hold CDs I guess. ------------------------------ From: usenetspamtrap+cdt@newsguy.com Subject: Advice Needed - Cell service in Beijing, China Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 11:51:42 -0700 Organization: Newsguy Reply-To: spamtrap@stop.mail-abuse.org I'm contemplating taking a new assignment in my company that will result in my living in Beijing, China for three weeks out of every month. I am currently clueless as to what sort of service is available in Beijing (GSM, Analog, etc.). I would *like* to have one cell phone that worked both in the U.S. (Colorado) as well as in China (e.g., AT&T with a smart chip or whatever they call it, or perhaps some GSM multi-mode phone?). However, having two service providers (one in US, one in China, with two numbers) would be OK. I currently have Verizon. I assume that, unless I keep two cell services, I will have to drop Verizon. Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide. Reply by posting or by email. ------------------------------ From: Gail M. Hall Subject: Re: Last Laugh! was Re: Reporter Name Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 19:02:16 -0500 Reply-To: gmhall@apk.net On Sun, 16 Feb 2003 01:13:08 -0500, in comp.dcom.telecom message , you wrote: > ObTelecom: > http://stream.realimpact.net/?file=realimpact/soundportraits/yiddish/history/cohen_phone.rm&mode=compact > This is a recording entitled "Cohen On The Telephone", recorded July > 5th, 1913 by one Joe Hayman, and was the first comedy record to be > awarded a gold record (retroactively) for one million units sold. I've > always felt that this sound clip ought to be on the Telecom Digest home > page, so people could get something of the experience of what it was > like trying to talk on the phone before they came out with the new > candlestick phones in 1921. My room mate back in 1959 got a record with a bunch of Sophie Tucker songs. One was a woman's end of a telephone conversation with a man she had been involved with. The song was called "Make it Legal, Mr. Siegel." I don't remember any telephone sounds in the song, though. There were/are quite a few other comedians (men and women) who used the setting of telephone conversations for their routines. Pat could provide links to a bunch of them if he were so inclined. I remember James Thurber's "conversation" trying to call his publisher from his vacation home somewhere in a remote village in New England or somewhere. The first part was all the different operators the call had to go through to get to the publisher's office in a large city. What fun!! Gail in Ohio USA ------------------------------ From: Gary Novosielski Subject: Re: Last Laugh! was Re: Reporter Name Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 16:21:58 GMT David Esan wrote in message news:telecom22.292.15@telecom-digest.org... >> What is "8." short for? > I just always thought she was 7 of 9's older sister. Wouldn't that be her *younger* sister? We all knew her as 8 of 8, until "the baby" came along. =Gary ------------------------------ From: David O'Heare Subject: Re: Amusing Typos Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 17:11:51 GMT Organization: Magma Communications Ltd. I worked for a company who had a large contract with an outfit in Australia and New Zealand, the ANZ *mumble* Co. Danged spell checker insisted ANZ == NAZI. Dave O'Heare Steve Michelson wrote in message news:telecom22.289.11@telecom-digest.org: >> Does anyone want to play a little game called 'My most embarassing >> typo in print' ? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Didn't the spell checker have a 'dictionary' feature where you could put in words you devised and have them be accepted in future use? PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #298 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Feb 17 23:26:03 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6/8.11.3) id h1I4Q2Y26446; Mon, 17 Feb 2003 23:26:03 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 23:26:03 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302180426.h1I4Q2Y26446@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #299 TELECOM Digest Mon, 17 Feb 2003 23:26:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 299 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson .uk.co Domain Wiped Off Face of Internet (Monty Solomon) Motorola's Fraud Lawsuit a Story of Global Intrigue (Monty Solomon) Jeff Pulver: Net Telephony is Under Attack From Regulators (Monty Solomon) The Unauthorized Biography of the Baby Bells & Info-Scandal (Monty Solomon) RCN Set to Unveil `Video on Demand' (Monty Solomon) Treats to Mollify a Crabby Cellphone (Monty Solomon) BlackBerry Battle Could Reverberate (Monty Solomon) New Privacy Menace: Cell Phones? (Monty Solomon) Microsoft PR - Smartphone, Pocket PC, Wireless, MSN (Monty Solomon) Motorola Accelerates 3G Handset Development (Monty Solomon) TurboTax Activation; Sector 33 Naughtiness (Monty Solomon) One On One With Hank Kim of "Advertising Age" (Monty Solomon) Historical Intercept Recordings From Cincinnati Bell (Christopher Sabine) Re: NYC Demonstration Against War in Iraq (Charles Cryderman) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 14:03:04 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: .uk.co Domain Wiped Off Face of Internet By Kieren McCarthy Posted: 17/02/2003 at 17:07 GMT The .uk.co domain was wiped off the face of the Internet this morning with no notice, leaving more than 8,000 livid individuals and businesses -- including Amazon and Priceline -- with no Web presence or email. The only proof of its existence is a posting on www.uk.co from the top-level domain .co owner -- the University of the Andes in Bogota, Colombia -- saying that the registrar for the .uk.co domains Net Registrar had failed to agree terms of a new arrangement and so it was "no longer entitled to operate uk.co sub-domains". Therefore, "Net Registrar is not entitled to permit you to use the uk.co domain names that you had registered with them". http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/29359.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 20:49:43 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Motorola's Fraud Lawsuit a Story of Global Intrigue By Barbara Rose, Chicago Tribune staff reporter. Catherine Collins, a freelance writer in Istanbul, contributed to this story The tale of how Motorola Inc. fell victim to one of history's bigger financial frauds -- an alleged $2.5 billion swindle by a powerful Turkish family -- is set to unfold in painful detail in a federal courtroom this week. Yet even a clear legal victory in its lawsuit wouldn't spare Motorola the embarrassing question of how it came to lend more than $1.8 billion to a family that it now alleges has a history of defrauding investors and using Turkish courts to elude prosecution. The story of Motorola's massive losses -- they were written off months ago -- to the billionaire Uzan family is a cautionary reminder about the go-go '90s and what can happen when a corporation gets reeled into a risky market without digging deeply enough into the background of its business partners. It's also a tangled intrigue involving charges of threats and bribery, as well as a global hunt for assets -- with Uzan family jets getting the boot at airports in Paris and Berlin. The Uzans used Motorola's cash and equipment to build Turkey's second-biggest cellular network, Telsim Mobil Telekomunikasyon Hizmetleri, which is up and running with about 8 million customers and an estimated $1 billion in sales. Motorola hasn't gotten its money back, and its collateral, Telsim's stock, has been transferred to a private Turkish foundation, out of reach of creditors. Finland's Nokia joined the suit, claiming a $700 million Telsim loss. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0302160275feb16,1,2262403.story ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 13:51:27 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Jeff Pulver: Net telephony is under attack from regulators http://www.politechbot.com/p-04469.html Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 11:36:01 -0500 From: Declan McCullagh Subject: FC: Jeff Pulver: Net telephony is under attack from regulators [If I understand Jeff's message, here we see yet another example of two technologies being subject to different regulations, creating a competitive advantage for one and an unstable situation in general. The solution is to equalize the amount of regulation (or, in this case, someting akin to taxation). But since eliminating a regulatory regime would mean cutting off "free" money flowing to schools and libraries -- not exactly politically palatable -- we're seeing Internet telephony targeted instead with more regulation/ taxation. Think of it as a full employment guarantee for everyone at the FCC for the foreseeable future. --Declan] --- Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 23:37:13 -0500 (EST) From: Jeff Pulver To: Declan Mccullagh Subject: VoIP is Under Attack [again] in the United States Declan: Back in November the IP Communications Industry had issues with the way the NANPA ( http://www.nanpa.com ) North American Numbering Plan Administration, was approaching VoIP. While the folks at NANPA are still working on their approach to VoIP, those of us who are living in the United States who care about IP Communications now have a much more immediate problem, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners NARUC ( http://www.naruc.org ) and their 2003 Winter Meetings ( http://www.naruc.org/Meetings/winter/2003/index.htm )taking place Feb 22-26. NARUC already has a strong anti-VOIP resolution set to go through their voting process next Sunday. I've posted a draft copy that I've recently received as word document to: ( http://pulver.com/reports/naruc1b.doc ) [ this was received on February 15th. ] If the NARUC resolution gets passed it will create unnecessary taxes and crippling administrative burden on the Internet and in fact would mark a real dark day for IP Communications in the United States. Together we need to counter lobbyist scaremongering by explaining to state commissioners that internet connections must not be burdened with crippling administration. The commissioners are worried that an explosion of internet calls could threaten the Universal Service Fund. The reality is that it will be many years before the volume of calls diverted is enough to affect service funds, giving plenty of time to find a well-thought out response. The move for immediate action is an attempt by some to stifle future internet choices hidden in some legitimate concerns. People can find your State Commissioners email at ( www.naruc.org/resources/state.shtml ). I'm hoping to encorage people to use their own words and to send email to their respective State Commissioners. I've posted a sample letter to: ( http://pulver.com/reports/narucletter.html ). People can freely take from my draft letter, although people should use their your own words and mentioning the state they live in will be even more effective. State commissioners play an important role, but few beyond the professional lobbyists contact them on issues. Even a few emails have the potential to sway them on an issue. I'm am hoping that people take the time to reach out to their respective State Commissioners this week and have their voices heard. Together I know we can make a difference. :-) Best regards, Jeff POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ Recent CNET News.com articles: http://news.search.com/search?q=declan ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 22:29:27 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Unauthorized Biography of the Baby Bells & Info-Scandal The Unauthorized Biography of the Baby Bells & Info-Scandal What's In the Book: The Info-Scandal Roadmap The book in front of you is the culmination of the last seven years of research. Though it focuses on the Info Bahn's no-show, it was written with the hope of effecting change, by explaining what's broken in telecom and poising some long term solutions. Right now what's broken costs you money in the form of higher and unjustified prices. Fixing it, however, is another story. And what's broken? Well almost everything. There's no Info Bahn, prices have risen over 275% since 1984, the Bells are still monopolies, there is no immediate local competition to drive down prices, and the laws do not work to adequately protect subscribers. And there are scandals galore, which we will present, from "Digital Spew", "The Measured Service Scam The Pelican Brief of Telecom", the "$20 Billion Dollar Write-Off Scandal" or simple things, such as charging for services, such as Touchtone or Call Waiting, which cost virtually nothing to deliver. To detail the problems and scandals, we've divided the book into seven sections, representing the seven original Bells, covering 48 chapters, representing the 48 states the Bells control. (Alaska and Hawaii were non-Bell.) We've also dedicated portions of the book to explain basic terms and concepts for the telecom-uninitiated. The sections include: http://www.newnetworks.com/roadmap.html Download http://www.newnetworks.com/downloadbook.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 14:17:48 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: RCN Set to Unveil `Video on Demand' Rolling out service in suburbs in April By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff, 2/17/2003 WESTWOOD -- RCN Corp., the upstart cable television-Internet competitor to giant AT&T Broadband in Boston and 14 suburbs, is set to announce plans today to roll out ''video-on-demand'' television service locally this spring. With new AT&T owner Comcast Corp., a cable industry leader in on-demand video offerings, expected to make its own push locally in coming months, RCN is hoping to stay fully competitive with Comcast -- if not beat it to the punch in providing Greater Boston cable customers with their first ''anytime access'' to hundreds of hours of entertainment. The RCN move also reflects a growing cable industry interest in using high-capacity cable networks, in which the industry has invested more than $50 billion since 1995, to provide customers with profitable rentals of movies as an alternative to visiting video-rental shops. Only about 8 million of the 70 million US homes with cable now have access to video-on-demand services, according to Forrester Research of Cambridge. Robert Sheehan, RCN's vice president and general manager for the Boston market, said the local service will be modeled on an RCN video-on-demand service that became available in the Philadelphia area last fall. It will include about 250 titles at a time, including $4 new releases, $3 for a library of older films, sports, children's programs, and other entertainment, and $10 for pornographic movies. Only RCN's digital cable customers, about 65 percent of its Boston area customer base, could receive video on demand. The rest would have to upgrade to digital cable, which costs $10 a month more than conventional cable. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/048/business/RCN_set_to_unveil_video_on_demand_+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 14:32:09 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Treats to Mollify a Crabby Cellphone It did not surprise anyone who knows me to learn six months ago that I gave up my cellphone. In fact, given my reputation as a techno-crank, a lot of people probably thought the world would be a generally safer place if I were cellphone-free. A significant body of evidence suggests that I emit some sort of magnetic field that interrupts the normal workings of most small electrical appliances. To crash a computer, all I have to do is to look at it. There's a 50-50 chance, any time I insert my Palm into its cradle, that the sync attempt will fail. Whenever my husband, who used to review tech devices, brings home a particularly cool new combo-router-pager-wireless-X-ray-eyeglasses-pocket-spy-decoder-ring to demonstrate, it mysteriously stops working if I enter the room. Gadgets can tell, I think, that I don't like them. One day, my old cellphone simply refused to connect my calls. http://nytimes.com/2003/02/13/technology/circuits/13shop.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 16:06:42 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: BlackBerry Battle Could Reverberate By TERESA RIORDAN A LITTLE-KNOWN Virginia company fired a new salvo last week in a lawsuit that threatens to take away one of the prized possessions of the technologically astute: the little messaging device known as the BlackBerry. The BlackBerry, produced by Research in Motion Ltd. of Waterloo, Ontario, is one of several hand-held devices on the market that allow a person to send and receive e-mail without being hooked up to a cable or phone line. But it has been praised for being especially nimble and is the device of choice not just among many high-tech business people but also members of Congress and certain Hollywood stars (Matt Damon and Pamela Anderson among them, according to one report). In court papers filed last week, NTP Inc., a holding company based in Arlington, Va., accused Research in Motion of unfairly lobbying the Patent and Trademark Office to re-examine five patents that were central to NTP's victory last November over Research in Motion in a patent infringement suit. NTP was awarded $23.1 million. The director of the Patent and Trademark Office, James E. Rogan, a former congressman from California, ordered the re-examinations on Dec. 26. Patent re-examinations initiated by the director are extremely rare. Fewer than 150 have been ordered in the past 20 years, out of the more than 2 million patents granted during that period. More frequently, re-examinations are prompted by a request filed by a third party. Patents re-examined in this way, however, are more than twice as likely to be upheld as those challenged by the director of the Patent Office. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/17/technology/17PATE.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 16:52:29 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: New Privacy Menace: Cell Phones? By Elisa Batista Concert halls, art museums, gym locker rooms and other public places where photography is greatly discouraged may have problems from another device -- cell phones. Cell phones with attachable cameras or cameras embedded in them have become so ubiquitous in Hong Kong, for example, that gyms there are prohibiting people from making calls in the locker room. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,57692,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 00:18:37 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Microsoft PR - Smartphone, Pocket PC, Wireless, MSN Microsoft and Intel Unveil Windows Powered Smartphone Concept Design Based on Intel Personal Internet Client Architecture - Feb 17, 2003 12:01 AM (PR Newswire) - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31639221 Microsoft and Samsung Reveal Windows Powered Pocket PC for GSM/GPRS Networks - Feb 17, 2003 12:01 AM (PR Newswire) - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31639223 Microsoft Foresees Wave of Wireless Innovation Founded on Smart Devices, Software and Industry Collaboration - Feb 17, 2003 12:01 AM (PR Newswire) - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31639228 Pocket MSN Delivers Always-On Services to Pocket PCs and Smartphones - Feb 17, 2003 12:01 AM (PR Newswire) - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31639235 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 08:05:58 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Motorola Accelerates 3G Handset Development Integrated 3G Wireless Platform Solution Achieves First Call Milestone CANNES, France, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Quickening the pace of 3G deployment Motorola, Inc.'s (NYSE:MOT) Semiconductor Products Sector announces the industry's first live over the air call of its fully integrated wireless handset platform. The milestone was achieved less than a year after the company announced its intent to supply handset designers and manufacturers with a complete silicon-to-software platform solution. The i.300, Motorola's Innovative Convergence(TM) platform for 3G, is being sampled with two of the world's leading handset producers, Munich-based Siemens Information (IC Mobile) and Motorola's Personal Communications Sector (PCS). The platform is based on the second generation of an integrated 3G chipset. The i.300 platform shaves months off of development and integration time allowing manufacturers to build devices at lower costs. The platform approach to 3G development reduces system integration costs and enables manufacturers and designers to focus on application software and customizing the user experience. Motorola's early success in gaining customer momentum and achieving the industry's first call on a 3G totally integrated wireless platform is the result of more than five years of development and testing. The i.300 features imaging and video, as well as voice and data capability. http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31641561 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 16:35:14 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TurboTax Activation; Sector 33 Naughtiness TurboTax 'Activation' Annoys Users By Mike Musgrove Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, January 26, 2003; Page H07 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40873-2003Jan24.html Intuit pours oil on TurboTax troubles By David Becker Staff Writer, CNET News.com January 6, 2003, 4:10 PM PT http://news.com.com/2100-1017-979357.html TurboTax: Sector 33 Naughtiness We Uncover Low-Level Monkey Business Friday, February 14, 2003 http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3973,881243,00.asp ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 21:52:20 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: One On One With Hank Kim of "Advertising Age" - Feb 17, 2003 10:00 PM (Nightly Business Report) SUSIE GHARIB: Well, as Scott Gurvey pointed out, television viewers have had the ability to bypass commercials for some time. Still, advertisers haven't abandoned TV, and predictions that the Internet would replace it as the next great advertising medium haven't yet materialized. So, are the doom-and-gloom warnings about the impact of personal video recorders justified? I asked Hank Kim, an editor at "Advertising Age" magazine, whether there really is cause for the media community to be concerned. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=31650540 ------------------------------ From: Christopher R. Sabine Subject: Historical Intercept Recordings From Cincinnati Bell Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 16:45:25 -0500 Hello. I'm curious to know if anybody has information about the intercept recordings that were used by Cincinnati Bell office equipment during the 70's and early 80's. Specifcally, Cincinnati Bell would use a code beginning in "CB" followed by a number to indicate the central office where the call went to intercept. I'd like to know if there is a list of central offices and the "CB" codes that corresponded to them. For example, I do remember that "CB 2" referred to a central office in Downtown Cincinnati and "CB 48" refered to a switch in Norwood, Ohio, a Cincinnati suburb. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Best regards, Chris ------------------------------ From: Cryderman, Charles Subject: NYC Demonstration Against War in Iraq Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 12:18:30 -0500 In Telecom Digest V22 #294 Ronda Hauben wrote: > But the treatment of people in NYC shows that democracy is not something > the US federal government or NYC government have any respect for. But she didn't brother to tell anyone that the event organizers waited until the last minute to apply for the required permit which in turn didn't give the City of New York time to plan for security as well as the many other items they must provide by law and that the court told them that. The court didn't like to make the decision for the city as they did but had the protesters planned ahead and submitted them paperwork in a timely manor they would have been aloud to march. Now I understand the as a moderated forum Pat you can put in what you want, but at least if your going to put in political issues you'd make sure on the facts are included. What Ronda provided you was a very biased piece designed to obstruct and not inform. If the world wishes to be blinded by one side or the other that is ok with me, but do remember: When the decision is made to send our sons and daughters in harms way to deal with this lying piece of crap in Iraq we must not let happen what happened to our men coming back from Vietnam. They are doing their jobs based on what the politicians want. So when it is over if you have the need to spit on someone, make sure they are a member of congress or the administration and not the men and women that are serving this country with honor. As to the mental capacity of the President neither you or I is qualified to make that decision. But if you think The "Pig of Baghdad" is going to remove the weapons he has then your mental capacity needs to be check. We are not in it for the oil, we could have that with out going to war, we are out to stop a madman from destroying the world as well as what Hitler tried. Chip Cryderman charles dot cryderman at globalcrossing dot com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks for an excellent rebuttal to the original item from Ronda. I have one problem though with your statement about the 'Pig of Baghdad'. You say he is not going to voluntarily remove or give up the weapons ***he has***. You will have to pardon me for being somewhat incredulous, but thus far, an army of UN inspectors and all the sabre-rattling and warnings and threats from Dubya have yet to produce a single weapon. On the other hand, we know, for a fact, that North Korea has plenty of nuclear weapons, ready and willing to be used. But there is no oil in that cold, dismal country. There is not much of anything there we want or need, except maybe in my own mind, I am really getting sick of seeing every piece of electronic gear in the USA saying 'made in Korea' stamped or stickered on it somewhere. Seriously, when is the last time you bought some electronics which said 'made in USA'? Korea, Korea, Korea, everything. Look in Walmart, look in K-Mart (what's left of them; we are losing ours next month); look in Radio Shack. Korea, Korea, Korea. But they don't have oil there which Mr. Insane has a lot of, and which Mr. Rockefeller and his good buddy Dubya need. But you say, its not about oil; its about 'breaking contracts' and being a Hitler in disguise. Its not about a Moslem country which is essentially despised by the 'Christians' in a 'Christian nation', especially since 'those people' are forever giving a lot of sass to 'our president' and 'our way of life', referring to us as Satan, because of our life styles, etc. But you said its not about oil, its about Mr. Insane not giving up his weapons and breaking all the 'contracts' he made with people and the UN. Well, gee, whiz, the essence of any 'contract' is paying the bills you owe, and when is the last time Uncle Sam ever paid any dues to the UN? Years ago, probably before Mr. Insane started breaking his word on things. We agree on one very important point: the *very brave* guys who are over there waiting to get blown to hell in pieces. They have no choice at all in their assignments, except maybe to resign totally from the military, and in the Vietnam era that was taken care of by a draft. I never want to see or hear anyone *ever* pick on those guys; they are are my (at least) heros, in these scary times we live in. But can't you just see it all starting to take shape all over again; another Vietnam? PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second 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) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * 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 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #299 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Feb 18 15:04:23 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6/8.11.3) id h1IK4NP28061; Tue, 18 Feb 2003 15:04:23 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2003 15:04:23 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200302182004.h1IK4NP28061@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #300 TELECOM Digest Tue, 18 Feb 2003 15:04:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 300 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: WorldCom Discontinues MCI Mail (Linc Madison) Re: WorldCom Discontinues MCI Mail (joe@obilivan.net) Bad Sectors (Joey Lindstrom) Re: Autovon Dialpad and Precedence Codes (was Re: Code to Dial) (Griswold) The A-B-C-D Fourth Column DTMF (Mark J Cuccia) Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes (Mike Riddle) The Perils of E-Mail (Monty Solomon) See This Chip? (Monty Solomon) Re: Advice Needed - Cell Service in Beijing, China (Joseph) Re: NYC Demonstration Against War in Iraq (joe@obilivan.net) Re: NYC Demonstration Against War in Iraq (Mark Crispin) Netizenry (Joey Lindstrom) Re: Last Laugh! was Re: Reporter Name (jbl) 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. WE DO NOT PERMIT NAME/EMAIL ADDRESS HARVESTING FROM THIS JOURNAL. 'SALTED' EMAIL ADDRESSES APPEAR HEREIN TO VERIFY THIS. YOU GET SUED IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT IF YOU GET CAUGHT SPAMMING OR SENDING VIRUSES. DON'T DO IT. See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: WorldCom Discontinues MCI Mail Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 19:42:21 -0800 Organization: LincMad.com Consulting Reply-To: Telecom@LincMad.com In article , John C. Fowler wrote: > Remember MCI Mail? In addition to E-Mail, you could also tell it to > send the message you typed by paper mail, FAXes, telexes, and 1-hour > courier delivery. They later added the ability to send E-Mail to > CompuServe members, and finally, the Internet. You also got a Telex number that translated into your MCI Mail inbox. There was a time that was a big selling point as well. www dot LincMad dot com / Telecom at LincMad dot com Linc Madison * San Francisco, California [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ah yes; a Telex number. That's 'TEL-EX' as in egraph change service. By having a telex number, the machines were able to communicate to other such machines all over the world, through a common 'central office exchange' type thing. You could either type your message on a paper punch tape and run it through the gears of the machine (for fastest, and nearly perfect transmission of your message) or you could dial up another machine and then type on it manually. That's back when the Bell System was running teletypewriter service. How many of you long-time (I am reluctant to say 'charter' members; do we have any left?) readers here remember when TELECOM Digest had a Telex number also, for incoming messages to the Digest and a limited number of outgoing messages Digest-style. It was in the middle to late 1980's. Actually my telex number came courtesy of MCI Mail, which took in the messages and forwarded them through a gateway to me here, and I did the same thing in return on outgoing. I think the gateway of MCI mail went through 'area code 910' when that was an Easy Link code used by Western Union (early proprietor of Telex) prior to '910' being reclaimed a few years ago for use in the ever-increasing-expanding number of area codes. For the curious, my MCI Mail number was 222-4956, expanded to having 910 on the front of it for telex purposes and when they decided to expand to 'universal email service' (instead of just mail among its members or to telex) it became the above plus '@mcimail.com' on the end of it. I feel so old and decrepit today as I sit here in my big family house all alone, with these reminders of the past around me in these daily email messages I receive. PAT] ------------------------------ From: joe@obilivan.net Subject: Re: WorldCom Discontinues MCI Mail Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2003 15:30:56 GMT Organization: Cox Communications Sorta like AT&T 700 numbers. "Easyreach?" or something like that. I even had one that spelled out my name. I think I recall the early iteration of MCI Mail. I could send a spiffy overnight letter neatly "typed" for big bucks. John C. Fowler wrote: > Remember MCI Mail? If you're one of those people who joined the > Internet back when World Wide Web browsers came into being, probably > not. MCI Mail started as one of many closed E-Mail systems that you > dialed directly using a modem and a terminal program. In addition to > E-Mail, you could also tell it to send the message you typed by paper > mail, FAXes, telexes, and 1-hour courier delivery. They later added > the ability to send E-Mail to CompuServe members, and finally, the > Internet. You could also dial into their system with an 800 number, > with no connect-time charges. > Well, it's finally going away. Actually, with all the problems > WorldCom has been having, I'm surprised they let it run this long. > Here's the "disconnect" message they sent me: > - - - - - - - - - - - - > Dear MCI Mail Customer: > This letter is to inform you that WorldCom is decommissioning the MCI > Mail service, effective June 30, 2003. WorldCom will no longer > provide this service to you beginning on that date. We are providing > you with notice at this time so that you can migrate your users and > traffic prior to this date. > Existing MCI Mail service contracts may not be renewed, but WorldCom > will continue to provide you with the MCI Mail service at the current > contractual rate until June 30, 2003, or until your contract expires > if the expiration date occurs before June 30, 2003. Move/Add/Change > orders regarding the MCI Mail service will not be accepted after April > 1, 2003, or before April 1, 2003 if your contract expires before April > 1, 2003. > WorldCom does not have a replacement for this service. > As many of the applications associated with the service are complex > and support large numbers or remote end users, it is important that > you begin migration planning immediately. > We sincerely thank you for your business. > Sincerely, > WorldCom Customer Service [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Not only did I have a 'Telex gateway' provided through MCI Mail, for a few years I also had a 'Fido gateway' provided by someone whose name I cannot remember. Does anyone still use Fido anymore? That name always reminded me of a dog. Heck, does anyone still use Telex anymore? Telex 'phone directories' used to be big, giant books like a New York City phone directory. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2003 09:57:07 -0700 Subject: Bad Sectors Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Sat, 15 Feb 2003 02:58:08 -0500 (EST), editor@telecom-digest.org wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As part of a defragmentation procedure > on a hard drive, can we trust charts drawn by the software telling us > there are no 'bad blocks' or other bad or unusable sectors? Reason I > ask is I see nothing bad or unusable of the drive, thus no reason for > the software to re-route around it. Is that a good assumption or not? PAT] As I understand it, IDE mapping of bad sectors is done at the drive electronics level, thus you'll never see any "bad sectors". I can't remember the last time I saw one, say in a defrag display. Over the weekend, I had occasion to purchase four 80-gig hard drives. I had to partition and format them (NTFS), then fill them with data for two customers. Three of the drives formatted out to exactly the same capacity. The fourth was 8K less. Neither CHKDSK nor Diskeeper (the "industrial-strength" version of the built-in Windows 2000 and Windows XP disk defragger) reported any bad sectors on the drive with the missing 8K. Joey Lindstrom Telus Sucks http://www.telussucks.info ------------------------------ From: Clark Wilhelm Griswold, Jr. <73115.1041@compuserve.com> Subject: Re: Autovon Dialpad and Precedence Codes (was: Code to Dial) Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 21:08:14 -0700 Gary Novosielski wrote: > There was no defined "Flash Override" code. It is my understanding > that this was added to Autovon because it was assumed (correctly) that > when you put precedence buttons on someone's phone they just naturally > would push them, bumping everyone else's traffic down a notch, until > some bird-colonel's call to his mistress (using Flash precedence) > couldn't get through, and he needed something higher. Reminds me of my days in one of the US services, when MilStar was just coming on line. MilStar was a satellite based teletype system that has evolved over the years, but initially worked as a military only, internet style email system. As with Autovon based phones, messages could be coded with the same precedence codes. Had a buddy who was manning a control center that had recently received a MilStar terminal installation. No specific traffic had been assigned at the time, and people would frequently bang out messages to their friends around the world as a means of killing time in the quiet hours of the night. One evening my friend was having difficultly getting his message through to his friend, so he proceeded to retry several times with ever increasing priority, until it finally went through using the Flash Override precedence. Shortly thereafter he received a phone call from SAC Headquarters, suggesting that it might be career limiting if he tried that again. It seems that Flash Override traffic is considered so important that in addition to being delivered to the addressee, it is also displayed on the big screen at all the major nuclear command centers with all the bells and sirens one might expect. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 21:08:56 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: The A-B-C-D Fourth Column DTMF It's true that the fourth column of Touchtones (DTMF), 'A', 'B', 'C', 'D', with 1633 Hz as the 'upper' frequency of the DTMF freq.pair, never "caught on" for even "control" functions of the general public's switched telephone network. The '*' and '#' in the PSTN have become everyday control buttons/tones used by the general public; and A-B-C-D are used for AUTOVON controls *within* the Autovon network (now called DSN, Defense Switched Network, although I don't know about the priority / bump-off capabilities of the fourth column of A-B-C-D, if they are still used as such). But there *are* uses of the fourth-column (A-B-C-D) touchtones for the general public. They aren't really used when signaling to your initial dialtone, but if you have Caller-ID-on-Call-Waiting, or the more advanced "Call-Waiting-Deluxe" which actually allows you to bridge-in that beeping incoming call or give other treatments to the beeping party, then the 'B' or the 'D' (I forget which) *is* used by your CW-CID box, or your "powertouch" phone, signaling back to the central office within 600-ms of receiving the beep+chirp of the CW signal. When the central office receives that 'B' or 'D' (I forget which) sent back from the customer's box or phone, then the central office 'modem dumps' CID information. There are a few other miscellaneous uses of the A-B-C-D, such as with credit-card reading phones, and BUT ALSO in the (little-used) "ADSI" (Advanced Display Service Interface, I think that's it) which takes CID-CW and CW-Deluxe and expands even further with a "powertouch" type phone, to do all kinds of DTMF and touch-button interaction with a large display screen, with either the central office for your Custom Calling services, or even an "independent info" provider (bus schedules, time/weather, movie theater info, etc). The A-B-C-D signals back-and-forth between the phone with the central office or ADSI-provider is part if ADSI signaling protocol. Mark J. Cuccia +1-504-NXX-xxxx (I will *ALWAYS* use *DASHES/HYPHENS* to parse-out any number that I write down, despite what the ITU says!) ------------------------------ From: Mike Riddle Organization: Solitary, Poor, Nasty, Brutish and Short Subject: Re: Code to Dial When Exchange is Busy - Bell System Codes Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2003 14:39:49 GMT > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not think there is such a thing > at least on a user level. If you are in a position to have your calls > placed ahead of other calls, I think the telco has to be the one to > decide it. The old 'A/B/C/D' buttons on military autovon phones had > that capability. Press one of those keys and bump someone else of > lesser rank off the line. When I have used one of those ABCD phones in > regular use, the other tones work okay, but the insert of any letter > causes a fast busy on the line. Maybe someone who has one of those > phones could tell us what happens in their area, if anything. I do not > think it will work at all. PAT] Even on the old AUTOVON network, your line had to be "class-marked" at the switch to authorize precendence level preemption; otherwise, you'd get an error message something to the effect "your call cannot be completed at the precdence level selected. Place your call again at a lower level or contact an operator for assistance." Mike Riddle /"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign mriddle@spamfree.papillion.ne.us \ / Respect for open standards "To Reply Remove the Obvious" X No HTML/RTF in email http://www.mikeriddle.com / \ No M$ Word docs in email ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 22:26:45 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Perils of E-Mail TECHNOLOGY It was supposed to make life easier. Now e-mail has become a prosecutor's No. 1 weapon and the surest way for companies to get sued. How e-mail became e-vidence mail -- and why the solution is often worse than the problem. FORTUNE Monday, February 3, 2003 By Nicholas Varchaver It was the sort of e-mail most people delete with nary a glance. The bland subject heading read: "E-mail content training to begin in October." But the message inside was anything but routine. Merrill Lynch was ordering its 50,000-plus employees to attend a reeducation camp of sorts. "It is imperative that every employee knows how to use e-mail effectively and appropriately," wrote Merrill president Stanley O'Neal and chairman David Komansky. "E-mail and other forms of electronic communication are like any other written communication, and are subject to subpoena." Before sending an e-mail, they advised, "Ask yourself: How would I feel if this message appeared on the front page of a newspaper?" Good question. And one O'Neal and Komansky would get a chance to answer. Some thoughtful Merrill staffer, apparently, zapped the e-mail to the Reuters news service (or to someone else who did), from which it traveled to the pages of the New York Post, the Boston Herald, and the Houston Chronicle, and to Lou Dobbs Moneyline on CNN. Take two seconds to think about it, and two lessons emerge: (1) E-mail is inspiring a very real and growing fear in corporate boardrooms, and (2) that fear can't do anything to stop electronic messages from careening out of control. Sure, 2002 was the Year of Corporate Scandal. But really it wouldn't be fair to give all the credit to grasping, conniving executives and malevolent, sneaky bookkeepers. No, as those corporate honchos offer their plea bargains, they'll all be able to name an accomplice: e-mail. For prosecutors, it has become the star witness -- or perhaps an even better weapon than that. Think of e-mail as the corporate equivalent of DNA evidence, that single hair left at the crime scene that turns the entire case. In theory you can explain it away, but good luck trying. So ubiquitous has the smoking e-mail become that some lawyers have taken to calling it "evidence mail." Says Garry Mathiason, whose law firm, Littler Mendelson, defends giant corporations in employment cases: "I don't think there's a case we handle today that doesn't have some e-mail component to it." http://www.fortune.com/fortune/technology/articles/0,15114,418678,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 22:32:44 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: See This Chip? CHIP BATTLE It's Intel's most powerful processor ever. It has the ability to take on IBM, sink Sun, make or break HP, and crush or revive AMD. It's keeping every CEO in computing up at night. And it's just getting started. The multibillion-dollar battle between Itanium 2 and its rivals has begun. FORTUNE Monday, February 3, 2003 By David Kirkpatrick http://www.fortune.com/fortune/technology/articles/0,15114,418480,00.html ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Advice Needed - Cell Service in Beijing, China Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 22:41:33 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: joeofseattle@yahoo.com On Mon, 17 Feb 2003 11:51:42 -0700, usenetspamtrap+cdt@newsguy.com wrote: > I'm contemplating taking a new assignment in my company that will > result in my living in Beijing, China for three weeks out of every > month. > I am currently clueless as to what sort of service is available in > Beijing (GSM, Analog, etc.). I would *like* to have one cell phone > that worked both in the U.S. (Colorado) as well as in China (e.g., AT&T > with a smart chip or whatever they call it, or perhaps some GSM > multi-mode phone?). However, having two service providers (one in US, > one in China, with two numbers) would be OK. Assuming you are in a major Colorado location such as Denver, Colorado Springs, etc. the choice you should make is to go with T-Mobile. T-Mobile to my knowledge has very decent service in the metro areas. That said they have very sketchy to no service in remote areas. The service will however work in Beijing provided you have compatible equipment. The US GSM is at 1900 Mhz while GSM in China will be at 900 and/or 1800 Mhz. You will need a "triband" phone that is capable of both North American and Asian frequencies. If you get an unlocked GSM handset you will also be able to use a local prepaid SIM card and it's possible that combined with a service such as Kall8 you can forward your US number to your local Chinese SIM card. Another much more expensive alternative is to keep your Verizon service. Verizon has an "international" service where they will provide you with a SIM card that will basically have all your phone details from your domestic Verizon account and people will be able to call your Verizon number. See: http://internationaltraveler.verizonwireless.com/ You will however need to get a compatible GSM handset either rented (not a very good deal for more than a few days) or you can buy a handset from any number of sources. Any way you go you'll have to get a GSM handset. If you go the route of GSM service with T-Mobile or AT&T you won't have to get a phone which will be unusable for you after your trip. > I currently have Verizon. I assume that, unless I keep two cell > services, I will have to drop Verizon. > Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide. > Reply by posting or by email. Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group ------------------------------ From: joe@obilivan.net Subject: Re: NYC Demonstration Against War in Iraq Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2003 09:56:20 GMT Organization: Cox Communications > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks for an excellent rebuttal to the > original item from Ronda. I have one problem though with your statement > about the 'Pig of Baghdad'. You say he is not going to voluntarily > remove or give up the weapons ***he has***. You will have to pardon me > for being somewhat incredulous, but thus far, an army of UN inspectors > and all the sabre-rattling and warnings and threats from Dubya have > yet to produce a single weapon. On the other hand, we know, for a fact, > that North Korea has plenty of nuclear weapons, ready and willing to be > used. But there is no oil in that cold, dismal country. There is not > much of anything there we want or need, except maybe in my own mind, I > am really getting sick of seeing every piece of electronic gear in > the USA saying 'made in Korea' stamped or stickered on it somewhere. > Seriously, when is the last time you bought some electronics which > said 'made in USA'? Korea, Korea, Korea, everything. Look in Walmart, > look in K-Mart (what's left of them; we are losing ours next month); > look in Radio Shack. Korea, Korea, Korea. But they don't have oil > there which Mr. Insane has a lot of, and which Mr. Rockefeller and his > good buddy Dubya need. > But you say, its not about oil; its about 'breaking contracts' and > being a Hitler in disguise. Its not about a Moslem country which is > essentially despised by the 'Christians' in a 'Christian nation', > especially since 'those people' are forever giving a lot of sass to > 'our president' and 'our way of life', referring to us as Satan, > because of our life styles, etc. But you said its not about oil, its > about Mr. Insane not giving up his weapons and breaking all the 'contracts' > he made with people and the UN. Well, gee, whiz, the essence of any > 'contract' is paying the bills you owe, and when is the last time > Uncle Sam ever paid any dues to the UN? Years ago, probably before > Mr. Insane started breaking his word on things. > We agree on one very important point: the *very brave* guys who are > over there waiting to get blown to hell in pieces. They have no choice > at all in their assignments, except maybe to resign totally from the > military, and in the Vietnam era that was taken care of by a draft. I > never want to see or hear anyone *ever* pick on those guys; they are > are my (at least) heros, in these scary times we live in. But can't > you just see it all starting to take shape all over again; another > Vietnam? PAT] It seems not really to be about weapons, except perhaps what might be coming down the pike. It seems not so much to be about oil, either. Rather, it seems to be American policy to establish a pro-western government in Iraq to break the present regional power structure there. Also, if that is successful, it will greatly diminish Al Qadea's influence with the militant middlemen throughout the region. That is the way of the Arab world. It is a risky venture on our part, but if it works the political dynamics of the region will change significantly and the terrorists will be weakened and on the run (over the long term) although they may make some pretty good hits in the short run. So, it is mostly about presence, power, and the way Arab connections work. It is far from a perfect plan, but it seems the best they can come up with at the time. Trouble is, they have to lie about the weapons to have an immediate imperative that the public in general will sort of buy into. Bush is no dummy on this one, and has expert advice. Whether their strategy is going to work, though, remains to be seen. Bottom line: the inspections are a facade. The war will happen (unless the French invade the U.S. first. ;-) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you for another good message. 'Presence, power and the way Arab connections work' is really where things are at, just as you noted. I just wish people would get off these kicks about 'contracts' Mr. Insane has not kept (the USA has failed to keep a few contracts also) and how Mr. Insane bullies people around to get his way. (The USA is famous [or perhaps infamous is a better word] for that also.) You are right, the inspections are a facade, and King Bush II has decreed there will be a war, be damned if there won't be one. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: NYC Demonstration Against War in Iraq Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2003 09:41:01 -0800 Organization: Networks and Distributed Computing On Sun, 16 Feb 2003, Brian Vita wrote: > I read Telcom Digest to keep up to date on Telcom related issues, not > to read this left wing propaganda crap. As far as I knew, Telcom > issues were somewhat apolitical and more engineering based. I really > don't understand what the bug up this woman's ass about war or your > dislike of our current president has to do with the stated function of > this digest I agree completely. I request that Pat keep political issues which are unrelated to Telecom out of the Telecom list. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Your request will be taken under advisement. When is the last time you read the boilerplate message at the bottom of each issue of the Digest? It says, 'Telecom Digest is mostly -- but not *exclusively* about telecom related issues'. I will admit now, sort of late, I admit, that if I were starting a new Digest today, I probably would not call it 'Telecom Digest', but a name with a more broad scope dealing with social issues, etc. Out of much respect to the folks who want a telecom-related forum, I do tend to hold my tongue on many issues of interest to me. I wouldn't do it if I were a young whippersnapper starting a new Digest. Seriously, I will give what you say some serious thought. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2003 10:07:59 -0700 Subject: Netizenry Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Sat, 15 Feb 2003 21:45:41 EST, Ronda wrote: > People online and people who aren't online, can help to make the vision of > the Internet pioneers and users a reality. We don't want war in Iraq. We > don't want war in North Korea or Iran. We don't want war against the > Palestinians. We want to communicate with each other and collaborate > together to have the wealth of society go to its people so that the better > world that is now possible, becomes a reality. It's a hard and difficult > struggle. But with lots of netizens around the world, we can forge a > better world. > Long live the Netizens; Long live the Iraqi People; Long live the American > People; Long live the peace loving people everywhere. I guess despite how long I've been online, I must not be a netizen. After all, Ronda has decreed that netizens don't want war in Iraq. She couldn't say it if it weren't true. What sheer arrogance. Who the hell is Ronda Hauben and where does she get off trying to take a political stance IN MY NAME and in the names of everybody on the 'net? If I were to say "all Muslims hate all Americans", it would be no less offensive. C'mon Pat. This is nothing but sheer propaganda and I think the Telecom Digest ascribes to a higher plane than this. -- Joey Lindstrom -- Telus Sucks http://www.telussucks.info [TELECOM Digest Editor's Left Wing Propoganda Crap: So what you are saying is that you, as a netizen, DO favor the idea of a war? I take it you are offended because she failed to take into consideration that as a netizen you want to see a war ... good point; I will try to remember that. Speaking now in the context of a family-oriented digest on the net, I guess you want to see Dubya go cut off Mr. Insane's 'thing' before he gets a chance to sodomize us with it (or stick it to us as some would say in the vernacular). Mr. Sodomy Insane needs to be troubled each day with a few more telemarketer phone calls. Go look at Mike Sandman's home page ( http://sandman.com ) for a cute cartoon about ways to end the 'war on terrorism' by letting telemarketers go to work on Sodomy. Its a very cute cartoon. But when it comes to giant erections, no one can beat Dubya, who needs to use Doctor Clinton's Patent Medicine to get rid of his own tensions right now. Surely he must have a nurse on staff there as Clinton did, to adminster the remedy from time to time. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jbl Subject: Re: Last Laugh! was Re: Reporter Name Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2003 10:28:58 -0700 Organization: On the desert Reply-To: jbl@spamblocked.com In , Gail M. Hall wrote: > There were/are quite a few other comedians (men and women) who used > the setting of telephone conversations for their routines. Pat could > provide links to a bunch of them if he were so inclined. I remember > James Thurber's "conversation" trying to call his publisher from his > vacation home somewhere in a remote village in New England or > somewhere. ... My favorites include, from the 50s or so, Shelly Berman (one routine, "Franz Kafka on the Telephone" I listened to many many times); of course the later classic ('60s and '70s and occasionally to this day) is Bob Newhart. But don't forget Lily Tomlin and her "Ernestine," who showed up just around '68 or '69 as I recall. /JBL ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications 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, 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: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 775-306-8390 Fax 3: 775-642-0603 Fax 4: 530-309-7234 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 second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! 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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 twenty 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 V22 #300 ******************************